Download WHAP Teacher Copy Western Christendom after the fall of Rome

Western Christendom after the fall of Rome
WHAP/Napp
Objective: To identify and describe Western
Europe after the fall of Rome
Do Now: Describe Western Europe after the fall of
Rome.
Cues:
Notes:
I. Fiefs and Faith
A. Western Europe after the fall of Rome  a highly fragmented and
decentralized society with great local variation emerged
B. Independent, self-sufficient, and largely isolated landed estates or manors
C. Powerful lords were in constant competition
D. Lesser lords and knights swore allegiance to lords thus becoming vassals
1. Vassals received land and booty in return for military service to their
lords (Feudalism)
E. Roman slavery gave way to serfdom
1. Serfs were not personal property and could not be arbitrarily thrown off
the landallowed to live in families but bound to masters’ estates as
peasant laborers
F. In the absence of a central Roman authority, the only available security lay
in these communities, where the ties to kin, manor, and lord constituted the
primary human loyalties
G. Also filling the vacuum left by the collapse of a central government was the
Roman Catholic Church
1. Its hierarchical organization of popes, bishops, and priests was modeled
on the Roman Empire
2. Began the process of converting many of Europe’s “pagan” peoples,
sometimes peacefully and sometimes through coercion
3. Provided unity and stability during a time of political fragmentation
4. December 25th was selected as birthday of Jesus, for it was associated
with winter solstice, coming of more light and rebirth of various deities
5. By 1100, most of Europe had embraced Christianity
H. Church Controversies
1. Investiture Controversy during the eleventh and twelfth centuries
developed as Church officials, kings and emperors debated who had the
right to make Church appointmentseventually Church appointed
II. Pace of change in West picked up in several centuries after 1000
A. By 1000, invasions had been checked and invaders absorbed into societies
B. Greater security and stability accelerated the tempo of change
C. A warming trend after 750 reached its peak in the eleventh and twelfth
centuries, enhancing agricultural production
1. Commonly called the High Middle Ages, a new period of expansion and
growth occurred
III. Stability and Trade
A. One center of commercial activity lay in Northern Europe from England to
the Baltic coast
Summaries:
Cues:
B. Another trading network centered on northern Italian towns such as
Florence, Genoa, and Venice and trading partners: Islamic and Byzantine
C. Urbanization was proceeding as towns and cities attracted people
1. Groups organized themselves into guilds or associations of people
pursuing the same line of work in order to regulate professions
D. Women were initially active in a number of urban professions, by the
fifteenth century, opportunities for women were declining
1. But religious life provided opportunities for womenAs in Buddhist
lands, nunneries offered relative freedom from male control
E. A further sign of change lay in the growth of territorial states with more
effective institutions of government commanding the loyalty of subjects
1. In the eleventh through the thirteenth century, the nominal monarchs of
Europe gradually and painfully began to consolidate their authority
IV. The Crusades
A. Beginning in 1095, the Crusades or a series of “holy wars”
B. Crusaders were offered an indulgence, which removed the penalties of any
confessed sins as well as various material benefits
C. By 1291, the Muslim forces had recaptured all of the temporary Christian
states established in the eastern Mediterranean
1. “Successful failures”Europeans lost permanent control of the land but
gained ideas from Islamic golden age
2. But also tremendous crueltyslaughtered Muslims and Jews
3. Crusading elsewhere tooSpanish and foreign, waged war for centuries
to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim hands
4. Europeans also learned techniques for producing sugar on large
plantations using slave labor from Muslims
5. Muslim scholarship, together with the Greek learning it incorporated,
also flowed into Europe, largely through Spain and Sicily
6. European empire building, especially in the Americas, continued the
crusading spirit
D. Yet More Reasons for Europe’s Rise Like Technological Borrowing
1. Gunpowder from China, but Europeansfirst to use it in cannons, in
early fourteenth centuryby 1500, had most advanced arsenals in world
2. A three-way struggle for powerkings, warrior aristocrats, and church
leaders enabled urban-based merchants to achieve an unusual
independence from political authoritypaved the way to a more
thorough development of capitalism in later centuries
3. Earlier cathedral schools became “zones of intellectual
autonomy”interest in rational thought
4. The scientific study of nature, known as “natural philosophy” began to
separate itself from theology
5. Stimulated European scholars to seek out original Greek texts
6. A new way of looking at the world and this borrowing, adapting, and
emphasis of rational thought in Western Europe would have profound
repercussions for world history
Summaries:
Strayer Questions:
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What replaced the Roman order in Western Europe?
