The Early Middle Ages SLMS/09

The Dark AgesThe Dark AgesThe Dark AgesThe Dark Ages

•The term the ‘Middle Ages’ was coined by historians who did not know what to call the time period between the classical era (Rome) and the rebirth of the classical era, (ie. the Renaissance), in Europe. •The concept of ‘The Dark Ages’, was intro-duced by Petrarch (an Italian scholar of the 1300s), and refers to the time period di-rectly after the Fall of Rome until the rise of feudalism — roughly from 500 - 800 CE. It is also called the early Middle Ages. •The Dark Ages were initially characterized by waves of tribal invasions and migrations (from 400-700). In general this time period yielded few artistic, architectural or tech-nological innovations or accom-plishments.

The Fall of RomeThe Fall of RomeThe Fall of RomeThe Fall of Rome

•Rome fell in 476 as a result of many fac-tors, but ultimately because of the invasions of the Huns. •As Rome fell, Western Europe experienced a power vacuum, since there was no state or tribe powerful enough to succeed the Empire. •Without Rome as a cen-tralizing and unifying factor, various tribes, such as the Lombards, Goths, Visigoths, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Huns, Franks, Angles & Saxons swarmed Europe. It was a chaotic and violent time.

A Muslim Europe?A Muslim Europe?A Muslim Europe?A Muslim Europe?

•By 700, Europeans faced a new threat — this time, from the Middle East. Muslim Ar-abs had rapidly conquered northern and eastern Africa, and had pushed into Spain as well. They were making their way into the rest of the continent, and spreading Is-lam in their wake. •In 732, Charles Martel was the ruler of the Franks — a Germanic people with a Kingdom in Central & Western Europe. Martel fought the Muslims at the Battle of Tours in France, and was able to stop their advance into the rest of Western Europe. Historians often consider this battle to be one of the most influential because of the historic implications for Europe.

CharlemagneCharlemagneCharlemagneCharlemagne

•Charlemagne was the grandson of Charles Martel, and his name means Charles the Great. He is known for expanding the Frank-ish Kingdom into an Empire, and creating the Carolingian Dynasty. •Charlemagne worked to bring culture and learning to his kingdom. He opened Churches and palace schools, and encour-aged the development of literacy. The font ‘Carolingian’ was developed at this time. •Charlemagne was crowned the First Holy Roman Emperor in 800, loosely reviving the power of Ancient Rome. It was really the first large centralized state Europe had seen since Rome, but it was not to last. Ac-cording to Frankish custom, the father’s possessions were divided among the sons, and Charlemagne’s kingdom was divided among his heirs.

Feudalism SLMS/09

What is Feudalism?What is Feudalism?What is Feudalism?What is Feudalism?

•Feudalism is an all-in-one system… it in-cludes a political, economic and a social structure. Officially, it is a system in which land or services are exchanged for protec-tion or loyalty. •PoliticallyPoliticallyPoliticallyPolitically, feudalism tends to be a de-centralized system. Although there is a king or ruler who in theory has the most power, the authority wielded by the king is not over-whelming, and is generally limited somewhat by the power of local lords. •EconomicallyEconomicallyEconomicallyEconomically, feudalism is ‘grounded’ in the possession of land. In general, land = power and money. Therefore, the economy tends to be agrarian. In fact, often feudal economies operate on the barter system, without cur-rency, much trade, or a sophisticated eco-nomic construct. •SociallySociallySociallySocially, feudalism yields a fairly rigid and stratified social struc-ture. Social position is generally determined by the quantity of land owned, and that is generally deter-mined by birth.

European Feudal Social StructureEuropean Feudal Social StructureEuropean Feudal Social StructureEuropean Feudal Social Structure

•The upper classes comprised, perhaps, 5% of the general population in Medieval Europe. In order, the classes were made up of the King, lords, lesser lords and knights. Knights were the warrior class, and gener-ally were the younger sons of lords or lesser lords. •The lower classes were the other 95% of the population and were made up of mer-chants & artisans, peasants and serfs.

How does it work?How does it work?How does it work?How does it work?

•In theory, the King owns all of the land in the kingdom. He cannot possibly oversee the administration of it all, so he divides the land and delegates administration of that land to his friends. •Each of his friends is called a lord, and is put in charge of an enormous tract of land. (The King also has his own tract of land.) In reality, these tracts are too much for one lord to administrate, so each lord will fur-ther sub-divide the land into smaller tracts which he will contract with lesser lords to administrate. These lesser lords owe loyalty and perhaps military service to the lord, just as the lord owes it to the king. •It seems all neat and clear in terms of loyalties until some en-terprising lesser lord signs a feu-dal contract with two different lords. He gains land and perhaps favors in return for service. •It becomes messy when his two lords go to war with each other. As a lesser lord who has signed a feudal contract with each, he owes EACH military service and loyalty. Which one does he support in the conflict? •Feudalism tended to create a web of con-fusing and conflicting loyalties.

