THE MIDDLE AGES 1100-1500

*AKA: Medieval Period, Age of Chivalry, Little Renaissance

began with the Battle of Hastings

• William the Conqueror • (Duke of Normandy) invaded England in

1066, bringing the A-S England to an end• he wanted to claim his right to the throne

-as king, William . . .

1) preserved libraries and learning centers 2) evicted the English nobility and replaced them

with his own Norman people3) adopted Norman French as language

-majority of England remained spkg English-English prose was being written and produced-English lge regained dominant

11th- 12th century England (1000 and 1100s)

- operated under the feudal system

- showed evidence of strong faith through the building of many cathedrals

- had interest in Virgin Mary and devotion to her flourished

- Crusades began in 1096

11th- 12th century England, cont’d (1000 and 1100s)

• in 1170, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas a

Becket was brutally killed in the Canterbury Cathedral, setting the stage for the CanterburyTales written 200 years later by Chaucer

• English Law

The brutal murder of Thomas a Becket

Two hundred years later, this event will become the setting for Geoffrey

Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

13th century England (1200s)

* Magna Carta (1215)—forced king to offer more privileges to commoners and made king subject to rule of law– political terms were often expressed religiously– peasant revolts began and forced nobility to respect

their needs – foreshadowed the habeas corpus (trial by jury) the

beginning of representative government in Parliament• vibrant, intellectual activity, a little “renaissance” • increased in prosperity• Europe acquired its first university-Bologna

13th century England, cont’d• -Geoffry of Monmouth wrote the Legend of King

Arthur in Latin and it became available to all of Europe-fads and fashions-Arthurian Romance-drew French audiences first-Angles nor Saxons wished to celebrate their last Celtic enemy-birthed a dimension of tragic heroism (unlike OE stoic heroism)-developed side by side with English drama-romance and courtly love

14th to 15th century England (1300s)

Geoffrey Chaucer-1340-1400-dominant literary figure of 14thc

England-“master of Variety”-Father of English Poetry-Father of English Fiction-best describes 14th c England-spoke late Middle English-gave eloquence to the language-loyal to country / adventurous life-2nd only to Shakespeare-author of Canterbury Tales

Published in 1475

Side by Side Translation of The Canterbury Tales

• Here bygynneth the Book of the tales of Caunterbury

• 1: Whan that aprill with his shoures soote2: The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,3: And bathed every veyne in swich licour4: Of which vertu engendred is the flour;5: Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth6: Inspired hath in every holt and heeth7: Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne8: Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne,9: And smale foweles maken melodye,10: That slepen al the nyght with open ye11: (so priketh hem nature in hir corages);12: Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,13: And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,14: To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;15: And specially from every shires ende16: Of engelond to caunterbury they wende,17: The hooly blisful martir for to seke,

• Here begins the Bookof the Tales of Canterbury

• . • When April with his showers sweet with fruit

The drought of March has pierced unto the rootAnd bathed each vein with liquor that has powerTo generate therein and sire the flower;When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,Quickened again, in every holt and heath,The tender shoots and buds, and the young sunInto the Ram one half his course has run,And many little birds make melodyThat sleep through all the night with open eye(So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)-Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage,And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,To distant shrines well known in sundry lands.And specially from every shire's endOf England they to Canterbury wend,The holy blessed martyr there to seek

•

The Canterbury Tales-mixed sacred and secular-mixed realism with romance-forms almost an encyclopedia

of ME literature-rhymed couplets-iambic pentameter-delights in realistic detail of

clothes, features, idiosyncrasies, etc.

-characters function symbolically as well as reveal internal qualities

14th to 15th century England, cont’d

• Haunted by a plague and two wars . . .• Great Plague of 1348 • Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453)• Wars of the Roses (1455-1485)

Great Plague of 1348

-swept across Britain-left 1/3 to ½ of population dead-prevented “little Renaissance” from blooming-created a century-long setback in literature-influenced “The Pardoner’s Tale”-caused the end of feudalism (loss of labor)

Hundred Years’ War, 1337-1453

-England tried and failed to regain French possession (Joan of Arc)

-France tried to seize wool ships from England, causing retaliation and the 100 Year War

-Prevented nobility from patronizing cultural arts

Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485

-Brothers, Duke of Lancaster and Duke of York, fought for possession of crown

-symbols: red rose (L) and white rose (Y)-led to civil war in England

14th to 15th century England, cont’d

• Drama is born-began as a retelling of the Christian

story-then, dealt with daily concerns of

people-transient; performed on a “pageant”, a trailer-like cart-Everyman and other morality plays

Literature Flourishes• William Caxton

introduced the printing press (1476)

• English and Scottish ballads arose– flourished in 14th and 15th

c.– recited, not read

• English literature owes a great deal to the

Middle Ages

Romantic Literature becomes the favorite

• does not mean what it does today• -tales of chivalry, love interest, wonders, marvels, fairy

enchantments, giants, dragons, wizards, sorceresses, etc.

• -idea of romantic love came from France• -knights’ quests for their ladies• 1) Britain (King Arthur)• 2) France (Charlemagne)• 3) Rome (Troy)• -express ideals of honor, courage, courtesy,

and service to women

MIDDLE ENGLISH LANGUAGE• 1100-1500• English is language of non-ruling classes, now due to

Norman Conquest • Normans and AS culture and language began to blend• in spite of this, English persisted• after the Hundred Years’ War, England won back its

native tongue• Printing Press was invented in 1450 (Gutenberg)• Began the Great Vowel Shift in late Middle Ages• moving toward the first English Dictionary (1604)

Map of Medieval England