Transcript Document 7122233

Middle Ages
During the period from the early Middle Ages to the
end of the seventeenth century, very few challenged
the existence of God or held that ultimate reality
was impersonal or that death meant individual
extinction. The reason is obvious. Christianity had
so penetrated the Western world that, whether men
believed in Christ or acted as Christians should,
they all lived in a context of ideas influenced and
informed by the Christian faith. Even those who
rejected the faith often lived in the fear of hellfire or
the pangs of purgatory. Bad men may have rejected
Christian goodness, but they knew themselves to be
bad by basically Christian standards crudely
understood, no doubt, but Christian in essence. The
suppositions which lay behind their values came
with their mother's milk [The Universe Next Door,
page 22].
CHRISTIAN THEISM
• Read Chapter 2 of The Universe Next Door.
• God is infinite
• God is personal in that he knows himself to be
(he is self-conscious) and he possesses the
characteristics of self-determination (he "thinks"
and "acts").
• God is triune. That is, "within the one essence of
the Godhead we have to distinguish three
'persons' who are neither three gods on the one
side, not three parts or modes of God on the
other, but coequally and coeternally God.“
CHRISTIAN THEISM
• God is transcendent. This means God is
beyond us and our world. He is otherly.
• God is immanent, and this means that he
is with us.
• God is omniscient
• God is sovereign
• God is good
– Holy
– Love
CHRISTIAN THEISM
• God created the cosmos ex nihilo.
– God is He Who Is, and thus he is the source of all
else.
– God spoke it into existence. It came into being by his
word: "God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was
light" (Gen 1:3).
– God created the cosmos as a uniformity of cause and
effect in an open system. (Is 45:18-19)
– So theism declares that the universe is orderly but not
determined.
CHRISTIAN THEISM
• As Thomas Aquinas said, we can know that God exists
through general revelation, but we could never know that
God is triune except for special revelation.
• Heb 1:1-3; John 1:14
• 5. Human beings were created good, but through the
Fall the image of God became defaced, though not so
ruined as not to be capable of restoration; through the
work of Christ, God redeemed humanity and began the
process of restoring people to goodness, though any
given person may choose to reject that redemption.
CHRISTIAN THEISM
• What has been the affect of the fall of man in these four areas:
• Intellectually
– In personality, we lost our capacity to know ourselves accurately and to
determine our own course of action freely in response to our
intelligence.
– We can no longer gain a fully accurate knowledge of the world around
us, nor are we able to reason without constantly falling into error.
• Morally
– we became less able to discern good and evil.
• Socially
– Socially, we began to exploit other people.
• Creatively
– our imagination became separated from reality; imagination became
illusion, and artists who created gods in their own image led humanity
further and further from its origin.
CHRISTIAN THEISM
• First is the great separation, the separation
between God and man.
• Second man from himself. Man has fear. Man
has psychological problems. Finally, at physical
death comes the separation of the soul from the
body.
• The third of the great separations is man from
man. This is the sociological separation.
• The fourth separation is a separation of man
from nature and nature from nature
CHRISTIAN THEISM
•
Why is it important to know what happens to man at death?
– Do I disappear—personal extinction? Do I hibernate and return in a different
form—reincarnation? Do I continue in a transformed existence in heaven or hell?
– G. K. Chesterton once remarked that hell is a monument to human freedom—
and, we might add, human dignity. Hell is God's tribute to the freedom he gave
each of us to choose whom we would serve; it is a recognition that our decisions
have a significance that extends far down into the reaches of foreverness
•
What is the standard of goodness?
– God’s Law
– The fullest embodiment is in Christ. 1 john 4:10; Rom 5:7-8
•
What is the most important aspect of history?
– Heb 9:27 God is behind it in Christ
•
What happens when a person recognizes the greatness of God and
consciously accepts and acts on it?
– The Rock that gives meaning to life and the first act is one of love and obedience
Schaeffer
•Edict of Milan A.D. 313 (Constantine)
•Christianity as State Religion of Empire
381(Theodosius)
•The Tome of Leo was a statement that influenced
the phraseology of the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
•Leo I kept Attila the Hun from sacking Rome in 452.
•325Council of Nicea
•426Augustine finishes City of God
•432 Patrick begins mission to Ireland
•476 Last Roman Emperor overthrown
•529 Benedict founds monastery in Monte Cassinoc.
•600Talmud formally closed
•632 Mohammed finishes Koran and dies
•Charlemagne Reign: 768-814
• 800 Pope crowns Charlemagne Emperor in Rome.
•1066 Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of
England under William the Conqueror.
•1095 First Crusade begins
•Romanesque Style: 1000-1150
•Gothic Style: 1150-1250
•1215 King John signs Magna Carta
•Aquinas: 1225-1274
•1313 Dante finishes his Inferno
•1388John Wycliffe's English translation of the Bible
distributed.
•1415John Hus martyred
•1453 Constantinople falls to the Turks
Schaeffer
•
I. Introduction: The Post-Roman World
– The fall of Roman according to Schaeffer was internal decadence.
– The Church became powerful and wealthy after the Vandals left Rome
•
II. The Church in the World: Economic, Social,
– The early Church avoided musical instruments due the association with the
theater and the circus (the Colosseum) where many Christians died.
•
III. Artistic Achievements
– The early Church art was realistic, the later art work in the Middle Ages was not
realistic, and tried to focus on the ideals.
