We will begin our class survey with medieval literature. All texts are produced within a context to which they, explicitly or otherwise, make reference. While in continental Europe the Middle Ages are said to begin with the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, at that time England was being invaded by the Anglo-Saxons. That's why, from the 5th century until 1066 we speak of "Anglo-Saxon England". It was only in 1066, withe the Norman invasion, that England would come into mainstream medieval culture.
Thus, we may distinguish between different types of texts. During our classes, we will read medieval ballads, qand lyrics, an excerpt from the epic poem Beowulf, the dream-poem The Dream of the Rood, and the mystery play The Annunciatrion. This variety of genres and texts may give us an idea of the complexity of the Middle Ages: a rich, poignant, lively period, quite different from what used to be called "the Dark Ages". Useful modules: British History!!!
Here you will find some brief references to medieval life:
Social organization: feudal system (King - nobility - landlords or tenats - peasants)
This medieval illumination shows the three estates: those who pray (the clergy), those who fight (the nobility) and those who work (the laborers).
Central institution: the Church
Chartes Cathedral
Language of the Church and learning: Latin
Medieval university
Vernacular language: In England, changes were accelerated by the Norman Conquest of 1066. Words from French began entering the English language (though we will have to wait until a few centuries later to recognize "modern English" Useful module: History of the English Language!!!
USEFUL LINK
Este comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarAfter analysing the ballad "Sir Patrick Spens",I can detect a clear contextual characteristic: the social organization of the feudal system. The king is the head of this social system in which he has the power to give an order that must be obeyed by the rest of the citizens. The king is the maximum authority within the hierarchy, and below him, there is the nobility, the landlords and the peasants. In the case of this ballad, I can easily detect the order of the hierarchy. At the beginning, the king encounters a knight, who is part of the nobility and who knees before the king to bring him some news, showing respect towards his king. The knight says that the best sailor to choose in order to get his daughter back is Sir Patrick Spens. The king orders Sir Patrick to sail upon the sea. Sir Patrick obeys although he knows that time of the year is extremely risky to go on sailing. He has to carry out his duty and he becomes the authority of the rest of the sailors. The sailors are unwilling to sail because they know they may die, but they must do what is asked by their captain. They really express loyalty to their master, Sir Patrick. At the same time, their women show respect and loyalty to the sailors, waiting for them through the passing of time. At the end, all the men die, but even in death, they pledge their loyalty to Sir Patrick, lying at their lord's feet.
ResponderEliminarIn the case of the ballad "Barbara Allan", there is also the medieval characteristic in which a powerful man orders his men to do what he needs or wants. Sir John Graeme falls in love with Barbara and because of his love, he is about to die. But before he dies, he sends his men to find her. They obey and find Barbara. When they meet her, they ask her to come to see their "master dear". This shows the respect to their superior. And when John is dying, he asks his men to be kind to Barbara. Once again, I see an order from the superior to his subordinators. The ballad shows the social division within the hierarchy but in a more implicit way, not from a king to the nobility and the rest of the citizens, but from a superior (powerful man) to his subordinators.
In the Ballad Sir Patrick Spens, the most noticeable contextual characteristic is that of the Feudal System. The King appears as the master of society and the one who has the right to send his men to sail upon the sea whenever he considers it necessary, in this case The King orders to have his daugther back home. Sir Patrick Spens receives the King's letter and laughs at first but immediately after he accepts that the king's orders must be respected.Sir Patrick Spens in turn, encourage his men to serve the King's orders without rejection, although Sir Patrick's men know the mission is risky and dangerous, they accept their superior's orders without rejection, which shows Sir Patrick's superioriry over his men.This ballad clearly shows the medieval kind of relationships between social classes where each class have their own superiors and where the King's power is the Head of everything. In this Ballad The Feudal System is explicitly shown.
ResponderEliminarIn the case of Barbara Allen, Medieval contextual characteristics are not as explicit as in SIr Patrick Spens, although power is not mentioned, the reader easily detects the social organization of those times. This man Jhon Graeme sends his man to the town to ask Barbara Allen to come to the "master". Here the poet pictures the hierarchy of social classes and the respect each man owes to his superiors. Another characteristic that called my attention as a reader is the way "Death" is mentioned. The fact that "Death" is personified and seems to act over people with power makes me think that the central institution, "The Church", is being considered very important but in an implicit way, the phrase "dead-bell knellin" shows a religious connotation, it shows how people received the end of life in Medieval times. Barbara Allen hears the "dead-bells" as a God's message telling her that her life has come to an end. The fact that "death" calls people shows the power of the central institution and the strong religious beliefs of the time.
