Human-Environment Interaction: Gothic Cathedrals

Transcription

1 Human-Environment Interaction: Gothic Cathedrals w, //~\ "7"hether lifting our eyes to the soaring nave vaults, or peering into the depths of the aisles, the whole atmosphere is one of religious mystery... [One] cannot but experience a little of that unearthly joy so keenly felt by the devotees of our cathedral." What impression do these words by Etienne Houvet, curator of Chartres, give of this French cathedral? Reflecting the central role of the Church in people's lives during the Middle Ages, cathedrals were built for the glory of God. During the A.D. 1100s, a new system of construction that originated in France signaled a change in architectural style from Roman to Gothic. The Gothic style of architecture would allow people to achieve new heights in honoring God. A fine example of Gothic ar< hitecture, Our Lady of Chartres was rebuilt following a fire in A.D The new structure, with a vault that reaches 11 stories into the sky, attests to the success of medieval builders in devising new ways to distribute the weight of cathedral walls. Ribbed vaults, pointed arches, and flying buttresses allowed stained-glass windows to fill the interior with light and the walls to stretch to the heavens. Romanesque FLYING BUTTRESSES helped "open up" the interior space. These stone beams supported the main "walls which could then enclose stained-glass windows. I GOTHIC DESIGN BROKE FREE of the thick central walls and heavy, rounded arches that characterized Romanesque cathedrals. at RIBBED VAULTS brought new height to cathedral ceilings with support from pointed arches. The arches were fanned by narrow stone ribs that extended from tall pillars. Geography and History Activities

2 Name ' Date Class Focus on Human-Environment Interaction People's ability to modify their surroundings has grown as they have improved their technology. Improvements have been made in tools, transportation, and materials. Gothic cathedrals represent an improvement in design discovered during the Middle Ages. This architectural innovation revolutionized construction and focused the energies of towns and entire regions. Stonemasons, architects, and other skilled workers contributed to this innovation. 1. How can people's use of technology affect their ability to modify their physical environments? 2. Describe how this ability has increased through the use of technology. 3. Give examples of how architecture and engineering have modified physical environments. 4. Are there any developing technologies that may affect your physical environment? Explain. Critical Thinking 5. Making Inferences Medieval cathedrals were centers of religious, educational, and social activities during the Middle Ages. Why do you think it was so important to have such magnificent buildings? 6. Making Comparisons Compare changes in architectural styles during the Middle Ages with more recent examples of people's modification of their physical environments. Activity 7. To understand how technology can be used to modify physical environments, form three groups to conduct research on physical changes in your community during the past 50 years. The first group will read local newspapers to determine how new technologies were described. The second group will interview members of their families and neighbors to determine the human response to modifications. The third group will contact local officials to discuss how technology has been used to alter the community's physical environment. Each group should present its findings to the class. 1 a 26 Geography and History Activities

3 CRITICAL THINKING Activity 12 Expressing Problems Clearly As you read about world history, you will find that many specific human actions were taken to solve a problem. Ask yourself what problem was solved by the actions taken. Then evaluate the solution and decide what possible new problems might be created by the solution. The following excerpt is a translation from the twelfth-century poem, "The Round Table," by a writer called Lawman. It describes the origin of King Arthur's Round Table. Read the excerpt, then answer the questions that follow. There came to him then one who was a skillfid carpenter and met the king and greeted him graciously. "Hail to you, Arthur, noblest king. I am your own man. Many a land have I traveled through. In woodwork I am master of wondrous many skills. I have heard tell over the seas new tidings, that your knights at your table began to fight on a midwinter's day. Many fell there; out of their high pride they wrought deadly sport, and because of their high lineage each wished to be innermost. "But I will construct for you a most convenient table, at which sixteen hundred men and more may sit down, all in turn around, so that none will be outermost outer and inner, man opposite man. When you wish to ride forth, you can take it with you and set it up where you will according to your wish; and you need never fear, to the length of the world, that any proud knight will ever make strife at your table, for there the high shall be equal with the low. Allow me to gather the lumber and begin the table." By the end of four weeks the work was completed. On a festival day the people were summoned, and Arthur himself came at once to the table and ordered all his knights to the table forthwith. When the knights were all seated for their meal, then each spoke to the next as if it were to his brother. They were all seated around; there was no one outermost. Every rank of knight was very well treated. They were all as one, the high and the low What problem prompted the carpenter to approach the king? 2. What three physical qualities does the carpenter say the table will possess? 3. What is the ideology behind the shape chosen for the table? 4. What effect does the table have on the knights? Look at the illustrauon ornhe table in a BenedicJine monastery on page 3Q41irypur textbook and read the descriptions of monastic life on pag s 304^305. (a) Describe true seating arrangement at the table and the reason for it. (b) What problems mifeht arise if the solution to Kityg Arthur's problem was rnjlplemented ii^ the monastery? A / 12 Critical Thinking Activities

