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THE MIDDLE AGES
The Middle Ages (adjectival form: medieval or mediæval) was a period of European
history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The period followed the fall of the Western
Roman Empire in 476, and preceded the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period in a threeperiod division of history: Classic, Medieval, and Modern. The term "Middle Ages" (medium
aevum) was coined in the 15th century and reflects the view that this period was a deviation
from the path of classical learning, a path supposedly reconnected by Renaissance scholarship.
The Early Middle Ages saw the continuation of trends set in Late Antiquity, depopulation,
deurbanization, and increased barbarian invasion. North Africa and the Middle East, once part
of the Eastern Roman Empire, were conquered by Islam. Later in the period, the establishment
of the feudal system allowed a return to systemic agriculture. There was sustained
urbanization in northern and western Europe. During the High Middle Ages (c. 1000 - 1300),
Christian-oriented art and architecture flourished and Crusades were mounted to recapture the
Holy Land. The influence of the emerging nation-state was tempered by the ideal of an
international Christendom. The codes of chivalry and courtly love set rules for proper behavior,
while the Scholastic philosophers attempted to reconcile faith and reason. Outstanding
achievement in this period includes the Code of Justinian, the mathematics of Fibonacci and
Oresme, the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, the painting of Giotto, the poetry of Dante and
Chaucer, and the architecture of many great cathedrals such as Notre Dame de Paris.
Start and end dates
The most commonly given start date for the Middle Ages is 476, [5] a date first given by
Bruni.[4] This was when Romulus Augustus, the last Roman emperor in the West, abdicated.
The western empire had already lost its military power by this time and Romulus Augustus was
only a puppet emperor, so many historians object that this convention ascribes undue
significance to an arbitrary year. In contrast, Biondo used the sack of Rome in 410 by the
Goths as the beginning of the period.[3] In the history of Scandinavia, the Middle Ages followed
prehistory during the 11th century, when the rulers converted to Christianity and substantial
written records began to appear. A similar shift from prehistory to the Middle Ages occurred in
Estonia and Latvia during the 13th century.
1
Richard III, England's last Medieval monarch
For Europe as a whole, the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453 is commonly used
as the end date of the Middle Ages. Depending on the context, other events, such as the
invention of the moveable type printing press by Johann Gutenberg c. 1455, the fall of Muslim
Spain or Christopher Columbus's voyage to America (both 1492), can be used. For Italy, 1401,
the year the contract was awarded to build the north doors of the Florence Baptistery, is often
used. In contrast, English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) to mark the
end of the period.[6] For Spain, the death of King Ferdinand II (1516) is used.[7]
Subdivisions
Historians in the Romance languages tend to divide the Middle Ages into two parts: an earlier
"High" and later "Low" period. English-speaking historians, following their German
counterparts, generally subdivide the Middle Ages into three intervals: "Early", "High" and
"Late".[1] Belgian historian Henri Pirenne and Dutch historian Johan Huizinga popularized the
following subdivisions in the early 20th century: the Early Middle Ages (476-1000), the High
Middle Ages (1000–1300), and the Late Middle Ages (1300–1453).
Timeline
The later Roman Empire
2
Map of territorial boundaries ca. 450 AD
The Roman empire reached its greatest territorial extent during the 2nd century. The following
two centuries witnessed the slow decline of Roman control over its outlying territories. The
Emperor Diocletian split the empire into separately administered eastern and western halves in
285. The division between east and west was encouraged by Constantine, who refounded the
city of Byzantium as the new capital, Constantinople, in 330.
Military expenses increased steadily during the 4th century, even as Rome's neighbours
became restless and increasingly powerful. Tribes who previously had contact with the Romans
as trading partners, rivals, or mercenaries had sought entrance to the empire and access to its
wealth throughout the 4th century.
Diocletian's reforms had created a strong governmental bureaucracy, reformed taxation, and
strengthened the army.[8] These reforms bought the Empire time, but they demanded money.
Roman power had been maintained by its well-trained and equipped armies. These armies,
however, were a constant drain on the Empire's finances. As warfare became more dependent
on heavy cavalry, the infantry-based Roman military started to lose its advantage against its
rivals. The defeat in 378 at the Battle of Adrianople, at the hands of mounted Gothic lancers,
destroyed much of the Roman army and left the western empire undefended.[8] Without a
strong army, the empire was forced to accommodate the large numbers of Germanic tribes
who sought refuge within its frontiers.
Known in traditional historiography collectively as the "barbarian invasions", the Migration
Period, or the Völkerwanderung ("wandering of the peoples"), this migration was a complicated
and gradual process. Some of these "barbarian" tribes rejected the classical culture of Rome,
while others admired and aspired to it. In return for land to farm and, in some regions, the
right to collect tax revenues for the state, federated tribes provided military support to the
empire. Other incursions were small-scale military invasions of tribal groups assembled to
gather plunder. The Huns, Bulgars, Avars, and Magyars all raided the Empire's territories and
terrorised its inhabitants. Later, Slavic and Germanic peoples would settle the lands previously
taken by these tribes. The most famous invasion culminated in the sack of Rome by the
Visigoths in 410, the first time in almost 800 years that Rome had fallen to an enemy.
By the end of the 5th century, Roman institutions were crumbling. Some early historians have
given this period of societal collapse the epithet of "Dark Ages" because of the contrast to
earlier times. The last emperor of the west, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by the
barbarian king Odoacer in 476.[8] The Eastern Roman Empire (conventionally referred to as the
"Byzantine Empire" after the fall of its western counterpart) had little ability to assert control
over the lost western territories. Even though Byzantine emperors maintained a claim over the
territory, and no "barbarian" king dared to elevate himself to the position of Emperor of the
west, Byzantine control of most of the West could not be sustained; the renovatio imperii
("imperial restoration", entailing reconquest of the Italian peninsula and Mediterranean
periphery) by Justinian was the sole, and temporary, exception.
As Roman authority disappeared in the west, cities, literacy, trading networks and urban
infrastructure declined. Where civic functions and infrastructure were maintained, it was mainly by
the Christian Church. Augustine of Hippo is an example of one bishop who became a capable civic
administrator.
3
Early Middle Ages
The Book of Kells is one of the most famous artworks of the Early Middle Ages.
The breakdown of Roman society was dramatic. The patchwork of petty rulers was incapable of
supporting the depth of civic infrastructure required to maintain libraries, public baths, arenas,
and major educational institutions. Any new building was on a far smaller scale than before.
The social effects of the fracture of the Roman state were manifold. Cities and merchants lost
the economic benefits of safe conditions for trade and manufacture, and intellectual
development suffered from the loss of a unified cultural and educational milieu of far-ranging
connections.
As it became unsafe to travel or carry goods over any distance, there was a collapse in trade
and manufacture for export. The major industries that depended on long-distance trade, such
as large-scale pottery manufacture, vanished almost overnight in places like Britain. Whereas
sites like Tintagel in Cornwall (the extreme southwest of modern day England) had managed
to obtain supplies of Mediterranean luxury goods well into the 6th century, this connection was
now lost.
Between the 5th and 8th centuries, new peoples and powerful individuals filled the political
void left by Roman centralized government. Germanic tribes established regional hegemonies
within the former boundaries of the Empire, creating divided, decentralized kingdoms like
those of the Ostrogoths in Italy, the Suevi in Gallaecia, the Visigoths in Hispania, the Franks
and Burgundians in Gaul and western Germany, the Angles and the Saxons in Britain, and the
Vandals in North Africa.
4
Roman landholders beyond the confines of city walls were also vulnerable to extreme changes,
and they could not simply pack up their land and move elsewhere. Some were dispossessed
and fled to Byzantine regions; others quickly pledged their allegiances to their new rulers. In
areas like Spain and Italy, this often meant little more than acknowledging a new overlord,
while Roman forms of law and religion could be maintained. In other areas, where there was a
greater weight of population movement, it might be necessary to adopt new modes of dress,
language, and custom.