Feudal ContractsFeudal ContractsFeudal ContractsFeudal Contracts

•Feudal contracts were signed ONLY by members of the upper classes. In a feudal contract, a lesser lord received a fief (estate) from a lord, and promised certain specified services in return. Such services might include military service, days of labor, or percentage of crops harvested.

The Church SLMS/09

The Roman Catholic ChurchThe Roman Catholic ChurchThe Roman Catholic ChurchThe Roman Catholic Church

•In the absence of a unified, central-ized, powerful government (ie. Rome), the Catholic Church played an important role in Western Europe. •Eventually, the Catholic Church became the only commonality in Europe. As tribes filtered through, and eventually con-verted, the only thing that all Europeans had in common was the Christian Church. The Church, in essence, became the central-izing factor in Europe.

The Church’s PowerThe Church’s PowerThe Church’s PowerThe Church’s Power

•Because of the roles the Church played in Medieval life, it wielded a lot of power. In fact, the Catholic Church’s power peaked during the Middle Ages in Europe. •First power: First power: First power: First power: Royal FavorRoyal FavorRoyal FavorRoyal Favor. Because the Church clergy were the only literate ones in society, they were often called upon by no-bles or the king, to write, translate or wit-ness contracts. These acts curried favor with important and powerful people, and as a result, clergy often received gifts or favors for these services. •Second power: Second power: Second power: Second power: MonopolyMonopolyMonopolyMonopoly. The Catholic Church was the only game in town. That is to say, the Church was the only source of Christianity in Western Europe. This yielded tremendous power. •Third power: Third power: Third power: Third power: Control of the SacramentsControl of the SacramentsControl of the SacramentsControl of the Sacraments. Since the Church dispensed the sacraments, they had control over who received them. To be denied the sacraments was to be de-nied entrance to Heaven. The sacraments included things like baptism, confirmation, communion, confession, and the last rites. Without the sacraments, a person was in danger of eternal damnation. Denial of the sacraments was known as excommunica-tion. Popes sometimes excommunicated kings who crossed them. They could also excommunicate an entire region — this was known as an Interdict. •Fourth power: Fourth power: Fourth power: Fourth power: LandLandLandLand. The Church became one of the largest landowners in Europe. Much of this land was given as favors for services rendered to powerful people. As such, Church bishops often became power-ful feudal lords.

Role of the ChurchRole of the ChurchRole of the ChurchRole of the Church

•The Church played many roles for many years in Western Europe. •First of all it was the only source of literacy and education in Western Europe for centu-ries. Priests, monks, nuns and bishops needed to be literate in Latin (the language of the Church and most Bibles at the time). They also tended to be literate in their own language. This made clergy invaluable to the nobility and in royal courts during the early and middle Middle Ages, because most peo-ple (including the upper classes) were illiter-ate. The nobles needed the clergy to write and authenticate contracts of all sorts. •Along the same lines, monks spent years painstakingly copy-ing all kinds of manuscripts. As such, the Church became im-portant in the preservation of the Western cultural heritage. •Finally, it was the job of the Church to ad-minister the sacraments — special rites and rituals important to Christianity.

The High Middle Ages SLMS/09

The High Middle AgesThe High Middle AgesThe High Middle AgesThe High Middle Ages

•The High Middle Ages refers to the period near the end of the Middle Ages from 1000-1300. Many believe that the roots of the Renaissance were planted during this time. •This time was characterized by a revival of education. Many major European Universities were established dur-ing the High Middle Ages, including the Universities at Bologna, Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, Salamanca and Padua. These schools were originally estab-lished under the auspices of the Church, and by the end of the era, they were accepting lay students — the sons of wealthy lords. •This time period was also charac-terized by a decline in Barbarian in-vasions, and an increase in political organization & centralization. De-centralized feudalism reached its peak in the 1000s, and steadily increased its centralization in the person of the king.