•
IV. Links between Philosophical, Theological, and Spiritual Developments
and the Renaissance
– There was a turning away from the real and separating the physical reality from
the spiritual reality. Eventually there would be a focus on the human side, the
physical here and now in the Renaissance.
•
•
Sketch examples of Romanesque and Gothic styles. (See the next slides)
The Middle Ages are often referred to as the Dark Ages. This title implies
a very backward uneducated culture. According to your understanding of
this period of history, is this an appropriate designation? No
Romanesque 1000-1200
The Romanesque cathedral at Vezelay (1100 AD)
This is where Bernard of Clairvaux preached
Reims Cathedral
- Notre-Dame
Earlier Romanesque
churches had
pointed arches, but
builders didn't
capitalize on the
shape. During the
Gothic era, builders
discovered that
pointed arches would
give structures
amazing strength
and stability.
In Gothic buildings,
the weight of the roof
was supported by the
arches rather than
the walls. This meant
that walls could be
thinner.
The flying buttress was used to
keep the walls from falling outward.
Royaumont Abbey in
Asnières-sur-Oise, France
Since the walls
themselves
were no longer
the primary
supports,
Gothic
buildings could
include large
areas of glass.
Huge stained
glass windows
and a
profusion of
smaller
windows
created the
effect of
lightness and
space.
Schaeffer
Schaeffer
•
•
•
•
Art — A Reflection of Thought
Characteristics of Early Christian Art
Characteristics of Byzantine Art
Place the following two works on the table
from left to right.
– Madonna and Child on a Curved Throne
– Good Shepherd
Schaeffer
•
– These are the oldest two works in our gallery.
– The first is a mosaic of Jesus. The second is a painting of Mary
– How are Jesus and Mary pictured in each?
• Francis Schaeffer explains that "...early Christian art was
also full of life....The figures were realistically though
simply portrayed. For all the of the visual means, the
people were real people in a very real world.
• Which of these two works best express this idea by
Schaeffer? Good Shepherd
Schaeffer
• The mosaic of Jesus with the sheep from the sixth century shows
Jesus as a real person, with real sheep on a real mountain side not
symbols, but a real person.
• Schaeffer further explains that "later in the church there was an
increasing distortion away from the biblical teaching, and there aIso
came a change in art. It became characterized by formalized,
stylized, symbolic mosaics and icons."
• Which of these two works best reflect this idea of Schaeffer?
– Madonna and Child
• "In one way there was something good here," writes Schaeffer. `In
that the artists made their mosaics and icons as a witness to the
observer. Many of those who made these did so with devotion, and
they were looking for more spiritual values. These were pluses. The
minuses were that in the portrayal of their concept of spirituality they
set aside nature and the importance of the humanity of people.“
Schaeffer
• This period of history is known as the Byzantine Period. Madonna
and Child on a Curved Throne is characteristic of this type of art and
reflects this change. The distinct Byzantine style in art became
clearly established in the 500's and lasted through the 1200's.
• II. Learning in the West
– “During this time there was a decline in learning in the west, though the
growing monastic orders, gradually organized around the rule of
Benedict (480?-547?), provided a depository for many of the things of
the past. Benedict himself had built a monastery on Monte Cassino near
the main road from Naples to Rome. In the monasteries the old
manuscripts were copied and recopied. Thanks to the monks, the Bible
was preserved — along with sections of Greek and Latin classics.”
• III. A Humanistic Element was Added
– “A humanistic element was added: increasingly, the authority of the
church took precedence over the teaching of the Bible.” But this would
be natural since most were illiterate.
Schaeffer
Hospital in
Siena, still
in use
today.
• IV. The Middle Ages response to...
– Economics
On one level, this challenged Christians in
their attitude toward material possessions and style of
living. Not only in the time of Peter and Paul but for
generations after, believers were noted for openhanded
generosity. Even their enemies admitted it.
– “pendulum swung back and forth between utter disregard of
the command to live modestly (caring for the poor,
orphaned, and widowed) and a razor-sharp application of
these same injunctions (the early monastic ideal to have no
money).”
– “Saint Francis (1182?-1226), recognizing the corrupting
effect of this emphasis on wealth, forbade his followers to
receive money at all.”
– The Pope was the most effective medieval monarch at the
height of papal power between 1100 and 1300.
Schaeffer
– Law “the action of the Roman military commander Maurice is a good
example of a possible response. When he received an order to direct a
persecution of Christians, he handed his insignia to his assistant in order
to join the Christians and be killed as a fellow believer. This action took
place in the Rhone valley in Switzerland about A.D. 286, against a giant cliff
just under the peaks of the Dents du Midi. It is for him that the little town of
St. Maurice is now named.”
– Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s (c. 1290-1348) Allegory of Good and Bad
Government, depicts a good government as one that it is safe for a woman
to walk alone in the streets
– The Conciliar Movement did not want power under one Pope, but the
Council of Constance (1414-1418) deposed three rival popes.
– Thebalance of powers as the theme of kingship was balanced by
priesthood and prophetic office.
– Knowledge some found it improper to quote the pagan scholars.
“Tertullian (160-240) and Cyprian (200?-258) did not, but they proved to be
in the minority. It is interesting that in the area of music a strict view did
prevail. The reason . . .was that the church looked with indignation on the
social occasions and pagan religious exercises connected with them.”
Ambrogio
Lorenzetti’s (c.
