Unit 6 Middle Ages

The New Germanic KingdomsBy 500 A.D., the Western Roman Empire had

been replaced by Germanic kingdoms that eventually excluded Romans from holding power.

Clovis established the kingdom of the Franks. He was the first Germanic ruler to convert to

Christianity and become allied with the Roman Catholic Church.

As Germans and Romans intermarried, they created a new society. The family was the key social bond of the society

and impacted the Germanic legal system.

The Germans devised a legal system based on a fine called a wergild paid by the wrongdoer to the victim’s family. The value of the fine varied according to social

status, so it cost more to commit an offense against a noble than a slave.

The ordeal was a system to establish guilt or innocence through a physical trial. It was based on the belief in divine

intervention.

The Role of the ChurchBy the end of the fourth century, Christianity had

become the dominant religion of the Roman Empire, and the Church developed a system of organization.

Priests led parishes; groups of parishes became known as bishoprics that were led by bishops. Bishoprics were under the authority of an archbishop.

The head of the Catholic Church became known as the pope.

Gregory I, pope from 590 to 604, strengthened the power of the papacy. He converted non-Christians and increased his

spiritual authority over the Church.

The practice of living the life of a monk is known as monasticism. Saint Benedict wrote a series of rules that

became the model for monasticism. Monks became Christian heroes in the new

European civilization, providing religious and moral leadership.

Monks became the missionaries that converted Western Europe to Catholicism. By 1050, most of Western Europe was Catholic.

Women could become nuns and live in convents, which were headed by abbesses.

The Carolingian EmpirePépin was a chief officer of the Frankish

kingdom who assumed the kingship for himself and his family. His son was Charles the Great.

Charles the Great, or Charlemagne, was an intelligent leader and fierce warrior who expanded the Frankish kingdom, creating the Carolingian Empire.

The Carolingian Empire was the largest European empire in history at the time. Charlemagne sent out messengers called the missi

dominici to ensure that his wishes were enacted.In 800, Charlemagne was crowned emperor of

the Roman Empire by the pope. This event symbolized the joining of Roman,

Germanic, and Christian elements.Charlemagne’s strong desire to promote

learning and education is often referred to as the Carolingian Renaissance.

The End of the Carolingian Empire After Charlemagne’s death in 814, Europe

was invaded by foreign powers.Muslims attacked Southern Europe and

France in the ninth and tenth centuries.At the end of the ninth century, Magyars

settled in the plains of Hungary and attacked central Europe.

The most devastating attacks came from the Vikings. The Scandinavian warriors used longboats that

enabled them to attack towns and villages far from the coast.

Frankish rulers gave the Vikings land in Normandy and converted the Norsemen to Christianity. The Vikings were made a part of European

civilization.

The Development of FeudalismAs a result of invasions, the people of Western

Europe turned to local lords for protection. This led to a social and political system known

as feudalism. Vassals were men who served a lord in a

military capacity. Knights came to dominate European warfare

for nearly 500 years.

Knights had a high degree of social prestige and formed the backbone of European aristocracy.

Vassals swore allegiance to a lord. In turn, the vassal was given a fief and political control of it.

The lord and vassal relationship came to be characterized by a set of unwritten rules known as the feudal contract.

Vassals had to perform military service and the lord had to provide land and protection.

Feudal Society In Europe during the Middle Ages, society

was dominated by men whose main concern was warfare.

Nobles and knights attended tournaments, where the knights would demonstrate their fighting skills.

Influenced by the Catholic Church, nobles and knights began to follow an idealized code of ethics called chivalry.

Lower-class women had few rights, but aristocratic women had opportunities to play important roles. The lady of the castle supervised affairs for her

husband’s absence travel or war. Eleanor of Aquitaine was an influential woman

who was married to the king of France, and later to the king of England.

England in the High Middle Ages In 1066 William of Normandy defeated King

Harold at the Battle of Hastings. William was crowned king of England, leading

to a new English culture. Henry II, who ruled from 1154 to 1189,

expanded the power of the king. Common law began to replace the varying

codes of the kingdom.

