Download The Middle Ages - Fort Thomas Independent Schools

The Middle Ages
Europe in the 6c (500s)
Visigoths- Spain
Ostrogoths, then Lombards- Italy
Burgundians- Border areas of now France
Germany
Angles and Saxons- Britain
Celts- Ireland, Scotland
Franks- North and West France
Periodization
Early Middle Ages: 500 – 1000
High Middle Ages: 1000 – 1250
Late Middle Ages: 1250 - 1500
Feudalism
• People left cities to live on manors (the lord’s estate) in
order to grow food to live
• Self-sufficient communities where people produced
everything they needed
-Peasants paid taxes on milling grains, marriages, rents
-Serfs: could not leave without permission; treated like
slaves; children born into serfdom
Great Schism 1054: Separate Roman Catholic (west) and Eastern
Orthodox churches
•
•
The Roman Catholic
Based in the Vatican in Rome
Church
After the fall of Roman Empire, people
turned to Christianity for guidance &
strength
• The Church provided food, shelter,
clothing to poor, orphans
• Organized centers for learning; sent out
missionaries to recruit new members
Forced people to pay tithes (10% income) to the
Church
Built cathedrals, ordered works of art
Could excommunicate members- kick them out of
the church
Sold indulgences (forgive sin, less purgatory),
simony (church jobs)
Catholic Church organization
• Pope: head of Catholic Church; makes Church
law
• Cardinals: chooses new pope
• Archbishops: govern areas; enforce church law
• Bishops: assist Archbishops; also deliver
sermons, raise money for Church
• Priests: preach the word of God to the people;
performed sacraments
The Franks
Most successful of Germanic tribes
• Clovis I: established Merovingian dynasty
• Do Nothing Kings: Clovis’ descendent were weak rulers;
power passed to Major Domo (Mayor of Palace)
Charles Martel: powerful Major Domo
• 732BCE: defeated Muslims at Battle of Tours
• saved Christian Europe from Muslim conquest
Pepin the Short: Major Domo, son of Charles Martel
• “Gift of Pepin”: Pepin defeated the Lombards & gave
conquered lands to the Pope (land became Papal States)
• The Pope crowned Pepin king of the Franks in return
Charlemagne: son of Pepin
• created empire that included France, Northern Italy, Northeast
Spain (Spanish March), Germany
• 800: crowned 1st Holy Roman Emperor by Pope
Treaty of Verdun
Divided Charlemagne’s empire
between his three grandsons
• Charles the Bald: got Frankish
kingdom (France)
• Lothair: got Central kingdom
(area between France &
Germany; site of many wars)
• Louis the German: got East
Frankish kingdom (Germany)
Centralized rule weakened by invasion:
Umayyad (Islam) in Spain
Magyars from Hungary
Vikings from northern Europe
The High Middle Ages
Lasted from 1100 to 1300 CE; during this period,
Europe developed nation states with populations
identifying national unity:
• Nations led by kings, princes as rulers
• Made war against others to obtain territory
• Trade rose and towns developed
• Catholic Church led wars for Christian
domination
Medieval Guilds
A guild is an
association of
craftspeople
in a particular
trade
Guild Hall
 Commercial Monopoly: provide a service or product
Def: exclusive right or ability to
 Controlled membership
apprentice  journeyman  master craftsman
 Controlled quality of the product [masterpiece].
 Controlled prices
Christian Crusades: East and West
The Crusades
Holy wars to regain Jerusalem from the Muslims; first
called by Pope Urban II who promised:
Why go?
• Forgiveness for sins
• Cancellation of debts
• Protection for families and
property
• Cancellation of criminal
charges
• Land and wealth (from the
Turks)
Results of the Crusades
Discovery of new ideas,
inventions, weapons
Kings gained power
Status of women increased
Revival of trade between Europe
& Middle East
1st crusade: 3 groups marched to Holy
Land
Most successful; crusaders captured
Jerusalem & Antioch; massacred
thousands of Muslims
Problems: heat, supplies, disunity
2nd: Turks had retaken Jerusalem; group
sent to take the city was defeated at
Damascus
3rd (King’s Crusade): led by kings;
Frederick I fell from horse & drowned;
Philip II fell ill and returned to France; led
by Saladin, Turks kept lands
4th: crusaders sacked city of Zara for
rival Venetians; excommunicated after
they conquered Christian Constantinople;
never reconquered Holy Land
The Famine of 1315-1317
 By 1300 Europeans were farming almost all
the land they could cultivate.
 A population crisis developed.
 Climate changes in Europe produced three
years of cold, heavy rain
 Crop failures between 1315-17
 As many as 15% of the peasants in some
English villages died.
 One consequence of
starvation & poverty
was susceptibility to
disease.
Black Death (Late 14th Century)
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/com
mons/f/f8/Spread-Of-The-Black-Death.gif
• Spread along the Silk roads
The Disease Cycle
Flea drinks rat blood
that carries the
bacteria.
Bacteria
multiply in
flea’s gut.
Human is infected!
Flea bites human and
regurgitates blood
into human wound.
Flea’s gut clogged
with bacteria.
Attempts to Stop the Plague
“Leeching”
A Doctor’s
Robe
Also, tried containment and
quarantine but often too late or
not enough places participate
Attempts to Stop the Plague
Flagellanti:
Self-inflicted “penance” for our sins!
Attempts to Stop the Plague
Blame the Jews
“Jew” hat
“Golden Circle”
obligatory badge