Download File - Don Dickinson

Dark, Middle, or Medieval?
• All three terms (Dark Ages,
Middle Ages, Medieval
Period) are acceptable, but
“Dark Ages” is becoming
increasingly rejected by
scholars.
• “Middle Ages” implies a lull
between the glory of Rome
and the glitter of Renaissance
Dark, Middle, or Medieval?
• Time Period: fall of Western Rome
(5th c.) to decline of Europe’s feudal
and religious institutions (15th c.)
• Early Middle Ages (5th-10th):
period of decline, backwardness
and vulnerability
• High Middle Ages (10th-15th):
period of slow emergence and
change (trade, intellectual
activity, Gothic)
• Gothic architecture: 12th -16th
Century
Medieval Themes
• Extremely devout Christians
with strong participation, and
fervent spread of beliefs by
missionaries
• Change in relationship
between West and other
regions
• Europe originally at mercy
of invasions (Vikings,
Barbarians)
• Increasing participation in
trade with Asia and Africa.
Medieval Themes
• Contact with Byzantines and
Arabs through Crusades
taught Western scholars
advances in math, science,
philosophy.
• Very nervous about Islam
(belief that it is a false
religion, threat to Christians
and Holy Land) . . . yet,
Europeans will actively copy
Islam (law, science, art)
Manorialism
• System of economic organization
between landlords and peasant
laborers (serfs) who lived on estates
(manors)
• Reciprocal obligations
• Serfs were obligated to give their
lord a portion of their produce
• Lords protected serfs and
provided everyday needs
• Levels of production = low;
technology = limited
• Local level; no involvement of
military because of localized nature
Manorialism
• Manors helped to create a system of local politics
with regional aristocrats
• Most common form of political organization until
Vikings invaded in 9th century
• Weaknesses: isolation due to poor communication
networks; political instability; warfare and raids; no
centralized governments; no need for outside trade
(manors were self-sustaining)
Feudalism
• Vikings invaded in
9th century 
Western Europeans
will turn to
feudalism for greater
protection, but
manorialism is kept
as an economic
system within small
communities
Feudalism
• Military and political system
• Rulers provided protection and aid to
nobles (vassals)
• Nobles owed rulers: military service via
knights; goods; payments; counsel; would
sometimes receive land in exchange
• Nobles retained peasants who worked
their lands
• Benefits: provided greater protection
against raids; political stability; standing
army; manors no longer were isolated
Feudalism
Results of Feudalism
• Growth of strong feudal monarchy in Europe;
took many centuries
• Absorbed manors into larger kingdoms as more
nobles pledged allegiance to kings
• Result: regional monarchies with strong
aristocracies
• Frequent warfare  castle defense systems
developed
Results of Feudalism
• Example: William the
Conqueror, Duke of
Normandy
• Introduced feudal monarchy
to England following Norman
invasion in 1066
• Declared that all nobles and
knights must swear allegiance
to him; minimized loyalties to
nobles
Quick Review Question

What are the differences between
manorialism and feudalism?
What caused European communities to
develop feudalism?
Limiting Feudal Governments
• Growth of feudal monarchies
decreased aristocratic power 
attempts were made to limit
monarchical power
1) 1215: Magna Carta
• English King John recognized
supremacy of written law; forced
by noblemen to adhere
• Granted basic rights to noblemen
2) 1265: creation of English
Parliament
• Served as check on royal
authority; collaboration between
king and aristocrats
Limiting Feudal Governments
11th-12th c.: Three Estates (Church,
Nobles, Commoners) created in
France
• Legal rights related to your
estate
• Despite all this, monarchs
continued to increase in power
• Large conflicts like Hundred
Years War led to early ideas of
nationalism where kings are
leaders that embody the
countries’ principles
Vikings
• Danish; Norwegian; Swedish in origin
• Raids from 8th to 11th centuries  caused feudal estates
to form
• Lightweight boats with wide hulls; stable and easily
handled in rough water; many oars
• Could navigate the oceans and rivers
Vikings cont.
• 10th c.: Began to cease raids, converted to Christianity,
and became settled peoples in Europe.
• Continue to explore northern Atlantic (Iceland;
Greenland; North America)
• First European steps in Americas, Hudson Bay area
Franks, Carolingians, and Charlemagne
• 400: Franks were strongest
Germanic barbarian tribe
• 732: Charles Martel,
Carolingian Frankish ruler,
defeated Muslims in Battle
of Tours 732
• Halted Muslim advance into
Western Europe
Franks, Carolingians, and Charlemagne
• Germany)
• Established by Charlemagne,
Martel’s grandson
• Charlemagne (ruled 800-814)
• Pope’s coronation of
Charlemagne was first Holy
Roman Emperor to set precedent
that Church approval was
necessary to legitimize Western
political power
• 843: Treaty of Verdun (empire
fragmented into three kingdoms)
Holy Roman Empire (962-1806)
• Emerged from one kingdom
(Germany, Italy) from Treaty of
Verdun
• Kingdom collapsed but was
revived in 962 by Otto I, who
was crowned HRE
• “Neither holy, nor Roman, nor an
empire” - Voltaire
• Merged classical and Christian
claims; proclaimed itself a
Christian continuation of Ancient
Rome
Holy Roman Empire in 1600
Holy Roman Empire (962-1806)
• Provided a small amount of
stability, but power of HRE was
limited because he was a
subsidiary to the Pope, and the
HRE utilized a system of feudalism
which weakened Emperor’s power
• Most of Germany was still
managed by feudal lords; most of
Italy in city-states
Holy Roman Empire in 1600
• HRE found it difficult to enforce
his rule
• Dissolved in 1806 during
Napoleonic Wars
Quick Review Question

