Chapter 11Patterns of Medieval Life

“Medieval”

• Issues regarding periodization:–How long did the Middle Ages l

ast?

–When did it start and end?

–From whose view is the period in the “middle”?

Rome’s Three Heirs

• Byzantium

• Islam

• Latin Christendom

Languages• Byzantium: Greek

• Islam: Arabic

• Latin Christendom: Latin

•Latin Christendom

Three Traditions• 1. Classical: Greco-Roman

• 2. Judeo-Christian

• 3. Germanic

•Germanic Tribes

Germanic-Roman Relations

• The Germans were barbarians in Roman eyes, but they were not therefore savages.

Germanic Invasions

• 406 Vandals invaded Gaul, Spain, and North Africa.• 410 Rome was sacked by Visigoths.• 455 Rome was sacked by Vandals.• 476 Western Roman emperor was deposed by Germanic tribes.• c.500 Anglo-Saxon tribes invaded England. (Fiero 244)

Early Christian World and the Barbarian Invasions, ca. 500 http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/297fd9bf21887234f4ec.jpg

Success of German Invasions

• How did the Germans triumph so easily?

--The Roman armies were depleted.

--The Romans were not zealous about defending themselves.

Impact• The Germanic conquests accelerated a proc

ess of urban decay that was already well advanced.

• Values of the Germanic warring culture, such as the bond of fealty, and the practice of rewarding warriors with land or spoils of battle, would become fundamental to medieval feudalism.

(Fiero 244)

•The Huns, 451

• The End of the Western Empire, 476 (After the barbarian king of Italy Odoacer disposed the last Emperor Romulus Augustulus)

Germanic Kingdoms

•Germanic Literature

Beowulf• About 700

• Originated among the Anglo-Saxons

• Old Englishhttp://www.lone-star.net/literature/beowulf/beowulf2.htm

Beowulf: Plot Summary

• See http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/beowulf/shortsumm.html

• http://thebolts.com/Mike/grade12/beowulf/summary.htm

• http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/beowulf/summary.html

• See http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/beowulf/shortsumm.html

• http://thebolts.com/Mike/grade12/beowulf/summary.htm

• http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/beowulf/summary.html

• See http://www.gradesaver.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/beowulf/shortsumm.html

• http://thebolts.com/Mike/grade12/beowulf/summary.htm

• http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/beowulf/summary.html

http://www.lone-star.net/literature/beowulf/beowulf1.htm

•Germanic Art

• The art of Germanic peoples is characterized as abstract, stylized and highly decorative.

• Other characteristics include:- use of gold and gems- non-figurative- geometric designs - flat, two-dimensional- organic, interlaced, intertwined shapes filli

ng

the spaces- Horror vacui - literally fear of empty space,

open spaces in designs are filled • http://www.coco.cc.az.us/apetersen/_ART201/early_medieval.htm

•Cloisonné

Chalice (Eucharistic cup)

Ardagh Chalice, c. 800-899 AD, silver, silver gilt, enamel. Found in 1847 by a small boy dig

ging for potatos.

Paten

(Eucharistic plate)

Serpentine paten with fish. Mount: court of Charles the Bald (second half of the 9th century). Serpentine, gold, glass and gems.

• Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance

Rise of the Carolingian Empire• 717 Clovis (Merovingian): founder of the Frankish

State, first Christian king of the Franks

• 717-751 The Carolingians (Charles, Pepin, and Carloman) shared power with the Merovingian kings

• 751 Pepin became king of the Franks

• 768 Charlemagne succeeded Pepin

• 800 Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman emperor

• 814 Charlemagne died

Charlemagne• Father of France: united the kingdom• Goal of reforms: to revive the Roman Em

pire• The Carolingian Renaissance

– the Latin form of “Charles” is “Carolus”

– viewed classical learning as the foundation of Christian wisdom

Carolingian Renaissance• Charlemagne set up a “palace scho

ol” at Aachen.• Medieval education: --trivium (grammar, rhetoric, dialecti

c)

--quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy)

Charlemagne’s Church at Aachen

http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/lecture_mid_civ.htm

Charlemagne’s Church at Aachenhttp://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/lecture_mid_civ.htm

Charlemagne• Crowned by Pope Leo III in 800

–Claimed to be the direct heir of Caesar Augustus

–A major step in the developing self-awareness of western European civilization

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Europeweb/factfile/Unique-facts-Europe35.htm

The Empire of Charlemagne, 814 http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/b021ede56f3fd49ead0d.jpg

The Collapse• 10th century

• Viking raids

• Civil wars: the growing power of local lords

843 CE

• St. Matthew, from the Gospel Book of Charlemagne, c.800-10. This illumination, probably originating at Charles' court in Aachen, shows the classicizing side of the Carolingian Renaissance: the evangelist's portrait closely follows Roman portraiture. In the representation below from the Gospel Book of Archbishop Ebbo, c. 816-35, the portrait - here, St. Mark - has transformed the Roman model in a distinctively Carolingian way. The lines create a sense of energy and movement rather than of calm or balance. The evangelist is no longer the Roman sage setting down his wisdom but the inspired holy man looking away from his book to the heaven from which comes his animating, disturbing inspiration. http://www.etss.edu/hts/hts2/info13.htm

Legacy

• Beginnings of a common western European civilization

• 871-899: King Alfred the Great unified Anglo-Saxon England, modeling closely on Carolingian example.

