The 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 5 th and 6 th 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 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.

Lavoro a cura di: Migli Lisa Bergamo Anastasia