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From the ninth to the early eleventh centuries, invasions of the Magyars from the east, Muslims from the south, andVikings from the north struck western Europe. This unrest ultimately spurred greater unity in England and Germany, but in northern France centralized authority broke down and the region split into smaller and smaller political units. By the ninth century, many knights and nobles held estates (fiefs) granted by greater lords in return for military and other service. This feudal system (from the medieval Latin feodum or feudum, fee or fief) enabled a cash-poor but land-rich lord to support a military force. But this was not the only way that land was held, knights maintained, and loyalty to a lord retained. Lands could be held unconditionally, landless knights could be sheltered in noble households, and loyalties could be maintained through kinship, friendship, or wages.
Mounted armored warriors, or knights (from the Old English cniht, boy or servant), were the dominant forces of medieval armies. The twelfth-century Byzantine princess Anna Komnena wrote that the impact of a group of charging French knights "might rupture the walls of Babylon." At first, most knights were of humble origins, some of them not even possessing land, but by the later twelfth century knights were considered members of the nobility and followed a system of courteous knightly behavior called chivalry (from cheval, the French word for horse). During and after the fourteenth century, weapons that were particularly effective against horsemen appeared on the battlefield, such as the longbow, pike, halberd, and cannon. Yet despite the knights' gradual loss of military importance, the system by which noble families were identified, called heraldry, continued to flourish and became more complex. The magnificence of their war games—called tournaments—also increased, as did the number of new knightly orders, such as the Order of the Garter. Norris, Michael. "Feudalism and Knights in Medieval Europe". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. |
Module OneRead from The Book of the Ordre of Chyvalry-it is a companion piece to answer questions in Module Two as well as having a long set of questions. Keep your answers in your notebook or in your Google drive. In addition, read from De Harte Honeste Amandi and answer discussion questions provided at the end of the reading. Keep your answers in your notebook or in your Google drive.
St. George and the Dragon |
Module TwoRead the information provided on the document "Knights in the Middle Ages." Answer the discussion questions within the article and keep those answers in your notebook or in your Google drive.
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Medieval Beasts |
Vampires
Let’s Begin…
The myth of the bloodsucking vampire has stalked humans from ancient Mesopotamia to 18th-century Eastern Europe, but it has differed in the terrifying details. So, how did we arrive at the popular image we know, love and fear today? And what truly makes a vampire...a vampire? Michael Molina digs up the science and the superstition on TEDEd. After viewing and reading the presented material, get your creative ideas flowing and choose a creative writing prompt below: 1. Write a story about a character who wakes up to discover all their livestock has been viciously killed and there are little traces of blood. The character and town suspects a vampire may be the cause. 2. Write a funny story about a character who truly believes he/she is a vampire even though he may not be one at all. 3. Write a story from the perspective of a parent who discovers his or her child has been turned into a vampire. The parent decides to keep the child and raise the vampire child as a human as best as he or she possibly could. 4. Write a story about a character who was turned into a vampire at a very old or very young age. |
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"The Vampyre" by John Polidori
Assignment: Read Polidori's work "The Vampyre". It is located in the link below. Be prepared to use the work in discussion. The actual story goes from p. 14-31.