Transcript Canterbury Tales and Medieval Period

Medieval Period
England
1066-1485
Background
• King Harold II of England vs. William the
Conqueror of Normandy at Battle of Hastings
1066
• Led to = Eventual merging of races
– Celts: strong emotions, vivid imaginations
– Anglo-Saxons: courage, endurance, action
– Norman-French: logic, wit, color, refined living,
gaiety
– Languages: Anglo-Saxon / French (language of
courts) hog/ pork- sheep/ mutton
• 1485 = Battle of Bosworth Field – Final battle
of the War of the Roses (Lancaster vs. York) &
Henry (Henry VII) defeated Richard III
Feudalism
• Feudalism (system of fixed social classes)
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System of land division based upon class structure
Relationship between lord and serf
Fiefdom = Castle, chapel, farms, peasants, moat, etc.
Private armies, warfare between barons
King- owns land and allegiance from people
Baron- King gave them land and titles
• Baron, Viscount, Earl, Duke, Prince…
– Knights- protected castle and fought for Lord
– Serfs- peasants who worked land; Lord made all
decisions for them
Chivalry
Stages
A code of conduct for knights
– Page: 7-14 years of age
– Squire: 14-21 years of age
– Knight: 21 or above
(usually knighted in
church)
Code of Chivalry
– Allegiance to King: fight
for or support king
– Service to church: God is
spiritual master
– Reverence to women:
protect them; master of
the heart
– Knightly honor: high
moral code
– Christian principles
Activities
– Jousts
• Tournaments
• Archery
• Melee: last day of
tournament; last
standing wins
• Queen of love and
Beauty
Rise of the Common Man
Middle Class
• Contributing factor
– Slow decline of feudalism and chivalry (long bow)
– Black death: labor shortage (25 to 40% of populace
died)
– Growth of towns: peasants paid in towns
• Guilds: artisans/surnames- weaver, smith,
carpenter, dyer, cartwright
– Set prices and wages
– Trade unions
Literature
• Romances
• Plays
– Miracle- Biblical Stories
– Morality- Allegorical
• Folk poetry
• Illuminated Manuscripts- born from the
traditions of monastic scribes/ decorative
writing
Wars
• Crusades 1095 and 200 following
– Regain holy land from Muslims
– Introduced trade
– Discovery of new world
• Hundred Years War
– Joan of Arc
– Claims of land for English
– Strong sense of nationalism
• War of the Roses
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Between the houses of York and Lancasters
Succession to throne
Henry (Lancaster) defeats Richard (York)
Henry married Richard’s niece to unite both houses
to form new house = TUDORS
Government
• William I- Henry II
– English common law
– Judicial districts
• Richard the Lion Hearted: crusades
• John: signed at Runnymede (1215) Magna
Carta
• Edward I: Model Parliament; 2 knights from
each shire and 2 citizens from each town
gathered to parley (talk)
Torture Devices
• No laws supported the rights of prisoners
• Torture was seen as a legitimate way to
obtain confessions and testimonies
• Most castles and fiefs had some sort of
torture chamber
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Ripping out teeth / nails
Beating
Blinding
Boiling
Bone breaking
Branding and Burning
Castration
Choking
Cutting
Disfigurement
Dislocation
Drowning
• Flagellation, whipping and
beating
• Flaying
• Roasting
• Genital mutilation
• Limb/finger removal
• Starvation
• Tongue removal
• Tickling
• Compression of the limbs by
special instruments, or by ropes,
• Injection of water, vinegar, or
oil, into the body
• Application of hot pitch
• Starvation
Church
Center of life for medieval society
• Influence
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Education: Cambridge, Oxford
Architecture: cathedrals
Ecclesiastical courts
Excommunication: denied reward of heaven
Corruption of Catholic church with selling of holy
relics
• Struggle between Henry II and Thomas a
Becket (remember that name!)
• Crusades: Rescue the Holy Land from the
Turks
Thomas a Becket,
Saint Thomas of Canterbury
• Venerated as a saint and a martyr by the
Catholic and Anglican Churches
• Murdered in 1170 for speaking out against
King Henry II (Henry wanted power over
the church)
• Murdered inside Canterbury Cathedral
• Pilgrimages to Canterbury Cathedral
became one of the most common during the
Medieval Period through today
“...The wicked knight leapt suddenly upon him, cutting off the top of the
crown which the unction of sacred chrism had dedicated to God. Next he
received a second blow on the head, but still he stood firm and immovable.
At the third blow he fell on his knees and elbows, offering himself a living
sacrifice, and saying in a low voice, 'For the name of Jesus and the protection
of the Church, I am ready to embrace death.' But the third knight inflicted a
terrible wound as he lay prostrate. By this stroke, the crown of his head was
separated from the head in such a way that the blood white with the brain,
and the brain no less red from the blood, dyed the floor of the cathedral. The
same clerk who had entered with the knights placed his foot on the neck of
the holy priest and precious martyr, and, horrible to relate, scattered the
brains and blood about the pavements, crying to the others, 'Let us away,
knights; this fellow will arise no more.”
Geoffrey Chaucer
(1343-1400)
• Greatest English Poet = to Shakespeare
• Background:
– Father was a well-to-do wine merchant in London
– Chaucer was a page and later a knight
– When captured in France, he was ransomed by the
King
– Married lady-in-waiting to queen
– Fluent in French, Latin, Italian, and English
– Buried in Westminster Abbey- first person in the
poet’s corner
• Father of poetry, short stories, novels
The Cantebury Tales
• Frame = a 70 mile
• Style = couplet (two
pilgrimage from London
lines, later called heroic
to Cantebury Cathedral
couplet), iambic
to visit the shrine of
pentameter, MIDDLE
martyr St. Thomas a
ENGLISH
Becket
• Point of view = Chaucer
• Original plan = of 29
as a naïve pilgrim who
pilgrims, each was to tell
“admires” his fellow
4 stories: 2 on the way
travelers/ Chaucer as a
and 2 on the return…
sophisticated poet,
Chaucer only finished 24
observing and
tales
understanding human
emotion and motivation
• Setting/ Time = Tabard
Inn in Southwark south
of London and
continuing on the
journey; Easter, spring
• Feudal Class: includes
nobility and peasants
– Upper class- code of
chivalry (honor to God,
King, and women)
– Lower class- service to
Lord of the castle and
King, tithing to church,
paying rent to Lord
• Ecclesiastical- Church
– Vows of poverty
– Vows of chastity
– Vows of obedience to God
• Urban: new working
class and trade guilds
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Honesty in business
Hard worker
Good moral character
Congenial
Levels of
Society
• Chaucer’s judgment
of pilgrims was
determined by how
well they followed
the ideal
characteristics of
their level of society.
The Canterbury Tales
(“The Great Medieval Road Trip”)
• Have you ever been on a
“road trip” with people you
didn’t know well or
wouldn’t normally spend
time with?
• Or, do you recall an
unforgettable “road trip” that
seemed to never end?
• What was your destination?
• Who was on the trip with
you?
• How old were you?
• What happened and why do
you remember this trip?