The Muslim conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries of the Persian Empire, Roman Syria, Roman
Egypt, Roman North Africa, Visigothic Spain, Sicily and southern Italy eroded the area of the
Roman Empire and controlled strategic areas of the Mediterranean. By the end of the 8th
century, the former Western Roman Empire was decentralized and overwhelmingly rural.
Church and monasticism
Lincoln Cathedral. Lincoln in England is an example of a cathedral city.
The Catholic Church was the major unifying cultural influence, preserving its selection from
Latin learning, maintaining the art of writing, and a centralized administration through its
network of bishops. Some regions that were populated by Catholics were conquered by Arian
rulers, which provoked much tension between Arian kings and the Catholic hierarchy. Clovis I
of the Franks is a well-known example of a barbarian king who chose Catholic orthodoxy over
Arianism. His conversion marked a turning point for the Frankish tribes of Gaul.
Bishops were central to Middle Age society due to the literacy they possessed. As a result, they
often played a significant role in governance. However, beyond the core areas of Western
Europe, there remained many peoples with little or no contact with Christianity or with classical
Roman culture. Martial societies such as the Avars and the Vikings were still capable of causing
major disruption to the newly emerging societies of Western Europe.
The Early Middle Ages witnessed the rise of monasticism within the west. Although the impulse
to withdraw from society to focus upon a spiritual life is experienced by people of all cultures,
the shape of European monasticism was determined by traditions and ideas that originated in
the deserts of Egypt and Syria.[9] The style of monasticism that focuses on community
experience of the spiritual life, called cenobitism, was pioneered by the saint Pachomius in the
4th century. Monastic ideals spread from Egypt to western Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries
through hagiographical literature such as the Life of Saint Anthony.[9]
5
Saint Benedict wrote the definitive Rule for western monasticism during the 6th century,
detailing the administrative and spiritual responsibilities of a community of monks led by an
abbot.[9] The style of monasticism based upon the Benedictine Rule spread widely rapidly
across Europe, replacing small clusters of cenobites. Monks and monasteries had a deep effect
upon the religious and political life of the Early Middle Ages, in various cases acting as land
trusts for powerful families, centres of propaganda and royal support in newly conquered
regions, bases for mission, and proselytization. They were the main outposts of education and
literacy.
Carolingians
A nucleus of power unfolded in a region of northern Gaul and developed into kingdoms called
Austrasia and Neustria. These kingdoms were ruled for three centuries by a dynasty of kings
called the Merovingians, after their mythical founder Merovech. The history of the Merovingian
kingdoms is one of family politics that frequently erupted into civil warfare between the
branches of the family. The legitimacy of the Merovingian throne was granted by a reverence
for the bloodline, and, even after powerful members of the Austrasian court, the mayors of the
palace, took de facto power during the 7th century, the Merovingians were kept as ceremonial
figureheads. The Merovingians engaged in trade with northern Europe through Baltic trade
routes known to historians as the Northern Arc trade, and they are known to have minted
small-denomination silver pennies called sceattae for circulation. Aspects of Merovingian
culture could be described as "Romanized", such as the high value placed on Roman coinage
as a symbol of rulership and the patronage of monasteries and bishoprics. Some have
hypothesized that the Merovingians were in contact with Byzantium. [10] However, the
Merovingians also buried the dead of their elite families in grave mounds and traced their
lineage to a mythical sea beast called the Quinotaur.[10]
The 7th century was a tumultuous period of civil wars between Austrasia and Neustria. Such
warfare was exploited by the patriarch of a family line, Pippin of Herstal, who curried favour
with the Merovingians and had himself installed in the office of Mayor of the Palace at the
service of the King. From this position of great influence, Pippin accrued wealth and
supporters. Later members of his family line inherited the office, acting as advisors and
regents. The dynasty took a new direction in 732, when Charles Martel won the Battle of
Tours, halting the advance of Muslim armies across the Pyrenees.
The Carolingian dynasty, as the successors to Charles Martel are known, officially took the
reins of the kingdoms of Austrasia and Neustria in a coup of 753 led by Pippin III. A
contemporary chronicle claims that Pippin sought, and gained, authority for this coup from the
Pope.[11] Pippin's successful coup was reinforced with propaganda that portrayed the
Merovingians as inept or cruel rulers and exalted the accomplishments of Charles Martel and
circulated stories of the family's great piety. At the time of his death in 783, Pippin left his
kingdoms in the hands of his two sons, Charles and Carloman. When Carloman died of natural
causes, Charles blocked the succession of Carloman's minor son and installed himself as the
king of the united Austrasia and Neustria. This Charles, known to his contemporaries as
Charles the Great or Charlemagne, embarked in 774 upon a program of systematic expansion
that would unify a large portion of Europe. In the wars that lasted just beyond 800, he
rewarded loyal allies with war booty and command over parcels of land. Much of the nobility of
the High Middle Ages was to claim its roots in the Carolingian nobility that was generated
during this period of expansion.[11]
6
Charlemagne's cathedral at Aachen
The Imperial Coronation of Charlemagne on Christmas Day of 800 is frequently regarded as a
turning-point in medieval history, because it filled a power vacancy that had existed since 476.
It also marks a change in Charlemagne's leadership, which assumed a more imperial character
and tackled difficult aspects of controlling a medieval empire. He established a system of
diplomats who possessed imperial authority, the missi, who in theory provided access to
imperial justice in the farthest corners of the empire.[12] He also sought to reform the Church
in his domains, pushing for uniformity in liturgy and material culture.
Carolingian Renaissance
Charlemagne's court in Aachen was the centre of a cultural revival that is sometimes referred
to as the "Carolingian Renaissance". This period witnessed an increase of literacy,
developments in the arts, architecture, and jurisprudence, as well as liturgical and scriptural
studies. The English monk Alcuin was invited to Aachen, and brought with him the precise
classical Latin education that was available in the monasteries of Northumbria. The return of
this Latin proficiency to the kingdom of the Franks is regarded as an important step in the
development of medieval Latin. Charlemagne's chancery made use of a type of script currently
known as Carolingian minuscule, providing a common writing style that allowed for
communication across most of Europe. After the decline of the Carolingian dynasty, the rise of
the Saxon Dynasty in Germany was accompanied by the Ottonian Renaissance.
See also the careers of Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, and Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor.
Breakup of the Carolingian empire
Breakup of the Carolingian empire
While Charlemagne continued the Frankish tradition of dividing the regnum (kingdom) between
all his heirs (at least those of age), the assumption of the imperium (imperial title) supplied a
7
unifying force not available previously. Charlemagne was succeeded by his only legitimate son
of adult age at his death, Louis the Pious.
Louis's long reign of 26 years was marked by numerous divisions of the empire among his sons
and, after 829, numerous civil wars between various alliances of father and sons against other
sons to determine a just division by battle. The final division was made at Crémieux in 838.
The Emperor Louis recognized his eldest son Lothair I as emperor and confirmed him in the
Regnum Italicum (Italy). He divided the rest of the empire between Lothair and Charles the
Bald, his youngest son, giving Lothair the opportunity to choose his half. He chose East
Francia, which comprised the empire on both banks of the Rhine and eastwards, leaving
Charles West Francia, which comprised the empire to the west of the Rhineland and the Alps.
Louis the German, the middle child, who had been rebellious to the last, was allowed to keep
his subregnum of Bavaria under the suzerainty of his elder brother. The division was not
undisputed. Pepin II of Aquitaine, the emperor's grandson, rebelled in a contest for Aquitaine,
while Louis the German tried to annex all of East Francia. In two final campaigns, the emperor
defeated both his rebellious descendants and vindicated the division of Crémieux before dying
in 840.
