The Middle Ages: 500 – 1500

The Medieval Period

Rise of the Middle Ages

Decline of the Roman Empire

Ordeals

• What are they– Medieval way of settling disputes

• Examples– Boiling Water– Cold Water– Combat

• Based on a simple idea:– God will protect innocent & expose guilty

How does this compare to the past?

• Byzantine:– Code of Justinian

• Simplified• Organized• Fair

• Roman Empire:– 12 Tables

• Fair • Available to everyone

• Greek:– Direct Democracy: all vote

Early Middle Ages

450 – 1050

Germanic Invasions &

Charlemagne

Perspective = Byzantine Empire approx. 400 - 1400

Invasions of Germanic Peoples

Invasions caused many changes:

1. Breakdown of trade• Invasions caused businesses to collapse• money became scarce.

2. Cities abandoned• no longer center of trade / economy• Government collapsed

3. Population Shift• People were left without leadership• Fled to the country - grow their own food• Protect yourself

Invasions of Germanic Peoples

4. Decline of learning• Germanic invaders could not read or write• priests and other church officials were the few that were

literate.• Knowledge of Greek and Roman culture – lost

5. Loss of common language– Different dialects of Latin

• Become French, Spanish, and others

– Breakup of unified empire

6. End of Democracy

Rome

• Unified by loyalty to public government

• Governed by written law

• Orderly government

Germanic

• Family ties and personal loyalty

• governed by unwritten rules and traditions

• Ruled by a Chief who led warriors loyal only to him– not some emperor they had never seen

Why the Dark Ages?

• Not much history/learning• No writing• No advances• no cities / trade• Harsh lifestyle – violence• 70% of people died within the 1st year• Lived and died within 5 miles of where you

were born

Charlemagne

European Empire Evolves

•Roman Empire declines = small kingdoms all over Europe.

•The largest & strongest controlled by Franks– Area that is now France

• Leader: Clovis – 1st Christian king

• Start of an Alliance• Frankish kingdom & the Church

Carolingian Dynasty

• Started w/Charles Martel– Saved kingdom from

Muslims of Spain• Pepin the Short (Son of Martel)

– Alliance w/Pope• Pepin protects Pope• Pope makes Pepin = “king by the grace of God”

• Why are these men important?

Charlemagne• Son of Pepin• Ruled the kingdom of

France w/brother. – brother dies = sole ruler

of Franks.• Immediately sought to

expand empire.– Led men into battle

himself.

By 800: Builds an Empire

• Builds an empire greater than any since Rome– Reunited western Europe

• Fought many armies– Muslims & Germanic Tribes

• What do all these conquests do for Christianity?– Spread it through all the conquered

areas

In 800• Charlemagne to Rome

– Protects the Pope• Pope crowned him “Roman Emperor”• Historic – Why?

– Pope claims political right to give the title of emperor

– Joining of Germanic (political) power & the Church

Charlemagne’s Accomplishments

• Governed his empire– Counts govern counties– Visited regularly

• Encouragement of learning– Surrounded w/scholars– Opened palace school– Ordered monasteries to open schools

for monks• Spread Christianity

814 843

• Charlemagne dies • Son Louis =

emperor– Ineffective ruler

• Left the emperor to Charlemagne’s 3 grandsons– Fought for control

• Treaty of Verdun– Brothers divided

empire• What does this do

to the kingdom?– Lost power– Central authority

was gone– No strong rulers

• Back to many small kingdoms

Charlemagne’s Empire Collapses:

Treaty of Verdun, 843

Charlemagne’s Empire Collapses:

Treaty of Verdun, 843

Vikings

Chapter 13 Section 2

Vikings Attack

Charlemagne's empire was broken up by his grandsons and was soon destroyed by invaders who would attack by sea, raid & plunder, then quickly out to sea again.

Who are the Vikings?

• From Scandinavia – Northmen, Norsemen, & Vikings

Who are the Vikings?

• They were Germanic – But unlike the other Germanic tribes

they didn’t have contact w/Rome• What does this mean? Why is this

Important?

