Back to the Middle Ages The Middle Ages
Back to the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages in England are often called the Dark Ages, but they were actually an extraordinary time of energy. They were a period of massive social changes, rising nationalism, international
The beginning and the ending In Britain, The Middle Ages started around 1066 AD with William the and ended in 1485 AD Conqueror's when the last Plantagenet invasion of England ruler, Richard the third was defeated at Bosworth Field by Henry Tudor.
After the Battle of Hastings the Normans ruled the country from 1066 to 1145. ØThey imposed the French language ØThey introduced the feudal system and Chivalry. ØThey also brought their literary tradition of the metrical Romances (
The English Feudal World William the Conqueror deprived the English owners of their land distributed it to his Norman lords. Norman castles and manors were built everywhere. They were shared out among Norman barons and bishops who replaced English nobles. The territory was divided
A Gener al Overvi ew of Feudal ism
It was a system of rights and duties based on the holding of the land. The central idea was that “all land was owned by the king but it was held by others, called vassals in
Feudal ties In the 11 th century, England was transformed into a Feudal society, based on a strictly hierarchical pyramidal system where social classes are subordinated to others. At each level of this social structure a man
ØThe ordinary population were tied to the Barons or Knigths as serfs or peasants This social class was divided into three the freemen, the cottagers and subclasses: the villeins
Ø The Barons and the Knights were given land power by the king in return for their financial and military service. They, in their turn, had to. loyalty to the king in swear a cerimony called Homage. This promise was made with the King sitting on his chair and the vassal kneeling before him, his hands between those of his
The Knights Code of Chivalry and the vows of Knighthood The Knight had to… fear God and maintain His Church serve the lord in valour and faith protect the weak and defenceless give succour to widows and orphans live by honour and for glory fight for the welfare of all respect the honour of women.
The Romance and Courtly love tradition The Romance was the most popular genre of the Middle Ages. It deals with a series of adventures of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. One of its most interesting features is that of courtly love
� https: //www. youtube. com/watch? feature=player_detailpage&v=cgmvg 5 tqibo A Window on the Feudal World (from First. Knight)
The Church in the Middle Ages Throughout the Middle Ages the church was enormously powerful in England. Conflict between Church and State became inevitable and led to the murder of the archibishop of Canterbury Thomas
The decline of Feudalism In the 13 th century Feudalism began its decline, because the nobles acted as a class and not as vassals. They were not willing to fight long for the King, who had to pay soldiers who would fight for him. So the nobles forced They wanted to assert their rights. King John to sign Magna Carta in 1215 and started to act in cooperation with the
Politically the Magna Carta was an important achievement of the Middle Ages and the first constitutional document. This document set limits on royal powers. It was signed in 1215 at Runnymede by King John under the
Produced by: Francesco Fotino Alessia Gentile Mariano Macrito Simone Sacco Dominique Sicilia
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