emerging europe and the middle ages 500-1500 a.d

Emerging Europe and the Middle Ages

500-1500 A.D.

Germanic Kingdoms• Germanic people began moving into Rome in the 3rd

century.• Visigoths initially occupied Spain & Italy until the

Ostrogoths took control of Italy and Rome in the 5th century.

• By 500 Western Roman empire had become a number of states ruled by Germanic kings.

• Germanic Angles & Saxons = Anglo-Saxons moved into Britain in 5th century.

• Clovis-Christian convert who established Frankish kingdom -509.

Germanic Kingdoms• Clovis converted to Christianity after calling for

Jesus’ help during battle – the enemy supposedly fled after the plea.

• Clovis gained support of the Roman Catholic Church. First European ruler to endorse the church.

• By 510, Clovis’Frankish kingdom stretched from the Pyrenees Mountains to present day Germany.

• After Clovis’ death, his sons divided the kingdom. • Germans & Romans intermarried = German

customs had an important role.

Germanic Kingdoms• Extended families in German society worked

together & defended each other during violent times.

• Germanic law was personal, one injuring another led to a savage blood feuds.

• Wergild (money for a man) system was developed to avoid bloodshed after crimes such as murder/ wrongdoer paid the injured party’s family a set amount of money which varied by social status.

Role of the Church• Christianity became main religion of Roman empire

by 4th century. (Constantine and Edict of Milan)• Roman church developed a system of organization.• Priests were head of parishes – local communities.• Bishop was head of diocese - a group of parishes.• Archbishop – head of groups of diocese.• Bishop of Rome became known as Pope – the head

of what is now known as the Roman Catholic Church.

Patriarch

Archdiocese/Archbishop

Bishop/Diocese

Priest/Parish

Pope

Roman Catholic Church• Pope claim to power was based on the belief that Jesus

gave Peter the keys to Heaven.• Peter was considered to be the chief apostle & the first

bishop of Rome. He was executed by the Romans under the orders of Emperor Nero during the Christian persecutions.

• Bishops who succeeded Peter were called popes = Greek word for father – (pappas). 265 Popes to date.

• Western Christians accepted the pope as the church’s leader, but Eastern Christians didn’t recognize his power, led to a schism (break).

• Gregory I strengthened Pope’s power by taking political control of Rome & surrounding territories.

Peter 1 B.C. – 67 A.D.

Saint Peter Statue at the Vatican

Roman Crucifixion of Peter

Saint Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican

Gregory I – 540-604

Tomb of Pope Gregory I

The Vatican in Rome

The Vatican City – 110 Acres, Population of 800

Role of Church• Gregory I – pope from 590-604, extended papal

authority over the Western Church & actively converted non-Christians.

• Monk = man who separates himself from the rest of the world to become closer to God/ Monasticism is the practice of living like a monk.

• Saint Benedict founded an order of Monks & wrote rules for their practice.

• Benedict’s rules divided the day into activities; emphasizing prayer & physical labor to keep monks busy.

Role of Church• Monks meditated & read privately/ They prayed

together seven times a day.• All aspects of Benedict life were communal.• Abbot (father) ruled each Benedictine monastery.• Monks were to obey the Abbot/ took a vow of

poverty/monks’ dedication made them new heroes of Christian civilization/ were social workers in communities.

• Monks spread Christianity throughout Europe/Irish & English monks were enthusiastic missionaries.

Role of Church• Nuns = women who withdrew from the world to

dedicate themselves to God.• Nuns lived in convents headed by abbesses.

Nuns Monks

Charlemagne• 600 & 700’s, Frankish kings lost their power to the

chief officers of the king’s household = mayors of the palace (Majordomo).

• Pepin assumed the kingship in 752.• Pepin’s son became king after his death in 768 = son

was Charles the Great – Charlemagne.• Charlemagne = one of history’s great kings/ curious,

driven, intelligent, strong warrior, devout Christian/ was illiterate, but strongly supported learning.

• Ruled from 768 to 814/ Expanded the Frankish kingdom into Carolingian empire = covered much of western & central Europe.

Charlemagne• Charlemagne established missi dominci

(messengers of the lord king), two men who were sent to make for sure the king’s wishes were followed.

• In 800, he was crowned emperor of the Romans/ the coronation symbolized the coming together of the Roman, Christian, & Germanic elements that forged European civilization.

• Carolingian Renaissance was promoted by Charlemagne’s desire to promote learning.

• Benedictine monks played important role in revival of learning during the Carolingian Renaissance.

