The Making of Europe in the Middle Ages

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Chapter 12

• The Making of Europe in the Middle Ages

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The New Kingdoms of the Old Western Empire 1.
The Visigoths only weakly controlled Spain,
having generated no loyalty to the crown.
Consequently, when confronted by a Muslim
invasion in 711, the Visigoths were easily
defeated. A request for aid from Muslims in
North Africa by one of the disaffected groups in
Spain resulted in an invading force of only
12,000 men but once they came, the Muslims would
not leave. By 718 the Muslim victory was
complete. 2. Like the Visigoths in Spain, the
Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy was weak, lasting
solely through the force of the personality of
Theodoric (493-526). Although he ruled as a
king, he was considered to be only a regent by
the rulers of Constantinople. Byzantine armies
of Justinian (527-565) conquered Italy between
535 and 554, driving the Ostrogoths from the
land. The Byzantine victory was short lived as
German Lombards from the north invaded Italy in
568 and conquered the northern and central
regions of the peninsula. The Byzantines,
however, were able to retain control of the area
around Ravenna that served as the capital of the
Italian lands still under Byzantine sovereignty.
3. The Visigoths and Ostrogoths had helped to
destroy the Western Roman Empire but their
ascendancy would not last long. On the other
hand, the Frankish Kingdom would grow stronger
over time. In part, this was accomplished due to
the conversion of Clovis (481-511) around 500 to
Christianity and the subsequent support of the
bishops of Gaul and the pope. Clovis also
extended his domain as far as the Pyrenees
Mountains and made Paris his headquarters. The
sons of Clovis conquered both the Burgundians in
eastern Gaul and the Ostrogoths north of the
Alps. 4. Roman abandonment of Britain in the
fifth century opened the opportunity for the
Angles and Saxons, a Germanic people from Denmark
and northern Germany. They met resistance from
the Celts who managed to retain control of the
western Briton lands. The Germans eventually
carved out small kingdoms throughout the island.
Christian missionaries ultimately would convert
the German invaders. 5. In 533-34 the forces of
the Byzantine emperor Justinian gained North
Africa as the emperor pursued an eventually
unsuccessful attempt to reunite the Roman
Empire. Questions 1. Why were the various
barbarian powers unable to maintain control over
their conquered territories? 2. How important was
the relationship struck by Clovis with
Christianity?
The New Kingdoms of the Old Western Empire
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• Transformation of the Roman World
• New Germanic Kingdom
• Kingdom of the Franks
• Clovis (482-511)
• Converted to Christianity
• Frankish kingdom
• Society of the Germanic Peoples
• Family the crucial bond
• Law was personal
• Wergeld (fine paid by the wrongdoer)
• Role of the Christian Church
• Organization of the Church
• Archbishop and bishop
• Bishop of Rome

