Test 9- Middle Ages

medieval

relating to the Middle Ages

frontier

 limit of settled land beyond which lies wilderness, 

missi dominici

Charlemagne’s law enforcement

feudalism

dominant social system in medieval Europe, nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were tenants of the nobles

vassal

a holder of land by feudal tenure on conditions of homage and allegiance.

feudal contract

the agreement between a nobleman and a king or queen in which the nobleman pledged his allegiance and military service to the monarch in exchange for land or protection from invading countries.

fief

The land and rights given to vassals

Chivalry

the medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code.

troubadour

wandering medieval poets

manor

a unit of land, originally a feudal lordship, consisting of a lord's estate and lands rented to tenants.

serf

an agricultural laborer bound under the feudal system to work on their lord's estate.

tithe

one tenth of annual produce or earnings, formerly taken as a tax for the support of the Church and clergy.

Sacrement

a ceremony regarded as especially sacred,

secular

 not subject to or bound by religious rule;

canon law

the body of law developed within Christianity, particularly Roman Catholicism, governing the church.

excommunication

officially excluding someone from participation in the sacraments and services of the Christian Church.

interdict

officially excluding large groups sometimes entire kingdoms from participation in the sacraments and services of the Christian Church,

simony

the buying or selling of clergy privileges, for example pardons or benefices.

friar

wandering preachers/ traveling priests specifically a member of any of certain religious orders of men

tournament

a sporting event in which two knights (or two groups of knights) jousted on horseback with blunted weapons, each trying to knock the other off, the winner receiving a prize.

**In What ways did the Middle Ages change from the Classical Period?**

Middle ages had: decentralized and local government, society based on agriculture, Kings have little to no power, low and poor life expectancy, poor economics and mostly local trade, low level of skills and high church influence/power

What was the geography and resources of Europe?

Europe is relatively small, and from 500 to 1000 ACE had small (ish) population but was full of resources; lots of forests and rivers; soil perfect for agriculture

Who and what were the germanic kingdoms?

Originally farmers and herders with no written laws, cities, or written customs. lived in small communities, elected kings for war, warrior nobles swore loyalty in exchange for weapons and loot

Who were the franks?

**400 - 700 ACE** western europe was divided into tiny kingdoms ruled by germanic tribes, the strongest and biggest being the **Franks.**

**486 ACE** Clovis king of the franks conquered northern gaul, preserved roman legacy, converted to Christianity and then converted everyone else to Christianity and gained an ally (the church)

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**What were two results from Clovis’ conversion to Christianity?**

the expansion of the frank empire and started a new pattern for European rulers. many people were more willing to join and live under his empire because “there were already many Christians in Gaul and “ introduced Christianity to the Franks.

before to Clovis, missionaries or monks preached Christianity. Now as a king and warrior, Clovis expected his people to become Christians.”

Why was the victory of Charles Martel at Tours a turning point in history?

The islamic empire was closing in on europe, church freaked out and viewed this as a threat to Christianity, and called on Charles Martel to stop them

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It sealed Europe as an area under Christian influence. The Islamic empire had been rapidly expanding and was spreading its influence closer and closer to Europe. Had the battle of tours been lost by the Europeans, “ Europe could have come under Islamic influence and not Christian influence.” 

Who was Charlemagne?

\~**800 ACE** western europe was united under charles martkes grandson Charlemagne (“Charles the great”) Reunited ancient roman empire

Pope Leo the third called on Charlemagne to quell rebellion in rome, once he did the pope crowned him “Holy roman emperor”

Christian pope crowned germanic king as successor to roman empire ➡causing strife with current roman emperor; helping widen the split between east and west

How did Charlemagne gain more power during the Middle Ages?

was by defeating the Lombards in Rome,

defeating the Saxons in Germany,

pushing the Islamic empire farther away from Europe.

cemented himself as a fearsome military ruler

“by 774 CE he defeated the Lombards in Italy and … after their defeat they could only save their lives by being baptized to the Christian faith …

. By 800 CE,  Charlemagne had built the largest empire in Europe since the fall of Rome.”  

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Who was Alcuin?

Scholar from york, brought over to fix illiteracy within the empire, created the curriculum at Achaean

How did Charlemagne and Alcuin influence education?

Setting up royal schools in which all clergy attending

Alcuin devised a course of study that was intended to train the clergy and the monks”

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before - clergy were illiterate and copied manuscripts over, often with many mistakes because they didn’t know what they were supposed to write

How did Charlemagne change writing?

creating scriptorias, standardized a writing system and standardized medieval Latin. Because prior to the standardization of medieval Latin and a comprehensive writing system, monks would “lighting was poor, the monk's hands were cramped by cold weather and there was no standard scholarly language.” Thus creating a more united empire.

How did Charlemagne run his government?

Tried to create one united empire (no separation of church and state), worked closely with the church to spread Christianity

set up **missi dominici** to enforce the law

powerful nobles were appointed as rulers of local lands

he constantly traveled to make sure everything ran smoothly

What were the reasons why Charlemagne’s empire “declined in strength within a generation or two following his death in the year 814”?

a) he was such a brilliant leader that those emperors who came after him seemed inferior.

b) the repeated foreign invasions; “ which disrupted trade between the Franks and Italy. Their raids were so terrible that European peasants would burn their fields and destroy their villages rather than give them over.”

