Medieval Romance

To call the romance the quintessential genre of the Middle Ages would not, be unreasonable.  Many of the images still associated with medievalism to this day seem to spring from romance: the knight in shining armor, the well-defended castle, the wispy but beautiful maiden, the quest, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.  For its original audience, the romance was just as emblematic, as the genre composed some of the most popular reading material of the age, both in terms of audience and in terms of output.  It is therefore perhaps unsurprising that the term “romance” both wants desperately for precise definition and eludes it.  The concept is so important and so widely discussed that it is, of course, required that everyone know what exactly is being talked about.  However, because so many diverse texts can be called “romance,” a precise and detailed definition that manages both to describe the genre across hundreds of years, a wide array of different forms and manners of composition, and many countries and to satisfy everyone who has sunk their teeth into the subject matter remains elusive.  Within this one undergraduate course on medieval literature, we have considered elements of romance in lais, in lyrics, in a dream vision, and in alliterative verse, proving that the romance can wear many different faces.

Following its birth in France, the medieval romance mutated across time and culture, so that it is possible to speak of the French romance, the English romance, the Italian romance, the German romance, and so on as interrelated but distinguishable from one another.  Within these categories, further distinctions can be made, such as that between romances for a wide audience which might have been performed publically, and those that were intended for an allegedly more sophisticated, literate, urban audience (Psaki 204).  The result is that definitions can be so broad as to be unhelpful, but increased specificity tends to overlook an important element present across works, or to exclude a text that clearly belongs with romance.  These problems are exacerbated by the vagueness of the word ‘romance’ in when it was written; a text in Middle English announcing itself as a romance may be speaking to its literary characteristics, or to its source in a Romance language (336).  For latter day scholars, the abundance is both tantalizing and tricky, which explains why, in addition to close readings of the many texts, scholarly discourse about romance seems to be dominated by attempts to define and describe romance in all of its particulars, such that Yin Liu begins her argument by telling the reader: “since romance has proven itself inexhaustibly and infinitely expandable, I make no apologies for taking yet another run at the meaning of ‘Middle English romance’ as a generic term” (335).  (And she speaks only of the Middle English romance, without touching upon any of the other national traditions going on at the time.) 

Liu does, however, provide a useful framework for discussing Middle English romance (and, most likely, any genre as diverse as this one): “not to be definitive but descriptive” (335).  A definitive and entirely satisfying answer is likely to remain elusive, but this does not mean that “romance” is an arbitrary and meaningless category.  Rather, the genre might be compared to a staple foodstuff like bread.  Bread comes in myriad varieties – it may be soft, pillowy, crusty, or flaky; made of wheat, barley, or rye; filled with nuts, raisins, cheeses, and any other number of things that people dream up because it sounds good to eat.  But at its core, bread is comprised of flour, water, and yeast, and even the most innovative of loaves still maintains its breadness.  Medieval romance is much the same, variable, and yet recognizable.  The purpose of this paper is to attempt to describe the flour, water, and yeast of the genre, with a sprinkling of the flaky crusts and the raisins. 

Of these basic features, romance’s most significant is that of values.  The genre has been discussed in the context of value since early scholarship on the subject, when even those who sat down to study the stuff questioned whether or not most medieval romance had any literary value.  The answer, broadly speaking, was “no, not really, but let’s study it anyway.”  In one of the earliest works of comprehensive criticism, A.B. Taylor writes that, “The people of the Middle Ages revered historical truth, but were very easily duped… like uneducated people of today were easily satisfied” (122), indicative of a patronizing attitude towards the men and women who consumed these works.  They were foolish and uneducated – if they’d known better, they would have been reading higher quality stuff.  This attitude can also be found in Derek Pearsall’s seminal work, “The Development of Middle English Romance,” which calls examples of the genre “hack work” (## get article from ILLiad again), and dismisses romance generally as low quality.  From a modern aesthetic, many examples seem to be found lacking.  This aesthetic value judgment was not shared by the medieval romance’s original readers, who gobbled it up in all its diverse forms.  Indeed, for these readers, the aesthetic value judgment that predominates the early scholarship on the genre may not have been simply wrong, but quite beside the point.

