Skip to main content
Humanities LibreTexts

1: The Middle Ages

  • Page ID
    7728
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Learning Objectives

    After completing this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

    • Describe the migration and/or invasion of successive groups into Britain;
    • Analyze the ways that Anglo-Saxon literature assimilated Christian themes;
    • Compare how various groups and individuals used the story of King Arthur for political, religious, and revisionist reasons;
    • Describe the languages used in Britain over time, leading to Chaucer’s use of English when composing his works;
    • Analyze the similarities and differences between the Anglo-Saxon warrior code and the knightly (or chivalric) code in Middle English literature, especially in Malory;
    • Analyze the similarities and differences among the portrayals of women in Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman, and Middle English works;
    • Analyze the ways that writers use the concept of courtly love, from Marie de France to Malory.

    Thumbnail: Beowulf face to face with the fire-breathing dragon. (Public Domain; Marshall, Logan via Wikipedia)


    This page titled 1: The Middle Ages is shared under a CC BY-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Bonnie J. Robinson & Laura Getty (University of North Georgia Press) .

    • Was this article helpful?