Download European Middle Ages (Medieval Period) The Middle Ages A. So

European Middle Ages (Medieval Period)
The Middle Ages
A. So named because it falls between two great periods and two significant events
1. The Ancient Period: Greco-Roman Civilization
a. pre-500 AD
b. 476 AD, the “fall” of Rome
2. The Modern Period
a. 1500, emphasis on materialism
b. 1492, Columbus “discovers” America
B. 500 to 800, the Dark Ages
1. a period of little cultural or scientific advancement
C. 1050 to 1500, the High Middle Ages (1350 to 1600 Renaissance)
1. a maturing of social institutions allowed for greater stability and an era of creativity.
D. By the 7th Century, the world of Pax Romana had split into three separate areas:
1. Western Europe: Britain, Gaul, Germany, and Italy
2. Byzantium: Greece and Asia Minor
3. Islam: Middle East, the southern rim of the Mediterranean, and Spain
E. The culture of Western Europe was a merging of classical (Greco-Roman), Christian, and
Germanic elements.
1. Greeks and Romans had a “down to earth” attitude and the Christian ascetic world
view looked toward heavenly rewards.
Germanic Influence in Europe
A. Barbarian Invasions
1. coincided with a decline in population
2. brought a switch from urban to rural culture
3. Germans and Huns were less educated and cultured than the Romans.
a. education, literature, and the arts thus declined
B. Similarities of Germanic tribes
1. spoke closely related languages
2. similar physical characteristics: tall stature, fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes
3. before historic times had lived in the areas of Scandinavia and northern Germany
4. society based on hunting, herding, farming, and pillaging
C. Germanic Religion
1. polytheistic
2. reverence for nature spirits that resided in trees, rivers, mountains, and animals
3. deities included Tiu (Tuesday), Woden (Wednesday), Thor (Thursday), and Frigg
(Friday), and Eastre (goddess of spring)
4. pagan religion had a weak hold on them
5. Germans converted easily to Christianity
Germanic States
A. Of the numerous Germanic tribes, most assimilated into the cultures they conquered
1. They respected the ways of “civilization” and sought to imitate them.
2. However, two succeeded in building permanent states: the Anglo-Saxons and the
Franks.
B. The Anglo-Saxons
1. came from the area that is now Denmark
a. crossed the North Sea
b. invaded Britain during the 5th Century, (the Romans had already withdrawn)
2. overran the native Britons, who were quarreling among themselves
3. established several kingdoms
4. Scotland and Wales retained their independence
5. in the 10th Century, the separate Anglo-Saxon states combined into a single kingdom,
Angleland
6. Teutonic (German) language and customs had taken over
C. The Franks
1. originally from the areas of modern-day Germany and Belgium
2. came to power under the brilliant, but ruthless leadership of King Clovis
D. Clovis
1. eventually conquered lands from the Pyrenees Mountains to the Rhine River in
central Europe
2. Upon the urging of his wife, Clovis became a Christian.
a. This brought the support of the church in Rome.
3. Instead of overthrowing the existing Roman political institutions, Clovis put them
under the control of Franks.
4. When Clovis died in 511, his lands were divided among his four sons, according to
Germanic custom.
a. Clovis’s family ruled until 751, but their power had declined by the mid-600s.
b. The Mayor of the Palace, the chief court official, became the main ruler of the
Frankish kingdom.
c. By 700, the king was merely a figurehead, the nobility were in control, and
the main elements of the feudal state had been established.
E. Charles Martel
1. Frankish Mayor of the Palace
2. rallied Christians against the invading Muslims in 732
a. At a battle near Tours, he defeated the Muslims and held back the spread of
Islam into Western Europe.
b. a turning point in history
3. became known as “the Hammer”
4. founded the Carolingian dynasty
5. organized a strong central government
F. Pepin
1. son of Charles Martel
2. elected king by the Frankish nobles
a. For over a century, the Carolingian family had been responsible for the
defense and administration of the Frankish kingdom.
b. Although only figureheads, the descendants of Clovis would not relinquish
the crown.
c. Pepin approached local bishops who refused to depose the reigning
monarch, so he approached the pope who approved the deposition.
d. In 751 Pepin was crowned king of the Franks.
e. Now he owed the pope a favor.
i.
The Lombards had invaded Italy in 568, and were now threatening
the power and the territories of the papacy.
ii.
Although Byzantine rulers still claimed Italy, the east had military
problems of their own, in addition, a schism between the Latin and
Greek churches had strained relations, so Pope Stephen II turned to
Pepin for help.
iii. In 754 Stephen paid a visit to the Frankish court and re-anointed
Pepin as king and won promises of military help.
iv.
