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    An Introduction To The Middle Ages

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    Adriana Andreca
    The document provides background information on Geoffrey Chaucer and the Middle Ages in England. It discusses Chaucer as the "Father of English Poetry" and introduces his work The Canterbury Tales. It then summarizes key events of the Middle Ages, including the Norman Invasion, feudal system, rise of cities, knighthood and chivalry, the Crusades, the Hundred Years' War, the Black Death plague, and the martyrdom of Thomas Becket.

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    An Introduction To The Middle Ages

    Uploaded by

    Adriana Andreca
    69 views10 pages
    The document provides background information on Geoffrey Chaucer and the Middle Ages in England. It discusses Chaucer as the "Father of English Poetry" and introduces his work The Canterbury Tales. It then summarizes key events of the Middle Ages, including the Norman Invasion, feudal system, rise of cities, knighthood and chivalry, the Crusades, the Hundred Years' War, the Black Death plague, and the martyrdom of Thomas Becket.

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    Middle ages

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    An Introduction to the Middle Ages

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    The document provides background information on Geoffrey Chaucer and the Middle Ages in England. It discusses Chaucer as the "Father of English Poetry" and introduces his work The Canterbury Tales. It then summarizes key events of the Middle Ages, including the Norman Invasion, feudal system, rise of cities, knighthood and chivalry, the Crusades, the Hundred Years' War, the Black Death plague, and the martyrdom of Thomas Becket.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    69 views10 pages

    An Introduction To The Middle Ages

    Uploaded by

    Adriana Andreca
    The document provides background information on Geoffrey Chaucer and the Middle Ages in England. It discusses Chaucer as the "Father of English Poetry" and introduces his work The Canterbury Tales. It then summarizes key events of the Middle Ages, including the Norman Invasion, feudal system, rise of cities, knighthood and chivalry, the Crusades, the Hundred Years' War, the Black Death plague, and the martyrdom of Thomas Becket.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 10

    An Introduction to the Middle

    Ages and Geoffrey Chaucer


     The Canterbury Tales
     By Geoffrey Chaucer
     “Father of English Poetry”
     First author to write in English (Middle English)
    [previously Latin]
     Educated
     Government official – work took precedence over
    writing
     Worked on Canterbury Tales for 22 years; never
    finished
    The Middle Ages – Norman
    Invasion
     1066 – Duke William of Normandy
     One-day long battle
     Defeated and killed King Harold of England
     William felt entitled to the English throne
    (Edward, previous king, left no heirs)
     Combined Norman emphasis on law and
    order with Anglo Saxon democracy and
    culture
    Feudalism
     Caste system (social class)
     Military system
     Property system
     System of social behavior

     Top of the Ladder: William the Conqueror


     Barons, vassals, lower vassals, landless knights,
    serfs
    City Classes

     Eventually many people left the country


    and moved to the cities
     City classes not defined by the feudal
    system
     Upper, middle, lower
     Middle class = merchant class who could
    afford what they wanted
    Knighthood and Chivalry

     Chivalry was a system of ideals that


    governed knights
     Loyalty to overlord
     Rules of warfare
     Adoration of a lady
    Crusades & Hundred Years’
    War
     Crusades:  Hundred Years’ War
     Series of religious wars  Battles between
    to spread Christianity England and France
    throughout Europe  Lasted over 100
     Struggle against Muslims years (1337-1453)
     Ultimately a failure  Feud stemming from
     Europe benefited from Norman Invasion
    contact with higher
    civilization of Middle East
     Militarily
    unsuccessful for
    Britain; did increase
    sense of nationalism
    Black Death
     Highly contagious plague
     Spread through cities from fleas of infested
    rats
     Killed 1/3 of people in England
     Gave more power to people in lower classes
     Caused labor shortage
     Lower class workers willing to work could
    negotiate wages and working conditions
    Martyrdom of Sir Thomas a
    Becket
     Thomas was a Norman who had great power
    in England as well as Catholic church (prime
    minister and Archbishop)
     Sided with the Pope rather than the King
     King Henry II (half joking) said he wanted
    Thomas put to death
     Henry’s knights killed Thomas in the cathedral
    at Canterbury
    Martyrdom of Sir Thomas a
    Becket
     Saint Thomas the Martyr
     Made a saint and martyred by a cult following who
    opposed the king
     People made pilgrimages to Canterbury to
    honor Saint Thomas’s memory
     The Canterbury Tales are a fictional collection
    of stories from a group of people making this
    pilgrimage to Canterbury

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