The Big Questions
Each unit will feature a set of questions.We, as interactive and effective readers, will:
- locate examples to illustrate literary elements/concepts/themes, etc.
- draw conclusions
- infer
- provide textual support for responses
- Does a narrator's point of view shape a reader's perception?
- How did the social class system rule Middle Ages life? Does it rule contemporary society as well?
- What makes The Canterbury Tales social satire?
- Are faith, honor, and duty still virtues importantly upheld in the Middle Ages?
- In the Middle Ages, the importance of company meant a town thrived. In today's society, and with the creation of social media/technology, does it also mean the same thing?
Prezi Presentation: Europe During the Middle Ages
Middle Ages Project Resources
Use the links below each event to conduct research. You will likely have to use more than what I've provided, but these will help you get started. Be sure to record the websites where you get additional information.
The Fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 AD)
Charles the Hammer & the Battle of Tours (732 AD)
Charlemagne, the Emperor of Romans (800 AD)
The Battle of Hastings (1066 AD)
The Magna Carta (1215 AD)
The Fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 AD)
Charles the Hammer & the Battle of Tours (732 AD)
Charlemagne, the Emperor of Romans (800 AD)
The Battle of Hastings (1066 AD)
The Magna Carta (1215 AD)
General prologue overview
After a description of the spring, Chaucer the narrator introduces each of the pilgrims one by one. The form of the General Prologue is an estates satire: Chaucer is describing characters from each of the three medieval estates (church, nobility, and peasantry) with various levels of mockery.
The frame story of the General Prologue is a religious pilgrimage: all of these characters have come together to go to the cathedral at Canterbury. Chaucer describes each of the pilgrims’ physical appearance very carefully, and this description often gives much insight into each of their characters.
After Chaucer describes the pilgrims, he apologizes for any harshness or rudeness that might appear: he is simply trying to be as honest a narrator and use as clear, simple, unadorned language as possible. He then describes how the tale-telling contest begins. The Host at the Tabard Inn, Harry Bailly, proposes that instead of marching toward Canterbury in boring silence, the pilgrims tell each other amusing tales on the way there and back. The Host says that he will judge the tales and that everyone else will have to pay for the winner’s dinner upon their return. The pilgrims readily agree to this jolly plan. They draw straws to see who will tell the first tale, and the Knight––the most noble of the company––happens to draw the straw to go first.
Courtesy of: http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-canterbury-tales/plot-summary
The frame story of the General Prologue is a religious pilgrimage: all of these characters have come together to go to the cathedral at Canterbury. Chaucer describes each of the pilgrims’ physical appearance very carefully, and this description often gives much insight into each of their characters.
After Chaucer describes the pilgrims, he apologizes for any harshness or rudeness that might appear: he is simply trying to be as honest a narrator and use as clear, simple, unadorned language as possible. He then describes how the tale-telling contest begins. The Host at the Tabard Inn, Harry Bailly, proposes that instead of marching toward Canterbury in boring silence, the pilgrims tell each other amusing tales on the way there and back. The Host says that he will judge the tales and that everyone else will have to pay for the winner’s dinner upon their return. The pilgrims readily agree to this jolly plan. They draw straws to see who will tell the first tale, and the Knight––the most noble of the company––happens to draw the straw to go first.
Courtesy of: http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-canterbury-tales/plot-summary
no fear - canterbury tales reading
The below reading is written in more modern language versus what you have in your textbook. However, the reading comprehension questions with line numbers and page numbers are based on what is presented in your textbook. Use both to assist you in completing the guided comprehension questions. See instructor if you have questions.
Watch the movie!
Using classic clay animation techniques, Jonathan Meyerson has created a splendid adaption of the story.
life in the middle ages
At this time, was ruled and regulated by the Feudal System. For safety and for defense, people in the Middle Ages formed small communities around a central lord or master. Most people lived in a manor, which consisted of the castle, the church, the village, and the surrounding farm land. These manors were isolated, with occasional visits from peddlers, pilgrims on their way to the Crusades, or soldiers from other fiefdoms.
