Middle Ages History Lecture Outline
Middle Ages: approximately 476-1500 CE
The Middle Ages is the time after __________________________________ and before
_______________________________________________________________________.
Early Middle Ages: 476-1000 CE
High Middle Ages: 1000-1300 CE [Romanesque Architecture 1000-1200]
Later Middle Ages: 1300-1500 CE [Gothic Architecture 1100-1400]
Why don’t historians like the term “Dark Ages”?
____________________________________________________________________________
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AD means ___________________________________________________________________.
CE means ___________________________________________________________________.
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MAJOR HISTORICAL EVENTS
476 CE
Last emperor of the Western Empire is deposed by the Germanic barbarian
Odoacer (the rest of the Western Empire was already in the hands of various
invaders) and the Roman Empire ceases to exist
476-800 CE
Continued incursions across Europe by non-Christian Goths, Visigoths,
Ostrogoths, Vandals, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Celts, Franks, Burgundians, Slavs,
Muslim Arabs, Vikings, Huns, Mongols, and Avars
This era is called the “Dark Ages” because daily life was ________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
List and explain three benefits of the Catholic Church after the fall of the Roman Empire:
1)
2)
3)
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Definition of feudalism: _________________________________________________________
Fill in this chart of the hierarchy of the political and social order under feudalism:
TITLE
God
king
noblemen:
duke, princes,
earls, barons,
etc.
bishops
lords
(and ladies)
knights
(lords / sons
of lords)
freemen /
vassals
serfs /
peasants
slaves
DEFINITION AND VISUAL DEPICTION
Draw a small, basic map of a manor here. Include pasture, farmland, a manor house, a parsonage,
a church, a meadow (open green space), some woodland, a village for the vassals and serfs, and
some closes (enclosed rough pasture land, orchards, gardens, or paddocks for animals)
Medieval castles had to be strong, simple, and heavily fortified in order to withstand attack. They
were not pretty palaces with ornate decorations. Even kings and their families, who lived in the
keep, had very basic accomodations. Draw an aerial map or 3D view of a typical early medieval
castle here. Include the barbican, drawbridge, moat, thick castle walls, watchtowers, bailey,
chapel, and keep.
800 CE
Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III. Much of
Western Europe is united again for the first time since the fall of the Roman
Empire. Charlemagne is sometimes called the “Father of Europe” and was a
protector and defender of the church. He campaigned against the Muslim Moors
of southern Spain, “Christianizing” many at the tip of a sword.
1066 CE
Invasion of England by William the Conqueror, from Normandy in northern
France
Why was the Battle of Hastings important?
____________________________________________________________________________
Why is the Bayeux Tapestry important?
____________________________________________________________________________
What was the language of people in England before 1066? What did it sound like?
____________________________________________________________________________
What was the language of the rich and powerful after 1066 in England?
____________________________________________________________________________
What was the language of the ordinary people of England after 1066? What did it sound like?
____________________________________________________________________________
1085-1086 CE Domesday Book commissioned by William the Conqueror records census and
economic data; feudal hierarchy and manorial system dominate life
What does “Domesday” mean? How is it pronounced?
____________________________________________________________________________
Share two interesting facts about the Domesday Book:
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
1096-1291 CE Crusades (8 in total)
What was the purpose of the Crusades, from the perspective of the Catholic Church?
____________________________________________________________________________
What did Pope Urban II say would be the benefit of dying in the Crusades?
____________________________________________________________________________
What were some of the worst things about the Crusades for Christendom?
____________________________________________________________________________
What were some of the benefits of the Crusades to Europe?
____________________________________________________________________________
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Courtly love poetry was one of the literary innovations of the Middle Ages and elevated chivalry
(manners, honor) to become one of the highest values of the culture. What kind of love is valued
in the courtly love stories?
____________________________________________________________________________
Name two famous and familiar stories that demonstrate the values of courtly love and chivalry:
____________________________________________________________________________
Over the course of the Middle Ages, the culture shifted from a focus on manly values like
____________________________________________________________________________
to more domestic and refined values like ___________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________.
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1215 CE
Magna Carta law code helps to limit powers of king; balance king’s power with
that of the church and the barons/lords; and establish business practices
1338-1453 CE Hundred Years’ War between England and France; rise of idea of nationhood
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1347-1350 CE Bubonic Plague (Black Death) across Europe; recurrences of forms of the plague
continue for centuries
How did the Plague, or Black Death, spread throughout Europe? How many people died?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
What was the effect of the Plague on the social, political, and ecomonic structures of western
Europe?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
What was a guild? ____________________________________________________________
Name a couple of functions the guilds served in the lives of families in the high and late Middle
Ages:
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
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1320-1381 CE Uprisings of peasants in France and England are squelched rapidly by kings,
barons, and lords; rise of burgs, craftsmen, and merchants (freemen)
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What is a burg?
____________________________________________________________________________
Who are the bourgeoisie?
____________________________________________________________________________
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What did the rich and poor have in common throughout the Middle Ages?
All were subservient to God’s church and the church was integral to every aspect of daily life.
All feared eternal damnation in hell as a result of sins; all wanted to reach heaven.
All believed that great cathedrals would glorify God (see separate Powerpoint on medieval
Romanesque and Gothic architecture and Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy: Inferno,
Purgatorio, and Paradiso).