Fall of Carolingian empire• Charlemagne died in 814/ by 844 Carolingian

empire divided into 3 kingdoms by grandsons.• Muslims invaded southern France.• Magyars settled on the plains of Hungary.• Vikings (Norsemen of Scandinavia) started to attack

the empire.• Vikings were superb warriors & shipbuilders/ famed

dragon ships carrying about 50 men could go shallow rivers to attack inland.

• By the 9th century, Vikings settled in Europe.• 911, Frankish king gave Vikings land of Normandy.

Feudalism• Invaders posed a threat to the safety of the people due to

decentralized government.• People began to turn to aristocrats or nobles for

protection/ led to feudalism and manorialism. • Manorialism – giving legal and economic power to the Lord

of the Manor. This was the main economic principle of the European Middle Ages.

• Feudalism arose between 800-900/ similar system in Asia- Samurai.

• Vassalage = center of feudalism/ came from Germanic society where warriors swore oath to their leader.

• Vassal = man who served a lord militarily.

Feudalism: MilitaryService for Land

Feudalism • Knights = heavily armored warriors.• Chain mail = armor made of metal links or plates.• Frankish army initially set up foot soldiers in mail.• Heavily armored knights dominated warfare for

over 500 years.• Knights had great prestige & formed much of

European aristocracy.• Early Middle Ages (500-1000) wealth was based on

owning land/very little trade.• Nobles gave a piece of land to Vassals in exchange

for fighting = fief.

Feudalism• Vassals had political authority in their fief/in charge

of keeping order.• Feudalism became complicated = kings had vassals

who had vassals.• Feudal contract = unwritten rules that characterized

feudal relationship between king & vassal/knights.• Vassals were to advise the lord, financial obligations

to the lord, knighting of his eldest son.• Lord supported the vassal with land grant &

protection.

Feudal Obligations

Vassals:Military service.Financial obligations to the lord.Serve on the lord’s court/advise the lord.Provide gifts for weddings and knighthoods.

Lords:Protection.Land.Justice in legal affairs.Wardship – oversee personal affairs and family if vassal dies in service.

Feudalism• Castles = permanent residences &

fortresses/numbers increased in late middle ages (1000-1300).

• Middle Ages = nobles dominated European society/ main concern was warfare.

• Nobles = kings, dukes, counts, barons, bishops, archbishops.

• Knighthood = united lords & knights in aristocracy.• Knights = trained as warriors.• Young knights held tournaments to show their

skills- jousts became main attraction.

Castle in England (built by William the Conquerer

Castle in Wales (built by Edward I)

Castle in Scotland

Castle in Belgium

Castle in the Netherlands

Chivalry• 11th & 12th century, under influence of Church- chivalry

became important to knights.• Chivalry = civilized behavior, knights were to defend the

church & defenseless people, treat captives as honored guests, fight for glory not rewards.

• Women could own property, but were under control of men/ first their fathers, then their husbands.

• Lady of the castle in charge of household & estate.• Eleanor of Aquitane = Most powerful woman of Middle

Ages/married to king Louis VII of France & Henry II of England/ 2 children became kings of England(Richard the Lionheart and King John).

Alfred the Great UnifiedThe Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy

England• King Alfred the Great united the various kingdoms

of England that had been ruled by Anglo-Saxon kings.Took place in the 9th century.

• Alfred also managed to fight of Viking attacks during his reign.

• Angles, Saxons, Germanic people were united.

Norman Conquest• 10/4/1066, William of Normandy defeated King Harold of

England at the battle of Hastings.( William the Conquerer)• He claimed he had been promised the throne by his distant

cousin King Edward. • William was then crowned King of England.• Norman knights received land as a fief and swore

allegiance to the king.• Marriage of French & Anglo-Saxons led to a new English

culture.• Normans adopted Anglo-Saxon institutions = office of

sheriff, census called Domesday Book.• William further developed taxation & royal courts.

William I, the ConquerorBrought Norman

Feudalism To England

Henry II• Henry II enlarged English monarchy in 1100’s.• Expanded the power of the royal courts & king’s

power/increased number of criminal cases tried on the king’s court.

• Common law replaced law codes across the kingdom (idea of precedent becomes important).

• Tried to control Church but failed.• Thomas Beckett, archbishop of Canterbury said only

Roman Catholic Church could try clergy (gets killed).• Four knights murdered Beckett, Henry was

outraged & backed down.

Magna Carta• English nobles resented the growth of the king’s

power/ rebellion was raised against King John.• 1215, King John was forced to put his seal on the

Magna Carta.• Magna Carta = feudal document, written

recognition that the power of the king was limited.• 13th century, under Edward I = English parliament

emerged.• Parliament = 2 knights from every county, 2 people

from every town, and all the bishops & nobles throughout England.

