INTRODUCTION
One of the aims of this unit is to explain the strength and social connectivity of Medieval Literature to the English society of the period. This unit delineates the rise in literary activities and the support given to the Arts by the Church and royalty. This unit will broaden your knowledge, especially from the perspective that writers of medieval England were not solely English; some were Latin writers and the literatures of the period could be categorised into religious and secular; women too were notable writers in the age. Below are some of the objectives of this unit.
3.1 The Church as Government
The medieval age had witnessed the fall of the Roman Empire. The populace of the period, especially the lower classes, were not so educated, but were well „schooled‟ in church activities and doctrine. If people were uneducated about anything, it is certainly not about church activities. The Church was at the centre of societal decisions.
The Church was both the legal and social order of the period. The dictates of the Church controlled the life and general activities of the people. The Church was quite powerful, even sometimes more powerful than the kings of the time. However, the English monarchy had at various times being at loggerheads with some of the principles and stance of the Church, and this had led to strained relations between the two. A classic example is the rivalry between the English king, Henry II (1154 – 1189), who had made one of his priest friends, Thomas a Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury as a means of limiting the powers of the Church. But he was greatly disappointed as his friend‟s loyalty was with the Church. Henry II was so frustrated with his inability to limit the powers of the Church through his friend that he had him murdered on December 29, 1170.
3.1.1 English Literature as Instructive Modem
From the beginning, England struggled under foreign influences. In the first seven hundred years of its existence, her contact with the language of the Celts, the Romans and Scandinavians, no doubt led to the exchange of some elements, including the mixture of their languages. The contact of England with the Romans, who spoke Latin, a more civilised culture, earned medieval England commercial, military and later religious and intellectual advantages. The relationships extended over many centuries, long before the Anglo-Saxon came to England and continued throughout the old English period. About a century and half later, a new cultural influence thrived, with the introduction of Christian missionaries by the Romans. This influence paved greater way to the adoption of Latin elements into the English Language. The characters and borrowings greatly influenced the emerging Literature of the English, which served as instructive modem of the entire medieval period and through the Renaissance. Literary medium became a major avenue through which the teachings of the bible were expressed and the doctrines of the early Church made available to converts. The English literary tradition continued overtime, with great and traceable impacts in every aspect of the English national life.
Indeed, as time passed, so much of the words and borrowings that had occurred frequently in early texts of old and Middle English had been lost. In the flourishing state of the Church, in the reign of Alfred the Great, learned men were encouraged to express ideas that have moral basis. Their works reflect theological and pedagogical classical tastes, with quite a number of works relating to the everyday characteristics of the religious teachings concerns of the period of English Literature. The main purpose of the inclusion of such words like Baptist, baptizer, baptismal, vow, Christian name, baptistery, and baptism time, amongst others, in the writings of the old and middle English Literature was to emphasise the religious commitment and moral focus of the Christian religion. English Literature became a tool for the expression of the moral concern of the Church. Geoffrey Chaucer reflects the moral concern of English Literature in his dramatic but instructive The Canterbury Tales, his over twenty stories written in Middle English – Vernacular English.
English Literature may be described as a form of religious instruction, considering the various moral themes expressed in such literary works as Caedmon’s Hymn. The work discusses praise as a Christian virtue. Caedman, a shepherd in North Umbria, in the North of England, heard the voice of God which inspired him to sing, praise and worship God.
Also, most middle English plays and the liturgical have been used to reflect major teachings of the Old and New Testaments, such as the story of Christ‟s crucifixion and resurrection, the temptations of Jesus Christ by Satan, the dialogue between the Angel and Mary, as well as the lives of Christian Saints, the fall of Lucifer, creation of the world, the Noanic flood, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Abraham and Isaac, as well as the day of judgment.