In 756, Pepin and his military regime crossed the Alps, defeated
the Lombards, and transferred a strip of territory across central
Italy to the governing authority of the pope.
v.
This became known as the Donation of Pepin.
vi.
The States of the Church became a sovereign political entity, and
remained one for 1000 years, until the unification of Italy in 1870.
f. The action of the Pope Stephen II re-anointing Pepin as king symbolized
the strong ties between the king and the Church, and later popes used this
incident to justify their claims of authority over political rulers.
F. Charlemagne: means Charles the Great (was not used for a century after his death)
1. The son of Pepin, his given name was Karl.
2. During his forty-six year reign, he restored a measure of unity to Western
Christendom and expanded its frontiers.
3. He personified the merging of Roman, Christian, and Germanic elements: “the
Roman idea of universality and order, the Christian religion, and Frankish military
power.”
4. Carolingian Renaissance
a. His court at Aachen was the first important stone building erected north of the
Alps after the fall of Rome, the chapel was modeled after the Byzantine church
of San Vitale.
b. Artisans and artists were imported from Italy, thus stimulating the
development of the arts in northern Europe.
c. Concerned about the low level of education and scholarship in his realm, he
set up a palace school which became a center of intellectual activity in 780.
i.
He recruited a monk named Alcuin, the leading scholar of his day,
from the cathedral school at York, the finest academic institute in
England, to head a faculty of distinguished scholars from all over
Europe.
ii.
Alcuin trained a staff of expert scribes (copyists) to reproduce ancient
manuscripts.
d. He issued a decree instructing bishops and abbots to improve the training of
the clergy.
e. In monastery schools, students learned Latin, the language of the Church.
f. Monks made copies of the Bible and the few surviving ancient Greek and
Roman texts.
i.
They developed the art of illumination, where the first letter of a
paragraph and the margins of a page were decorated.
ii.
They also invented the use of lower case letters, Carolingian
minuscule.
5. Charlemagne was almost constantly at war, fighting for the
higher goals of Christianity and universal order.
a. He defeated the Lombards in Italy in 774.
i.
He called himself king of the Lombards as well as king of the Franks.
b. He fought against the Saxons for 30 years.
i.
They were the only heathen Germans left and Charlemagne was
determined to turn them into loyal Christian subjects.
ii.
They were finally defeated after their homeland to the north and east
of the Franks was laid to waste, many people were massacred, and the
rest were relocated to other parts of the empire.
c. He created military zones to separate the Christians from the heathen.
i.
Danemark separated the Danes for over a century, until the Danish
king converted to Christianity.
ii.
Nordmark on the eastern frontier separated the Slavs; it later became
the duchy of Brandenburg, which later became the state of Prussia.
iii. Ostmark or East Mark held back the Magyars and Mongolian Avars;
this eventually became the duchy of Austria.
iv.
Spanish Mark held back the Muslims south of the Pyrenees, and later
allowed Christianity to spread to the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile.
6. Domestic Policy
a. Various territories were allowed to govern themselves according to their own
laws.
b. Royal inspectors, called missi dominici, a nobleman and a clergyman, visited
each territory once a year to check up on performance of local nobility.
c. Territory was organized into regions in a system inherited from earlier kings
and late Roman rulers.
i.
Counts represented the crown in an area called a county; they presided
over a court that met monthly, collected fines, and in times of war
assembled knights for military action.
ii.
Dukes represented several counties.
iii. Both Dukes and Counts were chosen from the local landed nobility.
7. “Restoration of the Roman Empire”
a. On Christmas Day 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as “Charles
Augustus, Emperor of the Romans in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
b. The Pope did this to obtain a strong protector from what could possibly be a
dangerous adversary and so he could separate himself from the Byzantine
emperor.
Although surprised, Charlemagne was happy to receive the honor.
c. Technically, there was already an “Emperor of the Romans” in
Constantinople, as there had been since the 4th Century, a woman named
Irene. However, according to Roman tradition, women were considered
ineligible to rule, and thus, the pope had elevated Charlemagne to a “vacant”
throne.
d. By his action and position as “donor,” the pope secured a position of
superiority over the emperor, who would be under obligation to the papacy.
Later popes would claim that they had the right to withdraw what had been
given to unseat emperors.
8. Differences between the Roman Empire and Charlemagne’s Empire
a. Charlemagne’s territories had no single citizenship, no unified law, no
professional civil service.
b. Few cities had survived and roads were in disrepair.
c. Although Christianity was the main unifying force, the agencies of the church
did not compare to the firm political institutions of Rome.
d. Charlemagne’s empire was held together on basis of his personality, and after
his death in 814, it basically fell apart.
