Chapter Nine:
The Rise of Medieval
Culture
Culture and Values, 8th. Ed.
Cunningham and Reich and FichnerRathus
400 ce – 800 ce
 Monasteries are founded
 Warring tribes migrate throughout
Europe following the collapse of the
Roman Empire
 Venerable Bede writes the
Ecclesiastical History of the English
People
 The Old English epic Beowulf is created
 Charlemagne battles the Spanish
emirate without conclusive Results;
events gives rise to The Song of Roland
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800 ce – 1200 ce
The feudal system becomes the dominant
social structure throughout Europe
Charlemagne, a Frank, is crowned emperor
of the new Holy Roman Empire
Charlemagne supports learning, monasteries,
and the writing of books
The Ottonian period begins following the
death of Charlemagne
William I (William the Conqueror) invades
England and becomes England’s first
Norman king
The Romanesque style of architecture
dominates European cathedral construction
Charlemagne:
Ruler and Diplomat (742-814)

Papal Coronation
–
Leo III, Christmas 800
– Revival of Western Roman Empire

Feudal Administration
–
Legal decrees
– Bureaucratic system
– Literacy

Foreign Relations
–
Byzantines, Muslims
Charlemagne:
Economic Developments

Stabilized the currency
–
Denier
Trade Fairs
 Tolerance of Jews
 Jewish merchants and the Near East
 Trade Routes
 Import / Export Relationships

–
Iron Broadswords
Learning
in the Time of Charlemagne
“Palace School” at Aachen
 Scholar-teachers
 Curriculum

–
Trivium, quadrivium
– Mastery of texts

Text reform
–

Literary revival = Liturgical revival
Literacy as prerequisite for worship
Learning
in the Time of Charlemagne

Alcuin of York
–
Corrected errors in the Vulgate Bible
– Developed Frankish school system

Literacy and Women
–
Aristocratic women
– Dhouda- not a nun but wrote a text on
Christian living
– Illuminated manuscripts
Benedictine Monasticism

Early monasticism
–
Varying monastic lifestyles
– No predominate rule

The Rule of St. Benedict
“Magna Carta of monasticism”
– Poverty, stability, obedience, chastity
– Balance of prayer, work, and study
– Horarium
–
Horarium Monasticum
2:00 A.M.
Rise
2:10–3:30
Nocturns (later called Matins; the
longest office of the day)
3:30–5:00
Private reading and study
5:00–5:45
Lauds (the second office; also called
“morning prayer”)
5:45–8:15
Private reading and Prime (the first of
the short offices of the day); at times,
there was communal Mass at this time
and, in some places, a light breakfast,
depending on the season
8:15–2:30
Work punctuated by short offices
of Tierce, Sext, and None(literally the
third, sixth, and ninth hours)
2:30–3:15
Dinner
3:15–4:15
Reading and private religious exercises
4:15–4:45
Vespers—break—Compline(night
prayers)
5:15–6:00
To bed for the night
Women and the Monastic Life

Scholastica (d. 543)
–
St. Benedict’s sister
Brigit of Ireland (d. 525)
 Hilda, abbess of Whitby (614-680)
 Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
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Monasticism
and Gregorian Chant
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Development of sacred music
–
Gregorian Chant
– Ambrosian music
– Mozarabic chant
– Frankish chant
Monasticism
and Gregorian Chant
Gregorian chant and Carolingian reform
 Gregorian characteristics
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–
–
–
–
–
Monophonic- one or many voices singing one
single melodic line
Melisma-extensive addition of a chain of intricate
notes sung on the vowel sound of a single syllable
Acapella-vocals no instrumentation
Cantus planus-plain song
Neums-notations used in Gregorian chant
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
Medieval Literature

Venerable Bede
–
–
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Father of English history
Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Beowulf
Hildegard of Bingen
http://www.macalester.edu/~warren/courses/Hildegard/art.html
– Writer, painter, illustrator, musician, critic,
preacher
– Scivias (The Way of Knowledge), Physica
(botany), Causae et Curae (illness & cures),
Symphonia (hymns & songs), Ordo Virtutum
 Roswitha -poet, playwright
9.1 Hildegard of Bingen, “Vision of God’s Plan for the Seasons,” from
De operatione Dei, 1163-1174
The Morality Play: Everyman
Links liturgical and secular drama
 Allegorical, moralistic
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–
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Instructs for moral conversion
Religious themes
–
Life as a pilgrimage
– The inevitability of death (memento mori)
– Faith vs. Free Will