• 10th century: the Saxon kings of Germany (East Francia) built authority on conquests into the Slavic lands.

•Feudalism

http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/lecture_mid_civ.htm

LordMale:

chevalier,

knight

Fief Vassal Serf

(1) military defense

(2) Political

leadership

the grant of land (manors)

Homage and Services to the lord

Unfree peasants

(crops,

labor)

• King

• Vassals 附庸– Duke 公– Marquis 侯– Earl / Count 伯– Viscount 子– Baron 男– Knight

• Squire (a knight’s helper)

• Serfs

• The rise of medieval towns

→the rise of the middle class

→ the decline of feudalism

Literature

• The Song of Roland

• The Bayeux Tapestry

12th Century illumination showing Charlemagne in the legendary aspect that he achieved during the Middle Ages, especially through texts such as the Song of Roland. Here Charlemagne and Roland prepare to fight the Muslims in Spain.

The Song of Roland

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Song+of+Roland

• The Norman Conquest

• Vikings (from Scandinavia)

→ Northmen or Normans

→ Normandy in France

• 1066 The Norman Conquest

William of Normandy

defeated the Anglo-

Saxon Duke Harold

and became king of

England

The Bayeux Tapestry• The Bayeux Tapestry is history as writte

n by the winners.  William of Normandy (in northern France) crosses the English Channel and triumphs at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, becoming William the Conqueror, King of England. 

http://www.geocities.com/intrepidberkeleyexplorer/Page16J.html

A charge by the Norman Cavalry on the Saxon shield wall. http://www.battle1066.com/btpt4a.shtml

The Saxon shield wall that William and his men found so hard to break down. http://www.battle1066.com/btpt4b.shtml

To show his men that he in fact was still alive, he raised his mask and rode along his bedraggled line so that his men could see his face.

http://www.geocities.com/intrepidberkeleyexplorer/Page16J.html

Halley's Comet, which appeared in 1066, was widely held to be a portent of the disaster that was to befall Harold. The stamp from St. Helena shows an enlarged view of the im

age of the comet on the tapestry. http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMXSX57ESD_index_3.html http://sio.midco.net/danstopicalstamps/tapestry.htm

Consequences• The Norman Conquest marked the transfer

of power in England from Anglo-Saxon rulers to Norman noblemen who were already vassals of the king of France.

• The Normans brought feudalism to England. (Fiero 255)

• The Christian Crusades

(the 11th – 13th centuries)

The Major Crusades, 1096-1204 http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/b021ede56f3fd49ead0d.jpg

• The Crusades were military expeditions sent by the Christians between the 11th and the 14th centuries to recapture the Holy Land (Palestine) from the Muslims.

• Causes:

(1) the Seljuk Turks refused to let Christian pilgrims visit the Holy Land

(2) the request of the Byzantine emperor

The First Crusade

• 1096-99

• Mobilized by Pope Urban II

• Captured Jerusalem in 1099.

• Divided the Holy Land into four kingdoms (Antioch, Edessa, Jerusalem and Tripoli) and ruled for 60 years.

The Fourth Crusade

• 1202-1204

• The crusaders and the Venetian merchants captured and looted the Christian city of Constantinople.

• No attempt was made to free the Holy Land or fight the Muslims.

The Children’s Crusade

• 1212• A shepherd boy called Stephen led about

30,000 French children on a “crusade.”• The captains of their ships tricked the

children by pretending to take them to the Holy Land free. The children were taken to North Africa and sold to the Muslims as slaves. (Living World History, Vol. II)

Consequences• (1) Revival of trade between East and West.

(The greatest economic gains went to the Italian maritime republics in of Venice and Genoa.)

• (2) Feudal lords established greater authority, leading to the rise of nation-states. (More)

Consequences• (3) The crusades promoted cultural

exchange between western Europe and the Islamic world. (Arabic translations of Greek texts and Islamic literature poured into Europe.)

• (4) The decline of the Byzantine empire.

•Medieval Romance and Courtly Love

“To love was to suffer.” (Fiero 260)

•The End