Medieval Europe

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Medieval Europe

• a thousand years without a bath ?
• collapse of classical civilization
• descent into dirt and superstition ?

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The Middle Ages

• beginning?
• 180 death of Marcus Aurelius
• 284 accession of Diocletian
• 325 foundation of Constantinople
• 395 death of Theodosius the Great
• 476 abdication of Romulus Augustulus
• 800 coronation of Charlemange

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Three Elements

• Graeco-Roman civilization and culture
• the oldest and most important
• Christianity
• the newest
• Germanic culture
• the plastic element of the Middle Ages

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Contest Between

• Universality
• formerly represented by the empire
• claimed by the church
• particularism
• kingdoms and feudal society

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The Crisis of the Third Century

• End of the practice of adoption
• The Severian Emperors
• the army as a social class
• abandonment of the Augustan constitution
• collapse of the senate and other organs of state
• collapse of the civil adminstration

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Crisis, cont

• collapse of society
• breakdown of social classes
• collapse of the economy
• collapse of trade and coinage
• barbarian invasions
• civil wars
• Thirty emperors
• The Danubian emperors (soldiers)

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Crisis, cont

• Aurelian - restituor orbis
• Decius - persecutions of those who corrupt
  traditional family values
• Diocletian

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Diocletian
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Diocletian and Reform

• The Tetrarchy
• The Annona
• The Edict of Maximum Prices
• The new provinces
• The eastern frontiers
• The new capitals
• The persecutions
• Edict of Toleration, 311

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Tetrarchy
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Constantine

• The divided empire, united
• The Battle of the Milvian Bridge
• The conversion of Constantine
• The Edict of Milan - 314
• The First Ecumenical Council
• The New Capital
• Constantinople

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• Constantine the Great

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Collapse in the West, 476

• Germanic invasions
• foundation of Germanic kingdoms
• breakdown of infastructure and the economy
• simplification of society

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Competing Kingdoms

• Visigoths Spain
• destroyed by Islam, 720 A.D.
• Ostrogoths Italy
• reconquered by Romans, early 500s
• Franks France
• various minor players
• conquered by Franks, mostly

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Feudal System

• the political system of medieval Europe
• the military system of medieval Europe
• the method of government and the military power
  to enforce it

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Feudal System Characteristics

• restraints on royal power
• possession of public power by private persons
• public power in private hands
• particular rules about the use and transfer of
  real property

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Definition of Feudalism

• fragmentation of political power
• the county is the largest viable political unit
• fragmented power treated as a private possession
• managed by private contracts
• military force knights
• secured by private contracts between individuals
• no national armies

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Origins

• Roman empire private retainers and soldiers
• Germanic society the comitatus
• a warrior band
• gifts of land for service or surrendering control
  of your land or talents to a superior for his
  protection

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Feudalism Organization

• ascending and descending relationships
• secured by contracts
• like buying a used car, each is different
• fiefs
• vassals
• subinfuedation

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Obligations of the Vassal

• Concilium and auxilium
• military service
• 40 days a year
• Aids and incidents
• hospitality

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Obligations of the Lord

• treat vassals as social equals
• leave them undisturbed on their fiefs
• protect them
• judgment by their peers

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Feudal Warfare

• not as bloody as imagined or as dangerous
• private warfare
• relatively restricted until the late Middle Ages
• The Peace of God 900s
• The Truce of God 1000s

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Manorialism

• the economic system of medieval Europe
• the social system of medieval Europe
• develops prior to feudalism
• collapses prior to feudalism

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The Manor

• based on the fief
• one or more manors to a fief
• each manor had a village
• freemen and serfs
• provided the economic support for the lord

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The Manor

• non-capitalistic
• self-sufficient
• as much a social as an economic institution
• will decline when towns reappear
• after 1000 A.D.