In this "feudal" system, the king awarded land grants or "fiefs" to his most important nobles, his barons, and his bishops; in return for their contribution of soldiers for the king's armies. At the lowest echelon of society were the peasants, also called serfs or villeins. In exchange for living and working on his land, known as the demesne, the lord offered his peasants protection.
In this "feudal" system, the king awarded land grants or "fiefs" to his most important nobles, his barons, and his bishops; in return for their contribution of soldiers for the king's armies. At the lowest echelon of society were the peasants, also called serfs or villeins. In exchange for living and working on his land, known as the demesne, the lord offered his peasants protection.
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The Feudal System Explained
Vocabulary to Understand the Feudal System
feudalism
Definition: The political and social system of medieval Europe, in which vassals received land from overlords in exchange for armed warriors and other services.
Context: Under feudalism, the overlords, lesser lords, knights and peasants all depended on one another for survival.
fief
Definition: A grant of land given by a lord to a vassal in return for an oath of loyalty and armed warriors.
Context: In a formal ceremony, a monarch would give a noble a fief and promise to protect the noble.
knight
Definition: In medieval Europe, a soldier of high military rank
Context: The most skilled soldiers were knights, who dedicated their lives to combat, a code of behavior called chivalry, and service to their lords.
lord
Definition: Even though they were below the king, local lords controlled most peoples' lives.
Context: Even though they were below the king, local lords controlled most peoples' lives.
medieval
Definition: Relating to the Middle Ages in Europe
Context: Without the Romans to provide protection, medieval Europe became a violent and dangerous place. monarch
monarch
Definition: A king or queen who rules a territory, usually for life and by hereditary right
Context: Feudal society had a strict social order and the monarch was at the top.
noble
Definition: Somebody of aristocracy or a high social rank
Context: Nobles, safe inside their castles, were able to build up their armies and expand their power.
peasant
Definition: A member of the lowest feudal class; poor, uneducated laborers who lived and worked on the land owned by the nobles.
Context: The peasants were the economic backbone of society, growing the crops and producing the other goods that everyone needed.
Renaissance
Definition: The period in European history between the 14th through 16th centuries marked by major cultural and artistic change and scientific advances
Context: As the Middle Ages came to a close, European society slowly began to recover once again and a dramatic cultural rebirth that would become known as the Renaissance took root.
vassal
Definition: Someone who lives on the lord's land, providing loyalty in return for protection.
Context: Through this "feudal contract," the noble became the vassal of a king or queen.
For more information on the early, middle, and late Middle Ages, visit http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/
feudalism
Definition: The political and social system of medieval Europe, in which vassals received land from overlords in exchange for armed warriors and other services.
Context: Under feudalism, the overlords, lesser lords, knights and peasants all depended on one another for survival.
fief
Definition: A grant of land given by a lord to a vassal in return for an oath of loyalty and armed warriors.
Context: In a formal ceremony, a monarch would give a noble a fief and promise to protect the noble.
knight
Definition: In medieval Europe, a soldier of high military rank
Context: The most skilled soldiers were knights, who dedicated their lives to combat, a code of behavior called chivalry, and service to their lords.
lord
Definition: Even though they were below the king, local lords controlled most peoples' lives.
Context: Even though they were below the king, local lords controlled most peoples' lives.
medieval
Definition: Relating to the Middle Ages in Europe
Context: Without the Romans to provide protection, medieval Europe became a violent and dangerous place. monarch
monarch
Definition: A king or queen who rules a territory, usually for life and by hereditary right
Context: Feudal society had a strict social order and the monarch was at the top.
noble
Definition: Somebody of aristocracy or a high social rank
Context: Nobles, safe inside their castles, were able to build up their armies and expand their power.
peasant
Definition: A member of the lowest feudal class; poor, uneducated laborers who lived and worked on the land owned by the nobles.
Context: The peasants were the economic backbone of society, growing the crops and producing the other goods that everyone needed.
