Medieval British Literature 1066-1485

1. Medieval British Literature 1066-1485 Emily JackSon Emily NguYen Della TuFon AmmarAurangZeb ChazWagNer

2. The Middle (Medieval) Ages The Middle ages begins in 1066 with the reign of King William the Conqueror. There are fifteen kings after him during this time period. Feudalism was the basic government structure during this period. The Crusades, the Hundred Years War and Black Death come about in the Middle ages also. It ends in 1485.

3. MajorEvents: Domesday Book • 1086: Domesday Book • a record of all land ownership in England • first complied in 1086. • covers all of England except the northern areas Doomsday Book - Counties of England. (2010, March 17). Retrieved August 26, 2010, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Doomsday_Book_-_Counties_of_England_-_1086.png (picture) Britannica, E. (2000, June). The Doomsday book. Retrieved August 27, 2010, from http://web.onetel.net.uk/~gedburnell/doomsday.htm

4. MajorEvents • 1170: Thomas Becket is murdered. • King Henry Ⅱ order him to be killed • Knights who killed him fell into disgrace The Murder of Thomas Becket, 1170. (1997). Retrieved August 27, 2010, from EyeWitness to History: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/becket.htm (info and picture)

5. MajorEvents • 1215: Magna Carta is signed • King John is forced to sign • the basis for English citizen's rights • shows that the king’s power could be limited by a written grant. Magna Carta 1215. (n.d.). Retrieved August 29, 2010, from http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/magna-carta.htm

6. Major Events: Hundred Years War • 1337: Hundred Years War • between England and France. • Kings of England wanted to rule France • Ended in 1453

7. Major Events: Black Death • 1348: Black Death strikes England. • Kills about one-thirdof England’s population • Kills about half of London's population Trueman, C. (n.d.). The Black Death of 1348 to 1350. Retrieved August 29, 2010, from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/black_death_of_1348_to_1350.htm

8. Major Events: Joan of Arc • 1429: began quest to make the future Charles VII the French leader and to drive the English out of France • 1431: is burned at the stake by the English. • had inspired a French revival

9. Major Event: The Crusades • The Crusades are launched to defend Christianity from Islam. • Thousands of Europeans travel to Jerusalem to wage war with the Islamic forces, and gain back the Holy Land. • For a while, their quest is successful, but with the fall of Acre in 1291, the Crusades ends. • The Crusades lasts for about 200 years. • While thousands die in the Crusades, Europeans are enlightened to many new technologies and discovered new trade routes.

10. Themes of Literature • Content • Plays that instruct the illiterate masses in morals and religious • Chivalric code of honor • Romances • Religious devotion • Styles/ Genres • Oral tradition • Folk ballads • Mystery and miracle plays • Morality plays • Stock epithets • Kennings • Frame stories • Moral tales (British Literature Historical Outline Handout)

11. Ballads, Mystery, and Miracle Plays • Ballads • tell a story in poem form. • They are passed from performer to performer. • They are uncomplicated and are made to be appealing to the audience. • Mystery Plays • Are performed to dramatize Christian history from creation to second coming • Guilds travel on wagons and make several stops to perform Biblical stories • Miracle Plays • Focuses on the lives of the saints (The Passion) (Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Elements of Literature Essentials of British and World Literature 6th Course.n.d.)

12. Sir Thomas Mallory • Very little is known about his life • Documented evidence shows that he was in and out of prison throughout his life • Supposedly wrote his Arthurian epic as a prisoner in Newgate Prison • Le MorteD’Arthurfirst published by William Caxton in 1485 (Clody, K. (2010, June 19). Suite 101. Retrieved August 27, 2010 from http://www.suite101.com/content/teaching-sirt-thomas-malorys-la-morte-darthure-a251198) (1452, By January. "Sir Thomas Malory." English Literature and Culture Teaching Database. Web. 03 Sept. 2010. <http://hermes.hrc.ntu.edu.tw/lctd/List/authorIntro.asp?A_ID=102>.)

