The style of architecture during the Middle Ages was called Gothic.

For nearly four hundred years Gothic style dominated the architecture of Western Europe. Gothic architects designed town halls, royal palaces, courthouses and hospitals, they fortified cities and castles to defend lands against invasion, and they created bridges and hostelries to facilitate communication. But it was in the service of the Church that the Gothic style attained its most meaningful expression, for the Church was the major builder of the Middle Ages, providing the widest scope for the development of architectural ideas and calling forth the best talents.

The considerable size of many Gothic monuments meant that they were expensive to construct, and size sometimes also delayed the completion of the work.

Gothic Architecture

Gothic ArchitectureThe size of the Cathedrals required the use of a “Flying Buttress”. A buttress is a support -- usually brick or stone -- built against a wall to support or reinforce it. A flying buttress (shown below) is a free-standing buttress attached to the main structure by an arch or a half-arch. Used in great Gothic, the flying buttress allowed master builders to create taller and visually lighter structures that reached toward the heavens.

Gothic ArchitectureAnother feature of Gothic architecture was stained-glass. Since the walls themselves were no longer the primary supports, Gothic buildings could include large areas of glass. Huge stained glass windows and a profusion of smaller windows created the effect of lightness and space. Because most lay people (people who are not Church officials) were illiterate, the windows would illustrate Bible stories. Also, the mass was said in Latin, not the vernacular or common language of the people, so it was one of the few ways for the people to understand the religion.

In addition to religious figures, many Gothic cathedrals are heavily ornamented with strange, leering creatures. These gargoyles are not merely decorative. Originally, the sculptures were waterspouts to protect the foundation from rain. Sculptures also illustrated lessons from the scriptures.

Because of the statues, windows, and other decoration, Churches have been referred to as “Books of Stone”

Gothic architecture was still used after the Middle Ages. St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan is a local example, built in 1868.

Gargoyle

Medieval Art

Medieval art covers a vast scope of time and place, over 1000 years of art history in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. It includes major art movements and periods, national and regional art, genres, revivals, the artists crafts, and the artists themselves.

Art historians classify Medieval art into major periods and movements. They are Celtic art, Early Christian art, Migration Period art, Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque art, Gothic art, Byzantine art and Islamic art. In addition each "nation" or culture in the Middle Ages had its own distinct artistic style and these are looked at individually, such as Anglo-Saxon art or Viking art. Medieval art was of many crafts, such as mosaics and sculpture; and there were many unique genres of art, such as Crusade art.

Medieval artists in Europe depended, in varying degrees, upon artistic heritage of the Roman Empire and upon the legacy of the early Christian church. These sources were mixed with the vigorous "Barbarian" artistic culture of Northern Europe to produce a remarkable artistic legacy. Indeed the history of medieval art can be seen as the history of the interplay between the elements of classical, early Christian and "Barbarian" art.

Medieval Art

Most religious artists after the fourth century, when Christianity dominated as the chief religion of the Roman world, chose to reject the ideals of perfection in form and technique. Rather, these monastic artists sought to present images which would draw the spectator into the inner eye of their work, pointing to its spiritual significance.

The purpose of Medieval art was to glorify the life and death of Jesus Christ, to provide peasants with a depiction of God’s kingdom and a vision of a glorious afterlife and to assure that the Church remained a dominant force in the lives of its citizens.

This attitude towards art reflected the religious ideals of the monk artist. The monastic values of the day advocated a rejection of the physical body and the material world, certainly the representation of man in art replicated these ideals. Man and Woman were not represented as images of physical perfection. Rather their appearance was nondescript; their function was to represent a historical or biblical character in a symbolic tableau from the Old or New Testament.

The predominating features of these characters conveyed religious ideals. Consequently, certain features, uplifted hands and eyes, for example, became stock elements in medieval art.

Medieval Art

We eping on C hr ist de ad 1303-1305

Painting during the Gothic period was practiced in 4 primary crafts:

frescos, panel paintings, manuscript illumination and stained glass.

Medieval Art

•In most places around Europe, the clergy were the only literate people to be found.

•Therefore, it is not surprising that monasteries became centers of learning along with cathedrals.

•Monks came to see themselves as protectors of knowledge and culture in Europe. This role was especially prominent in Ireland where the Irish monks protected much of Western learning from disappearing during

those uncertain times.

Illuminated Bibles, Libraries and Scriptoriums

•Many of the larger monasteries were famous for their scriptoriums – giant rooms where monks would sit for hours everyday copying books by hand.

•Monasteries were relatively safe places to keep these expensive books.

•An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of drawings or designs and decorated with gold or silver.

The c lassic Bible i l luminated

manuscr ipt took several monks two

years or more to produce.

Illuminated Bibles, Libraries and Scriptoriums

The Medieval music of the Middle Ages generally consisted of the music of the church. However, Travel, prompted by the Crusades, led to a new

and unprecedented interest in beautiful objects, elegant manners, poetry and music. Middle Ages music in Europe was influenced by Arab love

songs. The ideals of courtly love were introduced further influencing the content and styles of the music of the Middle Ages.

Music of the Middle ages

Troubadours were poet musicians. They did not write religious poems. They wrote romances about knights and ladies. These romances were told in the form of poems set to music. Their songs were very popular because they were about love and heroes and chivalry.

