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Chapter 8
• Agricultural innovations led to an
expansion of Europe’s population and
changing conditions for those who worked
the land.
• Harnessing the Power of Water and Wind
Those Who Work: Agricultural
Labor
• New Agricultural Techniques
– Three-Field Cultivation
• The increased use of animal power required peasants to
cultivate more land for fodder and hay.
• At that time, peasants were used to the two-field system,
which means half the land was planted and half was
unplanted.
• To accommodate the need to cultivate more land – manors
slowly adopted a three-field system.
• In the 3 field system1/3 was planted in spring, 1/3 in fall, and
1/3 was unplanted.
• Villagers began to plant legumes, and it vastly improved their
diets.
Those Who Work: Agricultural
Labor
• The Population Doubles
– Life Span
• Infant and child deaths were high due to diseases and
accidents, and mortality rates were higher than today.
• Once a person made it past childbearing or warfare years
they would usually have a life-span like people today.
• Western Europeans expanded their settlements and their
agricultural lands
– New Freedoms
• Peasants left to go east for promises of no food or wine tax.
Those Who Work: Agricultural
Labor
– Environmental Consequences
• To build new settlements people clear-cut huge
swaths of forest.
• When using the slash-and-burn method, it left
clouds of smoke and ash hanging in the air.
• Settlers dumped human waste and animal remains
in the rivers.
• In the cities, coal burning sent dangerous
pollutants into the air.
Chapter 8
• Medieval towns offered an ambiguous mix
of opportunities and limitations for many
residents as these towns flourished with
the increase in trade.
Those Outside the Order: Town Life
• Communes and Guilds: Life in a Medieval Town
– Communes and Guilds
• When townspeople couldn’t peacefully obtain the liberties they
desired they formed communes to stage violent revolutions.
• The communes elected their own officials, regulated taxation, and
conducted business.
• Communes were not democratic, and were governed by the rich
citizens.
• Tradesmen within the towns formed guilds, or organizations to
protect their interests and control the trade and manufacturing.
• The guilds regulated products like gold work, shoes, and bread, and
they managed their own membership and set prices.
• Children worked their way up from apprentice, to journeymen, and
finally to guild master.
Those Outside the Order: Town Life
– Urban Jews
• Many medieval towns had a significant population of Jews.
• By the eleventh and twelfth centuries Christian merchants
and craftsmen viewed the Jews as competition, they didn’t let
Jews into the guilds or let them own land.
• Jews became involved in money-lending because it was
against Christian beliefs.
• The Widening Web of Trade
– Champagne Fairs
• The French count of Champagne hosted fairs for merchants
to sell goods
• The count collected sales tax from all transactions.
• Fairs also drew thieves, con-artists, actors, and prostitutes.
Those Outside the Order: Town Life
– Hanseatic League
• An association that united to capitalize on the
prosperous northern trade.
• At its height, the League included 70 or 80 cities,
led by Lubeck, Bremen, Cologne, and Hamburg.
• The Glory of God: Church Architecture
– Gothic Architecture
• Abbot Suger wanted a church that reached up
toward the heavens and that was filled with light.
• Pointed arches instead of round & fly buttresses
are Gothic characteristics.
Those Outside the Order: Town Life
– Stained Glass
• Glassblowers added metallic oxides to make
colors & artists fitted the colored glass to form
pictures and designs
• The Rise of Universities
– Advanced Degrees
• Interested students could continue and receive a
doctorate degree.
• Some students would move from school to school
to do studies in different curricla.
Those Outside the Order: Town Life
• Scholasticism: The Height of Medieval
Philosophy
– Anselm and Abelard
• Anselm was the earliest medieval philosopher to explore the
religious applications of dialectic, and his motto was “faith
seeking understanding.
• He argued that because God was perfect he must exist, he
wrote a number of works on logic, and his treatise Why God
Became Man became the most important explanation of the
central Christian mystery.
• Abelard taught critical thinking in his work called Yes and No.
• He impregnated and married a 17 year old girl that he
tutored. The girl’s uncle castrated him, their child was raised
by relatives, and they both entered monasteries.
