As usual, IEM researchers will again attend the European Researchers’ Night, which will take place on September 27th at the National Museum of Natural History and Science and is dedicated to the theme “Science for All – Inclusion and Sustainability.”

Carlos Alves, responsible for developing and implementing the IEM brand, Medieval, an Institute of Medieval Studies brand dedicated exclusively to disseminating medieval History to non-specialized audiences, will produce the activity “Medieval – the awakening to History! “.

The activity we propose to carry out is exclusively aimed at children discovering the origins of medieval towers in the Middle Ages. Through a paper fold, children will have the opportunity to build a tower and learn about some of its main architectural features and the weapons associated with attack and defense. The target audience for this activity is between 6 and 12 years old.

Filipa Lopes, accompanied by researchers Paulo Lopes, Catarina Barreira and João Luís Fontes, will implement the activity “Creating roots: recording and archiving family memories in the past and present”, which will ask the following questions to children and young people:

How did families write in the past?

What materials did they use?

How did they record their memories and those of their ancestors?

How were the documents produced kept?

Once stored, how did you find them?

Visitors are therefore invited to discover how some families wrote, recorded memories, and saved documents in the medieval and modern past. They are also invited to find out, value, and preserve their handwritten family memories in an increasingly digital present. The proposed activity is divided into two parts: explanatory, demonstrative, and experimental. In the first part of the activity, reproductions of handwritten family documents will be shown (namely some family trees) explaining how to write with animal quills and ink. A chest will also be presented with folded and quoted documents, as storing documents in some eras was common. Visitors will then be invited to create their family genealogy using instruments similar to those used in the medieval and modern periods (quill, paper imitating parchment, or manufactured paper and ink). In the end, they can take the paper with their genealogy home and keep it in the family archive.

Tiago Viúla de Faria will promote activities within the scope of IEM’s NEMUS network, having as an aggregating element some of the results of the FALCO Exploratory Project. It is intended to illustrate the importance of falconry as a cultural practice associated with the Middle Ages while highlighting its longevity and expression in the present time. The following activities are planned, with the title “Sustainability of an ancestral practice: Falconry and the Middle Ages”:

  • presentation of the characteristics of the bird of prey and its use in medieval hunting
  • distribution of informative leaflets – printed and electronic versions (by reading a QR code)
  • video showing traditional falconry practices
  • learning techniques associated with historical falconry: How to tie the “falconer’s knot”?