Transcript The Middle Ages

 Lasted from 500 – 1500
 Germanic groups invaded Roman
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Empire
Trade was disrupted
People returned to rural
ways of life
People were less educated
Monasteries preserved knowledge
 A Germanic tribe of
nomads who lived in
the Rhine River Valley.
 In the 400s, the Franks
began to invade
Roman Gaul (France
today)
 Merovingian King of the Franks
from 481-511
 He was Pagan, but In 496 his
wife (Clothilde) convinced him
to convert to Christianity
 The rest of his people then
converted
 “Charles the Hammer”
 Carolingian who became
Mayor of the Palace in 714
 Defeated the Muslims in
732 at the Battle of Tours
 Ended the Muslim threat to
Europe (except for Spain)
 Showed the effectiveness
of cavalry (used by
Muslims)
 Led to the importance of
knights
 Pepin the Short (son of Charles Martel)
 Convinced Pope Boniface to crown him King of
the Franks (751)
 Pepin created the Papal States when he gave
part of his territory to the Pope
 Ended all rule of the Merovingians and began
the Carolingian Dynasty
 “Charles the Great”
 Son of Pepin
 771 – King of the Franks
 Created the largest kingdom
in Europe since ancient
Rome
 Pope Leo III crowned him
King of the Romans
 (Cont.)
 Paid for a revival of learning
- the Carolingian Renaissance
 Monks copied Roman
manuscripts
 Opened schools
 His empire was divided
between his three sons who
fought each other until 843 –
signed the Treaty of Verdun
 Increasing violence and lawless
 Vikings attacked from the north
 Magyars (Turkish nomads) attacked from the
east
 Muslims attacked from the south
 People had no central government to protect
them
 People turned to lords for protection
 King
 Vassals – Nobles and
Bishops who were
wealthy land owners
 Knights – defended
Vassals’ land in
exchange for fiefs
(land)
 Peasants – worked the
Vassals’ fields; many
were serfs who could
not leave the land
 Popes often crowned the Kings.
 All Christian Kings had to have the
Pope’s blessing.
 Excommunication – if the Pope was
unhappy with a King, they could be
excommunicated and condemned to
hell.
 The Church could put anyone on trial
who violated Canon (Church) law.
 The climate was warmer from 800 to
1200
 Farmers used a new type of harness
that fit across a horse’s chest – horses
could pull plows
 Farmers could grow more crops when
they switched from a two-field system
to a three-field system
 The Church forbade Christians from lending
money at interest – Jews became the source
for loans.
 Trade increased and towns grew larger and
more crowded.
 Authors began writing in the vernacular –
brought literature to many people
 Christian scholars from Europe visited
Muslim libraries
 Many Greek writings were translated into
Latin.
 Ancient writings influenced Christian
writers.
The Age of Faith
Ended marriage of Priests and Simony
Towering cathedrals with stained-glass
windows (ex. Notre Dame)
Needed to protect Constantinople.
He wanted to take control of Jerusalem
and the Holy Land from the Seljuk Turks
Crusaders captured
Jerusalem.
Saladin recaptured Jerusalem.
Richard the Lion-Hearted fought Saladin
Came to a truce – Saladin opened
Jerusalem to Christian pilgrims
Knights attacked and looted the Christian
cities of Zara and Constantinople
Drove the Muslims out of Spain.
People suspected of heresy were
questioned, tortured, and executed.
 William of Normandy (William the
Conqueror) led a French Army and
defeated Harold the Saxon for the English
throne.
 William became William I of England.
 He declared all of England his personal
property.
 Granted fiefs to about 200 Norman lords
 Laid the foundation for centralized
government
 Grandson of William I made major
reforms to the royal power in England.
 Consolidated courts – more crimes and
civil cases would be tried by the Royal
Courts
 Common Law developed – laws are
created by decisions of the judges, earlier
decisions are used as precedents.
