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