Download The High Middle Ages, 1050-1300

The High Middle Ages, 1050-1300
The 11th Century European Agricultural Revolution: 4 factors prepared ground for it:
1.) the end of the wave of raids that swept Europe during the 9th and 10th centuries;
2.) the clearing and cultivation of new land and
3.) the spread of the three-field rotation system;
4.) technological innovations like the heavy plow and the horse collar;
The Medieval Plow and the use of wind & water mills for power.
Windmill.
Results:
1.) a dramatic increase in the supply of food in western Europe;
2.) dramatic population growth;
3.) a revival of trade and
4.) the rebirth of towns (the medieval urban revolution)
The Medieval Revival of Trade: Two sorts of commercial activity after 1050:
local: surplus grain and products from small industries in markets and long distance trade,
especially in textiles, wine, and luxury items.
How & why? Mediterranean reopened after Italians defeated Muslim raiders; Italian cities,
which took a leading role in the revival of commercial activity, traded with the Byzantine
Empire. Europeans wanted silks, spices, and other luxury items from the east; Venice, Genoa,
Milan, and Pisa became market centers. Elsewhere: trade developed between Scandinavian
cities and cities along the Atlantic coastline; between England, northern France, and Flanders;
and along the rivers linking the Baltic Sea with the Black Sea and Constantinople.
Results: Trade expansion made necessary the creation of new forms of business organization
(partnerships); a money economy; and a money-changing or banking system. Trade
stimulated the development of trade fairs in the Champagne (France) and elsewhere.
Medieval trade revival laid foundations for the development of a modern market economy
which eventually evolved into capitalism. This greater commercial activity also stimulated
the growth of towns which in turn stimulated even greater economic growth.
The Medieval Urban Revolution: Urban life revived during the 11th century.
Why? increased food supply produced by the Medieval agricultural revolution, population
growth, and the revival and expansion of trade.
Where? Towns either revived or were founded where merchants gathered: along
communication links like seacoasts, rivers, and roads; near places of security like castles; or
where fairs were sponsored, like monasteries. Some medieval towns (Paris [150,000],
London [40,000], or Florence [100,000]) were Roman in origin; others newly built.
Impact of such towns and their economic and political activities:
1) Introduced a new class, the bourgeoisie, which had no place within the medieval system of
lord, church, and peasant; the bourgeoisie were master artisans, merchants, and their families;
their world was governed by market relationships; they believed in bettering their lot in this
world through individual initiative; the affluent demanded a role in government.
2) Merchant and craft guilds developed; organizations of local artisans and businessmen, and
their purpose was to control, protect, and promote specific economic activities by ensuring a
stable market; quality; and prices (the “just price”). Guilds also controlled admission to
specific crafts by establishing a complex series of steps--apprenticeship, journeyman, and
master--through which an aspirant had to go.
Merchants established international trading groups were established; i.e. the 13th-century
Hanseatic League of London, Bruges, Novgorod, Danzig, and Bergen
3) In cities the bourgeoisie developed concepts of self-government and freedom from the
feudal system; many cities gained either by fighting or by purchase charters which granted
them self-government, individual freedom; an exemption from manorial obligations; urban
rather than feudal justice, and commercial privileges. According to one medieval phrase:
“Stadtluft macht frei”. Serfs often fled their manors, finding refuge in cities. In cities
religious and intellectual life flourished; their wealth made possible the building of great
universities and cathedrals of the High Middle Ages.
Vitality of Medieval Religious Life
Decline in Religious Life: 9th-11th centuries, European religious life declined, both at the
local level and in the upper ranks of the clergy. Parish priests were frequently illiterate and
immoral; higher ranking clergy were often appointed by powerful lords, and they served their
interests rather than those of the church. In the 10th century, the church undertook to reform
itself, a movement that began in the monasteries and then spread to the papacy.
Monastic Reform Movement: Began with the founding of Cluny (910); by 1049, there were
67 monasteries. Reform received new life from the Cistercians (early 12th century), founded
by Bernard of Clairvaux: Other monastic orders flourished in the same century Franciscans,
founded Francis of Assis (1182- 1226). Called “God’s own troubadour”, St Francis preached
a life of total poverty, charity and good works, and love for all; the Franciscans ironically
became one of the largest and most powerful of the monastic orders.