3.1.2 English Literature as History and Diary of Events
As early as the 9th century, there was a compendium of English history, now known as Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This document contained the different parts or elements of English history or important events of England variously documented by different peoples, monks, church clerks, etc. over the centuries. Some parts of the document were written as poetry, some prose, some in the form of diary, or a document of the writer‟s travel experience, catalogue of libraries, while some records the oral tradition of some aspects of English history. Some of the writers of The Chronicle collated the experiences of others, edited, recorded and provided the observable gaps and irregularities or errors of dates and judgment. Some of its parts merely serve as a continuity of a previous document; while some of the writers wrote as eyewitnesses, giving the real life experience of England. It could be about wars, victories and losses, influences, and other relationships with friends and foes. Some writers translated existing documents of English history, while writers compared the documents.
Latin and Norman historians wrote major parts of The Chronicle. For instance, the earliest manuscript, The Winchester Chronicle, was written by a scribe up to the year 891, but subsequent ones were written by scribes in the years 892, 893, up to the years of Alfred the Great, 871 - 899. The original chronicle birthed the Winchester Chronicle, copies of which were distributed to the centres of learning. The major languages of the Anglo-Saxon chronicle were the languages of instruction of the age, Old English and Latin languages; (seven were written in old English).
Different versions of the history were named uniquely, as follows: The Bilingual Canterbury Epitome (1100); The Peterborough Chronicle; The Winchester Chronicle (1001); and The Parker Chronicle (named after Mathew Parker, an Archbishop of Canterbury).
In addition, a number of the English vernacular literary writers of the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, including the Renaissance, used literature to tell the stories of kings and express literary talents of the period. For instance, an English woman, Marie de France, was a strong force behind the story of King Arthur and the Round Table. Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower and William Langland used the English language to make French language, the language of education and literature, less popular in medieval England.
English Literature fuelled the Renaissance era and comparative learning in the various forms. Science and Arts was made possible through literature, as this became widely acknowledged among the nobles and commoners. It was an avenue through which literatures and learning of other cultures like Latin flourished. For instance, Latin Literature flourished in 12th century England; English Literature helped the English language to become the language of the government. The novel inventions of the period in Europe were popularised and advertised through the English literary medium for information, awareness and distribution and possible comparability. The printing revolution of Guttenberg influenced William Caxton in England, who printed many literary texts and books,romances and tales of Kings.
The nature of the social cultural and religious connectivity of the English Literature as a tool for the dissemination of learning caused its adoption by church clerics and universities, even beyond England. Some of the early universities that took advantage of the use of literature were Oxford, Cambridge, Bologna, Padua and Paris. Science and Logic were also part of the intellectual focus of the universities.
3.1.3 Religious Writings in Medieval England
In the middle Ages, the Catholic clerics were at the centre of learning in the society, hence theology and theological related literatures were written in the period. It was easy to come by individual perceptions of the order of Mass and hymns. Also, Europe in the middle ages had records of a number of theological writers, some of whom were the Spanish Maimonides, France-born Troyes, among other Jewish authors, and Francis of Assisi, a Franciscan poet. Stabat Mater and Dies Irae are Latin poems on religious themes; The Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine reportedly had readership population than the Bible.
Famous theological scholars such as Thomas Aquinas, Anselm of Canterbury and Pierre Abelard are famous for their theological and philosophical treatises. Mystery plays also express Biblical subjects.
In addition, more than half of the Anglo-Saxon poetry is concerned with Christian themes and legend of saints, as in the New and Old Testaments. Examples of such poetry originated from Mercia and Northumbra in the seventh and eight centuries. Other examples of similar English medieval Christian poets were Caedmon, a lay brother in the monastery at Whitby. He revealed how he received the gift of songs in a dream and how verses of the scripture were reduced to song forms, as in one of his popular poems, Adam Bede. Other poems, such as, Juliana and Elene, were legends of saints. His other poem, Andreas and Guthlac, reveals the Apocalypse. There are a number of similar poems that reveal the temptation of Jesus Christ and the expulsion of Satan from paradise, as well as the harrowing experience of Hell.
All of these poems have their counterparts in the other literatures of the Middle Ages. They are evidence of the cultural contact of England with Rome, and the evolving English cosmopolitan culture.
