Transcript The Middle Ages

The Tales They Told
1066-1485
Norman F. Cantor

“The medieval world we know was far from
perfect. Life expectancy was short, and disease was
mostly incontestable. It was a world burdened by royal
autocracy and social hierarchy inherited from ancient
times. Its piety and devotion were affected by
fanaticism and a potential for persecution. Its
intellectuals were given to too abstract and not enough
practical thinking. But it exhibited as elevated a
culture, as peaceful community, as benign a political
system, as high-minded and popular a faith as the
world has ever seen.”
Timeline p. 90-91

 While you look at the timeline answer these
questions:
 What are some of the major literary
accomplishments during this time?
 What were some of the conflicts during this time?
(war, invasions. Etc.)
Political and Social Milestones
 Norman Conquest

 Crowned Kind of England on Christmas Day in 1066
 Had to deal with numerous rebellions from the Saxons
 Made everyone pledge loyalty to him instead of their
immediate superiors: feudal system
 Age of Feudalism
 Everyone was assigned a position at birth
 Peasant answers to farmer who answers to knight who answers to lord
who answers to baron who answers to king who answers to God
 Decline of Feudalism
 English people were introduced to other influences
 Trade created a merchant class
 People used their skills to make money
Read over p. 94-107

 Answer the following questions while you read:
 What effects did the Norman invasion have in the way
English were governed?
 What were the main features of feudalism? How did
feudalism change the social structure of Anglo-Saxon
England?
 What developments in the 14th and 15th centuries
began to undermine the feudal system?
The Norman Influence and
William the Conqueror

 Claimed that King Edward
offered him the throne so he
went to take it
 Normans brought
administrative ability, law
and order, and cultural
unity
 William had an inventory of
every piece of property in
England
 Feudal system
 Not like the Romans, the
Normans never withdrew
from England
Feudalism

 Caste system, property
system, and military
system
 God as supreme Lord
 Knights in shining
armor=loyalty
 Manners and formality
Women

 No rights, no voice
 Husband or father
determined social
standing
Chivalry and Courtly Love

 Chivalry: system of
ideals and social codes
governing the behavior
of knights and gentle
women
 Courtly love: being
inspired by a woman
but the woman always
remained pure and out
of reach
New City Classes

 Population increase
required expansion from
castle
 New classes formed:
lower, middle, and upper
 People were free, not tied
down by land or chivalry
 Affected art and literature
The Great Happenings

 Crusades (1095-1270):
holy wars where
Christians fought
against Muslims
 Thomas Becket (1170):
took the pope’s side
and four knights of
Henry II murdered him
in the cathedral—
considered a martyr
The Great Happenings Continued

 Magna Carta (1215):
signed to restore
democratic tendencies—
basis for English
Constitutional law
 The Hundred Years War
(1337-1453): First national
war of England on
France—Based on weak
claims to the throne of
France
The Great Happenings Continued

 The Black Death (13481349): bubonic
plague—highly
contagious spread by
fleas of rats; reduced
the nation’s population
by 1/3