The Middle Ages 1066 1485 Background for Chaucers

The Middle Ages 1066— 1485 Background for Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

• 1066—The Norman Conquest 1. William the Conqueror defeated and killed the last of the Anglo. Saxon kings (King Harold of England). 2. Unlike the earlier Romans, the Normans never left.

3. Therefore, the language of English is heavily infused with words from French. 4. Administrative ability (law & order, cultural unity) added to Anglo. Saxons.

5. William and his successors remained dukes of Normandy as well as kings of England. 6. Land was divided up among William’s followers. 7. New social system—feudalism—replaced the old Nordic social structure we saw in Beowulf.

The Feudal System • Caste system • Property system • Military system “Divine right” of kings—the king held property as the vassal and gave land to his barons in return for their allegiance.

The Feudal System (cont’d) • Barons appointed vassals of their own from the knights (who did not usually own land) to the serfs who were unable to leave the land were forced to work on it.

Knights • Anyone above the class of serf was duty-bound to military service for the lords. • Youths trained in households other than their own to assure strict training.

Women in Medieval Society • Women had no political rights • Always subservient to men • Women of higher stations might be able to manage entire estates while men were away, but when the men returned, women returned to lesser roles.

Chivalry • Defined as a system of ideals and social codes which governed behavior of knights and gentlewomen 1) oath of loyalty 2) rules of warfare 3)adoring a lady (seen as a means of selfimprovement)

Courtly Love • Idea that a lady could make a knight braver and nobler • Non-sexual (in its ideal form) • The lady was to remain pure and out of reach • Inspired a new form of literature: the romance (adventurous hero who overcomes danger for the love of a lady or some high ideal)

Rise of Towns & Cities • Population centers wiped out the feudal system • Class systems arose (evident in the work of Geoffrey Chaucer) • Rise of the merchant class changes art from aristocratic to more middle class • Rise of the ballads (songlike poems which tell stories in fairly simple language)

Great Happenings • Crusades • Martyrdom of Thomas Becket (his shrine was what the pilgrims in C. T. set out to visit)—see p. 103

Great Happenings (cont’d) • Hundred Years’ War (13371453) based on two weak claims to the throne of France by two English kings (Edward III and Henry V) • After the war, knights died out and yeoman (small landowners were prominent)

Great Happenings (cont’d) • The Black Death – a. k. a. bubonic plague – Contributed to the continued death of feudalism – Reduced the nation’s population by a third • Labor shortage • Lower classes thus had more bargaining power against the overlords

Geoffrey Chaucer 1343 -1400 • Father of English poetry • Made English respectable • Wrote in “Middle English” (the vernacular) • Had many jobs in government (including a member of Parliament) and as a soldier during 100 Yrs. ’ War