Pre-Reading Activity

The Canterbury Tales

Approximately 500-1500Early Middle Ages 500-1000High Middle Ages 1000-1250Late Middle Ages 1250-1500

The Middle Ages span what years?

Sept 28, 1066Invasion of England by William the

ConquerorBattle of Hastings

Oct 14 1066

What event began theNorman Conquest?

Duke of NormandyFirst Norman King of England

Who was William the Conqueror?

Anglo Saxon CultureMajority of the population

Many nobles fled to Scotland and other areasChristian/Religious InfluenceImpact on languageOnset of/increase in feudalism

What culture survived under the Normans? Why? What impact did this have?

Political and social systemBased on granting of land in exchange for

loyalty, military assistance, and other servicesDeveloped as a result of frequent invasionsSystem of social behaviorThree social classes

Those who fightThose who prayThose who work

What is feudalism?

Began to breakdown due to the Black DeathWiped out 1/3 population in England1348-1349

When did the feudal structure break down?

Primary duty of the male above the serf class was a military obligation to the King.

Based in the feudal idea of loyalty and related to a system of social codeschivalry

Breaking a code would undermine the knight’s position

Describe the life, ideals, and morals of a knight.

Peasant womanchildbearing Housework Hard field work

Women of higher stationHousehold supervisionChildbearing

A woman was always subservient to a male, whether husband, father, or brother.

No political rightsDepending on the standing of her father or husband

she commanded a certain respect, especially under the chivalric system of the 11th and 12th centuries.

What was a woman’s place in the feudal system?

System of ideals and behavior codes that governed both knight and gentlewoman.Loyalty to overlordHonestyFairness in battleProper treatment of women

What is chivalry?

Behavior between knights and ladiesOften between a knight and a married womanUsually unconsummated

Revering and acting in the name of a ladyWears colors of lady in battleGlorify her in words and be inspired by her

What is courtly love?

Decrease in populationPeople living in towns and cities would

eventually render feudal system obsolete.Development of lower, middle, and upper

class (evident in Canterbury Tales)

What would eventually render the feudal system obsolete?

A series of wars in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries by Christian Europe against the followers of Muhammad with Jerusalem and the Holy Land as the prize.

Began in 1096

What were the crusades?

Europeans failed to hold Jerusalem, but they benefited from the contact with the higher civilization of the Middle East.– Mathematics– Astronomy– Architecture– Crafts

How did they impact medieval life?

Archbishop of CanterburyClose friend and appointee of King Henry IIBecket ignored Henry’s wishes to allow Royal

Courts to punish people convicted in Church Court

Four knights under Henry II assassinated Becket

Who is Thomas Becket? Discuss his relationship to Henry II.

He was murdered at Canterbury CathedralHe was sainted and martyredThe site of his death became a popular place

for pilgrimages

Why was Thomas Becket important in the Middle Ages?

Church dominated lifeAll people believed in heaven and HellCould only get to heaven through the Roman

Catholic ChurchPeople paid tithe (church tax) to churchChurch was wealthy and powerful

Describe the state of the Church during Chaucer’s Middle Ages.

The Great Charter of the Liberties of EnglandSigned in 1215Became the basis for English constitutional

law in which trial by jury and legislative taxation were established

First document imposed upon a King of England by his subjectsAttempt to limit his powerProtect their rights

What is the Magna Carta? What historical impact did it have?

Fought by England and FranceLasted 116 years 1337-1453Development of Yeomen (use of longbow and

arrows)End of knights and castles as significant

military powerTwo kingdoms at the beginning of the war;

two nations at the end of it.Modern democratic England was born

When was the Hundred Years’ War? Who fought in it? Why is it important?

1348-1349Spread by fleas from infected ratesPlague reduced the nation’s population by

one thirdLabor shortage – freedom of serfs (last

support of feudalism)

How did the bubonic plague help bring about an end to feudalism?

The End