John Was Forced

To Sign the Magna

Carta in 1215

English Parliament• Eventually 2 houses were formed.• Nobles & church lords = House of the Lords• Knights & townspeoples = House of Commons• Parliaments granted taxes & passed laws.

Edward I Called a ParliamentOf Lords and Commons

The English Parliament

The English Parliament

French Kingdom• Kingdom of France was 1/3 of the former

Carolingian empire by late middle ages.• Hugh Capet was chosen to be king by west Frankish

nobles establishing the Capetian dynasty in late 900’s.

• Capetians had little power & only controlled the land around Paris. Dukes had more power than kings.

• Phillip II of Augustus = was the turning point in the French monarchy.

• Phillip waged war against England & gained control of several new French territories.

French Kingdom• Phillip II’s successors continued to add land to the

Kingdom.• 13th century, Louis IX ruled/ deeply religious man

who later made a saint by the Catholic church.• Phillip IV (Phillip the Fair) was effective in

strengthening the French monarchy & expanding the royal bureaucracy.

• Phillip IV started a French parliament/Estates General.

Philip IV Called the Estates-General to Raise Taxes

Holy Roman Empire 962-1806• Area in Central Europe whose leaders called

themselves the Holy Roman Emperor (Combination of Christian and Roman ideas). Otto I was the founder.

• German kings attempted to rule both German & Italian lands but struggled to do so.

• Frederick’s attempt to conquer northern Italy caused problems.

• Pope opposed him fearing that he wanted to include Rome & the papal states in his kingdom.

• Northern Italian cities did not want to be his subjects.• Alliance of Italian cities & pope defeated Frederick I in

1176.• Frederick II also waged a war against the pope &

northern Italian cities & lost in 1235.

East & Central Europe• Slavic tribes divided into 3 groups: western,

eastern, & southern Slavs.• Western Slavs formed the Polish & Bohemian

kingdoms in 12th century. • Poles, Czechs, Hungarians were all converted to

Christianity by German Monks.• Eastern Slavic people were converted to Orthodox

Christianity by two Byzantine missionary brothers; Cyril & Methodius.

• Croats, Serbs, & Bulgarians were converted to Eastern Orthodoxy.

St. Cyril and St. Methodius

Russia• Eastern Slavic people settled in present day Ukraine

& Russia.• 8th century, Swedish Vikings began to move in

search of plunder & trade routes.• Vikings eventually dominated the native people of

Russia.• Vikings named it Rus = where word Russia is

derived.

Kievan Rus• Oleg, Viking leader, settled in Kiev at the beginning

of 10th century & created principality of Kiev.• Oleg ‘s successors expanded Kiev until it reached

territory between Baltic & Black Seas, & Danube & Volga rivers.

• Vikings married Slavic wives & gradually assimilated into the Slavic population.

• Rus leader, Vladimir, married sister of Byzantine Emperor & officially accepted the Eastern Orthodox Church for all the people in 988.

• Kievan Rus prospered up until invasions brought an end to the 1st Russian state in 1169.

Vladimir I ChoseEastern Orthodoxy

Mongol Rule in Russia• 13th century, Mongols conquered Russia & forced

Russian princes to pay tribute to them.• Alexander Nevsky, prince of Novgorood, defeated a

German army in northwest Russia in 1242.• Khan, leader of Mongolia, rewarded Nevsky title of

grand prince.• Nevsky descendants became the royalty of Moscow

& eventual leaders of Russia.

AlexanderNevsky, PrinceOf Novgorod

Thanksgiving Kitty

Reign of Justinian• 5th century, Eastern Roman empire was centered

around Constantinople• Justinian became emperor in 527/ determined to

reestablish the Roman empire in the Mediterranean/ reached his goals by 552

• 3 years after Justinian’s death, the Lombards conquered Italy & most of the area that Justinian had controlled

• Justinian created the Body of Civil Law = code of Roman laws that was the basis of imperial law in Eastern Roman empire until its end in 1453

Constantinople

Emperor Justinian

Beginning of Byzantine Empire• Justinian’s conquest left Eastern Roman empire

with too much land to protect far from Constantinople

• Arab Muslims were the biggest threat to Eastern Roman Empire

• Islamic forces defeated an army of Eastern Roman at Yarmuk in 636 & lost Syria & Palestine

• 679, Bulgars defeated the Eastern Roman empire & took possession of the lower Danube Valley

