Slide 1

The Early

Middle Ages

500-1150

Slide 2 I. Background

A. From fall of Rome to

Italian

Renaissance

1. Early Christian—200

through middle of

6th century

2. Dark Ages—550-750

Slide 3 3. Carolingian &

Ottoman—750-1000

4. Romanesque—1000-

1500

5. High Gothic—1150-

1400

6. Late Gothic—1300-

1500

Slide 4 B. European social

temper

1. Chaotic &

disintegrated social

situations

a. Fear

b. Superstition

c. Isolationism

Slide 5 d. Spiritual &

intellectual darkness

2. Scholastic religious base

a. Monasteries & convents

b. Nurturing of literacy, learning, & creativity

Slide 6 c. Belief in

imminence of

Second

Coming of

Christ at the

end of 1st

millennium

Slide 7 II. Medieval Church

A. General tenets

1. shift from man as measure of all things to God as measure of all

2. Fear of evil (the devil) and

Slide 8 symbols of

darkness used to

manipulate the

populace

3. division of clergy

into secular &

cloistered

Slide 9

Slide 10 a. Confinement of

learning &

philosophy to

monasteries

b. Restriction of

inquiry

c. Development of

dogma

Slide 11 B. Papacy

1. Pope Gelasius (492-496) division of church power & royal power

2. Pope Gregory the Great (590-604)

a. Economic & administrative reform which saved the Roman church from Byzantine control

Slide 12 b. Missionary efforts

c. Book of Pastoral

Care—

idealized life of

the bishop

d. Work predicated

on imminence of

Second Coming

Slide 13 C. Monasticism

1. Functions

a. Outposts of order & charity

b. Centers of agriculture

c. Centers for conversion of pagans

Slide 14 d. Centers of prayer, labor, meditation, copying of scripts, production of illuminated manuscripts

e. Places of sanctuary

Slide 15 f. Centers for

pilgrimages (providing guest

houses)

2. Vows

a. Poverty

b. Obedience

c. Chastity

Slide 16 d. Renunciation of

pleasures of

the senses

3. Physical

construction

a. Cloister (at

center)

Slide 17 b. Covered arcade

around

rectangular

open garden

c. Refectory

d. Chapter hall

e. Dormitory

Slide 18

Slide 19 III. Charlemagne’s Empire

A. Background

1. Battle of Poitiers

(732) threat of Islam

& Moorish

conquest repelled

by Charles

Martel

Slide 20 2. significant

centralized political

organization

under grandson,

Charlemagne (768-

814)

B. Charlemagne

Slide 21 1. Description

a. Large soldier

(over 6 ft tall)

b. Womanizer

c. Drinker

d. Glutton

e. Semiliterate

Slide 22 2. Rule

a. Spread Christianity & Frankish rule across western Europe

b. Created structure based on counties ruled by a count

Slide 23 c. Revived interest

in art, antiquity, & learning

resulting in Carolingian renaissance— or renovtio—which

usher in the Middle Ages

Slide 24 d. Stabilized

currency

e. Welcomed Jewish

immigration

f. Promoted

vigorous trade

Slide 25 g. Became protector

of Pope Leo III

who later

crowned him

emperor of the

Holy Roman

Empire

Slide 26 3. Feudalism

a. System of

military service &

land ownership

b. Pyramid of power

c. System of

vassalage

d. Oath of fealty

Slide 27

Slide 28 4. Serfs and Women

a. Serfs

1) slaves attached to land

2) ignorant

3) lord was to provide guardianship

Slide 29 4) drudgery

5) starvation

6) raids by

outsiders

7) disease

Slide 30

Slide 31 b. Women of lower

class

1) care of

children &

animals

2) preparation &

production

of food

Slide 32 3) short life-

expectancy

c. Women of the

manor

1) shared rule

with men

2) could inherit

Slide 33 3) could control

estates

4) managed estates in absence of men

5) could establish & control convents

Slide 34 5. Ottonians

a. Rulers of

Germany (10th

century)

b. Otto I, II, & III

c. Results of efforts

to control

church

Slide 35 1) religious

fanaticism

2) renewed trade

with Italy

3) emergence of

middle class in

towns & cities

Slide 36 IV. Early Gothic Art

A. Illuminated manuscript

1. private intellectual pursuit

2. early work—almost entirely church related

Slide 37

Slide 38

Slide 39 3. close, nervous composition (possibly indicative

of close quarters)

