EN392 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Middle Ages, Primogeniture
EN392
The Crises of the Fourteenth Century
Essay
• 3 passages from past readings and arguing based on some topic
Monty Python Clip
• Satire of King Arthur – the mythical king
• Kingship in Britain
• Assumption that there was no such thing as political debates in the middle ages – ou did’t
have to pay attention to this
o This is untrue – class differences are not just accepted
• No ideal orld here ou do’t hae to thik aout ho to ake a liig, hat our politial
slot is, or your role in society
• Presumption that everyone working is an old woman
• Make fun of how everyone accepted the king as being a good, benign dictator
• Anachronism of Marxist theory coming from peasants in the field
o Assume they are uneducated and illiterate
• Question of how kings are chosen in the middle ages
o I did’t ote for ou
o Primogeniture - Eldest son (may also not make it)
• Most citizens would never meet the king
o Court people vet whether or not you can
o Many rules about what you can do in his presence
o Most come with a legal petition
• King goes off on his own with no real protection – court and treasury
• More honourable to die in battle up until about the 14th cen.
• Good understanding of the local political structure
o Make up their own government due to the lack of presence of the king
• Many lords were absentee
The 4 Crises of the 14th Cen.
• The major famines (1310s) under Edward II caused by an absolute flood of rain which destroyed
almost all of the crops
o Crop failure relatively common, but the hay was too wet and the livestock died
o There is nothing for anybody to eat, including the nobles
o People start dying off
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