Middle Age note-taking guide

Directions: YOU MUST TAKE NOTES ON ALL SLIDES. If one of the

slides has a diagram… you must replicate it to the best of your
ability on this form. The more information… the better.
Today’s Objective: Students will analyze the political, religious and
philosophical beliefs of the people living in the
medieval period to further analyze medieval
literature

The Middle Ages 1066-1485

(slides 2-3) 400-1500 AD.

AD - anno domini which is latin for “year of our

lord”
What does A.D. mean? Meaning: Number of years since the birth of christ

The Crusades During much of the Middle Ages, people in Europe

(slides 4-5) were fighting against the islamic empire to take
back the eastern Mediterranean especially
Jerusalem for the christian religion.

The Feudal System ● The Middle Ages was defined by the Feudal
(slides 6-11) system in much of europe. This system
consisted of kings, lords, knights, vassals,
and peasants.
● When a person was born into a certain
group, they rarely moved to another level.
● Feudalism was a social system, a caste
system, and a military system.
● It was based on religious concept of rank,
with God as the supreme overlord.
● God (church), king, lords, knights, peasants
Upper class controlled lower class
Upper class provided protection to the lower class
Lower class worked for the upper class
King and lords lived in castles and had vassals
(servants)
Knights (military)
When conflict arose the peasants would leave their
villages and fields and come into the safety of the
castle walls
All land was owned by the King.(owned
everything)
 He kept one quarter as his personal property.
The feudal system influenced all aspects of life,
art, and literature of the Middle Ages

Medieval Knights ● Boys were trained from an early age to

(slides 12-15) become warriors
● The training usually took place in someones
home and it was strict training
● Once knighted the youth became a man with
the title of Sir
● Breaking the code of knighthood would
undermine their position and could have
severe consequences
● The feudal system influenced all aspects of
life, art, and literature of the Middle Ages
● Formalism came to life fully in the institution
of knighthood and in the related practice or
code of chivalry
● Chivalry was the honor code of the knight.
An important part of chivalry was to show
respect and gallantry towards women. The
code of chivalry was an important part of the
society and lives of people who lived during
the medieval times and era. The code of
chivalry was admired and understood by all.

Women in Medieval ● Women were expected to procreate

Society ● They were ruled by the men in their life
(father, brother, then husband)
● They could NOT own property
● They could not vote
● They could not have a say against any man
Medieval Courtly Love
Where a woman would give a token to a knight of
her choice to be worn during a tournament to
show their admiration regardless of her marital
state. A lot of the time it wouldn’t stay just courtly
love and they would become more involved.
The irony - women had little to no rights

Codes that Knights must ● To fear God and maintain His Church
live by… ● To serve the liege lord in valour and faith
 ● To protect the weak and defenseless
● To fight for the welfare of all
List at least 5 ● To obey those placed in authority

A burden in battle: Held together by rivets, leather straps, hinges,

turning pins, buckles, and pegs, a suit of armor
replaced mail as the warrior’s chief protection.
Knights wore a heavily padded undergarment of
leather and a mail shirt under the armor, in
addition, they wore arm, leg and foot pieces. Mail
covered the neck, elbows and other joints.
Gauntlets constructed of linked plates covered the
hands. Most suits weighed around 120 pounds.
The threat of death in battle was bad enough, but
the armor itself could also be fatal. Battle during
hot weather was dangerous because there were
only small slits in the helmet for a limited line of
vision and little ventilation. Heatstroke was often
deadly for the knight. Oftentimes, death was
caused by suffocation, heart failure and even
drowning.
Only aristocratic knights could afford the huge
cost of armor, a war horse, packhorses, a mount to
ride when not in battle, and the servants.
The armor’s weight and the complex fittings
required to piece it together meant that a knight
could not dress himself for battle.
Battles were usually scheduled, giving the knight
enough time to be dressed.
A knight on his back was like an upside down
turtle trying to get on its feet.

The Knight’s Templar and Knights didn’t get much money, nor was it an easy
Thomas Becket life
(slides 25-27) The Templar rule

People believe the Knights Templar, a medieval

order that protected pilgrims traveling to the Holy
Land, seized the Holy Grail from the Temple Mount
during the Crusades and secreted it away. The
theory is that the Knights Templar are still around
and guarding the Holy Grail today.

The Holy Grail is traditionally thought to be the cup

that Jesus Christ drank from at the Last Supper
 and that Joseph of Arimathea used to collect
Jesus's blood at his crucifixion.

Thomas, a Norman, rose to great power as

chancellor under his friend King Henry II.
King Henry hoped to gain the upper hand, but
Thomas sided with the pope several times and this
infuriated Henry.
As a result, King Henry had Thomas Becket
murdered.
Public outrage at his murder, led to devotion to
Saint Thomas the Martyr.

What is... Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage? The pilgrimage is an act of faith, in which devotees
Magna Carta? (or pilgrims) show their devotion in the form of a
Black Death? physical journey to a sacred destination of some
kind which would usually be difficult and
dangerous. In the Canterbury Tales, 29 pilgrims
gather to go on a pilgrimage to Thomas Becket’s
Shrine.

