Chapter Introduction
Section 1 Peasants, Trade, and Cities
Section 2 Christianity and Medieval
Civilization
Section 3 The Culture of the
High Middle Ages
Section 4 The Late Middle Ages
Chapter Summary
Chapter Assessment
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The New Agriculture
• The number of people almost doubled in
Europe between 1000 and 1300, from 38 to 74 million people.

• One reason is that increased stability and peace enabled food production to rise dramatically. 
• Food production increased also because a climate change improved growing conditions and more land was cleared for cultivation. 
• Europe had more farmland in 1200 than it does today.
(pages 315 –317)
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Daily Life of the Peasantry
• European peasant life was simple with little privacy.

• The peasants’ one- or two-room cottages were built with wood frames surrounded by sticks. 
• Spaces between the sticks were filled with straw and rubble, and then plastered over with clay. 
• Roofs were thatched.

• A central hearth was used for heating and cooking.
(pages 318 –319)
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Daily Life of the Peasantry
(cont.)
• There were few windows and no chimney.

• Smoke escaped out cracks and through the thatch.
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(pages 318 –319)

Daily Life of the Peasantry
(cont.)
• The seasons largely determined peasant life and work.

• Harvest time, August and September, was especially hectic. 
• In October, peasants prepared the ground for winter planting. 
• November brought the slaughtering of excess animals because usually there was not enough food to keep them alive all winter.
(pages 318 –319)
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Daily Life of the Peasantry
(cont.)
• Meat was preserved with salt.

• February and March brought plowing for spring planting. 
• Summer was a time for lighter work on the estates.
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(pages 318 –319)

The Revival of Trade
(cont.)
• Demand for gold and silver arose at trading fairs and markets. 
• A money economy –an economic system based on money rather than barter –arose.

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(pages 319 –320)

The Revival of Trade
(cont.)
What are the advantages of a money economy over a barter economy?
The chief advantage is that to barter, one must find a person who has what you want and wants what you have, which is quite economically inefficient.
(pages 319 –320)
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Daily Life in the Medieval City
(cont.)
• Fire was a great danger because houses were wooden up to the fourteenth century.

• It was also a constant threat because candles and wood fires were used for light and heat. 
• Once a fire started, putting it out was difficult.
(pages 321 –322)
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Daily Life in the Medieval City
(cont.)
• The physical environment of the towns was unpleasant. 
• The cities and towns were dirty and smelled of human and animal waste.

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(pages 321 –322)

Industry and Guilds
(cont.)
• A person who wanted to learn a trade first became an apprentice to a master craftsperson at around age 10.

• Apprentices received room and board, but no pay.

• After learning for five to seven years, apprentices became journeymen.
They worked for wages for other masters.

• To become masters, the journeymen had to produce a masterpiece, a finished product in their craft.
(page 322)
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New Religious Orders
(cont.)
• The Spanish priest Dominic de Guzmán founded the Dominicans to defend Church teachings from heresy –the denial of basic
Church doctrines.

• People who denied Church doctrines were called heretics.

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(pages 325
–327)

New Religious Orders
(cont.)
• The Church’s wish to discover and deal with heretics led to the Inquisition, or
Holy Office.

• This court was instituted to try heretics, and it developed a regular way to deal with them. 
• Heretics who confessed performed public penance and were punished, for example by flogging.
(pages 325
–327)
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New Religious Orders
(cont.)
• From 1252 on, those who did not confess voluntarily were tortured until they confessed.

• Many who did not confess were considered guilty and were executed by the state.

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(pages 325
–327)

Popular Religion in the High
Middle Ages
• The sacraments of the Catholic Church, such as baptism, marriage, and
Communion, were very important to ordinary people.

• The sacraments were a means for receiving God’s grace and were necessary for salvation. 
• Only clergy could give the sacraments, which made people dependent on the clergy.
(pages 327
–328)
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Popular Religion in the High
Middle Ages
(cont.)
• Venerating saints was also important to ordinary people. 
• Saints had a special position in Heaven and could ask for favors before the throne of God.

• Local saints such as Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children and the inspiration for Santa Claus, sprang up.
(pages 327
–328)
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Popular Religion in the High
Middle Ages
(cont.)
• The Virgin Mary was the most highly regarded saint of the High Middle Ages.

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(pages 327
–328)

Popular Religion in the High
Middle Ages
(cont.)
• Emphasis on the saints was tied to the use of relics, usually bones of saints or objects connected with the saints.

• They were worshipped because it was believed that they offered a connection between the earthly world and God, they could heal, or they produced other miracles.
(pages 327
–328)
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Popular Religion in the High
Middle Ages
(cont.)
• Medieval Christians also believed that a pilgrimage to a holy shrine produced a spiritual benefit. 
• The Holy City of Jerusalem was the greatest such site. 
• Rome, with its relics of Saints Peter and
Paul, were also important pilgrimage destinations.
(pages 327
–328)
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The Rise of Universities
(cont.)
• The first university in northern Europe was the University of Paris.

• In the second half of the twelfth century, some students left Paris and went to
England, founding a university at Oxford.

• There were 80 European universities by
1500.
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(pages 329
–330)

The Rise of Universities
(cont.)
• No women attended these universities.

• A student could go on to study law, medicine, or theology –the study of religion and God. 
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(pages 329
–330)

The Rise of Universities
(cont.)
In 1500, there were 80 universities in all of Europe. Thousands of universities now exist in the United States. What accounts for the difference?
Possible answers: A larger population, democratization, and the need to train a large workforce account for the thousands of universities in the United
States today.
(pages 329
–330)
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The Black Death
• In the fourteenth century, some catastrophic changes took place in
Europe. 
• The worst was the Black Death.

