Download File

The Rise of the Middle Ages
Setting the Stage
• Western Roman Empire has just collapsed in 476
CE
• Germanic tribes are attacking and terrorizing all
areas of Europe
• People are fleeing the cities to avoid the attacks
of the Germanic tribes
• Power, learning and trade are all no longer as
strong as they once were
• Only area where there is growth is in the Catholic
church (Christian religion)
The Middle Ages
• Definition: medieval period in Europe leading
from 500-1500 CE
• Took place as a result of the gradual decline of
the Roman Empire and fragmentation of Europe
• Primary unifying force: Roman Catholic Church
(AKA THE Church)
– How?
• The Pope anointed Holy Roman Emperors
• Missionaries carried Christianity to the Germanic Tribes
• Church served social, political, and religious needs of the
people
Foundation of Early Medieval Society
1. Classical heritage of Rome: Roman culture
still important, even though in decline—
giving way to Germanic culture
2. Christian Beliefs: most of Western Europe
(including most Germanic tribes)
3. Customs of Germanic Tribes: i.e. oral
tradition of song and language, no written
language, violence, and warfare
Changes in Western Europe
1. Disruption of Trade: frequent invasions caused trade
to break down, causing a decline in cities and a lack of
money in Western Europe
2. Downfall of Cities: cities were abandoned, lack of
leadership
3. Population shifts: people left cities for rural areas
4. Decline of learning: invaders!! Couldn’t read or write,
Roman culture in decline, knowledge of Greek nearly
disappeared, only literate people= monks and priests
5. Loss of a common language: different dialects of Latin
gave rise to Romance languages—(ie French and
Spanish)
Disruption of Trade
Feudalism
The Rise of Feudalism
• Background
– Invaders destroyed Roman ability to protect the
people of Western Europe
– People, in response to this lack of protection,
entered into feudal agreements with land-holding
lords who promised them protection
• Fief: piece of land
• Lord: landowner—granted land to a vassal in
exchange for loyalty and military service
• Vassal: one who received land from a lord,
pledged loyalty and military service
• Serf: workers/peasants who were tied/bound
to the land—worked to maintain the manor
• Feudal obligations: see above
• Medieval Manor: lord’s estate—houses and
land. Had its own:
– Rigid class structure (social)
– Self-sufficient economy (economic system)
Chivalry
• Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches, and
shalt observe all its directions.
• Thou shalt defend the Church.
• Thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt
constitute thyself the defender of them.
• Thou shalt love the country in the which thou wast
born.
• Thou shalt not recoil before the enemy.
• Thou shalt make war against the Infidel without
cessation, and without mercy.
• Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy feudal duties, if
they be not contrary to the laws of God.
• Thou shalt never lie, and shalt remain faithful to thy
pledged word.
• Thou shalt be generous, and give largesse to
everyone.
• Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of
the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.
Influence of the Roman Catholic
Church in the Early Middle Ages
1. Roman authority declined, while church
authority grew
2. Monasteries preserved Greco-Roman cultural
achievements
1. Monks were the few who could read and
write=literate
3. Missionaries carried Christianity and the Latin
alphabet to Germanic tribes
4. Pope Leo III anointed Charlemagne as the Holy
Roman Emperor in 800 CE
5. Parish priests served religious and social needs
of the people
Medieval Monks-Learning
Pope Leo III and Charlemagne
Charlemagne & the Carolingians
• The Carolingians united various Frankish
kingdoms into a larger empire.
• Under Charlemagne, this empire includes Gaul
and parts of Germany and Italy.
• Empire was subdivided by Charlemagne’s
grandsons and never united again.
Charlemagne
Charlemagne’s Empire
Charlemagne’s Church
Politics and the Church
• Popes sought to combine their religious power
with political power by forging alliances with
kings.
• Finally did so by choosing a German king to be
“Holy Roman Emperor” in 962.
– In reality, the Holy Roman Empire was not more
than a loose coalition of German princes.
Vikings
• Attacked England,
France, and Spain in the
late eighth and ninth
centuries.
• Settled Iceland and
Normandy, from which
the Norman William the
Conqueror invaded
England in 1066.
•After the emperor, Charlemagne, died, his empire broke up into separate states.
•In 936, Duke Otto I of Saxony took the title of King of Germany.
•Otto I worked closely with the church, appointing bishops to top government jobs and
helping the pope to defeat rebellious Roman nobles.
•In the pope’s gratefulness, Otto I was crowned emperor.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Holy_Roman
_Empire_crown_dsc02909.jpg
• Otto’s successors were titled, “The Holy Roman Emperor”. “They
were “holy since they were crowned by the Pope, and “Roman”
because they saw themselves as heirs to the emperors of Rome”
• “German emperors claimed authority over much of central and
eastern Europe, as well as parts of France and Italy”, but the real
rulers were the emperor’s vassals.
• A problem for the emperors was disagreement over appointment of
Church officials with the papacy. As the church was strengthened,
popes tried to stop non-church interference.