Download Dates Early Middle Ages

Dates
Early Middle Ages: 500 – 1000
High Middle Ages: 1000 – 1250
Late Middle Ages: 1250 - 1450
Introduction
• European Medieval world was a
combination of pagan traditions and
Christian faith administered by
strong, warlike kings
• Led to frequent contact, or trade and
scholarship between these vast
medieval lands
Europe in the 6c
Feudalism
A political, economic, and social
system based on loyalty and
military service.
Feudalism
• Especially in the early Middle Ages, kings
were weak and could not offer protection –
led to feudalism
• There was no physical way for a king to
govern all the land effectively because there
was no quick communication system, and it
often took several days to travel from one
part of the country to the other.
• Feudalism offered military protection in
exchange for protection (king, lords,
vassals, knights
Feudalism, cont.
• Military protection
offered in exchange
for food (peasant) or
land (lord, king)
• Based on hierarchy;
vast majority were
peasants
• Local lords were the
government who
made laws, collected
taxes, etc.
Chivalry: A Code of Honor and
Behavior
Manor System
• This was the
primary
economic
system in the
MA; based on
self-sufficient
manors owned
by nobles and
worked by
peasants
The Medieval Manor
Life on the Medieval Manor
Serfs at work
Carcassonne: A French Medieval
Castle
Parts of a Medieval Castle
The Medieval Catholic Church
v
filled the power vacuum left from the
collapse of the classical world.
v monasticism:
§ 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]
The Power of the Medieval Church
v
bishops and abbots played a large part in
the feudal system.
v the church controlled about 1/3 of the
land in Western Europe (made them much
money)
v tried to curb feudal warfare - only 40
days a year for combat.
v curb heresies - crusades; Inquisition
v tithe - 1/10 tax on your assets given to
the church.
A Medieval Monk’s Day
A Medieval Monastery: The
Scriptorium
Illuminated Manuscripts
Charlemagne: 742 to 814
Charlemagne’s Empire
Charlemagne’s Reign
• A Carolingian (family name) and a Frank–
son of Pepin the Short
• Religious and intelligent
• Spent much time at war
• By the end of his reign, he controlled
much of western Europe
• He wanted to recreate another Roman
Empire
• He was fair in both taxes and creating
laws
• Encouraged education
Pope Crowned Charlemagne
Holy Roman Emperor: Dec. 25,
800
The Carolingian Renaissance
Charlemagne’s Empire Collapses:
Treaty of Verdun, 843
The Treaty of Verdun
• After Charlemagne died, his sons
agreed to divide his empire
• The Treaty created three kingdoms:
eastern, middle and western kingdoms
• Poor rulers who fought amongst
themselves, his descendents were too
weak to defeat invaders: Muslims,
Slavs, Magyars and Vikings
Battle of Hastings
• There was disagreement of who should
rule England in 1066 – king died
childless
• A distant relative, Duke William of
Normandy claimed the throne
• Met resistance
• Attacked England and secured the
throne after the Battle of Hastings
• He ruled from 1066-1087 and brought
Feudalism from France to England
Domesday Book
• William made the
monarch strong in
England
• Wrote the Domesday
Book – this
determined the
population and wealth
of England and was
used as basis for
taxation.
William the Conqueror:
Battle of Hastings, 1066
(Bayeaux Tapestry)
v
Evolution of England’s Political
System
Henry I:
§ William’s son.
§ set up a court system (less power to
nobles).
§ Exchequer - dept. of royal finances.
v
Henry II:
§ established the principle of common law
throughout the kingdom. Law applies to
all, regardless of feudal position.
§ trial by jury. Took away power from
feudal lords – replaced duels/combats as
way to determine cases
Magna Carta, 1215
v King John I
v nobles mad about
paying unjust taxes
v “Great Charter”
v monarchs were not
above the law.
v kings had to
consult a council of
advisors.
v kings could not tax
arbitrarily.
The Beginnings of the British
Parliament
v Great Council: originally nobles and
church leaders
§ middle class merchants, townspeople
[burgesses in Eng., bourgeoisie in Fr.,
burghers in Ger.] were added at the
end of the 13c.
§ eventually called Parliament (bi-cameral).
§ by 1400, two chambers evolved:
o House of Lords - nobles & clergy.
o House of Commons - knights and
burgesses.
oThese two houses still exist today
The
Crusades
• Series of military campaigns during the
11th – 13th centuries
• Mostly called by the pope, overall,
they were designed to recapture the
Holy Land (Jerusalem) from the
Muslims
• The First Crusade, called by Pope Urban
II was a call for help from the Byzantine
Empire to defend Constantinople from
the Ottoman Turks
• Christians successful –retake
Jerusalem in 1099
Pope Urban II: Preaching a
Crusade
Crusades, cont.
• For the Christian world,
the Crusades were a
failure, although they did
slow the spread if Islam
• The Muslims eventually,
led by Saladin,
recaptured the Holy
Land and Palestine
Weaponry
• Crossbow –
more
accurate/longer
distances
• Catapult
• Gunpowder
(from Asia)
Setting Out on Crusade
Impact of Crusades on
Europe
• Ended European • So many nobles go
isolation – began
off and fight for
trade with outside
extended periods,
world
this strengthens the
kings
• New
ideas/products
• Leads to decline in
introduced in
feudalism
Europe
• Kings raise taxes
and pay for soldiers
= weakens feudal
bond
Demand for Currency
• As international trade began to expand
after the Crusades, there was a demand
for currency (needed this to trade
internationally)
• Feudalism, being local, never required
currency
Beginning of States
• As feudalism declined, kings gained
more power and created centralized
states – areas/countries that recognized
the king as the one leader
• This led to the formation of the nations of
France, England, the Netherlands, Spain
and Portugal
• Wars and taxes became national, not
local like with feudalism
Life in Medieval Towns
• As trade increased, towns grew in both
number and size
• Townspeople did not fit into the manorial
system
• Often bought charters/political rights and
freedoms from their lords
• To protect themselves, merchants establish
guilds
• Guilds maintained a monopoly – sole right to
trade their good
• Regulated wages, quality, hours
• Apprentice, journeyman, master
Crest of a Cooper’s Guild
Medieval Guilds: A Goldsmith’s Shop
Towns, cont.
• A middle class
emerged
• Need stable
government and favor
kings over nobles
• Small, filthy, cramped,
disease-ridden
• Theft high/no pilice
Late Medieval Town Dwellings
The Black Death aka Bubonic
Plague
• 1347- plague sweeps across Europe
• Carried by rats coming on ships or
camel caravans from Asia
• 2-5 days – painful enlargement of
lymph gland, then infection in groin,
throat, arms, then vomiting & death
• Black splotches on skin
• Filth in cities promoted spread of
disease
Impact of Black Death
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Population of Europe declined
1347 = 75 million, 1352= 50 million
Labor shortage in serfs
Serfs now can demand higher wages
Nobility = loss of power
Kings = increase in power
Clergy = loss of people and power
(people lost faith)
• Serfs = wage increase and power
Conclusion
• Middle Ages was a time of strict social
structure, with little movement, under
feudalism and the manor system
• The church was the most powerful
institution, but was corrupt and cared more
about wealth and power than religion
• The Crusades began to change the
economy and power of kings
• The Black Death increased the power of
both the serfs and kings and began the end
of feudalism in Europe