…THE MIDDLE AGES... :…THE MIDDLE AGES... The Knight The Historian The Student The Every-day woman


Slide 2:The historian has always had an important role in history. I’ll speak about the Middle Age, what happened in that period, both in a positive and negative way. I’ll speak of the Medieval history of England, coat of arms and the castles..…so let’s immerse ourselves in the Medieval time… THE HISTORIAN (good vision!!!)


Slide 3:A period in European history between antiquity and the modern age, often between the end of the Roman Empire in the 5th century and the early 15th century. The Middle Age has been considered negatively in some historical periods, but revalued in others. A very important thing about the Middle Age is Christian faith and the feudal organization. The monasteries and the convents had an important cultural role which was expressed in the preservation of classical texts copied in scriptoria. Next to the monasteries little by little the castel where the civilization flowered took an important role. The cities became the centre of handmade, commercial and banking activities; the corporation of arts and trades and the institution of Universitas, centre of philosophical, theological, legal and medical studies developed. What is the Middle Ages?


Slide 4:Feudalism… Feudalism was an economical, political and social system in Middle Age, in which vassals held lands from lords in excanghe of military services.


Slide 5:Medieval History of England Medieval England brings forth images of castels and knights. This land was the site of numerous invasions from Viking, Saxons, Angles and Jutes during the early Middle Age. This was a land of kings, led by a general named Arthur. Some of the famous medieval English ruling “Houses“ include: “House of Plantagenet” (1138-1399), which included Henry II and Richard Lionhearted, and the “House of Lancaster” (1399-1461), which boasted three famous Henrys (IV-V-VI). This House would battled the “House of York” (1461-1485) in what would become known as the War of the Roses. A very important thing about the Medieval History of England was the introduction in 1215 of the Magna Carta, a document that acknowledged and established rights, privileges and liberties of English barons. The picture on the right is the seal that was on the Magna Carta. It represents the King John Without Earth, who accepted the Document, that marked the first step towards constitutional monarchy.


Slide 6:Western Europe in 12th century The political European order in the 12th century saw two big dominations: the Kingdom of Franks that comprised a part of the current France, and the Sacred Roman Empire that extended in central Europe and included central-northern Italy. The pilgrimage road in Europe The Middle Age was a period of big diffusion of the pilgrimages, made for devoutness or for penance. The most popular destinations were the origin places of Christianity (Terra Santa, Rome), the sites of graves, sanctuaries and relics (Canterbury) … What happened in Europe in the meantime?


Slide 7:In the heraldic coat of arms of Perugia there is a griffon, symbol of the streghth and vigilance, with a sword. A heraldic device was first perceived so that a knight could be recognised in battle but in tournaments, too. Heraldry was a very important part of life for the higher social classes in Medieval England and throughout Europe. Coat of Arms…


Slide 8:The castle was a very important building. It was a large fortified building or complex of buildings, usually with tall solid walls, battlements and a permanent garrison, built especially during the Middle Age. The more important part of the castle were: the towers guard body, the defensive tower,the walls, the court. Besides there was a moat around a castle. The castles …


Slide 9: The parts of the castle… Most castles, at the time of concentric castles, had what were called "murder holes" above their main entrance. Strictly called machicolations, galleries on the top of the castle wall, that defended soldiers from the enemies’ attacks. From here the soldiers threw boiling water, oil and pitch to neutralize the attacks of the enemies. Stone castles could have very thick walls as this photo shows. The picture also shows battlements. These are strictly known as crenellations and gave defenders something solid to hide behind when they were not firing out from the gaps between the stone battlements. In times of war, these gaps would have wooden shutters in between to give the defenders even more protection. Again, the thickness of castle walls can be seen even if this castle, like so many others, is falling into ruin. This also shows the wall walk (parapet) along which defending soldiers would patrol.


Slide 10:The image on the right shows a lot of holes: the soldiers across these holes could kill a lot of enemies. From these holes they threw missiles and boiling liquids. This stucture, as the image shows, was inside of the towers of the castle. In this tower there are some holes. The soldiers could flung arrows against enemies to neutralized their attacks without being hit. Around the castle there was almost always a moat: a wide water-filled ditch around a castle, dug to give protection from attacks. The image on the left represents a small room. In this room there were a lot of weapons such as firearms, arrows, crossbows. From this place, the guards could see every possible attack. On this house there was always a flag.


Slide 11:THE END….. (for now) But isn’t finished here… If I have to be short… I have to finish here…. What a pity!!! PRODUCED AND WRITTEN BY ANNA SATALINO