In Sir Patrick Spens’s ballad we can notice a very clear social organization of the medieval kind. In this ballad we can distinguish three clear estates: the king, who asks for the service of his bravest knight (in this case the sailor “Sir Patrick Spens”) and the sailors who, in turn, serve Sir Patrick. Throughout the ballad we learn the king’s intention to send Sir Patrick to sail upon the sea in search of a difficult task in bad weather conditions. The medieval hierarchy is reflected in the moment that Sir Patrick Spens, knowing that the adventure will finish in death, does not refuse the order. And Sir Patrick’s sailors, although reluctant, do not abandon their lord in this deadly mission as well. In this way, loyalty can be said to be one of the most important themes of this ballad. This loyalty is also shown in the women of this ballad who do not give themselves up and wait for their husbands even when they know their men are not going back. This is also a feature of the medieval society which shows how wives had to wait for their husbands (knights) who were sent to war by the king, supreme authority of the land, with the hopeless feeling that they might not return.
ResponderEliminarRegarding Bonny Barbara Allen’s ballad, again the social organization is an important factor in the characters lives, but in this case is not as explicit as in “Sir Patrick Spens’s ballad”. The more explicit data we obtain from the ballad is that Sir John Graeme belongs to the nobility. We learn this first, because of the title “Sir”, and second, because he has many servants under his control whom are sent in search of Barbara Allen downtown. Then, we can infer from the ballad itself that Barbara must be from a more humble origin, probably daughter of some peasant who live outside the limits of a castle. That is why Graeme’s men have to go “down through the town” to fetch Barbara. The loyalty of Sir John Graeme’s men is shown in the words they use to describe their lord: “my master dear” and we see the relationship of power between Sir John and his men when he gives them his last order which is “be kind to Barbara Allen”. This relationship of power is also shown between John and Barbara in the very first moment they crossed their eyes. Barbara falls in love with John immediately but he does not pay attention to her at all because she does not belong to the nobility as he does.
In the ballad "Bonny Barbara Allan", there is an evident medieval characteristic in which the "Lord", Sir John Graeme orders his men to go look for his beloved women, Barbara Allan. This shows royal power on his side because only he can control his people and make them do as he says. After he sends his men,they ask her to come to see their "master dear", a phrase that shows that they´re subordinated to a superior and they owe him respect. This ballad cleary shows the division in terms of power in which the noble (John Graeme) gives the orders and his peasants respond with respect and loyalty.
ResponderEliminarIn the ballad "Sir Patrick Spens" we see a very clear medieval social organization. On the one hand we have the presence of the king, who asks for the service of his bravest knight,Sir Patrick Spens and the sailors who serve Sir Patrick. At the beginning of the ballad, the king speaks to a knight, who is part of the nobility, asking him where he could find the best sailor, and this noble man knees before the king to tell him who the best sailor is. The noble´s attitude shows the respect he has towards his king. Later, as the ballad develops, we learn that the king pretends that Sir Patrick would sail upon the sea in search of a difficult task, which was to rescue his daughter. Sir Patrick Spens knew that he and his men would have to sail in a bad weather, dangerous for his people and with the possibility of not ever coming back. The medieval hierarchy is seen in Sir Patrick´s willingness and respect towards the king´s orders because not one moment does the knight refuses to disobey the king. Besides, the loyalty of Sir Patrick’s sailors to abandon their lord in this deadly mission as well as the loyalty of the sailor´s women to wait restlessly for their men to come back shows one of the most relevant themes in this ballad...loyalty and death.
In Sir Patrick Spens' ballad I can see the social organization of the society, the feudal system, in those times. The king is mentioned as the head of it and he sent a letter to a knight, sir Patrick Spens, to go on a voyage which he can not reject due to the importance of loyalty to a superior. He has to sail in terrible weather conditions following his king's will. At the end of the ballad, the crew on board dies and at the bottom of the sea laid sir Patrick Spens and his men at his feet. Here it is evident how important loyalty and respect were even after death. In Conde Niño romance, I can also distinguish this hierarchy among classes. The love between the boy and the girl is unrequited, due to their different status and when the boy is killed (The girl's mother ordered her men to do so) the girl dies the day after out of sorrow and she is buried in the altar, being the daughter of the king and he is buried behind her, because he belongs to a lower class. In Barbara Allen's ballad I can not identify any characteristic of the social organization, but I can see some expressions in Latin that show the influence of the language, such as o dinna ye mind and adieu adieu.
