early middle ages these are also called the “dark ages” and the “early medieval age”

Early Middle Ages

These are also called the “Dark Ages” and the

“Early Medieval Age”.

Roman Empire, while very violent, was considered very advanced, so their intellectual, legal, military and social “light” was on.

476 (fall of Rome) to roughly 1000 (before large Plague deaths & Crusades) were Early Middle Ages or Dark Ages (or Early Medieval Age) because life was very hard, scary and religion was ‘fear’ based

We’re going to look at this one

nowJ

1000 – 1450ish = Late Middle Ages… Black Death, while terrible, improves peasant’s lives & Crusades offer education of travel. NOT fully “light” (still very oppressive) but starting to “shine”

1450ish or 1500s Renaissance and Reformations. A “light” comes back on over Europe—learning, art, reason, math, science and classical studies take precedents over fear and religion (and religion goes through a BIG changeJ )

Introduction

• When the German tribes took over Rome in 476 AD, the Roman Empire came to its end. Historians use this date to mark the end of ancient times.

• The 1000 years that followed are called the Middle Ages. This is because these years came between ancient times and the modern times in which we now live.

Introduction

• In the Middle Ages, the ways people lived and thought were very different from Roman times. Changes came about slowly.

Charlemagne • During the early Middle Ages there were few strong rulers in Europe.

• Most rulers had control over very small pieces of land. Even the power of the Pope was not very strong in places far from Rome. There was no single leader with enough power to unite all the people of Europe into one empire.

Charlemagne• Then about 768 AD a young

man became king of a people who were known as Franks. The Franks lived in what is now France.

• This young man, whose name was Charles, became known in history as Charles “the Great.” In French, Charles “the Great” is Charlemagne.

• Charlemagne (742-814) was the most famous ruler of the Middle Ages. He conquered much of Western Europe and united it under a great empire.

Charlemagne

• Charlemagne revived the political and cultural life of Europe, which had collapsed after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD.

• His activities laid the foundation of the European civilization that arose during the later Middle Ages.

Charlemagne• Charlemagne was more

than 6 feet (2 meters) tall; some say that he might even have been 7 or 8 feet tall!!!

• He had piercing eyes, fair hair, a thick neck and a potbelly.

• He was strong, fond of exercise, and had an alert mind and a forceful personality.

Charlemagne• Charlemagne could read

and speak Latin, the language of educated people of his time.

• But he never learned to WRITE, even though he tried.

• He is reported to have slept with pen, ink and paper under his pillow.

Charlemagne• Charlemagne was a son of Pepin the Short who became king of the Franks in 751.

• His father & grandfather had been good rulers, but Charlemagne was a much more impressive king.

• When Charlemagne inherited the throne in 771, he almost immediately began to expand his kingdom.

Charlemagne• He waged war to the north, to

the east and to the south. Charlemagne waged war in Spain.

• He was returning from an expedition there in 778 when a mountain people called the Basquest ambushed and wiped out his rear guard.

• This incident became the subject of a famous tale known as THE SONG OF ROLAND (an epic). In the poem, however, the ambushers were the Moors, a Muslim people who ruled Spain.

Charlemagne• By 800, Charlemagne’s

kingdom extended from central Italy, north to Denmark, and from eastern Germany west to the Atlantic Ocean.

• Throughout his reign, Charlemagne followed a policy of friendship and cooperation with the Christian Church. He protected the church and extended its power.

Charlemagne Interesting fact Charlemagne didn’t want the title because Holy

indicated his power was shared with the church and it made him less powerful. Knowing this Leo jumped up mid-prayer on Christmas day in front of an audience & crowned C while his head was down in prayer. The crowd cheered & he had no other option but to

accept the title. He immediately had to make sure the Muslims did not see it as an act of war

• Pope Leo III crowned him emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day, 800. This act led to the birth of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted in some form until 1806.

Charlemagne• In Charlemagne’s time,

Europe had hardly any towns, trade or industry.

• Almost all of the people made their living by farming and they barely raised enough to feed themselves.

• Few people had much money and the government and the laws of the old Roman Empire had disappeared.

Charlemagne• To improve conditions,

Charlemagne introduced a number of reforms.

• He granted large estates to loyal nobles, who in return, provided military and political services to the king.

• These nobles also maintained the roads, bridges and defences on their lands.

• This arrangement, called FEUDALISM, became the basic political and military system of Europe for the next 400 years.

Charlemagne• Charlemagne was devoted to

justice and good government. He decreed that all courts be held regularly and that judges base their decisions on accepted law.

