THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD

What social/political/religious changes helped to shape the development of English and Medieval Literature?

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THE NORMAN CONQUEST

• 1028-1087 AD
• William was the son of the unmarried Robert I, Duke of Normandy
• Edward the Confessor, William's first cousin once-removed, sat childless on throne
• Earl Harold Godwinson, who was named king by Edward in1066
• William attested that Edward had earlier promised the Throne to him

THE NORMAN CONQUEST

• William invaded England in Sept. 1066
• Harold was slain at the Battle of Hastings in Oct.
• He spent the majority of his time in Normandy
• He confiscated lands from A-S families
• Instated fuedalism: lords and vassals, property for loyalty, feifs

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Feudalsim

• Why was feudalism popular?
• Who is in charge of all of the land?
• What are manors?

THE NORMANS

• The Normans brought French to the Danes and Saxons
• Many legal terms remain French today
• Henry Plantagenet, Henry II, ascended to the throne in 1156
• Farm animals: Anglo-Saxon, table food: Norman French
• An able king

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• Henry II and the church
• Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, betrays Henry II
• Knights seek revenge for their king
• Canterbury becomes synonymous with religious pilgrimage
• Richard I - waged war overseas, King John and debt

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• Magna Carta: the start of constitutional gov.
• Henry III- Great Council of Barons, later becomes known as parliament
• Edward I - let the commoners join
• Crusades: stimulate trade with the east
• craft guilds sought to protect the interest of weavers, carpenters, tanners

THE BLACK DEATH

• 1348 AD
• 75 - 200 mil. Deaths, 1/3 of English pop. dies
• Originated through the arid plains of Asia
• The Silk Road
• Rats via ships

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• Lancaster -> York
• J. Wycliffe -> church reform c. 1360, Bible translated into English
• 1453 - King Henry IV vs Richard of York
• War of the Roses
• 1461- Edward IV, 1481 Richard III, dueling cousins

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• Henry Tudor = Henry VII, marries Richard's niece
• Knightly behavior, chivalry, romances, pledges
• King Arthur origins
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• Morte d' Arthur. 15th c. by Sir Thomas Mallory

LITERATURE / EDUCATION

• 12th c. - Oxford origins
• Rise of the vernacular
• 1454 - the Gutenburg Press, W. Caxton in England
• William Langland - Piers Plowman, oppression of the poor
• Chaucer - attendant of Edward III

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• Secular and religious lyric poetry
• Ballads
• Morality plays
• Importance of faith/Christianity
• Read page 82-83 to yourself, on Ballads

Medieval Drama

• Ballads, lyric poetry (secular and religious)
• cycle plays: the Biblical history of mankind
• morality plays: ordinary person, birth to death
• Everyman