Transcript File - Rouse World History

The Early
Middle Ages
(476-1000CE)
Fall of the Roman Empire
Western Empire declines as Eastern flourishes
Internal decay
External threats
Overextended borders
Remaining influences
Roman tradition
Western Church
Germanic tribes
Western Europe in 500 CE
Visigoths in Southern Gaul/Northern Spain
Vandals in Southern Spain
Huns throughout Europe (sacked Rome 410)
Angles-Saxons in England
Franks in Northern Gaul
Ostrogoths in Italy
Also Lombards, Burgundians
Development of Christianity in
the West
As Roman control over Europe declines,
the Christian Church fills the void- Age of
Faith
Church administration centralized with
Roman archbishop given “Papal Primacy”
Monastic Christianity
Monasticism - priests turning away from
popular culture to study faith
Sought seclusion instead of self-torture
Two types Hermit - complete seclusion
Communal – monks lived at
a monastery - missionary
oriented - “cities of God”
ex. Benedictines
Early Political Development –
Europe Starting to look like Europe
Franks
Carolingians
Charlemagne
Carolingian Renaissance
The Franks
Loose group of tribes
inhabiting northeastern
Europe in 3rd century
Clovis, unites group to
become largest political
power in wake of Empire
Converts for alliance with
the Church
Carolingians
Charles Martel (the hammer) creates large
cavalry force using aristocracy - awards
control of local area back to nobles giving
benefices or fiefs (gifts of land) – beginning
of feudalism
Defeats the Muslims at the Battle of Tours
in 732, effectively ended the Muslim
advance into Europe
Battle of Tours
Carolingians and the Church
Carolingians enlist Church to help maintain
control - offer conversion opportunities to
conquered groups - ex: Anglo-Saxons
Reciprocal relationship: Carolingians
protects Church from the East/Church
legitimizes dynasty
Give lands surrounding Rome to the Church
Charlemagne (742-814 C.E.)
Solidifies relationship with the Church
Crowned head of (new) Holy Roman Empire
Christmas Day, 800AD
Charlemagne
Increases Frankish realm - extends domain
in name of Christianity
Forces Eastern Empire to
recognize authority in west
- though no takeover
Had strong indirect control over Church restored Pope after capture
Governs in the Carolingian way - 250
Counts from aristocracy
Charlemagne
 Expected loyalty - taxes collected - justice
dispensed
Tight control over empire
 Resorted to divine justice
“trial by ordeal”
 Builds large palace
at Aix-la-Chapelle: center of learning
Breakup of Carolingian Dynasty
Charlemagne’s son Louis the Pious inherits
Without talented leader, empire unmanageable
Louis the Pious sons’
demand empire divided
Kingdoms devolve but
Holy Roman Empire remains
Feudalism
A political system based on granting land in
exchange for loyalty and service.
Feudalism
 King- highest noble who owned all the land
 Lord - owner of feudal estate
 Vassal - one who swears loyalty to lord
 Peasant- worker
 Serf- peasant tied to the land
 Manor - farm/estate including local shops
 fief – land given by a lord to a vassal
 Demesne- land for the lord’s personal use
 Fealty - loyalty sworn to lord
Vassalage
Hierarchy of vassalage
King - duke/baron - serf
Knights serve lord of
the manor
Serfs might be required
to fight also
Some lords vassals to
more than one superior
WHY WAS FEUDALISM NECESSARY?
Did feudalism bring about stability in Medieval
Europe or was it a political and social disaster?
Relationship Between
Lords and Vassals
 The relationship between lords and
vassals made up a big part of the
political and social structure of the
feudal system
 Vassals had certain duties to
perform for the lord
 All nobles were ultimately vassals
of the king.
What is a Knight?
Mounted warriors who served the lords
Almost all nobles were knights
Training began at age 7-8, as a page,
under the guidance of the lady of the
manor
Became squires at age 15 and were
trained by other knights
Those deemed worthy were “dubbed”
knights
Knighting Ceremony
• Investiture ceremony- the
lord and vassal agree to
their obligations
• Feudal contract- the
unwritten rules of
obligations between a noble
and his vassal
• Chivalry – code of conduct
that dictates knights’
behavior towards others.
Based on Christian values
Feudal Contract
LORDS
GIVE
SERVICE
TO
GIVE
PROTECTION
TO
VASSALS
Does Chivalry Have an Effect?
