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Medieval Europe
Fall of Rome to 1347
Day 1
Medieval Europe
Pope Urban II
calls for First
Crusade
Rome Falls
Battle of
Chalons
Black
Death
reaches
Sicily
Era of Feudalism, Chivalry, Catholicism
476
622
Islam
Begins
721
793
Vikings sack abbey
on Lindisfarne
-Feudalism Begins
1095
1200
Gothic Era in
Architecture
1347
Fall of Rome
• Roman Empire 753 BC - 476AD
• Absorbed multiple civilizations including
Hellenistic Greece
– Law, democracy, technology, stoic
culture, architecture and art
• Disseminated Greco-Roman Culture
throughout Western Europe
• Provided stability for trade, commerce,
learning
• Empire began decline in 180 AD
– Slave-based economy, loss of Roman
stoic values, spread of Christianity,
lack of order of succession, barbarian
invasions
• Fall of Rome – 476 AD
The Dark Ages
476-800
• Period between fall of Rome
and coronation of
Charlemagne
• Characterized by
– Lack of central authority
• Barbarian invasions
– Goths, Germans, Huns, Gauls,
Pics, Scots, Celts
– Commerce, trade, learning
greatly slowed (in Europe)
Rise of Islam
• Began in 622
– Mohammed lead followers from Mecca to
Medina
• Followers believe Mohammed was “The
Prophet” to whom Angel Gabriel had
revealed Allah
• Recorded orally and then in Quran
• Golden Age
– Islamic Empire spread from Arabian Peninsula
across northern Africa to Iberian Peninsula
• First modern hospital's, first degree
program, R & D program
• Spread halted in 732 at Battle of Chalons,
France
• Western Europe would be dominated by
Christianity
Viking Invasions
• Began in 793 in Scotland, England,
and Ireland
• Spread to northern France, Russia,
Denmark, Sicily, Iceland
• Viking motives unclear
– Lack of arable land, lack of
females, “Youth bulge” in
Save us, oh Lord, from the Fury of the
population, revenge against
Northmen!
Charlemagne’s forced
conversions
• Impact
– Most Vikings settled in new
lands
– But Fear of attack lead
Europeans to adopt the Feudal
Medieval Political Structure
800-1450
Feudalism– Decentralized & localized
government of the Middle Ages
– Local lord promised land to
warriors in return for military
service
– Lords promised protection to
peasants (serfs) in return for their
labor, obedience
– No central ruler, code of law,
standing army
– IE. No sovereign State
Chivalry
– Code of conduct by which knights
(warriors) lived
Medieval Economic System
• Manorial System
– local, self sufficient economic
system
– Overwhelmingly agrarian
– Usually composed of a town,
surrounding villages, farmland,
forests
– Owned by a Lord
• Open-field system
– Communal method of dividing
land between families into strips
• Guild
– Craft union
– Manufacturing sector of medieval
economy
– Controlled prices, quality, training
– Erected barriers to enter
artisanship
The Catholic Church
Matrix of medieval life
• Governed birth, death, marriage, cooking, sex, …
• A comforter, protector, physician
• Promoted idea that man was inherently sinful and
depraved
• Provided salvation from “eternal damnation”
– 7 Sacraments
• Controlled architecture, art
– Gothic
• Exerted political & economic power
– Crowned Kings
– Promoted Feudalism
– Usury Laws
– Tithes
• Promoted expected social behavior
– Chivalry, “Peace of God”
• Controlled Education
– Scholasticism
Late Medieval Art
 St. Francis’
Rule Approved
 Giotto
 1288-92?
 Tempera on
wood and
ground gold.
The Crusades
• Religious Wars between
European Christians
and Muslims (10951200s)
• Apex of Catholic
Church’s power
• Pope Urban II (1095)
– Calls on Catholics to
retake Jerusalem
from Muslims and
rescue
Constantinople
– Ulterior motives?
Impact of the Crusades
• Marked apex of
power for Church
• Exposed Europeans
to a more advanced
culture
• Opened up trade with
the East
• Ultimately weakened
Church Power
– Children’s Crusade