Hungarian campaigns in the 10th century. Most European nations were praying for mercy:
"Sagittis hungarorum libera nos Domine" - "Lord save us from the arrows of Hungarians"
A three-year civil war followed his death. At the end of the conflict, Louis the German was in
control of East Francia and Lothair was confined to Italy. By the Treaty of Verdun (843), a
kingdom of Middle Francia was created for Lothair in the Low Countries and Burgundy, and his
imperial title was recognized. East Francia would eventually morph into the Kingdom of
Germany and West Francia into the Kingdom of France, around both of which the history of
Western Europe can largely be described as a contest for control of the middle kingdom.
Charlemagne's grandsons and great-grandsons divided their kingdoms between their sons until
all the various regna and the imperial title fell into the hands of Charles the Fat by 884. He was
deposed in 887 and died in 888, to be replaced in all his kingdoms but two (Lotharingia and
East Francia) by non-Carolingian "petty kings". The Carolingian Empire was destroyed, though
the imperial tradition would eventually lead to the Holy Roman Empire in 962.
The breakup of the Carolingian Empire was accompanied by the invasions, migrations, and
raids of external foes as not seen since the Migration Period. The Atlantic and northern shores
were harassed by the Vikings, who forced Charles the Bald to issue the Edict of Pistres against
them and who besieged Paris in 885–886. The eastern frontiers, especially Germany and Italy,
were under constant Magyar assault until their great defeat at the Battle of the Lechfeld in
955.[13] The Saracens also managed to establish bases at Garigliano and Fraxinetum, to sack
Rome in 846 and to conquer the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily, and their pirates
raided the Mediterranean coasts, as did the Vikings. The Christianization of the pagan Vikings
provided an end to that threat.
Art and architecture
8
Amalfi Cathedral, Amalfi, Italy, completed in 1206
Few large stone buildings were attempted between the Constantinian basilicas of the 4th
century, and the 8th century. At this time, the establishment of churches and monasteries,
and a comparative political stability, caused the development of a form of stone architecture
loosely based upon Roman forms and hence later named Romanesque. Where available,
Roman brick and stone buildings were recycled for their materials. From the fairly tentative
beginnings known as the First Romanesque, the style flourished and spread across Europe in a
remarkably homogeneous form. The features are massive stone walls, openings topped by
semi-circular arches, small windows, and, particularly in France, arched stone vaults and
arrows.
A page from a Psalter dating from the early 14th century, showing the end of Psalm 145 and
the start of Psalm 146.
In the decorative arts, Celtic and Germanic barbarian forms were absorbed into Christian art,
although the central impulse remained Roman and Byzantine. High quality jewellery and
religious imagery were produced throughout Western Europe; Charlemagne and other
monarchs provided patronage for religious artworks such as reliquaries and books. Some of
the principal artworks of the age were the fabulous Illuminated manuscripts produced by
monks on vellum, using gold, silver, and precious pigments to illustrate biblical narratives.
Early examples include the Book of Kells and many Carolingian and Ottonian Frankish
manuscripts.
9
High Middle Ages
The fortress of Carcassonne, France
The High Middle Ages were characterized by the urbanization of Europe, military expansion,
and intellectual revival that historians identify between the 11th century and the end of the
13th century. This revival was aided by the conversion of the raiding Scandinavians and
Hungarians to Christianity, by the assertion of power by Castellans to fill the power vacuum
left by the Carolingian decline, and not least by the increased contact with Islamic civilization,
which had preserved and elaborated all the classic Greek literature forgotten in Europe after
the collapse of The Roman Empire. This was now retranslated into Latin, along with newer
works of important advances in science and technology (see 12th-century Renaissance).
The High Middle Ages saw an explosion in population. This population flowed into towns,
sought conquests abroad, or cleared land for cultivation. The cities of antiquity had been
clustered around the Mediterranean. By 1200, the growing urban centres were in the centre of
the continent, connected by roads or rivers. By the end of this period, Paris might have had as
many as 200,000 inhabitants.[14] In central and northern Italy and in Flanders, the rise of
towns that were self-governing to some degree within their territories stimulated the economy
and created an environment for new types of religious and trade associations. Trading cities on
the shores of the Baltic entered into agreements known as the Hanseatic League, and Italian
city-states such as Venice, Genoa, and Pisa expanded their trade throughout the
Mediterranean. This period marks a formative one in the history of the western state as we
know it, for kings in France, England, and Spain consolidated their power during this period,
setting up lasting institutions to help them govern. Also new kingdoms like Hungary and
Poland, after their sedentarization and conversion to Christianity, became Central-European
powers. Hungary, especially, became the "Gate to Europe" from Asia, and bastion of
Christianity against the invaders from the East until the 16th century and the onslaught by the
Ottomon Empire.[15] The Papacy, which had long since created an ideology of independence
from the secular kings, first asserted its claims to temporal authority over the entire Christian
world. The entity that historians call the Papal Monarchy reached its apogee in the early 13th
century under the pontificate of Innocent III. Northern Crusades and the advance of Christian
kingdoms and military orders into previously pagan regions in the Baltic and Finnic northeast
brought the forced assimilation of numerous native peoples to the European entity. With the
brief exception of the Kipchak and Mongol invasions, major barbarian incursions ceased.[16]
Crusades
The Crusades were holy wars or armed pilgrimages intended to liberate Jerusalem from Muslim
control. Jerusalem was part of the Muslim possessions won during a rapid military expansion in
the 7th century through the Near East, Northern Africa, and Anatolia (in modern Turkey). The
first Crusade was preached by Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont in 1095 in response to
a request from the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos for aid against further
advancement. Urban promised indulgence to any Christian who took the Crusader vow and set
off for Jerusalem. The resulting fervour that swept through Europe mobilized tens of thousands
of people from all levels of society, and resulted in the capture of Jerusalem in 1099, as well as
10
other regions. The movement found its primary support in the Franks; it is by no coincidence
that the Arabs referred to Crusaders generically as "Franj".[17] Although they were minorities
within this region, the Crusaders tried to consolidate their conquests as a number of Crusader
states – the Kingdom of Jerusalem, as well as the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch,
and the County of Tripoli (collectively Outremer). During the 12th century and 13th century,
there were a series of conflicts between these states and surrounding Islamic ones. Crusades
were essentially resupply missions for these embattled kingdoms. Military orders such as the
Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller were formed to play an integral role in this
support.
The Muslim conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries
Expansion under Muhammad, 622–632
Expansion during the Patriarchal Caliphate, 632–661
Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661–750
By the end of the Middle Ages, the Christian Crusaders had captured all the Islamic territories
in modern Spain, Portugal, and Southern Italy. Meanwhile, Islamic counter-attacks had
retaken all the Crusader possessions on the Asian mainland, leaving a de facto boundary
between Islam and western Christianity that continued until modern times.
Substantial areas of northern Europe also remained outside Christian influence until the 11th
century or later; these areas also became crusading venues during the expansionist High
Middle Ages. Throughout this period, the Byzantine Empire was in decline, having peaked in
influence during the High Middle Ages. Beginning with the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the
empire underwent a cycle of decline and renewal, including the sacking of Constantinople by
the Fourth Crusade in 1204. After that, Andrew II of Hungary assembled the biggest army in
the history of the Crusades, and moved his troops as a leading figure in the Fifth Crusade,
reaching Cyprus and later Lebanon, coming back home in 1218.[18]
Despite another short upswing following the recapture of Constantinople in 1261, the empire
continued to deteriorate.
Science and technology
11
The University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and many other universities were
founded at this time.
