Helping students to get to engage with the biography of an important historical figure

Students take on the role of people who have to explain their relationship to a leading historical figure, thereby broadly mapping out his or her biography.

Students are given a person that is in some way related to the historical actor in question. They are then allowed 10 minutes online to come up with basic information about their characters. Everybody then explains the relationship between their character and the main historical actor being investigated. By doing this the basic outlines of the biography of the main historical actor becomes clear.

To find out more about Joan of Arc it is useful to look at the relationship between her and:

• Jacques d’Arc
• Isabelle Romée
• Charles VII
• Jean de Metz
• Archangel Michael
• Saint Margaret
• Pierre Cauchon
• Pope Callixtus III
• Pope Benedict XV

From these relationships it is then possible for students to infer much about Joan herself.

Thanks to Richard Kerridge.