Transcript The Medieval Period 1066-1485

The Medieval Period
1066-1485
The Norman Conquest
 Medieval period also known as Middle
Ages—between Roman Period and
Renaissance
 Normans descended from Vikings who had
settled in Northwestern France--Normandy
 William “the Conqueror” defeats Harold, King
of England at the Battle of Hastings
 William rules for 21 yrs, adopting AngloSaxon democracy/art and bringing French
customs from their occupation in France
 William, duke of Normandy, was crowned
king of England on Christmas Day, 1066.
He commissioned Domesday 19 years
later.
Normans and Anglo-Saxons MELD
 Eventually Normans and Anglo-Saxons
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MELDED into a national English character
Church/Court became a way for AngloSaxons to regain power
Example: Thomas a Becket became Henry
II’s Lord Chancellor and then Archbishop of
Canterbury
HOWEVER—Becket was murdered by a
handful of Henry’s knights because he
defended rights of Church against the king
Became a Saint and hero of people
Land and the Feudal System
 Anglo-Saxon landowners conquered by
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William enable him to reward those who had
fought for his power
William bestowed land on vassals; therefore,
no one owned their land as we own land
today
Vassal owed allegiance to the king paid
primarily in military service
Some argument over land boundaries as a
result
1086 DOMESDAY BOOK
1086 DOMESDAY BOOK—
book of judgments
 William had a single scribe record an
exhaustive record of landholders, their titles
and possessions
 Taxes now based on property held
 Some resistance from monks
“Book of Judgements”
The Domesday Book has been
rebound at least five times. This
picture shows Great Domesday
after its binding for its ninth
centenary in 1986.
The Church
 Christianity major defining aspect of Western
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Europe
Social/cultural/spiritual/political influence
Education—teaching/writing/recording
The universities at Oxford&Cambridge
opening changed the function of monasteries
and abbeys somewhat as centers of
knowledge and record keeping
Were often huge chunks of land—centers of
industry
Mrs. Taylor at
King’s College in
Cambridge,
England
 Punting on the River by Clare College
where my brother did his PHD
Medieval Life
 Feudal system—from farming to herding
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sheep with cottage industry for wool
Payment made to feudal lords through money
rather than labour
Towns and Cities growing larger (London)—
become centers of culture
Festivals, theatre, religious monuments
Merchant class selling wool goods grow
wealthy
 Mrs. Taylor and her brother, Eric, in Trafalgar
Square in London, England.
Medieval Life continued
 English pop. Doubled between 1068
and 1348 resulted in Plague
 Black Death/Plague 14th C caused great
socio-economic change
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Increased labour opportunities for peasants
Questioning of social order
Corruption in the Church challenged
Individual life & achievement emphasized
Erosion of feudal system—peasants no longer
tied to manor
Guilds are formed
 Guild: Organizations that regulate prices and
standards for merchandise
 Created by merchant class—later cottage
industry
 Apprentices and journeymen
 Workers who created great English
cathedrals of the time period—stonecutters,
carpenters, masons, stainers, glass blowers
Lifestyles of the Middle Ages
 Not a comfortable life
 Food seasonal
 Travel unsafe and challenging
A BATH WHEN YOU’RE BORN AND A
BATH WHEN YOU DIE!
English Law
 William worked to create written law that
applied to all people = common law
 PRIMOGENITURE: firstborn son
exclusive rights to father’s titles, lands,
and estates
 Ordeals: Tasks that determined a
person’s guilt or innocence eg. Gawain
and The Green Knight
English Law continued
 1215- Pope Innocent III declared that ordeal
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system is “irrational”
Jury system comes into being
Magna Carta (Great Charter) 1215
Originally concerned with taxes levied by the
king
More importantly, right not to be illegally
detained & right to trial by jury (habeus
corpus)
Beginnings of representative gov’t in
parliament
The Crusades-1095,1191,1202,1217,1270
 Pope Urban II—first crusade proclaimed
 Rescue Jerusalem from the Turks
 Caused terrible raiding, murder, rape,
theft
 Benefited Christian Europe—learned
about Arabic culture (math&medicine)
 Encouraged idea of CHIVALRY
Chivalry—who’s got it?
 Chivalry: well mannered sensitive men
toward women
 Knightly warrior dedicated and selfaware off as well as bold and brave on
or off the battlefield
 Ideal not reality
 Chivalry & Romance unite!
Hundred Year’s’ War 1337-1453
 Normans and Saxons merging cultural
identities in English identity
 English monarchy held onto French
possessions/land = Wars in France
 Longbows helped English win many
battles in France
The War of the Roses
 1455-1485 civil war between House of
Lancaster (red rose) and House of York
(white rose)
 Henry VII unites families by marrying
Elizabeth of York founding Tudor line
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Medieval Literature
 The Romance
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Chivalry
Enhanced with fairy tales, giants, dragons, etc.
Originated in France
Quests knights accomplish
 King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table
based on Celtic folk tales
– Morte D’arthur
– Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
 Conquest of Troy based on Roman stories
 Autobiography, travel writing, devotional
writing (saints) Julian of Norwich & Margery
Kempe
Folk Poetry and Drama
Farmers and cottage industry in England and
Scotland = Ballads
Oral tradition
18th C finally written down and published
Dramas not as popular as later became in
Elizabethan England
Performances of Bible stories/miracle plays
performed
Morality plays followed 15th C (virtues and
vices)