The middle Ages

1. The middle Ages The Canterbury Tales, Arthurian Legends, and Poetry

2. William the conqueror • Listen to “William the Conqueror” sung to “Sexyback” by Justin Timberlake • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ8A5gRe_Dw&list=PLC8ACBA72AB38CB21 • Take notes over the most important parts

3. Tapestry of Bayeux

4. Tapestry of bayeux • 230 ft long • Tells the story of William the Conqueror and the Battle of Hastings in 1066 • Discovered in the Cathedral of Bayeux in France but made in England

5. Feudalism • Military system- gave land in exchange for military service • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xd_zkMEgkI (anachronism)

6. Feudalism

7. feudalism • William the Conqueror claimed all the land in England and divide the land between himself (about 20% ), the church (about 25%) and the remainder of English land was given to Norman soldiers and nobles (barons). • French became the language of the nobles. • Doomsday Book- gave the new King of England full details of the land, the people and how much taxes and dues would be paid to the Normans

8. Chivalry (the code of honor for knights) • To fear God and maintain His Church • To serve the liege lord in valor and faith • To protect the weak and defenseless • To give succor to widows and orphans

9. Chivalry • To fight for the welfare of all • To obey those placed in authority • To guard the honor of fellow knights • To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit

10. Chivalry • To refrain from the wanton giving of offence • To live by honor and for glory • To despise pecuniary reward • Never to refuse a challenge from an equal • Never to turn the back upon a foe

11. Chivalry • To keep faith • At all times to speak the truth • To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun • To respect the honor of women • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOfI88NKRzY

12. The Black Plague • Listen to “Black Death” sung to “Hollaback Girl” • Take notes on the most important points. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZy6XilXDZQ

13. The black plague • Killed 1/3 of people in England • Gave more power to people in lower classes • Caused labor shortage • Lower class workers willing to work could negotiate wages and working conditions • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grbSQ6O6kbs

14. Geoffrey Chaucer • “Father of English Poetry” • First author to write in English (Middle English) [previously Latin] • Worked on Canterbury Tales for 22 years; never finished • He died in 1400 (October 25?). • Introduced iambic pentameter • First writer buried in Westminster Abbey

15. Geoffrey Chaucer • Born 1345-46 ? • Positions held: • Esquire of the royal court • Comptroller of customs, port of London • Soldier, Hundred Years’ War • Diplomat • Poet • Justice of the peace • Member of Parliament...Etc.!

16. The Canterbury Tales • A series of stories told by individuals representing a cross-section of medieval English society who undergo a Christian pilgrimage from London to Canterbury. • Told as a game to make the journey less tiresome and grueling, and to see who tells the best tale. • Many different storytellers—some rough, vain, or materialistic; others wise, pious, or noble. • Therefore, many different tales...

17. London

18. People in Medieval England sometimes made pilgrimages to sacred shrines. One such shrine was the cathedral in Canterbury (approximately 50 miles southeast of London, where Archbishop Thomas A’ Becket was murdered in 1170). Pilgrims often traveled in groups for companionship and protection. Pilgrimage People in Medieval England sometimes made pilgrimages to sacred shrines. One such shrine was the cathedral in Canterbury (approximately 50 miles southeast of London, where Archbishop Thomas A’ Becket was murdered in 1170). Pilgrims often traveled in groups for companionship and protection.

19. Religion in the middle ages • Canterbury has always been an important religious center in England. • St. Augustine (seen in stained glass from the Canterbury Cathedral) was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to establish the Catholic faith in the Country. • Religion played an important part in medieval life.

20. Why was religion important? • It’s the Middle Ages • Plague • Warfare • High Infant Mortality Rate • Short Life Expectancy • …and if you were a peasant, you lived your whole life in harsh conditions • About the best thing that you had to look forward to was dying and going to heaven

21. The prologue in middle english “Here bygynneth the Book of the Tales of Caunterbury. Whan that Aprill with his shouressoote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,. . . WhanZephirus eek with his sweetebreeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendrecroppes, and the yongesonne. . . Thannelongen folk to goon on pilgrimages, And palmeres for to sekenstraungestrondes, To fernehalwes, kowthe in sondrylondes; And specially from every shires ende Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,…”          • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE0MtENfOMU

22. The Journey Begins . . . • The Canterbury Tales is actually a story about stories, twenty-four different tales set within the overarching tale of the pilgrimage. • Definition: Frame Story – a story within a story. The Outer Frame Story is about the pilgrims meeting at the Tabard Inn preparing for a journey to Canterbury. The Inner Frame Story would be all the stories told by the assembled pilgrims along their journey to and from Canterbury.

