The Middle Ages

World History

Chapter 13

Following the End of Rome

• Europe after Rome:

– Disordered, no centralized government

– Frequent invasions from east, south, & north

– New social order develops

– Frequent bouts of plague, war, & conflict

• Middle Ages a time of transition

– The Roman Catholic Church gains in importance

– Development of the feudal system

– Modern European nations emerge (France, England, Spain, etc.)

• Other Names of Middle Ages:

– Medieval Period

– Dark Ages

The Frankish Empires Emerge • Germanic tribes raid Europe & establish small kingdoms

– Known as the Franks

– Settled in lower Rhine region & Gaul

• Several important dynasties develop: – The Merovingian Dynasty:

• Clovis – King of a Frankish tribe that controlled all of Northern Gaul

– Upon his death, kingdom divided among all his sons

• Pepin II – Reunified the kingdom established by Clovis

• Charles Martel: – Defeated the Spanish Moors

– Halted Muslim invasion of France

– The Carolingian Dynasty: • Pepin the Short (III):

– Became king of the Franks by overthrowing last of the Merovingians

– The Pope validated Pepin’s reign adding legitimacy

– Sent Frankish army into Italy to defeat Lombard invaders, gave land gained around Rome to the Roman Catholic Church, creating the Papal States

• Pepin III’s son was greatest of all Frankish kings

The Reign of Charlemagne • Charlemagne inherits the Frankish throne in 768 & rules for 46

years

• Why Charlemagne was Great: – Created an empire, the Holy Roman Empire, that included both

Germany & France

– Restored order & stability to Europe

– A devout Christian, aided in spreading Catholicism throughout Europe

– Prevented the spread of the Spanish Moors into the rest of Europe

• Life Under Charlemagne: – Government:

• Empire divided into regions, ruled by a Count appointed by Charlemagne

• Capital of empire located in Aix-la-Chapelle (modern Aachen, Germany)

• Government officials had to swear an oath of fealty

• Missi dominici “lords messengers” appointed to travel the empire and hear complaints & conduct trials

– Education & Learning • Established schools for training of young nobles

• Sponsored a rewriting of the bible in the vernacular (common) language

• Established libraries to the accumulation of knowledge

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Aachen_Cathedral_North_View_at_Evening.jpg

Decline of the Charlemagne’s Empire • Louis the Pious inherits the Empire

– Extremely well educated & very religious

– Spent more time perusing religious interests than ruling empire

– Did not name an heir from his three sons, resulting in conflict

• Treaty of Verdun settles disputes

– Empire divided into three districts for each of the three sons: Lothair, Charles the Bald, & Louis the German

– Constant fighting amongst the three regions

– Kings loose power, noble class gains control

• Invaders pick away at the empire

– Moors (Muslims) take control of Mediterranean areas

– Magyars control eastern areas

– Vikings unleash a reign of terror from the North and west

Feudalism • Large scale government disappears following end of

Charlemagne’s empire

• New political/social system develops, known as feudalism: – A powerful noble grants land to a lesser noble

– Land grant called a fiefdom (fief)

– Person who received the grant called a vassal or lord

– Vassals gave tribute & soldiers to the higher lord

– Vassal further divided the land to lesser nobles

– Fiefdoms were hereditary • Oldest male inherited (primogeniture)

• Any land owned by a woman was given to husband upon marriage

– Peasants & serfs were poorest of the system • Peasants could leave the fief

• Serfs were tied to the land, could not leave without permission of the lord

Diagram of Feudalism King

High Nobles (Dukes & Duchesses)

Lesser Nobles (Marquis, Lords, Earls)

Knights

Merchants & Traders

Peasants

Serfs

Warfare In Feudal Society • Wars & conflicts were common

– Frequently occurred between two or more feudal lords

– Large scale wars broke out between kingdoms

• The Knight:

– Were usually sons of nobles or knights

– Highly skilled

• Training began at a young age, when they were “fostered” to a

knight for training

• Were granted knighthood when they distinguished themselves in

battle

– Known for their armor

• Multiple layers

• Metal plates to protect against arrows & sword strikes

• Carried shield, lance, & broad sword

• Rode warhorses, usually Friesians or Percherons, to carry weight

Chivalry • A code of conduct among nobles

• Dictated the rules knights were to live by: – Be courageous in battle

– Fight fairly

– Be loyal to friends & overlord

– Treat conquered enemies gallantly

– Be courteous to women, children, & the elderly

• Training to Be A Knight: – Page:

• Began at about age 7

• Boy fostered out to a knight

• Served the knight

• Learned manners and the care of weapons

– Squire: • Usually began at about age 13-14

• A knight’s assistant, took care of horse, armor, sword, etc.

