The Middle Ages (1066-1485)

1. The Middle Ages (1066-1485) By: Earyn Edwards, Brendan Schamp, Danielle Giolli, and Emily De Vito

2. Art • Art was inseparable from religion • Infused with spiritual symbolism and meaning • Used to symbolize what people believed in • Pope Gregory the Great said “painting can do for the illiterate what writing does for those who read”.

3. Archetecture • The Romanesque period marked a radical departure from the Anglo-Saxon traditions • The style is known as Norman • Obvious characteristics: rounded arches, barrel vaults, chevron pattern decorations, doors recessed in three orders • Carvings covered biblical scenes , but also human, animal, and floral shapes • Major English Cathedrals: Canterbury, Durham, Ely, Gloucester , Rochester

4. Architecture • The Gothic style began in 12th century France • Known as “The French Style” • Gothic style is light, spacious, and graceful • Lack of culture of the barbarian tribes, including Goths. • Learned from the Arab world during the Crusades • Window sizes grew and were filled with colored glass • Easiest point of reference in a gothic church is pointed arch, seen in window openings and doors.

5. Religion • The Catholic church was the only church and had its own laws, people were unquestioning of the beliefs of the church. • Monks and Nuns took the opposite position and took on the lives of poverty to help others and to perform labor. • Catholics believed they could not achieve salvation if others around them were not good Christians also. • Many masses held liturgical plays for important parts of the year like Christmas, Easter and Saint days.

6. Reforms in the Church • Eventually the Latin language was replaced with French and eventually English. • The Priests eventually lost their role and hold in the church, and actors began to take part in the liturgical plays rather than the Priest. • The liturgical plays were later reformed into morality plays that arose from the desire of religious writers to teach the principals of Christian living in a more direct way. • In the late 15th century the morality plays were changed to interlude plays where the realism of moralities became more apparent.

7. The Crusades • The crusades were a series of holy wars and military campaigns that were launched by the Christian states of Europe against the Muslims of the middle East. • There were eight total crusades, where the first four were the principal crusades and the rest were the minor crusades, and in addition there was a children's crusade. • The effects of the crusades was an influence of wealth and power of Catholic churches, political hatters, commerce, feudalism, intellectual development, social effects, material effects, and new voyages of discovery.

8. Literature • Books were very expensive so there were not many of them around. • Every book, written on parchment, by hand by a trained scribe or monk, and most people were unable to read the handwriting. • In the high middle ages people began to write in many more languages rather than just in Latin.

9. Plays • Many books were made into plays such as folk plays which were energetic dances that consisted of fighting and dramatic actions. Actors became famous for popular tradition. • Later pageants and displays were given to a person of high rank if when they entered a town with a scenic background and set up but consisted of little dialogue.

10. Music -used many string instruments, such as lute, mandora, gittern and psaltery all of which one had to pluck -they were the first era to began using a form of notation for music -Early prototypes of the organ, fiddle ,and trombone existed as well - Used polyphony music where two melody lines are heard at the same time in a harmony.

11. Dress • Wore woolen clothing, with undergarments made of linen. • -brighter clothing was a sign of wealth. • Women wore long gowns and grand head wear. • Men who were wealth sported jackets with elaborate cuffs and patters. • While the church the clothing was more plain and less extravagant(to concentrate more on god).

12. Chivalry • A system of ideals and social codes governing the behavior of knights and gentlewomen • Knights may wear ladies color in battle • Gave rise to new literature, romance • They believed in chivalry, which is a man earning his knighthood, which consist of a long training period. • It also included the idea of how a man should treat a women.

13. Magna Carta-1215 • “The Great Charter” • King John signed the Magna Carta • English Constitutional law (Trial by jury and legislative taxation were established • Curb the church’s power

14. Social Classes • People of Western Europe • Lords Life: Mainly consisted of fighting, they thought that the only way to live was to be a professional warrior. • They wore heavy armor, they rode large horses, and they carried lances, which are a type of sword. • Knights were supposed to be courageous • The lived in a manor houses and castles • Their wives were called a “lady” and took care of the house • If the women was unable to have at least one son, then the Lord was able to end the marriage

15. Social Classes • The clergy: They were noblemen who were devoted to their churches. • Monks: They spent a certain number of hours each day studying, praying, and taking part in other religious activities. • Peasants: They had very few rights, and at the mercy of their lords. They had to pay rents, and taxes, and they lived in small huts, and slept on bags. They were paid with food, and the food was mostly breads, eggs, or poultry.

16. Feudalism • Is a system in which rulers would exchange their land for royalty. • First developed with the use of armored cavalry in warfare, it was first used in the 8th and 9th centuries. • Under feudalism the noblemen were able to collect taxes and fees and they owned land. • Typical members, were vassals, knights, noblemen, and a lord. • In the late 900’s most of Western Europe was divided into sections of feudal states, and a powerful lord would rule them as if they were the King.

17. Works Cited • AP Images. Power Library. 25 Feb. 2009 <http://apimages.ap.org/‌default.aspx>. • Lyon, Bryce. “Middle ages.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 1998 ed. Chicago: World Book Inc, 1998. 522. • “Middle Ages Clothing.” Middle Ages. 16 Nov. 2008. 24 Feb. 2009 <http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/>. • “Overview of the middle ages.” Middle Ags. 24 Feb. 2009 <http://demo.lutherproductions.com/‌historytutor/‌basic/‌medieval/‌middle_overview.htm>. • Ross, David. “Medieval Architecture.” Britian Express. 12 Feb. 2009 <http://www.britianexpress.com/‌history/‌medieval_art_and_architecture.htm>. • - - -. “Romanesque Architecture in England.” Britian Express. 12 Feb. 2009 <http://www.britianexpress.com/‌architecture/‌romanesque.htm>. • Strayer, Joesph R., ed. Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Vol. 9. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1987.