Download The Middle Ages - Marie Sklodowska Curie Metro High School

The Middle Ages
in Europe
Ca. C.E. 476-1400
Part I:
The Fall of the Western Roman Empire
and the Low Middle Ages
(Ca. C.E. 476 – 1000)
What were the legacies of the Roman Empire?
• Historians often referred to the legacies of the Roman
Empire as “classical tradition.” Classical tradition
included:
– Law and government (Greek democracy and Roman
republicanism; codified public laws such as the Twelve
Tables)
– Militarism
– Imperialism (political and economic/trade)
– Classical learning (humanism in literature, drama,
philosophy, medicine, science, math, architecture, and art)
– Religion (Polytheism and Christianity)
What were the “Low Middle Ages”?
• The time period in Western European history
from the fall of the Roman Empire in C.E. 476
to the eleventh century (ca. C.E. 1000).
• Some historians interpret this period as a
“Dark Age” in European history due to the
shorter average human life span and loss of
learning that characterized this time period.
How did Western European society reshape
itself to fit the changing conditions
of the Low Middle Ages?
• Major changes took place in the structure and
purpose of government and in religion.
• The concept of government changed:
– During the time of the Roman Empire, Western Europe
was ruled by public government.
– After the fall of the Roman Empire family ties and
personal loyalty replaced Roman public government.
– During the Low Middle Ages, chiefs called lords led bands
of loyal warriors, who lived in the chief’s home and shared
his food, weapons and treasure. In war time warriors fought
to the death at their lord’s side.
How did Western European society reshape itself to fit
the changing conditions of the Low Middle Ages?
• Papal power expanded:
– Beyond his spiritual role,
in the late C.E. 500s the
pope became involved in Adoration of the
secular (non-religious) Virgin Mary increased
with hard times
events.
– Seeing the former Roman
Empire as his spiritual
kingdom—Christendom—
the Pope believed that he
The Pope’s power expanded
was responsible for all
areas of people’s lives
including their protection.
How did Western European society reshape itself to fit
the changing conditions of the Low Middle Ages?
• The Holy Roman Emperor’s position was
created:
– In the late C.E. 700s, a ruler named Charlemagne
(pictured top left) emerged who conquered and
reunited large territories of the former western
Roman Empire.
– Charlemagne spread Christianity to all of the lands
that he conquered. In addition, he traveled to Rome
and defended the Pope against mobs that had
attacked him.
– In gratitude, the Pope crowned Charlemagne “Holy
Roman Emperor” (bottom left)—symbolically
joining the Germanic kingdom’s power, the
Roman Catholic Church and the former Western
Roman Empire.
What was Feudalism? Why did it emerge as the
dominant new system of government and landholding?
• Invaders continued to attack Western Europe.
– Despite their titles of “Holy Roman Emperor”,
Charlemagne’s successors were unable to continue
governing and protecting the Holy Roman Empire
effectively. Invasions by Vikings, Magyars and
Muslims made warfare in Europe constant.
– Due to widespread chaos, a power vacuum developed.
A new form of government would emerge to replace
the failed Holy Roman Empire structure: Feudalism.
What was Feudalism? Why did it emerge as the
dominant new system of government and landholding?
• Feudalism emerged as the new social
order.
An oath of fealty between a
lord and his knight
– The feudal system was based on rights and
obligations. In exchange for military
protection and other services, a lord granted
land called a fief to his vassal.
– On a larger scale, the structure of feudal
society was much like a pyramid. Kings were
at the top of local feudal social pyramids,
followed by high church officials and nobles;
followed by knights; followed by landless
peasants; followed by serfs, peasants tied to
lands who provided free labor to lords in
exchange for protection.
An illustration of Feudalism:
What was Feudalism? Why did it emerge as the
dominant new system of government and landholding?
• Manors showcased the economic aspects of feudalism:
– The manor, or lord’s estate, was the basic, self-sufficient
economic arrangement that rested on the set of rights and
obligations between a lord and his serfs.
