Engels literatuur samenvatting The Middle Ages (Isis)

From 55BC to about 450 AD most of Britain was under Roman rule. In about 450,
the Romans withdrew from Britain in order to defend what remained of their
continental empire. The British were attacked by the Celts of Scotland and
Ireland, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. Also the Huns made an appearance and
drove the other tribes away.
After a period in which they plundered a lot, the Anglo-Saxon raiders became
settlers. They established several kingdoms. Wales, Scotland and Cornwall
remained beyond Anglo-Saxon rule and the Romano-British continued to hold
power over those pieces of land.
We know more about the ruling classes than about the farmers. But we do know
they traded with Scandinavia and Friesland.
Most famous work in Old English is Beowulf. Shorter poems are also preserved, as
are translations of Latin texts. From the ninth century, monks and clerks started
to maintain chronicles: annual records of contemporary events.
The first recorded attack made on Britain by Scandinavian Vikings took place in
793. Throughout the following century, Vikings raids continued. Wealthy
monasteries were consequently prime targets.
Right up to the eleventh century, the Scandinavians, Anglo-Saxons and Normans
continued to fight over the English crown. Duke of Normandy saw an opportunity
to claim the throne: he crossed the channel with his army and defeated the
Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Norman period of English
history began.

Sutton Hoo is the burial site of a seventh-century king, laid to rest in a ship
twenty-seven metres long. In the boat were also weapons and jewellery.

King Alfred of Wessex: Important king. He defeated the Danes in 878, halting the
advance of Viking rule. He made a peace treaty with the Danes, reorganised the
Anglo-Saxon army and created a line of fortifications along the border. He also
built a fleet of ships; the English navy.
He also convinced to translate Latin texts into Old English, so that more people
could read it.

Bede: famous monk who wrote one of the most important historical works of the
Early Middle Ages (in 731). King Alfred (871-899) regarded the book as

sufficiently important to the development of his country. He insisted on

translating the texts.

Beowulf was the work of Anglo-Saxon literature. It is the oldest European text in a
common peoples language. It is not known who wrote Beowulf or how old the
poem is, but it seems from somewhere around the sixth century.

Few kings managed to remain in power for long: they tended to die young (often
in battle) or were deposed by rivals. Loyalty was rewarded with gold. It meant the
common people were expected to be willing to die for their lords.

Beowulfs storyline centres on a hero of enormous strength, who acquires fame

by fighting various monsters. It begins with the family history of the Danish King
Hrothgar. Beowulf travels from Geatland to Heorot, to slay the bloodthirsty
monster. A few years later he is king and he tackles a dragon. All his loyal
comrades flight except for Wiglaf. He is injured by the dragon and dies of his
wounds. The poem ends with Beowulfs cremation on an enormous pyre.

Late 9th century 12th century: The era of King Alfred the Great. The chronicle
became established as a literary genre in England. Some were very short, others
were quite detailed.
A chronicle could never be finished, because every year there were further
noteworthy events.
Chronicles were usually written in monasteries by monks, who did not put their
names in their work.
The events recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle span more than a millennium:
the first relates to the year 1 AD, the last to 1154 AD.
For events prior to the ninth century, they relied mainly on established sources,
such as earlier chronicles, or oral sources.

King Harold (1066): He came from York to Westminister because the king passed
away. There was a sign in the heavens. It was a star. The Northmen almost won
the land, but King Harold came upon the Northmen by surprise. The Northmen
flight but most of them were killed.
He let the son of the Norses king live and let him swear an oath of peace. He
then let the remaining Northmen leave with 24 ships.

The first riddles, written in Latin, were introduced to England by one Abbott
Aldhelm at the end of the 7th century.
The Anglo-Saxon riddle is based on the device of presenting one
object/phenomenon as another. Many riddles contain errors as a result of being
copied incorrectly or not properly understood by the people who passed them on.
The riddles are very varied in their form and content: they differ in length and in
style. Most contain subjects as tools, weapons, animals, food, drink and natural
phenomena.

THE LATE MIDDLE AGES: 1066-1500

William the Conqueror defeated the Anglo-Saxon army at The Battle of Hastings.
The society became divided into three classes: the nobility (French-speaking), the
clergy (Latin) and the commoners (English). The first two groups held almost all
the land, which was worked by the farmers from the third group. The first king of
England who actually spoke English was Edward III, who did not reign until 1327
to 1377!
To demonstrate their power and protect themselves against possible rebellion,
the Norman lords built castles.
The population expanded rapidly, men began building churches in the
Romanesque style imported from France. Religion played an important role in
society: life on earth was regarded as merely a precursor to the ever after. The
Latin motto: Memento Mori (remember that you will die).

