Who defeated Harold Godwinson at Hastings in 1066?
William of Normandy.
What dates define the English Middle Ages or Middle English period?
1066 to 1485.
Which battle traditionally marks the end of the medieval period in 1485?
The Battle of Bosworth.
What period traditionally begins after the 1485 Battle of Bosworth?
The Tudor period.
What structures feudal society?
Landholding, obligations and social status.
What role does the Church play in medieval society?
It is central to education, culture and morality.
What is the principal language of Western Christian scholarship and liturgy?
Latin.
What happened to English immediately after the Norman Conquest?
It was not instantly replaced.
How long did England remain multilingual after the Norman Conquest?
For several centuries.
Which three major languages were spoken in medieval England?
English, Anglo-Norman French and Latin.
How did the social and institutional functions of medieval England’s three major languages differ?
They had different social and institutional functions.
What is Middle English?
A collection of evolving regional varieties of English that gradually developed from Old English.
Quels genres la littérature médiévale comprend-elle ?
Des chansons orales, des poèmes, des ballades populaires, des drames religieux, des romances, des poèmes allégoriques ou allitératifs et des écrits didactiques.
Quelle morale cachée l’allégorie transmet-elle par ses personnages et ses événements symboliques ?
Une signification morale, spirituelle ou politique.
Quels sont les deux niveaux d’un récit allégorique ?
Un niveau littéral et un niveau symbolique.
Qu’est-ce que la poésie allitérative ?
Des vers où la répétition des consonnes initiales structure le rythme et la musicalité.
What is a medieval romance?
A vernacular narrative tradition often following a hero through adventures, tests, battles, journeys, or quests.
Which ideals define chivalry?
Courage, loyalty, honour, and service.
Which matter is associated with Arthurian material?
The Matter of Britain.
Which matter is associated with Charlemagne and Roland?
The Matter of France.
Which matter is associated with classical or ancient material?
The Matter of Rome.
When did Geoffrey Chaucer live approximately?
From about 1343 to 1400.
What traditional honorific is given to Geoffrey Chaucer?
The Father of English Literature.
What is Geoffrey Chaucer’s most famous work?
The Canterbury Tales.
When was The Canterbury Tales probably written?
From the late 1380s into the 1390s.
Where do the pilgrims meet before travelling to Canterbury in *The Canterbury Tales*?
At the Tabard Inn in Southwark.
What destination did the pilgrims seek in *The Canterbury Tales*?
The shrine of St Thomas Becket.
How many tales survive in *The Canterbury Tales*?
Twenty-four tales.
What was Chaucer’s traditional estimated plan for the number of tales?
One hundred and twenty tales, four per pilgrim.
What does the General Prologue present, and how many pilgrims prepare to leave the Tabard Inn?
A gallery of portraits introducing 29 pilgrims preparing to leave the Tabard Inn.
Which details does Chaucer use to characterize pilgrims?
Physical details, clothing, occupation, social position and behaviour.
What qualities can Chaucer’s descriptions of pilgrims combine?
Realism, comedy and irony.
How is the Miller portrayed through accumulated grotesque physical details?
As powerful, coarse, noisy and morally dubious.
Quelle différence de prononciation distingue surtout l’anglais de Chaucer de l’anglais moderne ?
La prononciation des voyelles longues.
Qu’est-ce que le Great Vowel Shift ?
Un ensemble de changements systématiques des voyelles longues après Chaucer.
Which themes recur in medieval literature?
Religion, mortality, social hierarchy, appearance versus reality, honour and chivalry, corruption, storytelling, and English’s gradual rise as a literary language.
In which year did William Caxton establish a printing press at Westminster?
1476.
What did Caxton’s Westminster printing press help circulate more widely?
English texts.
Which variety gradually gained importance after printing was introduced?
The London variety.
What did Caxton not do instantly to English?
Standardize it.
With which groups is Anglo-Norman French closely associated after the Norman Conquest?
The court and ruling elite.
What affects the lives of medieval peasants and workers?
Agricultural work, taxation, war, famine and disease.
What drives the growing importance of the urban and merchant class?
The development of trade and towns.
From which year does the Black Death contribute to concerns about death, sin and salvation?
1348.
Which groups, beyond the Church and peasants, make up medieval society?