4 U N I T World Literature Reading 1 flat I he Canterbury Tales, one of English literature's first masterpieces, was written by the poet, Chaucer, in the 1390s. The tales are about an assorted group of pilgrims bound for the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury, England. They include a knight, a prioress (nun), a Franklin (countryman), a monk, and others. Directions Read the selection below and answer the questions that follow. Use another sheet of paper if necessary. from The Canterbury Tales By Geoffrey Chaucer rr hen in April the sweet showers fall And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all The veins are bathed in liquor of such power As brings about the engendering of the flower. When also Zephyrus [west wind] with his sweet breath Exhales an air in every grove and heath Upon the tender shoots, and the young sun His half-course in the sign of the Ram [Aries] has run, And the small fowl are making melody That sleep away the night with open eye (So nature pricks them and their heart engages) Then people long to go on pilgrimages And palmers [pilgrims] long to seek the stranger strands Of far-off saints, hallowed in sundry lands, And specially, from every shire's end Of England, down to Canterbury they wend To seek the holy blissful martyr, quick To give his help to them when they were sick. It happened in that season that one day In Southwark, at The Tabard [inn], as I lay Ready to go on pilgrimage and start For Canterbury, most devout at heart, At night there came into that hostelry Some nine and twenty in a company Of sundry folk happening then to fall (continued) World Literature Human Heritage 33

5 U N I 8 i Literature Reading 1 (continued) In fellowship, and they were pilgrims all That toward Canterbury meant to ride. The rooms and stables of the inn were wide; They made us easy, all was of the best. And, briefly, when the sun had gone to rest, I'd spoken to them all upon the trip And was soon one with them in fellowship, Pledged to rise early and to take the way To Canterbury, as you heard me say. But nonetheless, while I have time and space, Before my story takes a further pace, It seems a reasonable thing to say What their condition was, the full array Of each of them, as it appeared to me, According to profession and degree, And what apparel they were riding in; And at a Knight I therefore will begin. There was a Knight, a most distinguished man, Who from the day on which he first began To ride abroad had followed chivalry, lines from "The Prologue" in THE CANTERBURY TALES, by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Nevill Coghill (Penguin Classics, Revised Edition, 1977), copyright Nevill Coghill, 1951,1958,1960,1975,1977. Reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd. Understanding the Literature 1. What is the goal of the Canterbury pilgrims? 2. During what time of the year is the pilgrim's trip taking place? 3. Critical Thinking Do you think the poet wants the reader to admire the knight or not? Explain. 34 Human Heritage World Literature

6 CRITICAL THINKING Activity 13 Evaluating Information Evaluating information means analyzing what you read and then drawing conclusions about it. It may also involve recognizing whether the author is biased in any way, even in descriptions. The following passage from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales describes a medieval monk. After you have read the excerpt, evaluate the information given in the poem. I Q?= x1o There was a monk; a nonpareil was he, Who rode, as steward of his monastery, The country round; a lover of good sport, A manly man, and fit to be an abbot. He'd plenty of good horses in his stable, And when he went out riding, you could hear His bridle jingle in the wind, as clear And loud as the monastery chapel-bell. Inasmuch as he was keeper of the cell, The rule of St. Maurus or St. Benedict Being out of date, and also somewhat strict, This monk I speak of let old precepts slide, And took the modern practice as his guide. He didn't give so much as a plucked hen For the maxim, 'Hunters are not pious men,' Or 'A monk who's heedless of his regimen Is much the same as a fish out of water,' In other words, a monk out of his cloister. But that's a text he thought not worth an oyster; And I remarked his opinion was sound. What use to study, why go round the bend With poring over some book in a cloister, Or drudging with his hands, to toil and labour As Augustine bids? How shall the world go on? You can go keep your labour, Augustine! So he rode hard no question about that Kept greyhounds swifter than a bird in flight. Hard riding, and the hunting of the hare, Were what he loved, and opened his purse for. I noticed that his sleeves were edged and trimmed With squirrel fur, the finest in the land. For fastening his hood beneath his chin, He wore an elaborate golden pin, Twined with a love-knot at the larger end. 1. What does this monk like more than anything else? 2. What does this monk think of the rules of his order? 3. What does this monk look like? What is he wearing and what animals does he have? 4. Look at Section 4 on "The Troubled Church" and meveasonspvhy there were calls for refomn. Bvaluat; the\descriptfon of the monk, in te rms c the qorrufttion of the Church. Wh) might a re ormer object to the monk's app(!aranc s and behavior? You may want to look back it Chapter 12 and pages for description of monastic life. Critical Thinking Activities 13

