Highlands Ranch High School - Mr. Sedivy
Highlands Ranch, Colorado

- The Middle Ages -
Medieval Culture

Medieval Culture
In the feudal system society was organized as a pyramid of sorts. The clergy and nobles were at the top, with a great many peasants at the bottom. Peasants worked on the land and lived in rough huts, which they often shared with their animals. They slept on straw mattresses on the floor. In the middle were the scientists, merchants, craftsmen and yeoman farmers.

Dante, crowned with poet's laurel, opens his Divine Comedy
as souls struggle heavenward through Purgatory.
I5th-century fresco in the city's cathedral; Scala. Domenico di Michelino

The Middle Ages also gave much to later generations. Great cathedrals were built and universities were started. Latin was the language used by most scholars. Painting and literature developed.

Philosophy
Thomas Aquinas believed that both reason and Christian teaching came from God. Therefore, both reason and faith came from the same teaching.

Code of Chivalry
King Arthur and his knights became the highest symbols of courage, faith, and chivalry.

The Troubadours
The Troubadours were noble poet-musicians who pledged to serve their ladies as loyally as they would their lords.

Women
Attitudes towards women changed. Now, women were treated with respect. But, women were seen as helpless, beautiful, and pure - unrealistic.

Science
Medieval science was limited because science was not just reason and observation. Scientific theories continued to be mixed with superstition and legend. Most medieval scientists practiced the mysteries of alchemy (trying to turn lead into gold).

Merchants
Merchants bought and sold goods such as furs and wool. Some became very wealthy and started the first banks. Merchants and craftsmen formed powerful associations called guilds. They sold their goods at fairs where people gathered to trade and to have fun.

Medieval Literature

Beowulf
Beowulf is the oldest great literary work in the vernacular. The Hero, Beowulf, stalked and killed the monster Grendel.

Detail from an early illustration from The Caterbury Tales

Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340- 1400) was a great English poet. He was on of the first people to write in the English Language rather than in Latin. Chaucer's best-known work is The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories told by an imaginary group of pilgrims as they traveled to Canterbury Cathedral. Canterbury Tales was written in "Middle English," a form of English used from about 1100 to 1450. This is an excellent representation of medieval life.

The Annunciation and Scenes from Dante's Divine Comedy.
Page from a missal, painted by Gherardo Di Giovanni 1474 - 1476.
Click the scene for an enlargement.

Dante's Divine Comedy
In Dante's Divine Comedy, the poet journeys through hell, purgatory, and paradise, guided by Virgil. Dante Alighieri gave a vivid description of the people and places of Medieval Italy. In Paradise, Beatrice introduces him to the Saints and to the Virgin Mary.

8th- to 15th-Century Poems and Prose
Dante Alighieri, Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland & more.
Including: Divine Comedy, Beowulf, Canterbury Tales...
Medieval Poetry I
Medieval Poetry & Prose II

Back to Top of Page