700 – 1100 C.E.

During the early Middle Ages, smaller feudal kingdoms had broken up the European peoples. By the time Charlemagne reigned, it had been over two hundred years since Rome fell. There were no political powers to rival the greatness of the Roman Empire. Charles the Great ruled the Franks during a period of European reorganization. Charlemagne was a descendant of Charles Martel, who gained fame for his defeat of the Muslim troops at the Battle of Tours. He was a tall and broad shouldered man with great charisma.

Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Emperor of the “Holy Roman Empire” on Dec. 25, 800 C.E. This attempt to reunite the religious and political powers in Europe would spread Christianity by military conquest just as it had under Constantine and Justinian. The Saxons were forcibly converted in northern Germany. The Lombards were forcibly converted in Northern Italy. The Slavs adopted Christianity Austria and Hungary. As Charlemagne consolidated his Empire, Christianity followed as a national religion.

In the Holy Roman Empire, administrators ruled under Charlemagne’s direction throughout Western Europe. At its peak, the Holy Roman Empire covered Belgium, Holland, half of Germany, Austria-Hungary, half of Italy, northeastern Spain and France.

This early period in the Holy Roman Empire has been called the “Carolingian Renaissance.” This included some key developments in European life:

1. Economic – improved European-Asian relations and trade, stabilized European currency

2. Educational – renewed interest in classical learning, preserved 80% of Latin classical texts, funded preeminent scholars to start universities, supported trivium and quadrivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and (arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy) as 7 primary subjects of liberal arts education

3. Religious – renewed interest in Biblical learning, greater support for monastic academies

4. Artistic – rebuilt historic sites, used Caroline font in illustrated manuscripts

Charlemagne’s Holy Roman Empire virtually died with him. Leaders polarized due to the lack of a well defined bureaucratic structure and procedure for choosing an heir. The Carolingian Renaissance similar to Hellenistic expansion by Alexander the Great. Its greatest contribution was cultural not political.

Charlemagne’s grandsons divided kingdom in 843. Viking raids quickly revealed the weaknesses of Charlemagne’s sons and grandsons as military leaders. French and German languages created natural split in the Empire. The Counts and Dukes established by Charlemagne became royal families in Europe who developed their own domains.

Feudalism continued the traditions of Germanic and Carolingian loyalty. Land would be given to soldiers to compensate them for service by nobles. Higher ranking officers were given greater portions of land. As an agrarian society, land translated into wealth and influence.

A fief is land given by a lord to a vassal. Vassals are military servants who repay the lord for the fief. The number of days of service helped gradual pay back the lord for the fief. The lord agreed to protect the vassal and his possessions in return.

The chevalier or knighted class was protected by heredity. Knights rode horseback and fought with their servants for their lords. Strict rules of conduct determined how relationships were structured. Women were to be treated with respect. Courage must be maintained on the battlefield. Peasants must be protected. Most importantly, knights must be loyal to their lords.

The top 10% of Europe shared in feudal agreements, which means 90% of Europeans worked the of fiefs (land) owned by vassals (lords). Peasants were the majority of the population who did not own land.

Young unmarried women or widows kept property rights but were protected by hired soldiers until they married. This limited privilege kept them from being destitute upon the death of their husband. Nobles protected their family wealth through arranged marriages. Familial wealth typically went to the firstborn sons in order to maintain the elite privilege of nobility.

Monasticism developed in the Roman period as a reaction to the wider acceptance of Christianity. Early ascetics lived solitary lives in the Egyptian deserts. Two major rules would be developed prior to the Great Schism of Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

St. Basil (329-379) (top right) founded one of earliest monastic orders. His order influenced Eastern Orthodoxy. Fasting, poverty and celibacy were the three key virtues.

St. Benedict of Nursia (ca. 480-547) (bottom right) has been attributed with a monastic rule which became the Western standard around 529 C.E. The Rule of St. Benedict emphasized poverty, celibacy and obedience to the abbot. Benedictine monks practiced hard work, study and prayer each day. They would also recite the prayers known as the Divine Office 8 times per day. Benedictines provided education, medical care and emphasized the arts.

