Medieval and Renaissance Literature

Middle English Literature

“Middle English literature” refers to English literature that developed during the roughly 300-year period
from 1150 CE to around 1450 after the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (aka the Anglo-Saxons) settled in
England in the latter part of the fifth century and eventually gave the country its name and language.
During this period, English gained widespread popularity among people in every stratum of society.
Gradually, the language gained maturity, and by the late 1300s, Chaucer’s poetry made English the
perfect medium for literature.

Timeline:
55BC-410: Latin speaking Romans occupy England

450: Romans withdrew from England and Germanic tribes (Angals and Saxons) invade

577: England converts to Christianity

800: Wave of Viking invasions

1006-1087:

1000: Approximate year Beowulf was written

1066: Norman invasion of England

1075: Pope Gregory VII declares the supremacy of the church

-King William the Conqueror was in power, died in 1087

1087-1135:

1087-1110: Reign of King William Rufus

1110-1135: King Henry I

1099: First Crusade

1135-1154:

King Stephen

1147: Second Crusade

1154-1189:

King Henry II

1170: Thomas Becket murdered in Canterbury Cathedral

1189-1199:

King Richard I

1190: Third crusade

1199-1216:

King John

1200: Fourth Crusade:

1212: Children’s Crusade

1215: Magna Carta Signed

1216-1272:

King Henry III

1263-1267: The Barons war

1272-1307:

King Edward I

1337-1453: Hundred Years War

1360-1485:

Chaucer, Piers Plowman, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

One of the first books printed in England, Monte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory

1425: Mystery Plays

1431: Joan of Arc Burned

1432: The Book of Margery Kempe

1475: The Shepard’s Play

1485: William Caxton prints first successful book in England

1486-1575:

1455-1485:

War of the Roses

Everyman

Sir Thomas Wyatt

1485/1509: Accession of Henry VII

1517: Start of Reformation

1575-1603

Sir Walter Raleigh

Sir Philip Sydney

1588: Defeat of Spanish Armada

Christopher Marlowe

Spenser The Faerie Queen

1603-1660

King James I: first of Stuart Kings

Shakespeare: Hamlet

1612: Death of Prince Henry

1616: Death of Shakespeare

1618: 30 Years War

King Charles I

Shakespeare, plays and sonnets

John Donne Poems

1642: Civil War

1648: Second Civil War

1649 Charles I executed

1667 Paradise Lost

Introduction
Medieval Overview
Although there is no official consensus regarding the exact beginning and end of the Medieval Period, it
is most commonly associated with the collapse of the Roman Empire, around the 5th century, and
leading up all the way to the 15th century, which is widely considered (though the exact beginning is
disputed) the beginning of the Renaissance Period. This time period is commonly known as The Middle
Ages was commonly regarded by Renaissance thinkers as “The Dark Ages.”

On the continent, the development of Medieval literature–stemming from the preservation of culture
and heroic adventures within epic poems–is a direct result of Charlemagne’s desire to educate his
people in 800, which was only made possible through an emphasis on the teachings of the Catholic
Church. The Catholic Church created schools with an intensive curriculum founded upon the education
of grammar, rhetoric, Latin, astronomy, philosophy and math. Christianity was legalized by the Roman
Empire during the Fourth Century, and as a result, education as well as laws were overseen by the
Church. The Church often wielded more power than the often-weak feudal monarchies that
characterized medieval society.

In the Twelfth Century, there arose a strong presence of chivalry in Medieval society which quickly
inhabited the literature of the time; the chivalric code was a moral code, or rather, a code of conduct
bound to duty, honor, and justice. Reflected within the texts of the time–the ways in which characters
are affected by loyalty, duty, and honor–the chivalric code was both a necessary platform for
knighthood and good moral standing. The presence of chivalry in Medieval Culture is exemplified in the
representation of a just and moral knight facing temptation and conflict in Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight. As a result of the presence of chivalry, courtly love gave rise to an increased production and
contemplation of romantic prose. While the printing press was invented in the Fifteenth Century, its
impact was not fully achieved until the Renaissance.

The Middles Ages can be split up into three periods: the Early Middle Ages, the High Middle Ages, and
the Late Middle Ages.

The Early Middle Ages typically signify the begging of the Medieval Era with the fall of Rome and
continue until sometime in the 11th century. Anglo-Saxon tribes invaded England around 450 and they
had a vast affect on literature. The language of theseinvaders is classified as Old English and is widely
represented in Anglo-Saxon poetry (UMASS). Old English poetry was passed down orally before it was
written. The earliest written example is found in the writing of Bede and his poem Caedmon’s Hymn.
The Anglo–Saxon’s helped further spread Christianity by adapting to it; however, Anglo-Saxon poetry
contains a thematic “heroic code” which blends with and sometimes contradicts Christian ideals. The
“heroic code” places value on kinship, and emphasizes duty and vengeance for one’s lord (Norton). One
of the most popular Old English epic poems is Beowulf, which follows suit of its relative Germanic
literature with its heroic and Christian themes.

