Medieval Period

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Medieval Period

• 1066-1485

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Medieval Period

• Also called
• The Middle Ages
• Dark Ages
• People believed in the divine order
• God destined mans role in society
• God . . . Angels . . . Man . . . Animals . . .
• inanimate objects . . . Satan

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Beginning of the Period

• William of Normandy defeats King Harold, the last
  Anglo-Saxon king
• The Normans brought administrative abilities, law
  and order, cultural unity
• This intertwined with the Anglo-Saxons democratic
  and artistic tendencies
• Domesday Book William inventoried nearly every
  property in England
• Brought feudalism to England

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Rulers

• William I
• William II
• Henry I
• Stephen
• Henry II
• Richard I
• John
• Henry III
• Edward I
• Edward II

• Edward III
• Richard II
• Henry IV
• Henry V
• Henry VI
• Edward IV
• Edward V
• Richard III
• Henry VII

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People of the Medieval Period

• Bubonic Plague
• Killed 40 of the population
• Rise of cities and towns creates new free group
  of people
• Development of classes
• Middle
• Upper-middle
• Lower

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Feudal Class System
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Women during the Medieval Period

• Always subservient to men
• Peasant women childbearing, housework and field
  work
• Society women childbearing, household
  supervision
• NO political rights

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Chivalry

• A system of ideals and social codes, centering
  around knights
• Loyalty
• PageSquireKnight (Sir)
• Breaking these codes was a disgrace to the
  person and the institution of knighthood itself
• Helped to develop literature form romance

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Medieval Church

• Unifying factor
• Continued to be a center of learning
• Organized Oxford Cambridge
• Church had right to tax

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The Crusades

• 1095-1270
• Series of wars waged by Christians against
  Muslims over the Holy Lands
• Exposed Europeans to the Middle Easts
  civilization
• Lasted over 200 years

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End of the Period

• Marked by the marriage of King Henry VII bringing
  the houses of York and Lancaster together.
• By ending the War of the Roses

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LanguageMiddle English

• 1385 English becomes official language of all the
  people
• Grammar from old English influence of rich
  French vocabulary
• Hundred Years War intensifies patriotic feeling
  for the language

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Literature

• First great work of this period Canterbury Tales
  by Geoffrey Chaucer
• Printing press invention at the end of the period
  allows common man access to books
• Ballads
• Romances - Arthurian legend
• Mystery and Miracle plays
• Morality plays

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Canterbury Tales

• Gives an idea of life in the Medieval Period
• Story of a group of people on a pilgrimage from
  London to the shrine of martyr Thomas a Becket
  in Canterbury Cathedral
• Pilgrims on this journey from all walks of life

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Ballads

• Literature of the common people
• Often about death, relationships
• Composed to commemorate events of importance
• Intended to be sung
• Often the tabloids of the time

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Ballad Stanza

• Four lines per stanza
• abab or abcb rhyme scheme
• Four accented syllables in 1st 3rd
• Three accented syllables in 2nd 4th
• May contain refrain at the end of each stanza
• Often anonymous
• Contains incremental repetition
• Question/answer, dialogue

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Arthurian Legend

• Legends usually begin with a historical fact.
• Arthur may have been a King who fought the
  Anglo-Saxons
• Most important source for the legends
• Le Morte dArthur by Sir Thomas Mallory
• the once and future king

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The End