Transcript Chapter 10--Postclassical Western Europe

Medieval Europe
Chapter 10
Europe divided – Dark Ages
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France, Low Countries, Germany, England
6th to 10th centuries
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Political & Economic Fragmentation
Pope & Catholic church powerful - Rome
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Iberia – Spain & Portugal – under Arab Muslim control
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Scandinavian Vikings - Raid European coast from 8th - 10th
centuries
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Dark Ages - Literacy low - except among monks & priests
France, Low Countries, Germany, England
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The Manorial System – ?
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Power and prestige of the noble class
based on land - the fief - supported the
lord, his family, soldiers & his serfs
 Local political organization
 Lords ruled their fiefdom
 Agricultural economy
 Each was a self-supporting
economic unit
Reciprocal obligations
 Lord provided the land and
protection; serfs provided the labor
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In-kind labor for produce
800s - Agricultural innovation
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Moldboard plow
Crop rotation (3 crop system)
Windmill – medieval power
The moldboard plow
–
Manorial system
The Church: Political and Spiritual Power
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Popes follow Roman organization
 Appoint bishops
 Missionaries
Monasticism
 Benedict of Nursia Benedictine rule
 Spiritual functions
 Holiness
 Network
 Pilgrimage centers
 Secular functions
 Education
 Large estates
 Shelter travelers
 Universities founded - 13th C
Holy Roman Empire - Charles
the Great (Charlemagne)
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Statue of Charlemagne
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800 - crowned emperor
Copied Roman central
administration
814 – death – empire
fragments
843 – Treaty of Verdun
– created 3 kingdoms
Holy Roman emperors ruled Germany & Italy
Feudalism
in
Medieval
Europe
Feudal Monarchies in the HRE
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1066 - William of Normandy (French)
conquered England
 Centralized government, but consulted
w/ a “Great Council”
 Created law enforcement – sheriffs &
courts
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all fiefs held directly or indirectly by king
a personal oath of loyalty made each lord the vassal
of the king
the king coined money & supervised justice
local government was dependent upon the king
the Domesday Book (1086), a land survey, was compiled
for tax levies.
Over time, Norman and Anglo-Saxon cultures
blended, producing a uniquely English culture.
Magna Carta--1215
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Signed by King John (King Richard’s bro)
*established specific rights for all members
of feudal society – including KING! – legal
code for each person’s obligations
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*no taxation w/out authorization
*freedom of ports
*Govt cannot take crop w/out paying for it
*Govt officials cannot take horses/carts w/out
permission
*Govt needs witnesses to charge someone of a crime
*Everyone has right to justice
*Merchant rights
*Judgment by peers in certain situations
Significance of Magna Carta
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*1215, King John (England) forced to recognize Magna
Carta - supremacy of written law; limited King’s
powers
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England turns toward Parliamentary rule; while
French absolutism (monarchy) is solidified
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Representative bodies (Parliaments)
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Catalonia, from 1000
England, from 1265
Monarchs continue to increase in power through
warfare – nobility not used as knights; professional
armies loyal to king used
Hundred Years’ War – France vs. England – fought over
territory in France controlled by the English King
Decline in Religious Life
leads to Religious Reform
Gregorian reform, 11th
century - Gregory VII
 Separation of secular and
religious spheres
 Franciscans - Francis of
9th-11th C - religious life declined
Assisi
Survival of pagan practice –
 St Francis preached a life
disillusionment w/Church
of total poverty, charity
Parish priests - frequently illiterate
and good works, and love
& immoral
for all; the Franciscans
Higher ranking clergy often
ironically became one of
appointed by powerful lords the largest and most
served their interests rather than
powerful of the monastic
those of the church
orders.
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In the 10th century, a reform
movement began in the monasteries
Religion & Education in the High Middle Ages
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Theological debate: faith vs. reason
 Emphasis on Scholasticism - a medieval
philosophy that used Reason (from Greek
philosophy) to deepen the understanding of
what was believed by Faith (from
Christianity)
Rational examination of church doctrine vs.
Mysticism
Thomas Aquinas – wrote Summas – both faith
& reason
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- faith primary requirement, reason/analysis leads
to deeper understanding
Roger Bacon - English philosopher &
Franciscan friar who emphasized empiricism
one of the earliest advocates of the modern
scientific method inspired by the works of
early Islamic scientists
Religious Themes in Art & Literature
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Romanesque architecture
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Plain - round arch, barrel vault, and
massive stone walls with small windows
Exterior decoration is usually quite simple
Especially popular for monastic buildings
Gothic - 11th century  (Notre Dame)
 Pointed, or Gothic, arch, rib vault, use
of thinner walls & large windows
 Architects sought a unified design and
decoration
 Importance of height and light;
windows filled with stained-glass.
 Art – didactic; “Last Judgment”
popular
 Cathedrals often required centuries to
complete - entire community from
noble to peasant worked to erect them
High Middle Ages 12th C – vernacular/secular literature - Women
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National epics - English Beowulf; French
Song of Roland; Spanish Cid - recounted the
stories of great heroes; value of a bloody
warrior society
Troubadour songs (12th C) - celebrated
unfilled romantic love - addressed to women Tristan und Isolde
Fabliaux - humorous often bawdy and worldly
animal tales - mocked the ideas of chivalry,
ridiculed human foolishness & mocked the
Church
Greatest work of the was the Divine Comedy
of Dante - told of the poet's spiritual journey
through Hell, Purgatory & Paradise
Best known of the medieval writers - Geoffrey
Chaucer – 14th C author of humorous, bawdy,
and very popular Canterbury Tales
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Limited Sphere
for Women
 Women
generally lose
ground as
commerce
expands –
WHY??
 Some
opportunities
as nuns
Growth of Trade & Banking
Commerce expands
- Mediterranean trade zone
joined with North Sea & Baltic
region
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Money replaces barter / Banking & insurance expand
Merchants relatively free - but still relatively low status
Example - Hanseatic League - Northern Germany, southern
Scandinavian
cities who joined together to increase trade
Guilds – early merchants were not capitalistic – stressed cooperation instead of
competition
1. Craft associations – elections for leadership; meetings 2x/year
2. Protect markets – no new merchants (strangers)
3. Ensure standards & low price – high quality
4. Social role - *guildsmen required to attend funerals of fellows
*membership in guild passed down to sons
*support provided if one guildsmen fell into poverty
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The Decline of Medieval
Europe
Widespread warfare from 1300 to 1500
Hundred Years War
 Weakens feudal order
 Population outstrips agric. = Famines
Bubonic Plague/Black Death – began
1348
Result: a loss of faith in existing
authorities and beliefs and heightened
fears and anxieties
bizarre religious behavior, such as the
Flagellants; black magic & witchcraft
Apocalyptic fears also influenced the arts
– “Dance of Death” painting
Signs of Strain
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Aristocracy lose military purpose
Foot soldiers more important
Church increasingly rigid – inquisitions
against “heretics”
Western
Europe
towards
the End
of the
Middle
Ages