Notes
Medival Literature
Content of the notes (3)
Page 1
Understanding
‘Medieval’
·
Medieval: derives from the Latin term ‘medium
aevum’ or ‘Middle Age’
·
c. 450-1500 (between the fall of the Roman
Empire and the putative rediscovery of ancient classical culture in the
‘Renaissance’)
Period
·
c. 1100-1500
·
Radical changes from earlier medieval cultures
·
English as a language changes and develops from
Old English to Middle English
·
Some of this is due to the Battle of Hastings,
by William the Conqueror, who was French
·
English culture changes radically in all sorts
of ways but especially in literary terms
·
New genres emerge:
o Romance
o
Fabliau
o
Exemplum
Chivalric
Cultures
·
Massive vocabulary influx from French, Norse and
Latin
·
More continental influences
·
Growth of chivalric culture rather than heroic
culture
·
Courtly Love and Courtly Literature alongside
scholastic culture of learning and explication
Page 2
Political and
Cultural Changes
·
Scandinavian Contact
o
Pronouns
o
Lexis
·
Norman Conquest
o
Lexis
- French becomes the language of politics and
philosophy etc., meaning that technical terms will be inherited from the French
language
- Many of the words we use today derive from
French or Latin (like French)
o
Loss of Prestige
- People of nobility are no longer English
speakers, so English loses prestige and French takes precedence
·
Arrival of Printing
o
‘Norm’ developed in orthography (eventually)
Key Linguistic
Changes from OE to ME
·
Shift from synthetic to greater reliance on
analytic structures in the grammar:
o
Simplified system of inflexions
o
Greater reliance on word-order and prepositions
·
A more mixed vocabulary
o
Dialect contact, people migrating for wool
trade, more mixed dialects
Page 3
Knightly
Assumptions
·
Aristocratic
·
Extraordinary physical courage
·
Passion for fighting and warfare
·
Serves a fair lady
·
Has compassion
o
Towards those less able than himself
·
Is both audience and inspiration for literary
endeavour
“Knight”
·
Old `English ‘cniht’
o
Servant
o
Follower
o
Man in military service
·
Courage
·
Physical prowess
·
Largess (generosity)
·
Honour
·
Deeds celebrated in Beowulf and Battle of Malden
o
Refigures into chivalric culture (rather than
heroic)
Courtly Chivalry
·
Courtesy
o
Honourable conduct in society
o
Speaking and behaving appropriately
Three Strands of Chivalry
·
Marital/Heroic Chivalry
o
Through war
·
Courtly Chivalry
o
Social or in court
·
Religious Chivalry
o
More ambiguous
o
Defender of the faith
Real Life or Fiction
·
Fiction
o
Often encountered and understood in fictional
context
§
Romances such as Le Morte d’Arthur and Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight
o
Sometimes challenged
§
In Chaucer’s Wife
of Bath’s Tale
·
Real Life
o
Some chivalric behaviour is attested on actual battlefields
§
Barbour’s account of Sir Giles D’Argentan at
Bannockburn
o
There are chivalric orders
§
The Order of the Golden Fleece
§
The Order of the Garter
§
Both set up by warring kings in the 14th
century
o
Like modern sports there is an interaction
between the ideal, the cultural types of sportspeople and the actuality
Chivalry and Le
Morte d’Arthur
·
Romance literature becomes a mode of instruction
o
A template or example of chivalric conduct in
which consumers can follow
·
Malory is writing during a turbulent period
(1468-1470)
o
War of the Roses
·
Decline in knighthood
o
Rise in middle class
o
Introduction of the educated commoner
·
Begins to pose contraversial questions
o
What it means to be noble
o
What nobility is
o
Whether people are born with nobility or can
earn it
The Tale of Sir
Gareth of Orkeney
·
Hero who doesn’t know his paternal ancestry
·
Is brought up away from court
o
And therefore its social graces
·
Wins chivalric fame in series of challenges and
adventures
·
Earns respect from his peers
·
Discovers his true identity
o
Noble status
o
Social acceptance
·
Hiding identity
o
Makes the discovery
o
Concealment of it vital to the narrative
o
Allow key ideas and concepts about romance to
form
o
Aristocratic values to be explored, questioned
and reinforced
Chivalry vs.
Malory&Chivalry
Chivalry
Chivalry and Malory
A complex web of assumptions about good
aristocratic behaviour, arising from the use of horses in battle
A means of exploring aristocratic identity
and what it means to be “noble”
Associated with both military and
peacetime undertakings
A value system challenged by Malory’s
contexts
Explored in fiction but nevertheless a
possibility in lived experience
A framework of expectation for the reader
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- Bachelors Degree First Year Note on Medival Literature, created by Tianna Johnson on 30/05/2016.
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- Tianna Johnson
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