Transcript Periods Early Middle Ages

Periods
Early Middle Ages: 500 – 1000
High Middle Ages: 1000 – 1250
Late Middle Ages: 1250 - 1500
Europe in the 6c
The Medieval Catholic Church
 filled the power vacuum left from the
collapse of the classical world.
 monasticism:
 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  missionaries to the
barbarians. [St. Patrick, St. Boniface]
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 Monk’s Day
A Medieval Monastery: The
Scriptorium
Illuminated Manuscripts
Romanesque Architectural Style
 Rounded Arches.
 Barrel vaults.
 Thick walls.
 Darker, simplistic interiors.
 Small windows, usually at the top of the wall.
Charlemagne: 742 to 814
Charlemagne’s Empire
Pope Crowned Charlemagne
Holy Roman Emperor: Dec. 25, 800
The Carolingian Renaissance
Carolingian Miniscule
The Rise of European Monarchies:
England
Charlemagne’s Empire Collapses:
Treaty of Verdun, 843
Feudalism
A political, economic, and social
system based on loyalty and
military service.
Carcassonne: A Medieval Castle
Parts of a Medieval Castle
The Road to Knighthood
KNIGHT
SQUIRE
PAGE
Chivalry:
A Code of Honor and Behavior
The Medieval Manor
Life on the Medieval Manor
Serfs at work
William the Conqueror:
Battle of Hastings, 1066
(Bayeaux Tapestry)
Norman Conquest
•Doomsday Book
•Creates Shire Reeves=
Sheriffs
•Gave Land to the Catholic
Church
•Created the Great Council
Evolution of England’s Political
System
 Henry I:
 William’s son.
 set up a court system.
 Exchequer  dept. of royal finances.
 Henry II:
 established the principle of common law
throughout the kingdom.
 grand jury.
 trial by jury.
Had Thomas Becket Murdered
King Richard The Lion Heart
• Took Throne after Henry II died
• Spent much time and money fighting in
the crusades
• His brother Prince John assumed control
in Richard’s absence.
• Richard does return to England but is not
able to manage the country well
• John will take over upon Richard’s death
• Was the story of Robin Hood real?
Magna Carta, 1215
 King John I
 Runnymeade
 “Great Charter”
 monarchs were not
above the law.
 kings had to
consult a council of
advisors.
 kings could not tax
arbitrarily.
The Beginnings of the British
Parliament
 Great Council:
 middle class merchants, townspeople
[burgesses in Eng., bourgeoisie in Fr.,
burghers in Ger.] were added at the
end of the 13c.
 eventually called Parliament.
 by 1400, two chambers evolved:
o House of Lords  nobles & clergy.
o House of Commons  knights and
burgesses.
The Rise of European Monarchies:
France
Capetian Dynasty
• 843- Carolingian Dynasty was
divided into 3 parts
• In the west rose Hugh Capet
– Kings did not have much power
• Philip II Augustus
– Turning point: extended French
monarchy
– Captured Normandy, Maine, Anjou, and
Aquitaine
Pope Urban II: Preaching a
Crusade
Setting Out on Crusade
Christian Crusades: East and West
High Middle Ages Church
• Pope Gregory VII- elected in 1073
• Extended authority over Christian
World
– Appointed its own clergy to power and
ran its own affairs
• Succeed by Pope Innocent III
– Height of Church power- 1200s
Rise of Orders
• Cistercians: strict; simple diet; no
decorations, spiritual idea
• Dominicans: defend church teachings
from heresy
• Franciscans: live among the people
providing aid to the poor
– St. Francis of Assisi
• Born wealthy, devoted life to poverty,
humility, and devotion to Jesus
• Opposed the use of Relics
Life on the Medieval Manor
Serfs at work
Medieval Trade
Late Medieval Town Dwellings
Rise of Universities
• 1st European university began in
Bologna- early 1300’s
• The University of Paris
• Oxford
• 80 universities by 1500
• St. Thomas Aquinas- wrote the
Summa Theologica
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
100 Year’s War
• France vs. England
– French land controlled by England
– National identity issues
– Issues of succession
• The War was a series of short raids
and expeditions punctuated by a few
major battles, marked off by truces or
ineffective treaties.
French Advantages
• Population of about
16,000,000.
• Far richer and more
populous than England.
• At one point, the French
fielded an army of over
50,000  at most, Britain
mustered only 32,000.
British Advantages
• Weapons Technologies.
• In almost every engagement,
the English were outnumbered.
– Britain’s most successful
strategies:
/ Avoid pitched battles.
/ Engage in quick, profitable raids
– Steal what you can.
– Destroy everything else.
– Capture enemy knights to hold for
ransom.
The Longbow as a Weapon
• The use of the
English defensive
position was the
use of the
longbow.
• Its arrows had
more penetrating
power than a bolt
from a crossbow.
– Could pierce an
inch of wood or
the armor of a
knight at 200
King Henry V (r. 1412-1422)
• Renewed his family’s
claim to the French
throne.
• At Agincourt in 1415,
the English, led by
Henry himself, goaded
a larger French army
into attacking a
fortified English
position.
– With the aid of the
dukes of Burgundy,
Henry gained control
over Normandy,
Paris, and much of
northern France!
The French “Reconquest”
• The two kings’
deaths ushered in
the final stage of the
100 Years’ War
[1422-1453].
– Even though in 1428 the
military and political power
seemed firmly in British hands,
the French reversed the
situation.
• In 1429, with the aid
of the mysterious
Joan of Arc, the
French king, Charles
Joan of Arc (1412-1432)
• The daughter of prosperous
peasants from an area of
Burgundy that had suffered
under the English.
• Like many medieval mystics,
she reported regular visions
of divine revelation.
– Her “voices” told her to go to
the king and assist him in
driving out the English.
• She dressed like a man and
was Charles’ most
charismatic and feared
military leader!
Joan Announces the Capture
of Orleans to the King
Joan of Arc (1412-1432)
•
•
•
She brought inspiration and a sense of national
identity and self-confidence.
With her aid, the king was crowned at Reims
[ending the “disinheritance”].
She was captured during an attack on Paris and
fell into English hands.
–
Because of her “unnatural dress” and claim to
divine guidance, she was condemned and burned
as a heretic in 1432.
–
She instantly became a symbol of French
resistance.
The End of the War
• Despite Joan’s capture, the
French advance continued.
• By 1450 the English had lost
all their major centers except
Calais.
• In 1453 the French armies
captured an English-held
fortress.
– This was the last battle of the
war.
France Becomes Unified!
France in 1453
France in 1337