Nobles, clergy, knights, merchants and artisans.
Which domains contributed French words to English?
Law, government, social hierarchy, cuisine and culture.
From when did the movement toward Early Modern English occur?
Especially from the late fifteenth century onward, through the Renaissance.
Quel objectif poursuivent de nombreux textes littéraires médiévaux ?
Enseigner des leçons religieuses, morales ou pratiques.
Quelles qualités abstraites l’allégorie peut-elle personnifier ?
La Gourmandise, l’Envie et la Vérité.
Que peut satiriser l’allégorie ?
Les personnes, les institutions ou les comportements sociaux.
Quelles qualités la fable « The Tortoise and the Hare » oppose-t-elle allégoriquement ?
La persévérance et l’excès de confiance.
Which poetic tradition includes *Pearl* and *Sir Gawain and the Green Knight*?
The Middle English alliterative tradition.
Where is alliterative verse especially important, and what are its roots?
In Old and Middle English, with roots in Germanic poetic traditions.
What is a quest?
A journey or mission through which a hero is tested.
Why is honour central in medieval romance?
Because reputation and moral or social status are tested.
Which marvels may appear in medieval romances?
Supernatural events, monsters, magic, and extraordinary adventures.
Which other works did Geoffrey Chaucer write?
Troilus and Criseyde, The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, and The Parliament of Fowls.
How did Geoffrey Chaucer contribute to the development of literary English?
Through complex characterization, irony, social observation, and experimentation with genre.
What literary forms does *The Canterbury Tales* combine?
Verse and prose.
Which tones appear in *The Canterbury Tales*?
Comic, ironic, ribald, serious, religious, tragic, and moral tones.
Which works and traditions influenced *The Canterbury Tales*?
Dante’s *Divine Comedy*, Boccaccio’s *Decameron*, Petrarch, French works, and other traditions.
What happened to Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170?
He was murdered there.
Which pilgrims are identified as major figures in the General Prologue?
The Knight, the Squire, the Prioress, the Monk, the Friar, the Merchant, the Clerk, the Sergeant of Law, the Franklin, the Wife of Bath, the Parson, the Miller and the Pardoner.
Which grotesque facial features characterize the Miller?
A red beard, a wart, a tuft of hair, wide nostrils and an enormous mouth.
What suggests the Miller’s physical strength?
His brawn and bones, wrestling ability and capacity to break doors.
What do the Miller’s sword and buckler suggest?
Aggression.
Which words describe the Miller’s talkativeness and coarse or jovial entertainment?
“Janglere” means talkative, and “goliardeys” means a coarse or jovial entertainer.
What dishonest practices can the Miller use?
He can steal corn and take extra tolls.
How does the proverb about the honest miller function in the portrait?
It is used ironically against the Miller’s dishonesty.
How does Chaucer use the Miller’s grotesque imagery and dishonesty?
To create humour and comment on social morality.
Comment prononce-t-on les groupes initiaux « kn- » et « wr- » chez Chaucer ?
Plus pleinement qu’en anglais moderne.
Que signifie « adoun » ?
Down.
Que signifie « agast(e) » ?
Afraid; frightened.
What does “Caedmon’s Hymn” celebrate?
The Creator.
What are the opening words of “Caedmon’s Hymn”?
“Nu scylun hergan hefaenricaes Uard…”
What linguistic features in “Caedmon’s Hymn” illustrate Old English’s distance from Middle English?
Germanic vocabulary, inflections and strongly rhythmic poetry.
Which poetic quality in “Caedmon’s Hymn” contributes to its distinct linguistic character?
Strong rhythm.
What should a text analysis distinguish between?
What the narrator says and what the text suggests.
Which aspects can a text analysis examine?
Context, form, description, language, tone, themes and interpretation.
Dans « myne » et « sight », à quelle voyelle ressemble le son de « y » ou « i » ?
À la voyelle de « meet ».
Quel son distingue « begge » et « rede » de « me », « meet » et « mete » ?
Une voyelle e ouverte.
Quelle voyelle longue le guide associe-t-il à « mate » et « maat » ?
Un a long.
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1. Quel événement associe l’année 1066 à la conquête normande de l’Angleterre ?
2. Quel événement de 1485 marque traditionnellement la fin de la période médiévale et le début de la période Tudor ?
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