Women couldn’t be ordained as priests or bishops but could be nuns in the Benedictine communities. 20,000 women lived as nuns in Egypt. Benedict’s sister Scholastica turned her home into a convent.

Monastic tradition preserved Western culture amidst European fragmentation following the collapse of Rome.

In 525 C.E., the Roman calendar established by Dionysius Exiguus (a Benedictine abbot). This calendar was based upon the assumption that Jesus was born after 753 years after the founding of Rome. Venerable Bede 673-735 used Exiguus’ dating in his major work An Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The Benedictine calendar has become a standard dating system in the English speaking world.

Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) (left) joined the Cistercian movement in 1112 after his mother died. He became the abbot of his community within 3 years.

His works emphasize personal experience and further promoted the individual nature of Christian faith in the Middle Ages. Bernard taught a systematic approach to searching the soul. Christians should progress in experience from self-love to self-knowledge and, finally, to union with God.

Bernard preached leading up to the Second Crusade to help Edessa. His legacy includes the founding of 163 monasteries across Europe.

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was one of the most famous Medieval mystics and a highly respected woman in the Catholic Church.

At age 8, her parents gave her over to the care of a nun who lived near the Benedictine monastery at Disenberg. In her mid-thirties, she became the leader of her Benedictine community.

In 1147, she moved her nuns to Bingen near the tomb of Saint Rupert. Hildegard wrote treatises on natural sciences, works on medicinal care, hymns, morality plays, and her autobiographical encounters.

Know the Ways of the Lord (1146) was an illuminated manuscript (right) that records these supernatural experiences.

Hildegard von Bingen wrote Ordo virutum as the first morality play. Musical passages were reserved for the character of Virtue. Satan was believed to be incapable of singing, so parts attributed to Satan were spoken.

She wrote a letter to Emperor Frederick I of Germany warning him of divine punishment for his lifestyle.

Hildegard claims she was miraculously granted knowledge of the Christian Scriptures instantly through these visions. Her illumination was for the instruction and salvation of others.

Since the Roman period, drama as an art form largely disappeared. Monastic schools encouraged the creativity and musical expression of the jongleurs and minstrels. These songs were put to Biblical literature and a new genre was created known as Liturgical Drama.

The Play of Daniel

In the 12th century, The Play of Daniel was written by scholars of Beauvais. It was a Latin drama set to music. The story portrays the life of Daniel, an advisor to Babylonian Kings during the Jewish exile. He is able to interpret dreams, which gains him favor with King Belshazzar. Daniel is an example of faithfulness in his commitment to God despite the Babylonian decree to worship the King alone. Daniel is thrown into the lions’ den and is miraculously preserved.

It probably would be performed around Christmas since Daniel features a prophecy of the birth of Christ. The play is divided into 9 sections: Introduction, Belshazzar’s riddle, Daniel is called by the King, Daniel prophesies destruction, Dariusthe Great arrives, Darius calls for Daniel, Daniel’s enemies conspire against him, Daniel is delivered from the lions’ den byan angel, an angel announces the birth of Christ.

The play is accompanied softly by a fiddle with a bow (rebec), a larger stringed instrument, a harp, cymbals, tambourines, bells, and various drums. These would resound through the cathedral due to its amazing acoustics.

Morality Plays

Everyman was a popular morality play that incorporated elements of drama. Travelling actors would perform for communities using their wagons as stages. Everyman portrays the journey of the soul into the afterlife. God’s austerity and judgmental nature instills fear in the audience. Characters are named for their traits as they either help or hinder Everyman on his journey. Everyman understands the temporality of life and seeks direction on this passage beyond death. Knowledge, Five-Wits, Beauty and Discretion help Everyman but cannot save him. Good-Deeds emphasizes the role of service in the Church to help Everyman after death.

Three of the most noted Germanic works are Beowulf, The Song of the Niebelungen and Song of Roland. Each epic story honors warriors as legendary founders and heroes for their courageous acts on the battle field. They are culturally similar to Homer’s Iliad and the Aryan Mahabharata.

