Download 9-RED Middle Ages BIG QUESTION How historical and cultural

9-RED
Middle Ages
BIG QUESTION How historical and cultural developments during the Middle Ages still influence us
today?
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Women are underrepresented
Women could not advance in life because they were busy with taking care of their family along with
domestic duties.
Women also had many babies and they had to take care of the babies.
Music and literature flourished and rude warriors were forced to learn etiquette under Eleanor of
Aquitaine.
This happened during the time of William the ninth
She married the King of France.
After her first marriage was annulled she married Henry and she inherited the English throne (so she was
queen for the second time). The marriage was annulled because they had no sons.
She had five sons and three daughters with Henry. One of the sons became Richard the Lionhearted and
the other was John Lackland.
Generally women were able to support their families through writing and could get jobs.
450- 1300 AD – “The Middle Ages”
Between fall of Romans and Renaissance
o Rome taken by the Visigoths
o Western part of empire destroyed
o Renaissance starts in southern Europe
 Italy first
 Rest of Europe followed
 Goes back to classical roots
A New European Structure
o Rome had great power in 3rd century
o Empire was pressured by Germanic tribes
 Led to need for territory
 Invaded Roman territory
 Volkerwanderung - “Wandering folk”
Germanic Contribution
o Tribes began to settle and form individual kingdoms
Code of Chivalry
o Lords had knights to serve them in battles
o Weapons
 Double edged sword
 Lance
o Crusades fought to retake Jerusalem from Muslims
o Perfect knight under Code would be unidealistic – bulky armor made easy targets
Birth of Feudalism
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Vassalage- one lord swears allegiance to another in exchange for privileges or feuds
Germanic tribes converted to Christianity
Many learned Latin
o Romance languages descended from Latin
o Variants due to different Germanic dialects
Feudalism and Peasants
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 Feudal systems involved peasants who lived on a lord’s manor
 Owed service to the lord in exchange for protection
 Raised sheep and cattle and grew grain and vegetables
The Moors Threaten Europe
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711 A.D. conquered Spain, Middle East, North Africa
Advance into Europe and was not stopped until 732 A.D. by Charles Martel (“The Hammer”)
A New Stability: The Reemergence of Learning
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December 25, 800 A.D. Charles I King of the Franks crowned Holy Roman Emperor
Integration of Germanic peoples into European society
A Crusade
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Israel was a Muslim stronghold
Due to Islamic threat in Europe Christian rulers of Europe focused on the Holy Land because of its sacred
associations
1095- Pope Urban II urged European knights to participate in a crusade to win back the Holy Land
A Powerful Sermon
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At first crusades had great success
Regained Jerusalem in 1099
Arabs exploited the divisions of the crusaders
By 1187 Jerusalem was under Islamic control
Stirrings of Nationalism
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Natural antagonism between Catholic Church and various kingdoms
Great Italian Poet – Dante
o Exiled because pope didn’t like him because he was outspoken about Catholic’s worldly pursuits
o Wrote Divine Comedy
The Impact of the Crusades
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Crusades impacted medieval civilization
Returned to Middle East  brought back spices, textiles, etc.
New merchant class in Italian city-states of Genoa, Florence, and Venice
New markets
Small towns  large trading centers  education + universities
Brought back stories, culture, art  opened up world!!!!!!
Transformation of Medieval life
-rediscovery of classical literature
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-exploration
-expanding of knowledge
Literature in Native Languages
-Latin was spoken in government, schools, etc.
-high culture literature was all in Latin
-vernacular had its own literature
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Reforms in Latin
-Carolingian miniscule-neater script and breaks between words
-eliminated vernacular elements
New Kind of Vernacular Epic
-oral tradition was very important
-long narrative heroic poems developed in Germany
-these had irregular verses
-stimulated a warrior’s courage
Epic Heroes of Diff. Nations
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Descendants of Germanic tradition
- Song of My Cid (Spanish)
- Song of Roland (French)
Icelandic Sagas
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Conflicts between Europeans and Viking raiders from Scandinavia
o 9th to 11th century
Vikings (Normans) settled in
o England
o northern France
o Iceland
- Produced works like Njáls saga and Egils saga
- Draws upon oral traditions and historical events
William the Conqueror
o Norman army conquered England in 1066
Troubadours: group of poets writing verses in Provencal in 11th century; associated with courts of certain
lords
 Provencal: romance language from southern France
 Trobar: “find”/”invent”
 Poetry: new ways to sing about love – courtly love
o Praised unattainable lady
Courtly Love
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Poets wrote about courtly love in native languages
Eleanor of Aquitone helped popularize this end of poetry
Chreten de Troyes wrote about King Arthur
He also invented the courtly romance which combined courtly love with the longer form of a Romance
Dante Makes a Fateful Choice
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Cultures and traditions combined
Dante wrote Divine Comedy in early 1300s
Expressed a Christian vision of the world, based on Latin culture
Wrote poem in Italian for prestige
Dante’s guide through Hell is Virgil, a great Roman poet
Inspired others to write in Italian
The Dark Side
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Urbanization had benefits and negatives
o Benefits
 Social rebirth
 The dark side
o Negatives
 City-dwellers had a hard time surviving because of crime and disease
 Black plague
Defining Romance
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Romance-narrative that tells of strange, sometimes supernatural, events in exotic settings
Term originally referred to tales about heroic deeds/courtly love of nobles in Middle Ages
Expanded to include any idealized characters in exotic settings
Saga: long story of adventure or heroic deeds
Origin and Development of the Term
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Romance comes from the French word roman
No connection to love
Romance sagas also known as chivalric romances and courtly romances
Over time, romance became more about love
Romance and Legend
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Medieval romance sagas = legends
o Legends – traditional stories about the past based on history
 Talks about a hero who did something extraordinary.
 i.e. King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table was based on the 20th century story
Perceval
Features of the Medieval Romantic Saga
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Key Features
romance hero
o -has adventures,
o raised in humble surroundings
o Follows chivalric code
o Performs good deeds
Hero goes on quest
o Quest- dangerous journey for something valuable
Romance genre blends realistic & fantasy elements (supernatural)
Symbols- represent broader and more important things
Archetypes- symbolic narrative elements that appear across different literature