For medieval readers, romance provided a different kind of value: that of examining their own values systems.  As a genre, the romance is often characterized as a conservative one.  Most examples uphold a system of beliefs and codify practices.  Even when a text, such as Marie de France’s “Lanval,” seems to turn some medieval values on their head, these readings vibrate within the contained system of the conservative world of knights and courtly behavior, not openly and deliberately decrying the system as wrong.  Roberta L. Krueger describes how, “[n]ovel male and female patrons were evidently eager to listen to stories in which their own ideals and anxieties were reflected” (3) in the texts they commissioned.  If medieval readership felt anxiety about the potential of female power to disrupt the patriarchal status quo, a piece like “Lanval” allows for safe space to explore this fear, where all can ultimately be righted in the world. 

I have not had as much time as I would have liked to dedicate to developing this.  (Also, I find that I have to start at the beginning of my work and work to the end and then edit, hence this not containing more “meaty” sections of my paper.)  However, after this weekend, I am going to have a lot more time to dedicate to this.  I am fairly happy with the shape that it’s taking thus far, but frankly I’m not sure if my bread metaphor is silly or not, though I included it because I keep thinking about it as I read these things.  Right now, I feel like I am most struggling with imagining how I am going to incorporate the point of romance’s popularity – it doesn’t feel like a “feature” of the genre as such, but seems important to me.  I might try to scatter it in throughout, I’m not sure.  (You might note that I am missing a page number for a quote... The one I forgot to record that I knew I wanted to use was, of course, in the article that disappeared from ILLiad and I didn't realize it.  But I have requested it again.)

Works Cited

Krueger, Roberta L., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Romance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Web.

Liu, Yin. “Middle English Romance as Prototype Genre.” The Chaucer Review 40.4 (2006): 335-353. Web.

Pearsall, Derek. “The Development of Middle English Romance.” Mediaeval Studies 27 (1965): 91-116. Web.

Psaki, F. Regina. “Chivalry and Medieval Italian Romance.” Krueger 203-217. Web.

Taylor, A.B. An Introduction to Medieval Romance. 1930. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc, 1969. Print.

The Mystery Play

"So Far So Good..."

The origins of this genre, shockingly enough, began with a minor conflict between the Church and its followers. Beginning around the 11th century, Europe had fallen into a period known as the "high Middle Ages", which lasted up until about the 13th century. As religious organizations were being established all over Europe, many grew to have such a large following that entire towns had been built around them. With their populations increasing, the Church decided to take on the role of being a unifying institution. The members of the liturgy began to not only focus on their own goals, but also served to bring the community together by introducing and supporting a multitude of various activities and systems, such as trade. However, there is one "unifier" that caused quite a dispute between the liturgy (Church) and the laity (congregation or general public): education.

While trade helped to bring the members of the community closer together, education worked to further the relationship between the people and the Church. At this point in time, the majority of hymns and scriptures utilized during any worship had been written in Latin, a language not widely practiced by the common people. This resulted in a moot point within the Church and its clergy members: should we provide our community with education? Despite their little knowledge of the now dead language, however, author Nicholas Orme argues that the public was not entirely unintelligent due to their experiences with trade: "'Wise merchants would keep records of their stocks, their orders and their sales, and if their trade was anything more than local it would involve correspondence with suppliers and the sending out of bills to customers.'" (Corbett 55). Furthermore, Orme suggests that trade became a major influence on the public's desire to be educated. And so, as Tony Corbett states, "Where the great cathedrals were founded, schools had developed."

The first and lowest levels of medieval schools became known as primary, or "reading" or "song" schools. From their beginnings of religious education, primary schools typically consisted of children ages seven to ten. For about three years, the children were taught by a cleric, or a parish priest if the school was located in a rural area. Students of these schools were usually taught how to sing the psalter, as well as "the ability to recognize the Latin alphabet and some Latin words" (55-56). Eventually, primary schools lead to the establishment of reading schools, grammar schools and later on, elementary schools. In her own studies, author J.A.H Moran found that education had become so widespread, that the number of schools in York at the time "increased from twenty-five to one hundred and eighty-five in the period from the eleventh century to 1558" (56). Unfortunately, an educated public spelled a bit of disaster for the Church and its devoted following as time progressed.

