The Rise of Medieval Culture
Medieval Ages – from 500 to 1000

“Dark Ages” from 6th to 8th Century only
 Few
documents survived from this era
The Medieval Ages – influenced the
Renaissance later.
 Clashes between the Christian Church
– expanding North and…
 Germanic and other Barbarian groups
 Cultural Assimilation between these
groups.

The Merging of Christian and
Celt-Germanic Tribes.

The Anglo Saxons invaded England
from northeastern Europe
 Angles, Saxons, and Jutes
 Same language and traditions
They suppressed the Celt Christians
 In Britain – early Middle Ages -culture
distinctive Germanic
 Britain becomes Christian again by
about 675

Animal Style - Germanic
Sutton Hoo Purse Lid
Sutton Hoo=cemetery site in Suffolk, England
Illuminated Manuscripts
Books – written by hand on parchment
(animal skin)

Early example – Christian gospels of
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
 Produced in monasteries in Northern
England and Ireland

Beowulf – Germanic Tale
8th Century
 Set in Denmark
 Values of a warrior society
 Duty to take care of his noblemen
 No reference to New Testament
 Jesus not mentioned
 Pagan aspects – funeral burial ship

Charlemagne:
Ruler and Diplomat





8th century – Charlemagne, King of the
Franks
Convergence of Christian and Germanic
cultures
Cultural reawakening
Charlemagne thought of himself as successor
of Roman emperors.
Papal Coronation
–
–

Leo III, Christmas 800
Revival of Western Roman Empire
Foreign Relations
–
Byzantines, Muslims
Palace at Aachen, Germany

Charles the Great; numbered Charles I of France and the Holy
Roman Empire) (742/747 – 28 January 814) was King of the
Franks from 768 to his death. He expanded the Frankish
kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of
Western and Central Europe.

During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned Imperator
Augustus by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800, in an attempted
revival of the Roman Empire in the West.

His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a
revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the
Catholic Church. Through his foreign conquests and internal
reforms, Charlemagne helped define both Western Europe and
the Middle Ages.
Charlemagne:
Developments
Alcuin of York – School Teacher – Named (by
Charlemagne) to run the Palace of Aachen
 Aachen’s Library. He actually created a great library
 Stabilized the currency
– Denier
 Trade Fairs
 Jewish merchants
 Trade Routes
 Import / Export Relationships
– Iron Broadswords

Learning
in the Time of Charlemagne
“Palace School” at Aachen
 Scholar-teachers
 Curriculum

–
Trivium, quadrivium that Boethius created
– Mastery of texts

Text reform
–

Literary revival = Liturgical revival
Literacy as prerequisite for worship
Feudalism
The chivalrous knight was
Legal and social system
idealized as brave in battle, loyal
– Three hundred countries – division of portions of
land to his king and God, and willing to
sacrifice
himself
for the greater
– Ruled
by Counts
– NOBILITY
in Europe
good.and
Towards
hisexchange
fellow
– The lords
vassals
of responsibility
and countrymen, the
– Lord Christians
– protection/land
knight
was to
besome
merciful,
humble,
– Vassal
– loyalty
and
military
service.
and courteous.
– Chevaliers
– FranceTowards noble
ladies
above all, the knight was to
– Knights
- England
gracious and gentle.
– Legalbe
decrees
– Bureaucratic system
– Literacy
–
Dueling by Delacroix
Benedictine Monasticism

Early monasticism
–
Varying monastic lifestyles
– No predominate rule

The Rule of St. Benedict
“Poverty, stability, obedience, chastity
– Balance of prayer, work, and study
– Horarium – daily religious schedule
–
Women and the Monastic Life

Scholastica (543)
–
St. Benedict’s sister
Brigid of Ireland (525)
 Hilda, abbess of Whitby (614-680)
 Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

–
Writer, painter, illustrator, musician, critic,
preacher
– Scivias, Physica, Causae et Curae,
Symphonia, Ordo Virtutum
Monasticism and Gregorian Chant





A monk was a layman who sought to live a
Christian life by entering a monastery and leaving the
ordinary world behind. Monks took a vow of poverty,
chastity and obedience T
They were set apart from the rest of the world, even
from the secular clergy
Were at least in theory among the most holy and
venerated in medieval society.
Monasteries and Opus Dei – The Work of God – daily
prayer.
Development of sacred music
–
–
–
–
Gregorian Chant
Ambrosian music
Mozarabic chant
Frankish chant
Monasticism
and Gregorian Chant
Gregorian chant and Carolingian reform
 Gregorian characteristics

–
–
–
–
–
Monophonic
Melismatic
Acapella
Cantus planus
neums
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MbDqc3x97k
Liturgical Music
and the Rise of Drama