The First Crusade (1095) was organised with the aim of recovering the Holy Land
from the Saracens and defending Christendom. The Second Crusade (1147) came
after that and many more. All a Crusaders sins were automatically forgiven, so
many criminals and social misfits set sail for Jerusalem.

A new dynasty for the crown in 1154: The Plantagenets. They wanted more
power and wealth for themselves, at the expense of the nobility and the Church.
This almost led to civil war, when several nobles rose against the tyranny of King
John. In 1215, he was forced to sign the Magna Carta, a contract under which the
nobility were granted certain privileges in return for their loyalty.

Edward III claimed to be heir to the French throne through his mothers family
and declared war on France in 1337, there was open hostility for more than a
hundred years: The Hundred Years War. The fighting came to an end in 1453,
with the English left in control only of the area around Calais. However, it was not
until 1801 that the English finally gave up their formal claim to the French throne.

Midway through the 14th century, the population growth came to an end. The
cause was the Plague, also known as the black death: a highly virulent disease
spread by rat fleas, whose host animals came from Asia to Europe in the holds of
ships. England was first hit in 1348. Nearly half the population died. This caused a
major economic downturn.
The lower classes demanded greater rights because they felt more self-confident,
and began an open rebellion in 1381. King Richard II (14 years) managed to put
the revolt down, but was severe as ever with the lower classes.
Immediately following the Hundred Years War was a power struggle. The crown
was contested by two nobles houses: the House of Lancaster and the House of
York. There was a lot of fighting and the throne was seized by first the one side
and then the other.
The symbol of the House of Lancaster was a red rose, while that of York was a
white rose: the conflicts consist a period from 1455 till 1485 and is called The
Wars of the roses.
These brought a new dynasty to the throne in 1485: the Tudors, who ruled until
1603.

The architecture and literature of this period exhibit strong French influences.
Romanesque style, churches and monasteries. Gothic style, higher buildings with
pointed arches and an increased use of decorative elements. French language
stories, introduction of rhyme.

Late 14th century: literature written in the language of the ordinary people
begins to gain importance. The most famous writer was Geoffrey Chaucer, whose
best-known work was The Canterbury Tales. Another famous writer was Thomas
Malory, whose Morte dArthur, stories about King Arthur, appeared in about 1500.

The most popular genres were fables, ballads and romances. It was a rich period
in literary terms, especially when one considers how little material has actually
been preserved. Much was never written down.

In the middle ages was no democracy, but a feudal system with three levels:
1.) The Nobility. The kin lent pieces of land to men who had served him well in
the army. This was not only good for the loyalty they gave him, but he owned too
much to manage it all efficiently himself. The vassals (lend-ers) swore an oath to
the king; promising to rule the land in the kings name and to aid the king in
times of war. After time it began to be hereditary property (familie eigendom).
The increasingly independent and powerful descendants of the vassals became a
distinct social class: the nobility.
2.) The Clergy. The Church was in effect part of the political system of the day.
Following the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kings to Christianity, not only
warriors, but also bishops and other powerful church leaders were lent or given
land. Other rich nobles left property to the Church, in the hope of securing a
place in heaven.
3.) The commoners. Made up of peasant farmers, traders and craftsmen. These
people were largely free to run their own lives, although it was normal for them to
have to give a proportion of what they produced to the nobility or clergy as a sort
of tax.

There were also serfs (farmer who owned a small piece of land, but also had
obligations to an overlord (a member of the nobility of clergy)), villeins (works on
lords land, cant be sold separately from the land they worked on, could have
families) and slaves (no rights whatsoever).

Romance: And English-language story about chivalrous adventures and romantic

love, written in verse form, with between one and three thousand lines. Each
story has a single central character, a young hero who develops in various ways
as events take their course. Contrast between good and evil, sea journeys,
banishment and return, disguise, revenge and marriage.
King Horn is one of the oldest romance from the Middle Ages. It was written
towards the end of the 13th century. Horn makes the passage to manhood. There
is a sharp contract between good and evil. The loyal Arhulf is the opposite of the
treacherous Fikenhild.