The High Middle Ages are thought to have begun around The Norman Invasion. Linguistically, this era
brought about the transition from Old English to Middle English, feudalism, and the Medieval “romance”
which came from the French speaking Anglo-Normans. Romances characteristically revolve around
similar themes of members of the lower nobility trying to rise in status, the young entering adulthood
and their fears, and individuals being cast out of society and returning as part of a stronger unit.

The most popular romantic figure of this time is the character of King Arthur who arose in the 13th
century. The Arthurian romance contains the chivalric code, involving knights, adventure, and honor
(LordsandLadies.org). Other popular romances of this time include Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and William Langland’s Piers Plowman.

The Late Middle Ages mark the end of the Medieval era, which is estimated to have ended around 1485,
the year Henry VII ascended to the throne, and the

Tudor dynasty began. This era contained the Hundred Years War, which ended in 1453, and the Black
Death, which eliminated nearly one-third of Europe’s population. In 1485, William Caxton introduced
England to the art of printing books, when he published Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte D’ Arthur (Norton).
Role of Religion
A medieval church in Rome.
According to the History Learning Cite, the Church was absolutely the most important part of medieval
society. “The Church dominated everybody’s lives.” The only religion that existed was Christianity. All
medieval people, regardless of their social rank, believed in God, Heaven, and Hell, however it was
strongly believed that the only way they could get to Heaven is if the Roman Catholic Church allowed
them. Similar to today, Hell was depicted as every person’s worst nightmare, and Heaven was eternal
paradise.

Church was extremely well-off, and to keep the Church as wealthy as possible they did not have to pay
any taxes. It is said that The Church was wealthier than any king in the world during this time period,
and they saved most of their money. However, the money that they did spend was on their structures
such as churches or cathedrals.

Most scholars associate the start of the medieval period with the fall of the Roman Empire in 410AD.
After the Romans withdrew, Germanic tribes invaded and spread their influence into England.

Middle English Literature

Romance, Courtly Romance: This was the most popular genre in the Middle English period; it had a
particular story structure that depicted the integration, disintegration, and reintegration of a central
hero. Usually the hero underwent a test or challenge that alienated them from society. It is outside the
world of every day experience or unnatural/magical.

– A sub-genre of the romance was the Arthurian Legend: Stories that told about the legend of King
Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

– For example: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Allegory: An extended metaphor—where something is standing for something else. It is a depiction of a

common theme. An allegory tells a story that has characters, setting, and other symbols that serve both
a literal and figurative purpose and point out a theme about human life. For Example, Piers Plowman or
Everyman

Estates Satire: Represents the 3 estates, the clergy, the nobility, and everyone else. It satirizes society
with the purpose of presenting the flaws of something in an exaggerated way with the intent of drawing
attention to create a solution for it. It examines society by groups based on class, occupation, function,
status and other designations. For Example: The Canterbury Tales

Middle English lyrics: A type of secular poetry. They were generally love poems although some were
about social satire or the celebration of earth and humanity; they were very passionate and not about
God. The lyrics do not tell a long story (not an epic, odyssey, ballad) but rather about a single thought or
image. They have a very contemporary rhyme scheme and subject matter.
Autobiography: Just as autobiographies today tell the story of a person’s life through their point of view,
early autobiographies did the same thing. They generally depicted the trials and triumphs of a person’s
life and their internal thoughts about the matter. The first autobiography was The Book of Margery
Kempe.

Drama: For the most part, drama rose to popularity in the later medieval period (1000-1500). Early
dramas were typically very religious in theme, staging and tradition. Performance of plays outside of the
church became popular around the 12th century when they became more widely accessible to the
general population. Plays were usually performed by a professional acting company that traveled from
town to town on wagons and moving stages. Most theater companies were exclusively male. The
Second Shepherds’ Play

Morality Play: A type of drama that emerged around 1400 and became increasingly popular through out
the century. They taught lessons about morality and human nature and used allegorical characters to
portray the struggle that a person goes through to achieve salvation and the forces of good and evil. A
morality tale could have had either a serious or a comic plot.

Religious Prose: Sought to explain the great truths of god, humanity, and the universe through an
analysis of Christian beliefs, focuses on sin, penance, and love.

– For Example: Margery Kempe

Secular Literature:

There are few examples of secular work during the Medieval period as a result of the influence of
religion within society. Secular Poetry was one of the main works of literature at this time. It was full of
satire and irony concerning everyday life. The incline of popularity of these secular works led into the
Renaissance. An important example of this type of poetry is The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
Secular Medieval literature helped create a pathway for future authors in the Renaissance.

