Medieval
Europe
500-1500
Russell’s Rule to the Middle
Ages:
 Major questions about the Middle Ages
(according to the regents) deal with:
1)
2)
3)
Feudalism (weak central gov’t)
Rise and power of Catholic Church
The Crusades and the increase in trade
The Good and
the Bad
Results of
the Fall of
Rome
 Germanic invasions
lead to fall of
Roman Empire
which also led to:
1) Breakdown of trade
 Fear of bandits
and without
someone to
“police” people
stopped trading
= Less money, Less
power, more
isolation
2) Cities destroyed
3) Population Shift
 People move
out of
“center” of
Civilization
and begin
moving to
North and
Countryside
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
4) Learning
decreased
a. Germanic invaders were not
educated leaving only priest
and other high officials
educated
b. People could not read
ancient texts of Greeks or
Romans (culture lost)
5) Loss of common language
 a. Germanic people spoke different
language leading to Latin changing in
to different dialects such as Spanish
and French
 b. DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
SEPARATE PEOPLE
Homer says” Latin, who needs
Latin? I’m never going to use
Latin”
After the Fall of Rome, many
people went searching for
stability in everyday life,
 Where do people search for stability?
-
Individually
Society
6) THE
CHURCH!!!!!!
Increase in
power of RCC!
Life began to surround itself
around the Church
 Going to Church
 Holidays
 Behaviors
Education
 Roman Catholic Church became source
of education for many
The Arts
Mostly church related
 Gothic Architecture
 Flying Buttresses
 Stained Glass
THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH
Age of Faith: Gothic
Architecture
Economy: Monasteries
and churches often had
their own lands and
produced food and wine
with the help of the
peasants.
Tithe
 Tax by the Church, each person must
give 1/10 income to Church
 Another example of RCC increase in
power.
 This left Europe weak for many years
until…
 Life became chaos
 Nothing was stable
Charlemagne (Charles the Great)
 united Europe 771 ad
 -created greatest empire since
Ancient Rome
 -Frank (German) King, 6’4
 -Spread Christianity
 -Pope crowned him Emperor
signifying alliance between
Germans, Church, and former
Roman Empire
 Created Holy Roman Empire
 1st Reich
 Died in 814
 So what happened after Charlemagne?
WEAK RULERS
 Divided Empire amongst sons…too weak
 Rulers that followed Charlemagne were weak and
empire would be divided in 3 parts
 -This lack of strong leadership lead to Feudalism in Europe
 o Nobles often fought over power with one another
 o Viking invasions also helped weaken rulers and villages
Political Systems of the Middle
Ages
People searched for safety
 Answer: Feudalism
Remember Feudalism is the political term
Manor system or manorialism is the economic term for this system
Without a
strong central
body of power
keeping peace,
people
searched for
security
 Feudalism

