CHAPTER 3 Section 4

European Kingdoms and Feudalism

Germanic states emerged

in the former Western

Roman Empire and

created a new European

civilization.

By 500 A.D., the Western Roman Empire had

been replaced by Germanic kings.

Clovis established the kingdom of the Franks.

He was the first Germanic ruler to convert to

Christianity and became an ally of the

Roman Catholic Church.

European Kingdoms and Feudalism (cont.)

Organization of the Church

European Kingdoms and Feudalism (cont.)

− Parishes were led by priests.

− A group of parishes, or diocese, was led

by a bishop.

− The head of the Catholic Church was the

pope.

Monks played an important role in the Church.

Saint Benedict wrote a series of rules that

became the model for monasticism.

Monks provided schools, hospitals, and other

social assistance to the people of Europe.

European Kingdoms and Feudalism (cont.)

In 768 Charles the Great, or Charlemagne,

became the ruler of the Frankish kingdom.

Charlemagne expanded the Frankish kingdom

into the Carolingian Empire, which covered

most of central and western Europe.

In 800 Charlemagne was crowned emperor of

the Roman Empire by the pope. This event

symbolized the joining of Roman, German,

and Christian elements.

European Kingdoms and Feudalism (cont.)

After Charlemagne’s death in 814, Europe was

invaded by foreign powers.

As a result of invasions, the people of Western

Europe turned to local lords for protection.

This led to a social and political system

known as feudalism.

Vassals swore allegiance to a lord and

provided military service. In turn, the vassal

was given land, called a fief, and maintained

political control of it.

European Kingdoms and Feudalism (cont.)

England

European Kingdoms and Feudalism (cont.)

− In 1066 William of Normandy

defeated King Harold at the

Battle of Hastings. William was

crowned king of England.

− Henry II expanded the power of

the king by expanding the royal

courts. Common law began to

replace the varying codes of the

kingdom.

− During the reign of King John, English

nobles resented the growing power of the

king and defeated the king’s forces at

Runnymede.

European Kingdoms and Feudalism (cont.)

− King John was forced to put

his seal on a document of

rights called the Magna

Carta, in 1215.

− The Magna Carta outlined the rights of the

people and the king, strengthening the

idea that the king’s power was limited, not

absolute.

European Kingdoms and Feudalism (cont.)

− Under Edward I in the thirteen century, the

English Parliament was created. This

representative assembly dealt with taxes,

politics, and law.

France

European Kingdoms and Feudalism (cont.)

− Following the fall of the Carolingian

Empire, France was ruled by the

Capetians in the Paris region.

− The reign of Philip II Augustus was a

turning point for the French monarchy. He

added land and expanded the power and

income of the French monarchy.

The Holy Roman Empire

European Kingdoms and Feudalism (cont.)

− Otto I was a Saxon king in Germany

who was crowned emperor of the Romans

in 962.

− The Germanic kings tried to rule both

German and Italian states, which became

known as the Holy Roman Empire.

Central and Eastern Europe

European Kingdoms and Feudalism (cont.)

− The Slavic peoples were from central

Europe. Gradually, they split into three

groups.

Western Slavs eventually formed the Polish and

Bohemian kingdoms.

Eastern Slavs were converted to Orthodox

Christianity by Byzantine missionaries.

Southern Slavs included the Croats, Serbs, and

Bulgarians.

− Eastern Slavic peoples also settled in

present-day Ukraine and Russia.

− Oleg and the Swedish Vikings settled in

Kiev and dominated the Slavic peoples

who lived in the region.

European Kingdoms and Feudalism (cont.)

− The Mongols conquered Russia in the

thirteenth century.

− In 1242, the Mongols rewarded the

Russian prince Alexander Nevsky with the

title of Grand Prince. Nevsky’s

descendants became the rulers of Russia.

European Kingdoms and Feudalism (cont.)

Byzantine Empire and Crusades

The Crusades had a significant effect

on medieval society in both the East

and the West.

Despite the fall of Rome, the Eastern Roman

Empire continued to exist.

Justinian became emperor of the Eastern

Roman Empire in 527 and sought to

reestablish the Roman Empire in the entire

Mediterranean.

Justinian’s most important contribution was

The Body of Civil Law, a codification of

Roman law.

Byzantine Empire and Crusades (cont.)

The Eastern Roman Empire soon lost much of

its territory because of overspending on

foreign conquest, Islamic invasions, and

defeats in the Balkans.

The new, smaller empire was called the

Byzantine Empire. It was both a Greek and a

Christian state.

The Christian church of the Byzantine Empire

came to be known as the Eastern Orthodox

Church.

Byzantine Empire and Crusades (cont.)

From the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries,

European Christians carried out a series of

Crusades to regain the Holy Land from the

Muslims.

Pope Urban II saw the Crusades as an

opportunity to free Jerusalem and Palestine

from the “infidels.”

Byzantine Empire and Crusades (cont.)

The First Crusade was made up of mostly

French warriors, who retook Jerusalem in

1099.

The Muslims began to fight back. In all, there

were four crusades, but only the first one

was successful.

Byzantine Empire and Crusades (cont.)

Arab World and Africa

The Islamic religion arose in the Arabian Peninsula

during the 600s and quickly spread throughout

Southwest Asia and to parts of Africa and Europe.

Extensive trade helped

bring prosperity to the

Arab Empire.

Arab World and Africa

The earliest African states, Kush and Axum, thrived

on farming and trade, while the later kingdoms of

Ghana, Mali, and Songhai in western Africa

carried out the trade of gold and salt.

The Bantu spread

ironworking through

eastern and southern

Africa.

Europe and the Byzantine Empire

A new European civilization emerged in the Middle

Ages.

By recognizing the rights of nobles, the Magna Carta

limited the power of the English monarchs.

The Byzantine Empire

created its own unique

civilization in the eastern

Mediterranean.

The Asian World

The Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties brought peace

and prosperity to China, but in 1279 the Mongols

conquered the Song dynasty and made China

part of their vast empire.

State power was centralized in Japan in a new

system called the shogunate.

Chinese and Indian

examples of government

and religion influenced new

states in Southeast Asia.

Effects of the Crusades

Byzantine Empire and Crusades (cont.)

− Increased wealth for the Italian port cities

− Feudalism was weakened and kings

created stronger central governments.

− Development of strong nation-states in

Spain, England, and France