British Literature: The Middle Period

Week two of eight for History of British literature. What follows are the slides from the PowerPoint presentation and the links precede the slides that would be a playable video. Someday I'll take the time to further educate myself on embedding PowerPoint presentations with embedded video, but it is not this day. This will have to suffice... considering I'm not a couple of weeks behind. 

How the Normans Changed the History of Europe

Ely Cathedral (1083), Wells Cathedral (1174), Tower of London (1078)

What was Feudalism? 

A Mini Guide to Medieval Castles: English Heritage

Chivalry in the Middle Ages

War, plague, chivalry... influenced literature of this period.

• Geoffrey of Monmouth (1100-1155)
• Historia Regum Brittaniae
• inaccurate history
• popularized the legend of King Arthur
• made Excalibur popular
• Magna Carta (15 June 1215)
• King John and his barons at Runnymede
• a feudal document, revised several times over hundreds of years
• the 1297 version is housed in Washington D.C. at the National Archives
• was adapted in the colonies, and used it to justify the disagreement over the Stamp Act in 1765; lead the way to the Declaration of Independence
• Robert Mannying
• English Chronicler; wrote the Story of England
• Handly Synne: the first Confessional/manual in English
• Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400)
• lived under three monarchs; born during the reign of Edward III in London, lived through the succession of Richard II in 1337 and the revolution of 1399, which saw Richard II deposed, and the beginning of the Tudor Dynasty (the Lancastrians) with William IV.
• died in 1400 and is buried in Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey
• called the "morning star of the Renaissance"
• Canterbury Tales
• made the Middle English vernacular a legitimate form of literature when the dominant literary languages in England were Latin and French
• Pearl Poet or "Gawain Poet"
• contemporary of Chaucer
• true identity unknown
• best known Arthurian Tale: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• Robert Cotton and the Cotton Nero A.X. (1571-1631)
• dissolution of monasteries under Henry VIII brought the destruction of many monasteries and churches throughout Britain
• manuscripts scattered
• Robert Cotton began collecting manuscripts; Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• His method of shelving his collection is still used today in the British Library, naming the bookcases after Classical characters with the accompanying bust of the character; Beowulf located at Vitellius, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, as well as the Lindisfarne Gospels located at Nero.

Is There Any Truth to the King Arthur Legends? 

Morality, Miracle, and Mystery Plays

The Church used these plays to instruct an illiterate population; hear and see instructive literature.

1. Morality Play: presented a lesson about good conduct and character
2. Miracle Play: re-enactment of miraculous interventions by the saints into the lives of ordinary people
3. Mystery Play: focused on Bible stories and society