Transcript Medieval Literature

Medieval Literature
500 A.D. to 1500 A.D.
Fall of the Roman Empire
Chaos and Collapse: The End
of the Roman Culture
• The Roman Empire commanded all of the
territory around the Mediterranean, as far
east as modern-day Iran and as far North as
Britain, at the height of its glory in 2 AD
• The size of the Roman Empire contributed
to its collapse. The central government
could not defend its frontiers or maintain
contact with isolated outposts.
The End of the Roman Culture
• The Roman Empire broke into two pieces, the
Eastern, or Byzantine, and the Western.
• The Byzantine Empire, with its seat of
government Constantinople preserved the classical
knowledge and culture lost in the West.
• The Western Empire did not fare as well. It fell
to invading Germanic tribes who gradually
conquered the Roman Empire in the early fifth
century AD.
The End of the Roman Culture
• The Lombards controlled Italy, and the AngloSaxons dominated Britain. The Franks established
a kingdom in northern France and became strong
supporters of Christianity.
• All of these Germanic tribes contributed to the
later development of the mainstays of medieval
European culture: knighthood, the feudal system
and the code of chivalry.
The Age of Faith: The
Christian Church
The Christian Church
• In A.D. 330, the emperor Constantine
proclaimed Christianity the official
religion of the Roman Empire.
• The pope became the undisputed
religious authority of the Church in
451 A.D.
• The Christian Church maintained
even when the Roman Empire fell
apart. The Church was organized
well and built a government of its
own.
The Christian Church
• The Church maintained strict control over knowledge
and education throughout the Middle Ages.
• Although the writings of the Church focused on
religion, and philosophy--communities of monks often
maintained chronicles, or records of events.
• Some chronicles mingled legends and fairy tales with
reported facts.
• As time went on the chronicles became more factual
and detailed. The chroniclers of the Middle Ages
were the forerunners of modern-day historians.
Charlemagne
The Rise of Charlemagne
• In A.D. 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne
as Holy Roman Emperor, and a new era of learning
and expansion began in Europe.
• Although Charlemagne could not read or write, he
encouraged scholarship, education and innovation in
architecture while expanding into new territories.
• Charlemagne ordered classical Greco-Roman
manuscripts to be collected and encouraged scholars
to open schools.
The Rise of Charlemagne
• Charlemagne’s heroic deeds became legendary and
the story of his expedition against Muslims in Spain
was written down as the Song of Roland.
• With Charlemagne’s death in 814, his kingdom, which
covered all of France and much of what is now Italy
and Eastern Europe, was split up among his three
sons, was invaded by Vikings.
• The legends and fierce deeds of the Icelandic Vikings
were chronicled in myths and sagas by the Icelandic
poet Snorri Sturlson in the Prose Edda (early
eleventh century).
Feudalism: A
System of
Allegiance
Feudalism: A System of
Allegiance
• After Charlemagne’s death in 814, rule in Europe
fell into the hands of numerous nobles.
• Powerful and independent aristocrats ruled local
areas by a system called feudalism.
• Feudalism was an economic, social and military
system in which vassals, or tenants, pledged their
loyalty to a lord, exchanging work on his land, or
service in his military in return for his protection.
Feudalism
• Usually the lord himself was
vassal to a more powerful
overlord, who in turn served as
a vassal to a prince or king.
• Feudalism and the Church
were the two great pillars of
the medieval society.
Epic
Deeds of
Heroes
and
Heroines
Epic Deeds of Heroes and
Heroines
• Warfare between feudal lords was
commonplace, and medieval
literature simultaneously reflected
both ideals of valor and the desire
for order and peace.
• During the Middle Ages a rich
tradition of stories was passed on by
minstrels, who sang or chanted the
fabulous deeds of earlier heroes.
• Many of these stories became epics
that are still read today.
Medieval Epics
• The Nibelungenlied, the national epic of
Germany was composed in the early
1200’s out of much older tales. It related the
heroic exploits of Siegfried, who has great
magical powers.
• In general, the medieval epics glorify
physical strength, courage, and loyalty,
celebrating warriors who defeat evil and
restore order.