• 8th century, Eastern Roman empire was much smaller (Asia minor & eastern Balkans)

Byzantine Empire• Both a Greek & Christian state• Greek replaced Latin as the official language• Christian church became known as Eastern

Orthodox Church• Byzantine emperor controlled the church & the

state• Emperor appointed the head of the church• Government & religious officials were all bound

together in the service of a spiritual ideal

Life in Constantinople• Largest city in Europe in the Middle Ages• Based on trade until the 12th century/ Europe’s

greatest center of Commerce• During Justinian’s reign, silkworms were smuggled

from China to begin a silk industry• Hagia Sophia = church of Holy Wisdom• Hippodrome = arena where gladiator fights &

chariot races were held

Byzantine Empire• Macedonians ruled the Byzantine Empire from 876-

1081• Macedonians expanded the empire• Expanded trade relations w/ Western Europe• Late 11th century = lot of political & social disorder

EOC & Catholic Split• Eastern Orthodox Church did not accept the pope’s

claim as head of Church• 1054, Pope Leo IX & Michael Cerularius (Head of

Byzantine Church) excommunicated each other• Great Schism = seperation between two great

branches of Christianity

Byzantine Art: Mosaicsand Illuminated Manuscripts

Hagia Sophia

Crusades• 11th & 13th centuries, European Christians carried

out a series of military expeditions to take back the holy land (Jerusalem) from the Muslims.

• Seljuk Turks won several battles & threatened Constantinople.

• Crusades began when Pope Urban II responded to the request of Alexius I of Byzantine Empire to liberate Jerusalem & Palestine.

• Urban II called for crusades against infidels.• Infidels were the non believers = Muslims and Jews.

Alexius I AskedFor Help and

Urban II CalledFor the

First Crusade

First Crusades• Mostly French knights = captured Antioch in 1098

& Jerusalem in 1099.• Knights massacred Muslim & Jewish inhabitants.• 4 Latin Crusader states were established that lasted

almost 100 years.• By 1120’s, Muslims began to strike back and took

over a Crusader state, which led to a call for another Crusade.

2nd Crusade• The fall of a Latin Kingdom to Muslim armies led to

the call for another crusade.• Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (Monastic leader) called

for the crusade & got the support of King Louis VII of France & Conrad III of Germany.

• 2nd Crusade was a total failure.• 1187, Jerusalem fell to Muslim ruler Saladin.• 3 important rulers then agreed to begin a third

Crusade.

Louis VII and Conrad III RespondTo Bernard of Clairvaux’s Call

For a Second Crusade

Saladin’s Capture of JerusalemSparked the Third Crusade

3rd Crusade• Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, Richard I (Richard

the Lionhearted) of England, Phillip II of Augustus of France.

• Members of the 3rd arrived in the East by 1189 & encountered problems.

• Barbarossa drowned while swimming in a river. Phillip II took his army home.

• English & French had success with their naval fleets against coastal cities, but failed as they moved inland.

• Richard I negotiated a settlement with Saladin to allow Christian pilgrims free access to Jerusalem.

Philip II, Frederick IAnd Richard I Responded

4th Crusade• 6 years after the death of Saladin in 1193, Pope

Innocent III initiated the 4th crusade.• On their way to the East became involved a conflict

with the Byzantine Empire over the succession to the Byzantine throne.

• Crusaders diverted to Constantinople & invaded the city in 1204/ Byzantine empire was reestablished in 1261 but was never as powerful.

• Ottoman Turks eventually conquered Byzantine Empire for good in 1453.

Sultan Mahmet II:Conqueror of Constantinople

Osman: Founder Of the Ottoman Turks

The Crusades• 9 official Crusades.• Even a children’s crusade in 1212 (Most under age of 15)Over two-thirds

were killed, sold into slavery, or got lost.• Ottoman Turks politically controlled the Holy Land until after WWI when

Britain set up a military administration and later divided up the territory. (Israel – 1948)

• Crusades were more about wealth, glory, and control and less about religion. Historians have since judged the Crusaders harshly. Even the word “Crusade” still has a very negative connotation in the Middle East today.

• “those who survive, together with their children, are more and more embittered against the Christian faith.” – Roger Bacon, 13th Century Scholar

• “High ideals were besmirched by cruelty and greed. The Holy War was nothing more than a long act of intolerance in the name of God.” – Steven Runciman, 20th Century British Historian

Results of the CrusadesIncreased wealth of Italian city-states like Genoa and Venice.Created animosity in the Middle East towards the West and Christianity.Started the breakdown of feudalism.Improved technology.Helped to end the Dark Ages.

Crusading Kitty