The Middle Ages

Major Eras of European History

• Ancient: Greece/Rome

• Middle Ages: Everything in between (500 – 1500)

• Modern: 1500’s and on

Periodization of the Middle Ages

• Early Middle Ages: 500 CE – 1000 CE

• High Middle Ages: 1000 CE – 1250 CE

• Late Middle Ages: 1250 CE - 1500 CE

Timeline

• Take 5 minutes to read over your “Brief Timeline of the Catholic Church in Western Europe during the Middle Ages”

• Is there anything that’s “jumps out” at you?

Fall of the Roman Empire

• Rome was the most powerful empire the world had ever seen.

Roman Legacy

1) Art & ArchitectureI. Arches, Domes, VaultsII. AqueductsIII. Roads

2) Tech & ScienceI. New building materials

Roman Legacy cont’d

3) Literature/LanguageI. Romance = RomanII. Romantic languages

4) LawIII. Roman Republic influence USAIV. SenatorsV. ‘Equality’VI. Democracy

A Disclaimer!

• Religion is a large part of the place and time we are studying.

• For many people it is a large part of their lives in this place and time.

• What are some strategies to ensure that you can voice your opinions and be sensitive to others?

• If you ever feel uncomfortable or offended by something someone has said…Please let me know.

Things you need to know:• Diocletian (51st Emperor 284 to 305 CE) split the Roman empire in two.

• He thought the empire was too big and it needed a second ruler• Historical significance = Byzantium Empire (East)• Byzantium Empire would last about 1000 years longer than the Western

Roman Empire• Constantine (Emperor from 306 to 337 CE)

• Unified the Roman Empire under Christianity• Built a new imperial residence at Byzantium (it was named Constantinople in

his honor after his death and is the capital for the Eastern Roman Empire for a thousand years)

• Edict of Milan: 313 CE– Legalizes Christianity in the Roman Empire, reversing Diocletian’s policy of

persecution.– This has lasting impacts on Europe.

“Wherefore, for this our indulgence, they ought to pray to their God for our safety, for that of the republic, and for their own, that the commonwealth may continue uninjured on every side, and that they may be able to live securely in their homes”

Why did Christianity spread so easily?

Europe in the 6th Century

The Medieval Catholic Church

• Filled the power vacuum left from the collapse of the classical world.

• Monasticism: a religious way of life that involves renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one's self to spiritual work– St. Benedict – Benedictine Rule of poverty, chastity, and

obedience.– provided schools for the children of the upper class.– inns, hospitals, refuge in times of war.– libraries & scriptoria to copy books and illuminate

manuscripts– monks and missionaries to the barbarians. [St. Patrick, St.

Boniface]

Role of Church in Middle Ages• Never was there a

time when the Church was so powerful in Western Civilization.

• The Church was led by popes. Priests and nuns converted, gave care to people

Role of Church

• Monks were spiritual leaders (obviously)

• They lived in monasteries that acted like trade schools and YMCAs

Role of Church

• They spent years transcribing the Bible since the printing press wasn’t used in Europe yet.

Role of Church

• Since there were no strong empires or kingdoms the Church was one organization that had respect and power.

• Popes were more powerful than kings!

A Medieval Monastery: The Scriptorium

Illuminated Manuscripts

• Text is supplemented with decoration (initials, borders, decorations)

• This actually aided with the preservation of literature from Greece and Rome

• It was a way of aggrandizing ancient documents thus aiding their preservation in an era when new ruling classes were no longer literate

Sacraments

• Efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us – 7 Sacraments:• Baptism (Christening)• Confirmation (Chrismation)• Holy Eucharist • Penance (Confession)• Anointing of the Sick (Last Rites)• Holy Orders• Matrimony (Marriage)

• Theoretically speaking it makes little difference as to which language is used in the Mass. God understands all languages. In practice, however it does make a difference

• The people hearing the words in their own language without any explanation, become self interpreters; this is nothing more than Protestantism

A Medieval Monk’s Day

The Power of the Medieval Church

• Bishops and abbots played a large part in the feudal system.• The church controlled about 1/3 of the land in Western

Europe.• Tried to curb feudal warfare

– only 40 days a year for combat.• Curb heresies

– Crusades– Inquisition

• Tithe – 1/10 tax on your assets given to the church.

• Peter’s Pence: 1 penny per person [paid by the peasants].

A Medieval Castle

Carcassonne: A Medieval Castle

Feudalism

• Feudalism: A decentralized form of government that stressed alliances of mutual protection between monarchs and nobles

• A political, economic, and social system based on loyalty and military service.

Feudalism

Feudalism (political system)

• The kings had lots of land; he gave land to lords in exchange for protection and $.

• Lords gave their land to knights in exchange for protection, $.

• Knights let serfs work the land and he would protect them.

• Serfs got food and shelter.• Thus, each person had rights and

responsibilities

Manoralism (economic system)

• For safety and for defense, people in the Middle Ages formed small communities around a central lord or master. Most people lived on a manor, which consisted of the castle, the church, the village, and the surrounding farm land. These manors were isolated, with occasional visits from peddlers, pilgrims on their way to the Crusades, or soldiers from other fiefdoms.

Why do you think everyone chose to be isolated?

