西方文化概论3

As a knight, he were pledged to protect the weak, to fight for
the church, to be loyal to his lord and to respect women of
noble birth. These rules were known as code of chivalry,
Under feudalism, people of the western Europe were
mainly divided into three classes: clergy, lords and peasants.
The highest was the clergy, the lowest , the peasants and a
sword, lance and shield. He went
into battle with his master. If the
squire proved to be a good fighter,
he would be made a knight at a special ceremony known as dubbing.
is called the Middle Ages. It is so called because it came
between ancient times and modern times.
While the Eastern Roman Empire continued, the power of ancient Rome was gone. In its place mushroomed a great many Germanic kingdoms , which in a few hundred years
were to grow into the nations known as England, France, Spain, Italy and Germany. Between the fifth and eleventh centuries , western Europe was the scene of frequent wars
During the Medieval times there was no central
government to keep the order. The only organization that
seemed to unite Europe was the Christian church.
get this favor was by taking part in
sacraments. Shortly after a child was
born, he was baptized, and thus
became a member Of the church. Later
he was married by a priest. On Friday
People had to pay heavy taxes to
their churches, part of which passed
on to the Pope in Rome. In addition,
nobles and kings often gave lands,
crops or cattle to support the church.
As a matter of fact, many high church
officials were themselves big
landowners and influential nobles.
The Pope not only ruled Rome and
parts of Italy as a king, he was also the
feudalism, which in turn led to the rise of the monarchies.

IV. Literature of the Middle Ages


1.Beowulf, the English National Epic
The epic was the product of the Heroic age. It was an important and mostly used form in ancient literature. National epic refers to the epic written in vernacular languages----that is, the languages of various national states that came into being in the Middle Ages.

head of all Christian churches in western Europe. Those who opposed the Pope lost their membership in the Church and their political right.
Some Popes had the right to remove any emperor who
Meat should not be touched and on
Sundays everybody went to the church to worship God.
II. Knighthood and Code of Chivalry
Almost all nobles were knights in the Medieval days. But no one was born a knight----knighthood had to be earned. The training was both long and hard. A noble began his education as a page at the age of seven. He was taught to say his prayers, learned good manners and
and invasions. The political unity had givenway to
widespread destruction and confusion . Hunger and disease
killed many lives, towns and villages fell into ruin .
Europe.
During the wars while many of the feudal lords went to
fight in Palestine, kings at home found opportunities to
strengthen themselves. Thus, Crusades helped to break down
Chapter 3. The Middle Ages
I: General Introduction:
In European history, the thousand-year period following
the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifteen century
ran errands for the ladies.
At about 14, the page became a squire
or assistant to a knight who became
his master. He was taught the duties
of a knight and practook the lead in politics, law, art and
learning for hundreds of years. It shaped people’s lives.
That is why the Middle Ages is also called the “Age of
small number of townspeople. In the late Middle Ages only
Catholics were considered members of society. Kings, nobles
and church officials worked together to rule the people.
refused to accept the authority of the pope. The Church even
set up a church court----the Inquisition to stamp out socalled heresy.
The Medieval Church was the center of daily life in
Faith”.
In the medieval “age of faith”, almost all Europeans
belonged to the Christian Church. Religion was of great
importance in every phase of daily life. The word “catholic “, meant “ universal “. The Catholic Church was a highly centralized and disciplined international organization.
the Turkish Moslems who unlike the Arabs attacked the Christian pilgrims, killing many of them and sold many others as slaves. The result was a series of holy wars called crusades which went on about 200 years. Although the Crusades did not achieve their goal to regain the Holy

It continued to gain widespread power and influence. In the Middle Ages, almost everyone in western Europe was a Christian and a member of the Christian Church.
the country and town alike, and it had a part in all important
events. The Church taught that all people had sinned and had to rely on God’s favor to get to heaven. The only way to
from which the western idea of good manner developed.
III. The Crusades
To express their religious feelings, many people in the Middle Ages went on journey to sacred places where early Christian leaders had lived. The most important of all was Jerusalem. But in 1071 Palestine fell to the armies of
land, they had an important effect on the future of both the
East and the West. They brought the East into closer contact
with the West. And they greatly influenced the history of