During the early Middle Ages and the Islamic Golden Age, Islamic philosophy, science, and
technology were more advanced than in Western Europe. Islamic scholars both preserved and
built upon earlier Ancient Greek and Roman traditions and added their own inventions and
innovations. Islamic al-Andalus passed much of this on to Europe (see Islamic contributions to
Medieval Europe). The replacement of Roman numerals with the decimal positional number
system and the invention of algebra allowed more advanced mathematics. Another
consequence was that the Latin-speaking world regained access to lost classical literature and
philosophy. Latin translations of the 12th century fed a passion for Aristotelian philosophy and
Islamic science that is frequently referred to as the Renaissance of the 12th century.
Meanwhile, trade grew throughout Europe as the dangers of travel were reduced, and steady
economic growth resumed. Cathedral schools and monasteries ceased to be the sole sources of
education in the 11th century when universities were established in major European cities.
Literacy became available to a wider class of people, and there were major advances in art,
sculpture, music, and architecture. Large cathedrals were built across Europe, first in the
Romanesque, and later in the more decorative Gothic style.
During the 12th and 13th century in Europe, there was a radical change in the rate of new
inventions, innovations in the ways of managing traditional means of production, and economic
growth. The period saw major technological advances, including the invention of cannon,
spectacles, and artesian wells, and the cross-cultural introduction of gunpowder, silk, the
compass, and the astrolabe from the east. One major agricultural innovation during this period
was the development of a 3-field rotation system for planting crops (as opposed the 2-field
system that was being used). Further, the development of the heavy plow allowed for a rise in
communal agriculture as most individuals could not afford to do it by themselves. As a result,
medieval villages had formed a type of collective ownership and communal agriculture where
the use of horses allowed villages to grow.
There were also great improvements to ships and the clock. The latter advances made possible
the dawn of the Age of Exploration. At the same time, huge numbers of Greek and Arabic
works on medicine and the sciences were translated and distributed throughout Europe.
Aristotle especially became very important, his rational and logical approach to knowledge
influencing the scholars at the newly forming universities which were absorbing and
disseminating the new knowledge during the 12th Century Renaissance.
12
Late Middle Ages
A bishop blesses victims of the Black Death
Lands and countries ruled by Louis the Great of Hungary in 1370s. Louis led successful
campaigns from Lithuania to southern Italy.
The Late Middle Ages were a period initiated by calamities and upheavals. During this time,
agriculture was affected by a climate change that has been documented by climate historians,
and was felt by contemporaries in the form of periodic famines, including the Great Famine of
1315-1317.[20] Medieval Britain was afflicted by 95 famines,[21] and France suffered the effects
of 75 or more in the same period.[22] The Black Death, a disease that spread among the
populace like wildfire, killed as much as a third of the population in the mid-14th century.[23] In
some regions, the toll was higher than one half of the population. Towns were especially hardhit because of the crowded conditions. Large areas of land were left sparsely inhabited, and in
some places fields were left unworked. Because of the sudden decline in available labourers,
the price of wages rose as landlords sought to entice workers to their fields. Workers also felt
that they had a right to greater earnings, and popular uprisings broke out across Europe. Even
the king Louis I of Hungary was forced to stop his long war against the Kingdom of Naples in
1347, because of the deaths in the Italian region. The Black Death soon took the life of Louis
I's wife, Margaret, daughter of the German emperor Charles IV, and as well few Hungarians,
although the negative consequences of this disease in the Kingdom of Hungary were relatively
mild.
This period of stress, paradoxically, witnessed creative social, economic, and technological
responses that laid the groundwork for further great changes in the Early Modern Period. It
was also a period when the Catholic Church was increasingly divided against itself. During the
time of the Western Schism, the Church was led by as many as three popes at one time. The
13
divisiveness of the Church undermined papal authority, and allowed the formation of national
churches.
State resurgence
The Late Middle Ages also witnessed the rise of strong, royalty-based nation-states,
particularly the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of France, and the Christian kingdoms of the
Iberian Peninsula (Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and Portugal).
The long conflicts of this time, such as the Hundred Years' War fought between England and
France, strengthened royal control over the kingdoms, even though they were extremely hard
on the peasantry. Kings profited from warfare by gaining land.
The Allegory of Good Government was painted for the town council in Siena by Ambrogio
Lorenzetti
France shows clear signs of a growth in royal power during the 14th century, from the active
persecution of heretics and lepers, expulsion of the Jews, and the dissolution of the Knights
Templar. In all of these cases, undertaken by Philip IV, the king confiscated land and wealth
from these minority groups.[14] The conflict between Philip and Pope Boniface VIII, a conflict
which began over Philip's unauthorized taxation of clergy, ended with the violent death of
Boniface and the installation of Pope Clement V, a weak, French-controlled pope, in Avignon.
This action enhanced French prestige, at the expense of the papacy.
England, too, began the 14th century with warfare and expansion. Edward I waged war
against the Principality of Wales and the Kingdom of Scotland, with mixed success, to assert
what he considered his right to the entire island of Great Britain.
Both the Kings of France and the Kings of England of this period presided over effective states
administered by literate bureaucrats, and sought baronial consent for their decisions through
early versions of parliamentary systems, called the Estates General in France and the
Parliament in England. Towns and merchants allied with kings during the 15th century,
allowing the kings to distance themselves further from the territorial lords. As a result of the
power gained during the 14th and 15th centuries, late medieval kings built truly sovereign
states, which were able to impose taxes, declare war, and create and enforce laws, all by the
will of the king.[24] Kings encouraged cohesion in their administration by appointing ministers
with broad ambitions and a loyalty to the state.[24] By the last half of the 15th century, kings
like Henry VII of England and Louis XI of France were able to rule without much baronial
interference.
Hundred Years' War
14
Joan of Arc in a 15th-century miniature
The Hundred Years' War was a conflict between France and England lasting 116 years, from
1337 to 1453. It was fought primarily over claims by the English kings to the French throne
and was punctuated by several brief and two lengthy periods of peace before it finally ended in
the expulsion of the English from France, except for the Calais Pale. This series of conflicts is
commonly divided into three or four phases: the Edwardian War (1337–1360), the Caroline
War (1369–1389), the Lancastrian War (1415–1429), and the slow decline of English fortunes
after the appearance of Joan of Arc (1429–1453). Though primarily a dynastic conflict, the war
gave impetus to ideas of both French and English nationality. Militarily, it saw the introduction
of new weapons and tactics, which eroded the older system of feudal armies dominated by
heavy cavalry. The first standing armies in Western Europe since the time of the Western
Roman Empire were introduced for the war, thus changing the role of the peasantry. For all
this, as well as for its long duration, it is often viewed as one of the most significant conflicts in
the history of medieval warfare.
Controversy within the Church
The troubled 14th century saw both the Avignon Papacy of 1305–1378, also called the
Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy (a reference to the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews), and
the so-called Western Schism that lasted from 1378 to 1418. The practice of granting papal
indulgences, fairly commonplace since the 11th century, was reformulated and explicitly
monetized in the 14th century.[14] Indulgences became an important source of revenue for the
Church, revenue that filtered through parish churches to bishops and then to the pope himself.
This was viewed by many as a corruption of the Church. In the early years of the 15th century,
after a century of turmoil, ecclesiastical officials convened in Constance in 1417 to discuss a
resolution to the Schism.[14] Traditionally, councils needed to be called by the Pope, and none
of the contenders were willing to call a council and risk being unseated. The act of convening a
council without papal approval was justified by the argument that the Church was represented
by the whole population of the faithful. The council deposed the warring popes and elected
Martin V. The turmoil of the Church, and the perception that it was a corrupted institution,
sapped the legitimacy of the papacy within Europe and fostered greater loyalty to regional or
national churches. Martin Luther published objections to the Church. Although his
disenchantment had long been forming, the denunciation of the Church was precipitated by the
arrival of preachers raising money to rebuild the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome. Luther might
have been silenced by the Church, but the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I
brought the imperial succession to the forefront of concern. Lutherans' split with the Church in
1517, and the subsequent division of Catholicism into Lutheranism, Calvinism, and
Anabaptism, put a definitive end to the unified Church built during the Middle Ages.