In what ways was European civilization changing after 1000?
What was the impact of the Crusades in world history?
In what ways did borrowing from abroad shape European civilization after 1000?
Why was Europe unable to achieve the kind of political unity that China
experienced? What impact did this have on the subsequent history of Europe?
In what different ways did classical Greek philosophy and science have an impact in
the West, in Byzantium, and in the Islamic world?
1. Why were knights drawn principally
from the nobility?
(A) Nobles were smarter than
commoners.
(B) Monarchs did not believe that
commoners could think
strategically.
(C) The weapons and equipment
required for the knighthood were
too costly for anyone but
members of the nobility.
(D) Only noblemen could serve as
foot soldiers (knights-in-training).
(E) None of the above.
2. In what area did the Vikings NOT
settle?
(A) England
(B) The Arabian Peninsula
(C) Sicily
(D) France
(E) Greenland
3. Which of the following is an accurate
statement about feudalism in
Europe?
(A) It was discontinued by the 700s
C.E.
(B) Serfs were allowed to own land.
(C) The basic unit of feudal
landholding was the village.
(D) Feudalism led to major class
differences in society.
(E) Feudalism embraced the practice
of chivalry.
4. Women in medieval Europe
(A) All lacked property rights
(B) Had equality before the law,
especially in matters of
reproductive rights
(C) Had some legal protections, but
their rights often depended on
where they lived and which class
they belonged to
(D) Could become members of the
clergy
(E) Could enter religious life only in
Orthodox Byzantium
5. The Hanseatic League
(A) Was a trade union based in the
Mediterranean region
(B) Fought in the Middle East during
the Crusades
(C) Was a powerful banking house in
Italy
(D) Dominated trade in the Baltic
region
(E) Traded in diamonds
6. Which of the following is NOT a
reason for the Crusades?
(A) Racial and religious prejudice
(B) Geopolitical conflict between
Europe and the Middle East
(C) The Black Death
(D) Religious fervor
(E) The personal greed of many
Europeans to gain wealth and
land
Excerpt from oglethorpe.edu/faculty
…Trade Guilds, composed of individuals practicing the same craft, constituted one the
most important forms of social organization in medieval cities. The guilds set standards for
production through a formalized training system. A young man would be apprenticed to a
master craftsman, and learn the basic skills required for his trade. He would then leave
home as a Journeyman, and travel to other cities to work under other masters. Eventually
he would return and, after showing the extent of his skill through the production of a
master-piece, would be initiated in the circle of guild masters. Known by a variety of names
- corps de metiers, Zünfte, Arti - guilds were organized throughout Europe beginning in
the twelfth century. As their numbers increased, the guilds became increasingly specialized.
In Paris in 1260 there were 101 guilds. A century later, there were several dozen metalworking guilds in Nuremberg.
Over time, a hierarchy of guilds emerged, separating the wealthier professions from the
poorer ones. In Florence, a division arose between the Arti Maggiori, dominated by leading
merchants, and the Arti Miniori. The power of the masters increased as well. By the end of
the Middle Ages, the guild system primarily provided master - the leading citizens in the
towns - with a means of controlling the labor market. With the emergence of the puttingout system (Verlagssyatem) in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, merchants could farm
out work and maximize on profits by moving production away from the cities, were wages
were high, to the countryside, where labor was fairly cheap. Although the putting-out
system is generally associated with cloth, paper, metal wares, and even boats were
produced under this system.
In addition to guilds, there were trade associations between cities. Among the most
important of these was the Hansa, a league of German trading cities along the North Sea
and Baltic coast. At its height, the Hansa comprised over a hundred cities, and had offices
as far afield as Novgorod, Venice, and London. The Hansa established a monopoly over the
Baltic trade. Since the Baltic was the source for important raw materials, as well as grain
needed in western cities, the Hansa became an important political power…
Finally, as rulers became more dependent on towns and cities as administrative centers,
military outposts, and sources of revenue, deputations from the towns begin to appear at
representative assemblies. Cities first appear in the English Parliament and the Cortes of
Aragon in the later thirteenth century and in the French Estates General and the German
Imperial Diet in the early fourteenth century. Towns appear in the German territorial diets
(Landtag) and French provincial estates during the fifteenth century. The appearance of
towns in national and territorial assemblies is a sign of their newfound political and
economic prominence.
Thesis Statement: Change Over Time: Western Europe (RomeHigh Middle Ages)
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