Liturgical overtones
The Legend of Charlemagne:
Song of Roland

Charlemagne canonized 1165
–
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Reliquaries and commemoratives
Epic poem
–
Charlemagne’s battle with the Basques
(778)
–
Chansons de geste (song of deeds), chansons
d’histoire (song of history)
Oral tradition, jongleurs (wandering minstrels)
 Military and religious ideals

–
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11th c. martial virtues and chivalric code
Anti-Muslim bias
9.23 Reliquary of Charlemagne
The Visual Arts:
The Illuminated Book
Carolingian manuscripts on parchment
 Gospel Book of Charlemagne
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–
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Utrecht Psalter
–
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Masterpiece of the Carolingian Renaissance
Dagulf Psalter
–
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Roman, Byzantine, Celtic styles
Carved ivory book covers
Carolingian miniscule
9.9 The four
evangelists and their
symbols, Palatine
School at Aachen,
early 9th century.
Manuscript
illustration from the
Gospel Book of
Charlemagne
9.10 Drawing for Psalm 150 from the Utrecht Psalter, ca
820-840
9.11 Crucifixion,
ca. 860-870,
carved ivory
panel, Victoria
and Albert
Museum, London,
United Kingdom
Carolingian Architecture
Charlemagne’s Palace at Aachen
Kingdom modeled on ancient Rome
 Palace
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–
–
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Chapel
–
–
–
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Large royal hall, lavishly decorated
Joined to chapel by a long gallery
Church of San Vitale (Ravenna) as model
Altar to the Savior (liturgical services)
Chapel to the Virgin (reliquary)
Charlemagne’s Throne
–
“…this most wise Solomon.”
Palatine Chapel (palace chapel of Charlemagne), 792–805. Interior of
the octagonal rotunda and plan. Aachen Cathedral, Aachen,
Germany.
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
Plan for an ideal monastery, ca. 820. Saint Gall, Switzerland.
Reconstruction based on original plan (44″ across, drawn to scale on
vellum) in the Library of the Monastery of Saint Gall, Switzerland.
The Romanesque Style
Large, “Roman-looking” architecture
 Influenced by travel, expansion
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–

Pilgrimages
Heavy stone arches
–
Larger, more spacious interiors
– Fireproof stone and masonry roofs
– Church of Saint Sernin in Toulouse
Church of Saint Michael (restored
exterior), ca. 1001–1031. Hildesheim,
Germany.
Adam and Eve Reproached by the Lord, 1015. Panel of bronze doors, 23″
× 43″ (58.4 × 109.2 cm). Dom Museum of Saint Mary’s Cathedral,
Hildesheim, Germany.
Saint Sernin,
ca. 1080–1120. Toulouse, France.
Floor plan,
Saint Sernin.
Toulouse, France.
9.19 Nave, Saint Sernin, ca 1020-1180, Toulouse,
France
The Romanesque Style

Exterior decoration (sculpture)
–
Lack of interior light
– Portal (doorway)
– Jamb, capital, trumeau
– Tympanum (mandorla, archivolts)
 Church
of Sainte Madeleine at Vézelay
9.20 Cathedral of Sainte-Lazare, west tympanum
detail of Last Judgment, ca 1120-1135
“Proclamation to the
Shepherds,”
folio 8 verso from the
Lectionary of Henry
II, 1007.
Manuscript
illumination on
vellum,
16¾″ × 12⅝″ (42.5
cm × 32 cm).
Bayerische
Staatsbibliothek,
Munich, Germany.
Chapter Nine: Discussion Questions
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Explain the function of the Song of Roland as both
religious and political propaganda during the
eleventh and twelfth centuries. What values are
extolled within the text that would serve religious
and political leaders as they shape their culture? Do
we, as a culture, subscribe to these same values
today? Why or why not?
Why was Charlemagne so interested in developing
literacy? Explain his motives and methods for
establishing schools and supporting scholars.
Describe the role of the liturgical trope in the
development of drama in the West. For example,
how does one begin with the Quem Quæritis trope
and arrive at Everyman? Explain the evolution of the
art form.