Canterbury Tales

1
Canterbury Tales

• History Notes

2
Norman Conquest (1066)

• William the Conqueror from Normandy
• Wished to rule the Anglo-Saxons, not to eliminate
  them
• The reason we dont have a French speaking England

3
Norman Conquest (1066)

• Combined Norman emphasis on law and order and
  cultural unity with the more democratic and
  artistic tendencies of the Anglo Saxons
• The Domesday Book- brought taxes to England

4
Norman Conquest (1066)

• Brought England into the main-stream of
  European civilization

5
Feudalism and Knighthood

• A caste system, a property system, a military
  system, and a system of social behavior
• Based on a religious concept of hierarchy- God as
  the Supreme Being
• The divine right of Kings

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Feudalism and Knighthood

• Not a stable method of government
• Knights- the code of chivalry
• Boys- taught to become warriors- strict!
• Became a knight by a dubbing ceremony

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Women

• Predictable life- childbearing, housework, hard
  field work
• No political rights
• Subservient to men
• Respect/social standing depended on fathers or
  husbands status

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Chivalry and Courtly Love

• Chivalry- a system of ideals and behavior codes
  that govern both the knight and gentle women
• Oath of loyalty, acceptance of rules of warfare,
  and adoration of a lady for self-improvement

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New City Classes

• Three classes- lower, middle, and upper middle
• Emerging merchant class- had the ability to pay
  for what they wanted
• City folk were free- not tied to knighthood and
  chivalry

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Five Great Happenings

• 1. The Crusades
• Christian knights vs. followers of Muhammad
• Jerusalem was a prize

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Five Great Happenings

• 2. Murder of Thomas a Becket
• Saint Thomas a Becket in a cathedral
• Nickname holy blissful martyr
• Killed by knights of King Henry because Becket
  followed the Pope rather than the King

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Five Great Happenings

• Clergy became corrupted, yet did foster unity
• 3. Magna Carta
• Gave power to government or King to curb
  religious corruption

13
Five Great Happenings

• 4. Hundred Years War
• England lost -Knights blew it England was not
  represented by the Yeoman class
• Shot with bows/arrows
• Brought the demise of castle and knights as
  Military

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Five Great Happenings

• 5. Black Death- (1348-1349)
• Reduced population by 1/3
• Labor shortage- Lower classes overpower lords
• 1485- King Henry VII marries- Middle Ages end