The Medieval Manor

Life on the Medieval Manor

Serfs at work

Chivalry- Code of Honor

The System

• Fief: A parcel of land with peasants.• Serf: A worker on a fief who was not free.

They worked the land in exchange for protection and the right to work the fields.

• Vassal: One who enters into mutual obligations with a lord or monarch.

• Lord: A high ranking aristocrat

The Road to Knighthood

KNIGHT

SQUIRE

PAGE

Magna Carta

• Signed in 1215• Example of Rule of

Law• English King John

was a bad king so his nobles forced him to sign it.

• Limited powers of king.

Why Feudalism

Feudalism/ Manoralism came from people’s need for protection. Each member had rights and responsibilities.

Cultures interact through wars, such as the Crusades, and trade ideas such as democratic ideas or religious ideas

Why was Constantinople so Important Geographically?

The Crusades

• Thousands of knights and “barbarian” soldiers united under Christianity attacked Muslims and Jews in Turkey and Jerusalem to gain the land for Christians.

Pope Urban II: Preaching a Crusade

Setting Out on Crusade

Romanesque Archtectural Style

• Rounded Arches• Darker, simplistic interiors• Barrel Vaults• Thick Walls• Small windows

Gothic Architectural Style• Pointed arches• High, narrow vaults• Thinner walls

• Elaborate, airier interiors• Stained-glass windows• Flying buttresses

Churches and Cathedrals during the Middle Ages

Medieval Guilds

Guild Hall

Commercial Monopoly:

Controlled membership apprentice journeyman master craftsman

Controlled quality of the product [masterpiece].

Controlled prices

Medieval Guilds: A Goldsmith’s Shop

Crest of a Cooper’s Guild

Oxford University

Late Medieval Town Dwellings

Important Middle Ages Technologies

• Water Wheel• Eyeglasses• Mechanical Clock• Printing• Gunpowder

Eyeglasses

• Invented in Pisa 13th century• By 15th century Italy making thousands spectacles• Eyeglasses encouraged invention of fine

instruments– Gauges– Micrometers– Fine wheel cutters– Precision tools

Mechanical Clock• Undermined Church authority

– equal hours for day and night a new concept

– Resisted by the church for a century• Every town wanted one

– Public clocks installed in towers• Conquerors seized as spoils of

war• Allowed individual autonomy• Work now measured by time

– increased productivity

Bern, Switzerland

Gunpowder

• Europeans improved gunpowder to siege castles

• Europeans focused on range and weight of projectiles: siege warfare

• With improved metal casting, made world’s best cannon

Economic and Cultural Revival in the Late Middle Ages

Economic Expansion

Agriculture

• Newer heavier plows– Greater food production leads to greater settlement

• Yoke replaces collar harness– Oxen are replaced by horses, for faster pulling, allowing farmers

to plant and grow more crops

Expansion of Trade

• Revival of towns causes the expansion of trade– Sea lanes and roads to new markets– Western Europe is connected

• Roman road system is rebuilt• Venice, Genoa, and Pisa becomes centers of

trade in Mediterranean (skills and spices)

Banking

• A money economy replaces a barter system• Banking sector is created

– Money changers exchange currencies from different traders from different lands

– Funds are transferred from one place to another• Deposits• Loans

• The feudalism declines– Kings, clergy and nobles become dependent on money and loans– To pay the loans they sell their feudal holdings– They demand money in replacement for traditional feudal

services (obligations)– Serfs can buy freedom

Towns Grow

• 1000-1100 CE sees enormous growth in towns– Generally located on transportation routes– Walls develop for protection– Almost no sanitation• Garbage and sewer stench everywhere• Causes the rapid spread of disease (epidemic)• Bubonic plague (1348-1350)• 1/3 of population dead (Black Death)

Guilds

• 1100s CE merchants and artisans form these business organizations

• Primary function of merchant guild was to maintain a monopoly of the local market– This leads to trade restrictions– Uniform pricing

• Craft guilds regulated the work of artisans (carpenters, blacksmiths, ect)

• strict rules on prices, wages, and employment• Controlled by masters

Apprentice Journeyman Master

Rise of the Middle Class

• Medieval towns (burgs) saw a new class of people

• Merchants, bankers, artisans no longer had to rely on the land to make a living

• The merchant class gave rise to organized municipalities– As the middle class grew, kings even began to rely

on them for loans, as well as for tax dollars– These merchants eventually became advisors to

nobility and kings

Education• During the Early Middle Ages most people are illiterate

and education is controlled by the clergy• Students in monasteries learned grammar, rhetoric,

logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music• The growth of towns later necessitates educated

officials, lawyers (as courts and a legal system evolves)• Universities begin around 1150 BCE

– Students studied • Latin classics and Roman Law• Aristotle and the Greeks• Islamic scholarship and the sciences

– This leads to the rise of western science

Medieval Literature and Art

• The influence of universities and the revival of the classic Greek ideas advance literature and the arts

• Middle Age songs and epics are put into writing• Most literature is written in the vernacular (the

language of everyday speech) instead of using Latin as a Common Language

• English, German ,French, Italian, Spanish give each kingdom a separate identity and make literature accessible to the average person

Gothic Architecture Emerges• New construction methods allow for high ceilings,

large internal spaces, thin walls, stain glass windows, and commonly designed cathedrals