The Middle Ages
1066-1485
The Battle of Hastings
• In October 1066, a
daylong battle known
as the Battle of
Hastings ended the
reign of the AngloSaxons and began
the Norman
Conquest.
William the Conqueror
• In the battle, Duke William of
Normandy, known as “William
the Conqueror”, defeated King
Harold of England, the last of
the Anglo Saxon kings.
William did not want to kill the
Anglo Saxons, he just wanted
to rule them. The new group
under William’s reign became
known as the Anglo-Normans.
• William inventoried every piece
of land in England for tax
purposes and recorded this
information in the “Doomsday
Book.”
The Feudal System
• The Anglo-Normans
brought a new language,
French, and a new social
system, feudalism, to the
country.
• Feudalism was not just a
social system, but also a
caste system, a property
system, and a military
system.
The Feudal System
• The basic chain of
feudalism was as follows:
1. God
2. Kings
3. Nobles (Barons,
Bishops, etc.)
4. Knights- who did not
own land
5. Serfs or peasants- who
did not own land
The Three Estates
Estate #1: Clergy~ those who prayed
or worked for the church
Estate #2: Nobility~ the wealthy or
those who fought
Estate #3: Peasantry~ the poor,
working class
Feminine: virgins, wives and widows
•
•
Estates 2 and 3 are determined
by birth
Estate 1 can be entered into by
individuals regardless of status
Knighthood
• The primary duty of males above the serf class was
military service. Boys were trained at an early age (7
years) to become warriors.
• After training was complete, the boy was “dubbed” or
ceremonially tapped on the shoulder. He was then a
knight, had the title of “sir”, and the had full rights of the
warrior caste.
Knighthood
• Knighthood was
grounded in the
feudal ideal of loyalty.
• Knights had a system
of social codes that
they were not
permitted to break.
Women in the Middle Ages
• Women had no political
rights because they were
not soldiers in a primarily
military system.
• Women were always
subservient to men.
• A woman’s husband or
father’s position in the
feudal system determined
her position.
Chivalry
• Chivalry was a system of ideals and social codes
governing the behaviors of knights and gentlewomen.
• Chivalry codes included oaths of loyalty to the overlord,
observing certain rules of warfare and courtly love.
• Courtly love was nonsexual.
• Chivalry brought about an idealized attitude about
women, but did not improve their actual position in life.
• Chivalry gave rise to a new form of literature- romance.
The Effect of Cities and Towns
• Eventually, the increasing population in
cities and towns made the feudal system
virtually obsolete.
• The city classes were lower, middle and
upper-middle.
The Crusades
• The Crusades (1095-1270), a series of wars waged by European
Christians against Muslims, were fought during this period.
• The Catholic Church upheld the idea that Jerusalem and other
places in the Middle East (The Holy Land as we know it) were
sacred to Christians, but Muslim people occupied them. Pope
Urban II urged soldiers to fight and recapture these cities for God.
Crusade Map
St. Thomas a Becket
•
•
•
King Henry II and Thomas a Becket were best
friends. Because the English kings were ruled by
the Pope of the Catholic Church, King Henry
gave his friend Thomas the title of archbishop of
the church in Canterbury. Henry hoped he could
better control the Pope with one of his friends in
this role.
Thomas a Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury,
began to take his role more seriously than Henry
had predicted. Becket even began siding with
the Pope on major issues. King Henry became
angry and asked who would rid him of this
“problem?” Four knights murdered Becket in the
church during the service with parishoners
present.
Becket’s murder enraged the common people
who deemed him a martyr and they lashed out
against King Henry which weakened the king’s
power in his struggle with Rome.
The Magna Carta
• The Magna Carta was
signed by King John
in 1215 at
Runnymede.
• The Magna Carta was
a document that
limited the Church’s
power and became
the basis for English
law today.
The Hundred Years’ War
• The English and French
entered into the “Hundred
Years’ War” (1337-1453)
because two English kings
were claiming they had rights
to the French throne.
• This first national war showed
that England was no longer
represented by the armor clad
knight, but by the green clad
yeoman. Common people
were taking up the fight for
their country rather than the
knights alone.
The Black Death
• The Black Death, or Bubonic
plague, struck England in
1348-1349.
• The Black Death was highly
contagious, spread by fleas
from infected rats, and killed
approximately one third of the
population.
• This plague was a contributing
factor in eliminating feudalism
because most of those who
died were serfs or peasants.
Those who survived The Black
Death could now be paid for
their labor due to a shortage of
workers.