• Taught to fight with weapons

• Carried back-up weapons into battle for knight

– In addition to fighting, knights often taught to recite/compose poetry, dance, sing, and play a musical instrument

The Feudal Justice System • Trial by Combat

– Usually a duel between the accusers or representatives of the accusers

– The person who won was innocent/the person who looses or dies was guilty

• Trial by Compurgation (Oath Taking)

– The accusers and the accused bring supporters, known as oath-takers, to testify they are telling the truth

– Which ever side had the most convincing “oath-takers” won

• Trial by Ordeal

– The accused was given a challenge to complete

• If the accused successfully completed the challenge, he was innocent

• If the accused failed to successfully complete the challenge, he was guilty

– The accused was put through something very painful

• If wounds healed cleanly & quickly – innocent

• If wounds healed slowly or were infected - guilty

Daily Life • Peasant Life

– Most were serfs

• Tied to the land, unable to leave w/o lord’s permission

• Could not own land

– Spent their days working in the fields

– Extremely short life expectancy

• Disease

• Starvation & malnutrition

• Frequently killed during wars/conflicts

• Noble Life

– Usually lived in castle or manor house

– Spent most of the time working their lands

– Gave 40 days service to overlord

The Medieval Church • Roman Catholic Church only unifying force

– Had broad political power

– Filled the need for leadership in Europe

– Provided many functions that government would normally have provided

– A leading European landowner & extremely wealthy

• Structure of the Medieval Church: – Parish Priest

• Lowest rank in the church, but most numerous

• Responsible for the religious instruction and spiritual well-being of his parish

• Administered five of the seven sacraments (baptism, communion, marriage, penance, & last rites)

– Bishops • Managed the diocese (group of parishes)

• Offices located in the Cathedral (main church of the diocese)

• Performed the sacraments of confirmation & the taking of holy orders

– Archbishops • Managed several dioceses & their bishops

• Often the leader of the Catholic Church of a kingdom/country

– Curia & Cardinals • Selected the Pope

• Advisors to the Pope

– Pope • Leader of the Roman Catholic Church

Hierarchy of the Medieval Church

Pope

Cardinals

Archbishops

Bishops

Parish Priests

Monasticism

• There were two types of clergy: – Secular:

• Lived & worked in the present world among the people

• Made up of the priests, bishops, and the Pope

• Performed the sacraments & taught religious instruction

– Regula (Rules) • Lived in isolation away from the present world

• Made up of Monks (men) & Nuns (women)

• Lived by extremely strict rules

• Reasons for Monasticism: – Believed they had to remove themselves from the temptations of the real world

– Practiced fasting, prayer, & self-denial

– Monastery – a community of monks

– Nunnery – a community of nuns

• Benedictine Monasticism: – Adopted the rules set by Saint Benedict

– All property, labor, & goods produced belonged to the whole monastery

– During Early Middle Ages, most common form of monasticism

• Monastic Influence: – Monks & nuns took care of the neediest & least fortunate of medieval society

– Often took care of the sick in the community & took in orphans

– Often left their monastery to become missionaries (St. Patrick & St. Augustine)

– Became extremely wealthy

Church & Medieval Life • Political Role of Church:

– Had own laws (Canon Law) & courts

– Punishments for breaking Canon Law could include: • Excommunication

– Prohibited a person from receiving sacraments

– Prevented a person from being buried in consecrated (holy) ground

– Cut a person out of medieval society

• Interdict – Made against an entire region

– Closed all churches in area

– Clergy could not perform sacraments

– Used to influence political leaders

– Church did not allow anyone to question teachings or authority of the church • Heresy – to threaten the teachings or authority of the Church

• Heretic – someone who committed heresy

– Had the power to tax/tithe

• Economic & Social Role: – Believed those who labored deserved respect

– Believed family was a sacred institution

– Provided help for the needy

– Established hospitals & schools

Problems of the Medieval Church • Investiture

– A high ranking noble or king could appointed a friend/relative to positions of power in Church

• Simony

– The practice of buying a position in the Church

• Buying of Indulgences

– When a priest asked for a confessioner to give money as a penance

– Sometimes described as “buying forgiveness”

• Inquisition:

– The Church ordered the Dominican Friars (monks) to seek out heresy

– Heretics who confessed were ordered to serve a penance/those who didn’t were imprisoned or executed

– A religious “witch hunt”