Magna Carta
In 1215, English barons force King John to sign
the Magna Carta in an effort to curb the king’s
power.
The Magna Carta later became the basis of English
constitutional law, in which such rights as trial by
jury and legislative taxation were established.
The beginning of Democracy

Black Death
The Black Death also known as The Bubonic
Plague was highly contagious and spread by fleas
from infected rats.
The plague reduced the nation’s population by a
third causing a labor shortage and giving the lower
classes more bargaining power against their
overlords.
This helped put an end to Feudalism.
Killed 30%-50% of the country’s total population
The Four Humours ● Blood sanguine
● Yellow bile choleric
● Phlegm phlegmatic
● Black Bile Melancholic

● An individual's characteristics (physical,

mental, moral) were explained by the state of
the person’s “humours.”
● The perfect temperament resulted when
none of the humours dominated. After two
or three cleanings with a waterless hand
cleaner, the hands should be washed with
soap and water.
● Group of answer choices

● True
● False

Geoffrey Chaucer 1343 – 1400

Worked as a government official

“Father of English Poetry”

Ten facts about Geoffrey Chaucer
1. He is most known for writing “The
Canterbury Tales”
2. Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London
3. Geoffrey was given a gallon of wine
everyday by Edward III
4. There's a crater on the far side of the moon
named for Chaucer.
5. He had connections with the royal family
early on in his life
6. Geoffrey Chaucer served as a member of
parliament
7. Even though he died more than 600 years
ago, he has more than 2,100 fans on
Facebook.
8. An original Caxton printing of Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales sold at an auction for $7.4
million in 1998
9. He served in the English Army during the
 “Hundred Years of War”
10. He helped Middle English become accepted
as an everyday language

The Canterbury Tales 29 pilgrims took journey to Thomas Becket’s

shrine
pilgrims - diverse group of people who had many
different jobs or positions in society
The Pilgrim’s tales that we are going to read are
“Pardoner’s Tale” and “Wife of Bath’s Tale”
Together they travel on horseback from London to
the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury
Cathedral. It is the host of the Tabard Inn that
suggests to the pilgrims that they tell stories along
their journey to pass the time. The winner of the
story telling contest receives a free meal at the
Tabard Inn when they return.

Prologue to Canterbury ● Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury

Tales Tales, a collection of stories, between 1387
and 1400.
● The narrator opens the General Prologue
with a description of the return of spring. He
describes the rain, the flourishing flowers
and leaves, and the chirping birds.
● During this time of year, people start to feel
the desire to go on a pilgrimage. Many
devout English pilgrims set off to visit
shrines in distant holy lands.

Background A pardoner was a member of clergy who would

receive the power to permit indulgences in the
Medieval Church. They received this power
from the pope.
Indulgences- promises made by the church to
reduce the severity of punishment due after
death caused by someones sinful behavior
(costed money to the person purchasing)
Greedy clergy would occasionally take
advantage of people’s fear and demand money
for the sale of indulgences. Some like
Chaucer’s Pardoner, went as far as to keep the
money for himself instead of turning it over to
the church.
Definitions of terms ● Couplet-pair of successive end rhymes
(*It's hard to see the butterfly *Because he flies
across the sky)
● Iambic pentameter-A line made up of five
feet (10 syllables)
● Allegory-A moral tale that teaches a lesson
● Personification-Attaching a human
characteristic to a non-human thing
● Irony: opposite happens from what is
intended
● Dramatic irony-audience knows before
character knows
● Verbal irony-Saying one thing but meaning
the opposite. (sarcasm)
● Satire-technique employed by writers to
expose and criticize foolishness and
corruption of an individual or a society, by
using humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule.
Its purpose to improve humanity by
criticizing its weaknesses
1. The Knight’s modest and stained clothes
indicate that he truly fights well and is not
showy or vain. He also loves chivalry and
fights for truth and honor.
2. The squire is the knights son and is not as
noble or experienced as his father, but is
learning all the proper ways to be a night.
The Squire doesn’t wear modest clothing
but instead wears decorated clothing that
shows him off as a lusty youth and fighter.
3. The Prioress is charitable, compassionate,
and wimp like. She keeps and spoils small
pet dogs and squeals if she sees a dead
mouse. She pretends to be delicately small
and pretty, but she is a rather large woman.
She also seems to be more devoted towards
earthly possessions over Christ.
4. The Monk is a good horseman and rides
alongside a pack of swift greyhounds. His
head is bald, and his face glows like he's
been smothered with oil. “He is a plump,
lively man whose eyes gleam like fire under
a cauldron.” The Monk shows off his
material wealth by dressing in fine furs.
 5. A friar is a begger. They take a vow of
poverty and are not allowed to have jobs.
They rely on charity of others for their
livelihood. If they arranged a young ladies’
marriage it would be implied that the Friar
did so because he first made the women
pregnant.

Quote Generally speaking, as a society, I definitely

think we can be considered greedy. This
quote says that “the love of money is the
root of all evil…” Not “money is the root to
all evil.” I believe that the love of money is
mentioned because money itself cannot be
evil. It’s just paper. It is the value that the
world has made money out to portray. The
world runs on money. You need money to
live basically, moreover, you need even
more money to live a comfortable or fun life.
SO! This results in people doing an
unlimited amount of selfish and dangerous
(maybe life threatening) things just to get
their hands on some money. (especially
people who aren’t very well off)