Transcript The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages
Arthurian Legend
Medieval Period
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500 – 1500 AD
Sometimes split into two eras: the Dark
Ages and the Middle Ages (Medieval
Period)
b/t classical Greek and Roman cultures
and rebirth of classical values in the
Renaissance
Roman Empire Divides
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Byzantine empire
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Constantinople, Egypt, Asia Minor, eastern
Mediterranean, Balkans
Preserved classical knowledge and culture
Western empire
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Fell to the Germanic tribes – 476
Lombards – Italy
 Franks – France
 Anglo-Saxons - England
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The Roman Empire
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Western
Empire
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Falls to
Germanic
tribes – 476
AD
Eastern
Empire
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Falls to the
Ottoman
Turks – 1453
Christian Influence
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330 – Constantine names Christianity the
official religion of the Roman Empire
451 – Pope becomes religious authority of
the Church; Latin becomes the official
language
New Civilizations
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New nations
Blending of Roman, Celtic, and Germanic
language, law, and culture
The Franks
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Strongest Germanic tribe – France
Christian tribe
Charlemagne (Charles the Great)
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Conquered tribes and converted them to Christianity
Controlled France, East and West Germany, Austria,
Switzerland, northern Italy, northeastern Spain
Defeated Pope’s enemies in 799
Crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800
Encouraged learning and developed schools
The Song of Roland – story of his fight against the
Spanish Muslims
Grandsons warred and divided kingdom into 3
Romano-British (Celts) vs. Angles,
Saxons, and Jutes
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500 – Celtic king Arthur defeats British invaders
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First reference to legendary king
550 – Anglo-Saxons drive Celts from England;
Celts flee to Ireland, Wales, and Scotland
600 – Christianity accepted in much of the area
700 – Anglo-Saxons stop fighting within and
begin to establish England
Late 700s – invaders from the north (Norway,
Sweden, and Denmark)
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aka Norsemen, Northmen, Vikings
Timeline Continued…
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871-899 – Alfred
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Anglo-Saxon king
Puts laws into print
Encourages learning – English and Latin
Stops the northern invaders, who agree to stay in northeastern
England – 878
911 – Frankish king gives Viking chief northwestern
France (Normandy)
1066 – Norman duke, William, defeats King Harold to
become English king
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Introduced Norman language, laws, and government into
England
Norman rule brought new laws, heavy taxes, and a long period
of misery to the conquered people
Battle of Hastings
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William of Normandy
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King Harold
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Begins the battle weakened from other battles
October 14, 1066
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French duke
Married Matilda de Flanders, an English noblewoman
Wanted English throne
Many casualties
French have cavalry and thus advantage
Harold is slain
Christmas day, 1066
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William is crowned King of England
Spends most of his life fighting – William the Conqueror
Feudalism
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800s – 1200s
Landholders (lord) grant land (fief, feud) to a
man who promises to defend the lord (knight,
vassal)
Vassals could have vassals of their own
All lords were men; their wives were ladies
Land – main source of wealth
Landholders – most authority
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Needed people to protect and farm land
Vassal’s Obligations
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A certain number of days of military service
Money for the lord’s eldest daughter’s marriage
Money for the lord’s eldest son’s knighthood
Entertainment for the lord on inspection day
Money to free a captured lord, if necessary
Lord’s Obligations
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Provide money and soldiers for defense
Maintain roads and villages
Act as judge in disputes
Decline of Feudalism
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Increase of business and trade
Methods of warfare
Introduction of new weaponry
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Changes decrease lord’s power
Changes increase king’s power
The Manorial System
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Relationship of lord to the peasants of the
land
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Manor – large house or castle near the center
of the land
Castle – surrounded by thick walls and a moat
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In times of danger, peasants took shelter inside
castle walls
Huts – small houses located near the castle
Fields, orchards, forests
People of the Manorial System
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Lords
Knights
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Fought in tournaments
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Entertainment for all
Often fought to the death
Serfs
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Peasants who worked the land
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Worked fields
Cared for animals
Belonged to the land – never left the manor
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Had few rights and freedoms
Biggest Downfall
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System allowed for little or no
opportunities to exchange ideas or learn
new ways
The Roman Catholic Church
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Means “universal church of Rome”
Canon law
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Heresy
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blasphemy against God or the laws of the church
Excommunication
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law of the church
Barred from all churches and from the salvation of the soul –
punishment for heresy
Interdict
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Banning of all church services in the area – punishment for a
king’s refusal to cooperate with the Church’s requests
Extremely effective because missing mass is considered a mortal
sin; thus, everyone would go to Hell
Punishments
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Excommunication was the punishment for
heresy
Interdict was the punishment for a king’s
refusal to cooperate
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Made people fearful and angry