Papal Reform Movements: Goals of the Popes: 1) free the Church from secular control; 2)
centralize Church government under the Pope; and 3) assert the supremacy of the Papacy
within a Christian Europe. Examples: the Investiture Controversy and the struggle between
Henry II and Becket in England. Under Innocent III (1198-1216), the power of the medieval
papacy reached its height. He believed by uniting all of Christendom under papal rule that he
would be able to bring right order to the world. He also launched crusades against European
heretics such as the Albigensians (south of France) and to the Holy Land. In 1215, he called
the Fourth Lateran Council; it affirmed the fundamental dogmas of the Christian faith. Other
Popes followed his lead. Pope Gregory IV founded the Inquisition in 1232; it and other papal
courts used to root out heresy. Efforts of the Church to assert itself lead to clashes with
secular kings. Until the end of the 13th century, the Popes usually prevailed. Then came the
conflict with Boniface VIII (1294-1303), of whom it was said: he entered the papacy like a
fox, ruled like a lion, and died like a dog. With the bull Unam Sanctum, Boniface asserted the
authority of the Church over Philip the Fair, king of France, but unlike in previous situations,
the French king did not back down; rather, he sent a group of thugs and arrested Boniface.
Pope Boniface VIII.
This humiliation opened a period of great trial for the Church, one that would result in the
Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Throughout the Late Middle Ages, the 14th, the
15th, and the early 16th centuries, the Church refused to reform itself, and, moreover, it
resisted pressure from without to reform. The result was the Babylonian Captivity of the
Papacy (1309-1377) and the Great Schism (1378-1415). Even the Council of Constance
(1415-1417), while it ended the Great Schism, failed to bring about true reform.
Popular Religious Movements, 1050-1300: During the centuries of monastic reform and the
growth of the papal monarchy, there also grew up in Europe numerous popular religious
movement, and they resulted partly from genuine religious motives and partly from social and
economic causes. They included the Waldensians, founded by Peter Waldo, who preached
poverty, a strict moral life, and the use of the vernacular language, and the Albigensians, who
rejected the leadership of the Church and embraced philosophical dualism; they also rejected
marriage, all forms of materialism, and cooperation with the state. The Church itself had little
toleration for these movements, and it frequently launched crusades against them, as did
Innocent III against the Albigensians in 1209.
The Crusades, 1095-1272: Clear expression of the power of religion in medieval life and of
the power of the papacy to motivate hundreds of thousands were the eight crusades
undertaken to recover the Holy Lands from the Moslems. Crusades also part of the expansion
of Europe during the High Middle Ages, an expansion that also included the “drang nach
osten” (the movement of Christian knights into Eastern Europe) and the “Reconquista”,
(=reconquest of Spain from the Moslems).
Factors making the Crusades possible: 1) For centuries, Christians had been making
pilgrimages to the Holy Lands; because of military victories by the Moslem Turks, access to
the Holy Places was threatened. 2) Christians and Moslems had been at war for centuries, and
the Church had supported these wars. And, 3) there were numerous Europeans, especially
knights, hungering for adventure, wealth, and land, not to mention trading advantages. In
1095, Pope Urban II (1088-1099) launched the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont; the
Pope’s call was echoed by Peter the Hermit, and over 100,000 people, from commoners to
great nobles, set out for Jerusalem, most with religious motives, including the plenary
indulgence. Great military successes were enjoyed at Antioch (1098) and elsewhere, and
Jerusalem was taken in 1099. The Europeans promptly established four Crusader kingdoms,
including the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem under Baldwin of Flanders. To protect these
conquests, orders of crusading kings, such as the Templars and the Knights Hospitalers were
founded. And over the next 200 years, seven more crusades were launched as the Turks
sought to regain their lost lands. Most met with but little success, and by 1291 the last of the
Crusader kingdoms fell.
Impact of the Crusades on Western Europe:
1) They demonstrated the religious vitality and the growing self-confidence of western
Europe;
2) they gave Europeans an opportunity to learn new military tactics, to become familiar with
new weapons like the crossbow, and to construct new types of castles;
3) they also increased the power of kings, who raised taxes and commanded large national
armies; in contrast, many feudal nobles were killed, while others sold rights and privileges to
towns to raise the funds necessary for a crusade.
