Middle Ages
✣ the medieval period of European history
between (500 A.D to 1500 A.D) the fall of the
Roman Empire and the beginning of the
Renaissance
✣ a.k.a. Dark Ages or Age of Faith
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Life in the Middle Ages
✣ massive invasions and migrations
✣ wars were prevalent during this time—population
declined
✣ great technology—in the fields of weaponry,
navigation, mass food and farm production and
health
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Life in the Middle Ages
✣ trade and commerce among nations
increased—great demands for transportation
technology
✣ Great Cathedrals and Castles were built
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Life in the Middle Ages
✣ Catholic Church became the most
dominant and powerful institution in
Europe
✣ Charlemagne—Holy Roman Emperor
in 800 CE
✣ maneuvered military expeditions to
Jerusalem—Crusades
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Life in the Middle Ages
✣ Feudal System
⨳ provided order and
stability
⨳ consisted of kings,
lords, knights, vassals,
and peasants
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Life in the Middle Ages
✣ Feudal System
⨳ the king granted vast lands—fiefs to noblemen and
bishops in return for their services
⨳ landowners needed peasants to plant and harvest their
lands—allowed to live on the land with protection from
local lords in case of invasion.
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The Feudal System
King
Military Service
Lords
&
Lesser Lords
Labor (Vassals) Land
& &
Knights
Loyalty Protection
Peasants (Serfs)
Life in the Middle Ages
✣ Manor
⨳ a self-sufficient agricultural
estate run by a lord and
worked by peasants and serfs
⨳ consisted of the Castle, the
Church, the Village, and the
surrounding Farm Land
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Life in the Middle Ages
✣ Vassals
⨳ tenants who were a higher
class than peasants
⨳ required to serve guard duty
and later paid a fee for their
service (soldiers-for-hire)
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Life in the Middle Ages
✣ Peasants
⨳ "serfs" or "villeins "
⨳ provided the Lord with
labor or a share of the
livestock yielded from his
lands in exchange for
protection, land to work
and a place to live. 11
Two Major Events
✣ The Black Death
⨳ Between 1347 -1350
⨳ Bubonic plague—
caused by fleas on rats
which killed at least one
third of people in
Europe.
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Two Major Events
✣ Hundred Years War
⨳ 1337-1453
⨳ conflict between England and
France
⨳ King Edward III of England
claimed that he was the
rightful monarch of France
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Population Growth in the Middle Ages
✣ 9th century—population began rising
✣ no plague or significant famine
throughout this period
✣ a period of warm, dry climate through
much of Europe
✣ Favored agriculture—more food
source
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Technology in the Middle Ages
✣ fairly rich in technological
innovation
✣ cereal production
⨳ clearest indicator of
medieval technology
⨳ application and connection
to the population increase
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Technology in the Middle Ages
✣ Greater use of horses as draft
animals
⨳ Horse collar—allowed
more horse pulling power,
such as with heavy plows
⨳ Horseshoes—adapt to
rocky terrain, mountains
and carry heavier loads.
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Technology in the Middle Ages
✣ The Three Field System
⨳ method of crop rotation
⨳ divided into 3 fields:
■ Fallow (unplanted)
■ Spring crop
■ Winter crop
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Technology in the Middle Ages
✣ War weapons
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Technology in the Late Middle Ages
✣ The Gutenberg Press by Johannes Gutenberg
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Technology in the Late Middle Ages
✣ Microscope by Zacharias Janssen
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Technology in the Late Middle Ages
✣ Telescope by Galileo Galilei
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