What did the Vikings do?• Great ships

– Long, lean, and light – technological advanced

What did the Vikings do?

• Not just Raiders (raiding was important)– also traders and farmers

What did the Vikings do?• Explorers

– Traveled all over the world • Iceland, Greenland, America, Black Sea

– Leif Ericson – 1000 AD found Newfoundland (America)

Why did they stop?

1. Vikings adapted Christianity

2. Europe’s climate went through a warming trend that allowed farming in cooler climates

3. Europeans worked out a way to quickly respond to the raids

Feudal Society

Chapter 13 Section 2

Feudalism

• Political, econ, & soc. syst. based on loyalty & military service.– Control of land is the key to power

• Who/what is involved in the manor system?– Lord: person that gives land– Vassal: person that receives land– Fief: piece of land given to a vassal

How Feudalism Works?

• The feudal system was based on personal loyalty– Oaths sworn equivalent to written contract

The relationship b/w lords & vassals was important to the feudal syst. Vassals had certain duties to perform for the lord All nobles were ultimately vassals of the king.

Feudalism

Based on mutual obligation

Military protection

Provide knights in times of war

service

Fiefs – land grants

Fiefs – land grants

protection

Responsibilities of system

• What did the lord do?– Provided land– Provided protection – Housing: fort/castle

• What did the vassal do?– Provided the lord w/40 days of combat – Provided the lord w/$$ or taxes

Kaufmandian in Kauflandia

Feudalism Manors

• Manor – a small estate owned by a lord

• Self-sufficient – Manor was almost completely independent– Only things brought in were salt, iron and some luxuries – Manor produced food, fuel, clothing, lumber

Workers on the Manor

Freemen: skilled workers who paid rent and could leave the manor whenever they wished. – usually had a skill needed by others on the manor.– 1 bad harvest they could be forced to enter serfdom– Heavily taxed including a tithe (1/10 of income to the church)

• Serfs: workers bound to the land by contract w/nobles. – Had no freedom - where the noble’s property.– Not free, but not slaves

Objectives

• Chivalry• Knights & Castles

The Age of Chivalry

The mounted Knights were the most important part of an Army

Professional solders – main obligation was to serve in battle

Rewarded with land

Devoted lives to war

The Age of Chivalry

Chivalry – complex set of ideals, demanded that a knight fight bravely in defense of three masters

1. His feudal lord

2. His Heavenly Lord

3. His Lady

Meant to protect the weak & poor

Be loyal, brave, & courteous

The Age of Chivalry

Sons of nobles began training at an early age for knighthood

Page – at 7: sent to another lord to be trained

Squire – at 14: act as a servant to a knight

Knight- at 21: become a knight & gain experience in local wars & tournaments

The Age of Chivalry

Tournaments – mock battles: combined recreation & combat training

Fierce & bloody competitions

Castles & Keeps

• Stone castles were encircled by massive walls & guard towers– Home to lord & lady, their

family, knights solders, & servants

– A fortress of defense

Late Middle Ages

By the end of the High Middle Ages

• Western European nations gained much of the shape by which we know them today

• They became more stable and began concentrating on establishing stronger political structures

Objectives

• Explain the influence of the Christian Church in shaping western European civilization– Hierarchy of the church, role of church as

educator, and characteristics of Gothic architecture

Power of the ChurchPower of the ChurchWhile the Roman Empire declined the Church remained

Christendom: Control of all Christianity under the Pope’s rule

monasteries:

St. Benedict – Benedictine Rule of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

provided schools for the children of the upper class.

hospitals, refuge in times of war.

libraries to copy books

monks missionaries to the barbarians.

Missionaries succeeded in spreading Christianity

A Medieval Monk’s DayA Medieval Monk’s Day

The ClergyReligious officials had different ranks within the church structure

Power of the Church

• Provided a unifying set of spiritual beliefs and rituals

• Created a system of justice to guide peoples conduct – Cannon Law – the law of the church

excommunication – banishment

interdict – the denial of sacraments - important religious ceremonies Ex. (baptism, last rights)

The Church Reforms:The Age of Faith

Chapter 14 Section 1

The Age of Faith

• A new age of religious feeling– Wanted to return to the basic principles of

Christianity

• Still problems troubled the church

Church Reforms

• Marriage of priests– Marriage of priests was against church rule, but still

happened all the time– Became a part of canon law

• Stopped Simony– Simony: the buying and selling of church offices– If you spent money to get a position what would you

expect to do with the position?

