Pre-Renaissance

Pre-Renaissance

• Related closely to spread of Christianity
• Imitated Latin works
• Caedmon - 7th century
• Cynewulf - 8th century
• Venerable Bede - 673~735 AD

What Was The Poetry About?

• Highlight on feudal culture and medieval tales
• In verse and lyrical poem of brave knights and beautiful ladies
• Often sung and accompanied with musical instruments

More Poetry

• The ballads followed the rhythm of of Italian ballata and Spanish ballade
• Earliest known English poem was a hymn on the creation
• Bede marked the begining of the Anglo-Saxon poetry with "Ecclesiastical History of the English People"

Similarities to European Counterparts

• The Nibelungenlied, an epic German poem is similar to Beowulf.
• Both feature historic events intertwined with fictional stories.
• The poems take place during the 5th and 6th century.

Dante's Divine Comedy

• The Divine Comedy is an Italian epic poem; it is an allegorical piece of medieval literature. Dante's journey represents the soul’s journey towards God.
• Similarly is Piers Plowman. It is an English poem and also allegorical. The narrator's visions represent the conflict between the Catholic Church and Theology.

Similarities to European Counterparts

• The Divine Comedy is also similar to another piece of English literature, The Canterbury Tales.
• .
• Dante and Chaucer insert themselves as characters in both their works.
• The framing of both works are similar, with both being about a guided pilgrimage or journey.

Work Cited

• http://classic-english-literature.blogspot.com/2008/02/anglo-saxon-literatu... http://www.webexhibits.org/poetry/explore_famous_ballad_examples.html
• "Popular and Secular Verse." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.

Social Events of the Era

• Feudalism was the social system in medival England

Historical Events

• 1347- the plauge kills many in Europe
• 1517- start of the reformation

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