the middle ages, Ejercicios de Idioma Inglés

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Medieval Literature

Lecturer: Julia Haba Osca, Ph. D.

The Middle Ages -­‐ Introduc@on

• Time: A.D. 500 – 1500
• Place: Europe
• Literary Significance: The European Middle Ages lies between the classical era and the Renaissance. A>er the downfall of the Roman Empire, the Frankish king Charlemagne encouraged learning and innovaFon. SFll, most people could not read and most literature was oral. ChrisFan Europe produced its own heroic tales in the form of saints’ lives and chansons de geste – tales of heroic deeds that were sung by traveling minstrels. By the late Middle Ages, the authority of feudalism and the Church began to decay. More and more people, not only the clergy, could read and had access to wriKen materials. Writers like Chaucer and Alighieri, wriFng in vernacular languages reflected the new spirit of the age.

Medieval Oral Literature

• Epic Deeds of Heroes and Heroines: Heroism was an important theme of much of the literature of the early Middle Ages. Both the epic hero and the ChrisFan saint opposed evil and stood for what was right.
• Medieval Oral Literature: it was not only the church that provided ChrisFan Europe with entertainment during the Middle Ages. From the 11 th to the 14 th centuries, French poets called trouvères composed the popular chansons de geste.
• Keep in mind that most people during the Middle Ages were illiterate, so most literature was presented orally and someFmes visually – as in the case of drama.
• Common people entertained themselves with folktales, beast fables, and ballads (narraFve songs).

The Romance and Courtly Love

• In Fme, the rough realiFes of feudalism were refined by the code of chivalry. Chivalry, a term derived from the French word for knight, chevalier , was basically a military code of behaviour.
• A knight was supposed to be fair to his opponents, loyal to his lord and honourable in all things.
• Must show ChrisFan humility to his peers, kindness to those beneath them and generosity to all.
• Of course, not all knights could live up to this code, or tried to.
• Many were mercenary soldiers available to the worst but chivalry helped to civilize the compeFFve, o>en brutal world of the Middle Ages.

Courtly Love

• Knight’s glorious deeds were not performed in the service of the king or country, but on behalf a beauFful, fair and noble lady who was above him in status and usually married.
• She was usually unaKainable and someFmes the knight had only glimpsed from a distance or heard about.
• Praise for an unaKainable courtly lady was already a popular theme in medieval poetry.
• During the 11 th century in southern France, poet-­‐musicians called troubadours (from the French word meaning to compose or to invent) had begun to write light, graceful lyrics based on the theme of courtly love.

The Late Middle Ages -­‐ beginning

• The late Middle Ages, from about 1300 to 1500 was a Fme of enormous upheaval that dealt severe blows to the two great medieval insFtuFons: the feudal system and the Church.
• The Crusades (1096-­‐1270), were the ChrisFan aKemps to forcefully regain the Holy Land from the Muslims.
• It cost many European lives but also opened up trade routes to the East. These routes allowed influx of new goods and ideas that enhanced financial status of the merchant class and accelerated the development of towns and ciFes.
• Some ciFes founded universiFes, new centers of learning that opened doors for the middle class.

Schisms and the Prin@ng Press

• The power of the Church was also being challenged.
• Charges in corrupFon and internal arguments (schisms) weakened the Church at its foundaFons.
• The Church’s role as biblical interpreter was undermined, too, for another development was that more people learned to read.
• With the growth of literacy came a new intellectual independence and with the development of the prinFng press, criFcs and reformers were able to write, print and circulate literary saFres that ridicules the Church’s corrupFon.
• Most significant development in literature was the rise of the use of the vernacular or regional languages instead of LaFn.

The Late Middle Ages -­‐ end

• The Late Middle Ages was marked by the building of the great cathedrals, the opening of trade routes and an increase in the number of people who could read and write in the vernacular languages.
• The development meant great changes all over Europe: emerging sense of naFonalism, increase of educated readers, availability of printed material and recogniFon and acceptance of the value of such local oral literatures as stories and songs.
• Use of vernacular works such as Wycliffe’s translaFon of the Bible into English, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Dante’s Divine Comedy established the vernacular as acceptable in literature.
• This change was more fidngly expressed in literature that used the languages of everyday people.

Song of Roland

Song of Roland -­‐ beginning

• Considered the naFonal epic of France, it is based on a historical event.
• The story dates back to the Fme of Charlemagne, the king of the Franks from A. D. 768 to 814.
• In Charlemagne’s Fme Spain was ruled by the Arab muslims.
• Charlemagne agreed to help one of two Muslim rivals who were baKling each other for control in Spain but it was a disaster and in 778 his army was forced to retreat.
• As they crossed back into France, the rear guard of his army was overrun by the Basques.
• One of the commanders of Charlemagne’s rear guard during this baKle at Roncesvalles was a man named Roland.

Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson (1179 – 1241)

• Snorri Sturluson whose names means “sharp-­‐wiKed one”, was a great poet and historian as well as a rich landowner, learned lawyer and the head of Iceland’s most important clan.
• His books are classics of Icelandic literature and are important sources of mythological lore as well as historical informaFon.
• As a youth, Snorri developed a fine sense of beauty of the Icelandic language.
• By the age of 20, he displayed an interest in acquiring property and poliFcal power.
• He was twice elected president of the legislaFve assembly and supreme court of Iceland but eventually his poliFcal intrigues aroused ill will and led to his murder.

Marie de France

Marie de France (

th

century)

• The name comes from a reference were the writer refers to herself by saying: “Marie is my name. I am of France”.
• Considered one of the greatest writers of the Middle Ages, and yet all we know for certain about her is that her name appears in three separate works wriKen in French between 1160 and 1215.
• Lais , a group of narraFves wriKen in verse.
• Fables , a collecFon of fables translated from English into Old French.
• St. Patrick’s Purgatory , a translaFon from LaFn into French of a life of a saint.