Context Flashcards
CHAUCER
What did he read in the classics?
new sciences such as astrology
CHAUCER What class did he belong to?
belonged to new upper middle class
CHAUCER
What were 3 jobs did he have?
- young man in the house of the Countess of Ulster as a page
- military service in France (captured and ransomed)
- also carried out diplomatic roles abroad
CHAUCER
What works did Chaucer become familiar with?
- Dante
- Petrarch
- Boccacio
CHAUCER
What world was he important?
important diplomat in a turbulent political world
MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
How were the middle ages a time of extremes?
high sophistication and idealism
also
terrible cruelty and violence
MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
What was deeply ingrained in social structure? But what
deeply ingrained social structures
MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
Why was there social unrest?
extreme mobility
MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
What was the population? What percentage were peasants?
2 million
90% were peasants
MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
What was always a threat to life?
famine and plague
MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
In 1348-49, what percentage of the population was decimated by the Black Death?
1/3
MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
England was at war with who for the entire of Chaucer’s lifetime? What was the name of the war?
100 year war with France began in 1339
KNIGHTS
Why was the image of the chivalrous Knights tarnished after fighting between France and England?
because it had led to some of the dirtiest fighting of the time
KNIGHTS
Why type of new knight emerged?
professional knight emerged
- fought fo rambition rather than ideals
KNIGHTS
What did Gower write about the new type of knight?
“the chivalric “aristocracy is being replaced by a financial aristocracy; knights have become greedy for money”
KNIGHTS
What qualities did men become anxious to possess? Why?
gentillesse
as the traditional nobility had it
3 ESTATES
What rigid social structure was the Middle Ages organised into (3 estates)?
- nobility
- church
- peasants
3 ESTATES
Where else did this structure appear?
literature
3 ESTATES
How were the 3 estates satirised in literature at the time?
- idealised versions of these members society
- stereotypes with typical values and vices highlighted
3 ESTATES
How does Chaucer show that society had started to move beyond the 3 estates? (despite growing middle classes)
- strong spirit of commercial enterprise at the time
- new merchant or bourgeois class was emerging
3 ESTATES
What did enterprising commoners began to do?
- acquiring lands
- employing their own workforce
3 ESTATES
How would these enterprising commoners be called later on when they were acknowledged as the lesser aristocracy?
Franklins (Free Men)
CHURCH
What happened in 1377 to the Pope?
two rival candidates claimed the title of the pope
CHURCH
How did the two candidates taking the title of the pope affect the Catholic Church?
affected the unity of the Catholic Church
politics rather than religion was the focus
CHURCH
What other corruptions plagued the Church?
- selling of pardons and relics
- religious leaders who were profit-seeking and secular pleasure-seeking
CHURCH
Why did dissident religious gorups affect the church?
they would advertise a different type of faith to the Church and create schisms within the church’s following
CHURCH
What did Lollards and Wylcifftes emphasise?
free thinking - that the church should not be so concerned with material issues
this was the concern of the states
no man should be seen as ‘better’ than another
CHURCH
What did the religious groups make more accessible to society?
the Bible
PEASANTS REVOLT
What did view John Ball (rebel priest from York) present?
a revolutionary democratic view of the world
PEASANTS REVOLT
What brought things to a head/tension in England?
an oppression poll tax
PEASANTS REVOLT
Who led peasants to London? What did they do there?
Wat Tyler led the peasants to London
Flemish weavers (seen as taking English revenue) were beheaded by the mob prisoners released
PEASANTS REVOLT
What other 2 violent acts were committed by the rebels?
- John Gaunt’s palace was burnt down
- Archbishop of Canterbury beheaded
PEASANTS REVOLT
Who were the rebels tricked into trusting? What did Richard do?
young King Richard
beheaded the rebel ringleaders
WOMEN
What was a way the church could continue to assert authority?
in its anti-feminist teachings
WOMEN
What was the church’s stance on women?
they were inferior
they were ruin of men
daughters of Eve
WOMEN
What 6 anti-feminist stock characters did medieval literature focus on?
- unfaithful wife
- harridan
- gossip
- deceiver
- money-grabbing materialist
- harlot
WOMEN
What group of people had on of the only positive views of women?
the cult of Mary
WOMEN
Who did they view as good women?
pure virgins
loving mothers
WOMEN
What did this adoration of women lead to in romantic literature?
women were adored and elevated in the game of courtly love