Medieval Epics
• The eighth-century
Anglo-Saxon poem
Beowulf, for example,
tells the story of
Beowulf, a warrior who
braves the ferocious
monster Grendel and
kills a terrible dragon.
Saints’ Lives
Saints’ Lives
• A different approach to heroism evolved in the
saints’ lives, tales of the lives of the Christian
saints, many of whom were women. The typical
saint’s life contained super natural elements,
showing saints healing people and animals,
resisting evil and being revived after death.
• In a sense, these stories were the Church’s answer
to pagan epics. The saint’s miraculous deeds
glorified the Christian virtues of piety and humble
submission to God’s will.
Medieval Oral Literature
• From the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries,
French poets called trouveres composed the
popular chansons de geste (songs of heroic
deeds).
• The Christian epic Song of Roland survives as a
fine example of this form and is considered the
national epic of France.
• As most people during the Middle Ages were
illiterate, most literature was presented orally, and
sometimes visually, as in the case of drama.
Medieval Literature of the
Common People
• Common people in particular entertained
themselves with folktales, beast fables, and
ballads.
• Ballads, or narrative songs, have endured
because the tell the kind of sensational
stories that make headlines in today’s
tabloids--stories about murder, love, and
revenge.
The Code of Chivalry
Sir Galahad sees
Grail
• Chivalry was an attempt at
refining the rough realities of
feudalism.
• Chivalry, taken from the
French word for knight
(chevalier), was basically a
military code of behavior.
• A knight was supposed to be
fair to his opponents, loyal to
his lord, and honorable in all
things.
The Code of CHivalry
• He was supposed to
show Christian
humility to his peers,
kindness to those
beneath him, and
generosity to all.
• Many knights could
not live up to the code,
or even tried to.
The Romance
• The romances were the literary expression of
chivalric ideals. Romances were long poems about
knightly adventures that were recited by traveling
poets.
• The Arthurian romances were among the most
popular of the medieval romances. These stories
of Arthur, a legendary Celtic king, and his knights
of the Round Table spread first throughout
England and Wales and then migrated to the
Continent.
The Romance Continued
• Chretien de Troyes,
who wrote in French in
the late twelfth century,
was one of the most
famous of the medieval
romance poets. His
stories, especially those
of Perceval and
Lancelot, influenced
later versions of the
Arthurian legend.
Courtly Love
• A new element of courtly love served to
distinguish the romances from the earlier epics.
The knight’s deeds were not performed in the
service of king or country, but on behalf of a
beautiful, fair, and noble lady who was above him
in status and usually married--and therefore
unattainable.
• The tradition of courtly love began in the eleventh
century by troubadours (poet-musicians) who
sang lyrics based on the theme of courtly love.
Courtly Love
• In France, the Breton lais (lai means “song”)
were influenced by the ideals of courtly love.
• The lais were short stories with supernatural or
fairy-tale elements, written in verse and sung.
• A number of lais were collected in French by
Marie de France, who lived in the English
court not long after the Normans of France had
conquered England.
The Late Middle Ages
• The late Middle ages, from 1300 to 1500, was a time
of upheaval that dealt severe blows to the feudal
system and the Church.
• The Crusades (1096-1270) were attempts to regain
the Holy Land from the Muslims had cost many
European lives, but had also opened trade routes to the
East.
• These routes allowed an influx of new goods and
ideas that enhanced the financial status or the
merchant class and accelerated the development of
towns and cities.
The Late Middle Ages
• Some cities founded universities
that were opened for the new
middle class.
• A dramatic climate change in the
1300’s and the Black Death
(bubonic plague) wiped out entire
European villages. The few
remaining serfs demanded more
freedoms.
• The demanding serfs and the advent
of gunpowder led to the collapse of
feudalism.
The Late Middle Ages
• The power of the Church was also being
challenged by charges of corruption and internal
arguments, or schisms.
• As more people learned to read, the Church’s role
as biblical interpreter was undermined.
• As more people could read, literature appeared in
the vernacular and was therefore more accessible
by the population.
• The advent of the printing press contributed to
mass increases in literate populations.
The Late Middle Ages
Dante’s Inferno
• The use of
vernacular in works
such as Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales
and Dante’s Divine
Comedy
established
vernacular as
acceptable.