Introduction to Old English and the Middle Ages

(Adapted from The Norton Anthology, 7th edition, pages 1-22)

1. The term Middle Ages refers to the time span roughly from the collapse of
the ______________________________ to the ______________________________.
2. The term Renaissance means ______________________________, but that
term implies that the Middle Ages were dormant or somewhat lacking.
3. Art, literature, and science flourished during the Middle Ages, rooted in the
______________________________ culture that preserved, transmitted, and
transformed the classical tradition.
4. The more fashionable term for the Renaissance these days is the
______________________________ ______________________________ period.
Three Main Periods: Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Norman England,
and Middle English Literature of the 14th and 15th Centuries
Anglo-Saxon England
1. For the first 400 years after Christ, England was part of the
______________________________ Empire.
a. circa 450: ______________________________ Conquest
b. Withdrawal of Roman troops in 5th century left England
______________________________ to attacks by three Germanic tribes:
Angles, Sacons, and Jutes.
c. Anglo-Saxon invaders spoke a ______________________________
language we now call Old English (see page 24)
d. For a description of these Germanic cultures, read the
______________________________ by the first-century Roman senator
Tacitus.
2. Christianity in England

a. Native Britons had been Christian sine the 4th century, but few
Christians remained after ______________________________ years of
pagan influence.
b. 597: ______________________________ arrives in Kent; beginning of
Anglo-Saxon conversion to Christianity
c. King Ethelbert became the first English
______________________________ King
d. ______________________________s Ecclesiastical History of the English
People (731)
3. King Alfreds Reign (871-899)
a. ______________________________ invaded England in the 9th century.
b. King united the kingdom of ______________________________ England to
stop the Danes.
c. The Battle of ______________________________ (991)
d. Anglo-Saxon ______________________________, year-by-year record of
important events in England
4. Old English Poetry
a. Anglo-Saxon poetry was an ______________________________ tradition.
b. Manuscripts in English begin appearing at
______________________________ in the 7th century Literacy was mainly
restricted to servants of the ______________________________
c. Little Old English poetry survives because
______________________________ were difficult and expensive and thus
few were produced that were unrelated to the church
d. Poems celebrate the ______________________________ and kinship
values of Germanic society
e. Inherent conflict between the heroic code and teachings of
______________________________, yet much literature blends elements
from both traditions

f. Old English poetry is highly ______________________________and

characterized by formulaic phrases, parallel syntactic structures, and
irony (p 4-6)
Anglo-Norman England
1. 1066: ______________________________ Conquest
a. Normans took possession of England after the Battle of
______________________________
b. Normans were a ______________________________ tribe (Norsemen)
c. Englands territory expanded during the reign of
______________________________ II from 1154 1189
d. Presence of French-speaking ruling class in England created
opportunities for ______________________________ and
______________________________ exchange
e. Four languages spoken in Anglo-Norman England:
______________________________, English, French, and Celtic
f. Much of the ruling class spoke ______________________________, thus a
number of ______________________________
______________________________were added to the English vocabulary
(about 10,000)
2. Literature of Anglo-Norman England
a. Aristocracy especially attracted Celtic legends
b. Lays of Marie de France are brief ______________________________
c. Cretien de Troyes may have created the
______________________________ romance
d. Term romance eventually came to indicate a story about love and
______________________________
e. Legend of King Arthur told in Geoffrey of Monmouths Latin work,
The History of the ______________________________ of Britain (circa
1136)

f. Romances usually involve a ______________________________ proving his

worth through bravery and noble character rather than through high
birth
g. The Owl and the ______________________________ is a famous English
poem involving a debate between two birds, symbolizing the conflict
between religion and romance in medieval literature
h. A body of Middle English religious prose is aimed at
______________________________, such as the Ancrene Riwle, a manual
of instruction for nuns
Middle English in the 14th and 15th Centuries
1. The Fourteenth Century
a. 1336-1453: ______________________________
______________________________ War
b. 1348: Epidemic of ______________________________ plague (p 10)
c. 1381: ______________________________ Revolt, rural uprising against
the taxes and wage controls of the aristocracy
d. The church increasingly became a target of
______________________________ because of the worldliness of many of
the clergy
2. The Literary Status of English
a. Pride in a uniquely English literature does not exist before the late
______________________________ century.
b. End of Hundred Years war led to keener sense on the part of the
English nobility of their English ______________________________ and
______________________________
c. By the end of the 14th century, ______________________________ began
to replace French as language of the court and government.
d. ______________________________s work greatly increased the prestige
of English

e. New sense of English as a ______________________________ medium

that could compete with French and Latin in elegance and
seriousness
3. Great Italian poets of 14th century who influenced Chaucer
a. Dante (1265-1321), author of The ______________________________
______________________________
b. Petrarch (1304 1374), wrote sonnets in
______________________________ and Italian
c. Boccaccio (1313-1375), wrote The ______________________________
4. Geoffrey Chaucer (circa 1343-1400) was ______________________________
famous in his time
a. The House of Fame dream in which Chaucer is taken by an eagle to
the ______________________________ of Fame to meet writers of
antiquity
b. Troilus and Criseyde longest poem in which
______________________________ prince Troilus loved and lost Criseyde
to the Greek Warrior Diomede
c. The Canterbury Tales originally intended to include 120 tales, four
each for the thirty pilgrims (only ______________________________
finished)

The Fifteenth Century

1. Historical Background
a. 1399: Henry Bolingbroke (Henry IV) deposed his cousin
______________________________ II, who was murdered in prison
b. Bolingbrokes son, Henry V united the country once more after a
series of insurrections and won a decisive victory over
______________________________ at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415

c. Henrys premature death left England open to a civil war known as

the War of the ______________________________ (Lancaster vs. York)
d. 1485: Henry Tudor defeats Richard III he becomes Henry VII and
establishes the Tudor monarchy
2. Religious Literature of the 15th century
a. Mystery plays Biblical dramas put on by trade
______________________________
b. Morality plays Itinerant dramas in which personified
______________________________ and ______________________________
struggle for soul of mankind
c. Mystical writings spiritual autobiographies of men and women
i. Julian of Norwich visions of an anchoress circa 1373
ii. Margery Kempe wrote first autobiography in English
iii. John Lydgate prolific monk
3. 1485: William Caxton prints Sir Thomas Malorys Morte Darthur, one of the
first books printed in ______________________________
4. New technology of printing extended literacy and makes books
______________________________ ______________________________
______________________________