English 2034

England to 1600

English Civilization in Three Steps

Feudal economy (500-1500)

• Land is valuable. Population is rural.

• Society is organized around kings, lords/knights, and peasants, by ties of loyalty

Capitalist/Industrial economy (1500-1968)

• Production and goods are valuable. Population is urban.

• Society is organized around owners and workers, by ties of economic benefit

Knowledge economy (1968-)

• Information is valuable. Population is online.

• Society is organized around multiple and temporary arrangements of sharing and controlling information

Rome At its height in 117, Rome held almost all of Europe, the Mediterranean, and parts of northern Africa and western Asia. Oversized and racked by power disputes, the empire was divided into east and west in 293 and was ruled by two emperors and Caesars.   Rome never ‘fell.’ The eastern part of the empire continued until being overcome by Muslim Turks in 1453, and the west deteriorated over centuries. Rome itself was sacked in 410, but there were still emperors until 476, and barbarian kings tended to see themselves as the heirs of Roman culture. Charlemagne was crowned in 800 as Emperor of the Romans.

The Origins of England

The decline of Rome was mostly due to the impossibility of defending such a large land area. As the empire struggled to find enough Roman soldiers to staff its armies, it began to contract German barbarian mercenaries. While the system initially worked well, gradually land pressures, corruption, and cultural differences caused the German chieftains and settlers to break away from the empire. With no legions to enforce its edicts, central authority withered and Europe broke up into petty kingdoms. One of these kingdoms was England. After Roman soldiers abandoned it around 400, Germanic Anglo-Saxon chieftains took control.

Medieval Historyc. 450: Angles and Saxons occupy England, driving the inhabitants into Wales, Ireland, and Scotland476: The last western Roman emperor is deposed. Italy and Europe splinter into petty kingdoms ruled by chieftains and kings. Latin begins to fragment into local dialects which become French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.597: Augustine of Canterbury begins to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.638: Jerusalem falls to Islamic forces.800: Charlemagne is crowned Emperor, setting in motion the Holy Roman Empire, what is now Italy, Germany, and much of France.

The Normans Invade, 1066

In 1066, William the Conqueror, a French-speaking Viking from northern France, invades England with an army and seizes the country. Politically, England has already been ruled by Danes for a century, but William imports French language, government, and culture to the island.

Feudalism

The middle ages cannot be understood without understanding feudalism. Feudalism is an economic and cultural system in which the king holds land, which is assigned to aristocrats, church officials, and other lords. These lords fight as knights in the king’s army and, in turn, rent their land to peasants, who work the land and provide taxes and services to their lord. Medieval literature and culture presents this relationship as one of love and duty, with the ideal warrior fighting to the death for his lord.

Anglo-Saxon Culture

- Political power lies in the folc

- Kings are merely good fighters chosen by the people

- The highest value is loyalty and love to one’s lord

- Women could own property and had some rights

- Land was a common good owned by everyone

- Simple buildings and architecture

Norman French Culture - Political power lies in the king - Kings rule under divine right, chosen by heaven - The highest value is romantic service and love for a woman - Women had little legal standing - Land was owned by the king, who permitted or rented its use - Castles and stone works

The Normans Become English

The early Norman kings of England spoke French and spent more of their lives in France than in England. Over the centuries their rule over northern France declined. King John (1166-1216) lost most of Normandy after 1202 and was almost deposed himself, being forced to sign the Magna Carta in 1215 by rebellious barons. By 1337 the rift had grown into war. Although England was initially victorious in several key battles such as Agincourt (1415), the French would rally under leaders such as Jean d’Arc (1412-31), driving the English out in 1453.

- English resistance and the Robin Hood legends

Medieval History1066: French Vikings (Normans) conquer England. French becomes the court and aristocratic language of England for about 200 years.1215: King John of England accepts the Magna Carta.1337-1453: The Hundred Years’ War. As the English war with the French, the prestige of French as a language declines.1348: The Black Plague kills about 1/3 of European citizens.1453: The Eastern Roman Empire ends as Muslim Turks occupy Constantinople (Istanbul). Gutenberg's printing press begins to produce books.1470: Leonardo da Vinci begins work as a professional artist in Florence as the Italian Renaissance gathers pace.1492: Columbus discovers America.

The Black Plague (1351)

The origins of the Black Plague are unknown. Theories claim it originated in central Asia or in Africa. By 1348 it reached Europe and England, where over the next several years it killed between 30-60% of Europe, 40% of Egypt, and one-third of China’s population.

But in a sense plagues helped cause the renaissance and industrial revolution. Labor shortages encouraged labor-saving devices and social changes which would lead to humanism and capitalism. The printing press might be explained as a result of a shortage of human labor.

Late Medieval England

Feudalism became increasingly obsolete by the 1400s with the growth of cities, trade, and technology. By this time the rising urban middle class was often richer than the knightly class and grew increasingly powerful. As trade and capitalism gradually became more valuable than farmland, as labor shortages led to better farming technology, as new humanist ideas reduced the control of church and aristocracy, and as gunpowder made knights on horses useless, feudalism declined into the beginnings of a modern capitalist economy—the society Shakespeare is born into in 1565.

Medieval English Literature

English literature begins with Germanicpoems and stories, usually grim and warlike, but sometimes vulgar and funny.Post-conquest poetry, written in Middle English, becomes more concerned with French and Latin themes of love and romance. It reaches its height with Geoffrey Chaucer (1330-1400).

Early Modern England

1517 Luther’s Ninety-Five theses 1519-1522 Magellan circumnavigates the globe 1532-1534 Henry VIII breaks with Rome 1618-1648 Thirty Years’ war 1630 Puritans settle Boston 1633 Galileo’s trial 1642-1649 English Civil war

Key Developments

1. The economic development of industrial production through capitalism, as opposed to land production. The labor shortages of the 1300s along with the growth of international trade brought new wealth and power into cities. Here also grew banking, investment, and new forms of business. 2. The growth of international trade and colonization. Improved sea technology and better ships and navigation equipment allowed a huge expansion in markets and colonies as the European countries raced to claim foreign lands abroad.

PoetryQueen Elizabeth reigned 1558-1603, but her period was so influential that the Elizabethan style of poetry extends into the mid-1600s.

Themes

Love: Forbidden love, young love, poems of pleading

Aristocratic and classical / heroic subjects

Startling, extreme, or sexual comparisons or imagery

Who was Shakespeare? Did he write his own plays?- Few medieval plays or stories were ‘invented.’ Most had traditional origins