Feudalism and the Manor System
A. Causes of Feudalism
1. Feudalism evolved from the loosely organized system of government in which local
lords (vassals) governed their own lands but owed military service and other support
to a greater lord.
2. As Roman civilization declined, Europe became an isolated land of disunity, conflict,
and poverty.
3. After the death of Charlemagne, internal divisions and invasions once again disrupted
European life.
4. Diocletian began the process when he tied the peasants to the land, and it progressed
when Charlemagne consolidated the structural organization of this political system.
5. Through interdependence and mutual responsibilities, feudalism provided people with
protection and other benefits.
6. While feudalism brought political structure to the early Middle Ages, the manor
system was responsible for providing economic and social structure.
B. Political Organization
1. Medieval society was divided into three estates.
a. The clergy (guardians of peoples’ souls) were the first estate, the nobility
(protectors of life and property) were the second estate, and the commoners
(peasant farmers - 90% of the population) were the third estate.
2. Everyone in medieval society had a clearly defined role.
3. The king was at the top of the feudal pyramid with nobles such as barons, dukes, and
counts progressively below him.
4. The nobility was a military aristocracy that held political and economic control.
a. Land equaled power.
5. Vassals were nobles who owed allegiance to a higher-level noble.
6. Knights were mounted warriors.
7. Chivalry was the code of conduct which required knights to be brave, loyal, true to
their word, and respectful to women.
8. Women’s rights were generally restricted, but noblewomen played significant roles.
C. Feudal Obligations
1. In an act of homage, each vassal had to swear a pledge of loyalty to his lord.
2. Vassals owed their lord military service by furnishing himself and armed men.
3. In the beginning, there was unlimited service, but later service was limited to 40 days
a year.
4. Vassals also had to serve on the lord’s court which met once a month to hear disputes
of vassals over land, interpretations of feudal rights, and criminal charges.
a. The lord would preside at court, and the vassals acted as judges. Armed
conflict could result if the losing party refused to accept the decision.
b. “When evidence was lacking, the court might require individuals to walk
barefoot over hot coals, or thrust their arms into boiling water, or risk
personal injury in some other way. It was believed that God would save
them from harm if they were innocent and telling the truth. But bodily
damage from such a test was seen as proof of guilt, and the court imposed
the customary penalty for the alleged crime” (Greer 186).
c. This custom was called trial by ordeal and went on until the 13th century.
5. Relief
a. Vassals were also required to provide their lord with certain payments
called relief.
b. This usually consisted of giving the first year’s income to the lord after
receiving a fief.
c. Hospitality to the lord, his family, and attendants involved providing food,
lodging, and entertainment for a given amount of days each year.
d. Payments were also made to the lord on special days, such as the
knighting of his eldest son and the marriage of his eldest daughter.
e. If the Lord was captured in battle, his vassals were required to pay his
ransom.
6. Conflicts
a. Vassals could hold fiefs from more than one lord; however, the liege lord
received primary loyalty in cases of conflict between overlords.
b. It was common to be both a lord and a vassal.
D. Manor System
1. A fief was the land granted to a vassal by his lord.
a. It included one or more villages and all surrounding lands.
b. Fiefs were miniature governments based on self-interest and mutual defense,
where there was an exchange of property for personal service.
c. A great fief was subdivided into hundreds of smaller estates called manors
that ranged in size from 300 to 3000 acres. However most were about 1000
acres and supported 200 to 300 people.
2. Vassals protected the inhabitants of his fief, collected taxes, and dispensed justice.
3. The lord of the manor traditionally took half the produce of the estate to feed his
family and personal aides, to give to his overlord, and to put in storage to reserve for
years of crop failure so that the peasants could be fed.
4. The property of a monastery was a fief that had the usual military, financial, and
political responsibilities as a vassal.
E. Economy
1. Agriculture was the primary economic activity on the medieval manor.
2. There were many improvements during this period thanks to a variety of innovations.
a. The three-field system of crop rotation brought greater yields.
i. In this system, one field was planted with grain, another was
planted with beans, and the third was left fallow – not planted with
crops – but enriched with night-soil (human and animal poop).
ii. Each year the fields were rotated, thereby renewing the soil.
b. Iron plows replaced wooden plows.
c. Horses replaced slower oxen after the horse collar was adopted as a new kind
of harness and iron horseshoes were utilized.
d. Windmills were introduced to grind grain into flour in areas where a watermill
could not be used.