15
England in the Middle Ages
England during the Middle Ages, is the period in English history which is commonly accepted
to be the thousand or so years between the withdrawal of Roman forces from Britannia in
approximately 410 AD to around 1500 AD.
The beginning of the medieval period in England can be dated from the arrival in Kent of
Anglo-Saxon troops led by the legendary Hengest and Horsa. Subsequently those Brythonic
Celtic kingdoms whose territories lay within the area of modern England were conquered by
Jutes, Angles and Saxons Germanic tribes, from the contemporary Angeln and Jutland areas of
Northern Germany and mainland Denmark. Political takeover of other areas of England
proceeded piecemeal and was not completed until the 10th century.
Similarly, the end of the medieval period is usually dated by the rise of what is often referred
to as the "English Renaissance" in the reign of Henry VIII, and the Reformation in Scotland, or
else to the establishment of a centralised, bureaucratic monarchy by Henry VII. From a
political point of view, the Norman Conquest of England divides medieval Britain into two
distinct phases of cultural and political history. From a linguistic point of view the Norman
Conquest had only a limited effect, Old English evolving into Middle English, although the Anglo
Norman language would remain the language of those that ruled for two centuries at least,
before mingling with Middle English.
Britain around the year 802
At the height of pre-Norman medieval English power, a single English king ruled to the borders
with Scotland and Wales. After the Norman Conquest, Anglo-Norman power intruded into
Wales with increasing vigour. Southern England had closer relationships with Normandy,
Flanders and Brittany, owing to relative proximity, than had the other regions.
High Middle Ages
16
post-1066 states

Norman England (1066–1154)

House of Plantagenet
(1154–1485)
Late Middle Ages

House of Lancaster

House of York

House of Tudor
(1399–1471)
(1461–1485)
(1485–1603)
Norman England
Further information: Anglo-Norman
Depiction of the Battle of Hastings (1066) on the Bayeux Tapestry
The Norman Conquest led to a sea-change in the history of the English state. William ordered
the compilation of the Domesday Book, a survey of the entire population and their lands and
property for tax purposes, which reveals that within twenty years of the conquest the English
ruling class had been almost entirely dispossessed and replaced by Norman landholders, who
also monopolised all senior positions in the government and the Church. William and his nobles
spoke and conducted court in Norman French, in England as well as in Normandy. The use of
the Anglo-Norman language by the aristocracy endured for centuries and left an indelible mark
in the development of modern English.
The English Middle Ages were characterised by civil war, international war, occasional
insurrection, and widespread political intrigue amongst the aristocratic and monarchic elite.
England was more than self-sufficient in cereals, dairy products, beef and mutton. The nation's
international economy was based on the wool trade, in which the produce of the sheepwalks of
northern England was exported to the textile cities of Flanders, where it was worked into cloth.
Medieval foreign policy was as much shaped by relations with the Flemish textile industry as it
was by dynastic adventures in western France. An English textile industry was established in
the 15th century, providing the basis for rapid English capital accumulation.
Henry I, the fourth son of William I the Conqueror, succeeded his elder brother William II as
King of England in 1100. Henry was also known as "Henry Beauclerc" (because of his
education—as his older brother William was the heir apparent and thus given the practical
training to be king, Henry received the alternate, formal education), worked hard to reform
and stabilise the country and smooth the differences between the Anglo-Saxon and AngloNorman societies. The loss of his son, William Adelin, in the wreck of the White Ship in
November 1120, undermined his reforms. This problem regarding succession cast a long
shadow over English history.
17
During the confused and contested reign of Stephen, there was a major swing in the balance
of power towards the feudal barons, as civil war and lawlessness broke out. In trying to
appease Scottish and Welsh raiders, he handed over large tracts of land. His conflicts with his
cousin The Empress Matilda (also known as Empress Maud), led to a civil war from 1139-1153
known as the Anarchy. Matilda’s father, Henry I, had required the leading barons, ecclesiastics
and officials in Normandy and England, to take an oath to accept Matilda as his heir. England
was far less than enthusiastic to accept an outsider, and a woman, as their ruler.
There is some evidence suggesting Henry was unsure of his own hopes and the oath to make
Matilda his heir. In likelihood, Henry probably hoped Matilda would have a son and step aside
as Queen Mother, making her son the next heir. Upon Henry’s death, the Norman and English
barons ignored Matilda’s claim to the throne, and thus through a series of decisions, Stephen,
Henry’s favourite nephew, was welcomed by many in England and Normandy as their new
ruler.
On 22 December 1135, Stephen was anointed king with the implicit support of the church and
nation. Matilda and her own son stood for direct descent by heredity from Henry I, and she
bided her time in France. In the autumn of 1139, she invaded England with her illegitimate
half-brother Robert of Gloucester. Her husband, Geoffroy V of Anjou, conquered Normandy but
did not cross the channel to help his wife, satisfied with Normandy and Anjou. During this
breakdown of central authority, the nobles ran amuck building adulterine castles (i.e. castles
erected without government permission).
Stephen was captured, and his government fell. Matilda was proclaimed queen but was soon at
odds with her subjects and was expelled from London. The period of insurrection and civil war
that followed continued until 1148, when Matilda returned to France. Stephen effectively
reigned unopposed until his death in 1154, although his hold on the throne was still uneasy. As
soon as he regained power, he began the process of demolishing the adulterine castles, which
were hated by the peasants due to their being employed as forced labor to build and maintain
them. Stephen kept a few castles standing however, which put him at odds with his heir.
Magna Carta
The signing of the Magna Carta (1215)
18
Over the course of his reign a combination of higher taxes, unsuccessful wars and conflict with
the Pope had made King John unpopular with his barons, and in 1215 some of the most
important decided to rebel against him. He met their leaders along with their French and Scot
allies at Runnymede, near London on 15 June 1215 to seal the Great Charter (Magna Carta in
Latin), which imposed legal limits on the king's personal powers. Because he had sealed under
duress, however, John received approval from the Pope to break his word as soon as hostilities
had ceased, provoking the First Barons' War and an invited French invasion by Prince Louis of
France (whom the majority of the English barons had invited to replace John on the throne and
had him proclaimed king in London in May 1216). John travelled around the country to oppose
the rebel forces, directing, among other operations, a two-month siege of the rebel-held
Rochester Castle.
John's son, Henry III, was only 9 years old when he became king (1216–1272). He spent
much of his reign fighting the barons over the Magna Carta[citation needed] and the royal rights,
and was eventually forced to call the first "parliament" in 1264. He was also unsuccessful on
the Continent, where he endeavoured to re-establish English control over Normandy, Anjou,
and Aquitaine.
His reign was punctuated by numerous rebellions and civil wars, often provoked by
incompetence and mismanagement in government and Henry's perceived over-reliance on
French courtiers (thus restricting the influence of the English nobility). One of these
rebellions—led by a disaffected courtier, Simon de Montfort—was notable for its assembly of
one of the earliest precursors to Parliament. In addition to fighting the Second Barons' War,
Henry III made war against Saint Louis and was defeated during the Saintonge War, yet Louis
IX did not capitalise on his victory, respecting his opponent's rights.
