Chapter 10 Europe in the Middle Ages

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Chapter 10Europe in the Middle Ages
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• Section 1

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• The New Agriculture
• Population doubles between 1000-1300, from 38 to
  74 million.
• Reasons
• Europe becomes more settled/peaceful.
• Food production increased because of climate
  change new technology. Harnessed the power of
  water wind Iron used to make axes, hoes, saws,
  nails, hammers, curruca (plow). Horse collar
  horse shoe.
• Farming villages worked together to farm.
• Three-field system. FallSummer harvest Spring
  Fall harvest. Third left alone.

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• The Manorial System
• A manor was an agricultural estate ran by a lord
  and worked by the peasants.
• There were free peasants that worked the farms,
  but most were serfs, peasants legally bound to
  the land.
• Serfs provided labor services (working the lords
  land about 3 days a week), pay rents (gave lord
  share of what they raised, paid for the use of
  the land, and paid a tithe 1/10 to the church),
  and be subject to the lords control.
• Serfs were not allowed to leave the manor without
  permission and could not marry anyone outside the
  manor without permission. Lords had political
  power over their lands. They also had
  responsibilities to the serfs, such as protection
  .

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• Daily Life of the Peasantry
• Peasants did not work every day of their life.
  The had celebrations/feasts that corresponded
  with the Catholic Church.
• Women were expected to work in the fields, bear
  children and manage the household.
• The basic staple of peasants was bread. The
  bread was nutritious because it contained wheat,
  rye, barley, millet, and oats.

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• The Rivival of Trade
• Venice, Italy becomes a leading trading city with
  a mercantile fleet by the end of the tenth
  century.
• Flanders became the ideal center for trade in
  Northern Europe. Trade fairs were set up between
  the two places.
• Gold and silver were in demand, thus creating a
  money economy.
• This started commercial capitalism- an economic
  system in which people invested in trade and
  goods in order to make profits.

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• The Growth of Cities
• Cities old and new prospered.
• New cities were set up outside castles because
  they were along trade routes and would be
  protected.
• The newly formed cities would then enclose
  themselves with a wall for protection. They
  became known as bourgeoisie or burghers
  meaning a walled enclosure.

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• Daily Life in the Medieval City
• Townspeople sought to have their own rights and
  the lords were willing to sell it to them. They
  included the right buy/sell property, freedom
  from military service, a written law that
  guaranteed them freedom, and the right of an
  escaped serf to become free after a year and a
  day in the town.
• Soon cities began to elect their own government.
  
• Patricians- members of the wealthiest and most
  powerful families rigged the elections to win.
• Cities were tightly packed/crowded and surrounded
  by stone walls for protection. The danger of
  fire was great. Air pollution and water
  pollution were really bad.

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• Industry Guilds
• With the revival of trade, guilds- business
  associations flourished. They played an economic
  role in city life.
• The craft guild directed every aspect in the
  creation of a product.
• An Apprentice, usually around 10 yrs old studied
  under a master craftsman. They werent paid, but
  received room and board.
• After 5-7 yrs they became Journeymen. They
  worked for wages and worked on their masterpiece.
  
• If their masterpiece was judged by the guild to
  be worthy, they were allowed to join the guild.

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• Section 2

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• The Papal Monarchy
• Popes became more concerned with political
  affairs and involved with the feudal system that
  they neglected their religious duties.
• By the 11th century, the church saw the need to
  separate themselves from the influence that Lords
  had on selection of church officials. Church
  officials were given a staff and ring as symbols
  of spiritual authority.
• Secular or lay rulers chose nominees to Church
  offices and gave them symbols of their office-
  Lay Investiture. This in the rulers mind
  allowed them to still undermine the Church and
  its spiritual duties.

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• Pope Gregory VII believed he was elected to
  reform the Church and set out to restore the
  spiritual duties of church officials. Only the
  Church could appoint clergy and that if rulers
  did not accept this, they would be removed. King
  Henry IV of Germany was the first to challenge
  this reform because without his appointments, he
  would lose his power to German Nobles.
• The struggle between Pope and King continued
  until the Concordat of Worms was reached. The
  lord gave symbols of temporal (earthly) office
  a Church official gave them symbols of his
  spiritual office.
• Under Pope Innocent III, the Church reached the
  height of its political power. He believed that
  the Pope, was the supreme judge over European
  affairs. To achieve this power, he used
  interdicts- forbids priests from giving the
  sacraments (Christian rites) of the Church to
  certain people.

