By: Counard

INTRODUCTION

MR. COUNARD’S TOP 10 LIST OF INTERESTING AND FUN FACTS ABOUT

MEDIEVAL EUROPE

# 10…Men in tights…and other questionable fashions

While peasants wore simple clothing…

Nobles dressed to impress

Tights…YES!

From France

It gets worse… Doublet’s (short coats) were all the

rage

Men needed to be more modest

Enter: the codpiece

Are we reliving history?

Can you sit?

Run?

You look ridiculous…

#9…Hair Accessories Wealthy women

never showed their hair

Seen as act of promiscuity

Could be accused of witchcraft

Besides…no shampoo…wrap it up to keep nasty stuff out

# 8…Dumb MTV shows about doing things to hurt yourself

Games that involve hurting/killing others for sport

EX: The Melee

EX: The Joust

Why…cause you’re bored….

#7…The New Jersey State Bird How did a finger come to

be an insult?

100 Years war between England and France

French soldiers cut ‘pluck’ finger off of English archers

To insult French, English displayed Middle Finer

#6…The worst word ever The one word that made

your parents stop and scream!

Scholars debate about origin Could have something to do

with “plucking the yew’ Long bow

Was shortened and anglicized to you know what…DON’T think about even dropping it

#5…Chivalry The idea that men are

supposed to be NICE and courteous to women

Defend a woman’s honor

#4…Satan Beelzebub, Lucifer, the Devil

Immensely popular People ‘knew’ what hell was

People feared going to hell

Why? Mass deaths

Catholic church

#3…Knights and Princesses

Romantic visions… Knights in shining armor Princess waiting for Prince

charming Beautiful castles

In reality….the middle ages was a violent and dirtytime….

Chances are you’d be DEAD before marriage…..

#2…Great Stories…

Action, Romance

Robin Hood

Beowulf

Song of Roland

#1 ½…Castles Europe is a violent

society

Law and order breaks down

Feudal System

Lord offers protection in castle

Castles

#1…Siege Warfare

Where we are in history….Rome has fallen

500 AD

NO law and order

Germanic tribes from Europe expand

Called BARBARIANS

New Kingdoms from GermanyVisigoths

Conquer Italy

Ostrogoths

Conquer Spain

Angles and Saxons

Conquer England

Franks

Conquer France

The Kingdom of the Franks Established by Clovis, 500 AD

Wife was a Christian

Converted to Christianity after a near death experience in battle

Clovis gains support from Catholic Church

Became most powerful kingdom Located in modern day Germany and

France

Baptism in the buff…

Germanic Society Family was very important to society

Lived in extended family groups

Worked together

Family offered protection

Concept of family affected the Germanic system of law

Germanic Law Personal: Eye for an Eye

This turned very violent

Wergild system developed to curb violence Means “money for a man”

Amount paid by wrongdoer to family or person that was injured/killed

Varied by social status

Rich people cost more

“Hey… sorry about Bob...here’s some scratch.”

German Law How to find GUILT?

The Ordeal

Based on idea of divine intervention

AKA: God comes down to intervene if you aren’t guilty

Always involved some sort of painful physical trial

The red hot iron always popular…

The Idea: If you are innocent…the God won’t let you be harmed

How many innocents?

Christianity gets organized Think of the Catholic Church as a business

You need…

A boss

Managers

More Managers

Employees

Product

A way to make $$$

The Role of the Church Church develops system of organization in 4th century

Very organized

Top- down structure

City of Rome becomes Catholic headquarters

AKA The Vatican

Structure of the Church Pope oversees everything

Cardinals are ‘governors’ of church Appointed by Pope, choose next Pope

Archbishops oversees Archdiocese Large number of churches in an area

Makes sure churches follow rules

Bishops oversee dioceses Group of churches in an area

Priests preach to a parish church

The Papacy Grows in Power… Nothing in Bible directly supports

Papacy

People disagreed how much power the Pope should have

Gregory I: AKA Gregory the Great Strengthens the papacy

Very active in converting Germanic tribes to Christianity

Monasteries Monks

MEN who separate themselves from society

Two reasons…

Solace (meditation)

Self-flagellation (self torture)

“If I live on this nasty mountain…I’ll be closer to Jesus.”

