The Middle Ages

I. The Early Middle Ages

    1. Germanic literature: Beowulf

    2. Germanic art

B.      Charlemagne

    1. the Holy Roman Empire

    2. the Carolingian Renaissance

C.       Feudalism

    1. Culture of the feudal nobility:

           a. the Song of Roland

           b. the Bayeux Tapestry

    2. Medieval Romance and Courtly Love: Lancelot

D. The Christian Crusades

         1. the medieval universities

         2. scholasticism: Abelard, Aquinas

B.  Medieval literature

I. The Early Middle Ages

The Middle Ages

A. From about 500 to 1350.

B. “The Italian Renaissance humanist Francesco Petrarch (1304-74) coined the term Middle Ages, a time between the   

      Roman world and the Renaissance.” 

C. For Petrarch, the Middle Ages is a time of “Gothic barbarism and intellectual stagnation”   (McKay et al. 347).

D. “. . . the Early Middle Ages (ca. 500-1000) was one of the most crative periods in Western history” (Fiero 250).

A. Germanic Tribes

A. Germanic invasions

B. Germanic literature: Beowulf.

Germanic Invasions

406   Vandals invaded Gaul, Spain, and

            North  Africa.

410   Rome was sacked by Visigoths.

455   Rome was sacked by Vandals.

476   Western Roman emperor was deposed

            by Germanic tribes.

c.500  Anglo-Saxon tribes invaded England.

Early Christian World and the Barbarian Invasions, ca. 500

 Xplana. Web. 1 Dec 2011.  

http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/297fd9bf21887234f4ec.jpg

Impact

The Germanic conquests accelerated a process of urban decay that was already well advanced.

Values of the Germanic warring culture, such as the bond of fealty, and the practice of rewarding

warriors with land or spoils of battle, would become fundamental to medieval feudalism.

                                                (Fiero 251)       

The End of the Western Empire: 476

(After the barbarian king of Italy Odoacer disposed the last Emperor Romulus Augustulus.)  

Germanic Kingdoms

 European Heritage Library. Web. 1 Dec 2011.
http://euroheritage.net/italyhistory.shtml

Germanic Literature

Beowulf

Plot Summary

The hero Beowulf, from a people called the Geats, when a young man visits the Danish court of King Hrothgar and kills in turn two monsters who have savaged the Danish people: first a monster called Grendel, then Grendel''s mother. Fifty years later, as an old man and now king of the Geats, Beowulf kills a dragon which is threatening his own people, but in the process is himself killed.

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=LitRC&userGroupName=
866ntu&tabID=T001&searchId=R2&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=
3&contentSet=GALE%7CA192258307&&docId=GALE|A192258307&docType=GALE&role=LitRC

Germanic Art

Main features:

Abstract, stylized, decorative

geometric designs

 organic, interlaced, intertwined shapes

  Horror vacui - literally “fear of empty space”, open spaces in designs are filled

Sutton Hoo, English Purse Lid,  c. 650 CE. Cloisonné

The Slide Projector. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://www.theslideprojector.com/art3/art3lecturepresentationssummer/art3lecture21.html

Chi-Rho Page, from the Book of Kells, ca. 800

Earlham College. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://www.earlham.edu/~vanbma/20th%20century/images/surveydayeightteen.htm

The Lindisfarne Gospels from Northumbria, England, ca. 698-721; 

a carpet page, no longer naturalistic as the classical style

Earlham College. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://www.earlham.edu/~vanbma/20th%20century/images/surveydayeightteen.htm

Ardagh Chalice (Eucharistic cup), ca. 800-899

Haverford College. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://www.haverford.edu/engl/faculty/Sherman/Irish/ardagh.htm

B. Charlemagne

A. Charlemagne and his Empire

1. the Carolingian Empire

717  Clovis (Merovingian): founder of the Frankish State, first Christian king of the Franks

717-751 The Carolingians (Charles Martel and Pepin III) shared power with the Merovingian kings

751  Pepin III became king of the Franks

768  Charlemagne succeeded Pepin III

800  Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman emperor

843  Treaty of Verdun, the empire was divided into three by Charlemagne’s grandsons

Charlemagne (768-814)

Father of France: united the kingdom

Goal of reforms: to revive the Roman Empire

800  crowned by Pope Leo III

        Claimed to be the direct heir of Caesar Augustus

        Established the “Holy” Roman Empire

The Carolingian Renaissance

2. The Carolingian Renaissance

-“Charlemagne” is the French for “Charles the Great.” The Latin form of “Charles” is “Carolus,” hence “Carolingian.”

