LITERATURE DURING

THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD

-Dark Ages-
 Most of the time, the people was spent
working the land and trying to grow
enough food to survive another year.

LIFE DURING Social activities were important where

MEDIEVAL PERIOD every medieval citizen would be expected
to attend as their way of leisure time.

Middle Age food found new flavor

courtesy of rare spices that were
imported from the East.
THE MAJORITY OF BOOKS WERE
WRITTEN IN WHAT IS KNOWN AS
"MIDDLE ENGLISH"

SPELLING AND GRAMMAR BOOKS

WERE INCONSISTENT IN
THESE EARLY WRITINGS,
WHICH CAN MAKE THEM HARD
TO READ

THE LITERATE PEOPLE OF THE TIME WERE

LIKELY IN EITHER GOVERNMENT OR THE
CHURCH. BOOKS WERE OFTEN MADE BY
MONKS, AND IT WAS A TIME- AND LABOR-
INTENSIVE PROCESS.
LITERATURE
LITERATURE
Early medieval books were painstakingly hand-copied
and illustrated by monks.
Paper was a rarity, with vellum, made from calf's
skin, and parchment, made from lamb's skin, were the
media of choice for writing.
Students learning to write used wooden tablets
covered in green or black wax.
The greatest number of books during this era were
bound with plain wooden boards, or with simple
tooled leather for more expensive volumes.
Capital and lowercase letters were developed with
rules for each.
Books were treasures, rarely shown openly in a
library, but rather, kept safely under lock and key.
Finding someone who might loan you a book was a
true friend.
 FABLIAUX/FABLES
-these humorous short stories, penned by
authors from varying classes, enjoyed an
EARLY WORKS immense audience.

ROMANCES

BOOK OF HOURS
-popular religious book
La Chanson de Roland (the Song of
Roland)
La Divina Commedia (the Divine Comedy)
La Morte d'Arthur" (the Death of Arthur) MEDIEVAL
Beowulf
The Pearl (1370)
The book of the Duchess (1369)
MASTERPIECE
The Parliament of Fowls" (1377–1382)
"The House of Fame" (1379–1384),
"Troilus and Criseyde" (1382–1385),
"Canterbury Tales" (1387–1400), "The
Legend of Good Women" (1384–1386)
"The Complaint of Chaucer to His Empty
Purse" (1399).
THANK YOU

Jay Marie D. Cereno

BSED-English 2B