An Introduction to Medieval Life and The Canterbury Tales British Literature – Mrs. Fitzgerald

A Brief History of Middle English

The Norman Conquest and Middle English (1100-1500)

n The Normans, “north men” were descendants of Vikings

n After settling on the coast of France, they adopted French customs and language

The Norman Conquest and Middle English (1100-1500

n King Edward the Confessor of England died in 1066

n Harold Godwinson (Harold II) was chosen to be king

n William of Normandy claimed that Edward had left the throne to him

n William invaded and conquered England in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings

1066

The Bayeux Tapestry

•  70 meter long embroidery • Commissioned by Bishop Odo to

commemorate the events leading to the Battle of Hastings and the events that unfolded afterward

The Norman Conquest and Middle English (1100-1500) (cont’d)

• William suppressed Anglo-Saxon nobility and took their land

• Business and government were conducted in Norman French (diff. from Parisian French)

• About 10,000 French words were introduced

The Norman Conquest and Middle English (1100-1500) (cont’d) q  This mixture of the

two languages came to be known as Middle English.

q Unlike Old English, Middle English can be read, with some difficulty, by modern English-speaking people.

English words derived from French

n More than 1/3 of the words in English were influenced by French

n attorney, bailiff, court, crime, evidence, government

n abbot, chaplain, clergy, friar, prayer, priest, religion, sacrament, saint

n army, artillery, battle, captain, corporal, marine, navy, sergeant, soldier

n beef, mutton, pork, poultry, veal

Medieval Times

The Feudal System

The Black Death

The Origin of The Black Death

• Believed to have originated in the Far East

• Was able to spread quickly along

major trade routes

A Disease By Any Other Name

•  The Black Plague •  The Bubonic Plague •  The Pestilence •  The Great Mortality

So What Was It?

• Bacteria-born disease

• Carried in the

blood of fleas on rats

Symptoms

•  Bites swell to the size of fists

•  Intensely painful •  Swelling starts

red and turns black

•  2-6 days for death

What was the result? •  In England,

30-40% of pop. gone

•  Not enough field

workers •  40% of clergy

The Medieval Church

Key Terms

•  Penance – remorse for your past conduct; voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for some wrongdoing

•  Crusade – any of the military expeditions undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims; a holy war undertaken with papal sanction

Key Terms, cont.

•  Mendicant – depending on alms or charity for a living; practicing begging

•  Chastity – abstaining from sexual relations; celibacy; morality with respect to sexual relations

Key Terms, cont.

•  Sanctify – to set apart for sacred use; to make holy; purify

•  Holy Grail – according to medieval legend, this was a chalice used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper and later became the object of many chivalrous quests; supposedly possessed miraculous powers

Church Hierarchy •  Pope – head of church, Latin for “daddy” •  Cardinals – advisors to the Pope; papal

candidates •  Archbishops – controlled archdiocese •  Bishops – controlled “diocese” in larger

cities or provinces made of many parishes •  Abbots – in charge of monasteries •  Priests - local church or parish

Monasteries

•  Usually in the countryside; isolated •  Vows of poverty, obedience, and

chastity •  Monks were expected to do manual

labor, study, and pray •  Governed by the Rules of St.

Benedict •  Very strict

Monastery •  Inside libraries, monks

copied manuscripts •  Wrote in beautiful

handwriting •  Drew elaborate

illustrations…………

•  Illuminated letters

Scandals in the Church

•  Immorality, ignorance of clergy •  Immorality of people – purchasing

indulgences • Simony – “sinful practice of giving

or obtaining an appointment to a church office for money”

Medieval Professions

Medieval Society •  Society could be broken into three

major groups: •  Those who pray (oratores) •  Those who fight (bellatores) •  Those who work (laboratores)

Those Who Pray •  Clergy including priests, monks, and

friars •  Society held special expectations of

them.

•  Clergy were the guardians of society who kept the spiritual order

Those Who Fight • Knights of the Middle Ages –

mounted warriors •  Initially, anyone who could afford

it could be a knight • Eventually, knights had to prove

their noble ancestry (coats of arms)

• Knighthood rises in status

Those Who Work

• Manual labor

• Usually peasants, who were the majority of medieval society

The Chivalric Code and Courtly Love

What is Chivalry? o  Chivalry was a code of behavior

that allowed medieval knights to put their ability to fight to good use

o  Chivalry offered knights a positive role in society

o  There was not one exact code of honor or chivalry

The Code of Chivalry n  Live to serve King and

Country. n  Live one's life so that it is

worthy of respect and honor.

n  Live for freedom, justice and all that is good.

n  Never attack an unarmed foe.

n  Administer justice. n  Protect the innocent. n  Exhibit self control. n  Show respect to authority. n  Respect women.

n  Exhibit Courage in word and deed.

n  Defend the weak and innocent.

n  Destroy evil in all of its monstrous forms.

n  Fight with honor. n  Avenge the wronged. n  Always keep one's word of

honor. n  Die with honor. n  Exhibit manners. n  Be polite and attentive.

Courtly Love o  Knight finds a lady to whom he devotes all his

attention o  The knight's love for the lady inspires him to do

great deeds, in order to be worthy of her love or to win her favor.

o  Ennobled by love and inspired to be more honorable than ever

o  Could be a chaste, platonic love or an adulterous love relationship

Characteristics of Courtly Love

o  Practiced by noble lords and ladies o  Ladies usually received songs,

poems, flowers, etc. o  Nobles needed only to receive a

mere shadow of affection o  Courtly lovers were pledged to strict

secrecy

Heraldry o  Heraldry is a system of

signs and symbols o  Originated in the Middle

Ages as a means of recognizing warriors on the battlefield.

o  Each man bore a shield of a unique design.