F. Peasants: serfs or freemen.
1. Serfs
a. These peasants were bound to the land, meaning they were not allowed to
leave the manor.
b. They could not marry without the lord’s permission.
c. They needed permission from the lord to go to fairs, nearby towns, or on a
yearly pilgrimage to a Christian shrine.
d. Even when permitted to travel, few chose to because the roads were poor,
there were few hostels, and there was widespread banditry.
e. However, they could not be evicted from the land.
f. They were required to do any labor the lord demanded, such as clearing
forests, building roads, etc.
g. They also had to work a plot of land for the church, God’s acre.
2. Freemen
a. These peasants had ancestors who had avoided the commitment of perpetual
servitude.
b. They were merely tenets on the land who paid rent to the lord in the form of a
share of the crops.
c. They could be evicted at any time and had no guarantee of protection from the
lord.
3. Lifestyle
a. Village life was not pleasant.
b. Homes were tiny, usually only one room.
c. There was a lack of privacy, and usually the whole family along with their
animals slept together.
d. Illiterate and uneducated, peasants lived a very simple life.
e. Husbands and fathers had full control, but the whole family toiled together in
the fields.
The Roman Catholic Church
A. Church Influence
1. The Roman Catholic Church was the primary institution of medieval society.
2. With both spiritual and secular power, the church dominated life.
3. Since it was believed to be the only way to salvation (eternal life in heaven) and the
prospect of heavenly rewards held strong appeal, the church possessed immense
influence.
4. Given that people did not want to burn in hell for their sins, they obeyed canon
(church) laws and participated in the sacraments (sacred rituals of the church).
5. Failure to obey could result in excommunication, wherein you could not receive the
sacraments, which were considered to be the only way to avoid the tortures of hell. In
addition, good Christians were required to shun you.
6. A noble who violated church laws could face an interdict, which meant that his entire
fief was excluded from receiving the sacraments.
a. Popular pressure would soon force the noble into obedience.
B. Saints
1. They were the heroes of the Middle Ages, (as the epic warriors had been the heroes of
classical Greece).
2. They included the 12 apostles, the early martyrs, and the Virgin Mary.
3. The saints were called upon frequently.
4. Relics
a. Oaths and treaties were sworn on saintly remains (relics).
b. These relics were carried in religious parades.
c. The skulls, bones, and hairs of saints were very popular.
d. Stranger relics included sweat, tears, the umbilical cord of Jesus, St. Joseph’s
breath, and the Virgin’s milk.
e. Fragments of the “true cross” were everywhere.
f. There were several heads which were claimed to be of John the Baptist.
g. The genuineness of these relics was not questioned by the faithful.
h. However, by the end of the Middle Ages, even some devout Christians began
to express doubts of their authenticity.
C. Clergy
1. They were divided into two groups.
2. Secular clergy were the parish priests.
3. Regular clergy lived in monasteries.
a. It was the monks in the monasteries that kept literacy and learning alive.
b. They provided elementary education for youths planning to enter the clergy,
and they preserved and copied manuscripts.
D. Illuminated Manuscripts
1. Monks illuminated or illustrated each page of manuscripts they copied by decorating
the letters and framing the text with intricate designs, biblical scenes, or portrayals of
daily life.
2. Copying the Bible was considered to be a form of worship, and thus the beauty of the
illuminations had to match the importance of the content.
3. At first, there was some hesitation to render images of Christ and other holy persons,
but in the 6th century, Pope Gregory the Great proclaimed that “painting can do for
the illiterate what writing does for those who can read” (Prentice Hall: TE 193).
4. Copyists labored in workshops called scriptoria.
5. They became specialists at their work.
a. Antiquarii created the calligraphy.
b. Rubricaores illuminated the initial letters.
c. Miniatores illustrated the margins.
6. The work of writing and illuminating manuscripts was a way of “fighting the Devil
by pen and ink” (Prentice Hall: TE 193).
E. Church Corruption
1. This was major issue in the Middle Ages.
2. Monks swore vows of poverty, but monasteries got rich and many abbots lived
elegant lives.
3. In addition, obedience to monastic rules weakened, such as vows of chastity, physical
labor, and the arts of reading and writing.
4. Powerful nobles had control over the appointment of Bishops and Archbishops and
began selling these offices; this practice was known as simony.
5. Some parish priests were illiterate, and some had wives and children.
6. Distressed by widespread corruption, the Monastery of Cluny in France began a
reform movement in the early 900s that helped restore discipline among the clergy.
7. Pope Gregory VII extended the Cluniac reforms throughout the entire church in 1073.
High Middle Ages: 1050-1350
Towns grew up around castles and monasteries to provide them with goods and services.
