Medieval Europe and the Ottoman Empire

Chapter 10

The Power Church

• Feudalism is weakening, Roman Catholic Church, English and French Monocracy getting stronger.

• Church becomes more political.

• Church leaders and nobility help each other out.

• Power of the Pope often greater then the King.

Clergy in the Roman Catholic Church

Conflict between Monarchs and the Papacy

• King Henry IX appointed the leaders of his church.

• Pope Gregory VII said no more laypeople (none church leaders, like King Henry) could not appoint church leaders.

• King Henry tried to get the Pope kicked out. The pope excommunicated the King.

• The King begged for forgiveness.

Church and Society

• Religious order- a group of people who live by a rules specific to their order. – Monks lived in monasteries.– Nuns lived in convents. – Friars traveled to spread the word of God.

They were merchants and beggars. • Franciscans were the most important mendicant

order.

Founding Universities

• Schools were established at cathedrals, the center of power for bishops.

• Thomas Aquinas- argued that classical philosophy could exist in harmony with Christian faith and natural law.

Formation of Western Europe 800 to 1500 AD

Beginnings of the Crusades

• Muslim Seljuk Turks conquered nearly all Byzantine provinces in Asia Minor.– In 1071, Jerusalem was

conquered by the Seljuk Turks.– In 1093, Byzantine emperor

Alexius I wrote a letter to Pope Urban II asking him and western Europe to join his war against the Muslim Turks, so that the Holy Land could be controlled by Christians once again.

Beginnings of the Crusades

• The letter to the pope begged for help, so that the Holy Sepulcher, Christ’s tomb in Jerusalem, would not be destroyed.– At the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban

II declared a holy war in the East and the Truce of God in the West.

– The pope called for this crusade, or holy war, to help the Byzantine Empire, to assert his own leadership in the West, and to get the Christians in western Europe to stop fighting each other.

Beginnings of the Crusades

– Pope Urban II called for the crusades in a famous speech.

– In this speech, he referred to the Muslims as “wicked” and promised forgiveness of sins and heaven to anyone who fought against them.

The Crusades• The First Crusade consisted

mostly of poor people, including serfs, who lacked supplies, equipment, weapons, and training.– Many peasants joined the crusade to

gain new lands and riches, as there had been many crop failures. Serfs wanted to escape feudalism.

– Even criminals and debtors joined the crusade in order to escape punishments.

– Many of the people in the First Crusade died on the way to Constantinople due to a lack of food and clashes with others along the way.

The Crusades• In 1099, crusaders conquered Jerusalem and forced Jews

and Muslims to convert to Christianity, leave the city, or die.• Fighting continued in the Holy Land between crusaders and

Muslims, who were fighting in the name of Allah.• Led by Saladin, sultan of Egypt, the Muslims conquered

Jerusalem and most of the Holy Land in 1187.

The Crusades• The King of England, Richard the

Lion-Hearted, led the Third Crusade against Saladin.

• Rather than fight, King Richard the Lion-Hearted and Saladin agreed to a peace treaty. – Under the treaty, European pilgrims

would be allowed to safely visit the Holy Land, which would remain under the control of the Muslims.

– Many new trade routes opened between the East and the West.

The Crusades Continue…• In the Fourth Crusade, crusaders attacked and plundered

Constantinople, the city they had originally come to protect!• For the next 68 years, four more crusades were fought, but

the Holy Land remained under Muslim control.

• Crusaders had ruined much of the land through which they traveled, including many farms.

• Many knights that returned home had lost their horses and money.

• Many crusaders never made it home, leaving western Europe with many widows and fatherless children.

The Plague

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: Describe the plague and how it affected the world in the 1300s?

Spread of the Disease

• Bubonic plague—epidemic that struck western Eurasia in mid-1300s

- victims had severe chills, fever, convulsions, vomiting

- dark spots on skin, swollen glands; death within a few days

Known as Black Death, killed one-third of European population

Global Impact of the Plague

• By 1400, 20-30 million deaths impacted Asia, North Africa, Europe

- Christians saw plague as a punishment for sin

- Muslims saw plague as testing their faith in God

Global Impact of the Plague

• Wars stopped, trade declined, farming suffered from lack of labor

• As world recovered from plague, feudalism weakened

- labor shortage increased demand, pay for healthy laborers

Global Impact of the Plague

• Christian hostility toward Jews continued; Jews blamed for plague

• The plague doctor's costume was the clothing worn by a plague doctor to protect him from airborne diseases. The costume consisted of an ankle length overcoat and a bird-like beak mask often filled with sweet or strong smelling substances (commonly lavender), along with gloves, boots, a brim hat and an outer over-clothing garment

The Hundred Years’ Wars

Essential Question: Describe how the social and political structure of

Medieval Europe changed.

Background for the War

• Hundred Years War—series of wars between England, France (1337–1453)

The Duke of Normandy conquered England in 1066 (Norman Invasion)

- claimed right to British throne; was known as William the Conqueror

Years of Battle

• Land, water disputes between France and England led to war

• English king claimed rights to French throne; invaded France in 1337

Joan of Arc—French peasant girl who led French to victory in

Orleans

New Weapons

• New weapons technology changed warfare

• Longbow—shot arrows that could penetrate a knight’s armor

• Europeans developed Chinese gunpowder technology into new weapons

- over next 300 years, gunpowder changed intensity, organization of war.

Social and Political Structures

• European trade, towns grew throughout Middle Ages- people moved from the country to towns to seek their fortune

• Stronger monarchies provided stability; city became support center

• After Hundred Years War, monarchies gained even more strength

• France became powerful under absolute monarch Louis XIV (1643-1715)

New Ideas

• Large, powerful nations developed as Middle Ages ended

• New ideas about learning, science, art developed in Italian cities

- new ideas spread along European trade routes

• New era is known as the Renaissance