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Chapter 10
The High Middle
Ages, 1000–1300
Church Reform and Spiritual Renewal
The church at Cluny was the largest structure in western Europe in the
Middle Ages.
Church Reform and Spiritual Renewal
• Reform from Within
– A Desire to Change
• The wealth that monasteries had built up offended the core monastic
values and ideals of poverty, charity, and obedience
• Cluny, Founded 910, was a monastery that some church leaders
looked to for inspiration for reform
• A return to clerical celibacy, limited literacy, etc.
• Prohibition of Simony (purchase of ecclesiastical office, a practice in
place for centuries)
• Clergymen were, however, required to be literate enough to read the
Bible and the prayers required for worship services
– The Cistercians (est. 1098)
• Attempt to revive the standards of the Cluniac Order, which had
become corrupt over time by wealth and prestige
• The Cistercians acquired a reputation for sternness they never lost
• Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) helped establish several
Cistercian communities and was an influential adviser to the king of
France in the early 12th century
Church Reform and Spiritual Renewal
• The Church and Secular Authority
– The Reform Begins
• Leo IX (r. 1049-1054) and Clerical Standards
– Dresses more modestly in pilgrim garb
– Deposes bishops/priests who got their jobs through simony
– Attacks clerical marriage
– Pope Gregory VII (1073 – 1085)
• Felt he was chosen by God to reform church and continued to raise
the standards for the clergy while also expanding papal authority, to
protect the liberties of the church from secular interference
• Sought end to lay investiture (secular rulers appointing bishops)
• Henry IV, however, considered it his right to appoint the pope and
other clergy within his empire
• Gregory decrees that only he has the right to appoint clergy to offices
• Henry responded by removing Gregory from office and calling for the
election of a new pope
• To punish the emperor, Gregory excommunicated him in 1076
• Importance of the struggle between church and state
Church Reform and Spiritual Renewal
Investiture
Controversy
Pope Gregory VII:
“I release all Christian
men from the
allegiance which they
have sworn or may
swear to him, and I
forbid anyone to serve
him as king”
Church Reform and Spiritual Renewal
In this panel by Giotto, Francis receives the blessing of Pope
Innocent III.
Church Reform and Spiritual Renewal
• Innocent III (r. 1198-1216)
– The Fourth Lateran Council, 1215: Called by Innocent III to define what it
meant to be Christian and to distinguish Christians from non-Christians
• Set standards for clergy behavior, declared the pope to be the
preeminent bishop in Christendom, condemned heresy, required all
Christians to confess their sins to a priest once a year
• Marriage Reform: Banns (public declaration by a priest of a couple’s
intent to marry) help to finally do away with arranged marriages;
marriage forbidden between closely related kin
• Jews and Muslims in a Christian World
– Council decreed that Jews and Muslims had to wear
distinguishing clothing in public
– Jews forbidden from holding public office
– Jews who had converted to Christianity forbidden to return to
their former religion
• Innocent III provided the papacy with the legal and theological instruments to
impose order on the church and Christian society and to have the power to
go after heretics (like Cathars, Peter Waldo, etc.)
Merchants, Pilgrims, and Migrants on the Move, 1000–1300
By the end of
the eleventh
century,
people at
different ends
of the
Mediterranean
came once
more into
contact with
one another,
mostly through
trade, but
sometimes
through
pilgrimage and
holy war.
The Crusades
The Crusades: Background
• Investiture Controversy
• Increased Catholic Piety
• Western Europe
• Response to Islamic invasion of Gaul (France) in 711
• Jerusalem
• Importance to Christians, Muslims, and Jews (Holy Land)
• By the end of the 4th century, it was mostly Christian
• The Muslim presence in the Holy Land began with the initial
conquest of Syria in the 7th century
• Pressure on Byzantine Empire because of invasions by the
Seljuk Turks
• After Muslims (Seljuk Turks) were threatening the
Byzantine Empire (Christians), Pope Urban II calls for
Christians from Western Europe to protect the Byzantine
Empire and to capture the Holy Land from its Muslim
inhabitants
The Crusades
• Pope Urban II calls the first Crusade (1095)
• “Jerusalem is now held captive by the enemies of Christ, those who
do not know God, the heathen (non Christians). Jerusalem wants to
be free and begs you to come help! Who will take up this work, who
will right these wrongs who will recover this territory, if you won’t?”