4) they opened the old Middle East and Asia to the west, stimulating a demand for Asian
luxuries and making great trade centers of Venice and Genoa. And,
5) they put Europeans into direct contact with the civilizations of the ancient world and with
works of hitherto unknown classical authors, such as Aristotle.
German Crusades in the Baltic Region: Motivations were mixed. Lords sought new
estates; peasants wanted land and an escape from the manorial system; Christian missionaries
wanted converts; and merchants wanted new areas to trade. Results: Thousands of Germans
moved into the Baltic region and established towns and brought new land under cultivation.
They also brought the German language and culture and the Christian religion with them;
protecting them were military orders like the Teutonic Knights. The cities established by the
Germans joined with other German cities to establish the Hanseatic League. At its high point,
this League controlled much of the trade of northern Europe, from the Baltic to the North
Sea. German presence in the Baltic areas ended in 1945, when million were expelled at the
end of World War II.
Carinthia/Austria
The House of Babenberg (976 – 1246) (270 years)
The era of the Babenbergs was a time of great prosperity. They were wise and far-seeing
rulers who exploited the natural resources of their domains, particularly gold, silver and slat.
They also established a chain of redoubtable castles and defensive fortifications against
inroads from the east and north.
976 AD: Leopold von Babenberg is made Margrave (military outpost of Austria)
( Starting from the Wachau district of the Danube the Babenbergs gradually moved their
capital eastward from the Pöchlarn are ato Melk, etc…
976 AD Carinthia became the 6 independent duchy in the German area; i.e.the oldest of
todays Austrian territories (Liutpolidinger took over) later on Eppensteiner and 1122
Spanheimer
996 AD: first documentary mention of Ostarrichi (the eastern kingdom), the basis of today's
name Österreich
996 Carinthian” Bruno”, the son of Duke Otto of Carinthia and Judith was appointed
Pope Gregory V (by his cousin emperor Otto III )
Hemma of Gurk
By 1137 Vienna itself was a fortified city, and 10 years later work was started on a
Romanesque Basilica dedicated to Stephen just outside the south eastern corner of the
old Roman Vindobona. As the Basiclica took shape, a new quarter, mainly commerical,
sprang up, people by merchants ansious to take advante of the Babenberg “boom”
1141- 1177: Henry II, Ja-so-mir Gott, ( a street named after him near
Stephansplatz)established the capital of Vienna and the Hofburg. It
was a great time of propsperity for Vienna. He exploited the natural resources gold, silver, salt
of this area. A number of monasteries were founded (Melk, Admont, Millstatt, Gurk)
1147: St. Stephen´s cathedral was built
Carinthia: 1131 – 1269 : 42 parishes & 450 Fililakirchen were erected
1122 Spanheimer ruled St. Veit & Klagenfurt, later Völkermarkt; Krain, Bleiburg,
Laibach/Ljubljana
1224 – Friesach tournament); until 1279.Archbishop of Salzburg (northern Carinthia:
Großkircheim – Friesach,up to Feldkirchen;
Bishops of Bamberg (Villach & Wolfsberg, Wurzen ),
Count Ortenburg (Spital); Count Hollenburg (southern Carinthia)
Aquileja: Treffen, Ossiach, Eberndorf
Brixen: Reifnitz, Jauntal
1156 The Margravate of Austria was detached from Bavaria and was elevated to the
status of a hereditary Duchy. Priviegium minus, was a document issued by Barbarossa in
1156 and granted it to Duke Heinrich Jasomirgott and his wife Theodora.
With the settlement of the dispute over Bavaria, Austria was transformed from a march into a
duchy and had special priviliges.
*the ducal couple were given the right to appoint their own successor if there was no heir;
*no courts of justice were to be held inded the adminstrative district without the approval of
the duke.
*the Austrian duke was only obligated to attend (diets) Reichstage when they were held in
Bavaria and was only liable for military service on the territory of Austria´s neighbours
*female inheritance.
