Western Europe
Chapter 10
Dark Ages – the Waning Empire
• Bishops (Christian leaders of cities) given judicial
powers & responsibility of urban poor
• Peasants weakened by debt became
tenants of landlords
• Late Rome pressured by Germanic
barbarians (Goths, Vandals, Franks)
– Mercenaries, migrations
Timeline
• 500-1000 CE— Early Middle Ages
– Agriculture, trade & politics slow but reviving
– Catholic church becomes a spiritual & political
power
• 900-1100—Transition
• 1000-1338— High Middle Ages
– Gains in population, trade & intellectual
activity as well as political growth
• 1338-1450— Late Middle Ages
Western Europe During the
Early Middle Ages
(500 CE to 1000 CE)
~the Foundations of Christian Society
in Western Europe~
Dark Ages?
Christianity & Political Order
• Christianity
– Unites masses amid chaos
– Barbarians convert for legitimacy
Christianity & Political Order
• Christianity
– Hierarchy provides
practical leadership
• Judges & educators
• Based on tradition, land
ownership, ceremonies
Political Order & Christianity
• But, little formal government
• Violence & blood feuds common
• Some order from Roman landlords &
barbarian warlords
– Aristocrats: control of land lends resources
(peasants, food, new warriors)
– Germanic warriors: military might lends order
• Franks were most powerful Germanic state
– Example: Clovis
Life of the Peasantry
• Culture minimal & rough
– Hierarchy of needs?
• Rome: population from 500,000 to 80,000
• Paris: population of 20,000
– Rural villages as population centers
• Little education or literacy
• Little trade
• Focus on subsistence
Life of the Peasantry
→ Peasants become serfs
– Unfree farm labor tied to land
– Subsistence difficult while lacking technology
– Sought safety through landlords
Carcassonne: A Medieval Castle
Men of Cloth; Men of Letters
• Culture maintained by Christian clergy
– Only literate members of society
• Latin
• Scriptoriums
– Aided religious & political authority
– “Rome” lived on in churches & became
spiritual capital
In Summary
Manor System
• Self-sufficient manors organize society
• Mutual obligations b/t lord & serf
Feudalism
• Decentralized, informal military rule
• Mutual obligations b/t lords & lords
Review
In groups of 4:
• Analyze the daily life of each of the following people
during the Carolingian dynasty:
• Charlemagne; Nobleman; Priest; Serf
– What is their motivation? What is their fear? How is their
life impacted by other members of society?
• Create a script for a skit or write a series of / diary
entries letters
Carolingians & Charlemagne
• Exception to divided informal rule
• Carolingian dynasty (686 – 9th c)
– Frankish
– Charles Martel: starts dynasty
• noted for ending Muslim attempts to conquer France
– Charlemagne: most important ruler
Carolingians & Charlemagne
• Charlemagne
– Desired Christianizing & politically uniting all
Germanic peoples
– Centralized authority
• Crowned by Pope in 800 CE (reflected church power)
• Gave land to warriors to cement loyalty
• Traveled 2000 miles/yr to maintain direct contact with
those governed
Carolingians & Charlemagne
• Charlemagne
– Fostered “Carolingian Renaissance”
• Trade initiated
– Minted silver coins
– Manufacturing improved (swords, pottery, glassware)
• Learning emphasized
– Punctuation, capitalization, & spacing added to script
– Curriculum standardized (grammar, rhetoric, logic, math,
astronomy)
The Carolingian Renaissance
Carolingians & Charlemagne
• Charlemagne
– Still…comparatively weak
• 15 mil inhabitants vs. 50 mil in Abbasid or 100 mil in China
• 50 acre palace complex vs. 250 acres in Baghdad
– Personalist rule meant that when reign ended,
so to did many advancements
Carolingians ended by invasion
Muslims, Magyar nomads, Vikings
The Vikings
Viking Origins
• Norse people from Scandinavia
– Think: North, Normans, Normandy, Norway
• “Vik” = on the war path
• Lifestyle:
– Tribal, warrior culture
– Polytheistic
• Expansion fueled by population pressure
Viking Expansion
Vikings in Eastern Europe
• Sailed Russian river systems until reaching
Black Sea & Constantinople
– Opened trade links b/t Russia & Byzantium
– Exported furs & slaves for Byzantine
manufactures
• Kievian-Rus (proto-Russia)
– Mixture of Viking & Slavic ethnic groups
– Christianized by Cyril & Methodius (Orthodox)
Vikings in Eastern Europe
• Russian envoys reported:
“We went among the Germans [the Catholic Franks] and
we saw them performing many ceremonies in their
churches; but we beheld no glory there. Then we went to
Greece [in fact, to Constantinople and Hagia Sophia], and
the Greeks led us to the edifices where they worship their
God, and we knew not whether we were in heaven or on
earth. For on earth there is no such splendor or such
beauty, and we are at a loss to describe it. We only know
that God dwells there among men…”
Vikings in Western Europe
• Explored & raided coastal France & Britain
– Longships & weapons became sources of fear
– Plundering, killing, burning
• Wealth & prisoners aided exploration &
expansion of slave trade
• Settle eventually & Christianized
– Normans
Viking Impact
• Fostered expanded trade links in Europe
• Intensified local rule
– Eastern Europe = city-states
– Western Europe = feudalism
• Looked to local lords to protect them
Transitions
(900 CE to 1100 CE)
~Steps toward Progress~
• End of raids
• Warming of climate
Causes for Transition
1. Agricultural innovation
•
Expansion of arable land
•
Three-field system
•
Mold-board Plow
Causes for Transition
2. Population growth fuels urbanization
European Population Growth
80
60
Pop in
Millions
40
20
0
700
1100 1300 1500
Years
Causes for Transition
3. Diffusion of new ideas
•
Crusades brought contact with Muslims
& Byzantium
The Crusades
• Catholic Pope Urban II called First Crusade
in 1096
– Originally effort to retake Holy Land from Islamic
Empires
• Resulted in small crusader states in eastern Mediterranean
– Supported by Byzantium for striking at longstanding
enemy
The Crusades
• Later Crusades lacked success & focus
– Crusading hordes disrupted Constantinople’s
economy
– Italian city-states (Genoa & Venice) desired
trade in eastern Mediterranean
• Engineered 4th Crusade, which temporarily
conquered Constantinople
Other Conquests
• Christian Reconquista of Islamic Spain
began in 1061
• Christians wrestled control of Sicily from
Muslims in 1091
Christian Crusades
Impact of Crusades on W. Eur
• One Muslim observer:
“Their bodies large, their manners harsh, their
understanding dull, and their tongues heavy.
