1. Cultural History of Britain Lecture 5

2. Timeline: Late Middle Ages (1350-1485) 1348-49: Black Death 1381: The Peasants’ Revolt (Wat Tyler) 1383: Wycliffe’s Bible translation 1429: Battle of Orleans, Joan of Arc 1440: Eton College 1453: end of the Hundred Years War 1455-85: War of Roses (Plantagenet Dynasty) Lancaster (white rose) York (red rose) 1485- reign of Henry VII (Tudor Dynasty)

3. Black Death: Economic and Social Changes c. 50% of Britain’s population dies in plague→ Food shortage relieved Arable lands turned into pastures (sheep breeding) Manufactures (processing of wool) Broadcloth Worsted Tenants instead of peasants Preliminaries of industrial revolution Gradual dissolution of feudal society Process completed by the War of the Roses

4. Religion: Foreshadowing of Reformation John Wycliffe (1329-84) Outraged by the abuses of power within the Church Radical thinker Forerunner of Puritanism Bible translation (based on Vulgata) His followers spread his teachings in the Kingdom of Bohemia, to inspire Jan Hus (burnt at the stake in 1415 as a heretic, at the Council of Constance 1420-31 – Hussite Wars in Central Europe Forerunners of Protestant Reformation – Martin Luther, 1517, 95 theses, Wittenberg Lollards

5. Between Medieval Other-Worldliness and Humanism: the Age of Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400) The Place of Thomas Becket’s shrine in Canterbury Cathedral (destroyed in 1538, on Henry VIII’s order)

6. Joan of Arc: Iconoclastic Medieval Saint or a Forerunner of Reformation? Joan of Arc (1412-31) Maid of Orleans Burnt at the stake for witchcraft/heresy Canonised in 1920 G. B. Shaw, Saint Joan (1923) Film adaptation of her story (1999, Joan of Arc, dir. Luc Besson)

7. Education: Eton Established (1440) “the chief nurse of England’s statesmen” Boarding school Public school Single-sex school For pupils aged 13-18 Royal Family Eton College Chapel Late 15 th c. wall paintings Infiltration of Renaissance from the Netherlands

8. Secularisation of Culture: Medieval Theatre Mystery plays – cycles York Chester Wakefield Unknown town in Central England Miracle plays Morality plays Interludes Film adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999)

9. The Emergence of Print Culture in Britain: William Caxton (1476) Caxton’s printing house: 1476-91 About 100 works published, e.g. Chaucer, Malory His own translations from French (20) Patron of English literature in the vernacular Books are still the privilege of the wealthy! “popular literature” had a completely different meaning in the 15-18 th centuries than today Impacts Interest in classical Greek and vernacular literature (Renaissance Humanism) Interest in the Bible in the vernacular (Reformation) Standardisation of English spelling while the Great Vowel Shift was still in progress (Middle English → Modern English)

10. Medieval Architecture: Perpendicular Gothic No cathedral built entirely in Perpendicular Gothic (wars) Additions to existing churches in the new style (towers) Parish churches (new, wealthy middle class as patron of arts and religion) „Definition”: in the Perpendicular style „the buiding is conceived as a cage defined by a grid of vertical mullions and tracery, glazed, blind or open” (Watkin 64) Features: New tracery pattern applied to the walls Huge windows of a new design completely filled the east end of churches Vault decorated in the most intricate design (fan and lierne vaults) Late 15 th c.: fan vaulting, lace-like tracery Standardisation, mass production Specifically English style

11. The First Perpendicular Gothic Building Gloucester Cathedral, Choir vault, c. 1340

12. Gothic Tracery Gloucester Cathedral

13. Imaginative Perpendicular Vaulting: Sherborne Abbey (end of the 15th century) Sherborne Abbey, Dorset, the nave looking west

14. Perpendicular Gothic: the Tower The 15 th -century tower of Worcester Cathedral

15. Perpendicular Windows Fairford Church, Gloucestershire, west window (c.1500)

16. The Perfection of Perpendicular Gothic King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, c. 1450-1500, fan vaulting

17. Secular Architechture Mid-15 th century: introduction of brick – transformation of domestic architecture Stone castles Manor-houses Timber-frame construction Mid-15 th century: standard college plan established (Queen’s College, modeled on manor houses) Tattershall Castle Ockwells, manor-house

18. Works Cited BBC – History. http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/history Gelfert, Hans-Dieter: Nagy-Britannia rövid kultúrtörténete. Corvina, Budapest, 2005. Halliday, F. E. An Illustrated Cultural History of England. London: Thames and Hudson, 1981. Morgan, Kenneth O., ed. The Oxford History of Britain. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1984. Jenner, Michael. The Architectural Heritage of Britain and Ireland. Penguin: London, 1993. Laing, Lloyd and Jennifer. Art of the Celts. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992. ---. Medieval Britain: The Age of Chivalry. London: Herbert Press, 1998. Morgan, Kenneth O., ed. The Oxford History of Britain. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1984. Watkin, David. English Architecture. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992.