Did improve the lifestyle of the early
feudal lords
However…Knights only required to
act courteously toward those of his
own class.
Those of a lower class were free game
Workers on the Manor
There were two groups of peasant workers
on the manor
Freemen- skilled workers who paid rent and
could leave the manor whenever they
wished. (They usually had a skill needed by
others on the manor.)
Serfs – workers bound to the land by
contract with the nobles. (They had no
freedom - they where the noble’s property.)
Characteristics of Feudalism
Serfs bound to the land - multigenerational
Levels of serfdom
free serfs - some rights,
had some bargaining power
(small landowners)
servile serfs - no rights,
needed permission for
marriage, travel, etc.
Troubadour- wandering poets who glorified
women in songs and poems
Why did Feudalism work?
 Lords needed stable workforce for land
 Serfs needed a job and protection
 Periodic waves of invaders threatened safety of
the landless - Vikings, Magyars, and Muslims
 Crusades were partly an excuse to give the knights
something to do
 Lords traded use of land for share of crop
 Small landowners trade also with lords
 Necessary antecedent for Nation-States
Manorialism
•Economic system around a lord’s manor
•Manor included a village and the land
surrounding it
•Each group in society had their own job and
responsibility to fulfill
•Self-sufficient community
Changes in Agriculture
Climate improves in Europe - 700-1200 CE
temperature rises 1 degree centigrade
Moldboard plow allows deeper penetration
3 field crop rotation system used (always have
2 fields planted and 1 field unplanted)
Padded collars for horses
Harness of water power for mills
Wheelbarrow developed
Castle
Main purpose was defense
Attacking armies use wide range of strategies and
weapons:
Siege tower: plat formed tower that soldiers would use
to climb over walls
Battering Ram: metal tipped heavy timber used to
crack castle walls and doors
Trebuchet: worked like a slingshot to propel objects
over the wall
Launched: pots of burning lime, boulders, dead enemies,
diseased animals
The Church
The Structure of the Church:
Pope (supreme authority)
Clergy (religious officials)
• Bishops- settle Church disputes
• Priests- lived and served in the villages
Religion as a unifying force
Clergy administers the sacraments—rites to
achieve salvation
Village church is a place of worship and
celebration
Church Law
All medieval Christians expected to obey canon law—Church
law
Canon law governs marriages and religious practices
Popes have power over political leaders through threat of:
Excommunication—banishment from Church, denial of salvation
Interdiction—king’s subjects denied sacraments and services
Kings and emperors were expected to obey pope’s commands.
Clash Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII:
Pope Gregory VII bans lay investiture—kings appointing Church
officials
Henry IV orders pope to resign; Gregory VII excommunicates
Henry
Cathedrals
Gothic style evolves around 1100; term
from Germanic tribe, Goths
Gothic style has large, tall windows for
more light; pointed arches
Churches have stained glass windows,
many sculptures
About 500 Gothic churches are built from
1170 to 1270
Gothic Architecture
1. ribbed vaults that
supported the roof’s
weight
2. flying buttresses that
transferred weight to
thick, exterior walls
3. pointed arches that
framed huge stained
glass windows
4. tall spires that
seemed to be pointing
to heaven
The Crusades: The Beginning
In 1093,
Byzantine
emperor asks for
help fighting the
Turks
Pope Urban II
issues a call for a
Crusade—a “holy
war”
Goals of the Crusades
Pope wants to reclaim Jerusalem and
reunite Christianity
Kings use Crusades to send away knights
who cause trouble
Younger sons hope to earn land or win
glory by fighting
Later, merchants join Crusades to try to
gain wealth through trade
The Third Crusade : 1189-1192
One is Richard
the LionHearted—king
of England
The Robin
Hood stories
and legends
often surround
Richard I
returning from
the Third
Crusade.
A Spanish Crusade
Most of Spain
controlled by Moors,
a Muslim people
Christians fight
Reconquista—drive
Muslims from Spain,
1100-1492
Spain has
Inquisition—court to
suppress heresy;
expels non-Christians
The Effects of the Crusades
Show power of Church
Women who stay home manage the estate and
business affairs
Merchants expand trade, bring back many
goods from Southwest Asia
Failure of later crusades to recapture and unite
Christendom …
weakens pope and nobles, strengthens kings
Crusades create lasting bitterness between
Muslims and Christians
Women’s Role in Feudal Society
Status of Women
According to the Church and feudal society, women
were inferior to men
Noblewomen
Can inherit land, defend castle, send knights to war on
lord’s request
Usually confined to activities of the home or convent
Peasants Women
Most labor in home and field, bear children, provide for
family
Poor, powerless, do household tasks at young age
Convents provided women in the middle ages an alternative to married
life. Childbirth was often deadly for women, so becoming a nun was a
respectable and perhaps attractive alternative.
