GOOD MORNIN

G!

What do you mean by this

line?

“Today's human rights violations are the causes of tomorrow's conflicts.”

---Mary Robinson

Early European Literature

INTRODUCTION

Dark ages & Middle ages/medieval Literature

Dark Ages• As the Western Roman Empire became weakened

because of the ills within it, barbaric tribes swarmed into it. These long years after the end of the western Roman Empire referred to the Dark Age.

Europe slipped backward almost

into savagery.

Why the Dark Ages?Petrarch, who was born in Arezzo in Tuscany, northern Italy, in 1304, was able to look back over almost a thousand years to what many historians have classed as the greatest disaster ever to afflict Europe: the end of the Roman Empire which had been an oasis of civilization for five hundred years before it was swamped by barbarian invaders during the 5th Century AD.

What was Lost During the Dark Ages?

• The “darkness” which then descended on Europe was to lasted for some eight or nine hundred years.

• “The Dark Ages” was not simply a poetic name designed to stir the imagination. It was an appropriate description of the immense loss Europe and Europeans suffered as Roman law and order broke down and the safety and security of Pax Romana, the Roman Peace, gave way to danger and uncertainty.

Statues were destroyed

Constantine---Emperor of Rome from A.D.312 to 337; encouraged the spread of Christianity.

(Dark Ages)

The End of Safeguards

• All safeguards disappeared once the Roman Army ceased to be the powerful disciplined force which had once conquered a great empire. Instead, the Army became weak, torn by rivalries among its officers.

Effects• no longer prevent the Vandals from plundering Rome

in 455AD

• can’t stop other tribal leaders from flooding into the Empire’s territory

• German tribes such as the Suebi, Ostrogoths and Alani swarmed into Roman Spain, Gaul and Italy where they killed, robbed, enslaved and destroyed

The Invaders Settle Down

• The raiders had not come just to raid and rob and then go home, taking their booty with them. In time, they settled in the fertile, well-developed lands which offered them a better life than they could have in their own, home, territory.

However, the Anglo-Saxons had no use for the elegant Roman towns many of which became deserted. The once well-kept gardens became overgrown with weeds. The fountains in town streets which had once flowed with fresh water became dried up and dirty.

Coloseums were also

abandoned.

As the years went by, abandoned Roman towns decayed even further. People from nearby villages took away stones, pillars or pieces of metal and wood as building materials for cowsheds and other structures.

MIDDLE AGES

Period of gloom was followed by the period middle ages, which extended from the 5th to 15th century.

Dark Ages

Middle Ages

It represents the gradual but steady and laborious progress of civilization

In this period, the church was rising into power and authority. Practically all intellectual pursuits and activities took place in the monasteries

Christianity Spreads to Northern Europe

• As the Roman Empire fell, various groups from the north and east moved into former Roman lands. As they moved in, these groups created their own states. The rulers of these states, usually powerful warlords, began to call themselves kings. These kings often fought among themselves and as a result, by the early 500s Europe was divided into many small kingdoms.

• These kingdoms marked the beginning of the Middle Ages, a period that lasted from about 500 to about 1500. We call this time the “middle” ages because it falls between ancient times and modern times. Another name for the Middle Ages is the medieval (mee-DEE-vuhl) period, from the Latin words for “middle age.”

• At the beginning of the Middle Ages, many of the kingdoms of northern Europe were not Christian. Christianity was only common in places that had been part of the Roman Empire, such as Italy and Spain. As time passed, however, Christianity slowly spread farther north. This spread was largely through the efforts of two groups of Christians—missionaries and monks.

Literatures of Europe

Epic

EpicThe literature of civilized Europe is believed to have

begun with the epic literature of the middle age Epics are part of the oral literature which, later,

was written down.

Epic is inseparable from the idea of grandeur, it is inferred purely as an individual can be the proper subject of an epic. A hero remains an individual although he rises above the average human stature; but a hero becomes an epic hero when he represents something greater than himself- a nation, a race, a faith.

They also reflect the life of and civilization of a heroic age and reveal the influence of Christianity.

EPIC

“A narrative in verse full of warlike adventures.”

Four major Epics in Europe:

German- Nibelungenlied

France- Song of Roland

Spain- El Cid

Italy- Divine Comedy