King Horn begins with the death of the hero's father at the hands of the Saracens
who send Horn and his companions into exile. The young Horn finds himself with
his twelve companions abandoned in Westernesse. There the king's daughter,
Rymenhild, declares her passion for Horn, and persuades her father to make him
a knight. But Horn will not marry her until he has proved his worthiness, which he
does by killing some invading Saracens. Jealous of his exploits, Horn's companion
Fikenhild tells the king that Horn plans to kill him. Horn goes into exile again, this

time in Ireland where he proves his military skill further by killing yet more
invading Saracens. Though King Thurston offers his daughter Reynild in marriage
as a reward, Horn remains loyal to Rymenhild. He returns in disguise when she is
about to be forced into marriage with one King Mody, but then goes off to defeat
the Saracens who murdered his father. When he returns he discovers that the evil
Fikenhild has just forced Rymenhild to marry him. Horn quickly kills the traitor
comrade, and he and Rymenhild then marry. Reynild, Thurston's daughter Reynild
is given in marriage to Horn's faithful comrade, Athulf, and everyone lives happily
ever after.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Sir Gawain is in four parts, each containing a different number of stanzas.
(Verhaal: Blz. 26 t/m 30)
It was written in the late 14th century by an unknown author from Cheshire. Only
one manuscreipt copy of Sir Gawain (=King Arthurs nephew) remains.

The Ballad is a genre that developed in England in the Early Middle Ages.Its
golden erawas a period of roughly three hundred years, between about 1200
and 1500. During the Resistance however, its popularity lessened for a time.
Ballads developed out of the ancient oral tradition that existed among
uneducated people who could not read or write. Such people used ballads to
communicate news, relate real or fictitious stories and to express their opinions.
As more people learnt to write and read, ballads becme less popular. However,
they never fell entirely out of favour and enjoyed a comeback in the Romantic
Period and in the 20th century.

A balled always tells a story

The story and the language are relatively simple
The subject matter is typically betrayal, lost love, revenge and death
The supernatural and superstition play important roles
There is frequent use of repetition and set phrases or short sentences
There are often unexpected jumps in the flow of the narrative
Detailed description is avoided and obvious words are often left implicit
The narrator tends to remain surprisingly unemotional, like a journalist

A ballad is usually made up of four-line stanzas

ABCB is the rhyme pattern
Almost every line is made up of a set number of syllables (lettergrepen): eight in
the first and third and six in the other lines
Syllables pattern: 4-3-4-3

Because ballads were performed, not two performances were quite the same.
What remaind the same was the story, which normally involved a single central
event. It starts at the climax and a lot of detail is left to the listeners imagination.

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400):

Almost his whole life was spent in the service of the English court. He travelled to
France at the age of 16, to fight in the Hundred Years War. In about 1366, he
married a lady named Philippa Roet. The couple had two sons. A year later,
Chaucer entered the service of the English king, Edward III, for whom he
undertook a number of diplomatic missions where he met famous writers
Petrarcha and Boccaccio.
Economically, Chaucer did very well for himself. Between 1374 and 1385, he
worked in London as a tax inspector. He was able to find time to write and to
travel. He wrote his less well-known works in this period.
In 1385, Chaucer was appointed as a judge in the county of Kent. His wife died
and in 1389, King Richard II gave Chaucer the well-paid office of Clerk of the
Kings Works, he was responsible for looking after important buildings (tower of
London).

The Canterbury Tales (1386-1400)

Chaucers most famous work. It tells the story of a pilgrimage to the grave of
Saint Thomas Becket, a bishop who was murdered in 1170 by the kings
followers. The prologue describes how a group of pilgrims meet in London and set
out together to Canterbury. To pass the time, they agree to tell each other stories
as they travel. The innkeeper, who came up with the idea, promises a free meal
to the teller of the best story on his return. Unfortunately, Chaucer died before
ending the story, which thus consists twenty-two stories, although there should
have been around 120 (!): each pilgrim told 2 on the outward journey and 2 on
the way home.
The text begins with a General Prologue where you are told how the people are
and how they come to be together. The overall narrator is Chaucer himself, who
passes on to the reader the tales that the pilgrims tell each other. Several of the

storytellers preface their tales with personal prologues, in which they say
something about themselves and perhaps respond to the previous tales.

One of the great charms of the story is the individuality of the characters: they
come from all levels and are not at all alike.

Bladzijde 44 tot en met 50 zijn verhalen uit The Canterbury Tales. -EINDE!