Transcript The Crusades - egardner2khs

Medieval Europe:
Social Systems
The “Dark” Ages
• After the fall of the
western Roman Empire,
Europe entered a
period of political and
social turmoil popularly
called the Dark Ages
(“dark” as in “not
enlightened”)
• But were the Dark Ages
really all that “dark”?
The Franks
• Germanic invaders
• In 486 AD, Clovis, first
king of the Franks,
conquered the Roman
province of Gaul
(France) and converted
to Christianity as a way
to unite his people
under his rule
Battle of Tours
• In 732 AD, Frankish king
Charles “the Hammer”
Martel led his Christian
Franks to a victory over
Muslim invaders at
Tours, France, stopping
Islam’s advance into
Europe (although Spain
remained under Muslim
rule for the next 750
years.)
Charlemagne
• Frankish King Charlemagne
(or “Charles the Great”)
– Rewarded by the pope (head
of the Christian church) for
his loyalty to the Church with
the title “King of the Romans”
– Tried to establish a united
Christian empire across
Western Europe, but it did
not survive his death
– Valued education and did
much to revive formal
learning in Europe
– Laid the foundation for the
European feudal system that
dominated the Middle Ages
Threats to Europe
• Outside invaders:
– Muslims periodically tried
to invade Europe from the
south and east from the
700s to the 1600s
– Magyars & Mongols
invaded from the east from
the 900s to the late 1300s
– Vikings threatened from
the north between 790s to
1070s AD
European Feudalism
• Kings in Europe were too weak
to fight off invaders without
help
• To get help, they gave control of
local areas to nobles who
agreed to provide king taxes
and soldiers
• These nobles gave control of
smaller localized areas to lesser
lords who agreed to serve them
• The lesser lords then hired
knights to serve as warriors in
their service
• The lesser lords also used the
knights to oversee the local
peasants, towns, and villages
The Nobility
• Nobles & knights
– Lived in castles or
fortified keeps
– Marriages were
arranged within their
social station
– Were expected to follow
a code of conduct,
known as chivalry,
which emphasized honor
and duty
The Peasants
• Were serfs, which means they
were bound to the land they
worked – they could not leave
their assigned land without
permission, but also could not
be bought and sold like slaves
• Had to work the lord’s land
and provide payments at
certain times of the year and
on certain occasions
• In return, it was expected that
the lord would protect them
from invaders
Rise of Towns
• Usually began as small
temporary markets or
fairs at major crossroads
• As demand for goods
grew, these markets
became permanent
towns
• Walled for protection
• Very crowded, dirty, &
noisy
Economic Changes
•
•
•
Agricultural Revolution
– Yoke & iron plow invented
– Crop rotation practiced
Trade
– More trade along the Silk Road
– Cities become larger as more
traders and artisans settle
there
Commercial Revolution
– Merchants began to work in
partnerships to sell more goods
– Banks introduced to Europe
– Merchants and artisans living in
towns become a new “middle”
class
Guilds
• Associations of merchants
and artisans, which set the
rules for membership in a
trade and fixed prices for
their products
– to join a guild, you had to
start as an unpaid
“apprentice” while still a child
– after 7 years as an apprentice
you were promoted to a
“journeyman” who could
then work in the trade for pay
– Once you were able to open
your own shop, you became a
“master” and could join the
guild
The Medieval Church
• During Middle Ages,
nearly all of western
Europe becomes Christian
• Each feudal manor would
have its own parish priest
– Performed all baptisms,
marriages, funerals
– Led Sunday worship
services
– Helped the sick and needy
– Collected the tithe (10%
“tax” on everyone’s
income)
Monks & Nuns
• Monks and Nuns – men and
women who withdrew from
worldly life to work for God
– Took three vows
• Vow of obedience to the
Church’s hierarchy
• A vow of poverty to hold no
material wealth
• A vow of chastity to never
marry or have sex
– Performed manual labor
through farming, making the
things they needed
– Hand copied and illustrated
the Bible as well as old Greek
and Roman texts
Papal Supremacy
• The pope, or head of the
Church, became
extremely powerful
– Popes claimed that they
had authority over even
kings
– The Church owned large
tracts of land, including
entire regions in Italy
governed directly by the
Pope himself
– The Church had its own
laws and courts which
could prosecute anyone
Eastern Orthodoxy
•
•
Byzantine emperor Justinian
refused to recognize the Pope’s
authority, instead taking personal
control of the Eastern Church
– Byzantine priests were allowed
to marry
– Byzantine priests used Greek
instead of Latin
– placed greater emphasis on
Easter than Christmas
– All art should be religious
These differences led to a schism
(or break) within the church
– In 1054, Christianity formally
split into the Eastern Orthodox
(east) and Catholic (west)
churches
European Jews
• Large numbers lived in Spain
under Muslim protection
• Elsewhere, they were increasingly
persecuted, mocked, &
humiliated
• Were not allowed to own land or
hold certain jobs
• Forced to live in specific
neighborhoods, known as
ghettos, within towns and cities
• Occasionally, whole communities
were killed or run off
• Tolerated only because they could
serve as bankers, a profession
forbidden to Christians
The Crusades
• In 1095: Pope Urban II called
on European nobles to free
the Holy Land (specifically
Jerusalem) which was under
Muslim control
• Thousands of knights
responded to launch the First
Crusade
– Why?
• Religious zeal
• hoped to win wealth
• hoped to carve out new
kingdoms
• some were criminals
fleeing trouble at home
The Crusades
Early Crusades
•
•
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The First Crusade: 1096-1099
– Christian knights captured
Jerusalem, massacred all
Muslims and Jews in the city
The Second Crusade: 1147-48
– More Christians arrived to fend
off attacks by Muslims on the
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Third Crusade: 1189-92
– Muslim general Salah al-Din
retook Jerusalem, but spared all
the Christians living there
– New crusade was launched, led
by kings of France, England, the
Holy Roman Empire, but failed
Later Crusades
•
•
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•
•
•
•
The Fourth Crusade
– Crusaders never reach the Holy Land
and instead sack Constantinople, a
Christian city!
The Fifth Crusade
– Christians tried to invade through Egypt,
defeated easily by Muslims
The Sixth Crusade
– Frederick II wins access for Christians to
Holy sites through diplomacy
The Seventh Crusade
– Louis IX leads a failed attack
The Eighth Crusade
– Louis IX tries again – this time he dies
on the way there
The Ninth Crusade
– The English fail to free Jerusalem
By 1300, all Christian holdings in the Holy
Land were back under Islamic control
The Reconquista
• Spain had been controlled
by Muslims since the 700s
• Beginning in 1085,
Christians slowly began to
push Muslims out
• 1492: a united Spain
under King Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella forced last
Muslims to abandon
Spain to Christian rule