THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD (PG

22)

• 1066-1485•1066-Norman Conquest—William the Conqueror defeats Harold at Hastings, becomes king of England

•Medieval Period—Middle ages

FEUDALISM William introduced feudalism—a political

and economic system in which the hierarchy of power was based on the premise that the king owned all the land in the kingdom.

¼ for King; ¼ for church; ½ to nobles or

barons who supplied the king with warriors called knights

SERFS Conquered Anglo-Saxons that were

bound to the land they could not own Did not speak French, the language of

the nobles Spoke a mixture of French and English

known as Middle English that adapted into the language we speak today

--ECONOMICS--DOMESDAY BOOK 1085—For tax purposes, William ordered

the compilation of a detailed survey of the land and population of England

A modern day Census

Translates to “day of judgment”

--SOCIOLOGY—WOMEN’S RIGHTS A woman’s status was based on her

husband or father’s position in society She held husband’s rank Remained subservient to the husband Men maintained all the property and

wealth Women ran the house, sewed, weaved,

cooked

--ARCHITECTURE—CATHEDRALS

Romanesque—Massive, richly decorated Took decades or centuries to build Built in gratitude to God Built as acts of penitence Built along pilgrimage routes Churches became the most corrupt institution

of the Medieval Period

--HISTORY—THE CRUSADES

1096-1270 The Christian response to the expansion of

Islam into the holy land of Jerusalem 8 major expeditions For the Knights these were part Holy War, part

pilgrimage, and sometimes profitable

--HISTORY—THE CRUSADES

The Children’s Crusades of 1212 Legend has it that a boy was visited by

Jesus and told to convert the Muslims to Christianity

He gained a following of 30,000 children who followed him towards the Holy Land

The waters of the Marseilles would not part and the children were sold into slavery

LITERARY HISTORY Common folk relied on oral tradition to

tell stories Ballads—Brief narrative poems sung to

musical accompaniment Mystery and Miracle Plays—which

dramatized episodes from the Bible and from saint’s lives

Morality Plays—Taught moral lessons

--LAW—PARLIAMENT

Edward I--The king’s Great Council Meeting place or talking place for nobles,

knights and clergy Became a representation for townships akin to

the democratic process we use

KING HENRY II Sent four loyal knights to murder

Thomas a’ Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury

Reformed the judicial system Established a system of juries Initiated English common laws Becket quickly became a saint, his

shrine a popular pilgrimage destination

HOW TO BECOME A SAINT You have to be close to God Help the poor Be good and kind to people when you

are alive Perform two miracles after you have

passed away.

KING HENRY II His wife brought the ideas of chivalry, a

code of honor among knights The code encouraged knights to protect

ladies and go on holy quests (Crusades) His son was Richard I, called “Richard

the Lion-Hearted” Richard fought in the crusades, his

brother John plotted against him (Robin Hood)

DECLINE OF FEUDALISM Growth of towns and population of commoners

Increase in trade due to Crusades

Guilds formed to stabilize prices and set rules for advancement of craftsmen pg 24

PLAGUE Crowding and poor sanitation Rats and fleas imported from cargo ships

Black Death (Bubonic Plague) killed a third of England’s population in 1300’s

“Bring out your dead!”

PLAGUE RAP Ring around the rosie- ring-like sores

that formed on people's skin.

Pockets full of posies- Flowers that were stuffed into pockets to ward off the stench

Ashes, ashes, we all fall down- ashes alludes to the funeral pyres ashes and the falling down was everybody dying

ROMANCES Tales of chivalric knights, many featured King Arthur and his round table

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Le Morte d’Arthur (The death of Arthur) by Sir Thomas Malory

GEOFFREY CHAUCER PG 106

1340?-1400 The “Father of English Literature”

“Chaucer” is French for shoemaker

1357—Became an attendant for the Prince’s wife

1359—French POW in 100 yr war, ransomed by the court

GEOFFREY CHAUCER

As the King’s messenger, he traveled to Italy (Dante) and France (The Romance of the Rose)

The Parliament of Fowls—commemorated the wedding of Richard II

1386—Became a Knight King Henry IV took over but Chaucer

remained in the court

GEOFFREY CHAUCER 1400—Died; (possibly from the Plague)

Buried in London’s Westminster Abbey (Poet’s Corner—John Dryden, Tennyson, Robert Browning)

