BACKGROUND TO THE
RENAISSANCE AND
REFORMATION
FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
 Gibbon’s
Theory
1.Christians promoted weak values; humility,
gentleness
2. Christians worried about future life in heaven
more than this life
3. Peoples’ attention drawn away from society
and towards the church
4. Christianity caused Romans to lose pride
FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
 Lot’s
Theory
1. An abundance of slaves prevented economic
development
2. Romans purchased most goods from other
countries
3. Imported more than expected
4. Invasion of Germans forced people to farm = no
taxes
FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
 Unstable
Government Theory
1. Government weak and unstable
2. Emperor had all the power. Weak emperors =
empire suffered
3. Choosing emperors led to divisions
4. Attempts to overthrow the emperor; emperor
could not control the military
5. Increasing tax burden
FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
 Environmental
Theories
1. Lead poisoning from lead containers
2. Plagues and diseases = couldn’t defend Rome
3. Environmental degradation; soil conservation
THE DARK AGES
This period was called the Dark Ages because the
art and learning of the Greek and Roman
civilizations were lost.
 Conditions in Europe were chaotic due to
increasing migrations, invading warriors and a
breakdown of trade.
 In these conditions protection was the greatest
need. As a result, a system called feudalism
developed.
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FEUDALISM
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Kings gave land and weapons to their most important
and loyal nobles. In return, the nobles pledged to
supply him with soldiers in times of war and to help
govern the country. They became the King’s vassals.
The nobles built fortresses to protect themselves and
their families as well as their own loyal followers
(knights).
These knights protected the nobles and were given
land in return.
This land was worked/ farmed by peasants, known as
villeins or serfs, who were obligated by law to live on
and work the land until the landowner allowed them
to leave.
FEUDALISM
 The
Feudal Pyramid
Power in feudal system much like a pyramid, with
king at the top
 Kings served by nobles who are served by knights;
peasants at bottom
 Knights—horsemen—defend their lord’s land in
exchange for fiefs

FEUDALISM
KING
LOYALTY AND
SERVICE
LAND
POWERFUL
NOBLES
LAND AND
PROTECTION
LOYALTY AND
MILITARY SERVICE
LESSER NOBLES
(KNIGHTS)
LABOR
PROTECTION
SERFS AND FREEMEN
9
FEUDALISM

Social Classes Are Well Defined

Medieval feudal system classifies people into three
social groups
those who fight: nobles and knights
 those who pray: monks, nuns, leaders of the Church
 those who work: peasants
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Social class is usually inherited; majority of people are
peasants
Most peasants are serfs—people lawfully bound to place
of birth
Serfs aren’t slaves, but what they produce belongs to
their lord
FEUDALISM
FEUDALISM

Manors: The Economic Side of Feudalism
 A Self-Contained World
 Medieval manors include lord’s house,
church, workshops, village
 Manors cover a few square miles of land, are
largely self-sufficient
FEUDALISM

The Harshness of Manor Life
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Peasants pay taxes to use mill and bakery; pay a tithe to
priest
Tithe—a church tax—is equal to one-tenth of a
peasant’s income
Serfs live in crowded cottages with dirt floors, straw for
beds
Daily grind of raising crops, livestock; feeding and
clothing family
Poor diet, illness, malnutrition make life expectancy 35
years
Serfs generally accept their lives as part of God’s plan
FEUDALISM
Feudal lords in England didn’t want to lose
power to the king, so they banded together and
presented King John with the Magna Carta
 A List of 63 demands that the king eventually
agreed to
 King must get permission to raise taxes
 King must return all lands he had unlawfully
seized
 King could not imprison people without a trial
and could not deny or delay justice

KNIGHTS AND CASTLES
Almost all nobles were knights
 Training began at age 7, 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

KNIGHTS AND CASTLES
Main purpose was for defense
 Motte and Bailey castles: motte was a hill
where the keep was built and the bailey housed
the stables, storage and soldiers’ barracks
(wooden)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwF8ScdOgQ0
Concentric castles: stone castles with inner
and outer walls and a tower at each corner
Drawbridge and a portcullis (a gate with thick metal
bars)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BzgmQvbAvo

KNIGHTS AND CASTLES
KNIGHTS AND CASTLES

Defense
 Siege towers
 Catapults like the trebuchet and mangonel
 Tunnels under towers
 Murder holes
 Gunpowder and cannons were introduced to
Europe in the 1300’s and made castles obsolete
THE GROWTH OF TOWNS
Towns were within the castle walls at first, then
expanded outside of the walls
 Craftspeople lived and worked there
 Farmers sold their excess food at town markets
 Unpaved streets, no sewers or drains

People threw waste and garbage into the streets
 Danger of disease spread quickly as a result

THE GROWTH OF TOWNS
Danger of fire because wooden buildings were
built close together
 Could be a dangerous place to live because the
unemployed flocked there for opportunities
 There were more opportunities and people could
hide among the growing populations
 Cities developed as the populations increased

THE GROWTH OF TOWNS
GUILDS
The first unions: created to protect workers and
improve working conditions
 Every craft had its own guild
 Non-members were not allowed to work in that
craft
 Both women and men could be members
 When a woman’s husband died, she inherited his
position in the guild

GUILDS
GUILDS
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Purposes:
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Set the terms of apprenticeship
Set the standards of quality
Set prices of goods and services
Helped members to replace stolen tools
Provided aid to sick members as well as benefits to
members widows with families
GUILDS
DAILY LIFE
Daily life in the Middle ages was dictated by
wealth, power and status and the feudal system.
 Everything was a source of privilege for the
nobles. The high ranking nobles lived in castles
with their knights, ladies and retinues. Others
enjoyed their daily life on their manors.
 The peasants, including serfs, freeman and
villeins spent their daily life on a manor or
village.