-viewed classical learning as the foundation of Christian wisdom

Sheppard Software. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/Europeweb/factfile/Unique-facts-Europe35.htm

The Empire of Charlemagne, 814

Xplana. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/b021ede56f3fd49ead0d.jpg

Charlemagne set up schools at Aachen, in town centers, and in Benedictine monasteries.

The greatest contribution of the Carolingian scholars was not so much the originality of their ideas as their hard work of

salvaging and preserving the thought and writings of the ancients. (McKay et al. 350).

St. Matthew, from the Gospel Book of Charlemagne, c.800-10

ITS Courses Server. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

https://www.courses.psu.edu/ger/ger100_fgg1/art/romanesque/StMatthewGospel.html

Influence of Byzantine icon

Influence of Roman realism

843    Partitions of Charlemagne’s Empire

Reading Room (Blog at WordPress.com). Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://andrewpreslar.wordpress.com/historical-etc/

C. Feudalism

A.     Definition

B.     Culture of the Feudal Nobility:

   1. The Song of Roland

   2. The Bayeux Tapestry

C. Medieval Romance: Chrétien de Troyes’ Lancelot

   1. Chivalry

Feudalism

A term invented in the 17th century and popularized in the 18th century

UNCP. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/lecture_mid_civ.htm

The rise of medieval towns

→the rise of the middle class

→ the decline of feudalism

1. Culture of the Feudal Nobility

    a. The Song of Roland

    b. The Bayeux Tapestry

The Song of Roland

The Free Dictionary. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Song+of+Roland

A chanson de geste of Charlemagne’s Spanish campaign in 778.

Structure:

(1) the betrayal of Ganelon, Roland’s stepfather, over a private feud with Roland

(2) the death of Roland, Charlemagne’s nephew and leader of his rear guard

(3) the punishment of the Saracens

(4) the punishment of Ganelon

                                                         (Brault xxvii)

Major Themes

Loyalty (1) founded on blood ties

            (2) based on feudal ties: mutual obligation between lard and vassal

Controversy regarding Roland as a hero:

The Norman Conquest of England in 1066

The Vikings

from around 8th to 11th century

Vikings (from Scandinavia)

   → Northmen or Normans

   → Normandy in France

The Vikings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fc83VvUeE8&NR=1

kcdistancelearning. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://curriculum.kcdistancelearning.com/courses/AMHISTx-HS-A08/a/unit1/html/section_3_page_4.html

The Bayeux Tapestry

The Bayeux Tapestry is history as written by the winners. William of Normandy (in northern France) crosses the English Channel and triumphs at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, becoming William the Conqueror, King of England. 

A charge by the Norman Cavalry on the Saxon shield wall.

The Battle of Hastings 1066. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://www.battle1066.com/btpt4a.shtml

The Saxon shield wall that William and his men found so hard to break down.

The Battle of Hastings 1066. Web. 1 Dec 2011.
http://www.battle1066.com/btpt4b.shtml

Halley''s Comet, which appeared in 1066, was widely held to be a portent of the disaster that was to befall Harold.

European Space Agency. Web. 1 Dec 2011. 

http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMXSX57ESD_index_3.html http://sio.midco.net/danstopicalstamps/tapestry.htm

Consequences

-The Norman Conquest marked the transfer of power in England from Anglo-Saxon rulers to Norman noblemen who were already vassals of the king of France.

-The Normans brought feudalism to England.                             

(Fiero 255)

Medieval Romance and Courtly Love

“To love was to suffer.” (Fiero 268)

Chivalry

an idealization of social, political and personal relationships

Main features:

Knighthood: a bond between men

                          a form of dedication to God

Between the knight and his sovereign lord: to defend the lands and authority of the king.

Between the knight and the chosen lady who inspired him: He was bound, in all circumstances, to put her interest above his own.

                                                    (Lucie-Smith 129)

Courtly Love

First embodied in the Arthurian romances

Linked to a shift in religious orientation—the cult of the Virgin Mary              

(Lucie-Smith 130)

Love brings pain and suffering, and, at times, even death.

The sufferings of love are closely linked to the difficulties involved in courtship and the ladies who are the principal objects of love are unavailable.

The lover is faithful, obedient and long-suffering. Service is its own reward and no joy is necessarily implied.

A knight’s courage, worship, and prowess that are the masculine equivalents of a lady’s beauty.  (McCarthy 51-55)

Chrétien de Troyes’ Lancelot

Conflict: Lancelot and Guinevere’s adulterous relationship is one of true love, but it is also a prime factor in the fall of Arthur’s court.

