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The Middle Ages
The beginning…Early Middle Ages
Decline of Roman Empire
 Rise of Northern Europe
 New forms of government
 Heavy “Romanization”
(religion, language, laws,
architecture, government)
 Latin- “medium aevum”
means “middle age” and is
source of English word
“medieval”
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Early Middle
Ages
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Dark Ages (500 CE- 1000 CE)- scholars named
this as a time when the forces of darkness
(barbarians) overwhelmed the forces of light
(Romans)

Rise of the influence of barbarians as Roman
Emperors had granted barbarian mercenaries
land with the Roman Empire in return for military
service and it was these barbarians who
eventually became the new rulers
Expanding Influence of the Church
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Christian Church became an important political,
economic, spiritual and cultural force in Europe
Leading officials of Church were the Pope and
Patriarch
Heresy (holding beliefs that contradict the
official religion) was banned
conversion by force
Eventually in 11th Century, Church split into two
independent branches: Eastern Orthodox
(Greek) based in Constantinople and Roman
Catholic in Rome
The Medieval Church:
filled the power vacuum left from the
collapse of the classical world.
 monasticism:
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– St. Benedict – Benedictine Rule of
poverty, chastity, and obedience.
– provided schools for the children of
the upper class.
– inns, hospitals, refuge in times of war.
– libraries & scriptoria to copy books
and illuminate manuscripts.
– monks  missionaries to the
barbarians. [St. Patrick, St. Boniface]
A Medieval Monk’s Day
The power of the Church:
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bishops and abbots played a large part in
the feudal system.
the church controlled about 1/3 of the
land in Western Europe.
tried to curb feudal warfare  only 40
days a year for combat.
curb heresies  crusades; Inquisition
tithe  1/10 tax on your assets given to
the church.
Peter’s Pence  1 penny per person
[paid by the peasants].
Mutual Obligations….
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Church was granted favours by
Roman Emperors / Kings (land, exemption
from taxes, immunity in courts, positions in
courts) and in return the Church would
endorse kings to help secure their rule
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Kings looked to Church to supply educated
administrators to help run kingdoms and in
return kings would enforce laws that
prohibited other religions
Monasticism and
Saints
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Monks were people who gave up worldly
possessions and devote themselves to
a religious life
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Established between 400 -700 communities called
monasteries which became centres of education,
literacy and learning
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Strict codes of monastic conduct called Rule of St.
Benedict
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Saints- one who performs miracles that are
interpreted as evidence of a special relationship
with God
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St. Augustine- wrote “Confessions” which
discussed ideas of ethics, self knowledge, and the
role of free will which shaped monastic tradition
and the influence of Church
The Scriptorium
Illuminated Manuscripts
Byzantine Empire in 6th Century
The Holy Roman Empire
& Charlemagne
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Charlemagne (Charles the Great) who was a
military general and restored Pope Leo III who had
been exiled
In return, Leo placed a crown on Charlemagne and
named him the “Emperor of the Romans” which
secured the relationship between Frankish kings
and the papacy
Charlemagne became the first ruler of the Holy
Roman Empire, a dynasty that would last for more
than 700 years
Charlemagne- imposed order on empire through
the Church and state
Ordered the standardization of Latin, textbooks,
manuals for preaching, schools for clergy and
people, new form of handwriting
All these promoted education and scholars and
produced a precise written language (Latin)
Carolingian Miniscule
William the Conqueror:
Battle of Hastings, 1066
(Bayeux Tapestry)
PREVIOUSLY
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Vikings & Saxons fought amongst
themselves for 300 years
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William of Normandy took advantage
and was crowned King after winning the
Battle of Hastings…
Development of England's Political
System
Henry I:
– William’s son.
– set up a court system.
– Exchequer  dept. of royal finances.
Henry II:
-Established the principle of common law
throughout the kingdom
-grand jury
-trial by jury
Magna Carta, 1215
King John I
“Great Charter”
- monarchs were not
above the law.
- kings had to
consult a council of
advisors.
-kings could not tax
arbitrarily.
Beginning of English Parliament
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Great Council:
– middle class merchants, townspeople
[burgesses in Eng., bourgeoisie in Fr.,
burghers in Ger.] were added at the
end of the 13c.
– eventually called Parliament ("parler")
– by 1400, two chambers evolved:
 House of Lords  nobles & clergy.
 House of Commons  knights and
burgesses.
Birth of Modern Languages
Development of Middle Ages
 New languages born through migration,
resettlement, conflict and changes
 Old English (Anglo Saxon) began to
incorporate words borrowed from Latin
and Old French, Old German and Old
Norse
 Roots of contemporary Spanish, Italian
and other Romance languages
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WILLIAM THE
CONQUEROR
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STEP 1 – Make London submit to me,
check.
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STEP 2 – Replace this Anglo-Saxon
government with the one already being
used in Normandy for the past 150+
years.
What’s it called? FUEDALISM
BEFORE WILLIAM…

THIS IS
ENGLAND..

