The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages1066-14851066King Edward the Confessor died without an heir The Duke of Normandy (William the Conqueror) invaded EnglandThis leads to a new, French influenceAfter 20 years, William I orders records of all land ownership, which becomes the Domesday Book Rise of FeudalismFeudalism= economic, social, and political position determined by birth

Problems with FeudalismA strong vassal might decide to overpower a weak overlord

RomanceCourtly love and chivalry gave women an elevated status in some ways

BUT

Not really

Actual outcome: romantic heroes saving the dayWomenNo political rightsSubservient to husband, father, brotherLife of having and caring for children, housework, and fieldwork

ChivalrySystem of ideals and social codesMust take oath of loyalty to overlordGoverns warfareEncouraged courtly loveCourtly love implies admiration and adoration (not physical love)The admired lady was set above the admirerTopic of many poems and stories

Fall of FeudalismMore contact with the outside world= more business opportunities

Need for merchants, carpenters, stonemasons, other artisansYeomen, small landowners, replaced some of the knightsEffects of Fall of FeudalismArt is more geared toward middle classWriters such as Chaucer focused more on city classesBallads were sung in public gathering placesSong or songlike poem that tells a story in a regular pattern of rhythm and rhymeThe Decline of FeudalismBefore the Crusades foreign coins are melted downfew coins existMonetary Systemfeudal lords make coins for use on their own property onlyserfs use barter systemAfter the Crusades gold coins are usedpeasants can earn gold in exchange for labor or goodspeasants can save money, have greater buying and selling power

11QUESTIONS Why would the Crusades have brought about a widespread use of gold coins?[Crusaders needed money that would be accepted in other lands.]BACKGROUND The minting of coins was essential in the revival of Englands economy. Religious Happenings The Crusades to free Jerusalem from Turkish control beginThe Knights Templar is foundedA religious order whose mission was to protect pilgrims to the Holy Land

The Crusades (10951270) series of holy warswaged by European Christians against Muslims in the Middle East ultimately unsuccessfulEuropeans benefit from contact with Arab civilization

13QUESTION What might have prompted knights to join the Crusades?[Possible response: The code of chivalry said that they had to defend the Christian faith, so if the pope called for knights to join a crusade, they would have felt obligated. They would have been fighting for a holy cause.] Siege warfare was often used during the Crusades: Invaders tried to destroy a citys protective walls and block off its supplies. The large objects in the lower right-hand part of the painting are called mantelets. What do you think their function might have been? [They acted as shields, through which battering rams could be propelled.]BACKGROUND The Crusades were begun when Pope Urban II, the head of the Catholic Church in Rome, sent out a plea. He urged followers to wage war against Muslims occupying Jerusalem and other places in the Middle East that were considered holy to Christians.

Benefits to Europeans from Crusades Examples of sophisticated culture to which Europeans were exposed includemedical knowledgefirst accurate study of smallpox and measles universities such as Al-Azhar University in Cairo, one of the oldest universities in the worldpublic libraries in Damascus and Baghdadwealthy cities such as Cairo providing links to spice trade

14BACKGROUND Because of the Crusades, Europeans were exposed to Eastern mathematics, astronomy, architecture, and crafts. The rich Islamic cities captured by the Crusaders had sophisticated cultures: Baghdad and Damascus had well-established libraries; Cairo was an important ink in the spice trade, and Arab universities were established long before their English counterparts. Political HappeningsThe Magna Carta

The Hundred Years War

The Magna Carta1215 Magna CartaGreat Chartersigned by King John, under pressure from English baronsprotected rights of aristocratsmeant a return to more democratic tendencies No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way harmed, nor will we go upon him nor will we send upon him, except by the legal judgment of his peers or by the law of the land. To none will we sell, to none deny or delay, right or justice.Magna Carta, clauses 39 and 40

16QUESTION What legal rights enjoyed by Americans today are implied by these clauses from the Magna Carta?[right of habeas corpus, right to trial by jury, right to a speedy and fair trial, right to equal justice under the law]BACKGROUND The signing of the Magna Carta heralded a return to older, more democratic tendencies in England. Although the document was written for aristocrats and did not protect the rights of common people, it later became the basis of English constitutional law. leads to British national consciousness13371453war between England and FranceEngland unsuccessfulThe Hundred Years WarYeomanbegin to become dominant force (instead of knights)small landowners with longbows

17BACKGROUNDAfter the war, due to a rise in national consciousness, the English were no longer best represented by the knight in shining armor (an import from the Continent). Instead, they were more accurately represented by the green-clad yeomen, who had formed the nucleus of the English army during the Hundred Years War in France. Their yard-long arrows could fly over castle walls and pierce the armor of knights. The final blow to feudalismThe Black Death

13481349Black Death (bubonic plague)The Black DeathEnglands population is reduced by one-third.Labor shortage gives lower classes more bargainingpower.Over time,serfs gain freedom.highly contagious and fatal disease, spread by the fleas on infected ratsfactor in decline of feudalism

19BACKGROUND The increasing congestion of the cities contributed to the outbreak of the plague. Medieval people did not understand the source of this awful affliction. They thought the disease was caused by a strange aligning of the planets, by earthquakes in central Asia, or by a Jewish conspiracy to weaken Christian countries. The symptoms of the bubonic plague included blotches on the skin, hardening and swelling of the glands under the armpit or in the groin, delirium, and insanity. The Black DeathThe symptoms of the bubonic plague included blotches on the skinhardening and swelling of the glands under the armpit or in the groindeliriuminsanity

Death strangling a victim of the plague. From the Stiney Codex. Czeckoslovakia, 14th century.20