1290-1348)
Allegory of
Good and Bad
Government
Schaeffer
•
•
•
•
Charlemagne, son of Pippin, became king of the Franks in 768 and
was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in Rome on
Christmas Day of 800.
He strengthened the church in many ways, giving the pope a strong
land base in Italy and also supporting the Anglo-Saxon missionaries in
the areas he conquered, especially among the Germanic tribes.
Charlemagne made tithing compulsory, and this supplied funds for the
establishment of church administration. He also built impressive
churches, including the Palatine Chapel, at Aachen (West Germany).
Scholars came from all over Europe to Charlemagne’s court; for
example, Alcuin (735-804) came all the way from York in northern
England when he was fifty years old. He became Charlemagne’s
advisor, head of the palace school at Aachen, and attracted a
constellation of scholars to join him there.
all of Charlemagne’s scholars were clergy. Our word clerk is related to
the word cleric, that is, a member of the clergy. It seems that though
Charlemagne himself learned to read, he never learned to write.
Schaeffer
• Pope Gregory I (pope from 590 to 604) brought the music of the
western church into a systematic whole. This impersonal,
mystical, and other-worldly music is named after him: the
Gregorian chant.
• The eleventh-century Romanesque architecture was
distinguished by the rounded arch, thick walls, and dim
interiors.
• During the change from the Romanesque to the Gothic,
Mariology began to grow in the church. The Romanesque
churches were not dedicated to the Virgin, but the Gothic
churches of France were overwhelmingly dedicated to her.
• By 1100 the heavy plow had become common, central to a
process which historians regard as a revolution in cultivation.
• By the twelfth century water mills and windmills were common.
Palatine Chapel, at Aachen (West Germany
World History
• Justinian Law Code and Byzantine Empire
• 1054 the schism between the eastern and western Church.
• Seljuk Turks were nomadic tribes from Asia that adopted
Arab culture and Islam.
• Manzikert was the battle site where Asia Minor was lost to
the Turks.
• 1453 the fall of the Byzantine empire to the Ottoman turks.
• Cyril and Methodius took the Gospel to the Slavs of Russia,
but first had to develop their alphabet.
• Hagia Sophia greatest of churches in size an adornment.
• Vladimir I adopted Christianity in Kiev in 988.
• Yaroslav made Kiev like a second Constantinople.
World History
• Hegira (flight) established Islam calendar as Mohammed
left Mecca to Medina.
• In 630 Mohamed conquered Mecca.
• The five pillars of Islam:
–
–
–
–
–
Recite “There is no God but Allah .. “
Pray 5 times a day toward Mecca
Alms to the poor
Fasting during Ramadan
Pilgrimage to Mecca
• 732 Charles Martel and the battle of Tours stopped the
spread of Islam to Spain.
World History
• From World Magazine
• The division and the unforgiven grudges go all the
way back to 632 A.D. when Muhammad died. Who
would succeed him as the leader of what was
becoming both a religious and a political empire?
One group claimed that the prophet had chosen
his cousin and son-in-law Ali. These "Shiites"—a
shortened form of the words for "the party of Ali"—
believed that future successors should be physical
descendants from the prophet's family.
World History
• The other faction believed Muhammad had said
that future rulers should be chosen by consensus
of the other leaders. They chose the prophet's
father-in-law, Abu Bakr, to be the "caliph." His
followers became the "Sunnis," from a word for
followers of the "tradition."
• A bloody civil war between Muslims erupted, which
Abu Bakr and his faction won. But the party of Ali
kept their allegiance to the prophet's line. After Ali
died, Muhammad's grandson Husayn became the
"2nd imam." He was murdered by the mainstream
Sunnis, an event Shiites still commemorate by
flagellating themselves bloody with chains.
World History
•
•
•
•
The Shiites had 10 more imams descended from the prophet. The 12th imam,
though, mysteriously disappeared, leading to the messianic belief that in the
last days, after a time of lawlessness and violence, he shall return in triumph to
impose order and establish Islamic law in all the earth.
Sunnis consider Shiites to be idolaters. Though they mingle during the
pilgrimage to Mecca, many orthodox Sunnis do not consider Shiites to be true
Muslims. They do not approve of their veneration of human beings, their
devotion to shrines, or their mysticism. They reject giving canonical authority to
later Shiite writings. Sunni polemical writings accuse the Shiites of sexual
immorality for permitting temporary marriage—a type of prostitution in which a
man pays a woman, says the words of marriage, has sex, and then says the
words of divorce.
Most Muslims across the world are Sunnis, with only about 15 percent being
Shiites. But Shiites dominate Iran and Syria, and they make up a 60 percent
majority in Iraq.
As the United States struggles against this Sunni terrorism, we also have to
worry about the Shiite beliefs of the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
He has been preaching that the second coming of the 12th imam, the "Mahdi,"
is at hand. The Iranian president has connections to a group that believes
Muslims can hasten the Mahdi's return by creating chaos on earth.
World History
• The Vulgate translation by Jerome was the
standard Bible text for the Middle Ages.
• Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church
by the 12th Century:
– Baptism
– Confirmation
– Penance
– Eucharist
– Marriage
– Holy orders
– Extreme Unction
World History
• Relics of Saints needed to be under an altar
for the Mass to be celebrated.
• Purchase of relics could buy time out of
Purgatory.
• Gregory the Great was known as the first
Pope. He was a sincere pious man, but
condoned the Canon of the Mass which
affirmed the sacrificial nature of the Mass,
and embraced the equality of tradition to the
Bible and doctrine of Purgatory.
