1. Gothic Architecture
The style of architecture during the Middle Ages was
called Gothic.
For nearly four hundred years Gothic style dominated the
architecture of Western Europe. Gothic architects
designed town halls, royal palaces, courthouses and
hospitals, they fortified cities and castles to defend lands
against invasion, and they created bridges and hostelries
to facilitate communication. But it was in the service of
the Church that the Gothic style attained its most
meaningful expression, for the Church was the major
builder of the Middle Ages, providing the widest scope for
the development of architectural ideas and calling forth
the best talents.
The considerable size of many Gothic monuments meant
that they were expensive to construct, and size
sometimes also delayed the completion of the work.
2. Gothic Architecture
The size of the Cathedrals required the use of a “Flying Buttress”. A
buttress is a support -- usually brick or stone -- built against a wall to
support or reinforce it. A flying buttress (shown below) is a free-
standing buttress attached to the main structure by an arch or a half-
arch. Used in great Gothic, the flying buttress allowed master
builders to create taller and visually lighter structures that reached
toward the heavens.
3. Gothic Architecture
Another feature of Gothic architecture was stained-glass. Since the walls themselves were no longer the primary
supports, Gothic buildings could include large areas of glass. Huge stained glass windows and a profusion of
smaller windows created the effect of lightness and space. Because most lay people (people who are not Church
officials) were illiterate, the windows would illustrate Bible stories. Also, the mass was said in Latin, not the
vernacular or common language of the people, so it was one of the few ways for the people to understand the
religion.
In addition to religious figures, many Gothic cathedrals are heavily ornamented with strange, leering creatures.
These gargoyles are not merely decorative. Originally, the sculptures were waterspouts to protect the foundation
from rain. Sculptures also illustrated lessons from the scriptures.
Because of the statues, windows, and other decoration, Churches have been referred to as “Books of Stone”
Gargoyle
Gothic
architecture
was still
used after
the Middle
Ages. St.
Patrick’s
Cathedral in
Manhattan
is a local
example,
built in
1868.
4. Medieval Art
Medieval art covers a vast scope of time and place, over 1000
years of art history in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
It includes major art movements and periods, national and
regional art, genres, revivals, the artists crafts, and the artists
themselves.
Art historians classify Medieval art into major periods and
movements. They are Celtic art, Early Christian art, Migration
Period art, Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque art, Gothic art,
Byzantine art and Islamic art. In addition each "nation" or
culture in the Middle Ages had its own distinct artistic style and
these are looked at individually, such as Anglo-Saxon art or
Viking art. Medieval art was of many crafts, such as mosaics
and sculpture; and there were many unique genres of art, such
as Crusade art.
Medieval artists in Europe depended, in varying degrees, upon artistic heritage of the
Roman Empire and upon the legacy of the early Christian church. These sources were
mixed with the vigorous "Barbarian" artistic culture of Northern Europe to produce a
remarkable artistic legacy. Indeed the history of medieval art can be seen as the history of
the interplay between the elements of classical, early Christian and "Barbarian" art.
5. Medieval Art
The purpose of Medieval art was to glorify the life and death of Jesus
Christ, to provide peasants with a depiction of God’s kingdom and a vision
of a glorious afterlife and to assure that the Church remained a dominant
force in the lives of its citizens.
Most religious artists after the fourth
century, when Christianity dominated as the
chief religion of the Roman world, chose to
reject the ideals of perfection in form and
technique. Rather, these monastic artists
sought to present images which would draw
the spectator into the inner eye of their
work, pointing to its spiritual significance.
This attitude towards art reflected the religious ideals of the monk artist. The
monastic values of the day advocated a rejection of the physical body and the
material world, certainly the representation of man in art replicated these ideals.
Man and Woman were not represented as images of physical perfection. Rather
their appearance was nondescript; their function was to represent a historical or
biblical character in a symbolic tableau from the Old or New Testament.
The predominating features of these characters conveyed religious ideals.
Consequently, certain features, uplifted hands and eyes, for example, became
stock elements in medieval art.
6. Medieval Art Painting during the Gothic period
was practiced in 4 primary crafts:
frescos, panel paintings, manuscript
illumination and stained glass.
Weeping on Christ dead
1303-1305
8. Illuminated Bibles, Libraries and
Scriptoriums
•In most places around Europe, the clergy were the only literate people to
be found.
•Therefore, it is not surprising that monasteries became centers of
learning along with cathedrals.
•Monks came to see themselves as protectors of knowledge and culture in
Europe. This role was especially prominent in Ireland where the Irish
monks protected much of Western learning from disappearing during
those uncertain times.
9. Illuminated Bibles, Libraries and
Scriptoriums
The classic Bible
illuminated
manuscript took
several monks two
years or more to
produce.
•Many of the larger monasteries were famous for their scriptoriums – giant
rooms where monks would sit for hours everyday copying books by hand.
•Monasteries were relatively safe places to keep these expensive books.
•An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented
by the addition of drawings or designs and decorated with gold or silver.
10. Music of the Middle ages
The Medieval music of the Middle Ages generally consisted of the music
of the church. However, Travel, prompted by the Crusades, led to a new
and unprecedented interest in beautiful objects, elegant manners, poetry
and music. Middle Ages music in Europe was influenced by Arab love
songs. The ideals of courtly love were introduced further influencing the
content and styles of the music of the Middle Ages.
The Troubadours
Troubadours were poet musicians. They did not
write religious poems. They wrote romances
about knights and ladies. These romances were
told in the form of poems set to music. Their
songs were very popular because they were
about love and heroes and chivalry.
