Download The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages
Major Eras of European History
Periodization of the Middle Ages
• Early Middle Ages: 500 CE – 1000 CE
• High Middle Ages: 1000 CE – 1250 CE
• Late Middle Ages: 1250 CE - 1500 CE
Timeline
• Take 5 minutes to read over your “Brief
Timeline of the Catholic Church in Western
Europe during the Middle Ages”
• Is there anything that’s “jumps out” at you?
Fall of the Roman Empire
• Rome was the most powerful empire the
world had ever seen.
Roman Legacy
1) Art & Architecture
I. Arches, Domes, Vaults
II. Aqueducts
III. Roads
2) Tech & Science
I.
New building materials
Roman Legacy cont’d
3) Literature/Language
I. Romance = Roman
II. Romantic languages
4) Law
I.
Roman Republic
influence USA
I. Senators
II. ‘Equality’
III. Democracy
A Disclaimer!
• Religion is a large part of the place and time we
are studying.
• For many people it is a large part of their lives in
this place and time.
• What are some strategies to ensure that you can
voice your opinions and be sensitive to others?
• If you ever feel uncomfortable or offended by
something someone has said…Please let me
know.
Things you need to know:
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Diocletian (51st Emperor 284 to 305 CE) split the Roman empire in two.
• He thought the empire was too big and it needed a second ruler
• Historical significance = Byzantium Empire (East)
• Byzantium Empire would last about 1000 years longer than the
Western Roman Empire
Constantine (Emperor from 306 to 337 CE)
• Unified the Roman Empire under Christianity
• Built a new imperial residence at Byzantium (it was named
Constantinople in his honor after his death and is the capital for the
Eastern Roman Empire for a thousand years)
Edict of Milan: 313 CE
– Legalizes Christianity in the Roman Empire, reversing Diocletian’s policy of
persecution.
– This has lasting impacts on Europe.
“Wherefore, for this our indulgence, they ought to pray to their God for our safety,
for that of the republic, and for their own, that the commonwealth may continue
uninjured on every side, and that they may be able to live securely in their homes”
Why did Christianity spread so easily?
Europe in the 6th Century
The Medieval Catholic Church
• Filled the power vacuum left from the collapse of
the classical world.
• Monasticism: a religious way of life that involves
renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's
self to spiritual work
– 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 and missionaries to the barbarians. [St.
Patrick, St. Boniface]
Role of Church in Middle Ages
• Never was there a
time when the
Church was so
powerful in Western
Civilization.
• The Church was led
by popes. Priests and
nuns converted, gave
care to people
Role of Church
• Monks were spiritual
leaders (obviously)
• They lived in
monasteries that
acted like trade
schools and YMCAs
Role of Church
• They spent years
transcribing the
Bible since the
printing press
wasn’t used in
Europe yet.
Role of Church
• Since there were no
strong empires or
kingdoms the Church
was one organization
that had respect and
power.
• Popes were more
powerful than kings!
A Medieval Monastery: The
Scriptorium
Illuminated Manuscripts
• Text is supplemented with
decoration (initials, borders,
decorations)
• This actually aided with the
preservation of literature from
Greece and Rome
• It was a way of aggrandizing
ancient documents thus aiding
their preservation in an era
when new ruling classes were
no longer literate
Sacraments
• Efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ
and entrusted to the Church, by which divine
life is dispensed to us
– 7 Sacraments:
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Baptism (Christening)
Confirmation (Chrismation)
Holy Eucharist
Penance (Confession)
Anointing of the Sick (Last Rites)
Holy Orders
Matrimony (Marriage)
• Theoretically speaking it makes little
difference as to which language is used in the
Mass. God understands all languages. In
practice, however it does make a difference
• The people hearing the words in their own
language without any explanation, become
self interpreters; this is nothing more than
Protestantism
A Medieval Monk’s Day
The Power of the Medieval Church
• Bishops and abbots played a large part in the feudal
system.
• The church controlled about 1/3 of the land in Western
Europe.
• Tried to curb feudal warfare
– only 40 days a year for combat.
• Curb heresies
– Crusades
– Inquisition
• Tithe
– 1/10 tax on your assets given to the church.
• Peter’s Pence: 1 penny per person [paid by the peasants].
A Medieval Castle
Carcassonne: A Medieval Castle
Feudalism
• Feudalism: A decentralized form of
government that stressed alliances of mutual
protection between monarchs and nobles
• A political, economic, and social system based
on loyalty and military service.
Feudalism
Feudalism (political system)
• The kings had lots of land; he gave land to
lords in exchange for protection and $.
• Lords gave their land to knights in exchange
for protection, $.
• Knights let serfs work the land and he would
protect them.
• Serfs got food and shelter.
• Thus, each person had rights and
responsibilities
Manoralism (economic system)
• For safety and for defense, people in the Middle
Ages formed small communities around a central
lord or master. Most people lived on a manor, which
consisted of the castle, the church, the village, and
the surrounding farm land. These manors were
isolated, with occasional visits from peddlers,
pilgrims on their way to the Crusades, or soldiers
from other fiefdoms.
Why do you think everyone chose to be isolated?
The Medieval Manor
Life on the Medieval Manor
Serfs at work
Chivalry- Code of Honor
The System
• Fief: A parcel of land with peasants.
