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9th grade Global History
Chapter 14
The Formation of Western Europe
800 – 1500
Western Europe Changing
While Church reform, cathedral building
and the Crusades were taking place,
other important changes were taking
place in European medieval society.
Between 1000 and 1300, agriculture,
trade and finance made great progress.
This was in part due to the growing
population and territorial expansion of
Western Europe.
A Growing Food Supply
Expanding civilization
requires an increased
food supply. Farming
was helped by a warmer
climate that lasted from
about 800 TO 1200.
Farmers began to
cultivate lands in
regions once too cold to
grow crops. They also
developed new methods
to take advantage of
more available land.
Using Horsepower
For hundreds of
years, peasants
relied on oxen to pull
their plows. Though
inexpensive to feed,
they moved very
slowly. Horses
needed better food,
but a team of horses
could plow twice as
much land in a day as
a team of oxen.
Before farmers could use horses, a better harness was required. The
existing harness would go around the animal’s neck, choking it. A new
harness was developed which fitted across the animal’s chest and
shoulders enabling it to pull a plow or a wagon. Since horses could plow
fields quicker than oxen, more fields could be planted. Great amounts
of forests were cleared away to provide more farmland.
Three Field System
As more land became
available for farming,
farmers began using the
three field system
which was planting on
two fields while allowing
the third field to remain
fallow. The following
year, the use of the
fields would be rotated.
In this way, the soil was
not exhausted and
allowed to replenish
nutrients. Thus, more
food could be grown
which led to an increase
in the population.
Population Growth
It is estimated that between 1000 and
1150, the population of Western Europe
rose from around 30 million to 42
million. Towns began to grow and
flourish. The typical medieval town had
only 1,500 to 2,500 people but hundreds
of these small towns began to spring up
across Europe linked together by the
beginnings of a trade network.
Growth of Towns
People were no longer content
with their feudal existence on
manors and though legally bound
to their lord’s manor, many
serfs ran away to towns. The
new social class of merchants
and craftspeople was created as
towns grew.
Guilds
Another change in the European economy was
the development of guilds. A guild was an
organization of individuals in the same
business or occupation working to improve the
economic and social conditions of its
members. The guilds set standards for quality
of work, wages and working conditions.
Because better products were being produced
and sold to buyers, guilds became powerful
forces in the medieval economy.
Commercial Revolution
The expansion of trade and business and the
availability of more products is called the
Commercial Revolution. No longer was
everything produced on the manor. Trading
fairs in town brought in products from all
over Europe and foreign lands. Merchants
needed cash or credit to purchase more items
to sell. The need for additional capital or
credit caused the European banking system to
flourish.
The Revival of Learning
During the Crusades, European contact
with Muslims and Byzantines greatly
expanded bringing a new interest in
learning especially in the works of the
Greek philosophers. All at once,
Europeans acquired a new body of
knowledge including science, philosophy,
law and mathematics. In addition, the
Crusaders brought back to Europe
superior Muslim technology in ships,
navigation and weapons.
Universities
At the center of the growth of learning stood a new European
institution- the university. For most students, the goal upon
graduation would be a job in government or the Church.
Universities began in Paris, France and Bologna, Italy followed
by Oxford, England. Some students were using Latin while
others used a vernacular or the language of their homeland.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Christian scholars
wondered if they could
use Aristotle’s logical
approach to truth and
still keep faith with the
Bible. In the mid 1200’s,
the scholar Thomas
Aquinas argued that the
basic religious truths
could be proved by
logical argument. In his
great work “Summa
Theologicae”, St Thomas
combined the ancient
Greek thought of
Aristotle with the
Christian thought of his
time.
England and France Develop
The growth of cities and towns led
to the breakup of the feudal
system. Gradually, a more
centralized form of government
evolved and nations developed. The
earliest nations to develop a strong
central government were England
and France.
England
Since the 800’s, The
“land of the Angles” or
England had been
invaded by one Germanic
tribe after another. In
1016, the Danish king,
Canute, conquered
England merging AngloSaxons and Vikings into
one people. In 1066,
William the Conqueror,
from Normandy invaded
and conquered England.
His victory at the Battle
of Hastings in 1066 was
a turning point in English
history.
England
After his victory,
William declared all
England his personal
property. He kept a
large portion of it for
himself and granted land
to about 200 Norman
lords who swore oaths
of loyalty to him
personally. By doing this,
William unified control
of the lands and created
the foundation for
centralized government
in England.
England
William the Conqueror’s descendants
owned land in both Normandy and in
England. Over the next centuries,
English kings tried to achieve two goals.
First, they wanted to hold and add to
their French lands. Second, they wanted
to strengthen their power over the
nobles and the Church.
Juries and Common Law
Henry II ruled England
from 1154 to 1189 and
he introduced the use
of the jury in English
courts. A jury in
medieval England was a
group of loyal people,
usually 12 neighbors of
the accused, who
answered questions
from a royal judge about
the facts of the case.
Juries and Common Law
Over the centuries, case
by case, the rulings of
England’s royal judges
formed a unified body
of law that became
known as common law.
Today the principles of
English common law are
the basis for law in
many English speaking
countries including the
United States.