– The lord provided the serfs with protection, farmland and
housing; the serfs provided the lord with free labor.
– Free peasants also participated in this economic arrangement. In
exchange for protection peasants owed the lord a few days of free
labor each week, a portion of their grain, a tax for using the lord’s
mill, and consent before they married.
– Free peasants owed additional obligations to the Church, whose
village priest required a tithe—a church tax equal to one tenth of
a peasant’s income.
An illustration of manorial life:
Part II:
The Crusades (Ca. C.E. 1071 - 1291)
From the confines of Jerusalem and from Constantinople,
a grievous report has gone forth that an accursed race
has violently invaded the lands of these Christians, and
has depopulated them by pillage and fire.
On whom, then, rests the labor of avenging these wrongs,
and recovering this territory, if not upon you—you upon
whom, above all others, God has conferred remarkable
glory in arms, great bravery, and strength to humble
the heads of those who resist you?
Jerusalem is a land fruitful above all others, a paradise of
delights. That royal city, situated at the center of the
earth, implores you to come to her aid. Undertake this
journey eagerly for the remission of your sins, and be
assured of the reward of imperishable glory in the
Kingdom of Heaven.
-Pope Urban II, C.E. 1096
What factors led to the Crusades?
• In C.E. 1071 Turkish
Muslims under the
leadership of the Seljuk
sultans marched on the
weakened Byzantine
Empire. Within ten years
the Seljuks controlled
most of the territory in
modern Turkey—close
to the Byzantine capitol,
Constantinople. Turkish
Muslims already
occupied Jerusalem.
Muslim warriors during the Crusades
What factors led to the Crusades?
•By C.E. 1093 the Byzantine Emperor sent appeals for help
to powerful Christian nobles and Catholic religious officials
in western Europe:
Come then, with all your people
and give battle with all your
strength, so that all this
treasure shall not fall into the
hands of the Turks…Therefore
act while there is still time list
the kingdom of the Christians
shall vanish from your sight
and, what is more important,
the Holy Sepulcher shall
vanish. And in your coming you
will find your reward in
heaven, and if you do not come,
The Byzantine Emperor asks for help
God will condemn you.
What factors led to the Crusades?
• The Pope, Urban II,
issued a call for a Holy
War for the Cross
(Latin=Crux)—a
crusade—to regain
Christian control over
the Holy Land around
Jerusalem. Over the
next 300 years
numerous Crusades
occurred.
Pope Urban II calls for a Crusade
What were the goals of the Crusades?
• Religious goals:
– Expel the Muslims from the Holy Land and from around
Constantinople
– Reunite the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian
Churches
• Political goals:
– Eliminate opposition: Kings and lords could kill off rival
nobles and knights
– Gain land, position in society and/or adventure
• Economic goals:
– Merchants could make profits by charging Crusaders for
passage by ship to the Holy Land
– Merchants hoped to win control of trade routes to India and
China
Were the Crusades successful or failures?
The siege of Constantinople
• The First Crusade: Although
poorly prepared, Christian armies of
nobles from throughout Europe
besieged and captured Jerusalem
and a narrow strip of land
surrounding it in C.E. 1099.
• The Second Crusade: Muslims
under the command of the general
Salah al-Din attacked and regained
Jerusalem and the territories
Christians had won in the First
Crusade.
• The Third Crusade: Christians
tried to regain Jerusalem; eventually
a truce was achieved with Salah alDin and his Muslim army wherein
Muslims controlled Jerusalem but
promised Christians safe
pilgrimages.
Were the Crusades successful or failures?
• The Fourth Crusade: Christian
armies stopped in Constantinople on
the way to Jerusalem and looted the
city.
• The Children’s Crusade: 50,000
unarmed children set out on foot to
conquer Jerusalem; many died of
starvation or exposure along the way
and others drowned at sea or were
sold into slavery.
