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High Middle Ages
Chapter 9
Growth of Royal Power
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England
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Norman Conquest
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1066 King Edward dies without an heir and led to a
struggle for power
A council chose Edward’s brother in law Harold to rule
but Duke William of Normandy also claimed the throne
William sailed to England and faced off against Harold at
the Battle of Hastings
October 14, 1066 William (the Conqueror) killed Harold
and became King of England
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England under the power of William
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Granted fiefs to the Church and Norman lords
Controlled who built castles and where
Required vassals to swear allegiance to him
Had a complete census taken in 1086
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Domesday Book
Listed every castle, field and pigpen in England
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England under William’s successors
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Strengthen finances and law
Created a royal treasury to collect taxes, collect fines
and other dues
Under Henry II common law became popular
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Jury system established
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Common law- law the same for all people
Royal courts were in charge of the common law
Group of men sworn to speak the truth
Were used to determine whether there should be a trial or
not
Henry’s power led to a dispute with the church
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King John
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1205- lost war to France and lost land
Had a fight with the Church over the appointment of a new
archbishop of Canterbury
Pope excommunicated him and put England under an interdict until
John agreed to allow England to be a fief of the Pope and pay a
yearly fee to the church
Magna Carta
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1215 angry nobles forced John to sign this document
Forced him to respect the rights and privileges of nobles and the
church
Two basic ideas were in the document which would shape English
government
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Gave nobles certain rights (later given to all people)
Monarch must obey the law
Parliament
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1200’s rulers turned to the Great Council for advice
This became the Parliament
Later it developed into a two house system: House of Lords and
House of Commons
The Holy Roman Empire
and the Church
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Conflicts between Popes and Rulers
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Pope Gregory VII
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One of the greatest medieval popes; most controversial,
admired and hated
Wanted to make the Church independent of secular rulers
Banned the practice of lay investiture giving only the Pope the
right to appoint bishops
Concordat of Worms
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1122, agreement between the Pope and rulers over investiture
Gave the pope the authority to appoint bishops but emperors
could still give them fiefs
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Pope Innocent III
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1198
Claimed supremacy over
all other rulers; led to
clashes with all other
rulers
He excommunicated
King John of England
and King Philip II of
France (for annulling his
marriage)
1209 he launched a
crusade (holy war)
against the Albigensians
in southern France,
killing thousands of
people.
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The Crusades
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1095 The Muslim Turks were invading Christian lands
(Byzantium, Middle East, North Africa and Spain)
The Church called upon Christians to fight back
Thousands of knights assembled and sewed crosses on
their tunics making them the crusaders
There were four crusades but only the first came close
to achieving its goal capturing Jerusalem
Jerusalem switched hands between the Christians and
Muslims for nearly 200 years
Impact
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Led to hatred between Christians and Muslims
Christians turned against the Jews
Increased trade
Brought Pope’s power to its greatest
Ended serfdom
Learning, Literature and Arts
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Universities and Learning
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Schools developed around large cathedrals
Some of the first universities opened in Italy, Paris
and London
Students attended class from 10am-5pm
Took 3-6 years to earn a bachelors degree
Women could not attend university
Philosophy, math and sciences became popular
subjects to study
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Literature, art and architecture
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Literature began to appear in the vernacular,
making it more popular with everyday people
Epics, long poems, were used to describe life in
the Middle Ages
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Examples: Song of Roland, Poem of the Cid, Divine
Comedy and Canterbury Tales
New styles of art and architecture emerges
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Romanesque and Gothic
Romanesque vs. Gothic Architecture
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Romanesque
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Rounded arches
Thick walls and
buttresses
Small windows
Horizontal with modest
height
Plain exterior
Dark and gloomy
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Gothic
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Pointed arches
Exterior flying buttresses
Large stained-glass
windows
Vertical and soaring
Ornate exterior
Tall and light filled
A time of crisis for Europeans
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Black Death
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Also known as the Bubonic Plague
By mid 1300’s the disease had spread throughout all of
Europe
Caused by fleas carried by rats brought to Europe on
trading ships from Asia and Africa
Typically killed people within 2-3 days from the first signs of
the disease
Socially – people either acted recklessly because they
thought they were going to die or they tried to repent for all
their sins hoping god would save them
Economically – production declined, cost of labor
increased, and jobs declined
Nearly one in three people died from the plague
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Crisis in the Church
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Crisis happened because of the plague; many church
officials died during the plague
People questioned why god saved some and not others
and some even stopped going to church
The papal court moved to France in the early 1300’s and
lived in fancy courts which went against church doctrine
Reformers elected their own pope in Rome and for many
years they church had two or more popes at the same time
John Wycliffe and Jan Hus led a movement of translating
the bible into the vernacular and believed it was the bible
that held the truths not the Church. Both were accused and
tried for heresy by the church.
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Hundred Years War
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1337-1453
Fighting between England and France
They fought over French lands that England claimed as
their own
In the early years England was showing strength and
defeating France in many of the battles
English knights used the long bow which helped them to
defeat the French
The war changed when Joan of Arc inspired French troops
to fight and they began to win battles – she was later
captured by the English, convicted and burned at the stake
for witchcraft
England ended up losing it’s lands in France and French
kings expanded their power