Middle Ages

Geography of Europe, Africa, and Asia

Europe

Governments became more local“mini Ice-Age” caused a decline in food

productionPeople were not as healthy

Some learning was lost

What was Europe like?

A time between the Classical Period (Greece and Rome) and the Modern World (RenaissanceNow)

Middle Ages

CharlemagneSon of Pepin IIIRule 768-814Defeated many in war:

Lombards (Italy)Saxons (northern

Germany)Avars (central Europe)Spain in the Pyrenees

800- crowned “Emperor of the Romans” by Pope Leo III

Carolingian RenaissanceEmphasis on

reading, writing, and education

Developed schools based on the Roman modelAlcuin of York

taught Charlemagne’s children

Written BibleCaroline miniscule

Bishops told to create libraries

Charlemagne’s ReformsSplit up his empire

into areas controlled by counts

Missi Dominici “the Lord’s messengers”Ensured support of

CharlemagneHeard complaintsDetermined

effectiveness of laws

Decline of the Frankish EmpireCharlemagne gave his

empire to his son, Louis the Pious

840- Louis divided the empire among his sons: Lothair, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German

843- Treaty of VerdunSplit up Charlemagne’s

empire870- Middle Kingdom

split between the remaining two kingdoms

Empire weakened by invasionMuslimsSlavsMagyars

Feudalism

A powerful noble had lots of land, more than he could use

He granted this land (called a fief) to a lesser noble to use

This created a contract between the twoThe lesser noble promised loyalty while the

powerful noble promised protectionLand was inherited from father to eldest son

(primogeniture)Women could have land in their dowry, but it

became their husband’s land when they got married

How it worked

Lord= grants land/expects loyaltyVassal= accepts land/protectionKnights= trained soldiers that work for

vassals (nobility)Peasants (Serfs)= people who live on the land

and farm the land

The people

Manors Self-sufficient villages where peasants worked the land for a noble

Noble kept 1/3 of the land for private use (domain)

Peasants had other 2/3 to work for their sustenance

Peasants also had to work on the noble’s land to pay for use of their land

Rise of Monarchies

450-Anglo-Saxons (Germanic tribes) invaded871- Alfred the Great900s- Danish rule1066- Norman Conquest (William the

Conqueror)Brought feudalism to EnglandKing had more power in EnglandFrance and English nobles connected

1200s- King JohnMagna Carta

England

Son of Henry IIWanted English

nobles to pay more taxes to support wars in France

Nobles banded together to oppose this

Forced King John to sign the Magna Carta

King John

Latin for “Great Charter”Protected the liberties of the noblesEstablished rights for ordinary peopleKing John could not raise taxes without

consent of the Great CouncilIt made sure that the king obeyed the law like

everyone else.

Magna Carta

800s-900s- Carolingians (i.e. Charlemagne)987- Hugh Capet comes to power

Capetians rule for 300 yearsFrance is decentralizedNobles have most power, then king, then

church1328- Valois come to power

France

800- Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor

Many leaders, not very strong

Holy Roman Empire

WarfareWars were commonUsually a result of private

fights between two peopleKnights were trained

soldiers that had lots of armorChain mail Iron helmetSwordShieldLance

Knights fought for their lord

Justice systemThree ways to determine

guilt (or innocence)Trial by battle

Duel Compurgation

Oath takingSimilar to character

witnessTrial by Ordeal

How well does the accused survive a particular ordeal?

Trial by Cold Water- a person takes a sip of holy water and is then thrown into a pool of water. If she sinks to the bottom, she is innocent. If she floats, she is guilty

Trial by Hot Iron- a one pound iron weight is heated until it is hot. The accused must walk nine feet with the hot iron in his hands to prove innocence

Trial by Hot Water- A laundry cauldron is filled with water and heated until the water is boiling. A rock is dropped in the cauldron, and the accused must retrieve it

Trial by the Host- the accused has to eat a piece of sacred bread without choking

Types of Ordeals

KnightsSoldiers that fought

for various lordsUsually wealthy

because they had to fund their armor

Usually sons of noblemen that would not inherit land

Started as pages (servants) at age 7

Then became squires (personal assistants to knights) around age 14

If proven through courageous and skillful, a squire could become a knight.

