Medieval

Europe
500-1500
Russells Rule to the Middle
Ages:
Major questions about the Middle Ages
(according to the regents) deal with:
1) Feudalism (weak central govt)
2) Rise and power of Catholic Church
3) The Crusades and the increase in trade


The Good and
the Bad

Germanic invasions
lead to fall of
Roman Empire
which also led to:
Results of
the Fall of
Rome
1) Breakdown of trade

Fear of bandits
and without
someone to
police people
stopped trading

= Less money, Less
power, more
isolation
2) Cities destroyed

3) Population Shift
People move
out of
center of
Civilization
and begin
moving to
North and
Countryside
4) Learning
decreased
a. Germanic invaders were not
educated leaving only priest
and other high officials
educated
b. People could not read
ancient texts of Greeks or
Romans (culture lost)
QuickTime anda
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
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5) Loss of common language
a. Germanic people spoke different
language leading to Latin changing in
to different dialects such as Spanish
and French
b. DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
SEPARATE PEOPLE




Homer says Latin, who needs
Latin? Im never going to use
Latin
After the Fall of Rome, many
people went searching for
stability in everyday life,

Where do people search for stability?
- Individually
- Society

6) THE
CHURCH!!!!!!

Increase in
power of RCC!
Life began to surround itself
around the Church
Going to Church
Holidays
Behaviors
Education
Roman Catholic Church became source
of education for many
The Arts
Mostly church related
Gothic Architecture
Flying Buttresses
Stained Glass

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Age of Faith: Gothic
Architecture
Economy: Monasteries
and churches often had
their own lands and
produced food and wine
with the help of the
peasants.
THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH

Tithe
Tax by the Church, each person must
give 1/10 income to Church


Another example of RCC increase in
power.


This left Europe weak for many years
until
Life became chaos
Nothing was stable


Charlemagne (Charles the Great)
united Europe 771 ad

-created greatest empire since
Ancient Rome

-Frank (German) King, 64

-Spread Christianity
-Pope crowned him Emperor
signifying alliance between
Germans, Church, and former
Roman Empire
Created Holy Roman Empire
1
st
Reich

Died in 814

So what happened after Charlemagne?
WEAK RULERS
Divided Empire amongst sonstoo weak
Rulers that followed Charlemagne were weak and
empire would be divided in 3 parts
-This lack of strong leadership lead to Feudalism in Europe
o Nobles often fought over power with one another
o Viking invasions also helped weaken rulers and villages



Political Systems of the Middle
Ages

People searched for safety
Answer: Feudalism


Remember Feudalism is the political term
Manor system or manorialism is the economic term for this system
Without a
strong central
body of power
keeping peace,
people
searched for
security
Feudalism
King Lord
Knight Peasant

OATH OF FEALTY
THE BASIS OF
MEDIEVAL
ECONOMY WAS
THE FIEF, OR
PARCEL OF LAND
GIVEN AFTER AN
OATH OF LOYALTY
IN EXCHANGE
FOR SERVICES.
VASSALS (lesser
lords and knights)
pledged their loyalty.
FEUDALISM
Kings were Relatively Weak

Decentralized political system
LORDS, LAND, AND LOYALTY

Isolated, Self-Sufficient Manors

Lords and Nobles control the domain or fief
Oaths of Fealty to ones liege lord
Land was the basis of wealth
Protection was exchanged for loyalty and land


