Anglo-Norman Period

Question 1

How long did AN period last?

Answer 1

1066-1399

Question 2

1066

Answer 2

The battle of Hastings - William the Conqueror, a Norman (french) invader conquers England

Question 3

1154

Answer 3

Henry II becomes king, French wife Eleanor of Aquitaine becomes Queen further intermingling England and France

Question 4

1348

Answer 4

the first and most virulent epidemic of the bubonic plaque sweeps Europe, eliminating 25-33% of the population.

Question 5

The Normans brought what language to England

Answer 5

Following the Battle of Hastings, French influence bleeds into Old English. By the end of the period, this influence has shaped English so strongly, a “new” language, Middle English is formed

Question 6

What are four languages spoken in England during that time period?

Answer 6

1. Latin: the international language of learning
2. French: Spoken by Norman aristocracy
3. English: Spoken by AS of all social levels
4. Celtic: dialects spoken in more remote areas: Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall)

Question 7

Marie de France

Answer 7

wrote 12 lais (short romances) circa the 12th century

Question 8

Chretien de Troyes

Answer 8

12th century romance poet, wrote about Arthurian legend

Question 9

Geoffrey of Manmouth

Answer 9

(circa 1100 -1115) - wrote The History of the Kings of Britain

Question 10

Anonymous SGGK poet

Answer 10

part of the alliterate revival; SGGK was written circa 1375-1400 & published with 3 religious poems

Question 11

Geoffrey Chaucer

Answer 11

(1340-1400) - English civil servant, wrote in English, The Canterbury Tales

Question 12

Lai or lay

Answer 12

a type of French or English romance lit. These are rhymed, narrative poems depicting love and chivalry, often depicting supernatural fairy-world Celtic motifs.

Question 13

Romance

Answer 13

originally meant “French” since French was derived from Latin the language of Rome. Designates narrative stories of separation and return, disintegration and reintegration.

Question 14

Arthurian legend

Answer 14

stories and medieval romances featuring the legendary English King Arthur, his wife Queen Guinevere, his knights, their castle Camelot, and their court.

Question 15

Romances are “comic” stories because

Answer 15

not because they make us laugh but, rather they make us feel good through happy endings.

Question 16

The fundamental characteris-tic of romances is

Answer 16

structural, not stylistic. They can be short or long, oral or literary, but to be romances they must have, or adapt, a particular story struc-ture.

Question 17

Romances classically have

Answer 17

a tripartite structure: integration (or implied integration); disinte-gration; and reintegration. They begin in, or at least imply, a pro-tected, civilized state of some integrated social unit (e.g., family). That state is disrupted, expelling a member of the unit (the hero or heroine of the story, who is usu-ally young) into a wild place. Undergoing the tests of that wild place is the premise of return to the integrated, civilized state of familial and/or social unity.

Question 18

Romances are…

Answer 18

symbolic stories, replaying and allaying the fears of the young as they face the apparently insuperable challenges of the adult world. Their deepest wisdom is this: civilization is not a unitary concept.