These musicians would go from town to town,
playing love songs. They might also play drums,
harps, and bagpipes, which were all popular
instruments of the times.
11. Music of the Middle ages
It was important for a knight not only to be able fight but also to be able to
play musical instruments and to dance. The oldest Medieval musical
instrument was the human voice, but the harp, fiddle, flute, lute, and other
instruments were developed! During the early Medieval period, Church
hymns and songs were performed. The earliest Church organ dates back to
the 8th Century. Later, many songs were love poems to women and stories
about Heroic Kings and adventure. Many of the musical instruments of the
Middle Ages were the forerunners to our modern musical instruments.
12. Music of the Middle Ages
Gregorian Chants
•Gregoran chants are a body of
chants of the Roman Catholic Church,
most of which are part of two liturgical
rites, the Mass and the Offices.
Origins are traditionally are ascribed to
the period of Pope Gregory I 590-604.
The sacred music of the Gregorian
Chant was also known as plainchant,
or plainsong and named after Pope
Gregory.
•This music consisted of a single line
of melody with a flexible rhythm sung
to Latin words by unaccompanied
male voices. Manuscripts date from
ninth century and used a system of
modes, specific patterns of whole and
half steps. This single line of melody,
called monophony, characterized
music until about 1000 AD.
13. Convents and the Role of Women
• Although the monastic life
seems strange to many of us
today, it was a very attractive
option for many people in the
Middle Ages – including
women.
• Monasteries for women were
called Convents.
• To become a nun was very
respectable and could bring a
woman great prestige.
14. Role of Women
How were women viewed by Medieval Society?
• St. Augustine was the first Christian theologian to develop
the idea of Original Sin. This was the sin committed by
Adam and Eve. Needless to say, Eve was perceived to be the
more sinful of the two.
Women had very few options as far as
the way society would perceive them:
- The Virgin Mary was the ideal woman – chaste
yet still a loving mother and devoted wife.
- Witches and Prostitutes were at the other end
of the spectrum.
15. Why did women become nuns?
•Some were dedicated by their families at a young
age as fulfillment of a religious promise made by the
parents.
•True piety – these women were genuinely devoted
to their religion and wanted to spend their lives
practicing their religion. So instead of marrying a
man they chose to become “brides of Christ”.
•Remaining chaste saved a woman from becoming
like Eve and brought her redemption.
•In some cases it was a way to escape marriage and
childbearing – both of which could be very
dangerous for a woman in the Middle Ages.
•The promise of education and a life of
contemplation – something they could not have in
public/married life.
16. Witch Hunts
The vast majority of witches were condemned by secular courts with local courts
especially noted for their persecutory zeal. The standard procedure in most countries
was for accused witches to be brought before investigating tribunals and interrogated.
In some parts of Europe, torture was rarely used; but where the witch-hunts were
most intensive, it was a standard feature of the interrogations.
Obviously, a large majority of accused who "confessed" to witchcraft did so as a result
of the brutal tortures to which they were exposed. About half of all convicted witches
were given sentences short of execution. The unluckier half were generally killed in
public, often en masse, by hanging or burning.
17. Witch Hunts
The witch-hunts waxed and waned for nearly three centuries, with great
variations in time and space. The rate of witch hunting varied dramatically
throughout Europe, ranging from a high of 26,000 deaths in Germany to a
low of 4 in Ireland. Most burning of witches took place during the Early
Modern European Era of the 15th-17th centuries.
Women were accused
of casting evil spells
and doing the deeds of
Satan.
The were considered
heretics of the
Church!
18. Literature
Theological works were the dominant form of literature
typically found in libraries during the Middle Ages. Catholic
clerics were the intellectual center of society in the Middle
Ages, and it is their literature that was produced in the
greatest quantity.
Epic poems such as Beowulf and The
Song of Roland were written. Political
poetry was written also, especially
towards the end of this period. Travel
literature was highly popular in the Middle
Ages, as fantastic accounts of far-off
lands (frequently embellished or entirely
false) entertained a society that, in most
cases, limited people to the area in which
they were born as seen by the
prominence of Geoffrey Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales.
19. Literature
The Divine Comedy is
an epic poem written by
Dante Alighieri between
1308 and his death in
1321. It is widely
considered the
preeminent work of
Italian literature and is
seen as one of the
greatest works of world
literature.
Dante shown holding a copy of the Divine Comedy, next to the
entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of
Florence, with the spheres of Heaven above.
The poem's imaginative and allegorical vision of the afterlife is a culmination of the
medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church. It is divided into
three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.
On the surface, the poem describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and
Heaven; but at a deeper level, it represents the soul's journey towards God. At this
deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy.
20. Illumination of Bibles Gothic Architecture Literature
What role did the Monks have in society? Examine the examples provided of Gothic architecture. What factors influenced literature during the Middle Ages?
Describe the featured characteristics.
How did medieval architects accomplish such monumental
structures?
What were the scriptoriums and what was produced there?
Why is Dante’s Divine Comedy so important during this time?
Why are cathedrals referred to as “Books of Stone”?
Cultural Achievements
Medieval Art
Evaluate the examples of medieval art provided. What are some Music Role of Women
What were many women accused of doing? Why and
common themes? How did Music change during the Middle Ages? Why? what happened to them?
Write a song that a Troubadour might have performed! (At Why did Women become Nuns?
Explain the purpose and goals of medieval art? Do you think it least 4 lines)
succeeded in achieving these goals?
How were women perceived in the Late Middle Ages?
Why?
On the back of this page, draw a picture of the greatest cultural achievement of the Middle Ages
