Download Early Middle Ages

Germanic and Medieval
Europe
Germanic Rule
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By AD 500—the
Roman Empire had 
been destroyed by
Germanic
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invasions
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Many things
happened after the 
Germanic peoples
took power
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Trade decreased
Cities, bridges, and
roads fell into disrepair
Law & order vanished
Education almost
disappeared
Money was no longer
used
Life did not extend
beyond the village
Germanic Rule
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Western Europe had become a very
backward place
The period when the Germanic tribes first
took over the west is called:
 The Dark Ages,
 Middle Ages,
 Medieval Period
The era contained elements of Germanic,
Roman, and Christian cultures
Merovingian Rulers
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AD 400s—the Franks emerged as the
most powerful
The Franks settled in Gaul—modern
day France and Western Germany
The early Frankish rulers were called
Merovingian Kings
The Merovingian Kings held power
until the 700s
Merovingian Rulers
Clovis
 481—Became leader of the
Franks
 496—Converted to Christianity
 He was very strong because of
his military
 Upon his death, his kingdom
was divided among his sons
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Clovis
Carolingian Rulers
Charles Martel
 714—Charles Martel became
Mayor of the Palace—the
leading government official
under the king
 732—Martel defended France
from Muslim invasion at the
Battle of Tours
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Charles Martel
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Pepin the Short
Pepin was Charles Martel’s son
741—Pepin became Mayor of the
Palace
Pepin wanted to be king, but he
had no royal blood
He used his influence with the
Frankish bishops and the Pope to
bring about dynastic change
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Pepin the Short
The Pope made Pepin
king of the Franks
Pepin agreed to
defend the Catholic
Church against its
enemies
754—Pepin helped to
drive the Lombards
out of Rome
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Pepin received a
lot of Lombard
land near Rome
Pepin gave the
land to the Pope
The land became
the Papal States
Charlemagne
 768—Charlemagne became king
of the Franks
 Charlemagne was Pepin’s son
 Charlemagne has also been called
Charles the Great & Carolus
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Magnus
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His dynasty has been called the
Carolingian Dynasty
 He
increased the size of
the empire
 The kingdom came to
include:
 Germany
 France
 Northern Spain
 Most of Italy
 He
knew he needed to restore
literacy to his kingdom
 He made his royal court into a
center of learning
 By 800, Charlemagne’s
empire included all of civilized
Western Europe
800—Charlemagne traveled to
Rome to defend the Pope against
upset Roman nobles
 Pope Leo III crowned
Charlemagne as Emperor of the
Romans on Christmas Day
 His crowning helped to better the
relationship between the Pope
and the Holy Roman Emperor
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 Charlemagne
used
counts to help rule his
vast empire
 The counts solved the
local problems and
helped to get soldiers for
Charlemagne’s army
 Charlemagne
personally held
his empire together
 814—Charlemagne dies
leaving his son in power—
Louis the Pious
 Louis was very weak
 After Louis’ death, he left the
kingdom to his 3 sons
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Louis’ 3 sons constantly fought over
control in the kingdom
843—3 brothers agreed to divide the
empire in the Treaty of Verdun
 Charles the Bald—Western Part
(France)
 Louis the German—Eastern Part
(Germany)
 Lothair—Holy Roman Empire (N. Italy
and S. Germany)
Early Medieval Europe
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Feudalism dominated early Medieval Europe
 Feudalism was a highly decentralized form
of government stressing mutual alliances
between monarchs and nobles in which
land is given away in exchange for loyalty
and military service
Feudalism started in France and moved to
other parts of Europe in the 1000s
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Feudalism was developed by Charles Martel
while he was fighting the Muslims
Martel noticed the Muslims had an improved
saddle—the Muslim saddle had stirrups,
European saddles did not
Martel wanted to add the new saddle to his
military and create a true cavalry
He had no money to pay the new soldiers, so
he gave them land instead
 Feudalism
involved 2 people
 The Lord gave the land away
 The Vassal received the land
 The land that is given away is
called a fief
 The vassal had to provide certain
services to the lord in exchange for
the land
1.) Provide a certain number of
knights
 Most important duty
 The vassal would give away his
land as payment to knights
 Thus the vassal could become a
lord
2.) Serve on the lord’s court
3.) Provide food and housing if the
lord ever visited
4.) Give $ to the lord if his
son became a knight or his
eldest daughter became
married
5.) Pay the lord’s ransom if
he were ever captured
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Most of the obligations were never carried
out
Most vassals would raise knights not to give
to the lord, but to fight the lord to get more
land
Feudalism lack of centralization led to lots of
war between the lords and vassals
The Catholic Church—unsuccessfully—tried