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• New Religious Orders
• The second half of the 11th century and the first
  half of the 12th century, a new religious
  movement occurred.
• Cistercians- were strict, eliminated decorations
  from church, took their religion to the people
  outside of the monastery had more time for
  prayer manual labor.
• Franciscans- founded by St. Francis of Assisi.
  Had dramatic spiritual experiences as a POW. He
  abandoned all worldly goods material pursuits.
  They lived among the people, preaching repentance
  and aiding the poor.
• Dominicans- founded by Dominic de Guzman. Wanted
  to defend the Church teachings from heresy- the
  denial of basic Church doctrines.

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• Inquisition (Holy Office)- a court established by
  the Catholic Church in 1232 to discover and try
  heretics.
• Dominicans examined those who were accused. If
  they confessed, they did public penance and were
  subject to punishment (flogging). If they did
  not confess, they were tortured until they did or
  were turned over to the state for execution.
• Repeat offenders were subject to execution.
  Christians believed that heresy was a crime
  against God and humanity and the Inquisition was
  the right thing to do.

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• Popular Religion in the High Middle Ages
• The sacraments of the Catholic Church were
  central in the importance to ordinary people.
• The sacraments were seen as a means to receiving
  Gods grace and were necessary for salvation.
• Saints were people who considered especially holy
  and who had achieved a special position in
  Heaven.
• Emphasis on the role of Saints were closely tied
  to the use of relics- usually bones of saints or
  objects connected with saints. Believed they
  could heal people. They also believed that a
  pilgrimage to a holy shrine produced spiritual
  benefits.

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• Section 3

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• The Rise of the Universities
• Medieval universities were educational guilds, or
  corporations, that produced educated and trained
  individuals.
• 1st European University was in Bologna, Italy and
  taught Roman law.
• 1st University in northern Europe was the
  University of Paris.
• Teachers taught by lecture. Students couldnt
  afford books, so teachers read it to the class
  and offered explanations. No tests until the end
  of their studies and it was an oral exam. After
  completing a liberal arts curriculum, they could
  go on to study law, medicine, or theology- study
  of religion and God.
• It could take 10 years to finish the curriculum.
  After passing an oral exam, they would attain a
  doctors degree. They were able to teach or
  pursue other careers.

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• The Development of Scholasticism
• Scholasticism- a medieval philosophical and
  theological system that tried to reconcile faith
  and reason. The idea was to harmonize Christian
  teachings with the works of Greek philosophers.
• Aristotle upset many Christian theologians
  because he arrived at his conclusions by
  rational thought. St. Thomas Aquinas tried to
  reconcile Aristotle and the doctrines of
  Christianity. Aquinas was known for his Summa
  Theologica. His fame is based upon his attempt
  to reconcile the knowledge learned through the
  Bible and other Christian writings with the
  knowledge learned through reason and experience.

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• Vernacular Literature
• Latin was the universal language of medieval
  civilization.
• The 12th century gave rise to vernacular- the
  language of everyday speech in a particular
  region.
• The most popular 12th century vernacular
  literature was troubadour poetry- chiefly product
  of nobles and knights. Chanson de geste- heroic
  epic.

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• Architecture
• The 11th and 12th century saw a rise in building.
  They were built in Romanesque architecture.
  Buildings were rectangular in shape with a long,
  round stone arched structure vault ceiling.
• Gothic appeared in the 12th century. They
  replaced the round barrel vault with ribbed
  vaults and pointed arches. This made the
  churches higher in height.
• The flying buttress a heavy, arched support of
  stone, built onto the outside of the wall.

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• Section 4

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• The Black Death
• Black Death was the most devastating natural
  disaster in European history. Bubonic Plague was
  the most common form of Black Death.
• It was spread by rats infested with fleas
  carrying the deadly bacterium. Brought by
  Italian merchants, the plague usually followed
  the trade route.
• Between 1347 and 1351 roughly 38 out of 75
  million people died.
• Some believed it was a punishment from God for
  their sins and others thought it had been caused
  by the devil. Anti-Semitism- hostility towards
  or discrimination against Jews occurred.

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• Severe economic consequences occurred decline
  in trade, shortages of workers caused a rise in
  the price of labor. Decline of people lowered
  the demand for food, resulting in falling prices.
• This helped to free serfs from serfdom. Since
  they paid them for rent instead of labor.

