MIDDLE AGES
500-1500
MIDDLE AGES
FEUDALISM
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH &
THE CRUSADE
KING JOHN & THE MAGNA CARTA
MIDDLE AGES
 Middle Ages- the period
between the fall of the Roman
Empire and the Renaissance.
The transition period between
the ancient and modern
worlds.
 Europeans began to use a
government called feudalism.
 Feudalism is a new government
that provides protection for
people. This type of
government developed
in the Byzantine Empire.
FEUDAL SOCIETY
• Top- the monarch (all the
land belonged to him)
• He gave land to nobles who
were loyal to him. This land
was called fiefs because they
were gifts from the king (but
actually they had to pay
yearly on the land).
• Nobles, also known as lords,
owed the monarch loyalty
and in time of war, they had to
raise an army of knights and
soldiers to defend the
monarch.
KNIGHTS
• Below the nobles were knights.
• Knights received land from the
nobles and owed them loyalty in
return.
• The knights also had to defend their
lord and his lands against attack, as
well as pay yearly for the land.
SERFS
• Serfs were the lowest class in
European society.
• They owed both loyalty and labor to
the nobles, their lords.
• Serfs also had to pay yearly rent to
their lords.
• Serfs were not slaves, but the lord had
absolute control over the serfs. They
had to ask permission to leave the land.
Chivalry
In the later Middle Ages, knights
adopted a code of conduct called
chivalry, which required them to be
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Brave,
Loyal,
True to their word,
Protect the unprotected
Fair in warfare,
Merciful & generous to
enemies.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
• Other than the Muslims in Spain
and groups of Jews, everyone else
in Western Europe was a member
of the Roman Catholic Church.
• Church teachings helped people
accept the hardships of their life
on Earth.
– People endured cruel lords,
unjust laws, and poor living
conditions.
– They believed that such
hardships would earn them
entry to heaven. As a result,
the Middle Ages was not a time
of rebellions and revolutions.
THE CRUSADES
• Christian rulers of
Europe organized
crusades to
recapture the Holy
Land from the
Muslims.
– The Holy Land was
the name that
Christians gave
Jerusalem and the
parts of Palestine
where Jesus had
lived.
CAUSES OF THE CRUSADE
• At times, the pope was more
powerful than the monarch.
The pope thought that a
crusade, or great campaign,
would be a way to stop the
constant warfare among
Europeans.
• The pope promised forgiveness
of sins and everlasting
salvation to those who died
fighting the Muslims.
Crusade Video Clip
QuickTime™ and a
Sorenson Video 3 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
RESULT OF THE
CRUSADE
• There were 8 Crusades total.
– The first four was successful and gained
lost of territory in the Middle East.
– The last four resulted in loss of territory
that they had gained in the first four.
– End: the Muslims were again in control of
the Holy land.
EFFECTS OF THE
CRUSADES
1.
Italian trading cities became wealthy from the
Crusades because they brought back loads of
luxury goods from Southwest Asia = trading
increased.
2. Other Europeans gained interest in travel and
seeing faraway places. Many wanted to find a
sea route to Asia.
3. Persecution of Jews increases, and Muslims
were attacked as unbelievers as well.
4.
Bubonic Plague
INCREASE IN TRADE
1. INCREASING TRADE
• Trade started to increase because invasions
ended and local warfare among nobles died
down.
• People worked together to build wealth and
trading centers, thus more cities were built.
• In the late Middle Ages, people began the money
economy, trading gold or silver coins.
– People began to borrow money and make loans.
– Capitalism started, which is system where a
person would produce something solely to
make a profit.
GUILDS
• A result of the growth of trade was the growth
of cities.
• Merchants would settle in the new cities, which
caused craftworkers to follow.
• Merchants and craftworkers needed each other
to make a profit, which this union was called a
guild.
• Guilds set the quality of the product, working
hours, and prices for goods.
• Guilds trained young people to become masters
through an apprenticeship (7 years) and then
journeyman, then maybe a master.
RISE OF MIDDLE CLASS
• Remember: there were two basic feudal
classes --> nobles and serfs.
• The development of towns and cities
resulted in the birth of middle class,
which was made up of merchants, traders,
and craftworkers.
• The middle class eventually grew in size,
wealth, and power.
ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH
• First, the England and France developed as
nation-states during the medieval period.
Nation-state is a large area of land ruled by a
single government.
• William the Conqueror and his forces invaded
England in 1066. They were from Normandy
France.
• Their Viking ancestors had invaded France in
the 900s and settled in the area that became
known as Normandy.
• Million $ Question: What region did the Vikings
originally come from?
POWER OF THE MONARCH
• Starting from William the Conqueror and many
more kings, such as Henry II, they were able to
build up a power in the English monarch.
• Eventually, the English nobles in the 1100s felt
they were losing power, and they resented it.
• The nobles finally rebelled when there was a
weak king in place, King John.
KING JOHN
• Not the most popular, why?:
– 1. He argued with the Pope on how to run the
church, so the Pope banned all church
services in England for 5 years. (Many English
people thought that they would go to hell.)
– 2. John went to war twice against the French
king and was badly beaten both times. He lost
almost all the land that his father had gained
in France.
– 3. Then John raised taxes in England to pay
for the wars. (A lot more than the kings
before him)
NOBLES STRIKE BACK
• The furious nobles (Barons) forced King
John to sign the Magna Carta, or “Great
Charter.”
• The purpose of the Magna Carta was to
give more rights to the nobles, for they
originally had these rights in the
beginning of the feudal system. Now it
was just written on paper.
• The Magna Carta limited the king’s power
and the monarch was no longer absolute,
nor above the law.
THE MAGNA CARTA
I, King John, accept that I have
to govern according to the
law.
So I agree:
1. Not to imprison nobles
without trial
2. That trials must be in courts;
not held in secret by me
3. To have fair taxation for the
nobles
4. To let freemen travel
wherever they like
5. Not to interfere in Church
matters
6. Not to seize crops without
paying for them
…. and lot more things too!!
Magna Cart Video Clip
QuickTime™ and a
Sorenson Video 3 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
WHY REMEMBER THIS?
• When the Magna Carta was first signed, the
rights did not apply to all (only nobles, then
“free man” which applied to fewer than half
of the English population.)
• The Magna Carta was carried on to the
American colonies.
• When America became a nation, the principles
of the Magna Carta became part of the legal
system of the United States.
PARLIAMENT BEGAN
• A Parliament is a representative body of advisers
to a king or chief executive.
• The Parliament had two houses: upper and
lower. Nobles and church lords sat in the
House of Lords; knights and townspeople
formed the House of Commons.
• Since the Magna Carta, the king turned to the
Parliament to make major decisions on taxes,
politics, and passing laws.
• There has been much conflict between the king
and Parliament throughout English history, but
now the Parliament is the dominant political
power today in England.
REVIEW
• What was so new about Magna Carta
for English kings?
• At the time, Magna Carta was not
designed to help everybody. What kind
of people were not helped by the
charter?
• How did the Magna Carta help lead the
way for Democracy?