Cultures of Europe 1

1. Cultures of Europe 1 Session 4 The MedievalAge

2. 1. How long did the Medieval Age, also known as the Middle Ages, last? a) from the 10th to the 12th centuries b) from the 4th to the 15th centuries c) from the 12th to the 16th centuries

3. 2. Which of thefollowingdefinitions is correctforthewordchivalry”? • thesocialsystemthatexistedduringtheMiddleAgesin Europe inwhichpeopleweregivenland and protectionby a nobleman, and had towork and fightforhiminreturn • any of thewarsfoughtinPalestineby European Christian countriesagainsttheMuslimsintheMiddleAges • thereligious and moralsystem of behaviourwhichthe „perfect” knightwasexpectedtofollow

4. 3. What is theRoman Empire? • it extended through 16 centuries and included several stages in the evolution of the Roman state. It encompasses a period in which it was divided into western and eastern halves, and the history of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire that continued through the Middle Ages and to the beginning of the Modern Era • centred on the capital of Constantinople, it was the direct continuation of the Roman state, distinguishable from ancient Rome in its predominantly Greek culture and language rather than Latin, with Orthodox Christianity as the state church after 380, replacing Roman polytheism • a medievalGermanic empire

5. Complete the sentences with the missing words. 4. King Arthur Historians glimpse him in Arturius, a 6th-century warrior […]. Celtic ______ clustered about his memory in Wales, even in Brittany where some of his men fled when he _____. By Richard’s day troubadours sang of a ______ Arthur, championed by 12 stalwarts who sat at a Round Table lest _____ claim him precedence. The Name "Excalibur" was first _____ for King Arthur's sword by the French Romancers. It was not the famous "Sword in the Stone" (which broke in battle), but a ______ sword acquired by the King through the intercession of his druidic advisor, Merddyn (Merlin). Worried that Arthur would fall in _____, Merlin took the King to a magical lake where a mysterious hand thrust itself up from the water, ______ aloft a magnificent sword. It was the Lady of the Lake offering Arthur a _______ unbreakable blade, fashioned by an elf smith, along with a scabbard which would ______ him as long as he wore it. any, fell, myths, chivalrous second, holding battle, protect magic, used

6. 5. The Vikings Match the two corresponding parts of sentences in such a way that they create a whole. • In 793 • The Vikings were • The Viking age spanned 250 turbulent years, • Their society was simple in which • The ancient religion of the North • Besides superstitions • years of bloodshed, of discovery, of colonization • held no promise of salvation, luck rankd first • the Vikings stormed Europe • merchants as well as warriors • they had an affinity for ships and a passion for poetry. • men lived by farming hunting and fishing.

7. 6. Charlemagne and William the Conqueror Portrait of William the Conqueror by an unknown artist Portait of Charlemagne by Albrecht Dürer

8. 7. The feudal system

9. 8. Richard the Lionheart and Robin Hood

10. 9. The art of courtly love There were strict rules of courtly ____ and the art of courtly love was practised by the members of the courts across ____ during the Middle Ages. The romance, rules and art of courtly love ____ knights and ladies to show their admiration regardless of their marital state. It was a common occurrence for a married lady to give a token to a knight of her choice to be worn during a Medieval tournament. There were ____ which governed courtly love but sometimes the parties, who started their relationship with such elements of courtly love, would become deeply involved. A _____ example of a relationship which was stirred by romantic courtly love and romance is described in the Legend of _____, where his Queen, Guinevere fell in love with Sir Lancelot. Many illicit court romances were fuelled by the practise and art of courtly love. The origins of Courtly Love were believed to be in Aquitaine in France in the _____ and spread to other European countries. The art of courtly love was practised in English courts from the 1300's to the 1500's. During this period of time _____ were arranged and had little to do with love. A successful marriage was perceived as one that brought material _____ to the participants and their families. As love was clearly unrelated to marriage the requirement for romance could be gained outside marriage - as long as the rules relating to chastity and fidelity were strictly adhered to. famous, Europe, rules , advantages, King Arthur, 12th century , love, allowed , marriages

