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Medieval Western Europe
A Quest for Order
Periodization
Early Middle Ages: 500 – 1000
High Middle Ages: 1000 – 1250
Late Middle Ages: 1250 - 1500
Western Europe. In the “Middle Ages
•The Medieval World—Conversion of
Clovis links German barbarians with
Christianity (496)
•Problem of Order after collapse of
Rome
•Competing interests: single empire—
reconstitution of Rome; Christendom
under papacy; unforeseen third
option—Dynastic States.
Europe in the 6c
Souces of the Medieval World
 Memory of the Old Roman Empire
Memory of Greco-Roman Civilization
Emergence of the Institutional Church
Germanic Culture
Beginnings
of Europe:
St. Remi
baptizes
Clovis
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.
v tried to curb feudal warfare
days a year for combat.
v curb heresies
only 40
crusades; Inquisition
v tithe 1/10 tax on your assets given to
the church.
v Peter’s Pence 1 penny per person
[paid by the peasants].
A Medieval Monk’s Day
A Medieval Monastery: The
Scriptorium
Illuminated Manuscripts
Papacy
• Under Church fathers, early heresy
is overcome—nature of Jesus.
• Triumph of St. Augustine’s world
view (354-430) Civitas Dei
• Leo I (440-61) and Gregory the
Great (590-604) elevate position of
papacy—new converts accept
papal supremacy.
• Is Pope superior to Kings?
Papacy-2
•
•
•
•
•
Gelasian Theory
Investiture Controvesy
Innocent III (1198-1216)
Gothic Architecture
Scholasticism
Romanesque Architectural Style
e Rounded Arches.
e Barrel vaults.
e Thick walls.
e Darker, simplistic interiors.
e Small windows, usually at the top of the wall.
Gothic Architectural Style
eReplaced Romanesque
ePointed arches.
e High, narrow
vaults.
e Thinner walls.
e Flying buttresses.
e Elaborate, ornate,
airier interiors.
e Stained-glass windows.
“Flying” Buttresses
Cathedral
At
Chartres—
Romanesque
And
Gothic
Cathedral at
Rheims
So Why Doesn’t the Papacy
Prevail
• Corruption
• Babylonian Captivity of the
Papacy (1305-1377)
• Great Schism (1378-1415)
• Failure of Conciliar
Movement (1422-1450)
• Success of Dynastic States
A Quest for a New Rome
• Collapse of the Merovingian
Dynasty—Les Rois Fainéants
• Coming of the Carolingians—
Charles Martel; Donation of
Pepin
• Charlemagne—Crowned 800 as
H. R. E.
• Treaty of Verdun--843
Charlemagne: 742 to 814
Charlemagne’s Empire
Pope Crowned Charlemagne
Holy Roman Emperor: Dec. 25, 800
The Carolingian Renaissance
Carolingian Miniscule
Charlemagne’s Empire Collapses:
Treaty of Verdun, 843
Fedualism-Manorialism:
Response to Collapse of
Carolingian Order
• Decentralized governmental
systems—local nobles defacto
rulers--feudalism
• Reciprocity
• Localized economies tied to self
sufficient manors--manorialism
Feudalism
A political, economic, and social
system based on loyalty and military
service.
Carcassonne: A Medieval Castle
Parts of a Medieval Castle
The Medieval Manor
Life on the Medieval Manor
Serfs at work
Feudal Socio/Political Order
Emergence of Dynastic
States
• Success in Western Europe—
forerunners of England, France, and
Spain
• Interference of Papacy deterred
evolution of more-or-less unitary
states in the Italian Penensula and
the Germanies until the 19th century.
Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy
Alfred the Great (871-899)
•King of Wessex who wielded
power over all of Heptarchy
•Defeated Vikings (Danes)
•Issued a Code of Laws for all the
realm
•Began the English Navy
•Commissioned the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle (measure of stability)
The Rise of European Monarchies:
England
William the Conqueror:
Battle of Hastings, 1066
(Bayeaux Tapestry)
William I—King of England (10661087)
• Introduced
Norman
Feudalism
into
England—
emphasized
power of King
(Salisbury
Oath)
• Domesday
Survey
• Great Council
created out of
Witan
• Curia Regis
established
• Much central
authority compared
to earlier
governmental
arrangements in
England
Evolution of England’s Political
System
v Henry I:
§ William’s son.
§ set up a court system.
§ Exchequer dept. of royal finances.
v Henry II:
§ established the principle of common law
throughout the kingdom.
§ grand jury.
§ trial by jury.
Magna Carta, 1215
v King John I
v Runnymeade
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 Both tool of nobles and tool of crown:
§ 1295—Model Parliament under Edward III
(1272-1307)—included all classes of
representatives—Nobles, plus Burgesses
(towns) and Knights of the Shire (Counties).
§ by 1400, two chambers evolved:
o House of Lords nobles & clergy.
o House of Commons knights and
burgesses.
Wars of the Roses
• Long View—1399-1485
• Contingency—might not have been necessary if
Henry V had lived a long time.
• Contingency—Richard III’s image and
usurpation gave Tudors a chance to press the
Lancastrian claim.
• Henry VII not only had to prevail at Bosworth
Field, he and his descendants had to create
mythologies and interests that supported a
nascent nationalism.
• Dynastic State as alternative to feudal-based
Civil War.
Long View: Wars of the
Roses
EDWARD III's Descendents
Edward III (1377)
Edward, Black Prince
Richard II (1399)
William
Lionel
John of Gaunt
Philippa
Henry IV (1415)
Roger Mortimer
Henry V (1422)
Anne Mortimer
Henry VI (1461)
Richard, Duke of York
Edward IV (1483)
Edward V (1483)
Richard III (1485)
Edmund
Richard, Earl of Cambridge
The Rise of European Monarchies:
France
Dynastic State in France
• Hugh Capet (r. 987-1328) held exclusive
title to Ile de France.
• Louis VI (r. 1108-37) added to Capetian
lands and crushed nobles who resisted.
• Philip II (r. 1180-1223) was first French
King to be more powerful than any of his
Vassals.
• Philip IV (r. 1285-1314) intimidated Pope
Boniface VIII, leading College of Cardinals
to name a Frenchman Pope.
• Louis IX (r. 1461-1483) used nationalism—
hatred of English and defeated Duke of
Burgundy—master of “real politik”
Waning of the Middle Ages
•
•
•
•
Crusades
Rise of Towns and Cities
Trade
End of Scholastic Consensus
Pope Urban II: Preaching a Crusade
Christian Crusades: East and West
Medieval Universities
Oxford University
Late Medieval Town Dwellings
Medieval Trade
Medieval Guilds
Guild
Hall
v Commercial Monopoly:
§ Controlled membership
apprentice
journeyman
master craftsman
§ Controlled quality of the product [masterpiece].
§ Controlled prices
Medieval Guilds: A Goldsmith’s Shop
Crest of a Cooper’s Guild