Anglo-Saxon England • Two main tribes control England: Angles & Saxons

• Anglo-Saxons formed different kingdoms – Northumbria = modern Scotland

– Mercia = Central England

– Wessex = South England

– Each kingdom was divided into shires, governed by the shire-reve (sheriff)

• Alfred the Great – Frequent attacks by Danes (Vikings)

– Alfred Becomes King of Wessex • Vows to force Danes out of England

• Builds powerful army & navy, war from 876-886

• Danes sue for peace, leave Wessex & settle in Northumbria

• Danes retake England by 1013 – King Canute of Denmark takes throne in 1016, ruled mostly from England

– Sons unable to hold England

• Anglo-Saxons retake England – Edward the Confessor becomes king

– Edward was Anglo-Saxon & Norman French

William the Conqueror • Edward the Confessor dies w/o heir in 1066

– Duke William of Normandy was closest male relative

– Anglo-Saxon nobles refuse to give William throne of England

– Nobles place Harold of Wessex as king

• Battle of Hastings

– William builds army & crosses the English Channel

– William’s & Harold’s army meet in combat in October

– Harold killed in the battle

– William’s army moves through the countryside putting down rebellions

– William crowned king, December 1066

• Changes to a Norman England:

– William introduced Norman culture, language, & law

– Anglo-Saxons clung to old ways

– Mixture of language, culture, & law resulted

A New Feudal Society • William set king up as the supreme authority in feudal society, not nobles

– All feudal lords swore fealty to the king

– Sent royal commissioners to account for every shire’s people, assets, & property • Set up a taxing system based on property values

• Records collected in what is known as the Domesday Book (Doomsday)

• Henry I becomes king – Ruled following William

– Continued to centralize the government • Established the office of the exchequer to handle king’s finances, made tax collecting

more efficient

• Sent traveling judges to try cases, created more uniform justice system

• Henry II becomes king – Created a military under the authority of the king, not the nobility

– Changed the Judicial System • Created judicial circuits

• Replaced trial by combat and trial by ordeal with juries

– Placed Thomas Beckett as Archbishop of Canterbury • Henry & Beckett had been good friends, Henry believed Beckett controllable

• Becket refused to allow his clergy to be tried in Henry’s Courts

• 4 members of Henry’s personal guard assassinated Beckett

– England becomes involved in conflicts w/France • Henry’s wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, brought lands in France as dowry

• French king denied Henry right to these lands

King John & the Magna Carta • King Henry II had three sons: Geoffrey, Richard, & John

– Richard I becomes king, spends most of his time on crusade/dies without an heir

– John becomes king

• Life under King John

– Tries to claim his mother’s lands in France

– Increases taxes to support his wars

– Nobles join together

• Take control of the military

• Threaten to take control of throne unless John signs agreement limiting his power

• John agrees to sign the Magna Carta

• The Magna Carta:

– Protected the rights & liberties of the nobles

– Gave greater power to the Great Council

– John could not take property without paying for it

– Could not deny anyone the right to jury trial

– First written document to limit the power of the monarch

Parliament & Common Law • Creation of Parliament:

– Nobles revolt against Henry III

– Simon de Montfort, gathered both noble & middle class support for rebellion

• Recommended addition of middle class & clergy members to the Great Council

• Become known as Parliament

• Parliament:

– Consists of two chambers

• House of Lords – from the noble class & the Church

• House of Commons – from the knights & burgesses (middle class)

– Had the power to advise the king and authorize taxing

• Common Law:

– Edward I created three different court systems

• Court of the Exchequer: tried tax cases

• Court of Common Pleas: tried cases involving ordinary citizens

• Court of the King’s Bench: tried cases involving nobles & cases that affected the government & king

– All decisions were collected & used as guide in future cases

– Became known as Common Law because it applied equally and to all English people

The Capetian Kings of France • Carolingian dynasty ends, Hugh Capet chosen by nobles

to be king – Hugh was first of the Capetian dynasty

– Ruled the Ile-de-France

– France extremely decentralized, mostly ruled by independent dukes

• Accomplishments of the Capetian Dynasty: – Increased land under royal control

• Kings married to gain control over large duchies

• Took control of lands whose families had died out w/o leaving a clear heir

• Conquered the French lands controlled by England – Phillip II – took control of Normandy, Aquitaine, & Maine from England

– Greatly strengthened the government: • Created the Parliament of Paris, a type of supreme court

• Greatly influenced selection of the Pope

• Created the Estate-General: a legislative assembly with members from the three major social classes