The New Germanic Kingdoms
After the collapse of the Western Roman
Empire, awas
new
civilization
emerged
in western
• This civilization
formed
by the
convergence
of
Europe. the Germanic peoples, the Roman
three elements:
legacy, and the Christian church.
• European civilization developed during the Middle
Ages, or medieval period (500–1500).
• Historians used the term Middle Ages to refer to the
middle period between the ancient world and the
modern world.
Charlemagne and the Carolingians
• In 768 Charles the Great, or Charlemagne, became
ruler of the Frankish kingdom.
• He was a strong statesman and pious Christian.
Although illiterate, he supported learning.
• Charlemagne ruled from 768 to 814.
• During this time, he expanded the kingdom into what
became known as the Carolingian Empire.
• This empire covered much of western and central
Europe and was unsurpassed until the time of
Napoleon.
Charlemagne and the Carolingians
• Charlemagne’s power and prestige grew.
• In 800 he was crowned emperor of the Romans by the
pope.
• This coronation symbolized the coming together of the
Roman, Christian, and Germanic elements that forged
a new European civilization.
• The spiritual leader of western Christendom had
crowned a German king Roman emperor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7dt6tQtcvw
Charlemagne
Feudalism
• The Carolingian Empire fell apart soon after
Charlemagne’s death.
• People began to turn to local landed aristocrats or
nobles to protect them.
• Nobles exchanged protection for service. This
exchange led to a new political and social system
called feudalism.
(vassals)
(serfs)
A New Social Order: Feudalism
• Social Classes Are Well Defined
– Medieval feudal system classifies people into three social
groups
• those who fight: nobles and knights
• those who pray: monks, nuns, leaders of the Church
• those who work: peasants
– Social class is usually inherited; majority of people are
peasants
– Most peasants are serfs—people lawfully bound to place
of birth
– Serfs aren’t slaves, but what they produce belongs to their
lord
Manors: The Economic Side of Feudalism
• The Lord’s Estate
– The lord’s estate, a manor, has an economic
system (manor system)
– Serfs and free peasants maintain the lord’s estate,
give grain
– The lord provides housing, farmland, protection
from bandits / enemies / invaders
Manors: The Economic Side of Feudalism
• The Harshness of Manor Life
– Peasants pay taxes to use mill and bakery; pay a tithe to
priest
– Tithe—a church tax—is equal to one-tenth of a peasant’s
income
– Serfs live in crowded cottages with dirt floors, straw for
beds
– Daily grind of raising crops, livestock; feeding and clothing
family
– Poor diet, illness, malnutrition make life expectancy 35
years
– Serfs generally accept their lives as part of God’s plan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC
Pp7XWZfHo
Feudalism
The New Agriculture
• Between 1000 and 1300, the number
of people in Europe almost doubled,
increasing from 38 million to 74 million.
• Increased stability and peace enabled food
production to rise dramatically.
• A change in climate improved growing
conditions.
• More land was cleared for cultivation.
(pages 129–131)
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The New Agriculture (cont.)
Technological changes aided farming.
• Water and wind power began to do jobs once
done by humans and animals.
• Iron was used to make the carruca, a plow
that could turn over heavy soil.
• The shift from a two-field to a three-field
system of crop rotation increased crop yields.
• This ensured a summer and fall harvest while
allowing a third of the land to be replenished.
(pages 129–131)
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The Revival of Trade
• In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, a revival
of trade and the associated growth of towns
and cities changed the economic foundation
of Europe from basically agricultural to a mix
of agricultural and commercial.
• Italian cities took the lead.
• By the end of the twelfth century, goods were
being regularly exchanged between Flanders
and Italy.
(page 311)
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The Revival of Trade (cont.)
• As trade increased and the demand for gold
and silver coins arose, a money economy
developed.
• Trading companies and banking firms were
established.
• They managed the exchange and sale
of goods.
(page 311)
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The Revival of Trade (cont.)
• These new practices led to the rise of
commercial capitalism–an economic system in
which people invested in trade and goods to
make a profit.
• Some refer to this as the beginning of the
Commercial Revolution.
(page 311)
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The Growth of Cities (cont.)
Medieval towns were surrounded by stone
walls, which were expensive to build.
• Therefore, the space within was crowded.
• Streets were narrow, with the second and third
story of buildings reaching out over the streets.
• Fire danger was great.
• Buildings were mostly wood, and candles and
wood fires were used for light and heat.
(pages 131–132)
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The Papal Monarchy (cont.)
• In the eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII
claimed that the pope’s authority extended
over all the Christian world (including rulers)
and asserted the Church’s right to appoint
clergy and run its affairs.
