Literacy in the HMA
1. Who was Dante? How did he
affect change in history? Why is
he remembered?
2. Who was Geoffrey Chaucer? How
did he affect change in history?
Why is he remembered?
3. Name and describe 3 cultural
changes that occurred with Town
and Trade revival.
Dante
• The Divine Comedy (Italian: Divina Commedia) is an
epic poem written by Dante Alighieri between c. 1308
and his death in 1321. It is widely considered the
preeminent work of Italian literature,[1] and is seen as
one of the greatest works of world literature.[2] The
poem's imaginative and allegorical vision of the
afterlife is a culmination of the medieval world-view as
it had developed in the Western Church. It helped
establish the Tuscan dialect, in which it is written, as
the standardized Italian language.[3] It is divided into
three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.
Geoffrey Chaucer:
• 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 written in verse,
although some are in prose) are presented 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.
The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard
Inn at Southwark on their return.
• http://www.shmoop.com/canterbury-tales-prologue/
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Cultural change: identify the change
from Feudalism to town life-use
history facts!
Social class
Trade
Government
Farming
Population
Literacy
Living conditions