Studied by 4 people
Dates of the Middle Ages/Medieval period?
476-1453
Early middle ages dates?
476-1000 CE/AD
High middle ages dates?
1000-1300 CE/AD
Late middle ages dates?
1300-1500 CE/AD
What was feudalism / the feudal system?
A social system in which land was organised for people of different ranks, in exchange for their services. It provided protection for the people.
What are the four levels of society, descending?
King, Noble/Baron/Lord, Knight, Peasant/Serf or Monarch, Tenant in chief, Sub tenants, Peasantry
Who was a vassal?
A person who swore loyalty and service to a superior.
What did peasants give the above rank for land?
Food and labour
What did knights give the above rank for land?
Military service and protection
What did nobles give the above rank for land?
Money and knights
What did the start of the Middle Ages signify?
The fall of the western Roman Empire.
What did the end of the Middles Ages signify?
The fall of the eastern Roman Empire and the start of the Renaissance Period.
In what year did the Battle of the Hastings take place?
1066
Describe the Battle of the Hastings.
Edward the Confessor died and needed a claim to the throne. William, Duke of Normandy (blood-cousin of Edward) and Harold Godwinson (brother-in-law of Edward) who was a Saxon both wanted to inherit the throne. William asked the pope for help, and he said that the battle would be a crusade. They went to Hastings, England to meet. The Normans and British fought, and the result was that 10,000 died, including Harold who was shot in the eyeball. (There were other men who wanted the throne, but were not involved in this)
What Norman source shows the events of 1066?
The Bayeux Tapestry
Where was the centre of life in the Middle Ages?
The local lord's manor.
What percentage of the population were peasantry?
90%
Who used the Feudal system and why?
William the conqueror when he won the Battle of Hastings, to reward those who helped him
What is an indulgence?
Paying off the church for your sins to ensure you go to Heaven.
What were the names of the paintings used to explain to people what Hell and Heaven were?
Doom paintings
What was the Catholic Church's hierarchy? (7 levels)
God
Pope
Abbots and archbishops
Priors and bishops
Friars and priests
Monks and nuns
Ordinary people
What percentage of their earnings did peasants pay to the church every year?
10%
What was the peasantry-church tax called?
Tithes
What did a failure of paying taxes result in?
The wrongdoer's soul would be condemned to Hell.
You would need to be ___________ to go to Heaven
Baptised (You had to pay for these)
What type of land would you have to be buried on for your soul to go to Heaven?
Holy land
Who is the head of the Catholic Church?
The pope
Most important position in the church in Medieval England?
Archbishop of Canterbury
What role did Thomas Beckett have and why?
Archbishop of Canterbury, because Henry II wanted a way to be involved with church punishments, punishments he thought of to be too soft.
Where did the Black Death originate?
China, Asia
What are the three types of black plague?
Bubonic, Pneumonic, Septicemic. Bubonic and Pneumonic had a chance of survival. Septicemic was less common and almost impossible to survive.
Describe B plague
When the bloodstream of a rat was infected, an uninfected rat would bite it and become infected. This infected flea would bite an uninfected human and that human would get the bubonic plague.
Describe P plague
When someone with the plague coughed or sneezed, the germs emitted from this would be breathed in by another and that person would get pneumonic plague.
Describe S plague
Occurs when plague bacteria multiply in the blood. It can be a complication of pneumonic or bubonic or it can occur by itself.
Dates of the Black Death?
1346-1353
How was the Black Plague spread?
Travel and trade routes, especially the Silk Road.
What were the Flagellants?
Religious people who believed God was using the Black Death as a punishment. They punished themselves while singing hymns so God would forgive them and take the plague away.
What did people believe were the cause of the Black Death and how did they try to avoid this?
They thought that bad smells were the reason, so they would carry around flowers and herbs.
What is the Magna Carta?
An English document that prevented the royals from abusing and exploiting their power, a collection of laws written for a fairer nation.
When was the Magna Carta written?
