The British Middle Ages

1
The British Middle Ages
Newmanland presents . . .

• Also Known as
• The Dark Ages or the Medieval Period

2
Important Moments in Medieval History
Section I

• The Norman Conquest
• The Crusades
• Thomas Becket
• Hundred Years War
• The Plague

3
The Norman Conquest 1066

• William the Duke of Normandy also known as
  William the Conqueror defeated King Harold of
  England the Anglo-Saxon Leader.
• The Normans come from an area in Northern France
  and speak French. So, when William the Conqueror
  became the ruler of England the aristocracy also
  began to speak French.

4
The Crusades

• Christian Europe against the followers of Islam.
• Began in the 11th Century and continued through
  the 13th Century
• The prize was Jerusalem or the Holy Land.
• The British lost, but benefited from being around
  their culture especially in the areas of
  Mathematics, Astronomy, Architecture, and
  artistic crafts.

5
Thomas Becket (1118-1170)

• His friend Henry II made him Archbishop of
  Canterbury to help him with the Pope.
• Becket sided with the Pope and angered Henry II
  who commented about wishing to kill Becket.
• Four knights took him literally and murdered
  Becket.
• The pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales are
  traveling to pray at his shrine.

6
Hundred Years War (1337-1453)

• England v. France
• Unsuccessful militarily but it changed society
  because of the yeoman class
• Yeoman classsmall landowners who became a
  dominant force in nonfeudal England as modern
  democratic England was born.
• Chivalry died and lived only in stories at this
  time.

7
The Bubonic Plague or Black Plague (1348-1349)

• Recurred often
• Contributed to the downfall of feudalism as it
  killed 1/3 of the population
• Gave more power to the lower classes and freed
  the serfs

8
Medieval British Society
Section II

• Feudalism
• The Class System within the City
• The Role of Women
• Chivalry
• Courtly Love

9
Feudalism

• A caste, social, property and military system in
  England.
• Represented as a pyramid with the King at the top
  followed by his aristocracy, followed by other
  vassals they hired and so on until the very
  bottom of the pyramid where there were landless
  knights followed by serfs.

10
More about feudalism . . .

• Serfs could not leave the system until they had
  worked the land.
• The Knight was the only titled person who could
  NOT pass on his title to the next generation.
  His main duty was a military obligation to his
  lord, but they were governed by strict rules of
  loyalty to their lord, codes of fighting,
  treatment of women, and more (see Chivalry).
• The Feudal System did not always work, because
  when an overlord was weak the system broke down.

11
The Class System within the City

• The class system within the city was different
  from the one in the country.
• Feudalism was NOT really evident.
• There was a lower and an upper class, and people
  could make their living outside the feudal system
  in cities like London and Bath.

12
The Role of Women

• Peasant women were expected to bear children, do
  all housework, and hard field work.
• Higher class women were expected to bear children
  and manage the household.
• All women had NO political rights and were always
  subservient to men.

13
Chivalry

• The system of military and behavior codes that
  governed both knights and gentlewomen.
• It inspired Medieval Romance Literature.

14
Courtly Love

• A type of love encouraged by Chivalry, it was
  ideally nonsexual admiration where the woman was
  above the man.
• Helped to improve the idea and treatment of women
  in general.

15
Medieval Language and Literature
Section III

• Ballads
• Morality Plays
• Geoffrey Chaucer
• Medieval Romance

16
Ballads

• A narrative poetry from the Middle Ages intended
  to be sung.
• Written by unknown authors and handed down in the
  oral tradition.
• Rhythms and rhythmical patterns are connected
  with music, they are more effective when sung.
• The narrative usually has very little
  characterization or background information.
• Contains repetition, dialogue, dialect, and often
  supernatural events.
• Popular with the working class.
•  

17
Morality Plays (also known as Mystery Plays)

• A drama written in the Middle Ages that portrays
  a biblical story
• First performed in churches and later staged
  outdoors
• Often featuring allegorical figures such as Vice,
  Mercy, and Death.
• Closely related to miracle plays, which
  dramatized saints lives.

18
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400)

• He is often called the father of British Poetry.
• He favored writing in the rhyming couplet, which
  was later called the heroic or closed couplet.
• He composed in the vernacular (the language of
  the common people, which was Middle English).
• He was born to a middle class family, read a lot
  as a child, and received some legal training and
  acquired many noble patrons.

19
More about Chaucer . . .

• Chaucer was captured during the Hundred Yeas War
  and the King himself contributed to his ransom,
  which shows his importance.
• The Canterbury Tales is considered one of the
  greatest works in the English Language.
• Chaucer was the first poet/author to be buried in
  Westminster Abby in what is now called Poets
  Corner.

20
Medieval Romance

• A long narrative in verse or prose originating in
  the Middle Ages.
• Its main elements are adventure, love, and magic