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The Middle Ages 1066-1485
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This time period began with the Battle of Hastings in
1066 when William of Normandy defeated Harold, the
earl of Wessex on this battlefield
The Bayeaux Tapestry
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The Bayeaux Tapestry is really an embroidery but the word tapestry
has stuck. The Bayeaux Tapestry is now on permanent public display
in the city of Bayeaux in Normandy, France. It tells the story of the
Battle of Hastings; why William felt he had to invade, the preparations
made for the crossing and the battle itself. Tapestries were not rare in
the time of William but the size of this particular tapestry is an
indication that it was important. The story it tells was to have a huge
impact on Medieval England. This is how we know so much
information about the battle and the events leading to it.
The Domesday Book
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Once William became King one of his greatest
administrative feats was an inventory of nearly every
piece of property in England, including land, cattle,
buildings, etc. This title suggests a comparison between
William’s judgment of his subjects’ financial worth and
God’s judgment of their moral worth. For the first time
people could be taxed based upon what they own.
This is a picture of the actual book still able
to be viewed!!
Feudalism
What is Feudalism?
It is more than simply a social system, feudalism was also
caste system, a property system, and a military system.
Ultimately it was based on a religious concept of hierarchy,
with God as the supreme overlord.
Let’s take a look at the feudal hierarchy…..
Feudal Hierarchy
King
 The King depended on their Barons to provide knights and
soldiers in time of war.
Baron
 The Barons were the most powerful and wealthy
noblemen, they received their fiefs directly from the King,
Feudal Hierarchy-cont
Bishops
 The Bishop had as much power as a Baron. They ruled
over all areas of the church including the priest ,convents
and monasteries. The collection of taxes made Bishops
extremely rich.
Lords
 The Lords (knights) ruled over the fiefs or manors.
They rented their land to peasants who worked for
them. The trained knights were bound by oath to
serve the nobles who had granted them their fiefs.
Feudal Hierarchy-cont
Peasants
 The peasants were at the bottom of the feudal tree. They
were the workers who farmed the land to provide food for
everyone. Sometimes they were given a piece of land to
farm in return for their labor on the lord’s land.
Knighthood
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The term “knight” technically refers to a professional soldier of the
Middle Ages.
Knights were not necessarily nobles, nor were nobles necessarily
knights.
Knighthood is not hereditary such as a family title such as “Duke”
It emerges in the 11th century, and its members are nobles (members of
the great land-owning families) as well as small land-holders, free
men, craftsmen, etc (in Spain, caballeros villanos were common until
the 14th c.). It must be understood that, even in the feudal era, the
boundaries of knighthood were quite fluid. Anyone who, by luck or
effort, managed to obtain the training and equipment to be a knight,
could eventually enter that class.
Knighthood-cont
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The origins of orders of knighthood are in the Crusades.
In the Latin Orient, a new institution emerged, in which knights
(professional soldiers) associated themselves under a strict, quasimonastic rule of life, for the purpose of protecting pilgrims and
defending Christian conquests in the Holy Land.
The development of gunpowder and increasingly more powerful
archery meant that the use of massive cavalry charges to break enemy
lines and carry swift victory could not be relied upon, and the
dominance of cavalry came to an end as did Knighthood by profession
Knighthood and Armor
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Knight's armor went through many changes. In the 12th
century, the knights used an armor called mail. Mail was
very little chains linked together to make one big suit of
armor. These suits took on average about five years to
make. These suits also took a lot of money to make. When
all this work was done it weighed about twenty to thirty
pounds and that was only the chest, arms, and back. When
they were in battle the mall guarded arrows but not good
strong blows with a mace. The armorers took that in
consideration and made plate armor. But they only put
plate armor in the sensitive parts that could not take as
many hard blows.
Knighthood and Armor
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This is an example of a knight in chain mail armor.