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Charlemagnes Empire 1. Extending diagonally
across northern Italy were the Papal States that
were gained by the papacy when a Frankish army of
King Pipin (751-768) defeated the Lombards.
Significantly, the Franks would provide the
Church with a dependable western ally to replace
the Byzantines who had previously protected Rome
from the Lombards. 2. In 773 the Lombards in
northern Italy were again defeated, this time by
the forces of Charlemagne (768-814). The victory
established Charlemagne's control over the north
of Italy. 3. Charlemagne invaded northern Spain
in 778 to take advantage of feuds among the
Muslims. Ultimately, the Franks drove the Muslims
back to the Ebro River. Between the Ebro and the
Pyrenees, he established and fortified the
Spanish March as a bulwark against Muslim
Spain. 4. Charlemagne's army expanded Frankish
control into Bavaria in 788 and in 804 into
Saxony after stubborn resistance and several
campaigns. In both instances Christianity was
extended as the German tribal leaders and their
followers were converted, at least nominally. 5.
With the eastern frontier under continual threat
by the Avars, Asiatic nomads related to the Huns,
and the Slavs, Charlemagne mounted six campaigns
that almost eliminated the Avars. A military
province in the valley of the Danube was set up
to guard against any future activity from the
eastern nomads. Called East Mark, it later was
named Austrasia. 6. Aachen, centrally located in
the north, was to be Charlemagne's new capital.
The site was selected for its hot springs. The
plan was to make the new city as glorious as
Constantinople and Ravenna. It never matched the
dreams and was abandoned after Charlemagne's
death (814). Nevertheless, Charlemagne did
succeed in establishing a palace school here.
Among the learned men brought to Aachen was the
English scholar Alcuin from York in Northumbria.
Through the school and Alcuin, classic learning
was kept alive. 7. In part, the empire collapsed
after Charlemagne's death because it had become
too large and unmanageable. 8. The death of
Charlemagne in 814 brought to power his weak son
Louis the Pious (814-840) who could not control
the Frankish aristocrats. Louis's death in 840
resulted in his three sons fighting over their
inheritances. Finally, they agreed to the Treaty
of Verdun (843) that divided the Empire into
three parts Charles the Bald (840-877) received
the west Frankish lands (the core of modern
France) Lothar (840-855) the "Middle Kingdoms"
extending from the North Sea to Italy and Louis
the German (840-876) the eastern lands (the core
of modern Germany). Almost immediately, the
"Middle Kingdom" broke up into petty
principalities over which the other two kings
fought. Questions 1. How was Charlemagne able
to create and maintain such a vast empire? 2. Why
were the successors unable to maintain the empire
Charlemagne had established? 3. What is role of
Charlemagne in the rebirth of intellectual
activity? 4. What were the relationships and the
consequences of Charlemagne's dealings with the
Church?
Charlemagnes Empire
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• Monks and Their Mission
• St. Benedict (c. 480-c. 543)
• Benedictine rule
• Monasticism
• Women
• Charlemagne and the Carolingians
• Charles the Great (768-814), Emperor, 800
• Empire covered western and central Europe
• Missi dominici -- ensure the counts carrying the
  kings wishes
• The World of Lords and Vassals
• Invasions of the Ninth and Tenth Centuries
• Muslims and Magyars
• Muslims attack southern coasts of Europe and raid
  into southern France

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• Magyars from western Asia
• Moved into eastern and central Europe
• Magyars defeated at battle of Lechfeld, 955
  converted to Christianity
• The Vikings
• Scandinavia
• Warriors, shipbuilders, and sailors
• Danes occupied northeastern England by 878
• Occupied part of France, Normandy
• Development of Fief-Holding
• Breakdown of government
• Vassalage
• Contract between a lord and his subordinate
  (vassal)
• Nobles took control of vast lands and gave grants
  to vassals who fought for their lord

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• Grant of land came to be called a fief
• The Practice of Fief-Holding
• Subinfeudation
• Vassals could have vassals, granting their own
  lands and creating a lord-vassal relationship
• Lord-vassal contract
• Vassal owes the lord 40 days a year military
  service
• Vassal had to go to the lords court to give
  advice
• Vassal might sit in judgement of other vassals
• Vassal responsible for financial aid
• Lord obligated to protect his vassal
• The lord had to maintain the vassal

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• The Nobility of the Middle Ages
• Held the political, economic, and social power
• Were warriors
• Social divisions based on wealth and landholdings
• Aristocratic Women
• Could legally hold property
• Remained under the control of men
• Managed the estate while husband off to war
• Castle
• Oversaw the food supply
• Eleanor of Aquitaine (c. 1122-1204)

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Spread of Christianity
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• Evolution of the European Kingdoms
• England in the High Middle
• William of Normandy (1066-1087)
• Grants fiefs to Norman knights
• Henry II (1154-1189), Plantagenet
• Expand the power of the royal courts
• John (1199-1216)
• Magna Carta, 1215
• Feudal liberties
• Edward I (1272-1307)
• English Parliament, 1295
• Two knights from every county and two residents
  from each town meet with the Grand Council
• House of Lords and House of Commons
• Law made in consultation with representatives

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• Growth of the French Kingdom
• Hugh Capet, 987
• Lands around Paris
• Many dukes more powerful that the Capetian kings
• Philip II Augustus (1180-1223)
• Philip IV the Fair (1285-1314)
• Estates General, 1302
• The Lands of the Holy Roman Empire
• Otto I (936-973)
• New Roman Empire
• Henry IV (1056-1106)
• Frederick I (1152-1190)
• Struggle with the church
• Frederick II (1212-1250)
• Struggle with the church