New Styles of ArchitectureNew Styles of ArchitectureNew Styles of ArchitectureNew Styles of Architecture

•Most notable about the High Middle Age period was the new style of Church archi-tecture that was developed. •Until this time, the principal style of Church architecture was RomanesqueRomanesqueRomanesqueRomanesque, and was reminiscent of Ancient Rome. Churches of this style had heavy domes, pillars and vaulted arches. The problem with this archi-tectural design was that as the walls got higher, or the domes got bigger, the pillars and walls supporting the weight became thicker and thicker. •Windows were openings in the walls, and they cut the supportive nature of the wall. Thus, windows in Romanesque churches tended to be small, or located in the dome area. •A new architectural innovation, the Flying Buttress, was utilized in the period and be-came common in the new Church architec-ture known as GothicGothicGothicGothic. This buttress was a support that existed outside the walls of the cathedral. Stone arms connected the but-tress to the wall, and the weight of the roof, the spire (tall pointed tower), and the wall was chan-neled down the arm into the outside support. •Thus the walls of a Gothic cathedral could be thin, and cut with huge windows. One of the characteristics of Gothic cathedrals are the huge stained glass windows. These win-dows typically illustrate Biblical stories, as a method of education. Since most common people of this time were illiterate, the sto-ries served educational purposes on the Christian faith.

A Revival of TradeA Revival of TradeA Revival of TradeA Revival of Trade

•The High Middle Ages was also character-ized by a revival in trade. This revival was largely a result of the Crusades — the series of Holy Wars fought in the Middle East. •Much trade came through the Middle East to traders in the Italian city states — espe-cially in Venice. •In Northern Europe, sev-eral cities formed an alli-ance of trading states known as the Hanseatic League. Cities like Lübeck, Hanover, Cologne, and Amsterdam maintained a trade monop-oly along the coast of Northern Europe.

Buttress

Flying Arm

Wall

The Crusades SLMS/09

Results of the CrusadesResults of the CrusadesResults of the CrusadesResults of the Crusades

•The results of the Crusades cannot be evaluated simply on the basis of their mili-tary success or failure. Clearly, they were considered military failures for Western Europe, however, they yielded important social, political and economic effects. •Economic Effects: Economic Effects: Economic Effects: Economic Effects: One of the largest and most important impacts of the Crusades was the increase of trade that was stimu-lated within Europe and between Europe and the Middle East. •Goods from the Middle and Far East flowed into Europe en masse for the first time since the fall of Rome. Roman roads, long unused in Medieval Europe, were bustling with trade and travel by the end of the Crusades. •More than just goods flowed into Europe. Technology and innovation like the astrolabe and compass also arrived, and began to stimulate European interest in exploration. •Political Effects: Political Effects: Political Effects: Political Effects: The increase in trade would help bring about the end of feudal-ism. Trade necessitated the growth of towns, and towns lay outside the manor system and outside the control of lords. Towns were under the control of kings, and kings gained substantial power over lords as a result. •The Church also lost power during this time, and national monarchies began to take shape with the rise of powerful kings. •Social Effects: Social Effects: Social Effects: Social Effects: The split between the Ro-man Catholic Church and the Eastern Or-thodox Church was solidified in this time period. Western crusaders sacked Constan-tinople, and killed fellow Christians there. Bad feelings following this would persist.

The CrusadesThe CrusadesThe CrusadesThe Crusades

•The term ‘Crusades’ generally refers to a series of Holy Wars that lasted nearly 200 years between Christian Europeans and the Muslim Turks of the Middle East. •The first Crusade was initiated by Pope Urban II in 1095 at the Coun-cil of Clermont. The Byzantine Em-peror Alexius I asked the Pope for help in defending his Empire against the expansion of the Seljuk Turks. •The Turks had recently conquered the Holy Land of Jerusalem. The Byzantine Emperor sought help from the west, and the Pope saw an opportunity to extend his influence. Keeping in mind that the East-West Schism occurred in 1054, the Pope saw this as an opportunity to reconcile the two churches. •The Pope also saw this as a way to channel the energies of the military segment of society. In other words, knights and warriors were creating a significant amount of violence in European society — violence that was better aimed at the Middle East.

Course of the CrusadesCourse of the CrusadesCourse of the CrusadesCourse of the Crusades

•Overall, there were nearly a dozen crusades over the course of 200 years. Some were more successful than others (some were dismal failures). •In each crusade, a military effort was mounted to regain the Holy Land of Je-rusalem, and in some cases, they were met with success. In general however, the Byz-antine Empire, or the Crusader states that were set up in the Holy Land, were too weak to hold the territory, and they reverted back to Muslim possession

The Development of Medieval Towns SLMS/09

The Revival of TradeThe Revival of TradeThe Revival of TradeThe Revival of Trade

•The revival of Medieval trade occurred slowly over the centuries. As the impact of barbarian invasions lessened in the 10th century, travel became a bit safer. The pace of trade really picked up by the 1200s as a result of the Crusades. •Armies of crusaders trekked to the Middle East and there encountered goods and luxuries not found in Europe. These goods and luxuries were brought back home, and a huge demand was created. •Simultaneously, most of Eurasia was falling under Mongol rule. The Pax Mongolica (Mongol peace) created an increase in trade volume moving along the Silk Roads.