World History
• St. Patrick introduced Christianity to Ireland in 432-c461; folklore he is
also credited with driving all snakes from its shores.
• As the new religion became firmly established, crafts workers and
scholars came from many parts of Europe to study in Irish monasteries.
Artists produced fine objects in gold and silver encrusted with precious
stones, and metal and stone sculptures. Monks copied out important
works in wonderfully illuminated manuscripts, such as the Book of
Kells. Irish priests and scholars travelled all over Europe founding
schools, monasteries, and cathedrals, which in their turn became
famous centers of religious learning and craftsmanship.
• All these events disprove the belief that was once held, that when the
western Roman empire collapsed, Europe slid into a Dark Age of
barbarism in which all beauty and learning were destroyed. The
particular strength of art and learning in Ireland had an influence far
beyond that island. They were responsible for reintroducing
Christianity to England. .
World History
• St. Boniface (680-754)
• Also known as Winfrid, he brought the
gospel to the Germans. He reportedly cut
down a large oak at Geismar, which was
sacrad to Thor. The Germans thought he
would die, but since he didn’t they onverted
to Christianity.
• He also was the first to use women in
missionary work as well.
Middle Ages: General Timeline
10951291C.E.
Crusades
1066 A.D.
Norman
invasion of
Britain
450 A.D.
AngloSaxons
invade
England
476 A.D.
Fall of
Rome
306 A.D.
Constantine
comes to
power in
Eastern Roman
Empire;
beginning of
Byzantine
Empire
1306-1321
Dante’s Divine
Comedy
1375-1400 Sir
Gawain &
Green Knight
1386 A.D.
Chaucer
begins
writing
Canterbury
Tales
Beowulf
Composed
sometime
between
850 A.D.
1347
Bubonic
Plague
900 A.D.
1337-1453
100 Years War
France & England
1455 A.D.
Printing
Press
1517
Protestant
Reformation
1453
Fall of
Byzantine
Empire with
invasion of
Ottoman Turks
The castle of Camelot perhaps stood where
the earthwork known as Cadbury Castle is
now, which stands on a steep hill west of
South Cadbury.
Introduction
The Failure of Sir Gawain" by
E. Burne-Jones and John
Henry Dearle
Introduction
SIR GAWAYN AND
ǷE GRENE KNYȝT
I
SIǷEN Ƿe sege and Ƿe assaut watz sesed at Troye,
Ƿe borȝ brittened and brent to brondez and askez,
Ƿe tulk Ƿat Ƿe trammes of tresoun Ƿer wroȝt
Watz tried for his tricherie, Ƿe trewest on erthe:
Hit watz Ennias Ƿe athel, and his highe kynde, 5
Ƿat siǷen depreced prouince, and patrounes bicome
Welneȝe of al Ƿe wele in Ƿe west iles.
Fro riche Romulus to Rome ricchis hym swyǷe,
With gret bobbaunce Ƿat burȝe he biges vpon fyrst,
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
(1380?)
• Classic Medieval Metrical
Romance
• Arthurian tale of chivalry
and courtly love
• Native poetic tradition
• Deliberately artful
vocabulary
• Intricately structured poem
– May have influence of oral
tradition
– Far too ornate and
organized to be “oral”
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
(14th century)
• Alliterative verse recalls earlier Anglo-Saxon
tradition like Beowulf
• Alliterative Revival -- lost for several centuries
• Conscious use of native rather than popular
continental tradition
– Chaucer follows Continental model
– Chaucer being from the London area
• "Gawain is composed in stanzas consisting of
unrhymed alliterative lines followed by five short
rhymed lines. The number of unrhymed lines
varies from 12 (lines 20-31) to 37 (lines 928-64),
and there are 101 stanzas."
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
(14th century)
• Atypical Arthurian tale—not
really about Arthur, battles,
or Camelot
• Inner moral testing rather
than physical tests
• 2 narrative motifs
– Beheading game
– Exchange of gifts
• Gawain’s quest is to
overcome his passion and
uphold the chivalric code
Romance
• Chivalric Romance (Medieval Romance)—
narrative form that developed in 12thcentury France
– Spreads to other countries/cultures
– Displaced different epic and heroic tales
– Not concerned with heroic age of tribal conflict
like epic
– Romance concerned with courtly age of
chivalric conduct
– Often written in verse—Metrical Romance
Romance
• Romance plot usually revolves around quest
undertaken by single knight for lady’s favor
• Often revolves around theme of courtly love
• Tournaments, quests, dragons and beasts
fought
• Highlights chivalric ideals of honor, courage,
and loyalty
• Dante and his love for Beatrice reflects his
chivalry in the Divine Comedy
Sir Gawain, Part I
• After the fall of Troy, we are
told, various heroes left to
build cities.
• Romulus founded Rome,
• Brutus founded Britain.
• The author introduces
Britain’s greatest leader, the
legendary King Arthur; he
will then relate a story he
heard told.
Sir Gawain, Part I
• The story begins at Christmas time
at King Arthur’s court in Camelot.
• Queen Guinevere presides in their
midst.
• The lords and ladies of Camelot
have been feasting for fifteen days,
and now it is New Year’s Day.
• Arthur introduces a new game: he
refuses to eat his dinner until he
has heard a marvelous story.
Sir Gawain, Part I
• While the lords and ladies feast, with Arthur’s
nephew Gawain and Guinevere sitting together in
the place of privilege at the high table, Arthur
continues to wait for his marvel.
