The Middle AgesThe Middle Ages

Mrs. WomackEnglish 4

Background Notes

A Typical Community

• For the purpose of security, people living in the Middle Ages in England, much like their Anglo-Saxon predecessors, organized around a central lord or master.

* A MANOR consisted of a castle, church, and surrounding village, and was fairly isolated from other manors.

The Feudal SystemThe Feudal System

*Medieval society was organized around a FEUDAL system. In this system, a king would grant land to nobles, (barons and bishops), in return for military service. Those nobles employed peasants or serfs to work that land in return for food and shelter.

The Feudal System

Divine Right

• Feudalism was more than a caste system, it was also a property system and military system.

• It was based on the religious concept of hierarchy, with God as the supreme overlord.

* The king was the closest power to God, thus giving him a great deal of power. He allotted portions of land to his immediate vassals in return for their economic or military service.

A Knight’s Tale

*The primary duty of males above the serf class was military service.

*Boys would train from an early age. *Once knighted, he would be viewed as a

man with the title “Sir”. He also enjoyed the full rights of the warrior caste.

*Knighthood was grounded in a complex system of social codes otherwise known as “chivalry”. If any of these codes were broken, a knight would undermine his position.

Women in Medieval Society

Since they were not soldiers, women had no political rights in a system that was primarily military. Women were always subservient to a man, no matter what the relationship to her. Her husband’s or father’s social standing determined the amount of respect she commanded. A peasant woman’s life revolved around childbearing, housework, and fieldwork. Women of higher station were more in charge of household supervision.

The Medieval Woman

Chivalry and Courtly Love

Chivalry was a system of ideals and social codes governing the behavior of knights and gentlewomen. Important codes were ones of loyalty to ones overlord and rules of warfare. Also, adoring a particular lady was a seen as a means of achieving self improvement. Courtly love was the idea that if a knight fought in the name of a lady, it made him braver.

Population and Cities

Although much of medieval life centered around the feudal castle, growing populations helped in forming cities. This shift eventually would replace the feudal system with the three social classes we still use today: lower, middle, and upper-middle. A growing merchant class’s appreciation for art helped create new genres of entertainment.

The Crusades: Ho! For the Holy Land

The Crusades (1095-1270) were a series of wars waged by European Christians against the Muslims, with Jerusalem and the Holy Land as the prize.

As a result of the Crusades, Christian Europe was exposed the sophisticated civilization of the Middle East. (Mathematics, Astronomy, Architecture, Crafts)

Murder in the Cathedral

Saint Thomas a Becket (1118-1170) was a Norman that had risen to great power as chancellor under King Henry II. At that time, all Christians belonged to the Catholic Church. The King eventually appointed Thomas as the head of the Catholic Church in England, hoping to gain the upper hand in disputes with the church. However, when Thomas took the pope’s side in many disputes, King Henry had four knights murder Thomas in the cathedral.

The Importance of Religion

The medieval Church did have one positive effect: it fostered cultural unity-a system of belief and symbol. The Church was a center of learning. It’s monasteries were the libraries and publishers of the time, and its language, Latin, remained the international language of educated Europeans. Its leader, the pope, was king of all kings-and his “kingdom” had no boundaries.

The Magna Carta and The Hundred Years’ War

• In 1215, English barons forced King John to sign the Magna Carta as an effort to curb the church’s power. The document later became the basis for English constitutional law.

• The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) was based on claims to the throne of France by two English kings Edward III and Henry V. The English lost, but by the end, knights had been replaced by Yeoman (small landowners). This transformed England to a democratic nation.

The Black Death

Also called the bubonic plague struck England in 1248-1349. This delivered another blow to feudalism. Highly contagious and and spread by fleas from infected rats, the disease reduced England’s population by one third. It caused a labor shortage which gave lower class citizens an advantage, and led to the freedom of serfs.