As the laity continued their pursuit of knowledge, many communities began to develop a bit of an ego. By learning how to read and translate the scriptures, the general public began to scoff at the idea of remaining under the intellectual supervision of the Church: "Why do we need them, if we are capable of understanding these great works on our own?" The ascending level of confidence within the community struck a slight fear into the hearts of the clergy, for what is a Church without its members? This anxiety about losing their level of power within their respective communities ultimately led to the exclusion of the laity from church functions. One of the major occurrences involved the congregation's exclusion from the Mass within the Catholic Church: "The laity, when receiving communion, was forbidden to touch the consecrated Host, or even the chalice" (58). Later on, the architecture of various churches and cathedrals began to reflect this desire to keep the public "in their place". For example, rood-screens were introduced for the purpose of separating the chancel from the nave during worship. After being turned away from a sanctuary which had once welcomed them with open arms, the congregation set out on their own and developed new ways to practice their faith over the next several years. Thus, the mystery plays were born. 

To be quite honest, I did not imagine that I would get this amount of information from just one source. That thought aside, I know that still have quite a ways to go and a few sources to run through yet. This does, however, make me feel more comfortable with where I’ve started and where to go. Furthermore, I am trying to take it section by section, so I figured the best bet would be to begin with where I intended to and go from there to discuss things like authorship, literary form, popular themes and dynamics, etc. While my current number of sources are minimal, I intend to search for more as my discussion topics come up. I chose to start small for the sake of avoiding information overload as I write. In short, as my title suggests, so far so good.

Medieval Ballads

Research Blog

For my blog, I would like to explore the different parts of my paper and how they interact with one another. I have included all the written work I have up until now as a chubby skeleton. I still have to incorporate many sources and continue research on some parts of the paper, but I am confident with the base material I have. None of these sections is necessarily complete, as I may find more sources for a section, or I may eliminate an entire section all together.
Please enjoy learning about the medieval ballad.


The Medieval Ballad

INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITION

Ballads rely on the most climactic part of a story to bring the attention of the audience to these short singsong tales. Often told through use of no exposition or explanation at all, ballads drop the audience in medias res and continue on with a particularly formulated dramatic structure. 

This particular form of literature lacks a distinct definition. As David Atkinson states in his paper The Ballad and its Paradoxes, “although the English and Scottish ballads have an established place as a major folklore genre,they have remained stubbornly resistant to definition and much that has been written both about their history and about their essential characteristics has been ambiguous, confusing, and in some instances misleading” (123).

STRUCTURE OF A BALLAD

The structure of a ballad resembles a poem. The emotions of the poem, according to Thomas Pettitt in his article, ‘Worn by the Friction of Time’: Oral Tradition and the Generation of the Balladic Narrative Mode, “are expressed [by] the protagonists rather than the narrator” (341). There is often repetition within the words of the ballad which parallels the events it is expressing. Frequently, ballads from a specific area share phrases or sets of words similar to those in that same area. Noticeable dialect differences in ballads of different regions is quite common because originally they were sung or performed orally, not written.

Atkinson states that, “ Ballad stories are generally constrained in their length, partly as a consequence of … stylistic characteristics… and rarely exceed, say, 160 lines or so” (Paradoxes 123).

TYPES AND CONTENT OF A BALLAD

The content of a ballad depended on the author’s intent with the audience.

Domestic ballads are simply that. They deal with the everyday, contain little to no romance, and are often secular in nature. These ballads are “harsh and bitter, [and] the attitudes of its inhabitants cynical and suspicious” (Morgan 9). Sir Patrick Spens is a famous domestic ballad from the late thirteenth century which tells of the death of Margaret, the Maid of Norway.

Courtly love is a widely recognized and explored topic in the medieval period. Many of the ballads of this period center around romance and courtly love. “Ballads of romance and courtly love often concentrate upon the common aristocratic practices of arranged marriage, ‘stealing’ brides from another clan… [and] clan warfare” (Morgan 29).

