Download The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages
Corresponds to Chapters
13 and14
Invaders attack Western Europe
• The Vikings invade the North
• Warlike Vikings raid Europe from
Scandanavia
• Viking long ships sail in shallow
water, allowing raids inland
• Eventually, many Vikings adopt
Christianity & become farmers
• Magyars & Muslims Attack from the
East & South
• Magyars (Hungarian nomads)
invade W. Europe in late 800s
• Muslims strike north from Africa,
attacking through Italy & Spain
• Viking, Magyar, Muslim invasions
cause widespread disorder,
suffering
A new social order: Feudalism
• Feudalism Structures Society
• 850 – 950, feudalism emerges –
political system based on land
control
• A lord (landowner) gives fiefs (land
grants) in exchange for services
• Vassals – people who receive fiefs –
become powerful landholders
• The Feudal Pyramid
• Power in feudal system much like a
pyramid, w/ king at the top
• Kings served by nobles who are
served by knights; peasants at
bottom
• Knights defend their lord’s land in
exchange for fiefs
Feudalism Con’t
• The Feudal Pyramid
• Power in feudal system
much like a pyramid, w/
king at the top
• Kings served by nobles
who are served by
knights; peasants at
bottom
• Knights defend their
lord’s land in exchange
for fiefs
Feudalism and Social Classes
• Social Classes are well defined
• Medieval feudal system classifies
people into 3 social groups
– Those who fight: nobles & knights
– Those who pray: monks, nuns,
leaders of Church
– Those who work: peasants
• Social class is usually inherited;
majority of people are peasants
• Most peasants are serfs – people
lawfully bound to place of birth
• Serfs aren’t slaves, but what they
produce belongs to their lord
Manors: The economic side of feudalism
The Lord’s Estate
• The Lord’s estate, a manor, has an
economic system (manor system)
• Serfs & free peasants maintain the
lord’s estate, give grain
• The lord provides housing,
farmland, protection from bandits
A self- contained World
• Medieval manors
include lord’s house,
church, workshops,
village
• Manors cover a few
square miles of land,
are largely selfsufficient
The harshness of Manor life
• Peasants pay tax to use mill &
bakery; pay a tithe to priest
• Tithe – church tax – is equal to
1/10th of a peasant’s income
• Serfs live in crowded cottages with
dirt floors, straw beds
• Daily life consists of raising crops,
livestock; feeding & clothing family
• Poor diet, illness, malnutrition make
life expectancy 35 years
• Serfs generally accept their lives as
part of God’s Plan
Knights: Warriors on Horseback
• The Warrior’s role in feudal
society
• By 1000s, W. Europe is a
battleground of warring
nobles
• Feudal lords raise private
armies of knights
• Knights rewarded w/land;
provides income needed for
weapons
• Knights’ other activities help
train them for combat
The Code of Chivalry
• By 1100s knights obey code of chivalry –
a set of ideals on how to act
• They are to protect weak & poor; serve
feudal lord, God, chosen lady
• A knight’s training
• Boys begin to train at 7; usually knighted
at 21
• Knights gain experience in local wars &
tournaments – mock battles
The reality of warfare
• Castles are huge
fortresses where lords
live
• Attacking armies use
wide range of
strategies & weapons
• See page 366 in
textbook
Poems & Songs
• Epic poems recount a
hero’s deeds &
adventures
• Troubadours – traveling
poet-musicians – write &
sing short verses
• Most celebrated woman
of the age is Eleanor of
Acquitaine
• Eleanor’s son, Richard
the Lion-Hearted
Women’s role in feudal society
Status of women
• According to the Church & feudal
society, women are inferior to men
• Noblewomen
• Can inherit land, defend castle,
send knights to war on lord’s
request
• Usually confined to activities of the
home or convent
• Peasant Women
• Most labor in home & field, bear
children, provide for family
• Poor, powerless, do household tasks
at young age
The Power of the Medieval
Church
• The Pope
• Head of the Church was
called “pope”
• The Pope gets name
from Latin word for
“father”; considered the
father of the church
• In beginning of the
Church, nobles could
pick the Pope
The Sacraments
• sacraments = church rituals
done to get God’s grace.
