Medieval Period

1
Medieval Period

• From the Domesday Book to Morte dArthur

2
Medieval Period 1066-1485

• Edward the Confessor died without a direct heir
  to the throne of England.
• A council of elders meet and give the throne to
  Harold of Saxony.
• William of Normandy claimed that Edward had
  actually made him his heir.
• William invades England and defeats Harold II to
  establish a Norman court in England.
• William is crowned king on Christmas Day in 1066.
• Marks beginning of Medieval Period

3
William the Conqueror

• Illegitimate, a cousin of Edward the Confessor
• Held the area of northwestern France called
  Normandy
• In 1086 the Domesday Book listed all of his
  holdings in England and established a basis for
  taxation
• Replaced many of the Anglo-Saxon lords with
  Normans to solidify his power.
• Had 4 sons and 6 daughters, died at 60 years old

4
The Norman Court

• New culture doesnt replace the old, but instead
  the two cultures blend together to create a new
  one that retains the values from both.
• Strong central government, clearly defined
  authority, less democratic
• Feudalism is now the system of rule
• Language shift to French Norman from English.
• Anglo-Saxons more advanced in Arts, Crafts and
  Lit, so co-opted into culture.

5
Feudalism

• Barons paid fees or taxes to the king and supply
  knights if needed to the king.
• Knights receive lands called manors
• Peasants who worked the land at the manors were
  called serfs.
• Serfs were protected and had the right to farm
  small plot of land, some crops went to the lord.
  Serfs were tied to the land and lived in poverty.
  They had to seek the lords permission to marry
  or to move to another plot of land.

6
Feudal Hierarchy

• God
• King
• OverlordVassals
• Barons
• Knights
• Serfs

7
Domesday Book

• Boundaries were vague, so many disputes arose
  over property.
• The Domesday Book drawn up in 1086, was a
  complete inventory of all the property under
  Williams control.
• It listed landowners and their claims, now taxes
  could be based on real property instead of a
  uniform tax law.

8
Medieval Church

• Roman Catholic church was a powerful unifying
  force in England, during the Middle Ages
• 1372-The Bible is translated into English by John
  Wycliffe.
• Canterbury becomes Englands religious center.
• Middle English is now the language, has the
  French influencenew words like bail and
  sergeant.
• Latin is still the language for all educated
  persons.

9
Church controls all

• Everyone, even the king, is responsible to the
  Church.
• The Church served as publisher, librarian and
  teacher.
• In England, abbeys and monasteries were centers
  of learning and the arts. Economically
  self-sufficient, often immense farms.
• Church officials often held civil offices and
  acted as advisors for the king.
• Churches were the sites for great architecture as
  cathedrals were built, filled with stained glass
  and art.
• Knights were willing to die for religious
  beliefs, witnessed in the Crusades, or Holy Wars.

10
The Crusades

• These military expeditions wanted to free the
  holy lands from the Moslems.
• The 1st Crusade was in 1095, it began as a
  religious war, but also economic and political
  benefits were sought as well.
• They stimulated trade between Europe and the
  Middle East.
• Western Europe did gain much from them, it
  exposed them to Arabic culture, especially
  medicine and mathematics, and foods like rice,
  sugar and apricots.
• Crusades encouraged the ideal of true knightly
  behavior and chivalry.

11
City Life

• Beginnings of textile industry.
• Sheep herding for wool becomes important.
• Guilds were formedorganizations like trade
  unions. Two types merchant and craft.
• Merchant guilds promoted businesses
• Crafts guilds were like our labor unions
• Apprentices moved through a hierarchy before
  becoming master craftsmen

12
Inheritance and Ordeals

• Gunpowder is invented during this period.
• 1180 Glass windows are introduced.
• Primogeniture determines the order of inheritance
  in families. The eldest son inherits the title
  and property, thus ensuring his service to the
  overlord.
• 1151 Chess is introduced to England
• This is a time when guilt or innocence is
  determined by ordeals, trials by combat or
  torture.