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SERFS AND SERFDOM
Serfs were tied to the land. They could not leave,
marry, etc. without the lords permission.
A serf was at the
bottom of the
manor system.
They worked the
lords land, and
often the church
estates, and
then could tend
their own small
plot of land they
received in
exchange for
these services.
LABOR!!
LAND!
SERFS ALSO
GOT
PROTECTION !
KING
NOBLES
LESSER LORDS
KNIGHTS
SERFS
Feudal Society
Economics:
MANORIALISM
AGRARIAN TRADITIONAL ECONOMY
AGRARIAN MANORIALISM
A SELF-SUFFICIENT ECONOMY
BASED ON AGRICULTURE
THE MANOR HOUSE
THE LORDS HOUSE WAS
THE BIGGEST ONE BUT
OFTEN NOT VERY SANITARY.
IF HE LIVED IN A CASTLE, IT
WAS COLD AND DAMP. THE
LORD HAD CONTROL OF ALL
OF THOSE IN HIS
DESMESNE (domain). THEY
WORKED OR PROVIDE
MILITARY SERVICES FOR
HIM. HE PROTECTED THEM
IN HIS CASTLE IN TIMES OF
DANGER.
THE MANOR SYSTEM
ANYTHING NOT
PRODUCED ON THE
LORDS MANOR
COULD BE
BARTERED.
MONEY WAS
RARELY USED
AFTER ROMES
EMPIRE
COLLAPSED.
MEDIEVAL FARM TOOLS
THE AX
THE FLAIL
THE RAKE
MEDIEVAL FARM TOOLS
LONG HANDLED SCYTHE
AND THE SICKLE
MEDIEVAL FARM TOOLS
HAYMAKING FORK AND SPADE
THE 3 FIELD SYSTEM
Gray - Woodlands; the building blocks
of the manor.

Green - The 3 Fields; crops were
rotated each season on land owned by
the Lord and worked by the serfs.

Purple - The Lord's house, land and
pond.

Burnt Orange - The villager's homes.

Yellow - Small plots of land serfs
could work themselves for their own
benefit.

Blue - the stream used by all.
THE PLOUGH (PLOW)
In the Middle Ages,
three inventions would
help increase food
production:
HORSE HARNESS
The Ox was a slow animal,
but the ox harness was
lethal to the horse. Once a
new harness was designed,
horse power was used.
WINDMILL
WATERMILLS KEPT PEASANTS NEAR RIVERS. BUT
THE WINDMILL EXPANDED WHERE GRAIN COULD
BE GROUND.
What do these inventions
mean
Increase food production
Increase population
Less people needed to farm

KNIGHTS
Knights
Soldiers of the
Middle Ages
For a Fief, would
pledge loyalty to
defend Lords/Kings
lands
MEDIEVAL TOURNAMENT
IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES, THERE WERE FEWER INVADERS SO
KNIGHTS WOULD FIGHT IN ENTERTAINMENT CALLED TOURNAMENTS.
CHIVALRY WAS THE IDEAL CODE OF HONOR THAT A KNIGHT SHOULD
FIGHT, LIVE, AND DIE BY.
Soldiers mounted
on horseback
Protect nobles or
kings possessions
Code of Chivalry

Moral/ethical code of the knights

Behaviors of what is right/wrong
Tournaments:

when knights were not at war. (just like in
A Knights Tale)
- Jousting
- sword fighting

MEDIEVAL WEAPONS
LONG BOW
CROSS BOW
SWORD
Trebuchet
Medieval Women
Role of Women in Feudal society
- little or no power
- could inherit land
- home activities or convent

Rise of the Guild System:

-people, especially the
poor, without
education were unsure
of how to better their
lives.
-What is the guild
system? Page 388 in
text take notes

Question to answer
1) What is a guild?

2) What is the purpose of the guild system?

3) What are the different levels of the guild
system?

4) What are some examples of guilds?
Guilds
Guild system
organization of
individuals in the same
business or occupation
working together to
improve economic and
social conditions
Apprentice
journeyman.
Master


Middle Age living conditions
Small damp homes
Dirt Floors
2 or 3 baths a year
Garbage in streets
Fecal matter in streets
Dead bodies
Very few had hot water

What is a castle for?

Wars
Numerous Wars (Hundred Years war
between France and Britain and
pillaging by Vikings and barbarians of
lands)

Hundred Years War:
1337 -1453

England vs. France
-Fought over who was heir to French throne
when King died
-English ruler Edward III believed it was
him because he was the grandson of Philip
IV of France
-Joan of Arc
- France eventually gets England off soil
Increase nationalistic feelings

VS
Black Death
Also known as the Bubonic Plague People
thought the apocalypse was coming

people were scared that God was punishing them

Black Death
1/3 of Europes population gone
Workers decrease
Productivity decrease
Trade decrease
Middle Ages: Good or bad
Good
3 field system
Horse harness
Iron Plow
Guild System
Chivalry
Results of
Crusades
Commercial
Revolution
Bad
-Feudalism
-Education
-Living Conditions
-War (100 years war,
Crusades
-Disease black death
-Life of a serf