• Reasons for the Crusades
•
•
•
•
•
Importance of Jerusalem
Looking for adventure and riches
Few opportunities in feudal Europe
Hatred of Muslims
Indulgence from sins; debt forgiveness; tax exemption
• Crusaders=“soldier of the Church”
• The Pope wanted to get the Greek Orthodox Church back
and have the 2 sides fight together instead of fighting each
other
The Crusades
• About 4000 knights took up the Cross. The word Crusade comes from the
Latin CRUX, meaning Cross.
• Many peasants wanted to fight and did join. But most died before they
reached the Holy Land
• Historians believe that 30,000 total crusaders left Western Europe to fight in
the first crusade
– Knights, foot soldiers, archers, cooks, etc
– Women and priests also traveled with the men in the army
• European Jews were killed by Crusaders leaving for the Holy Land
Crusader Weapons
The Crusades
• First Crusade (1095-1099)
– The official crusader armies set off from France and Italy on August
15, 1096
– Captured Antioch (Turkey) on June 3, 1098
• Massacre of Muslims who didn’t surrender; back up army pins down
Crusaders
• Reached Jerusalem June 1099 with a fraction of original forces
– Captured Jerusalem on July 15, 1099
– Four Crusader States along the Syrian and Palestinian coast
• Second Crusade (1147–1149)
– Called after Muslims captured Edessa (Crusader State)
– Mostly Unsuccessful for the Christians
• Third Crusade (1187–1192)
– Launched after Saladin unified the Muslims and re-captured most
Crusader holdings
– A treaty allowed trade for merchants and unarmed Christian pilgrims to
make pilgrimages to the Holy Land, while it remained under Muslim
control.
The Crusades
• Fourth Crusade (1202–1204)
– Establishment of Latin Empire in the Byzantine
– The final breaking point of the Great Schism between the
Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fifth Crusade (1217-1221)
Sixth Crusade (1228-1229)
Seventh Crusade (1248-1254)
Eighth Crusade (1270)
Ninth Crusade (1271-1272)
Crusades were widely supported by the public
– Roger Bacon felt the Crusades were not effective because,
"those who survive, together with their children, are more and
more embittered against the Christian faith."
The Crusades
• Consequences
– Cultural exchange: Islamic knowledge in science, astronomy, medicine,
architecture, etc. transferred to the West
– Opened up European culture to the rest of the world, especially Asia;
trade routes and relationships re-opened after centuries of no activity
– Growth of towns and cities along crusader routes; weakening of feudal
system
– Arab and classical Greek advances (including the development of
algebra, optics, and refinement of engineering) made their way west and
sped the course of advancement in European universities that led to the
Renaissance in later centuries
– New tradition in Western Europe of violence against Jews
– Italy act as middleman in the trade between Europe and the Middle East,
leading to building of wealth in Italy (implications on the Renaissance)
– Weakened nobles and strengthened kings
The Growth of Royal Authority
• From Weak Kings to Strong Monarchs
– In the 11th century, kings had limited power over their kingdoms, due
mainly to the constant fighting
– Consolidating the Royal Domain in France
• Confiscation of chief vassals’ land added territory to the royal domain
• Turning royal law into the law of the kingdom
• Parlement (13th century): judicial court
– The English Kings
• William I (r. 1066-1087) and Norman Conquest: quick consolidation of
territory after defeating the Danish king of England
– Henry II (r. 1154-1189): Administration
• Shires, Taxes, and the Exchequer (royal treasury)
• Main concern is raising money
– Restraint on the King
• King John I (r. 1199-1216) and Magna Carta
• Parliament
The Emergence & Growth of
European Kingdoms, 1000 – 1300
• Kings
– Heads of kingdoms; divine favor (anointment)
– Increase power through High Middle Ages
• England in the High Middle Ages
– William of Normandy (1066 – 1087)
• Battle of Hastings (1066)-Norman conquest
• Takes possession of 1/5 of land; the rest is owned by nobles as
fiefs from the king
• Centralization of monarchial power
• Fusion of Normans and Anglo-Saxons
Kings of Medieval England
• Henry II (1154 – 1189)
– Plantagenet Dynasty, greatly increased power of the English monarchy
• Exchequer (permanent royal treasury)
• Extended power of royal courts
• Common Law replaced local law codes
• King John (1199 – 1216)
– Forced by his subjects to assent to Magna Carta
• Limits monarchial power, restores rights of “free men”
• Beginning of process that eventually leads to constitutional law in
Great Britain
• Edward I (1272 – 1307)
– Emergence of Parliament
• When the king needed money, he would meet with representatives
from the clergy, nobility, and merchants to request the amount. These
representatives used the meetings to raise issues of concern. These
negotiating meetings eventually turned into parliament.