Magna Carta
King John ruled from
1199 to 1216. He failed
as a military leader
losing all lands in
Normandy and northern
France to the French.
He raised taxes on his
subjects to an all time
high ion order to finance
his wars. He threatened
to take away town
charters. On June 15,
1215, his nobles revolted
forcing John to sign the
most famous document
in English history, the
Magna Carta or Great
Charter.
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta, drawn
up by English nobles,
guaranteed certain
basic political rights and
limited the power of the
king. These rights
include no taxation
without representation,
a jury trial and the
protection of the law.
The Magna Carta
guaranteed what are
now considered basic
legal rights in both
England and the United
States.
Parliament
Another important step toward democratic
government came during the reign of Edward
I. In 1295, wishing to discuss a raise in taxes,
Edward I summoned all classes of people:
knights, commoners, bishops and lords, from
every county to meet together in London as a
parliament or legislative group.
Over the next century, Parliament split into
two assemblies or houses reflecting the
position of its members: the House of
Commons and the House of Lords.
France
By the year 1000,
Charlemagne’s empire
had been separated due
to the feudal system.
France was divided into
about 47 feudal
territories. After he
death of the last of the
Carolingian family in
987, Hugh Capet seized
control of an area in the
center of France and
began the Capetian
Dynasty of French kings
that ruled France from
987 to 1328.
France
Their territory, though small at first, was
located at the center of important trade
routes in northern France. For 300 years,
Capetian kings tightened control over these
trade routes and gradually spread their
kingdom outward. Eventually, the growth of
their power would unite France.
What does the existence of trade routes
indicate?
Philip II
One of the most
powerful Capetian kings
was Philip II who ruled
from 1180 to 1223. It
was Philip who seized
the English lands in
Normandy from John
II. He nearly tripled the
size of France and
created a strong central
government during his
reign. He created royal
officials called bailiffs
who traveled to all parts
of his kingdom to
preside over courts and
collect taxes.
The central government of France
became even stronger under the reigns
of Philip’s heirs. His grandson, Louis IX,
created a royal court of appeals where
decisions of local courts could be
overturned. This strengthened the
monarchy while further weakening the
feudal system.
Philip IV, who ruled from 1285 to 1314,
disputed the right of the pope to
control Church affairs in his kingdom.
Estates-General
Philip IV also established the EstatesGeneral, a meeting of lords, bishops and
commoners who met to support the
king’s policies not to limit his power.
Church leaders were known as the First
Estate, Lords as the Second Estate and
commoners, landowners and merchant
were the Third Estate. Unlike English
Parliament, the Estates-General was
not, at this time, an independent force.
In England and France, the creation
of common law and a court system
was a first step in increasing
centralized government power
which could govern over a
widespread area. The very
beginnings of a democratic
tradition was created by including
commoners in the process of
government.
The Church Divides
In 1305, Philip IV persuaded the College of Cardinals
to choose a French archbishop as the new pope.
Clement V, the newly selected pope, moved from
Rome to the city of Avignon in France. Popes would
live there for the next 69 years. The College of
Cardinals chose a second pope, Urban VI, who would
remain in Rome. Having two popes caused a split in the
Church known as the Great Schism or division. The
Great Schism ended when popes in both cities were
forced to resign and a single pope was chosen to, once
again, live only in Rome. This situation weakened the
power and authority of the Church.
Scholars Challenge the Church
The papacy was further
challenged by an
Englishman named John
Wycliffe. He preached
that Jesus Christ, not
the pope, was the true
head of the Church. He
was offended by the
worldliness and wealth
the Church displayed.
He believed the Bible
alone, not the pope, was
the final authority for
Christian life.
The Bubonic Plague Strikes
During the 1300’s, an
epidemic struck
parts of Asia, North
Africa and Europe.
Approximately onethird of the
population of Europe
died of the deadly
disease known as the
bubonic plague.
Effects of the Plague
-
The economic and social effects of the plague were
enormous.
Town populations fell
Trade declined and prices rose
The manor system crumbled as serfs left in search of
jobs or food
Nobles resisted peasant demands for wages which
caused peasant revolts
Jews were blamed for bringing the plague bringing on
persecution and massacres
The Church suffered a loss of prestige as prayers
failed to stop the plague
The Hundred Years’ War
From 1337 and 1453, a series of battles
between the English and the French
over the possession of land on
continental Europe became known as the
Hundred Years’ War. Victory passed
back and forth between the two
countries when finally between 1421 and
1453, the French drove the English out
of continental Europe.
Joan of Arc
It was during the
Hundred Years’ War,
in 1429, that a young
French peasant girl,
Joan of Arc, felt
moved by God to
rescue France from
the English. It was
at the siege of
Orleans in 1429 that
Joan rallied the
French army to
defeat the English.
Joan of Arc
In 1430, Joan was
captured by the
English who handed
her over to Church
authorities to stand
trial. She was
declared a heretic,
labeled as a witch
and sentenced to
burn at the stake.
She died on May 30,
1431.
The impact of the Hundred
Years’ War was:
- The concept of nationhood
emerged in England and France.
and
- The power of the French
monarch increased.