Lit 12 - Medieval Test

What happened during the Norman conquest?

• The Normans invaded in 1066

• Harold, King of England was defeated by William “the Conqueror”, Duke of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings

• William originally invaded because he claimed to have been promised succession to the England throne

• William ruled for 21 years and then he perished :(((

What were the Normans like?

• Normans were descended from Vikings

• Stayed in Northwestern France (Normandy)

• Adopted French customs and had their own language (Norman- French)

• good soldiers, administrators, lawyers, borrowers, and adapters

• They had no original ideas - stole everything (architecture they introduced was from Italy first)

• Anglo-Saxons are much more advanced than them

What happened after The Norman Conquest?

• William led England AND Normandy

• Descendants increased their land holdings

• they spent most of their time in France - sign they had good English government

• Anglo-Saxon and Norman culture started to blend together

Who was Thomas à Becket?

• Archbishop of Canterbury who became a saint ✨🙏🧎‍♀️‍➡️

• He was MURDERED!!!! by Henry ll’s knights

• He died defending the church against the king

What happened to land after Norman conquest?

• William took away land from the previous Anglo-Saxon owners and gave it to his faithful followers (largest change in land ownership in English history)

• Obedience expected in exchange for land - introduction of the feudal system

• Boundaries of the gifted land wasn’t outlined and led to many land disputes

• In 1086 the Domesday Book outlined ALL property and who is belonged to (including animals)

  • Taxes could now be based on property

Why did the Medieval Church hold so much power?

• Medieval Church promoted Western Europe being a single society (11th - 15th century)

• They were responsible for teaching, writing, translating, copying, collecting, and distributing texts

• Monasteries were the main centres of learning before Oxford and Cambridge were founded in the 13th century

What was life like for most people?

• Lived in the country

• Worked on their own fields and those of the land owner

• Had little variety in food

• Travel was very dangerous and difficult

• People seemed to have dressed colourfully

How did Medieval life change over the period?

• Herding became more important than farming

• Wool from England was considered the best

  • Cornfields were turned into pasture land for more profit

  • About 4 sheep per person in England by the end of the 13th century

• More people started living in cities and towns rather than on manors

• New class of merchants came about

  • they formed guilds

  • they got super rich

  • some became nobility

What are some of the snazzy laws that were introduced?

• Common Law

  • Common law refers to laws that apply to all people rather than only certain classes and was based on custom and usage

• Law of primogeniture

  • gives first born son exclusive rights to inherit father’s titles

  • still in place when the textbook was written

How did laws develop during this time?

• At the start of the period, matters of law were settled by ordeals

  • Basically your innocence and guilt was proven by whether or not you could complete a set of given tasks

• In 1215, Pope Innocent II called ordeals “irrational” (Magna Carta was also signed this year)

• Church no longer approved, so they were scrapped

• This resulted in the jury system and laws things became more normal

What were the crusades and how did they affect Christian Europe?

• They wanted to rescue Jerusalem from the Turks

• First Crusade was proclaimed by Pope Urban II in 1095

• Other Crusades happened in 1191, 1202, 1217, and 1270

• Each one began with the desire to actually get Jerusalem back but ended in raiding and looting

• Christian Europe was exposed to Arabic culture, mathematics, and medicine - horizons were broadened

• The Crusades encouraged chivalry

How did the Hundred Years’ War start and how did it contribute to the end of the Middle Ages?

• English monarchy never returned French possessions after Normans went to England

• Resulted in numerous wars (1337 - 1453)

• Longbows that could pierce armour were effective

• The combo of longbows and gunpowder “ended” the Middle Ages by making knights and castles less effective in warfare

What changes in society did the Black Death cause (other than killing a third of the population)?

• Caused scarcity of labour which basically ended feudalism

• There was also a peasant revolt in 1381 but it was shut down

  • They were mad about oppressive laws, high taxes, and were encouraged by John Wycliffe (religious reformer)

What was The Wars of the Roses (1455 - 1485)?