A. Agricultural Revolution
1. New Technology
a. iron plows
b. horse harness rather than oxen – quicker
c. windmill to grind grain
2. Expanding Production
a. peasants cleared forests, drained swamps, reclaimed waste land
b. led to population increase
B. Trade Revives
1. people began to desire more than what was produced on the manor
a. peasants wanted iron for tools
b. nobles wanted fine wool, furs, and spices from Asia
2. New Trade Routes
a. traders formed merchant caravans for safety
b. regular trade routes were set up
c. local goods (honey, furs, fine cloth, tin, lead) were exchanged for
d. imported goods (Chinese silks, Byzantine gold jewelry, Asian spices)
e. Constantinople to Venice to Flanders to England
3. Trade Fairs
a. located near navigable rivers and where trade routes met
b. people from nearby villages, towns, and castles attended
c. entertainment included jugglers, acrobats, and dancing bears
4. New Towns
a. merchants would wait out the winter near a castle or bishop’s palace
b. artisans came to live
c. eventually populations reached 10,000
d. most prosperous cities were in northern Italy and Flanders – which were
centers of the wool trade and prosperous textile industries
e. charter
i.
merchants would ask the local lord for a written document that set out
the rights and privileges of the town
ii.
in return the merchants paid the lord a large sum of money, a yearly
fee, or both
iii. charters usually allowed townspeople to choose their own leaders and
control their own affairs
iv.
most had a clause declaring any serf who lived in the town a year and
a day to be free
C. Commercial Revolution
1. money reappeared
2. merchants borrowed from moneylenders to buy goods
3. capital – money for investment
4. new business practices
a. partnerships – merchants pooled their funds to finance a large-scale ventures
b. insurance was created to compensate for lost or destroyed merchandise
c. bills of exchange used – deposit money in a bank in one city and cash in the
paper in another city (from Middle East)
5. social changes
a. use of money undermined serfdom
i.
lords needed money to buy goods
ii.
peasants sold produce to townspeople and paid the lord’s rent with
money rather than labor
6. by 1300 – few serfs were left in Western Europe
7. by 1000 – middle class of merchants, traders, and artisans emerged between nobles
and peasants
a. nobles resented middle class for being a disruptive influence
b. clergy felt the practice of usury (lending money at interest) was immoral
D. Role of Guilds
1. guilds – associations of merchants and artisans that dominated life in medieval towns
by passing laws, levying taxes, and deciding how to spend funds
2. each guild represented a different occupation
3. in some towns there were riots between craft guilds and wealthier merchant guilds
4. guilds limited membership, monopolized labor, made rules to ensure quality,
regulated hours of labor, regulated prices, provided social services by opening
schools and hospitals and aiding widows and children of guild members
5. apprentice (trainee) began to serve a guild-master around age 7 and spent 7 years
learning the trade and only received bed and board
6. most became journeymen (salaried workers), few became guild-masters
7. women were in guilds
a. some inherited shops
b. some apprenticed as ribbon-makers, papermakers, and surgeons
c. in some cities a third of all guild members were women
E. City Life
1. cities were surrounded by walls for protection
2. narrow streets and tall houses
3. larger cities had a great cathedral or a splendid guild house
4. hawkers sold stuff during the day
5. unlit streets were deserted at night
6. no garbage or sewage collection
a. people yelled “gardy loo” as they flung their waste out a window into the
street
7. filthy, smelly, noisy, crowded
a. facilitated the spread of disease
b. wooded buildings were a fire hazard
F. Major Changes
1. return of a money economy
2. trade brought new products, ideas, and technology
3. middle class changed the social structure
4. monarchs increased their power
5. increased contact with other cultures
Crusades
A. Goal: to liberate the Holy Land.
1. During the 600s, Muslim Arabs conquered Palestine, but tolerated Christian pilgrims.
2. 1071: Seljuk Turks took over Palestine and according to reports were torturing
Christians.
3. 1095: Alexius Commenus, the Byzantine Emperor, asked Pope Urban II for help.
a. Although relations between the two branches of Christianity were strained,
especially after the schism (permanent split) of 1054, Urban was willing to
help.
i.
He hoped to reunite the eastern and western branches of the church
and increase the prestige of the church.
ii.
He also saw the Middle East as an outlet for the growing European
population.
iii. He also hoped to reduce feudal warfare by sending knights off to fight
the Muslims rather than continuing to fight amongst each other.
4. 1095: At the Council of Clermont in France, Urban preached for a crusade (holy war)
to take the Holy Land back from the Muslims.
a. “From Jerusalem and the city of Constantinople comes a grievous report… An
accursed race … has violently invaded the lands of those Christians and
depopulated them by pillage and fire… Seize that land from [the Seljuks], and
subject it to yourselves… Undertake this journey eagerly for the forgiveness
of your sins and with the assurance of everlasting glory in the kingdom of
heaven.”
5. In response, clergy, nobles, and commoners shouted, “Deus lo volt.” (God wills it.)
6. Thousands of knights and peasants sewed large crosses on their tunics and set out for
the Holy Land. Few would return.
7. Motivation
a. For many, the crusades appealed to their desire for wealth, honor, sense of
adventure, and hope for spiritual salvation.
b. There were rumors that Palestine was a land of fabulous riches.
c. The pope promised forgiveness of sins and entrance into the kingdom of
heaven for anyone who died in the crusades.
d. Serfs could obtain freedom from their lord.
e. Citizens who enlisted were freed from paying taxes.
f. Those who owed debts were allowed to pay them back without additional
fees.
g. Prisoners were released from jails, and sentences of death were commuted to
life service in Palestine.
8. Between 1096 and 1204, there were four major crusades, a peasant’s crusade, and two
children’s crusade.
9. Minor crusades continued until 1270.
B. Crusades
1. Peasant’s Crusade
a. It was led by Peter the Hermit. Unarmed peasants from France and Germany
looted towns in Eastern Europe and attacked Jewish communities along the
way. Once in Constantinople, the Byzantine emperor rushed them into Asia
Minor where they were killed by Turks.
st
2. 1 Crusade ~ only one successful.
a. 1096: Crusaders left from France and in 1099 captured Jerusalem. They
justified their massacre of Muslim and Jewish men, women, and children on
the basis that they were non-Christians. One knight observed that, “Men rode
in blood up to their knees.” In 1099, the captured lands were divided into four
Crusader States: County of Edessa, Principality of Antioch, County of Tripoli,
and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
3. 2nd Crusade
a. 1147-1149: After the fall of Edessa in 1144, the 2nd Crusade was called by a
French monk Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. It was a total failure.
4. 3rd Crusade
a. 1189-1192: Muslim General Saladin captured Jerusalem in 1187 - attempt to
recapture failed - 3 year truce. Saladin treated his European opponents in a
chivalrous manner, particularly King Richard I of England, whom he
respected greatly. During a battle at Jaffe in 1192, when Saladin learned that
Richard’s horse had been killed, he sent Richard another horse, declaring that
so gallant a warrior should not have to fight on foot. On another occasion,
Richard fell ill and in his fever called for fruit and drink. Saladin sent him
pears, peaches, snow, and his personal physician. Saladin also reportedly
remarked that if he must lose his land, he’d rather lose it to Richard than any
other man alive. After the 3rd Crusade, the Muslim leader Saladin allowed
Christians to go to Jerusalem for religious pilgrimages.
th
5. 4 Crusade
a. 1202 - 1204: Venetian merchants encouraged an attack on Constantinople,
which seriously weakened the Byzantine Empire. High ideals had been
abandoned for greed and political ambition.
6. 1212: Children’s Crusades
a. Twelve-year-old Stephen of France said God appeared to him in a vision and
told him that only innocent children could drive the infidels from the Holy
Land. His zealous preaching in the countryside eventually attracted about
30,000 children who set out with him to the port of Marseilles. Few were over
the age of 12. Some were girls, and a few adults joined them. Singing,
shouting, and praying, they lived off the countryside. Some died along the
way. The pure ones thought that the Mediterranean Sea would miraculously
part to open a path to Jerusalem. Instead, the exhausted young crusaders were
promised free transport to the Holy Land by unscrupulous merchants and
loaded onto old, rotted ships. Two of the ships sank in a storm, drowning all
aboard. The children on the remaining ships were sold into slavery in Egypt.
b. Nicholas, a German boy, heard about the preaching of Stephen and organized
his own crusade. His followers were slightly older than the French children.
Less than a third survived the trip over the Alps. Although ordered home by
Pope Innocent III, most were too worn out to make it and took permanent
refuge in villages along the way.
7. 1218-1221: took place in Egypt.
8. 1228-1229: Jerusalem freed by a peaceful negotiation.
9. 1249: tried again to take Egypt.
10. 1270: leader dies of plague - effort fails.
11. By 1291, the city of Acre, the last Christian outpost, was captured by Muslims, who
massacred their defeated enemies, the Christians.
C. Outcome
1. The Crusades failed in their chief goal—the conquest of the Holy Land.
2. They established a “bitter legacy of hatred between Christians and Muslims, both of
whom “committed appalling atrocities in the name of religion.”