1225: Dominicans(Spain) and Franciscans settle in Vienna (Dominicans were teachers; Franciscans:
worked directly among the people to fight heresy, their members preached in the towns and the
surrounding countryside
1246 -1273 AD: The Terrible Interregnum (anarchy and confusion), no Emperor
The last of the Babenbergs, Friedrich the Quarrelsome, is killed in battle against the Magyars.
Review: Between 976 and 1246, Ostarrichi was one of extensive feudal possessions of the
Babenberg family. Through their ties of blood and marriage to two successive German
imperial dynasties, the Babenbergs gradually acquired lands roughly corresponding to the
modern provinces of Upper Austria & Lower Austria
The Austrian nobility sided with the Bohmemian King, Ottokar II Premysl, whosecured
heritage for himself by marrying the last Babenberg´s sister.
1251 Vienna is seized by King Przemysl Ottokar II of Bohemia and Styria to King Béla of
Hungary, though Styria is later taken over by Ottokar along with Carinthia and Carniola.
However, the Holy Roman Empire´s newly elected king, Rudolf von Habsburg was not
prepared to recognise the Bohemian´s king´s power without his swearing an oath of
allegiance. When both sides took up arms, Ottokar was killed in the Battle of Dürnkurt in
1278.
During the first half of the 13th century Friesach played an important role. Residence for the
Salzburger archbishops (they supported art and culture), Friesach was the home of libraries of
European rank, romance and gothic sacred art treasure. The minnesinger Ulrich of
Liechtenstein wrote about the town and the Friesacher Tournament in his novel
“Frauendienst”
THE HABSBURGS
(ruled for 640 years, with 20 emperors who ruled over the Holy Roman Empire with almost
unbroken succession, until 1806)
1273 AD:
As king of Bohemia, Otakar was one of the small circle of “elector princes” who were entitled
to participate in the elcetion of the Holy Roman Emperor. When Otakar failed to be elected
emperor in 1273 (Count Rudolf von Habsburg is appointed King of the Germans (end of the
interregnum in the Holy Roman Empire) Otakar contested the election of the new emperor.
1275: Deutscher Ritter Orden (Friesach)
1276: Ottocar Premysl forced by Rudolf to withdraw from Vienna
1278: Rudolph finally defeats Ottocar at the Battle of Marchfeld (dies). (Grillparzer)
1282: Rudolf and his son Albrecht are awarded the Duchy of Austria (Upper and Lower
Austria, Styria;
Carinthia and Carniola are allotted to Count Meinhard of Tyrol 1286
(Domestic Violence in the MiddleAges: medieval customs encouraged French men to beat their wives regularl.y
The 13th century code in France advised “men may be excused for the injuries they inflict on their wives, nor
should the law intervene. Provided that he neither kills nor maims her, it is legal for a man to beat his wife)
1315 Battle of Morgarten: Albrecht has 2 sons, Frederick the Handsome & Leopold of
Austria, both tried to punish the Swiss (their own people) for supporting Ludwig the Bavarian
who was fighting against the Habsburg Fredrick the Handsome. (both want to beome kings.)
However Leopold was beaten at Morgarten, a battle that began the brilliant career of the
Swiss infantry in Europe. The Hapsburg were defeated and lost Swiss land. Ludwig on the
battle and his son Johann von Luxembourg marries Marg. Maultasche
1335 Albrecht II acquires Carinthia & it becomes a part of the Habsburg dynasty; (together
with Austria, Styria & Krain)
1338 Klagenfurt & St. Veit receive Stadtrechte (charters)
1338 Grasshopper plague throughout Europe
1348 earthquake in Villach & Pest Black Death/ Bubonic plague: ( a disease carried by fleas
on rats struck Western Europe; destroyed communities; farms were abandoned; the busy
commerce of the 12th and 13th century collapsed; Europe did not fully recover for over 100
years; (50% of the farmers died in Carinthia; in Carinthia the Jews were blamed as
everywhere – especially in Wolfsberg
Jews were persecuted)
Carinthia: the last Carinthian count Heinrich of Görz dies, but his daughter Margarethe
Maultasch isn´t allowed to inherit the feud. Instead she receives Tyrol. The Hapsburger stood
up for her and received Carinthia.