Medieval England covers the period from the 5th to 14th centuries known as the Middle Ages. This era was defined by the feudal system of rigid social classes and decentralized political and economic power centered around a network of lord and vassal relationships. At the top was the king, followed by powerful lords and lesser lords, with knights and serfs at the bottom. Manors were largely self-sufficient agricultural estates ruled by local nobles. The legend of King Arthur developed over centuries as a symbol of leadership against invaders and a code of chivalry among knights.

1. Medieval England
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The Once and Future King

2. The Middle Ages
g Covers the 900-year
g period from the fall
g of the Roman Empire
g in the 5th century to
g the beginnings of
g modern times in
g the 14th century.

3. gDivided into:
fDark Ages: (5th to 10th centuries; period of
disorder and decline)

4. Later Middle Ages: (11th to 14th
centuries; period of advance toward
higher level of civilization)

5. Definition of Feudalism
g 1. A social system of rigid class
distinctions
g 2. A political system of local
government and military defense
g 3. An economic system of self-
sufficient agricultural manors

6. Feudal Society
g Rigid class distinctions
g Position in society determined by birth
f Relatively small number of landholding
nobles (privileged upper class)
f Great number of peasants/serfs
(unprivileged lower class)
f Regardless of hard work or ability, serf
cannot advance to higher social status
f Noble families could marry into royalty;
families could rise and fall into/out of royal
favor, and move up/down within upper
ranks

7. The Feudal Social Pyramid
(The Social System)
g King: pinnacle of pyramid. Nominally owns
all the land in the kingdom.
g Powerful lords stand immediately below king
as his vassals (glorified tenants). Received
fiefs (grants of land) from king and pledged
him allegiance and military service.
g Lesser lords (more numerous group). Vassals
of powerful lords. Received fiefs from them
and pledged allegiance to them.
f This subinfeudation process was repeated
several times down the pyramid.

8. Pyramid continued . . .
g Knights: lowest and most numerous
group of nobles. Constitute the bulk of
the feudal armies.
g Serfs: far outnumbered the entire
nobility. Broad base of the pyramid.
g Symbiotic relationship up/down
pyramid = a relationship between two
entities which is mutually beneficial for
the participants of the relationship;
these entities need each other to
survive and prosper

10. Complicated Vassal-Lord
Relationship
g Often, lesser lords and knights
received fiefs from different
superiors (for loyalty, marriage or
achievement in battle) and thus
were vassals to several lords. The
question of the vassals’ primary
allegiance led to many bitter
disputes.

11. Feudal Hereditary
Relationships
g Mutual obligations between lord
and vassal or between noble and
serf were hereditary (binding upon
the heirs of both parties)
g Noble’s title and property could be
legally inherited only by his
firstborn son (primogeniture).
Superior status given to eldest.

12. Feudal Government
(The Political System)
g Weak central government (decentralized)
f Although the central government (king)
theoretically administered the entire
kingdom, the king could not generally
exercise authority beyond the royal domain.
Supposedly the supreme ruler, he was in
reality only one of several powerful lords.

13. Feudal Govt. cont . . .
g Vigorous local government
f Because the king was, for practical
purposes, weak, the local nobles
completely controlled their own
territory. The nobles made laws,
levied taxes, dispensed justice, and
waged war, thereby assuming the
functions of government. Thus,
feudal government was decentralized.

14. Military Aspects of
Feudalism
g During wartime:
f When an invasion or major war threatened,
the powerful lord would summon his vassals
to military service. In turn, the vassals
would enlist their subvassals, and then all
the nobles would unite into a single army to
repel the invasion or prosecute the war. At
other times, minor feudal lords fought
among themselves for prestige or land.
f Invasions and feudal wars destroyed crops
and property, and had great serf casualties.
Heavy armor for knights/nobles and strong
castle walls minimized casualties for upper
ranks.

15. The Castle
g Every estate (manor) had its castle.
g More of a fortress than a home
g Located on elevated ground
g Constructed of heavy wood or stone
g Surrounded by a moat
g Had a drawbridge for protection
g Serfs came inside the castle during
attacks

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17. Military Aspects cont. . . .
g During peacetime:
f Hunting, falconry
f Jousts/tournaments
f Training young nobles for knighthood
g Military schooling in horsemanship, armor, using
sword/lance/battle-axe
g Became knight at age 21
g Had assistant called a squire
g Observed code of honorable conduct called
chivalry
f Loyalty to God and the knight’s lord
f Protection of the oppressed and helpless
f Support of justice
f Defense of Christianity
f Courage, courtesy, gallantry, and generosity
f Unfortunately, these ideals were frequently violated

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19. Feudal Economic Conditions
(The Economic System)
g Self-Sufficient Agricultural Manor
f Farm and pasture lands
f Lord’s castle
f Village buildings
g Church, blacksmith, carpenter, winery,
flour mills, bakeries, serfs’ huts
g Manor spun its own wool, tanned leather,
cut lumber, raised livestock.
g Some materials/services had to be
obtained off-site (salt and seasonings,
iron, weapons, etc.)

20. Feudal Economics cont. . .
g The Serf
f Neither slave nor freeman
g Could not be sold apart from the land; could
claim the lord’s protection
g “bound to the soil”--couldn’t leave without the
lord’s permission
g In return for protection and the right to live on
the manor, serf owed the lord:
f Services: several days of labor each week on the
lord’s farmland
f Payment in kind: a portion of the grain and other
crops raised on the serf’s land
f A share of the goods he prepared in the lord’s wine
press, flour mill and baking oven, etc.