ResponderEliminarMcarena Viudez Fabroni
In both ballads, "Bonny Barbara Allan" and "Sir –Patrick Spens", the characteristics of medieval social organization are recognized. It was a feudal society, hierarchically organized. The king, the head of the hierarchy, gave out grants of land to the nobles who promised the king to loyally follow him and supply him with soldiers whenever it was necessary. The nobles then divided their land among lower lords, or knights who also had to become their vassals (servants). In the case of "Sir Patrick Spens", this hierarchy is more noticeable since the king asked Sir Patrick Spens to sail upon the sea. The latter immediately obeyed the king’s order despite the fact that he knew it would be a dangerous voyage. Similarly, the sailors remained loyal to Sir Patrick Spens and assumed their duty.
ResponderEliminarAs regards "Bonny Barbara Allan", this hierarchical organization is also noticed since Sir John Graeme, the man who fell in love with Barbara Allan, seemed to be a more important nobleman than “his men”. In this ballad, the characteristics of feudal system are explicit due to the fact that he was called “Sir" and that “he sent his men down through the town” and they obeyed this instruction
The contextual characteristic that can be identified in both, "Bonny Barbara Allan" and "Sir Patrick Spens" is the hierarchy of power by which social organization was established, according to the Feudal System.
ResponderEliminarIn "Sir Patrick Spens", we can clearly distinguish this feature of the Middle Ages. In the first stanza, we see that the king is the first one to be mentioned, representing his power and authority. Then, we can see how the different levels of hierarchy that owe their obedience to the king and to the one above are presented in the ballad as the story unfolds. The words "knight", "nobles", "lords" and "master" are examples of these different levels. The ballad centers around the idea of obedience and loyalty towards the next superior. First we learn that Sir Patrick owns loyalty to his king no matter how dangerous his task is. On a different level, the Scots lords know that they they are going to die but they bravely command their master's will. The fact that the final stanza ends up with the lines "And there lies guid Sir Patrick Spens, Wi' the Scots lords at his feet." is clearly reinforcing the medieval characteristic of a hierarchical society. Even after death ones at the bottom of the rank scale owe obedience to their master. Contrary to "Sir Patrick Spens", "Bonny Barbara Allan" does not reflect this medieval characteristic as clearly. Though, we may encounter this idea in a very subtle way when Sir John Graeme sends his men in search of Barbara Allan. Here, these men must do as their "master" wishes and they must bring this lady to their lord's deathbed. On a different hierarchy of power, we may infer that Barbara also owes obedience to Sir John since women were to answer to men. Men were more powerful than most women and they, women, needed to act as men commanded. When the Sir John's men ask for Barbara's presence, she cannot deny because she has received and order from a man of high social status. Here again, we see this hierarchy of power which predominated during this period of time.
In both ballads, Bonny Barbara Allan and Sir Patrick Spens, we find the same social organization, which is the Feudal System, one of the main features of the Medieval Times. Regarding Bonny Barbara Allan we see that one of the characters mentioned is Sir John Graeme who sends his men to look for Barbara Allan. Here we see that he is a noble, one of the members of the feudal system, and that his men are peasants that obey his orders. As regards Sir Patrick Spens, we see that he is a noble as well. He follows the King’s orders to go on a dangerous mission that may cost his life. Once again the presence of the feudal system is obvious, Sir Pratick Spens obeys the King’s orders and his men obey their master’s command.
ResponderEliminarThe contextual feature that is most evident in both ballads (Sir Patrick Spens and Bonny Barbara Allan) is the one regarding the social organization of the time. In both ballads we can find references to the feudal system and its clearly established hierarchy. In Bonny Barbara Allan, Sir John Graeme sends "his men down through the town" to summon Barbara Allan. This indicates that he has power over his men (who refer to him as "master"), as he is from the nobility and they are probably tenants or peasants, i.e. from a lower social class. Stronger references to the medieval social hierarchy are made in the ballad Sir Patrick Spens, in which all social classes are depicted: the King, at the highest level of society; Sir Patrick Spens, as a member of the nobilty owing allegiance and direct obedience to the King, and finally, Sir Patrick's men, who must follow his orders as they are below him in social position. The nobilty is also present in the description of the ladies waiting for the Scots nobles to arrive, and a mention of their "fans" and "gold kembs in their hair" gives us an idea of their wealth and high social status.
