creating games in the classroom

Playing the Pontificate of Innocent III

This is a simulation to play over two class periods in a course on the Middle Ages or the Crusades. Students play individual roles, each with their own background, resources and objectives. Here is a map of the characters and their relationships:

Characters (in order, based on number of students):

1. Pope

2. Count of Flanders

3. Hohenstaufen Candidate for Emperor

4. Welf Candidate for Emperor

5. King of France

6. King of England

7. King of Aragon

8. King of Castile

9. Count of Toulouse

10. Viscount of Carcassonne

11. Bishop of Livonia

12. Doge of Venice

13. Doge of Genoa

14. King of Leon

15. King of Portugal

16. Templar Grandmaster

17. Exiled claimant for Byzantine Emperor (ideal minimum)

18. Count of Champagne

19. Cardinal and Head of the Cistercian Order

20. Duke of Brittany

21. King of Jerusalem

22. Eleanor of Aquitaine

23. Archbishop of Cologne

24. Margrave of Abruzzo

25. Earl of Salisbury

26. Bishop of Beauvais

27. Cardinal

28. Queen of Castile

29. Archbishop of Santiago

30. Countess of Flanders

31. Brother of the King of Aragon

32. Eldest son of the King of Portugal

33. Venetian Admiral

34. Archbishop of Genoa

35. Sister of the Duke of Brittany

36. Seneschal of the Templars

37. Emissary of the Emperor in Constantinople

38-42. Knights to be recruited and mercenaries to be hired

Events covered:

  • Fourth & Fifth Crusades

    • Politics of Constantinople, Egypt and Cyprus

    • Crusade financing, preaching and logistics

  • Livonia Crusade

  • Cathars & the Albigensian Crusade

  • Struggle between the Hohenstaufen vs. Welf for the Imperial title

  • The Reconquista and competition between Iberian monarchs

  • Philip Augustus vs. John over England's Angevin holdings

  • Investiture of the Archbishop of Canterbury

  • Philip Augustus' marriages

  • Regency over Frederick II and Sicily

  • Marriage alliances

  • Venetian and Genoese competition

Request a free copy of the character sheets and instructions