The Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance

- a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century.

- followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and preceded the Early Modern Era.

- the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern.

- subdivided into 3 intervals: Early Middle Ages (476-1000), High Middle Ages (1000–1300), and Late Middle Ages (1300–1453) Note:  In the 19th century, the entire Middle Ages were often referred to as the "Dark Ages". But with the creation of these subdivisions, the use of this term was restricted to the Early Middle Ages

MIDDLE AGES

•- collapse of the Roman Empire: no apparent social organization

- Solved by two institutions: Church and feudalism

ChurchHierarchy: pope = emperor –> direct representative of God on earth

Feudalism

King (landlord) provides protection to individuals through vassals (noblemen) Manors - basic social unit; serfs at the bottom of feudal pyramid

FEUDALISM

Period Event Literature

4-6 CE •Emperor Theodosius formally proclaimed Christianity as Rome’s state religion•Pope Innocent I centralized Christendom

Arthurian Legends

7-8 CE •Charlemagne (742-814) – crowned “Holy Roman Emperor” by Pope Leo III on Dec 25, 800

Beowulf

12 CE •Pope Urban II (1095) launched the Crusades to capture Holy Lands from the Saracens (failed)•Muslim culture, literature, and science merged with the Christians’.•establishment of major European universities-Oxford (1167)-Paris (1170)-Cambridge (1209)

•Song of Roland (legendary Charlemagne)•Arthurian Romances

13 CE decline of medieval system •English barons forced King John to sign Magna Carta (1215)•Struggles between Guelphs (pope) and Ghibellines (emperor) (Italy)•Rise of guilds and organisations, rise of the middle class

•Summa Theologica (St. Thomas Aquinas, 1273) •Romance of the Rose•Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Romano-British)•Elder Edda (Norse)•Nibelungenlied (German)

14 CE •Black Death•Hundred Years’ War

•Divine Comedy – Dante•Decameron – Boccaccio•Rhymes – Petrarch•Canterbury Tales – Chaucer•Gesta Romanorum (Deeds of the Romans)•The Poem of My Cid

15 CE The cathedral, as quintessential expression of the medieval spirit, illustrates three tendencies:•Authoritarianism – building of cathedrals (subordination)•Comprehensiveness – synthesis of social values, art, religion•Otherworldliness – spires pointing away from earth to heaven

The Prince – Machiavelli 1532

16 CE •Protestant Reformation•Magellan discovered the Philippines

•Faerie Queene – Edmund Spenser 1590,1596•Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes 1605,1615

The Rules of Courtly LoveThe violence and wars of the Middle Ages were tempered by the Rules of Courtly Love. The following rules and elements of Courtly Love during the Middle Ages were written by the 12th Century Frenchman, Andreas Capellanus:

• Marriage is no real excuse for not loving• He who is not jealous, cannot love• No one can be bound by a double love• When one lover dies, a widowhood of two years is required of the survivor

• When made public love rarely endures • A new love puts to flight an old one • Real jealousy always increases the feeling of love • A true lover is constantly and without intermission possessed by the thought of his beloved

• Nothing forbids one woman being loved by two men or one man by two women

•The above rules of Courtly love demonstrate how playing this game could lead to all kinds of problems within the court circle.

Summary of the Magna Carta

 The summary of the Magna Carta is as follows:

The Church - The Church was to be free from royal interference, especially in the election of bishops

Taxes - No taxes except the regular feudal dues were to be levied, except by the consent of the Great Council, or Parliament

The right to due process which led to Trial by JuryWeights and Measures - All weights and measures to be kept

uniform throughout the realm