Middle Ages Europe500-1300

What do we mean by Classical Period? Post Classical?

From Rome to the Middle Ages

Dark Ages

-

500-1000

Decline of Trade, Industry, and Towns

• Fear of bandits reduced shipping distances

• Roads deteriorated• Industry shut down

– lack of markets

• Move to countryside– Europe becomes rural

• Money replaced by barter

Decline of Learning and Culture

• Roman schools, libraries, museums destroyed

• Arts and science neglected• Illiteracy except

– monks and nuns

• Survival

Decline of Strong Central Government

• Weak Germanic Kingdoms controlled government but failed to – provide protection– insure justice– maintain order

• Changes in citizenship– Family ties not to king who was

a stranger

Images of the West

Muslim Viewpoint• Backwards• Stupid• Brutish

Reality• Newer civilization• Economy less

advanced• Manners less

polished

Frankish Kingdom

• Clovis• “Do nothing” kings

– Mayor of the Palace

King and Pope

Pope Gregory the Great , 590– Papacy political and spiritual power – Churchly kingdom—ruled by pope

• Central theme in Middle Ages

Charles Martel– Battle of Tours-732

Pepin the Short-741

Carolingian Dynasty

Charlemagne [Charles the Great]• Leadership

– Warfare

»Conversion by the Sword»Pope Leo III crowns

Charlemagne in 800

Capital-Aachen, Germany [Aix la Chapelle]

Papal States

Leadership Continued

• Government– counties/counts– missi dominici

• Education– schools– Latin manuscripts– Palace School

• Death, Succession– Son Louis the Pious weak ruler– Treaty of Verdun divides kingdom

Treaty of Verdun

843

Vikings, Magyars, Islamic Invaders

Feudalism- Political System

The Monarch

Nobles

Serfs

Knights

Lords provide Knights to protect Kingdom

Knights promise to fight for the Lord

Serfs provide food & labor for the kingdom

ManorialismEconomic System

Serfs at Work

High Middle Ages 1000-1300

Influence of MonasteriesSent out missionaries,• By mid-1000’s most western

Europeans were Roman Catholic.• Preserved ancient religious works and

manuscripts.• Provided :

- Hospitals- Food for the needy- Guest houses- Schools

A Monk’s Day

Lay Investiture

• Practice of lay ( non-clergy like a King or noble) official investing (bestowing) a Church title on someone

• Kings would choose Bishops instead of the Church

Problems Between Pope and Emperor

1075- Pope Gregory VII -bans lay investiture

Henry IV (Holy Roman Emperor)

refuses to stop the practice

Henry with help of Bishops he appointed orders Pope to step down

Pope excommunicates Henry

Concordat of Worms1122

Church and Emperor reach a compromise over lay

investiture.- Emperor may nominate Bishops and grant

land but Church alone could appoint Bishop - Pope could reject unworthy candidates - Emperor could veto Pope’s choice

The Church Hierarchy Pope The

Papacy

Cardinals

Bishops

Priests, Monks, Nuns -- the lower clergy

Upper clergy

Power of the Church

Church helped govern western Europe.1. Own courts and laws Canon Law2. Disobedience to church laws had severe penalties.

Church received money and land from nobles to ensure salvation.

Gothic Architecture

Heresy Denying the basic church teachings.

- Excommunication=eternal damnation

Middle Ages Trade and Growth of Towns

Crusades Spark Trade

Walled City

1000-1300Agriculture• Need for increased

food supply• Warmer climate

– More land cultivated• New farm methods• Horse Collar• Horseshoe• Three Field System• Increased population

Trade• Merchant Guilds

– Controlled production and prices– Provided security in trade

• Craft Guilds– Husbands and wives worked together– Cloth making had more female workers– Quality control– Training guidelines

• Local and long distance trade-mostly in towns– Trade Fairs

Finance

Commercial Revolution• Need for large amounts of cash or

credit and ways to exchange different currencies– Bills of Exchange– Letters of Credit

• New Markets– Usury and the Church

Commercial Revolution

Increased Trade

More workers needed

More cash, banking, &

lending services available

Merchant’s wealthand power

expand

Merchant’s taxesIncrease the king’s power and wealth

More moneyavailable for

building businesses

Serfs move to townWorkers paid for

labor

Growth of Towns

• Increased population• Relatively small populations• Located at crossroads and waterways• Narrow streets

– Dirty– Lack of fresh air, light, clean water

• Houses built of wood with thatched roofs• Serfs flee to towns to seek freedom• Rising merchant class

Middle Ages EuropeEarly High

Kings

Lords Bishops

Lower lords

Peasants Parish priests

Serfs

Crusades

Black Death

2nd Agricultural Revolution

New Economy

Kings

Lords Bishops

GUILDS (university)

journeyman Lower lords

apprentice laborers

Peasants Parish priests

Townsmen

The Culprits

1347: Plague Reaches Constantinople!

