Download The Middle Ages in Europe

The Age of Faith
• In Europe the most powerful organization was the
Roman Catholic Church, often replacing the
powers of a government.
• Reasons for this power:
– People were very religious and felt the Church
represented God and it held the power to send a
person to Heaven or Hell.
– The Church was largest land owner and the tithes
(money given to the church) increased its wealth.
– Churches were centers of learning, often they were
the only people who could read and write.
The Age of Faith
• The Catholic Church was based in Rome and was
led by the Pope.
• The Church controlled the lives of the people from
birth ‘til death.
• Monks lived in monasteries and often were the
only people who were able to read and write.
• Nuns lived in convents and spent their lives
in prayer.
Christian Thinkers
• St. Augustine –
– Lived during the fall of the Roman empire.
– Asked why God let barbarians destroy the Christian
civilization of Rome.
– Believed we must put our faith in God to receive
reward in the afterlife.
• St. Thomas Aquinas –
– Lived in the 1200s
– Men could judge government laws and
overthrow unjust rulers
– USA’s founding fathers believed in this idea,
it led to the American Revolution.
The Crusades
• For hundreds of years
Christians had been making
pilgrimages to the Holy Lands
to visit Jerusalem.
• In the 11th century the Seljuk
Turks (Muslims) gained
control of the Holy Lands and
refused to allow Christians
the right to visit. (see map)
• This action would lead to a
series of wars lasting
hundreds of years.
The Crusades
• In 1095, Pope Urban II was asked by
the Byzantine Emperor to help
against the Muslim invasion of
Christian controlled Constantinople.
• Pope Urban II issued a call for all
Christians to fight a Holy Crusade to
free the Holy Lands from Muslim
control.
• Christian people of all types joined
the Crusades to gain salvation,
freedom, or riches by fighting the
Muslims.
Muslim vs. Christian
The Crusades
• The word ‘Crusade’ meant ‘war of the cross’.
• Crusaders used a red cross against a white
background as a symbol of their strength.
• The Crusades brought together rulers and nobles
from different parts of Europe.
• Several Crusades were fought over the next 200
years, sometimes the Crusaders were victorious
and other times the Muslims won.
Effects of the Crusades
• The Crusades did not achieve the goal of Christians
gaining control of the Holy Lands.
• But the effects of the Crusades lasted,
– Europeans had greater exposure to new ideas
• Concept of Zero in math, silk, spices, coffee, perfumes
– Increased demand in Europe brought increased trade
• Products like lemons, oranges, spices, cotton clothing, rugs and
other luxury items became common in Europe
– Growth of Intolerance (still happening today)
• Christians killed Muslims and Jews
• Muslims killed Christians
– Feudal system was weakened
• because knights were ineffective at fighting in the climatic
conditions of the Middle East.
The Later Middle Ages
• As barbarian invasions began to decease the
cities began to prosper.
• The Crusades had increased the interest in
luxury items from the East.
• As trade grew a new merchant class grew
trying to provide the wanted luxury goods.
• Merchants and craftsmen
organized into powerful
associations called guilds.
• Guilds were developed to
maintain the quality of
workmanship and protect the
wages of the craftsmen,
journeymen, & apprentices.
• New inventions like
mechanical clocks, windmills,
and watermills improved life.
• People began to make money
and they began to spend it .
• Cities like Bologna and Paris,
started universities.
• Towns competed to see who
could build the grandest church
or cathedral.
• A new art style called Gothic was
developed.
• Churches had pointed arches,
high spires, and beautiful stained
glass windows that gave the
building a heavenly feeling.
English Political Traditions
During the Middle Ages, England developed
traditions of limited self-government and
liberty that were unique in Europe.
Parliament – England’s lawmaking body, which
influenced the USA’s version of Congress.
England’s
Parliament
USA’s
Congress
English Political Traditions
• Magna Carta – 1215 document
signed by English King John that
limited the kings powers and
increased those of the nobles.
• It stopped the king from :
– Taking property with due process
– Imprisoning a free man without
reason
– Consent of the noble council before
raising taxes
• Our U.S. Constitution is based on
these ideas in the Magna Carta.