Transcript Western Civilization I HIS-101

Western Civilization I
HIS-101
Unit 9 – High Middle Ages, 1000-1300 (Economy and Politics)
Introduction

Europe in 1000



Byzantine and Islamic civilizations flourished
Western Europe was weakened by Viking, Hungarian, and
Muslim attacks
By 1300:







Europe is the dominant military, economic and political power
A Catholic European world
Expansion of European commerce
Urbanization
Economic Growth
More powerful governments
Social Stratification

Peasants harvesting grain (c. 1340)
Medieval Agricultural Revolution

Transformation occurred between 700 and 1300


Period of technological innovation
Improved climate



New crop rotation system


“Medieval Warm Period” (c. 950-1250)
Temperatures were on average 1˚C warmer than currently
3 field crop rotation system increased crop yields per acre
Technological advances


Development of the heavy plow
Horses became more commonly used as work animals


Horseshoes (c. 900)
Tandem harnessing (c. 1050)
Medieval Agricultural Revolution

Mills





Important in food processing
After 1050, a craze for building water mills in northern
European took place
Windmills introduced in the 1170s
Used not only for food but to provide power to forges and
crushing pulp for paper
Results

Growing confidence of entrepreneurial peasants and lords



Investing in new technologies could lead to a greater profit
Increased European population
Efficient market for goods

Early 14th century watermill
Manorialism

Prior to the 9th century, peasants lived on individual plots
of land


They would farm what they needed and paid rent to a landlord
The development of the manor




Occurred mainly in England, northern Europe, and western
Germany after 9th century
Consolidation of individual peasant holdings into large,
common fields for one village
More cost effective this way
Peasants were dominated by the lords
Manorialism

The lord of the manor



Dominant role in the village
Claimed largest share of peasant’s production
Strip farming



Strips of land would be divvied out to individual peasants to farm
Peasants would pay rent but keep any profits
The demense



Usually 1/3 to 1/2 of the common land kept by the lord for his own
private use
To form this land, greater labor services were imposed on the
peasants
Turn free peasants into serfs
Manorialism

The peasants

Similar to slaves




Unlike slaves


Tied to the land
Worked without pay
Status was heritable
Their obligations were fixed by custom
Limits of manorialism

Manorialism never predominant across Europe at any one time


Mostly limited to England and parts of France and Germany
Starts to breakdown in the 13th century


Lords collect revenue in cash, avoiding the risks of the market
Distinction between serf and free peasant slowly dissolves

Middle East

(c. 1025)
Byzantium

During the 9th and 10th centuries, the power of the
Abbasid caliphate went into a decline


Another threat came from the north in the form of the
Viking (Rus) invaders


However, they were still a threat to the Byzantine state
They had strong trade connections with the Abbasids
Byzantine Revival


St. Cyril and St. Methodius convert Balkan Slavs to Orthodox
Christianity
A new written language


Old Church Slavonic (Cyrillic alphabet)
Annexation of Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia
Byzantium

Byzantium was also involved in a number of key
conquests



Military and commercial alliance with the western Russia
There were still a number of key threats to Byzantium



Eastern conquests against the Abbasids in the 930s and 970s
Venice, Pisa and Genoa emerge as dominant traders in the
eastern Mediterranean
Growing power of Fatimid Egypt
The biggest threat was from the Seljuk Turks



A Sunni Muslim group that moved into Anatolia
Defeated imperial forces at the Battle of Mazikert in 1071
The Turks were now threatening the existence of Byzantium

A crusading knight

(c. 1250)
The First Crusade

In 1095, Emperor Alexius Comnenus appealed to Pope
Urban II for troops to repel the Turks


Hoped to use heavily armed western knights to attack the light
armored Turks
Pope Urban's appeal


Bring the Orthodox Church into communion with the papacy
Embarrass the German emperor, Henry IV


Achieving peace at home


Urban had been feuding with Henry for over 20 years
Tens of thousands of fighters would leave Europe for the Middle East
Goal of freeing Jerusalem from Muslim control
The First Crusade

By the end of 1095 the call for the First Crusade is made



100,000 men, women and children answer the call to march to
Constantinople
From there they would move on to Jerusalem
Why did people join the Crusade?



