Periodization
Early Middle Ages: 500 – 1000
(Dark Age)
High Middle Ages: 1000 – 1250
Late Middle Ages: 1250 – 1500
(Renaissance)
Fragmentation of Western Europe:
“Dark Ages”
• Political—family based Germanic kingdoms, diverse
in nature, replace centralized government
• Social—dependence upon strong people, nobles
with castles, to protect weak, peasants from
insecurities becomes the hallmark of Western
Europe
• Religious—disagreements over doctrines with
Eastern Church (schism 1054)
– RCC the unifying force of the Middle Ages
• Language—Latin used in church business but local
areas fall to dialects (vernacular)
– Romance languages
– Germanic/Scandinavian
– Slavic
• Economic—urban centers unsafe—trade all but
stops, cut off from Eastern Europe
– Barter returns
– Rural economy—manorialism—self-sufficiency
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• Why do we consider Friday 13th
unlucky?
Europe in the 6c
The Franks
Clovis
– Unifies the Franks
– Converts to Christianity
• To please his Christian wife
• To form a strong alliance
with the Church and Pope
• Charles Martel
– The “Hammer”
– Defeated the Moors
(Muslims)
• Battle of Tours in 732
• Saved Europe for
Christianity
– Strengthened the
power of the King
– Starts the Carolingian
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Dynasty
The Franks
Pepin the Short
– Defeats the Lombards
to protect the Pope
– Makes a donation to the
Church from the lands
he gained
• Homage to the Pope
• Papal States
Charlemagne
– Defended the Church against the Saxons, Magyars,
Vikings, and Muslims
– Crowned Holy Roman Emperor Dec. 25, 800
– Stressed religion, justice and education
– Divided empire into counties administered by counts—
(Missi Dominici)
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Charlemagne: 742 to 814
Charlemagne’s Empire
Pope Crowned Charlemagne
Holy Roman Emperor: Dec. 25, 800
After the death of Charlemagne
• Louis the Pious (the Fair)
–
–
–
–
Son on Charlemagne
Fights many civil wars
More devoted to the Church
Leaves throne to be shared by
three sons
• Treaty of Verdun (843)
–
–
–
–
Empire divided
Charles the Bald (W. France--HRE)
Louis the German (E. France)
Lothair (M. France)
• Frequent invasions from Vikings and
Magyars leads to feudalism
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Charlemagne’s Empire Collapses:
Treaty of Verdun, 843
Becomes the
Holy Roman
Empire
Papal
States
Becomes France
Carolingian Miniscule
The Carolingian Renaissance
Feudalism
A political, economic, and social
system based on loyalty and
military service.
Feudalism
• Obligations of the Lord to his Vassal
– To protect the vassal in his fief
– To right wrongs done to his vassal
• Obligations of the Vassal to his Lord
– To give an oath of fealty (act of homage)
– Judicial:
• To attend the lord’s court, to advise his, and to give
judgment in cases concerning other lords
– Financial:
• to make payments upon the knighting of the lord’s son,
the marriage of his daughter and to pay ransom if the
lord is captured
• To pay a tax upon inheriting a fief
• To give the lord lodging when he travels
– Military:
• To serve the lord as a knight for a certain number of
days each year (sometimes forty days)
• To provide the lord with other mounted men
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Parts of a Medieval Castle
The Road to Knighthood
Weapons
KNIGHT
•Stirrups
•Chain mail  armor
Code of Chivalry
SQUIRE
•Make gentlemen out
of warriors
•Loyal to lord, lady,
God
PAGE
•Protect the weak
•Rules of warfare
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Chivalry: A Code of Honor and Behavior
• Obligations of the
peasants/serfs to
the lord
– Work the lord’s land
a certain number of
days (usually 3)
– Work for the lord in
the kitchen, smiths,
etc.
– Feudal dues—pay
certain amount from
harvest as rent, use
of tools…
• Obligations of the
lord to the
peasants/serfs
– Provide protection
in time of war or
invasion
– Provide small plot
of land they can
farm for themselves
– Settle disputes as
they arise
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The Medieval Manor
Life on the Medieval Manor
Serfs at work
Role of Women
• Arranged marriages
– Political in nature
– Alliances formed
• Could inherit land but
husband controlled it
– Wife ran estates when
husbands were absent
• Artisans
– Tapestries (Bayeux
Tapestry)
– Embroidery
• Eleanor of Aquitaine
– Most powerful woman
– Second Crusade
– Wife to two kings,
mother to two kings
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Eleanor of Aquitaine
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The Medieval Catholic Church
 filled the power vacuum left from the
collapse of the classical world.
 Western Europe becomes known as Christendom
 monasticism: (includes monks and nuns)
 St. Benedict – Benedictine Rule of
poverty, chastity, and obedience.
 provided schools for the children of
the upper class.
 inns, hospitals, refuge in times of war.
 libraries & scriptoria to copy books
and illuminate manuscripts.
 monks  missionaries to the
barbarians. [St. Patrick, St. Boniface]
The Power of the Medieval Church
 bishops and abbots played a large part in
the feudal system.

