By: Earyn Edwards, Brendan Schamp, Danielle Giolli, and
Emily De Vito
 Art was inseparable from religion
 Infused with spiritual symbolism and
meaning
 Used to symbolize what people believed in
 Pope Gregory the Great said “painting
can do for the illiterate what writing
does for those who read”.
 The Romanesque period marked a radical departure
from the Anglo-Saxon traditions
 The style is known as Norman
 Obvious characteristics: rounded arches, barrel vaults,
chevron pattern decorations, doors recessed in three
orders
 Carvings covered biblical scenes , but also human,
animal, and floral shapes
 Major English Cathedrals: Canterbury,
Durham, Ely, Gloucester , Rochester
Architecture
 The Gothic style began in 12th century France
 Known as “The French Style”
 Gothic style is light, spacious, and graceful
 Lack of culture of the barbarian tribes, including
Goths.
 Learned from the Arab world during the Crusades
 Window sizes grew and were filled with colored glass
 Easiest point of reference in a gothic church is pointed
arch, seen in window openings and doors.
 The Catholic church was the only church and had its
own laws, people were unquestioning of the beliefs of
the church.
 Monks and Nuns took the opposite position and took
on the lives of poverty to help others and to perform
labor.
 Catholics believed they could not achieve salvation if
others around them were not good Christians also.
 Many masses held liturgical plays for important parts
of the year like Christmas, Easter and Saint days.
 Eventually the Latin language was replaced with French
and eventually English.
 The Priests eventually lost their role and hold in the
church, and actors began to take part in the liturgical plays
rather than the Priest.
 The liturgical plays were later reformed into morality plays
that arose from the desire of religious writers to teach the
principals of Christian living in a more direct way.
 In the late 15th century the morality plays were changed to
interlude plays where the realism of moralities became
more apparent.
 The crusades were a series of holy wars and military
campaigns that were launched by the Christian states
of Europe against the Muslims of the middle East.
 There were eight total crusades, where the first four
were the principal crusades and the rest were the
minor crusades, and in addition there was a children's
crusade.
 The effects of the crusades was an influence of wealth
and power of Catholic churches, political hatters,
commerce, feudalism, intellectual development, social
effects, material effects, and new voyages of discovery.
•Books were very expensive so there were not many of
them around.
•Every book, written on parchment, by hand by a
trained scribe or monk, and most people were unable
to read the handwriting.
•In the high middle ages people began to write in many
more languages rather than just in Latin.
•Many books were made into plays such
as folk plays which were energetic
dances that consisted of fighting and
dramatic actions. Actors became famous
for popular tradition.
•Later pageants and displays were given
to a person of high rank if when they
entered a town with a scenic background
and set up but consisted of little
dialogue.
-used many string instruments, such as lute, mandora,
gittern and psaltery all of which one had to pluck
-they were the first era to began using a form of notation for
music
-Early prototypes of the organ, fiddle ,and trombone existed
as well
- Used polyphony music where two melody lines are heard
at the same time in a harmony.
•Wore woolen clothing, with
undergarments made of linen.
• -brighter clothing was a sign of
wealth.
•Women wore long gowns and grand
head wear.
•Men who were wealth sported
jackets with elaborate cuffs and
patters.
•While the church the clothing was
more plain and less extravagant(to
concentrate more on god).
 A system of ideals and social codes governing the
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behavior of knights and gentlewomen
Knights may wear ladies color in battle
Gave rise to new literature, romance
They believed in chivalry, which is a man earning his
knighthood, which consist of a long training period.
It also included the idea of how a man should treat a
women.
 “The Great Charter”
 King John signed the Magna Carta
 English Constitutional law (Trial by jury and legislative
taxation were established
 Curb the church’s power
 People of Western Europe
 Lords Life: Mainly consisted of
fighting, they thought that the only
way to live was to be a professional warrior.
 They wore heavy armor, they rode large horses, and
they carried lances, which are a type of sword.
 Knights were supposed to be courageous
 The lived in a manor houses and castles
 Their wives were called a “lady” and took care of the
house
 If the women was unable to have at least one son, then
the Lord was able to end the marriage
 The clergy: They were noblemen who were devoted to
their churches.
 Monks: They spent a certain number of hours each day
studying, praying, and taking part in other religious
activities.
 Peasants: They had very few rights, and at the mercy of
their lords. They had to pay rents, and taxes, and they
lived in small huts, and slept on bags. They were paid
with food, and the food was mostly breads, eggs, or
poultry.
 Is a system in which rulers would exchange their land
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for royalty.
First developed with the use of armored cavalry in
warfare, it was first used in the 8th and 9th centuries.
Under feudalism the noblemen were able to collect
taxes and fees and they owned land.
Typical members, were vassals, knights, noblemen,
and a lord.
In the late 900’s most of Western Europe was divided
into sections of feudal states, and a powerful lord
would rule them as if they were the King.
 AP Images. Power Library. 25 Feb. 2009
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<http://apimages.ap.org/default.aspx>.
Lyon, Bryce. “Middle ages.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 1998 ed.
Chicago: World Book Inc, 1998. 522.
“Middle Ages Clothing.” Middle Ages. 16 Nov. 2008. 24 Feb. 2009
<http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/>.
“Overview of the middle ages.” Middle Ags. 24 Feb. 2009
<http://demo.lutherproductions.com/historytutor/basic/medieval/mi
ddle_overview.htm>.
Ross, David. “Medieval Architecture.” Britian Express. 12 Feb. 2009
<http://www.britianexpress.com/history/medieval_art_and_architectu
re.htm>.
- - -. “Romanesque Architecture in England.” Britian Express. 12 Feb.
2009 <http://www.britianexpress.com/architecture/romanesque.htm>.
Strayer, Joesph R., ed. Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Vol. 9. New York:
Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1987.