ResponderEliminarAnother contextual feature, the influence of the French language as a result of the Norman Conquest, is less present but relevant nonetheless. We can spot this influence in Bonny Barbara Allan, as Sir John Graeme utters "Adieu, adieu, my dear friends all" using the French word for "goodbye".
In both ballads we can identify the social organization of the period (the Feudal system), though in 'Sir Patrick Spens' it is more clearly recognizable. In this ballad we can see how the feudal hierarchy worked, in which each person owed loyalty to those of higher rank. In this case, Sir Patrick must obey what his king commands him to do, even when he disagrees because he knows how dangerous this voyage wil be. He never questions the authority of the King, and the idea of refusing to obey his orders never crosses Sir Patrick's mind. The same happens with Sir Patrick's men, who are bound to their master and follow him whole-heartedly even after death.
ResponderEliminarAs for 'Bonny Barabara Allan', this social organization is seen only in that Sir John Graeme has power over a group of men, who he sends to look for Barbara Allan. From this we can infer that he is probably a nobleman, important enough to get people to come see him on his command.
Apart from all this, in both ballads we can see extracts of the vernacular language used in the Middle Ages, since in both Bonny Barbara Allan and Sir Patrick Spens we can find words or expressions that most likely come from Old English (such as "hooly" or "dinna ye mind" in Bonny Barabara Allan and "blude-reid" or "kembs" in Sir Patrick Spens)
Mrs. Raggio,
ResponderEliminarI already sent this to your e-mail account but since I've just discovered how to leave a comment in the blog I'll post it now :)
The contextual feature that we can find in both ballads, Bonny Barbara Allan and Sir Patrick Spens, is that they show the same social organization: the Feudal System.
In the ballad Bonny Barbara Allan, we can see this when the character that falls in love with Barbara Allan is introduced as Sir John Graeme, denoting that he belongs to a higher social stratum than that of his men, who have to obey their master’s orders and bring Barbara Allan to his deathbed. The word “Sir” demonstrates the superiority of John Graeme over them, who can be characterized as “peasants”.
In Sir Patrick Spens, we can appreciate all the social classes are present: the King, who represents the highest stratum of society; Sir Patrick Spens, who represents the nobility and who has to obey the King’s wishes; Patrick’s Spens’ men, who in turn has to follow their superior’s orders. The King orders Sir Patrick Spens to go on a deathly mission, which he cannot refuse because he has to be loyal to his King, even if this costs him his life and his men’s lives.
The contextual feature that is present in both ballads, “Sir Patrick Spens” and “Bonny Barbara Allan”, is the social organization of the Middle Ages: The Feudal System.
ResponderEliminarIn “Sir Patrick Spens” we can clearly distinguish the different stratums of the Medieval Society: first and most importantly, the King, which is the head of the hierarchy and therefore the highest authority, then we find the nobility, represented by Sir Patrick Spens, who has to obey the King’s orders and is loyal to him even at the cost of his life, and finally Sir Patrick’s men who in turn owe allegiance to Sir Patrick and are faithful to him beyond death.
With respect to “Bonny Barbara Allan”, this feature concerning the social organization of the period is not as noticeable as in the other ballad. However, we can see that Sir John Graeme represents the nobility and that he is in a higher social rank than other men who are bound to act upon his orders.
The contextual characteristic that is mentioned in the ballad, "Sir Patrick Spens", is the way society was organized at the time (the feudal system). We see this characteristic throughout the entire ballad. In the first scene, we see the king who is drinking his wine and the knight who sitting at the king's right knee. Here it is evident that the king was above everyone else. The king then writes a letter to the best sailor, Sir Patrick Spens, basically demanding him to sail his ship during the stormy season. Even though the sailor knew it would be an ill-fated journey, he had no choice but to set sail with his men. As predicted, the ship faces strong waters the Sir Patrick ultimately drowns. It is interesting to note that in the last line, the author once again makes reference to the social organization when Sir Patrick lies in the sea with the Scots lords at his feet, meaning they are beneath him even in death.
