LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES, 900-1300

Manorialism

The manor was an agricultural estate run by a lord and worked by peasants Free peasants tied to the land of a

manor were called SERFS By the ninth century 60% of the people

of Western Europe were serfs

Serfs worked 3 days a week and paid rent by giving a share of their produce to the lord

Daily Life

The Church played an important role in manorial life Serfs had over fifty holidays a year

As trade returned, gold and silver coins replaced bartering MONEY ECONOMY

COMMERCIAL CAPITALISM: investing in trade and goods to create profits follows

Cities

Cities became the centers of trade where merchants could live and build warehouses Most cities were usually built alongside

rivers Large cities had about 5,000 people In 1200, London had 30,000 people Venice, Milan, Naples, Florence, and

Genoa had about 100,000 each But these were small compared to the

Arabic cities of Damascus, Cairo, and Baghdad

The Church

By the 1200’s, the Catholic Church was the most powerful force in Europe Even kings had to answer to the power of

the pope The land of central Italy even became

known as “The Papal States” Kings practice LAY INVESTITURE and try to

place people loyal to them in church offices Popes would order bishops to refuse to

offer sacraments as a way to exert pressure on kings

Don’t Cross the Boss

Anyone who defied the Church was readily labeled a heretic: someone who went against church teachings

Dealing with heretics led to the INQUISITION: a special court who tried accused heretics Accused heretics were sometimes

tortured until they confessed

A Center for Learning

Monasteries were places where students learned Roman law: today, we call them UNIVERSITIES The University of Bologna, Italy is the oldest

university in the world founded in 1088 University of Oxford founded in 1096 is the oldest

surviving university in the English-speaking world! Students studied the liberal arts: law, grammar,

arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy to earn a Bachelor of Arts and then a Master of Arts Students of Law, Medicine, and Theology could earn

the Philosophiae Doctor and earn a Doctorate Degree

Reading and Writing

Universities instructed in Latin, but in the 1100’s, literature moved away from Latin to VERNACULAR: the language used in a particular region

Architecture

During the Middle Ages, some of the greatest examples of architecture was built in Europe: the great cathedral churches

Romanesque Architecture was inspired by semicircular arches

Gothic Architecture is defined by the pointed arch, flying buttress, and ribbed vaults

Lisbon Cathedral, 1147

Lincoln Cathedral, 1311

Gothic Architecture at its Best

Perhaps the two most famous examples of medieval Gothic architecture are…

Westminster Abbey, London Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris