Download 1 WLC Unit Five (Middle Ages) Outline A.D. 450

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WLC Unit Five (Middle Ages) Outline
A.D. 450 - 1300
I.
Historical Background
A. From the Fall of Rome to the Renaissance
1. sandwiched b/w Latin civilization of Roman Empire and rediscovery
of classical civilizations of Greece and Rome (Renaissance)
2. dates are a little arbitrary
3. 5th century: rapid decay of Roman institutions
a. Rome sacked by Germanic tribe
b. western part of empire gone by 476
4. End of Middle Ages: Renaissance began in southern Europe
5. 14th century Italy: rediscovery of classical forms of art and architecture; also, new editions
of classical literature
6. northern Europe: changes not until 15 th century
B. A New European Structure
1. Roman Empire
a. master of Europe during 3rd century A.D.
b. from England in north to Africa in south
c. from Portugal in west to Syria in east
d. too large to administer, politically and militarily
e. divided into two empires
1) West ruled by Rome
2) East ruled from Constantinople (now in Turkey)
2. Germanic Tribes
a. increasing pressure on northern frontiers
b. population explosion of tribes led to expansion
c. tribes were warlike
C. The Germanic Contribution
1. Lombards, Visigoths, Ostrogoths in Italy
2. Visigoths in southern France and Spain
3. Angles and Saxons in England
4. radically changed political structure
5. domination and settlement led to individual kingdoms
6. ended Roman rule
D. The Birth of Feudalism
1. Germanic tribes shaped feudal system
2. vassalage: one lord swears allegiance to another for privileges
3. concepts of kingship, knighthood, chivalry from Germanic peoples
4. tribes would convert to Christianity (official religion of Roman Empire)
5. political institutions Christianized
6. adopted Latin with religion
7. differences in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian due to different adaptations
of Latin by different tribes
8. words of Germanic origin still exist in these languages
E. Feudalism and Peasants
1. spelled out duties of peasants
2. lived on lord’s manor (village and surrounding fields)
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3. received protection
4. raised sheep and cattle
5. grew grain and vegetables
6. community usually included mill, blacksmith shop, church
The Moors Threaten Europe
1. A.D. 711, the Muslims (Moors) swept into Spain
2. advanced into Europe’s heartland
3. stopped in 732 by Charles Martel, “The Hammer” in Central France
4. began the European struggle between Christianity and Islam
A New Stability: The Reemergence of Learning
1. 800 A.D.: Charles I, King of Franks (Charles the Great or Charlemagne) crowned by Pope Leo
III as Holy Roman Emperor
2. crowning represents complete integration of Germanic peoples into mainstream of European
society
3. use of title and office linked to traditions of ancient Roman Empire: an attempt to create
new political order
A Crusade
1. Christian rulers turn attention to Holy Land
2. region between current countries Jordan and Israel was Muslim stronghold
3. holy for Jews, Christians, and Muslims
4. 1095, Pope Urban II preached sermon in France urging knights to crusade in Holy Land
A Powerful Sermon
1. Urban’s sermon one of most effective orations in history
2. even pope claimed to be surprised by intense reaction
3. one year later, first crusade launched
4. initial success under leadership of lords
5. regained Jerusalem in 1099, but Muslim would exploit internal discord
6. several subsequent crusades undertake: minimal success
7. European lords more interested in protecting and expanding their own domains
8. by 1187, Jerusalem under Islamic control again
Stirrings of Nationalism
1. natural antagonism between the Catholic Church and various kingdoms
2. conflict b/w papacy and secular order reshaped political landscape
3. one of most famous victims: Italian poet, Dante
a. exiled from Florence in 1302 for opposing papal meddling in politics
b. expressed aversion to worldly pursuits of papacy as theme in the Inferno, the first part
of epic poem, The Divine Comedy
The Impact of the Crusades
1. limited military success
2. but, big impact on medieval civilization
a. crusaders returned with new spices, textiles, other products
b. demand for more inspired commerce
c. trading created new merchant class in Italian city-states: Genoa, Florence, Venice
d. new markets elsewhere, too
e. small towns transformed to large trading centers
f. by end of crusades in 13th century, merchant class becoming more important
3. as cities grew, so did new centers of learning
a. by 1300, universities existed in a number of cities
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b. the University of Paris was most eminent center of theology and philosophy in Western
world
c. the University of Bologna in Italy was most important center for study of law
L. Transformation of Medieval Life
1. disease and poverty pervaded
2. yet, new capital generated by commerce
a. stimulated quest for leaning
