Europe 800-1500 CE

“Bring out your Dead!”

Overview

• Formation of Kingdoms

• Role of Church • Expansion of Towns• Conflict & Reform

• Crusades• 116 Years War• Black Death• Renaissance

Formation of Kingdoms

• Creation of Frankish Kingdom in 9th century

• Charlemagne & later Kings– Consolidate power through link w/

Church– Force conversion of public to

Christianity– Build cathedrals, monasteries, etc.

• Creation of “Holy Roman Empire”– Protector of Christendom

• Conflict – temporal vs. spiritual– Early kings able to assert power

over Pope– Ex. Otto the Great, Henry IV of

France

Liuthiar Gospel – Otto III Enthroned

Role of the Church• Early church relies on secular

leaders to spread Christianity

• Clergy divided among ‘regular’ and ‘secular’

• Most priests were illiterate• Literate clergy often served as

advisors to secular leaders– Gained influence & power– Seen as threat by secular ldrs

• Struggle to maintain independence from secular leaders

• Clergy often lacked respect of public– Married, children, corrupt

Palace Chapel of Charlemagne

Growth of Towns

• Most towns developed along established trade routes

• Cathedral construction – economic boon to towns– Required supplies &

merchandise – Brought artisans,

craftsmen– Growth of trade groups

guilds

• Over 2700 churches constructed in France between 13-14th centuriesNôtre Dame de Paris, begun 1163

Conflict & Reform

• Cluny Reforms– Attempt to make church

more independent– Professional clergy– Pope appoints Bishops

• Investiture– 1st major conflict b/w

Pope & secular ldr (Henry IV)

– Henry challenges Cluny reforms

– Allowed to approved papal appointmentsHenry IV at Canossa

The Great Schism (1378-1417)• Urban VI’s plans to reform the Curia (hierarchy) leads to renewed

schism– Power struggle b/w Pope & Cardinals– Used by secular monarchs to gain influence

• Conciliar movement sought to resolve issue– Council of Constance fails– Council of Basel (1449) reunites church

• Cardinals maintain power– Weakens power of Pope

Papal Palace in Avignon

Crusades (1095-1204)

• Originally call to free Holy Land from ‘infidels’

• Later motivated by wealth, prestige, power

– Returned w/wealth, relics, etc.

• Committed atrocities in name of Christ

• Allowed for peace & stability in Europe for +100 years

• Stimulated trade, expansion & diffusion of goods & ideas contributes to Renaissance

Richard the Lionheart, Philip Augustus & Frederick Barbarossa

England v. France Struggle for national identity &

territory Access into Atlantic

British controlled western Channel & Flanders

France w/little access into Atlantic

Consequences Devastates France Burden of war falls on peasantry Emergence of national identity England develops domestic

weaving industry industrial revolution

Hundred Years War (1337-1453)

Black DeathEstimated population of Europe from 1000 to 1352.

1000 -- 38 million 1100 -- 48 million 1200 -- 59 million 1300 -- 70 million 1347 --75 million 1352 -- 50 million

• 25 million people died in under five years b/w 1347 – 1352.

• Est. 1/3 – 2/5 of population perished

Renaissance

• Renewed interest in classical literature & Ideas

• Contributing factors– Crusades– Black Death– Trade

• Scholasticism v. Humanism– Scholasticism-stressed

reading of material w/no analysis, criticism, or commentary

– Humanism-approached material critically and promoted the dignity of humankind, civic responsibility and political liberty

Dante-The Inferno

• Horrors of war & plague caused people to question government & religion

• Looked for answers in

Greek, Roman & other

classic literature• Shift to focus on rational

explanations for events • Writers begin to use

vernacular rather than Latin– Ex. Dante, Boccaccio,

Petrarch

Petrarch-Triumphs (1341)

Renaissance Art

• Artists began to focus on recreating ideal forms copied from classic Roman & Greek art

• Emphasis on realism and naturalism

• Giotto di Bondone credited w/introducing perspective & depth in painting

Giotto-Lamentation

• Considered among the greatest sculptors of the Renaissance

• Works showed greater depth of naturalism and emotion

Donatello

David (bronze)

Mary Magdalene (wood)

Raphael-School of Athens

• 1st ‘Great Master’ of Renaissance• Relied on classical themes, often include himself &

contemporaries in works

Michelangelo

Raphael

Leonardo da Vinci as Socrates

Michelangelo•Hailed as greatest artist of the Renaissance

•Sculptor, painter, architect

Tomb of Pope Julius II

Pieta

Last Judgment -East wall of Sistine Chapel

Leonardo da Vinci

• Considered the Greatest mind of the Renaissance

• Scientist, philosopher, artist• Embodied the ideal ‘Renaissance Man’• Believed man’s abilities were boundless

Virgin & Child w/Saint AnneAnatomical Study Vitruvious Man