• As if in answer to Arthur’s request, a gigantic knight
in an elaborate costume of green, with long green
hair, and his huge green horse is green, break into
the gathering.
• Without introducing himself, the knight demands to
see the person in charge. Arthur steps forward,
inviting the knight to join the feast and tell his tale
after he has dismounted from his horse. He holds a
holly bob in one hand and a huge green and gold
axe in the other.
• The knight refuses the invitation, remaining
mounted and explaining that he has come to
inspect Arthur’s court; he wants to play a game in
which someone will strike him with his own axe, on
the understanding that he gets to return the blow in
exactly a year and a day.
Recording
Sir Gawain, Part I
• Arthur rises to meet the challenge of the
Green Knight, but Gawain stands up and
requests that he be allowed to take the
task.
• The Green Knight dismounts and bends
down toward the ground, exposing his
neck. Gawain lifts the axe, and in one
stroke he severs the Green Knight’s head.
Blood spurts from the wound, and the head
rolls around the room, passing by the feet
of many of the guests.
• He reaches down, picks up the head, and
holds it before him, pointing it toward the
high table. The head speaks, reiterating the
terms of Gawain’s promise.
• The Green Knight rides out of the hall,
sparks flying from his horse’s hooves.
• Arthur and Gawain decide to hang the axe
above the main dais. They then return to
their feast and the continuing festivities.
Sir Gawain, Part I
• When Gawain steps forth to accept the Green
Knight’s challenge, he claims he is the weakest of
Arthur’s knights. Is this just self-deprecation or is it
from a real sense of his own inadequacy, or
perhaps really a boast?
• Many scholars of medieval chivalry believe
Gawain’s behavior in this scene accords with the
rules of knightly courtesy, but the poem gives us
no commentary on Gawain’s motivations at this
crucial plot juncture (Sparknotes).
Sir Gawain, Part I
• Although the Green Knight refers to his agreement
with Gawain as a “game,” suggesting that the
challenge is no different from any of the other
games played by Arthur’s court, the Green Knight
words his challenge like a legal contract. He refers
to the agreement as a “covenant” and mentions
dues, and he makes Gawain repeat the terms
multiple times. The Green Knight’s language
foreshadows the fact that the his game will have
serious ethical implications; it will test not only
Gawain’s bravery, but also his honesty and
integrity.
Sir Gawain, Part II
• All-Hallows Day—September
29
• The year passes, the seasons
change and though worried
but resigned, Gawain calls for
his armor, which the poet
describes in great detail. He
devotes space to each and
every piece, down to the
shimmering skirts on
Gawain’s horse, Gringolet.
• The description lingers on Gawain’s
shield, which depicts on its outside a
gold five-pointed star, or pentangle, on
a red background. On the inside of the
shield is the face of Mary, Christ’s
mother. Each of the five points of the
pentangle, which is described as an
“endless knot”, represents a set of
Gawain’s virtues: his five senses; his
five fingers; his fidelity, founded on the
five wounds of Christ on the cross; his
force, founded on the five joys of Mary;
and the five knightly virtues, freegiving, friendly, chastity, chivalry, and
piety all surpassing . These five virtues
will be put to the test in the following
pages.
• The figure is said to have been used by the Pythagoreans as a symbol
of health, and also by the neo-Platonists and Gnostics to signify
perfection; but it was known to the Jews as well, thus coming to be
called 'Solomon's seal', and is obviously related to the similar figure,
the hexagram, in which two equilateral triangles interlock to form a
six-pointed star--this, inscribed in a circle, was eventually adopted as
the symbol of Judaism (the Magen David, 'Shield of David'). The
pentangle was long used as a magic sign, believed to give power over
evil spirits. Its use in this way was condemned by Christian writers,
such as the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher in his Arithmologia ( Rome,
1665), p. 216: 'voces horrendae vna mixtis sacris nominibus, nodo
quem Salomonis vocant, adnexo. . .'; but it had much earlier come to
be adapted to Christian symbolism, the five points sometimes being
connected with the five letters of the name Jesus, or the five wounds;
it appears as an ornament in manuscripts (see Loomis, J.E.G.P. xlii (
1943), 168) and on churches (e.g. the fourteenth-century church of
Adderbury in Oxfordshire).
Sir Gawain, Part II
• Gawain travels from Camelot to northern Whales
and encounters all manner of problems and
battles. Finally, on Christmas Eve, the desperate
Gawain prays to the Virgin Mary that he might
find a place to attend Christmas Mass. He
repents his sins, crosses himself three times,
and, when he looks up, he sees a beautiful
castle, and gives full of thanks to God for saving
him,
• The host’s lords and ladies repeatedly express
their joy that Gawain (a minor celebrity because
he is Arthur’s nephew and a knight of the Round
Table) can show them the latest in knightly
behavior and help them to become more courtly
themselves. Like Arthur’s followers, the courtiers
seem inexperienced and carefree. But Gawain’s
host presents a much more imposing figure than
Arthur. The lord appears to be middle-aged, with
a thick, gray-black beard and solid, sturdy legs.
Though the host’s fiery face and stocky figure
make him appear fierce, his speech reveals him
to be gracious and gentle.
Sir Gawain, Part II
• At the castle of Bertilak (as he gives later)
things are not as they appear.
• An old hag with the wife of Bertilak, more
fair than Guinevere, we learn is an enemy
of Arthur.