They would demand the ruler yield to the will
of the Church
Church’s Influence on the Manor
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Church officials advised lords and kings
Church officials conducted schools
Churches provided places for travelers to stay
Churches provided a place of refuge and hope in
uncertain times
Churches offered sanctuary to criminals
Church officials helped people write letters and
agreements
Church officials developed universities of
theology, medicine (Salerno), and law (Bologna)
Universities Established
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1100s – 1200s
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University of Paris
Oxford University
Cambridge University
Scholars of the Middle Ages
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Thomas Aquinas
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1225-1274
Famous scholar who wrote about the need for faith and reason
in order to understand God
Combines philosophy of Aristotle with Christian doctrine
Canonized for scholarship and teaching
Five arguments for the existence of God
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http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/aquinas3.html
Roger Bacon
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Founder of experimental science
Conducted experiments/research about the natural world
Airplanes
Medieval Art
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Served the Church
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Works of art in churches
Bibles were hand-decorated
Architecture of the churches
Romanesque
 Gothic
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Romanesque
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1000 – 1150
Thick stone walls
Tiny windows
Rounded arches
Gothic
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1150 – 1300
Thinner stone walls
High ceilings
Large, stained glass windows
Pointed arches
Tall towers
Notre Dame –
gargoyles protected
churches from demons
Westminster Abbey
The Crusades
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Christians traveled to Middle East to visit places
where Jesus lived and taught, especially
Jerusalem, the city of his crucifixion
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1095 – Council of Clermont
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Pope Urban II called for a crusade, a holy war, against the
Turks
1099 – Jerusalem is taken
1150 – Turks recapture Jerusalem
1291 – Turks have control of entire area
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Christians have obtained only the right to visit the city
Seljik Turks
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Muslims who began to interfere with
Christian visits to holy lands
Muslim religion – Islamic
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Believe Jesus is a prophet, but not son of God
Life of Jesus and Mary is chronicled in
The Koran
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Turks (Ottoman) also threatened
Christians in Byzantine Empire (1453)
Results of the Crusades
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Developed trade between Europe and the Middle East
Introduced new ideas about how to live
Increased employment and the establishment of towns
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Decreased the power of the lords and the feudal system
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Creates a middle class
New middle class sides with the king who gives them rights and
privileges
Money becomes more important than land
Offers opportunity for the serfs
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Became free if not found for a year and a day
Knighthood
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1066 – Norman conquest
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French soldiers on horseback called knights
Path to knighthood
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Age 7: horse riding, religious training,
manners, hunting, dancing, possibly reading
and writing
Age 12-13: assistants to knights – maintained
armor and weapons, became skilled in their
use, began entering tournaments
Age 17-18: upheld chivalric code
Knighthood Continued…
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Modern times
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Knighthood is an honor bestowed by a
monarch in order to recognize outstanding
service to one’s country
Titles
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Knight – Sir
Wife of knight – Lady
Knighted woman – Dame
Modern “Knights”
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Sir Tim Berners-Lee
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World wide web
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Sir Paul McCartney
More Modern “Knights”
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Sir Elton John
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Sir Mick Jagger
Knighthood through Centuries
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8th century
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11th century
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heredity
14th century
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Cluny monks add social and ethical dimension because knights
are restless and attacking women and poor people
13th century
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Expensive endeavor
12th century
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Stirrup – indispensable to medieval army – cavalry
Ends with the development of gunpowder and more powerful
archery
16th century
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Knighthood is romanticized
Chivalry
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French word for knight = chevalier
Helped to civilize the brutal, competitive world
Military code of behavior
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Fair to opponent
Loyal to lord
Honorable
Show Christian humility, kindness, and generosity
Defend women
Protect the poor and the weak
Courtly love
The End of The Middle Ages
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Little Ice Age
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Black Death
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Bubonic plague – 1340s
Killed 1/3 of population
Technology
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Bitterly cold weather during 1300s
Reduced crop yields
Invention of gun powder
Church weakens
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Changes – corruption and internal arguments
People learn to read
Development of printing press
Use of vernacular language instead of Latin
Medieval Literature
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Medieval epics
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Glorify physical strength, courage, loyalty
Celebrate warriors who defeat evil and restore
order
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Beowulf, The Nibelungenlied
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Saints’ lives
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Tales that glorified the Christian value of piety
and humble submission to God’s will
Ecclesiastical History – Bede
Medieval Literature Cont.
