Episode 21 Literary Trends in the 13th Century

1215: Years That Changed History

Dr Dorsey Armstrong (2019)

Film Review

I approached this lecture very curious to learn who, exactly, was reading European literature 300 years before the printing press, when all manuscripts had to be copied repeatedly by hand (by monks?). My question on exactly how Snorri Sturluson and Geoffrey of Monmouth managed to copy and widely distribute enough manuscripts to become “popular” was never answered.

Armstrong divides 13th century literature into three trends:

• religious writings
• Scandinavian epics
• Arthurian romances

Religious writings

The specific religious writing she describes in this lecture is the Ancrene Wisse, the rules laid down by church authorities governing the behavior of Anchorites, the religious women who voluntarily self-incarcerated themselves in tiny cells attached to cathedrals. Many had no doors and were barely big enough to lie down in.

Specific rules set down for Anchorites were

• No meat or fat unless the woman was ill
• No fasting on bread and water without permission
• Minimal use of windows – no talking or conducting business through them
• No holding possessions for other people
• A cat was allowed for companionship, provided the Anchorite didn’t fixate on it or let it bother other people.

Scandinavian Epics

Armstrong describes how Norse raiders known as Vikings sailed away from Scandinavia targeting French and English monasteries (for their gold and jewels) and sailing up inland rivers as far east as Russia. In the 9th century a group of Vikings kidnapped brides from Ireland and settled Iceland, where they spent the long winters nights retelling early Norse sagas. By the 10th century, Iceland had a body of laws that would be repeated every year in what became the world’s first Parliament.

The advent of Christianity to Scandinavia in the 9th century introduced written language to the region.

Snorri Sturluson, historian, poet and politician, was the first popular Icelandic writer. He specialized in recording oral sagas about historical and mythological Norse kings.

Arthurian Romances

Although the Welsh king who became known as King Arthur lived in the 5th century, he only became popularly known in the 12th century, when a Catholic cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth claimed to have discovered a (likely fictitious) ancient Welsh manuscript which he translated into Anglo-Norman.

The first tales of King Arthur appeared in English in the 13th century.

The French writer Chretien de Troyes was even more important in popularizing the Arthurian legend (1215-1235), when tales of King Arthur appeared in prose (rather than verse) for the first time. It was de Troyes who introduced Lancelot, the Grail, Guinevere, Camelot and Arthur’s illegitimate son Mordred to the legend.

Film can be viewed free with a library card on Kanopy.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/12392969/12393013