As the Renaissance began to rise throughout Europe, secularism and humanism became increasingly
popular. Instead of focusing on the afterlife, people began focus on their current place in life. They
looked towards themselves and who they were as individual people instead of solely people of God. This
time in history can be seen as the beginning of the turn to reason and the loss of faith. Similar to secular
literature of the Medieval period, secular literature of the Renaissance focused on worldly things, such
as spring and love.

Women in the Literature:

Throughout the Medieval period, women were viewed as second class citizens, and their needs always
were an afterthought. They were either held to be completely deceitful, sexual, innocent or
incompetent. Therefore, women were mostly withheld from positions of power or speaking their voice;
males made decisions for them and their lives were dictated by the men that ran the society. Despite
their lack of validation and suppression, however, women in Medieval literature were certainly present
in many works and in various forms. Some tropes feed into the idea that women are subservient and
inferior to men such as the Virgin, which portrays females as passive and weak, or the mother whose
very life circles around making a better life for her family and especially for her husband, or even the
whore who has no power in her sexuality and must give it away for the well being of her family or the
men in society.

Characteristics of Middle English Literature

1. Impersonality/Anonymity

One of the most important characteristics of Middle English literature is its impersonality, by which I
mean that most of its literature was anonymous, and we don’t know the names of those who wrote it.
The reason is partly that then, people were interested in the poem rather than in the poet. The medieval
author was at a disadvantage compared with popular writers today in having no publisher interested in
keeping his name before the public.

Reproduction of books by hand gave them a communal character, where a text might change due to
both unconscious alteration and conscious change. The medieval scribe was as likely as not to assume
the role of editor or adapter so that different manuscripts of a work often differ greatly from one
another.

2. Derivative Stories

Originality was not a major requirement of medieval authors. Story material, in particular, was looked
upon as communal property and the notion of intellectual property did not yet exist. To have based
one’s work on an old, authoritative source was a virtue. It led Geoffrey of Monmouth and other great
writers to claim such a source when none existed. It is not surprising that this attitude raised translation
to the level of the original creation.

The reader of Middle English literature must be prepared for a less personal or individual quality than is
expected in modern literature. It is common to find that the original author of a work is not named.

3. Religiosity

Religion occupies an important place in Middle English literature, as it was an important element of
social life in the medieval ages. It is said that then, men and women looked upon religion as a means to
the next life. They lived in constant fear of hell and its torments and were vitally concerned with the
salvation of their souls. That’s why religious writing forms a greater part of Middle English Literature.

4. Oral Quality

Another important characteristic of Middle English Literature is its oral quality. Most of the Middle
English literature was meant to be listened to rather than read. As there were no printing facilities in
those days, most of the literature was memorized. People used to memorize and retell poems or stories
instead of reading. One of the things that hindered the spread of literature among the general public
was the unavailability of books, which were so expensive that common people could not afford to buy
them.

5. Courtly Love
In 1883, Gaston Paris was the first person to popularize the phrase “courtly love,” which is a code of
behavior that determined the relationship between aristocratic lovers in Western Europe during the
Middle Ages. There were rules and requirements for love, elaborated upon in Ars Amatoria (The Art of
Loving) by Ovid, the Roman poet.

According to the conventions mentioned in The Art of Loving, a knight who was in love with a married
woman of high rank or high birth was required to prove his heroic deeds and present love letters to his
beloved without disclosing his identity. Courtly love was a secret affair between the lovers. It was
tantamount to adultery.

6. Chivalry

Chivalry is a prominent feature of Middle English literature. The term came to mean the gallantry and
honor expected of knights and a general sense of courtesy. Middle English poetry is mostly concerned
with the heroic deeds of knights. Look at the tales of Chaucer, wherein he gives full-fledged accounts of
chivalry. It was the main subject for authors of Middle English Literature. Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales,
and The Arthurian Legends dwell upon the heroic deeds of knights.

7. Romance

Romance is another important characteristic of Middle English literature. Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight, King Horn, Athelston, Gamelyn, and Sir Orfeo are the best examples of medieval romance.

8. Infra-Literary

One must say a word here about the artistic quality of medieval literature. And we must admit that
when judged by modern standards, much of medieval literature (continental as well as English) is infra-
literary (lowbrow). This does not mean that there are no great works of imagination in the Middle Ages.
There are some, but poems like the Divine Comedy are rare at any age.

Literary and Cultural Contexts

Medieval Drama: Mystery and Morality Plays

The Elizabethan Theatre

The Evolution of the Book in Medieval and Renaissance Society

The Reformation and British Society

The Elizabethan Sonnet Sequence

The Medieval University

Literary Consciousness in Medieval and Renaissance Literature

Authors

John Donne

George Herbert
Richard Lovelace

Christopher Marlowe

Andrew Marvell

John Milton

Sir Philip Sidney

Edmund Spenser

Sir Thomas Wyatt