The Medieval The Medieval PeriodPeriod

1066 1066 -- 16111611

English:English:The FormativeThe Formative

YearsYears

William the Conqueror The Battle of Hastings

1066 A.D

French Win – Language Changes!

Norman Rule brings Feudalism

Class system

Power = LAND

Watch for the motif of … commoner vs. aristocrat

in British lit!

FEUDALISM

monarch divides land into feuds or fiefs

lords allied to monarch build private estates

knights = soldiers/armies

serfs = workers

each estate a self-sufficient town

CHIVALRY

cheval (French for horse)

knightly behavior– reverence to women– service to their lord– allegiance to church– fair play in combat– fight bravely & well– keep your word

The Magna Carta

beginning-of-end for feudalism

spark of representative democracy & a voice for the “common man”

63 clauses - written in Latin

everyday demands for fair treatment

DATE?

The Rise of Villages

free peasants become yeomen

outlaws rebel vs. harsh lords

merchant class sells to nobles– wool industry

the birth of guilds– set work standards & prices– train apprentices

The Black Death

bubonic plague

killed almost half population

changes social structure– workers scarce– higher wages– better working

conditions

The Church

Roman Catholic Church in charge

independent govt. system

absolute control of both noble & low classes

discontent develops with corruption & lack of reforms

Church Life

Church leaders highly educated

Cathedrals, churches, & abbeys constructed

Friars & monks work among common people

Monasteries & nunneries flourish with land ownership

Church Architecture

Westminster Abbey

Church Architecture

Old Canterbury Cathedral

Church Architecture

Canterbury Cathedral

Educational Advances

Church controls education

Universities founded– Oxford Univ. (1167)– Cambridge Univ. (1209)

Teaching done in Latin

the “Liberal Arts” education

Seven Liberal Arts

Grammar

Logic

Rhetoric

Arithmetic

Geometry

Astronomy

Music

The Crusades

recapture Jerusalem from Moslems

European traditions come to England

trade routes bring Oriental (Eastern) ideas to England

What is this?

An illustration fromThe Voiage and Travaile ofSir John Maundeville, Knight

A 14th century guidebook for pilgrimstraveling to Jerusalem, by an author with a

“MARVEL”ous imagination.

• ants that made hills of gold dust• the fountain of youth• werewolves or wolfmen• Cyclops women• men with heads below their shoulders • a race of men with feet as big as umbrellas

More Maundeville Marvels

Development of Middle English

written language = French

spoken language – French among nobles– English among common

people

Middle English blends them

expanded vocabulary - two into one!

Latin remains the language of the Roman Catholic Church

until the mid-1900’s!

Folk Ballads

authorship anonymous

oral tradition – typically poetry

circulated among common people

examples:– “The Wife of Usher’s Well”– “Sir Patrick Spens”– “Daemon Lover”– “Robin Hood tales”

Literary Advances

the romance– Long tales of love or adventure– Focus on “courtly love”– Examples:

• King Arthur tales• Sir Gawain & the Green Knight

the lyric (poetry of emotion)

the drama

Poetry Advances

French poems depend on . . .– rhyme– stanzas– Meter

Anglo-Saxon roots . . . – alliteration & assonance die out

Drama

mystery plays & miracle plays– developed to teach common people

• NOTE: services in Latin– recount Bible stories– performance moved from church to

public areas– staged on platforms or wagons

morality plays – not Bible stories, but moral themes– actors portray abstract qualities

• Everyman & Death

A Church Drama

Characters from “Everyman”

Beauty Fellowship Everyman

Emergence of Writers

Geoffrey Chaucer – student of human nature

John Wycliff– translator of Bible into English

Sir Thomas Mallory– recorder of Arthurian legends

William Langland– protester vs. social injustice

The Printing Press

Changes History

The Printing Press

credited to Gutenberg in Germany

William Caxton in England (1476)– Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales– Malory’s Morte d’Arthur– Vergil’s Aeneid

Medieval Summary

Language blends English & French

Feudalism brings order, but rigid class system

Church - a strong influence– education– architecture– drama

Rise of middle class

The printing press revolution

First great English writers

Romance, lyric poetry, & drama develop

Medieval Extra Credit

The Medieval Feast poster inthe Honors English classroomcontains at least 24 errors or

anachronisms.

Working on your own,create your list of 24 “out

of place or time” items andsubmit it to the teacher bythe end of the school day

on November 26th.