By David Adams Leeming Instructed by BJ Rogers The Middle Ages By David Adams Leeming Instructed by BJ Rogers

The Norman Conquest October 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, France, defeated and killed King Harold of England, the last Anglo-Saxon king.

William the Conqueror Illegitimate son of the previous duke of Normandy who was cousin to King Edward the Confessor. Edward died childless and Harold, earl of Wessex, was crowned king the next day.

William’s Reign William claimed that King Edward had promised him the throne and attacked with a large army. He wanted to rule the Anglo-Saxons, not eliminate them.

Because of William He combined the Norman and Anglo-Saxon elements of culture where the language was Anglo-Saxon but the law and order, cultural unity, and administrative abilities of the Normans were present.

The Domesday Book One of William’s great administrative feats was an inventory of nearly every piece of property in England– land, cattle, buildings– in the Domesday Book.

He considered it a judgment of his subjects’ financial worth and God’s final judgment of their moral worth. For the first time in European history, people could be taxed based on what they owned.

What the French brought to England French language Feudalism A social, caste, property, and military system based on a religious concept of hierarchy, with God as the supreme overlord and the king held land as a vassal by “divine right”.

Barons (as his vassals) King William Barons (as his vassals) Who were given land in return for their economic and military allegiance Landless knights Serfs who were not free to leave the land they tilled.

Did the Feudal System Always Work? No Vassals did not always obey, especially if the overlord was weak.

Chivalry From the French word cheval which means “horse” Means a knight on a horse Defined as a complete code of conduct…

Where the knight’s first obligation was to defend his lord, the king and the Christian faith, but the code also covered how to treat a lady, how to help others, and how to resist the urge to run away if captured.

Chivalry also defined as… A system of ideals and social codes governing the behavior of knights and gentlewomen.

Chivalry demanded That one’s oath of loyalty to the overlord and observing certain rules of warfare, such as never attacking an unarmed opponent and adoring a particular lady was seen as a means of achieving self-improvement.

Courtly love Revering and acting in the name of a lady would make a knight braver and better. Nonsexual ideally Knight might wear his lady’s colors in battle

Might glorify her in words and be inspired by her. Lady always remained pure and out of reach. She was “set above” her admirer Provided built in drama Brought about an idealized attitude toward women.

Knights Primary duty of males above the serf class was military service to their lords, boys were trained from an early age to become warriors.

When training was complete, the boys were “dubbed” or ceremonially tapped on the shoulder (originally a hard testing blow). Once knighted, the youth became a man with the title “sir” and the full rights of the warrior caste.

Women in Medieval Society Had no political rights Always subservient to a man, whether husband, father, or brother. Her husband’s or father’s social standing determined the degree of respect she commanded.

Peasant women led a life of ceaseless childbearing, housework, and hard fieldwork. Women of a higher station took charge of managing the entire estate while the husband was gone, but relinquished all power once he returned.

A woman’s perceived value was tied to the value of the lands she brought to a marriage. Chivalry gave rise to a new form of literature, the romance. The greatest English example of a romance is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Medieval society centered around the feudal castle, but the population grew, causing many to live in towns and cities. The development of the city classes – lower, middle and upper-middle form because of the increase in population.

The merchant class formed when people of the cities who were free (not tied to the land or to knighthood and chivalry) moved away from the castle. The merchant class had a distinct style of art and their point of view was expressed in ballads and mystery plays (or miracle plays).

The Crusades A series of wars waged by European Christians against the Muslims, with Jerusalem and the Holy Land as the prize. Though they did not win, they benefited from contact with Eastern mathematics, astronomy, architecture, and crafts

St. Thomas a Becket Thomas, a Norman, was prime minister under his friend King Henry II All Christians belonged to the Catholic Church King Henry was a vassal to the pope, who was very powerful and controlled most of the crowned heads of Europe.

King Henry appointed Thomas as Archbishop of Canterbury (head of the Catholic Church in England), hoping to gain an upper hand in disputes with the Church. Thomas took the pope’s side more and this angered Henry.

In 1170, King Henry said, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest Four of Henry’s knights took him literally and killed Thomas in his own cathedral. This created a backlash against Henry.

Clergymen began to take advantage of the situation and corruption ran unchecked. The positive effects of the church were: Fostered cultural unity Was the center of learning Its monasteries were libraries and publishers of the time Its language, Latin, remained the international language of educated Europeans.

The Magna Carta In 1215, King John was forced by the barons to sign the Magna Carta which safeguarded the nobles rights, thus keeping papal power from unjust actions. It became the basis for English constitutional law where trial by jury and legislative taxation were established.

The Hundred Years’ War From 1337-1453 was waged by England against France. Two English Kings made false claims to the French throne (Edward III & Henry V) English lost

English yeoman After the war, the English were no longer best represented by the knight in shining armor, but rather by the green-clad yeoman (small- landowner) with his longbow who formed the nucleus of the English armies in France.

The Black Death Also called the bubonic plague, struck England in 1348-1349. Spread by fleas from infected rats, the disease reduced the nation’s population by a third.

Decrease in Population due to the Plague Caused a labor shortage Gave the lower classes more leverage than ever before against their overlords The freedom of the serfs was one long-term result which knocked out feudalism’s last support.

The end is in sight King Henry VII’s 1486 marriage which reconciled the Houses of York and Lancaster (and began the Tudor line) brought the Middle Ages to an end. Thus began the Renaissance in England.