11. 10. Francis of Assisi a) His Friars Minor (Friars hoped his brothers would always be less than all others) followed a path of simplicitly and humility. b) Francis and his brothers” roved the countryside singing, begging, working at whatever tasks came to hand. c) Turning from happy-go-lucky days of his youth in Italy, Francis created a brotherhood to pursue the pure life of the Gospels. d) His humility, his innocent love of all creatures, cast a glow across the centuries whose radianace warms mankind yet. e) Francis preached to simple folk, even urged my little brethren birds to love God, for ye do not sow, neither do ye reap, yet He keeps and feeds you.

12. 11. Voices form the Middle Ages. Match the enumerated titles with the nationality of their author. • DivineComedy • Beowulf • Song of Roland • Canterbury Tales • Decameron • Ballade • („I die of thirstbeside a fountain”) • English • French • Italian • Italian • French • English

13. 12. Building Great Cathedrals columns, down, capped, carry, The ribs ____ the vault’s weight down to the columns. But this outward thrust would splay the _____ if there were no buttresses to counter the pressure. Slender stone bridges do this, leaping _____ and out from one pier to another, each junction _____ by a pinnacle.

14. 13. The Life of the Scholar Search for knowledge, pursuit of pleasure filled a student’s day. Up at dawn, he tidied his cell-like room. At morning classes the professor lectured ex cathedra; some listened, others scanned texts or daydreamed. Scholars jotted notes on wax slates, few could afford costly parchment. Boys of 12 or 13 could begin in liberal arts, while older collegians pursued law, medicine, theology.

15. 14. Trade in the Middle Ages • all created obstacles to the development of Middle Ages trade and commerce. • which had previously only existed by land, and that with great difficulty • the Crusades. • guaranteed the liberty and security of traders abroad. • iron, wines, oil, and wax. • The compass, known in Italy as early as the twelfth century but little used until the fourteenth, enabled the mercantile navy to discover new routes, and it was thus that true Middle Ages maritime trade and commerce may be said regularly to have begun. The sailors of the Mediterranean, with the help of the compass dared to pass the Straits of Gibraltar, and to venture on the ocean. From that moment trade and commercial intercourse,_____________, was permanently established between the northern and southern harbours of Europe. The Middle Ages saw the rapid expansion of Medieval trade and commerce. The most important contribution to this was through ______________. The Medieval navigators imported spices, groceries, linen, Egyptian paper, pearls, perfumes, and a thousand other rare and choice articles. In exchange they offered chiefly the precious metals in bars rather than coined, and it is probable that at this period they also exported ______________. The bad state of the roads, the little security they offered to travellers, the extortions of all kinds to which foreign merchants were subjected, and the System of fines and tolls which each landowner thought right to exact, before letting merchandise pass through his domains, ___________________. Improvements to the Middle Ages trade and commerce were made by improving the roads and security. The coasts were protected from piratical incursions; lighthouses were erected at dangerous points, to prevent shipwrecks; and treaties of commerce with foreign nations, including even the most distant, ______________________________.

16. References Courtly Love. Retrieved from http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/courtly-love.htm King Arthur. Retrieved from http://www.britannia.com/history/arthur/excalibur.html Middle Ages Trade and Commerce. Retrieved from http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/middle- ages-trade-commerce.htm The Age of Chivalry. Edited by Merle Severy. Washington D. C.: National Geographic Society, 1969. The Byzantine Empire. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/byzantine-empire Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire The Feudal System. Retrieved from History on the Net. com http://www.historyonthenet.com/Medieval_Life/feudalism.htm The Illustrated History of the Roman Empire.Retrieved from http://www.roman-empire.net/ The Roman Empire. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Roman_Empire