13
Magna Carta and Common Law

• King John (Lackland) is forced to sign the Magna
  Carta (Great Charter) in 1215. Meant that he
  could not raise taxes without the consent of the
  barons. Seen as the beginning of constitutional
  government. Granted the right to trial by jury,
  and a trial by a jury of ones peers.
• Common Law was a system of rights traditionally
  heldnot written law

14
Wars of the Roses

• 1455, the Wars of the Roses began-the house of
  Lancaster (the red rose) against the house of
  York (the white rose), Lancasters never regain
  power.
• Richard III was killed in battle and Henry Tudor,
  a descendant of Lancaster kings assumed the
  throne.
• Henry killed Richard III at Bosworth Field and
  married Elizabeth, the daughter of the Edward IV,
  united houses of York and Lancaster.
• Establishes the house of Tudor

15
Thomas Becket and Henry II

• Conflict between Church and State
• BecketArchbishop of Canterbury
• Believed in power of the church
• benefit of clergy
• Gave right to trial by clergy not king on church
  lands
• Henry II makes an idle complaint
• Knights kill Becket in Canterbury Cathedral
• Becket becomes a Saint
• Canterbury becomes a shrine where pilgrims visit
  for miracles

16
Plague and End of Feudalism

• Towns become important in the 13th century.
• In 1348 the Black Death struck and killed one
  third of the English population.
• The plague led to a scarcity in people to work
  and caused the end of feudalism.
• Workers realized their value and demand better
  working conditions and pay.
• Landowners begin to pay in cash to get people to
  work.

17
Hundred Years War

• Henry II
• Through his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine he
  gained vast amounts of French territory.
• Edward III
• The Hundred Years' War (1339-1453) began under
  his reign
• Henry V
• Led the English in the Hundred Years' War against
  France to keep Englands French holdings. The
  English used the longbow, which was a
  technological advance that could pierce armor.

18
Medieval Literature

• Romance was the lit favored by this time period.
• Romances were a blend of chivalry, with touches
  of love, magic and marvels.
• Tales of chivalry with a love interest, giants,
  dragons, wizards and sorceresses were often
  characters.
• These originally came from France and were
  brought to England by Eleanor of Aquitaine.
• They usually had 3 principal sources
  England-King Arthur, France-Charlemagne,
  Rome-classical stories (fall of Troy)

19
Chivalry

• Idea of the behavior of knights
• Treatment of women
• Stand when lady enters room
• Hold doors
• Give up chair
• Idea of warfarefair fighting, routs
• Promoted by romance literature

20
Miracle and Morality Plays

• Miracle plays were developed by the Church in an
  attempt to instruct illiterate people in Church
  doctrine.
• The plays eventually moved from the cathedral to
  the village green, and finally to ox-drawn
  pageant wagons.
• The actors were amateurs, but got paid, the actor
  who played God received the most.
• The morality play had actors playing the role of
  virtues and vices patience, greed, etc. The
  conflict between the virtue and the vice was not
  external but internal.

21
Ballads

• Stories sung by common people, 1190- Legend of
  Robin Hood
• Originated from lyric poems
• Subject matters came from everyday life of common
  people, disappointed love, jealousy, revenge and
  deeds of adventure.
• Used dialogue, repetition, simple plots
• Usually deals with a single action in a dramatic
  way.
• The refrain is used with the 1st line or two
  repeated in each stanza.

22
Chaucer and Canterbury Tales

• Stories told by pilgrims on way to the shrine in
  Canterbury
• Many of the tales revolve around themes and
  images from romance stories
• Tales of knights and ladies
• Courtly love themes
• Knights rescuing maidens and embarking on quests
• Knights Tale uses romantic elements in ancient
  classical setting

23
Use of Romance in Canterbury Tales

• Wife of Baths Tale set in Arthurian days with an
  unnamed knight as its hero
• Millers tale ridicules traditional elements of
  romance turning instead into a boisterous and
  violent romp

24
Satire of Romance tales?

• Fabliaux
• Comical and grotesque stories which characters
  often succeed because of sharp wits
• Plot climax is usually around the most grotesque
  feature bodily noise or function
• Nicholas tricks the carpenter into spending night
  in the barn so can sleep with his wife
• Climax when Nicholas farts in Absalons face only
  to be burned by a hot poker on his rump.

25
Characters

• Introduced in Prologue
• Knight
• Most admired-represents best qualities of knight
  in courtly love
• Wife of Bath
• Traveled on many pilgrimages
• Married 5 times
• Clothes rich and tasteful
• Wears scarlet, expensive color good seamstress
• Also uses her body to provide for herself

26
More characters

• Miller
• Wart on nose, big mouth
• Overturns conventions
• Pardoner
• Offers indulgencesuntrustworthy
• Carries false relics and pardons
• Monk
• Large, loud, well-clad
• Summoner
• Brings accused people to church courts
• Face scarred by leprosy, lecherous