Did not complete all the Canterbury Tales

THE CANTERBURY TALES

1387—A collection of verse and prose tales told by pilgrims traveling to Canterbury to see the shrine of Saint Thomas a’ Becket

Unfinished at the time of Chaucer’s death

Chaucer portrayed himself in the tale as a short, plump pilgrim

THE PROLOGUE (INTRODUCTION)

Vocabulary words

accrue, agility, courtliness, defer, diligent, disdain, dispatch, eminent, frugal, malady, mode, personable, repine, sedately, wield

THE PROLOGUE Tone—writer’s attitude toward the

work’s subject or characters (ironic, satiric, humorous…)

Characterization—the means by which a writer develops a character’s personality

(description, speech, thoughts, actions…)

PILGRIMAGE Generally began with a priest’s blessing Wore clothing that identified them as

pilgrims Stayed in roadside hospices Walked or road horses, roads became

very muddy when wet Could buy a small badge of cast pewter

as a souvenir

THE PROLOGUE Social Diversity, a microcosm Chaucer describes the 29 pilgrims,

providing insight into the larger society Narrative poem—more formal than most

poems of the 14th century Poetic verse form—rhymed and iambic

pentameter Opens with an apostrophe or address to

spring

Stop Here

THE PROLOGUE Zephyrus—Greek god of west wind Ram—Astrology—indicates a reference

to 14th century “science” This narrative poem was directed

towards the noble class, not the commoners

Setting—Begins in London (not Canterbury)

Medieval England was experiencing a warming period

THE PROLOGUE Setting—Begins across the Thames

River, where, 200 years later, Shakespeare’s Globe Theater will be erected

Tabard Inn (Drum)—you beat a drum when you want people to join you

Harry Bailey is the Innkeeper 100 miles to Canterbury 4-day journey by horse

THE PROLOGUE Purpose of trip is as much social as

religious—Spring Break Travel in a band for safety (Brigands and

Highwaymen) Harry Bailey decrees that each pilgrim

will provide 4 tales (29 X 4 =116) Winner will get a “free” dinner Generally, the best tales come from the

worst people

THE PROLOGUE Each pilgrim is a stereotype of their

profession (priests are priestly, knights are knightly…)

But some are mixed with irony The Knight—Chivalrous, noble, returned

from the Crusades The Knight’s son—a Squire—a lady’s

man The Yeoman—an attendant to the knight

THE PROLOGUE (NUN) The Nun Prioress Madam Eglantyne Speaks French Eats delicately Weep if she saw a mouse in a trap Lap dogs that dine better than the

population Fine features (a broad forehead)

THE PROLOGUE (PG 134-136)

THE HOST

Host—Harry Bailey, Innkeeper of Tabard Description: Jovial, generous, self-

confidant, wide girth Proposes that each pilgrim share two

tales on way to Canterbury, two on way back

Winner get a supper, paid by all Offers to come along and be judge Drew lots to decide who begins the tales

THE PROLOGUE (NUN) Forehead should have been modestly

covered by a wimple, equivalent of showing legs

Broach “Love conquers all”, should say “religion conquers all”

She is a hypocrite but Chaucer only winks at her sins, Christianity is all inclusive

THE PROLOGUE Tone—detached and ironic

Tone—Harry Bailey understates the greed and hypocrisy, allows readers to draw their own conclusions

Example, The Nun Prioress: Her sexy forehead, feeding her dogs meat and milk, her broach “Amor vincit omnia” (Love conquers all)

THE PARDONER’S PROLOGUE (PG 142-151)

Vocabulary Words

ADVERSARY, AVARICE, CASTIGATE, COVETOUSNESS, PALLOR, PARLEY, SAUNTER, TRANSCEND, VERMIN, WARY

THE PARDONER’S PROLOGUE (PG 142-151)

Very honest about his dishonesty

Theme: Radix malorum est cupiditas (love of money is the root of all evil—Bible translated from Hebrew to Latin)

Avarice and cupidity—Greed (avarice is one of the seven deadly sins)

THE PARDONER’S PROLOGUE Seems contemptuous toward those to

whom he preaches (ie. “They can go blackberrying, for all I care!”)

