ENGLISH

 LITERATURE  I  –  2ND  CLASS  

 
MIDDLE  ENGLISH  LITERATURE  AND  CULTURE  
A  SHORT  INTRODUCTION    
 
⇒ The   Normans   came   from   Normandy   in   northern   France,   and   when   they  
conquered   England   they   imposed   Norman   laws,   the   Norman   System   of  
Government,   and   even   the   Norman   French   language   upon   the   English.  
King  William  considered  all  of  England  his  personal  property,  and  he  had  
the  military  power  to  enforce  that  presumption.  That  military  power  was  
based   on   the   knight,   who   differed   from   the   Anglo-­‐Saxon   warrior  
principally   in   the   superior   quality   of   his   armor   and   training,   and   in   the  
fact   that   he   rode   a   horse.   The   mounted   knight   was   the   tank   of   medieval  
warfare,   and   a   warrior   on   foot   had   little   chance   against   him.   With   his  
knights   William   succeeded   in   doing   what   no   Anglo-­‐Saxon   king   had   been  
able  to  do  –  unite  all  of  England  under  a  single  ruler.  
 
⇒ When   we   think   of   the   Middle   Age   perhaps   the   first   image   that   comes   to  
mind  is  that  of  a  walled  castle  topped  by  lofty  towers  and  surrounded  by  
deep   moat.   It   was   the   Normans   who   brought   castle   architecture   to  
England  (the  Anglo-­‐Saxon  hall  was  a  much  smaller  structure).  If  we  think  
about  the  castle  for  a  moment  we  can  see  the  essential  characteristics  of  
the  Norman  social  system  known  as  feudalism.  
 
⇒ Inside   the   castle   lived   a   nobleman   and   his   family,   the   knights   that   the  
nobleman   retained,   and   assorted   dependents   and   servants.   In   return   for  
the   military   training   and   high   social   status   they   received,   the   knights  
protected   their   lord’s   lands   and   followed   him   to   fight   in   foreign   wars.   The  
nobleman   in   his   turn   owed   fealty   to   the   king,   who   was   responsible   for  
resolving   disputes   between   nobles,   making   grants   of   land   to   those   who  
served  him  well,  and  making  national  policy.  Thus  the  feudal  system  was  
one   of   reciprocal   duties   and   responsibility   between   the   king   and   his  
nobles   and   between   the   nobles   and   his   knights.   It   was   a   hierarchical  
system,  with  the  duties  and  privileges  of  each  level  of  society  –  from  the  
king   at   the   top   on   down   to   the   lowliest   apprentice   knight   –   clearly  
defined.  
 
⇒ The   system   extended   outside   the   castle   walls   as   well,   where   the   vast  
majority  of  the  population  lived.  This  lower  order  of  men,  know  as  serfs,  
were   responsible   for   tiling   the   land   and   providing   food   and   services   to  
their   lord   within   the   castle   in   return   for   protection   against   attacks   by  
outlaws   and   renegade   knights.   The   life   of   a   serf   was   hard   and   usually  
brief,   for   he   was   entirely   at   the   mercy   of   his   master,   forbidden   either   to  
own   his   own   land   or   to   leave   his   master’s   fields.   There   was   one   great  
social   leveler,   however,   which   did   not   distinguish   between   classes.   That  
was   the   plague,   which   periodically   swept   through   medieval   England  
killing   master   and   serf   alike.   Against   the   plague   the   only   protection   was  
prayer.  
 
 ⇒ Alongside   the   secular   social   system   of   feudalism   was   the   Church,   which  
maintained   an   influence   even   more   powerful   than   the   king’s.   The   Church,  
too,   possessed   a   hierarchical   organization   descending   from   the   pope   in  
Rome   at   the   top   to   the   cardinals   and   bishops   in   cathedral   cities   to   the  
lowliest   priest   in   a   country   parish.   Conflicts   between   the   secular   and  
ecclesiastical  powers  occasionally  occurred,  as  when  king  Henry  II  had  his  
knights   murder   Thomas   Becket,   the   archbishop   of   Canterbury,   for  
disagreeing  with  the  king’s  policies.    
 