Knighthood and Armor
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Here we see a fully plate armored knight:
Knighthood and Armor
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This is an example of a medieval sword that was used in
battle:
Code of Chivalry
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What is chivalry?
Chivalry is a system of ideals and social codes governing the
behavior of knights and gentlewomen.
Let’s talk a look at the codes as the knights followed them….
Code of Chivalry
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches, and
shalt observe all its directions.
Thou shalt defend the Church.
Thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt constitute
thyself the defender of them.
Thou shalt love the country in the which thou wast
born.
Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy.
Thou shalt make war against the Infidel without
cessation, and without mercy.
Code of Chivalry
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy feudal duties, if
they be not contrary to the laws of God.
Thou shalt never lie, and shall remain faithful to thy
pledged word.
Thou shalt be generous, and give largess to everyone.
Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of
the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.
Code of Chivalry
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The idea and revering and acting in the name of a lady
would make a knight braver and better was central to one
aspect of Chivalry, Courtly Love.
What is Courtly Love?
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Properly applied, the phrase l'amour courtois identified an
extravagantly artificial and stylized relationship--a forbidden affair that
was characterized by five main attributes. In essence, the relationship
was
Aristocratic. As its name implies, courtly love was practiced by noble
lords and ladies; its proper milieu was the royal palace or court.
Ritualistic. Couples engaged in a courtly relationship conventionally
exchanged gifts and tokens of their affair. The lady was wooed
according to elaborate conventions of etiquette (cf. "courtship" and
"courtesy") and was the constant recipient of songs, poems, bouquets,
sweet favors, and ceremonial gestures. For all these gentle and
painstaking attentions on the part of her lover, she need only return a
short hint of approval, a mere shadow of affection. After all, she was
the exalted domina--the commanding "mistress" of the affair; he was
but her servus--a lowly but faithful servant.
What is Courtly Love?
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Literary. Before it established itself as a popular real-life activity,
courtly love first gained attention as a subject and theme in imaginative
literature. Ardent knights, that is to say, and their passionately adored
ladies were already popular figures in song and fable before they
began spawning a host of real-life imitators in the palace halls and
boudoirs of medieval Europe. (Note: Even the word "romance"--from
Old French romanz--began life as the name for a narrative poem about
chivalric heroes. Only later was the term applied to the distinctive love
relationship commonly featured in such poems.)
What is Courtly Love?
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Secret. Courtly lovers were pledged to strict secrecy. The foundation
for their affair--indeed the source of its special aura and electricity-was that the rest of the world (except for a few confidantes or gobetweens) was excluded. In effect, the lovers composed a universe
unto themselves--a special world with its own places (e.g., the secret
rendezvous), rules, codes, and commandments.
Adulterous. "Fine love"--almost by definition--was extramarital.
Indeed one of its principle attractions was that it offered an escape
from the dull routines and boring confinements of noble marriage
(which was typically little more than a political or economic alliance
for the purpose of producing royal offspring). The troubadours
themselves scoffed at marriage, regarding it as a glorified religious
swindle. In its place they exalted their own ideal of a disciplined and
decorous carnal relationship whose ultimate objective was not crude
physical satisfaction, but a sublime and sensual intimacy.
Chivalry and Courtly Love
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Chivalry brought about an idealized attitude toward
women, but it did little to improve their actual positions.
A women’s perceived value remained to the value of the
lands she brought to a marriage. But chivalry did give rise
to a new form of literature, the romance.
English Romance Genre
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The best example of this can be seen in Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight by an anonymous author.
Emergence of a Middle Class
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The development of the city classes- lower, middle, and upper-middle,
is evident in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales.
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Ballads sung in the alehouses and firesides expressed the point of view
of the emerging merchant class
Canterbury Tales
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Written by Geoffrey Chaucer
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The story revolves around a group of people who are making a Spring
Pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas a Becket
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The value of this work comes in the development of the characters and
their descriptions
At the right is a pilgrimage
scene from a stained glass window in
Canterbury Cathedral.
