Council of Sens (Game Design)

The Council of Sens was originally convened by the Bishop of Sens for the octave of Pentecost as an occasion to display relics of saints. The importance the bishop attached to the event is underscored by the guests whom he invited: King Louis VII, then only twenty years old; the counts of Champagne and Nevers; the newly appointed Archbishop Samson of Reims; and the suffragan bishops of both Sens and Reims. This was to be a show of national unity before the relics of St. Stephen, as well as an occasion to assert the dignity of the archbishopric of Sens over its suffragan dioceses, including both Chartres and Paris.

But it turned into a trial of the one of the foremost intellectuals of the twelfth-century. At the hands of Bernard of Clairvaux, Peter Abelard was accused and convicted of heresy, in what has been described as a show trial.

In the second part of our course, students will divide up into groups - most will research and describe the various persons who would have attended the council, others will focus more on gameplay, take on an editorial role, or focus on the more academic research aspect of this kind of game.

The game design development plan is outlined here, which the class will edit together.