• a Civil war between House of York (symbolized by white rose) and House of Lancaster (a red rose)

• Ended when Henry VII succeeded Richard III and united the families through marriage and founded the Tudor line

• Real Middle Ages vanished when Henry ascended to the throne

What types of literature were popular during this time?

• Romantic tales (influenced by France)

  • Mainly about chivalry and quests of knights

  • Stories came from three main sources

    • Britain (King Arthur and his knights)

    • France (the court of Charlemagne

    • Rome (classical stories like Troy)

• Autobiographies, travel writing (travel was hard), and devotional writing (about lives of saints) were popular

Who are two femal writers from the 14th century?

• Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe claimed to have divine revelations

• The Book of Margery Kempe is considered the first autobiography written in English

Who is Geoffrey Chaucer and why do we care?

• Greet poet and storyteller

• first great figure in English literature

• “The father of English poetry”

• Born into the rising middle class (tolerance towards working class?!!?!?)

• we care because this is what the test is on /jk

Information about Folk Poetry and what it did(?)

• Common people of England and Scotland produced ballads

• Folk Poetry flourished in the 14th and 15th century but wasn’t published until the 18th century

• The ballads influenced the German Romantic movement and the English romantic poets

Origins of Drama? (idk it’s from the Folk Poetry and the Drama section)

• The popular Drama were well known during the Elizabethan Age

  • Has origins in the middle ages - trade guilds entertained people with miracle plays (dramatizations of Biblical stories)

    • preformed on platforms or wagons and were usually comedies

• In the 15th century comedies were replaced with allegories ( miracle plays → morality plays)

• Many literary forms got their origin from this period

The Knight

• Horse: Fine horses

• Colours:

• Clothes: “not gaily dressed” (70), cotton or linen tunic stained with smudges from his armour

• Appearance:

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion:

• Other details: Ideal knight, no satire

The Squire

• Horse: Good at riding

• Colours: Brightly dressed

• Clothes: Short skirt, long, wide sleeves

• Appearance: Curly hair

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion:

• Other details: Young, knight’s son, likes singing

The Yeoman

• Horse:

• Colours: Green

• Clothes: coat and hood

• Appearance: darker skin

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion:

• Other details: Has peacock feathered arrows and a bow he never uses, wears a medal of St. Christopher (patron of travellers and foresters), “He was a proper forester, I guess” (115)

The Nun

• Horse:

• Colours:

• Clothes: cloak, golden brooch

• Appearance: elegant nose, grey eyes, small red mouth, big forehead

• Food: feeds animals milk and fine white bread

• The four humours:

• Religion: Yes

• Other details: born with status, good manners, cares about animals

The Monk

• Horse: dainty, in fine condition

• Colours:

• Clothes: Fine grey fur, golden pin

• Appearance: Bald, shiny head, fat

• Food: fat swans

• The four humours:

• Religion: Yes

• Other details: Like hunting, manly, doesn’t like reading

The Friar

• Horse:

• Colours: white

• Clothes: long hanging hood, cape

• Appearance: white neck

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion: Yes

• Other details: sings, knows the taverns, HATES lepers, steals from widows, Hubert

The Merchant

• Horse: sits high

• Colours:

• Clothes: Flemish beaver hat, buckled boots

• Appearance: forking beard

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion:

• Other details: in debt, no name

Oxford Cleric

• Horse: thin

• Colours: red and black (?)

