Download The Children`s Crusade

The Middle
Ages
1066-1485
After the Norman Invasion
England ( and the world) would
forever be changed…
This was due to one man…
William, Duke of Normandy
also known as
William the Conqueror
His Claim to the English Throne…
• William, Duke of Normandy claimed the
English throne
• Promised to him by King Edward the
Confessor
• However, William’s half brother,
Harold, was crowned after Edward’s
death.
William, cont.
• Learned that his throne had been taken;
began preparing for invasion.
• Attacks England at Hastings; defeats the
Anglo-Saxons and Harold
• William crowned King William I on Christmas
Day in 1066
William’s Reign
• Ruled England for 21 years
• Fused a strong French government and
military with culture of Anglo-Saxons
• William wanted to rule the Anglo-Saxons;
not eliminate them.
• Because of this, England had, and still has, a
culture influenced by both Norman and
Anglo-Saxon culture and language.
The Feudal System
• William introduced the
Feudal System
• system based on
landholding by a lord or
king, rented land in
return for allegiance and
military service.
• It was a caste system
Land is given to
Workers; they
Must farm, and
Pay taxes to
A specific
Lord.
Lord, great noble
or king rents his
land.
Barron or lord
Pledges his loyalty
and
Military services
Feudal Relationships, cont.
• Feudalism:
King: all powerful overlord and landowner
Lord: noble who had power to grant land to
vassals;
Vassal: aristocratic dependent tenant who
received land from a lord in exchange for military
service.
Knight: armored warrior. Vassals provided their
lords with military service; the larger the land grant, the
more knights a Vassal had to supply the king
Serf: peasant who worked on, and were bound to
vassals’ lands.
The Feudal System, cont.
• The Feudal System led to many disputes
over property; in 1086 an inventory of every
piece of property ( this included the number
or cattle, chickens, etc. that a man owned)
was created
• This inventory was the Domesday Book.
• Settled disputes over property.
Domesday, cont.
• Title represented William’s judgment of his
subject’s financial worth and God’s judgment
on their moral worth
• First time in European History that taxes
were based on what an individual owned.
( this book still exists in London)
The Domesday Book
•
http://clearlyexplained.com/answers/domesday-book.jpg
Knights in Armor
• Boys trained at early age for knighthood
( began around 7 years).
• Training usually took place in a home other
than their own for stricter environment.
• Parents had to be wealthy enough
to buy horse, armor, and
weapons.
Knighthood, cont.
• Knights often sons of noblemen
• Instructed in good manners, social skills, such as
singing, dancing, and playing chess
• Learned to use a sword and shield
• At about age of 14, a boy would become a squire
( personal assistant to a knight)
• When training was completed, was ceremonially
tapped on the shoulder; youth was a man with the
title “Sir” and had all the rights of the warrior caste
The Burden of Armor
• Some suits weighed up to 120 pounds
• The armor could be
as fatal as enemy.
• Death from suffocation,
heart failure, and drowning were
as common as wounds from the enemy.
• Battles usually scheduled to allow knights
time to dress
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Helm (Helmet)
Gorget
Pauldrons
Spaulders
Chainmaille (Gussets)
Vambrace
Gauntlets
Breastplate
Faulds (Tassets)
Kneecup
Greaves
Sabatons (Solorets)
Coif
Arming Cap
Gambeson
Haubergeon (Hauberk)
Code of Chivalry
• Chivalry: a system of ideals and social codes ruling
behavior of knights and gentlewomen.
• The rules included:
**taking oath of loyalty to the overlord
and observing certain rules of warfare, i.e. not
attacking an unarmed man, loyalty to one’s land of
birth, being honest…
**adoring a particular lady ( this was not
always one’s wife)
** Chivalry seen as a means of self
improvement
Chivalry, cont.
The introduction of Chivalry resulted
because of three ideas:
**more emphasis on Christian ideologies
*** women’s place in society a bit more
elevated, although this was only socially;
**** refinement of royalty; more emphasis
on the royal class.
Courtly Love
• The ideal form of courtly love was non-sexual
• A knight might wear his lady’s colors in battle,
or compose poetry, song
• lady always was
“pure and out of reach.”
This lady represented the
ideal.
Courtly Love, cont.
• She is in complete control of the love
relationship, while he owes her obedience and
submission
• The knight's love for the lady inspires him to do
great deeds, in order to be worthy of her love or
to win her favor.
Courtly Love, cont.
• Poets and story tellers used idea of courtly
love for plots.
Example: The King Author Saga
When Lancelot and Guinevere cross the line of
courtly and physical love, the whole social system
represented by the Round Table begins to
collapse. Camelot collapses because the code was
broken.
And the Assignment Is…
• You will get into groups of
3-4
• You have a choice:
1) You will create a
recruitment sign for joining the
knighthood
or
2) You will create a
Code of Chivalry in the
21st Century/ or rules of
Courtly Love in the 21st
Century poster
The Woman’s Role
• Women did not have any political rights
• She was always subservient to a man,
whether it was her father, brother, or
husband.
• Her father’s or husband’s social
standing determined the
degree of respect she commanded
Women, cont.
• Mostly, women confined to house chores, cooking,
sewing, weaving, spinning. Some trained with
weapons to defend homes/castles.
• Peasant women led lives of child bearing,
housework, and fieldwork
• Women of higher rank involved with childbearing
and household supervision.