• Bertilak’s physique and his initiation of a
covenant, disguised as a harmless game,
recall the character of the Green Knight
from Part 1 (Sparknotes).
• The game will be that Bertilak will go out
hunting with his men, while Gawain
remains in bed or at the castle. At the end
of each of the three days, the two men will
exchange whatever they have won. Happy
to play along, Gawain accepts. The men
kiss each other, repeating their vows, and
then go off to bed.
Sir Gawain, Part III
•
•
•
In medieval iconography, an old woman next to a young
woman often allegorically represents vanity. The
significance of such a representation was that love of
worldly beauty means neglect of the spiritual life, and since
worldly beauty must always fail and die, its pursuit will
always prove vain (Sparknotes).
Early in the morning, Bertilak and his guests get out of bed
and prepare to ride forth from the castle. They attend Mass,
eat a small breakfast, and leave with their hunting dogs as
dawn breaks. They ride through the woods, chasing after
the deer and herding the does away from the bucks and
harts. In the fields, they slay the deer dozens at a time with
their deadly arrows.
Back at the castle, Gawain lingers in bed until daybreak.
While still half asleep, he hears the door open quietly.
Peeking out of his bed’s canopy, he sees Bertilak’s wife
creeping toward his bed. She jokes that she has captured
him, and she threatens to tie him to the bed, laughing at
her own game. Gawain laughs and “surrenders” to her, then
asks her leave to get up and put on his clothes. She refuses,
saying that instead she will hold him captive. She tells
Gawain that she has heard many stories about him and
wants to spend time alone with him. She offers to be his
servant and tells him to use her body any way he sees fit.
Sir Gawain, Part III
• The two continue bantering, and the lady tells Gawain that
she would have chosen him for her husband if she could
have. Gawain responds that her own husband is the better
man. Until mid-morning, the lady continues to lavish
Gawain with admiration, and Gawain continues to guard
himself while still being gracious.
• When the lady gets up to leave, she laughs and then
sternly accuses her captive knight of not being the real
Gawain. Alarmed and worried that he has failed in his
courtesy, Gawain asks her to explain what she means. She
responds that the real Gawain would never let a lady leave
his chamber without taking a kiss. Gawain allows one kiss,
and then the lady leaves. He dresses immediately and
goes to hear Mass, then spends the afternoon with the
women.
Sir Gawain, Part III
• Meanwhile, Bertilak, cleans all the deer they caught. The
poet describes the dismembering of the deer in gory detail,
from the removal of their bowels to the severing of their
heads. After they finish their bloody task, the hunters
return home with their meat. The dismembering reflects
back to the seriousness of a covenant, especially a
marriage covenant (Gen 15).
• Bertilak greets Gawain and gives him the venison he won
during the hunt that day. Gawain thanks him and in return
gives him the kiss he won from his wife. The host jokingly
asks where Gawain won such a prize, and Gawain points
out that they agreed to exchange winnings, not to tell
where or how they were acquired. Happy, the men feast
and retire to bed, agreeing to continue the game
tomorrow.
Sir Gawain, Part III
•
•
The next two days follow a similar pattern. On the second
day, Bertilak hunts a wild boar, risking his life in the kill.
Meanwhile, at the castle, Gawain lingers in bed again,
and much like the previous day, the lady continues to
teasingly challenge Gawain’s reputation, pressuring him
into allowing her two kisses. She makes convincing
arguments for his acceptance of her love, and that it
would be chivalrous. That night, Bertilak brings home the
boar’s head on a stick and exchanges it with Gawain for
the two kisses. The Boar’s head may remind one of the
impending decapitation for Gawain, perhaps why he
does not sleep well that night.
On the third day Bertilak eventually kills a fox after a long
hunt. Gawain, after nightmares about the Green Knight,
has a long joust with the lady who eventually gets three
kisses. She would like to give him a ring, her ring, but he
also refuses. She then offers him her green girdle, which
he refuses till she claims it has magical properties: it
possesses the ability to keep the man who wears it safe
from death. Tempted by the possibility of protecting his
life, Gawain accepts the girdle. Actually the fox was no
prize, Bertilak says a “foul fox-fell (p. 98).”
Sir Gawain, Part III
• That afternoon, Gawain goes to confession. At the end of
the day, he gives the three kisses to his host but fails to
mention the lady’s gift. As the hunt, so the return to
Bertilak are just as slim as for Gawain, who now acts more
like a fox (wessel) than a knight. After the exchange, the
host and his courtiers hold a farewell party for Gawain
before he sets out to the Green Chapel in the morning.
• Whether he sleeps or not, the poet cannot say.
Sir Gawain, Part III
• We see the five graces which are in tension by
the temptations. “Is the poet pointing these
inconsistencies out? By claiming that she
possesses Gawain only through God’s grace, the
lady evokes a complicated system of religious
and political imagery. As the host’s wife and as a
noblewoman more generally, the lady exceeds
Gawain in rank, and his chivalry requires him to
obey her, facts of which she reminds him when
attempting to seduce him. Also, the notion that
courtly love—the love a knight might have for a
lady of higher rank than himself—leads to
spiritual ennoblement had been popularized
centuries earlier in continental literature.
Invoking religion at this erotically charged
moment reminds Gawain that part of his
spiritual education as a knight should involve
courtly love. For Gawain to refuse her advances,
he must break his knightly responsibility to be
courteous; for him to accept, he must break his
chastity, which he say he certainly could not
(Sparknotes).
