1. The Medieval Period (Pg 22)
1066-Norman Conquest—William the Conqueror defeats Harold at Hastings, becomes king of England
Medieval Period—Middle ages

2. Feudalism
William introduced feudalism—a political and economic system in which the hierarchy of power was based on the premise that the king owned all the land in the kingdom.
¼ for King; ¼ for church; ½ to nobles or barons who supplied the king with warriors called knights

3. Serfs
Conquered Anglo-Saxons that were bound to the land they could not own
Did not speak French, the language of the nobles
Spoke a mixture of French and English known as Middle English that adapted into the language we speak today

4. --Economics-- DOMESDAY BOOK
1085—For tax purposes, William ordered the compilation of a detailed survey of the land and population of England
A modern day Census
Translates to “day of judgment”

5. --Sociology— Women’s Rights
A woman’s status was based on her husband or father’s position in society
She held husband’s rank
Remained subservient to the husband
Men maintained all the property and wealth
Women ran the house, sewed, weaved, cooked

6. --Architecture— CATHEDRALS
Romanesque—Massive, richly decorated
Took decades or centuries to build
Built in gratitude to God
Built as acts of penitence
Built along pilgrimage routes
Churches became the most corrupt institution of the Medieval Period

7. --History— THE CRUSADES
The Christian response to the expansion of Islam into the holy land of Jerusalem
8 major expeditions
For the Knights these were part Holy War, part pilgrimage, and sometimes profitable

8. --History— THE CRUSADES
The Children’s Crusades of 1212
Legend has it that a boy was visited by Jesus and told to convert the Muslims to Christianity
He gained a following of 30,000 children who followed him towards the Holy Land
The waters of the Marseilles would not part and the children were sold into slavery

9. Literary History Common folk relied on oral tradition to tell stories
Ballads—Brief narrative poems sung to musical accompaniment
Mystery and Miracle Plays—which dramatized episodes from the Bible and from saint’s lives
Morality Plays—Taught moral lessons

10. --Law— PARLIAMENT Edward I--The king’s Great Council
Meeting place or talking place for nobles, knights and clergy
Became a representation for townships akin to the democratic process we use

11. King Henry II
Sent four loyal knights to murder Thomas a’ Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury
Reformed the judicial system
Established a system of juries
Initiated English common laws
Becket quickly became a saint, his shrine a popular pilgrimage destination

12. How to Become a Saint You have to be close to God Help the poor
Be good and kind to people when you are alive
Perform two miracles after you have passed away.

13. King Henry II
His wife brought the ideas of chivalry, a code of honor among knights
The code encouraged knights to protect ladies and go on holy quests (Crusades)
His son was Richard I, called “Richard the Lion-Hearted”
Richard fought in the crusades, his brother John plotted against him (Robin Hood)

14. Decline of Feudalism Growth of towns and population of commoners
Increase in trade due to Crusades
Guilds formed to stabilize prices and set rules for advancement of craftsmen pg 24

15. Plague Crowding and poor sanitation
Rats and fleas imported from cargo ships
Black Death (Bubonic Plague) killed a third of England’s population in 1300’s
“Bring out your dead!”

16. Plague Rap
Ring around the rosie- ring-like sores that formed on people's skin. Pockets full of posies- Flowers that were stuffed into pockets to ward off the stench Ashes, ashes, we all fall down- ashes alludes to the funeral pyres ashes and the falling down was everybody dying

17. Romances
Tales of chivalric knights, many featured King Arthur and his round table
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Le Morte d’Arthur (The death of Arthur) by Sir Thomas Malory

18. Geoffrey Chaucer pg 106 1340?-1400 The “Father of English Literature”
“Chaucer” is French for shoemaker
1357—Became an attendant for the Prince’s wife
1359—French POW in 100 yr war, ransomed by the court

19. Geoffrey Chaucer
As the King’s messenger, he traveled to Italy (Dante) and France (The Romance of the Rose)
The Parliament of Fowls—commemorated the wedding of Richard II
1386—Became a Knight
King Henry IV took over but Chaucer remained in the court

20. Geoffrey Chaucer
1400—Died; (possibly from the Plague) Buried in London’s Westminster Abbey (Poet’s Corner—John Dryden, Tennyson, Robert Browning)
Did not complete all the Canterbury Tales

21. The Canterbury Tales
1387—A collection of verse and prose tales told by pilgrims traveling to Canterbury to see the shrine of Saint Thomas a’ Becket
Unfinished at the time of Chaucer’s death
Chaucer portrayed himself in the tale as a short, plump pilgrim

22. The Prologue (Introduction)
Vocabulary word
accrue, agility, courtliness, defer, diligent, disdain, dispatch, eminent, frugal, malady, mode, personable, repine, sedately, wield

