Transcript The Medieval Period

The Medieval Period
also known as “Middle Ages”
1066-1485
The Norman Conquest:
•Battle of Hastings - 1066
A.D.
•Harold, King of England
was defeated
by William the Conqueror,
Duke of Normandy (France)
• Systematic invasion,
including inventory and
seizure of property
•Martial law was put into
effect
•Strong central government
was set up with clearly
defined lines of authority
William the Conqueror
•Reigned for twenty-one years;
succession assured at his death
•Invasion of England was to
support his claim that he had
been promised succession to the
English throne
•He was an efficient and ruthless
soldier & a good administrator
•With the help of his followers he
was able to conquer the entire
country
•Slaughtered many A-S nobility &
replaced them with Normans,
accounting for clear historical
break between A-S & Normandominated England.
The Normans:
•Name derived from
“Northman”
•Mainly descended from
Vikings who had seized and
remained in northwestern
France, which became
known as Normandy
•After more than 100 years
in France, Normans adopted
many French customs & had
own variation of French
language, Norman-French
•Use of stone far exceeded
that of English, but could
not match A-S in learning or
as artisans and craftsmen
The Normans:
•Superb soldiers
•Excellent administrators
& lawyers
•Great borrowers &
adapters
They Lacked:
•Inventiveness
•Original ideas
•William subdued the
whole land partly because
he could adopt & use
institutions of the highly
centralized & stable A-S
government.
Land and the Feudal System
Land and the Feudal System
•After the invasion, William
retained much of the gained
land. He then granted land to
those who fought faithfully for
him.
•The year 1066 brought the
largest change of land
ownership in the history of
England.
Land and the Feudal System
•William felt that the land was his
by right of conquest and that he
was free to deed land to his
vassals by royal charter, expecting
obedience and service in return.
•In A-S period, king kept loyalty of
his warriors by sharing spoils of
war. In medieval period, land
replaced plunder as commodity
bonding king and lord to vassal.
Land and the Feudal System
•After the invasion, William
retained much of the gained
land. He then granted land to
those who fought for him.
•He felt that the land was his by
right of conquest and that he
was free to deed land to his
vassals by royal charter,
expecting obedience and
service in return.
This system was known as “Feudalism.”
Feudalism was
a complicated system of landholding
Land and the Feudal System
No one owned land independently but
only
as a vassal
of an overlord, who in turn owed
allegiance
either to some great noble or the king.
Feudalism was:
•An elaborate chain of
loyalties
• A system of paying rent
through military service to
overlords
Problems of Feudalism
The grants William gave were mainly
the estates
of certain Anglo-Saxons who had died
at the Conquest.
Land and the Feudal System
The boundaries of
these estates were
frequently vague,
and the first 20
years of Norman
rule saw many
disputes about
property.
Land and the Feudal System
Another problem: feudalism was like a “caste system.”
Land and the Feudal System
Another problem: There were disputes among landowners
Benefits of Feudalism
William writes a complete inventory of all property called the Domesday Book,
the book of judgments.
Land and the Feudal System
This was an administrative feat without equal anyplace else in Europe.
Taxes in England could now be based on real property.
The Medieval Church
•The single institution that did the most
to promote unity,
(a common culture and a common set
of beliefs),
was the Medieval Church.
•Latin, the language of the Church,
became the language of all educated
persons.
In the Middle Ages, no subject was
studied as an end in itself,
But rather as a demonstration of God’s
hand in the world.
Medieval Life
•Most people lived in the
country & were attached to a
Feudal manor.
•As period progressed, farming
was replaced by herding.
Medieval Life
•Sheep herding causes a
proliferation of sheep in England –
by end of 13th century, there were
probably 18 million sheep in
England.
•Cottages become small mills for
spinning wool because many
people became involved in the
wool industry.
Medieval Life
•This allows the common people to
be able to pay what they owe their
overlords in wages rather than
labor.
•Shift from agrarian to pastoral
economy forced many peasants
into towns.
•Labor shortage caused by Black
Death temporarily improved
peasants’ living conditions.