• In 1075, Pope Gregory issued a decree
forbidding high-ranking clerics from receiving
their offices from lay (secular) leaders.
• This action lessened the power of kings such
as King Henry IV of Germany.
(pages 132–133)
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Why were Church leaders often at
odds with European rulers?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFOq5XqiAZE
Thomas Beckett and the Church
Middle Ages – Chapt. 12
1.Reading Quiz
2.Discuss outline
3.Black Plague notes / discussion
4.Document analysis
Students will be able to explain how the black plague
impacted society.
The Late Middle Ages
• The Middle Ages in Europe had reached
a high point in the 1200s.
• European society in the 1300s and early
1400s (the Late Middle Ages) was challenged
by disastrous forces, one of which was the
Black Death–the most devastating natural
disaster in European history.
• Bubonic plague was the most common form
of the Black Death and was spread by black
rats infested with fleas carrying
a deadly bacterium.
(pages 136–138)
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The Late Middle Ages (cont.)
• Many millions died of the plague between
1347 and 1351.
• The death of so many people in the
fourteenth century had severe economic
consequences–trade declined and a
shortage of workers caused a dramatic rise
in the price of labor.
• The decline in the number of people
lowered the demand for food, resulting in
falling prices.
(pages 136–138)
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The Culprits
Bacteria
Flea
Rat
The Famine of 1315-1317
 By the year 1300 Europeans were using
almost all the possible land for farming
 A population problem happened
 Too many people, not enough land
 Weather changes in
Europe made three
bad years for crops
between 1315-17
because of too much
rain.
The Famine of 1315-1317
 15% of the people in some English towns
died because of no food (starvation)
 Because the people were weak from
starvation it was easy for them to get sick
The Symptoms
Bulbous
Septicemic Form:
almost 100% of people die
From the Toggenburg Bible, 1411
The Disease Cycle
Flea drinks rat blood
that carries the
bacteria.
Bacteria
multiply in
flea’s stomach.
Human is infected!
Flea bites human and
vomits blood from rat
into human cut
Flea’s stomach blocked
with bacteria.
Medieval Art & the Plague
People are obsessed
with death.
“The Burning of the Jews”
Attempts to Stop the Plague
Flagellanti:
People cut their bodies to punish for sins!
The Mortality Rate
35% - 70%
25,000,000 dead !!!
What were the
economic
and social effects
of the Black Death??
Economic Effects
• Extreme
inflation
• Trade was dangerous because of spread of disease, so
the prices of both goods produced locally and those
imported from afar skyrocketed.
• Because of illness and death workers became scarce,
so even peasants felt the effects of the new rise in
wages
• In general, wages outpaced prices and the standard of
living was subsequently raised.
Social Effects
• The fashions of the nobility became more extravagant in
order to emphasize the social standing of the person
wearing the clothing.
• The peasants became slightly more empowered, and
revolted when the aristocracy attempted to resist the
changes brought about by the plague.
• Faith in religion decreased after the plague, both because
of the death of so many of the clergy and because of the
failure of prayer to prevent sickness and death.
And just for your viewing pleasure….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZy6XilXDZQ
How did the Black Death impact European
society?
Answer the document analysis questions
and write a (short paragraph) answering
the above question referencing all three
documents (briefly).
Middle Ages - Day 3
4th hour –
1.Review spread of Black Plague
2.Image analysis / book review reading
5th hour –
1. Mapping the Black Death
Checking for Understanding
Define Match each definition in the left column with the
appropriate term in the right column.
A. manor
__ 1. economic system in which
B. serf
people invest in trade or
C. money
goods to make profits
economy
__ 2. in medieval Europe, an
D. commercial
agricultural estate run by
capitalism
a lord and worked by
peasants
__ 3. an economic system based
on money rather than barter
___4. in medieval Europe, a peasant legally bound to
the land who had to provide labor services, pay rents,
and be subject to the lord’s control
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Jews immune?
The lower incidences of the Black Death among the Jewish
population might have led to suspicions about their involvement
as well. By the time of the outbreaks, the Jews were exclusively
urbanized and segregated into their own districts within cities.
Living in these separate areas, the Jews were cut off from the
rodents around the waterfront and the cattle in the countryside.
Public Reaction
Many blamed the Jewish community of poisoning
European water sources.
Part of this suspicion was due to religious and
economic reasons. Many Christians saw the
Jew's practice of the Kaballah, with its mystical
and astrological components, as constituting a
kind of black magic.
Attempts to Stop the Plague
Pograms against the Jews
“Jew” hat
“Golden Circle”
Jews must wear all
the time