The Middle Ages

1066-1485
 Objectives
 Understand the historical and social
forces that shaped the Middle Ages
 Identify the influence of history on
the literary works of the Middle Ages
 Take notes and discuss the concept
of loyalty in the world then and now
 KWL
 What do you know about the Middle
Ages?

 What would you like to know about

the Middle Ages?
 The Middle Ages
Four Centuries of Change
 The Norman Conquest of England
created a powerful Anglo- Norman
entity and brought England into the
mainstream of European civilization

 The Feudal system centralized

military, political, and economic
power in the Crown
 The Roman Church transcended
national boundaries and fostered
cultural unity among Europeans
 The rise of towns and cities freed
people to pursue their own
commercial and artistic interests
 The Magna Carta weakened the
political power of the Church and laid
the groundwork for later constitutional
law
 Exposure to Eastern civilization as a
result of the Crusades broadened
Europeans’ intellectual horizons
 Change

 The ideals of Chivalry improved

attitudes toward, but not the rights of
women
 The rise of the yeoman class paved
the way for democracy in England
 The bubonic plague created a labor
shortage that contributed to the end
of feudalism and to the passing of the
Middle Ages
 Some key words/ideas
dates and people
 October 1066
 Duke William of Normandy
 King Harold of England
 Norman Conquest-----responsible for
changes to English history, character
and language
 William the Conqueror--- illegitimate son
 Key ideas
 Cousin of Edward the Confessor
 Was promised the crown when he died but it
was given to Harold instead
 Bad move------William sailed the English
Channel with a large army in the winter---no
one had ever done that before---too
dangerous---Harold had to run from the other
end of England with his tired army. They met
and Harold lost---arrow through the eye—no
one knows where he was buried.
 William the Conqueror
 Efficient and ruthless
 Wanted to rule the Anglo-Saxons not
eliminate them
 Great administrative feat was an inventory of
nearly every piece of property in England---
land, cattle, buildings—The Doomsday Book
 First time people could be taxed based on
what they own
•Doomsday Book title suggests a comparison
between William’s judgment of his subjects’
financial worth and God’s final judgment of their
moral worth.

•William brought a new language to England---

Norman French

The Anglo-Norman entity that resulted from the

Norman Conquest brought England into
mainstream European civilization, which included
feudalism.
•Chivalry and Courtly Love: Ideal but Unreal

•Chivalry was a systemof Ideals and social codes

governing the behavior of knights and
gentlewomen.

•Among it rules was the adherance to one’s oath of

loyalty to the overlord and observing certain rules
of warfare, such as never attacking an unarmed
opponent.

•Also, adoring a particular lady (not necessarily

one’s wife) was seen as a means of achieving self-
improvement

•Courtly love was nonsexual---a knight might wear

his lady’s colors into battle, glorify her in words,
•Chivalry led to an idealized attitude toward women and gave
rise to a new form of literature, the romance.

•Medieval society
• centered around the feudal castle.

•As the population grew, an increasing number of people lived

in towns and cities thereby eventually rendering the feudal
system obsolete.

•The development of the city classes---lower, middle, and

upper- middle is evident in Canterbury Tales

•The people in the cities were free---tied neither to the land,

knighthood or chivalry.
 The Great Happenings

•The Crusades --- Chaucer’s knight---a series of wars waged

by European Christians against the Muslims with Jerusalem
and the Holy Land as the prize.

•The Europeans ultimately the Crusades, Christian Europe

was exposed to the Middle East’s sophisticated civilization.to
hold Jerusalem but this contact with Eastern mathematics ,
astronomy, architecture, and crafts made possible the rich
varied life we find in Chaucer.

•As a result of the Crusades, Christian Europe was exposed

to the Middle East’s sophisticated civilization.
 Thomas A Becket martyred

Friend to Henry II---was his

chancellor (prime minister)

Henry appointed him as Pope

expecting him to agree with his
policies---he didn’t

Four of Henry’s knights murdered Becket in his Church on his altar

because they thought Henry wanted this and they would be
rewarded---they weren’t

This incident created a backlash against Henry and was a significant

setback for the monarchy in its power struggles with Rome.

Examples of this are shown in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales---

The Monk---lives a life of luxury without regard to the poor; Friar
chases women and money; Summoner and Pardoner blackmail people
with threats of eternal damnation.
The Medieval Church fostered cultural unity; it was the center of
learning---Latin was the international language of educated Europeans
 THE MAGNA CARTA
In 1215 at Runnymede, king John
signed the MAGNA CARTA (the Great
Charter)---it hearlded a return to
older, democratic tendencies in
England

The signing was a defeat for central

papal power. It became the basis for
English Constitutional law in which
such rights as trial by jury and
legislative taxation were established
 THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR

The first national war England vs

France based on the dubious claims to
the throne of France by two English
kings--- Edward III and HenryV
Militarily unsuccessful for the English
but an important factor in the gradual
development of British national
consciousness.
After the war the English were no longer
represented by the knight in shining
armor but by the yeoman (small
landowners) with his long bow---they
could fly over castle walls and pierce the
armor became a dominant force in the
new society that grew out of feudalism
Because of the yeoman, modern,
democratic England was born.
 The Black Death
Bubonic Plague 1348-1349

Reduced the nations population by a third

causing a labor shortage and giving the
lower classes more leverage than ever
before against their overlords.

One long term result was the freedom of

the serfs which knocked out feudalism ‘s
last support.