units 1&2 med perspective.doc

8/14/2019 Units 1&2 Med perspective.doc

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Lecturer dr Daniela Brown

Course on Medieval and Renaissance Literature

Units 1& 2

Periodization and the Medieval Perspective upon the World

1. Periodization and Perspective

The Medieval Period, or the Middle Ages, occurred between the Fall of the Western Roan

!"ire#$that ar%ed the end of &lassical Anti'uit()*and the beginning of the !uro"ean

Renaissance+ n an( wa(s, these iddle ties- se"arate the ancient fro the odern world+- .

1. A. Classical Antiquity

What Where & When

t refers to ancient /ree% and Roan civili0ations conventionall( s"anning between the "eriod of

the /ree% "oet 1oer $2th34thcenturies B&) to the Fall of the Western Roan !"ire $the 5 th

centur( AD+

&haracteristics6

#+ The huan being3 the easure of all things

*+ Pol(theistic religion3 the first anthro"oor"hic one, which e7"resses a feeling of confidence

in the huan "ower and his control of nature+ The sacred destro(ed b( eans of the Roanroad and law $Rudol"h 8tto6 The Sacred)

Why this chan!e

Too vast a territor( to be adinistrativel( controlled+ Barbarians wishing to "lunder the territories

of the Roan !"ire

1. ". #he Middle A!es

What

The ter was first used in Latin, medium aevum $iddle age) in the #4thcentur( b( the "eo"le of

the Renaissance, and it was eant to ar% the long interval between Ancient &lassicis and the

Renaissance+The first phase (the Early Middle Ages)is characterised b(

#+ barbarian invasions

*+ a return to rural life

.+ the abandonent of once Roan cities+

The second phase (The High/Central Middle Ages) is characterised b(

#9e"teber :, :4; when 8doacer, a /eranic chieftain, dethroned the last Western Roan !"eror, Roulus

Augustus*&ultural "eriod connected to the Mediterranean area largel( s"anning fro about 2thcentur( B&+ $the "oetr( of

1oer) to the Fall of the Roan !"ire $5thcentur( AD+).htt"6


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#+ the s"read of &hristianit( all over !uro"e $with ore and ore onasteries founded

ever(where)+ An e7tension of the %nowledge and the religious art "rooted in onasteries

ust have found their e7"ression in the foundation of the first universities $the >niversit( of

Bologna3#=22, the >niversit( of Paris3##5=, the >niversit( of 87ford3##;4, the >niversit(

of &abridge3#*=?) and the construction of the huge /othic cathedrals+

*+ the develo"ent of burghs $edieval towns) with coerce flourishing

.+ the "olitical structure of feudalis i"leented all over+The first &rusade was in #=?5 and triggered a "eriod of e7"loration of other lands, of founding

onasteries in the Middle !ast+

The rediscover( of Aristotle@s wor%s:$translated fro /ree% into Latin) ade scholasticis

atte"t to a%e use of Aristotle@s wa( of a""l(ing logic $Aristotelian logic) to the Bible+ #.th

centur( scholar, #ho$as Aquinasused Aristotle@s logic to "rove the e7istence of /od6 Aristotle

sa(s that the huan being is a rational anial6 he can use reason to understand and e7"lore the

world, but his tools to %now the world are his 5 senses+ A'uinas continues Aristotle b( sa(ing that

the huan being reains liited in his "ower of %nowledge through the senses $e"iricis)+

Thoas A'uinas cae to the conclusion that an should a%e use of logical arguentation in

finding the truth, which re"resents the first cause or "rinci"le, the "rie over of ever(thing in the

universe, that is /8D+ This is what scholasticis was about6 to find /od in theolog(, logic, law,natural "hiloso"h( and edicine+

The third phase (the Late Middle Ages)is characterised b(

#+ the /reat Faine $#.#53#.#4) caused b( severe cliatic change

*+ de"o"ulation, caused b( the Blac% Death $#.:43#.5=) with about .5 illion "eo"le that died.+ Pa"al turoil

:+ "easants@ revolts

5+ wars6 The 1undred ears@ War between !ngland and France $#..43#:5.), the War of the Roses

$#:553#:25) between the 1ouse of Lancaster $red rose) and the 1ouse of or% $white rose)+

;+ the Late Middle Ages witnesses the eergence of nation states $France, !ngland) and &atholic

"owerful %ingdos $Portugal, Aragon, &astile)

When

The "eriod roughl( %nown as the Middle Ages started with the Fall of the Western Roan !"ire