Thomas á Becket was the archbishop of Canterbury who challenged Henry by claiming that only the Roman Catholic Church could try clerics. He was killed by knights

who were loyal to Henry II.

English nobles resented the growing power of the king and defeated the forces of King John at Runnymede. In 1215 the king was forced to put his seal on

the document known as the Magna Carta. This document outlined the rights of the people

and the king.During the thirteenth century, the English

Parliament was created. This representative assembly dealt with

taxes, politics, and law.

France in the Middle AgesFollowing the fall of the Carolingian Empire,

France was ruled by the Capetians in the Ile-de-France region around Paris.

The reign of Philip II Augustus was a turning point for the French monarchy. He added land and expanded the power and

income of the monarchy.Louis IX ruled for much of the thirteenth

century and tried to bring justice to his people. He was later made a saint.

Philip IV created a French parliament by meeting with the three estates of the kingdom:Clergy (first

estate)Nobles (second

estate)Townspeople and

peasants (everyone else)(third estate)

The Holy Roman EmpireOtto I was a Saxon king in Germany who was

crowned emperor of the Romans in 962.The kingdom of Germanic and Italian states

was known as the Holy Roman Empire.The German kings struggled to control Italy

during this period. This struggle led to a decentralized

government, and political power was held by the dukes and princes.

Germany and Italy consisted of many independent states.

Unlike England and France, Germany and Italy would not create a national monarchy.

Central and Eastern EuropeThe Slavic peoples were from central Europe.They eventually split into three groups:

Western Slavs eventually formed the Polish and Bohemian kingdoms. These two groups were converted to Christianity

and became part of the Roman Catholic Church.

Eastern Slavs were converted to Orthodox Christianity by Byzantine missionaries.

Southern Slavs included the Croats, Serbs, and Bulgarians. They were converted to Eastern Orthodoxy, except

for the Croats, who accepted the Catholic Church.Eastern Slavic people also settled in present-

day Ukraine and Russia.

The Mongols conquered Russia in the thirteenth century.

In 1242 the Mongols rewarded the Russian prince Alexander Nevsky with the title of Grand Prince. Nevsky’s descendants became the rulers of

Russia.

From Eastern Roman Empire to Byzantine Empire

Despite the fall of Rome, the Eastern Roman Empire continued to exist. Its political and cultural center was the city of

Constantinople. Justinian became emperor of the Eastern

Roman Empire in 527.Justinian expanded the empire to include Italy,

part of Spain, North Africa, Asia Minor, Palestine, and Syria.

Justinian’s most important contribution was The Body of Civil Law, a codification of legal material in the empire.

The Eastern Roman Empire soon lost much territory because of overspending on foreign conquest, Islamic invasions, and the success of the Bulgars in the Balkans.The new, smaller empire was called the Byzantine

Empire.The emperor appointed the head of the Eastern

Orthodox Church, known as the patriarch, which gave him political and religious power in the empire.

Justinian built the capital of Constantinople into a beautiful city that became a trading center between the Middle East and Europe.

Justinian’s greatest achievement—other than The Body of Civil Law—was the creation of the Hagia Sophia, a church with an enormous dome.

Hagia-Sophia

Justinian

New Heights and New ProblemsMacedonian rulers expanded the Byzantine

empire to include Bulgaria, Crete, Cyprus, and Syria.

Relations between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church worsened during this period.

A schism developed between the two main branches of Christianity.

The Byzantine empire was threatened by the Turks and turned to Europe for help.

The CrusadesFrom the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries,

European Christians carried out a series of Crusades to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims.

Pope Urban II saw the Crusades as an opportunity to free Jerusalem and Palestine from the infidels.

The First Crusade was made up of mostly French warriors who retook Jerusalem in 1099. A horrible massacre of the inhabitants ensued.

The Crusaders set up Christian kingdoms on the coast.

By 1140, the Muslims began to strike back, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux called for a Second Crusade.