Renaissance
Definition: The period in European history between the 14th through 16th centuries marked by major cultural and artistic change and scientific advances
Context: As the Middle Ages came to a close, European society slowly began to recover once again and a dramatic cultural rebirth that would become known as the Renaissance took root.
vassal
Definition: Someone who lives on the lord's land, providing loyalty in return for protection.
Context: Through this "feudal contract," the noble became the vassal of a king or queen.
For more information on the early, middle, and late Middle Ages, visit http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/
THe Social CLass System
the crusades
The first of the Crusades began in 1095, when armies of Christians from Western Europe responded to Pope Urban II’s plea to go to war against Muslim forces in the Holy Land. After the First Crusade achieved its goal with the capture of Jerusalem in 1099, the invading Christians set up several Latin Christian states, even as Muslims in the region vowed to wage holy war (jihad) to regain control over the region. Deteriorating relations between the Crusaders and their Christian allies in the Byzantine Empire culminated in the sack of Constantinople in 1204 during the Third Crusade. Near the end of the 13th century, the rising Mamluk dynasty in Egypt provided the final reckoning for the Crusaders, toppling the coastal stronghold of Acre and driving the European invaders out of Palestine and Syria in 1291.
END OF THE CRUSADES
Through the end of the 13th century, groups of Crusaders sought to gain ground in the Holy Land through short-lived raids that proved little more than an annoyance to Muslim rulers in the region. The Seventh Crusade (1239-41), led by Thibault IV of Champagne, briefly recaptured Jerusalem, though it was lost again in 1244 to Khwarazmian forces enlisted by the sultan of Egypt. In 1249, King Louis IX of France led the Eighth Crusade against Egypt, which ended in defeat at Mansura (site of a similar defeat in the Fifth Crusade) the following year. As the Crusaders struggled, a new dynasty known as the Mamluks–descended from former slaves of the sultan–took power in Egypt. In 1260, Mamluk forces in Palestine managed to halt the advance of the Mongols, an invading force led by Genghis Khan and his descendants that had emerged as a potential ally for the Christians in the region. Under the ruthless Sultan Baybars, the Mamluks demolished Antioch in 1268, prompting Louis IX to set out on another Crusade, which ended in his death in North Africa (he was later canonized).
A new Mamluk sultan, Qalawan, had defeated the Mongols by the end of 1281 and turned his attention back to the Crusaders, capturing Tripoli in 1289. In what was considered the last Crusade, a fleet of warships from Venice and Aragon arrived to defend what remained of the Crusader states in 1290. The following year, Qalawan’s son and successor, al-Ashraf Khalil, marched with a huge army against the coastal port of Acre, the effective capital of the Crusaders in the region since the end of the Third Crusade. After only seven weeks under siege, Acre fell, effectively ending the Crusades in the Holy Land after nearly two centuries. Though the Church organized minor Crusades with limited goals after 1291–mainly military campaigns aimed at pushing Muslims from conquered territory or conquering pagan regions–support for such efforts disappeared in the 16th century, with the rise of the Reformation and the corresponding decline of papal authority.
Courtesy of: http://www.history.com/topics/crusades
END OF THE CRUSADES
Through the end of the 13th century, groups of Crusaders sought to gain ground in the Holy Land through short-lived raids that proved little more than an annoyance to Muslim rulers in the region. The Seventh Crusade (1239-41), led by Thibault IV of Champagne, briefly recaptured Jerusalem, though it was lost again in 1244 to Khwarazmian forces enlisted by the sultan of Egypt. In 1249, King Louis IX of France led the Eighth Crusade against Egypt, which ended in defeat at Mansura (site of a similar defeat in the Fifth Crusade) the following year. As the Crusaders struggled, a new dynasty known as the Mamluks–descended from former slaves of the sultan–took power in Egypt. In 1260, Mamluk forces in Palestine managed to halt the advance of the Mongols, an invading force led by Genghis Khan and his descendants that had emerged as a potential ally for the Christians in the region. Under the ruthless Sultan Baybars, the Mamluks demolished Antioch in 1268, prompting Louis IX to set out on another Crusade, which ended in his death in North Africa (he was later canonized).