…Those of them who are the farthest to the north
are the most subject to stupidity, grossness, and
brutishness.”
Impact of Crusades on W. Eur
• Contact w/ more advanced societies
yielded:
– Adoption of innovations
•
•
•
•
Arabic numerals
Recovery of Greek & Roman learning
Architectural engineering
Windmills & watermills
– Greater trade
• Increased demand for silk, cotton textiles, & spices
• Desire for direct trade in Asian markets
Western Europe During the
High Middle Ages
(1000 CE to 1300 CE)
Economic Growth
Population growth during transition sparked
revival of towns & trade
Early Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
• Towns were small with
rural agriculture
dominating
• Towns grew with
commerce & people
moving to urban areas
Towns & Trade
• Town life exemplified by artisan guilds
– Occupations were licensed, standards of
quality
– Politically & socially influential
– Emphasized Christianity
• Contributed to building of cathedrals
• Adopted patron saints & sponsoring parades
• Trade networks develop
– Hanseatic League
– Italian city-states & Mediterranean
Town Dwellings
High Medieval Trade
Formal Government
Royal Kingdoms and Formation of States
• Towns and urban population aid in strengthening
royal governments
– States
• England pioneer in creating modern state
– William the Conqueror, 1066
• France developed slower than England
– Hugh Capet, a minor and weak noble, was elected king in
987
• Modern German state not created until 19th century
The Establishment of Regional States
•
•
•
•
The Holy Roman Empire
Feudal Monarchies in France and England
Regional States in Italy and Iberia
Church influence in Italy
– A complex of principalities and city-states, undergoes
rapid urbanization
• Muslim influence in Iberia
– The focus of the reconquista
Regional States
High Medieval Universities
Town Life
during Middle
Ages
Nobles had
most of the
power
Town Life After
High Middle
Ages
Power
Middle class had
most of the
power
1) Lords owned the
land where most towns
were located
2) Towns needed
protection from knights
that lords could provide
1) limited the power of
feudal lords by forcing
them to grant charter
2) Gained control of
great sums of money by
organizing banks
*status determined by
birthright
*status determined by
wealth and ability
Mosaic of Political Control
• Some still dreamed of recapturing a
“Rome”
– Holy Roman Empire
• Otto
• Investiture
Mosaic of Political Control
• Yet regional states emerged
– France
• Capetians
– England
• The Normans & William the Conqueror
Mosaic of Political Control
• Still Spain & Italy remained more complex
– Europeans expand & conquer Muslim held
lands
Social Development
• Three Estates
– “those who work, those who pray, and those
who fight”
Social Development
• Social change: Chivalry
Social Development
• Social change: Cities
– Independent cities
– Guilds
Social Development
• Social change: Women
– Rural
– Urban
Christianity
• Continued to define W. Euro society
Christianity
• High Theology
– Cathedral schools → universities
– Scholasticism & St. Thomas Aquinas
• Blend Aristotle & Faith
Christianity
• Popular Religion
– Sacraments & saints
– Monasticism & heresies
Compare with China
• Catching up
• Pluralism in Politics
• Reason & Faith
12th and 13th Centuries
• Religion
– Is represented in art and architecture
• Romanesque and Gothic styles
• Vernacular literature (Beowulf, Canterbury Tales)
and secular art forms develop as well
– Scholasticism combines faith and reason
• Peter Abelard
• St. Thomas Aquinas
• St. Bernard of Clairvaux
12th and 13th Centuries
• Economy
– Improvements in Agriculture
• Peasant condition improves; landlord power
weakens
– Growth of Trade and Banking
• Use of currency
• Market system develops
• Guilds organized
~Disease & decline~
Europe During The Late Middle
Ages (1300 CE to 1450 CE)
Late Postclassical Decline
• Key Developments
– Professional militaries & use of gunpowder
– Population boom & mini ice age
– Bubonic plague
• Decline of “Postclassical” characteristics
– Feudalism in decline, serfdom ending
– Aristocracy loses power
– Church loses power to State
– Intellectual inquiries become separate from
state
Fishbowl Discussion Questions
• To what extent were the Middle Ages a Dark Age?
• To what extent do you agree that Charlemagne’s
family was a family that forged Europe.
• Why might the Middle Ages be a misnomer for this
period?
• What postclassical themes are present in Western
Europe between 550 and 1000 CE?
• Why is the term Western Civilization hard to define?
• Compare Postclassical Europe to the Byzantine and
Muslim Empires.
• What was the status of women during the Middle
Ages?
Halloween
• What does the interaction between
cultures suggest about how Christianity
spread in Europe during the postclassical
period?
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