AP World History
Chapter 10
A New Civilization Emerges in
Western Europe
The Franks 400 to 700 AD
• The strongest of the
Germanic Tribes that
helped bring down
Rome.
• One of many small
Germanic Kingdoms.
• Known as the
Carolingian Empire.
Clovis & Charles
• Clovis a vicious Frankish king conquers
many barbarian tribes.
• Became Christian when he prayed to
Christian God to win the battle and did.
• Charles was the son of Clovis and
defeated the Muslims at the battle of
Tours.
• His name changed to “Charles the
Hammer”.
The Age of Charlemagne
• He was granted the title emperor
of Rome by the pope for defeating
rebellious nobles in Rome.
• Charlemagne united areas of
France, Germany, Italy, and Spain
under his rule.
• He collected scholars from all
over Europe.
• He forced the pagan Saxons to
convert to Christianity.
Vikings
• Charlemagne’s Empire
fractured under increased
pressure from another
cycle of Viking
settlements in Europe.
• The Vikings were
assimilated into the lands
they settled.
• Vikings also ravaged and
settled in England.
King
Baron Lords & Bishops (about 300) Vassal
Knights (about 5000) Lesser Lords
Villagers (about 1,500,000) Serf
Nobles
• For feudal nobles, warfare
was a way of life.
• Rival lords battled for
power.
• Lesser lords (vassals)
would swear loyalty to a
more powerful lord.
• In return for the men and
loyalty the greater lord
would give land and
protection to the vassal.
The Parish Priest
• Parish Priests might be the
only contact with the church
a peasant had.
• The Priest would…
– Administer the
sacrament.
– Preach the Gospels.
– Guided people on issues
regarding morality.
The Village Church
• The social center of the
middle ages.
• Some were local schools.
• Prosperous communities
built elaborate stone
churches.
• Some village churches
obtained relics of dead
saints.
• Members of the local
church were required to
pay tithes.
Monks & Nuns
•
The Benedictine Rule
was a set of rules set up
to govern the lives of
monks in monasteries.
1. Obedience to the abbot
or abbess.
2. Poverty.
3. Chastity.
Reform Movements
• In 1073 Pope Gregory VII
outlawed marriage for
priests and prohibited
simony. (the selling of
Church offices)
Jews in Europe
• Jewish communities were taxed heavily in
Europe.
• In the 10th century many Christians began to
persecute the Jews.
• They were blamed for wars, bad economics,
famine, and the plague.
• The result was the killing of Jews.
• As well as massive Jewish migration out of
Western Europe to Eastern Europe.
New Technologies
• New iron plows in Europe.
• New harness that allowed
horses to be used instead of
oxen.
• New wind mills.
• New water mills.
Expanding Production
• Cleared forests.
• Drained swamps.
• Three field system started.
– One planted with wheat.
– One planted with peas
and beans.
– One left unplanted.
• Restored fertility in the land.
Trade Revives
• Merchant companies formed.
• Silk road expanded from Constantinople.
• Trade fairs would occur each year in the same
place.
• Large towns developed around trade fair
locations.
Commercial Revolution
• Trade fairs led to a need for more capital
in the form of money which led to banks.
• The practice of using a bill of exchange
was adopted.
– A person would go to the bank and deposit his
money.
– He could then go to a bank in another city and
withdraw money.
– This reduced the risk of having your money
stolen when traveling.
Role of Guilds
• A guild is an association of merchants, craftsman, or
artists. (Like a Union)
• The guilds dominated town life.
• No one but guild members could work in the trade.
• Created a monopoly on the work.
Town & City Life
• Towns were poorly
organized.
• Towns had no garbage
pickup, people just
through their waste into
the streets.
Norman Conquest
• William with the backing
of the Pope invades
England in 1066 where
he defeats King Harold.
• Legacy: A gradual
blending of French and
English cultures occurs.
Growth of Royal Power
• William kept land for himself and kept
track of where and who was building
castles.
• To learn about his kingdom he created the
“Domesday Book”. It listed every castle,
field, and pigpen in England.
• Legacy: Helped to create an effective tax
for future monarchs.
The Magna Carta
• King John got into trouble with his nobles
over taxes.
• They forced John to sign a legal document
called Magna Carta.
• Magna Carta first gave the Nobles rights in
court. Second it made clear that the king
must obey the law.
Development of Parliament
• Started as the great council of nobles.
