Medieval Period
(Dark Ages / Middle Ages)
Interim of Rome and Renaissance
1066-1485
1066

1066 – Norman Invasion of England –
basically French Vikings.

Full fledged invasion and occupation

English culture becomes a mix of
Norman and A-S traditions
William the Conqueror
Ruthless, brutal soldier and leader
 Slaughtered most of the AngloSaxon nobility, and replaced them
with Normans (gets most of the
landowners out of the way) – this
created the largest change of land
ownership in English history
 Actually controlled England and a
sizable portion of France
 He was an organized politician /
Institutes written and common law
/ Ordeal system for trials

Feudal System
Complicated system of land holding
under William the Conqueror
 Land is basically given to King’s loyal
subjects in return for rent (money or
military service) – in return, King shares
spoils of military conquests
 No one owns land independently except
for the King – creates a system where
everyone owes allegiance to a higher up
person (peasants, serfs, barons,
knights)
 Domesday Book – detailed account of
EVERYTHING related to land holding –
leads to an organized “property tax” –
solidified central government

William’s Family

Robert Curthose
William II
Henry
William I dies in 1087 (gross video clip); Robert is
given Normandy and William II gets England; William
II is King until he dies in a “hunting accident.” Henry
takes the crown, successfully battles Robert for
Normandy, and then imprisons Robert for life.

End result = poor leadership and civil war from 1100-1133
Plantagenet Family
1133 – Powerful Norman Family rises to
power and puts their candidate on the
throne
 Henry II – Two sons (Richard and John)


Puts Thomas Beckett in charge of the
church by making him the Archbishop of
Canterbury (highest religious post in
England)
Henry II vs. Thomas Beckett

Henry hoped this would allow him to
control Beckett/Church

Instead Beckett upholds the supreme
power of the Church

So . . . Henry has him assassinated in
1170

The shrine the Pilgrims are visiting in
The Canterbury Tales is for Beckett
Results of T. Beckett’s
► Henry
II – wanted common law, even for
the Church officials
 “benefit of clergy”
► T.
Beckett becomes a martyr
► Backlash on Henry II
 No power to stop corruption in the Church
 Satire in The Canterbury Tales
Beckett Shrine
Richard I - Crusades

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1189: When Henry II dies, his eldest son
becomes King – Richard I “Lionheart”
Spends most of time fighting in the Crusades
(wars declared by Popes to regain the Holy
Land) – “take the cross”
These always began with high hopes, and
typically ended disastrously (there has never
been any fighting there since…)
Interesting side effect: Europeans gained
knowledge from Arabic cultures in math and
medicine (you have these wars to thank for
algebra and calculus)
English Knights play a major role in Crusades
 Code of Chivalry
► Honor, courage, courtesy, service to women
► Bold and fearless on the battlefield
► Kind and tender off of it

1199: Richard dies early in reign due to a
festering wound (no son)
King John I

1199: 2nd son of Henry II becomes king
- John I (Think Robin Hood)

WEAK King – loses land in France that
England had owned since William the
Conqueror’s invasion

Signs Magna Carta in 1215
 Gives more power to nobles and takes
power from kings – begins breakdown
of absolute power of the throne
 Kings don’t exactly follow this all time,
but it’s on the books
1216: John dies

King Henry III (boring names!)
1216: With death of John I, his son
Henry becomes king at age 9 – Henry III
 1st of the “Child Kings”
 Much of reign plagued with battles with
nobles over the Magna Carta (he ignores
it by killing people he doesn’t like – not
cool with the nobility)
 By 1258, the nobility have gathered
enough power to institute “The Great
Council”
 This meant the king needed to OK his
decisions with this group (this
eventually becomes Parliament)


1272: Henry III dies
King Edward I – “Longshanks”

1272: With death of Henry III, his son
Edward becomes King – Edward I

Has 15 kids (only 1 male/5 females live
to adulthood)

1282: Wales rebellion (Western neighbor
of England) – Edward I brutally puts
down the Wales rebellion and makes his
eldest son the Prince of Wales; to this
day the Prince of Wales is heir to the
throne of England.
Edward I vs. Scotland