The different influences that characterised the English Literature of the middle ages are seen in the various themes discussed. Some of them are personal, but the religious themes were popular with the activities of the Christian monks in the monasteries. They could read and write and for centuries, guarded culture and learning. Although only a few of the writings of the monks were available, their works embody heroic Christian cultures and values. Many of the texts are anonymous, but a few had names attached to them. For instance, Caedmon’s Hymn is a legend about a shepherd in North Umbria in the far North of England. He heard the voice of God, and his hymn became the first song of praise in English Literature. The monks are credited to have written the Vercelli Book preserved texts from the Dark Ages. They also wrote long poems that had religious themes that celebrated the lives of saints, amongst other vital issues in Christian religion. Some of such poems are preserved in the Exeter Book. Some of the anonymous religious texts of the period that are categorised as the best are The Dream of the Rood; the word, „Rood ‟ means, „cross‟. The poem uses rich images, allusions and metaphor to describe the Cross of Jesus Christ. The poem can also be found in the Vercelli Book.
3.1.4 Secular Writings in Medieval England
The language of a people is generally expressed in their literature. It is in the literature of the people that a language displays its full potential. The Middle English Literature is of two types; some were brought to England by Germanic conquerors from their continental homes. Such forms of literature were preserved in the peoples ‟ pagan and Christian origins, which were both not quite distinct. The pagan poetries that overlap with Christian sentiments both contained or had traces of earlier philosophy, or the native traditions of the race. An example of the works of English Literature we may describe as the folk epic (embodies materials from the oral pool of expression) is Beowulf, which has about 3000 lines. It is a heroic epic, a narrative adventure of a young warrior, Beowulf, who fought and killed the monster, Gendel, which threatened the land of King Hrothgar. Beowulf died years later while trying to get rid of a similar creature, a fire breathing dragon, in his country.
The heroism of the epic reflects in the words of the hero, Beowulf, before his encounter with Grendel:
Sorrow not… Better is it for every man that he avenge his friend than that he mourn greatly. Each of us must abide the end of this world‟s life; let him who may work mighty deeds ere he die, for afterwards, when he lies lifeless, that is best for the warrior.
The medieval sense of heroism was not an easy life, but of physical endurance, a loyal sense of duty, honour and courage. Apart from Beowulf, Anglo-Saxon poets were fascinated by the sea, minstrel life and ruined cities. The Teutonic tradition had a short poem, Widsith. In the poem, a minstrel gives the accounts of his wanderings and how he exercised his craft before great kings and princess. Another poem, „Deor ‟, recalls the tragic experiences of a wanderer, a man who had enjoyed high respectability, lost his lord to death, friends and relations abandoned him, and he became a lone wanderer. „The Ruin‟ reflects a once great and prosperous city reduced to rubble by war.
Prior to and in the reign of the Anglo-Saxon King, Alfred the Great, 871 – 99, England had been most popular in verse, relying greatly on oral borrowings largely from residual pagan and renditions of imported cultures of the Germanic conquerors, Rome and Latin. King Alfred encouraged the learning and teaching of Latin by translating books written in Latin to English. For instance, as a guide for the clergy of his time, he translated Pope Gregory‟s Pastoral Care for the people to know more about their past. He also ensured that Adam Bede‟s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, 731, was translated. Alfred undertook the translation of a fourth book to English, The Consolation of Philosophy, written by Boethius, one of the popular books of that age. He also encouraged a book to be written and compiled on the important events of English history. He authored two books of homilies, one of which was a plea for moral and political reform.
Many of the writings of the period were histories and books on information and not strictly imaginative, as we had in the Renaissance or now. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells the history of England from the beginning of the Christian era, at about AD 600 to 1154; it combined free expression with poetry. Aelfric, a monk from Winchester in Southern England, a writer and translator, was a leading figure in the translation. Although King Arthur was central to the writing of English history, by encouraging the writing of such works by authors like Layamon, the latter incorporated classical Greek and Roman sources into British history, combined themes and other important issues worth preserving. Geoffrey
Chaucer‟s Canterbury Tales is both secular and religious. It is his best known and first major work in English Literature, and contains series of stories told by a group of people returning from an Inn in Southwark to the Cathedral of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The tales used different European versions, as in his earlier poems, the dream poem in old English mode, Troilus and Criseyde (about 1385), and The House of Fame (1370‟s).
