The Middle Ages
1066-1500
The Norman Invasion
• 1066 – Last Anglo-Saxon King, Harold II,
was crowned at Westminster Abbey,
London
• September that same year, Harold
defeated invading Norwegians at Stamford
Bridge, thus ending the Viking Age
The Norman Invasion
• Three Weeks Later – Battle of Hastings
• Harold was killed by William “The
Conqueror,” Duke of Normandy
• William was crowned King of England
• This Norman Invasion ended the AngloSaxon Period
Transitions in the English
Language
• Norman Invaders spoke French
• French – language of the ruling class
• English – Anglo-Saxons, lower class
• Well educated people needed to know French,
English and Latin
• French remained dominant language for 200
years
• New Language emerged – Middle English
Transitions in the English
Language
EXAMPLE:
And smale foules maken melodie,
That slepen alle night with open eye,
So priketh hem nature in hir corages;
Than longen folk to gon on pilgrimages.
- Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales (1400)
Translation
And small birds make a melody, /
Those the sleep all night with an open
eye, / So he pricks Nature in her
courage; / Than people long to go on
pilgrimages.
Feudalism
• English society divided into hierarchy
• King at the top
• Lords who were given fiefs (parcels of land) by
the king / lords supplied king with warriors /
lords distributed tracks of land to lesser nobles
in exchange for their loyalty
• Serfs – farmed plots of land that belonged to
the lords / gave portion of their crops to their
lords
Feudalism
• King William established a strong central
government
• Ordered a detailed survey of all the estates in
England (Domesday Book)
• used to determine taxes, feudal rights and
duties.
Feudalism
The Crusades
• Roman Catholic Church influenced England
• 1095-1270, the church sponsored military
expeditions to the Middle East to win Jerusalem
and the Holy Land from the Muslims.
• King Richard I of England helped lead the Third
Crusade in 1190.
The Crusades
• The Crusades failed to win the Holy Land
• They contributed to the weakening of feudal
power of kings and barons
• Richard was captured and held at ransom on the
way home from the crusades – the citizens had
to pay the ransom causing resentment toward
him and the crown.
Church vs. State
• Feudal system – King appointed bishops and
gave them land
• Clashes over government control of the church
and church control of non-religious matters
• Struggle between King Henry II and Thomas
Becket
• 1162 Henry II named Becket the Archbishop of
Canterbury – head of the Roman Catholic Church
in England.
Church vs. State
• Becket opposed government control of church
• Henry II said, “Will no one rid me of this
turbulent priest?” and four knights took his
order literally and murdered Becket at
Canterbury cathedral.
• Becket was canonized as a saint. A shrine was
dedicated to him and is the destination for
Chaucer’s pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales.
The Magna Carta
• King Richard (Son of Henry II) died in 1199, and
was succeeded by his brother John.
• John inherited the resentment of the barons
toward Richard
• John provoked a war with France and lost
Normandy.
• John then financed a military campaign further
angering the barons.
The Magna Carta
• The barons revolted the abuse of power and
forced John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215
• Magna Carta was a milestone in the
development of democracy
• Placed the king under the law and protected the
rights of free citizens.
The Hundred Years War
• The English and French fought a series of
wars between 1337-1453 over control of
lands in France.
• England lost all remaining territories
• Break from France helped England
establish its own identity
The Black Death
• Influenced culture and society in England in 1348
• 1 in every 3 residents died from the disease
• Whole towns were annihilated
• Some think the Black plague was a
bacterial disease while others think
it may have been a combination
several diseases at once. The disease
was transmitted by fleas from
infected rats.
The Black Death
• AKA - bubonic plague, the blue sickness, the
Great Mortality
• Symptoms – fever, weakness, sweating,
coughing, swellings in the glands of the armpits
and groin
• The swellings could be lanced, but the toxic
buildup could still poison the
person and any spray from the
lance could infect others.
The Black Death
• 2/3 of people infected eventually died within 3-4
days of contracting the disease
• Now it can be treated with antibiotics
• If you are Caucasian, you have 15% odds that
you are immune from the Black Death (inherited
gene)
• Early 14 century world population – 500 million
• 155-200 million world wide died from the plague
The Black Death
• Other effects of the
plague:
• Accelerated the demise of
the feudal system
• Improved life for the serfs
• Labor became scarce
• Wages went up
• Aristocracy actually paid
peasants for their work
• Rise of the Middle Class
Literature – French Romances
• Romances originated in France in the
1100s
• Describe the adventures of legendary
knights and celebrate the chivalric code
that emphasizes courtly love.
• Heroes are admirable men who have
similar weaknesses of ordinary humans
Literature – French Romances
• Arthurian Romances
• King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
• Most acclaimed was Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight (1300s by the Pearl Poet)
• Le Morte d’ Arthur (1470) by Sir Thomas
Mallory
Chivalry and Courtly Love
• King Arthur Legends
• Romantic tales reflect society
• Chivalry – code of conduct knights swore to
obey
•
•
•
•
•
Loyal to the lord at any cost
Honor women
Protect the weak
Right injustices and wrongs
Defend the Christian faith
Chivalry and Courtly Love
• Courtly Love – knights were expected to
be motivated by love for an ideal
woman.
• Medieval society took these ideals
seriously
• Writers reflected these ideals in their
works
Code of Chivalry
• Thou shalt avoid greed like the deadly pestilence
and shalt embrace its opposite.
• Thou shalt keep thyself chaste for the sake of her
whom thou lovest.
Code of Chivalry
• Thou shalt not knowingly strive to break up a
correct love affair that someone else is engaged
in.
• Thou shalt not chose for thy love anyone whom
a natural sense of shame forbids thee to marry.
• Be mindful completely to avoid falsehood.
Code of Chivalry
• Thou shalt not have many who know of thy love
affair.
• Being obedient in all things to the commands of
ladies, thou shalt ever strive to ally thyself to the
service of love.
• In giving and receiving love's solaces, let
modesty be ever present.
Code of Chivalry
• Thou shalt speak no evil.
• Thou shalt not be a revealer of love affairs.
• Thou shalt be in all things polite and courteous.
• In practicing the solaces of love, thou shalt not
exceed the desires of thy lover.
Le Morte de Arthur
• Sir Thomas Mallory wrote while in jail around
1470
• First true novel written in English
• Involves romantic concepts of chivalry and the
heroic quest
• William Caxton (printing press) edited the work
and arranged it into 21 books
Le Morte de Arthur
• Beginning talks about the background of King
Arthur; birth through first battles as king
• Book 1: The rape of Igraine by King Uther. Arthur
is born, fostered by Sir Ector and draws the
sword from the stone. He receives Excalibur from
the Lady of the Lake
• Book 21: Concerns the final days in the life of
Arthur
King Arthur
The Canterbury Tales
• Greatest writer of the Middle Ages – Geoffrey
Chaucer
• Long narrative poem written in the late 1300s
• Collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims
on a journey to the shrine of St.
Thomas Becket in Canterbury
• Portrays a broad range of people
from medieval English society
The Canterbury Tales
• Frame tale (story that provides a frame for telling
other stories)
• Introduction of iambic pentameter
• Each line has 10 syllables with one unstressed
syllable followed by one stressed syllable in
regular alternation.
• “Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote.”
Chaucer’s Pilgrims
• Feudal System: Knight, Squire, Yeoman, Franklin,
Plowman, Miller, Reeve
• Religious Life: Nun, Monk, Friar, Cleric, Parson,
Summoner, Pardoner
• Professions: Merchant,
Sergeant at the Law,
Five Tradesmen, Cook,
Skipper, Doctor,
Wife of Bath,
Manciple, Host