Win new lands
Prospect of adventure
Religious



They believed they were on a mission from God
Pilgrimage
Plenary indulgences

Freed from punishment in purgatory
The First Crusade


First Crusade (1096-1099)
As the Crusaders moved east, they attacked Jewish
communities throughout the Holy Roman Empire



Christian theology believed that the Jews were responsible for
Jesus’ death
Those who were not killed were forcibly baptized
Once the Crusaders got to Constantinople, more
problems occurred


Byzantium was seen as an obstacle to recovery of Jerusalem
for Christianity
Some questioned the loyalty of Alexius as he had made trade
deals with Muslims
The First Crusade

The Crusaders were successful at reconquering the Holy
Land



This was mainly due to the internal fighting amongst the
various Muslim groups
In 1098, they captured Antioch and most of Syria
In 1099, they took Jerusalem, slaughtering its inhabitants


Included Muslims, Jews, and Christians
Genoa and Pisa benefitted by the defeat of the Muslims


Were able to expand their trade routes into the Red Sea and
to Egypt
Furthered the decline of Byzantine commerce
The First Crusade

The problem with the First Crusade was that many
Crusaders did not want to stay in the Holy Land



Most wanted to return home
This left an under populated strip of colonies along the eastern
Mediterranean coastline
For the Muslims, the loss of Jerusalem was a religious
affront


Was not economic because the Crusaders did not want to
interfere in already established trade routes
The religious motivation was enough to help them recapture
Syria in 1144 under the leadership of Saladin

Richard the Lionhearted


King of England
(1189-1199)
Other Crusades

Second Crusade (1145-1149)




Called after Syrian principalities were recaptured by the
Muslims
Christian warriors suffered crushing defeats
Muslim leader Saladin recaptures Jerusalem (1187)
The Third Crusade (1189-1192)

Participants included




Frederick Barbarossa of Germany
Philip Augustus of France
Richard the Lionhearted of England
Another failed campaign
Other Crusades

In 1198, Pope Innocent III is elected


His main goal is to retake Jerusalem
The Fourth Crusade (1202-1204)


Summoned by Innocent III
A disaster for the Crusading armies





Civil war in Germany
War between England and France
Depleted ranks of crusading armies
In 1204, Constantinople was sacked by the Crusaders
In 1229, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II negotiated
with the Egyptian sultan to return Jerusalem to Christian
control for ten years

Routes of the Crusaders (1096-1204)
Consequences of the Crusades







Disaster for Byzantium
Modest effect on the Islamic world
Trade between Islam and the west continued
The West learned new technologies of fortification
The Muslims learned about siege warfare
The crystallization of Christian and Islamic doctrines of
the holy war against the infidel
Greatest gains went to the republics of Venice and Genoa

Europe

(c. 1000)
Emergence of European Monarchies

Feudalism defined





A political system in which public powers are exercised by
private lords
First took shape in 10th an 11th century France
Justified a hierarchical legal and political order
Personal relationships of service in return for land-holding
Components:



Fief - A contract in which something of value was exchanged
for service
Vassal – A recipient of a fief
Homage - A solemn act in which a vassal becomes “the man”
of his lord
Emergence of European Monarchies

The problem of feudalism:


The political organization of Europe had been strained



A highly decentralized political system
Due to the disintegration of the Carolingian kingdom in the 9th
and 10th centuries
Nobles were dominant throughout the 11th and 12th centuries
Role of the kings

Kings began extending their power




Limited due to feudal obligations to his vassals
Did have divine authority
Used war and marriage to increase their power
Use land grants to bind nobles to them

Death of Harold II (Bayeux Tapestry c. 1077)
England in High Middle Ages


The last Anglo-Saxon king was Harold II (1066)
William the Conqueror (1066-1087)

Rewarded his Norman followers with grants of English land



All landowners owed loyalty to the king



1/5 land was held in royal domain
Rest went to nobles or the church
“Centralized feudalism”
Represented a fusion of Carolingian public power with new
feudal structures of power and landholding
Was also a vassal to the king of France

Kept English kings involved in continental affairs
Feudal Monarchy in England

“The rise of administrative kingship”



Kings “tightened up” the feudal system
Changed it to work in their advantage
Henry I (1068-1135)

Created the clerks of the Exchequer




Designed to make the finances more efficient
Strengthened local administration
Traveling circuit judges
Stephen (1135-1154)