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World of the Slavs 1. The Slavic people were of
Indo-European stock, probably originating in
present-day southeastern Poland and the western
Ukraine. They divided into three groups
Western, Southern, and Eastern Slavs. The
Western Slavs pushed into Poland and Bohemia
where their contact with the Germanic kingdom
resulted in not only the extension of political
authority over them by the German emperor but
also conversion to western Christianity. 2. The
Southern Slavs came to occupy the Balkans where
they eventually split between Roman Christianity
(Croats) and eastern Christianity (Serbs). 3.
The Eastern Slavs occupied present-day Ukraine
and European Russia. The invasion of the Swedish
Vikings, called Varangians, resulted in their
eventual domination over the Slavs as they became
involved in the Slavic civil wars. The Varangian
contact with the Byzantine Empire led to the
conversion of the region to eastern
Christianity. 4. Kiev was the center of the
union of east Slavic territories known as the
principality of Kiev. Expansion of Kiev led to
control over the eastern Slavs and ultimately
encompassed the lands between the Baltic and
Black Seas and the Danube and Volga Rivers. 5.
The Bulgars were originally and Asiatic people
who conquered much of the Balkan peninsula.
Eventually the larger native Southern Slavic
population absorbed them. By the ninth century
they formed the largely Slavic Kingdom of
Bulgaria. Question 1. What were the
consequences of the Slavic expansion out of
southeastern Poland and the western Ukraine?
World of the Slavs
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• The Slavic People of Central and Eastern Europe
• Asian nomads
• Western Slavs
• Polish and Bohemian kingdoms
• Christian missionaries
• Non-Slavic kingdom of Hungary
• Southern Slavs
• Eastern Slavs
• Development of Russia
• Oleg (c. 873-913)
• Kiev
• Vladimir (c. 980-1015)
• Kievan Rus state
• Alexander Nevsky (c. 1220-1263)
• Defeated an invading German army in 1242
• Cooperated with the Mongols and rewarded with
  title of grand prince

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A Medieval Manor 1. Agriculturists had long ago
learned that if a field was repeatedly planted
productivity would fall as nutrients were robbed
from the soil. Thus, fields were rotated
throughout the planting seasons to give the soil
a chance to recover. At any one time from a
third to half of the fields lay fallow. Crops
such as wheat and rye would be grown in the
autumn field and peas, beans, and barley in the
spring field. What was planted varied from year
to year as crops were rotated. 2. The size of
the manor varied. A large manor could cover
several thousand acres while a small one would be
slightly more than a hundred acres. A small
manor would have no more than a dozen households
while a large one might have as many as fifty
families. The people were congregated into a
village consisting of several one-room dirt floor
huts in which, perhaps, a family of five would
dwell. Around these dwellings were spaces large
enough for vegetable gardens. 3. The lord's
demesne that could consist of from a third to
half of the arable land on the estate, was worked
about three days of the week in return for lands
to the peasant. The open fields were divided
into strips of about an acre which were separated
by narrow paths. The lack of fences permitted
domesticated animals to roam freely in the winter
to forage for food. 4. The nearby forest was of
economic importance. In addition to providing
timber for building and fuel, bark could be used
to make rope, the resin for lighting, and the ash
and lime for fertilizers. Moreover, the forest
environs contained nuts, berries, and wild game
(though this was usually reserved for the hunting
of the lord). The pond and stream provided a
source of water and food. 5. Peasants could be
required to grind their grain in the lords mill
and cook in the lords oven, both for a
price. 6. Technological innovations such as the
heavy plow, the shoulder collar for horses, metal
horseshoes, and more efficient water and
windmills contributed to a significant increase
in the food supply. Between 500 and 1300 the
European population grew from 25 million to more
than 70 million. This was reversed in the
fourteenth century when a colder and rainier
climate caused harvests to shrink and prices to
rise. Famine became a fact of life, complicated
by the Black Death between 1348 and
1354. Questions 1. In what respect was the
manor a self-sustaining enterprise? 2. What was
the relationship between the peasant on the manor
and the lord? 3. What new innovations contributed
to the increase of production? How did they do
this?
A Medieval Manor
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• World of the Peasants
• Changes in agriculture
• Increased land put under production
• Iron implements and plow
• Use of horses
• Windmills
• Manorial system
• Serfs
• Bound to the land, cannot leave without
  permission
• Demesne
• Daily life
• Simple life
• Women bore children and worked the fields
• Staple was bread