Secular literatures were not as many as religious writings. There were courtly love poems written in Roman languages in the 11th century. Others were written in Spanish, Greek, French, Galician-Portuguese and Catalan languages. The troubadours travel singers earned a living through their nostalgic songs; they made great impacts. The goliardic form of political poems, with subjects dealing with matters of state, also made great and noticeable impacts during the period.
3.1.5 Women’s Writing in Medieval England
Women in the middle ages were not given any freedom that in anyway could be equated to that of their male counterparts. Some women were accorded their rights under some sects like the Cathars. Few of the saints who wrote took advantage of the Church to exercise their literary expression. Some of these saints published their prayers, reflections and revelations: Clare of Assisi, Catherine of Siena, Bridget of Sweden, Julian of Norwich, Marie de France, and Christine de Pizan. Despite the restrictions on women in the period, they still voiced their thoughts. Though largely described to be unorthodox by those in power, yet such works were a novel perspective to medieval experience, as their works transcended religious and the secular boundaries.
3.1.5.1 Latin Writers of England
The introduction of Christianity and the building of churches in England led to the establishment of monasteries. Then Latin, the language of the services and ecclesiastical learning, became famous. Schools were setup in monasteries under trained teachers. When in 669, a Greek bishop, Theodore of Tarsus, became the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was accompanied by the Greek and Latin scholar of repute, Hadrian. Disciples were made and the teaching and learning of Latin and Greek were greatly encouraged. Poetry, ecclesiastical arithmetic, arithmetic, and astronomy were also taught.
Aldhelm, a remarkable Latin literary scholar, wrote verses in Latin. Another remarkable writer was John Gower, who wrote both in Latin and French, and was famous for his Confession Amantis, where the protagonist lover confesses that he will give up love because he is getting too old. William Langland‟s Piers Plowman uses the dream vision model to write series of dream stories, satirising and reviling Medieval England and its old values of religious idealism and overriding ambition. Wynken de Worde, the 1470 printer in England, wrote and printed literary works, the first of which was a story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table called LeMorte d’Arthur.
There is also the impressive debate between the Owl and the Nightingale (1195), a long poem in which two birds exchange recriminations in sociable fashion. These were some of the popular ballads of the time.
3.1.5.2 John of Salisbury’s Policraticus
John of Salisbury (1115 – 1176) was born at Old Sarum near Salisbury, England. In 1136, he studied under great scholars of the twelfth century like Peter Abelard and Gilbert of Poitiers, William of Conches, Adam du Petit Pont and Thierry of Chartres. Perhaps, for the inability to finance his studies and reason of persecution, he abandoned school at Paris. He attended the Church Council of Rheims in 1148 and while in search of employment, he witnessed the condemnation of Gilbert, which he chronicled in his Historia Pontificalis. He was a secretary to Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury. John, an intellectual, politician and diplomat, apart from his voluminous treatise on political theory and human happiness, wrote Metalogicon, the latter philosophical work that laments the sense of loss at the death of Pope Hadrian IV, the English Pope who ruled between (1154 - 1159). It was in the years of his involvement as friend to Becket that John wrote Historia Pontificalis; an extent of relationship that was disputed by historians. He was not in exile with Becket but led the delegation that was charged with preparing for the return of Becket to England in 1170. Legend revealed that John sustained injury on December 29, 1170 when Becket was killed by King Henry‟s Knights. But John‟s own account of the murder of Becket did not show he was present at the scene. Some other literary output of John is Entheticus Minor, a collection of poems that address philosophical themes. The Historia is his controversial theological perspective of the council that summoned him to defend himself on some of the controversial issues that are linked to him during this period.
However, Policraticus, John‟s eighth book, reveals the political and ethical aspects of life. It includes whether it is right and correct to kill a tyrant or permissible to tell off colour jokes at dinner parties. He draws inspiration from classical philosophy in his argument. He is careful not to pass dogmatic judgment on any doubtful issues of life but identifies the opinion of the wise and claim that the rest of us should agree and be led to similar probable conclusions. His style has been linked with that of Peter Abelard in Sic et Non. He is more committed to authority rather than novel arguments.