23. The Prologue
Tone—writer’s attitude toward the work’s subject or characters (ironic, satiric, humorous…)
Characterization—the means by which a writer develops a character’s personality
(description, speech, thoughts, actions…)

24. Pilgrimage Generally began with a priest’s blessing
Wore clothing that identified them as pilgrims
Stayed in roadside hospices
Walked or road horses, roads became very muddy when wet
Could buy a small badge of cast pewter as a souvenir

25. The Prologue Social Diversity, a microcosm
Chaucer describes the 29 pilgrims, providing insight into the larger society
Narrative poem—more formal than most poems of the 14th century
Poetic verse form—rhymed and iambic pentameter
Opens with an apostrophe or address to spring

26. The Prologue Zephyrus—Greek god of west wind
Ram—Astrology—indicates a reference to 14th century “science”
This narrative poem was directed towards the noble class, not the commoners
Setting—Begins in London (not Canterbury)
Medieval England was experiencing a warming period

27. The Prologue
Setting—Begins across the Thames River, where, 200 years later, Shakespeare’s Globe Theater will be erected
Tabard Inn (Drum)—you beat a drum when you want people to join you
Harry Bailey is the Innkeeper
100 miles to Canterbury
4-day journey by horse

28. The Prologue
Purpose of trip is as much social as religious—Spring Break
Travel in a band for safety (Brigands and Highwaymen)
Harry Bailey decrees that each pilgrim will provide 4 tales (29 X 4 =116)
Winner will get a “free” dinner
Generally, the best tales come from the worst people

29. The Prologue
Each pilgrim is a stereotype of their profession (priests are priestly, knights are knightly…)
But some are mixed with irony
The Knight—Chivalrous, noble, returned from the Crusades
The Knight’s son—a Squire—a lady’s man
The Yeoman—an attendant to the knight

30. The Prologue (Nun) The Nun Prioress Madam Eglantyne Speaks French
Eats delicately
Weep if she saw a mouse in a trap
Lap dogs that dine better than the population
Fine features (a broad forehead)

31. The Prologue (pg 134-136) The HOST
Host—Harry Bailey, Innkeeper of Tabard
Description: Jovial, generous, self-confidant, wide girth
Proposes that each pilgrim share two tales on way to Canterbury, two on way back
Winner get a supper, paid by all
Offers to come along and be judge
Drew lots to decide who begins the tales

32. The Prologue (Nun)
Forehead should have been modestly covered by a wimple, equivalent of showing legs
Broach “Love conquers all”, should say “religion conquers all”
She is a hypocrite but Chaucer only winks at her sins, Christianity is all inclusive

33. The Prologue Tone—detached and ironic
Tone—Harry Bailey understates the greed and hypocrisy, allows readers to draw their own conclusions
Example, The Nun Prioress: Her sexy forehead, feeding her dogs meat and milk, her broach “Amor vincit omnia” (Love conquers all)

34. The Pardoner’s Prologue (pg 142-151)
Vocabulary Words
ADVERSARY, AVARICE, CASTIGATE, COVETOUSNESS, PALLOR, PARLEY, SAUNTER, TRANSCEND, VERMIN, WARY

35. The Pardoner’s Prologue (pg 142-151)
Very honest about his dishonesty
Theme: Radix malorum est cupiditas (love of money is the root of all evil—Bible translated from Hebrew to Latin)
Avarice and cupidity—Greed (avarice is one of the seven deadly sins)

36. The Pardoner’s Prologue
Seems contemptuous toward those to whom he preaches (ie. “They can go blackberrying, for all I care!”)
“And thus I preach against the very vice I make my living out of—avarice.” (Irony)
Verse 55—For though I am a wholly vicious man, don’t think I can’t tell moral tales. I can!” example of _____________

37. The Pardoner’s Prologue
Hypocrisy

38. The Pardoner’s Tale (pg 144-151)
Three rowdy drunks hear a coffin bell
Tell the tavern nave to report back
Dead man was a friend of theirs (plague)
Death as a thief is an example of _______
Verses 79-81, “Be on guard…” is an example of this literary technique_______

39. The Pardoner’s Tale
Personification
Foreshadowing

40. The Pardoner’s Tale
The rioters make a pact (brotherhood) that they will kill this traitor Death
Encountered an old man, the three were very disrespectful (verse 114)
Old man responds—I can’t find one who would change his youth to have my age
Verse 130—implores Mother earth to open up for him (personification)

41. The Pardoner’s Tale
The gambler accuses the old man of collaborating with death
The old man directs the rioters to death, sitting under an oak tree
They found a pile of gold florins (coins)
Verse 178—Fortune means “Fate”
Verse 182—”our lucky day” (Irony and foreshadowing)

