1. After the Roman Empire fell, Europe split.2. Unsafe and insecure period

a. Middle Ages – between fall of Rome and 1400s

3. Charles the Great or Charlemagnea. ruled the Franksb. conquered territory in present-day

France, Italy, and Germany

1. Middle Ages = Dark Ages2. Charlemagne

a. built schoolsb. hired judges to write down his lawsc. spread Christianity

3. Charlemagne visited Pope Leo III in Rome on Christmas 800.

a. Pope declared him emperorb. known as the “Holy Roman

Emperor”c. empire split after his death

1. Life was hard and short.2. Periods of war and hunger3. Diseases killed thousands of people.

1. Feudalism – political and economic system based on loyalty to a lord

a. kept order2. Land was divided into manors.

a. large areas of farmland controlled by local leaders called lords.

3. Lord divided land among vassals – one who swore loyalty to a lord

3. Lord divided land among vassals – one who swore loyalty to a lord

a. part of a manor controlled by a vassal – fief

4. Vassalsa. served as knights to the lord at the

manori. some traveled with lords

b. armored soldier on horseback

5. Serfs – peasants - at the bottom of the feudal society

a. farmed the manor’s landi. in return received protection by

lord and knightsb. had few rights

i. could not leave manorii. could not marry without lord’s

permissionc. shared huts outside manor

i. could come inside castle walls if enemies attacked

1. Sons of lords and vassalsa. age 7 sent to knightsb. taught how to ride, fight, and follow

the knight’s code of conduct – chivalry2. Daughters of nobles

a. taught how to run the manorb. taught how to defend the manor in

times of war3. Children of serfs

a. no formal education, joined parents in fields at early age

4. Knights – fought on horseback with heavy armor

5. Knight’s servantsa. carried pieces of armor (feet, arms,

legs, chest, hands, and head)i. weighed up to 80 poundsii. difficult to get on the horse

1. Towns begin around year 1000.2. Manors sold surplus to towns.3. Lords made roads safer for traders.4. Craft workers

a. formed guilds – an organized group of artisans in the same industry or trade during the Middle Ages in Europe

i. set prices and rules for businesses

5. Serfs went to towns.a. would not be returned to manor if

avoided capture for 1 year and 1 day6. Towns were not pleasant.

a. waste and garbage in streetsb. Pigs and rats fed on garbage and

spread diseases.c. polluted waterd. criminals

1. Norsemen or “North men”a. came from Denmark, Norway, and

Sweden b. robbed townsc. settlement in northern France

(Normandy) i. Normans or Norsemen lived there

d. followed other culturesi. became French-speaking

Christians

1. Greatest Norman leader = William the Conqueror

2. 1066 – William became king of Englanda. took land from English lords and

gave it to Norman knightsb. to learn more – took a census

i. resource to understanding Middle Ages in England

1. King Johna. raised taxes and sent his enemies to

prison without fair trials2. English nobles

i. demanded John sign the Magna Carta or the “Great Charter”

1. first document gave nobles and others basic rights even a king could not take away

1. A.D. 1054 – church splita. East – Constantinople and Eastern

Orthodoxb. West – Rome and Rome Catholicism

1. Monksa. men devoted to religionb. monastery – building housing a

group of monks2. Nuns

a. women who chose a life devoted ro religion

b. convents – a building housing a community of nuns

3. Both a. dedicated to prayer and learning

b. made necessitiesc. most educated people in Europe

(could read and write)4. Monks copied ancient texts and preserved

ideas for future scientists and thinkers

1. Showed faith by building great churches 2. Cathedrals – a large Christian church led by

a bishop (leader who controls many smaller churches)

a. expensive and time consumingb. Cologne, Germany – took more than

600 yearsi. stained-glass windows

1. 1071 – Turks (Muslims) capture Jerusalema. city holy to Jews, Christians, and

Muslimsb. feared that Muslim Turks would

stop Christian pilgrimages (religious journeys) to the city

2. 1095 – Pope Urban II called on European Christians to march to Jerusalem to take the city

a. 100,000 Christians (knights, working men, women, children, and elderly people)

b. holy war – Crusadesi. soldiers = Crusaders

3. Crusadersa. wore red cross on clothes (sign of

obedience to the pope)b. difficult

i. traveled by foot or horsebackii. ½ died of hunger or sickness or

got lostc. finally reached Jerusalem 1099 and

captured the city

4. 1187 – Gen. Saladin and Muslims recapture city

5. Nine Crusades occurred in all6. 1291 – all lands back under Muslim control

1. Changesa. Nobles sold their estates.b. freed serfsc. march off to ward. growth of port cities on

Mediterranean Sea (Venice) i. Crusaders rest stop

1. Marco Poloa. Venetian explorerb. traveled the Silk Roadc. stayed in China – 21 yearsd. returned home with stories and

inventions e. sparked trade with China

1. 1300s – plague struck Europea. plague – terrible disease that

spreads quickly2. Black Death or bubonic plague

i. killed millionsii. carried from rats to humans by

fleas.iii. Dirty cities = disease

3. Began in Gobi Desert in Asia and spread along Silk Road

4. 1330s – China and Middle East5. 1347 – hit Europe

a. 1 in 3 Europeans died6. Lasted 130 years

1. Death changed the economy.a. food demand dropped and prices for farm

food fell.b. Trade declined.

i. merchants diedc. serfs died – lords paid workers to plant

cropsi. serfs asked for higher pay and

freedomii. workers rented land and earn moneyiii. feudalism began to disappear