• To provide a glimpse into the medieval English world by close observation of a primary source, the Luttrell Psalter.
• To introduce or summarise a topic.
• To raise questions about how we can know about the the past and how medieval manuscripts enable us to access the past. How historically accurate are they? How do the images they contain shape current ideas of how medieval English people looked and lived?

The gentle pace of the images and commentary allows each programme to be shown from beginning to end. Alternatively, playing or re-playing certain sections will enable students to focus on particular topics.

By reviewing the programmes beforehand, teachers can produce appropriate materials according to their needs.

The programmes lend themselves particularly to:

• Recall, comprehension and inference questions. Students can be asked to show that they can extract and understand the information in the programme. Students can also try to make some inferences about medieval society based on the programmes.
• Examining sources for usefulness. Students can discuss the nature, origin and purpose of the sources and what they show.
• Synthesis and interpretation. Students can combine the programme with their own knowledge, as well as adding any relevant extra information, to further their understanding of the period.

The Net Notes include detailed discussions of six selected pages from the Luttrell Psalter, homing in on some interesting illuminations and providing detailed information and explanation of their significance. The six topics are:

• King David
• Sir Geoffrey
• The Sheep Pen
• The Feast
• The City
• The Golden Coach

Teachers can use these notes to give the students more information, or for comprehension and source exercises.

A note on page numbering

In a document like this in which the pages are bound together but not numbered, it is conventional to number the pages sheet by sheet, calling the page on the right-hand side of the bound volume the ‘recto’ side and the reverse side the ‘verso’. For example, ‘page 13 recto’ (the first side of the 13th sheet) would in a modern book be page 25.