Transcript The Middle Ages works with guided notes

The Middle Ages
and
The Canterbury Tales
Table of Contents
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Estates in medieval society
Feudalism
Chivalry/women
Languages
The Crusades
Thomas a Becket
Magna Carta
Hundred Years’ War
Black Death
OE/ME
Romance
Chaucer
CT structure
CT contents
Medieval society made up of 3 “estates”:
1. nobility—rulers (hereditary)
2. church—spiritual welfare of society
3. everyone else—mass of commoners who
did work to provide for physical needs
Feudalism
This code was central
to medieval social
values.
Women were always
subservient to men;
her value depended
on the value of the
land she brought to a
marriage.
3 languages spoken at this time:
French (nobility)
Latin (church, businesses, scholars/schools)
English (common people)
The Crusades
• 1095-1270
• The Catholic church sponsored a series of
military expeditions to the Middle East to
win Jerusalem and the Holy Land from
Muslims.
• Ultimately failed, but contributed to
weakening feudalism.
Thomas á Becket
Under feudalism, the king appointed
bishops and gave them land; some
held high positions in the
government. People began to
complain about government
control of the church and church
control in nonreligious matters.
•King Henry II appointed Thomas a Becket (priest) as Archbishop of
Canterbury (head of RC Church in England).
•Becket opposed to king’s attempts to establish royal rights over the church
(especially the right of the king’s courts to punish church officials who
committed crimes).
•Henry once angrily exclaimed, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”
•Four knights took him literally and murdered Becket in Canterbury Cathedral,
where he was praying.
•Murder shocked Christians of Europe, Becket was made a saint.
•Shrine dedicated to Becket is the destination in The Canterbury Tales.
Magna Carta
• Barons were taxed
excessively to pay for
military campaigns/wars
(like the Crusades).
• Barons finally fed up, in
1215 revolted against taxes
and forced the king to sign
the Magna Carta (placed
king under the law to
protect citizens).
The Hundred Years’ War
• 1337-1453
• Series of wars between England and
France; England lost all of its remaining
territory in Europe
• After this, less French influence on
English culture. English became the
language of the nobility, courts,
parliament, etc
The Black Death
• During Hundred Years’ War; first hit England in
1348
• Epidemic of bubonic plague; spread by the bite of
infected fleas carried by rats**
• Painful swellings, high fever, body aches; death
within five days of contraction.
• Called Black Death because of the way victims
looked in final stages: as respiratory systems
failed, bodies turned dark purple and developed
soft black swellings.
• Killed about 1/3 of England’s people
• The plague still exists! Small outbreaks have
occurred as recently as 1994; scientists have
developed vaccines and antibiotics to stop future
outbreaks
• Caused a labor shortage, so workers could demand
more money and peasants could demand lower
rent on their land. Landlords lost money; this
meant more and larger cities, more people moved
there; feudalism broke down even more
**Recently, scientists have found inconsistencies that
they say prove the Black Death was NOT the bubonic
plague; instead, it may have been an early ancestor of
ebola.
Old English/Middle English
By 1300s, Middle English spoken
– Old English literature spoke for the nobility;
spoke with one dignified voice
– Middle English literature spoke for everybody;
spoke with many voices, wide variety of topics
By late 14th century, large and prosperous
middle class was emerging (Chaucer born
into this middle class).
Romance
•
•
•
•
Romance became the most popular type/genre of literature:
Describes the adventures of a legendary knight; celebrates
chivalry and emphasizes courtly love
Courtly love: a man’s love for one idealized (nearly perfect)
woman makes him a better person; ideally nonsexual; wore
her colors in battle, inspired by her, but she’s always out of
reach
Heroes are admirable men who share weaknesses and
feelings of ordinary humans (OE heroes seemed like
superheroes; impossibly perfect)
Many romances were about King Arthur and the knights of
the Round Table
Geoffrey Chaucer
• the greatest English writer of the Middle Ages; well-known government official
(like a presidential adviser)
• son of prosperous wine merchant
• in early teens, was placed as a page in an aristocratic household
• held many administrative posts—was a hardworking civil servant
• his wife, Philippa, was daughter of a knight (she was of a higher rank than her
husband)
• probably wrote most of his poetry in French (language of art and literature), but he
also spoke Italian and could read Latin
• born into upper middle class, but attained rank of “esquire” (gentleman) because he
associated with aristocracy and served them; he came into contact with both
commoners and aristocracy but was not securely anchored in either world
CT Structure
Canterbury Tales written
in late 1300s
• Collection of stories told
by people making a
religious pilgrimage
(journey) to shrine of
St. Thomas a Becket in
Canterbury
• Chaucer introduced
iambic pentameter
(each line = 10 syllables,
one stressed, one
unstressed); most
widely used meter in
English poetry
• frame story—provides
a means for telling
other stories within the
story; frame =
pilgrimage
Originally intended to include 122 stories (2 for each
pilgrim on the way, 2 each on the way back). Only
completed 22 stories. Pilgrims never get to
Canterbury.
CT Characters
29 diverse pilgrims; meet at an inn, decide to tell stories to pass the time
Pilgrims represent medieval life and society (Chaucer commenting on societal
conditions):
• Feudal system—
knight, squire,
yeoman, franklin,
plowman, miller, reeve
• Religious life—
nun, monk, friar,
cleric, parson,
summoner, pardoner
• Trades/professions—
merchant, sergeant at
the law, five
tradesmen, cook,
skipper, doctor, wife of
bath, manciple, host