Intro to the Middle Ages for Honors English III

1. 1066 – 1485 A.D.

2.  William, Duke of Normandy: close cousin of Edward the
Confessor, King of England
 1066: Edward dies and Saxon witans (council of elders)
elects Harold II as King of England
 William, Duke of Normandy, claims the throne was
promised to him – leads Norman and French troops across
English Channel
 Battle of Hastings: William vs. King Harold II – Harold is
killed
 William defeats resistance in London
 Christmas day: William “the Conqueror” took the throne as
King William I

3.  Feudalism
 Social system that existed in Europe during the Middle Ages
 People worked and fought for nobles who gave them
protection and use of land in return
 Homage: a formal ceremony in which the Lord (or King)
gave land to a Vassal, and the Vassal declared himself at the
service of the Lord
 Vassal pledged faithfulness through the Christian vow of
fealty: the obligation or engagement to be faithful to a lord

4. All land belonged to
the King. He kept some
for personal use
Some land was given
to the church
The rest of the land was
given to supporters.
These supporters
received noble titles –
usually Barons. These
patches of land were
called fiefs. Nobles were
vassals of the King and
owed him fees and taxes.Nobles also provided
Knights for the king.
Knights received a
smaller parcel of land
known as a manor.
Peasants who worked
on manors were called
serfs.

5.  Normans substituted language of law and business with
their dialect of French
 Thousands of French words entered the English language
ANIMALS ARMOURY CLASS JOBS CLOTHES SOCIETY
Cow
Beef
Hen
Pork
Sheep
Ox
Veal
Arrow
Bow
Battle
Castle
Tower
Shield
Spear
War
Army
Queen
King
Sovereign
Duke
Baron
Knight
Earl
Count
Serf
Servant
Weaver
Banker
Tailor
Shepherd
Carpenter
Baker
Mason
Draper
Coat
Hat
Stockings
Blouse
Jacket
Shoes
Socks
Bonnet
Trousers
Collar
Tax
Crop
Rent
Property
Parliament
State
Plough
Lease
Reap

6. King Henry II
1154: Norman rule ended when Henry
Platagenet became King Henry II.
Conflict with the Church
• Church was very powerful
• Henry II placed Thomas Becket as the Archbishop of
Canterbury
• Much to Henry’s surprise, Becket defied him and
sided with the Pope
• 1170: Henry’s knights, misunderstanding the King’s
anger, murdered Becket

7. King Richard I
Military king who was away on costly campaigns
most of the time. Left England in huge debt.
King John
Introduced new taxes to fix the debt, upsetting
the Barons and almost leading to civil war. To
avoid civil war, Magna Carta was written.
Magna Carta: King promised not to tax land without first meeting with the Barons.
First limits placed on the monarchy.

8. Henry III
Under his rule, the Great Council of Barons
becomes known as the Parliament
Edward I
First king to summon a Parliament elected
partially by free men (nobles and plain
townspeople)

9.  Crusades in 12th and 13th centuries encouraged trade with
the Middle East
 Trade centers developed, the largest of which was London
 Townspeople formed guilds
 Merchant guilds: promoted business in town
 Craft guilds: protect interest of workers
 Wealth no longer restricted to landowners
 People lived closer together in unsanitary conditions
 1348 – 1349: Black Death killed 1/3rd population

10.  Feudal system declined as towns grew
 Black Death = labor shortage, increasing the value of
peasants’ work
 1381: Peasant Revolt in southern England
 Demanded end of serfdom
 Revolt was crushed
 John Wycliffe (1320 – 1384) opposed direction of the
Church and the clergy
 Oversaw the translation of the Bible into English

11.  King Henry VI suffered the first of many bouts of madness
 Parliament appointed his cousin, Richard of York, as the temporary head
of government
 When Henry recovered, Richard was forced out of office. He started a
civil war known as the War of the Roses in 1453.
 York: white rose
 Lancaster: red rose
 1461: Yorks won and put Richard’s son, Edward IV, on the throne, where
he remained until his death in 1483
 After his death, his son Edward V (still a boy) was put on the throne.
Shortly after, he died alongside his brother in the Tower of London while
under the protection of his uncle, Richard of Gloucester.
 Richard of Gloucester declared himself King Richard III.
 Two years later, Henry Tudor, distant cousin of the Lancastrian Kings, led
a rebellion against King Richard III. He took the throne and became King
Henry VII, married Richard’s niece, and united the Yorks and Lancasters
under a new royal line: House of Tudor.
 This signaled the end of the Medieval Period

12.  Chivalry: the medieval system, principles, and customs of
knighthood; the qualities idealized by knighthood, such as
bravery, courtesy, honor, and gallantry toward women
 Originally, chivalry focused on loyalty and valor on and off
the battlefield.
 By the 13th century, it grew – every knight was to pledge
service to a lady, joust for that lady’s favor, and rescue
maidens in distress
 Troubadour: writer and performer of songs and poetry of
the middle ages
 Spread this idea of chivalry with their songs about
chivalrous knights

13.  Celts told stories of the great hero, King Arthur
 Was King Arthur real or fictional? We do not know for sure. We
consider stories about him legends – facts and fiction mixed
together.
 Around 1136, Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote History of the King of
Britain, a mix of Celtic legends and the writings of Venerable Bede.
The idea of King Arthur spread throughout England and France.
 Arthurian Knights of the Round Table depicted chivalry.
 Inspired Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the 14th century
narrative poem
 Arthurian romance reached its height with La Morte d’Arthur (The
Death of Arthur), a 15th century prose work by Sir Thomas Malory.
It holds the greatest collection of Arthurian legend and was
printed in 21 volumes.

14.  During the Norman Conquest, learning came to a halt
 After, there was a rebirth of learning and literature
 Religious communities at Oxford drew scholars. This led to the
first English college – Oxford University. Cambridge University
soon followed.
 Language:
 Latin: language of the Church and Universities
 Middle English: language of the people.
 Literature in Latin began to fade as literature in Middle English grew
in popularity
 John Wycliffe translated the bible in Middle English. More people
learned to read as a result.
 Johann Gutenberg (1454) created the Gutenberg Press

15. Geoffrey Chaucer
 Ranks second only to Shakespeare as
England’s greatest writer
 Wrote The Canterbury Tales
 Poetic tales provide a detailed portrait
of life in the later Middle Ages

16. Lyrics
 Lyres were greatly popular
 Poets often played lyres while reciting their lyrics
Ballads
 Folk song that told a story (narrative poem)
 Story of Robin Hood first told as a ballad

17. Church sponsored plays to be
performed as part of religious
services
 Mystery Plays (also known as
Miracle Plays): retold stories of the
Bible and presented lives of Saints
 Morality Plays: plays with the
single purpose of dramatizing
between the power of good and
evil for control of one’s soul