• Charlemagne would send royal inspectors to carry his orders to the districts and to report on local conditions. In this way, Charlemagne kept control of the distant parts of his empire.

Charlemagne• Charlemagne also improved

education and culture by establishing a school at his palace.

• This school attracted the best teachers and pupils in Europe.

• It educated churchmen, thus strengthening the church, and trained teachers for other schools throughout the empire.

• Scholars at the schools collected and copied ancient Roman manuscripts which otherwise would have been lost forever.

Charlemagne• Local administrators collected

taxes from the people. The amount due was fixed.

• People knew how much they owed.

• Most taxes were paid in barter. The tax collector could decide the value of a pig or of a bale of hay.

• Charlemagne realized this system could easily lead to an abuse of power. He changed that system too.

Charlemagne • He introduced a payment system using silver coins. He standardized the value of each coin.

• It was no longer up to the tax collector to assign a pig a value. The farmer could sell his pig and then pay his taxes.

Charlemagne

• Charlemagne held his kingdom together by the sheer force of his personality.

• He was not a king in a palace somewhere.

• He was out and about.

Charlemagne

• He heroically fought in battles, wearing his big blue cape.

• He personally visited local administrators, creating new laws to protect his people.

Charlemagne• He had a horrible singing

voice, but he often sang at the top of his lungs as he strode through village after village.

• He was loud and rambunctious and brave and fair and the people adored him. He was their king and they were Franks, and proud of it.

Charlemagne• By the time Charlemagne died in

814, his empire had started to fall apart.

• Attacks by the Vikings (Northmen) and other invaders further weakened his empire and, in 843,

• his grandsons divided it into three parts.

• By the late 800’s it had ceased to exist.

• However, Charlemagne is remembered for being a great leader, a great educator, a great general and a great lawmaker.

Society’s structure

(feudalism)

• Before the rise of national states in Western Europe, the people lived under a system called feudalism.

• A duke, count or other noble ruled each small district. The noble’s power was based on the land he held in feud.

• This particular system of landholding determined the system of government and gave rise to the fortified castles, knights and chivalry

• The system of feudalism was established gradually between the 8th and 11th centuries.

• It began first in France but was evident in other countries too. It flourished from the 11th to the 13th centuries (this is the “High” Middle Ages).

Feudalism• Feudalism grew up in an age of

disorder when the central government was helpless to protect its people.

• On the ruins of the Roman Empire there arose small Barbarian kingdoms.

• The roads and bridges the Romans had built fell into decay.

• Money almost disappeared, making it impossible for kings to pay their officials and soldiers.

• People were at the mercy of invaders and local bandits.

Feudalism• Without a strong central

government, each district had to look out for itself. In times of trouble, people usually sought out their strongest neighbour and took refuge in his wooden blockhouse or stone castle.

• Because money was scarce, nobles were willing to take land as payment for services—

• the former owner could use the land during his/ her lifetime but gave it over to the noble at the time of death.

• Many nobles acquired more land than they could manage.

• They then began to grant land to tenants.

• Such land was said to be held in FEUD, and each holding was a FIEF.

• The tenant became a VASSAL of the lord and took an oath to follow him in war and perform other services.

Feudalism• A fief meant more than land.

Each fief was a complete unit.

• That unit included at least one village, huts for the serfs, the manor house or castle, and areas set aside to grow, feed, or catch food - the fields, pasture land, and woods.

• Fiefs with streams were greatly prized as streams insured fresh water and added fish to the diet of those who lived on the fief.

Feudalism • The only outsiders allowed to live on a fief were peasants.

• Peasants were freemen.

• They could come and go as they wished, but where would they go? War was everywhere.

• Peasants received protection and the use of a small piece of land on which to build a home in exchange for work.

• Strictly speaking, feudalism involved only the noble classes.

Feudalism• The system, however, rested on

the work of the SERFS who supported the lord and their knights.

• Officially the serfs were “UNFREE”.

• They, however, were not the property of other people like slaves.

• They were bound to the land and not to any particular lord who held it in fief.

• They could not leave the place where they were born; but neither could the lord send them away

Feudalism• If a noble died without heirs,

the king would reassign that land to someone else.

• The noble's family would be tossed out, to make room for the new family coming in.

• The serfs stayed with the land.

• They were part of the fief. Their job was to do the work for whomever owned the fief.

• In exchange, the fief owner promised the serfs would receive food, shelter, and protection.

