Part Two: The Medieval West
I. Impact on Western Values, Beliefs, Practices
A. Geographic contours of modern European states
B. Basic Political, Religious, Linguistic Traditions
C. Feudal Epic, Courtly Romance, Morality Play
II. Three Cultural Stands Produced the Middle Ages (500-1000)
III. Jump in Population (700-1300)
IV. Crusades and Christendom
II. The Germanic Tribes
A. Tribal, Migratory
1. lacked three things: urban settlements, architecture, art of writing
2. used spurs and stirrups – rode horseback
3. fighters
4. bond of fealty, loyalty
B. Germanic Law
1. collection of customs, not legislated by state
2. general assemblies plus tribal chiefs
3. public act of shaming
4. common law
C. Germanic Literature
1. personal valor and heroism
2. epics: Beowulf
D. Germanic Art
1. gold worked designs for buckles, clasps, purses
2. carried from contacts as nomads with Asia?
3. Sutton Hoo artifacts
4. carpet design on cruciform
5. similarities with Germanic and Islamic art
a. contact of wandering peoples?
b. closeness to nature?
c. dynamic linear style with interweavings, vinelike ornamentation
d. cloisonné, cruciform, chalice, paten, gilt
E. Illuminated Manuscripts
1. Lindisfarne Gospels (island off coast of England)
2. Book of Kells (Ireland)
3. Iona, Mull, Skye (Scotland and St. Columb)
III. Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance
A. Grandson of Charles Martel; son of “Pepin”
1. conquered, converted many tribes to Christendom; he was a Frank
2. created a “Holy roman Empire”
B. Believed strongly in educatin and the arts
1. could barely read; never learned to write
2. invited missionaries and scholars from all over Europe; began the renaissance of learning
3. Carolingian script
4. integrated Germanic, Roman, Byzantine stylistic traditions
IV. Feudal Society
A.Frankish kingdom split apart
1. partly by invasions of the Vikings
B. feudalism
1. from tradition of rewarding warriors with exchange of land for military service
2. grant of land called a fief or fiefdom (deudum)
3. vassal owed lard a number of fighting days (40)
4. contract with other obligations
5. lord offered protection; military defense and political leadership, inherited by birth
6. male member of nobility, mounted man-at-arms
chevalier or knight; protected by chain mail
C. Code of Behavior
1. chivalry: courageous, loyal, reverent
2. investiture
3. jousts
D. The Literature of Feudal Nobility
The Song of Roland and medieval character
E. The Norman Conquest and the Arts
F. The Lives of Medieval Serfs
G. The Christian Crusades
1. began as effort to rescue Jerusalem from Muslim Turks who were threatening the Byzantine Empire (they eventually overcame it) and denying Christian pilgrims access to the Holy Land
2. primogeniture: oldest son inherited, rest left to fend for themselves
H. The Medieval Romance and the Code of Courtly Love
1. Chrétien deTroyes: Lancelot
2. The Poetry of the Troubadours
I. the Rise of Medieval Towns
Chapter 12 – Christianity and the Medieval Mind
I. The Christian Way of Life and Death
A. The Literature of Mysticism
1. Hildegard of Bingen
B. Sermon Literature
1. Pope Innocent III’s On the Misery of the Human Condition
2. The Medieval Morality Play
a. mystery plays
b. miracle plays
c. morality plays
d. pageants
3. Everyman
4. Dante’s Divine Comedy
II. The Medieval Church
A.Great Power and Authority
1. as a religious force
2.as a political institution
B. The Conflict Between Church and State
C. The Medieval University
D. Medieval Scholasticism