Anglo-Saxon, Medieval, and Renaissance notes
Terms
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- 300 B.C.
- Celts called "Brythons" live in Britain
- 55 B.C.
- Caesar invades Britain
- 313 A.D.
- Christianity declared lawful in Rome
- 409 A.D.
- Roman legions withdraw from Britain
- 432 A.D.
- Patrick brings Christianity to Ireland
- 449 A.D
- Angles, Saxons, Jutes invade Britain
- 516-537 A.D.
- King Arthur rules Celtic tribe
- 597 A.D.
- Saint Augustine establishes monastery at Cantebury
- 793 A.D.
- Vikings invade Britain, century of invasions begin
- 878 A.D.
- Alfred the Great is king of England; forces Danes from Wessex
- 891 A.D
- Anglo-Saxon Chronicle begun
- 1066 A.D.
- Normans defeat Saxons; William the Conqueror becomes English king
- Sources of info on Anglo-Saxons
-
1. surviving literature
2. church records
3. Roman military records
4. archeology - thane
- Anglos-Saxon warrior/soldier
- comitatus
- circular relationship that describes brotherhood that existed b/t chief and thanes
- bard/scop
- poet, transmitter of history; gifted in remembering stories and weaving in other stories
- epic poem
-
1. long narrative poem
2. serious subject
3.told in an elevated style
4. about a superhuman/part divine hero
5.hero's actions affect the fate of a nation - elegy
- a poem that mourns for someone or something lost
- elegiac
- mournful tone used in most Anglo-Saxon poetry
- alliteration
- two or more words in a line of poetry with the same beginning sound. In Anglo-Saxon poetry, used as a memory aid and to stress words
- caesura
-
obvious pause within a line.
In A/S poetry, the pause divides the line, with at least one alliterative beat in each half, and was originally where an instrument might have been played - kenning
- a compound word metaphor, used to expand vocabulary and aid memory
- Norman invasion
- in 1066 William of Normandy defeated King Harold of England. This invasion ended the A/S period and unified England with the rest of the Continent. Normans brought an administrative ability and cultural unity to England
- Domesday Book
- inventory of nearly every piece of property in Europe. Created by King William
- Feudalism
- social system based on hierarchy, with overlords, vassals, vassal's vassals, down to serfs.
- knights
- most men who weren't serfs were trained as knights, because a vassal's primary function was military service
- "Iron Cocoon"
- the suit of armor came about b/c crossbow arrows could pierce chain mail. The fitted plates were so heavy and complex that knights could suffocate in them
- chivalry
- a system of ideals and social codes governing the behavior of knights and gentlewomen
- Crusades
- European Chritstians attacked Muslims to win the Holy Land. They failed, but the exposure to eastern culture brought new knowledge to improve the quality of life
- Thomas A Becket
- The Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered in his cathedral. The reastion to his martyrdom shifted power away from the king toward the Church
- Magna Carta
- Aristocrats forced king John to sign this charter giving them some rights.
- Hundred Years War
-
England vs. France
England developed a national consciousness. Musket and longbow end age of knights. Rise of yeoman class - Black death
- plague led to end of feudalism b/c of a shortage of labor
- three estates
-
1. clergy
2. nobility
3. commoners - pilgrimage
- spiritual and physical journey to a shrine or holy place for spiritual/physical healing
- seven sacraments
- baptism, confirmation, holy eucharist, penance, matrimony, holy orders, extreme unction
- Pentecost
- associated with confirmation, event when Holy Spirit descended upon Apostles after resurrection
- Purgatory
- where people go who aren't bad enough for hell or good enough for heaven. Purgatory ends on judgement day. People could work off time in purgatory by works in life
- Indulgence
- reduced time in Purgatory. Became a monetary transaction with corrupt priests
- seven deadly sins
- sloth, gluttony, envy, avarice, lust, pride, wrath
- excommunication
- official separation from the life of the church
- 4 humors
-
yello bile-choleric
black bile-melancholy
phlegm-phlegmatic (sluggish)
blood-sanguine (passionate) - Fabliau
- dirty story with low class characters
- Breton Lai
- a form of medieval French/English lit: short rhymed tales of love and chivalry, often involving supernatural magical elements usually set in Brittany
- Exemplum
- story that preaches a moral/emphasizes a theme in preaching