• House of Lords (church lords and barons)
• House of Commons (knights and town residents)
The Growth of the French
Kingdom
• Capetian Dynasty (end of 10th century)
– Little Real Power
– Owned Île de France (lands around Paris)
• Philip II Augustus (1180 – 1223)
– Turning point for Capetian Dynasty
– War against the English
• Wins control of Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and Touraine from English
kings
• Quadruples French income and enlarges power
• French Bureaucracy created (Phillip appoints new royal officials to
collect taxes in the expanded kingdom)
Medieval French Kings
• After Philip II, other French kings expanded the
kingdom (marriage, purchase, military)
• Louis IX (1226 – 1270) “Saint Louis”
– Known for attempts to bring his people justice and ensure
their rights
– Participates in Crusades
• Philip IV the Fair (1285 – 1314)
– Government becomes more specialized
– Royal Administration
• Council for Advice
• Chamber of Accounts (Finances)
• Parlement (Royal Court)
– Estates-General (Parliament), 1302
The Growth of the Kingdom of France
The French king’s revenue derived from the royal domain. At the start of the twelfth century, the
royal domain consisted mainly of the region surrounding Paris. Over the succeeding two centuries,
the royal domain grew larger as the king took land away from vassals, including the kings of
England.
The Growth of Royal Authority
• Ongoing rivalry between the emperors and popes. The name
Holy Roman Empire signaled the emperor’s claim to defend the
church and involve himself in its affairs.
• The Holy Roman Empire and Frederick II
– Holy Roman Empire
• Frederick I (r. 1155-1190)
– Regalia and Imperial Authority
– Frederick II (r. 1197-1250)
• Empire in the North and Italy
• Forces Muslims out of Sicily, allowing them to settle in Southern Italy
Map 10-3, p. 281
The Growth of Royal Authority
• The Instruments of Rule
– Proliferation of record keeping and the chancellor (office of chief
secretary). Account books, correspondence with kings and subjects, etc.
– Law
• Revival of Body of Civil Law for trade agreements and protections
– Loans, bills of sale, receipts, wills, etc.
• Universities begin teaching law
• English Common Law: body of English law and case precedents
applicable to all free persons
– The modern English legal system, and much later the United
States legal system, emerged from this
Land and People in the High
Middle Ages
• Population Growth
– Peaks at 100-120 million (by 1250)
– Reasons:
• Increased Security
– More land settled; peaceful conditions
• Agricultural Production Rises
– “The great clearances” of land for farming
– Able to sustain larger population
– Main effect
• Economic growth
Land and People in the High
Middle Ages
• The New Agriculture
– Improved Climate (warmer)
– More Arable Land (destruction of forests-biggest consequence)
– Technological Improvements
• Based on iron
• Carruca (Heavy Wheeled Plow)
• New Horse Collar (faster than oxen) and horseshoes
• Power of Water and Air Harnessed
– Waterwheels and windmills
• Three Field-System
– Crop rotation and seasonal planting
– Higher Food Prices
• More profits for lords and more land available for rent
– Free Peasants
• No longer legally bound to lords
p. 246
Life of the Peasantry
• Activities determined by the seasons
– Tied to land
• Religious Feast Days and the Church
– Role of church important
– Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, Celebration of Saints
• Lifestyle
– Simple homes (wood or stone)
– One room or two room: limited privacy
– Family and Women
• Nuclear families
• Women bear children and maintain household
– Simple but nutritious diet
• Grains and bread as staple
– Ale and the consumption of alcohol
The Aristocracy of the High
Middle Ages
• Main concern: warfare
• The lords and vassals of medieval society: kings,
dukes, counts, barons, viscounts, bishops and
archbishops
– Knights used for protection eventually join noble class
• Held extensive lands and real social, economic, and
political power
• Warlike / Defenders of Society
– Warriors on behalf of God
– In-fighting amongst knights
– Knighthood and religious symbolism
• Castles (residences and defensible fortifications)
Warriors and Women
• Aristocratic Women
– Could own property, but most were still under the control of
