Chapter 3: Middle Ages and Renaissance
Preview Questions
Introduction
What do you think of when someone mentions the Middle Ages? Knights in shining armor? The Black Plague? Minstrels singing in court? You would actually experience all of these things in the long period of time during Medieval times. The dates of this era are generally marked as being from 476 (the fall of the Roman Empire) until about 1400.
In Europe during this time the average person would have been a farmer of some sort who was dependent on a lordly overseer who controlled his life. They would not be able to leave their land without permission, raise any other crops than what they were told and would be required to fight any battles that his lord demanded. A local fair once or twice a year would be their only entertainment outside their house, and he would probably not go much further than a few miles in their entire life. Most peasants were not able to read and write and were quite humble in their overall attitude. They believed in God, would attend a local church once a week and most likely be married and have their funeral at that same church.
Some people might go on a pilgrimage to visit a holy shrine or to see a sacred relic. Only wealthy people would be able to afford to go long distances and be away for months or even years. Visiting Canterbury Cathedral in England to pay homage to Thomas Becket’s grave or going to Compostela, Spain (the burial place of the Apostle James) were two popular pilgrimage sites.
The Bubonic Plague killed 50 million people in the 14th C. or 60% of the population of Europe. Most likely carried by bacteria on fleas on rats, it was one of the most deadly outbreaks of disease in history. It popped up again throughout the next several centuries.
Review Questions
- What do you think of when someone mentions the Middle Ages?
- Can you name a few major events that happened during the Middle Ages?
- What kinds of jobs did people in the Middle Ages have?
- What does Renaissance mean?
- What are some great artists of the Renaissance?
- What are some major advances in science during the Renaissance?
Introduction
What do you think of when someone mentions the Middle Ages? Knights in shining armor? The Black Plague? Minstrels singing in court? You would actually experience all of these things in the long period of time during Medieval times. The dates of this era are generally marked as being from 476 (the fall of the Roman Empire) until about 1400.
In Europe during this time the average person would have been a farmer of some sort who was dependent on a lordly overseer who controlled his life. They would not be able to leave their land without permission, raise any other crops than what they were told and would be required to fight any battles that his lord demanded. A local fair once or twice a year would be their only entertainment outside their house, and he would probably not go much further than a few miles in their entire life. Most peasants were not able to read and write and were quite humble in their overall attitude. They believed in God, would attend a local church once a week and most likely be married and have their funeral at that same church.
Some people might go on a pilgrimage to visit a holy shrine or to see a sacred relic. Only wealthy people would be able to afford to go long distances and be away for months or even years. Visiting Canterbury Cathedral in England to pay homage to Thomas Becket’s grave or going to Compostela, Spain (the burial place of the Apostle James) were two popular pilgrimage sites.
The Bubonic Plague killed 50 million people in the 14th C. or 60% of the population of Europe. Most likely carried by bacteria on fleas on rats, it was one of the most deadly outbreaks of disease in history. It popped up again throughout the next several centuries.
Review Questions
- What was the genre of music that nuns and monks sang in the Middle Ages?
- What was the philosophical movement that helped people in the Renaissance to make their lives better?
- What are some example of events, art works or musical compositions that are examples of the rebirth of the arts and humanities during the Renaissance?
- What were the two sacred genres that were composed in the Renaissance?
- What genre of secular vocal music was sung by both men and women and used word painting?
- What was “word painting”? Why did composers use it?