The Growth of TownsThe Growth of TownsThe Growth of TownsThe Growth of Towns

•As trade began to increase, towns began to grow in size and in num-ber, because merchants and traders looked for an urban setting in which to exchange their goods. •During the Early Middle Ages, towns had languished because travel was dangerous and trade had ground to a halt. In the late Middle Ages, town populations swelled — not only with merchants, but with bankers, artisans, businessmen, laborers, and run-away serfs. These townspeople were often called burghers, after the town itself, the burg, burgh, or bourg. (It is why many towns or cities end with that suffix.) •Serfs often tried to escape to independent Chartered towns. If a serf could live for a year and a day in a town without being caught, they were considered free. But it was difficult for serfs to do this. They usu-ally had no money and few skills (aside from farming). Most turned to a life of crime to make a living. Many were caught and punished or returned to the manor. •Conditions in towns were dangerous and filthy. Most buildings were constructed with wood and heated or lit with open flames — creating a significant fire hazard. Crime was everywhere. •There was no plumbing or sew-ers. Waste and garbage were tossed into the streets where stray dogs, cats or rats cleaned it up. This led to a large population of vermin, and contributed greatly to the rapid and deadly spread of the Black Plague in Europe in the 1300s.

Town ChartersTown ChartersTown ChartersTown Charters

•Towns often grew out of small villages in Manor systems. Eventually, most towns de-sired independence from the local lord, and sought a Charter of Lib-eration or a Charter of Rights from the king. •With a Charter, towns could govern them-selves, collect their own taxes and make their own rules. They owed nothing to the local lord. The town was independent. Town Charters were expensive to buy, however. •As such, the issuing of town Charters be-came a major money-maker for many kings. It also hastened the decline of politically de-centralized feudalism. •Local lords lost revenue and power as towns became independent. Kings gained revenue (through the Charters), and power, beginning the centralizing process.

The Decline of Feudalism SLMS/09

The Decline of FeudalismThe Decline of FeudalismThe Decline of FeudalismThe Decline of Feudalism

•Feudalism was the functional system of the Middle Ages, and it worked well for many years. But slowly, things changed, and as such, the system began to decline.

The Black DeathThe Black DeathThe Black DeathThe Black Death

•The Black Plague was one of the worst pandemics in history. The outbreak peaked in Europe in the mid 1300s, and claimed more than 25 million victims, or 40% of Europe’s population. •The plague was spread by in-fected fleas that lived on rats. The filthy condition of Euro-pean cities allowed for the rapid spread of this disease. •The plague had many impacts on Europe, but one was that it hastened the decline of feudalism. •Because so many people died in the pan-demic, there was a scarcity of laborers. As such, serfs could demand their freedom from lords and peasants could demand greater plots of land in exchange for their labor. The feudal system began to fall apart.

Economic FactorsEconomic FactorsEconomic FactorsEconomic Factors

•Feudalism had a land based economy and was predicated on the exchange of loyalties and services in relation to that land. As the Crusades helped foster a revival of trade, the economy of Europe began to shift away from land and toward commerce. •In Feudalism, the Manor sys-tem was a self-sufficient unit. Middle Eastern trade offered products that a manor could not produce or provide. As towns developed in the wake of increased trade, they be-came independent of manors, further weak-ening the feudal system.

Military FactorsMilitary FactorsMilitary FactorsMilitary Factors

•The nature of warfare began to change in Europe in the 1300s. The first change came with the develop-ment of the English longbow. Sud-denly, infantry who specialized in the bow were more important than mounted knights. •More important, however, was the intro-duction of gunpowder from Asia. This would dramatically change Medieval warfare, since cannons could blow holes in castle walls.

Political FactorsPolitical FactorsPolitical FactorsPolitical Factors

•Feudalism tended to exist as a de-centralized political system, but over time, there were factors that helped Kings to cen-tralize their power, and thus, move away from the feudal system. •Kings also gained power through the establishment of towns, even as lords lost power. •The disaster of the Crusades and subsequent decline in power of the Catholic Church was one factor that led to the rise of power-ful national monarchies. Kings were eager to hasten the decline of the Church since the Church was a major land-owner in Europe. •Finally, as the economy became more com-mercial, lords and knights preferred to pay for their military obligation, rather than serve it themselves. Kings began to develop professional standing armies, ending the military aspect of feudalism.