The Crusades (1095-1270)
The Crusades (1095-1270)
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This is a series of wars raged by European Christians against the
Muslims to win back the holy land of Jerusalem
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Although the Europeans failed to hold the holy land, they benefited
enormously from contact with the higher civilization found in the
middle east
The Martyrdom of Thomas a Becket
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Thomas Becket, had risen to power as Prime Minister under Henry II.
Becket often took the Pope’s side when Henry was trying to gain the
upper hand.
Henry’s enraged comment “Will no one rid me of this turbulent
priest?” caused four of his knights to take his words literally and
murder Becket in his own cathedral.
But wait, there’s more to the story…..
The Magna Carta
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This document, signed in 1215 at Runnymede, gave the nobles of
England power over both the Pope and the King. It was effectively the
end of King John’s reign
The importance of the Magna Carta lies more in its
symbolism than in its words. As a result, many modern
rights have been based on the Magna Carta that were
unknown in the 13th century, including habeas corpus
and the principle of no taxation without representation.
Neither of these concepts existed in the original Magna
Carta of 1215 but both became accepted as English law
during the early 17th century.
The Hundred Years’ War 1336-1565
Causes:
 The Battle for Flanders:
Flanders had grown to be an industrial center of Northern Europe.The
French tried to regain control of the city, but the English needed its
fine cloth in exchange for English fleece. The English had adopted the
French custom and exchanged beer for wine in the 1200’s. The
problem was that England could not grow grapes and needed to trade
the Flander’s cloth indirectly for wine.
The Hundred Years’ War 1336-1565
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The struggle for control of France:
The English King controlled much of France which came with the
marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine, heiress of the region, to Henry II.
The Scottish Alliance:
The Battle for the Channel and the North Sea
An Aggressive Spirit in England:
Though France was by far the wealthiest country, England’s people
readily followed their young King
The Hundred Years’ War 1336-1565
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The Dynastic Conflict
The last son of King Philip IV (The Fair) died in 1328, and the
direct male line of the Capetians finally ended after almost 350 years.
Philip had had a daughter, however. This daughter, Isabelle, had
married King Edward II of England, and King Edward III was their
son. He was therefore Philip's grandson and successor in a direct line
through Philip's daughter. The French could not tolerate the idea that
Edward might become King of France, and French lawyers brought up
some old Frankish laws, the so-called Salic Law which stated that
property (including the throne) could not descend through a
female. The French then gave the crown to Philip of Valois, a nephew
of Philip IV. Nevertheless, Edward III had a valid claim to the throne
of France if he wished to pursue it.
The Hundred Years’ War 1336-1565
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The Battle of Crecy
This battle is important because the French lost miserably. The
English had archers using the longbow, a weapon with great
penetrating power that could sometimes kill armored knights,
and often the horses on which they rode. The battle was
a disaster for the French. The English took up position on the crest
of a hill, and the French cavalry tried to ride up the slope to get at
their opponents. The long climb up soggy ground tired and slowed
the French horses, giving the English archers and foot soldiers
ample opportunity to wreak havoc in the French ranks. Those few
French who reached the crest of the hill found themselves
faced with rude, but effective, barriers, and, as they tried to
withdraw, they were attacked by the small but fresh English force
of mounted knights.
The Black Death (1348-1350)
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The Black Death was one of the worst natural disasters in
history. In 1347 A.D., a great plague swept over
Europe, ravaged cities causing widespread hysteria and
death. One third of the population of Europe died. "The
impact upon the future of England was greater than upon
any other European country."
The Black Death (1348-1350)
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The primary culprits in transmitting this disease were
oriental rat fleas carried on the back of black rats.
The Black Death (1348-1350)
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How was the Black Death transmitted?
The three forms of the Black Death were transmitted two ways. The
septicemic and bubonic plague were transmitted with direct contact
with a flea, while the pneumonic plague was transmitted through
airborne droplets of saliva coughed up by bubonic or septicemic
infected humans.