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• The Revival of Trade
• Italian states
• Flanders
• Fairs
• Money economy
• Growth of cities
• Beginning in 10th century many new cities in
  northern Europe
• Fortified strongholds by merchants for trade
• Depend on the countryside
• Develop own governments
• Cities remained small, Europe remains rural
• Daily Life in the Medieval City
• Walled
• Most people were merchants
• Dirty and smelly, relied on wells for water

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• Industry in Medieval Cities
• Cloth, metalwork, shoes, and leather goods
• Guilds
• Apprenticeship
• Christianity and Medieval Civilization
• The Papal Monarchy
• Control over the Papal States
• Increasingly became involved in political matters
• High officials came to hold their offices as
  fiefs from nobles
• Reform of the Papacy
• Gregory VII (1073-1085) and reform
• Henry IV of Germany (1056-1106)
• The Church Supreme
• Innocent III (1198-1216)
• Use of interdict

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• New Religious Orders and New Spiritual Ideas
• Cistercian order
• Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
• Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), Franciscans
• Dominic de Guzmán (1170-1221), Dominicans
• Holy Office, Inquisition
• Find and try heretics
• Torture after 1252
• The Culture of the High Middle Ages
• Rise of universities
• Irnerius (1088-1125), Bologna
• University of Paris
• Oxford
• Liberal arts curriculum

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The Byzantine Empire in the Time of Justinian 1.
Ravenna was the capital of the western empire and
from which the Ostrogothic king Theodoric
(493-526) ruled as regent for the emperor in
Constantinople. 2. The ease with which North
Africa was gained in 533-34 led Emperor Justinian
(527-565) to push on to Sicily and then into
Italy where Naples, Rome, and Ravenna fell by
540. The campaigns continued another twelve
years with the result that the Ostrogoths were
driven north of the Alps and southern Spain was
conquered. 3. Pressure upon the Byzantine Empire
came from the north and east. Around 560 the
Avars, Bulgars (mounted Asiatic nomads), and the
Slavs (Indo-Europeans) pressed into the Balkans.
When the northern frontier crumbled, the Bulgars
succeeded in seizing control of the lower Danube
valley by 679. Meanwhile, in the East the
Persians forced the collapse of the frontier in
602. This was followed in 626 by the alliance of
the Avars and the Persians to assault
Constantinople. While the city was successful in
resisting the onslaught, the attack so exhausted
both sides that neither would be able to counter
Muslim expansion later in the century. Questions
1. How successful was Justinian in trying to
rebuild the Roman Empire? 2. What were the
consequences of expansion for the Byzantine
Empire?
The Byzantine Empire in the Time of Justinian
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• Development of Scholasticism
• Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Summa Theologica
• Vernacular literature
• Romanesque Architecture
• Romanesque churches
• Basilica shape
• Stone roofs requiring massive pillars and walls,
  little space for windows
• Gothic Cathedral
• Ribbed vaults and pointed arches replaced the
  barrel vault
• Flying buttress

