Anglo-Saxon Society
- The first feature of Anglo-Saxon society is that they were religious men. In the first half of the Old English, the Anglo-Saxons held pagans beliefs, and in the second half Christianity dominated the Anglo-Saxon society; their adaptation is not only switching from one practice to another but generating something new out of the old legacy and their fresh theories and knowledge.
- The oral tradition was very much present in Anglo-Saxon
society, which provided us with the sight of dead societies (Janovsky).
Some written texts of the time survived today i-e Beowulf and
others.
- The Anglo-Saxons were a war-centered civilization. The
warrior code in Anglo-Saxon society is elucidated through the poem
Beowulf, in which the hero fights to save his people (Dogra).
- Courage and bravery are other aspects of Anglo-Saxon
society, people were brave enough, and their bravery is depicted in their
literature as people having great physical strength like Beowulf, Fadlan
of “The thirteenth warrior.”
- Beowulf provides an insight into that the Anglo Saxon
were ferocious nomads of the sea. They existed on the coasts of the sea,
Baltic and the North Sea. They were very diligent people.
- In Anglo-Saxon society, women hold a very high place.
They amused the warriors with the drinks and presented them with gifts;
for instance, Beowulf was presented with honor and cheers when he returned
after defeating the enemies, and his victory was celebrated (Ohidujjaman).
- After reading the literature of the time, it is
concluded that Anglo-Saxon society had some distinct traits. It contains
the elements of war, heroic deeds, courage and bravery, and incredible
belief in the religion.
Middle English Society
- Every society is well depicted through its literature;
similarly, the literature of Middle English is the byproduct of its
civilization and reflects the significant aspects of the society that were
prevalent during the epoch.
- The fourteenth century of England contains one of the
great poets known as Geoffrey Chaucer, and his Canterbury Tales is one of
the prime examples of the depiction of society in a humorous way.
- In Middle English, the social class system was very
predominant. The first class is of nobility and knights, and then comes
the working class peasants; it is reflected in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
As the prologue writer, he first introduced the knight and the squire who
belong to the upper social setup(Bolon).
- Social rigidity is also echoed in the prologue, evident
through Miller, belonging to the lower class who makes fun of the knight’s
tale.
- Chaucer also highlights the snags of the people with
the Church as many characters belonging to the Church, in the prologue,
are depicted as corrupt, like the nun and the prioress. They are more
concerned about being courtly and not being religious. Friar in the tale
is a greedy and verbose man.
- Chaucer also explicated the values people hold in
society i-e the tale of the pardoner and the Wife of the Bath.
- The Canterbury tale, in general, is an accurate representation of the civilization of the Middle Ages and the illustration of the people belonging to all social classes of the time and gives us insight into the hierarchy that was present in the Middle Age society.
The impact of religion on the society
Impact of religion in Anglo-Saxon Society:
- As it is known that the Anglo-Saxon period started from
450 AD till the Norman Conquest, many texts of the time survived,
including Beowulf, The Wanderer, and The Dream of the Rood, and the record
of these texts were kept by monks of the time, these texts were not
available in their original form, but their copies were kept, and from
these copies, much about the religion and their impact on that society
could be learned(McGillivray).
- The Anglo-Saxon community of pagans was illiterate.
Therefore, they were left with no such outstanding written records that
indicate much about their religion. However, if we take some of their
text, we find pagan qualities in Anglo-Saxon literature(Gallardo). They
worshipped different gods.
- After converting from paganism to Christianity, the
poems comprise purely the Christin source, for instance, The Dream of the
Rood, which is a Christin story articulated from the cultural standpoint
of the Anglo-Saxon. In actuality, the Dream of the Rood narrates the death
of Jesus from the viewpoint of the Christin Cross. This Cross is depicted
as the combatant standing with his leader, Jesus. It is explicated in the
poem that Rood is aware that the king will soon die, but he stands with
the king with all courage and strength. This is an instance of the union
of warriors in Anglo-Saxon civilization, which will lead us to the fact
that the warrior union was a religious tie among the clans.
- After converting to Christianity, the poets of the time
took religion as a theme of their poetry. The two critical bards of the
time include Caedmon and Cynewulf, who wrote poems on religious
leitmotifs.
- It is concluded that religion played a very significant
role in the lives of Anglo-Saxon society, and it had a profound impact on
them, reflected through their literature.
The impact of religion on Middle Age Society
- In the Middle Ages, people believed strongly in
religion and contained solid religious values; the people in the age were
Roman Catholics and had a strong faith in it, and the Roman Catholic
Church provided these people with the religious aspects of their lives so
people would live with these believes accordingly.
- Monks of the time were literate. They read the Latin
language, as Bible was in the Latin language, and explained it to ordinary
people. People substantially impacted religion, so many decided to work in
the cloisters. Most knights tried their best to receive clemency for their
immoralities visiting on a crusade(J.Mark).
- Most medieval literature was written at that time to
teach the Christin tenets to the masses. The prose and poetry beautifully
portrayed the viciousness of sin and the magnificence of good deeds, and
most critics had the view that the purpose of the drama was to give
religious education to people(Khan).
- In medieval times, Church gained popularity due to the
wealth Roman Catholic Church produced during that era. They made a good
amount of money by collecting taxes. One who could not pay tax would have
to suffer from the punishment of endless damnation. The Black Death
incident convinced people that God chastised them.
- Divine work was extensively available in Middle
English. Very few works in the Middle age were written out of the
religious context, which shows the deep impression of religion on the
society of Middle English.