23. Snapshots of an Era. . . • In the Prologue, Chaucer sketches a brief but vivid portrait of each pilgrim, creating a lively sense of medieval life. • The description may literally describe an article of clothing, but figuratively imply something about that character.

24. Snapshots of an era • Definition: Satire - a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule. • Like sarcasm . . . He says one thing, but means another. • Our job is to read and comprehend the literal description of each pilgrim, and then, we must figuratively interpret what Chaucer is trying to imply about that pilgrim’s character.

25. Snapshots of an Era. . . • Two types of Satire: • 1. Juvenalian - After the Roman satirist Juvenal: Formal satire in which the speaker attacks vice and error with contempt and indignation Juvenalian satire in its realism and its harshness is in strong contrast to Horatian satire. {Serious – Critical}

26. Snapshots of an era • 2. Horatian - After the Roman satirist Horace: Satire in which the voice is indulgent, tolerant, amused, and witty. The speaker holds up to gentle ridicule the absurdities and follies of human beings, aiming at producing in the reader not the anger of a Juvenal, but a wry smile. {Light – Funny}

27. Snapshots of an Era. . . • Satire (continued . . . ): • Also, so that we might better understand his satirical characterization, Chaucer creates SATIRIC NORMS. • A SATIRIC NORM is a character that represents the perfect ideal. • We can then see how BAD everyone else is by comparing them to this Satiric Norm.

28. Snapshots of an Era • In the Prologue, Chaucer examines three segments of Medieval England: • 1. The Old Feudal order – these are all of the pilgrims associated with the feudal class system. • Knight, Squire, Yeoman, Plowman . . . • 2. The Merchant Class – this was the rising middle class of the time; towns and cities were emerging and therefore necessitated the need for skilled services: • Merchant, Man of Law, Guildsmen, Cook . . . • 3. The Ecclesiastical (Church) Class – these were all of the members of the church. Chaucer is most critical of this segment of his society. • Prioress, Monk, Friar, Pardoner . . .

29. Literary Analysis • Characterization • Direct characterization presents direct statements about a character, such as Chaucer’s statement that the Knight “followed chivalry, / Truth, honor. . . .” • Indirect characterization uses actions, thoughts, and dialogue to reveal a character’s personality. By saying “he was not gaily dressed,” for instance, Chaucer suggests that the Knight is not vain and perhaps takes the pilgrimage seriously enough to rush to join it straight from battle.

30. Each character in The Canterbury Tales represents a different segment of society in Chaucer’s time. By noting the virtues and faults of each, Chaucer provides social commentary, writing that offers insight into society, its values, and its customs. While reading, draw conclusions from the characters about Chaucer’s views on English society.

31. A Literary Tour. . . • Chaucer uses the popular genres of his time when he creates the inner stories of the various pilgrims: • Romances (tales of chivalry) • The Wife of Bath’s Tale • Fabliaux (short, bawdy, humorous stories) • The Miller’s Tale • The stories of saint’s lives, sermons • The Parson’s Tale • Allegories (narratives in which characters represent abstractions such as Pride or Honor). • The Pardoner’s Tale • Chaucer wrote much of the Tales using his own form, the heroic couplet, a pair of rhyming lines with five stressed syllables each.

32. The Miller’s TaleGENRE • FABLIAUX: a short, humorous, bawdy tale in verse • CHARACTERISTICS: • 1. realistic • 2. setting is spare and utilitarian • 3. imagery is often associated with animals, food, baskets, chests, and other middle class furniture • 4. characters: engage in the Seven Deadly Sins • 5. concerns mankind’s most basic functions: sex, but also excretion, etc. • 6. more concerned with cunning and folly than with virtue and evil

33. THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS

34. 7 Deadly Sins • 1. Pride • 2. Envy • 3. Wrath • 4. Sloth • 5. Avarice • 6. Gluttony • 7. Lust

35. AUTHORSHIP? • Fabliaux were often written by monks practicing Latin • Some are written in French • Only 6 Fabliaux survive in English • All are from The Canterbury Tales • Tales of the Miller, Reeve, Summonor, Merchant, Shipman, and the Cook’s fragment

36. Literary Terms • Iambic Pentameter- Five pairs (iambs) of alternating unstressed and stressed syllables. The rhythm in each line sounds like: ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM / ba-BUM • Heroic Couplets- Two successive rhyming lines containing a grammatically complete, independent statement • e.g., A dog starved at his Master’s Gate Predicts the ruin of the State. ~or~ Avoid extremes, and shun the fault of such Who still are pleas’d too little or too much.