Feudalism• Although fiefs were given to

military men as rewards, fiefs came with certain obligations, obligations beyond feeding and protecting the fief workers, the serfs. In exchange for ownership of a fief, you had to promise certain things:

• – You had to promise loyalty to

the king or to the lord who gave you the fief.

– You had to provide military service. You did not have to fight yourself, but you had to send men when needed.

Feudalism– You had to act as a host

when your king or lord came visiting.

– You had to contribute funds for a ransom if your king or lord was captured in battle.

– You had to provide gifts of cash to help offset the costs of any of your lord's special occasions, such as a wedding.

• Fiefs were also awarded to counts and local officials.

Feudalism• There was a lot of land

available.

• Every time two barbarian tribes went to war, the losers lost their land, and usually their lives.

• Their families were tossed out, and their fiefs were reassigned to new owners.

• • That is one of the reasons

war was so popular.

• War was the way to riches.

Feudalism• The main

business of the lord and his knights was warfare.

• His sons were trained in horsemanship and handling weapons and also in chivalry (social manners).

Anglo-Saxons and the Celts• When the Romans left

Britain no longer had a strong army to defend itself.

• The Angle, Saxon, and Jute tribes who invaded Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries are known as the Anglo-Saxons.

Anglo-Saxons and the Celts • They left their

homelands in northern Germany, Denmark and northern Holland and rowed across the North Sea in wooden boats.

• Each boatload of people formed a settlement with its own leader.

Anglo-Saxons and the Celts

• The early Anglo-Saxons lived in small settlements consisting of just two or three families and a few buildings.

• Later, settlements grew into villages and small towns.

• A settlement included workshops, living accommodation and store-houses.


• Anglo-Saxon houses were built of wood and had thatched roofs.

• The houses had only one room and a hearth for cooking, heating and light.

• Anglo-Saxon families were large.

• Everyone from young babies to the elderly lived under one roof.


King Arthur• At the end of the 5th C,

Britain can under the leadership of a man named Arthur

• He was a real man, but very little is known about him (historians think this because he is in books shortly after his death


• There are lots of legends and his followers “the knights of the round table”, but most of these have been made up.

• Stories about him started to be written down in the 10th C.

Vikings

• The Vikings were great travellers and seamen, travelling from their Scandinavian homeland as far afield as America (known to the Vikings as Vinland) in the west and Constantinople and Baghdad in the east.

Vikings • The Baltic Sea, the North

Sea and the North Atlantic were the Vikings' super-highway.

• These are some of the world's most difficult waters to sail upon.

• The Vikings most often sailed along the coasts, but they were the only European seafarers at the time to dare travel so far that they lost sight of land.

Vikings • It was important for the

Vikings that they understood the weather that each season brought as they could then plan their voyages whether long or short

• They didn't have any of today's modern navigation instruments, but during the Viking era they developed navigational aids that all seafaring peoples in Europe used until the 1700's.

Vikings • A Viking raid nearly

always came as a total surprise. The Vikings were expert navigators and knew the coasts of Europe like the back of their hand.

• They decided on a target and planned the attack in advance.

• Having the fastest ships of the day they would arrive seemingly out of nowhere close to the target and storm ashore ready to attack.

Vikings • If needed, they could

row their ships up rivers and if the target was some distance from the river they would leave their ships, round up available local horses and head for the church, convent or village of their choice.

• They often had superior

weapons and were well trained, and usually got what they wanted.

Vikings • After the raid they

would return to their ships and sail away.

• For the people attacked it was difficult to organise a defence, because of the speed with which everything happened.

Vikings • The effect on the people

then would be similar today to an attack by troops brought in by helicopters to attack a peaceful small town.

• All this was done using the Viking Ship.

• Although the Vikings are best known to many of us as raiders, they were also traders, explorers and settlers, leaving their mark wherever they went.

Vikings • Fun Fact:• How the Days of the Week got their Names• Days of the week were named after Norse (Viking) gods

and giant objects in the sky

– Sunday = Sun’s Day (light & warmth each day—start/ end each week)

– Monday =Moon’s Day

– Tuesday = Tiw’s Day—Tiw or Tyr was Norse god known for his sense of justice.

– Wednesday = Wooden’s day. Wooden, or Odin, was a Norse god who was one of the most powerful of them all.

– Thursday = Thor’s day. Thor was a Norse god who wielded a giant hammer.

– Friday = Frigg’s day. Frigg was a Norse god equal in power to Odin.