men (fathers, then husbands)
– Manage the household
• When lords away on war
• Training of girls
– Marriage
• Arranged to establish alliances
• Divorce difficult
• The Way of the Warrior
– Knights and Knighthood
• Apprenticeships age 7-8; knighted age 21
– Chivalry = code of ethics for nobility
• Unarmed citizens should not be attacked; fight only for glory
• Young knights often had nothing to do but fight
– Tournaments
• Replace in-fighting; provide military training
The New World of Trade and
Cities
• The Revival of Trade
– During the 10th century, trade picks up
– Italian Cities lead the way
• Venice becomes the chief western trading center for
Byzantine and Islamic commerce
– Flanders in northern Europe
• Wool Trade
– Trading Fairs
– Emergence of Money Economy
• Gold and silver
• Commercial capitalism (investment and profit)
The Growth of Cities
• Revival of trade leads to growth of cities
– Many new cities and towns founded beginning in tenth
century; some old cities re-populated
– Usually merchants followed by artisans
– Near castles (trade routes and protections)
• City dwellers need freedom, not serfdom
– New classes emerging
– Charters of Liberties (freedom to self-govern bought from
lords)
• Hold and sell property; freedom from military obligation, etc.
– Communes
The Growth of Cities
• Varying degrees of self-government, but most cities
evolved institutions of government for running
communities
• City Government
– Citizenship: males born in city (or lived there for a time)
– City Council
• Running of city (magistrates, enacting legislation, judges, etc.)
• Elections often manipulated to keep wealthiest at the top
– Regulations and town guards
• Cities Relatively Small
– Foundation of transformation from agricultural to urban
industrial
Life & Industry in the Medieval City
• Life in the Medieval City
– Surrounded by stone walls and prone to fire
– Unpleasant Environment
• Dirty, polluted, smelly, crowded
• Public Baths
– Women
• Traded goods in markets (plus standard duties)
• Industry in Medieval Cities
– Manufacturing
– Guilds
• Set standards, set prices, specified methods of production,
determined number of people who could enter an industry
– Apprentices, Journeymen and Masters
The Intellectual and Artistic World
• The Rise of
Universities
– Educational Guilds
– Religious training
– Early Universities
• First University in
Bologna – Law (c.
1158)
• University of Paris
(c. 1200)
• Oxford and
Cambridge (1208 1209)
• 80 universities by
the end of the
Middle Ages
• Liberal Arts Curriculum
– Trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric)
– Quadrivium (math, science,
music)
• Males only
– Middle groups
• Lectures and Books
• Exams
– Bachelor of Arts
– Master of Arts
• Advanced degrees in law,
medicine, or theology
• Similarities with modern
universities
Classical Antiquity & Scholasticism
• A Revival of Classical Antiquity
– Interest in the work of Greeks and Romans
• Greek Science and Philosophy
– The Role of the Muslim World
• Translations from Arabic to Latin
• Commentaries
• Jewish people living in Muslim lands
• The Development of Scholasticism
– Theology – “Queen of the Sciences”
– Scholasticism (philosophical and theological)
• Attempt to reconcile faith and reason
• Analytical thought (question, contradictions, conclusion)
– Realists (universals and senses) vs. nominalists
(individual objects)
• Aristotle (rational thought vs. revelation) and Christianity
– St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
• Man needed God’s help to grasp spiritual truths
Literature in the High Middle Ages
• Latin universal language
• Goliardic poetry
– Love and nature
• Vernacular Literature
– Troubadour Poetry
• Courtly love; product of knights and nobility
– The Heroic Epic
• Male centered
• Themes: battles and political contests
– The Courtly Romance
• Epic poems that dealt with Romantic topics such as brave knights,
virtuous ladies, fairies, etc.
• King Arthur became a popular subject
Romanesque Architecture: “A
White Mantle of Churches”
• Explosion of Building
– Castles and churches (war and God)
• Romanesque Style
– Rectangular Basilicas
– Vaults (curved roof made of masonry)
– Massive Walls
• Little room for windows
• Churches notoriously dark on the inside
• Castle-like
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