• Serf: A worker on a fief who was not free.
They worked the land in exchange for
protection and the right to work the fields.
• Vassal: One who enters into mutual
obligations with a lord or monarch.
• Lord: A high ranking aristocrat
The Road to Knighthood
KNIGHT
SQUIRE
PAGE
Magna Carta
• Signed in 1215
• Example of Rule of
Law
• English King John
was a bad king so his
nobles forced him to
sign it.
• Limited powers of
king.
Why Feudalism
Feudalism/ Manoralism came from people’s
need for protection. Each member had rights
and responsibilities.
Cultures interact through wars, such as the
Crusades, and trade ideas such as democratic
ideas or religious ideas
Why was Constantinople so Important
Geographically?
The Crusades
• Thousands of knights
and “barbarian”
soldiers united under
Christianity attacked
Muslims and Jews in
Turkey and Jerusalem to
gain the land for
Christians.
Pope Urban II: Preaching a Crusade
Setting Out on Crusade
Romanesque Archtectural Style
• Rounded Arches
• Darker, simplistic
interiors
• Barrel Vaults
• Thick Walls
• Small windows
Gothic Architectural Style
• Pointed arches
• High, narrow vaults
• Thinner walls
• Elaborate, airier interiors
• Stained-glass windows
• Flying buttresses
Churches and Cathedrals during the
Middle Ages
Medieval Guilds
Guild Hall
 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
Oxford University
Late Medieval Town Dwellings
Important Middle Ages Technologies
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Water Wheel
Eyeglasses
Mechanical Clock
Printing
Gunpowder
Eyeglasses
• Invented in Pisa 13th century
• By 15th century Italy making thousands spectacles
• Eyeglasses encouraged invention of fine
instruments
– Gauges
– Micrometers
– Fine wheel cutters
– Precision tools
Mechanical Clock
• Undermined Church authority
– equal hours for day and night a new
concept
– Resisted by the church for a century
• Every town wanted one
– Public clocks installed in towers
• Conquerors seized as spoils of
war
• Allowed individual autonomy
• Work now measured by time
– increased productivity
Bern, Switzerland
Gunpowder
• Europeans improved
gunpowder to siege
castles
• Europeans focused on
range and weight of
projectiles: siege warfare
• With improved metal
casting, made world’s
best cannon
Economic and Cultural Revival in
the Late Middle Ages
Economic Expansion
Agriculture
• Newer heavier plows
– Greater food production leads to greater settlement
• Yoke replaces collar harness
– Oxen are replaced by horses, for faster pulling, allowing
farmers to plant and grow more crops
Expansion of Trade
• Revival of towns causes the expansion of trade
– Sea lanes and roads to new markets
– Western Europe is connected
• Roman road system is rebuilt
• Venice, Genoa, and Pisa becomes centers of
trade in Mediterranean (skills and spices)
Banking
• A money economy replaces a barter system
• Banking sector is created
– Money changers exchange currencies from different
traders from different lands
– Funds are transferred from one place to another
• Deposits
• Loans
• The feudalism declines
– Kings, clergy and nobles become dependent on money and
loans
– To pay the loans they sell their feudal holdings
– They demand money in replacement for traditional feudal
services (obligations)
– Serfs can buy freedom
Towns Grow
• 1000-1100 CE sees enormous growth in towns
– Generally located on transportation routes
– Walls develop for protection
– Almost no sanitation
• Garbage and sewer stench everywhere
• Causes the rapid spread of disease (epidemic)
• Bubonic plague (1348-1350)
• 1/3 of population dead (Black Death)
Guilds
• 1100s CE merchants and artisans form these
business organizations
• Primary function of merchant guild was to
maintain a monopoly of the local market
– This leads to trade restrictions
– Uniform pricing
• Craft guilds regulated the work of artisans
(carpenters, blacksmiths, ect)
• strict rules on prices, wages, and employment
• Controlled by masters
Apprentice Journeyman Master
Rise of the Middle Class
• Medieval towns (burgs) saw a new class of
people
• Merchants, bankers, artisans no longer had to
rely on the land to make a living
• The merchant class gave rise to organized
municipalities
– As the middle class grew, kings even began to rely
on them for loans, as well as for tax dollars
– These merchants eventually became advisors to
nobility and kings
Education
• During the Early Middle Ages most people are illiterate
and education is controlled by the clergy
• Students in monasteries learned grammar, rhetoric,
logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music
• The growth of towns later necessitates educated
officials, lawyers (as courts and a legal system evolves)
• Universities begin around 1150 BCE
– Students studied
• Latin classics and Roman Law
• Aristotle and the Greeks
• Islamic scholarship and the sciences
– This leads to the rise of western science
Medieval Literature and Art
• The influence of universities and the revival of
the classic Greek ideas advance literature and the
arts
• Middle Age songs and epics are put into writing
• Most literature is written in the vernacular (the
language of everyday speech) instead of using
Latin as a Common Language
• English, German ,French, Italian, Spanish give
each kingdom a separate identity and make
literature accessible to the average person
Gothic Architecture Emerges
• New construction methods allow for high
ceilings, large internal spaces, thin walls, stain
glass windows, and commonly designed
cathedrals