Patterns of Medieval Life
Rome’s Three Heirs
• Byzantine Empire
• Islamic Empire
• Western Christendom
Middle Ages
• Three cultural traditions:
–Greco-Roman
–Judeo-Christian
–Germanic
Germanic Tribes
• Nomadic tribes, driven Westward by the Huns
• Made unstable alliance with the Roman Empire
• Visigoths raid Rome in 410, Vandals cause
destruction in 455 (hence, “vandalize”)
• Germanic commander Odoacer deposes Roman
emperor in 476—bringing Empire to an end
Germanic Culture
• Not “civilized” like Greco-Roman culture
– Nomadic, warrior culture
– Based on chieftains
– Fealty between warrior and chieftain is the
basic relationship in society
– Law is oral, not written
– Religion: nature deities; however, many
Germanic peoples convert to Christianity
Beowulf
• 3,000-line Anglo-Saxon epic originating c.
700, written down later (10th century)
• Unrhymed verse
• Kennings: two-term metaphors (e.g., “ringgiver,” “whale-path”)
• Beowulf, a prince, has 3 adventures: the
monster Grendel; Grendel’s mother; dragon
Germanic Art
• Earliest examples are portable
• Later examples fuse with Christian culture
– Lindisfarne Gospels, 7th-century England
• Cruciform design
• Combines “compositional order with a sense of
labyrinthine movement” (Fiero 247)
• Similarity to Islamic art: “complex rhythmically
meandering surface designs” (Fiero 247)
Charlemagne
• Frankish king, Charles the Great, reigned
768-814
• Created a Christian Empire modeled on
Roman Empire
• Pope Leo III crowned him “Emperor of the
Romans” in Rome in 800
Carolingian Renaissance
• Charlemagne sponsored a revival in
architecture, learning and literacy
– Benedictines play important role
– Charlemagne established schools where monks
and nuns copied Latin manuscripts, religious
and other
• Develop miniscule writing style (see Fiero 249)
– Charlemagne himself was barely literate
Palatine Chapel, Aachen, Germany, 792-805
San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, 6th c.
Charlemagne (Equestrian)
Marcus Aurelius
Lindau Gospels, c. 800
Feudal Society
• After Charlemagne, unity does not survive
– Lack of administrative order and standing army
– Vikings and Muslims pose threat
– Empire divided among Charlemagne’s
grandsons
• Feudalism supplies alternative political
order
Knight Wearing Hauberk (c. 1200)
Feudalism
• Lord grants his vassal land (a fief)
• In return, vassal gives lord military service
• The exchange of oaths between lord and
vassal was called investiture
• Upper 10% of European society involved in
feudal contract: nobles
Feudalism
• Male nobles were knights (chevalier)
Chivalry was the code of behavior dictating
the actions of lords and vassals.
• Nobles included both men and women;
female aristocrats could inherit land
Song of Roland
• Chanson de geste (“song of heroic deeds”)
– Peformed by jongleurs: Professional
entertainers
• Demonstrates Roland’s loyalty to
Charlemagne and the code of chivalry
• Demonstrates the warfare between
Christians and Muslims
Norman Conquest
• Vikings=Norsemen=Northmen=Normans
• In 1066, William of Normandy crossed
English channel and defeated Anglo-Saxon
Duke Harold at Battle of Hastings. Effects:
– Feudalism came to England
– French words incorporated into English
Bayeux Tapestry
• 11th century embroidery recording William’s
conquest of England
• 231 feet long
Halley’s Comet on Bayeux Tapestry
Song of Roland & Bayeux Tapestry:
Similarities
• “epic in theme and robust in style”
• “sweeping narratives whose episodes are
irregular rather than uniform in length”
• Stereotypical characters
• Weapons and armor described
• “heroic splendor” of feudal life
(Fiero 255-56)
Medieval Manor
• Manorialism was the medieval economic
system, just as feudalism was the political
system
• Lords and serfs (peasants, who equalled
90% of European population) were
interdependent
– Serfs needed protection; lords needed workers
Effects of Crusades, 1096-1204
• “revival of trade between East and West enhanced
European commercial life, encouraging the rise of
towns. . . .”
• Lands centralized in absence of nobles on
crusades
• Contact with Byzantium reestablished, opening
doors to Byzantine commerce and culture
(Fiero 258-59)
Lancelot vs. Song of Roland
• “feminization of the chivalric ideal” in
Lancelot
– Roland motivated by glory and fealty
– Lancelot motivated by romantic love
– Roland wants to be remembered by his lord;
Lancelot wants to be seen by Guinevere
Lancelot Crossing the Swordbridge and
Guinevere in the Tower, c. 1300
Troubadours
• Men and women of the nobility
• Wrote and performed poems about “courtly
love, chivalry, religion, and politics” (263)