ChivalryA code of conduct

that dictated how a knight or nobleman should act toward others of his class

Includes:Fighting fairlyBeing courageousLoyal to friendsHonestyCourteous to women

NoblesDid not live in luxuryOften lived in a keep

or a castle (later on)Castles had thick

walls for defense and small windows without glass

Marriage was a way to advance one’s fortunes

Men depended on their wife and children for help

PeasantsWorked the landDid not get vacations

or holidaysCould not hunt on

the Lord’s landPeasants had a poor

diet (rarely ate meat)Victims of warfare

Church

Hierarchy

Some people wanted to escape from the world and devote their life to God

Initially, monks and nuns lived alone and apart from the world

Eventually they built monasteries (for monks) and convents (for nuns)

Monasticism was the way of life in monasteries and convents

Monasticism

Saint Benedict- became a hermitWell-known for his holinessEstablished a monastery at Monte Cassino in central

ItalyThe standards he set for monks was known as

Benedictine Rule and was later adopted by other monasteries and convents

Saint Patrick Brought Christianity to Ireland in 432

Saint AugustineLed a group of monks to EnglandArchbishop of Canterbury (center of Christian church in

England)

Saints

Canon law- Church’s law codeInterdict- form of punishment where all

churches in a region were closed and sacraments forbidden

Heretics- those who opposed the churchThreat to the church, heretics punished

severelyTithe- One tenth of a person’s income to be

paid to the Church

Church and Politics

Encouraged equality and dignity for allDivorce was never allowed Took care of poor and needySometimes even established hospitals

Society and Economics

Church gained great wealth and influenceSimony- people could buy church officesInquisition- search for heretics

Especially popular in SpainOften involved torture of accused heretics

Problems

Decline of Church’s Power

Philip IV of France tried to tax the clergyPope Boniface VIII decreed this illegalPhilip IV had the pope arrested.

After Boniface died, Philip IV had a French pope elected

1309- Clement V moved church headquarters to Avignon, France

1377- Pope Gregory XI returned the papacy to Rome

Babylonian Captivity

1377- Pope Gregory XI returned the papacy to Rome

1378- cardinals elected an Italian pope and then later a French popeItalian pope stayed in RomeFrench pope moved to Avignon

Council of Constance 1414-1417- ended the Great SchismElected a new Italian popeRemoved French and Italian popesA third pope resigned

Great Schism

A.k.a. “Bubonic Plague” or the “Black Plague”

1347- plague came from Asia and spread along trade routes

Black rats on ships carried the diseaseFleas bit rats and then bit humans

High mortality rateAbout 25 million people died between 1347-

13511/3 the population of Europe

Black Death

People lost faith in GodChurch lost power and importanceWorkers became more valuable and asked for

higher wagesPeasant uprisingsChange in relations between the upper and

lower class

Results of the Black Death

Hundred Years War

English king Edward III held lands in FranceHe was a vassal of the French king

1328- French Capetian king diedEdward III claimed the throneFrench elected Philip VI to be kingWar broke out

Why?

Battle of Agincourt (1415)English used the

longbow to cut down French knights

OrleansSiege led by Joan of Arc

WeaponsCannonsGunpowderLongbows

Battles and Weapons

A peasant girl that helped France unite to defeat the English

French royal family was at warHouse of Burgundy sided with the BritishHouse of Orleans tried to unite France

Joan of Arc helped secure the throne for Charles VII of Orleans

After her capture and trial, she was burned at the stake for unwomanly conduct

Joan of Arc

French won the war, but France was deeply hurt

Kings in France and England gained more power over nobles

English kings had power limited further by the law

Results

Africa

http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/ca/books/bkf3/imaps/AC_06_206_bantu/AC_06_206_bantu.html

1000 BC-1100 ADBantu is an African language groupPeople moved looking for more farmland

Bantu Migrations

Dominated by city-states that used the trade routes along the Indian Ocean

700-1300 AD- trade with Islamic Empires became very importantMuslims moved from the Middle East and

Indonesia moved to east AfricaSwahili

Bantu-language groupCity-states included Mogadishu, Pate,

Mombasa, and Kilwa

Sub-Saharan Africa

Settled by the ShonaBantu people

One of many fortresses to protect tradeSpecialized in gold mining

Great wealth and powerDeclined after 1400 AD

Great Zimbabwe

Ruled by kingdoms that protected Saharan trade routesEach ruled by a monarchGold-for-salt exchange

GhanaPeaked around 1050 AD

MaliEarly 1300sTimbuktu

SonghaiEmphasis on education

West Africa

Byzantine Empire

Rome split EastWestByzantine Empire was in the east

Fall of Rome

Strengthened the Empire528 AD- Justinian Code- code of written laws

(based on Roman laws)Efficient government officialsStrong army

“Greek-fire”Eastern Orthodox ChurchHagia Sophia

Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora

Islamic EmpiresCaliphates=Theocracy

Eventually controlled much of NAMESTAN (North Africa, Middle East, and the –stans)