1300: Edward embarks on a war with
Scotland (Braveheart plot – William
Wallace)
Edward does not really care about the
land he gains, it’s about the money he
can extort from the Scottish land barons.
He really wants to go to war with France,
but needs $$ to build his war chest.
 http://Freedom Speech – Braveheart


1305: Wallace captured – drawn and
quartered for high treason. Edward I
gains much of Scotland “Hammer of the
Scots”
Edward II

1307: Edward I dies, and his son
becomes King – Edward II (“the deuce”)

Incompetent King – loses all the gains
father made in Scotland – spends a lot of
the throne’s money.

Has one son with wife Isabella (French
Princess). In 1327, Isabella and her lover
Mortimer gain English support and force
Eddie II to abdicate the throne.

Edward II is imprisoned, tortured and
killed.
Edward III
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1327: After Edward II is deposed and
killed, Isabella installs Edward III (14 yrs
old) as King of England – “Puppet Regime”
In 1330, Edward III hangs Mortimer and
imprisons his mother Isabella until her
death.
1337: Like his Grandfather, Edward III
wants France. Start of 100 Years War.
(France v England) Black Plague really gets
going during this time; war + plague =
losing lots of English population.
English Oak long bows bring about the end
of chivalrous warfare
By 1359, Edward claims a great deal of
money and land in France.
Richard II

1370-1375: The Prince of Wales dies, then
Edward III dies. This leads to the Prince of
Wales’ son Richard II being named King at
the age of 10.

Uncles argue for power and control – little
gets done

As Richard II gets older, he kills nobles he
does not like – when the King has no
children, it leads to massive paranoia

Nobles don’t like this, so they revolt and kill
him in 1399 – Plantagenet line ends
House of Lancaster

1399: Richard II’s first cousin is declared
King: Henry IV (House of Lancaster)

1399-1413: England in wars with France,
Scotland, Ireland, Wales – fun stuff. In
1413 Henry IV dies; his son Henry V is King
By 1420, Henry wins much of France –
major victory = Battle of Agincourt:
 Branagh's Henry V Speech


Henry V convinces “mad” Charles VI of
France to name Henry heir to the French
throne – marries Charles’ daughter
House of Lancaster

Henry simply has to wait for Charles to die
and he’ll be King of England & France

1422: Doesn't happen – Henry dies before
Charles. Henry VI becomes king at 9
months of age. Uncles fight for control –
very little is accomplished.

As Henry VI gets older, it is obvious that
Henry VI is “mad” too. All father’s gains in
France are lost. Claim to French throne is
disputed, eventually lost.
Wars of the Roses

1455-1485: Henry VI’s inability to rule led
to a challenge for rule from the House of
York – Civil War for the throne.

During these wars, there were a few short
term York Kings (Edward IV, Richard III),
but eventually Henry VII (Lancaster)
defeats Richard III and becomes King.

Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York –
symbolically restores peace to England

Tudor line begins - Tudor Rose
Medieval Period Quizzes
► NAMES
(Take Home) QUIZ: William the
Conqueror, Thomas Beckett, John I, Edward
I&III, Richard I, Henry II, V, VI, VII
► Medieval
Background QUIZ: Church’s
power, 100 years war, Wars of the Roses,
Crusades, Chivalry, Indulgences, Middle
class
Religion/Church = Power

Creates a society with a common set of beliefs
– all belong to the Catholic Church

Europe’s main publisher, librarian & teacher

Excommunication = getting kicked out of the
Church – BIG deal (bad)

Indulgences: Paying the Church to get out of
Purgatory or Hell

Church is a powerful economic force; thereby a
powerful political force. Construction of huge
cathedrals throughout Europe.
Change in Power for the Church
► 1370
John Wycliffe translates the Latin Bible
due to his dislike of growing corruption in
Church.
 In Latin, church officials could interpret the
Bible for people – now people can do this on
their own (a really big deal).
Commoners Increase in Power