Medieval Life
•Some large towns and cities had grown up, mostly in the south of
England and related to the court. London is an example.
•Population shift into cities further eroded feudal system because
these peasants were no longer tied to manor.
Medieval Life
Wool production causes cities to build up in the
north.
A whole new class of merchants grew up.
These populous centers, far from the influence of the French court,
developed forms of literature, songs and ballads, and a native drama with
a good deal of color and pageantry. While songs and ballads had varied
subjects, medieval drama was generally religious, depicting events
related to Scripture.
Guilds: societies to regulate prices & standards
Guilds were one result of the rise of
the middle class
of industrious free men living in towns.
Guilds
Later, cottage workers form guilds
to assure fair wages & prices &
good standards of materials and
workmanship.
Guilds ~ Encouraged an
extended family life. Often, a master
would have apprentices and
journeymen living with him. Guilds
were organized around various
professions, and were also
religious societies.
This is the period of the great English cathedrals,
Winchester and Lincoln, Salisbury and Durham.
Often these cathedrals took hundreds of years to complete.
These huge structures created a
revolution in architecture
as designers wrestled with the
difficulties associated with
size and complexity. More than houses
of worship, cathedrals were histories
written in stone, stained glass & wood,
telling Biblical stories, faith made
manifest.
Much of the communal life of the city
centered around these cathedrals.
The first English dramas were
performed here.
Medieval Life ~ austere in many ways.
•Travel was difficult
•Food offered little variety, even for the rich
• Winters brought a very limited & unwholesome diet
•Countryside, however, and towns
were colorful & beautiful without
smoke of factories
•Dress was bright and varied
English Law
“When William the
Conqueror had subdued
the whole island, and by
terrible examples had
tamed the minds of the
rebels, he decided to
place the government of
the people on a written
basis and subject them
to the rules of law.”
~Richard Fitzneal, 12th
century English cleric
One of William’s
innovations was to
institute written public
documents for most
government actions.
English Law
Common law took
root during this
period. This refers
to law that is
common to the
whole country and
all its people, in
contrast to kinds of
law applying only to
certain classes of
people.
English Law
Law of primogeniture
came into effect.
Primogeniture gave the
firstborn son exclusive
right to
inherit his father’s titles,
lands, and estates.
Ordeals
•During the early part of
this period, matters of law
were still settled by
ordeals.
•How people’s innocence
or guilt was settled
•Disputes between two
people also settled by
ordeals ~ ex: Sir Gawain
and the Green Knight
•Trial by ordeal often
involved “tests” like walking
on hot coals or swimming
with hands chained behind
one’s back.
In 1215, Pope
Innocent III
declared that
the ordeal
system was
“irrational.”
•Gradually, in England,
people who were indicted
were asked to abide by the
judgment of their
neighbors. In this way, the
JURY SYSTEM came into
being.
•In 1215, a group of angry
barons forced King John to
sign the MAGNA CARTA,
or Great Charter.
Habeas corpus
MAGNA CARTA
foreshadowed the right
of trial by jury, habeas
corpus, or the right not
to be illegally detained.
Habeas corpus also foreshadowed the beginnings of
representative government in parliament.