The Symptoms

Bulbous

Septicemia Form:

almost 100% mortality rate.

From the Toggenburg Bible, 1411

Lancing a Buboe

Medieval Art & the Plague

Attempts to Stop the Plague

Doctor’s Robe “Leeching

”

Attempts to Stop the Plague

Flagellanti:Self-inflicted “penance” for our

sins!

Attempts to Stop the PlaguePogroms against the Jews

Required “Jewish” hat

“Golden Circle” obligatory badge

CCOTPolitical

– Fall of Roman Empire--decentralization– Germanic peoples controlled different regions

• Feudalism• Franks were the most influential• Shift from Italy to France in importance/power

– Centralization under Charlemagne• After his death disunity• External invasions from Muslims in the Mediterranean,

Magyars from Hungary, and Vikings from the north

– Regional authority• Creation of Holy Roman Empire [really German and a group of

states]• Regional monarchies in England and France and in Italy and

Spain

CCOTEconomic• Trade slowed with disintegration of cities and infrastructure

• By 10th century political stability led to renewed trade with eastern hemisphere

• Agriculture improved but not enough surplus to support large urban areas

– Moldboard plow

– Watermills

– Horse collar

• Manorialism--serfs

• Local markets and itinerant traders brought goods from the east

• Maritime trade in the north

• Crop rotation, new crops, etc. = population growth = increased trade

• Revival of towns

• Increased Mediterranean trade = powerful Italian city-states

• Hanseatic League

• Banking and credit

• Guilds

CCOTReligion• Close relationship with church and Franks• Growth and power of RCC

– Papal supremacy– Emphasis on sacraments and thus the need for the church– Missionary movement– Monasticism

• Also provided a range of social services

– Influenced art and literature– 11th century=cathedral schools and eventually universities– Crusades– Pilgrimages – Concern over growth materialism of church brought critics

CCOTSociety• In a decentralized society the nobility built relationships

to protect their land and maintain order = feudalism– Became more formal and sanctioned by the church– Serfs=obligations to lord in return for land and protection– Manor= lord provided justice

• Three estates=those who prayed, fought, worked– Code of chivalry for Knights

• Growth of cities=merchants became more powerful– Guilds

• Status of women grew with urbanization

Britain in the Middle Ages

Alfred the Great871-899

• Anglo-Saxon Chronicles• Unification of English

Kingdom

William the Conqueror

• Rivalry for throne vs. Harold of Essex

• Pope sides with William of Normandy

• Battle of Hastings-1066

• Feudalism• Domesday Book• Link with Europe and

Scandinavia

Bayeaux Tapestry

English Law and Government

•Henry I [1100-1135]

•Common Law– Collection of most

recent court rulings

Henry II

• Archbishop of Canterbury--Thomas Becket

• Fees instead of military service

• Circuit courts• Jury system

1215 King John and Magna

Carta• King must obey

laws• King could not

limit church• Great Council

must meet to tax• Trial prior to

imprisonment• Jury of peers• Speedy trial

Results of Magna Carta

• Guaranteed rights for all English people

• Basic principles of limited government and rules of law

Parliament

• House of Commons

• House of Lords

Common Law

• Basis for legal systems of England and United States

Capetian Dynasty France

• Phillip II—1180-1223– Seized Normandy from King John – Increased land and power

Challenges to Church Authority

John Wycliffe 1328-1384

– England– Christ not pope

head of Church– Clergy should

have no wealth– Bible alone final

authority on Christian life

– English translation of Bible

John Hus 1369-1415

– Bohemia [Czech Republic]

– Bible authority higher than Pope

– Excommunicated– Burned at stake

Church Divided

• Pope Boniface VIII– Kings must always obey Pope

• Philip IV– Refuses– Estates General– Imprisons Pope– French Pope at Avignon

• Great Schism 1378-1417– Council of Constance 1414

Hundred Years’ War1337-1453

Causes• Dispute over

French territory claimed by English King

• Joan of Arc• Calais only

territory retained by England

Effects• Longbow and

cannon weakened feudalism

• Castles no longer invincible

• Parliament temporarily gains power

• English nationalism

War of the Roses1455-1485

• Conflicts over claims to throne

• Lancaster and York

• Henry VII and Tudor Dynasty

• Marriage to Elizabeth of York

• Increased power of king

• Death of many nobles

• Confiscation of noble land increased wealth of king

• Middle class rallies to support Tudor reign

• Tudor rulers strong and capable