Western Europe during
the
Middle Ages: Emerging
Monarchs
France, England, Germany and Spain
France: Clovis I, (481-511)
Clovis I
Charles Martel
Charlemagne
Philip II “Augustus” (1190-1223) - Expanded the
kingdom of France by taking Normandy, Anjou,
& Touraine from the British.
Louis IX “St. Louis” (1226-1270) - He convinced
his subjects that the monarchy was essential to
their happiness & well-being
Philip IV “the Fair” (1300s)
Established the Estates General (an advisory council
which)
Defied & arrested the Pope in 1303.
A French papacy was established at Avignon which
remained under French control from 1305-1377.
Great SchismThere was a Pope in Avignon and a Pope in Rome.
Each Pope excommunicated (kicked them out of the
Church) each other
The Holy Roman Emperor and the Council of
Constance forced the two Popes to resign and choose a
new Pope in 1417
England
William I “the Conqueror” (Duke of
Normandy)
Defeated the Celts, Angles, Saxons & Jutes
in England at the Battle of Hastings (1066)
He thus united England & laid the
foundations for a sovereign nation-state.
“Domesday Book”
William I compiled
the “Domesday Book”
in 1086 which
surveyed the people of
England.
He thereby contributed
still further to the
unification of
England.
Henry II of England (1154-1189)
Married Eleanor of Acquitaine & thereby
extended the territory of England to include land
in “France”.
He also established a Court system which
enforced a common set of laws.
His style & energy were models for future
monarchs.
Henry II
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Thomas a Becket
Was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by King
Henry II.
Although this is an example of “lay investiture,”
Thomas a Becket pledged his first loyalty to the
Pope.
As a result of this power struggle
Thomas a Becket was eventually
killed, but he was also forever
admired.
King John of England
Known in the Robin Hood tale
Was forced by nobles to sign the Magna Carta
(1215).
This document limited the King’s power by
insisting that he consult with the Nobles before
raising taxes and/or waging war.
John did not follow the Magna Carta
Influenced American government
It marks the beginning of England’s “democratic
tradition.”
Magna
Carta
Parliament (1265)
A British institution that provides for elected
representation of the people in government.
It is another example of England’s evolving
Democratic Tradition.
Parliament consists of a House of Lords
(Nobles) & a House of Commons.
Gradually the House of Commons became the
most powerful.
The “100 Years War”
The “100 Years War”(1337-1453) was fought
between England & France.
The most important cause was over territory in
“France.”
Under the “miraculous” leadership of Joan of Arc,
France eventually won and England forever gave
up claims to “French” territory.
100 Years War: France vs.
England
Treaty to conclude the 100 yrs
War in 1475
100 YRS War basically ended kings reliance on feudal armies
because of new weapons like the long bow
“Germany”
Remained fragmented throughout the medieval
period and would not be united as a sovereign
nation-state until 1870.
At the time of Charlemagne much of “Germany”
had been part of the “Holy Roman Empire,” but
after Charlemagne’s death the HRE was split into
3 parts.
E190Germ/ItMAP
Medieval Italy
During the Middle Ages Italy basically
consisted of 3 parts:
North: Powerful & wealthy city-states
competed with Muslims & Byzantines for trade
with Asia.
Central: Papal States.
South: Kingdom of the two Sicilies.
Italy would not be united until 1870.
Medieval Spain
Muslims conquered Spain in the 700s (Moors) but
Spanish leaders fought the Reconquista (10651500) & eventually drove the Muslims out.
Ferdinand & Isabella united all of Spain
Led the Age of Exploration (late 1400s).
Isabella & Ferdinand of Spain
Reasons for the Decline of
Feudalism in Medieval Europe
Rise of towns: People found economic
opportunities beyond the manors.
The Bubonic plague (Black Death) caused a 30%
decline in European population.
Social order broke down- People were no longer tied to
the land
The Crusades provided opportunities for people to
leave the manors.
Emerging monarchs (powerful, centralized
authority) replaced feudal lords.
End
Finally!