$the 5thcentur(, see footnote #) and lasted a""ro7iatel( until the end of the #5 thcentur( $the

beginning of the Renaissance, the Fall of &onstantino"le or the Fall of the !astern Roan !"ireniverse with Man $his best creation) a huble subect that was

encouraged to live in "overt( $li%e on%s Doinic and Francis of Assisi), thus to be closer to

&hrist and /od+

This life was su""osed to be a waiting roo for the afterlife+Dilea of "ower3 between secular and religious

1. C. #he Renaissance

What

The Renaissance6 a cultural oveent, a wa( of thin%ing, a new "ers"ective u"on the world6 a

revival of ancient ideas and novel ones6 the an of genius, the titan, the giant in the centre of /od@s

creation

Renaissance3 a ter deriving fro the talian Rinasciento- $to be reborn-)+

t left an e7traordinar( i"rint in the visual arts $"ainting, architecture, scul"ture), literature, usic,religion, "hiloso"h(, science, "olitics, ethicsC

t develo"ed the huanist ethod of stud(ing $studia humanitatisor the huanities)6

graar

rhetoric

"oetr(

histor(

oral "hiloso"h(+

This eant that the "eo"le of the Renaissance focused their education on creating the abilit( to

one@s having a graceful, "owerful civic discourse based on reason, fact, the search for truth and a

&hristian oral code+

Where & When

t started in tal(, Florence, in the #: thcentur( $in Late Middle Ages), it s"read through !uro"e in

the #5thand #;thcenturies and it lasted until the #4 thcentur(+

1istoricall( s"ea%ing, the beginning of the Renaissance is connected to the Fall of &onstantino"le

$The B(0antine !"ire) to the Tur%s $in #:5.), whose conse'uence was a wave of /ree% B(0antine

scholars who eigrated to Western !uro"e bringing into cultural focus forgotten literar(, historical

and oratorical anuscri"ts of Ancient /reece and Roe+

n !ngland, the conventional (ear for the beginning of the Renaissance is #5==+

Why this chan!eAn arguable theor( regarding the reasons for the change in "ers"ective fro the Middle Ages to the

Renaissance sees to have the origins in the last "hase of the Middle Ages $end of #. thcentur(,

beginning of #:thcentur()6 a cobination of secular "ower, &hristianit(, develo"ent of coerce

and inde"endent cit( re"ublics in tal(+

Why 'lorence

The belief for which The Renaissance started in Florence, tal( is that this cit( led b( the Medici

fail( "atroni0ed the arts, es"eciall( in the #5thcentur( $Loren0o de Medici, #::?3#:?*),

stiulating the arts and artists of genius $Leonardo Da inci, Michelangelo Buonarroti) to an

un"recedented degree, offering the world a new "ers"ective u"on an and the universe+

5The inventor of the echanical calculator

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2. Medieval Literature

2. 1. Characteristics o% Medieval Writers in (n!land

#+ Writers $%nown or anon(ous) belonged to the sae international &hurch- $Bolton E)

*+ Most of the wrote their anuscri"ts before #::=, before /uttenberg invented the "rinting "ress+

.+ Writers wrote in one of the three languages6 Latin, French and !nglish, which was not s"o%en

outside the British sles

2.2. )ivision o% Medieval and Renaissance Literature

A. *ld (n!lish +An!lo,-aon #radition/$5thto ##thcenturies)

". #he An!lo,0or$an Literature +Middle (n!lish/ $##thto #.thcenturies)

C. Late Medieval Literature $#:thto #5thcenturies)

). Renaissance Literature +(lizaethan and acoean #raditions/ $#;thto #4thcenturies)

A. *ld (n!lish +An!lo,-aon #radition/$5thto #=;;)

3eneral Characteristics4

5. #he An!lo,-aon tradition, an i$portation and a co$ination o% to cultures

The for and the language6 fro orth /eranic tribes $that had settled in east and south

Britain starting with the 5thcentur()+ This language is %nown as Anglo39a7on or 8ld !nglish

the literar( i"ulse and intellectual goal6 fro Roe- fro the end of the ; thc+, Ro$an

Christians$5?; AD, A Roan ission led b( Augustine of &anterbur() who had coe toconvert the /eranic tribes- $Bolton E)+ The language the( used was Latin

Ro$an Christians4 Au!ustine6 Pope 3re!ory the 3reat +or 3re!ory 56 7thc./7cobined a

continental &hristian culture $in thees, arguentation, ethics) with Ancient &lassical education

