Take a
look at the picture (below). I like to start some of my classes with an
impossible task such as working out what these series of squiggles is all
about. Surprisingly, if my pupils are given the topic they can come very close
to guessing what these mystery pictures are all about. This particular medieval
drawing is the beginning of a study of the Black Death.
Can you
work out what it is? Pause for wild
guesswork
The
picture actually shows graffiti from the Middle Ages and gives a fascinating
look into what people might have been thinking as the Black Death swept across
Europe between 1348-51. The meaning
is "A wretched, terrible, destructive year. The remnants of the people alone remain". It's taken from a medieval church in Hertfordshire where almost
the entire population died. We can only guess what happened to the author.
