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The Middle Ages: The Tales They Told…. 1066: The Norman Conquest. In 1002, King Æthelred II of England married Emma, the sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. Their son, Edward the Confessor, succeeded to the English throne in 1042.
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1066: The Norman Conquest • In 1002, King Æthelred II of England married Emma, the sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. • Their son, Edward the Confessor, succeeded to the English throne in 1042. • Prior to succeeding the throne, Edward spent many years in exile in Normandy. Edward the Confessor, Bayeux Tapestry
Where the heck is Normandy? ((Right there)) ((And there’s England, too))
1066: The Norman Conquest • Edward gave lands and titles to his fellow Normans. • Edward was in constant conflict with Goodwin, Earl of Wessex and his sons. • Edward was Norman English and Goodwin was Anglo-Saxon English. • Edward dies childless in 1066. • Fighting ensues over the rightful heir to the throne. King Edward (center), The Wilton Dyptch, 1395.
The Battle of Hastings • Harold Godwinson, son Godwin, takes the throne. • William of Normandy, another possible heir to the throne, leads an army from Normandy and invades England. • William defeats Harold at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066. • William becomes known as William the Conqueror. The Duke of Normandy, The Bayeux
William the Conqueror • 1028? – 9 Sept. 1087 • Reigned 25 Dec. 1066 – 9 Sept. 1087 • Illegitimate child • Known as William the Bastard • Commissioned the Domesday Book in 1086 • Ruled England mostly from Normandy William I, HistoriaAnglorum, 13th cent.
The Bayeux Tapestry • The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidered cloth roughly 230 feet long which illustrates the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy and Harold, Earl of Wessex, • The story culminates in the Battle of Hastings. “Haley’s Coment” The Bayeux Tapestry
Norman Rule in England • William claimed all land in England as his. • The natives rebelled under the rule of William until around 1071. • William eventually put down the rebellion by building castles throughout the land. • Also, the development of the feudal system further secured William’s reign. Tower of London, begun by William I in 1078.
The Domesday Book • Commissioned in order to know what taxes were owed the king. • Written in Latin • Name comes from the fact that “its decisions, like those of the Last Judgment, are unalterable." Warwickshire page, Domesday Book
The Feudal System • A landowning system where no one actually owned land independently but owed allegiance to a king. • Vassalage – an agreement between a vassal and his lord or monarch. • King • Nobles • Barons • Knights • Serfs The Feudal System
Middle English • The transfer of power in 1066 resulted in the removal of the old ruling class and church hierarchy. • William replaced them with Normans. • The upper classes spoke mostly Norman, the clergy used Latin, and the peasantry spoke Old English.
Middle English • From Norman, English adopted words mostly related to the court, royalty, servitude, etc. • This is largely because the Normans were the ruling class. • This is the language of refined behavior. • royal, debonire, castel (castle)
Middle English Derived from Old English Derived from Anglo-Norman Pork Poultry Veal Beef Forest Mutton Mansion Honorable Courageous • Pig • Chicken • Calf • Cow • Wood • Sheep • House • Worthy • Bold
Geoffrey Chaucer • c. 1343 – 25 October 1400 • Often called the father of English poetry • Composed his work in the vernacular (the everyday language spoken) • Lent respectability to the common language • From the emerging middle class (wine business) • Started as a page to a prominent family Geoffrey Chaucer, Ellesmere Manuscript.
Geoffrey Chaucer • Was attached to noble patrons • Served as a soldier during the Hundred Years’ War • Traveled extensively (France and Italy) • Seems to have been an important government servant • Buried in Westminster Abbey in London Geoffrey Chaucer , 17th cent.
The Canterbury Tales • Started The Canterbury Tales in 1387 • Influences: • Dante (Divine Comedy) and Petrarch (established the first form for the sonnet) during his travels in Italy in 1372 and 1378 • Boccaccio’s Decameron • Boccaccio’s Decameron and The Canterbury Tales both use a framing device in which the characters tell their tales • Both include tales based on similar old plots Woodcut from William Caxton’s 1483 Canterbury Tales.
The Canterbury Tales • The narrator joins a groups of pilgrims at Tabard Inn in Southwark. • They are on their way to the Shrine of Saint Thomas Beckett in Canterbury. • Think of this trip as an early form of the vacation.
Henry II and Thomas Beckett • Basically, Henry II becomes annoyed with Thomas Beckett. • While Henry II was the king, Beckett was the Archbishop of Canterbury, the most powerful archbishop in England.
Henry II and Thomas Beckett • Henry II is overheard by several of men to say, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” • These men take it upon themselves to travel to Canterbury and kill Beckett. • They murdered him inside the cathedral. • The site of his death becomes an important pilgrimage site.
The Canterbury Tales • Originally planned to have 120 tales. • Each character would tell two tales on the way there and two tales on the way back. • Only “completed” 24 tales before his death.
The Canterbury Tales • Pilgrims represent a section of society • Feudal • The feudal system was on the decline at this time. • Ecclesiastic • This was Chaucer’s least favorite group. • Urban • The emerging middle class. Illustration of the three sections of society.
Literary Focus • A frame storyis a literary device that binds together several different narratives. It is a story (or stories) within a story. • In The Canterbury Tales, the pilgrims’ journey is the outer story. • The tales the pilgrims tell are stories within a story. • The tales themselves also have thematic unity.
Literary Focus • Chaucer uses indirect characterizationwhen he tells how each character • looks and dresses • This yeoman wore a coat and hood of green,And peacock-feathered arrows, bright and keen • speaks and acts • Her greatest oath was only “By St. Loy!” • thinks and feels • And gladly would he learn, and gladly teach.
Literary Focus • Chaucer also uses direct characterization,when he comes right out and tells us what a character’s nature is—virtuous, vain, clever, and so on. • There was a Friar, a wanton one and merry,A Limiter, a very festive fellow.In all Four Orders there was none so mellow,So glib with gallant phrase and well-turned speech.