5.1.5.3 Nigel Wireker’sSpelculum Stultorum
Nigellus Wireker, known also as Nigel de Long champs (1190 - 1200),was an
English satirist poet, monk of Christ Church, Canterbury, of the late 12thcentury. He was a Latin writer of Speculum Stultorum (A Mirror of Fools). The elegiac verse, which satirises the clergy and society, revolves around the many foolish adventures of the central character, Burnellus or Burnellus. Also known under the title, Daun Burnel the Asse, the poem was popular for centuries and well cited in Geoffrey Chaucer‟s „Nun‟s Priest‟s Tale‟ , a part of The Canterbury Tales. The poem is a satire on the role of William Longchamp as Bishop of Ely, who attempted to combine church issues with state affairs.
Little is known about the life of Nigellus Wireker, except that he lived during the reigns of Henry II and Richard I of England in the second half of the 12th century. He was part of the movement for the Latin reform, a group that included John of Salisbury. Wireker criticised the vanity of the ambition of the clergy, particularly their quest for worldly materials. His speculum has been so named so that others can learn and correct their follies or foolishness. His work influenced Gower and Chaucer.
3.1.5.4 The Literary Debate Form
Medieval literary debate is a genre made popular in England and France during the late medieval period. A debate poem, for example, reflects a dialogue between two natural opposites - e.g. sun versus moon, winter versus summer. Such debates can be emotionally charged, emphasizing the contrasting values and personalities of the participants and revealing their areas of opposites. In reality, debate poems appear didactic, and there usually ensues a real dialogue between two paired opponents.
Forms of debates were common in Islamic Persian Literature and Mesopotamian Sumerian-language literature in the first half of the third millennium BC. But the European debate poem appeared for the first time in literary form in the 8th and 9th centuries during the Carolingian Renaissance. Debate poems were first composed in Latin by European clergy men. The first example of this form is Conflictus VerisetHiemis (Contention of Spring and Winter) written by Alcuin in the late 8th century. Based on the belief in dichotomies, debates were usually informed by the notion that everything in nature, abstract or concrete, inanimate or alive had an opposite. Common examples include New and Old Testaments; vice and virtue; good and evil; God and Satan; sins of the spirit, sins of the flesh; night and day; Adam and Eve; male and female. This belief was enhanced by the religious language used in the period.
3.1.5.5 The Owl and the Nightingale
This is a 12th or 13th century poem of no specific authorial or date of composition. It is in the debate form, which was popular in the medieval era.
However, The Owl and the Nightingale is unique for its use of conversational technique that probes the vital aspects of the medieval era. The poem is thorough and investigative about human nature, and specific about the socio-economic, political as well as the Church activities of the medieval age.
The nightingale, perched on a covered branch, engaged in an argument with the owl, which was on a bough overgrown with ivy. The exchange started with the nightingale who probes and derides the owl‟s physique, using invective words in its pattern of probe, addressing the owl as dirty and ugly. But the owl proceeds into the argument in a cautious manner. The nightingale suggests that they invite Nicholas of Guildford into the debate, as a most qualified umpire and judge for such a serious discourse.
The nightingale condemns the owl for the shrieks and screeches she produces and described her active night activities as vices. The owl condemns the excessive and boring howling of the nightingale. The latter replies that the owl‟s boring songs is gloomy but the nightingale‟s is beautiful and brings happiness to all in the world. The owl says the nightingale sings only in summer when people are depressed and emotionally unstable. The nightingale is blessed with the ability to sing while the owl is skillful at using her songs to get rid of the Church rats. The nightingale insists she is also helpful to the Church because her songs are capable of encouraging Christians to curry the favour of God. The owl says people must confess their sins as a condition to reaching Heaven. Her songs, though mournful, makes people remorseful and repentant. She adds that the nightingale‟s beautiful melodies encourage women into promiscuity.