1400s
The reign of Henry V, who succeeded to the throne in 1413, was mostly notable for the great
victory over the French at Agincourt. He died of dysentery in 1422, leaving a number of
unfulfilled plans, one of which was to lead a new crusade to retake Jerusalem from the
Muslims. The turmoil was at its peak in the reign of Henry VI, which began in 1422, because of
his personal weaknesses and mental instability.
When the Hundred Years' War was lost in August 1453, Henry fell into a period of mental
breakdown that lasted until Christmas 1454. With his inability to control the feuding nobles,
civil war began in 1455. The conflicts are known as the Wars of the Roses (1455–1485), and
although the fighting was very sporadic and small, there was a general breakdown in the
authority and power of the Crown. Henry's cousin, who deposed him in 1461 and became
Edward IV, went a little way to restoring this power. Edward defeated the Lancastrians at the
Battle of Mortimer's Cross. He was briefly expelled from the throne in 1470-1471 when Richard
Neville, Earl of Warwick, brought Henry back to power. Six months later, Edward defeated and
killed Warwick in battle and reclaimed the throne. Henry was imprisoned in the Tower of
London and died there.
Edward died in 1483, only 40 years old. His eldest son and heir Edward V, aged 13, would
have succeeded him, but the king's brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester declared his marriage
to be bigamous and invalid, making all his children illegitimate. Edward V and his 10-year old
brother Richard were imprisoned in the Tower of London and their uncle made himself king as
Richard III. The two princes were never seen again and presumably died in the Tower. It was
widely believed that Richard had them murdered, although their exact fate remains a mystery.
Regardless of what really happened, the king was reviled as a treacherous fiend who murdered
his own nephews to gain the throne. This hatred of Richard obscured his able governance
during his brief reign. In the summer of 1485, Henry Tudor, the last Lancastrian male, landed
in England from his exile in France. He defeated and killed Richard in battle at Bosworth Field
on August 22 of that year and became king as Henry VII.
19
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Portrait of Chaucer from the 17th century.
Born
Died
Resting
place
Occupation
Language
c. 1343
London, England
25 October 1400 (aged 56-57)
Westminster Abbey, London
Author, poet, philosopher,
bureaucrat, diplomat
Middle English
Influences[show]
Geoffrey Chaucer (pronounced /ˈ tʃɔː sər/; c. 1343 – 25 October 1400) was an English
author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Although he wrote many works,
he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales. Sometimes
called the father of English literature, Chaucer is credited by some scholars as the first author
to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular Middle English, rather than French or
Latin.
20
Life
Chaucer as a pilgrim from the Ellesmere manuscript
Chaucer was born circa 1343 in London, though the exact date and location of his birth are not
known. His father and grandfather were both London vintners and before that, for several
generations, the family members were merchants in Ipswich. His name is derived from the
French chausseur, meaning shoemaker.[1] In 1324 John Chaucer, Geoffrey's father, was
kidnapped by an aunt in the hope of marrying the twelve-year-old boy to her daughter in an
attempt to keep property in Ipswich. The aunt was imprisoned and the £250 fine levied
suggests that the family was financially secure, bourgeois, if not in the elite. [2] John married
Agnes Copton, who, in 1349, inherited properties including 24 shops in London from her uncle,
Hamo de Copton, who is described as the "moneyer" at the Tower of London.
There are few details of Chaucer's early life and education but compared with near
contemporary poets, William Langland and the Pearl Poet, his life is well documented, with
nearly five hundred written items testifying to his career. The first time he is mentioned is in
1357, in the household accounts of Elizabeth de Burgh, the Countess of Ulster, when he
became the noblewoman's page through his father's connections.[3] He also worked as a
courtier, a diplomat, and a civil servant, as well as working for the king, collecting and
inventorying scrap metal.
In 1359, in the early stages of the Hundred Years' War, Edward III invaded France and
Chaucer travelled with Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, Elizabeth's husband, as part of
the English army. In 1360, he was captured during the siege of Rheims, becoming a prisoner
of war. Edward contributed £16 as part of a ransom,[4] and Chaucer was released.
After this, Chaucer's life is uncertain, but he seems to have travelled in France, Spain, and
Flanders, possibly as a messenger and perhaps even going on a pilgrimage to Santiago de
Compostela. Around 1366, Chaucer married Philippa (de) Roet. She was a lady-in-waiting to
Edward III's queen, Philippa of Hainault, and a sister of Katherine Swynford, who later (ca.
1396) became the third wife of Chaucer's friend and patron, John of Gaunt. It is uncertain how
many children Chaucer and Philippa had, but three or four are most commonly cited. His son,
Thomas Chaucer, had an illustrious career, as chief butler to four kings, envoy to France, and
Speaker of the House of Commons. Thomas' daughter, Alice, married the Duke of Suffolk.
Thomas' great-grandson (Geoffrey's great-great-grandson), John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln,
was the heir to the throne designated by Richard III before he was deposed. Geoffrey's other
children probably included Elizabeth Chaucy, a nun at Barking Abbey.[5][6] Agnes, an attendant
at Henry IV's coronation; and another son, Lewis Chaucer.
21
Chaucer may have studied law in the Inner Temple (an Inn of Court) at about this time,
although definite proof is lacking. He became a member of the royal court of Edward III as a
varlet de chambre, yeoman, or esquire on 20 June 1367, a position which could entail any
number of jobs. His wife also received a pension for court employment. He travelled abroad
many times, at least some of them in his role as a valet. In 1368, he may have attended the
wedding of Lionel of Antwerp to Violante, daughter of Galeazzo II Visconti, in Milan. Two other
literary stars of the era were in attendance: Jean Froissart and Petrarch. Around this time,
Chaucer is believed to have written The Book of the Duchess in honour of Blanche of
Lancaster, the late wife of John of Gaunt, who died in 1369.
Chaucer travelled to Picardy the next year as part of a military expedition, and visited Genoa
and Florence in 1373. Numerous scholars such as Skeat, Boitani, and Rowland [7] speculate
that, on this Italian trip, he came into contact with Petrarch or Boccaccio. They introduced him
to medieval Italian poetry, the forms and stories of which he would use later.[8] One other trip
he took in 1377 seems shrouded in mystery, with records of the time conflicting in details.
Later documents suggest it was a mission, along with Jean Froissart, to arrange a marriage
between the future King Richard II and a French princess, thereby ending the Hundred Years
War. If this was the purpose of their trip, they seem to have been unsuccessful, as no wedding
occurred.
In 1378, Richard II sent Chaucer as an envoy (secret dispatch) to the Visconti and to Sir John
Hawkwood, English condottiere (mercenary leader) in Milan. It is on the person of Hawkwood
that Chaucer based the character of the Knight in the Canterbury Tales, whose description
matches that of a fourteenth-century condottiere.
A possible indication that his career as a writer was appreciated came when Edward III granted
Chaucer "a gallon of wine daily for the rest of his life" for some unspecified task. This was an
unusual grant, but given on a day of celebration, St George's Day, 1374, when artistic
endeavours were traditionally rewarded, it is assumed to have been another early poetic work.
It is not known which, if any, of Chaucer's extant works prompted the reward, but the
suggestion of him as poet to a king places him as a precursor to later poets laureate. Chaucer
continued to collect the liquid stipend until Richard II came to power, after which it was
converted to a monetary grant on 18 April 1378.
Chaucer obtained the very substantial job of Comptroller of the Customs for the port of
London, which he began on 8 June 1374.[9] He must have been suited for the role as he
continued in it for twelve years, a long time in such a post at that time. His life goes
undocumented for much of the next ten years, but it is believed that he wrote (or began) most
of his famous works during this period. He was mentioned in law papers of 4 May 1380,
involved in the raptus of Cecilia Chaumpaigne. What raptus means is unclear, but the incident
seems to have been resolved quickly and did not leave a stain on Chaucer's reputation. It is
not known if Chaucer was in the city of London at the time of the Peasants' Revolt, but if he
was, he would have seen its leaders pass almost directly under his apartment window at
Aldgate.[10]
While still working as comptroller, Chaucer appears to have moved to Kent, being appointed as
one of the commissioners of peace for Kent, at a time when French invasion was a possibility.
