The Battle of Hastings in 1066• King Harold of

England was beaten by William of Normandy

• Normans were of Viking and French ancestry

• Full take-over, not just a temporary invasion

The dual realms of England and Normandy became the most powerful force in Europe.

Melding of the Norman and Anglo-Saxon cultures

Anglo-Saxon land was taken away and given to those who fought for William the Conqueror.

No land was owned independently.

Chain of loyalties, with rent paid primarily in military service to the overlord or king.

William had this book inventory all of the land holdings in England and their claims.

Taxes were now based on property, whereas before they were equal for all.

The Medieval Church helped to create one homogenous society with a common culture and set of beliefs.

Latin, the language of the church, became the language of the educated.

Religious men were still predominant in collecting and writing manuscripts.

Most people lived in the country on a feudal manor where they worked their own fields and the lands of the lord of the manor to whom they owed allegiance.

Farming changed to herding as English wool from sheep became popular.

Due to herding, cottages became mills.

Towns in the north expanded due to the production of wool.

A new merchant class grew.

Guilds were created to assure fair wages.

Common Law• Common to the

whole country and all its people rather than to certain classes of people

Developed as society developed

Law of Primogeniture

Firstborn son inherits his father’s titles, estates, lands, etc.

Ordeals• People’s innocence or

guilt was settled by giving them tasks. If they were successful, they were judged innocent.

• The pope found this law “irrational” in 1215

Magna Carta• Limited the king’s

taxing powers and foreshadowed the right of trial by jury.

The first crusade was in 1095, proclaimed by Pope Urban II, to rescue Jerusalem from the Turks.

Several more followed. All ended poorly in a

tangle of raiding, looting and power politics.

Through these travels Europeans were exposed to eastern mathematics and medicine.

Chivalry as an ideal.

England never fully relinquished its lands to the Normans, thus resulting in a series of wars ranging from 1337 to 1453.

English longbows were the weapon that most impacted their efficiency.

The Black Death killed 1/3 of the population in 1348.

Scarcity of labor but burdensome taxes

Peasants revolted Civil war between

the House of York, whose emblem was the white rose, vs. the house of Lancaster whose emblem was a red rose.

Medieval romances consisted of tales of chivalry.

Autobiography Travel writing Devotional writing

(lives of the saints)

The ballad Songs sung at alehouses

and around firesides Rarely written down Flourished during the

14th and 15th centurires but not published until the 18th century

Miracle Plays based on the lives of saints

Morality Plays• Virtues and vices

Born into an upper, middle-class family

He was a court favorite and served as a soldier, fighting in France

Held many diplomatic positions throughout his life.

One of his most important contributions was bringing the English language to literature.

The tale brings together characters from all classes.

Each character shares a tale on the way to a pilgrimage in Canterbury.

Ideally Chaucer had intended to have each character tell two tales on the way and two more on the way home, but he died before this was accomplished.

The Canterbury Tales provides our best picture of life in 14th century England

Chaucer shows a profound understanding of human motivation

Written in poetry rather than prose

Easy, informal vocabulary