The Anglo-Saxon Periodand the Middle Ages

449-1485

Dates to Remember

449 - Germanic tribes invade Britain597 – St. Augustine, establishes monastery

in Canterbury664 – British Christian Church and Roman

Catholic Church unite787 – Danish invasions begin871 – Alfred the Great takes throne1066 – William the Conqueror invades England

Dates Continued

1086 – Domesday Book is created1170 – Thomas A Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is

murdered1215 – Magna Carta is signed by King John1295 – First Parliament is created1337 – Hundred Years’ War begins between England and

France1349 – The Black Death sweeps through England1381 – The Peasants’ Revolt is suppressed1455 – “The Wars of the Roses” begins(series of wars

between Houses of York and Lancaster)

Peasants Wheel of LIfe

See chart on Document Camera

Wergild

A sum of money that a slain man’s family would receive to avoid retaliation toward another family due

to the slaying of their family member.

A nobleman or warrior was worth 1200 shillingsA free peasant was worth 200 shillings

Domesday Book

• Commissioned by William the Conqueror

• Contained census type records for 13,418 English estates

• Used for tax purposes

The Black Death

• During first wave – approximately 300 people died each day

• By the end of the plague – almost 50% of the population of Europe had been killed

Historical, Social, and Cutlural Forces of the Anglo-Saxon Period and Middle Ages

The Anglo Saxons

A.D. 43 - Romans conquered the Celtic tribes of Britain

Introduced a much more modern way of living

449 – Angles, Saxons, and Jutes began invading Britain’s eastern shores

King Arthur was king and led a few of the victories against the Germanic tribes

Germanic tribes took over the southeastern section of the island and called it Angle-Land

The Germanic invaders formed small tribal kingdoms, supported themselves through farming and hunting, and believed in many different gods. Only when Christianity was firmly established,

did a unified civilization emerge.

Vikings and Normans

• 878 – Lord Alfred, the Saxon king of Wessex, led his warriors to victory over the Danes in the Battle of Edington. Later captured, London and eventually most of England.

• Became known as ‘the Great’.• During next century, his son and

grandson recaptured all of England and country was finally at peace.

Vikings and Normans cont’d

• Peaceful times were shortlived. 1066, William of Normandy, laid claim to English throne. English council chose Harold II, and William attacked and defeated the Anglo-Saxons at Battle of Hastings. William became first Norman King of England.

Feudal England

• Feudalism – Land was divided among noble overlords, or barons. Lesser lords, called knights, pledged their wealth and services to the overlords, who, in return, provided use of the land. At the lowest end of the social scale were the serfs(peasants pledged to the lord of the manor and bound to the land).

Feudal England

• Early 1200s brought about the Peasants’ Revolt and forced King John to agree to a Great Charter, or the Magna Carta. By signing, he agreed NOT to raise taxes without the consent of the barons. This act began the current system of constitutional government in

England – including the right to trial by jury .

Discussion…

• “To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.”

− King John, from Magna Carta

War and Plague

• 100 years war began in 1337. • Drained England financially• Break with France helped England

develop a national identity independent of the French influence.

War and Plague

• Black Death swept through Europe during the 100 Years War.

• First struck England in 1348• Killed almost 1/3 of England’s people• Totally eroded the feudal system• The shift of power from aristocracy to

urban middle class set the stage for The Renaissance

The EPIC WARRIOR

A Warrior Society

The Epic Warrior

• Embodied the qualities valued by the tribes who settled on Britains shores

• Demonstrated courage• Achieved fame and immortality• Possessed physical strength to

overcome his enemies

Warrior Society

• Warfare was a way of life• Their tribal organization, values, and

beliefs – as well as their poetry – reflected in that reality

• Comitatus…the warlord and his followers

• Warlords often rewarded their fiercest warriors with gifts and therefore, the warriors pledged loyalty and allegiance

Question for thought….

• What do you think is meant by the following quote..

• “He who earns praise/Has under heaven the greatest glory.”

– Widsith, the Minstrel

Oral Literature

• Anglo Saxons brought their Germanic language, religion, culture, and oral literary traditions to Britain.

• Storytellers created heroic songs to depict the warriors battles and great deeds

• The culture celebrated strength, courage, and loyalty – which they believed could save people from the evils that threatened them

• Scops… minstrels who performed songs during the banquests held at the mead-halls of Anglo Saxon rulers

• In a mostly illiterate society, songs served as literary entertainment.