Those Outside the Order: Town Life
– Thomas Aquinas
• An Italian churchman whom may regard as the
greatest scholar of the Middle Ages. He wrote
many works such as commentaries on biblical
books, philosophy, and a work used for converting
heretics, Muslims, and Jews.
• His most important work was the Summa
Theologiae – Summary of Theology
Those Outside the Order: Town Life
• Discovering the Physical World
– Hildegard of Bingen
•
•
•
•
An abbess and mystic in Germany
Had visions and wrote about them
Her writings showed university scholarship
She wrote a medical text Of Causes and Cures that included
cures, drugs, and knowledge about women.
– Experimental Science
• An Oxford master, Robert Grosseteste challenged his
students to develop an experimental method to question the
ancients.
• Roger Bacon continued the work, and is credited with helping
develop scientific method
• Bacon showed the value of experimentation over pure logic.
Chapter 8
• Nobles and knights refined the ideals of chivalry
in the poetry and literature that accompanied the
feudalistic social order.
• Castles: Medieval Homes and Heavens
– Living Quarters
• The interior contained a deep well.
• There was a large public hall where residents ate, played
games, and entertained themselves.
• There were private chambers for the lord and lady where
they slept, bore children, and stored valuables.
Chapter 8
• Kings in the High Middle Ages struggled
against their nobles to exert centralized
authority, transforming the map of Europe
in the process.
Those Who Fight: Nobles and
Knights
• The Ideals of Chivalry
– Jousts and Tournaments
• Mock battles were an activity required by chivalrous knights –
some knight received injuries or even died in the
tournaments
• Young men won horses and armor in the contests, which the
church repeatedly banned.
• The Literature of Chivalry
• In Praise of Romantic Love
– Courtly Love
• Andrew the Chaplain wrote the book The Art of Courtly Love
which were rules only for nobility.
• Nobles were encouraged to take women they wanted by
force.
The Rise of Centralized
Monarchies
• England: From Conquest to Parliament
– Conquest of England
• In 1066 Edward the Confessor died without an
heir, and the Anglo-Saxon Witan crowned Harold
Godwinson as king.
• Harold Godwinson defeated Harold Hardradi as he
tried to claim the crown.
• William of Normandy, Edward the Confessors
cousin, claimed the throne, and killed Harold
Godwinson in the Battle of Hastings. Duke William
was then known as William the Conqueror.
The Rise of Centralized
Monarchies
– Henry I and II
• William’s son Henry I was an administrator for his father, and
he set up departments for him.
• The financial department became important for making sure
that wealth remained in the monarchy
• Henry II expanded royal control of justice in the land, and he
sent justices with royal authority around the countryside.
• Henry II’s wife brought a large estate in France that was
decreased by their son Richard I.
– Magna Carta
• The “Great Charter” asserted that kings were not above the
law.
The Rise of Centralized
Monarchies
– Parliament
• The Spanish Reconquer Their Lands
– The Reconquest
• On the Iberian Peninsula, kings and nobles still fought over
the issue of Centralization, but a larger political problem – the
reconquest of Muslim lands overshadowed this concern.
• Land that in other countries might have been held by the
nobility emerged as small individual kingdoms – Aragon,
Castille-Leon, and Navarre.
• With the threat of the Muslims constantly lurking on their
borders, they simply could not afford to focus on unifying the
Iberian kingdoms.
The Rise of Centralized
Monarchies
– The Reconquest (cont.)
• Each Iberian kingdom pursued its expansion
southward at the expense of the Muslims.
• Kings then consolidated their hold on the new
lands by establishing Christian settlers and
building castles on the border lands
• Encouraging town settlements which brought in
profitable taxation.
• With this policy, the Iberian Peninsula became a
hub for the fertile exchange of ideas among the
three religious cultures.
The Rise of Centralized
Monarchies
• France and Its Patient Kings
– Capetian Dynasty
• The Feudal scheme gradually spread across northern
Europe. Lords at the level of Counts became, in turn, the
Vassals of Dukes. In the year 987 the Great Lords of France
chose Hugh Capet as their king and became his Vassals.