• The Spanish Crusade/Reconquista:
From the C.E. 1100s to the 1400s
Christians in Spain successfully
expelled their Muslim rulers. The
Inquisition court to suppress heresy
against the Church followed.
This stained glass window depicts the
Children’s Crusade
What were the effects of the Crusades?
• Political:
– The successes of the earlier Crusades showed the political power of the Church
during the medieval period. However, the failure of the later Crusades lessened the
Pope’s power and increased the power of medieval kings. In addition, the fall of
Constantinople to Muslims weakened the Byzantine Empire.
• Economic:
– European merchants who lived and traded in the Crusader states expanded trade
between Europe and southwest Asia of goods such as: spices, fruits and cloth. This
increase in trade benefited Christians and Muslims. In Europe, new trade towns
and later trade cities developed, particularly in Italy.
• Social:
– For the many men who left to fight, the Crusades promised adventure and chances
to gain power, prestige and land abroad. After the departure of many men in
Europe, women and others who stayed home gained opportunities to manage
estates and business such as shops and inns. By the end of the Crusades, thousands
of knights and other participants had lost their lives and/or fortunes.
• Religious:
– For Muslims, the intolerance and prejudice displayed by Christians in the Holy
Land left behind a legacy of bitterness and hatred that continued in modern times.
Christian and Jewish people who continued to live in the Holy Land after the
Crusades saw their relations with the Muslim leadership worsen. In Europe, the
Crusades led to persecution of non-Christians such as Muslim and Jewish people.
Part III:
The High Middle Ages (Ca. C.E. 1000 - 1400)
What were the “High Middle Ages”?
• The period in Western European history from C.E. 1000
to the beginning of the Renaissance around 1400.
• During the High Middle Ages, the period from C.E. 900
to 1300 was also known as the “Age of Faith” because
the Church was most powerful during this period.
• Unlike the backward “Dark Ages”/Low Middle Ages,
the High Middle Ages were a time of growing
intellectualism and of political expansion and
consolidation.
• Subsequently Church and State relations grew tense, as
religious leaders competed to control lands and people.
What was the Catholic Church like during the
Age of Faith, ca. C.E. 900-1300how did it maintain its power?
•
•
•
The Pope was the head of the Roman Catholic
Church. Priests and other clergy administered
sacraments—religious ceremonies that helped people to
get salvation (i.e., baptism, Eucharist, anointing of the
sick…)
The Pope and his advisors also wrote canon laws—
religious laws that every Christian person was expected to
follow.
Consequences for not following canon law were
excommunication and the interdict. Excommunication
prevented individual people from receiving the
sacraments; an interdict meant the same for an entire
kingdom!
What was the Catholic Church like during the
Age of Faith, ca. C.E. 900-1300how did it maintain its power?
•
•
•
During the Low Middle Ages the Church had been under
political leaders’ influence--kings had weapons and knights,
thus had the power to protect people. Security was most
important.
Since secular leaders wanted more power, they and the
Church fought. During the investiture struggle, kings and
popes fought over who would pick local bishops. In the
1100s, popes won the struggle.
The Church also gained power under reforms led by the
Cluny monastery. Cluny monks demanded a separation of
Church and State, and for a couple hundred years afterward
the Church prevailed.
What was an example of the Catholic Church’s
power during the Age of Faith?
•
Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV
kneels before the Pope and asks
for forgiveness at Canossa
“Going to Canossa”: The Pope was very
powerful during the Low Middle Ages. For
example, here is the story of Henry IV: the
Pope opposed lay investiture—kings having
the power to choose bishops. When in C.E.
1075 the Pope made a law to ban lay
investiture, the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry
IV, told the Pope to resign. Instead the Pope
excommunicated Henry IV. Henry IV was
forced to beg the Pope for forgiveness—and
the Pope had an obligation from the Bible to
forgive Henry IV. However, the Pope forced
Henry IV to stand in the snow outside
Canossa for three days before he forgave him.