June 1215
The four men who wanted to be king in Edward the Confessor's passing
William of Normandy (blood cousin)
Harold Godwinson (brother in law)
Tostig Godwinson (Harold's brother)
Harald Fairhair (King of Norway)
Main religion in Medieval Europe?
Christianity
How did people with the Black Death believe they could rid themself of their infected blood?
They thought that if they cut themselves and bled, the plague would leave them.
Symptoms of bubonic plague
Buboes (dark boils), blisters, headaches, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, fever, delirium
Symptoms of pneumonic plague
Affected the lungs, fierce coughing, chest pains, sneezing fits, bloody phlegm
Symptoms of septicemic plague
Affected blood stream, excruciating pain, choked on blood
What would have to happen to someone for them to survive the plague?
The buboes would have to burst naturally, releasing black pus.
Hue and cry
A process in which bystanders would have to call out a criminal and chase them. Not doing so was considered illegal
Punishment for women's gossip
The scold's bridle
Punishment for not working hard enough
Flogged (whipped)
Punishment for cheating
Put in the pillory/stocks
Punishment for excessive public drunkness
Put in the pillory/stocks
Punishment for theft
Fines
More work load
Left hand cut off
Right hand cut off
Killed
Punishment for murder (male)
Hanging / beheading. Beheading was for the nobles and hanging for the lower-class as beheading was more swift and painless
Punishment for murder (female)
Burned alive
Punishment for high treason
Hung, drawn and quartered
Punishment for heresy (speaking out against the Church)
Banished if the person was merely non-Christian, burned at the stake if actively against Christianity
Punishment for witchcraft
Burnt at the stake or hung. Burning "purified" them
Punishment for murder (bishop)
Fined
Punishment for baker producing a faulty loaf
Baker would be dragged around town on a sled with fault loaf tied around their neck.
Punishment for poisoning another
Boiled alive in olive oil
Punishment for illegal hunting in the king's forests?
Ears cut off
Four main types of trial?
Compurgation, combat, ordeal, jury
Trial by compurgation
12 people would recite an oath to claim the accused's innocence. Any mistakes meant the accused was guilty.
Trial by combat
An accused person had to fight to prove their innocence. God would reward the innocent person with victory.
Trial by ordeal
People asked God for a sign of innocence. For example, in an ordeal by water, the accused would be thrown into the water. If they floated, guilty. If they sank, innocent.
Trial by jury
A trial in which the issue is determined by a judge and jury, similar to modern day.
Effects of the plague
1/3 to 1/2 people died
Animals died as there were not enough people to look after them
Peasants could demand higher wages as they knew lords were desperate to get his harvest
Fields went unploughed as there weren't enough men to look after them
Villages became deserted
More land for crops
Churches closed down because hard to find new priests
Inflation, for example, food prices went up because it was hard to obtain
Food shortages became common because there were less workers
Village populations greatly reduced
Serfs could demand freedom
When was William the conqueror crowned king?
Christmas Day 1066
Symptoms of the Black Death by day (approx)
Day 1: Buboes appeared under the arms and in the groin
Day 2: Vomiting
Day 3: Patches appeared on the skin as a result of internal bleeding
Day 4: Muscular spasms
Day 5: If the victim was lucky, their buboes would burst and they would survive. Otherwise they would die which was more common.
Common actions taken to prevent the Plague?
Smelling good smells
Living in the sewers
Eating crushed emeralds
Letting leeches suck the infected blood out of you
Cutting the blood out of you
Tying shaved chickens / dried frogs to buboes
Washing yourself with urine
Rubbing a chopped snake over the buboes
Drinking ground up unicorn horn with water
Drinking drinks made of various spices
Which country implemented quarantine laws and as a result effectively eliminated the plague?
Croatia 💯💯
Most important position in Medieval England after the king?
King’s chancellor
When were the “Dark Ages”?
Controversially during the Middle Ages
What was the name of the area bishops would manage?
Diocese
Note 
Flashcard (102)