to limit the number of wars with many laws
 Castles
 Lords
were only powerful if
they could protect themselves
 They built castles for defense
 Castles were a complex of
different buildings
 The
Nobility
 Kings
 Lords
 Knights
 Ladies
 Nobles had easy lives when
compared to the peasants
 Their castles were cold, dark, damp,
and dreary places
The Nobility
 Nobles had lots of power in their lands
 Collect taxes and rent
 Administer justice
 Female nobles had very few rights
 Forced into fixed marriages
 Could marry at age 12
 Main duty—to have and raise kids
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 The
Nobility
 Noblemen participated in
tournaments to keep their
skills sharp
 Noblemen also enjoyed
hunting, falconry, and
archery
“Knight” Life
 Knights came from the noble classes
1.) @ age 7, training began
 The boy was a page and learned
skills
2.) @ 15 the boy became a squire
 Assists a knight in battle
3.) @ 21 the boy became a knight
 The
Knight
 Knights followed a code called
chivalry
 Had to be brave
 Fight fairly
 Keep promises
 Defend the Church
 Treat noblewomen with respect
The Manorial System
 The nobles were wealthy because of the
work the peasants were doing
 The peasants lived on and worked the
nobles’ lands
 Manorial System—an agricultural
system that provided both the lord and
peasant with food, shelter, and
protection
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The Manorial System
 Manors were the lands and buildings
that were farmed and used by both the
lord and the peasants
 Lord’s house
 Pastures and fields
 Forests
 Peasant village
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The Manorial System
 The manor’s peasants agreed to provide
services to the lord in return for the lord’s
protection
 The peasants farmed the land to
produce food for themselves and the
lord
 The peasants served as the tool
producers—blacksmiths, carpenters,
millers, etc.
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 The
Manorial System
 The manors had to be selfsufficient—making everything the
manor needed
 Most peasants never left the manor
 Some peasants were serfs—similar
to slaves, but they could not be
bought or sold
Agricultural Advances
 2 new agricultural improvements
occurred in the Middle Ages that led to
more food production
 1.) New Plow
Heavier
Made deeper cuts in the soil
 2.) Three Field System
Crop rotation
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Peasant Life
 Peasants lived very hard lives
 Life expectancy—40
 Disease and hunger were rampant
 Housing was small—1 room with a dirt
floor
 Rarely ate meat
 Enjoyed holidays—lots of entertainment
and food
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Medieval Church
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During the Medieval period, the Catholic
Church proved to be very powerful
Catholic Church became the center of life
for nearly all Western Europeans
The primary job of the church was
spiritual
The church became involved in political
& social issues
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Interdicts
 Pope
= most powerful figure in
Europe
 Nearly all of Europe fell under
the Pope’s control
Everyone was Catholic,
giving the Pope control over
peasants, nobles, and kings
 Way
to
salvation was
by gaining the
grace of God
 To do this,
people
participated in
sacraments
(ceremonies):
 Baptism
 Penance
 Eucharist
 Confirmation
 Matrimony
 Anointing
of
the sick
 Holy Orders
Most Europeans were very religious
even though they didn’t understand
Christianity
 The mass (church service) was said in
Latin—a language that only the clergy
(priests) understood
 People learned about Christianity
through paintings, statues, & stained
glass
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 1.)
Secular (from Latin word
meaning present world) Clergy
 Pope, Bishops, Priests
 2.) Regular (from Latin word
meaning rule) Clergy
 Monks & nuns
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520—St. Benedict’s monastery in Italy that had strict
rules for monks
 Couldn’t marry
 Couldn’t own property
 Some took vows of silence
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Monastic Life
Monks were very obedient people
Clothing was simple- a long, loose robe made
from dark, wool material
1-2 meals a day
Lived in monasteries
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St. Benedict
 Monastic
Life
 Women also participated
 These women were nuns
who lived in convents
 Known for wearing gown &
veil
Monastic Life
 Monks & nuns were isolated from the
rest of the people yet played a major
role in peoples’ lives
 Monks preserved classical Roman and
Greek texts by hand copying books
 Monasteries also had schools for
children, hospitals for the sick, and
hotels for travelers
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Power of the Church
 The Catholic Church was powerful both
politically & spiritually
 The rich gave $ to the Church
 Church became corrupt from the $ &
power
 Church leaders cared less about the
people and more about $
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Church Reform
People began to call for reform because the Church
was too secular
A College of Cardinals would choose the Pope
1073—the Pope outlawed the Practice of Lay
Investiture—when secular rulers appointed Church
officials
1215: Pope Innocent III tried to reform the clergy
 He condemned drunkenness, feasting, hawking, and
dancing among the clergy
“The pope stands between God and man,
lower than God, but higher than men, who
judges all and is judged by no one.”
