Art in the Medieval Era: A Speedrun

art in the medieval era: a speedrun

timeline

• first phase
  • earliest surviving manuscript of music
  • gregorian chant becomes mandatory in western Christian churches
  • charlemagne crowned emperor - 800
• second phase
  • gothic cathedrals built
  • universities founded
  • notre dame polyphony
• third phase
  • papal schism
  • black death kills almost half of europe
  • hundred years' war
  • ars nova - new age, flowering of the arts

intro

• vocal music constitutes most of what survives in written form and is only a tiny fraction of all music in history
  • product of elite, literate classes
  • medieval church music survived so it's mainly what we study - many aspects of western music originate from church music
• vocal music reflects its specific time and culture
• scholars believe early music was similar to ours today (music for weddings, funerals, dance music, etc)
• ancient greeks used music to cure illnesses and restore order to society
• greek music and culture were brought to ancient rome

overview of the early middle ages

• early middle ages to early renaissance saw the spread of Christianity and the advancement of new western ideas and institutions
• ancient greece
  • boethius connected greek musical thought and theory
  • ancient greeks thought that music and astronomy were connected
• disintegration of roman empire
  • spread of Christianity, unifying force in medieval europe
  • latin civilization was spread far and wide (including gregorian chant)
  • slow growth of western european civilization
• the Christian church
  • church and king alliance
  • charlemagne crowned emperor by the pope - no separation of church and state
  • initiated the holy roman empire
  • caused the spread of gregorian chant by missionaries - superimposed on the Christian liturgy throughout frankish lands (frankish lands - anything controlled by charlemagne) - everyone sang the same things because if culture was unified the emperor would be unified and charlemagne would be stronger
  • church music
  • composers, theorists trained by the church
  • ninth century church musicians invented notation
  • history of medieval music was tied to the Christian church

three empires:

• byzantine - most direct, preserved greek/roman science, architecture and culture
• arab - strongest and most vibrant, extended greek science, philosophy, arts, trade
• western europe - weakest and most fragmented

political change and economic development

european kings:

• king louis's death divided the empire and caused the modern european nations to begin to emerge - western part became france, eastern part (holy roman empire) became germany (lots of musical development here), england emerged, italy and spain remained fragemented

economic progress:

• twelfth century - growth of markets, towns, cities
• technological expansion caused growth in progress
• increasing food supply raised standard of living and caused populations growth

classes of society:

• feudal agricultural society (nobility, religious, peasants)
• trade promoted growth
• music was enjoyed at all levels of society

learning and the arts, 1050-1300

• church prospered
  • new sense of security throughout europe
  • resources for learning and the arts
  • churches and cathedrals started to appear more, first in romanesque style and later gothic
  • polyphony complemented gothic architecture
  • early thirteenth century - notre dame cathedral in paris, notre dame polyphony

education:

• cathedral schools - western and central europe
• universities taught liberal arts, theology, law and medicine
  • aristotle became popular but his teachings on natural science were forbidden in paris
  • lectures began to be given about his works to defend them, causing university education to take hold
  • scholasticism - curriculum attempted to reconcile the various authorities of Christian teaching (church fathers) with classical philosophers

courtly love:

• new literature of knighthood, chivalry
• literature in which love worked like a feudal relationship - one person is subject to the other's will
• usually between a knight and a lady who was already married to a lord - scandalous so they were kind of written in code (ex. to mary)
• highly idealized image of love
• mostly sung, repertory of medieval song

overview of the 14th century

• famine, war, plague, church scandals/power struggles
• western europe's economy and population declined
  • hundred years' war between england and france
  • famine, 1 in 10 perish
  • plague kills one third of europe
• papal crisis
  • corrupt french pope
  • the church lived in luxury and corruption, dispensing liberal patronage to musicians, artists and scholars
  • papal schism (1378) - two popes claimed legitimacy and forced europe to take sides

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