42. The Pardoner’s Tale One rioter is chosen to go to town for food
The two remaining conspire against the young man (parley—discussion)
Plotted to stab him with daggers
Young man bought poison from the apothecary (pharmacist)
Poured poison into two of the three wine bottles

43. The Pardoner’s Tale When the young man returned, his brothers slew him
They celebrated by drinking the poisoned wine—they perished
The Pardoner addresses the pilgrims (verse 299)
He offers to absolve their sins for a price
You may fall off your horse and break your neck—scare tactic

44. The Wife of Bath Prologue
Reread lines of Prologue, pg 125, Introduction of Wife of Bath
A worthy woman from Bath city (a well-known health resort, mineral springs)
A seamstress, a Gold digger
5 husbands at the church door
Well-traveled: Rome, Jerusalem…
Gap-tooth, large hips, liked to laugh

45. The Wife of Bath Prologue
This tale belongs to the Marriage Group
Also a Medieval Romance
The battle of the sexes
She cautions us about marriage

46. The Wife of Bath Prologue—Vocabulary pg 154
Abominably, bequeath, concede, contemptuous, cosset, crone, dejected
Ecstasy, implore, maim, prowess, rebuke, statute, temporal, tribulation

47. The Wife of Bath Prologue
setting: King Arthur’s days
A magical time of elves and fairies
Verbal irony—lines (religion has replaced fantasy)
What was the wife of Bath’s attitude toward Friars? (incubus)

48. The Wife of Bath Tale A knight who was a lusty liver
Took her maidenhead (raped her)
Punishment was to be loss of head because code of chivalry was broken

49. The Wife of Bath Queen implored the king for leniency
Queen gave the knight a chance to live if he could answer the question
“What is the thing that women most desire?” one year and a day

50. The Wife of Bath Tale Wealth? Honor? Jollity and pleasure?
Clothes? Fun in bed? Widowed and remarried? Cosseted? Flattery?
Guys—what do you think the answer is?
Ladies—what do you think the answer is?

51. The Wife of Bath Tale
ALLUSION—a reference to a historical or fictional person, place or event
King Midas (fictional), Ovid (historical)
Moral of story—women can’t keep secrets

52. The Wife of Bath Tale
Knight was dejected because he could not find a consensus among the women
knight saw 24 women dancing
They transformed into an old woman
She promises to tell him the secret

53. The Wife of Bath Tale Knight swears to do whatever she asks
They both went to see the Queen
“a woman wants the self-same sovereignty over husband as over her lover”
With the Queen’s watching, the old crone asks the knight to marry her

54. The Wife of Bath Tale The knight begs her to change her mind
“so foul a misalliance!”
They have a private wedding
Wedding night—she asks him if this is the way knights behave

55. The Wife of Bath Tale The knight is contemptuous
The code of chivalry demands that knights respect their elders
She explains the meaning of gentility
Nothing wrong with being poor, even Jesus chose to come to the world poor
“You need not fear to be a cuckold”

56. The Wife of Bath Tale You have two choices line 395
Old and ugly and loyal? Or…
Young and pretty and unfaithful?
The knight left the decision to his wife

57. The Wife of Bath Tale The wife has won the mastery Kiss me, she says…
His ugly wife turned into a beautiful young lady that remained forever faithful
And they lived happily ever after

58. BALLADS (pgs )
A narrative poem that was originally intended to be sung
Consists of 4 line stanzas, or quatrain
2nd and 4th line rhyme, sometime have a refrain—a repeated phrase
Passed down orally

59. BALLADS (pgs 192-197) Most Medieval people were illiterate
Stories often changed in the retelling
Many versions of the same story
Ballads focused on a single incident

60. BALLADS (pgs 192-197) Begin in the middle of the story (in medias res)
Rhyme and repetition of sounds enabled minstrels to recall and recite the ballads
Alliteration—the repetition of consonant sounds

61. BALLADS (pgs )
Popular subjects included: tragic love, domestic conflict, crime, war, and shipwreck
Dialect—Scottish
Rase = rose
Gin = if
Twa = two

62. BALLADS Rhyming scheme= abcb or aabb O slowly, slowly rase she up’ a
To the place where he was lyin, b
And when she drew the curtain by: c
“Young man, I think you’re dyin.” b
---from “Barbara Allan”

63. BARBARA ALLAN Tells the story of a tragic love
Theme: unfulfilled or unrequited love and impending doom
Modern examples: Songs by Garth Brooks, Meat Loaf, Brad Paisley
Story—The Little Mermaid, Hunchback of Notre Dame

64. BARBARA ALLAN
To an audience at that time, it would not have seemed at all unusual that a nobleman such as Sir John Graeme could be healthy one day and then be lying near death the next
Does he die of illness or unrequited love?