Usurped power from Henry’s designated heir, Maude
Led to bloody civil war (The Anarchy)
Feudal Monarchy in England

Henry II (1133-1189)



Founder of the Plantagenet dynasty
Already the ruler of Normandy, Anjou, Maine, and Aquitaine
Developed strong administrative and legal institutions


Royal treasury
Expanded the judicial system



Orders juries of local men to report under oath every violation of the
laws
Origin of the grand jury
Common law

Laws affected the whole country were developed to replace feudal
laws
Feudal Monarchy in England

Henry also attempted to reform the church courts


Wanted to be able to punish clergy in royal courts
Constitutions of Clarendon (1164)


Clerics convicted of serious crimes to be handed over to royal
court for sentencing
Thomas Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury, protested



Was killed under order of the king (“who will free me of this priest?”)
Caused huge outrage
Henry forced to surrender several of his claims

Included the right to sentence criminal clerics and the right to
appeal a church court’s decision
Feudal Monarchy in England

Richard the “Lionhearted” (1189-1199)




Continued to make the royal government more efficient
Hired capable administrators and reworked finances
Spent only six months in England
John (1199-1216)

Less capable military leader



Devoted his reign to raising money to regain French lands
Pressed feudal rights to their limit



Lost nearly all lands in France
Fines the nobility
Heavy taxation on the county
Failed military expedition to France (1214)
Feudal Monarchy in England

The magnates rebelled against John


Magna Carta (1215)




Were tired of his oppressive policies and taxation
Designed to limit government in regards to the vassals
The king must respect the traditional rights of his vassals
Taxation could not be raised by the crown without the
consent of the barons
Edward I (1272-1307)

Began the process of uniting all of Britain into a single kingdom

Failed to subdue Scotland
Feudal Monarchy in England

Development of Parliament


Great Council started as a meeting of the barons, church
officials, and king’s advisers to deal with judicial affairs
In 1295, Edward invited representatives from each city and
town to meet with the Great Council





Purpose was for them to give consent to new taxes
Became the first Parliament
Barons and church lords formed the House of Lords
Knights and burgesses formed the House of Commons
Became a political, legal, and financial entity

Map of England
and France

(1180-1223)
Feudal Monarchy in France

Slow government centralization



Faced greater problems
Carolingian institutions had collapsed
Replaced with the Capetian dynasty (987-1328)



The “re-invention” of the French kingdom


Founded by Hugh Capet
No succession issues and kings were long-lived
Slowly the monarchs began to assert their authority
Louis VI “the Fat” (1078-1137)


Able to regain royal control over the Île-de-France from the
nobility (“robber barons”)
Showed that the king was “no vassal of any man”
Feudal Monarchy in France

Louis VII (1137-1180)



Continued to exert the king’s power over French holdings
Was involved in constant war with Henry II of England
Philip II Augustus (1180-1223)

Believed that his power would never be extended until the
Plantagenets were defeated



Undermined John's control over French territories
John refused to submit to pressure
A war of conquest


Philip retained French territories
Quadrupled the income of the monarchy and greatly enlarged its
power with these conquests
Feudal Monarchy in France

Philip also set up an effective system of local
administration



Superimposed new royal officials (baillis) over local government
practice
The baillis had full judicial, administrative and military authority
Louis IX (1226-1270)


Extended administrative pattern further
Established a new permanent royal court of justice in Paris



Contained a regular staff of professional jurists
Court became known as the Parlement of Paris
In 1297, he is canonized as Saint Louis
Feudal Monarchy in France

Philip IV “the Fair” (1285-1314)


Aggressive wars against Flanders and English territories in the
southwest
Development of royal bureaucracy



Sough to undermine papal control over the church in France
The Estates General



Made three major branches of royal administration
Summoned member of the three estates (church, nobility, and towns)
Would make new laws and grant taxes
By end of the 13th century, France was the largest,
wealthiest, and best-governed monarchical state

Edward I of England
granting homage to
Philip IV of France
Comparing England and France

England

Much better unified





One language
Administration built on local institutions
Local knights complete administrative work without pay
Appealed to formal consent from assemblies
France



A rich and larger country
Relied less on direct consent of the people
Faced with regional separatism

