Medieval period

1066-14851066-1485

Battle of Hastings to the Battle of Battle of Hastings to the Battle of Bosworth FieldBosworth Field

Feudalism was a hierarchy

based on the least powerful swearing allegiance and loyalty to the person in power above him. It began with the serfs and ended with the king and the Pope

Medieval Period was based on feudalism

The Norman Conquest of England

created a powerful Anglo-Norman entity and brought England into the mainstream of European civilization

Characteristics of the Middle Ages (cont)

The feudal system centralized

military, political, and economic power in the Crown

Characteristics of the Middle Ages (cont)

The Roman Church

transcended national boundaries and fostered cultural unity among Europeans

Characteristics of the Middle Ages (cont)

The ideals of chivalry

improved attitudes toward but not the rights of women

Characteristics of the Middle Ages (cont)

The bubonic plague created a

labor shortage that contributed to the end of feudalism and to the passing of the Middle Ages

Characteristics of the Middle Ages (cont)

William led the Normans against

the Anglo Saxons at the Battle of Hastings (1066 CE)

He won and brought a new language and methods of organization to England

William the Conquerer

Most influential and powerful institution in

Europe Dictated even the most insignificant details of

individuals’ lives Participated in Inquisitions Controlled intellectual thought until the

Renaissance Place of power and education

Catholic Church

Called the Black Death– estimates say that 10

to fifty percent of Europeans died of the black death.

So many people died that there was a shortage of labor which eventually helped to bring about the middle class.

Bubonic Plague strikes England 1348

Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered

by the knights of Henry II. Canterbury Cathedral honors this English

martyr. He also was the martyr celebrated in the

Canterbury Tales

Thomas a Beckett

Chivalry was a code of conduct based

on the process of becoming a knight. Adherence to oaths of allegiance and

rules governing fighting were basic to its precepts

Chivalry

Orginally dervied from a French word which

meant dancing song, ballads were composed with music in mind with their rhythm and meter. Ballads are poetry of the people and their topics are ones of everyday life– lost love, death, betrayal, the supernatural and relationships

Ballads

A tale about Arthur’s knights and the Round

Table, Sir Gawain accepts the Green Knights challenge to exchange blows. The story might really be about redemption and sin.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Canterbury Tales was written in Middle English

by Geoffrey Chaucer who is often called the father of English poetry. He is credited with making English respectable. Until Chaucer most literature and documents of importance were done in Latin

Canterbury Tales (written 1387)

A morality play to teach a lesson to its

viewers. It’s about a character named Everyman who confronts Death and has to find which of his friends will go with him.

Everyman