The Middle AgesThe Middle Ages

The Middle AgesThe Middle Ages

Historical events: The Norman Conquest of 1066

Feudalism as a social system

Religion, the centre of life

Epic poems and ballads

Medieval towns

Geoffrey Chaucer: the father of English literature

Literature

History- The Middle Ages in Europe begin with the end of the classical cultures

of Rome and Greece and end with the beginning of the Renaissance.

- Crucial factors of change in the Middle Ages were invasions, crusades and travels.

- Britain was invaded by the Germanic tribes in the 5th and 6th centuries: their society was ruled by a chief or king and they lived in country villages.

- In 1066 there was the Norman conquest, the first and last conquest of Great Britain by a population.

- In 1215 a very important document, the “Magna Carta”, was signed by the king: it became the basis of all future constitutional governments.

- From 1337 to 1485 there was the Hundred Years' War, that was fought between France and Great Britain.

Feudalism and medieval life- The social structure of the

Middle Ages was organized round the system of feudalism.

- Feudalism meant that the country was governed by lords and not by the king: lords administered their own estates.

- Feudalism was based on a relationship of mutual service between vassals and lords.

The feudal hierarchy.

Literature- The story of English literature generally begins

with Beowulf, a long anonymous epic poem.

- It is written in Old English and it talks about the deeds of Beowulf, a Scandinavian hero.

- Geoffrey Chaucer was the father of English literature: he spent most of his life in the courts of Edward III and Richard II.

- He received a good education, he knew Latin, French and Italian and he travelled a lot.

- Chaucer's most important work is the Canterbury Tales: it was orally handed over and it was told during pilgrimages to the shrine of Thomas à Becket, the archibishop of Canterbury.

The Church

• It represented the hope, because for medieval people life on earth was dangerous, while life after death was happy.

• It was considered the focal point of social life.

• It was very powerful, because it had spiritual power and political too. • Its power was represented by the cathedrals, that were very big and had an exorbitant cost. • The clergy

The clergy

• The church had the complete control over learning, because before the 14 th century the priests were the only people that could read and write.

• The head of the church was the Pope, followed by cardinals, archbishops and bishops. The high clergy was corrupt and rich.

• The lower clergy was composed by students, monks, fairs and nuns. They had an ill-education, but they didn’t live in corruption and luxury.

Medieval Towns• Abbeys and castles gave a

nucleus for a town, while natural rivers and harbours influenced the shape of the development of a town.

• The most important activities were commerce and manufacture and the market was the focal point of life.

• Markets were once time a week, because it satisfed the needs of ordinary shoppers, while fairs were annual and they were estabilished fors trading in a large scale.

• Rich people lived in big houses and mansions, but in the streets there was a lot of rubbish.

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