Samenvatting Engels Literatuur de
Middeleeuwen
Bladzijde 38, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 en 50
zijn verzen en niet samengevat
The Early Middle Ages (450 – 1066)
55 BC – 450 AD: most of Great Britain under Roman
Rule
Bede (673 – 735): Historia
Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (The
Ecclesiastical History of the Anglo-Saxon People)
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, young
warriors: military and social elite. Most people were farmers.
End 6th century: Pope had sent missionaries to convert the heathen Anglo-Saxons to
Christianity.
7th Century: monks, priest and bishops played important roles.
793: First
attack by Scandinavian Vikings on Britain.
1066: Battle
of Hastings, William (the Con-queror), Duke of Normandy, seize the throne.
Defeated the Anglo-Saxons. Norman period
of English history began.
King Alfred of Wessex (849 – 899, king 871 – 899)
Shrewd and able military man, educated and religious.
878: Defeated
the Danes, peace treaty with the Danes, reorganized the Anglo-Saxon army.
Built a fleet of ships, now seen as
the start of the English navy.
Promoted literacy, Latin text
translated to Old English.
Beda Venerabilis (672 – 735)
The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, 731 (best known work)
About the nature of things
About time
About the measurement of time
King Alfred translated The Ecclesiastical History of the English
People into English.
About Anglo-Saxon Church, other
subjects as well (the first inhabitants
if the British Isles, Roman period, conflicts between the monarchy, the church
and among the various kings).
King Oswald of Northumbria (605 –
642) (blz. 6)
Beowuld (6th Century ‘?’)
The oldest and most famous work
written in a vernacular language, in this case Old English.
Writer and how old the poem is, is
unknown. Manuscript from the late 10th century, probably much older.
Great Britain was divided into
numerous small states, each which its own king (lord). The kings were mostly
died young (often in battle) or were deposed by rivals. Society dominated by
lords and retainers. Poets provided entertainment at times of peace.
No rhyme, same starting letters
(alliteration).
Beowulf is set in Scandinavian.
In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats in Scandinavia, comes to the
help of Hroðgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall (in Heorot) has been
under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's
mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes
home to Geatland in Sweden and later becomes king of the Geats. After a period
of fifty years has passed, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is fatally wounded in
the battle. After his death, his attendants bury him in a tumulus, a burial
mound, in Geatland.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Late 9th Century – 12th
Century)
A chronicle was an annualized record
of events, like a diary. Collective title given to more chronicles, written
independently. One of the main windows on this period in English history.
Writers are unknown, usually written by monks in monasteries, dry style. The Chronicle span more than a millennium (AD
1 – AD 1154). They wrote about events before their own time.
(Blz. 12 en 13)
The Late Middle Ages (1066 – 1500)
The upper classes of Anglo-Saxon
society came under the influence of the Norman nobility. Norman people took key
positions in the government, the church, the army and the judiciary and had
generous grants of land. Feudal system (feodaal systeem, leenstelsel, blz. 21)
came up. Three classes: nobility, the clergy and the commoners. First two groups had almost all the land.
First and third group led separate existences, up to the late 12th
century. First English speaking king was Edward III, 1327 to 1377.
1095: First
Crusade, recovering the Holy Land from the Saracens and defending Christianity.
1147: Second
Crusade.
1154: New
dynasty assumed the English crown, the Plantagenet. The Plantagenet monarchs
sought to acquire still greater power and wealth for themselves, at the expense
of nobility and church. Almost led to civil war, several nobles rose against
King John.
1215: King
John was forced to sign the Magna Charta, contract under which the nobility
were granted certain privileges in return for their loyalty.
1337 – 1453: Parts
of France were part of the English monarch. Edward III claimed to be heir to
the French throne through his mother’s family. The war finished, with the
English left in control only of the area around Calais.
14th Century: The Plague, Black Death. Five million people died. Nearly half the
population perished. Major economic downturn.
England was first hit in 1348.
The peasantry claimed greater
rights. (The Peasants’ Revolt – 1381). King Richard II managed to put the
revolt down.
1453: Power
struggles between the House of Lancaster (symbol: red rose) and the House of
York (symbol: white rose), a lot of fighting.
1455 – 1485: The
Wars of the Roses
1485 – 1603: The
Tudors, new dynasty.
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.
14th Century: Literature written in the language of the people. Fables, ballads and
romances.
Geoffrey Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales)
Thomas Malory (Morte d’Arthur – 1500)
Romances - King Horn
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 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,
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)
Ballads (13th and 14th century)
Ballads developed out of the ancient
oral tradition
1. A balled always tells a story
2. The story and the language are
relatively simple
3. The subject matter is typically
betrayal, lost love, revenge and death
4. The supernatural and superstition
play important roles
5. There is frequent use of repetition
and set phrases or short sentences
6. There are often unexpected jumps in
the flow of the narrative
7. Detailed description is avoided and
obvious words are often left implicit
8. The narrator tends to remain
surprisingly unemotional, like a journalist
9. A ballad is usually made up of
four-line stanzas
10. ABCB is the rhyme pattern
11. 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
12. Syllables pattern: 4-3-4-3
Ballad Edward, Edward: blz. 37
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 1400)
He fought in the Hundred Years’ war
at the age of sixteen.
1366: Married
with a lady-in-waiting, Philippa Roet, two sons, Lewis and Thomas.
1367: Entered
the service of king Edward III, he undertook a number of diplomatic missions to
Spain and Italy, where he probably met the writers Petrarcha and Boccaccio.
1374 – 1385: He
worked in London as a tax inspector, economically he did very well. He had much
time to write (The Parliament of Fowls,
The House of Fame, Troilus and Criseyde) and to travel.
1385: He was
appointed as a judge in the county of Kent. Not long afterwards his wife died.
1389: King
Richard II gave him the well-paid office of Clerk (Griffier, bediende) of the King’s Works (looking after important
building, such as the Tower of London). A year later he became custodian and
earned a large sum.
1399: He
moved to a house in London, he died at the end 1400.
The Canterbury Tales
It tells the story of a pilgrimage
to the grave of Saint Thomas Becket. It starts with the narrator telling
descriptions of the pilgrims, before it comes to the tales. The pilgrims come
from all levels in the medieval society and are not at all alike.
It’s about a kind of competition
between the pilgrims. Each has to tell two stories and the pilgrim who tells
the best stories wins a meal. The idea comes from the innkeeper who also offers
the free meal. Unfortunately, Chaucer died before he could complete his work.
There should have been about 120 tales, but there are only 22 stories.
Bladzijde 44
tot en met 50 zijn verhalen uit The Canterbury Tales.
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