The Road to Canossa

[Reading week - October 24th-28th]

October 31st

1077 (25‒28 January)

Matilda's mountain fortress in Canossa provides the end point to our game, but in the conflict between pope and German king the events and ideas produced between the time of the Synod of Worms and Henry's arrival at Canossa would continue to resonate and define political relationships of pope and king for centuries. Their disagreements would be litigated in councils and the court of public opinion for centuries more.

On October 31st (on the eve of All Saints [Hallows] Day), we will see who has the political, military and divine support to determine whether the king is cowed or an enraged royal is able to bring his army to Rome. We will work through any remaining actions, discussions or debates from the previous week and see who wins!

Unlike most games that you may have played, it is entirely possible to have multiple winners and losers. It is quite possible that several students will have the same number of victory points by the end of the game and therefore result in a tie. This is fine, history is not a zero-sum game, neither is this RTTP module.

Debrief - November 2nd

For November 2nd, everyone needs to complete your Self Assessment before class.

On November 2nd, we will rehash the game. People can reveal secrets, plots can be uncovered, and winners can (within limits) brag about their successes. But we will also compare our counterfactual history to the real history of the Investiture Controversy and see how and why our historical narrative might differ.

• this will also be an opportunity for us to provide suggestions and critiques of the game (any design changes suggested I can pass on to the creators?)

• this will allow us to think about what was fun/ what was educational – this will be a key starting point for us to design our own Reacting to the Past style game.

Do

You need to complete your self-assessment by November 2nd, 10am. Responses will not be collected after this point, and you will receive an unsatisfactory for your participation in the first part of the term.

• Link to self assessment: https://forms.office.com/r/XphbEfYjuu