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Origins of Serfdom

• Slaves, free peasants in both Roman and Germanic
  societies
• Heavy intermarriage
• Appeals to lords, special relationships
• Mid-7th century recognition of serf class
• Midway between slave and free peasant

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Serfs Rights and Obligations

• Right to pass on land to heirs
• Obligation to provide labor, payments in kind to
  lord
• Unable to move from land
• Fees charged for marrying serfs of another lord

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The Economy of Early Medieval Europe

• Agricultural center moves north from
  Mediterranean
• 8th century iron-tipped plow introduced in Europe
• Draft animals bred
• Water mill technology
• Agricultural output insufficient to support
  growth of cities
• Strong Mediterranean trade despite Muslim
  domination of sea

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Population Growth of Europe, 200-1000 CE
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Merovingian Franks

• control much of France
• 480s to mid-700s
• collapse of trade and industry
• growth of the power of the nobility

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Clovis (ruled 481-511)

• Major Frankish leader
• Destroyed last vestiges of Roman rule in Gaul
• Dominated other Germanic peoples
• Franks establish themselves as preeminent
  Germanic people

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The Mayors of the Palace

• powerful royal officials
• de facto rulers of the kingdoms
• military leaders
• ex. Charles Martel
• supervised the nobility and royal officials

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The Carolingian dynasty

• Pepin III king in 752
• with papal support
• expansion of the Frankish kingdom
• the Donation of Pepin
• the Donation of Constantine

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Charlemagne

• Charles the Great
• king of the Franks and Lombards
• destruction of the Avars
• forced conversions of non-Christians
• the Saxons
• coexistence with non-Christians not possible

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Charlemagne
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Charlemagne, cont

• doubled the size of the kingdom
• buffer between Eastern Europe and the Slavs
• buffer state against the Vikings
• destruction of the Lombards
• end of Germanic paganism
• beginning of the Reconquista in Spain

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The Carolingian Empire
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Charlemagne, cont

• reversal of Slavic westward movement
• beginnings of the ideas which will become
• lebensraum, ost front, and Drang nach Osten
• beginning of continued attempts at Germanic
  expansion to the East

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Charlemagne as Emperor

• 800 A.D. Christmas
• crowned Emperor of the Romans by the Pope
• did he know ?
• Popes motives ?

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Charlemagne and Government

• personal government
• responsibilities
• advancement of the Church
• defense of the Empire
• establishment of law and order
• failure to create a civil service
• finances personal

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The Carolingian Renaissance

• did not emphasize creativity
• devoted to recovering the past
• looked to the past for standards and ideas
• looked to the past for art and knowledge
• preservation of manuscripts
• Carolingian minuscule

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Carolingian Renaissance, cont

• revival of learning
• Alcuin of York
• University as Aachen
• Church did not control learning
• schools in communities

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The Seven Liberal Arts

• Trivium
• grammar, rhetoric, dialectic (logic)
• Quadrivium
• arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music
• the foundations of learning in the West

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Disintegration of the Empire

• Louis the Pious
• the Salic principle of inheritance
• Lothiar, Pepin, Louis, Charles
• the Treaty of Verdun 843
• arranged by the Church
• future impact on Europe

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The Formation of Christian Europe

• Clovis conversion forms strong alliance with
  Roman Christianity
• Church supplies Clovis with class of literate
  information workers
• Scribes
• secretaries

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The Franks and the Church

• Protectors of the Papacy
• Charlemagne destroys Lombards, who threatened
  Pope, Rome
• Spreads Christianity in northern areas
• Support of scholarship, scribal activity

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The Spread of Christianity

• Charlemagne fights pagan Saxons (772-804)
• Saxons later adopt Christianity
• Scandinavia, other pockets of paganism until c.
  1000 CE

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Pope Gregory I (590-604 CE)

• Gregory the Great
• Asserted papal primacy
• Prominent theologian
• Sacrament of penance
• Major missionary activity, especially in England

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Monasticism

• Egyptian origins, 2nd-3rd centuries
• Monastic lifestyle expands 4th century
• Large variety of monastic rules
• Range from extremely ascetic to very lax

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St. Benedict (480-547)

• Established consistent rule for monasteries
• Poverty
• Chastity
• Obedience
• St. Scholastica (482-543)
• Sister of St. Benedict
• Adapts Benedictine Rule for convents

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Monasticism and Society

• Accumulation of large landholdings, serfs
• Social welfare projects
• Esp. labor contributions
• Expansion of literacy
• Inns, orphanages, hospitals