The Medieval Period

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The Medieval PeriodThe Middle Ages10661485
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1066The Norman Conquest

• Edward the Confessor promised crown to William of
  Normandy
• Had no children
• Considered William his son
• On his deathbed, sent his brother-in-law (Harold)
  to pledge loyalty to William
• Harold crowns himself King the same day as
  Edwards burial
• Supported by wealthy English

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1066The Norman Conquest

• William retaliates through an attack at Hastings
• Portrayed on the Bayeux Tapestry (next slide)
• William the Conqueror (Norman) succeeds
• Results
• England forms tighter bond with continental
  Europe
• Established powerful monarchy
• New form of government
• THE BIRTH OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!!!!

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Bayeux TapestryHarolds Death
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1. The Feudal System

• The King owned all the land in England
• Nobles and Bishops owned divisions of the land
  and paid taxes to the King
• Knights defended the land in return for a place
  to live
• Serfs, Yeoman, and Peasants worked the land and
  paid taxes to the Nobles and Bishops

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2. New Laws

• William the Conqueror established general laws
• All people must be practicing Catholics
• No death penalty (repealed after his death)
• Allowed nobles and bishops to create their own
  laws
• Droit de Seigneur or Primae Noctis

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3. Language

• Lords spoke French
• Serfs spoke Old English
• Combined to form Middle English
• L boef moutons porc veau
• S ox sheep swine calf

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3. Language

• Old English became less guttural
• French became tougher

Old French est, ami, bel, bon, en, fier,
chevalier Dieu, seul, cuer, tu, venu, lui,
frais, raison
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Old English
Verse 26-31
Heres what it sounded like
Selection from the Prologue of Beowulf
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Middle English
Whan that aprill with his shoures sooteThe
droghte of march hath perced to the roote,And
bathed every veyne in swich licourOf which vertu
engendred is the flourWhan Zephirus eek with
his sweete breethInspired hath in every holt and
heethThe tendre croppes
Selection from the Prologue of Canterbury Tales
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3. Language

• Created many new words for
• Food
• Military
• Social Order
• Government
• Law
• Geography

French English
Soudier Soldier
Corune Crown
Paisant Peasant
Sucre Sugar
Liberté Liberty
Traitre Traitor
Felonie Felony
Acuser Accuse
Cité City
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4. The Church

• Catholicism was the only Christian religion in
  the world during the Middle Ages
• Very powerful
• Hierarchy
• Mass in Latin
• Indulgences
• Grand cathedrals (Westminster Abbey)

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Westminster Abbey

• Built in 1065
• All royal funerals and coronations are here
• Poets Corner
• Chaucer, Tennyson, Browning, and Charles Dickens
  are among those buried here

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The University of Oxford

• Oldest English-speaking university in the world
• Teaching existed in some form in 1096
• Each college was self-governing and owned land

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The Crusades

• Jerusalem and Modern-day Israel
• Attacks on cityHoly Land for many religions
• Pope Urban IIrid Holy Land of Muslims
• England produced large armyled by Richard I
• 84 serfs (slaves)
• 16 Yeomen (free men)

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Decline

• The Black Death
• The Failing Church
• The 100 Years War
• The War of the Roses

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1. The Black Death

• Commonly known as the Bubonic Plague
• ½ of Europes population killed
• Symptoms include
• Swollen lymph nodes
• High fever
• Hallucinations
• Blackening of the skin
• Transmitted by fleas on rats

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2. The Failing Church

• Antipopea false pope not recognized because not
  canonically elected
• 14 Antipopes during Medieval Period
• Lead to War
• Spreading Protestant Reformation
• Martin Luther and his theses
• 1384John Wycliffe translates the Bible into
  English
• Wycliffe says the Bible is the supreme law of the
  church

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3. The 100 Years War

• 13391453
• Edward III tries to claim French throne
• War ends in 1453England is totally out of France
• Brought unity to England

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4. The War of the Roses

• 14551485
• House of York (white) against the House of
  Lancaster (red)
• Both descendants of Edward IIIfight over which
  family has stronger claim to throne
• ResultHenry VII becomes first Tudor King
• Henry is a Lancaster
• Marries Elizabeth, a York
• Unites England
• End of the Medieval Period