At last, the nightingale heats up the debate by telling the owl that she is only useful in death, as her corpse is often used as scarecrow by farmers. She then invites other birds to humiliate the owl while the latter threatens to assembly her predatory friends into the verbal scene. The wren descends to quieten the conflict but they all agreed to wait until Nicholas Guildford of Portesham in Dorset arrives to deliver judgment. The owl assures the assembly that she has a fine memory that will recall her view of the debate so far accurately when the judge arrives. The nightingale agrees to find the intelligent Nicholas, who is said to be overworked but underpaid by wealthy men and bishops. The debate ends with the birds flying off in search of the learned Nicholas.
The allegorical poem reflects the intrigues, personalities and issues that the Church and the State were engaged in during the medieval age. The nightingale represents King Henry II and the owl, Bishop Thomas Becket of Canterbury. The birds symbolise conflicting parties who turned to the court of law to resolve their disagreements; however, as at the end of the poem, the issue was yet to be resolved. With the unresolved disagreement, the parties had to wait for Nicholas, a learned judge, probably the handicapped but learned legal system of the medieval era. In other words, the learned jury who never arrived at the end of the poem may be a prediction of the second coming of Jesus Christ, whose arrival will end all conflicts and the order of things.
3.1.5.6 Disputation between the Body and the Soul
The final adaptation of The Body and Soul in Middle English Literature occurred in A Disputacione Betwyx the Body and the Worms, one of the accounts of the Parliament of Three Ages and the alliterative Morte Arthure. The Body and the Soul deviates from the previous poems in the Body and the Soul tradition. Its aim
is to instill understanding and not fear. The manuscript is part of the early 15th century collection of pieces of instruction meditation meant for clerical audience. The disputation says the torments inflicted on the soul are taken over by the suffering of the body but the didactic intention is not to induce repentance but to popularise the humble acceptance of the realities of death. The dissolution of the body in the grave is less gruesomely realistic than similar disputations found in many 13th century death lyrics. The poem‟s form of attack of worms that consume the body as it dissolves in the grave is fascinating, but some readers may find it terrifying, while others may find it amusing. The poem reveals the psychological problems in the mind of a lady that made her confront the worms. Thus, she thinks of and developed nostalgic feeling for her past pleasures, regrets the corruption of her body and acceptance of the reality of death. The poem is about death and life in its broad thematic focus, as it emphasises St. Paul‟s deviance of death:
Oh death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory?
4.0 CONCLUSION
In this unit, we have discussed the Church as government, while English Literature may be said to be an instructive modem. We have also discussed religious, secular, Latin and women‟s writing in Medieval England; while some Latin writers and popular literary debates of the period were examined.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit, you have learnt that:
. the Church exerted much influence in medieval England, which extended over the State;
. English Literature played a significant role as an instructive modem;
. religious writings differ from the secular in some respects;
. despite the restrictions placed on the women of the age, a few of them excelled in their writings;
. the works of some Latin writers of England influenced the age;
. the literary debates of the period expressed moral themes that bothered on Church doctrines.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENTS
1. Outline the various ways in which the Church exerted power over the medieval government and society.
2. Differentiate between religious and secular writings.
3. Discuss the themes of the debate between the owl and the nightingale.
4. Summarise the major concerns of the poem, The Body and the Soul
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Baldwin, Anne W. (1967). „Henry II and The Owl and the Nightingale. The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 66, No. 2:207 – 229.
Cannon, Christopher (2004). The Grounds of English Literature. Oxford: Oxford.
Cartilidge, Neil (Ed. and Trans.) (2001). The Owl and the Nightingale: Text and Translation. Exeter, UK: University of Exeter Press.
Gardner, John (2009). The Alliterative Morte Arthure, The Owl and the Nightingale and Five Other Middle English Poems. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois UP.
Kerr, N. R. (1963). The Owl and the Nightingale: Reproduced in Facsimile. London: Oxford University Press.
Mann, Jill (2009). From Aesop to Reynard: Beast Literature in Medieval Britain. Oxford: Oxford UP.
Treharne, Elaine M. and Greg Walker (2010). The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Literature in English. Oxford: Oxford UP.
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