3. briefly increased the power and prestige of the pope
4. increased the power of monarchs who levied taxes to support the Crusades
5. increased trade between east and west
6. Italian merchants and shipbuilders got rich by maintaining the supply lines and
transportation to the Holy Land.
7. encouraged the growth of a money economy in Western Europe
8. selling goods for a profit became acceptable
9. rise of towns
10. increased persecution of Jews
11. greater contact with other civilizations opened minds to new ideas
12. sparked an interest in exploration
13. thousands of people were slaughtered and a great amount of property was destroyed
Learning, Literature, and the Arts
A. Learning
1. During the 1100s, the first universities evolved out of cathedral schools.
2. Literature began to be written in the vernacular (everyday language of the people)
rather than in Latin only.
a. Muslim scholars translated the works of Aristotle and other Greeks into
Arabic.
b. Jews translated from Arabic into Latin, bringing Greek and Roman
knowledge to Western Europe.
3. Scholasticism was developed by Christian scholars to resolve the conflict between
faith and reason.
a. Thomas Aquinas was the premier scholastic. In Summa Theologica he
examined Christian teachings in the light of reason. By allowing faith and
reason to exist in harmony, he brought together classical Greek philosophy
and Christian faith.
B. Literature
1. Chanson de geste (SHAN sohn duh JEHST) - long narrative poems - portrayed the
ideals of chivalry, such as the Song of Roland and the Poem of the Cid.
2. Christine de Pizan, an educated Italian who lived in France, wrote The City of Ladies,
which examined the achievements of women and men’s negative views of women.
3. Troubadour poems of love were popular among the nobility.
4. In Dante’s Divine Comedy, the Roman poet Virgil leads Dante on a visit to hell,
purgatory, and later heaven.
5. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is the story of pilgrims on their way to the
tomb of Thomas Becket in Canterbury in southern England.
C. Art
1. The theme of all medieval art was religion.
2. Illuminated manuscripts combined calligraphy with paintings in miniature, and
abstract twisting lines (Celtic knots) from traditional pagan art.
D. Great cathedrals were built.
1. Romanesque style: 1000 - 1150
a. rounded arches and domed roofs showed Roman influence
b. outside walls were made thick to support the weight
c. since windows weakened the walls, only a few narrow slits let in light
d. simple, solid, dark, gloomy fortress
e. flat, masculine, and simply adorned
2. Gothic style: 1150 - 1300
a. French architects overcame great difficulties to build tall, light, airy
cathedrals
b. flying buttresses, graceful stone arms, provided exterior support
c. walls were thinner and taller
d. large stained glass windows allowed the light of God to shine in
e. complex, lacy, richly embroidered, feminine skeleton
E. Science and Technology
1. Despite the lack of scientific observation and experimentation and the unquestioned
authority of the Catholic Church, some scientific progress was made.
2. Although classical and Arabic knowledge eventually reached Europe from Spain and
the Byzantine Empire, only those ideas that fit with Church teachings were accepted.
3. Euclid’s knowledge of geometry and Hippocrates medical teachings were examined.
4. In the 800s, the Hindu-Arabic numerals were adopted from the Muslims in Spain.
5. Although scholars continued to believe that the earth was the center of the universe,
they did mathematically prove that the earth was round.
6. Early inventions such as the iron plow, the waterwheel, and the windmill were
surpassed by clocks, lenses for glasses, and glass for windows and mirrors.
7. Alchemists attempting to turn regular metals into gold utilized methods of study that
led to the development of laboratory experiments.
8. An English monk designed and built a glider that flew 600 feet in 1000.
9. In the 1200s, Roger Bacon conducted experiments in optics, the branch of physics
that studies light and sound, and he predicted the invention of cars, flying machines,
and fast boats powered by engines. He is known as the founder of experimental
science.
10. Around 1300, an Italian physician, Guido da Vigvano, sketched plans for an
automobile engine and a submarine.
a. Medicine was still poor.
b. Most people relied on folk medicine that combined traditional herbal remedies
with superstition and Christian beliefs.
c. Many believed that illness was the work of the devil or evil spirits. Surgery
was performed to release the evil spirits.
d. People prayed to the saints for cures and made pilgrimages to holy shrines
where they prayed for a miraculous cure.
End of an Era: Late Middle Ages
A. 1200s - rise of towns
1. The growth of towns and a middle class weakened the position of the nobility.
2. Increased trade created a money economy, which replaced the barter economy.
3. Monarchs were able to hire soldiers for standing armies to protect the people and they
no longer relied on vassals for support.