DAILY LIFE - NOBLES

The daily life of nobles started at dawn

Mass would be heard and prayers would be made
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The first meal of the day was breakfast
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Lords and nobles would attend to business matters in relation to his land. Reports
would be heard regarding estate crops, harvests and supplies. Finances - rents,
taxes, customs and dues. The lord would also be expected to exercise his judicial
powers over his vassals and peasants
Complaints and disputes regarding tenants would be settled, permission to marry
etc.
The daily life of the nobles would include political discussions and decisions
As the Medieval period progressed the culture changed becoming more refined and
elegant. Time was spent on the arts - poetry, music etc.
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Weapon practise
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Mid morning prayers and a meal
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In the afternoon the daily life of nobles turned to hunting, hawking or inspecting the
estate
Evening prayer and then supper in the Hall of the Castle or Manor House
After supper there might be some entertainment - music, dancing, jugglers, acrobats,
jesters, etc.
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The time for bed was dictated by the time the Lord or Noble retired

Bedtime prayers
DAILY LIFE - PEASANTS
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The daily life of a peasant started at started in the summer as early as
3am
A peasant would start with breakfast, usually of pottage
Work in the fields or on the land started by dawn and the daily life of a
peasant included the following common tasks

Reaping - To cut crops for harvest with a scythe, sickle, or reaper.

Sowing - the process of planting seeds
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Ploughing - To break and turn over earth with a plough to form a furrow
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Binding and Thatching
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Haymaking - cutting grass and curing it for hay.
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Threshing - To beat the stems and husks of plants to separate the grains
or seeds from the straw.
Hedging - creating boundaries
Outside work finished at dusk, working hours were therefore longer
during the summer months
Peasants made some of their own tools and utensils using wood, leather
and the horns from cattle
Women generally ate when her husband and children had finished and
had little leisure time
THE BLACK DEATH
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Also called the Great Plague
Wiped out about 1/3 of the population of Europe in
the mid-1300’s (about 20 million people)
Caused by bacteria passed to humans when fleas,
carrying infected blood from rats, bit people
No known cure
Many people believed it was a punishment from God
Eventually died out, but reappeared 3 more times
over the next 3 centuries
Improvements in sanitary conditions and medicine
helped to end the threat
Helped to end Feudalism
RELIGION
Only accepted religion was Christianity, at this
time only called Catholicism
 Life for most peasants, had few rewards,
therefore, religion offered a sense of purpose and
hope for a better life in heaven
 Priests and other clergy carried great power and
authority – only they could read and interpret
the meaning in the Bible – and they amassed
great wealth (tithe)
 People also believed in magic, spirits and
witches(this was left over from the previous
pagan religions)

RELIGION

Church Laws
The church punished people who did not believe in or
follow church practices and beliefs
 Excommunication – The worst punishment was
banishment from the church (church was also their
social life)

Others could not associate with them
 Could not go to mass or confession
 Their kids couldn’t be baptized
 They couldn’t have final religious rites or be buried in the
church grave yard (this = going to hell)

LAW AND JUSTICE
Two of the most common ways to settle a dispute
were by compurgation or by ordeal
 Compurgation – eleven people would swear an
oath for the accused’s innocence. However, if the
accuser produced eleven people of higher rank to
swear to the accused’s guilt, he/she would be
found guilty
 Ordeal – Usually by fire, water or combat

Fire involved burning the flesh and, if it didn’t heal,
the person was guilty
 Combat was the predecessor of the dual
 Water involved boiling water
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTdDN_MRe64

THE CRUSADES
Muslim armies from the Middle East spread the
Islamic faith by taking over other peoples
 Muslims invaded Spain in 711 AD and reigned
for 700 years
 Towards the end of the 11th century, Muslims
were expanding farther into the Eastern Roman
Empire and they eventually prevented pilgrims
from reaching their holy shrines
 Pope Urban II called for a crusade to force the
Muslims out of the Holy Lands (1095-1099 AD)
 Priests encouraged their parishioners to join and
1000’s of noblemen left home to follow “the will of
God”

THE CRUSADES
In time, the motive for joining the Crusades was
not purely religious.
 This was an opportunity for young men,
especially those who were not the first born and
would not inherit their family’s lands, to get rich
and have an adventure at the same time
 Several crusades between 1095-1300 AD
 In 1192, Richard the Lionhearted, King of
England, negotiated peace with the Muslims that
allowed Christians safe passage to the Holy Land
 The crusades also had an effect on feudalism

LEGACY OF THE MIDDLE AGES

Many important developments and inventions
from the Middle Ages
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Knowledge and goods from the East (Arabic
numerals, printing, fabrics, carpets, spices, medical
innovations, new approaches to architecture
Important trade routes due to the demand for spices
from China and India
New military weapons and tactics
The growth of towns
The establishment of guilds
Tournaments of Knights as sporting events
Census taking
The spread of Christianity and Islam
BIBLIOGRAPHY
www.rcs.k12.va.us
 www.owasso.k12.ok.us
 http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/daily-life-in-themiddle-ages.htm
 Kahn, C., Osborne, K., McCulloch, M., Lee, N., &
Einarson, J., World History: Societies of the Past,
Winnipeg: Portage & Main Press, 2005.