• It evolved into Parliament. (French for
Parler)
• Parliament approved money for wars.
• Edward I expanded Parliament to include
the “common people”
The Capetians
• In 987 feudal nobles elected Hugh Capet
to be King.
• He was weak enough for everyone.
• He made the throne hereditary.
• They were the kings of France for 300
years.
• They slowly gained power as they played
nobles against each other.
Philip Augustus
•
•
•
•
•
•
The very powerful King of France.
He started new towns.
He organized a standing army.
He introduces a national tax.
He expanded the royal lands.
He became the most powerful ruler in
Europe by his death.
Louis IX, King and Saint
• Became a Saint within 30 years of his
death.
• Led two wars against Muslims.
• He persecuted Jews and Heretics.
• Expanded royal courts.
• Ended serfdom in his lands.
• Outlawed private wars.
• Helped create nationalism in France.
Philip IV Clashes with the Pope
• He tried to raise cash by taxing the church.
• Pope Boniface VIII said “God has set
popes over kings and kingdoms,”
• Philip sent troops to get the Pope, he was
beaten and died soon afterward.
• A French Pope was elected and he moved
the papal court to France. (Avignon)
The Estates General
• Phillip rallied French support by setting up
the Estates General in 1302.
• The Estates General never gained the
power of the purse, so they never got as
strong as the English Parliament.
The Holy Roman Empire
• After Charlemagne’s death his empire
dissolved.
• In 936 Duke Otto I of Saxony took the title
King of Germany.
• Otto like Charlemagne defended the Pope
in Italy and was given the title of Holy
Roman Emperor.
Pope Gregory VII
• Pope Gregory wanted
sole power to appoint
clergy.
Emperor Henry IV
• Henry said the
Bishops owned their
lands as fiefs to him.
• Many rebellious
nobles in Germany
saw an opportunity to
undermine Henry by
supporting the Pope.
The Struggle Intensifies
• Pope Gregory excommunicate Henry,
freeing his subjects from their allegiance to
the emperor.
• Henry crossed the Alps.
• “with bare feet and clad only in a wretched
woolen garment,” he presented himself to
the Pope as a repented sinner.
• Later he led an army to Rome and forced
the Pope into exile.
Concordat of Worms
• In 1122 both sides
agreed to a
compromise.
• The Pope had the
right to appoint
clergy while the King
had the right to
invest fiefs.
Frederick
Barbarossa
• He fought the northern
Italian city states.
• He was defeated by the
Pope and the Lombard
League.
• Married into the southern
Italian nobility further
entangling Germany into
Italian politics.
Frederick II
• Tried and failed like his father to bring the
northern Italian city states under control.
• Germany paid the price for these wars.
• It took Germany another 600 years to
become totally unified.
Height of Church Power
• Pope Innocent III led a crusade against
the simple Christians called the
Albigensians.
• Tens of thousands died in the crusade.
Pope Urban II
Urban II called on the knights of
Christendom to join a crusade to
save Constantinople, Jerusalem and
the Holy Land from Muslim Turks.
A Global Epidemic
• The bubonic plague spread by
flee bites.
• The flees would bite the
infected rat then bite a person.
• When the person was bit the
flee would vomit into the soar
spreading the disease.
“India was depopulated”
“Mesopotamia, Syria, and, Armenia were
covered with dead bodies”
35 million people died in China alone
25 million died in Europe
Economic Effects.
• European trade collapsed.
• Survivors demanded higher wages.
• Farm land was converted to sheep grazing because it
took less labor.
• The bad economy coupled with the plague sparked
revolts around Europe.
Upheaval in the Church
• Church lost many monks and priests.
• Pope Clement moved the church to France in 1309,
under pressure by the French King.
• The church was kept in France for seventy years.
(known as the Babylonian Captivity of the church)
• In 1378 reformers elected a new pope in Rome.
• Two and sometimes three Popes claimed to the true
“vicar of Christ”.
• In 1417 a church council was held at Constance finally
ending the crisis.
The Hundred Years War.
• Started when the English
King Edward III claimed the
French crown in 1337.
• The English longbow was
devastating in battle against
France.
Joan of Arc
• A 17 year old peasant woman.
She convinced the French
King to let her lead the army
because she was sent by God
to save France.
• She won many victories for
France before being captured
and executed by the English.
• The French defeated England
in the Hundred Years War with
the help of Joan of Arc and
cannons.