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• The Decline of Church Power
• A struggle between Pope Boniface VIII and King
  Philip IV would have serious consequences on the
  papacy. To gain revenue, Philip IV said he had
  the right to tax the clergy of France. Boniface
  VIII said that they could not without the consent
  of the Pope. Philip sent troops to arrest and
  bring Bonifice back to France for trial. He
  escaped and died soon after. Philip engineers
  the election of Frenchman, Clement V as Pope.
  Pope Clement V moved to Avignon in southern
  France. The Pope living in Avignon instead of
  Rome drew harsh criticisms. Finally in 1377,
  Pope Gregory XI saw the decline in papal prestige
  and returned to Rome.
• With the death of Pope Gregory XI, the Great
  Schism- a split in the Catholic Church that
  lasted form 1378-1418, during which time there
  were rival popes in Rome and in the French city
  of Avignon France and its allies supported the
  pope in Avignon, while Frances enemy England and
  its allies supported the pope in Rome occurred.
  The Great Schism ended with a church council
  electing a new pope.

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• This led to cries for church reform. John Hus,
  called for the end of corruption among clergy and
  the excessive power of the papacy within the
  Catholic Church. Accused of heresy and burned at
  the stake in 1415. An upheaval in Bohemia
  occurred and was crushed in 1436.
• By the 1400s the Church had lost much of its
  political power.

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• The Hundred Years War
• Plague, economic crisis, and the decline of the
  Catholic Church along with war and political
  instability were problems of the late Middle
  Ages.
• The Hundred Years War was the most violent
  struggle during this period. The war lasted from
  1337 to 1453. It started because King Philip VI
  of France seized the duchy of Gascony to make it
  part of the French kingdom. King Edward III of
  England declared war on Philip. It started out
  with knights showing their fighting abilities.
  This war proved to be an important turning point
  in the nature of warfare. It was the foot
  soldiers, who won the major battles. English
  foot soldiers were armed with heavy spears
  (pikes) and longbows.

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• 1st major battle was at Crecy. The French army
  attacked in a disorderly fashion and the English
  archers cut them down. It was not a decisive
  victory and the English did not have enough
  resources to conquer all of France.
• During the battle of Agincourt in 1415, heavily
  armored knights tried to attack Henrys forces
  across a rain soaked muddy field. Once again
  they were disastrously defeated with 1,500 French
  nobles dying on the battlefield. The English
  were now masters of northern France.

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• The southern 2/3 of France was now ruled by
  Charles. Joan of Arc, a deeply religious
  peasant, made her way to Charless court and
  convinced him to let her accompany the French
  army to Orleans. Joans passion revived the
  confidence of the army and helped them to
  recapture Orleans. She was captured in 1430 and
  turned over to the English. She was charged with
  witchcraft during the Inquisition. She was
  condemned to death as a heretic.
• The war continued for another 2 decades and
  victories in Normandy and Aquitaine led to a
  French victory in 1453.

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• Political Recovery
• The 14th century saw European rulers struggling
  to produce male heirs. Nobles supported opposing
  candidates for kingship and founders of new
  dynasties fought for power.
• The 15th century saw a number of rulers attempt
  to reestablish the centralized power of
  monarchies. New monarchies-power was centralized
  under a king/queen, such as in England, France,
  and Spain.
• The war had left France exhausted but with a
  strong sense of national feeling. King Louis XI,
  known as the Spider, because of his devious
  ways, used a taille- an annual direct tax,
  usually on land or property- as a permanent tax
  imposed by royal authority. This helped to
  create a strong French monarchy.

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• The war had left Englands economy strained due
  to the cost of the war and losses in manpower.
  The War of the Roses- a struggle between Noble
  factions to control the monarchy occurred until
  1485. Henry Tudor became the first Tudor king
  who worked hard to create a strong royal
  government. He abolished private noble armies
  and didnt overburden the middle and noble class
  with taxes. This gained their support.
• Spain too, experienced a rise in strong national
  monarchy. Christians regained their lands from
  the Muslims and set up several independent
  kingdoms. Two of the strongest kingdoms were
  Castile and Aragon. The two kingdoms were
  united when Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of
  Aragon were married. They conformed to strict
  Catholicism and expelled anyone who wasnt.
• The Holy Roman Empire did not develop a strong
  monarchical authority because of religious
  differences.