 Grand Jury System – a jury determines if
there is enough evidence to justify a trial
 Attempted to bring the church courts
under his control
 Failed after his clash with the Archbishop
of Canterbury, Thomas à Becket
1204 – Philip II of France Regains
Normandy from the English
 Philip strengthened the central
government in France by putting more
land under his control.
 John and Richard the Lionhearted were
both sons of Henry II, but Richard only
spent 10 months of his reign in England
 Ineffective ruler – lost territory to the
French, taxed heavily and abandoned jury
trials to punish his enemies
 A large group of his vassal lords revolted
against him in 1215 and forced him to sign
the Magna Carta at Runnymede
 The Magna Carta required the king to
observe due process of law
 Was intended to protect the lords, but it
later protected merchants and peasants
 Became the foundation of the English
system of constitutional government
1226 – Louis IX became King of
France
 He set up courts where people could
appeal their lord’s decision.
 This strengthened the monarchy and
weakened feudal ties.
 Monks were people who gave up worldly
possessions and devote themselves to
a religious life
 Established between 400 -700 communities called
monasteries which became centres of education,
literacy and learning
 Strict codes of monastic conduct called Rule of St.
Benedict
 Saints- one who performs miracles that are
interpreted as evidence of a special relationship
with God
 St. Augustine- wrote “Confessions” which
discussed ideas of ethics, self knowledge, and the
role of free will which shaped monastic tradition
and the influence of Church
Byzantine Empire in 6th Century
 New royal dynasty called Capetians in France
 System of primogeniture= system where eldest son inherited everything
(instead of dividing land / property / wealth)
 Lords and knights however had little loyalty and began competing more
fiercely for land, power, influence and control
 Peace of God= a set of decrees issued in 989 CE that prohibited stealing
church property, assaulting clerics, peasants and women with the threat of
excommunication from Church
 were set to protect the unarmed populace by limiting warfare in
countryside
 Truce of God= set in 1027 CE and outlawed all fighting from Thursday to
Monday morning, on important feast days and during religious days
 Truce encouraged idea that the only combat pleasing to God was in the
defence of Christendom (idea of the righteousness of holy war)
 1095 CE Pope Urban II referred to Truce of God when calling knights to the
first Crusade in support of Christians
 War of Investitures (Pope Gregory VII and Holy Roman
Emperor Henry IV)
 Norman Conquests & William the Conqueror (who was
crowned King of England and ordered the Doomsday Book)
 Magna Carta (king is subject to the law)
 Crusades
 Effects of Crusades (military failure but many positive
effects (spreading of culture, goods, scientific knowledge,
Arabic language and thought, economic growth in rural
communities, and trade)
 Effects of Crusades
 Guild and communes
 Towns, cities and manors
 New thinkers (Thomas Aquinas) and writers
 Creation of universities
 New art and architecture (gothic, castles)
 Knighthood and chivalry
 Courtly entertainment (fables, playwrights)
 Black Death
 a devastating
worldwide
pandemic that
first struck
Europe in the
mid 14th century
 killed about a
third of Europe’s
population, an
estimated 34
million people.
 Called “black death” because of striking
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symptom of the disease, in which sufferers' skin
would blacken due to hemorrhages under the skin
Spread by fleas and rats
painful lymph node swellings called buboes
buboes in the groin and armpits, which ooze pus
and blood.
damage to the skin and underlying tissue until
they were covered in dark blotches
Most victims died within four to seven days after
infection
EFFECTS
 Caused massive depopulation and change
in social structure
 Weakened influence of Church
 Originated in Asia but was blamed on
Jews and lepers
 Roger Bacon (gunpowder)
 Luca Pacioli (Father of Accounting)
 Johannes Gutenberg (printing press)
 Christine de Pisan (writer); Geoffrey Chaucer
(writer)
 Joan of Arc (Hundred Year’s War)
 Pope Urban II (indulgences)
 Pope Innocent IV and Bernard Gui (inquisitions)
 Parliamentary Government in England