simony  buying positions
 primogeniture  first born inherits all
 the church controlled about 1/3 of the
land in Western Europe.
 tried to curb feudal warfare  only 40
days a year for combat. “Truce of God”
 curb heresies  Inquisition; excommunication
 tithe  1/10 tax on your assets given to
the church.
 Canon law  Church authority over all clergy
& church property  tried to extend to secular
realm
Church Controversies
Investiture Controversy
RCC vs. HRE
– Secular kings wanted to
appoint bishops (simony)
– 1073-Pope Gregory VII
issued a Papal Bull
– Henry IV, HRE ignored
• Gregory
excommunicates
• Penance/contrition—
Canossa—3 days snow
• Concordat of Worms,
1122
– Compromise
– Kings appoint
– Popes approve
• Philip IV, Fr
– Kidnaps the Pope in
1305
– Babylonian Captivity
– Popes govern Church
from Avignon for 70
years
– Friday the 13th, 1307
destroys Knights
Templar
• The GREAT Schism
– Italian cardinals want
Italian pope (1378)
– French cardinals appt
own pope
– 1414 3rd pope appt
– 1417 4th pope appt—
others step down
– Weakens RCC
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Henry IV waits in the snow
A Medieval Monastery: The Scriptorium
Preserved GrecoRoman knowledge
Illuminated Manuscripts
Romanesque Architectural Style 8th-10th centuries
 Rounded Arches.
 Barrel vaults.
 Thick walls.
 Darker, simplistic interiors.
 Small windows, usually at the top of the wall.
Gothic Architectural Style
11th -14th centuries
 Pointed arches.
 High, narrow
vaults.
 Thinner walls.
 Flying buttresses.
 Elaborate, ornate,
airier interiors.
 Stained-glass windows. “Flying” Buttresses
 Gargoyles
 Read exterior sculptures like a story
Chartres
The Rise of European Monarchies:
England
•Alfred the Great
unifies the Saxons
against the Vikings
•Follows the similar
pattern of rule
established by
Charlemagne by
emphasizing education,
religion and justice.
•Some historians think
he may be the real
“Arthur”
William the Conqueror:
Battle of Hastings, 1066
(Bayeux Tapestry)
Evolution of England’s Political System
 Henry I:
 William’s son.
 set up a court system.
 Exchequer  dept. of royal finances.
 Henry II:
 established the principle of common law
throughout the kingdom.
 grand jury.
Wife: Eleanor of Aquitaine
Sons: Richard I (Lionheart)
 trial by jury.
John
 challenges RCC authority—murders Thomas
A’Becket at Canterbury
Magna Carta, 1215
 King John I
 Runnymeade
 “Great Charter”
 monarchs were not
above the law.
 kings had to
consult a council of
advisors.
 kings could not tax
arbitrarily.
The Beginnings of the British Parliament
 Great Council:
 middle class merchants, townspeople
[burgesses in Eng., bourgeoisie in Fr.,
burghers in Ger.] were added at the
end of the 13c. (Edward I)
 eventually called Parliament.
 by 1400, two chambers evolved:
o House of Lords  nobles & clergy.
o House of Commons  knights and
burgesses.
The Rise of European Monarchies:
France
• Frequent conflict with
England
• Philip Augustus (II)
reclaims some land from
Prince John
– Solidifies power
– Creates bailiffs (judges)
– Common law
• Philip IV creates Estates
General (1307)
– Never develops into a
legislature
– Advisory only
• Hundred Years War
(1337-1453)
– Fr able to reclaim all lands
except Calais
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The Rise of European Monarchies:
Spain
• Spain ruled by Moors—al Andalus
• Spanish Crusade: The Reconquista
– Gradually lands won by Christians
– Completed by Ferdinand & Isabella in 1492
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Pope Urban II: Preaching a
Crusade
• Called upon by Byzantine Emperor
• Urban II sees opportunity to
– Free the Holy Land
– Reunite the Christian Church
– Stop knights from fighting at home
• Urban II promises
– Freedom from debts
– Salvation if die in the Crusade
• Urban falsifies what Muslims did—
makes it seem worse than it was
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Pope Urban II: Preaching a Crusade
Setting Out on Crusade
1096—20,000 peasants
•1094-1097
•Peter the Hermit
•50,000 to 60,000 knights
trained in Fr & Ger
•Walter the Penniless
•Killed Jews in Belgrade
•Slaughtered by Muslims
in Anatolia
•Gained Crusader states
(Outreamer), introduced
feudalism, gathered learning
& luxury goods
•Lasted 50 years
•1187-Saladin captured Jerusalem
•1202-1204
•3 kings-Richard I-Eng, Philip II-Fr, &
Frederick I-HRE (1189-1191)