King Lord
Knight Peasant
OATH OF FEALTY
VASSALS (lesser
lords and knights)
pledged their loyalty.
THE BASIS OF
MEDIEVAL
ECONOMY WAS
THE FIEF, OR
PARCEL OF LAND
GIVEN AFTER AN
OATH OF LOYALTY
IN EXCHANGE
FOR SERVICES.
FEUDALISM
 Kings were Relatively Weak
 Decentralized political system
LORDS, LAND, AND LOYALTY
 Isolated, Self-Sufficient Manors
 Lords and Nobles control the domain or fief
 Oaths of Fealty to one’s liege lord
 Land was the basis of wealth
 Protection was exchanged for loyalty and land
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TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
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SERFS AND SERFDOM
Serfs were tied to the land. They could not leave,
marry, etc. without the lord’s permission.
A serf was at the
bottom of the
manor system.
They worked the
lord’s land, and
often the church
estates, and
then could tend
their own small
plot of land they
received in
exchange for
these services.
LABOR!!
LAND!
SERFS ALSO
GOT
PROTECTION !
Feudal Society
KING
NOBLES
LESSER LORDS
KNIGHTS
SERFS
Economics:
MANORIALISM
AGRARIAN TRADITIONAL ECONOMY
AGRARIAN MANORIALISM
A SELF-SUFFICIENT ECONOMY
BASED ON AGRICULTURE
THE MANOR HOUSE
THE LORD’S HOUSE WAS
THE BIGGEST ONE BUT
OFTEN NOT VERY SANITARY.
IF HE LIVED IN A CASTLE, IT
WAS COLD AND DAMP. THE
LORD HAD CONTROL OF ALL
OF THOSE IN HIS
DESMESNE (domain). THEY
WORKED OR PROVIDE
MILITARY SERVICES FOR
HIM. HE PROTECTED THEM
IN HIS CASTLE IN TIMES OF
DANGER.
THE MANOR SYSTEM
ANYTHING NOT
PRODUCED ON THE
LORD’S MANOR
COULD BE
BARTERED.
MONEY WAS
RARELY USED
AFTER ROME’S
EMPIRE
COLLAPSED.
MEDIEVAL FARM TOOLS
THE AX
THE RAKE
THE FLAIL
MEDIEVAL FARM TOOLS
LONG HANDLED SCYTHE
AND THE SICKLE
MEDIEVAL FARM TOOLS
HAYMAKING FORK AND SPADE
THE 3 FIELD SYSTEM
Gray - Woodlands; the building blocks
of the manor.
Green - The 3 Fields; crops were
rotated each season on land owned by
the Lord and worked by the serfs.
Purple - The Lord's house, land and
pond.
Burnt Orange - The villager's homes.
Yellow - Small plots of land serfs
could work themselves for their own
benefit.
Blue - the stream used by all.
THE PLOUGH (PLOW)
In the Middle Ages,
three inventions would
help increase food
production:
HORSE HARNESS
The Ox was a slow animal,
but the ox harness was
lethal to the horse. Once a
new harness was designed,
“horse power” was used.
WINDMILL
WATERMILLS KEPT PEASANTS NEAR RIVERS. BUT
THE WINDMILL EXPANDED WHERE GRAIN COULD
BE GROUND.
What do these inventions
mean
 Increase food production
 Increase population
 Less people needed to farm
KNIGHTS
Knights
 Soldiers of the
Middle Ages
 For a Fief, would
pledge loyalty to
defend Lords/Kings
lands
MEDIEVAL TOURNAMENT
 Soldiers mounted
on horseback
 Protect nobles or
kings possessions
IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES, THERE WERE FEWER INVADERS SO
KNIGHTS WOULD FIGHT IN ENTERTAINMENT CALLED TOURNAMENTS.
CHIVALRY WAS THE IDEAL CODE OF HONOR THAT A KNIGHT SHOULD
FIGHT, LIVE, AND DIE BY.
Code of Chivalry
 Moral/ethical code of the knights
 Behaviors of what is right/wrong
Tournaments:
 when knights were not at war. (just like in A
Knight’s Tale)
-
Jousting
sword fighting
MEDIEVAL WEAPONS
LONG BOW
CROSS BOW
SWORD
Trebuchet
Medieval Women
 Role of Women in Feudal society

- little or no power

- could inherit land
 - home activities or convent
Rise of the Guild System:
 -people,
especially the
poor, without
education were unsure
of how to better their
lives.
-What is the guild
system? Page 388 in
text take notes
Question to answer
 1) What is a guild?
 2) What is the purpose of the guild system?
 3) What are the different levels of the guild
system?
 4) What are some examples of guilds?
 Guild system –
organization of
individuals in the same
business or occupation
working together to
improve economic and
social conditions
Apprentice
journeyman.
Master
Guilds
Middle Age living conditions
 Small damp homes
 Dirt Floors
 2 or 3 baths a year
 Garbage in streets
 Fecal matter in streets
 Dead bodies
 Very few had hot water
What is a castle for?
Wars
 Numerous Wars (Hundred Years war
between France and Britain and
pillaging by Vikings and barbarians of
lands)
Hundred Years War:
1337 -1453
VS

England vs. France
-Fought over who was heir to French throne
when King died
-English ruler Edward III believed it was
him because he was the grandson of Philip
IV of France
-Joan of Arc
- France eventually gets England off soil
Increase nationalistic feelings
Black Death
Also known as the Bubonic Plague People
thought the apocalypse was coming
 people were scared that God was punishing them
Black Death
 1/3 of Europe’s population gone
 Workers decrease
 Productivity decrease
 Trade decrease
Middle Ages: Good or bad
 Good
 3 field system
 Horse harness
 Iron Plow
 Guild System
 Chivalry
 Results of
Crusades
 Commercial
Revolution
Bad
-Feudalism
-Education
-Living Conditions
-War (100 years war,
Crusades
-Disease  black death
-Life of a serf