Transcript Class 20 - Bradley University

Reform and Renewal
in the Greater West
750-1258
Civ 101-03
October 14, 2015
Class 20
The Christian Church in the Early
Middle Ages
• Although the West/East split was real, and
worsening, there were more efforts at union
than disunion in the early middle ages.
• 7 “Ecumenical” Councils between 325 and 787.
– Lots of fundamental questions to settle: Christ’s
divinity and trinity; nature of the Creed; Mary’s role;
role of “saints” and of imagery; New Testament texts
and acceptable portions of the Old.
– Underneath it all: establishes who is in charge and
who isn’t (along with what to believe and what to
reject)
How Dark were the Dark Ages?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqzq01i2
O3U
• In some ways, not very
The World of Charlemagne
• Although there are other leaders and political
organizations after the fall . . . The most
“Western” was the Carolingian Renaissance
• Charles I took the Frankish throne in 768,
Italy in 774, the Roman Empire in 800. Died
in 814.
• Louis the Pious carried on the traditions
until 843.
The World of Charlemagne
• But soon enough, it’s over
• The Post-Carolingian World
– Treaty of Verdun, 843, divides the kingdom into
three parts for Louis the Pious’ 3 sons
– Invasions
• Muslims
• Magyars
• Vikings
Many of the Western Scholars were
men of the Church
– Benedict of Nursia and Pope Gregory I
– Theodulf of Orléans
– Gregory of Tours
– Bede
– John Scottus Eriugena
But some modeled a new form:
Written Statesmanship
with a secular base
– Boethius
– Cassiodorus
– Alcuin
– Einhard
• A key feature of the West, throughout, was
continued reliance on the seven liberal arts
as the educational template and standard.
Beginnings of Recovery
• The Vernacular Achievements
– In Wales, Aneirin writes Y Gododdin (an epic poem
about events around 600; the poem is included in
collection around 1200)
– The Tain in Old Irish (prose epic of events around
100, included in collections around 1200)
– Beowulf in Old English between 800-1000
– Illuminated manuscripts
– Modern typeface—Carolingian minuscule
– Modern musical scores
How to kill antibiotic-resistant super
bugs?
THROW MEDIEVAL SHIT ON THEM.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo4K51
bQVs0
• http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/
la-sci-sn-medieval-remedy-superbug20150331-story.html
Prior to 1000…
• Europe sparsely populated, dotted with
villages of farmers and warriors, covered with
forests…
• Feudal system in place
• Life expectancy around 30-35
• The templates for the, later, High Middle
Ages are set
– Then modified in the HMA
One sure thing
(well, actually two or three)
• With a life like this:
– plagues/disease, poor hygiene/sanitation, bad
outcomes at childbirth, bad diet/low vitamins, hard
work, wars/invaders, lack of literacy/little or no
education, daylight and dark (candles), bad air as
the forests are going to be denuded….
• And since hell is proposed to be worse,
• the ONLY way to improve one’s lot is to be
sure you go to HEAVEN when you die
• SO THE CHURCH IS EVERYTHING!!!!!!
Plus . . .
• The Church guys have things a little better, here, on
earth, even in this life.
• Literacy
• “Protection”
• Generally, places to live and adequate food supplies
• and they are connected to the leadership (or are the
leadership)—all of which might help you out a bit in
this life.
Prior to 1000… and beyond
http://www.slideshare.net/pcbersick/feudalism-and-life-in-the-middle-ages
Prior to 1000… and beyond
http://www.slideshare.net/pcbersick/feudalism-and-life-in-the-middle-ages
Toward the Renaissance, through the high(er)
Middle Ages… things start to improve a bit
• population increased from 38.5M to 73.5M
from 1000 to 1300
– the rise of towns and cities intensifies density
and birth rates
• life expectancy heads toward the top end of
30-35
• However, the population density and filth in
the cities makes the West vulnerable to
disease and the plague is coming soon.
Toward the Renaissance, through the high(er)
Middle Ages… back to things starting to improve
• European “countries” are now more fully
formed
– The French Monarchy
– The English Monarchy
– The German Empire
• Papal monarchies still
– 9 Crusades between 1095-1272
http://www.slideshare.net/pcbersick/feudalism-and-life-in-the-middle-ages
Crusades
• http://explorethemed.com/Crusades.asp
– Really nice interactive map that I can’t use here
http://www.hsse.nie.edu.sg/maps/ancient_time%20map/DSC07843a.jpg
Advances from the Islamic world (via the
Crusades, travel to Spain, and trade)
Beginnings of the balance between
spiritual and secular
• but really, only because they interacted so
much over the work of the church—which
was also the work of the state.
• This isn’t going to change, much, until the
Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, and
the Reformation.
Advances from the Islamic world (via the
crusades, travel to Spain, and trade
We covered these last time
• Hospitals
• Arabic numbers and mathematical reasoning (algebra, etc.
is going to bring us Copernicus and others soon),
• Paper (and that leads to an increase in literature, copying)
– Calligraphy (illustrated manuscripts)
• The textual recoveries by the Muslims leak into the West
– and encourage what comes later– the West doing it
•
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•
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Grand architecture
Better water power
Iron works
The bard (often with a stringed instrument)
Textile advances
House of Learning (including analytical reasoning that
leads to Descartes and modern western science)
Particularly Western Advances
• Magna Carta
• English Parliament
– Radically “new” form of government that hearkens
back to the best of the Greek democracy and Roman
Republic.
• Investiture Controversies (who makes a pope;
who makes a king): working out Church/State
relations (well, actually, “breaking down” some
of the connections)
• Romanesque and Gothic architecture
Particularly Western Advances
• Christian religious orders (groups) with differing foci
(they don’t know it, but portends Protestants)
• Scholasticism: applying rhetorical techniques and
argument to controversial questions
– Aided by advances from the House of Learning
• Rise of the Universities
• Gregorian music/chant (at the start of the western 7
note major scale)
• Dante
• Some vernacular literature (courtly love and such—
heads toward setting “manners”
Particularly Western Advances
• Spinning wheels (cloth) (comes from Asia via the
Arabs, but becomes industrialized in the West).
• Hour glass
• Blast furnaces for smelting iron
• Better farming techniques
– Rotating fields in 3 field systems
– Horses instead of oxen (saddles and collars and
shoes)
– Iron Plough
Middle Ages in 3 1/2 minutes
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EAMqK
Uimr8