Transcript Document

English 3012/1060
to 1600
England
Rome
At its height in 117, Rome held almost all of Europe, the Mediterranean,
and parts of northern Africa and western Asia. Oversized and racked by
power disputes, the empire was divided into east and west in 293 and
was ruled by two emperors and Caesars.
Rome never ‘fell.’ The eastern part of the empire continued until being
overcome by Muslim Turks in 1453, and the west deteriorated over
centuries. Rome itself was sacked in 410, but there were still emperors
until 476, and barbarian kings tended to see themselves as the heirs of
Roman culture. Charlemagne was crowned in 800 as Emperor of the
Romans.
The Origins of England
The decline of Rome was mostly due to the impossibility of defending
such a large land area. As the empire struggled to find enough Roman
soldiers to staff its armies, it began to contract German barbarian
mercenaries. While the system initially worked well, gradually land
pressures, corruption, and cultural differences caused the German
chieftains and settlers to break away from the empire. With no legions to
enforce its edicts, central authority withered and Europe broke up into
petty kingdoms.
One of these kingdoms was England. After Roman soldiers abandoned it
around 400, Germanic Anglo-Saxon chieftains took control.
The Normans Invade, 1066
In 1066, William the Conqueror, a French-speaking Viking from northern
France, invades England with an army and seizes the country. Politically,
England has already been ruled by Danes for a century, but William imports
French language, government, and culture to the island.
Anglo-Saxon Culture
- Political power lies in the folc
- Kings are merely good fighters
chosen by the people
- The highest value is loyalty and
love to one’s lord
- Women could own property and
had some rights
- Land was a common good owned
by everyone
- Simple buildings and architecture
Norman French Culture
- Political power lies in the king
- Kings rule under divine right,
chosen by heaven
- The highest value is romantic
service and love for a woman
- Women had little legal standing
- Land was owned by the king,
who permitted or rented its use
- Castles and stone works
Feudalism
The middle ages cannot be understood without understanding feudalism. Feudalism is
an economic and cultural system in which the king holds land, which is assigned to
aristocrats, church officials, and other lords. These lords fight as knights in the king’s
army and, in turn, rent their land to peasants, who work the land and provide taxes and
services to their lord. Medieval literature and culture presents this relationship as one
of love and duty, with the ideal warrior fighting to the death for his lord.
The Normans Become English
The early Norman kings of England spoke French and spent more of their lives in
France than in England. Over the centuries their rule over northern France declined.
King John (1166-1216) lost most of Normandy after 1202 and was almost deposed
himself, being forced to sign the Magna Carta in 1215 by rebellious barons. By 1337
the rift had grown into war. Although England was initially victorious in several key
battles such as Agincourt (1415), the French would rally under leaders such as Jean
d’Arc (1412-31), driving the English out in 1453.
- English resistance and the Robin Hood legends
The Black Plague
(1351)
The origins of the Black Plague are unknown. Theories claim it originated in central
Asia or in Africa. By 1348 it reached Europe and England, where over the next several
years it killed between 30-60% of Europe, 40% of Egypt, and one-third of China’s
population.
But in a sense plagues helped cause the renaissance and industrial revolution. Labor
shortages encouraged labor-saving devices and social changes which would lead to
humanism and capitalism. The printing press might be explained as a result of a
shortage of human labor.
Medieval History
1066: French Vikings (Normans) conquer England. French becomes the court and
aristocratic language of England for about 200 years.
1215: King John of England accepts the Magna Carta.
1337-1453: The Hundred Years’ War. As the English war with the French, the prestige
of French as a language declines.
1348: The Black Plague kills about 1/3 of European citizens.
1453: The Eastern Roman Empire ends as Muslim Turks occupy Constantinople
(Istanbul). Gutenberg's printing press begins to produce books.
1470: Leonardo da Vinci begins work as a professional artist in Florence as the Italian
Renaissance gathers pace.
1492: Columbus discovers America.
Late Medieval England
Feudalism became increasingly obsolete by the 1400s with the growth of cities, trade,
and technology. By this time the rising urban middle class was often richer than the
knightly class and grew increasingly powerful. As trade and capitalism gradually
became more valuable than farmland, as labor shortages led to better farming
technology, as new humanist ideas reduced the control of church and aristocracy, and
as gunpowder made knights on horses useless, feudalism declined into the beginnings
of a modern capitalist economy—the society Shakespeare is born into in 1565.