Transcript APWH CH 9x
Chapter IX Christian Societies Emerge in Europe 600-1200 Chapter 9 Quote There is no greater sorrow / Than to be mindful of the happy time / In misery Dante Alighieri The Byzantine Empire, 324-600 • • • • • • Constantine split the Roman Empire in 324 by moving capital Rome was sacked in 476 and Germanic people ruled Justinian the Great (& wife Theodora) almost reconquered the West Roman Empire Created the Corpus Juris Civilis (Justinian’s Code) • Condensed Roman Law. Cannon Law, Napoleonic Code, and Western legal tradition are based on it Empire was slowed by a plague (50 million dead), the first case of Bubonic Plague in Europe (beginning of the end) Justinian commissioned the Hagia Sophia (Sofia) The Byzantine Empire, 600-1200 • An Empire Beleaguered • Single political and religious leader kept the Byzantine Empire together • The Sassanid Empire fell, replaced by Umayyad Caliphate • Egypt, Syria and Tunisia are captured by Umayyad and convert to Islam • Disagreements with Rome over papal authority began the rift that would become the Great Schism Society and Urban Life • • • • Much like its Western European brother, urban life declined The middle class disappeared as the income gap widened Byzantine Emperors controlled prices and created monopolies to retain wealth and kept Constantinople relevant The East-West rivalry began as each viewed the other unfavorably Cultural Achievements • • Byzantine architectural achievements & art strongly influenced Europe throughout this time period Christian missionaries brought the religion to the Slavic peoples (North) and created a new writing system, Cyrillic Early Medieval Europe, 600-1000 • • • Muslim Arabs and Berbers took the Iberian Peninsula Charles Martel stopped Islamic invasion of Europe Grandson Charlemagne united Europe for first time since Rome A Time of Insecurity • • • With Charlemagne’s death, Europe Was once again divided and never united again Vikings posed a constant threat to Northern Europe They created settlements in Iceland, Greenland, Vinland, and Normandy (later conquered England in 1066) Self-Sufficient Economy - Feudalism • • • Cities gave way to self-sufficient Manors and rural life Regional Nobles governed land & people tied to it (serfs) Manors provided protection against attack for the serfs and the lord received cheap labor for their lands V I K I N G I N V A S I O N S Early Medieval Society in the West • • • • • Feudalism organized Europe, Peasants tied to the land As a class of nobles emerged, military service and landholding became inseparable New technologies (the stirrup, armor, larger horses) made warfare expensive, only landowners could afford to be knights Kings and nobles granted land (a fief) in return for military service Vassals controlled the land and promise support for the lord or king Feudalism Feudalism Politics and the Western Church • • • • • The papacy became independent, united church emerges Popes aligned themselves with powerful kings to increase Church power In 962 the first “Holy Roman Emperor” was crowned, but no real empire existed Arguments on who appoints Bishops is known as the Lay Investiture controversy (Lay/Laity: congregation) Competing legal traditions created confusion and arguments: Germanic feudal law (king); Canon (Church) law; and Corpus Juris Civilis (Roman) law Monasticism (Monasteries, Monks) • • • • • • Separate Religious community devoted to worship of God (element of both medieval Christianity and Buddhism) Developed in 4th century Egypt, monasteries focused on celibacy, devotion to prayer, and isolation St. Benedict (480-547) organized monasteries and created rules for the nuns and monks to live by Centers of literacy and learning Monasteries managed agricultural estates and functioned as inns and orphanages in the Feudal System Benedictine Rule advocated for independent monasteries Kiev Empire, Russia, 900-1200 • • • • Area between the Black and Baltic Seas with navigable rivers throughout Slavs in the east, Finns in the north, and Turks in the south Forest dwellers, farmers, and steppe nomads complimented each other in trade Varangians (Swedish Vikings) controlled the rivers and Khazar Turks built a kingdom on the Volga The Rise of the Kievan Empire (Vikings) • • • • • • The Rus (Russia) were Western Slav farmers ruled by Varangian nobles; Kiev and Novgorod were important cities Vladimir I (980) became grand prince of Kievan Russia Chose Orthodox Christianity as the religion (perhaps due to Islamic ban on alcohol) and imitated the culture of the Byzantine Empire Vladimir married a Byzantine princess and all trade is directed to Byzantium Churches were built, missionaries welcomed, and the Cyrillic alphabet is adopted Kievan Russia flourished until internal political struggles coupled with invasion by the Mongols ended the empire Society and Culture • • • • • Poor soil and a short growing season limited agriculture As food production was low, economy relied on trade Kiev and Novgorod had populations of 30-50k, much smaller than Constantinople and many Muslim cities Cities were full of craftspeople and artisans who had higher social status than peasants Christianity spread slowly, but triumphed over Pagan customs by the 12th Century with the clergy functioning as tax collectors Western Europe Revives, 1000-1200 The role of Technology • • Western Europe’s population and agricultural production increased enabling kings to strengthen their control Heavy moldboard plow and the horse collar greatly increased crops Cities and the Rebirth of Trade • • • • • Independent, self-governing cities emerged in Italy and Flanders Legal independence allowed them to make laws that favored the manufacturing and trade industries that they relied on Venice emerged as a dominant sea power trading in Muslim ports Flanders turned English wool into cloth for export As trade increased, gold and silver coins were minted The Crusades, 1095-1204 • • • • • • The Roots of the Crusades Christian campaigns against Islam to recapture the Holy Land Reasons – Religious zeal; knights’ willingness to engage in warfare, younger sons of the nobility to gain wealth, and interest in trade routes Muslim control of Christian religious sites, Byzantine Empire’s request for help against the Muslims made the Holy Land the focus of the Crusades Pope Urban II initiated First Crusade, urged Europeans to stop fighting each other, and fight Muslims instead The Impact of the Crusades Crusades had a limited impact on the Muslim world Europe benefited due to the introduction of Arabic and Greek manuscripts There were more Crusades Conclusion • • • Initially, the Byzantine Empire followed Roman political and legal heritage that had faded in the West, enjoyed more economic prosperity and sophistication in the arts and culture than the West. Christianity became embedded in Byzantine society before it did in the Western Church. The Byzantine Empire did not witness the improved military techniques, new agricultural technologies, population growth, and trade of Western Europe, leading to its decline in prosperity and cultural innovation in comparison to the west.