He is thought to have started work on The Canterbury Tales in the early 1380s. He also
became a Member of Parliament for Kent in 1386. There is no further reference after this date
to Philippa, Chaucer's wife, and she is presumed to have died in 1387. He survived the political
upheavals caused by the Lords Appellants, despite the fact that Chaucer knew some of the
men executed over the affair quite well.
On 12 July 1389, Chaucer was appointed the clerk of the king's works, a sort of foreman
organising most of the king's building projects.[11] No major works were begun during his
tenure, but he did conduct repairs on Westminster Palace, St. George's Chapel, Windsor,
22
continue building the wharf at the Tower of London, and build the stands for a tournament held
in 1390. It may have been a difficult job, but it paid well: two shillings a day, more than three
times his salary as a comptroller. In September 1390, records say that he was robbed, and
possibly injured, while conducting the business, and it was shortly after, on 17 June 1391, that
he stopped working in this capacity. Almost immediately, on 22 June, he began as deputy
forester in the royal forest of North Petherton, Somerset. This was no sinecure, with
maintenance an important part of the job, although there were many opportunities to derive
profit. He was granted an annual pension of twenty pounds by Richard II in 1394.[12] It is
believed that Chaucer stopped work on the Canterbury Tales sometime towards the end of this
decade.
Not long after the overthrow of his patron, Richard II, in 1399, Chaucer's name fades from the
historical record. The last few records of his life show his pension renewed by the new king,
and his taking of a lease on a residence within the close of Westminster Abbey on 24
December 1399.[13] Although Henry IV renewed the grants assigned to Chaucer by Richard,
Chaucer's own The Complaint of Chaucer to his Purse hints that the grants might not have
been paid. The last mention of Chaucer is on 5 June 1400, when some monies owed to him
were paid.
He is believed to have died of unknown causes on 25 October 1400, but there is no firm
evidence for this date, as it comes from the engraving on his tomb, erected more than one
hundred years after his death. There is some speculation—most recently in Terry Jones' book
Who Murdered Chaucer? : A Medieval Mystery—that he was murdered by enemies of Richard II
or even on the orders of his successor Henry IV, but the case is entirely circumstantial.
Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey in London, as was his right owing to his status as a
tenant of the Abbey's close. In 1556, his remains were transferred to a more ornate tomb,
making Chaucer the first writer interred in the area now known as Poets' Corner.
Works
Chaucer's first major work, The Book of the Duchess, was an elegy for Blanche of Lancaster
(who died in 1369). It is possible that this work was commissioned by her husband John of
Gaunt, as he granted Chaucer a £10 annuity on 13 June 1374. This would seem to place the
writing of The Book of the Duchess between the years 1369 and 1374. Two other early works
by Chaucer were Anelida and Arcite and The House of Fame. Chaucer wrote many of his major
works in a prolific period when he held the job of customs comptroller for London (1374 to
1386). His Parlement of Foules, The Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde all date
from this time. Also it is believed that he started work on The Canterbury Tales in the early
1380s. Chaucer is best known as the writer of The Canterbury Tales, which is a collection of
stories told by fictional pilgrims on the road to the cathedral at Canterbury; these tales would
help to shape English literature.
The Canterbury Tales contrasts with other literature of the period in the naturalism of its
narrative, the variety of stories the pilgrims tell and the varied characters who are engaged in
the pilgrimage. Many of the stories narrated by the pilgrims seem to fit their individual
characters and social standing, although some of the stories seem ill-fitting to their narrators,
perhaps as a result of the incomplete state of the work. Chaucer drew on real life for his cast
of pilgrims: the innkeeper shares the name of a contemporary keeper of an inn in Southwark,
and real-life identities for the Wife of Bath, the Merchant, the Man of Law and the Student
have been suggested. The many jobs that Chaucer held in medieval society—page, soldier,
messenger, valet, bureaucrat, foreman and administrator—probably exposed him to many of
the types of people he depicted in the Tales. He was able to shape their speech and satirise
their manners in what was to become popular literature among people of the same types.
Chaucer's works are sometimes grouped into first a French period, then an Italian period and
finally an English period, with Chaucer being influenced by those countries' literatures in turn.
23
Certainly Troilus and Criseyde is a middle period work with its reliance on the forms of Italian
poetry, little known in England at the time, but to which Chaucer was probably exposed during
his frequent trips abroad on court business. In addition, its use of a classical subject and its
elaborate, courtly language sets it apart as one of his most complete and well-formed works.
In Troilus and Criseyde Chaucer draws heavily on his source, Boccaccio, and on the late Latin
philosopher Boethius. However, it is The Canterbury Tales, wherein he focuses on English
subjects, with bawdy jokes and respected figures often being undercut with humour, that has
cemented his reputation.
Chaucer also translated such important works as Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy and The
Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris (extended by Jean de Meun). However, while
many scholars maintain that Chaucer did indeed translate part of the text of Roman de la Rose
as The Romaunt of the Rose, others claim that this has been effectively disproved. Many of his
other works were very loose translations of, or simply based on, works from continental
Europe. It is in this role that Chaucer receives some of his earliest critical praise. Eustache
Deschamps wrote a ballade on the great translator and called himself a "nettle in Chaucer's
garden of poetry". In 1385 Thomas Usk made glowing mention of Chaucer, and John Gower,
Chaucer's main poetic rival of the time, also lauded him. This reference was later edited out of
Gower's Confessio Amantis and it has been suggested by some that this was because of ill
feeling between them, but it is likely due simply to stylistic concerns.
One other significant work of Chaucer's is his Treatise on the Astrolabe, possibly for his own
son, that describes the form and use of that instrument in detail. Although much of the text
may have come from other sources, the treatise indicates that Chaucer was versed in science
in addition to his literary talents. Another scientific work discovered in 1952, Equatorie of the
Planetis, has similar language and handwriting compared to some considered to be Chaucer's
and it continues many of the ideas from the Astrolabe. Furthermore, it contains an example of
early European encryption.[14] The attribution of this work to Chaucer is still uncertain.
The Canterbury Tales
A woodcut from William Caxton's second edition of the Canterbury Tales printed in 1483.
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer
at the end of the 14th century. The tales (mostly in verse, although some are in prose) are
told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a
journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. In a
long list of works, including Troilus and Criseyde, House of Fame, and Parliament of Fowls, The
Canterbury Tales was Chaucer's magnum opus. He uses the tales and the descriptions of the
24
characters to paint an ironic and critical portrait of English society at the time, and particularly
of the Church. Structurally, the collection bears the influence of The Decameron, which
Chaucer is said to have come across during his first diplomatic mission to Italy in 1372.
However, Chaucer peoples his tales with 'sondry folk' rather than Boccaccio's fleeing nobles.
Sources
A Tale from the Decameron by John William Waterhouse.
