Medieval Europe

World History

Aftermath of the Roman Empire

• Germanic successor states:– Spain: Visigoths (West Goths)– Italy: Ostrogoths, then Lombards –Gaul: Celtic Franks –Britain: Angles, Saxons

• Roman administrative apparatus still in place (continuity), but cities lose population (change), pagan invaders convert to Christianity

Successor States to the Roman Empire c. 500

Carolingians - Germanic Frankish dynasty

• Clovis ––led Germanic Franks 481-511–Becomes Roman Christian w/ wife Clotilde’s

influence –Roman Christians like him– Takes over fr. Romans in Gaul, transforms

Franks into powerful state

• Charlemagne, ruled 768-814 –conqueror, illiterate who advocated education, culture– Enlarged empire and spread Christianity

militarily – saved pope from the Lombards

Charlemagne’s Administration• Capital at Aachen– traveled empire

constantly – couldn’t afford bureaucracy• Pope Leo III crowns him “Holy Roman

Emperor” in 800 – but title dies w/ him • Charlemagne concerned that crown a

challenge to Byzantine Emperor’s authority (E. Roman Empire)

Leo Crowns Charlemagne

HRE = Holy Roman Empire

• NOT the same as the Roman Empire 500 BCE – 500 CE, centered in Rome (Italy)

• NEW – makes a comeback w/ Otto the German

• 962 - 1806 ; ended by Napoleon• Includes Germany, Austria, parts of Italy, Spain• Voltaire: “Neither Holy, nor Roman, nor

Empire”

End of the Carolingian Empire

Charlemagne’s grandsons split it into 3 parts

9th – 10th c. The “Second Wave” of Barbarian Invasions

1. from North: Vikings

2. from East: Maygars

3. from South: Muslims

leads to localized rule – feudal system

1.Viking invaders (Norsemen fr. Norway, Denmark, Sweden)

• 800 CE –to Spain, Black Sea, across Atlantic

• Shallow boats travel both river and sea- head down Volga to Russian cities, down Thames to London

• lightning raiders – attacked London, Paris, Constantinople - Carolingians fall w/out navy

2. Magyar invasions - 10th c.

• Magyars = ethnic Hungarians• Otto of Saxony (r. 936-973) defeats

Magyars in 955, emerges as ruler• Proclaimed emperor by Pope in 962• Beg. Of Holy Roman Empire (really

Germany)

3. Muslims control Iberian peninsula, 8th-12th centuries

• Ummayads invade in 8th c. (Tariq the Berber), take most of Iberia, “stopped” by Carolingians at Battle of Tours, 732 C.E.

• 12th-14 c. - Gradual Christian conquest of Muslim territories in Spain

• 1492 Siege of Granada - Reconquista by Ferdinand and Isabella – exiled Jews, Muslims

Feudalism – social and political units

• Feudalism – contractual relationship, little loyalty beyond local lord– Lords give fiefs (land) to vassals (knights)

who pledge military allegiance in return - private armies

–Manorialism – knights are lords of the manor; serfs (not QUITE slaves) bound to land, owe labor, agricultural payments - in exchange for small plots of land

Religion: Spread of Christianity

• Charlemagne fights pagan Saxons– Saxons later adopt Christianity

• pockets of paganism until c. 1000 CE• 7th c. Pope “Gregory the Great” (Gregory I)– Declared self ruler of the Church– Theologian –created sacrament of penance– Sent missionaries to convert pagan English

Christian Monasticism

• Egyptian origins (Coptic)• St. Benedict (480-547)–His Rule for monasteries relatively

lenient: Poverty, Chastity, Obedience, wake up lazy monks, ok to drink wine but not in excess

• St. Scholastica (482-543) - Sister of St. Benedict - Adapts Benedictine Rule for convents

Economic and social effects of European Monasticism

• Monasteries accumulate large landholdings, serfs, tax exemptions in exchange for salvation

• Social welfare projects: orphanages, hospitals

• Monastic schools expand literacy

Emerging monarchies and papal power

• Hugh Capet – elected French king - starts w/ small area around Paris but absorbed feudal inheritances to gain territory and power.

