The Rise of Europe
Chapter 7
Invasions during the Middle Ages
The Rise of Europe
I.
The Germanic Kingdoms
Tribal
A.
B.
II.
Farmers
Herders
Government
A.
B.
C.
No written laws or cities
Elected Kings
Warrior nobles – swore allegiance to the King
1. Weapons
2. Spoils of war
III. Small Kingdoms take over Europe by
700 AD.
King Clovis - Franks
King Clovis kept many Roman customs but most important decision was
converting to Christianity. He also gained the support of the Pope (Leader of
Christian Church in Rome).
Europe and the Muslim
World
I.
II.
III.
Islam appears in Arabia in 622 A.D.
Created a new Civilization and built a huge and
expanding empire.
Muslim armies overran Christian lands
A. Palestine to North Africa to Spain
B. Invaded France: Charles Martel (Franks)
C. Battle of Tours – Christian Warriors defeat
the Muslims. Sign from God? This is a sign of things
to come (The Crusades).
D. Muslims do not expand any further into
Europe but continue to rule parts of Spain.
Europeans and Muslims trade.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
The Age of Charlemagne
Charlemagne-”Charles the Great”
46 year reign: reunited most of the Roman
empire
800 A.D.-Pope Leo crowned him Emperor of
the Holy Empire
Leo revived the ideal of a united Christian
community
1. Enraged the Eastern empire – Emperor
saw himself as the sole Roman ruler.
2. Widen the split between east and west
(Roman Catholic vs. Orthodox)
3. Set up power struggle between future
popes and German emperors.
I.
II.
II.
Government
Spread Christianity through conquered
lands. (Church and Govt worked as one)
A. Saxons
B. Slavs
Nobles ruled regions
A. Land
B. Support and supply soldiers for armies
Missi dominci
A. Check on roads
B. listen to grievances
C. Make sure justice was done
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Revival of Learning
Court at Aachen: second Rome
Revive Latin learning
Only clergy literate-barely
Charlemagne-read, not write
Founded school: Alcuin of York
A. grammar
B. Rhetoric
C. Logic
D. Arithmetic: Geometry
E. Music
F. Astronomy
Light Green shows area
he controlled when he
inherited from his father
and jointly ruled with his
brother.
Dark green shows the
areas that Charlemagne
conquered throughout his
reign.
Area controlled by Muslims
I. Charlemagne died in 814 A.D.
II. Power struggle begins within family.
III. Grandsons drew up Treaty of Verdun
which divided his empire into 3 regions
IV. Legacy of Charlemagne
A. Extended Christianity
B. German, Roman and Christian
traditions were blended
C. Set up strong, efficient government
D. Used as model for later kingdoms
Invasions
I.
Muslims invaded Sicily in late 800’s
II. 896-Magyars (present day Hungary): For
50 years: Attacked Germany, France and
Italy.
III. Vikings – ships were high tech.
A. Norway, Sweden, Denmark
B. looted and burned communities along
the coast of Europe
C. Traders and explorers
D. Settled in Northern European
Communities.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/village.ht
ml#thumb1
Chapter 8.2
Feudalism and the Manor Economy
Feudalism &
the Manor
Economy
8.2
The Emergence of Feudalism
Due to invasions, leaders couldn’t maintain
order…thus people needed protection.
Feudalism: system in which lords would divide
their landholdings among lesser lords
(vassals).
–
Vassals: pledged service and loyalty to the more
powerful lords.
Feudal contract: LAND = LOYALTY. Vassals
would be given a fief (land). Fief = land,
peasants to work land, towns, and buildings.
Lord promised to protect. Vassal pledged to
provide 40 days of military service EACH
year.
Structured Society
You could be a Lord and a
vassal at the same
time.
What if both of your Lords
quarreled with each
other?
Vassals would have a liege
lord (first loyalty)
Structured Society
Monarch
Lord
Lord
Knights
Knights
Serfs
Knights
Serfs
Lord
Knights
Serfs
Knights
Serfs
Knights
Serfs
Serfs
Warfare is a way of Life
Nobles
–
Trained as knights from boyhood: mounted
warrior
•
At age 7, boys that were selected, would be sent to the
Castle of his father’s lord.