4. frenetic energy

5. rich color & detailing

6. probably modeled after Byzantine

Slide 40

Slide 41

Slide 42

Slide 43 B. Wall Painting

1. highly original

2. bright like Romans

3. three-dimensional

architectural detail

4. frescoes depicting

Frankish history

Slide 44

Slide 45

Slide 46 C. Non-traditional Art

1. clothing

2. jewelry

3. ships

D. Sculpture

1. Carolingian

a. Classical style

Slide 47 b. Rejection of

Byzantine style

because of

Charlemagne’s

opposition to

Byzantine

c. Use of ivory on

book covers

Slide 48 1) little attempts

at three-

dimensional

space

2) crowded

scenes but not

frenetic

Slide 49 2. Scant because of

prohibition of graven

images

3. Acceptable in

sarcophagi

a. Miniature-like

detail

Slide 50

Slide 51

Slide 52 b. Linear style

c. Emotional

content

4. Crucifix art

E. Romanesque

architecture

1. Radically different

Slide 53

Slide 54

Slide 55 2. Style

a. Massive

b. Static

c. Comparatively lightless

d. Reflective of barricaded mentality & lifestyle

Slide 56 e. Reflective of

power & wealth of

the church

f. Complex

3. Form

a. Plan describing a

Roman cross

Slide 57

Slide 58 b. Free altar which could be

circled by pilgrims

c. Roof of stone

d. Series of vaults, arches, & bays

e. High, unencumbered central space

Slide 59 4. Decorations

a. Wall paintings

b. Carved arches

5. Construction

a. Square stone blocks

b. Rubble walls faced with brick

Slide 60 c. Ribbed vaults for

support

F. Romanesque sculpture

1. generally decoration

for architecture

2. monumental—first

effort of

cloistered clergy to share

Slide 61

Slide 62

Slide 63 a. Warnings against

evil and

judgment

b. Lessons in duty &

discipleship

Slide 64 V. Early Gothic Music

A. Sacred Music

1. Gregorian Chant

a. Plainchant

1) vocal music

2) single melodic line

Slide 65 3) notes kept

close together

4) Near Eastern

influence of

undulating

character

5) Forms

Slide 66 a) syllabic—

each syllable given a note

b) melismatic-several notes for one syllable

Slide 67 b. Influence of Pope Gregory

1) supervised selection for

church use

2) creation of a common heritage of music in church

Slide 68 2. Sequences

a. Additions of

verses

b. Credit to

composers

3. Tropes (kind of

sequence)

Slide 69 a. Additional words squeezed into existent music

b. Forerunner of liturgical musical

drama

B. Secular Music

1. Language of common people

Slide 70 2. Reminiscent of

Roman pantomime

3. Performed by troubadours

4. Generally unaccompanied

5. Strophic—composed of several stanzas

in same melody

Slide 71 6. Instruments

a. Lyre

b. Harp

c. Bowed

instrument called

vielle or fiedel

d. Psaltery—similar

to zither

Slide 72 e. Lute

f. Flute

g. Shawm—like oboe

h. Trumpets

i. Horns

j. Drums

k. bagpipes

Slide 73 l. Portable organs

which broke ground for reentry of organ

in church

7. Polyphony

a. More than one melodic line in composition

Slide 74 b. Blending of

melodic lines

with rhythmic

structure

Slide 75 VI. Early Gothic Literature

A. Preservation of texts

in monastic

community

B. Enclaves of classical

scholarship in areas

which had been

Slide 76 influenced by the

Moors (Toledo,

Seville,

Cordoba)

C. Translation of the

Bible into Latin by

St. Jerome

D. Secular examples

Slide 77 1. Niebelungenlied

(“Song of the People

of the Mists”)—

final shape in

1200

2. Beowulf (725)

3. Song of Roland (c.

1100)

Slide 78 a. Epic probably

composed by

Turold, a

professional

storyteller

b. Tale told of battle

of Roncesvalles

(778)—

Slide 79 between

Charlemagne &

Saracens

c. Likened to

Thermopylae

though actually a

small skirmish

d. Plot

Slide 80 1) Ganelon, a

knight, sent

by

Charlemagne

to

negotiate

peace with

Saracens

Slide 81 2) Ganelon(Roland’s stepfather) joins Saracens because of resentment at Roland’s suggestion he be given the dangerous task

Slide 82 3) Ganelon

insures Roland will command rear guard of withdrawing Frankish army

4) rear guard surrounded at Roncesvalles

Slide 83 5) Roland rejects friend Oliver’s advice to blow his horn for help

6) battle goes against Roland

7) horn sounded too late to save Oliver or Roland

Slide 84 8) Roland fatally

wounded by

a blow from

blinded Oliver

9) arriving army

avenges

Roland &

Oliver

Slide 85 10) Roland’s

fiancée &

Oliver’s sister

dies at the

news

11) Ganelon tried

& executed

Slide 86 VII. Early Gothic Theatre

A. Preserved through

wandering

entertainers

B. Railings of Church

against theatre

C. Tropes

Slide 87 1. elaborations before

mass on ceremonial

occasions

2. beginning of

liturgical drama

Slide 88

Slide 89