• Clothes: overcoat

• Appearance: not too fat

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion: doesn’t work in the church

• Other details: reading, takes money from friends to buy books

The Serjeant at the Law

• Horse:

• Colours:

• Clothes: homely parti-coloured coat, pin-stripe

• Appearance:

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion:

• Other details: “man to reverence, / Or so he seemed” (315-316), pretends to be busy, knows all the crimes

The Franklin

• Horse:

• Colours: white

• Clothes:

• Appearance: bearded

• Food: sop of cake and wine, bread, ale, meat pies, fish

• The four humours: sanguine

• Religion:

• Other details: lives for pleasure, table always set

The Five Guildsmen

• Horse:

• Colours:

• Clothes: wearing livery, fresh gear

• Appearance:

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion: go to church to be seen

• Other details:

The Cook

• Horse:

• Colours:

• Clothes:

• Appearance: ulcer on his knee

• Food: thick soup, tasty pie, blancmange

• The four humours:

• Religion:

• Other details: with the guildsmen, can distinguish London ale by flavour

The Skipper

• Horse: Farmer’s horse

• Colours:

• Clothes: woollen gown to his knees, has a dagger on a lanyard

• Appearance: darker skin

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion:

• Other details: steals, kills passengers

The Doctor

• Horse:

• Colours: red, blue

• Clothes: silk

• Appearance:

• Food: eats for nourishment

• The four humours: uses to diagnose patients

• Religion: doesn’t read the Bible

• Other details: friends with apothecaries

The Wife of Bath

• Horse: good at riding

• Colours: red

• Clothes: new shoes, scarf around head neck and chin, flowing mantles

• Appearance: bold and handsome, gap teeth (sexy), large hips

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion: goes to church

• Other details: deaf, good at making cloth, five husbands, well-travelled

The Parson

• Horse:

• Colours:

• Clothes: staff

• Appearance:

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion: Yes

• Other details: no satire, good church guy

The Plowman

• Horse: mare

• Colours:

• Clothes: short jacket

• Appearance:

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion: loves God

• Other details: Parson’s brother, an honest worker, pays all his taxes, no satire

The Miller

• Horse:

• Colours: Blue and white

• Clothes: has a sword, hood and a coat

• Appearance: strong, red beard and hair, hairy wart on his nose

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion:

• Other details: scams people with his grain, bagpipes

The Manciple

• Horse:

• Colours:

• Clothes:

• Appearance:

• Food: careful when buying

• The four humours:

• Religion:

• Other details: illiterate

The Reeve

• Horse: Stallion-cob (good), dapple grey, named Scot

• Colours: bluish

• Clothes: overcoat

• Appearance: old, thin, short beard, short hair above his ears, thin legs (“Like sticks they were” (596))

• Food: can judge yield of crops

• The four humours: choleric

• Religion:

• Other details: “feared like the plague” (609)

The Summoner

• Horse:

• Colours: red, black

• Clothes:

• Appearance: narrow eyes, scabby brows, thin beard, pimples

• Food: garlic, onions, leeks, red wine, cake

• The four humours:

• Religion: Yes

• Other details: lecherous, scares children, drinks a lot, sinner, most satire

The Pardoner

• Horse: gelding or mare

• Colours: yellow

• Clothes:

• Appearance: rat-tails down to his shoulders, bulging eyes, no beard (can’t grow one)

• Food:

• The four humours:

• Religion: Yes

• Other details: sells fake church items, makes lots of money

What literary devices are used in The Canterbury Tales?

• Heroic couplet - two lines in a row that rhyme and are in iambic pentameter

• Similes - “as yellow as wax”

• Satire - social commentary

• Alliteration - “he was a perfect practicing physician”

What literary devices are used in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?

• Rhyming couplets

• Alliteration

• Similes

• “bob and a wheel”

What literary devices are used in “Bonny Barbra Allen”?

• Rhyme Scheme

• Incremental repetition

• Folk Ballad

• Quatrains

• Rhythm

• Alliteration

What are the similarities and differences between Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (character and story)

• Character

  • Similarities

    • Confident

    • Talking on a task - no one else wants to fight

  • Differences

    • B - fought for glory, boastful

    • G - fought to protect honour, humble and chivalrous

• Text

  • Similarities

    • Taunting & Boasting

    • meter but no rhyme → 4 beats

    • alliteration

    • epics

  • Differences

    • Use of religion (overlayed vs. built in)