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The Medieval Period (The Middle Ages)1066-1485
01 Vocabulary
Fiefdom: an area of land, especially one that is rented and paid for by work • Serf: a member of a low social class in medieval times who worked on the land and had to obey the person who owned that land • Peasant: a poor farmer of low social status who owns or rents a small piece of land for cultivation (chiefly in historical use or with reference to subsistence farming in poorer countries). • Baron: one of a class of tenants holding his rights and title by military or other honorable service directly from a feudal superior (such as a king)
The Norman Conquest of England Fiefdom: an area of land, especially one that is rented and paid for by work • Alfred the Great defeated the Danes (King Hrothgar’s people) and confined them to the north of England • In 1066, the English King, Edward the Confessor died, and Harold II (Edward’s cousin) claimed that he should be the new king • Duke William of Normandy (with the church’s support) invaded England and defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings. • In four years, the Normans killed most of the English nobility and divided the land into estates known as fiefdoms, ruled by the French-speaking barons loyal to William the Conqueror
Anglo-Norman Literature • For 200 years (1066-1260), after the conquest of the Normans, English became a “lower-class” language, one spoken almost by the poor and powerless • The language of the rich was Norman-French • The production of English Literature was nonexistent • The production of Anglo-Norman literature was quite practical, in keeping with the character of the Norman people • Much of it consists of religious tracts and other works meant for general learning
Feudalism • The political system brought to England by William the Conqueror • All of the land belonged to the King, who granted land to nobility, called Barons • Barons were bound in loyalty to the king, had to raise armies to fight his battles, and pay taxes to support his court • Barons granted land to lesser nobles and required services and taxes from them • At the very bottom of the social order was a class of bondsmen, known as peasants or serfs
KING Barons Other Nobles Feudalism Peasants/Serfs
Peasants/Serfs • The life of a serf was terrible • They were the property of their feudal lords and could not leave the land or even marry without permission • They lived on meager diets, suffered terribly from disease, and worked very hard only to turn over much of what they produced for the support of the lord’s household • Occasionally, a serf could earn his freedom by some exceptional service to his lord. This class of freed serfs (or freemen) grew to include many merchants, traders, and artisans.
The Influence of the Church- At no time in history of England was the influence of the church greater than during the Medieval period- The Roman Catholic Church had tremendous power, money, and influence- The head of the church was the Pope-Much of the literature of the time was religious
Henry II In 1154, Henry II became King of England He despised the fact that the church had (technically) more power than he did He wanted to curb some of that power by appointing his friend, Thomas Becket, to the Archbishop’s seat in Canterbury when it became open. He expected Becket to go along with his views and support his every wish for change. But…
Instead, Becket defied royal policy and appealed to the Pope. The Pope supported Becket, which enraged Henry. • Some of Henry’s knights misunderstood Henry’s rage and in 1170, four of them went to Canterbury and murdered Becket in his cathedral. • Henry quickly condemned the crime and tried to atone for it by making a pilgrimage to Canterbury to Becket’s tomb • He built a shrine to his friend and that shrine became an example of religious devotion
Growth of Towns • Towns in England were growing rapidly • Townspeople grouped themselves into associations, called guilds, according to their vocation • As these guilds became more powerful, some of them became corrupt • Also, as towns grew, many combined into cities. With the growing population, it was only inevitable that…
THE BLACK DEATH… • 1348-1349—Because of unsanitary conditions, disease was widespread and the worst plague in history, the black death, swept through England • It killed one-third of the population
Middle Ages (later part of the Medieval Period) • As the Black Plague waned, so did the Feudal system • Many peasant revolts caused the noblemen to lose some of their power • 1381-Peasant Revolt: Jack Straw and Wat Tyler rebelled in demand for individual liberty and human rights • The idea of chivalry and romance emerged once again • Code of chivalry—loyalty, valor, both on and off the battlefield
What happens when a King dies or loses his throne and other peoplewant to be King?
The War of the Roses Began in 1453, when King Henry VI suffered his first bout of madness Parliament appointed his cousin, Richard of York, as temporary head of England until Henry was able to return Henry recovered briefly and Richard was forced from office. But Richard was not willing to leave without a fight.
This resulted in a Civil War, known as the War of the Roses, because it pitted the House of York (Richard’s side) whose family symbol was a white rose against the House of Lancaster (Henry’s side) whose family symbol was a red rose • The House of Lancaster ultimately won the Civil War in 1485 (30 years later)