“Lancelot dramatizes the feminization of the chivalric ideal” (Fiero 268).

D. The Christian Crusades (the 11th – 13th centuries)

A. Time

B. Causes

C. Major Crusades:

1. the First Crusade

2. the Fourth Crusade

3. the Children Crusade

D. Effects

The Major Crusades, 1096-1204

Xplana. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://mh1.xplana.com/imagevault/upload/b021ede56f3fd49ead0d.jpg

Causes:

  (1) the Seljuk Turks refused to let Christian pilgrims visit the Holy Land

  (2) the request of the Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus, who hoped to reconquer territory in Asia Minor that had been lost to the Turks  (King and Owen 90)

The First Crusade

-Mobilized by Pope Urban II in 1095

-Captured Jerusalem in 1099.

-Divided the Holy Land into four kingdoms (Antioch, Edessa, Jerusalem and Tripoli) and ruled for 60 years.

Crusaders persecuting Jews

kidipede. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/religion/jews/pictures/firstcrusade.jpg

The Fourth Crusade (1202-1204)

The crusaders and the Venetian merchants captured and looted the Christian city of Constantinople.

No attempt was made to free the Holy Land or fight the Muslims.

The Children’s Crusade (1212)

A shepherd boy called Stephen led about 30,000 French children on a “crusade.”

The captains of their ships tricked the children by pretending to take them to the Holy Land free. The children were taken

to North Africa and sold to the Muslims as slaves.  (Living World History, Vol. II)

Consequences

(1) Revival of trade between East and West. (The greatest economic gains went to the Italian maritime republics in of

     Venice and Genoa.)

(2) Feudal lords established greater authority, leading to the rise of nation-states.                            

(3) The crusades promoted cultural exchange between western Europe and the Islamic world. (Arabic translations of

      Greek texts and Islamic literature poured into Europe.)

(4) The decline of the Byzantine empire.

II. The Late Middle Ages

A. Intellectual movements

A. Time: the late 12th and early 13th centuries

  1. Medieval universities

  2. Two systems

  3. Seven liberal arts

Medieval Universities

-Developed in the late 12th and early 13th centuries along with the emergence of city life.

-The word “universitas” originally meant a guild or corporation.

-Offered advanced studies of law (Bologna), medicine (Salerno), and theology (Paris).

France: University of Paris

Peter Abelard (1079-1142)

Specialized in the liberal arts and theology

Italy: University of Bologna

A leading center of law

England: Oxford and Cambridge

Germany: 1385 Heidelberg

Two Systems

Seven Liberal Arts

Trivium: grammar, rhetoric, logic

Quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music

Paris: three philosophies

Natural (physical sciences)

Moral (ethics)

Metaphysical

Medieval Scholasticism

Scholasticism

-The school of philosophy taught by the academics (or schoolmen) of medieval universities circa 1100 - 1500.

-Scholasticism attempted to reconcile the philosophy of the ancient classical philosophers with medieval Christian theology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scholastic

The Scholastic Method

Goal: to provide a rational explanation for what was believed on faith

Method:

Questions were raised

Authorities were cited on both sides

The imperative to listen to opposing viewpoints and to engage in dialectical commerce with them.

Summa: 13th century scholastics devoted an enormous amount of time to collecting and organizing knowledge on all

topics. These collections were published as summa, or reference books.  (McKay et al. 367)

Peter Abelard

1118 seduced a 17-year-old girl, Héloise, who had been taking private lessons with him. The two got married but decided to keep it secret for Abelard’s career. Héloise’s uncle, thinking that Abelard was planning to abandon Heloise, had him castrated. Abelard sought refuge as a monk.

1132-41 Abelard became a teacher. Charged with heresy.

1142  Died in retirement

History of ART. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://www.all-art.org/literature/history1Abelard1.html

Sic et Non

“In short, by doubting we come to questioning; by questioning we perceive the truth” (Sic et Non, Prologue)

“Abelard claimed that it was from doubt, not faith, that one should begin one’s journey to a greater understanding of theology.”

http://wadsworth.com/history_d/special_features/ilrn_legacy/wawc1c01c/content/wciv1/readings/sic_et_non.html

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Thomas Aquinas

Wikipedia. Web. 1 Dec 2011.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas

Leading Scholastic theologian of the Univ. of Paris

As a member of the Dominican order, Aquinas was committed to the principle that faith could be defended by reason.

Summa contra Gentiles;

Summa Theologica

Central concern: How does one harmonize those things that are part of human learning (reason) with those supernatural truths revealed by God in the Bible and through the teaching of the church (revelation)?