–
–
–
–
Laziness not accepted. Very strict and disciplined.
“Dubbed” a knight in public ceremony
Served with other knights
Tournaments: mock battles after 1100 A.D.
(Watch the movie “A Knights Tale”.
Castles: with towers (typically fought over a
castle due to its strategic location: river
crossings, harbors, mountain passes, etc.
motte: fortified from attack (on a hill)
Medieval Castles
Noblewomen
Lady of the manor: Took over
Supervised vassals
Managed the household
Agricultural and medical tasks
Might even have to go to war to defend estate
Women of note:
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Queen of France: Married to Louis IV
Queen of England: Married to Henry II
Mother of King Richard and King John
Women kept dower rights: land
Sent out to be fostered
–
–
–
–
–
Should know how to spin and weave
Supervise servants
Few were educated
Expected to bear children and obey
husband
*Parents would arrange your marriage
Chivalry: code of conduct
–
Knights = brave, loyal and true to their
word
•
•
Can’t attack opponents until they have armor
Must treat prisoners well - but this applies only
to nobles.
–
•
Must protect peasants and noblewomen.
Placed women on pedestal: protected and
cherished.
Troubadours or wandering poets sang
songs that praised women’s wit,
perfection and beauty.
Peasants and Manor Life
Manor: Lord’s estate
•
•
Included one or more villages and surrounding land.
Most of population were peasants (lived and worked on
the manor)
Serfs: Bound to the land
•
•
•
Not Slaves but also Not free!
Couldn’t leave the manor without permission.
If your manor went to another lord, you went with it.
Mutual obligations
Peasants – farmed the land, paid money if inherited land, needed
permission to marry, payments at Christmas/Easter, & paid with
products (chickens, etc). Could farm some land for self and lord was
required to protect its people.
Self-Sufficient
Peasants would produce everything that was
needed.
Never left the village
•
•
•
No school
Lived in a bubble (Watch Truman Show)
Village, Church, Lord’s Manor House, Strips of farm
land for the inhabitants
Peasant Life
•
•
•
•
Entire families helped farm
Starvation common in the winter – life expectancy was
35 years old
Slept in a hut with your livestock
Couldn’t eat meat (punished)
PEASANTS
NOBLES
Serfs were bound to
the land. They were not
slaves, yet they were
not free.
Warfare was a way of
life.
Life was very harsh.
Life was better than
serfs’
Many trained from
boyhood to be knights,
PEASANTS
Serfs made up the
or mounted warriors.
majority of the
population in medieval
Were the ‘upper class’ or
society.
aristocracy of society
The Medieval Church
7.3
The Church and Medieval Life
–
–
The church became the most powerful force in Europe.
In 597, Pope Gregory I sent Augustine to England to
convert the Anglo-Saxons.
•
–
–
Women spread the faith through marriage.
Parish priest was the only contact in the manor villages:
Celebrated mass and administered the sacraments-the
sacred rites of the church.
•
–
–
–
–
By Late Middle Ages, Western Europe is a Christian
Civilization – viewed with suspicion if didn’t belong to the
church.
Believed that the Sacraments led you to Salvation
Priest preached the gospels and the teaching of the
church. They guided the villagers on issues concerning
values and morality.
Baptism = entrance into the church/community.
The priests offered assistance to the sick and needy.
Married nobles and peasants, conducted baptisms and
buried the dead.
–
–
–
–
–
–
Church buildings
increased in beauty as
Medieval period
progressed.
Could house relics
(possessions/remains of
Saints)
Many people would come
pray before the relics
(pilgrimages)
To support churches –
tithe – 10% of income
(required).
Tithe supported the priest
Church calendar: holy
days and saint days
Attitude towards Women
–
Before God - men and women equal.
•
–
On Earth, women easily deceived and led into
sin.
Ideal woman – Mary, mother of Jesus
Monks and Nuns
Monk: Benedictine 530 A.D.
Benedictine Rule (3 vows): Obedience, poverty,
and chastity.
3 Periods per day – worship, work
(farming), and study.