People paid homage to the Caliph, but local sultans and emirs had the most power

680- Karbala, Shia-Sunni split

Umayyad 600-700s

Overthrew the UmayyadsRuled from Baghdad, favored Arabs“Golden Age” of Islam

Many mosques builtImproved science, technology, and medicineEmphasis on trade

Abbasid 700-1200s

1258- Baghdad conquered by MongolsCaliph executed

Sultans and emirs gained more power without a Caliph

Middle East in turmoil until the Ottomans take over in the 1500s

Mongols Invade

Crusades

1000s- Seljug Turks took control of PalestineTurks threatened Constantinople and the king

asked the pope for help1095- Pope Urban II called a meeting and

urged European nobles to send knights to regain the Holy Land

People went because:Promise of salvationHope to gain land or wealthOpportunities for trade

Why?

1096-1099- French and Italian lords sent several armies to the Holy Land

Captured Antioch and eventually JerusalemThe Crusaders slaughtered Jerusalem’s

Muslim and Jewish inhabitants

First Crusade

Second Crusade- 1147-1149- Turks had taken back some cities gained in the First CrusadeTurks held, Crusaders lost

Third Crusade- Saladin (Turk) gained control of Jerusalem1189-1192- Frederick Barbarossa, King Philip

II of France, and King Richard I of England went to capture the Holy Land

King Richard I secured a truce with Saladin that allowed Christians to enter Jerusalem freely

Other Major Crusades

1212- young people from across Europe decided to march to the Holy Land

By the time they reached the Mediterranean coast, they were disorganized and hungry

Several thousand boarded ships in France that sold them into slavery

Children’s Crusade

New weapons and warfareThe crossbowCatapults

Political changeSome lords sold land to go

on the CrusadesFewer lords=more power

with fewer peopleBetter trade with the

Middle East and beyond

Results

China of the Middle Ages

Han Dynasty collapses 220 ADPolitical and social unrest in China

Sui come to power and incite changes 589 ADGrand Canal builtUnsuccessful invasion of KoreaDefeated by invading Turks

Tang Dynasty takes over 618 AD

Coming to Power

Expanded China to the north and westDefeated the TurksOffered conquered lands to loyal subjects

(feudalism)Cultural Diffusion

Xi’an as capital700-800s many foreigners (Arabs, Persians,

Jews, Greeks) came thereGolden Age for China

Tang China

960- Zhao Kuangyin established Sung Dynasty

Threat of invasionTibetan rulers from the northwestQidan (Mongols) biggest threatSung paid tribute to the Mongols to avoid

invasionJuchen moved into Manchuria (capital at

Beijing)Hangzhou became capitalTrade a huge part of daily life

Sung China

LiteratureOver 2300 poets at once

ReligionBuddhism spread to China and then to East

AsiaSupported by Empress WuNeo-Confucianism

TechnologyWood block printingGun powder

Improvements of the Middle Ages

Rest of Asia

Influenced by ChinaWriting systemArt and technologyBuddhism

300s- Yamato emperor800s- Feudal system arises in Japan

EmperorShogunDaimyoSamuraiPeasants

Samurai followed a code of behavior called Bushido (“way of the warrior”)

Japan

100 BC-300 AD controlled by Han ChinaBrought Buddhism and civil service system

Three kingdoms arose to challenge Chinese rule

670 AD- Kingdom of Silla united with Tang China to gain controlledLater kicked Chinese outMovable type

1200s- Mongols controlled Korea1392- Koreans became independent

Yi Dynasty controlled until 1910

Korea

Indochina and VietnamVietnam mostly controlled by China until 939

BuddhismSeveral dynasties arose to calm the country

Indochina heavily influenced by IndiaHindu and Buddhist influencesAngkor WatKhmer Kingdom (ruled from present-day

Cambodia)

South East Asia

Mongol Empire

Originated in present-day MongoliaOriginally nomadicHighly skilled at warfare

Used catapults, massive crossbows, and cavalry

Surrounded their enemies like hunters

About the Mongols

1162-1227 created an immense empireConquered:

BeijingCentral AsiaPersia

Genghis Khan

Kublai Khan:Rest of ChinaTibetSE AsiaNot Japan

Batu Khan:RussiaPolandHungary

Golden Horde: name used by Europeans to describe the Mongols

His Successors

Mongols controlling ChinaImproved tradeEnter Marco PoloHeavy taxes on the peopleCentralized the Chinese government

Yuan Dynasty

Silk Road

Silk RoadSeries of

trade and cultural transmission routes

Began during the Han dynasty

Stretched 4000 miles