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The Early Crusades 1. In 1071 at Manzikert in
Asia Minor a mercenary army of Seljuk Turks in
the service of the Arabs defeated a Greek army.
The Turks soon occupied much of Asia Minor as
well as Jerusalem. Fearful, Emperor Alexius I
Comnenus (1081-1118) of Constantinople issued a
call for help to Pope Urban II (1088-1099). In
1095 at the Council of Clermont, Urban challenged
Christians to begin a holy war to recover the
Holy Land. The initial response was a ragtag
rabble under the leadership of Peter the Hermit
and Walter the Penniless. As it made its way to
Constantinople, the Peasants' Crusade terrorized
the people of the Balkans. Alexis wisely ushered
the peasant crusaders on to Asia Minor where the
Turks massacred them. 2. Coming primarily from
France and Germany, the armies of the First
Crusade (1096-1099) converged on Constantinople
with several thousand cavalry and perhaps 10,000
infantry. During three years of campaigning,
Antioch fell in 1098 and after a five-week siege
in 1099 so too did Jerusalem. In both cases, the
Muslim and Jewish inhabitants were massacred.
The region as a whole was divided into the
principality of Antioch, the counties of Tripoli
and Edessa, and the kingdom of Jerusalem.
Antioch, Edessa, and Tripoli were all held as
fiefs under the rule of the kingdom of
Jerusalem. 3. With narrow strips of land and a
small population, the Christian hold was
precarious. It was only a matter of time until
the Muslims attacked. When they did, Edessa fell
in 1144. Leading the reinforcements of the
Second Crusade were King Louis VII of France and
Emperor Conrad III of Germany. It failed. In
1187 the sultan Saladin captured Jerusalem. 4.
The Third Crusade brought together the three
major monarchs of Europe Richard I, the
Lionhearted, of England, Philip II Augustus of
France, and Frederick Barbarossa of Germany.
Barbarossa took a land route in 1190 but drowned
crossing a river in Asia Minor. His army
disbanded before reaching the Holy Land. Philip
traveled by land in 1191 to Genoa and then by sea
to Acre. He was joined shortly by Richard
sailing from Normandy. Together the forces
captured Acre but Philip and Richard quarreled
and Philip returned to France, leaving his troops
in the Holy Land. Although unable to recapture
Jerusalem, Richard did confirm peace with Saladin
in 1192 and safe conduct for Christians to
Jerusalem. 5. In the Fourth Crusade, Venetians
induced Crusaders to attack Christian Zara, a
trading rival. Captured in 1202, the Crusaders
turned to Constantinople that was sacked in 1203.
A year later, the Latin Empire of Constantinople
was created, lasting until 1261. 6. The Fifth
Crusade fruitlessly attacked Acre and then turned
its efforts on Egypt where Damietta was placed
under siege in 1218. After its fall in 1219,
Christians turned to the Nile Delta but were
forced to flee when the Egyptians broke the dams
in the canals. Damietta had to be surrendered
for a safe retreat. 7. On the Sixth Crusade,
Frederick II of Germany negotiated in 1229 an
agreement with the sultan for the restoration of
Christian Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and
several towns in Palestine. In return, he
promised not to aid Crusaders warring in Egypt.
The fall of Acre in 1291 ended the Crusader
states. Question 1. What were the objectives of
the Crusades and why did they ultimately fail?
The Early Crusades
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• The Expansion of Medieval Europe The Crusades
• The First Crusades
• Pope Urban II, 1088-1099
• Council of Clermont, 1095
• Peasants Crusade
• First Crusade, 1096-1099
• Jerusalem, 1099
• Crusader feudal states
• Second Crusade, 1147-1149
• Edessa recaptured by Muslims, 1144
• Failure
• Third Crusade, 1189-1192
• Saladin captures Jerusalem in 1187
• Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, Richard I the
  Lionhearted of England, Philip II Augustus of
  France

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• The Later Crusades
• Fourth Crusade, 1204
• Sack of Constantinople, 1204
• Latin Empire of Constantinople
• Byzantine army recaptures Constantinople in 1261
• By end of the thirteenth century Christians lost
  Palestine
• Acre falls, 1291
• The Late Middle ages A Time of Troubles in
  Europe
• Change in weather patterns, 1315-1317
• Famine, 1315-1317, 1330s, and 1340s
• The Black Death
• Bubonic plague
• Mongol migrations
• Yersinia Pestis
• 50-60 percent death rate

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• Plague arrives in Europe October, 1347
• European population decline 25 to 50 percent,
  1447-1351 thus, 19 to 38 million of 75 million
• From 1347 to 1450, 60 to 75 percent of the
  population
• Reactions to the Plague
• Flagellants
• Anti-Semitism
• Economic Dislocation and Social Upheaval
• Noble landlords and peasants
• Wages
• English Peasants Revolt, 1381
• Political Instability
• The Hundred Years War, 1337-1453
• English claims to France
• Wool trade in Flanders
• Dispute over the right of succession in France
• Seizure of Gascony by the French, 1337

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• Battle of Crécy, 1346
• Charles V, 1364-1380
• Battle of Agincourt, 1415
• Joan of Arc, 1429-1431
• Orléans
• Political Disintegration
• By 14th century the feudal order was breaking
  down
• Professional soldiers
• The Decline of the Church
• Boniface VIII, 1294-1303
• Popes supreme power over both church and state
• King Philip IV of France, 1285-1314
• French pope, Clement V, 1305-1314
• The Papacy at Avignon (1305-1377)
• Church administration improved
• Use of excommunication

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• The Great Schism and Cries for Reform
• Papacy returned to Rome, 1378
• Pope Urban VI, 1378-1389, Rome
• Pope Clement VII, 1378-14, Avignon
• France and its allies support Avignon and England
  and its allies support Rome
• Council of Constance, 1417
• New pope elected acceptable to all

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