THIS IS IT’S KING
KING OF
NORTHUMBRIA
KING OF EAST
ANGLIA
KING OF
WESSEX
KING OF ESSEX
KING OF KENT
KING OF
MERCIA
KING OF
SUSSEX
AFTER WILLIAM…

THIS IS
ENGLAND

THIS IS IT’S
KING
WILLIAM THE
CONQUEROR
Feudalism
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Increasing violence and lawless
countryside
Weak turn to the strong for protection,
strong want something from the weak
Feudalism= relationship between those
ranked in a chain of association (kings,
vassals, lords, knights, serfs)
Feudalism worked because of the notion
of mutual obligation, or voluntary cooperation from serf to noble
A man’s word was the cornerstone of
social life
Key terms
Fief = land given by a lord in return for a
vassal’s military service and oath of
loyalty
Serfs= aka villeins or common peasants
who worked the lord’s land
Tithe = tax that serfs paid (tax or rent)
Corvee= condition of unpaid labour by
serfs (maintaining roads or ditches on a
manor)
A political, economic, and
social system based on
loyalty and military
service
FUEDALISM – HOW IT
WORKS
IMPORTANT POINTS
 King controls who he leases to, only people he
trusts gets land (keeps power – no rivalries)
 Baron is the judge and jury in his land, can give
away as much as he needs (mini-King almost)
 Knights could also keep as much land as they
want, they were hired bodyguards and the true
strength of any region.
 Serfs were not slaves but were controlled by
their Knights
The Medieval Manor:
economic organization
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?
 So how do we know exactly who has
what land?
 I don’t want land with terrible terrain so I
can’t grow crops while buddy over there
gets nice beautiful Forrest with a stream
running through it….
 And what happens if a cow wanders from
my land to my neighbors land…whose
Cow is it.
DOMESDAY BOOK –
1085AD
DOMESDAY BOOK –
1085AD
 Commissioned by William the Conqueror
 A survey of all of England, its land and
resources
 How many trees you had, how many pigs
you, very, very detailed…
 WHY? So he could figure out how much
he could tax everyone ;)
IIII. The Land of St. Peter of Westminster In ‘Ossulstone’ Hundred
 http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/oxfords
hire1.html#cadwell
In the vill in which St. Peter’s Church is situated [Westminster] the abbot of
the same place holds 13½ hides.
There is land for 11 ploughs. To the demesne belongs 9 hides and 1
virgate, and there are 4 ploughs.
The villein have 6 ploughs, and there could be 1 plough more. There are 9
villeins each on 1 virgate and 1 villein on 1 hide, and 9 villeins on each half
a virgate and 1 cottar on 5 acres, and 41 cottars who pay 40 shillings a
year for their gardens.
[There is] Meadow for 11 ploughs, pasture for the livestock of the vill,
woodland for 100 pigs, and 25 houses of the abbot’s knights and other
men who pay 8 shillings a year. In all it is worth £10; when
received, the same; TRE £12. This manor belonged and belongs
to the demesne of St. Peter’s Church, Westminster.
LIFE WAS GRAND…
 Feudalism working well…
 BUT there was one small problem…
 WILLIAM is the King Of England….but
the Duke of Normandy
 This means as Duke (Lord) he is under
control of the King of France
 King of England being controlled by King
of France? :s
REBELLION
 Obviously the old Anglo-Saxon elite were
not happy and many rebellions start
through out the empire…..
RECALL:
 What as Alfred’s solution to stopping the
Viking Raids?
WILLIAMS SOLUTION
 MOTTE & BAILEY CASTLE
WHY?
 Needed to be able to
govern the country and
a way to show his
presence in the area
 Allowed him to keep a
garrison all over the
empire
 By the 12th C thought to
be over 500 built in
Britain…
New Ideas and Culture
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Effects of Crusades
Guild and communes
Towns, cities and manors
New thinkers (Thomas Aquinas) and writers
Creation of universities
New art and architecture (gothic, castles)
Knighthood and chivalry
Courtly entertainment (fables, playwrights)
Medieval Universities
Oxford University
Medieval
Guilds
 Commercial Monopoly:
 Controlled membership
apprentice  journeyman 
master craftsman
 Controlled quality of the
product [masterpiece].
 Controlled prices
Late Medieval Town Dwellings
Medieval Trade
Late Middle Ages
Black Death
a devastating
worldwide
pandemic that
first struck
Europe in the
mid 14th century
killed about a
third of Europe’s
population, an
estimated 34
million people.
The Bubonic Plague
Called “black death” because of striking symptom
of the disease, in which sufferers' skin would
blacken due to hemorrhages under the skin
Spread by fleas and rats
painful lymph node swellings called buboes
buboes in the groin and armpits, which ooze pus
and blood.
damage to the skin and underlying tissue until
they were covered in dark blotches
Most victims died within four to seven days after
infection
EFFECTS
Caused massive depopulation and change
in social structure
Weakened influence of Church
Illustration of the Black Death from the Toggenburg Bible (1411).