Beowulf was recorded in Old English.

The Song of the Niebelungen was recorded in Old German.

Song of Roland was recorded in Old French.

Hroswitha (935-1002) wrote versions of Roman plays by Terence and one of the earliest Germanic tale of a Faustian theme called Theophilius. The story draws from the oft repeated idea of making a deal with the Devil to gain power and notoriety. She also wrote The Conversion of the Harlot Thaïs

Beowulf is a 3,000 line epic poem about Beowulf’s adventures that was first recorded around 700 C.E. Beowulf confronts the monster Grendel. He kills Grendel’s mother. He fights a fire breathing dragon. Anglo-Saxons esteem Beowulf as a mythical hero/founder

Song of Roland chronicles events in 778 C.E. Charlemagne’s rear guard were ambushed upon returning from battle with Muslims. Roland was Charlemagne’s nephew. Song of Roland is a 4,000 line epic poem first written in 1100s C.E. after two centuries of oral tradition. It was sung by jongleurs who traveled and performed with lyres.

Medieval epic poems illustrate feudal customs like naming swords, shields, and horses. Heroic bloody portrayals were over hyped as history became legend.

Clergy participated in battle. In Song of Roland, Archbishop Turpin has a lance and spear. Maces were used by some clergy to get circumvent restrictions on killing. Medieval religion and warfare were intimately mingled as Song of Roland suggests.

Equestrian statue of Charlemagne 9th c. C.E. (left) attempted to recreate Greco-Roman figurative sculptural realism. Its 10 inch height pales in comparison to the Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius which stands 14 feet tall. The awkward proportions and swollen features of the Emperor and the horse reveal the degree of artistic decay that followed the collapse of the Roman Empire.

Illuminated manuscripts were also a major art form in the Carolingian period. The Dagulf Psalter demonstrates the craftsmanship of Carolingian illustration and decorative carved ivory book covers.

Odo of Metz designed the Palatine Chapel in Aachen, Germany in an

octagonal shape between 792 and 805. It is modeled after the

Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. The mosaic dome represented

Heaven and the floor represented Earth. The Emperor’s throne has

been elevated as a symbolic mediation between Heaven and Earth.

The Palatine Chapel attempts to recover some of the past artistic

brilliance of the Eastern Roman style.

The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostelawas one of most popular Romanesque sites. It held the remains of Saint James, the brother of John, who was martyred in Judea. Christian tradition states James preached in Spain and was buried there after his martyrdom.

Romanesque style used stone and Roman arches to create religious structures that a durable and humble. Romanesque means a return to Roman principles of architecture. Romanesque churches were build in a Latin cross shape. They were larger and more expansive than previously designed churches.

The abbey of Jumièges 1027-67 C.E. (left) was a noted example of Romanesque design with its stone façade and two 141 foot tall towers.

St. Madeleine 1104-32 C.E. (right) has a 90 feet wide nave. Its geometrical symmetry characterizes Romanesque architecture. The Alternating colored voussoir in the arches indicate a possible Muslim influence in this design.

Saint Sernin 1080-1120 C.E. is another great Romanesque Cathedral that provided pilgrims a place to perform their penance. The west façade is rather simple in appearance. It is typical of Romanesque humility with its brick and stone composition and central arched doorways. Saint Sernin has a 377 ft. barrel vaulted nave (center aisle). The tower was enlarged in the 1200s but the church is a Romanesque design. Its floor plan is a Latin cross and the ceiling is supported by arches and pillars. See figure 9-3.

Before Romanesque sculptures, relief sculptures had not been created since Roman times. Romanesque architecture offered a few opportunities to explore this art form once again.

In Medieval understanding, door ways represented symbolic passages from Augustine’s City of Man to the City of God.

The humble exteriors were intentional to heighten the impact of the inner experience inside the cathedral.

The tympanum is the semi-circular space above the door way, which is a common space for Romanesque relief sculpture.

The archivolts are semi-circular bands above the tympanum.

The lintel is horizontal bar below the tympanum.

Capitals often depict historical scenes from the life of Christ.

The trumeau is the center pillar to support the arch.