Literature

A. Medieval drama: Everyman

B. Dante: The Divine Comedy

Everyman

15th–century

A morality play

A motif: memento mori (Keep death before your eyes!)

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge07cPl8X48

Morality play

An allegorical drama in which the characters personify moral qualities (such as charity or vice) or abstractions (as death or youth) and in which moral lessons are taught.

Themes

(1) Life is a pilgrimage.

(2) Death is inevitable.

(3) Medieval theology: It is not faith that will save Everyman; his or her willingness to learn (Knowledge), act (Good Deeds), and convert (Confession) will make the difference between salvation and damnation.

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)

A  Florentine deeply influenced by the intellectual currents in Paris.

Exiled from Florence for political reasons in 1300.

The Divine Comedy was written while he was in exile in the north of Italy.

“Comedy”: a happy ending

“Divine”: added later (some say by Boccaccio)

The First Guide: Virgil

70-19 BCE  the Roman poet who wrote The Aeneid, which contains the famous descent of Aeneas into the Underworld in Book VI.

The Second Guide: Beatrice

Beatrice stands for Christian wisdom and blessedness

Dante and Beatrice

First encounter: First met Beatrice when he was nine and fell in love with her at first sight.

Second encounter: Beatrice did not speak to him until nine years later. She greeted him when walking down a street in Florence.

Beatrice married when she was 21, only to die three years after that, at the tender age of 24

Wikipedia. Web. 1 Dec 20

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Comedy

Professor George Rieke. Natural Sciences 102. University of Arizona. Web. 26 Dec 2011.

http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/images/dante1.gif

Structure

Inferno: Dante travels through the nine levels of hell, starting from the outermost ring, limbo. This ring is inhabited by those who lead blameless lives, but were not baptized. As he progresses to the central circle the sins of the damned become more serious as are their sufferings.

http://cunnan.sca.org.au/wiki/Divine_Comedy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MihXFM24ilA

Circle 1: The virtuous pagans

Circle 2: The lascivious

Circle 3: The gluttonous

Circle 4: The greedy and the wasteful

Circle 5: The wrathful

Circle 6: The heretics

Circle 7: The violent against others, self, God, nature, and art

Circle 8: The fraudulent (10 classes)

Circle 9: The lake of the treacherous against kindred, country, guests, lords and benefactors. Satan is

imprisoned at the center of this frozen lake.

Purgatorio: Dante ascends the seven terraces of Purgatory. Each terrace represents one of the seven deadly sins which must be overcome by the sinner before entering heaven.

http://cunnan.sca.org.au/wiki/Divine_Comedy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRw1CoKYHvk&feature=related

Ante-Purgatory: the excommunicated, the lazy, the unabsolved, negligent rulers

The Terraces of the Mount of Purgatory

The proud

The envious

The wrathful

The slothful

The avaricious

The gluttonous

The lascivious

The Earthly Paradise

Paradiso: Dante is guided through the nine spheres of heaven, based roughly on Aristotelean cosmology. He then meets God, who grants him the understanding of human nature.

http://cunnan.sca.org.au/wiki/Divine_Comedy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaEJr4pix2w&feature=related

The Moon: The faithful who were inconstant

Mercury: Service marred by ambition

Venus: Love marred by lust

The Sun: Wisdom; the theologians

Mars: Courage; the just warriors

Jupiter: Justice; the great rulers

Saturn: Temperance; the contemplatives and mystics

The Fixed Stars: The Church Triumphant

The Primum Mobile: The Order of Angels

The Empyrean Heavens: Angels, Saints, The Virgin, and the Holy Trinity

Motifs in the Divine Comedy

Journey: Dante, following Sugar and Aquinas, conceived the human journey as a slow ascent to the purity of God

Light: not mentioned in Inferno. Daylight and sunset symbolize the reception and rejection of divine light. God is a point of light in heaven.

Portraits: character sketches of historical figures and his contemporaries

Works Cited 

Brault, Gerard J. La Chanson de Roland. Student ed. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 1984.

Fiero, Gloria. The Humanistic Tradition. Vol. 1. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.

King, Gordon and Frank Owen. Living World History. Vol. 2. Hong Kong: Ling Kee, 1987.

Lucie-Smith, Edward. Art & Civilization. Eaglewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992.

McCarthy, Terence. An Introduction to Malory. Suffolk: D. S. Brewer, 1988.

McKay, John P., Bennett D. Hill, John Buckler, Patricia Buckley Ebrey, and Roger B. Beck. A History of World Societies. 7th ed. Vol. 1. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007.