– Saturday was named after Saturn, a Roman god

Church during the Early Middle Ages

• AN IMPORTANT NOTE:

– It is VERY important that you understand that what we study now as the Roman Catholic Church over 1000 years ago is NOT the same situation today.

– You will find that the Christian Churches of a long time ago were nothing at all like they are today. Don’t forget that!

Church during the Early

Middle Ages

• One important change that took place during the Middle Ages was the growth of the Christian Church.

• Before the fall of

Rome, the emperor Constantine had made Christianity the religion of Rome. After that time, the number of Christians grew steadily.


Middle Ages

• When the strong German tribes destroyed the city of Rome, they almost destroyed Roman law and order, too.

• Schools and education almost disappeared.

• Without schools, the learning of the Greeks and the Romans began to die out.

• The German kings made themselves rulers of the Roman land, but they did not give people the things they needed.

• The church, however, did help the people.


Middle Ages

• The church slowly took the place of the old Roman government.

• When people were poor and helpless, the church cared for them.

• It looked after a dead man’s property and protected his wife and children.

• It tried to keep business honest.


Middle Ages

• As their numbers grew, the Christians built more and larger churches.

• Before the end of the Middle Ages every city in Europe had a church with a high steeple to be seen from far away.

• This was so people could see the cross on the steeple from far away and it was to pay respect to God.

• The Christian religion became highly organized. (another pyramid)


Middle Ages

• The head of each church was called a PRIEST.

• All the churches in the city were under the control of leaders called BISHOPS.

• The bishop’s job was to care for the business of all the churches of his city.

• Larger areas were under the control of ARCHBISHOPS. Their job was to watch over the bishops.


Middle Ages

• People in charge of Archbishops were called CARDINALS (they wear red like the bird!)

• Since Rome had been the most important city in the ancient world, the bishop of Rome was looked to as the head of all the bishops and all the churches.

• According to the Bible, Peter and Paul founded the first Christian Church in Rome.

• They were two of the first followers of Jesus. The Catholic Church believed that Peter was the first bishop of Rome.


Middle Ages

• The bishop of Rome is called the POPE.

• In Italian, the word for pope means “father.” The Catholics believe that Christ gave Peter, the first pope, his powers.

• These powers were handed down to each pope after Peter.

• Although the people in the medieval times were very religious, the mass was said in Latin, a language most people did not understand.


Middle Ages

• Village or parish priests were poorly educated.

• They did not preach effectively. Many village priests could not read or write.

• The people could not read or write either.

• The Catholic Church firmly believed in labor and in prayer.

• People were taught that "to labor is to pray".


Middle Ages

• The church also made it very clear that if you wanted to get to heaven, you had to participate in the sacraments (a simple set of steps ).

• This was very comforting to people in medieval times.

• The life of most people in medieval times was a harsh one.

• The thought of escaping to heaven was most attractive.


Middle Ages

The Sacraments: • Baptism

• Confirmation

• Marriage

• Penance. You had to confess your sins to a priest, and you paid money to do this. Penance also included acts of "good" behavior. For example, you might ask a visiting monk to dine with you. You might enjoy his company, but the invitation was an act of penance, an act of kindness.


Middle Ages

• Communion. This was the most important sacrament. Each mass, those who had confessed all their sins and had not yet committed new ones could participate in communion. During mass, people taking communion would receive a blessed wheat wafer and a sip from a specially blessed cup of wine. If you had not done ample penance in the eyes of the church, you could not participate in communion. If you did not participate in communion frequently, you could not go to heaven.

• Taking Care of the Sick

• Holy Orders. You could take holy orders at any time. A woman might have been married several times, yet she could still become a nun, provided she could find a convent to accept her. Once accepted into a monastery (monks) or a convent (nuns), you could not return to your former life. Not everyone took holy orders. But that was allowed as long as you balanced this by acts of penance.


Middle Ages

• The sacraments controlled daily life.

• Some like baptism were done once, others - like penance - were done many times.

• The Catholic Church charged people money for some of the sacraments and accepted (required) donations to feed the poor and to build new churches.


Middle Ages

• Since there was a charge for each sacrament, the sacraments generated enormous wealth for the church.

• The local priest and other church officials worked very hard.

• Christianity was at the core of medieval life. Everything revolved around religion.


Middle Ages

• But if you’ve been to a Christian church lately, you probably wouldn’t recognize an Early Middle Ages Christian church.

• There were lots of scary pictures and stained glass… even gargoyles were scary.

• Church back then was as much about what to be afraid of than what to look forward to!

early middle ages these are also called the “dark ages” and the “early medieval age”

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