Church Reforms

• Lay Investiture– Bishops went through a ceremony

to receive their offices

– Who should perform this ceremony? Noble (govt.) or Church Leader• Who ever controlled the ceremony

controlled the offices

King Henry IV & Pope Gregory VII

• Gregory becomes Pope and says that only pope can name bishops– Henry doesn’t agree – orders Gregory to step down

• Gregory excommunicates Henry• Gregory orders an Interdict

– Henry asks Popes forgiveness

Concordat of Worms

• The church would give out the title of bishop

• The Emperor had the power to grant the land that went with the office

Cathedrals

• Romanesque: 1000 – 1100– Like ancient Rome– Heavy and earthbound– Thick walls, with tiny windows

let in little light

Romanesque Architectural Style

Romanesque Architectural Stylee Rounded Arches.

e Barrel vaults.

e Thick walls.

e Darker, simplistic interiors.

e Small windows, usually at the top of the wall.

Cathedrals

• Gothic Style: p.381– Tall thin walls with

many windows

– Ribbed vaults

– Flying buttresses

– Pointed arches

– Tall Spires

The Crusades

The Crusades

The Crusades were a series of military campaigns during the time of Medieval England against the Muslims of the Middle

East. In 1076, the Muslims had captured Jerusalem - the most holy of holy places for Christians. Jesus had been born in nearby

Bethlehem and Jesus had spent most of his life in Jerusalem. He was crucified on Calvary Hill, also in Jerusalem. There was

no more important place on Earth than Jerusalem for a true Christian which is why Christians called Jerusalem the "City of

God".

Objectives

• List and evaluate the causes and consequences of the Crusades– Papal power, connections between east and

west

What were they?• What are the Crusades?

– Holy War

• Pope Urban II responded to the request of Alexius I to take back the holy land from the Muslims

• Urban II called for crusades against infidels– Infidels were the non believers = Muslims,

Jews

• Goal: – To regain the Holy Land (Jerusalem) from the

Muslims

Pope’s Goal

• Wanted to show that he was the leader of all of Christendom

• Reunite the Byzantine and Roman Christians– Wanted to be the head

of all Christians

Knight’s Goal

• Religious – forgiveness of sins

• Win glory in battle

• Rich plunder - riches

Merchant’s Goal

• Wanted to control trade routes between Asia and Europe

• Could charge the crusaders large sums of money for travel

The 1st Crusade

• Crusaders were well prepared for war– Unprepared for what?

• the desert (to Jerusalem)

• For 2 years they suffered, but they were lucky– Muslims were fighting among themselves

• Outcome– Finally captured Jerusalem– Slaughtered the Muslims

• 1120’s, Muslims began to strike back which led to another Crusade

The 2nd Crusade

• 2nd Crusade was a total failure

• 1187, Jerusalem fell to Saladin– Sultan of Egypt & Syria

• 3 important rulers then agreed to begin a third Crusade

The 3rd Crusade

• The Kings’ Crusade– French King Philip Augustus

• Caught a fever and went home– German Emperor Fredrick I (Barbarossa)

• Fell from his horse in a river and drowned– English King Richard (the Lionheart)

• Only one that continued• Found Saladin, Muslim ruler, to be chivalrous

• Outcome– Agreed to a 3 year truce

• Richard I negotiated a settlement with Saladin• Muslims controlled Jerusalem, but Christians could visit

The 6th Crusade

• Most successful of the later crusades

• Fredrick II met with Saladin’s nephew– Negotiated a treaty

• The pope was not pleased– Said it was a pact with the devil– Excommunicated Fredrick

• The Holy Land fell to the Muslims