Courtly Society

in

Medieval Europe

Fusion of the Early Middle Ages

5th-11th centuries Fall of Rome Celtic Influences Norse-Germanic Influences Spread of Christianity

throughout Europe Islamic Influences Feudalism Empires and Kingdoms

Fall of Rome:Rise of Germanic

Tribes 330: Constantine moved the capitol of the Roman Empire to

Constantinople 402: Honorius moved capitol of the Western Empire from

Rome to Ravenna 410: Visigoths sacked Rome 455: Vandals sacked Rome and took control of N. Africa

and Spain 5th c.: Waves of Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded Britain

and Burgundians controlled much of France 476: Goths seized Rome: Odoacer became Emperor

The Celts

Called Galatai or Keltoi by Greeks, Galli (Gauls) by Romans “Omnia Galli tres partes divisus est” Julius Caesar

Migrated throughout Europe from 1st millenium bce-1st c. bce

Fierce warriors: went naked, painted blue, into battle known for wild challenges Furor: battle fury used war chariots, javelins and lancia: battle lances head-hunters believed in re-incarnation

Celtic Influences Decorative

Animal motifs Arabesques

Religious Scholarship Monasticism

Literary Epics and folklore Sovranty: Love-Political Triangle

King-Queen-Suitor/Challenger Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot

Celtic Christianity Christianity was introduced into

the British Isles in late 1st century or early 2nd c. with Roman soldiers

Cultic religion existing alongside other cults; both indigenous and brought in by the Romans, such as the cult of Mithras.

The new faith rapidly gained adherents

St. Patrick (389?-461?)

Apostle of Ireland, Christian prelate. Born in Scotland -- kidnapped at 16 by

Irish pirates and sold in Ireland as a slave. He passed his captivity as a herdsman

Saw visions in which he was urged to escape, and after six years of slavery he did so,

Ordained as a deacon, then priest and finally as a bishop.

Pope Celestine then sent him back to Ireland to preach the gospel.

Syncretism: St. Bridgit

Patrick carried Christianity to the Irish by transforming their sacred groves, wells, and mounds into centers of worship for the new faith.

He also adopted the ancient Celtic deities into the new faith, demoting them to saints

Brigit,the goddess of healing and fertility became St. Bridgit in the new faith.

The Irish Church

Elements of Eastern Christianity: emphasis on monasticism organizational structure of abbots and monasteries versus bishops

and parish churches ascetic holiness and pilgrimage

The abbeys' and monasteries' success in teaching: Generations of scholars who not only copied Christian material but

also transcribed the myths of the Ulster and Finian cycles, the Brehon laws, and other Celtic documents

Survival of Christianity in the British Isles despite conquest by the pagan Angles and Saxons.

Sent missionaries to England and scholars to courts, such as Charlemagne’s, throughout Europe

Germanic Comitatus or Kinship Groups

König, eorlas und thanes: kings, nobles and warriors Mutual loyalty -- warriors fight for king, king is

generous to warriors Originally a socially egalitarian setup, during the third

and fourth centuries AD, became socially stratified Basis for feudal loyalty Ideal and philosophy expressed in oral epics like

Beowulf and The Song of Roland

Charlemagne 768-814

Otherwise known as Charles the Great, or Charles the First

Eldest son born of Pepin the Short and his wife Bertrada

Possessed many qualities of greatness: imposing physical stature, warrior prowess, piety, generosity, intelligence, devotion to family and friends, and joy for life.

A hero in his own time who became a legendary figure

CAROLINGIAN RENAISSANCE Charlemagne was a strong supporter of education Assembled scholars and learned men at court in Aachen Most noted was Alcuin (c. 735-804) who was Charlemagne's chief

advisor on religious and educational matters; prepared official documents and exempla

The scholars copied books and built up libraries; used "Carolingian minuscule;" saved the thoughts and writings of the ancients

Worked on educating priests Limited illiteracy Preserved Latin culture

in West

Carolingian MS.

Aachen Cathedral

early Romanesque architectureca. 792-805

Illuminated Manuscripts

. The word `illuminated' comes from a usage of the Latin word illuminare -- `adorn'.

The decorations are of three main types: miniatures or small pictures, into

the text or occupying the whole page or part of the border;

initial letters either containing scenes (historiated initials) or with elaborate decoration;

Books written by hand, decorated with paintingsborders, which may consist of

miniatures, occasionally illustrative, or more often are composed of decorative motifs.

Sacramentary--Use of Saint-Denis,9thc.

                 

I've been with sword and,spearslippery with bright blood

where kites wheeled. And how wellwe violent Vikings clashed!

Redflames ate up men's roofs,raging we killed and killed;

and skewered bodies sprawledsleepy in town gateways.

Viking Runes

The Normans

Vikings, or Norsemen, who settled in northern France (or the Frankish kingdom), together with their descendants

A Viking named Rollo emerged as the leader among the new settlers.

911 the Frankish king Charles III the Simple ceded Rollo the land around the mouth of the Seine and what is now the city of Rouen

The Normans founded the duchy of Normandy and sent out expeditions of conquest and colonization to southern Italy and Sicily and to England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.

Feudalism

Social system of rights and duties based on land tenure and personal relationships land is held in fief by vassals who owe military services tolords to whom they are bound by personal loyalty.

Feudalism is a form of civilization that flourishes especially in a closed agricultural economy

Those who fulfill official duties, whether civil or military, do so because of personal and freely accepted links with their overlord – not because of patriotism

Public authority becomes fragmented and decentralized.

Social ClassesSECULAR

KING

NOBLES

KNIGHTS

MERCHANTSPROFESSIONALS

CRAFTSMEN

PEASANTSfreemen

serfs

ECCLESIASTICAL

POPE

CARDINALS

BISHOPS ABBOTS

PRIESTS MONKSSUMMONERS FRIARSPARDONERS NUNS

PEASANTSlay brothers and sisters

serfs

Norman Conquest1066: Contest for the English crown:

Harold, Earl of Wessex: Anglo-Saxon claimantHarald Hardrada of NorwayWilliam Duke of Normandy

Battle of Stamford Bridge: Harold defeated Hardrada's army which invaded using over 300 ships; so many were killed that only 25 ships were needed to transport the survivors home.

Battle of Hastings: William led Norman forces against the English. Harold Killed in battle; William seized the throne

William the Conqueror

Crusades: 1095-15th c.

Holy Wars"-- against various enemies of the Church

Initially non-Christians: Moslems and pagans

At first the object of the Crusades was to recover the Holy Places (in what are now Israel and Jordan) from the Moslems, who had seized them in the 7th Century.

Later Crusades were preached against Christian heretics, and even against orthodox Christians who happened to have political disputes with the current pope.

Islamic Influence in Europe

Islamic Learning The synthesis of Eastern and Western ideas and of new

thought with old, brought about great advances in medicine, mathematics, physics, astronomy, geography, architecture, art, literature, and history.

Many systems such as algebra, the Arabic numerals, and also the concept of the zero vital to the advancement of mathematics, were transmitted to medieval Europe from Islam.

Sophisticated instruments which were to make possible the European voyages of discovery were developed, including the astrolabe, the quadrant and good navigational maps.

Islamic Influences Astronomy

discovered stars: Algol Deneb, Betelgeuse, Rigel, Aldebaran

compiled astronomical tables and almanacs

established observatories translated Ptolemy’s Almagest

Mathematics Arabic numerals Zero Algebra, algorithm

Inventions quadrant and astrolabe

Medicine first hospital – Baghdad

706 A&P: surgery emphasized empirical

observation hygiene and

pharmacology Universities

Al-Zaytunah, Tunis – 732 Al-Azhar, Cairo – 988 Muslim Spain: Granada,

Seville, and Cordoba, – 9th c.

Literature Religious Toleration

By 1100 “There existed in Cordoba alone, 200,000 houses, 600 mosques, 900 public baths, 10,000 lamps, 50 hospitals, lighted and paved streets. There were bookshops and more than 70 libraries

with over 400,000 books.”

Medieval Islamic Scientists

Jaber Ibn Haiyan (Geber)alchemist/metallurgistdied 803 CE

Ibn Sina (Avicenna)physician/philosopher981-1037 CE

Ar-Razi (Rhazes)physician/ philosopher864-930 CE

Abu Al-Qasim Al-Zahravi (Albucasis)surgeon/author 936-1013 CE

Ibn Rushd (Averroes)physician/philosopher1128-1198 CE

Al-Khawarizmi (Algorizm)mathematician/ astronomer770-840 CE

Islamic Literature: Poetry Arabic and Persian poetry

qasidah: formalized ode: visit to abandoned encampment, journey to find one’s love, eulogy to neighbor or tribe

masnavi: long historical narratives: Firdawsi’s Shahnamah rubai: lyrical quatrains ghazal: short Arabic love lyric of 5-15 couplets

Arabic Andalusian poetry: Islamic Spain – the Moors muwashshah: mixes Arabic and Spanish idioms lyric simplicity, dense metaphors, love of nature courtship poetry: highly influential on development of

Western Courtly Love poetry Poemas Arabigoandaluces

Islamic Literature: ProseA Thousand and One Nights

Linked stories with frame tale Origins in Indian, Persian, and

Arabic tales Blending of the marvelous

with common, everyday experience

Emphasizes the healing power of storytelling

Collections of Eastern stories influenced the development of the novella and the short tale in Western European literature

Scheherezade with the Emperor Shariyar and her sister Dunyasha

European Universities Evolved from medieval schools known as studia generalia

Places of study open to students throughout Europe. Efforts to educate clerks and monks beyond the level of the cathedral and

monastic schools. Earliest Western universities:

Salerno, Italy-- 9th c. -- famous medical school that drew students from all over Europe

Bologna, Italy-- 11thc. --a widely respected school of canon and civil law University of Paris --mid 12th c.-- noted for its teaching of theology and as a

model for other universities in N. Europe Oxford University in England--end of the 12th century.

Course of StudyCore curriculum based on the

seven liberal arts: Trivium: grammar, logic, rhetoric,

Quadrivium: geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music.

Students then proceeded to study under one of the professional faculties of medicine, law, and theology.

Final examinations were grueling, and many students failed.

Chivalry

Chivalry was a peculiarity of the practice of war in medieval Europe.

The feudal knight was supposed to be devout, honest, selfless, just, brave, honorable, obedient, kind, charitable, generous, and kind to women.

complex rituals and rules

AprilTrès Riches Heuresof the Duc de Berry

CourtlyLove

C.S. Lewis: “Humility, Courtesy, Adultery and the

Religion of Love”

The "rules" for this game are roughly:

Worship of the chosen lady

Declaration of passionate devotion

Virtuous rejection by the lady

Renewed wooing with oaths of eternal fealty

Moans of approaching death from unsatisfied desire

Heroic deeds of valor which win the lady's heart

Consummation of the secret love

Endless adventures and subterfuges

Tragic end

Troubadour Poetry Origins in Provençal: Guillaume X considered to be first

troubadour poet Troubadours and Trobiaritz flourished between 1100

and 1350 and were attached to various courts in the south of France.

Innovations:vernacular languagepassionate love poetry influenced by Islamic

love poetryvoice of amour courtoislove viewed as ennobling -- heightens one’s sensibility

Minnesänger

Medieval German poets, who contributed to the development of the ideas of courtly love in the 13th and 14th centuries

German minnesänger were willing to incorporate the ideals of courtly love into a marriage framework -- see especially Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Parzival

Courtly Love and the

Roman Courtois

Countered Franco-German ideal of Holy Roman Empire with Charlemagne as saint

Nourished by Celtic inspiration, Provençal eroticism and Islamic poetry

Theme: initiation, dedication, metamorphosis and absorption into a higher and fuller life

“love is a cue for chivalric adventure, and chivalry is a means of deserving love”

Arthurian Legend Historical: Romano-Celtic dux bellorum who fought the

Anglo-Saxon invasions Major texts:

12th century Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of

Britain Chretien de Troyes’ romances

13th-14th century: French prose romances 15th century: Malory

Church’s response to Amour Courtois

Obviously disapproved of the cultic status of the lady and the tacit approval of adultery

Encouraged infusion of Christian ideals into literature: Grail romances Sublimated love: Dante’s Divina Commedia

Used the language of courtly love in the veneration of the Virgin Mary

Perceval: The Story of the Grail by

Chretien de Troyes, 12th c.

First Grail Romance

Grail not here associated with the cup of the Last Supper or the cup used to catch Christ’s blood

A symbol of beauty and mystery, but not of religious devotion

13th-14th Century:French Grail Romances

Robert de Boron, Joseph d’Arimathie and Merlin, c.1202-12

Didot Perceval: Perceval le Gallois ou le Conte du Graal, c.1210-20

Vulgate prose cycle: French Cistercian retelling of Estoire del Saint Graal, Estoire de Merlin, Lancelot du Lac, Queste del Saint Graal, and Mort Artu, c. 1215-30

Roman Du Graal and Lancelot Cycle: variant versions of the Vulgate Cycle, c. 1230-1320

Cistercian Spirituality

Transforms the grail into “the Holy Grail” -- the cup in which Joseph of Arimathea caught the blood dripping from Jesus’ wounds

Claims that Joseph of Arimathea brought the grail to Britain Grail quests become the central activity of the Arthurian

knights, especially Gawain, Perceval, and Lancelot: none of whom can achieve the grail because of their impurities.

Introduction of Galahad, son of Sir

Lancelot and the maiden Elaine, who,

because of his purity is able to attain “The

Holy Grail”

Notre Dame du Chartres 1145-1220

Gothic Cathedral

Guillaume de Machaut (b. around 1300-d. 1377)

A poet and innovative composer--major figure in 14th c. French literature and music.

Apart from his celebrated Coronation Mass, his art was essentially of secular inspiration

Found its most finished expression in a series of Dits (stories in verse, interspersed with lyric and musical pieces).

The author celebrated the traditional themes of courtly love.

La Stil Nuova

Italian courtly poetry Love for lady becomes sublimated Protagonist of the stilnovist song .is

a young scholar in love with a star Calvacanti, Dante, Petrarch Development of the sonnet

Boccaccio’s Decameron

Collection of 100 novelle with a frame tale

Frame tale realistically details the Black Death in Italy

Novelle: short tales based set in realistic settings with a variety of characters from all social classes

Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales

First great English poet Early works reflect courtly concerns and ideals Influenced by French and Italian models Chaucer’s masterpiece: The Canterbury Tales Frame: Pilgrimage from London to Canterbury Brilliant portraits of English characters Tales include many genres: romance, sermon,

fabilaux, lai, etc.

From Christine de Pisan, 'Works'. Copyright ©, The British Library

Christine de Pisan

1364-ca. 1430

First European professional female author

Prominent in the “Debate about Women”

Works include courtesy books, military treatises, dream visions and The Book of the City of Women

                                                             

                       

The Middle Ages in Europe faded as nation states

solidified, the learning and art of the Renaissance

emerged, and the unity of the Western Church was

broken with the Protestant Reformation.