Sir Gawain, Part III
• On the third day, Gawain’s resolve weakens when the stakes shift
radically from courtesy versus chastity to honesty versus safety. On the
surface, the green silk girdle that the lady offers Gawain looks exactly
like the kind of token that a courtly lady might give her lover (and
Gawain initially rejects it for this reason), yet the ethical dilemma it
represents is related to self-preservation rather than to chastity.
• When the lady tells him that the girdle also protects its wearer from
being wounded or killed, Gawain is eager to be able to fulfill his
promise to the Green Knight and still survive. What Gawain wants is a
loophole through which he can escape death but this requires him to
deceive Bertilak, his host—a breach of honesty and gratitude for
hospitality. Gawain does not notice that the girdle’s silk is green and
gold, like the Green Knight’s clothing, and he disassociates the girdle
itself from the lady’s body, which it surely symbolizes (Spark’s Notes).
Sir Gawain, Part IV
• Gawain lies in bed during the early hours of
New Year’s morning, listening to the harsh
wind wailing outside the castle. Despite
Gawain’s anxiety, and his failings, his armor
shines as brightly as it did when he left
Camelot. He ties the lady’s girdle around his
waist, which offers a stark contrast to the red
cloth of Gawain’s surcoat.
• As Gawain and Gringolet prepare to ride off,
Gawain silently blesses the castle, asking
Christ to keep it safe from harm and wishing
joy on the Bertilak and his wife.
• The guide with Gawain offers one more
temptation, leave now and he would not tell
anyone of the event. Gawain thanks the guide
for his concern, but he refuses to be a coward.
Gawain continues on looking for a building,
but realizes, a crevice or cave, fringed with
tall grass must be the Green Chapel.
Sir Gawain, Part IV
• Suddenly certain that the place
belongs to the devil, Gawain curses
the chapel and is proceeding
toward the cave with his lance in
hand when he hears the horrifying
sound of a weapon being
sharpened on a grindstone. Gawain
calls out to the lord of the place,
stating that he has come to fulfill
his agreement.. The Green Knight
emerges from around a crag,
carrying a Danish axe. He
welcomes Gawain warmly and
compliments him on his
punctuality, then tells him he will
repay him for his own beheading a
year ago.
Sir Gawain, Part IV
• Gawain bravely bares his neck to the Green
Knight. He lifts the axe high and drops it. When
the Green Knight sees Gawain flinch he stops his
blade, mocking Gawain and questioning his
reputation. (Gawain is after all wearing a girdle
around his surcoat.)
• Gawain tells him he will not flinch again, and he
says “But if on the floor now falls my head, I
cannot it restore.” The Green Knight lifts the axe
a second time. Gawain doesn’t flinch as the axe
comes down, and the Green Knight holds the
blade again, this time congratulating Gawain’s
courage.
• The third time. He brings it down hard, but
causes Gawain no harm other than a slight cut
on his neck. Gawain leaps away, draws his sword
gleefully, and challenges the Green Knight to a
fight, telling him that he has withstood the
promised blow. The Green Knight leans on his
axe and agrees that Gawain has met the terms
of the covenant, but refuses to fight. He points
out that he has spared Gawain.
Sir Gawain, Part IV
• Now Bertilak reveals himself, and states the first
two times, in accordance with their covenant,
were for his complete compliance to the “game”
and the knightly code. The nick from the third
blow was punishment for Gawain’s behavior on
the third day, when he failed to tell the truth
about the green girdle, and did not keep his
knightly code. Today would be the time of
circumcision for the baby Jesus, and reflect the
keeping of a covenant. The nick to the neck was
like this, and the scar a constant reminder of his
transgression remembered.
• Once Bertilak revelas himself Gawain responds
by untying the girdle and cursing it, and asking to
regain the host’s trust if possible. The Green
Knight laughs and absolves Gawain, now that he
has adequately confessed his sin. He gives
Gawain the girdle to keep and asks him to come
back to the castle and stay there longer to
celebrate New Year’s, but Gawain refuses.
Sir Gawain, Part IV
• Gawain thanks the Green Knight and sends his best wishes to the lady
and the old woman, then complains about the deceitfulness of
women, who have brought about the downfalls of great men such as
Adam, Solomon, Samson, and David.
• Bertilak de Hautdesert, reveals his nam and that he is a servant of
Morgan le Faye, who is the old woman in the castle. Le Faye is also
Gawain’s aunt and Arthur’s half sister. Bertilak reveals that Le Faye
sent him in disguise as the Green Knight to Camelot in order to scare
Queen Guinevere to death when his head began to talk. Gawain
refuses to return to the castle, the place of his temptations and failing.
• Gawain will continue to wear the green girdle on his right shoulder, as
a sign of his failure and sin. Arthur and the court try to comfort
Gawain, and they decide that they will all wear belts of green silk as a
sign of respect and unity.
• He closes mentioning Brutus, who was the grandson of Aeneas, and
mention Christ: “To His bliss us bring Who bore the Crown of Thorns on
brow!”
Symbolism
• Medieval exegesis assumed at least four levels of
meaning: literal, allegorical, tropological (or moral), and
anagogical (or spiritual). At the literal level, a Biblical
story is a simple presentation of facts. At the allegorical
level, events and people become metaphorical
representations: When Joshua blows his horn and the
walls of Jericho collapse, for example, the story is an
allegory of the Last Judgment, when the trumpet will
sound and the world will come to an end. At the
tropological level, a story teaches a lesson or gives a
moral. At the anagogical level, a story conveys ultimate
mystical or spiritual truths. Any Biblical text may have
one or all of these levels of meaning operating at the
same time (Cliffs Notes).