The Liturgical Trope
–
Verbal elaborations of textual content
– Added to the long melismas
– Aid in memorization
– Origin of drama in the West
 Quem
Quæritis
The Morality Play: Everyman
Links liturgical and secular drama
 Allegorical, moralistic

–

Instructs for moral conversion
Religious themes
–
Life as a pilgrimage
– The inevitability of death (memento mori)
– Faith vs. Free Will

Liturgical overtones
Nonliturgical Drama

Hroswitha (d. 1000)
–
Wrote in Latin
– Roman stylistic influences
– Poetry, legends, plays
 Theophilus
 The
–
Conversion of the Harlot Thaïs
Heavily moralistic to educate and convert
The Legend of Charlemagne:
Song of Roland

Charlemagne canonized 1165
–

Epic poem
–
–
–


Charlemagne’s battle with the Basques (778)
Chansons de geste, chansons d’histoire
Chansons de geste = song of deedes
Oral tradition, jongleurs
Military and religious ideals
–

Reliquaries and commemoratives
11th c. martial virtues and chivalric code
Anti-Muslim bias
Bust of Charlemagne
Reliquary
The Visual Arts:
The Illuminated Book
Carolingian manuscripts on parchment
–
Gospel Book of Charlemagne
–
–
Utrecht Psalter
–
–
Masterpiece of the Carolingian Renaissance
Dagulf Psalter
–
–
Roman, Byzantine, Celtic styles
Carved ivory book covers
Carolingian miniscule
From the Gospel Book
Of Charlemagne
Aachen Palace
Manuscript Illumination
Crucifixion
Aachen Palace.
Ivories like these
were used as book
covers for Gospel books
Beginning Psalm
From Dagulf Psalter
Cover Panels
For Dagulf Psalter, Ivory
Charlemagne’s Palace at Aachen

Kingdom modeled on ancient Rome
 Palace
–
–

Chapel
–
–
–

Church of San Vitale (Ravenna) as model
Altar to the Savior (liturgical services)
Chapel to the Virgin (reliquary)
Charlemagne’s Throne
–

Large royal hall, lavishly decorated
Joined to chapel by a long gallery
“…this most wise Solomon.
Next: Carolingian Monastery
The Carolingian Monastery

Monastery as “miniature civic center”
–
Complexity of function and design
– Center of life for rural populations

Saint Gall plan
–
Basilica style
– Designed to house 120 monks, 170 serfs
The Romanesque Style
Large, “Roman-looking” architecture
 Influenced by travel, expansion

–

Pilgrimages
Heavy stone arches
–
Larger, more spacious interiors
– Fireproof stone and masonry roofs
– Next: Church of Saint Sernin in Toulouse
St. Madelein Vezelay
The Romanesque Style

Exterior decoration (sculpture)
–
Lack of interior light
– Portal (doorway)
– Jamb, capital, trumeau
– Next: Tympanum (mandorla, archivolts)
 Church
of Sainte Madeleine at Vézelay
Vikings

Term Viking – Seafarers
–
–
–
–
–
Raiders of British Isles
All Scandinavian sea people-whether they
raided or not
Scandinavia, Russian, Ireland, Canada
Eventually became the Duchy of
Normandy – England/France
William the Conqueror
Modern Reenactment of Viking Battle
William the Conqueror
Harold-last Anglo Saxon/William-son of Robert I/Edward
the Confessor-King of England who ruled from Normandy-named Harold
William’s death.

William I of England (c. 1027), known as William the Conqueror
was Duke of Normandy from 1035 to 1087 and King of England
on 1066.

To claim the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading
an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold
Godwin at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English
revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest

His reign brought Norman culture to England, which had an enormous
impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages. In
addition to political changes, his reign also saw changes to English
law, a program of building and fortification, changes to the vocabulary
of the English language, and the introduction of continental European
feudalism into England.

As Duke of Normandy, he is known as William II. He was also,
particularly before the conquest, known as William the Bastard
Magna Carta

Magna Carta (Latin for "Great Charter", literally "Great Paper"), also is an
English charter originally issued in 1215.

Magna Carta was the most significant early influence on the extensive
historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law today.

Magna Carta influenced the development of the common law and many
constitutional documents, such as the United States Constitution and Bill of
Rights, and is considered one of the most important legal documents in the
history of democracy.

Magna Carta was originally written because of disagreements among Pope
Innocent III, King John and the English barons about the rights of the King.

Magna Carta required the King to renounce certain rights, respect certain
legal procedures and accept that his will could be bound by the law.

It explicitly protected certain rights of the King's subjects, whether free or
fettered — most notably the habeas corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful
imprisonment.

Many clauses were renewed throughout the Middle Ages, and further during
the Tudor and Stuart periods, and the 18th century. By the late 19th century,
most clauses in their original form had been repealed from English law.