The Middle Ages

1
The Middle Ages

• 1066-1534 AD

2
The Norman Conquest

• 1066 AD - The Battle of Hastings
• Anglo-Saxon King Harold VI killed in the battle
• Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror becomes
  king of England
• Promise of Edward the Confessor

3
Major Dates

• 1096 AD - the beginning of the First Crusade.
• 1215 AD - the Magna Carta
• 1254 AD - the end of the Seventh Crusade
• 1517 AD - Martin Luther posts his Ninety-Five
  Theses
• 1534 AD - Henry VIII passes the Act of Supremacy

4
French Influence

• Feudal System
• Political
• Premise that the king owns all land, distributes
  to loyal lords who distribute to lesser nobles,
  and the land is worked by the peasants.
• Church
• The Pope is the head of the Church on Earth.
  Power is distributed to Archbishops, Bishops and
  lesser Church officials, and finally to lay
  officials and worshipers.

5
Feudal Pyramid
http//gcuonline.georgian.edu/wootton_l/Medieval_f
iles/image004.gif
6
French Influence

• Societal
• Chivalric Code Code by which the knights lived,
  based on faith in the Christian God (specifically
  Catholicism), loyalty to their liege lord, and
  responsibility toward the people.
• Rules of Courtly Love Encouraged loyalty to the
  liege lords lady, often through completion of
  quests or deeds in her honor. Eventually came to
  require loyalty to the Virgin Mary.

7
The Chivalric Code, from The Song of Roland

• To fear God and maintain His Church
• To serve the liege lord in valor and faith
• To protect the weak and defenseless
• To give succor to widows and orphans
• To refrain from the wanton giving of offense
• To live by honor and for glory
• To despise pecuniary reward
• To fight for the welfare of all
• To obey those placed in authority

8
The Chivalric Code, from the Song of Roland

• To guard the honor of fellow knights
• To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit
• To keep faith
• At all times to speak the truth
• To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun
• To respect the honor of women
• Never to refuse a challenge from an equal
• Never to turn the back upon a foe

http//www.midde-ages.org.uk/knights-code-of-chiva
lry.htm
9
French Influence

• Artistic
• Troubadour tradition began with ballads, evolved
  into Alliterative Romance, and the prevalence in
  rhyme in British Literature.
• Spread to England through Eleanor of Aquitaine
• Married first to Louis VII of France, marriage
  was annulled in 1152. Then married to Henry II of
  England.
• Patroness of the arts.
• Granddaughter of William IX, the Troubadour.

10
Medieval Romance

• Name comes from Romanz, an early form of French
  in which Troubadour tales were told
• Legend of King Arthur
• Malorys Le Morte dArthur
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

11
British Response

• Pushback against the French
• Geoffrey of Monmouth
• History of Britain
• Translatio studii et imperii
• Legend of British Kings

12
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• Written by an anonymous poet
• Circa 1375 CE - dated by language and topic
• Written in Middle English - some words and
  language are recognizable
• Tale of a knight of King Arthurs Round Table

13
Alliterative Romance

• Written on subjects representative of the time
  kings and knights, Courtly Love, the Chivalric
  Code
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an excellent
  example of an Alliterative Romance.

14
Alliterative Romance

• Written combination of two oral traditions
• Anglo-Saxon Scops
• Long poems with heavy usage of Alliteration
• French Troubadours
• Long poems with heavy usage of Rhyming

15
Alliterative Romance

• Made up of extended stanzas, with alliteration
  predominant in the first part.
• Stanzas end in a Bob-and-Wheel
• Made up of 5 lines
• 1st line is the Bob at the end of the open
  stanza
• Last 4 lines, the Wheel, have an ABAB rhyme
  scheme

16
Raffel Lines 755-762

• . . . and sighing, he said Oh Lord,
• Oh Mary, gentlest Mother and dear,
• I beg you to send me some lodging, to let me
• Hear mass before morning I ask meekly,
• And in proof pray swiftly my pater, my ave,
• My creed.
• He prayed as he rode,
• And wept for misdeeds,
• And shaped the sign of the cross
• And called Christ in his need.

17
Tolkein Lines 753-762

• And therefore sighing he said I beseech thee,
  oh Lord,
• And Mary, who is the midlest mother most dear,
• For some harbour where with honour I might hear
  the Mass
• And thy Matins tomorrow. This meekly I ask,
• And thereto promptly I pray with Pater and Ave
• and Creed.
• In prayer he now did ride,
• lamenting his misdeed
• he blessed him oft and cried,
• The Cross of Christ me speed!