•Innocent III calls knights who make a
deal with Venetian merchants
•Frederick drowns, Richard & Phillip
argue…Phil returns to Fr regains lands
from John
•When finished-excommunicated,
goes after Constantinople
•Richard fights, Saladin offers truce,
Richard says no…loses…kidnapped on
way home
•1204-pillages for 3 days-Latin Empire
•1147-1149
•Led by Louis VII of Fr
& Conrad III, HRE
•Eleanor of Aquitaine
(Amazons)
•Finally defeated
1212-Stephen led 30,000
children from ages 6-16
-sold into slavery
-many drowned or lost in
the mountains
Christian Crusades: East and West
Economic
*Towns develop—demand for luxury items
increases *Middle class develops—guilds
*Banks develop *Bubonic plague spreads
•Feudalism declines
•Serfdom declines
•National identities
develop
Effects
of the
Crusades
•Church weakens (corrupt,
too secular)
Religious
Political
•Power of kings increase
•Pope’s authority
questioned
•Babylonian Capitivity
•Great Schism
•G/R knowledge reintroduced
•Universities develop—literacy increases
•Writing in the vernacular (Chaucer, Dante)
•New Ideas challenge RCC
Educational
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Medieval Universities
Oxford University
Late Medieval Town Dwellings
Medieval Trade
Revival of Trade
• Warfare lessened, roads safer
• Italy & Flanders saw urban revival
– Guilds
– Increased manufacturing attracts freed serfs
• Italy (Venice, Genoa, Pisa)
– Spices, textiles, banking (Florence)
– Revive Mediterranean Maritime System
• Flanders (Ghent, Bruges, Ypres)
– Fishing, wood trade, textiles (wool)
• Revival of coin usage, barter drops, banks
develop
• Hanseatic League—trade in the Baltic
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Medieval Guilds
Guild Hall
 Commercial Monopoly:
 Controlled membership
apprentice  journeyman  master craftsman
 Controlled quality of the product [masterpiece].
 Controlled prices in some cases
Medieval Guilds: A Goldsmith’s Shop
Crest of a Cooper’s Guild
Century of Turmoil
• Great Schism ( 1304-1417)
– Babylonian Captivity
– Destruction of the Knight’s Templar (Friday the
13th)
– Too many popes
• Black Death (1347-1350)
• Hundreds Years War (1337-1453)
–
–
–
–
–
England vs. France
Claim to the throne of France
Dispute over land
Joan of Arc
Introduction of longbow, gun powder saw end of
effectiveness of mounted knights
Fleas & rats carried
the bacteria and
would infect humans
and food supply
Mongolia—E. Asia/China
Constantinople
War & trade—grain caravans,
catapults across walls of Kaffa
Boils, swelling,
turned ashy color,
died w/n 5 days
1/3-1/2 pop of
Europe
Burn victims, ashes
Burn clothes,
bodied…mass graves
1347-1350
1. Questioned power of the RCC 2. killed Jews  scapegoat
3. Feudalism declines, peasants revolt
Technological Advances
• Water wheel
• Iron production
– Mines
– Deforestation
• Military
– Longbow
– Trebuchet
– Gun powder
• Agriculture
–
–
–
–
Iron horseshoes
Horse collar
3-Field system
Improved plow
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Demographic Changes
• Urban to rural following fall of
Rome
• Black Death 1/3 to ½ population
lost
– Would take 100+ years to recover
• Rural to urban following Crusades
and Black Death
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Environmental Changes
• Temperatures increase (Little Ice Age ends)
– More land cultivated
• Drained swamps
• Cut forests
• Mining increased  tore up land
• Iron-working  deforestation
– Charcoal for fires
– Iron furnace could consume 5/8 of a mile within 40 days
• Dams & canals changed course of rivers
• Pollution
– Urban tanneries dumped waste in waterways
• Mixed with human waste
– Burning  smut in air
– First anti-pollution law 1388 in England
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• Vernacular
•Petrarch
•Secular
•Castiglione
•Role of ind.
stressed
•Boccaccio
•humanistic
•Machiavelli
•Realistic
•Donatello
•Perspective
•Botticelli
•Humanistic
•Brunelleschi
•Classical
•Leonardo
•Sculpture
•Michelangelo
•Painting: Frescoes,
oils
•Raphael
•Renewed interest in learning
•New views of the world
•Wealthy patrons support
artists, authors
•Role of ind increased
•Questioning of authority
•Lorenzo de Medici
•Curiosity about the world
(exploration, sci rev)
•RCC
•Vernacular
•Erasmus
•Call for
reforms
•Sir Thomas
More
•satires
•Shakespeare
•Cervantes
•Photographic
•Attention to details
•Secular mostly
•Rich deep hues
•Van Eyck
•Holbein
•Bruegal