Examples… Skellig Michael

Gaelic “Rock of Michael”

Co. Kerry, Ireland

750 Feet Up in the air…2 miles away from shore

Skellig…Monks and Puffins

Beehive huts built by the monks

Puffin poop stinks…they eat fish

Monks and learning

Germanic tribes illiterate

Monks preserved Greek and Roman literature

Established scriptoria

Writing rooms

Copied texts by hand

Called illuminated manuscripts

Illuminated Manuscripts Monks got bored…and doodled….the result…

England in the Middle Ages German tribes ruled England

Leaders were Angles or Saxons

King Harold ruled southern England in 11th century

Conquest of England French King William of

Normandy

Wants to conquer England

Invades on October 14th, 1066

French forces defeat English

Henry II Powerful English King

Increased power of king Used brutal tactics

Developed system of common law

Law that’s standard throughout the whole kingdom

Challenging the King’s Power King John I was very cruel

Nobles wanted their rights protected

Forced King to sign Magna Carta

Limited Kings power

Protected rights of nobles

The Magna CartaInfluential in the development of Democracy and the U.S Constitution

Key Clauses

63) Wherefore we will, and firmly charge…that all men

in our kingdom shall have and hold all the aforesaid

liberties, rights, and concessions…fully, and wholly to

them and their heirs…in all things and places forever…It

is moreover sworn, as well on our part as the part of the

barons, that all these matters aforesaid will be kept in

good faith and without deceit.

Clause 39

No free man shall be taken, imprisoned, disseised, outlawed, banished, or in any way destroyed, nor will we proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers and by the law of the land

People gain more rights Under the reign of Edward I

Develops Parliament

representative government

Two parts

House of Lords (nobles)

House of Commons (commoners)

Made laws and passed taxes

The French Kingdom The Carolingian (Charlemagne)

dynasty ends

Charlemagne dies

French Kings had little or no power over their noble vassals

The French Kingdom Phillip II Augustus

Ruled 1180-1223

Expanded France

Greatly increased power of French monarchy

Phillip IV France becomes best governed state

The Estates: The French parliament

1st Estate = Clergy

2nd Estate = Nobles

3rd Estate = Townspeople & Peasants

Germany Germany emerges

Leader Otto I

Makes deal with the Pope

Takes title of Holy Roman Emperor

Expanded into Italy

Created tensions between Germans and Italians

The Holy Roman Empire

While kings were invading Italy…

Lost control of their own land

German nobles established their own smaller kingdoms

Unable to conquer Italy so Italy remained fragmented

Both did not become countries until late 1800s

The Byzantine Empire

The Reign of Justinian Roman Empire in East

still survives

Justinian becomes emperor

Wants to return Eastern portion of Roman Empire to glory

Justinian’s accomplishments

Codified Roman law

standardized

The Body of Civil Law

Was in practice until 1543

Became basis for other European systems of law

Byzantine Empire changes…

Justinian's empire grew too large to manage

Much land lost to Muslim armies

What is left?

Land in Balkans and Asia Minor (Turkey)

What is left of Byzantium

The Hagia Sophia The Hagia Sophia

Built 537

Originally church, now a mosque

The Hippodrome Sports/Palace complex

Problems emerge between Byzantium and the Pope Emperor of Byzantium is also patriarch (leader) of

the church

Patriarch and Pope are similar positions

Pope wants to be only leader of church

Patriarch wants to be only leader church

Exchange ‘fighting’ words with each other

The Schism occurs… Schism is a break

The Pope and the Patriarch excommunicate each other EX: Remove each other from the church

Two churches exist Eastern Orthodox (Byzantium)

Roman Catholic Church (Europe)

Things get worse…. Seljuk Turks are a Muslim group from Asia

Move close to Constantinople

Byzantine Emperor Alexius wants to remove them

Asks Europe for help

What happens next??? The Crusades….THE BIGGEST MESS IN HISTORY AND THE

REASON THERE IS HATRED TODAY BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS