The Medieval Era

500-1500 AD

What are the Middle Ages?

Era began in 500 and ended in 1400 with the sack of Rome.

The Church held absolute power.

AKA the “Dark Ages” where literature and the arts was shining at its brightest.

The church scared the people into submission by striking fear of god in the hearts of the people.

Feudalism

Tenet #1: Religion

• The people knew about religion and so it reflect in all the pieces during the era.

“God took no joy in that feud, but banished him, for his deed, far from mankind” (Beowulf 4)

Tenet #2: Code of Chivalry

Rules for Knights that extended beyond the battlefield (does not really apply to those below the feudalistic rank of Lords).

Rules

Bravery

Courtesy

Honor

Gallantry towards women

Code of Chivalry

“Then the bold one in battle showed them the home of brave men where it shone, that they might go to it straightaway; he, one from among its warsmen, turned his horse and word spake after… (Beowulf 8)

[King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.]

List of the Code of Chivalry

To fear God and maintain His Church

To serve the liege lord in valour and faith

To protect the weak and defenceless

To give succour to widows and orphans

To refrain from the wanton giving of offence

To live by honour and for glory

To despise pecuniary reward

To fight for the welfare of all

To obey those placed in authority

To guard the honour of fellow knights

To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit

To keep faith

At all times to speak the truth

To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun

To respect the honour of women

Never to refuse a challenge from an equal

Never to turn the back upon a foe

[Knights Code of Chivalry]

Tenet #3: Courtly Love

• “The poor woman wept on his shoulder, sorrowed for him in rung. The warrior went up on the pile… roared before the barrow; the heads melted, the slashed broke apart when the blood sprang, out from the body’s deadly wounds”(Beowulf 23)

• The knight must do something (kill a beast), to be worthy of the lady’s love.

• Did not exist until feudalism and the concept of loyalty began, after the sack of Rome, which is when the era began.

Tenet #4: Counter Culture & Carnival Spirit

The lower classes deviate from the norms to make themselves feel better.

The middle ages was a time where the lower class was against all the “fluff” feudalism brought.

Tenet #5: Allegories

Every book that has no author is an allegory because it is a story that has been passed down from generation to generation. (Beowulf)

Allegories are used to show the authors morals.

Good V.S Evil (somewhat Christian)

Beowulf represents good, while Grendel, his mother, and the dragon represent evil.

Tenet # 6: Fortune & Fate

“Wheel of Fortune”

“Fate is capricious”

Has both Christian and Pagan aspects.

Everyone realized that everything happens by chance and god controls whether you succeed or fail.

Goes back to the dependence on religion.

Fortune and Fate

Beowulf attributes his victories to fate throughout the poem and if the wheel of fortune was not spinning in his favor he would have died a long time ago.

“Grendel’s mother kept thought of her sorrow, a she-one, a monster wife, that was fated to dwell midst the water’s terrors, in the cold streams…”

Works Cited

Beowulf. New York: Dover Publications, 1992. Web.

"FEUDALISM by Amy Stuart." FEUDALISM. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

"Knights Code of Chivalry." Knights Code of Chivalry. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.