Transcript The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages
1066-1534 AD
The Norman Conquest
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1066 AD - The Battle of Hastings
– Anglo-Saxon King Harold VI killed in the
battle
– Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror
becomes king of England
• Promise of Edward the Confessor
Major Dates
1096 AD - the beginning of the First Crusade.
 1215 AD - the Magna Carta signed at
Runnymeade.
 1254 AD - the end of the Seventh Crusade
 1517 AD - Martin Luther posts his Ninety-Five
Theses, which were the primary catalyst for the
Protestant Reformation.
 1534 AD - Henry VIII passes the Act of
Supremacy establishing himself as the Head of
the Church of England, or Anglican Church
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French Influence
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Feudal System
– Political
• Premise that the king owns all land, distributes to
loyal lords who distribute to lesser nobles, and the
land is worked by the peasants.
– Church
• The Pope is the head of the Church on Earth. Power
is distributed to Archbishops, Bishops and lesser
Church officials, and finally to lay officials (nonordained Church officials)
Feudal Pyramid
http://gcuonline.georgian.edu/wootton_l/Medieval_files/image004.gif
French Influence
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Societal
– Chivalric Code: Code by which the knights
lived, based on faith in the Christian God
(specifically Catholicism), loyalty to their
liege lord, and responsibility toward the
people.
– Rules of Courtly Love: Encouraged loyalty
to the liege lord’s lady, often through
completion of quests or deeds in her honor.
Eventually came to require loyalty to the
Virgin Mary.
The Chivalric Code, from The
Song of Roland
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To fear God and maintain His Church
To serve the liege lord in valor and faith
To protect the weak and defenseless
To give succor to widows and orphans
To refrain from the wanton giving of offense
To live by honor and for glory
To despise pecuniary reward
To fight for the welfare of all
To obey those placed in authority
The Chivalric Code, from the
Song of Roland
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To guard the honor of fellow knights
To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit
To keep faith
At all times to speak the truth
To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun
To respect the honor of women
Never to refuse a challenge from an equal
Never to turn the back upon a foe
http://www.midde-ages.org.uk/knights-code-of-chivalry.htm
French Influence
 Artistic
– Troubadour tradition: began with ballads, evolved into
Alliterative Romance, and the prevalence in rhyme in
British Literature.
– Spread to England through Eleanor of Aquitaine:
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Married first to Louis VII of France, marriage
was annulled in 1152. Then married to Henry
II or Henry Plantagenet of England.
Patroness of the arts.
Granddaughter of William IX, the
Troubadour.
The French brought the Medieval
Romance
Name comes from Romanz, an early form
of French in which Troubadour tales were
told. The word ROMANCE meant
“novel” or “adventure,” and connected to
the idea of chivalry.
 Legend of King Arthur
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– Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur
Alliterative Romance
The Alliterative Romance, a particular form
of the Medieval Romance,. was a written
combination of two oral traditions—The
Anglo Saxon scops who composed long
poems using Alliteration, and
 French Troubadours, who composed long
poems with heavy use of end rhyme.
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Alliterative Romance
Was written on subjects representative of
the time: kings and knights, Courtly
Love, and the Chivalric Code.
 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an
excellent example of an Alliterative
Romance.
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Alliterative Romance
Was made up of extended stanzas, with
alliteration predominant in the first part.
 The Stanzas ended in a Bob-and-Wheel.
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– The stanza ending was made up of 5 lines
• 1st line is the Bob at the end of the open stanza
• The last 4 lines, the Wheel, have an ABAB rhyme
scheme.
Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight: an Alliterative Romance
Written by an anonymous poet
 Circa 1375 CE - dated by language and
topic
 Written in Middle English - some words
and language are recognizable
 Tale of a knight of King Arthur’s Round
Table
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British Response
Pushback against the French
 Translatio studii et imperii
 Geoffrey of Monmouth
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– “History” of Britain
– Legend of British Kings
TRANSLATIO STUDII ET IMPERII
This Latin phrase refers to the transfer or translation
(translatio) of culture or knowledge (what one studies:
studium) and of political power or legitimacy (what
creates an empire: imperium) from one civilization to
another. In the Middle Ages, both political and cultural
legitimacy were thought to have been passed down
from classical antiquity (ancient Greece and Rome) to
modern-day (i.e. medieval) Europe. Both England and
its archrival France would seek to prove their superior
claims to cultural and political legitimacy by asserting
their direct descent from the "glory that was Rome."
Activity
How might this have manifested into
Geoffrey of Monmouth’s “History” of
Britain?
 Why might the British have felt the need to
do this given the history of the transition
into the Middle Ages?
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