Took care of sick
Created Schools
Offered lodging to travelers
Copied ancient works
Abbess Hildegarde: wrote music and books
Women could not become priests
Restriction of nuns in later medieval church
Church Power Grows
–
–
–
–
–
Church gains power in the world
The pope was the spiritual leader of the Roman
Catholic Church.
The pope was the representative of Christ on
earth.
As the representative of Christ on Earth, the later
popes would claim papal supremacy or authority
over all secular rulers (kings, emperors, etc).
Bishops, archbishops came from noble families.
Often the only educated people, they often
assumed governmental positions. Many had
territories and armies.
Religious Authority
Canon law covered: morals, religious teachings,
& marriages.
Absolute power because of the administering the
sacraments.
Could be excommunicated: denial of sacraments.
Would spend eternity in hell.
Nobles who opposed the church could be issued
an interdict which denied the sacraments to
a village, region or kingdom. Commoners
often revolted.
Truce of God: no warfare between nobles on
Weekends and Holidays.
Church in Medieval Europe
Reform Movements
Wealth that church attracted caused problems.
(lived in luxury, ignored vows, etc.)
Cluniac Reforms: Abbot Berny of Cluny said that
nobles could not interfere with monastery
affairs.
In 1073, Pope Gregory VII applied the Cluniac
reforms to the entire church
Priests could not marry.
Prohibited simony: the selling of church offices.
Insisted the church choose officials, not nobles.
Preaching Orders
St. Francis of Assisi (taught Gospels) and
Dominic created friars who preached
to the poor instead of living in a
monastery.
Poverty, humility, and love of God
Jews in Europe
Jewish communities blended with Muslims &
Christians and even served on courts.
Christians blamed Jews for famines, diseases,
etc.
Church forbade Jews from owning land or being
in certain professions. However, still
employed Jews as financial advisors and
physicians.
Anti-Semitism: prejudice against the Jews,
caused migration to Eastern Europe.
Economic Recovery Sparks
Change
7.4
Economic Expansion and Change
New Technologies:
–
800’s: iron plows and use of horses
•
–
–
–
Oxen were slow.
Reclaimed land: cleared forests & drained
swamps
Windmill used for grinding grain into flour.
3 field system – left 1 field unplanted.
Allowed for the fields to be more
“productive”. Reduced soil exhaustion.
New Trade Routes
Middle East: Traded with Constantinople
Medieval Trade Routes
Trade & Travel
•
Warfare declines and people begin to feel
safer.
Travel increases
As trade routes expand, goods from remote
markets become common
•
•
–
–
–
–
In Constantinople – could buy Chinese silks,
Byzantine gold jewelry, and Asian spices.
Goods shipped via ships – many traders bought
items at trade fairs along rivers and where routes
crossed.
Traded animals and farm goods
Nobles could buy swords, sugar and silks.
New Cities
Cities developed due to demand for trade
fairs.
•
•
Located in Northern Italy and Flanders
Charter granted by king or lord spelled out
the rights and privileges of the town.
–
•
•
Granted right to choose own leaders and control
own affairs.
Paid lord or king a yearly fee.
Year and a day = freedom.
New Business Practices
Growth of Banking was created by the
need for capital: money for investment
Partnerships were created with various
merchants for large ventures.
- Safer investment. Didn’t lose
everything if a business didn’t work.
Insurance: for the creation of safeguards
Bill of exchange: paid for services
- didn’t have to carry coins with you
(often stolen)
Social Changes
Use of money undermines the feudal
system
- Tenant farmers or hired farm laborers
- Peasants selling goods to
townspeople and paying rent to the
lord in cash rather than labor.
Rise of the middle class: merchants,
traders and artisans
Usury: lending money with interest was
considered immoral
Jews became money lenders
Role of the Guild
Merchant guilds dominated town life
Passed laws
Levied taxes
Craft guilds (represented workers in 1
occupation)
Weavers
Bakers
Brewers
Goldsmiths
Limited membership, provided protection for
widows and children, watchdog for quality
Becoming a Guild Member
–
–
–
Apprentice
Journeyman
Master
–
Women did well in guilds-even dominating
the silk and wool trade.
Towns were contained within walls. Walls
were built where the town developed