Germanic and Christian Traditions• Two most important influences on Anglo-Saxon

literature were Germanic tradition and the Christian religion

• Anglo Saxon Lit focused on the dark, heroic tales of Germanic mythology which depict a tragic world in which even the gods ultimately perish

• Christian religion focused on an omnipotent God and promise of eternal life

In works such as Beowulf, both Germanic and Christian elements were combined. Grendel is described as a troll-like creature and also a descendent of Cain.

WYRD

• The Anglo Saxon word for fate – and fate was believed to control human destiny and that one’s ultimate and inescapable fate was death.

• The epic hero’s only appropriate response was to face death with courage

The Power of Faith

Question for thought….

Do you think that a community’s tallest buildings reveal its

dominant values? Why or Why not?

Christianizing England

• 596 – Pope Gregory I sent missioniaries to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.

• By 650 – most of England was Christian in name though many retained some of the pagan beliefs and traditions

• Christianity brought glimmerings of education and culture

• By 8th century, Anglo-Saxon culture reached its peak in many of the Northumbrian monasteries that produced decorated books(illuminated manuscripts).

• Book of Durrow and Lindisfarne Gospels rank among the most beautiful works of art in the Middle Ages

The Monasteries

• Some men and women chose to dedicate their lives to work and prayer. These men(monks) and women(nuns) would join religious orders which varied in their communal orders. Some were very strict demanding poverty, fasting, absolute obedience, and manual labor.

• English monks established libraries and schools and emphasized the importance of the written word—especially of the Bible.

Pilgrimages

• One way people expressed religious devotion was to undertake a pilgrimage, or journey, to a sacred site.

• One of the most important journeys was to Canterbury Cathedral where in 1170 Sir Thomas a Beckett was slain

• Canterbury Tales will be your glimpse into this type of journey.

Religious Drama

• Alternative to reading• Most were illiterate• Dramas developed from

enactments of biblical stories during church services

• Two types: Mystery Plays Morality Plays

Mystery Plays

Plays which were complete cycles developed with the beginning of creation of the world and

concluded with the last judgment and performed by local guilds.

Mystery meant “trade” or “craft”.

Morality Plays

• Less realistic• Featured allegorical figures

representing good, evil, and other abstract qualities

• These plays presented moral lessons

The World of Romance

Question for Thought…

What do you believe are the basic elements of a good

romance?

The Knight

• Enjoyed great social prestige• Formed necleus of the feudal aristocracy• Pledged allegiance (and military prowess) to specific

lords and vassals in exchange for land• Main responsibility was to train and fight• When not in battle, they provided sport and

entertainment in showy tournaments• Jousting was one of the tournament games but around

1500 was changed to encourage a safer form of entertainment

• The church tried to regulate knightly violence by outlawing fighting on Sundays and holidays.

Chivalry and Courtly Love

• Chivalry – derived from chevalier, meaning horseman• Refers to a code of ethics the knight was

obliged to uphold.• Knights were to be honorable, generous,

brave, skillful in battle, respectful to women, and protective of widows and orphans

• Code of chivalry helped to civilize the conduct of k nights and elevate the status of women

Courtly Love

• The relationship between a knight and a courtly lady(usually married to someone else)

• Marriages were commercial arrangements involving exchange of property or goods or an alliance of families

The Rise of Romance

• Originating in France – romance became the most popular literary genre in medieval England

• Most romances describe adventures of knights and celebrate chivalry and courtly love

• Most highly regarded verse romance in English is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• In 1470, Sir Thomas Malory retold the entire cycle of Arthurian legend in Le Morte d’ Arthur

The Epic and its form…

*Poetic lines that have regular meter and rhythm and formal, elevated, or even lofty language

*Main characters who have heroic or superhuman qualities

*gods or godlike beings who intervene in the events

*Action on a huge scale, often involving the fates of entire people

*Stories that begin in the middle of things or at a critical point in the action

The Epic Form cont’d…

• Uses a variety of literary devices:• Epithet – a word of brief phrase often used to

characterize a particular person, place, or thing. Ex.-Athena is “gray-eyed” and the sea is “wine-dark”

• Kenning – a standardized comparison between two things. Ex.-the king is a “ring-giver” and the sea is the “whale-road”

• Both epithets and kennings helped epic poets mold their ideas to their poetic forms