chapter 6 late antiquity and the early middle ages: creating a new european society and culture...

Chapter 6Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages:

Creating a New European Society and Culture (476–1000)

Chapter 6Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages:

Creating a New European Society and Culture (476–1000)

Germanic Migrations“Invasion” preceded by centuries of Roman-Germanic coexistenceEnded with influx of Visigoths, starting 376, pushed by Huns from AsiaVisigoths reached southern Gaul, SpainVandals gained control of northwest Africa and western MediterraneanBurgundians settled in GaulFranks settled in north-central Gaul Angles & Saxons in England

Barbarian Rule

410—Visigoths under Alaric sack Rome

452—Attila the Hun invades Italy

455—Vandals sack Rome

476—Traditional end of Roman Empire when barbarian Odovacer deposes last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus

Barbarian Rule (cont.)

Barbarians saturate Western empire by end of 5th centuryRoman and Germanic cultures mix, Roman more influentialVisigoths, Ostrogoths, & Vandals entered West as Arian ChristiansFranks of Gaul convert to Catholic (Roman) Christianity around 500, others to follow

Byzantine Empire (324–1453)

Periods:Construction of Constantinople in 324 to start of Arab expansion and spread of Islam in 632—(greatest political & cultural achievements)

632 to conquest of Asia Minor by Seljuk Turks in 1071 (or, fall of Constantinople to Western Crusaders in 1204)

1071/1204 to fall of Constantinople to Ottoman Turks in 1453

Byzantine Empire under Justinian (r. 527–565)

Co-ruled absolutely with wife Theodora

Constantinople: pop. 350,000, largest city, crossroads of Asia & Europe

Centralized government: “one God, one empire, one religion”

Law reform: four-volume Corpus Juris Civilis (“body of civil law”)—used as a model through the Renaissance

Church of Hagia Sophia—Justinian’s most famous monument

Briefly recaptured North Africa, Italy, southern Spain

Byzantine Christianity

A.k.a. Eastern Orthodoxy

Missionaries (later saints) Cyril & Methodius create Greek-based alphabet for Slavs of the Balkans—Cyrillic

Old Church Slavonic—international Slavic language through which Byzantine Christianity spread in Eastern Europe

IslamMuhammad (570–632)

Marriage to wealthy widow in Mecca at 25

Religious epiphany at 40—God’s word recited to him by angel Gabriel

Revelations collected by followers into Islamic holy book, the Qur’an (“a reciting”), 650–651

Summons all Arabs to submit to God’s will• Muslim = submissive, surrendering

• Islam = submission

Muhammad, “the Prophet,” believed to be last of God’s prophets

Driven from Mecca, 622, returned with an army and conquered, 624

Islamic Divisions

7th c. disputes:Line of succession to Muhammad (caliphate)

Doctrinal issues of inclusivity

Shi’a: backers of caliph Ali; developed theology of martyrdom; embattled minority in mainstream Islam

Sunnis (followers of sunna, “tradition”): majority centrist; loyalty to Islamic community above all

Islamic Empires

Muslims attacked fatigued Byzantine & Persian empires, overrunning Persia by 651

By 750, Muslim Empire stretched from Spain through North Africa & Arabia to India

Halted in Western Europe by Charles Martel at Poitiers in 732

Capital moved from Mecca to Damascus, then to Baghdad in 750

Western Society and Christianity5th & 6th c. decline7th c.: Byzantine Empire occupied with Islamic threat, leaving most of the West to Franks & LombardsWestern culture forming from Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian, and barbarian heritagesDecline of temporal powers matched by rise of Christian churchChurch government modeled on Roman administration: centralized & hierarchicalCathedral became center of urban life, local bishop highest authority, with pope in Rome filling vacuum left by departed Roman emperors

Monastic CultureMonks growing in number & respectWith rise of Church, monasticism replaces martyrdom as highest tributeLife of chastity, poverty, obedienceHermit monasticism followed by communal monasticism—rise of monasteriesBenedict of Nursia

Founder of Benedictine order, 529Monks Christianized England & GermanyRule for Monasteries

Papal Primacy

Early state control of church in East & West (Emperor Constantine)

Supplanted by doctrine of papal primacy: raised Roman pope to position of supremacy in the church

Title pontifex maximus: “supreme priest”

Religious Division of Christendom

Differences between East & West:Nature of the TrinityPlace of images in worship—IconoclasmEastern emperors’ claims to both secular & religious sovereignty—CaesaropapismAlso: Eastern church denied existence of Purgatory, allowed divorce, permitted priests (but not bishops) to marry, and conducted services in the local language (vs. Latin or Greek)

Schism of 1054—pope & patriarch excommunicate each other

Kingdom of the Franks

Frankish Merovingian dynasty established under Clovis (ca. 466–511) in Gaul

Franks occupied modern France, Belgium, Netherlands, western Germany

Beginning of most persistent medieval political problem: central rule versus local power

Carolingian dynasty supplants Merovingian, 751, under Pepin the Short

Frankish Church

Church dependent on Frankish protection against East and LombardsCarolingian policy under Charles Martel (d. 741): convert the conquered to Roman Christianity755: Franks defeat Lombards, giving pope lands around Rome, creating the Papal States

Charlemagne (r. 768–814)Son of Pepin the Short; continued policy of protecting Rome & conquering land in the north774, defeated Lombards in northern Italy & assumed title “King of the Lombards”Saxons subjugated, Christianized, eastern Avars destroyedMuslims driven beyond PyreneesKingdom of Charlemagne ultimately covered modern France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, western Germany, northern Italy, part of Spain, & Corsica

Charlemagne (cont.)Desired to be “universal emperor” of a Frankish Christian empireConstructed palace city at Aachen, imitating ancient Roman & contemporary Eastern courtsUsed church to promote social stability & orderCrowned emperor by Pope Leo III in 800; began what came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire—considered revival of old Roman Empire, based in Germany after 870Governed through about 250 counts who maintained local armies, collected dues, & administered justice through local law court or mallus; problem of loyaltyMissi domenici: royal envoys sent to oversee counts; marginally effective

Carolingian Renaissance & Decline

Europe’s best scholars brought to Aachen to develop culture & education; also improve imperial administration

Alcuin of York (735–804): Anglo-Saxon director of palace school; brought classical & Christian learning in schools run by monks

Breakup of the Carolingian Empire

Weakness of empire was regionalism; local counts look to self-interestLouis the Pious (r. 814–840): problem of dividing empire among his sonsTreaty of Verdun, 843: Carolingian Empire divided among warring sons

West (France): Charles the BaldMiddle: Lothar (Lotharingia)East (Germany): Louis the German

Middle kingdom split again at Lothar’s death, inciting conflict between eastern & western kingdoms (Germany & France) that continued into modern times

Vikings, Magyars, and Muslims

New External ThreatsVikings

Magyars

Muslims

Feudal SocietyMiddle Ages: chronic absence of effective central government, constant threat of famine, disease, invasion; weaker sought protection of strongerFeudal society: social, political, military, economic system that arose from these conditionsSociety dominated by warlordsVassals: men promising service to more powerful men in exchange for protection; developed into professional military class (knights)Terms: fealty, fief, scutage

Daily Life & ReligionManor: village farm, center of rural agrarian economy, tended by peasant tenant farmersDemesne: the part of the land tended for the lord of the manor; usu. 1/4 to 1/3 of the landPeasants: freemen or serfs; paid various dues in kind to lordThree-field system of crop rotation: summer crops in one field, winter crops in next field, third field fallowVassal could swear fealty to more than one lord: problem of loyalty

“Liege lord”: one to whom loyalty is owed above all others

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