What were some of the steps European
aristocrats took to limit monarchical
power?
What precedent did Charlemagne create
for European rulers?
First Crusade (1095)
• 1095: Called by Urban II; to end
Muslim (Seljuk Turk & Abbasid)
control of Holy Land
• Overwhelming response; 60,000
knights joined in just the first
year
• Initial success (capture of
Jerusalem) but ultimately ended
with defeat
• 4th Crusade (1204): Passed through
Byzantine Empire (architectural
achievements noted; sacked
Constantinople)
First Crusade (1095)
• New contact with Islam; opened
western Europe’s eyes to new
possibilities, especially with trade
• Discovered sugarcane, spices,
porcelain, glassware, carpets
from East
• Unbalanced trade: West wanted
Eastern goods
• Showed aggressive spirit of
Western Europe; Muslims were
now united against Europeans
The Catholic Church
• Catholic Church
became most powerful
and wealthy institution
in West
• After collapse of
Western Rome, cultural
unity was provided by
Christianity
• Opportunities for abuse
and corruption
• Church often owned
large landholdings
The Catholic Church
• Clear hierarchy of Church
power (like Roman
government)
• Popes regulated doctrine
• After precedent set by
Charlemagne, papal
power was greater than
political power of kings
• Just like “Royal Cult” of
Islam, early Germanic kings
were interested in
Christianity (ex.
Charlemagne)
Religious Reform in the Middle Ages
• 1073-1085: Gregorian Reform
with Gregory VII
• Result: Separation of secular
and religious spheres; Church
> Kings
• Gregory VII tried to free
church from interference from
kings
• Investiture Controversy
• Fought with HRE Henry
IV over investiture (whose
right is it to appoint
bishops? King or Pope?)
Religious Reform in the Middle Ages
• 13th c.: Reform
movements created to
combat Church
corruption
• Mendicant friar groups
• St. Francis (Franciscans)
• St. Dominic
(Dominicans)
• A religious lifestyle of
discipline, intense
spirituality, extreme
piety, and celibacy
• Monks were examples
to ordinary people of a
holy life
• Monasteries:
• Church
• Residences of monks
• Pilgrimage centers
Monasticism
• Intellectual life and
literacy declined in
Middle Ages, except
among monks in
monasteries
• Libraries maintained;
books created
• 6th c.: Monk Benedict of
Nursia
• Created Benedictine rule
for monks
• Founder of Western
monasticism
Monasticism
Quick Review Question

What were some of the responses to Catholic
and papal corruption?
What is monasticism? Why are monasteries
significant in Medieval history?
The High Middle Ages (11th-15th c.)
• Emergence from the Dark Ages
• Increased agricultural output
• New techniques introduced
• Increased urbanization and
declining manorialism
• Increased population 
demand for jobs, education
• Increased universities
The High Middle Ages (11th-15th c.)
• Increased economic trade and
banking
• Increased social mobility
• Declining number of smaller
feudal structures  stronger
centralized monarchies
• Viking raids ended
• Strengthening of nation-states
(Hundred Years’ War)
• New warfare technology
Urbanization and Education
• Population increased  towns grew
 growing economy
• Literacy expanded in urban
centers
• New emphasis on education
• 11th c: Cathedral schools trained
children to be clergy members
• 13th c: Universities trained
students in theology, law, and
medicine
• Result: increased economic and
cultural vitality in Europe after 1000
Theology
(Assimilating Faith and Reason)
• Exploration of Greek philosophy
became popular, but how to assimilate
into Catholic religious tradition?
• Debate in universities: how to combine
rational philosophy with Christian
faith?
• Bernard of Clairvaux, monk
• Opposed to integration of Greek
philosophy into Catholic tradition
• Supported mysticism (receive truth
only through faith with God), not
through Greek reason
Theology
(Assimilating Faith and Reason)
• Thomas Aquinas, Summas,
13th c.
• Faith is primary, but
reason leads to
understanding; therefore,
one can reconcile Greek
philosophy with Catholic
theology
• Scholasticism: use logic to
resolve theological
problems
Art and Literature
• Architecture, literature, and
art often reflected religious
themes
• Painting: wood panels,
religious scenes, no
perspective, training has been
lost
• Romanesque architecture: for
pilgrimages, blocky,
“Roman”-like
Art and Literature
• Gothic architecture: 11th c. 14th c., verticality, light,
growing technical skills,
expensive
• Literature
• Latin: law, education
• Vernacular: secular
literature (Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales; Beowulf)
• Court poetry and chivalry
Quick Review Question