Characters
• Green Knight (Bertilak)-- The pattern of the romance leads to the
expectation that the Green Knight is a villain, an evil monster.
However, when the story ends, Gawain and the Green Knight part
as friends. Far from having been defeated, the Green Knight retains
the advantage throughout the story, and the poet leaves him to go
his ways, his mysteries unexplained and his ambiguities unresolved
(Cliffs Notes).
• Arthur is the legendary King of the Britons. The poet emphasizes the
youthfulness of both the king and his courtiers, but the age of
Morgan la Faye may be distorted. Perhaps it reflects more to
Arthur’s immaturity. Arthur proves to be bolder and braver than his
court when faced with the Green Knight’s challenge, and he is
prepared to chop off the Green Knight’s head until Gawain asks to
be given the task. Arthur is Gawain’s uncle and Morgan’s halfbrother.
Characters
• Gawain -- is said to have been the son of Lot(h), king of Lothian,
Orkney, and other Scottish territories. His mother was Arthur's sister,
named Anna by Geoffrey, Belisent in some French romances,
Morgawse in Malory. According to William of Malmesbury (ii. 342)
Gawain (Walwen) ruled over Galloway (Walweitha). In early
Arthurian tradition both Continental and insular Gawain is presented
as the greatest of Arthur's knights, famed for his courtesy as well as
invincible in battle. This view of him continued in both French and
English; the best-known expression of his reputation for courtesy is
in Chaucer Squire's Tale (F. 89-97), where the strange knight
greeted the company
• With so heigh reverence and obeisaunce,
As wel in speche as in his contenaunce
• That Gawayn, with his olde curteisye,
Though he were comen ayeyn out of Fairye,
Ne koude hym nat amende with a word.
Worldview
• “I hold it healed beyond doubt, the harm that I had. Thou hast
confessed thee so clean and acknowledge thine errors, and has the
penance plain to see from the point of my blade, that I hold thee
purged of that debt, made as pure as clean as thou hadst done no ill
deed since the day thou wert born (Tolkien, 116).”
• WORLD VIEW
– A world view is a way of looking at life. What do the main characters
believe about life? What do they base their life on? What do they
considered ultimate truth? In an attempt to determine the world view of a
piece of literature use the following seven questions as a guide:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
How is God described? What is He like? What are His attributes?
What is the universe like? Describe its origin and operation?
How is man described? What is man like? What is his nature?
What is the basis for ethics and morality?
What is the cause of evil and suffering?
What is thought to happen to man at death?
Is history seen to have a purpose, or is it simply a never ending cycle?
Worldview
• How is God described? What is He like? What are His attributes?
– Personal, able to pray to pp. 52,63, 92; triune, creator p.56, “upholdeth the heavens
p.118” sovereign pp.46, 71, 100
• What is the universe like? Describe its origin and operation?
– Sorcery, magic, ancient earth but creator is gracious p.58
• How is man described? What is man like? What is his nature?
– Able not to sin, good at birth p.96; achieve sainthood pp. 48, 51, 52 “I beseech thee
O Lord, and Mary” “Father , Ave and creed” “Jesus and Saint Julian.” Man has a soul
p.110, mortal p.111
• What is the basis for ethics and morality?
– The Bible and Church in above quote.
• What is the cause of evil and suffering?
– Sin, ones actions lead to sin, repentance needed p. 115,
• What is thought to happen to man at death?
– A hope of salvation, rewards p.55, 61, 72 needing grace p.119
• Is history seen to have a purpose, or is it simply a never ending cycle?
– Cycle of life and death, as the seasons change
– Christ died on the cross to save, p. 121
Worldview
• Lud’s Church was the place the
Lollards, followers of Wycliffe used
to worship, Wycliffe was banished
to his Rector in 1382.
• It is also the legend of the Green
Knight’s abode.
• The Catholic Gawain, notes this
place “a chapel of mischance, the
church most accursed that ever I
entered. Evil betide it (Tolkien,
108)!”
• Bertilak and wife never call on
Mary, and his wife denounces her
1268, p.75
• The druid nature worship and the
curse of the Devil in the crag is
possible, but Bertilak does not
seem like a pagan, since he
celebrates mass.
Lud’s Church
A strange chasm in the Cheshire
hills. Overgrown green with ferns and
lichen and lit by shafts of sunlight
from the narrow opening it's easy to
see why this is thought to have
inspired the legendary home of the
Green Knight in Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight [1]
Druids call it a natural church: a
place of worship formed by the earth
itself, a spiritual corridor in the
ground. In the past it was believed to
have been made by the devil
slashing the earth with a fingernail,
creating a deep, unhealable wound.
[2]
"HONY SOIT QUI MAL PENCE"
The motto of the Knights of the Garter (founded by Edward III, c. 1348).
[After the king’s mistress lost her garter on the dance floor, the king is said
to have defuse the potentially embarrassing situation with the gallant and
interesting assertion "Shame be to him who evil thinks."] Scholars doubt
the poet intended the association, but it may represent a reader’s
interpretive response to the poem (i.e., this is a situation in which there is
no inherently shameful thing, but interpretations of it may bring shame to
the interpreters).
Worldview of the
Western World II