【正文】 states known as fiefs as a reward for their services in 732.4. What was the relationship between lord and vassal?Lords granted parts of their lands known as fiefs to vassals. In return, the vassals promised to fight for the lords.5. Into what three groups were people divided under feudalism?Under feudalism, people of their Western Europe were mainly divided into three classes: clergy, lords, and peasants.6. What was the different between a serf and a free man?A serf had no land and no freedom. He was bond to the land where he had been born. A free man was a peasant who usually was a worker who made the ploughs, shod the horses, and made harnesses for oxen and horses.7. What is the importance of the using of vernacular languages in Medieval literature?In the Middle Ages, some “national epics” were written in vernacular language—the language of various national states that came into being at that period, and some monks advocated translating the Bible in vernacular. Literary works were no longer all written in Latin. It was the starting point of a gradual transition of European literature from Latin culture that was the bination of a variety od national characteristics.8. In what ways did Gothic art differ from Romanesque art?⑴Although Gothic was an outgrowth of the Romanesque, it was given directions by a different aesthetic and philosophical spirit and reflected a much more ordered feudal society with full confidence.⑵Romanesque architecture is characterized by massiveness, solidity, and monumentality with an overall blocky appearance. Sculpture and painting, primary in churches, developed a wonderful unity with architecture. Both arts often are imbued with symbolism and allegory. They are not based on natural forms but use deliberate distortions for expressive impact.⑶Gothic cathedrals soared high, their windows, arched and towers reaching heavenward, flinging their passion against the sky. They were decorated with beautiful stained glass windows and sculptures more lifelike than any since ancient Rome.9. What was the merit which Charlemagne and Alfred the Great share?Both Charlemagne and Alfred the Great contribution greatly to the European culture. Both of them encouraged learning by setting up monastery schools. The scholars in Alfred the Great’s monasteries translated the Latin works into the vernacular. Thus both helped preserve the ancient classics and culture.Division four: Renaissance and Reformation文藝復(fù)興與宗教改革1. What made Italy the birthplace of the Renaissance?Because of its geographical position, foreign trade developed early in Italy. This brought Italy into contact with other cultures and gave rise to urban economy and helped Italy accumulate wealth which was an essential factor for the flowering of art and literature.For two centuries beginning from the late 15th century, Florence was the golden city which gave birth to a whole generation of poets, scholars, artists and sculptors. There was in Florence a revival of interest in classical learning and rising of humanist ideas. And to spread the new ideas, libraries and academies were founded. In the 15th century printing was invented and helped to spread humanist ideas.2. What are the main elements of humanism? How are these elements reflected in art and literature during the Italian Renaissance?Humanist is the essence of Renaissance. Humanists in renaissance believed that human beings had rights to pursue wealth and pleasure and they admires the beauty of human body. This belief ran counter to the medieval ascetical idea of poverty and stoicism, and shifted man’s interest from Christianity to humanity, from religion to philosophy, from heaven to earth, from the beauty of God to the beauty of human in all its joy, senses and feeling.The philosophy of humanism is reflected in the art and literature during the Italian Renaissance in the literature works of Boccaccio and Petrarch and in the art of Giotto, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Giorgione, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian, etc. In their works they did not stress death and other world but call on man to live and work for the present.3. Why do we look upon Petrarch as the father of modern poetry?Petrarch was a prominent figure of his time, a great figure in Italian literature and one of the great humanists during the Renaissance. He has written numerous lyrics, sonnets and canzonets. Petrarch rejected medieval country conventions and sang for true love and earthly happiness in his sonnets. Later sonnets became a very important literary form of poetry in Europe and a lot of poets, such as Shakespeare, Spencer, and Mrs. Browning, were indebted to him. Thus we look upon him as the father of modern poetry4. How did Italian Renaissance art and architecture break away from medieval traditions?The Italian Renaissance art and architecture radically broke away from the medieval methods of representing the visible world. Compared with the latter, the former has the following distinct features:⑴Art broke away from the domination of church and artist who used to be craftsmen missioned by the church became a separate strata doing noble and creative works。 The Bible has great impact upon western literature. For a long period of time, the Latin Bible was accepted as the authority and Latin was official language of the Roman Catholic Church, so most Europe literature at that time was in Latin. Besides it is generally accepted that the English Bible and Shakespeare are two great reservoirs of Modern English. Furthermore, the use of Biblical themes has been a literary tradition. In fact few great English and American writers of the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th century can be read and appreciated with satisfaction without a sufficient knowledge of the Bible。 ⑵Some monks translated the Old Testament into Greek and St. Jerome translated the whole Bible into Latin. Later some such as John Wycliffe and William Tyndale translated the Bible