(The Concordat of Worms settled the
argument by saying that the Pope would
choose bishops but that the emperor could
veto his choice.)
What religious changes occurred and reshaped
the Church during the High Middle Ages?
•
•
•
•
•
Cathedrals showed Church power
Monasteries were created where monks tried to go
back to living based on Christian principles. Monastic
orders like the Benedictines, Dominicans and
Franciscans were founded.
Internal reforms in the Roman Catholic Church
against: priests marrying, the selling of church
offices (simony) and lay investiture (kings appointing
bishops).
Internal reforms in the Roman Catholic Church
designed to reorganize the church: The pope and his
advisors would judge religious matters and would write
canon law (the law of the church). Charity, like in
hospitals, also increased.
Gothic Cathedrals were built to connect the Church to
God and to showcase the Roman Catholic Church’s
power.
The Crusades were fought to try and expand the
influence of the Church.
What economic and social changes occurred in
Europe during the High Middle Ages?
• The food supply grew due to
improved technology:
– Switch from oxen to horsepower:
Although horses needed better food
horses were stronger and faster; they
could plow three times as much land
per day than oxen.
– Harnesses: New harnesses fitted across
horses’ chests allowed horses to pull
heavy loads.
– Three-Field System: Before, farmers
had used the two-field system to farm.
In the High Middle Ages, they began to
use the three-field system that overall
produced more crops.
• As the food supply grew, so did
the population.
The three-field system led to larger
crop yields and larger populations
What economic and social changes occurred in
Europe during the High Middle Ages?
• Guilds and their middle class members
became powerful: Guilds, like unions,
were organizations of individuals (in the
same business or occupation) working to
improve the living and working conditions
of its members. During the High Middle
Ages guilds set the standards for: training
new guild members (apprenticeship),
quality of work, wages, and working
conditions. These controls made guilds
and their members very wealthy and
Members of the wine makers
powerful over local government. (Hint:
guild became more influential
Think about blacksmiths as an example…)
What economic and social changes occurred in
Europe during the High Middle Ages?
• The Commercial revolution began: Commerce = trade and
financing (loans). The period of time when increasing trade and
financing occurred in Medieval Europe is known as the
Commercial Revolution. How did life change during the
Commercial Revolution?
– Fairs and trade in towns increased. This led to more demand for luxury
goods from far away, which increased trade further.
– Business and banking increased: More trade meant a larger need for
cash, credit, currency exchange, and travelers’ checks. Businessmen
emerged to fill these financing needs and became wealthy and powerful.
– Trade and towns grew together: As trade increased, people moved from
manors into towns. As workers were needed in trade centers, people
moved back to urban places and towns grew larger. Many were former
serfs who became peasant workers: By living in town for a year a person
who had been a serf could become free. In addition for the first time
middle class people emerged, often called burghers or the bourgeoisie.
Their power grew and they replaced lords as the most powerful people in
towns.
What economic and social changes occurred in
Europe during the High Middle Ages?
• The Revival of Learning started:
– Muslim scholars had kept classical (Greek and
Roman) texts alive. The Crusades and increased
trade with Muslims allowed these ideas to be
reintroduced to Europeans along with new Muslim
technology.
– Universities were created for the first time in
Europe. Scholars met to study in universities, and
spread the ideas they learned back to their towns
by speaking and writing in the vernacular—
everyday language.
– Rationalism reemerged: Scholastics started to
With the revival of learning,
think that basic religious truths could be proved by
France’s queen began to read
using reason and logical argument.
How did the High Middle Ages come to an end?
• Catastrophic events of the 1300s bring the High
Middle Ages to an end:
– The Great Schism
– The Black Death, or Bubonic Plague
– The Hundred Years’ War
Why was the Great Schism significant?
• The Great Schism was a division within the Catholic
Church.