13. Le MorteD’Arthur In May when every lusty heart flourisheth and burgeoneth, for as the season is lusty to behold and comfortable, so man and woman rejoice and gladden of summer coming with his fresh flowers: for winter with his rough winds and blasts causeth a lusty man and woman to cower, and sit fast by the fire. So in this season, as in the month of May, it befell a great anger and unhap that stinted not till the flower of chivalry of all the world was destroyed and slain; and all was long upon two unhappy knights, the which were named Agravaine and Sir Mordred, that were brethren unto Sir Gawiane.      - Le Morted’Arthur (final romance) SIR THOMAS MALORY. (2010, May 15). Retrieved August 30, 2010, from Giga Quotes: http://www.giga-usa.com/quotes/authors/thomas_malory_a001.htm

14. Relation to Time Period • it is told in oral tradition as a folk ballad • It is a moral tale by showing how the noblemen choose to make the right decision • Also has some references to Renaissance themes because it was written around the time of transition between the two time periods (British Literature Historical Outline Handout)

15. William Langland (c.1332–c.1400) • Author of Piers Plowman • Born at Ledbury near the welsh borders • Piers Plowman aka.-The Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman • Quotes-'So a cleric's duty is to serve Christ, and leave carting and labouring to ignorant serfs. And no one should take Holy Orders unless he comes from a family of freemen, and his parents are married in church. • The poem contains three dream visions(1. in which holy meed (representing the temptation of riches) woo the dreamer)2. in which Piers leads a crowd of penitents in search of St. Truth 3. the vision of Do-well (the practice of the virtues), Do-bet (in which Piers becomes the Good Samaritan practicing charity), and Do-best (in which the simple plowman is identified with Jesus himself) ("William Langland — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com. Web. 31 Aug. 2010. <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0828809.html>.)

16. Relation to Time Period • The poem relates to the time period because it shows the character playing the role of religious devotion • ("William Langland — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com. Web. 31 Aug. 2010. <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0828809.html>.)

17. John Gower • 1330-1408 • Born into a prominent Yorkshire family • Married Agnes Groundolf in 1397 • He became blind around that time • Died in 1408, in St. Mary Overies, where his tomb can still be seen today Jokinen, Anniina. "Life of John Gower". Luminarium.13 Feb 2010. [Date you accessed this article].<http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/gowerbio.htm>

18. Works of John Gower • Confessio Amantis • A collection of stories of courtly love • Related with the themes of the Medieval Time Period because it dealt with the chivalric code of honor within romances • “Mirour de L’omme” • A French poem focusing on the fall of man and how sin effected the world • Was a moral tale, which were common during the Medieval times

19. Geoffrey Chaucer: Father of English Literature • Was born into a middle class family • Captured in France while serving as a soldier in the Hundred Years War. • Well known government official and served under three kings. • Despite his government responsibilities, he created many great poems. • Traveled in Italy and was most likely influenced by Dante and Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio. • Connection between Boccaccio’s Decameron and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. • Began writing Canterbury Tales in 1387. • Never finished the collection, but is still considered one of the greatest works in English literature. • The date on his tombstone is October 25, 1400. • He was the first to be buried in the Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey in London. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Elements of Literature Essentials of British and World Literature 6th Course.n.d.

20. Works of Geoffrey Chaucer • Canterbury Tales • written in 1387 • A series of short stories • Collection was never completed • WHEN in April the sweet showers fallAnd pierce the drought of March to the root, and allThe veins are bathed in liquor of such powerAs brings about the engendering of the flower,When also Zephyrus with his sweet breathExhales an air in every grove and heathUpon the tender shoots, and the young sunHis half-course in the sign of the Ram has run,And the small fowl are making melodyThat sleep away the night with open eye(So nature pricks them and their heart engages)Then people long to go on pilgrimagesAnd palmers long to seek the stranger strandsOf far-off saints, hallowed in sundry lands,And specially, from every shire's endIn England, down to Canterbury they wendTo seek the holy blissful martyr,* quickTo give his help to them when they were sick. - Passage from Prologue of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

