Discovering the humanities 3rd by henry m sayre 2016 chapter 05

Discovering the Humanities
THIRD EDITION

CHAPTER

5

Fiefdom and
Monastery, Pilgrimage
and Crusade: The Early
Medieval World in
Europe

Discovering the Humanities, Third Edition
Henry M. Sayre

Copyright © 2016, 2013, 2010
by Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates
All Rights Reserved


Learning Objectives
1. Describe what Anglo-Saxon art and
literature tell us about Anglo-Saxon
culture.
2. Discuss Charlemagne's impact on
medieval culture and the legacy of his
rule.
3. Define the Romanesque and its
relation to pilgrimage churches and
the Cluniac abbey.

Learning Objectives
4. Examine the motivations for the
Crusades and appraise their outcome.
5. Explain the courtly love tradition as it
manifests itself in the literature of the
period.


Burial ship, from Oseberg, Norway. ca. 800.
Wood. Length 75'6".
Vikingskiphuset, Universitets Oldsaksamling, Oslo, Norway.
© Werner Forman Archive. [Fig. 5.1]


Sutton Hoo
• The burial mound at Sutton Hoo is an
important source of information about
the art, culture, and society in AngloSaxon England.
• Buried in the mound was a lord or chief,
to whom his followers owed absolute
loyalty.


Anglo-Saxon England and Celtic Ireland.
[Fig. Map 5.1]


Sutton Hoo

• The society was based on feudalism,
which is related to the Roman custom of
patronage.
 In feudalism, a patron, usually a lord or
nobleman, provided protection to the
people who worked for him in exchange
for his loyalty.
 In the Middle Ages, this relationship
developed into an agriculturally based
economic system.


Anglo-Saxon Artistic Style and
Culture
• The purse cover from the Sutton Hoo
site is an example of cloisonné
technique, in which strips of gold are
set on edge to form cells.
• At the top of the cover, two hexagons
flank a central motif of animal
interlace.
• This animal style was frequently used
in jewelry design.


Anglo-Saxon Artistic Style and
Culture
• In many ways, the English language
was shaped by the Anglo-Saxon
traditions.

• Anglo-Saxon law was based on the idea
of the wergeld, or the "life-price" of an
individual.
• The wergeld for men and women was
identical, but a pregnant woman was
worth up to three times the usual rate.


Closer Look: Technique: Enamel

Purse cover, from the Sutton Hoo burial ship. ca. 625.
Gold with Indian garnets and cloisonné enamels, originally on
an ivory or bone background (now lost). Length 8".
© The Trustees of the British Museum. [Fig. 5.2]


Beowulf, the Oldest English Epic
Poem
• In light of the findings at Sutton Hoo
and Oseberg, Beowulf (700–1000 CE)
reflects many aspects of life in the
northern European climates during the
Middle Ages.
• The poem influenced J. R. R. Tolkien's
trilogy The Lord of the Rings.


Closer Look: Carpet Page
from Lindisfarne Gospels

Bishop Eadfrith. Carpet Page from the Lindisfarne Gospels.
Northumbria, England. ca. 698.
Tempera on vellum. 13-1/2" × 9-3/4".
British Library, London. © The British Library Board: Cotton
Nero D., f.94v. [Fig. 5.3]


Beowulf, the Oldest English Epic
Poem
• Although not a Christian poem,
Beowulf's themes are consonant with
Christian values, teaching its audience
that power, strength, fame, and life
itself are transitory.
• One of its notable literary features,
common to Old English literature, are
kennings, compound phrases that
substitute for a usual name.


Beowulf, the Oldest English Epic
Poem
• At the end of the poem, Beowulf
displays a Christlike willingness to
sacrifice himself for the greater good—
values that are reflected in the feudal
warrior culture.


The Merging of Pagan and

Christian Styles
• In about 635, the "re-Christianization"
of Britain was underway.
• Together with 40 monks, the
Benedictine prior Augustine was sent to
England to convert the pagan AngloSaxons.
• In 601, Pope Gregory sent a letter to
Augustine urging him to incorporate
pagan traditions into Christian practice.


Chi Rho Iota page, Book of Matthew, Book of Kells, probably made at Iona, Scotland.
Late 8th or early 9th century.
Manuscript illumination. 13" × 9-1/2".
Trinity College Library. Dublin, MS. 58 (A.1.6.), fol. 34v. © The Board of Trinity
College/Bridgeman Images. [Fig. 5.4]


The Merging of Pagan and
Christian Styles
• The basic elements of the animal style
evident in the purse cover from Sutton
Hoo resurface in the carpet page of
the Lindisfarne Gospels.
• Thus, the pre-Christian decorative
vocabulary, created to honor a pagan
king, was transformed to honor the
Christian conception of God.

Page with David and Court Musicians, now fol. 30b, but likely once the frontispiece of the
Vespasian Psalter, Canterbury, England. First half of 8th century.
© The British Library Board: MS Cotton Vespasian A.i. [Fig. 5.5]


The Merging of Pagan and
Christian Styles
• The syncretic style that flourished in
early medieval England and Ireland is
referred to as Hiberno-Saxon.


The Merging of Pagan and
Christian Styles
• The Hiberno-Saxon manuscript
illumination is notable for its unification
of Anglo-Saxon visual culture with the
textual tradition of Christianity.
 Monastic scriptoria artists decorated
elaborate capitals at important sections.


Carolingian Culture
• Charlemagne (r. 768–814) gained
control of most of the European
continent.
• He forced each conquered tribe to give
up their brand of Christianity and to
submit to Rome's Nicene Creed.

Carolingian Culture
• In return for his Christianization of his
vast seized territories, Pope Leo III
crowned Charlemagne emperor on
Christmas Day 800.
• He thus created what would later be
known as the Holy Roman Empire.


Document: Life of
Charlemagne (early 9th c.)
by Einhard

Document: The Song of
Roland, Translated by C. K.
Moncreif

Equestrian statue of Charlemagne. Early 9th century.
Bronze with traces of gilt. Height 9-1/2".
Musée du Louvre, Paris. akg-images/Erich Lessing. [Fig. 5.6]


Map: The Empire of Charlemagne to 814.
[Fig. Map 5.2]


The Song of Roland: Feudal and
Chivalric Values
• Charlemagne's military achievements

were praised throughout Europe in
chansons de geste ("songs of heroic
deeds") performed by jongleurs, or
professional entertainers.
• This poem was most likely sung in a
syllabic, or one-note-per-syllable, style.