– Background: Remember “Going to Canossa”? In the
1300s, a similar incident occurred with a very different
outcome. In the year C.E. 1300, Pope Boniface VIII tried
to enforce papal authority over kings as previous popes
had (another issue over lay investiture). When the French
king, Philip IV, asserted his authority over French bishops
the Pope replied with a canon law document that stated
kings must always obey popes. Instead of obeying the
Pope, the French king kidnapped the Pope with the
intention of putting the Pope on trial. The Pope ultimately
was rescued but died of shock a month later.
– Effect: Never again would a Pope be able to force kings
to obey him. The Church lost power that kings won.
Illustration: The Papal Chambers
Why was the Great Schism significant?
• The Great Schism itself:
– Afterward King Philip IV sought a French pope.
Indeed the next Pope was French. To “protect” the new
pope, King Philip IV encouraged the Pope to move
from Rome to the French city of Avignon. Popes lived
in Avignon for the next 69 years. When the papacy
finally moved back to Rome after the death of a pope,
mobs in the city protested outside the Vatican (where
the College of Cardinals were choosing the next Pope)
screaming that they wanted a Roman or an Italian
pope. An Italian was chosen: Pope Urban VI. Pope
Urban VI proved to be obnoxious, so in addition a
second pope was elected a few months later—Clement
VII. Now there were two popes, each of whom declared
the other to be a false pope.
– (What problems did this cause?)
What was the outcome of the Great Schism?
• The Catholic Church tried to end the Great
Schism by choosing a new pope—leading to
three popes.
• The Roman Catholic Church Council and the
Holy Roman Emperor forced all three popes to
resign and chose a new pope.
• This ended the Great Schism but weakened the
papacy.
Why was the Black Death significant?
• Between C.E. 1347 and 1351
the Bubonic Plague arrived in
Europe. The major epidemic
crossed Europe, Asia and Africa
and ripped apart societies on
each continent; more than 25
million people died in Europe
alone and an equal number were
killed in Asia. The plague
originated in Asia and spread to
Europe and Africa through
trade, carried by infected fleas
and rats and then spread from
person to person.
Europeans bury plague victims
What were the plague’s characteristics?
The plague produced black or purple spots on people’s skin
and extensive swelling near people’s lymph nodes. Within
days infected people would develop extremely high fevers,
chills, delirium and most likely would die.
What were the Black Death’s effects?
Jewish people blamed for the
Black Death were burned alive.
• The population fell.
• Manor life and feudalism
ended.
• Serfs left the manor.
• Peasants revolted against
nobles over wages.
• Jewish and Muslim people
were persecuted.
• Belief in the Church dropped
when the Pope and clergy
failed to end the plague
through prayer.
• The Middle Ages came to
an end.
Why was the Hundred Years’ War significant?
• England and France fought each other from C.E. 1337 to 1453
over who would be the next French king. After more than a
hundred years of warfare, with both sides winning different
battles, the war ended with French victory.
Why was the Hundred Years’ War significant?
• The war brought a change in the
style of warfare in Europe. At
the beginning of the war,
knights were considered more
valuable than common peasant
foot soldiers and archers. Yet
after the longbow was invented
knights were too slow—
weighted by armor and tied to
horses. Longbows could
penetrate armor; their arrows
could be fired at a rate of 12 to
15 arrows per minute. For that
reasons, longbows were viewed
Longbows were the “machine guns of the as the machine guns of the
Middle Ages”.
Middle Ages.
Why was the Hundred Years’ War significant?
• The long war changed
Europe in four ways:
– Nationalism, or a sense of
love and responsibility to a
country, replaced feudalism.
– The French monarchy
gained power.
– The English monarchy lost
power, which led to an
English Civil War known as
the War of the Roses.
– The Middle Ages came to an
end.
A nationalist heroine, Joan of Arc
inspired France’s victory
in the Hundred Years’ War