• This presentation is based on one I found on Slideshare by Mr. J

The Middle Ages

So what comes to mind when we say “Middle Ages?”

Knights!

Castles!

Feudal Warfare!!!!

Chivalry- code of honor

Vikings!

JOUSTING TOURNAMENTS

The Middle Ages were a dangerous time in Europe

• The strong empires of Rome and Greece that protected trade routes and encouraged science and freedom were gone.

• Education died out

Only the Christian Church kept education alive in monasteries– Hand copied books

So who was where?

• Angles and Saxons in Britain (Thus the term “Anglo-Saxon” )

• Franks in France (well no doubt!)

• Goths and Visigoths in Italy, Spain and Eastern Europe

• Slavs in Eastern Europe

• A mixture of peoples in Germany

So how would people be protected?

• Lack of central government for protection leads to rise of Feudalism

What is Feudalism?

FeudalismFeudalism: loosely organized system of government in which local lords governed their own lands but had to fight with their men for their king. They also gave money to a greater lord , who served the king.

Feudalism (political system)Who is in charge?

• The kings had plenty of land but he could not control it all– So he gave land to lords and the

church in exchange for protection and money.

• Lords gave their land to knights in exchange for protection and money.

• Knights protected serfs (peasants) and let them work the land.

• Serfs got food and shelter.• Thus, each person had rights

and responsibilities

Higher lords

So where did the people live?

• In England, people lived on manors – self-sufficient communities consisting of a

castle, church, village and surrounding farmlands. There were also a mill and bakery that all the people in the manor had to pay for using.

– Serfs worked the land. They gave part of their crops to the lord, for letting them farm the land and to the church. They could keep the rest.

Manor House

Lord’s Personal Land – keep out!

Village

Traders in Medieval Europe1000-1300

From World History: Connections to Today

Prentice Hall, 2003

The Norman Conquest

• In 1066, England was invaded by Normans (Vikings from modern-day France)

•The Battle of Hastings –Harold, King of England was killed.–William of Normandy (William the Conqueror) takes over.

LOCATION OF NORMANDY

William of Normandy (the Conqueror) helped make England what it is today and codified

feudalism (gave it the force of law).

• William the Conqueror, the first Norman king of England, gave land to his nobles very carefully. He didn’t want them to be more poweful than the king, as it happened in France, so he gave small parts of land in different parts of the country, so no noble could easily gather his men to rebel. The king always kept a big part of the land.

• Notice that William, as a king of England had no lord above him but, as Duke of Normandy, he had to recognise the king of France as a lord.

• French was spoken in the English court for the next 200 years.

• 1086 - William I creates the Domesday Book for purposes of fair tax collection.– Great resource for modern

historians to learn about Medieval life)

– This was the first book of this kind in Europe

Norman ship

William of Normandy

THE DOMESDAY BOOK

• In 1086, William the Conqueror wanted to know exactly how much was produced and how much he could ask in tax.

• The name “Domesday” comes from the fact that the people thought they could not escape from the king’s men’s questions and this remainded them of the paintings of the Day of Judgement (doom) in churches.

Foundation of English Common Law• After many years of fights, Henry II

(1133-1189) ruled England as a king and was also the lord of plenty of lands in France. He laid the foundation for English Legal system. He began English Common Law (a legal system based on custom and court rulings).

• He married Eleanor of Aquitaine and their sons Richard, the Lionheart and John were also important kings of England.

Foundation of English Common Law • John was very unpopular because

he wanted to take more money from his lords while he was unable to protect some of them from the king of France. He also quarrelled witht the Pope.

• When he tried to get Normandy back, he called his lords to fight for him but they didn’t support him. Instead, they forced him to sign an agreement which limited the power of the king.

• That agreement was called Magna Carta (1215), which is the base of British law still today.

Magna Carta - 1215• No royal official shall take goods from any

man without immediate payment.• No free man shall be imprisoned except by

the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.

• In future no official shall place a man on trial without producing credible witnesses.

• Courts shall be held in a fixed place at a fixed time.

• The barons shall elect a House of Lords for the creation of laws.

• The English church shall be free.• For a trivial offence, a free man shall be

fined only in proportion to the degree of his offence.

Due Process of LawDue Process of Law

THE BEGINNING OF PARLIAMENT

• John’s son, Henry III, spent nearly all his life with foreign friends, which upset the nobles.

• The nobles elected a council of nobles which they called “parliament” to take the government. This was the origin of the House of Lords.

• In 1275 Edward I included representatives of freemen and merchants, thus starting the House of Commons.