Medieval Era

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Medieval Era

• aka The Middle Ages or the Dark Ages
• 500 to 1500 A.D.

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• Greeks were Geeks
• Romans were Real
• Medieval wanted to rid the world of EVIL

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Medieval Times

• The beginning of the Middle Ages is often called
  the "Dark Ages
• Fall of Greece and Rome
• Life in Europe during the Middle Ages was very
  hard.
• Very few people could read or write
• Only hope strong belief in Christianity heaven
  would be better than life on earth.

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Medieval Times

• Christianity became the universal faith of almost
  all of the people of Europe
• The Church was very powerful

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Medieval Dance

• During the late Roman empire, theatre and dance
  were outlawed as immoral.
• The act of moving the body and men and women
  dancing together was considered sinful.

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Medieval Dance

• The tarantella is a legendary pagan dance.
• Some claim that this dance was performed by
  people who had been bitten by a tarantula spider,
  hence the dances name.
• Believed that by dancing faster and faster the
  spider venom would exit the body.
• Some believe that this spider bite cure was
  invented as an excuse to get away with dancing.

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Medieval Theatre

• Theatrical performances had been banned by the
  church (remember Roman theatre had become R
  rated)
• However, the church began using drama to help
  teach biblical stories (people could not read)
• Priests acted out stories. Dialogue was spoken in
  Latin

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Medieval Theatre

• Mystery Plays - drama based on scriptural events
  especially in the life of Jesus.
• Miracle Plays - drama that portrayed the lives of
  saints and martyrs
• Morality Play - drama that was to teach good
  moral values to the audience. These eventually
  developed into secular plays.

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Medieval Theatre

• Pageant Wagons - parade-like floats used as
  portable stages for plays
• The traveling plays were meant to tell stories of
  the Bible and teach Christian lessons.
• Trap doors were utilized and curtains may have
  been hung.

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Medieval Art Music

• Composers and artists were primarily associated
  with the Roman Catholic Church.
• Majority of art and music was provided by
  anonymous sources because works of art meant to
  glorify God not themselves.

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Medieval Music

• The earliest music of the Middle Ages was sung
  slowly and without rhythm or harmony.
• Everyone sang the same thing, which is singing in
  unison. 
• These simple tunes were called plainchant because
  they were so plain and simple. 
• These tunes are also called Gregorian Chant,
  which were named after Pope Gregory
• Monophonic one sound

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Medieval Music

• During the Medieval period most music was not
  written down.
• Music notation appeared around the year 900, but
  it only showed the pitch.  It didn't tell you
  anything about the rhythm. 
• A few hundred years would pass  before the notes
  showed the rhythm.

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Medieval Music

• In the 11th century, a monk called Guido dArezzo
  found a better way to write music down. He used a
  set of lines called staffs.
• Later in the Middle Ages, people began to sing
  different notes at the same time. (harmony) 

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Medieval Music

• Sacred music  This is religious music. Most of
  the music of the early Middle Ages was written
  for the Catholic Church.
• Secular music  This is non-religious music. 
  Traveling musicians called troubadours would go
  from town to town playing love songs.

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Medieval Architecture

• 2 main styles Romanesque and Gothic
• Whose style do you think Romanesque copied?

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Medieval Architecture

• Romanesque Style
• Rounded arches
• Barrel vaults
• Thick walls
• Darker, simplistic interiors
• Small windows

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Medieval Architecture

• Romanesque floor plan.
• What shape is it?

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Medieval Architecture

• Gothic architecture has pointed arches, spires,
  and flying buttresses.
• Use of stained glass windows - allowed more light
  inside and/or told Biblical stories
• These developments allowed the architects to make
  the church much larger and brighter

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Flying Buttress
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Medieval Architecture

• Spires
• pointed to
• the
• Heavens

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Medieval Architecture

• Stained Glass

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Medieval Architecture

• Many of the churches were adorned with carvings
  of people, animals, and monstrous devils
  (gargoyles)
• Gargoyles were designed to put the fear of God
  into churchgoers and scare off evil spirits

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Medieval Art

• Illuminated Manuscripts - books written and
  decorated by hand (by monks) with religious texts
• Since books were made and written by hand, they
  were rare and very expensive (poor people could
  not afford books, so why should they learn to
  read)

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Medieval Art

• Remember Romans had become interested in
  realistic art.
• After the rise of the Catholic Church, artists
  became more concerned with the spirit and less
  with what things really looked like
• Created symbols of religious experiences instead
  of showing realistic, natural-looking scenes
• Pictures were used to tell stories so they had to
  be easy to understand

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Medieval Art

• Aka Byzantine Art
• use of color and figures which seem flat and
  stiff.
• figures appear to be floating, and have large
  eyes.
• Intended as religious lessons, they were
  presented clearly and simply in order to be
  easily learned.
• Early Byzantine art is often called "Early
  Christian art."

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Notice the small circles around both of their
heads. What do you think they symbolize? Circles
around heads symbolized a holy person like a
halo
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Notice how feet appear to be floating
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Beautiful tapestries helped keep rooms warm and
gave people something to look at.
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Medieval Art
Giotto - artist who wanted to do more than just
tell Bible stories. His goal was to make the
people in his pictures come alive. Painted
frescoes (painting created when pigment is
applied to a section of wall spread with fresh
plaster) First artist of Middle Ages to use space
in his art - movement back to realism