No other work prior to Chaucer's is known to have set a collection of tales within the
framework of pilgrims on a pilgrimage. It is obvious, however, that Chaucer borrowed portions,
sometimes very large portions, of his stories from earlier stories, and that his work was
influenced by the general state of the literary world in which he lived. Storytelling was the
main entertainment in England at the time, and storytelling contests had been around for
hundreds of years. In 14th-century England the English Pui was a group with an appointed
leader who would judge the songs of the group. The winner received a crown and, as with the
winner of the Canterbury Tales, a free dinner. It was common for pilgrims on a pilgrimage to
have a chosen "master of ceremonies" to guide them and organize the journey. [12]
The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio contains more parallels to the Canterbury Tales than
any other work. Like the Tales, it features a number of narrators who tell stories along a
journey they have undertaken (to flee from the Black Plague). It ends with an apology by
Boccaccio, much like Chaucer's Retraction to the Tales. A quarter of the tales in Canterbury
Tales parallel a tale in the Decameron, although most of them have closer parallels in other
stories. Scholars thus find it unlikely that Chaucer had a copy of the work on hand, surmising
instead that he must have merely read the Decameron while visiting Italy at some point.[13]
Each of the tales has its own set of sources which have been suggested by scholars, but a few
sources are used frequently over several tales. These include poetry by Ovid, the Bible in one
of the many vulgate versions it was available in at the time (the exact one is difficult to
determine), and the works of Petrarch and Dante. Chaucer was the first author to utilize the
work of these last two, both Italians. Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy appears in several
tales, as do the works of John Gower, a known friend to Chaucer. A full list is impossible to
outline in little space, but Chaucer also, lastly, seems to have borrowed from numerous
religious encyclopedias and liturgical writings, such as John Bromyard's Summa praedicantium,
a preacher's handbook, and Jerome's Adversus Jovinianum.[14] Many scholars say there is a
good possibility Chaucer met Petrarch or Boccaccio.[15][16][17][18][19]
THE PRIORESS
There was also a nun, a prioress,
Who, in her smiling, modest was and coy;
Her greatest oath was but "By Saint Eloy!"
And she was known as Madam Eglantine.
Full well she sang the services divine,
Intoning through her nose, becomingly;
And fair she spoke her French, and fluently,
After the school of Stratford-at-the-Bow,
25
For French of Paris was not hers to know.
At table she had been well taught withal,
And never from her lips let morsels fall,
Nor dipped her fingers deep in sauce, but ate
With so much care the food upon her plate
That never driblet fell upon her breast.
In courtesy she had delight and zest.
Her upper lip was always wiped so clean
That in her cup was no iota seen
Of grease, when she had drunk her draught of wine.
Becomingly she reached for meat to dine.
And certainly delighting in good sport,
She was right pleasant, amiable- in short.
She was at pains to counterfeit the look
Of courtliness, and stately manners took,
And would be held worthy of reverence.
But, to say something of her moral sense,
She was so charitable and piteous
That she would weep if she but saw a mouse
Caught in a trap, though it were dead or bled.
She had some little dogs, too, that she fed
On roasted flesh, or milk and fine white bread.
But sore she'd weep if one of them were dead,
Or if men smote it with a rod to smart:
For pity ruled her, and her tender heart.
Right decorous her pleated wimple was;
Her nose was fine; her eyes were blue as glass;
Her mouth was small and therewith soft and red;
But certainly she had a fair forehead;
It was almost a full span broad, I own,
For, truth to tell, she was not undergrown.
Neat was her cloak, as I was well aware.
Of coral small about her arm she'd bear
A string of beads and gauded all with green;
And therefrom hung a brooch of golden sheen
Whereon there was first written a crowned "A,"
And under, Amor vincit omnia.
THE WIFE OF BATH
There was a housewife come from Bath, or near,
Who- sad to say- was deaf in either ear.
At making cloth she had so great a bent
She bettered those of Ypres and even of Ghent.
In all the parish there was no goodwife
Should offering make before her, on my life;
And if one did, indeed, so wroth was she
It put her out of all her charity.
Her kerchiefs were of finest weave and ground;
I dare swear that they weighed a full ten pound
Which, of a Sunday, she wore on her head.
Her hose were of the choicest scarlet red,
Close gartered, and her shoes were soft and new.
Bold was her face, and fair, and red of hue.
She'd been respectable throughout her life,
With five churched husbands bringing joy and strife,
Not counting other company in youth;
But thereof there's no need to speak, in truth.
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Three times she'd journeyed to Jerusalem;
And many a foreign stream she'd had to stem;
At Rome she'd been, and she'd been in Boulogne,
In Spain at Santiago, and at Cologne.
She could tell much of wandering by the way:
Gap-toothed was she, it is no lie to say.
Upon an ambler easily she sat,
Well wimpled, aye, and over all a hat
As broad as is a buckler or a targe;
A rug was tucked around her buttocks large,
And on her feet a pair of sharpened spurs.
In company well could she laugh her slurs.
The remedies of love she knew, perchance,
For of that art she'd learned the old, old dance.
The Vercelli Book is one of the oldest of the four Old English Poetic Codices. It is an
anthology of Old English prose and verse that dates back to the late 10th century. The
manuscript is housed in the capitular library of Basilica di Sant'Andrea of Vercelli, in northern
Italy.
Contents
It contains 23 prose homilies (the Vercelli Homilies) and a prose vita of Saint Guthlac,
interspersed with six poems:






Andreas
The Fates of the Apostles
Soul and Body
Dream of the Rood
Elene
the fragment of a homiletic poem
The Vercelli Book is one of a group of four major anthologies in Old English. The others are the
Junius manuscript (also known as the Caedmon manuscript), the Exeter Book, and the Nowell
Codex. The Vercelli Book comprises 135 folios which contain a group of twenty-three homilies,
six works in Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse: Andreas, Address of the Soul to the Body,
Falseness of Men, Dream of the Rood, two poems by Cynewulf, Elene and The Fates of the
Apostles, and a prose Life of Guthlac. Although the manuscript was probably compiled and
written in the late 10th century, not all of the texts found in the manuscript were originally
written at that time. The poems ascribed to Cynewulf could have been created much earlier.
History
The book is a parchment manuscript of the end of the tenth century, containing a miscellany,
or florilegium, of religious texts that were apparently selected for private inspiration. The
meticulous hand is Anglo-Saxon square minuscule. It was found in the library by Friedrich
Blume, in 1822, and was first described in his Iter Italicum (Stettin, 4 vols., 1824-36). The
presence of the volume was explained by a hospice catering especially to English pilgrims that
was founded by Jacopo Guala Bicchieri (d. 1227), bishop of Vercelli, who had been papal
legate in England 1216–1218. However, its presence in Vercelli has been ascertained before
that, in the eleventh century.
In the words of a modern critic, "The Vercelli Book appears ... to have been put together from
a number of different exemplars with no apparent overall design in mind. The manner in which
the scribe did the copying is relatively mechanical. In most cases, he copied the dialect and the
manuscript punctuation that was found in the original texts, and these aspects therefore aid in
27
reconstructing the variety of exemplars. The texts therefore range in date for although they
were all copied in the later tenth century, they need not all have been written in this period."
[1]
The verse items occur in three randomly placed groups intermixed with prose. Evidence
suggests that the scribe may have assembled the material over an extended period of time.
Elaine Treharne in Old and Middle English: An Anthology suggests: "Although the examples are
diverse, and no apparent chronological or formal arrangement can be discerned, the texts
suggest the compiler was someone in a monastic setting who wished to illustrate his personal
interest in penitential and eschatological themes and to glorify the ascetic way of life. The
homilies represent part of the anonymous tradition of religious prose writing in Anglo Saxon
England."
In his book The Vercelli Homilies, Donald Scragg claims that because of the poetry, the Vercelli
Book "is in no sense a homiliary." He argues that most of the homilies in the Vercelli Book are
sermons with general themes, while two of the homilies describe lives of the saints (XVII and
XXIII). The manuscript contains two homilies (I and VI) that are primarily narrative pieces and
lack the typical homiletic structure. The arrangement of the homilies, coupled with the
placement of the poetic pieces, creates a manuscript which Scragg considers to be "one of the
most important vernacular books to survive from the pre-Conquest period." None of the
homilies can be precisely dated, nor can any be assigned to a specific author.
28