⇒ The  church,  however,  could  boast  of  a  source  of  power  to  which  the  king  
and   his   nobles   could   only   bow   –   the   people’s   belief   that   God   worked  
through  the  authority  of  His  church.  Powerful  Henry  II,  for  example,  was  
forced  to  kneel  in  front  of  Becket’s  tomb  and  be  scourged;  Becket  himself  
was   declared   a   holy   martyr   and   a   saint,   and   his   tomb   became   the   most  
popular  shrine  in  all  England.    
 
⇒ For   many   years   after   the   Norman   conquest   England   was   divided   into   two  
societies,   each   speaking   its   own   language.   The   majority   of   the   serfs   and  
untitled   freeman   were   of   the   Anglo-­‐Saxon   race   and   continued   to   speak  
their   Germanic   tongue.   The   Norman   nobles   and   knights,   on   the   other  
hand.   Spoke   a   dialect   of   French.   Partly   as   a   result   of   this   linguistic  
confusion,   Latin,   the   international   language   of   the   Church,   became   the  
official  language  of  the  land  and  was  used  in  schools.  
 
⇒ Still,  literature  in  the  people’s  native  tongues  continued  to  be  composed,  
inside   the   great   castles   walls   the   nobles   and   their   ladies   preferred  
romances,   long   fantastic   stories   of   the   chivalrous   deeds   of   knights   and  
their   love   affairs   with   great   ladies.   The   most   famous   romances   take   as  
their   subject   a   legendary   king   called   Arthur   and   his   famous   knights   of   the  
Round   Table.   The   historical   Arthur   was   a   fifth-­‐century   British   king   who  
fought   a   series   of   rearguard   actions   against   the   invading   Anglo-­‐Saxons.  
The   Arthur   of   the   romances,   though,   was   an   idealized   king   of   the   High  
Middle  Ages,  a  man  distinguished  by  wisdom,  piety,  and  idealism.  He  lives  
in   a   sumptuous   castle   (in   the   best   Norman   style)   and   presides   over   the  
Knights  of  the  Round  Table,  whom  he  sends  on  various  chivalric  missions.  
The  knights  rescue  damsels  in  distress  or  search  for  the  miraculous  Holy  
Grail,   the   cup   used   by   Christ   at   the   last   super   the   night   before   he   was  
crucified.    
 
⇒ There   are   literally   hundreds   of   different   romances   about   Arthur,   Queen  
Guenevere,   Sir   Galahad,   Sir   Gawain,   Sir   Lancelot,   and   the   rest,   attesting   to  
the   tremendous   popularity   of   the   Arthurian   legend   in   medieval   times,   a  
popularity  which  has  continued  to  the  present  day.  
 
⇒ Most   of   the   Arthurian   romances   were   written   in   French,   the   castle  
Language.  In  the  peasant  villages  and  fields  there  grew  up  a  different  kind  
of   literature,   with   different   legends   and   different   heroes.   This   “popular”  
literature   (as   opposed   to   the   aristocratic   literature   of   the   romances)  
consisted   mostly   of   songs,   either   lyrics   about   the   coming   of   spring   or   a  
 beautiful  girl,  or  ballads  telling  stories  of  tragic  love  and  warfare.  One  of  
the  ballad  heroes  famous  even  today  is  Robin  Hood,  who  led  his  band  of  
Saxon  outlaws  into  Sherwood  Forest  to  find  freedom  from  harsh  Norman  
rule.  
 
⇒ The   spoken   forms   of   language   are   always   more   fluid   and   changeable   than  
the  written  forms.  In  those  days,  when  few  people  knew  how  to  read  or  
write,  the  Old  English  and  Norman  French  tongues  spoken  by  the  people  
gradually   mixed   to   form   what   is   called   Middle   English,   a   language   much  
closer   in   both   structure   and   vocabulary   to   Modern   English   than   Anglo-­‐
Saxon.  Like  Anglo-­‐Saxon,  though,  Middle  English  was  not  a  single  tongue  
but   a   group   of   regional   dialects   more   or   less   resembling   one   another.   One  
dialect,  the  East  Midland  dialect  spoken  in  London  and  at  the  king’s  court,  
was  to  prevail  over  all  the  others,  partly  because  it  was  in  that  dialect  that  
the   first   genius   of   English   literature   wrote.   His   name   was   Geoffrey  
Chaucer.