The Middle Ages 450 – 1485
The Middle Ages Started with the fall of Rome and ended with the Italian Renaissance Longest stretch of literary history—over 1000 years
The Middle Ages The Dark Ages? Poor spiritual conditions; belief in the supernatural Hard social conditions; famine, war, disease Great literary diversity Strong emphasis on Christianity in literature
15th century illuminations of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
Gold and jewel-encrusted book cover for one of the Gospels, c.840
The Middle Ages The Middle Ages can be divided into two periods Old English Period Old English: language brought by Anglo-Saxons Middle English Period Middle English: evolved combination of Old English and French
The Old English Period AD 450 – 1100 Angles + Saxons = Anglo-Saxons Angleland England United under Alfred the Great
The Old English Period Anglo-Saxon peoples did not have a system of writing for their language In 579, Pope Gregory sent monks to England Built monasteries and created a written version of Old English So all Old English literature is marked by Christianity; no such thing as truly “pagan” literature during this time
The Old English Period Characterisitics of OE Literature All poetry (alliterative meter) Somber and serious, reflects their difficult lives Comitatus: a relationship of unquestioning loyalty and mutual protection until death between the warrior (thane) and the chief or lord https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9Tfbeqyu2U Anglo-Saxon helmet
The Middle English Period AD 1100 – 1485 Began with William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings in 1066 Consequences: Feudal system: political arrangement based on a scale of privileges and responsibilities Centralized power/government Influence of French language
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B8TwBrCIEY
The Middle English Period Social Conditions: The Black Death wiped out 1/3 of Europe’s population Labour shortage weakened the feudal system and created a middle class
The Middle English Period Religion: The Crusades The 4th Crusade ended with the brutal sacking of Constantinople This split the Western and Eastern churches Roman Catholic Church was divided internally John Wycliffe spread the seeds of the Reformation
The Middle English Period Characteristics of Middle English Literature: Literature in English written only by the common people until the 14th century (upper-class authors wrote in French) Derivative: writers modelled their work after others instead of trying to be original Varied: many styles, genres, and tones Didactic: meant to teach or instruct Critical: poked fun at/criticized social conditions