65. BARBARA ALLAN
The tolling of the dead-bell forces Barbara Allan to accept the reality of Sir John’s death
In death, Sir John and Barbara Allan are finally happy with each other and able to achieve a peace in their relationship that they could not agree to in life
Why weren’t they able to be together in life?

66. SIR PATRICK SPENS
Describes the loss at sea of a Scottish ship and crew
Theme: man against nature, the dangers faced by sailors at sea

67. SIR PATRICK SPENS Drunk king asks for a super sailor to sail his ship
Old man replies: “Sir Patrick Spens…”
King writes him a letter, he laughs at first
Spens agrees, despite the danger (The tear blinded his ee.)

68. SIR PATRICK SPENS
He sails against the advice of his crew (For I fear a deadly storm)
The ship sinks off the coast of Aberdour (50 fathoms deep)
The sailors hats float while their ladies wait for their return

69. GET UP AND BAR THE DOOR
Tells the humorous story of a strong-willed husband and wife locked in an argument
Theme: Treats marital discord in a humorous manner

70. GET UP AND BAR THE DOOR Off-rhymes -”then / pan” -”sure / door”
Chances are that the words in each pair had the same vowel sounds in this time
Changes came in the 16th century—modern English

71. “Get up and Bar the Door”
Man and wife in home
Wife preparing dinner
Neither wants to bar the door
Make a deal: the one who speaks first has to get up and bar the door
2 men walk in and see the silent pair
They threaten to shave his beard and kiss his wife
He speaks and she wins the deal

72. BALLADS
All three of these ballads deal with problems encountered in everyday life

73. The English Renaissance pg 276
“Rebirth”
Began in in 14th century Italy
Began in England after the War of the Roses, Henry VII

74. The English Renaissance
Medieval period focused on religion and the after life
Renaissance stressed humanity on earth
Arts, literature, beauty in nature, human impulses, a new mastery over the world
Questioned timeworn truths (flatlanders)
Challenged authority

75. The English Renaissance
Renaissance Man
A many-faceted person who cultivated his innate talents to the fullest

76. Thirst for Knowledge
Great burst of exploration – culminates in Columbus’ arrival in New World in 1492
Compass developed
Advances in field of astronomy
Growing sense of nationalism
Protestant reformation

77. The English Renaissance
Henry VII son (Arthur) married Catherine of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand of Spain, England’s greatest new World rival
Arthur died, pope allowed Arthur’s younger brother (Henry VIII) to marry Catherine
This would prove to be a problem

78. The English Renaissance
Henry VIII
Succeeded his father in 1509
A true Renaissance prince
Skilled athlete, poet, musician…
Asked the church for permission to divorce Catherine after 18 yrs and only one female child--Mary

79. HENRY VIII The Pope refused Henry’s request for a divorce
Henry broke with Rome in 1534, declared himself head of the Church of England or Anglican Church
Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn, she produced a daughter—Elizabeth
Anne was later executed for adultery

80. Queen Mary Restored Pope, Catholicism Married Philip of Spain
Executed approx. 300 protestants
These executions are why she’s known as “Bloody Mary”

81. The Elizabethan Era
The unwanted daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
Strong, clever, educated in Greek & Latin, patron of the arts
Re-established monarchy’s position over Anglican Church, restored Book of Common Prayer
Believed in religious tolerance, lowered taxes, in favor of public education

82. Queen Elizabeth I Never married—”The Virgin Queen”
She was the inspiration for Spenser’s “The Faerie Queene”
Supported Sir Walter Raleigh
-introduced tobacco and potatoes
-Tried for treason, imprisoned in Tower of London
-finally executed in 1618

83. Spanish Armada--1588
Spain refused to recognize England’s claim to America—sent 130 ships
They claimed English privateers were plundering Spanish ships
8-day battle aided by a storm; England became known as a great sea power

84. King James I
Did NOT believe in religious tolerance; persecuted Puritans
1604—King James I appointed scholars to create a new translation of the Bible, promoted the use of English language (King James Version)

85. The English Renaissance
Following Queen Eliz I, came King James
1605—The Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament—Guy Fawkes Day (Nov 5 celebrate)
1606—Shakespeare's “Macbeth” produced

86. The English Renaissance
1629 Charles I dismissed Parliament for 11 years
Thousands migrated to N. America, mostly Puritans
Long Parliament

87. Evolution of Poetry Lyric poetry was favorite
Sonnet perfected; sonnet cycles became very popular
Edmund Spenser wrote The Faerie Queene (epic, intricate verse w/ rich imagery)