ResponderEliminarSoledad Chinigioli
ResponderEliminarActivity 1:
Both Ballads have characteristics due to the context in which it was written.
In both ballads there are signs of the social organization of the time: feudal system. We can appreciate this through the titles of nobility that it is used in the ballads. For example, the ballad named Sir Patrick Spens contains words such as King, Knicht and lady among others. These are all titles of nobility that have a deep connotation of hierarchy. Besides, in the first stanza, the King is drinking wine and asking for good sailors to sail his ship. This shows the way in which the feudal system functioned: giving some kind of service to the king and in reward being protected by him. On the ballad named Bonny Barbara Allan there are also signs of social status in words like Sir. There is also another sign of social hierarchy shown by the idea that this man who fall in love with Barbara Allan will never be with her even if she loved him too. This reflects that there is something beyond feelings that is functioning as an obstacle between them, and for me, it is social status.
In both ballads there are religious signs which show how strong was the idea of the church as a central institution. In the ballad Sir Patrick Spens we can appreciate that the religious imagery is not that clear, but from my point of view, it is an intrinsic aspect of the ballad. I consider so because Sir Patrick, by the end of the ballad, comes back with all the Scotts lords at his feet. This superiority and being the best sailor of all seems to be a touch of God over him. In the ballad Bonny Barbara Allen, the context is a religious date: St Martin’s Day and it coincides with the date in which Sir John Graeme fell in love with Barbara Allen.
There are also signs of Latin and French between the ballads. In the ballad Sir Patrick Spens the word spens may comes from Middle English, from Anglo-French espence, Spence; from Medieval Latin expensa victuals; or from Late Latin, outlay, compulsory supply of food. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spence). In the ballad Bonny Barbara Allen there are also words that comes from French or Latin such as Adieu which is a French word to say goodbye and that comes from a religious way to say “to God” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adieu).
Robledo Sergio
ResponderEliminarActivity #1: A common element in the ballads is the existence of marked feudal social status. There are many titles of nobility, such as Sir, King, Lady, among others. For example, John from Bonny Barbara Allan, and Sir Patrick Spens belong to the nobility.
Activity #2: The theme is the same in the two stories. Both versions talk about love beyond death. Another theme is unrequited love. It sounds quite ironic the idea of love after death and not before it, if we think about Barbara’s death. However we should take into account that the story was created many years ago; our generation holds moral values that were quite different in those years. Although both versions have the same themes, they differ in many other aspects. At the beginning we can see that the original version says that the story took place on November 11th, while Joan’s version claims that the events happened on May. Part of the dialogue between Barbara and John in the original version is missing in Joan’s version, but the singer adds to her version a romantic ending. She made it longer and added sweet and passionate details, while the original version has a dark open ending. Obviously, the difference in tone is due to the purpose and also the social background of both versions. Baez’s version was intended to be presented as a love song, and to be so Joan may have had to give it a sweet ending to suit her audience’s expectations.
Activity #3: The theme in this poem is the same as the theme in Bonny Barbara Allan: eternal love. As in the Scottish ballad, Romance del Conde Niño also presents us with two lovers that cannot be together in life, although in this case it is due to the Queen’s envy and malice. Another similarity lies in the end of both stories, in which the characters die. However, the open ending in Bonny Barbara Allan is not the same as in the Spanish poem. Joan Baez’s version does have a similar ending, though. In the Romance del Conde Niño a metamorphosis takes place and the lovers become flowers. Another theme arises after this metamorphosis: envy. But even envy was defeated, since Conde Niño and Albaniña become birds that fly high from earthly sorrows. In the Spanish romance we can see a difference in social status. This is represented in many ways. For example, the heron (“garza”) represents aristocratic beauty, while the hawk (“gavilán”) represents freedom. The rose represents beauty, perfection and feminine features, while the hawthorn is not as beautiful as the flower and represents masculine features.
Ignacio Almonacid:
ResponderEliminarA characteristic from the context that is mentioned in the ballad "Sir Patrick Spens", is the way in which society was organized at those times, in this case the feudal system. We can see this feature throughout the ballad. The mentioning of the King and the Knight in the first scene, denotates the social status that these characters had, the King above the others. And when the King writes a letter to Sir Patrick Spens demanding him to go on what it would be a dangerous sailing, the sailor has no choice other than obey.
And in "Bonnie Barbara Allen" we can only see the social status in the word "sir", which demonstrate that this character has a higher social status or a distinguished one.