"The Inquisition"

While our students have been researching various aspects of the Middle Ages to create a "KnightLine" news magazine show, Christina and I have been trying to find creative ways to "tease" them into discovering information. We've had them pretend they were British citizens after the death of King Edward the confessor who had no heirs, and they were to decide on the better choice for king. We also had them pretend they were King John and presented them with a variety of scenarios in which they had to decide what the King should do, leading to the signing of the Magna Carta.

Today, we decided to put them right in the middle of our version of "The Inquisition." Not long after each of our sessions began, while Mrs. Gouzd was in front of the room giving instructions for the day, Mrs. Barner entered quietly and began to interrogate Christina about her loyalty to North Marion. As the questioning escalated, I could see various responses by the students. Most of them were unable to look at the two in the front of the room, the accuser and the accused. Many of them looked at me with a "Why don't you do something?" plea in their eyes. When Mrs. Barner finally told Mrs. Gouzd that they needed to finish this in Mrs. DeVito's office and they left the classroom, I was left with an overwhelming outrage by the students. They were incensed first that Mrs. Gouzd would even be accused of being anything other than a loyal Husky. They were also agitated by Mrs. Barner's making very public accusations.

Only a few minutes after her departure for further questioning, Mrs. Gouzd returned to lead a very spirited discussion of the Spanish Inquisition with the students. Through this modern portrayal of false allegations and intense interrogation, the students experienced first-hand, and on a much smaller scale, what heretics endured during the Inquisition. I doubt that they will soon forget this dark period in history.