CHANGES OF CHANGES OF THE LATE THE LATE

MIDDLE AGESMIDDLE AGESMr. Blais

European Middle Ages

ECONOMIC CHANGESECONOMIC CHANGES• Three-Field System:– Rotates three fields with grain, vegetables, and leaves one

unplanted. (Allows two-thirds of the field to be planted rather than only half in the two-field system.)

• Impact of more Food:– Increase in food = Increase in population (Doubled)

• New Towns:– Merchants waited out the winter in small towns along the trade

routes, this attracted artisans because merchants could then sell their products. Towns soon became cities and centers of trade.

• Medieval Charter:– Allowed a town to choose its leaders and control their own

affairs in return for a large yearly fee paid to the king. (Could also free a serf if he/she lived there for a year.)

ECONOMIC CHANGESECONOMIC CHANGES• Money and Serfdom:– With serfs now using money to pay their lord they no longer owed

labor to their lord meaning they no longer had to remain on the land indefinitely. (Later ends serfdom all together)

• The Middle Class:– Included merchants, artisans, and traders that lived predominantly

in towns and cities. They were hated by nobles and clergy for the middle class was beyond their control.

• Guilds:– Usually run by merchants, the guilds could pass laws, collect

taxes, spend funds, and construct buildings. They limited competition by limiting membership and guilds also made rules to ensure quality of their products, regulate hours, and regulate prices.

ECONOMIC CHANGESECONOMIC CHANGES• Guild Membership:– Must first spend seven years as an apprentice (trainee) with no

pay. Then can become a journeyman, or wage worker, and if you’re really lucky you can later become a guild master.

• Guilds and Women:– Women could inherit shops, manage a shop, become an

apprentice, and even sometimes became a guild master. Women commonly worked as laundresses, seamstresses, or embroiderers

• Medieval Cities:– Space was always at a premium and cities were always growing.

Tall buildings made cities dark places and without sewage systems cities were extremely dirty, smelly, and crowded.

POLITICAL CHANGESPOLITICAL CHANGES• Norman Conquest:

– Edward of England dies without an heir and Harold (his brother-in-law) and William of Normandy (cousin) fight for the throne. William wins the battle of Hastings to become King of England.

• William consolidates Power:– He keeps control of the majority of land in England, ever vassal

was DIRECTLY loyal to him, and he took a census of people in his country for efficient tax collection.

• Henry II (great-grandson)/Common Law/Juries: – Introduction of Common Law in England meant that all people

tried in royal courts were judged by the same standards.

– Early juries were used to determine which cases should be brought to trial (grand jury) and to determine guilt or innocence (trial jury).

POLITICAL CHANGESPOLITICAL CHANGES• John I and his Troubles:

– Lost his lands in France to his rival, the French King, Philip II.– Got his country put under interdict by Pope Innocent III had to pay a

large fee to Rome every year to save his crown, which led to higher and higher taxes for his people.

– His own nobles forced him to sign the Magna Carta.• Magna Carta:

– It asserted that nobles had certain rights and these rights were later extended to all English citizens. It also established that the monarch must obey the law and it protected the legal rights of English citizens.

• Edward I and Parliament:– Edward summoned Parliament for he believed that ‘what touches all

should be approved by all’. Parliament later evolved into two houses, The House of Lords (nobles and clergy) The House of Commons (Knights and Middle Class).

• Hugh Capet/Capetians:– Huge Capet was the first in a long line of Capetian Kings. They

increased royal power by making the throne hereditary, added to their land holding, and won the favor of the church.

POLITICAL CHANGESPOLITICAL CHANGES• Philip II:

– Strengthened royal government by paying middle class officials who were loyal to him, granting new charters, creating a standing army, introducing new national taxes, and increasing land holdings.

• Louis IX:– A model monarch who was extremely pious and persecuted heretics. He

also expanded royal courts, and ended serfdom.

• France and the Pope:– Philip IV and Pope Boniface VIII disagreed over taxation of clergy

members. Philip forced Boniface into exile and appointed a new French pope ensuring French rulers the ability to control religion in their kingdom.

• The Estates-General:– French equivalent of Parliament (though never as powerful) with

representatives from the clergy, nobles, and townspeople.

SOCIAL/CULTURAL SOCIAL/CULTURAL CHANGESCHANGES• First Universities:

– Early Cathedral schools evolved into the first universities and were set up with carters to protect the rights of its members. Many students would travel to different schools to study different subjects.

• Student Life/Studies/Women:– School went from 5 A.M. to 5 P.M. Classes were held in rented

rooms and students were required to memorize what they heard. They could study math, astronomy, music, grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Women could not attend therefore they could not be doctors, lawyers, administrators, or professors.

• Logic and Religion:– Christians believed the Church was the final authority on all maters

while early philosophers argued that logic and reason should be used to discover basic truths. Scholasticism combined these ideas and used reason to support Christian beliefs.

SOCIAL/CULTURAL SOCIAL/CULTURAL CHANGESCHANGES

• Thomas Aquinas:– Helped explain Christian teachings using reason. He concluded

faith and reason existed in harmony.

• Science Struggle’s to Emerge:– Science made little progress in the Middle Ages because scholars

still believed that all knowledge must fit with Church teachings.

• Arabic Numbers:– They replaced Roman numerals and the simplicity they offered

allowed scientists and mathematicians to make great advancements.

• Vernacular:– These were writings in the language of the ordinary people

allowing more and more people to read and get an education.

SOCIAL/CULTURAL SOCIAL/CULTURAL CHANGESCHANGES• Examples of Medieval Literature:

– Song of Roland and Poem of the Cid (Heroic Epics)– Divine Comedy (Literary Poem by Dante)– The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer)

• Cathedrals and Romanesque Style:– Cathedrals (large, extravagant churches) were symbols of the wealth

and religious devotion of the people of the Late Middle Ages. – Romanesque style reflected Roman influences and had thick stone

walls and towers with heavy roofs and very dimly lit interior spaces.

• Gothic Architecture:– Key feature of the Gothic Church was the flying buttress which

supported the church from the outside. These allowed for higher roofs and much larger windows. They were brighter and larger than any of their Romanesque predecessors.