4. Strong monarchs undermined feudal nobility.
B. 1300s - challenging century
1. social unrest - peasant revolts
2. bad weather and crop failures early in the century led to hunger and starvation
C. Divisions in the Catholic Church
1. 1209 - Pope Innocent III launched a brutal crusade against the “Albigensian heresy”
that was centered near the cathedral town of Albi in southern France. Reformers
wanted to purify the Church by returning to the simple ways of early Christianity. By
1226, tens of thousands were slaughtered. To deal with further heretics, Innocent’s
successor, Pope Gregory IX, established a permanent court to find and try heretics,
the Inquisition.
2. Babylonian Captivity: 1309 - 1378
3. 1294: King Philip IV attempted to kidnap Pope Boniface VII after he forbid Philip to
tax the French clergy. Pope Boniface was badly beaten and died shortly after his
assault. Philip then engineered the election of a French pope, Clement V, who moved
the papacy to Avignon (ah vee NYOHN) in southern France.
4. During their captivity, the popes lived a lavish lifestyle.
5. 1378: reformers elected their own pope to rule from Rome.
6. 1378 - 1417: The Great Schism - two popes - one in Avignon and one in Rome.
7. The French pope was finally persuaded to accept the Roman pope.
8. The Church lost political power and religious authority. Many were outraged by two
popes, each claiming to have supreme spiritual authority.
9. John Wycliffe, professor of theology at Oxford, attacked Church corruption. He
asserted that the sacraments were not necessary for salvation and insisted that the
Bible was the source of Christian truth, not the Church. He encouraged his followers
to translate the Bible into English so people could read it for themselves and not rely
on the interpretation of the clergy. His movement was repressed.
10. Jan Hus called for reforms in Bohemia (Czech Republic) and was tried for heresy and
burned at the stake in 1415. His followers, the Hussites, were also persecuted.
11. Despite persecution, heresies continued to multiply.
D. Hundred Years’ War: 1337-1453: England vs. France
1. English rulers controlled the French lands of their Norman ancestors.
2. English victories at Crecy (1346), Poitiers (1356), and Agincourt (1415) were due to
superior technology.
3. The longbow, which shot out arrows three times as quickly as the traditional bow,
could pierce through most armor and knock knights off their horses.
4. Heavy armor prevented fallen knights from being effective foot soldiers.
5. Gunpowder, which when used in cannons, could blow out the walls of castles and
towns, lessening their defensive value.
6. 1429 - Joan of Arc, 17-year-old peasant woman led the French to victory. She was
captured by the Burgundians and handed over to their English allies. She was tried as
a witch and burned at the stake. She became a martyr and later a saint.
7. By 1453, the English only held the port city of Calais.
8. The effect of the Hundred Years’ War for France was increased nationalism and royal
power. For England, it was an increase in the power of Parliament which won control
of the “power of the purse,” and a new interest in overseas trade.
E. The Plague
1. Early 1300s, widespread crop failures led to famine, malnutrition, and starvation.
2. In 1348, the bubonic plague (Black Death) struck Western Europe. It came from the
east.
3. It killed one-third of the population of Western Europe.
4.
5.
6.
7.
It was spread by fleas on rats.
In cities, the death toll could reach out to 1000s per day.
Swelling and black bruises developed around flea bites.
Within 2-3 days, victims suffered heavy sweats and convulsive coughing that
involved spitting up blood. They emitted a foul odor and died in agony.
8. Reoccurrence continued throughout the 1300s.
9. People reacted in various ways.
10. Some suffered a loss of faith.
11. Some turned to magic and witchcraft.
12. Some began to live their lives in wild abandonment.
13. Some beat themselves with whips to show repentance for their sins.
14. It brought a climate of guilt and despair.
15. It took 100 years for the economy to recover.
F. Economic Transformation
1. growth of banking and capitalism
2. decline of feudal and manorial systems
3. weakening of the guild system
4. emergence of the domestic system - merchants hired laborers who were paid for
piecework
G. 1400s - time of change
1. the medieval pattern had begun to dissolve gradually
2. Strong national monarchies arose in England, France, and Spain to form centralized
governments.
3. Most serfs were emancipated.
4. There was a flourishing in the arts and literature—the Renaissance.
5. Inquisition - court established by the Catholic Church in the 1200s to locate and try
heretics - actively persecuted Jews, Muslims, and alleged witches.
6. Unlike the Roman Empire, medieval civilization did not fall. There were no waves of
Barbarians, no collapse of civic order and commerce.
7. By 1650, a new pattern emerged.
a. The agrarian economy became more commercial.
b. Ideals of asceticism, poverty, and humility were replaced with aspirations of
pleasure, money, and status.