Shift from farming to herding sheep – English
wool considered best in Europe (good export)
 Causes a shift of higher city populations – Merchant
class increase (more people with $ but not royal blood –
middle class)

Black Plague/Black Death




“Ring around the Rosie”
Wipes out 1/3 of population in Europe, Asia, North Africa
Once contracted . . . dead in 4 days
Huge impact: Plague + war deaths lead to a labor
shortage (peasant/serf class moves up – beginning of
the end of feudalism)
► Religious
impact – loss of “good” ones
(think about it…)
Connection to Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1400) – lived during
really transitional times
 KINGS: corruption, warlike, power-hungry
 CHURCH: corruption, self-serving, powerful
 COMMONERS: gaining power, fewer people=more
jobs
Geoffrey Chaucer
Considered the father of English Literature
► Born into the rising middle class
►
Mastered Latin, French, and Italian, along with his native language
Served in the 100 Years War before he was 20
Was captured, and his release was ransomed by the king
Job list: page, soldier, translator, courtier, diplomat, civil administrator,
diplomat, Comptroller of Customs for the Port of London, Member of
Parliament, Justice of the Peace, Clerk of the Works at Westminster Abbey
and the Tower of London
 Oh, and a sub-forester for one of the king’s forests
 Overall, he served for three kings: Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV
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This is a man who understood all levels of humanity
► Wrote his stories in English: French had been the language of
literature (and the upper classes) since the Norman Invasion
The Canterbury Tales
►
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Frame Story
 Stories within the framework of an overall story (think TV sitcoms)
 Overall Story of the C. Tales
► 31 people on a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral to visit the
shrine of Thomas Beckett
 By using the frame story format, he naturally brings
together a wide variety of people
Three most important social classes of Medieval Society
1. Feudal
2. Ecclesiastical
3. Urban
The Canterbury Tales cont.
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The overall story focuses on the 31 pilgrims traveling to Canterbury
On the way, each pilgrim will tell stories
 Two on the way there
 Two on the way back
Quick Math – Chaucer’s goal was to write 124 stories
 He experienced writer’s block: he only got to 24
► Why?
► He died (tough form of writer’s block to overcome…)
Between the descriptions of each pilgrim in the prologue (he describes
23) and the tales he finished, The Canterbury Tales is considered the
most accurate description of medieval life in existence
Written as a poem, but it is informal and easy to understand (almost
conversational)
Sources
www.abingdonwargames.org.uk/.../1066/map_mid.bmp
► http://www.doyle.com.au/images/viking1.jpg
► http://wordinfo.info//words/images/Eng-hist-18D-NormanInvasion.gif
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http://www.anglik.net/kingwillliamI.jpg
http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/images/feudal-system.gif
http://www.mondes-normands.fr/angleterre/histoires/6/images/robert3.jpg
http://thepeerage.com/102026_001.jpg
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~darleenz/images/parms.gif
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Henry_II_of_England__Illustration_from_Cassell%27s_History_of_England_-_Century_Edition_-_published_circa_1902.jpg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/images/thomas_becket.jpg
http://www.barham-history.net/becketmurder.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JqzZTbH2vMY/SFn7WHUaXKI/AAAAAAAAA4U/Ic_vwzKAkKo/england+to+cape
+town+046.jpg
http://www.terragalleria.com/images/uk/uken36091.small.jpeg
http://www.cheviotschallenge.org.uk/Images/King_Henry_III%5B1%5D.jpg
http://www.partnershipsuk.org.uk/Business-Sectors-Regional.aspx
http://www.theancientweb.com/explore/content.aspx?content_id=26
http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/SF7395.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/this_week/6088358.stm
http://www.shakespeareandhistory.com/edward-iii.php
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~buckley/gallery.html
http://www.eriding.net/media/tudors.shtml
Sources
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/image_galleries/galleries_weather_winter_2005_gallery.shtml?
9
http://marathon.uwc.edu/academics/departments/political_science/IGS_AIDSinAFRICA/plagues_in_ar
t.htm
http://thecleverquill.wordpress.com/
http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/User:Alcuin