The%20Medieval%20Period

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The Medieval Period

• 450 1450 A.D.

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Also Known As

• The Middle Ages
• The Dark Ages
• This was because of a lack of central government,
  poverty and ignorance

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Characteristics

• Society was made up of 3 orders clergy,
  nobility serfs
• Once in an order, a person was pretty much locked
  into it
• This included their ancestors to follow them

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The Clergy

• Subject to their own laws
• Observed their own levels of social class
• Administered divine justice
• Were looked to for blessings
• Were the guardians of society

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The Nobility

• Upper nobility were the kings followed by large
  land owners with titles like Duke or Count
• Lower nobility were smaller land owners the
  Knight class

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The Serfs

• These people worked land owned by others
• They paid a share to the land owner and kept the
  rest
• Serfs were free but still beholden to the land
  owners they served

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What This Means

• Power Money were held by the few
• The majority of people were uneducated and
  concerned with survival
• The church held great power over all

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The Rise of the Christian Church

• This setting promoted the rise of a religion that
  promised happiness in the afterlife
  Christianity
• Serfs saw their lives as a penance to be paid in
  order to gain eternal salvation

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More About the Rise

• This attitude helped the nobility to maintain
  control
• It also gave great power to the church as it was
  viewed as the over riding power in Europe during
  this time

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Impact on the Arts

• The majority of art was produced and controlled
  by the church and wealthy
• Enjoyment of the arts was limited to the few with
  the exception of social fads

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Characteristics of Medieval Fine Art

• The arts appeal to the emotions and stress the
  importance of religion in all aspects of life
• The purpose is to instruct the populace in the
  Christian faith

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Types of Medieval Fine Art

• Illuminated Manuscripts
• Celtic Art
• Byzantine, Romanesque Gothic Architecture
• Dance Macabre
• Gregorian Chant
• Morality Plays
• The Tarantella
• Minstrels

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Illuminated Manuscript

• This is artwork that is used to decorate text
• Drawings are 2-dimentional and use primary colors
  mostly
• Ornamentation is used freely
• No other form captures the Medieval spirit as well

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Examples
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The Book of Kells

• The most famous collection of illuminated
  manuscript
• An Irish manuscript that contained the four
  gospels
• The detail in the knot designs shows great care

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Examples
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Byzantine Architecture

• Heavy Roman influence vaults, arches, domes,
  columns
• Mixture of brick, stone mortar
• Monumental in size
• Decorated with gold mosaics
• Middle Eastern

Basilica of Hagia Sophia
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Mosaics

• Works created by gluing little, colorful pieces
  of stone together
• Used by the Byzantines as a major source of
  artistic expression
• Most works are religious

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Examples
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Romanesque Architecture

• The style of the traditional Medieval castle
• Geometric shapes
• Round arches
• Decorated with Relief Sculptures to teach the
  Christian faith
• Shelter protection

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Relief Sculpture
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Gothic Architecture

• Gothic was a term used for designs against the
  classical form
• It was against the Greek Roman styles
• Tried to create a new Christian style of design

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More Gothic

• Since the design was religious in nature, the
  most impressive examples are Cathedrals
• The most famous of which is the Notre Dame in the
  center of Paris, France

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Innovations in Design
Pointed Arches
Gargoyles
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Innovations in Design
Rose Window
Flying Buttress
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Dance Macabre

• Art that depicts skeletons dancing
• Influenced by the Black Death
• Shows societies infatuation with death
• Still used in modern art (Halloween)

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Examples
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Gregorian Chant

• When Pope Gregory I decided to reorganize the
  church, he wanted uniform service music
• This required that a form of notation be created
  so that everyone would be playing the same songs

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Gregorian Chant

• This was the first music ever written in a
  universal style
• Made up of a single melody and nothing else
• Words are biblical text
• Was the official music of the church for 1000
  years

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Polyphony

• Developed after Gregorian Chant
• Combines two chant melodies to produce harmony
• Comes from Greek poly (many) phones (voice)

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Secular Music

• Unlike chant polyphony that was for the church
  (sacred)
• Topics of words were wine, women song
• Not written
• Learned by rote
• Sung with lute accompaniment

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Morality Plays

• Drama of the Medieval Period
• Taught moral lessons from the church
• 1st dealt with the lives of saints was
  performed in church
• Classic tales of good vs. evil

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Everyman

• Best example of a morality play
• Protagonist is a symbol for all human kind
• It tells the story of his life acts
• Characters are love, greed, death, etc
• Only good deeds is with him at the end

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Tarantella

• Popular dance of the late Medieval
• Native dance of south Italy
• 1st move is a jump as if bitten by a spider
• Dancers play tambourines castanets while
  dancing
• Named for the tarantula spider

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Dance Mania

• Known as St. Vituss Dance
• Frantic dance to exhaustion that sometimes ended
  in death
• Believed to combat the plague
• A combination of dance marathons mosh pits

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Thus Endth
The Medieval Period