The Medieval Period

In the beginning….  The Normans invade England in William the Conqueror takes the crown.  He brings Feudalism to England  Feudalism: Political and economic system in which the king owned all of the land in the kingdom  William gave ¼ of land to himself, ¼ to the church, and the rest to loyal nobles (barons)  Barons give William warriors called knights  Barons swear their allegiance to the king, knights swear their allegiance to the barons, etc.  Defeated Anglo-Saxons are reduced to serfs (peasants), bound to the land

Then…  William’s successors were less organized than he was, which resulted in barons fighting for land and power.  In 1154, Henry II takes over the crown  He is one of England’s most memorable rulers  Reformed the judicial system—instituted royal courts and initiated the formation of English Common Law.  His wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, brought the Code of Chivalry with her from France.

Code of Chivalry  Code by which knights lived by  The ideal knight respected and defended the church, his king, his country, and stood up to injustice  The qualities of a knight included:  Faith, modesty, loyalty, courtesy, bravery and honor  To honor and respect women  To go on quests, like the Crusades

Successors  Richard the Lion-Hearted  Fights in the Crusades  John (Richard’s brother)  Signs Magna Carta in 1215  Limits the funds royalty can spend and gives more authority into the hands of barons  John’s son, Henry III  Created an advisory council of barons that met regularly.  Edward I  Established the inclusion of commoners (House of Commons) as well as barons (House of Lords) in the council. (Parliament)

Decline of Feudalism  Medieval towns begin to grow, which leads to a decline of feudalism since wealth was no longer based on land ownership.  Commoners are now getting more and more power.  The flipside to this is that the growth of towns meant crowding and poor living conditions which resulted in disease.

Strife in England  Black Death killed one third of England’s population  1.5 million killed between  Peasants’ Revolt of  Abdication of Richard II  Supporter of Chaucer (Canterbury Tales)  Wars of the Roses  Civil War between the House of Lancaster and the House of York over the rightful heir to the throne

Medieval Literature  Romance emerges – imaginative adventure story concerned with noble heroes, gallant love, chivalric code of honor, and daring deeds  Idealized world of castles, heroes, courtly love, and spells  This countered the real world of plagues, battles, and civil unrest  Religious faith was a vital element of the literature of the time period  King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table become the medieval heroes

 Author is anonymous  Written c in Middle English (language spoken after the Norman invaston of 1066 thru 15 th century)  Important because:  Alliterative poetry  Epic poem  Medieval romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight