Chapter 10

Europe in the

Middle Ages

Section 1

The New Agriculture• Population doubles between 1000-1300, from

38 to 74 million.• Reasons:1. Europe becomes more settled/peaceful.2. Food production increased because of climate

change & new technology. Harnessed the power of water & wind; Iron used to make axes, hoes, saws, nails, hammers, curruca (plow). Horse collar & horse shoe.

• Farming villages worked together to farm.• Three-field system. Fall=Summer harvest &

Spring= Fall harvest. Third left alone.

The Manorial System A manor was an agricultural estate ran by a lord and

worked by the peasants. There were free peasants that worked the farms, but

most were serfs, peasants legally bound to the land. Serfs provided: labor services (working the lords land

about 3 days a week), pay rents (gave lord share of what they raised, paid for the use of the land, and paid a tithe 1/10 to the church), and be subject to the lord’s control.

Serfs were not allowed to leave the manor without permission and could not marry anyone outside the manor without permission. Lords had political power over their lands. They also had responsibilities to the serfs, such as protection .

Daily Life of the Peasantry

• Peasants did not work every day of their life. The had celebrations/feasts that corresponded with the Catholic Church.

• Women were expected to work in the fields, bear children and manage the household.

• The basic staple of peasants was bread. The bread was nutritious because it contained wheat, rye, barley, millet, and oats.

The Rivival of Trade• Venice, Italy becomes a leading trading city with

a mercantile fleet by the end of the tenth century.

• Flanders became the ideal center for trade in Northern Europe. Trade fairs were set up between the two places.

• Gold and silver were in demand, thus creating a money economy.

• This started commercial capitalism- an economic system in which people invested in trade and goods in order to make profits.

The Growth of Cities Cities old and new prospered. New cities were set up outside castles

because they were along trade routes and would be protected.

The newly formed cities would then enclose themselves with a wall for protection. They became known as “bourgeoisie” or burghers meaning a walled enclosure.

Daily Life in the Medieval City Townspeople sought to have their own rights

and the lords were willing to sell it to them. They included the right buy/sell property, freedom from military service, a written law that guaranteed them freedom, and the right of an escaped serf to become free after a year and a day in the town.

Soon cities began to elect their own government.

Patricians- members of the wealthiest and most powerful families rigged the elections to win.

Cities were tightly packed/crowded and surrounded by stone walls for protection. The danger of fire was great. Air pollution and water pollution were really bad.

Industry & Guilds With the revival of trade, guilds- business

associations flourished. They played an economic role in city life.

The craft guild directed every aspect in the creation of a product.

An Apprentice, usually around 10 yrs old studied under a master craftsman. They weren’t paid, but received room and board.

After 5-7 yrs they became Journeymen. They worked for wages and worked on their masterpiece.

If their masterpiece was judged by the guild to be worthy, they were allowed to join the guild.

Section 2

The Papal Monarchy• Popes became more concerned with political

affairs and involved with the feudal system that they neglected their religious duties.

• By the 11th century, the church saw the need to separate themselves from the influence that Lords had on selection of church officials. Church officials were given a staff and ring as symbols of spiritual authority.

Secular or lay rulers chose nominees to Church offices and gave them symbols of their office- Lay Investiture. This in the rulers mind allowed them to still undermine the Church and it’s spiritual duties.

• Pope Gregory VII believed he was elected to reform the Church and set out to restore the spiritual duties of church officials. Only the Church could appoint clergy and that if rulers did not accept this, they would be removed. King Henry IV of Germany was the first to challenge this reform because without his appointments, he would lose his power to German Nobles.

• The struggle between Pope and King continued until the Concordat of Worms was reached. The lord gave symbols of temporal (earthly) office & a Church official gave them symbols of his spiritual office.

Under Pope Innocent III, the Church reached the height of its political power. He believed that the Pope, was the supreme judge over European affairs. To achieve this power, he used interdicts- forbids priests from giving the sacraments (Christian rites) of the Church to certain people.

New Religious Orders The second half of the 11th century and the first

half of the 12th century, a new religious movement occurred.

Cistercians- were strict, eliminated decorations from church, took their religion to the people outside of the monastery & had more time for prayer & manual labor.

• Franciscans- founded by St. Francis of Assisi. Had dramatic spiritual experiences as a POW. He abandoned all worldly goods & material pursuits. They lived among the people, preaching repentance and aiding the poor.

• Dominicans- founded by Dominic de Guzman. Wanted to defend the Church teachings from heresy- the denial of basic Church doctrines.

Inquisition (Holy Office)- a court established by the Catholic Church in 1232 to discover and try heretics.

Dominicans examined those who were accused. If they confessed, they did public penance and were subject to punishment (flogging). If they did not confess, they were tortured until they did or were turned over to the state for execution.

Repeat offenders were subject to execution. Christians believed that heresy was a crime against God and humanity and the Inquisition was the right thing to do.

Popular Religion in the High Middle Ages The sacraments of the Catholic Church were

central in the importance to ordinary people. The sacraments were seen as a means to

receiving God’s grace and were necessary for salvation.

Saints were people who considered especially holy and who had achieved a special position in Heaven.

Emphasis on the role of Saints were closely tied to the use of relics- usually bones of saints or objects connected with saints. Believed they could heal people. They also believed that a pilgrimage to a holy shrine produced spiritual benefits.

Section 3

The Rise of the Universities• Medieval universities were educational guilds, or

corporations, that produced educated and trained individuals.

• 1st European University was in Bologna, Italy and taught Roman law.

• 1st University in northern Europe was the University of Paris.

• Teachers taught by lecture. Students couldn’t afford books, so teachers read it to the class and offered explanations. No tests until the end of their studies and it was an oral exam. After completing a liberal arts curriculum, they could go on to study law, medicine, or theology- study of religion and God.

• It could take 10 years to finish the curriculum. After passing an oral exam, they would attain a doctor’s degree. They were able to teach or pursue other careers.

The Development of Scholasticism• Scholasticism- a medieval philosophical and

theological system that tried to reconcile faith and reason. The idea was to harmonize Christian teachings with the works of Greek philosophers.

• Aristotle upset many Christian theologians because he arrived at his conclusions by rational thought. St. Thomas Aquinas tried to reconcile Aristotle and the doctrines of Christianity. Aquinas was known for his Summa Theologica. His fame is based upon his attempt to reconcile the knowledge learned through the Bible and other Christian writings with the knowledge learned through reason and experience.

Vernacular Literature

• Latin was the universal language of medieval civilization.

• The 12th century gave rise to vernacular- the language of everyday speech in a particular region.

• The most popular 12th century vernacular literature was troubadour poetry- chiefly product of nobles and knights. Chanson de geste- heroic epic.

Architecture• The 11th and 12th century saw a rise in

building. They were built in Romanesque architecture. Buildings were rectangular in shape with a long, round stone arched structure vault ceiling.

• Gothic appeared in the 12th century. They replaced the round barrel vault with ribbed vaults and pointed arches. This made the churches higher in height.

• The flying buttress a heavy, arched support of stone, built onto the outside of the wall.

Section 4

The Black Death• Black Death was the most devastating natural

disaster in European history. Bubonic Plague was the most common form of Black Death.

• It was spread by rats infested with fleas carrying the deadly bacterium. Brought by Italian merchants, the plague usually followed the trade route.

• Between 1347 and 1351 roughly 38 out of 75 million people died.

• Some believed it was a punishment from God for their sins and others thought it had been caused by the devil. Anti-Semitism- hostility towards or discrimination against Jews occurred.

• Severe economic consequences occurred: decline in trade, shortages of workers caused a rise in the price of labor. Decline of people lowered the demand for food, resulting in falling prices.

• This helped to free serfs from serfdom. Since they paid them for rent instead of labor.

The Decline of Church Power A struggle between Pope Boniface VIII and King Philip IV

would have serious consequences on the papacy. To gain revenue, Philip IV said he had the right to tax the clergy of France. Boniface VIII said that they could not without the consent of the Pope. Philip sent troops to arrest and bring Bonifice back to France for trial. He escaped and died soon after. Philip engineers the election of Frenchman, Clement V as Pope. Pope Clement V moved to Avignon in southern France. The Pope living in Avignon instead of Rome drew harsh criticisms. Finally in 1377, Pope Gregory XI saw the decline in papal prestige and returned to Rome.

With the death of Pope Gregory XI, the Great Schism- a split in the Catholic Church that lasted form 1378-1418, during which time there were rival popes in Rome and in the French city of Avignon; France and its allies supported the pope in Avignon, while France’s enemy England and its allies supported the pope in Rome occurred. The Great Schism ended with a church council electing a new pope.

• This led to cries for church reform. John Hus, called for the end of corruption among clergy and the excessive power of the papacy within the Catholic Church. Accused of heresy and burned at the stake in 1415. An upheaval in Bohemia occurred and was crushed in 1436.

• By the 1400’s the Church had lost much of its political power.

The Hundred Years’ War• Plague, economic crisis, and the decline of the

Catholic Church along with war and political instability were problems of the late Middle Ages.

• The Hundred Years’ War was the most violent struggle during this period. The war lasted from 1337 to 1453. It started because King Philip VI of France seized the duchy of Gascony to make it part of the French kingdom. King Edward III of England declared war on Philip. It started out with knights showing their fighting abilities. This war proved to be an important turning point in the nature of warfare. It was the foot soldiers, who won the major battles. English foot soldiers were armed with heavy spears (pikes) and longbows.

• 1st major battle was at Crecy. The French army attacked in a disorderly fashion and the English archers cut them down. It was not a decisive victory and the English did not have enough resources to conquer all of France.

• During the battle of Agincourt in 1415, heavily armored knights tried to attack Henry’s forces across a rain soaked muddy field. Once again they were disastrously defeated with 1,500 French nobles dying on the battlefield. The English were now masters of northern France.

• The southern 2/3 of France was now ruled by Charles. Joan of Arc, a deeply religious peasant, made her way to Charles’s court and convinced him to let her accompany the French army to Orleans. Joan’s passion revived the confidence of the army and helped them to recapture Orleans. She was captured in 1430 and turned over to the English. She was charged with witchcraft during the Inquisition. She was condemned to death as a heretic.

• The war continued for another 2 decades and victories in Normandy and Aquitaine led to a French victory in 1453.

Political Recovery• The 14th century saw European rulers struggling to

produce male heirs. Nobles supported opposing candidates for kingship and founders of new dynasties fought for power.

• The 15th century saw a number of rulers attempt to reestablish the centralized power of monarchies. New monarchies-power was centralized under a king/queen, such as in England, France, and Spain.

• The war had left France exhausted but with a strong sense of national feeling. King Louis XI, known as “the Spider”, because of his devious ways, used a taille- an annual direct tax, usually on land or property- as a permanent tax imposed by royal authority. This helped to create a strong French monarchy.

• The war had left England’s economy strained due to the cost of the war and losses in manpower. The War of the Roses- a struggle between Noble factions to control the monarchy occurred until 1485. Henry Tudor became the first Tudor king who worked hard to create a strong royal government. He abolished private noble armies and didn’t overburden the middle and noble class with taxes. This gained their support.

• Spain too, experienced a rise in strong national monarchy. Christians regained their lands from the Muslims and set up several independent kingdoms. Two of the strongest kingdoms were Castile and Aragon. The two kingdoms were united when Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon were married. They conformed to strict Catholicism and expelled anyone who wasn’t.

• The Holy Roman Empire did not develop a strong monarchical authority because of religious differences.