Transcript Western Europe

Western Europe
Problems 550-900 CE
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Rome’s decline left Italy fragmented but Rome
still the center of the growing Catholic church
Spain in the hands of Muslims
Center of the postclassical west (France, Low
countries, and southern/western Germany) had
new civilization
Frequent invasions by the Vikings
No intellectual life (only Catholic church
monasteries kept some scholarship alive)
Vikings
The Manorial System:
Obligations and Allegiances
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Political organization largely local
Manorialism- system of economic and political
relations between landlords and their peasant
laborers where most people were serfs
(agricultural workers who received some
protection from landlords)
Life of serfs not easy
Serfs were not slaves; they could not be bought or
sold and they retained ownership of their lands as
long as they kept up with their obligations
Feudal Monarchies
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Feudal relationships linked military elites, mostly
landlords, who could afford the horses and iron
weaponry to fight. Greater lords provided
protection to the lesser lords called vassals
Early feudalism local, while Charlemagne’s
feudalism more stable- he paid his bureaucrats
with estates- this inhibited the development of
strong central states
France
England- 1066- William the Conqueror- Duke of
Normandy- invaded England and extended his
tight feudal system to England
Limited Government
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Strong monarchies didn’t develop evenly
throughout Europe- west divided and diverse
Growth of monarchy cut into aristocratic power
but this led to new statements on the limits of
kings
1215 – Magna Carta- confirmed feudal rights
against monarchical claims
Late 13th century- creation of parliamentsrepresented nobles and church
Charlemagne and His
Successors
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Royal house of the Franks grew in 8th century and
Carolingians took over the monarchy (Charles
Martel- or Charles the Hammer- defeated the
Muslims in the battle of Tours in 732 and helped
confine the Muslims to Spain)
Around 800 Charles the Great, or Charlemagne,(
part of the Carolingian line) established strong
empire in France and Germany
Helped restore some church-based education in
western Europe and there was a slow recovery of
intellectual activity
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Died in 814 and empire split into three portions of
inheritance for three grandsons (modern France, Germany,
and low countries of Switzerland, and northern Italy) but
these were weak rulers and this lead to gradual emergence
of regional monarchies and absence of strong bureaucracy
Strong cultural unity with Christianity but no single
language or government
Royal houses claimed the title of emperor around 10th
century and called themselves Holy Roman emperors
(merging Christian and classical themes)
The West’s Expansionist
Impulse
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East central Europe-from 11th century- Germanic knights
in Germany and Poland
Spain- small Christian states in the north slowly attacked
Muslim government, which ultimately was pushed out by
1492
Crusades against the Muslim control of the Holy Land
1095- Pope Urban II called for First Crusade
1097- met in Constantinople- then conqueror Jerusalem,
which they held for a century, until Saladin recaptured it in
the 12th century
Showed the aggressive spirit of the western middle
ages but also exposed the west to new cultural and
economic influences from the middle east and a thirst for
Medieval Europe and the
Catholic Church
Catholic church only example of solid
organization after Roman collapse
 Authority of the church and cultural
dominance of Christianity with the
intellectual diversity of university life
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The Decline of the Medieval
Synthesis
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12-14th Centuries Feudal political structures balanced by
emerging central monarchies
Strong monarchies adjust state boundaries, Hundred
Year’s War between France and England in 14th and 15th
centuries (kings eventually had to reduce dependence on
nobility and new military methods challenged the
monopoly of feudal lords)- ended with French victory
(Joan of Arc) but showed signs of stress in French
monarchy
Disease- Black death 1348
 Destroyed population
Signs of Strain
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14th century ruling class showed signs of confusion. Claim
to power always in control of land and military prowess
but now open to question. Chivalry gained ground. Upper
class became more cultivated.
Shift in balance between church and state. French kings
wielded great influence over papacy in early 14th century.
Pope moved to Avignon and then back to Rome. Religion
still popular but the church as an institution not popular
Breakdown in intellectual synthesis – church officials less
tolerant of intellectual daring.
The Postclassical West and Its
Heritage
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After 900 gains in population, trade and cities, and
intellectual activity created a vigorous period in
European history
Lasting impacts- universities, gothic style of
architecture, new ideas about government
Change in the relationship between Europe and
the regions around it as Europe gained strength.
Advance by imitation.
Crusades a distinctive expansionist spirit