—Pope Innocent III
Heretics could be punished or killed
 Innocent started the Inquisition—a
Church court designed to find, try,
convict, & punish heretics
 1.)imprisonment
 2.)excommunication
 3.)taking of property
 4.)execution
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 Friars—wandering
preachers—also attempted
church reform
Franciscans
Dominicans
Rise of European
Monarchies
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During the early medieval period, kings
were rulers only in name – they had very
little power until the 1100s
Medieval England
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England was repeatedly invaded by Viking tribes from
the 400s until the 100s
 Angles, Saxons, Vikings
One king was able to help England defend itself
from Viking invasions in 800s
King Alfred the Great (871-899) defeated the Vikings
Alfred was a learner, opened schools, and hired
translators to translate books
Had a history of England written (Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle)
The Anglo Saxon Chronicle was continuously
updated for 200 years
King Alfred
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1066: England will be invaded and change hands
after king dies
 3 people claim throne (a Viking, Harold
Godwinson, & William Duke of Normandy)
 William Duke of Normandy was on who laid
claim
 He was a relative of King Edward and a vassal
to the King of France
 Assembled force of 10,000 & set sail for
England
 1066 Battle of Hastings – William wins &
becomes “the Conqueror” or King William I of
England
 William
sets up new tax system
 “Doomsday Book” was a census to
count every person, farm, town,
farm animal, etc. in England--a 1st
for Europe
William the Conqueror
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Henry I (1100-1135): William’s grandson
 Greatly increased power of the monarch
 Created system of courts; known as “Lion
of Justice”
 Judges from royal court traveled around to
decide cases (took power from lords)
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Henry II (1154-1189): grandson of Henry
I
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Establishes common law & started trial by jury
Henry ran into problems with the Catholic Church
in England
 Henry
appointed friend-Thomas
Beckett as archbishop of
Canterbury
 Henry does this to get a friend or
ally into the Church
 Eventually orders his friend to be
murdered.
 Married Eleanor of Aquitaine
 Now
owns Normandy & Aquitaine
(that’s almost ½ of France!!)
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Henry II’s son King John
 Loses land to the French
 John angers people--by raising taxes
 1215—angry English barons force John
to sign Magna Carta
 The Magna Carta was a charter that
placed limits on the king’s power:
1.) King couldn’t raise taxes without
consent of the Great Council
2.) Outlawed imprisonment without fair
trial
1200s - middle class that made $$
from business not farming
 Led to a Parliament
1.) House of Lords
2.) House of Commons
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France
France develops strong monarchy
France’s govt. will not be like the limited
monarchy that had been created in England
Lands were ruled by different lords who were
independent of each other
987: Hugh Capet will seize throne of France
Capetian Dynasty lasts 300 years
• As the French monarchs became more
powerful, the number of French nobles
decreased
Gave towns the right to govern themselves-towns no longer under feudal obligations
Royal courts exert power over local lords’
courts
Only king could mint coins
Even taxed the clergy
Banned private wars & certain weapons
Holy Roman Empire
The HRE (modern day Germany) stayed
very weak
The HRE was heavily entangled in the
politics of the Pope and Rome
962: Pope asked Otto for help & named
Otto Emperor of the Romans
HRE could approve or disapprove the
election of popes
HRE could depose popes while the pope
could depose kings--a struggle over who
had real power will develop
1073: Pope Gregory VII outlaws lay investiture--kings
appointing the clergy
Emperor Henry IV refused to follow this
Pope Gregory excommunicated Henry
Gregory tries to get nobles to select another ruler
Upon this, Pope excommunicated and deposed Henry
Henry gives in to the Pope & goes to Rome to repent
Concordat of Worms
– HRE was allowed to choose bishops and give
bishops land
– The pope, however had the power to disapprove
unworthy candidates