Christian Societies Emerge in Europe:
600-1200

From Rome to Germanic Kingdoms
• Western Roman Empire collapsed
• Political fragmentation
• Feudalism emerged
• Christian Church provided stability

Byzantine Empire
• “inheritors of Rome”
• wealth from trade
• Greek influence
• Power, influence, territory greatly reduced over time
• Pressure from Sasanids,
Muslim Arabs
• relations with West
Europe declined
• schism between Latin &
Orthodox churches

Byzantine Empire
• Decline of urbanism less severe than in the west
• middle class reduced
– big gap between rich and poor
• Importance of aristocrats & rural landowners increased
• Family became more rigid
• Elite women confined & veiled
• A few women ruled w/ husbands
– Theodora
• Women did not retreat to nunneries (like in west)

Byzantine Empire
• Emperors controlled:
– prices
– grain supply
– silk
• Constantinople well supplied
• rural areas lagged in wealth & technology

Byzantine Empire: Cultural Achievements
• Justinian’s Code
– Basis of Western
European civil law
• Hagia Sophia –
– domed buildings
• Cyrillic script

Western Medieval Europe
• Collapse of Western
Roman Empire
• De-urbanization
• Population declined
• Literacy declined
• Local trade
• Regional elites became more self-sufficient
• Local traditions flourished
• Christian Church the only stable, consistent institution

Early Medieval Europe 600-1000: A Time of Insecurity
• Charlemagne united Frankish kingdoms but disintegrated again
• Vikings, Magyars attack!!!
•
Muslims in Spain halted at Tours but constant source of anxiety

• Self-sufficient farming estates
• Grew out of need for self-sufficiency & self defense
• Lord had almost unlimited power over his workers-serfs

• Need for military security led to:
– Stirrup
– Bigger horses
– Armor and weapons
• Expensive – required land
• Fiefs became hereditary

• Kings weak
– needed vassals
• Kings/nobles had unlimited tax authority
• Couldn’t tax church
• Noble women were pawns in marriage politics
– could own land
• Non-noble women worked alongside men

Medieval Society

The Western Church
• Popes powerful but still needed support from secular leaders
• Problems:
– Standardizing Church regulations
– Clergy shortages/literacy
– Difficult communications
– Political disorder
– Polytheism
• Lax enforcement of:
– marriage of clergy
– nepotism
– Simony (selling church appointments)

• Popes needed Kings
– sought to combine religious
& political power
• Pope crowned early HRE but did not = political power
• Canon Law gave pope rights over clergy & church property
• Bishops who held land as vassals owed allegiance to their lord
• Secular rulers argued that they should have the right to appoint bishops
• Holy Roman Empire was loose coalition of German princes

Investiture Controversy
• One example:
– Conflict between Henry II and his BFF Thomas
Becket
• “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?”

Concordant of Worms
• Agreement in which:
– Pope elects, “invests” bishops with spiritual authority
– Secular rulers give them fiefs of land
• Separation of Church and
State?
• Part of a series of reforms of the Church

• built on foundation of previous religious practices
– celibacy
– devotion to prayer
– isolation from society
• St Benedict wrote strict rules
– governed behavior in monastery
• Thousands left society, devoted themselves to monastic life

• Centers of literacy & learning
• Refuge for widows & other vulnerable women
• Inns for travelers
• orphanages
• Ministered to sick
• Managed agricultural land
• Lax supervision by
Catholic hierarchy

Kievan Russia:
900-1200
• Diverse language & ethnic groups
– Slavs, Finns, Turks
• Varangians dominant traders
• Linked Black & Caspian
Seas to Silk Road
• Kiev and Novgorod important trade cities
• Vladimir I-Prince of Kievformed ties to Byzantines
– Married Byzantine princesses
• Orthodox Christianity
• Cyrillic alphabet

• Poor agricultural land
• Short growing season
• primitive farming technology
• Food production low
• Relied on trade
• Small urban centers
• Christianity spread slowlypagan customs, polygamy persisted until 12 th century
• Christianity grew more powerful-functioned as tax collectors for the state

Western Europe Revives: 1000-1200
• Climate warmed
• Population/agricultural production increased
• Trade resurged
• Kings grew stronger
• New technologies
– Heavy moldboard plow
– Horse collar
– Breast-strap harness

Cities & Rebirth of Trade
• Independent, selfgoverning cities emerged
• Relied on manufacturing
& trade
• Venice dominant sea power-traded in Muslim ports for spices & other goods
• Flanders imported wool from England - wove it into cloth for export

The Crusades
• Series of Christian military campaigns against Muslims in eastern Mediterranean
• Factors
– Religious zeal
– Church- sanctioned warfare
– Desire for land on part of younger sons of
European nobility
– Commercial opportunities
– adventure

The Crusades
Motivation:
• Byzantine Emperor requested help
• Muslims controlled
Holy Land
• Pope Urban II initiated
1st Crusade
• called on Europeans to stop fighting each other
& fight Muslims instead
• Reduced conflict in
West. Europe
• Only 1 st Crusade successful

The Impact of Crusades
• Increased hostilities between Christians &
Muslims
• Ended European isolation
• Pope’s power strengthened but then weakened
• Kings power strengthened
• Trade increased
• Feudalism weakened
• Cities grew, gained independence
• New technologies
• Europeans became curious about the world