Without God’s grace, you
couldn’t get into Heaven
• Examples of sacraments are
baptism, penance, & the
Eucharist (Communion)
• If you did something wrong,
the church could
excommunicate you (kick
you out); can’t receive
sacraments, won’t go to
Heaven
The Power of Mass
• Mass = name for church
services
• Mass conducted in Latin,
most peasants did not
understand it; gave
priests a lot of power
over the people
• Peasants got info from
statues, paintings, &
windows
Noble Influence
• The Church supposed to be a
religious institution; nobles
used church for their own
gain
• “Donations” of land & money
to church could result in a
position as a bishop or other
church official
• People that the king or a
noble didn’t like could be
threatened w/
excommunication unless
agree w/ nobles
Monastic Life
• Monks/ nuns tried to
avoid problems w/ taking
money from nobles &
lived simple lives
• took vows of silence &
lived separate from rest
of world
• spent lives making
schools & hospitals,
providing for poor/needy,
producing beautiful
copies of books by hand
The Church as a Judge
• The regular church was still
very powerful & had courts in
which it could try people for
crimes against the church
• One of the biggest crimes
was called heresy (denial of
church teachings)
• Heretics (people who
committed heresy) were
excommunicated from the
church
• Heresy considered as bad as
treason
The Inquisition
• a court set up to
prosecute heretics
• People could be
accused of heresy by
their enemies,
investigated by the
church
• Sometimes heretics
tortured to try & get them
to confess to their crimes
The Crusades
• Goals of the Crusades
• Pope wants to reclaim
Jerusalem & reunite
Christianity
• Kings use Crusades to send
away knights who cause
trouble
• Younger sons hope to earn
land or win glory by fighting
• Later, merchants join
Crusades to try to gain
wealth through trade
The 1st & 2nd Crusades
• Pope promises Crusaders
who die a place in Heaven
• 1st Crusade: 3 armies gather
at Constantinople in 1097
• Crusaders capture Jerusalem
in 1099
• Captured lands along coast
divided into 4 Crusader states
• Muslims take back one in
1144; 2nd Crusade fails to
retake it
• 1187: Saladin – Muslim leader
– retakes Jerusalem
The 3rd Crusade
• 3rd Crusade led by 3
powerful rulers
• Richard the Lion-Hearted:
king of England
• Phillip II of France abandons
Crusade after arguing w/
Richard
• Frederick I of Germany
drowns during journey
• 1192: Richard & Saladin make
peace
• Saladin keeps Jerusalem but
allows Christian pilgrims to
enter city
Later Crusades
• 4th Crusade:
Crusaders loot
Constantinople in
1204
• 2 other Crusades strike
Egypt, but fail to
weaken Muslims
Outcome of the Crusades
• Most of Spain controlled by the Moors (a Muslim people)
• Christians fight Reconquista – drive Muslims from Spain, 11001492
• Spain has inquisition – court to suppress heresy; expels nonChristians
• The Crusades change life
• Crusades show power of Church in convincing thousands to
fight
• Women who stay home manage estates & business affairs
• Merchants expand trade, bring back many goods from SW
Asia
• Failure of later Crusades weakens pope & nobles,
strengthens kings
• Crusades create lasting bitterness bt Muslims & Christians
Changes in Medieval Society
• Changes in agriculture
• Harnessed horses replace
oxen in pulling plows &
wagons
• Horses plow 3 times as much
a day, increasing food supply
• The 3-field System
• Around 800, 3-field system
used: plant 2 fields, let one
rest
• This produces more food &
leads to population increase
Development of Guilds
• Guilds develop – organization of
people in the same occupation
• Merchant guilds begin 1st; they
keep prices up, provide security
• Skilled artisans form craft guilds
• Guilds set standards for quality,
wages, prices, working conditions
• Guilds supervise training of new
members of their craft
• The wealth of guilds influences govt.
& economy
The Commercial Revolution
• Fairs & Trade
• Europe sees Commercial Revolution
– changes in business & trade
• Trade fairs held several times a year
in towns
• Trade routes open to Asia, N.Africa,
& Byzantine ports
• Business & Banking
• Merchants develop credit to avoid
carrying large sums of money
• Merchants take out loans to
purchase goods, & banking grows
• Society Changes
• Economic changes lead to the
growth of cities & of paying jobs
Urban life flourishes
• Growing urban population
• 1000-1150, Europe’s pop. rises from
30-42 million
• Most towns are small, but they help
drive change
• Trade & towns grow together
• Towns are uncomfortable: crowded,
dirty, fire hazards
• Serfs can become free by living in a
town for a year & a day
• Merchant class shifts the social
order
• Feudal lords tax & govern towns,
causing resentment
• Towns are taken over by town
merchants (burghers)
England Develops
• The Norman Conquest
• In 1066, England is invaded by
William the Conqueror
• He defeats his rival & becomes king
• William hands out land to his
supporters
• Juries & Common Law
• Henry II – king of England – sends
judges to all parts of England &
institutes juries
• The judges’ decisions form English
common law – unified body of laws
• Common law forms the basis of law
in many English-speaking countries
The Magna Carta
• 1215: English nobles force King John
to sign Magna Carta
• Magna Carta – limits king’s power &
guarantees basic political rights
• English people argue the rights are
for all people, not just nobles
• The Model Parliament
• 1295: Edward I summons wealthy
townsmen & knights to raise taxes
• Together w/ bishops & lords, they
form a parliament – legislative body
• Parliament has 2 houses: House of
Lords, House of Commons
The Model Parliament
• 1295: Edward I summons
wealthy townsmen &
knights to raise taxes
• Together w/ bishops &
lords, they form a
parliament – legislative
body
• Parliament has 2 houses:
House of Lords, House of
Commons
Whats with all the Numbers
XVI V IV…
France
• Hugh Capet and family
rule small territory around
Paris, power spreads and
their rule last over 300
years.
• Est. heriditary rule, eldest
son…
• Phillip II
– 15 yo, reigned for 45 years
– Doubled lands through
marrage
– Created royal army
France Con’t
• Louis IX Phillip II’s
grandson.
– Puts a ban on private
warfare Why?
– Creates common
currency Kings own.
Why?
France Con’t
• Phillip IV, Phillip the Fair.
Louis IX grandson
• Called forth the Estates
General to pay for wars.
• EG assembly of clergy
nobles and towns
people. Never as
powerful as parlaiment.
Henry IV
• Has a major fight with Pope
Gregory VII, the Pope condemned
lay investure (the giving of symbols
of office such as a ring or staff).
King Henry refused to stop the
practice. Pope proclaimed Henry
deposed and urged the Germans
to select another ruler. Henry went
to the pope and begged for
forgiveness. For 3 days he stood
outside the gate begging for
mercy. He was forgiven. In 1122
church officials and representation
known as the Concordat of Worms
allowed the King to name bishops
and grant them land. Also gave the
Pope the right to reject unworthy
candidates.