The Kings of France enjoyed little real power for another 200
years, but the descendants of Hugh occupied their throne for
eight centuries, until the French Revolution.
• Perhaps most important, the Capetians were fortunate
enough to produce sons to inherit their throne.
• The kings had to wrestle with the problem of the extensive
English holdings in France.
The Rise of Centralized
Monarchies
– Capetian Dynasty (cont.)
• Philip II (1180-1223) made great strides in centralizing his
lands by directly addressing the English holding. In wars
against the English, Philip finally defeated King John and
took over the English lands of Normandy, Maine, and Anjou.
– Louis IX
• The fortunes of the Capetians were dramatically forwarded
by Louis IX (1226-1270) whom many consider the greatest of
the medieval kings.
• Cared for the poor and sick, and he achieved a distinction
highly unusual for a king.
• He took an interest in law and justice and wanted royal
justice to be available to all his subjects.
The Rise of Centralized
Monarchies
– Louis IX (cont.)
• His advisors began to copify the laws of France.
• Finally Louis confirmed the Parliament of Paris – a Court, not
a Representative Assembly as the highest court in France
– It held this position until 1789.
– Louis IX died while on Crusade.
– He was proclaimed a saint by the church.
– Philip IV
• King Philip IV “The Fair” (1285-1314) believed that the
greatest obstacle to his power was Edward I of England.
• Philip engaged in intermittent wars against Edward from
1294-1302.
The Rise of Centralized
Monarchies
– Philip IV (cont.)
• In 1302, Philip needed the support of the realm in his
struggles against the Pope and the raise money.
• He summoned representatives from church, nobility and
towns to the first meeting of the Estates General.
• As these men gathered to advise their king, they sat
according to the medieval order, those who prayed, fought,
and worked.
• This triple arrangement, so different from the two Houses of
Parliament that grew up in England, helped diffuse each
groups power, allowing kings to maintain tight control.
• By the end of the thirteenth century, the French Monarchy
was the best-governed and wealthiest in Europe. It was a
power to be reckoned with.
The Rise of Centralized
Monarchies
• The Myth of Universal Rule: The Holy Roman
Empire
– Saxon Dynasty
• Early in the tenth century, the last direct descendant of
Charlemagne died.
• The German Dukes recognized the need for a leader.
• In 919 elected Henry of Saxony (modern day Germany) to be
King.
• His descendants held the German Monarchy until 1024.
• The most powerful of this line of Kings was Otto I (936-973)
who restored the title of Emporer.
• Like Charlemagne, Otto fostered a revival of learning in
Germany in literature and art.
The Rise of Centralized
Monarchies
– Salian Dynasty
• The Ottonian Dynasty ended in 1024, and the German
nobles selected Henry III (1039-1056) from another branch of
the Saxon family, the Saxon Dynasty of Germany.
• He was an able king who looked for ways to exert more
control in his lands, and he increasingly used Bishops and
Abbots that he appointed as his administrators.
• When his son Henry IV (1056-1106) tried to continue that
policy, he ignited a firestorm of debate called the “Investiture
controversy”
– Hohenstaufen Dynasty
• The Emperor Fredrick I (1152-1190) known as Barbarossa, or
Red-Beard, elected from the house of Hohenstaufen.
The Rise of Centralized
Monarchies
– Hohenstaufen Dynasty
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•
•
•
Came close to establishing a consolidated German Empire
He had inherited Burgandy and Swabia.
Invaded Italy to subdue Lombardy in the north.
The wars in Italy drained rather than strengthened the
Emperors’ resources.
– Hapsburg Dynasty
• The German princes wanted to preserve the freedoms they
had acquired under Fredrick II, so they elected a man they
considered a weak prince – Rudolph of Habsburg – as
emperor.
• Medieval German emperors had little hope of holding their
so-called empire together.
Chapter 8
• Church leaders also stove toward
centralization, which often led them into
conflicts with secular leaders and the
Muslim and Byzantine empires.
• A Call for Church Reform
Those Who Pray: Imperial Popes
and Expanding Christendom
• The Investiture Controversy
• The controversy between Gregory and Henry was triggered
by the question of who should appoint or invest bishops in
Germany, a matter that was as much political as religious.
