Ch. 14: The Formation of Western Europe
Church Reforms and the Crusades
I. The Age of Faith
 Some historians have called the period in Western Europe between 5001000 a “dark age”
 Outside invasions destroyed many of the centers of learning
 Monasteries led the spiritual revival and new religious orders were created;
wanted to return to the basic principles of Christianity; The Age of Faith
a) Problems in the Church
 Some priests were nearly illiterate; some had questionable morals
 Cared more about feudal duties than spiritual ones
 Practice of simony—selling positions within the Church; lay
investiture still an issue
b) Reform and Church Organization
 Future Popes enforced laws against simony and the marriage of
priests
 Canon law was developed on matters of marriage, divorce, and
inheritance
 Church was restructured to resemble a kingdom, with the pope at its
head; Advisors—Papal Curia
II. Cathedrals—Cities of God
 In larger cities, large churches called cathedrals were built; viewed as the
representation of the City of God
 Due to the growing wealth of towns, in the early 1100s, Gothic architecture
evolved throughout medieval Europe;
 Stained glass windows and other architectural elements were meant to
inspire the worshipper with the magnificence of God; Cathedral of Notre
Dame in Paris
III. The Crusades
 The Age of Faith also inspired wars of conquest
 In 1093, the Byzantine emperor, Alexius I asked for help against the Muslim
Turks
 Pope Urban II issued a call for a “holy war”, a Crusade, to gain control of the
Holy Land; for next 300 years, Crusades were launched
c) Goals of the Crusades
 It would serve to reunite Christendom, between the East and West
under the supremacy of the Pope of Rome
 Bolster the Papacy (increased power and authority in the West)
 Capture Jerusalem and return it to Christian hands
 Pope Urban promised a war which would count as full penance
1. Remission of sins (past, present, and future)
2. Land Attraction—lesser sons of nobility saw this as their only
chance for land
3. Chance to establish trade routes.
4. Chance of a good fight (many warriors during this time due to the
stabilization of European borders had nothing to do); The
opportunity to kill a Muslim for Christ; Personal glory
d) The First and Second Crusades
 By 1097, nearly 12,000 people had gathered at Constantinople ready
for the journey to the Holy Land; no one person in charge
 They were four separate proper Crusader armies in the First Crusade
but also a large number of smaller armies
 May 1099, crusaders get to Jerusalem
 Once in (over the course of a day) the Crusaders cut down anybody
they could and that the streets of Jerusalem were ankle deep in blood.
 They killed Muslims, Jews, and even eastern Christians; they killed
whoever they wished
 Established the crusader state: Jerusalem
 Was the only Crusade to actually do what it was supposed to do;
Recapture the Holy land from the Muslims
 Other crusades would never succeed
 During the Second Crusade, Saladin, the great Muslim leader,
recaptured Jerusalem for the Muslims after defeating the King of
Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin in 1187
e) The Third Crusade
 Stunned by the success of Saladin, Christians launched another
crusade immediately to regain the Holy City
 Third Crusade led by Richard I (Richard the Lionheart), Emperor
Frederick I (Barbarossa) of Germany and King Philip II of France
 Frederick I drowned in 1190 and Philip II quit
 Richard marched on Jerusalem but only had 2,000 fit soldiers and 50
fit knights to use in battle; Saladin knew this
 Richard organized a truce with Saladin - pilgrims from the west would
once again be allowed to visit Jerusalem without being troubled by the
Muslims
IV. The Crusading Spirit Dwindles
 Having failed in its essential objective of recovering Jerusalem, the popes
almost immediately began preaching a fourth crusade
 The papacy itself should assume the leadership of the next Crusade
 A call to arms was made to Counts and Barons because they could contribute
more money/soldiers
 The Crusaders eventually made it to Venice, but could not pay for the ships
for travel
 The Venetians saw this as an opportunity to win territory and put a
stranglehold on the trade business
 The Crusaders attacked Constantinople on April 9, 1204; business rivals to
Venice
 The fall of Constantinople in April 1204 marks the end of the Fourth Crusade;
the last Crusade sanctioned by the Church
f) A Spanish Crusade