37. Middle English Revisited • Became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. • The lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. • In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOfI88NKRzY

38. Jobs in the Middle Ages • Vassal - A Vassal or Liege was a free man who held land ( a fief ) from a lord to whom he paid homage and swore fealty. A vassal could be a Lord of the Manor but was also directly subservient to a Noble or the King. • Reeve - A Reeve was a manor official appointed by the lord or elected by the peasants. • A yeoman owned his own land and often farmed it himself. His land would be equivalent to 30 - 120 acres. A Medieval yeoman was required to be armed and trained with a bow. Wealthy yeoman would be expected to also be trained and armed with a sword, dagger and the longbow. Yeoman were therefore often employed to guard and protector the nobility.

39. Jobs in the Middle Ages • An apothecary dispensed remedies made from herbs, plants and roots. Medieval physicians were expensive and a priest often held this occupation, often the only recourse for sick, poor people. • A squire was junior to a knight. It was the duty of a squire to learn about the code of chivalry, the rules of heraldry, horsemanship and practice the use of weapons. It was also their duty to enter into the social life of the castle and learn courtly etiquette, music and dancing. The squire served in this role for seven years and became a knight at the age of twenty-one. Sometimes knighthood was conferred earlier as the reward for bravery on the battlefield

40. Quiz Questions • What is the name of the tapestry that depicted the famous battle of 1066? • Name 3 types of people that weredirectly subservient to the king. • Name 5 rules from the code of chivalry. • Name 3 important facts about Geoffrey Chaucer. • Define frame story and give an example from another example of literature, t.v. or film.

41. Why did people in England go on pilgrimages to Canterbury in particular? • Name 3 reasons why religion was important in the Middle Ages. • Name two types of satire and compare them. • What are the seven deadly sins? • Define iambic pentameter.

42. Poetry Terms

43. End rhyme • Rhyming of words that appear at the ends of two or more lines of poetry • e.g., Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

44. Couplet • Two consecutive lines of verse with end rhyme; • e.g., Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again! p.s.~Shakespeare always ends his sonnets with a couplet

45. Hyperbole • uses an exaggerated or extravagant statement to create a strong emotional response. As a figure of speech it is not intended to be taken literally. Hyperbole is frequently used for humor. • Her brain is the size of a pea. • He is older than the hills. • I will die if she asks me to dance. • I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. • I have told you a million times not to lie!

46. Juxtaposition • A poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to one another, often creating an effect of surprise and wit • e.g., “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”

47. The Pardoner’s Tale • Pardoner: a layman who sells pardons or indulgences, certificates from the pope by which people hoped to gain a share in the merits of the saints and escape more lightly from the pains of Purgatory after they die • Eunuch--The Pardoner is spiritually sterile, a more significant fact than being physically sterile.

48. Allegory • A figurative work in which a surface narrative carries a secondary, symbolic or metaphorical meaning. In The Faerie Queene, for example, Red Cross Knight is a heroic knight in the literal narrative, but also a figure representing Everyman in the Christian journey.  Many works contain allegories or are allegorical in part, but not many are entirely allegorical.

49. Discussion How does the Pardoner characterize himself in the Prologue to his tale? What text does he always preach on? Do you see irony in this? What is the relation between teller and tale?

50. Courtly Love/Chivalry • Courtly love- An idealized and often illicit form of love celebrated in the literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in which a knight or courtier devotes himself to a noblewoman who is usually married and feigns indifference to preserve her reputation. • 5 Rules of Courtly Love • Marriage should not be a deterrent to love. • True love excludes all from its embrace but the beloved. • Public revelation of love is deadly to love in most instances. • The presence of one's beloved causes palpitation of the heart. • Love is reinforced by jealousy.