• It was the most devastating natural disaster in European history.

• It horrified people and seemed an incomprehensible evil force.
(pages 335
–336)
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The Black Death
(cont.)
• Bubonic plague was the most common form of the Black Death.

• Black rats infested with fleas carrying a deadly bacterium spread it.

• Italian merchants brought it from Caffa, on the Black Sea.
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(pages 335
–336)

The Black Death
(cont.)
• Usually, the Black Death followed trade routes. 
• Between 1347 and 1351, it ravaged most of Europe.

• Possibly as many as 38 million people died in those four years, out of a total population of 75 million.

• The Italian cities were hit hardest, losing
50 to 60 percent of their population.
(pages 335
–336)
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The Black Death
(cont.)
• Many people believed the plague was a punishment sent by God for their sins or was caused by the devil. 
• The plague led to an outbreak of anti-
Semitism –hostility toward Jews.

• Persecution was the worst in Germany.

• Some people thought that the Jews had caused the plague by poisoning their towns’ wells.

• Many Jews fled eastward, especially to
Poland, where the king protected them.
(pages 335
–336)
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The Black Death
(cont.)
• The death of so many people had strong economic consequences. 
• Trade declined.

• The shortage of workers made the price of labor rise. 
• The lowered demand for food resulted in falling prices.
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(pages 335
–336)

The Decline of Church Power
(cont.)
• The citizens of Rome told the cardinals to elect an Italian pope or fear for their lives. 
• The terrified cardinals elected one–Pope
Urban VI. 
• Soon a group of French cardinals declared the election invalid and chose a
Frenchman as pope. He went to Avignon. 
• There now were two popes, beginning what has been called the Great Schism of the Church.
(page 337)
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The Decline of Church Power
(cont.)
• The Great Schism lasted from 1378 to
1417 and divided Europe politically.

• It also damaged the Church.

• Each pope denounced the other as the
Antichrist, and people’s faith in the papacy and the Church was shaken.

• At a council in 1417, a new pope acceptable to all parties was elected, ending the Great Schism.
(page 337)
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The Hundred Years’ War
• In addition to economic crises, plague, and the decline of the Church, political instability was also a problem for the late
Middle Ages.

• In the thirteenth century, England still had a small possession in France, the duchy of Gascony. 
• King Philip VI of France tried to take it back, and King Edward III of England declared war on Philip in 1337.

• Thus began the Hundred Years’ War between England and France. It continued until 1453.
(pages 337
–339)
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The Hundred Years’ War
(cont.)
• Joan of Arc, a French peasant woman, stepped in to aid France and the timid ruler of southern France, Charles. 
• Joan of Arc was born in 1412. She was deeply religious and experienced visions.

• She believed her favorite saints commanded her to free France. 
• In 1429 Joan’s sincerity and simplicity convinced Charles to let her accompany the French army to Orléans.

• Inspired by Joan’s faith, the army captured the city.
(pages 337
–339)
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The Hundred Years’ War
(cont.)
• Joan was captured in 1430.

• The Inquisition tried her for witchcraft.

• She was condemned as a heretic and executed.

• Even so, she inspired the French army, which, after defeats of the English at
Normandy and Aquitaine, won the war in
1453. 
• The French success was also helped by the use of the cannon, made possible by the invention of gunpowder.
(pages 337
–339)
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Political Recovery
(cont.)
• A strong national monarchy also emerged in Spain.

• Two of the strongest kingdoms were
Aragon and Castile. 
• When Isabella of Castile married
Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469, it was a big step towards unifying power in Spain.
(pages 339
–340)
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Political Recovery
(cont.)
• The two rulers also had a policy of adhering strictly to Catholicism. 
• In 1492, they expelled all Jews from
Spain.

• Muslims were “encouraged” to convert to Catholicism. 
• Within a few years, all professed
Muslims were also expelled from Spain. 
• To be Spanish was to be Catholic.
(pages 339
–340)
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Chapter Summary
The Middle Ages was a period marked by cultural diffusion, innovation, and conflict.

Reviewing Key Facts
Science and Technology Why was the longbow superior to the crossbow?
The longbow had greater power, range, and speed.
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Directions: Choose the best answer to the following question.
What effect did the Black Death have on Europe?
F The plague resulted in an increase in the number of universities and the rise of scholasticism.
G The plague led to an acute labor shortage that resulted in higher wages and the emancipation of many serfs.
H The plague inspired new ideas about faith that led to the formation of the Cistercian, Franciscan, and Dominican orders.
J The plague sparked the Hundred Years’ War between
France and England.
Test-Taking Tip Although these questions mostly ask you about what you’ve learned in class, using common sense can help you arrive at the correct answers too. For example, to answer this question, think about what you know about the Black Death and then read the answer choices.
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Not until the early 1900s were rats carrying bacteriainfected fleas identified as the carriers of bubonic plague. Today, knowledge of disease prevention and the development of vaccines have largely isolated plague outbreaks and reduced their devastating impact on societies.

Somersaulting was done for entertainment and leisure in medieval London
This medieval manuscript page shows a
London scene
Read Life in London on page 314 of your textbook.
Then answer the questions on the following slides.
This feature can be found on page 314 of your textbook.

Click the image on the right to listen to an excerpt from page 341 of your textbook. Read the information on page 341 of your textbook. Then answer the questions on the following slides.
This feature can be found on page 341 of your textbook.
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Who was blamed for causing the Black Death?
Were these charges economically motivated?
Why or why not?
The Jews became the scapegoats in many areas, blamed for causing the Black Death.
Yes, the charges were economically motivated.
If the feudal lords had not been in debt to them, the Jews would have been spared.
This feature can be found on page 341 of your textbook.
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