These musicians would go from town to town, playing love songs. They might also play drums,

harps, and bagpipes, which were all popular instruments of the times.

The Troubadours

It was important for a knight not only to be able fight but also to be able to play musical instruments and to dance. The oldest Medieval musical

instrument was the human voice, but the harp, fiddle, flute, lute, and other instruments were developed! During the early Medieval period, Church

hymns and songs were performed. The earliest Church organ dates back to the 8th Century. Later, many songs were love poems to women and stories about Heroic Kings and adventure. Many of the musical instruments of the

Middle Ages were the forerunners to our modern musical instruments.

Music of the Middle ages

Gregorian Chants•Gregoran chants are a body of

chants of the Roman Catholic Church, most of which are part of two liturgical

rites, the Mass and the Offices. Origins are traditionally are ascribed to the period of Pope Gregory I 590-604.

The sacred music of the Gregorian Chant was also known as plainchant, or plainsong and named after Pope

Gregory.

•This music consisted of a single line of melody with a flexible rhythm sung

to Latin words by unaccompanied male voices. Manuscripts date from ninth century and used a system of

modes, specific patterns of whole and half steps. This single line of melody,

called monophony, characterized music until about 1000 AD.

Music of the Middle Ages

Convents and the Role of Women

• Although the monastic life seems strange to many of us today, it was a very attractive option for many people in the Middle Ages – including women.

• Monasteries for women were called Convents.

• To become a nun was very respectable and could bring a woman great prestige.

How were women viewed by Medieval Society?

• St. Augustine was the first Christian theologian to develop the idea of Original Sin. This was the sin committed by

Adam and Eve. Needless to say, Eve was perceived to be the more sinful of the two.

Role of Women

Women had very few options as far as the way society would perceive them:

- The Virgin Mary was the ideal woman – chaste yet still a loving mother and devoted wife.- Witches and Prostitutes were at the other end of the spectrum.

Why did women become nuns?•Some were dedicated by their families at a young age as fulfillment of a religious promise made by the parents.

•True piety – these women were genuinely devoted to their religion and wanted to spend their lives practicing their religion. So instead of marrying a man they chose to become “brides of Christ”.

•Remaining chaste saved a woman from becoming like Eve and brought her redemption.

•In some cases it was a way to escape marriage and childbearing – both of which could be very dangerous for a woman in the Middle Ages.

•The promise of education and a life of contemplation – something they could not have in public/married life.

The vast majority of witches were condemned by secular courts with local courts especially noted for their persecutory zeal. The standard procedure in most countries was for accused witches to be brought before investigating tribunals and interrogated.

In some parts of Europe, torture was rarely used; but where the witch-hunts were most intensive, it was a standard feature of the interrogations.

Obviously, a large majority of accused who "confessed" to witchcraft did so as a result of the brutal tortures to which they were exposed. About half of all convicted witches were given sentences short of execution. The unluckier half were generally killed in

public, often en masse, by hanging or burning.

Witch Hunts

The witch-hunts waxed and waned for nearly three centuries, with great variations in time and space. The rate of witch hunting varied dramatically throughout Europe, ranging from a high of 26,000 deaths in Germany to a low of 4 in Ireland. Most burning of witches took place during the Early

Modern European Era of the 15th-17th centuries.

Witch Hunts

Women were accused of casting evil spells

and doing the deeds of Satan.

The were considered heretics of the

Church!

Theological works were the dominant form of literature typically found in libraries during the Middle Ages. Catholic clerics were the intellectual center of society in the Middle

Ages, and it is their literature that was produced in the greatest quantity.

Literature

Epic poems such as Beowulf and The Song of Roland were written. Political

poetry was written also, especially towards the end of this period. Travel

literature was highly popular in the Middle Ages, as fantastic accounts of far-off

lands (frequently embellished or entirely false) entertained a society that, in most

cases, limited people to the area in which they were born as seen by the

prominence of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Literature

The poem's imaginative and allegorical vision of the afterlife is a culmination of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church. It is divided into

three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.On the surface, the poem describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and

Heaven; but at a deeper level, it represents the soul's journey towards God. At this deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy.

The Divine Comedy is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in

1321. It is widely considered the

preeminent work of Italian literature and is

seen as one of the greatest works of world

literature.

Dante shown holding a copy of the Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of

Florence, with the spheres of Heaven above.

MusicHow did Music change during the Middle Ages? Why?

Write a song that a Troubadour might have performed! (At least 4 lines)

Medieval ArtEvaluate the examples of medieval art provided. What are some common themes?

Explain the purpose and goals of medieval art? Do you think it succeeded in achieving these goals?

LiteratureWhat factors influenced literature during the Middle Ages?

Why is Dante’s Divine Comedy so important during this time?

Gothic ArchitectureExamine the examples provided of Gothic architecture. Describe the featured characteristics.

How did medieval architects accomplish such monumental structures?

Why are cathedrals referred to as “Books of Stone”?

Illumination of Bibles What role did the Monks have in society?

What were the scriptoriums and what was produced there?

Cultural AchievementsRole of Women

What were many women accused of doing? Why and what happened to them?

Why did Women become Nuns?

How were women perceived in the Late Middle Ages? Why?

On the back of this page, draw a picture of the greatest cultural achievement of the Middle Ages