21. Relation to Time Period • It relates to the Medieval Times because it is told as a folk ballad • There are some forms of chivalry such as the knight’s devotion to his work (British Literature Handout)

22. Sir Gawain and the Green KnightBy Anonyms: Biography • This poet is unknown and is referred to the “Gawain Poet” or the “Pearl Poet”. • The only thing that they know about this mysterious man or ladie is that he or she lived in middle England around the late 1300’s

23. Sir Gawain and the Green KnightBy Anonyms: Summary • King Author was having a New Year party when a Green Knight comes and challenges any of his men to cut his head off Sir Gawain excepted it and cut off The Green Knight’s head, and he survived. He promised that in a year and a day he will do the same to Sir Gawain. • Near a year later Sir Gawain rides off to find his challenger, and runs across a beautiful castle. Here he meets Bertilak de Hautdesert, the lord of the castle and his lady. • They become loyal to eachother for Gawain exchanges what he gets from Lady Bertilak for food the next day, except for a green girdle the Lady gives Gawain. • It ends up Bertilak was the Green Knight and is ashamed that he did not exchange the girdle to him, so instead of be heading him he just cut his neck a very little bit to punish him for it. This is all that he did to harm him.

24. Images Sir Gawain and the Green KnightBy Anonyms: Sources About the Book/Author "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 01 Sept. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Gawain_and_the_Green_Knight>. "The Gawain Poet and 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'." Cruzio Internet: Home of the Santa Cruz Guide, Events, Weather & Traffic. Award-winning DSL, Email, Web Hosting, Classes, Blogs. Find Restaurants & Hotels. Web. 01 Sept. 2010. <http://www.baymoon.com/~ariadne/poets/gawain.poet.htm>.

25. Works Cited Jokinen, Anniina. "Life of John Gower". Luminarium. 13 Feb 2010. http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/gowerbio.htm ("William Langland — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com. Web. 31 Aug. 2010. <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0828809.html>.) Britannica, E. (2000, June). The Doomsday book. Retrieved August 27, 2010, from http://web.onetel.net.uk/~gedburnell/doomsday.htm Carol A. Keller, P. (n.d.). World Civilization to the 15th Century. Retrieved August 29, 2010, from http://www.alamo.edu/sac/history/keller/TP_Unit3.htm Doomsday Book - Counties of England. (2010, March 17). Retrieved August 26, 2010, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Doomsday_Book_-_Counties_of_England_-_1086.png Hundred Years' War 1337-1453. (2003, November 6). Retrieved August 30, 2010, from www.theotherside.co.uk Life During the Middle Ages. (2000). Retrieved August 23, 2010, from http://www.medieval-life.net/life_main.htm Magna Carta 1215. (n.d.). Retrieved August 29, 2010, from http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/magna-carta.htm The Murder of Thomas Becket, 1170. (1997). Retrieved August 27, 2010, from EyeWitness to History: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/becket.htm Trueman, C. (n.d.). The Black Death of 1348 to 1350. Retrieved August 29, 2010, from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/black_death_of_1348_to_1350.htm Walton, S. (n.d.). Magna Carta. Retrieved August 31, 2010, from www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/magna-carta Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Elements of Literature Essentials of British and World Literature 6th Course.n.d.

26. Work Cited (Clody, K. (2010, June 19). Suite 101. Retrieved August 27, 2010 from http://www.suite101.com/content/teaching-sirt-thomas-malorys-la-morte-darthure-a251198) (Mallory, F. (2006, October 6). More's Farce . Retrieved August 27, 2010 from Online with F.R.R. Mallory: http://www.mallorywrites.com/farce.html) Jokinen, Anniina. "Life of John Gower". Luminarium.13 Feb 2010. [Date you accessed this article].<http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/gowerbio.htm> ("William Langland — Infoplease.com." Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus. Free Online Reference, Research & Homework Help. — Infoplease.com. Web. 31 Aug. 2010. <http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0828809.html>.)