55. Aout 89.999 lines o% poetry survives in *ld (n!lish in : $anuscripts

555. #ypes4

-ecular poe$s$the thee is secular, but with &hristian s"irit) $l(rical or e"ical) 6 battles G "ast heroic deeds6#eo$ulf $e"ical "oe, 4thH #=thc), The #attle of

Maldon$about the Anglo39a7ons who fought and lost a battle at Maldon in

!sse7 against the i%ings in ??#)

onologues of a "ersonal nature6

The %uin$2thc+) $reflective descri"tion of the ruins of a Roan cit(- 4, "resuabl( Bath+ The

&hristian ethos deals with the reflection on the decline of great civili0ations+

The &ife's Lament/ Complaint $#=thc+)$the s"ea%er is a woan, "resuabl( a foreigner, who

arried a an whose relatives disa""rove of his arriage+ 1e and his wife are banished overseas

for soe crie he had coitted and she is laenting about the situation+

sing this song aout myself! full sad!

My o$n distress! and tell $hat hardships

Have had to suffer since first gre$ up!

resent and past! ut never more than no$*

;Po"e /regor( the /reat sent Augustine and other on%s to Britain in 5?; to convert the Angles and the 9a7ons to

&hristianit(+ 1e is the "atron saint of usicians, teachers and students+41aer, Richard+ Trad+A Choice of Anglo+Sa,on -erse. London6 Faber and Faber, #?25, "+*5

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ever suffered grief through anishment.

Both The %uin and The &ife's Lament are in The E,eter #oo01

The Seafarer $also in theE,eter #oo0) is an eleg( $a laent) of a sailor who describes the hardshi"s at sea in

wintertie+ The vo(age is co"ared to an@s ourne( through life, s"iritual ourne( in which he has to coe

closer to /od

riddles and "roverbs

Christian poetry6 close translations of biblical te7ts


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"eoul%5n%or$ation

e"ical "oe< heroic narrative co"osed in !ngland between the iddle of the 4 thc+ and the end of

the #=thc+ in Anglo39a7on or 8ld !nglish

it is in The 7o$ell Code, antholog( $earl( ##thc+), about .=== lines long, now in the British

Museu

it deals with the heroic deeds of a 9candinavian "rince, Beowulf fro the /eats $orth /eranic

tribe in southern 9weden)+

the events are set in the land of the Danes $1eorot) and in 9candinavia+

it stands as one of the foundation wor%s of "oetr( in !nglish-+##

5nterpretation

the i"ortance of eu"heiss6 Beowulf6 the Wolf of the Bees, /rendel@s other $the other that

cannot be naed)

it cobines * traditions6 the "agan and the &hristian $/rendel, descended fro &ain)

it re"resents a heroic odel of the warrioro 3 the #sthuan and cultural odel

o H the noble heredit( has to be tested

o H virtues6 generosit(, lo(alt(, endurance, courage

the "oe starts and ends with a funeral6 a "agan warrior@s "ers"ective u"on life

between these * funerals, there are . fights6

o H #+< Beowulf against /rendel

o $/rendel could stand for the wilderness of nature alwa(s read( to reinstate chaos when

civili0ation is not watching or /rendel could stand for the evil outside the huan being6

1rothgar, Beowulf, (ou and e, etc)

o Beowulf is a (oung "rince, 1rothgar is an old %ing6 Beowulf@s "urit( and (outh are

connected to the idea of victor( and virtue

o H *+< Beowulf against /rendel@s other

o 3 the location of the fight is i"ortant6 ist( waters, a cave at the botto of a la%e

o H .+< Beowulf against a dragon, the guardian treasure living in a cave in 9weden

o Beowulf6 no longer (oung and "ure, he gets corru"ted b( the evil of "ossessing the treasure

o B+ gets %illed because the dragon is an evil in hiself

Fatalis i7ed with a gloo( vision on an@s fate

"ilio!raphy4

Pillat, Monica+ 9npulished Taught Course on Medieval and %enaissance Literature+ >niversit( of Bucharest,

De"artent of !nglish Language and Literature, #?2.+Bolton, W+ F+ !d+ The Middle Ages. ol#+ London6 Penguin Boo%s, #??.

1aer, Richard+ Trad+A Choice of Anglo+Sa,on -erse. London6 Faber and Faber, #?251eane(, 9eaus+#eo$ulf. A ew Translation+ London6 Faber and Faber, #???

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units 1&2 med perspective.doc

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