• William the Conqueror – Norman – Duke of Normandy; descended from Vikings -> Conquers England in 1066 – Normans destroy Anglo-Saxon monarchy and impose tightly-controlled reign – Domesday Book survey of all property

• Frederick Barbarossa – HRE in 12th century who wanted Lombardy– threatened Pope but failed –shows pope’s power

• Pope was effectively a monarch – direct rule of Papal States but also ruled the Church, a powerful, unifying institution in Europe

“High” Middle Ages– 1000-1500lay Investiture controversy

• investiture = appointing bishops and other church officials - pope supposed to do this, not “lay”people like kings.

• Pope Gregory VII (1073-85) :“No more lay investiture”

• HRE Henry IV protested and got into big trouble, having eventually to beg for pope’s mercy, “kneeling in the snow.”

• Result: Church 1, King 0

Religious philosophy in Medieval Christian Europe

• Aristotle major influence • Byzantine Greek texts translated into Latin• Jewish and Muslim scholars provide

translations from Arabic• St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) major

proponent of Scholasticism– Synthesis of Christianity and Aristotle;

reconcile faith and reason but don’t question Church

Popular Religion and Religious Movements

• The Seven Sacraments gain popularity – esp. Eucharist (communion)

• Personal devotion– Heavenly intercession, pilgrimages, veneration of

relics – cult of The Virgin Mary• Monastic rebellion against perceived

materialism of Roman Catholic Church– Dominic (1170-1221) and St. Francis (1182-1226)

create orders of mendicants (beggars)• Vow of poverty

Chivalry• Code of conduct • Church-sponsored due to rowdy knights• knights supposed to promote Christianity,

protect womenRomantic love• Troubadours sing about new idea • Nobility liked this – such as Eleanor of

Aquitaine, mother of Fr. King.

Social codes of conduct

Beginning of the Crusades

• Pope Urban II calls for liberation of Jerusalem from Muslim control, 1095

• Salvation promised for casualties• Rapid, enthusiastic response• First Crusade (1096-99) (Song of Roland c.

1100)– Captures Jerusalem, largely due to poor

Muslim organization– Salah al-Din (Saladin) recaptures

Jerusalem in 1187

Song of Roland c. 1100 (beg. of Crusades)– all about chivalry, loosely based on Charles Martel (Charlemagne’s grandpa) Battle of Tours in 732 CE , “good” Christians vs. “bad” Muslims

Crusading Orders

• Religious Christians form military-religious orders– Templars, Teutonic Knights

• Religious vows of opposition to Islam, paganism

• Re-conquering Sicily and Spain from “infidels”– simultaneous cross-cultural fertilization

ThCrusade Routes

Crusades and their Consequences

• Five crusades by mid-13th century, only the First Crusade is successful

• Fourth Crusade destroys Constantinople, 1202-1204

• Benefit for European Crusaders: Crusades provide direct contact with Muslim ideologies, trade– Aristotle, “Arabic” numerals, paper production

Crusades Debate

• Did the Crusades have a positive or negative impact on history?

• Consider: purpose, methods, results (both short-term and long-term) in the areas of politics, economies, religion, social structure, the arts, intellectual developments.

Extra info. (not required for 1st sem final but helpful in

understanding context of Crusades):

The medieval expansion of Europe, 1000-1250 C.E.

European economic growth thanks to agricultural improvements (“revolution”)

• Increasing development of arable (farmable) lands– Clearing of swamps, forests

• Improved agricultural techniques– Crop rotation– Horseshoes– Heavier plow (yay!) – Harness for horses/oxen instead of

strangling them w/ rope

11th/12th Century Revival of Towns

• increase in food supply, excess serfs go to towns

• labor specialization – textile industry• Hanseatic League – “free” city-states in

Baltic/North Sea area of HRE and other places

• Growth of Mediterranean Trade– Italian city-states build ships, connect to

Islamic Empire

City/town government

• towns demand charters for self-government• Guilds– Organizations of merchants, workers,

artisans– Hierarchy of masters, journeymen,

apprentices• Price and quality control• Membership limited• At first women admitted, then restricted

Schools and Universities

• High middle ages (1000-1300 CE) increasing wealth makes education possible– Cathedral-based schools– Curriculum in Latin– Literature, philosophy, some law, medicine

• Universities• Academic guilds formed in 12th century• Higher standards of education • Town vs. Gown controversy (continues today)