7 Name... Date. Class ft istorical -" n.. ~. ACTIVITY 12 igniticance The Beginnings of the Middle Class In the twelfth to fourteenth centuries, towns began to expand and so did the middle class. The middle class gained its income from buying and selling goods. Today, in many countries the middle class makes up most of the population. Read this twelfth-century description of medieval Londoners and an early take-out restaurant, then complete the chart below. Those engaged in the several kinds of business, sellers of several things, contractors for several kinds of work, are distributed every morning into their several localities and shops. Besides, there is in London on the river bank, among the wines in ships and cellars sold by the vintners, a public cook shop; there eatables are to be found every day, according to the season, dishes of meat, roast, fried and boiled, great and small fish, coarser meats for the poor, more delicate for the rich, of game, fowls, and small birds. If there should come suddenly to any of the citizens friends, weary from a journey and too hungry to like waiting till fresh food is bought and cooked... there is all that can be wanted. However great the multitude of soldiers or travellers entering the city, or preparing to go out of it, at any hour of the day or night, that these may not fast too long and those may not go supperless, they turn hither, if they please, where every man can refresh himself in his own way.... From The Medieval Reader edited by Norman F. Cantor Fill in the chart to compare and contrast the description of medieval take-out to take-out today. Middle Ages Today Location Foods 8. ± Customers Reasons for Purchasing 12 Historical Significance Chapter Activities World History

8 U N I T World Literature Reading 2 fe /vs the author of Robin Hood and King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Antonia Fraser shares the drama of history and legends with us. This selection from the Robin Hood legend describes the political rivalries between Normans and Saxons. In this adventure Robin again meets his longtime enemies the Sheriff and Sir Guy of Gisborne. Directions Read the selection below and answer the questions that follow. Use another sheet of paper if necessary. from Robin Hood: A Narrow Escape By Antonia Fraser ft 'ow all attention was concentrated on the contest for the silver arrow, the last contest of the day. Forty stout archers stepped forward in answer to the herald's command. Among them were Robin Hood, Will Scarlet and Walter of Weybridge, wearing the badge of the Sheriff's service, as well as a host of other young men eager to try their skill... "It would be a fine thing to win the silver arrow on the eve of my birthday," said Robin to Will. "But if you win it, Will, I vow I will not bear a grudge against you, for we learned archery together." "If I win, Robin," cried Will gaily, "I will bestow it on you for a birthday gift." So saying, he stepped forward and loosed his arrow: amid the applause of the crowd it landed a bare inch from the bull'seye. Then it was Walter of Weybridge's turn, and the man-at-arms, with the practice born of long years in the Sheriff's service, landed his arrow a fraction of an inch inside Will's. A great sigh of regret went up from the common people, who hated the Sheriff's retainers. Finally, Robin Hood stepped forward, and with careless grace, loosed his green-feathered arrow at the target. A moment's silence, then a great shout went up. "A Hood! A Hood! Robin of Locksley wins the day!" The Mysterious Arrow Even as the shout died away, a series of things occurred all at once so quickly that afterwards no man could rightly remember which happened first. One moment Robin was standing with his bow loose in his hands, gazing joyfully at the target, with its center transfixed by his green-tipped arrow. The next moment a great crowd had surged round him.... The moment after that, all in the twinkling of an eye, an arrow was speeding truly and surely towards the royal box itself! (continued) World Literature Human Heritage 35

9 U N World Literature Reading 2 (continued) Had Oswald Montdragon not fixing the Prince aside, the arrow would surely have embedded itself in his heart! Not one person present failed to notice that the arrow had green feathers! "Treachery!" cried Guy. of Gisborne. "To arms! Seize the traitor! 'Tis Robin of Locksley who has attacked our Prince in this dastardly fashion. Behold, the green feather of Locksley!"... Now half a dozen Norman soldiers flung themselves at Robin Hood, as he stood, half-dazed by the quickness of events, in the center of the square. "Guard yourself, Robin," yelled the faithful Will. "Look behind you!" Robin Hood sprang back, just in time to avoid the onrush of the soldiery, and with only his woodsman's dagger to protect himself, he began to hack his way violently through the menacing Norman crowd which surrounded him. Twice it seemed that his body would fall beneath the weight of their onslaught: for how could one youth prevail against a dozen soldiers? But still Robin kept himself free, although his left arm was bleeding from a nasty wound,... Robin managed to free himself temporarily from the clutches of the soldiers, and despite the blood pouring from his wound, he sprinted valiantly across the square, to where he saw Will holding his horse.... From Discovering Literature, Macmillan Literature Series. Copyright 1991 by the Glencoe Division of Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. t Understanding the Literature 1. What personal event is Robin about to celebrate? 2. What unexpected event causes Robin to flee from the match? o 1 3. Critical Thinking Why do you think people enjoy reading adventure stories about characters such as Robin Hood? 36 Human Heritage World Literature