The Crusades, Hundred Years’
War, and the Wars of the Roses
The Crusades
100 Years’ War
Wars of the Roses
The Crusades, Hundred Years’
War, and the Wars of the Roses
The Crusades:
•Most crusades
begin originally to
rescue Jerusalem
from Turks, but
ended in raiding,
looting, and tangled
politics
•1095,
1191,1202,1217,
1270
100 Years’ War:
Wars of the Roses:
The Crusades, Hundred Years’ War,
and the Wars of the Roses
The Crusades:
•Christian Europe is
exposed to Arabic
culture
100 Years’ War:
Wars of the Roses:
The Crusades, Hundred Years’ War,
and the Wars of the Roses
The Crusades:
•Encouraged
chivalry
100 Years’ War:
Wars of the Roses:
The Crusades, Hundred Years’ War,
and the Wars of the Roses
The Crusades:
•Most crusades
begin originally to
rescue Jerusalem
from Turks, but
ended in raiding,
looting, and tangled
politics
•Christian Europe is
exposed to Arabic
culture
•Encouraged
chivalry
100 Years’ War:
•(1357-1453) War
between France
and England due to
England not
wanting to
relinquish French
possessions
Wars of the Roses:
The Crusades, Hundred Years’
War, and the Wars of the Roses
The Crusades:
100 Years’ War:
-(11-1200’s)Most
•(1357-1453) War
crusades begin
originally to rescue
Jerusalem from
Turks, but ended in
raiding, looting, and
tangled politics
between France
and England due to
England not
wanting to
relinquish French
possessions
•Established the
effectiveness of the
English longbow,
which greatly
decreased fortitude
of castles
-Christian Europe is
exposed to Arabic
culture
-Encouraged
chivalry
Wars of the Roses:
The Crusades, Hundred Years’ War,
and the Wars of the Roses
The Crusades:
-(11-1200’s)Most
crusades begin
originally to rescue
Jerusalem from
Turks, but ended in
raiding, looting, and
tangled politics
-Christian Europe is
exposed to Arabic
culture
-Encouraged
chivalry
100 Years’ War:
-(1357-1453) War
between France
and England due to
England not
wanting to
relinquish French
possessions
-Established the
effectiveness of the
English longbow,
which greatly
decreased fortitude
of castles
Wars of the Roses:
•Black Death strikes
and kills more than
1/3rd of the
population
The Crusades, Hundred Years’
War, and the Wars of the Roses
The Crusades:
•Most crusades
begin originally to
rescue Jerusalem
from Turks, but
ended in raiding,
looting, and tangled
politics
•Christian Europe is
exposed to Arabic
culture
•Encouraged
chivalry
100 Years’ War:
•(1357-1453) War
between France
and England due to
England not
wanting to
relinquish French
possessions
•Established the
effectiveness of the
English longbow,
which greatly
decreased fortitude
of castles
Wars of the Roses:
•Black Death strikes
and kills more than
1/3rd of the
population
•Responding to the
scarcity of labor and
oppressive laws and
taxes, the peasants
revolted, resulting in
a civil war between
the House of York
and the House of
Lancaster.
Medieval Literature
The Romance
Consisted of tales of chivalry to which were
added a love interest,
and all sorts of
wonders and marvels —
fairy enchantments, giants,
dragons, wizards, and sorceresses.
The medieval concept of romantic love came from France.
Romantic tales came from three
principal sources:
Britain (King Arthur and his Knights)
France (the court of Charlemagne)
Rome (stories such as the conquest of
troy)
The stories of
King Arthur and
his court are
based in Celtic
tradition and
have almost no
historical basis.
The finest
verse romance
in English, Sir
Gawain and
the Green
Knight, is
about one of
the knights at
Arthur’s court.
Geoffrey Chaucer (1340? – 1400)
Chaucer is the first truly great figure in English literature.
Chaucer wrote in Middle English.
Chaucer was a fine poet and storyteller, as well as a noted humorist.
His best known work is The
Canterbury Tales, his unfinished
masterpiece
about pilgrims on their way to
see the shrine of St. Thomas a
Becket in Canterbury.
This frame story
serves as a social
commentary on the
types of people who
were common in
Medieval English
society.
Folk Poetry and the Drama
Ballads were a common
form of poetry that were
sung and recited at
firesides and gatherings.
Folk Poetry and the Drama
English and Scottish ballads came to influence the entire romantic movement,
with most of them belonging to the later Middle Ages.
The subject matter of the folk ballads
stemmed from the everyday life of the
common folk. Device commonly used was the
refrain. Sometimes incremental repetition is
used: repetition of a previous line or lines but
with a slight variation each time, which
advances the story stanza by stanza.
Popular drama had its origins in the
Middle Ages,
with the tradition of miracle plays rough dramatizations of Biblical
stories.
Religion was uniting force in almost
every aspect of life in the Middle
Ages.