Ballads of chivalry also expressed romantic or courtly love, but more basely. The chivalric ballad tells of behavioral expectations, social norms, and the lavish adventures of the aristocratic. Full of less euphemism and more direct language, the chivalric ballad is full of “adultery, betrayal, murder, political marriages, hypocrisy, and general futility” (Morgan 83).

Religious ballads are another, less common type of ballad. The most famous and generally thought to be the only surviving popular religious ballad is The Bitter Withy. Typically, “the medieval Church disapproved of balladry, as they did of many folk traditions, believing them to foster heresy, superstition, and rebellion” (Morgan 123).

Yeomanry ballads stem from the middle classes of the middle ages. Their economic mobility, or immobility, made it easy for them to relate to tales of Robin Hood or other heroes of the lower classes.

TRANSLATING BALLADS

Translating ballads into modern English is a difficult exploit. Often times the ballads were heard or recorded on paper in a dialectal form. The written ballads may have contained words that simply no longer exist with an equivalent in the modern form of the language.

AUTHORS OF BALLADS

Authorship of ballads was not always through the upper class. It is unwise to think that just because the lower class was not well educated that it was not educated at all. Yeomanry ballads are written by those of the middle class, as the name of this specific type suggests.

STORIES AND THE HUMAN HUNGER FOR TALES

Stories have been part of human tradition since words were able to fall from mouths. Ballads are part of the tradition of passing stories down through the generations by word of mouth. Like other folk stories, ballads survive simply through their story power.

PERFORMANCE

According to Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia

entry for ballads:

Ballads are meant to be sung. Although they are sometimes written down in song or “ballet” books, and although they are often studied as poetry, ballads are normally performed (with or without instrumental accompaniment) at home in the evening, in the bunkhouse, at the cribside, or in other everyday situations. The melodies of the ballads are important, influencing meter, stress, style, and—above all—mood. Nonetheless, the melodies are independent of the texts. Tunes and texts often marry, and an individual tune may always accompany an individual text, but many separations occur.

Specific types of instruments were used in the performance of ballads. Most frequently used were the string instruments.

AUDIENCE

The audience of the performance of ballads depended on the type. Ballads that told of triumphant middle class individuals were favored by the hardworking, whereas stories of the wealthy appealed to those with abundant free time.

Romantic ballads and ballads of courtly love appealed to both men and women, but women especially who yearned for the power of the women in the tales. This is even evident in the readership of stories and poems that expressed the ideals of romance and courtly love.

THE CHILD BALLADS

The Child Ballads are the most extensively collected and edited ballads from the beginning of balladry through the 1800s done by Francis Childs.

ROBIN HOOD

Whereas the Child Ballads are rich and well known, Robin Hood is traditionally the most timeless of the ballads. Surviving even in the pop culture of today, this narrative has transformed into many different skins. In its original form, Robin Hood was a short performance of a story that in the late 14th century appealed to many of the less wealthy working class. Revealing of the social ideas and state of the separate classes of England at the time, Robin Hood is a ballad that can carry forward in the form of children’s stories, television programs, and written novels.

THE BLACK LETTER BROADSIDE BALLAD

Significant to the history of the ballad is the black letter broadside ballad. These ballads were heavily decorated and often collected into books. After the rise of the printing press made these short stories available to many more people, the ballad became more of a short tale and less of a song. Written ballads are those which survived into the present with more frequency than the ballads that had not been written down.

SIBLINGS OF THE BALLAD

Lyrics are similar to ballads in their musical form.

THE BEATLES AND MODERN BALLAD

Modern ballads retain some of the medieval content. Not so strangely, the written form has once again been taken over by the sung versions of these tales. Little stories are famously encapsulated in the ballads of the Beatles, the band from Liverpool who enjoyed immense popularity in the 1960’s.

One most famous of the Beatles ballads is Norwegian Wood. This ballad has been well loved throughout the world; so well loved in fact that it has spawned expanded versions of itself and references in obscure Japanese literature.