Middle Ages

Russia

Vikings came down the Russian Rivers and controlled the peasants that lived there

The Viking nobles were called boyars and they ruled from Kiev

Russia Vladimir, a king of

Kiev, converted to Greek Orthodox and made all his subjects convert

Russia now was linked with Byzantium through trade and religion

Russia Mongols invaded

Russia and destroyed Kiev

To keep the Russians safe, boyars under Alexander Nevsky cooperated with the Mongols and crushed any peasant rebellion

Russia The Mongols united

Russia and Moscow under Ivan I became the most powerful state in Russia

Russia Byzantium fell and

Ivan III married into the last emperor’s family= Russia was the 3rd Rome

He called himself czar (Russian version of Caesar)

He also defeated the Mongols and freed Russia

Germans

After Rome fell 5 changes occurred in Western Europe Disruption of Trade Downfall of Cities Population shifts from the cities to the

countryside Decline of learning Loss of common language

Germans

Social: Germans lived in small communities

under one chief Warriors followed the chief they could

see and not a king they never saw Family very important All land divided equally among sons

Germans Law: Wergeld system: kill or hurt someone

you pay the price for that person= stop blood fueds

Compurgation: 10 men say your innocent= your innocent, but if found guilty all die

Ordeal: fight to see if you are guilty or innocent

Germans

Women: Below men Witch trials: by burning or drowning

Germans The Franks took over Gaul and under the

great chief Clovis they converted to Christianity

He started the Merovingian Dynasty

Germans After Clovis’s death, the major domo

or mayor of the palace was more powerful than the king

Charles Martel was a major domo and beat the Muslims at the Battle of Tours

His son Pepin the Short eventually became king of the Franks and started the Carolingian Dynasty

Charles Martel

Charlemagne

Germans

Charlemagne or Charles the Great took over after Pepin and built the largest kingdom since Rome

He stopped a mob from killing the Pope and in gratitude the Pope crowned him emperor

Germans

Charlemagne revived learning and started schools

Charlemagne died and he divided his kingdom between his 3 sons

The Treaty of Verdun officially divided the empire

Feudalism

Raiders invaded Europe between AD 700 and AD1000

Feudalism

Vikings invaded from Scandinavia They developed great boats that

could sail in the sea and on the rivers

Feudalism A northman or

Viking named Rollo was so bad that a French king gave him land in France to stop his raiding= this land became Normandy

Feudalism

Magyars came from the east on horseback

They did not settle, instead they captured people and sold them into slavery

Feudalism

With all the invasions, people turned to the local lords to protect them

This started Feudalism

Feudalism

Feudalism is a governing system where a lord, or landowner, gives land called a fief to a vassal in exchange for military protection

Feudalism Serfs or peasants

were the bottom of the social order.

Serfs were bound to the land, but they were not slaves

Feudalism Serfs rarely traveled 25 miles from their

birthplace They rarely ate meat. They mainly ate

barley soup There was a serious crime problem

There was an average of 24 corpses on Paris’s front gate to discourage criminals

Bloodletting was the main cure for illnesses Average life expectancy was 30 years old

Feudalism

The economic system of the time was manor system

The manor system is the lord gives land and protection to his vassals in exchange for working the land and giving a portion of their work to the lord

Knights 2 technological advances to make knights

more effective Leather saddle (keep knight on horse) Stirrups (to brace knight during collisions

Knights Lords required a

knight to fight 40 days a year in exchange for fiefs

Knights

To become a knight: At age 7, parents send son to another

lord to serve as page. They learn manners, chess, fight skills, and fighting strategies

At age 14, page becomes a squire. They take care of a knight and his horse and escorts the knight into battle

At age 21, squire becomes a knight

Knights

To stop brutal fighting, knights follow the code of chivalry which is a complex set of ideals that a knight has to follow when fighting for his 3 masters Lord Lady God

Knight

If coward, a knight will have his armor stripped, his shield cracked, spurs cut, sword broken, and knight thrown into a coffin and have a mock funeral service.

Knight

To stop violent urges, lords held tournaments or mock battles Jousting Sword fighting Hawking

Knights

To stop attacks, castles were built

Knights

To destroy castles, new weapons were invented Battering ram Tortoise (to protect soldiers from arrows) Trebuchet (giant slingshot) Mangonel (flinger of rocks) Siege tower Cross bow

Knights

Epic poetry was very popular during this time

The Song of Roland was the most famous epic poem. It was about French knights fight to the death against Muslims

Troubadours were the poet-musicians during this time

Knights

Women are to be protected and their power actually declined in society

They only had power in the home and in a convent

Church The Christian Church also became powerful

during this time.

They opened up monasteries or religious communities with monks and nuns

They became centers of learning

Benedict

Scholastica

Pope Gregory I

Church

Pope Gregory I made the church more secular, or involved in nonreligious things and he believed the Christian Church should be first in all lives

Church

The Church provided sacraments or important religious ceremonies like: Baptism confirmation

Church The Church also had its own laws called

canon laws

One law was everyone had to pay a tithe to the Chuch. The tithe was 10% of your income

If someone disobeyed a canon law, bishops or the pope could excommunicate them (take them out of the Church)

Church

The Church helped a king named Otto to form the Holy Roman Empire to control the many German princes

Church

Many Germans thought that the Church was too powerful and tried to fight back

Emperor Henry IV tried to appoint his own bishops and the fought the pope over it.

Church

The fight between the German princes and the Church had 3 effects Germany was not unified during this time The Church excommunicated many

princes