Daily Life in the Middle Ages

Warm Up: December 10, 2007List five activities of peasants during the middle ages. Also you DO YOU HAVE A QUIZ TODAY!!!!!

Major population increase in the High Middle Ages from 38 to 74 million people.

Farmers would farm 2/3 of their land (1/3 planted in the fall, 1/3 in the summer, the other lie fallow)

Increase in Food Production During the High Middle

Ages

Change in climate

Drained swamps and cut down trees

Inventions: plows, wind/water mills, etc.

Better use of horses

Three-field system of farming

Manor was an estate run by a lord and worked by peasants (serfs). By 800, 60% of the people of western Europe were serfs. ◦ Serfs had to work their lord’s land (3 days a week)◦ Dig ditches, build barns, paid rent, paid a tithe,

and pay for their flour being ground in the lord’s mill

◦ Could not leave the manor without permission, could not marry anyone outside the manor without permission

◦ Lord’s had political authority on their lands◦ Even though serfs were restricted in the manor,

they were not slaves

Manorial System

Religious feast days, Sunday mass, baptisms, marriages, and funerals all brought peasants into contact with the village church.

During feast days or holidays were the only times the peasants did not have to work the land.

The Church in the Manorial System

Daily life of peasantry Seasons of the year determine peasant

activities Women were expected to work in the fields

and at the same time bear children. Their ability to manage the household determined if they would starve or survive.

Bread was their main food supply, but also ate milk, cheese, berries, fruit, eggs, and little meat. It was hard to obtain pure sources of water, so for upper class the drink of choice was wine, for the poor was ale.

Improvement of trade, causing the creation of a money economy- economy based on money instead of barter. This lead to the development of commercial capitalism: economic system in which people invested in trade and goods in order to make profit.

More rights for the people: right to buy/sell property, freedom from military service, and a written right to freedom in general.

Growth of the cities

Medieval cities were narrow, winding streets, houses were crowded, dirty, smelled of animals

Danger of fire was great: built out of wood and candles/wood fires were used for light and heat.

Pollution: ◦ Air pollution from cheap grades of coal◦ Water pollution from tanning and animal

slaughtering industries

Bologna, Italy: taught Roman law Theology was the most highly regarded

area of study; study of religion and God. Aristotle started a new way of thinking

because he arrived at his conclusions by rational thought-not by faith. His teachings were very controversial to the church.

Starting in the 12th century literature was being written in the vernacular.

Rise of Universities

Classes ◦ Liberal arts, theology, medicine, law◦ Learn by listening & rehearsing out loud (no

supplies)◦ Learned in the rented rooms of teachersThe most popular vernacular literature was

troubadour poetry, chiefly the product of nobles and knights. It told of a knight’s love for a lady who inspired him, usually from afar, to be a braver knight.

The chanson de geste, or heroic epic was another type of vernacular literature. Heroic epics describe battles and political contests. The epic world was one of combat. Women played little or no role in this literature.

Rise of Universities cont.

Dante Alighieri, Poet◦ Wrote The Divine Comedy◦ Story of a trip through

heaven, hell and purgatory

Thomas Aquinas, Dominican Monk from U. of Paris

Wrote Summa Theologica

Roger Bacon, Franciscan Monk from OxfordExperimental scientistPredicted that self-propelled

machines would run over land air, & sea.

Geoffrey Chaucer, English WriterWrote the Canterbury TalesMade English of London the standard language

11th and 12th centuries saw an explosion of building, especially in churches

They were built in the Romanesque style in the basilica shape. ◦ Was topped with a long, round, stone-arched

structure called a barrel vault◦ Because stone roofs were so heavy, the ◦ churches needed ◦ massive pillars and had◦ little space for windows. The ◦ Romanesque churches, ◦ therefore, were dark and◦ resembled fortresses.

Medieval Architecture

Gothic style churches started in 12th century. The Gothic cathedral is one of the artistic triumphs of the High Middle Ages. Two innovations made it possible. They replaced the barrel vault with ribbed vaults and

pointed arches. The Gothic cathedrals rose higher, therefore, creating an impression of the building reaching towards God.

The other innovation was the flying buttress-a heavy, arched, stone support on the outside of the building. This distributed the weight of the church’s vaulted ceilings and eliminated the think heavy walls of the Romanesque style. Since Gothic cathedrals had fairly thin walls, they could have windows, which were filled with magnificent stained glass. The windows also created a play of natural light inside the cathedral; natural light was believed to be a symbol of the divine light of God.