1. Literature of the Middle Ages –Heroic Quests
“Perceval: The Story of the Grail” – Chrétien de Troyes
from the Inferno – Dante Alighieri

2. The European Middle Ages 476 - 1500
Divided into sections of history:
The Beginnings (476 – 700) - fall of Western Roman Empire;
The Early Middle Ages (700 – 1000) – rural introduction of feudalism;
The High Middle Ages (1000 – 1300) – development of towns & guilds, importance of pilgrimages & crusades;
The Late Middle Ages (1300 – 1500) – Black Death plague, Hundred Years’ War (England vs. France), Columbus’s trip across Atlantic Ocean

3. European People & Society
Social hierarchy under feudalism – 3 social classes – “Those who fought” (nobles & knights), “Those who prayed” (men and women of the church), and “Those who worked” (the peasants)
Image on next slide taken from:
Church had its own hierarchy – Pope is head of church, with bishops and abbots living as high as lords and knights, but friars and priests living poor lives among the peasants.
Merchants and Artisans – with development of towns in High Middle Ages, unions of skilled tradespeople were formed and created their own necessary place in society.

5. Religion & Medieval Culture
Religion was the focus of daily life during the Middle Ages.
Expressions of faith are evident in the arts, of the time period – most of which is based in Bible stories and teachings.

6. Literature of the Middle Ages
Primarily written in Latin – language of the learned/language of the church
Oral Tradition – scops, bards, minstrels, troubadors: traveling storytellers who kept history and tradition alive for the illiterate (the masses)
Scribes & monks were only writers – stories varied and changed to fit the time’s beliefs

7. Historical people & happenings…
Bubonic plague (Black Death) – claims 40 million lives in
Europe alone
Thomas Aquinas – philosopher, professor, friar – claimed the truths of Christianity could be proven through science
The Crusades – holy wars that resulted in cultural exchange between Western Europe and the Muslim World.
Joan of Arc – claimed to hear voices of saints, led French army to victory at Orleans; church convicted her of witchcraft and heresy – burned to death at the stake; considered France’s greatest patriot
Knights –sons of nobles trained to become knights (around age 21); we see their feats today in medieval tournaments (think A Knight’s Tale)

8. Chivalry
Code of Chivalry – ethics governing knightly behavior. Encouraged knights to honor and protect ladies and go on holy quests, like the Crusades.

9. Chrétien de Troyes
~ ~1185
French writer who introduced Arthurian legends to French literature
First to include Holy Grail in stories of King Arthur
First to mention illicit affair between Guinevere and Lancelot
Inspired other Europeans
to write about King Arthur
(Sir Thomas Mallory’s
Le Morte D’Artur, for one)

10. Romance
Fictional fantasies that include tales of heroes, passionate love, chivalric codes of loyalty & honor, daring deeds.
Romance first defined as any work of literature that wasn’t religious or academic in scope.
Provided an escape from the drudgery and difficulties of life.

11. “Perceval: The Story of the Grail”
Narration – 3rd person
Setting – medieval French countryside
Main Characters: Perceval (protagonist), Fisher King, Perceval’s cousin (maiden)
Conflict – Man vs. self
Literary Techniques evident: Foreshadowing, Romance

12. Brief Plot Summary:
Perceval is given shelter for the night at a castle of a fisherman.
While there, he is treated generously and graciously by the lord of the castle, who is bedridden.
The lord gives Perceval an indestructible sword.
Perceval sees a bleeding lance and a mysterious grail, but does not ask about them, for fear of appearing ignorant (not knightly behavior).

13. Plot Summary (cont’d):
The next morning, the castle is deserted when Perceval leaves. He meets a girl in the woods and when he tells her where he slept, she explains that that was the castle of the Fisher King, who needed Perceval to ask about the lance and grail in order to heal his wounds and rule his land again. By not asking, Perceval failed the king and himself, to whom great things would have come.
The maiden tells Perceval she is his cousin, and informs him of his mother’s death of a broken heart (Perceval left his mother to pursue knight’s honor)
Maiden renames Perceval “The Wretched” for his failings.

14. Theme & Quotes Pride, Honor, Self-consciousness
True knowledge is using one’s judgment in a new situation
Had Perceval asked, instead of remaining prideful and sticking to the rules of knightly behavior, he and the rest would have flourished.
“Perceval the Wretched!...” p. 720, top of 2nd column
“The lord’s guest gazed at this marvel…he feared it would be considered base of him if he asked, so he did not.” p

15. Fin.

16. Dante Alighieri Born in Forence, Italy in 1265
“More can be learned about how to write poetry from Dante than from any English poet.” ~T.S. Eliot
Born in Forence, Italy in 1265
Received fine Christian/classical education; self-taught poet
Writing was second to public service

17. Figure of Conflict
Fought in battles between Guelphs (supported Pope) and Ghibellines (supported emporer); Dante was a Guelph.
Guelphs won, but eventually split into two factions, the White Guelphs and the Black Guelphs. Dante sided against the Pope, and when Black Guelphs took control of Florence, Dante was exiled for life.

18. Guilty of Lust?
Though Dante married Gemma Donati (they were promised to each other as children), the object of his poetic devotions was Beatrice.
Beatrice Portinari, daughter of Florence nobleman, is presumed to be his muse, though they only met twice – once when he was 9 and once at 18.
Sadly, Beatrice died at the young age of 24. Dante’s heart was broken.

19. The Divine Comedy
Dante wrote The Divine Comedy during his exile. It took him about 15 years to complete. He finished it in 1321, shortly before his death.
Dante was widely popular in his life. It was rumored that children would follow him on the streets to touch “the man who had been to hell.”
See notes on Inferno Power Point…