“And thus I preach against the very vice I make my living out of—avarice.” (Irony)

Verse 55—For though I am a wholly vicious man, don’t think I can’t tell moral tales. I can!” example of _____________

THE PARDONER’S PROLOGUE

Hypocrisy

THE PARDONER’S TALE (PG

144-151)

Three rowdy drunks hear a coffin bell Tell the tavern nave to report back Dead man was a friend of theirs

(plague)

Death as a thief is an example of _______ Verses 79-81, “Be on guard…” is an

example of this literary technique_______

THE PARDONER’S TALE

Personification

Foreshadowing

THE PARDONER’S TALE The rioters make a pact (brotherhood)

that they will kill this traitor Death

Encountered an old man, the three were very disrespectful (verse 114)

Old man responds—I can’t find one who would change his youth to have my age

Verse 130—implores Mother earth to open up for him (personification)

THE PARDONER’S TALE The gambler accuses the old man of

collaborating with death The old man directs the rioters to death,

sitting under an oak tree They found a pile of gold florins (coins)

Verse 178—Fortune means “Fate”

Verse 182—”our lucky day” (Irony and foreshadowing)

THE PARDONER’S TALE One rioter is chosen to go to town for

food The two remaining conspire against the

young man (parley—discussion) Plotted to stab him with daggers Young man bought poison from the

apothecary (pharmacist) Poured poison into two of the three wine

bottles

THE PARDONER’S TALE When the young man returned, his

brothers slew him They celebrated by drinking the

poisoned wine—they perished The Pardoner addresses the pilgrims

(verse 299) He offers to absolve their sins for a price You may fall off your horse and break

your neck—scare tactic

THE WIFE OF BATHPROLOGUE Reread lines 455-486 of Prologue, pg

125, Introduction of Wife of Bath A worthy woman from Bath city (a well-

known health resort, mineral springs) A seamstress, a Gold digger 5 husbands at the church door Well-traveled: Rome, Jerusalem… Gap-tooth, large hips, liked to laugh

THE WIFE OF BATHPROLOGUE This tale belongs to the Marriage Group

Also a Medieval Romance

The battle of the sexes

She cautions us about marriage

THE WIFE OF BATHPROLOGUE—VOCABULARY PG 154

Abominably, bequeath, concede, contemptuous, cosset, crone, dejected

Ecstasy, implore, maim, prowess, rebuke, statute, temporal, tribulation

THE WIFE OF BATH PROLOGUE setting: King Arthur’s days A magical time of elves and fairies Verbal irony—lines 39-56 (religion has

replaced fantasy)

What was the wife of Bath’s attitude toward Friars? (incubus)

THE WIFE OF BATH TALE

A knight who was a lusty liver

Took her maidenhead (raped her)

Punishment was to be loss of head because code of chivalry was broken

THE WIFE OF BATH Queen implored the king for

leniency

Queen gave the knight a chance to live if he could answer the question

“What is the thing that women most desire?” one year and a day

THE WIFE OF BATH TALE Wealth? Honor? Jollity and pleasure? Clothes? Fun in bed? Widowed and

remarried? Cosseted? Flattery?

Guys—what do you think the answer is? Ladies—what do you think the answer

is?

THE WIFE OF BATH TALE

ALLUSION—a reference to a historical or fictional person, place or event

King Midas (fictional), Ovid (historical)

Moral of story—women can’t keep secrets

THE WIFE OF BATH TALE

Knight was dejected because he could not find a consensus among the women

knight saw 24 women dancing

They transformed into an old woman

She promises to tell him the secret

THE WIFE OF BATH TALE Knight swears to do whatever she asks

They both went to see the Queen

“a woman wants the self-same sovereignty over husband as over her lover”

With the Queen’s watching, the old crone asks the knight to marry her

THE WIFE OF BATH TALE

The knight begs her to change her mind

“so foul a misalliance!”

They have a private wedding

Wedding night—she asks him if this is the way knights behave

THE WIFE OF BATH TALE The knight is contemptuous

The code of chivalry demands that knights respect their elders

She explains the meaning of gentility

Nothing wrong with being poor, even Jesus chose to come to the world poor

“You need not fear to be a cuckold”

THE WIFE OF BATH TALE

You have two choices line 395

Old and ugly and loyal? Or… Young and pretty and unfaithful?

The knight left the decision to his wife

THE WIFE OF BATH TALE

The wife has won the mastery

Kiss me, she says…

His ugly wife turned into a beautiful young lady that remained forever faithful

And they lived happily ever after