21. So where does Arthur fit
into all this?
g The Arthurian legend is a group of tales
in several languages that developed in
many European countries in the Middle
Ages concerning Arthur, semi-historical
king of the Britons, and his knights.
The legend is a complex weaving of
ancient Celtic mythology with later
traditions around a core of possible
historical authenticity.

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Was there a real
King Arthur?
g For centuries after fall of Roman Empire, island of
Britain constantly invaded on all fronts. Britons
needed a unifying leader.
g 5th century: Artorius Dux Bellorum (“Duke of
Battles”) led them to victory against all invaders.
g Became symbol of strength and leadership; object
of stories, songs, legends.
g No single man could have done the things King
Arthur is credited with (legends span centuries);
became mythical figure.

23. Arthur legends
g Earliest continuous Arthurian narrative:
Historia Regum Brittaniae (1139) by
Geoffrey of Monmouth. Most credible,
often-cited originating story. All later
developments of Arthurian legend are
based on this work.
g Oldest of the French Arthurian
romances is a series of 12th century
poems by Chretien de Troyes.
Introduces Lancelot into legends; more
romantic.
g By 13th century, Tristan y Isolde added
to legends.

24. Legends cont. . . .
g 13th and 14th century tales concerned
individual knights: Percival, Galahad,
the Grail knights and especially
Gawaine. (Culminating masterpiece:
Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight,
1370)
g 1485: Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte
d’Arthur became the basis for modern
Arthur stories.

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Gawaine & the Green Knight
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Galahad
Knights of the Round Table

26. Chivalry
g From French chevaler meaning knight.
Cheval: horse.
g Code of behavior that medieval knights
followed.
g Arthur’s legacy was that the influences of
Christianity and courtly love expanded the
code of chivalry to include religious piety and
refined social graces and manners. Chivalry
gradually began to soften the harsh edges of
feudal warfare. Knights were now expected to
treat their fellow knights and social inferiors
with respect and benevolence. Knights were
prohibited from attacking the unarmed. The
good knight fought for glory of God and king,
not for personal gain.

27. Courtly Love
g A code of behavior that defined the
relationship between aristocratic lovers
in Western Europe during the Middle
Ages.
g A nobleman, usually a knight, in love
with a married woman of equally high
birth or higher rank had to prove his
devotion by heroic deeds and by
amorous writings presented to his love.
g Love not necessarily consummated;
every knight had to have a worshipped
lady for whom he performed his heroic
quests.

28. Courtly Love cont. . . .
g Most noble marriages were business
contracts only; true love was found in
these courtly love relationships.
Sometimes consummated, they were a
form of sanctioned adultery. In fact,
faithlessness of the lovers toward each
other was usually considered more
sinful than the adultery of this
extramarital relationship.

29. Courtly Love cont. . . .
g Attraction to the lady, usually via eyes/glance
g Worship of the lady from afar
g Declaration of passionate devotion
g Virtuous rejection by the lady
g Renewed wooing with oaths of virtue and
eternal fealty
g Moans of approaching death from unsatisfied
desire (and other physical manifestations of
lovesickness)
g Heroic deeds of valor that win the lady's heart
g Consummation of the secret love: endless
adventures and subterfuges avoiding
detection

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31. The Once and
Future King QuickTimeª and a
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g Terence Hanbury White: born
1906 in Bombay, India.
g Parents:
f Mother, Constance Aston White,
was a very beautiful woman with many
suitors, from which she would not choose.
Accepted Garrick White’s proposal only after
promising her parents she would accept the
next proposal that came.
f Miserable marriage; eventual divorce
f Ignored child--sent to boarding school

32. Origin of Novel
g Young Terence discovered Le Morte
d’Arthur at Cheltenham boarding
school. Became captivated by story.
g Went to Cambridge, taught English.
Gained some notoriety for some minor
writing.
g End of 1930s: WWII is beginning to
take shape. Rise of Hitler. Began
writing stories relating to the Arthurian
legend, all based on Malory’s work.

33. TOAFK
g 1938: The Sword in the Stone (Arthur’s
childhood)
g 1939: The Witch in the Wood (Gawaine
and his brothers, Morgause, Morgan le
Fay)
g 1940: The Ill-Made Knight (Lancelot
and Guinevere)
g All this writing was done during a
turbulent time that greatly affected
White. Influenced the next two books
in the series . . .

34. TOAFK continued …
g 1941: The Candle in the Wind
(culmination of plots introduced in first
three books)
g 1941: The Book of Merlyn (epilogue)
g In 1941, he changed his overall theme
(due to changing world climate);
rewrote all three previous books.
White’s intention was to publish all five
books as one volume with one central
theme: to find the antidote to war.

35. TOAFK continued …
g At the time of the rewrite, Collins
Publishing was not about to undertake
the expense of the publication of three
revised books and two newly written
books to create such a large volume.
Disagreement evolved between author
and publisher. Resolved by the printing
of a tetralogy in 1958, including the
revised first three books (changing the
title of the 2nd book to The Queen of
Air and Darkness) and the fourth book.
White’s concession was to exclude the
fifth book, which was published
separately in 1977.

36. Miscellaneous extras
g The Sword in the Stone had
phenomenal reviews; later books had
good reviews, but not loved as much as
TSitS.
g 1958 tetralogy widely praised.
g 1960 musical Camelot
g 1963 Disney version of TSitS
g 1977 The Book of Merlyn less
marketable (too politically-minded)
g White died 1964; buried in Athens