Medieval Literature: an overview

Middle Ages (Medieval Era)

1066

The Dark Ages

William The ConquerorFrom French Province of Normandy

Fief of the Kingdom of France

French influence over Middle English

Feudal system

French became the language of

the Elite


Feudalism (feudal system)

Feudal lord/

Serf/ Villein

Vassal

Fief

§The Oath of Fealty


Medieval Knighthood

• Lived by very strong values & code of

conduct

• The code of chivalry or knightly

conduct

• Chivalrous conduct = bravery, truth,

honour & gallantry towards women

• Courtly love

Middle Ages (Medieval Era)Christianity v/s Paganism


Witch hunt


Christianity


7 Deadly Sins 7 Heavenly Virtues

Lust Chastity

Gluttony Temperance

Greed Charity

Sloth Diligence

Wrath Patience

Envy Kindness

Pride Humility

Christianity

Good v/s Evil Christ Figure Genesis


Fall of Satan/ Lucifer:

disobedience v/s pride

Jesus Christ: epitome of

selfless love & self-sacrifice

Fall of Man: Disobedience

(Sacred feminine)

Medieval Literature

Mystery, Miracle,

Passion & Morality

Plays

(Christian Ideals)

Medieval

Romance

(Knighthood;

Chivalry & Courtly

Love)

Folks Tales ,

Myths & Legends

Animal Fables:

Bestiaries

Religious

writings: non-

fiction by female

mystiques

Medieval Literature

• Allegorical

• Religious v/s Secular

Literature

• Alliterative

• Translations from other

languages

• Inspired by the past

(Arthurian legends, Greek,

Roman & Celtic Mythology,

Folk Tales)

• Christian values & morals

• Paganism v/s Christianity

Characteristics

Medieval LiteratureAndreas Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love (1184-6)

1. Marriage is no excuse for not loving.2. He who is not jealous cannot love.3. No one can be bound by two loves.4. Love is always growing or diminishing.5. A lover shouldn’t take anything against the will of the other.6. A male cannot love until he has fully reached puberty.7. Two years of mourning for a dead lover.8. No one should be deprived of love without a valid reason.9. One cannot love who is not driven by the power of love.10. Love always departs from the dwelling place of avarice.11. One cannot love whom one would be ashamed to marry.12. True lover never desires the embraces of any other lover.13. Love rarely lasts when it is revealed.14. An easy attainment makes love contemptible.15. Every lover turns pale in the presence of his beloved.16. When a lover has sight of his love, his heart beats wildly.17. A new love expels an old one.18. Moral integrity alone makes one worthy of love.

19. If love diminishes, it quickly leaves and rarely revives.20. A lover is always fearful.21. Jealousy always increases the effects of love.22. If a lover suspects another, the effects of love increase.23. He who is vexed by love eats little and seldom sleeps.24. Every action of a lover ends in the thought of his beloved.25. True lover only believes that which will please his beloved.26. Love can deny nothing to love.27. A lover never has enough of the embraces of his beloved.28. The slightest suspicion incites suspicion of the worst.29. He who suffers from excessive passion cannot love.30. The true lover is obsessed with the image of his beloved.31. Nothing prevents a woman from being loved by two men, or a man from being loved by two women.

Medieval LiteratureRomance & Arthurian Legends

Sir Gawain and the

Green Knight

William Longland: The

Vision of the Pier’s

Plowman

Sir Thomas Malory: Le

Morte D’Arthur

(Chanson de geste)

Medieval LiteratureBestiaries or Beast Fables

• John Gower (medieval poetry): e.g.

The Tale of Phoebus and the Crow

• Medieval translations of Aesop’s

Fables (Greek)

• The Book of Beasts (Latin)

• Exemplum – Exempla (didacticism)

• Robert Henryson: The Morall

Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian

The Wolfe and the Lambe

The lambe, þe wolfe, contrary

of nature,

Euer diuerse & noþyng oon

þey þynke.

Boþe at onys of soden auenture

To a fresshe ryuer þey came

downe to drynke:

At þe hede spryng hy opon þe

brynke

Stondeþ þe wolfe, a forward

beste of kynde;

The sely lambe stood fer abak

behynde.

Lydgate

Medieval LiteratureFemale Mysticism

Excerpt from:

The Book of Margery Kempe

The fyrst two yer whan this creatur was thus drawyn to owyr Lord, sche had gretqwiete of spyryt as for ony temptacyons. Sche mygth wel dure to fastyn, it grevyd hir not. Sche hatyd the joys of the world. Sche felt no rebellyon in hyr flesch. Sche was strong, as hir thowt, that sche dred no devylle in helle, for sche dede so gret bodyly penawnce. Sche thowt that sche lovyd God mor than he hir. Sche was smet wyth the dedly wownd of veynglory and felt it not, for sche desyryd many tymes that the crucifix schuld losyn hys handys fro the crosse and halsyn hir in tokyn of lofe.

Julian of Norwich Margery Kempe

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 1400)• The Book of the Duchess: Allegorical Romance (poet + knight)

• The House of Fame: Epic poem (characters from Greek + Roman mythology)

• The Legend of Good Women: Short Stories of virtuous women (from mythology)

• Troilus and Criseyde: Courtly Romance (translation of Robert Henryson’s Scots poem)

• The Parlement of Foules: Beast Fable

• The Romaunt of the Rose: Allegorical Romance (translation from French)

"See yonder, lo, the Galaxyë

Which men clepeth the Milky Wey,

For hit is whyt."

Geoffrey Chaucer: Canterbury Tales

Narrator

Knight

Squire

- 29 pilgrims representing all classes, all professions in medieval England

- 22 Tales, 2 Fragments

Friar

Prioress

Two nuns

Summoner

Pardoner

Parson

Monk

Nun’s Priest

Clerk

MillerManciple

Yeoman

Shipman

Physician

Merchant

Franklin

Reeve

Cook

Lawyer “Man of Law”

Wife of Bath



The Miller’s Tale

Fabliau

Parody of Romance

The Wife of Bath’s Tale

The Nun's Priest's Tale

Bestiary


The Knight’s Tale

Courtly Romance

Religious mysticism

The Pardoner’s Tale

The Second Nun's TaleExemplar

Education

Medieval Literature: an overview