– Concordat of Worms
• In 1122 the new emperor, Henry V, negotiated a compromise
in the investiture controversy, the Concordant of Worms.
• Pope and emperor decided the pope could invest new
bishops with their symbols of office, indicating the priority of
the church over its churchmen.
• The Emperor could be present at and influence the elections
of bishops.
Those Who Pray: Imperial Popes
and Expanding Christendom
– Thomas Becket
• Tensions persisted between clergy and lay rulers who wanted
to strengthen their own rule in their home territories. In
England, the struggle took the form of a deadly clash
between King Henry II and his archbishop, Thomas Becket.
• Becket wanted to preserve the church’s right to be exempt
from legal authority Henry was using to consolidate his power
over his land. A small group of knights seeking to please their
king split Becket’s head with their swords.
• Becket quickly became a martyr, Henry was forced to
compromise with the pope to gain forgiveness for the murder.
• Henry had to let the papacy be the court of appeal from
English ecclesiastical courts, which brought the English
church more closely into the sphere of Rome.
Those Who Pray: Imperial Popes
and Expanding Christendom
– Innocent III
• By the beginning the beginning of the 13th century, popes
could with some accuracy claim that they presided over a
universal Christiandon.
• Innocent was able to exert leadership over princes of Europe,
and he insisted that many kings obey him.
• He fought heretics and wanted to clarify Christian belief.
• He called the Fourth Lateran Council, in 1215.
Those Who Pray: Imperial Popes
and Expanding Christendom
• Christians on the March: The
Crusades, 109
– Islam Strengthened
• In the eleventh
century, Islam gained
strength
C. 1280 CIMABUE
MADONNA AND CHILD ENTHRONED
Those Who Pray: Imperial Popes
and Expanding Christendom
– Pope Urban’s Call
• Urban called for Christians to begin a holy war
against the newly strengthened Muslims
– Crusader States
• The crusader principalities served as outposts of
western European culture in the East
– Subsequent Crusades
• The Second Crusade was urged on by Bernard of
Clairveaux
Those Who Pray: Imperial Popes
and Expanding Christendom
–Knights Templars
• Protected pilgrims and served as bankers
for those traveling to the Holy Land.
• They grew so powerful that many began to
resent their strength and organization
–Crusaders Expelled
• In 1291, the Muslims seized the last
crusader outpost on the Asian mainland
Those Who Pray: Imperial Popes
and Expanding Christendom
• Criticism of the Church
– Waldensians
• Valdes gave up all his material possessions in
order to wander, beg, and preach
• Churchmen were threatened by his implicit
criticism of churches decorated with gold
• The pope condemned Valdes as a heretic in 1181
• The Church Accommodates: Franciscans
and Dominicans
Those Who Pray: Imperial Popes
and Expanding Christendom
– Francis of Assisi
• Founded the Franciscan movement
• The son of a wealthy Italian merchant
• Had an experience that inspired him to give up all
his earthly goods, but he survived by begging, and
helped care for the poor people of Assisi and other
nearby towns.
• His demeanor and preaching style had a broad
appeal.
Those Who Pray: Imperial Popes
and Expanding Christendom
– Dominican Order
• The Franciscans appealed to those who believed in a poor
and humble church.
• The Dominicans were led by Dominic de Guzman, who
believed that heresy could be fought through preaching.
• In 1217, Pope Honorius approved the “Order of Preachers”,
who took an oath of poverty and lived among the people
instead of in monasteries.
• They emphasized preaching and study at universities to
ensure that their preaching was strictly orthodox.
• The Dominicans appealed to people’s minds, and the
Franciscans spoke to their hearts.
• The Church Suppresses: the Albigensian
Crusade and the Inquisition
Those Who Pray: Imperial Popes
and Expanding Christendom
– Albigensian Crusade
• They were threatening to the church because their
ideas struck at the heart of the Christian belief.
• The pope called a crusade against them in 1209.
• During the crusades 20 years thousands of people
were massacred.
– The Inquisition
• In the mid 13th century, the church established a
new court – the inquisition – designed to stomp out
threatening ideas.