b. stimulated rediscovery of classical literature
3. explorers searching for better trade routes expanded European knowledge of world
4. Europe would enter period of rebirth known as the Renaissance
II. Literature
A. Literature in Native Languages
1. Latin was language of religion, scholarship, government
2. Latin no longer spoken by common people
3. most spoke German or one of the Romance languages: known as the vernacular or “the native
language of a place”
4. new linguistic situation affected culture
a. two cultures existed side by side: a high culture based on Latin and a popular culture
based on the vernacular
b. medieval literature is story of how various national literature emerged in the vernacular
while Latin became specialized
B. Reforms in Latin
1. Latin reformed to ensure more accurate transmission of texts
2. under Charlemagne, monks created new writing style called Carolingian minuscule: featured
neater script penmanship and distinct breaks between words, making it easier to read
3. new Latin grammars helped standardize language by eliminating elements introduced from
the vernacular
C. A New Kind of Vernacular Epic
1. oral tradition was continuing to flourish
2. German storytellers developed new kind of epic
a. originally oral forms
b. verse form irregular
c. meant to stimulate a warriors courage before battle
d. most famous: Nibelungenlied (“Song of the Nibelungs”) by unknown author around 1200
D. Epic Heroes for Different Nationalities
1. Song of My Cid written in medieval Spanish
a. written in mid-1100s
b. story of national hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar who spearheade expansion of Christian
kingdoms
2. Song of Roland written in medieval French
a. relates to tragedy that befell Charlemagne’s nephew Roland during crusade in 8 th century
b. written around 1100
3. Both of above describe conflicts b/w Christians and Moors
E. Icelandic Sagas
1. from 9th to 11th centuries: conflicts b/w Europeans and Viking raiders from Scandinavia
2. Vikings (or Norsemen) settled in England and northern France (Normans)
3. under William the Conqueror, a Norman army conquered England in 1066
4. Vikings also settled in Iceland
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a. during 1100s produced adventurous literature
b. drew upon oral traditions and would fictionalize historical events
F. Troubadour Poetry
1. 2nd half of 11th century: group of poets began writing verse in Provencal, a Romance language
spoken in south of France
2. troubadors from word trobar meaning “to find or invent”
3. associated with courts of powerful lords
4. invented new ways to sing about love
5. theme of poetry: courtly love
6. rules of courtly love: praise in poetry a distant, unattainable lady, usually someone else’s wife
G. Courtly Love and the Status of Women
1. helped foster enlightened attitudes toward women
2. poets began writing in their own vernacular rather than Latin
3. those who helped popularize genre
a. Eleanor of Aquitane (1222-1204): queen of France and England
b. Chretien de Troyes: wrote at court of France’s Marie de Champagne in 12th Century
1) created poetic form of courtly romance
2) form combined elements of courtly love with longer narrative form of romance
3) many works, like Perceval, recount adventures of King Arthur of Britain
H. Dante Makes a Fateful Choice
1. with medieval society evolving, education became more available with growth of universities
2. popular and Latin culture at times intersected
3. best example of above is the Dante’s Divine Comedy
a. allegory written in early 1300s
b. epic expression of Christian vision of the world based largely on Latin
c. guide for imaginary trip through Hell is Roman poet Virgil
d. written in Italian (the vernacular) rather than Latin
e. gave prestige to the vernacular and encouraged others to use it, too
I. The Dark Side
1. In 1100s towns began to increase rapidly in size
2. urbanization part of social rebirth
3. dark side: poor city-dwellers had tough survival (crime and disease)
4. threatened by plagues (highly contagious diseases carried from rats to humans by fleas)
5. dark side of life found expression in work of Parisian poet, Francois Villon
III.
Literature Addendum
A. monastic chronicles: Church records of events (bulk of medieval literature)
B. hagiography: tales of saints
C. heroic epics: Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf (warrior who braves ferocious monster Grendel and
kills a dragon
D. ballads: narrative songs like the ones on Robin Hood
E. romances: epic quest tales like those of King Arthur and the Holy Grail
F. satire: reform and ridicule focused on Catholic Church
G. use of vernacular: Dante and Chaucer
1. Chaucer (14th Century): wrote Canterbury Tales in London dialect of English
2. collection of stories told on a pilgrimage
3. shows cross section of medieval society
4. incorporated humor and realism
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5. established vernacular as acceptable in literature