Period 7 (well, some of period 7) discussed with me what they thought was the most important information about the middle ages. This is what both period 6 and 7 will be quizzed on.
The Black death killed 2/3’s of Europe’s population. It was called the plagued or black death among other this. It’s scientific name is the bubonic plague. It caused 25 million deaths and originated in China.
Relics were a part of the deceased saints body or belongings and often were believed to have the power to do miracles.
The oldest known piece of literature is the German epic poem called Hildebrandslied
-Mediaeval theatre began in the churches.
-As plays became more secular, they moved outside the churches.
-They were generally performed in town market places.
-Each play was a cycle of 40 scenes or less.
-Each trade guild would be responsible for a scene.
The kings use music as a proof of power over the Church. Musicians were hired to entertain the courts, tournaments, dining, dancing, ceremonies,and military campaigns as music is use to enhance the performance. Many musicians were use for gossip as newspapers were not invented back then.
Feudalism- a system of political organization that governed everyone’s role in society. It was divided into social classes and based on rank.
Hildegard von Bingen (1098- 1179) a prioress of the Benedictine monastery of Disibodenberg. She wrote many large monophobic plainsongs and a play called Ordo Virtutum or The Play of the Virtues. She has a collection of 77 lyric poems, each with their own music, called Symphonia Armonia Celestium Revelation.
Richard the Lion- Heart (1157- 99) was son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was known as a crusader and he took back the crown of England from his brother John.
Guillaume de Machaut (1300- 77) Perhaps the most outstanding composer of the Ars nova. His complete works are preserved in a series of illuminated manuscripts prepared for members of the French royalty. Born near Rheims. He was both a priest and a courtier, and he wrote both religious and secular music. All of his music has been preserved in 32 manuscripts. Best known for his Mass of Notre- Dame. Most of Machaut’s music is secular. Twenty- three motets survive.
liturgical- of or pertaining to formal public worship
mensural- pertaining to measure
monophonic- one melody line of music
motet- a vocal composition in polyphonic style, on a Biblical or similar prose text, intended for use in a church service
polyphonic- having two or more voices or parts, each with an independent melody, but all harmonizing; contrapuntal
rondeau- a 13th-century monophonic song form consisting of two phrases, each repeated several times, and occurring in the 14th and 15th centuries in polyphonic settings
secular- of or pertaining to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred; temporal
troubadours- One of a class of 12th-century and 13th-century lyric poets in Southern France, northern Italy, and northern Spain, who composed songs in langue d’oc often about courtly love
trouvéres- one of a class of medieval poets who flourished in northern France during the 12th and 13th centuries, wrote in langue d’oïl, and composed chiefly the chansons de geste and works on the themes of courtly love
Life in monasteries was organized around music.
Monks composed new music and made small changes to traditional melodies.
Music was seen as an act of prayer that enlarged the devotional experience.
The music was made to please God, not audiences.
Monks were often music scholars.
Details:
Monks and nuns spent a lot of the day praying.
Every day in the monastery there was a mass and eight other services that took place between about two or three in the morning to early evening.
Services required a large number of chants.
Monks debated about the philosophical and theoretical aspects of music.
Many dissertations on music theory were written by monks.
Facts-Farmers had two annual harvests
“Feudalism- a system of political organization that governed everyone’s role in society. It was divided into social classes and based on rank.”
Feudalism-social system in which nobles owned/controlled land in exchange for military service to royalty, the nobles had servants who oversaw smaller sections of the land, and peasants/serfs farmed/grew food/produced goods on it to be protected.
Trivium- one of the two divisions in the mediaeval curriculum that was made up of the three “rhetorical arts”- grammar, logic and rhetoric.
Quadrivium- the second of the two divisions that was made up of the more specialized arts: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.
Frescos were for telling the lives of the saints and illustrating the bible on the church walls. Manuscripts were not merely copied,they were embellished with paintings and illustrations.