• Some women of higher rank may have
managed husband’s estate while men away at battle
or business;
Women, cont.
• Some women known as witches, said to have
healing powers.
• Others became nuns
• Some women held other occupations:
apothecary, blacksmith, merchants, midwives,
others focused on singing, dancing, playing
an instrument, writing.
Medieval Literature
• Chivalry brought new literature, the Romance.
• A narrative that traces adventures of a brave knight or other
hero; has to overcome danger for the love of a noble lady or
some other high ideal/ morals
• Idealized heroes fight and always conquer evil.
Example: King Arthur, Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight,
• A romance hero is larger than life figure, usually of
mysterious origins, who performs extraordinary
deeds with the aid of magic.
Literature, cont.
• The Ballad:
Medieval population grew, larger number of
people began living in towns and cities.
Developed the city classes- lower, middle and
upper middle; A “people’s art” began to
emerge.
• city people were free, not tied to
land . Their point of view expressed in ballads.
Literature, cont.
• Ballads are songs, or songlike poems that tell a
story in a rhythmic language. There is a regular
rhythm and rhyme, language is simple and direct.
• Every ballad includes certain features:
*tragic subject matter
*omitted details,
*supernatural events
* a refrain, or a repeated word, line, or
group of lines.
• From French word meaning “dancing song.”
The Crusades
• A series of holy wars( 1095-1270) waged by
European Christians against Muslims.
• 1095, Pope Urban II sent out plea to
Christians in Europe
• He believed it the Christian’s duty to wage
war against Muslims
occupying Jerusalem,
other places considered
holy to the Christian faith
Crusades, cont.
• Pope’s plea led to a series of disastrous military
exhibitions known as The Crusades
• For Over two hundred years Crusaders left
from Europe to conquer Jerusalem
• The pope promised absolution from sins to
those who fought in these wars
• Thousands of Jews and
Muslims killed
Crusades, cont.
• What started out as a Holy pilgrimage, turned into
one of greed.
• Knights would kill anyone in their way, take
property, money, etc.
The Children’s Crusade
The Children’s Crusade
• Little information on The Children’s Crusade;
some believe it is a myth
• After 4th Crusade,
Europe had not taken over Jerusalem.
• The Children’s Crusade brought back hope that
Europe could take over The Holy Land.
• In 1212, two groups of children set toward
Jerusalem
Children’s Crusade, cont.
• The Children’s Crusade never made it to
Jerusalem; believed some died of exhaustion,
settled in towns, sold into slavery.
_______________________________________
• Even though crusades were disastrous, Europe
benefitted from contact with the “sophisticated
Middle East.”
• Exposure to mathematics, astronomy, architecture
Thomas a Becket
• Thomas a Becket (1118-1170) was a Norman
• Rose to great power as prime minister under reign of his friend,
Henry II
• At this time, all Christians belonged to Catholic Church, King
Henry was head of the Catholic church, and God’s
representative on Earth
• The pope was extremely powerful, controlled most of the
crowned rulers
• Henry believed if he made his friend, Thomas, archbishop of
Canterbury ( head of the Catholic Church in England) he
would have “the upper hand in disputes with the Catholic
church.”
Thomas a Becket, cont.
• Thomas took pope’s side, more often than
Henry’s. Henry got angry
• “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”
• Taking Henry’s words seriously, four of his knights
murdered Becket in his own Cathedral
Eye-Witness Account
“Then the third knight inflicted a terrible wound as he
lay, by which the sword was broken against the
pavement, and the crown, which was large was
separated from the head; so that the blood white
with the brain and the brain red with blood, dyed
the surface of the virgin mother Church with the life
and death of the confessor and martyr in the colors
of the lily and the rose.”
--- Thomas Grim
Set Back for the Monarchy
• Public outrage toward Becket’s murder led to
devotion to Saint Thomas the Martyr, created a
backlash against Henry; added to troubles with
the Catholic Church.
• Church had positive effect of providing cultural
unity- a system of beliefs and symbols that united
the cultures of Europe.
• Church still the center of learning, and Latin
remained the international language
• The leader, the pope, was “king of all kings”
The Magna Carta
• Latin for “Great Charter”
• Signed by King John in 1215
• Even though John had the
backing of the pope, the barons
forced John into signing it.
• The signing was a defeat of
total papal power ( in other words,
the Pope did not have supreme
power anymore)
Magna Carta, cont.
• Because the aristocracy was signing only for
its benefit, the rights of the common people did not
change.
• Magna Carta became the basis of English
constitutional law:
** rights to trial by jury
** rights to a speedy trial
** equal justice under the law
The Hundred Years War
• Described as first national war
• Waged by England against France
• Based on weak claims to the throne of
France by two English kings: Edward III
and Henry V
Hundred Years War, cont.
• After the war, English no longer
represented by the Knight in Shining armor
• Represented by the green-clad yeoman- a
small landowner-with his long bow.
• English yeomen formed
the main group of the
English armies in France
Hundred Years War, cont.
• yard-long arrows could fly over castle walls
and pierce a knight’s armor
• small landowners became dominant force in
the new society which originated from the
Feudal System.
The Black Death
• Also called The Bubonic Plague
• Struck England in 1348-1349
• Highly contagious, spread by fleas from infected
rats
• Reduced nation’s population by a third
• Caused a labor shortage, and therefore gave lower
classes more bargaining power over their overlords.
• Because of the plague, serfs gained their freedom.
• Feudalism was now over