 From 1085-1212, Spain battled the Muslims for control of the Iberian
Peninsula
 These battles to remove the followers of Islam were called the
reconquista or re-conquest of their lands
 By the late 1400s, the Muslims held only the tiny kingdom of Granada
 The Inquisition was created by the Catholic church in the 13th
century as a way of fighting heresy and opposition to its ideas
 The rulers used this as a way to harass rebellious nobles and other
opposition; create a common religion and unite everyone
 Inquisitors used various means of torture and execution to expel over
200,000 Jews
V. The Effects of the Crusades
 The Crusades are an example of the power of the Church during the medieval
period
 The failure of the Crusades lessened the power of the pope and the feudal
nobility; increased the power of kings
 For Muslims, the intolerance and injustice displayed by Christians left behind
a legacy of bitterness and hatred; relations with Muslim leadership
worsened; still felt today
England and France Develop
VI. England Absorbs Waves of Invaders
 In Europe, the decline of the Carolingian Empire in the 900s left a patchwork
of feudal states controlled by local lords
 Gradually, the growth of towns and villages and the breakup of the feudal
system led to more centralized governments and the creation of nations
 The earliest to develop were England and France
g) Early Invasions
 In the 800s, Britain was battered by fierce raids by the Vikings; “God,
deliver us from the fury of the Northmen
 Alfred the Great, Anglo-Saxon king from 871-899, managed to turn
back the Viking invaders
 Alfred and his successors united the kingdom under one rule, calling it
England
 In 1042 King Edward the Confessor, a descendant of Alfred the Great,
took the throne; Died in 1066 without an heir, this led to a major
invasion over the throne
h) The Norman Conquest
 The invader was William, duke of Normandy, who became known as
William the Conquerer
 Normandy is a region in the north of France that had been conquered
by the Vikings
 As King Edward’s cousin, William claimed the English crown and
invaded England with a Norman army

William’s rival was Harold Godwinson, the Anglo-Saxon who claimed
the throne
 On October 14, 1066, the Normans and the Anglo-Saxons fought the
Battle of Hastings, which changed the course of English history
 Harold was killed by an arrow to the eye and the Normans won a
decisive victory
 After this victory, William declared all England his personal property;
kept 1/5 of England for himself
 The English lords who supported Harold Godwinson, lost their lands
 William unified control of the lands and laid the foundation of a
centralized government in England
VII. England’s Evolving Government
 Over the next centuries, English kings tried to achieve two goals: First, they
wanted to hold on to and add to their French lands and Second, strengthen
their own power over the nobles and the Church
 William’s descendants owned land in both France and England
 The English king, Henry II married Eleanor of Aquitaine from France;
political marriage added Aquitaine to the lands he already inherited from
William the Conquer
 Henry II was a king, but since he held lands in France he was a vassal of the
French king
 Sent judges to collect taxes, settle lawsuits, and punish people for crimes
 Introduced the idea of a jury to medieval Europe who would make decisions
on the facts of the case
 Over the centuries, the rulings by these judges became common law—a
unified body of law
i) The Magna Carta
 Henry II was succeeded by his son Richard the Lion-Hearted, hero of
the Third Crusade
 When Richard died, his younger brother John took the throne; ruled
from 1199-1216
 A weak military leader, John lost Normandy and all his lands in
northern France back to the French; this upset land owning nobles
 John raised taxes to an all time high to finance wars and the nobles
revolted
 On June 15, 1215, John was forced to agree to the most celebrated
document in English history; the Magna Carta
 This document guaranteed certain basic political rights; limit the
power of the King
 Guaranteed no taxation without representation, jury trials, and
protection under the law; basis for individual rights in the U.S.
j) The Model Parliament
 In 1295, Edward I summoned two representatives (burgesses) from
every borough and two knights from every county to serve as a
parliament, or legislative body


They would meet in London to discuss new laws and taxes when
needed.