The Black Death (1348-1350)
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The bubonic and septicemic plague were transmitted by the the bite of
an infected flea. Fleas, humans, and rats served as hosts for the disease.
The bacteria (Yersinia pestis) multiplied inside the flea blocking the
flea's stomach causing it to be very hungry. The flea would then start
voraciously biting a host. Since the feeding tube to the stomach was
blocked , the flea was unable to satisfy its hunger. As a result, it
continued to feed in a frenzy. During the feeding process, infected
blood carrying the plague bacteria , flowed into the human's wound.
The plague bacteria now had a new host. The flea soon starved to
death.
The Black Death (1348-1350)
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The pneumonic plague was transmitted differently than the other two
forms . It was transmitted through droplets sprayed from the lungs and
mouth of an infected person. In the droplets were the bacteria that
caused the plague.
The bacteria entered the lungs through the windpipe and started
attacking the lungs and throat.
Let’s take a look at the plague cycle…
The Black Death (1348-1350)
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The bubonic plague was the most commonly seen form of the Black
Death. The mortality rate was 30-75%. The symptoms were enlarged
and inflamed lymph nodes (around arm pits, neck and groin). The term
'bubonic' refers to the characteristic bubo or enlarged lymphatic gland.
Victims were subject to headaches, nausea, aching joints, fever of 101105 degrees, vomiting, and a general feeling of illness. Symptoms took
from 1-7 days to appear.
The Black Death (1348-1350)
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This would have been a common site with 1/3 of the population dying
at this time…
The Black Death (1348-1350)
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The pneumonic plague was the second most commonly seen form of
the Black Death. The pneumonic and the septicemic plague were
probably seen less then the bubonic plague because the victims often
died before they could reach other places (this was caused by the
inefficiency of transportation). The mortality rate for the pneumonic
plague was 90-95% (if treated today the mortality rate would be 510%). The pneumonic plague infected the lungs. Symptoms included
slimy sputum tinted with blood. Sputum is saliva mixed with mucus
exerted from the respiratory system. As the disease progressed, the
sputum became free flowing and bright red. Symptoms took 1-7 days
to appear.
The Black Death (1348-1350)
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The septicemic plague was the most rare form of all. The mortality
was close to 100% (even today there is no treatment). Symptoms
were a high fever and skin turning deep shades of purple due to DIC
(disseminated intravascular coagulation). According to Dr. Matt
Luther, Vanderbilt University Medical Center "The plague often
caused DIC in severe forms, and DIC can be fatal. The picture in the
next slide demonstrates what DIC can look like. In its most deadly
form DIC can cause a victims skin to turn dark purple. The black
death got its name from the deep purple, almost black discoloration."
Victims usually died the same day symptoms appeared. In some
cities, as many as 800 people died every day.
The Black Death (1348-1350)
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The septicemic plague
The Black Death (1348-1350)
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How did this affect Europe?
Children’s Rhymes:
Ring a-round the rosy
Pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes!
We all fall down!
The Black Death (1348-1350)
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Ring around the rosy: rosary beads give you God's help.
A pocket full of posies: used to stop the odor of rotting bodies which
was at one point thought to cause the plague, it was also used widely
by doctors to protect them from the infected plague patients.
Ashes, ashes: the church burned the dead when burying them became
to laborious.
We all fall down: dead.
This does not seem to be quite as happy when you are aware of the
meaning, does it??
The Black Death (1348-1350)
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The fewer number of workers demanded higher wages and the long
term result was the freedom of the serf
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The very social, economic, and political structure of Europe was
forever altered. One tiny insect, a flea, toppled feudalism and changed
the course of history in Europe.
Summation
Well, we have completed our overview of the world of
Medieval England. In the next few weeks we will take a
more in-depth look at many of the concepts that were
introduced in this lecture….
I hope you have enjoyed this material- this concludes our
lesson for today!