Religion and Literature in the Medieval Era

I thought it would be interesting to research and discover how religion may have impacted writing and art from the Medieval time period. But before diving into that, I wanted to gain a better understanding of the Middle Ages as a whole. And as a visual learner, I turned to Youtube to find some credible information that would guide me in the right direction.

The video above directly relates to my “unessay” that is pictured below. I watched Hank Green’s crash course on the subject. While watching this video, I recorded some buzz words down that would give me an overall sense of the time period. Then I wanted to get creative so I made a picture collage of old paper, medieval paintings and stained glass for the background. I wrote out the buzzwords and glued them to the collage so I would have inspiration as I continued ahead with researching and writing. These words include religion, chivalry, famine, hundred years war, black death, starvation, etc. I am very proud of the visual aspect I was able to create for this project

Questions of religion vs state were occurring in the 1300s. Pope Boniface VIII gained the title of Pope in 1294. He had strong beliefs that religious authority surpassed the power of even the kings. This man was said to be greedy and not afraid to use his power to better his and his families lives. King Philip IV was in power during this time as well. The King believed (or just suckered others into believing) that he was a divine ruler. His people would say that he was just greedy and ruthless, but at least he was handsome. Needless to say by knowing their two personalities, it is easy to see why the King and The pope would argue with each other. https://www.history.com/news/french-king-kidnapping-pope-philip-iv-boniface-vii

Long story short, after the Pope was declared to have full power in 1302, King Philip had him kidnapped and tortured. The Pope died shortly after his release from captivity. Needless to say, power, government, and religion were all intertwined at this point. But where does literature come into play in all of this?

As an english major I am well aware that literature and art play a huge role in studying history and the way people lived their lives in other time periods. Whether the literature is fictional or non fictional, there are still things that can be gathered from the writing to tell about the society and ways of life during the time it was written. Writings were often focused on religion or had strong ties to religion and it’s themes. Some of these things we even see in today’s works, such as people who have “sinned” reaching a grim fate. With no separation between church and state, children were both taught from their parents and their mentors that God was the center of everything. Literature, spoken tales, and art were just the tools used to re enforce these rules. The heavy amount of religious undertones and quotes in the literature showcase the mindsets and teachings from Medieval times. It is a shame that there are not more written tales from the time, or time before it. And even ones we find have to be translated because it is such old english, it wouldn’t make sense to read these days. 

This research has made me realize how grateful we are in this current age to be able to choose our own religion or abstain from having one all together. I respect people for the religious beliefs they have, but for somebody to be the “know all” force that enforces one set religion is not a healthy thing for any society. Especially because people everywhere come from different backgrounds, home situations, ethnicities, cultures, etc. There is no right or wrong answer in terms of which religion is correct, because at then end of the day, we don’t know what higher powers exist, if any at all.