What are some of the changes that the High
Middle Ages brought?
What was the main concern for Medieval
theologians? What was a solution to this
dilemma?
Agricultural
Innovations
• 800-1300 CE: Warmer
temperatures
• Moldboard: curved iron
plate, allowed deeper
turning of heavy soil
• Crop rotation: leave half of
land uncultivated each
year to restore soil  limits
productivity
• Solution: Three-field
system (Only 1/3 of
land left unplanted)
Moldboard and Crop Rotation
Agricultural
Innovations
• New horse collar and
stirrups
• Agricultural improvements
 increased production 
population growth 
increased size of urban
areas
• Peasants gained financial
freedom with agricultural
advances, some became free
farmers with no landlord
and moved to cities
Moldboard and Crop Rotation
• Organizations that grouped
people in the same business
or trade in a single city
• Merchants; weavers;
woolmen; sculptors;
artists; blacksmiths
• Gave workers financial
security
• Protected markets
• Set prices
• Ensured standards
• Regulated apprenticeships
• Provided training and
materials
Guilds
Growth of Trade and Banking
• Low Countries (coastal W.
Europe) begin to specialize
in trade goods
• Netherlands: cloth;
England: wool; France:
wine and cheese;
Scandinavia: timber;
fish; fur
• Money replaced barter
system
• Banking and insurance
emerged
Growth of Trade and Banking
• Hanseatic League
• Confederation of merchant
guilds and cities in
Northern Europe working
together for mutual
economic benefit
• Merchants: considerable power
in trading cities; weak
governments failed to regulate
merchants
• Merchants had low social
status; Christian thought
raised concerns about
capitalism and greed
Quick Review Question

Describe some of the economic and
technological changes in the High Middle Ages.
The Role of Women
• Traditional roles: wife and
childcare provider, patriarchal
society
• Code of Chivalry: reinforced
ideas that women were weak,
delicate, and subordinate
• Nun: only alternative to
marriage
The Role of Women
• Two opposing attitudes:
• Veneration of Mary and
female saints; gave women
cultural and religious
prestige
• Emphasis on Eve as source
of sin
• No property rights, but could
trade and belong to some craft
guilds
• Literature discussed women’s
roles as comforters to men,
listed docile virtues
The Black Death
• After 1300:
overpopulation; severe
famine; warfare; disease;
Little Ice Age
(temperatures cool 
less food, vulnerable to
disease)
The Black Death
• 1348: Bubonic Plague (Black Death)
• Arrived in October 1347 from
Genoese trading ships that docked
in Sicily
• Killed ½ European population
• Started in China; traveled along
Silk Road with infected rats and
fleas in bags of trading goods
• Believed to be God’s divine
punishment for earthly sins
• Purge community of heretics
(thousands of Jews killed)
The Decline of the Medieval World
• Knights lose military purpose;
become decorative
• Foot soldiers: more
important /practical
• Growth of professional
armies; shook authority of
feudal lords who used to
supply armies
The Decline of the Medieval World
• New weaponry (cannons,
gunpowder); traditional
methods (fortified castles)
irrelevant
• Example: Hundred Years
War (1337-1453)
• Aristocracy does not disappear;
choose to live in rich
ceremonial style that exhibits
court life and chivalry
Changing Culture in Europe
• Church: increasingly
rigid
• Series of controversies
over papal authority
distanced Church
from everyday
devotion (rival
claimants to papacy)
• Reformers and
mystics emerged (no
longer need Church to
have direct experience
with God)
Changing Culture in Europe
• Proto-Renaissance:
Intellectual and
artistic life developed
• Art: realistic
portrayals of space
and nature, growing
interest in the body
Quick Review Question

How does the Medieval world decline
towards the end of the High Middle Ages?