 The
Upper Middle
Ages
The Dark Ages
The Medieval Period






This Middle Ages technically
spans close to thousand years,
446-1485. However, it is split
into two distinct periods.
Titles
The Lower Middle Ages and The
Upper Middle Ages
The Anglo-Saxon Period and the
Medieval Period
The Old English Period and The
Middle English Period
1066-1485



•
Known as the Medieval Period
When William the Conqueror
invaded England, this was not
another hit and run invasion; it
was a full- fledged invasion.
When William took over as king,
the language changed, the
customs changed, and these
changes influenced the entire
island.
Thomas a Beckett (or Becket)
Became Henry II’s Lord
Chancellor and later Archbishop
of Canterbury. After Beckett was
made Archbishop, he defended
the claims of the Church against
the interests of the King, for
which he was murdered by
several of Henry’s knights.
Therefore he became a saint of
the Church and a hero of the
people. Remember, the place he
was murdered became a holy
site.


The Land and the Feudal
System
The year 1066 brought the
largest change of land ownership
in the history of England. William
introduced the idea of
feudalism—feudalism was a
complicated system of
landholding. Nobody owned land
independently but only as a




vassal of an overlord, who in turn
owned allegiance either to some
great noble or to the king.
The system was really an
elaborate chain of loyalties, with
rent, so to speak, paid principally
in military service to the overlord.
It worked like this: it exchanged
land for personal service. The
person who granted the land
was the overlord, and the person
who received it was the vassal.
The vassal promised service to
his lord (as an act of homage).
The Domesday Book
(Doomsday)
The Domesday books listed all
the landowners and showed the




extent of their claims. This was
an administrative feat without
equal because now taxes could
be based on real property.
The Medieval Church
The Medieval Church helped
establish a common set of
beliefs, culture
Latin, the language of the
Church, became the language of
all educated persons.
The Medieval Church was the
most powerful institution or
organization in Europe at this
time. . .more powerful than
royalty and the monarchy . . .it
controlled everything. .
.education, cultural events, etc.




and everything was funneled
through the church.
The Pope became the most
powerful person in Europe
The church became corrupt (this
corruption is reflected in the
CT’s)
Medieval Life
Most people lived in the country
and were attached to a feudal
manor. There they worked their
own fields and the lands of the
lord of the manor, to whom they
owned their allegiance. As the
period progressed, however,
farming became less important
than herding. The wool produced
by English sheep was desirable,


so it became worthwhile to turn
corn fields to pastures. This
economic development greatly
altered the daily life of the
common man.
The common people now paid
what they owed their overlords
from their wages rather than in
farm labor. More an more people
began to live in towns and cities
rather than on manors. A whole
new class of merchants grew up.
The first people to form guilds
(labor unions) were the
merchants
With prosperity and a
simultaneous growth in
population, the English turned to


other kinds of work. This is the
period of the great English
cathedrals. Much of communal
life of the city centered upon
these magnificent monuments.
English law
The term common law refers to
law that is common to the whole
country and all its people, in
contrast to kinds of law applying
only to certain classes of
persons. One significant law that
came into effect during this
period was the law of
primogeniture, which gave the
firstborn son exclusive right to
inherit his father’s titles, lands,
and estates.




Ordeals
During the early part of this
period, matters of law were
settled by what were called
ordeals. People’s innocence or
guilt was settled by setting them
tasks, and if they were
successful at them, they were
judged innocent.
Magna Carta (1215)
In it we can see foreshadowed
the right of trial by jury, habeas
corpus, or the right not to be
illegally detained, and the
beginning s of representative
government in Parliament.




Originally, it was just a way to
solve tax disputes, but it became
the foundation for some of our
rules and laws today.
The Crusades
Each Crusade began in high
hope, in a genuine desire to
rescue Jerusalem from the
Turks, but most ended squalidly
in raiding, looting, and a tangle
of power politics (done in the
name of God).
It was the Crusades too, even
though they ended badly, that
encouraged the ideal of true
knightly behavior known as
chivalry.



The medieval idea of chivalry,
though it included the relations
between the sexes, sought, with
the aid of the Church, to make
the knightly warrior as devout
and tenderhearted off the
battlefield as he was bold and
fearless on it.
The Hundred Years’ War
Unfortunately for both England
and France, the English
monarchy never voluntarily
relinquished its hold on its
French possessions. As a result,
there were numerous costly wars
in France, culminating in the
series of wars now known as the
“Hundred Years’ War” (1337-




1453). England won many
battles, but they were eventually
driven from France.
The War of the Roses
In 1348 England was struck by
the Black Death, the first of a
series of plagues that killed more
than a third of the population.
The scarcity of labor caused by
the plagues was the death knell
of feudalism.
The War of the Roses (14551485)
A civil war between the House of
York, whose emblem was the
white rose, and the House of
Lancaster, symbolized by a red
rose; it ended when the two





feuding families united through
marriage.
Medieval Literature and
Romance
The form of literature favored by
the Anglo-Normans was the
romance. Medieval romance
consisted largely of tales of
chivalry to which were added a
love interest and all sorts of
wonders and marvels(giants,
fairies, wizards, dragons, etc).
King Arthur is a good example
Geoffrey Chaucer
The first truly great figure in
English literature that we know
about was Geoffrey Chaucer. He
was not only a great poet and a



fine storyteller but also the first of
the poker-faced humorists.
Folk Poetry and Drama
During religious festivals, the
trade guilds entertained the
crowd with miracle plays—rough
dramatizations of Biblical stories.
Toward the end of the Middle
Ages in England, during the dark
troubled times of the fifteenth
century, the miracle plays gave
place to the morality play. They
tended to be elaborate and
sophisticated dramatic allegories
in which characters representing
various virtues and vices
confronted each other.
Questions

1. Give the historical significance
of the dates 1066-1485.


What system of landholding did
William the Conqueror introduce
into England?


A: This is the time frame known as
the medieval period.
A: William the Conqueror
introduced feudalism into England.
3. Why did William have an
inventory of property drawn up in
the Domesday Book?

A: He wanted to know what land
people owned so he could tax the
land.

4. Why is the Medieval Church
considered the most important
cultural institution of the period?


5. What economic development
was responsible for the growth of
cities and the merchant class?


A: The Church was at the center of
learning and culture. It was very
powerful and it became the
dominant force in preserving and
transmitting culture.
A: The widespread production of
wool and woolen fabric
6. What is the connection
between the Magna Carta and
present-day representative
government?

A: It became the foundation for
some of our rules and laws today.
7. In what way did the Black Death
help to bring an end to the
institution of feudalism?
A: The scarcity of labor caused
by the plagues was the death
knell of feudalism.

8. Name the two important
English wars that were fought
during the Middle Ages. Who
was involved and what was the
outcome?

#1: “Hundred Years’ War” (13371453) between England and
France; England won many battles
but French drove the English out of
France.

#2: The War of the Roses (14551485) , a civil war between the
House of York and the House of
Lancaster; it ended when the two
feuding families united through
marriage.

9. What form of literature
illustrates the medieval ideal of
chivalry?

A:The romance

10. What two kinds of drama
flourished during the Middle
Ages?

A: Morality plays and miracle plays