Muslim forces under Saladin recaptured Jerusalem in 1187.

After Saladin’s death, Pope Innocent III initiated the Fourth Crusade. The crusaders sacked Constantinople in a

petty dispute between Italian and Byzantine leaders.

Effects of the Crusades:Wealth for the Italian port cities Increased attacks on Jews Breakdown of feudalism Development of nation-states

The New AgricultureThe European population doubled in size

between 1000 and 1300.The large population increase in Europe was

due in part to a more peaceful environment and changes in technology.

Food production was increased by using scythes, axes, and hoes.

A new plow called the carruca led to the growth of farming villages. People had to work together to buy the iron

needed to make the plow and share the team of animals needed to pull the plow.

Europeans also started using three-field rotations, harnessing wind and water, and using animal power to save labor and produce more crops.

The Manorial SystemThe manor was an agricultural estate run by a

lord and worked by serfs. Serfs provided labor services, paid rents, and

were subject to the control of the lord.The life of European peasants was very simple.

They lived in wood framed cottages, generally consisting of one or two rooms.

The seasons of the year dictated peasant activities.

Religious holidays provided peasants with time away from work and brought them into contact with the Church.

Peasant women had to work in the field, raise children, and manage the household.

Grains were used for making bread, the daily food of peasants, and ale. Vegetables, cheeses, and sometimes meat

supplemented the meals of peasants.Water was not easy to obtain, so wine was the

drink of the upper classes and ale was the drink of the poor.

The Revival of TradeCities in strategic locations, such as Venice

and Flanders, grew in size and wealth. Trade fairs were initiated by cities to

encourage more trade.As trade increased, demand for gold and

silver coins increased. Eventually, a money economy replaced the

barter system.New trading companies and banking firms led

to the economic system of commercial capitalism.

The Growth of CitiesThe revival of trade led to a revival of cities.Merchants and artisans moved into these

newly revitalized cities and became known as bourgeoisie.

The people in the cities and towns slowly gained their independence from local lords. The cities created their own governments, and

patricians were elected legally or illegally.

Medieval towns were surrounded by stone walls and were cramped and dirty. Pollution and the threat of fire plagued the city

inhabitants.People began to organize themselves into

business associations. These guilds played a leading role in the

economic life of cities.

A person who wanted to learn a trade went through a series of steps. People started as unpaid apprentices, earned

wages as a journeyman, and could become a master by producing a masterpiece.

The Papal MonarchyThe popes of the Catholic Church had

political and religious power since they controlled the Papal States.

Pope Gregory VII wanted to free the Church of political interference from lords and kings and ended the practice of lay investiture

Gregory claimed that the pope had authority over the entire Christian world including its rulers. If rulers did not accept this, they would be

removed. Henry IV of Germany disagreed with the pope’s

view and a struggle known as the Investiture Controversy ensued.

Under the Concordat of Worms agreement in 1122, a bishop in Germany was elected by the Church, and then the bishop paid homage to the king.

Papal power was strengthened under Pope Innocent III who used the interdict to get his way.People feared not receiving sacraments, and

pressured rulers to listen to the pope.

New Religious OrdersIn 1098, a group of monks who were unhappy

with the lack of discipline at their monastery started the Cistercian order.

Women increasingly became involved in religious orders. Intellectual women, such as Hildegard of Bingen, found convents a haven for their activities.

In the 1200s, the Franciscans were founded by St. Francis of Assisi. Francis was a wealthy merchant from Assisi

who decided to give up his worldly possessions and preach to the poor.

The Franciscans became popular for their simplicity and devotion to the poor.

The Dominican order was founded by Dominic de Guzmán. The Dominicans were dedicated to defending

Church teachings from heresy.To deal with heretics, the Church created the

Inquisition. This court had regular proceedings to find and

try heretics.

Religion in the High Middle AgesThe Church in the High Middle Ages played a

vital role in the lives of Europeans.Some people, because of their holiness, were

called saints and were revered by the people. Relics were usually the bones of saints or

objects connected to saints. Worshipping relics and pilgrimages to holy

sites were important to European Christians.

ArchitectureIn the eleventh and twelfth centuries,

churches were built in the Romanesque style. The construction of the Romanesque

churches was similar to the basilicas of the Roman era, except that instead of flat roofs, they had arched vaults.

Romanesque churches required massive pillars to hold up the stone roofs, and had little light due to the lack of windows.

A new style, called Gothic, utilized ribbed vaults and flying buttresses to allow for higher ceilings and thinner walls.

Gothic cathedrals were spectacular churches with stained-glass windows that symbolized the spirituality of the people.

UniversitiesThe High Middle Ages saw the rise of

universities.The first European university was established

in Bologna, Italy. Soon, universities were set up in Paris, France,

and Oxford in England. Students could earn a doctorate in law,

medicine, or theology.

Theology, the most highly regarded subject, was influenced by scholasticism.Scholasticism attempted to reconcile Christian

teachings with the works of the Greek philosophers such as Aristotle, who reached conclusions by rational thought, not by faith.

In the 1200s, Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote his masterpiece Summa Theologica which concluded that reason could not conflict with truths arrived at through faith.

Vernacular LiteratureLatin was the universal language used in the

Church and schools.New literature began to be written in

vernacular, or everyday speech.The most popular vernacular literature of the

twelfth century was troubadour poetry. Chanson de geste, or the heroic epic, was

also popular.

The Black DeathDuring the 1300s, the Black Death killed

approximately 1/3rd of the European population.

The plague generally followed trade routes. It devastated urban centers, and villages in

Germany and England were wiped off the map.

The Black Death’s most common form was the bubonic plague, which was spread by fleas on rats.

The disease was so lethal, that family members often had to abandon one another.

Effects of the Black Death:Approximately one-third to one-half of the

population killedRise in anti-Semitism Decline in trade, labor shortages, and

decreased demand for foodDecline of serfdom and the influence of the

ChurchGrowth of cities and peasant revolts

Decline of Church PowerIn the 13th century, a struggle began between

Pope Boniface VIII and King Philip IV of France over the king’s right to tax the clergy.The struggle ended when Boniface VIII died

after fleeing Philip’s forces. Philip then engineered the election of a French

pope, Clement V, in 1305.Clement V moved to Avignon in southern

France. From 1305 to 1377 popes lived in Avignon.

The election of the Italian Pope Urban VI was declared invalid by French cardinals, who elected a French pope which began the Great Schism.

John Hus, a Czech reformer, was burned at the stake for heresy for his attempts at reforming the Church.

Both the papacy and the Church lost political and religious power due to the crises of the fourteenth century.

The Hundred Years’ WarThe Hundred Years’ War began in 1337 when

the king of France seized the English controlled duchy of Gascony in France.At the Battle of Crécy in 1346, English archers

using longbows devastated the French knights.

In 1415, the English king Henry V again defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt and the English controlled northern France.

A peasant named Joan of Arc believed that God had chosen her to save France. The inspired French army seized Orléans.

The French eventually won the war in 1453, aided by the use of the cannon and gunpowder.

Political RecoveryIn the 1400s, a number of new rulers in

Europe attempted to centralize power and establish new monarchies.

The New Monarchies:France

France became unified after the Hundred Years’ War.

There was a permanent royal income due to increased taille.

The monarchy relied on the lesser nobles and middle class for royal power.

Industry and commerce was promoted.

EnglandThe Tudor dynasty was established when Henry

Tudor ended the Wars of the Roses.Henry VII abolished private armies.Henry VII became popular with his low taxes.

SpainDuring the Middle Ages, Christian kingdoms

regained land from the Muslims.The Christian kingdoms were unified when Isabella

of Castile married Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469.Ferdinand and Isabella enforced strict conformity

to Catholicism.The Holy Roman Emperor was a position held by

the Hapsburg dynasty of Austria.

Eastern Europe was unable to centralize due to religious and political differences.

In Russia, Ivan III overthrew the Mongols and established a new Russian state by 1480.