A new Mamluk sultan, Qalawan, had defeated the Mongols by the end of 1281 and turned his attention back to the Crusaders, capturing Tripoli in 1289. In what was considered the last Crusade, a fleet of warships from Venice and Aragon arrived to defend what remained of the Crusader states in 1290. The following year, Qalawan’s son and successor, al-Ashraf Khalil, marched with a huge army against the coastal port of Acre, the effective capital of the Crusaders in the region since the end of the Third Crusade. After only seven weeks under siege, Acre fell, effectively ending the Crusades in the Holy Land after nearly two centuries. Though the Church organized minor Crusades with limited goals after 1291–mainly military campaigns aimed at pushing Muslims from conquered territory or conquering pagan regions–support for such efforts disappeared in the 16th century, with the rise of the Reformation and the corresponding decline of papal authority.
Courtesy of: http://www.history.com/topics/crusades
Art & Architecture
After Late Antique art came Romanesque art, where German, Roman, and Islamic elements mixed and brought a new energy and excitement to architecture, sculpture and painting. Romanesque architecture has a heavy, substantial, impressive feel. Sculpture is very abstract, combining stiff, formal forms in some places with fantastic carvings of real and imaginary animals and demons in others. Nearly all Romanesque art was of Christian themes.
Romanesque art in northern Spain, where Romans and Visigoths fled after the Arab conquest, was very much influenced by Islamic art. In France, Charlemagne got a lot of good Romanesque art produced around 800, and then Charlemagne's children and grandchildren also paid for a lot of art. In England, Romanesque art came from France with the Norman Conquest in 1066 AD. In Germany, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto the Great, also about 1000 AD, got artists to being working in the new Romanesque style.
Romanesque art gradually turned into Gothic art around 1100 AD in Italy, and then spread slowly over Europe between 1100 and about 1300 AD. The easiest way to recognize Gothic architecture is by the pointed arches, but in general Gothic architecture shows a new ambition to reach higher and lighter, with walls of glass, reaching up to Heaven. Gothic sculpture shows more concern for realism than Romanesque, and more emotion. Now Mary appears everywhere, and Jesus becomes more merciful, compassionate, loving. In painting, artists also searched for more realism and more emotion. They began to experiment with backgrounds and crowd scenes.
In Constantinople, Gothic never caught on, because people thought it was a Western, barbaric style. In France, by 1200 people began to build Gothic cathedrals, and in England (now heavily influenced by France) not much later. In Germany and northern Spain, Gothic came later, not until around 1300, and in southern Spain Islamic styles came with Islamic government until 1500 AD.
Courtesy of: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/art/
Romanesque art in northern Spain, where Romans and Visigoths fled after the Arab conquest, was very much influenced by Islamic art. In France, Charlemagne got a lot of good Romanesque art produced around 800, and then Charlemagne's children and grandchildren also paid for a lot of art. In England, Romanesque art came from France with the Norman Conquest in 1066 AD. In Germany, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto the Great, also about 1000 AD, got artists to being working in the new Romanesque style.
Romanesque art gradually turned into Gothic art around 1100 AD in Italy, and then spread slowly over Europe between 1100 and about 1300 AD. The easiest way to recognize Gothic architecture is by the pointed arches, but in general Gothic architecture shows a new ambition to reach higher and lighter, with walls of glass, reaching up to Heaven. Gothic sculpture shows more concern for realism than Romanesque, and more emotion. Now Mary appears everywhere, and Jesus becomes more merciful, compassionate, loving. In painting, artists also searched for more realism and more emotion. They began to experiment with backgrounds and crowd scenes.
In Constantinople, Gothic never caught on, because people thought it was a Western, barbaric style. In France, by 1200 people began to build Gothic cathedrals, and in England (now heavily influenced by France) not much later. In Germany and northern Spain, Gothic came later, not until around 1300, and in southern Spain Islamic styles came with Islamic government until 1500 AD.
Courtesy of: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/art/