Holy Roman
Empire

(c. 1200)
Germany

Strongest monarchy in Europe in 1050




Powerful Carolingian style foundations
Close alliance with the Church
Tradition of sacral kingship
Decline of the monarchy occurred with the death of
Henry III in 1056




He left his six year old son, Henry IV (1056-1106), as heir
Conflict erupted between the regents and papal reformers that
had been put in place during Henry III’s reign
There were also conflicts between the regents and the Saxon
nobility
Civil war ensued in 1073
Germany

From 1073-1075, Henry had to work with the pope
Gregory VII




His position was being threatened by the Saxon nobility
Both Henry and Gregory treated each other with deference
Gregory had hoped to create a strong working relationship
with Henry as long as the latter remained submissive to his
wishes
In 1075, Gregory issued a number of papal decrees
against “lay investiture”


This was the appointment of high church officials bishops by
feudal lords and kings
Henry was not happy about this as it challenged the heart of
his administration
Germany

When Henry refused to cooperate, Gregory aligned with
the Saxon nobility




This reignited the civil war
Gregory responds by not only excommunicating Henry but
also declaring that he is no longer king of Germany
He called upon Henry’s subjects to rebel
Begging forgiveness (January 1077)




Henry knew he was in jeopardy
Travelled to northern Italy to meet the pope at Canossa
Henry was forced to wait for three days for an audience
Gregory did grant resolution to Henry but it did not end the
problems
Germany

Henry V (1106-1125)


Continued war with the nobility and the pope
Concordat of Worms (1122)






Managed to come to an agreement with the pope
Renounced investiture
Meant that the pope now chose church officials, not the king
By this point the nobility had gained even more independence
Died in 1125 without an heir
Election of German monarchy


The nobility decided to elect the monarch from this point on
Pope would crown the emperor showing that he had a say in
the election as well

Frederick I Barbarossa
(1152-1190)
Frederick Barbarossa (1152-1190)


Powerful lord from the house of Hohenstaufen
Gave the name “Holy Roman Empire”





A universal empire blessed by God
Wanted to create an empire with Italy
Italy would be a source of major revenues for the emperor
Tried to rule in cooperation with German princes
Attempted attacks on northern Italy



Fought against an alliance of northern states known as the
Lombard League
League was able to secure aid from the pope
Frederick was unable to secure any territory
Frederick Barbarossa (1152-1190)

Set up an arrangement with the Lombard League




Arranged a marriage between his son, Henry VI, and the
sister of the Norman king of Sicily
Died during the Third Crusade in 1190


They would become part of the Empire but remain
autonomous
In return, they would make annual payments to the emperor
Drowned crossing a river as he was approaching Antioch
Henry VI (1190-1197)


Reign was unremarkable
Was a threat to the pope as he inherited the Kingdom of Sicily

Death of Frederick I
Frederick II (1215-1250)

Considered one of the most brilliant of the Hohenstaufen
rulers



Prior to 1220, he spent most of his time in Germany



Was king of both Sicily and Germany
Crowned Holy Roman emperor in 1220
Gave the princes full control of their territories
In return, they provided him with revenue
His main goal was creating a strong centralized
government in Italy


Both the Italian states and the papacy were opposed to this
Was involved in wars with the Italian states for most of his
reign
Post-Hohenstaufen Germany

After Frederick II’s death in 1250, the remaining
Hohenstaufens were killed


End to the failed Hohenstaufen empire
In Germany:


Things were in disarray until 1273
German princes elected a weak king, Rudolf of Habsburg



Purpose was to keep the emperor from trying to reestablish a
centralized state
The German kings and emperors would have no real power
In Italy:


Northern Italy grew in power and autonomy
Sicily was eventually conquered by the king of Aragon in 1282

Rudolf I of Habsburg

(1273-1291)
The Spanish Kingdoms

Beginning in the 10th century there was a weakening of
Muslim power in Iberia


Started the Christian reconquest that would last until 1492
Defeat of the Muslims

A number of kingdoms took the offensive against the Muslims



Leon, Castile, Navarre, Aragon, and Barcelona
Freed northern Spain by the end of the 12th century
Creation of new kingdoms




Castile, Navarre, Aragon, and Portugal
Kings encouraged settlement into newly conquered lands
Created new privileges and punishments within their
territories
Knights were required to swear to the kings and local laws

Reconquest of Iberia (900-1250)