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Chansons de geste
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“songs of heroic deeds”
Composed by French poets called troubadors
(trouveres)
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The Song of Roland
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Ballads
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Narrative songs about murder, love, revenge
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Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne
Medieval Literature Cont.
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Poetry
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Theme of courtly love
Troubadours – “to compose, invent”
Lais – song
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Short stories with supernatural or fairy-tale
elements
Chevrefoil
Courtly Love
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A forbidden affair – with five attributes
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Aristocratic – practiced by noble lords and ladies in
the royal palace
Ritualistic – exchanged gifts and tokens – lords
offered songs, poems, bouquets, sweet favors,
ceremonial gestures
Secret – had world of own with its own rules, codes,
and commandments
Adulterous – extramarital – not “crude, physical
satisfaction, but a sublime and sensual intimacy”
Literary – imitated literature of time
Medieval Literature Cont.
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Romances
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Literary expression of chivalric ideals
Long poems about knightly adventures
Most famous poet = Chretien de Troyes
Introduced element of courtly love and deeds
performed for an unattainable lady
Most popular = Arthurian romances
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Le Morte D’Arthur, Perceval
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King Arthur: Man vs. Myth
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1,000 years ago – Welsh poetry
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Strong military leader in Wales (400-600AD)
Most popular hero in French and English
medieval literature
Arthur Through the Ages
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Earliest writers
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Leader that was needed
Geoffrey of Monmouth
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The History of the Kings of
Britain
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Medieval writers
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Ideal man – sensitive,
civilized
Sir Thomas Mallory
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Le Morte D’Arthur
Later writers – 19th
century
Golden past – noble and
simple life
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
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“The Lady of Shalott”,
Idylls of the King
Modern Writers
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Political struggles
Fight to protect law and
order
T.H. White
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The Once and Future King
Marion Zimmer Bradley
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The Mists of Avalon
People of the Legend
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The Old People
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Faeries – Castle Chariot
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Pagan religion
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Worship nature –
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Difference in time
understand and use its resources
Matriarchal society – Beltane fires
Respect all religions
This group struggles to keep their religion alive.
They are considered pagans and accused of
sorcery.
People of the Legend
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The Christians
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Christian religion
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Majority of the community and the knights
Worship one God
Patriarchal society
Strive for conversion
This group struggles to enforce their religion.
They are considered disrespectful and
domineering.
People of the Legend
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The Saxons
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No established communities
This group ravages the land and its people
They are considered brutal and hateful
The English Hierarchy
High King of Britain
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High Queen of Britain
Petty King/Queen
of Cornwall
Petty King/Queen
of Kent
Petty King/Queen
Of Logres
People of the Court
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King
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care for the queen
tends to the estate
defend their king and his
people
Squires
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Queen
Ladies in Waiting
Knights
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Royal Seneschal
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ruler
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tend to the knights
Pages
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serve the court
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Outside the court
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merchants, farmers,
peasants
The Legend…
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Igraine and Gorlois
Uther and Igraine
Merlin and Arthur
Bishops of London
Ten years – Arthur unites kingdom
Excalibur
Round Table
Camelot
Guinevere
Morgan le Faye
Merlin and Nimue
The Legend Cont…
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Lancelot and Guinevere
Mordred
Quest for the Holy Grail
Sir Galahad and Castle Carbonek
Mordred’s treachery
Guinevere’s condemnation
Merlin’s warning
Gawain and the snake
Arthur and Mordred
Sir Bedivere and Excalibur
Arthur and Avalon
Guinevere in convent