House of Lords and House of Commons became tool to weaken the
great lords and eventually would put a check on the King’s power
The Hundred Year’s War

The 1300s were filled with disasters, both natural and man-made
1. The Church was soon to face a great division
2. An epidemic claimed millions of lives
3. Claims to the thrones in England and France led to wars
VIII. A Church Divided
 1300, Pope Boniface VIII attempted to enforce papal authority on kings as
previous popes had done; an official document stating that kings must always
obey popes
 Instead of obeying, King Philip IV of France held the Pope prisoner in
September 1303 to be put on trial
 Although rescued, never again would a pope be able to force monarchs to
obey him
k) Avignon and the Great Schism
 1305, Philip IV has a hand in choosing the new Pope (who for the first
time is French) and moves the Church’s capital city to Avignon
 The move to Avignon badly weakened the Church
 In 1378, when the Pope died and a replacement was about to be
chosen, mobs of people screamed for a Roman pope or at least an
Italian to hold the position
 People regretted the decision immediately (Urban VI), because of the
man’s need for reform within the Church; replaced with another Pope
(Clement VII)
 Now there were two popes; each declared the other the false pope and
excommunicated the rival
 French pope lived in Avignon while the Italian pope lived in Rome
 Began the split in the Church known as the Great Schism or division
 Confusion over who was the legitimate Pope left the papacy very
weak
l) Scholars Challenge Church Authority
 John Wycliffe further challenged the papacy by preaching that Jesus
Christ, not the pope, was the true head of the Church
 Offended by the wealth and worldliness that the clergy displayed
 Bible alone, not the pope, was the final authority for Christian life
 This inspired an English translation of the New Testament of the Bible
 Jan Hus also taught that the authority of the Bible was higher than that
of the pope; In 1414 he was excommunicated; 1415 he was burned at
the stake
IX. The Bubonic Plague Strikes
m) Origins and Impact of the Plague
 The Black Death (Bubonic Plague) was to kill 25 million in Western
Europe during the 1300s
 The Plague was caused by fleas carried by rats who were transported
on trade ships from Asia; traveled the major trade routes
 “Black Death” because of the purplish or blackish spots on the skin
n) Effects of the Plague
 Although it caused much death, good things came from this disaster:
1. Since there was a labor shortage, people demanded higher
wages and were granted better land grants
2. Higher wages for peasants lead to higher standards of living
3. Church suffered a loss of prestige when prayers failed to stop
the plague; priests abandoned their duties
4. Jews were blamed for bringing on the plague; often driven
from their homes or sometimes massacred
X. The Hundred Years’ War
 Not only did the people in Europe during the 1300s have to deal with
the Plague, but they had to deal with war as well
 England and France battled each other on French soil for just over a
century; marks an end to Medieval society
 When King Charles IV of France died, he was the last of his bloodline;
no male heir
 England’s Edward III, who was a grandson of Frances former King
Philip IV, claimed the right to the French throne
 The war that Edward launched continued off and on from 1337-1453;
The Hundred Years’ War
 The Hundred Years’ War brought a change in the style of warfare in
Europe; people still following old rules of chivalry
 There was contempt for the common foot soldier and archer
o) The Longbow Changes Warfare
 The English introduced the longbow and demonstrated its power in
three significant battles: Crecy, Poiters, and Agincourt
 Battles like the one at Crecy, usually had the English getting to the
high ground and forcing the French to attack
 The English (although outnumbered) would cut down thousands of
French while suffering very little casualties
 The French crossbows could not reach the English, while the English
would pick apart the French calvary; French heavy armor, English
light armor, easier to maneuver
p) Joan of Arc
 After many English victories during the 1420’s, things began to turn
 A young peasant girl named Joan of Arc rallied the French forces; had
visions that God told her to be the redeemer of France.

1428-1429 helped break the English siege of Orleans and inspired
others by her presence
 With her help, a new King of France was crowned (Charles VII), on
July 17, 1429
 In 1430, Joan was captured in battle and turned her over to the
English
 She stood trial in front of Church authorities; condemned as both a
witch and a heretic because of her claim of hearing voices—she was
burned at the stake on May 30, 1431
 Although Charles VII owed his crown to her, he did nothing to rescue
her
q) The Impact of the Hundred Years’ War
 The long, exhausting war finally ended in 1453; each side experienced
major changes
1. A feeling of nationalism emerged in England and France;
people thought of the king as the national leader fighting for
the glory of the country
2. The power and prestige of the French monarch increased
3. The English suffered a period of internal turmoil known as the
War of the Roses, in which two noble houses fought for the
English throne
 The medieval world, code of chivalry, and Age of Faith all crumbled
and died a slow death
 The scandal of the Great Schism, the display of wealth by the Church,
and questioning of the Church by scholars following the plague also
led to a different era in history