St. Thomas Becket!

St. Thomas Becket – Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury

•  Born in London in 1118 (?)

•  Was well-educated

St. Thomas Becket, cont.

•  In 1141, entered the service of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury

•  He became Theobald’s

most trusted clerk •  Ordained a deacon in

1154 Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury

St. Thomas Becket and King Henry II

•  Henry II became king and chose “Thomas of London” as his chancellor

St. Thomas Becket and King Henry II, cont.

•  St. Thomas shared the king’s

imperial views and love of splendor

•  He identified with the king’s interests, however, only to the limits of what his conscience permitted

Archbishop of Canterbury •  Theobald died in 1161 •  Henry II wanted to secure St. Thomas

for the position •  St. Thomas – “I know your plans for

the Church. You will assert claims which I, if I were archbishop, must needs oppose”

•  St. Thomas gave in upon the advice of a cardinal who said it would be a service to religion

Archbishop of Canterbury, cont.

•  He was ordained one day, and was consecrated bishop the next day

•  A great change took place in St. Thomas’s life

•  He fasted, wore hair shirts, held vigils, and was in constant prayer

The Archbishop and The King

A major disagreement over legislation ended their relationship

The Exile and The Return

•  St. Thomas was in exile for six years •  Returned to England in 1170 •  Henry II was infuriated when St.

Thomas excommunicated the bishops who supported the king

Murder in the Cathedral

•  “Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?" - King Henry II

•  His outrage inspired four knights to take

action

•  They arrived on December 29 and searched for the Archbishop.

Murder in the Cathedral, cont. •  The knights found

him at the altar of the Cathedral, drew their swords and began hacking at their victim finally splitting his skull.

From Becket

The “Holy Blissful Martyr” •  His tomb in Canterbury became a famous

shrine •  St. Thomas Becket was canonized in 1173;

feast day December 29 •  The king was forced to do public penance at

Becket’s tomb •  The shrine was a place of pilgrimage all

through the Middle Ages until 1538

Pilgrimages in the Middle Ages

Why did people go on pilgrimages?

•  In the Middle Ages the Church encouraged people to make pilgrimages (journeys) to special holy places called shrines.

•  Forgiveness of sins •  Curing of illnesses •  Travel and socializing

What did people do on pilgrimages?

•  At other shrines people went to see the teeth, bones, shoes, combs etc. that were said to have once belonged to important Christian saints.

•  These were called relics

How did people go on pilgrimages? •  Traveling on long journeys in the Middle

Ages was a dangerous activity.

•  Pilgrims often went in groups to protect themselves against outlaws.

•  Wealthy people sometimes preferred to

pay others to go on a pilgrimage for them.

Geoffrey Chaucer

The Father of English Poetry

•  The most famous example of Middle English is Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.

•  French and Latin

had been the preferred language of poetry since 1066

The Canterbury Tales

•  Originally written in Middle English, capturing the everyday speech of people

•  Vivid and varied portrayals of pilgrims

•  Only 22 tales completed, 2 fragments; he intended to write 124

Literary Terms and Vocabulary British Literature Mrs. Fitzgerald Unit/Packet 2

Literary Terms

Characterization •  the process by which the writer

reveals the personality of a character •  DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION –

tells the audience what the personality of the character is

•  INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION – shows things that reveal the personality of a character

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION

S peech T houghts E ffect on other charcters A ctions L ooks

Estate Satire • Writing that ridicules or holds up to

contempt the faults of individuals or groups

• Relates to estates, or classes • Often humorous, but hopes to lead to

the correction of the flaw

Verbal Irony • Words are used to suggest the opposite of their usual meaning

Situational Irony • An event occurs that directly contradicts expectations

Frame Tale • A larger story, inside which are smaller stories

Physiognomy • The art of discovering temperament and character from outward appearance

The Four Humors •  Theory that health depended on the

balance of four body fluids •  Blood, yellow bile, phlegm, and black bile •  Blood (sanguine) – happy, generous •  Yellow bile (choleric) – violent, hot

tempered •  Phlegm (phlegmatic) – dull, unmotivated •  Black bile (melancholic) - introspective

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

Vocabulary from “The Prologue”

Solicitous (adj) • Showing care or concern • My best friend was sincerely

solicitous when she asked me if I was feeling better after my illness.

Garnished (adj) • Decorated; trimmed

• Her rhinestone garnished jacket was positively hideous.

Absolution (n) • Act of freeing someone from sin

or of a criminal charge

•  The convicted murderer, who had been wrongly accused, was finally given absolution and was released at the age of 65.

Commission (n) • Authorization; act of giving

authority to an individual

•  In early colonial times the king of England gave commission to proprietors to rule over each colony.

Sanguine (adj) • Confident; cheerful

• The football team was not feeling particularly sanguine after the star player was injured.

Avouches (v) • Asserts positively; affirms

•  I can only avouch a student’s performance if I have had him or her as a student for at least one year.

Prevarication (n) • Evasion of truth • Kristy’s frequent

prevarication caused her mother to question her true whereabouts.

Glutton (n) • One who eats a great deal;

having capacity to receive or withstand something

•  Jack was a glutton for punishment; no

matter how many times Anne broke his heart, he kept going back to her.

Countenance (n) • A person’s face, especially

the expression • The commander’s

countenance belied his true feelings of anxiety and fear.

Erudite (adj) • Deeply learned; scholarly • Students who go to law

school take classes in speech in order to become verbally erudite.