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his death plunged europe into a 30 year power struggle

**843 ACE** his grandsons struck the **treaty of verdun** splitting his empire in 3.

What was Charlemagne’s legacy?

Extended Christianity into northern europe, furthered the blending of roman and German and christian traditions and set up strong and efficient governments

How is feudalism different from centralized government?

instead of one person having majority of the power many people have it but it’s not as strong. Basically “hundreds of smaller, local and little governments.

Why did feudalism emerge?

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As a result of kings doing nothing ➡ people were not protected from the repeated invasions and needed to fend for themselves

How did feudalism operate?

everyone has a place

monarch ➡dukes / counts ➡ vassals➡peasants; not as cut and dry, most people could be a vassal and a lord

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vassals often pledged loyalty to many people which is a problem; led to a first loyalty which trumped the others

What is the manor system?

Economic system that defined the Middle Ages in Europe. Had deep connections to feudalism, but it is a distinct entity. The lord exercised legal and economic control over the peasants. Trade declined after the decline of Rome, so manors filled an economic need. THEY ARE SELF-SUFFICIENT!

Who were the knights?

war = livelihood Nobles sons that were trained from boyhood to become mounted warriors, fought for lords and ended up participating in tournaments in later centuries

How did you become a knight?

At the age of seven, noble sons were sent away to their father’s lords house to be trained, they were taught how to ride, fight, keep weapons and armour clean and useful. Discipline was heavy and laziness was heavily punished; at the end of the training was knighted by an older knight with the blunt of the sword on the shoulders.

What was the relationship between the lord and the vassal?

One of mutual obligations:

Lord provided land and shelter, vassals provided 40 days of military service plus taxes money and advice

What was the role of Noblewomen in feudal society?

Took over mens duties when they went to war, ran household, oversaw peasants, sometimes even riding into war. Like noble sons they were sent away at a young age to be trained to be proper wives, could not inherit property unless only given as dowry and could only keep it if husband died first learned how to spin and weave.

How did the Code of Chivalry influenced knights and vassals?

Adopted a code of honor and morals; need to be brave, loyal, fight fairly, treat captured humans well. Only applied to other nobles. Called for women to be protected and cherished and influenced western ideas of romance because of troubadours

Who were the Peasants?

Lowest class in feudal society; basically slaves and were bound to the land, could not leave without lord’s permission, when lord died or manor turned over to a new lord peasants went with the manor

Lord provided protection from repeated invasions

What was Peasant life like?

very hard, consisted mostly of physical labor such as working the field or fixing whatever the lord needed to fix, worked from sunup to sundown, and at night when they slept in their one room huts the animals slept with them. Disease was common, food was scarce, and life expectancy was low

How does the church fit into medieval society?

Biggest achievement was making people christian; missionaries were common and women played a big role by marrying pagan kings and bringing them into the faith

What was the village church?

Social and religious center, eventually evolved into schools taught by the parish priests, the wealthy took pride in their church building it with stone, some housed relics and people paid pilgrimage to those. Peasants gossiped and danced

Daily life revolved around christian calendar and it’s holidays

church required tithe (10% tax)

Who was the Parish Priest?

Local people’s contact with the church; celebrated mass and administered sacred sacraments of the church. Preached gospels, teachings of the church, guided people, offered assistance, part of daily life

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people believed their participation in church and belief = eternal salvation

How did the church view women?

In the eyes of god: women = men

On earth = susceptible to sin and needed to be guided: '“daughters of eve”

offered mary as the ‘ideal woman’

tried to protect women by setting minimum marriage age and fines for men who beat their wives but ended up punishing women harsher for the same crimes as men

What role did monks and nuns play in medieval life?

People who devoted their lives to the faith, taught, preached, and sang gospel, disciplined individuals.

What was the Benedictine rule?

A set of rules for monks to live by; benedict the monk believed hard work = salvation

divided days into periods of chores, emphasized physical labor

monks/nuns had to obey head of church (abbot/abbotess), took a vow of poverty, chastity, and purity

What were covenants?

Women gained some semblance of freedom by joining covenants, women could not become priests, instead became nuns, were able to write and often speak their mind (due to prophetic visons) and were highly respected and turned to for advice

How did the power of the church grow?

After the fall of rome carved a special place as authority; controlled worldly and spiritual life

How did the church influence and interact with feudal society?

Popes claimed papal supremacy (authority over all secular rulers) High positions in church were nobles, some popes owned vast lands including the papal states in italy

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church rulers were closely linked with feudal rulers, who often appointed them to office

How did the church enact it’s religious authority?

By declaring holy days in which lords could not fight, thus declining warfare in the 1100s, regulating people’s lives through interdict and excommunication

What were the churches reform movements?

As wealth increased power decreased; nuns and monks were leaving their vows of poverty when claiming lands and estates given to them by nobles

Pope george the seventh extended Cluniac reforms, outlawed marriage and simony (selling of church relics) called on christians to renew their faith

What were the Cluniac reforms

**Albert Berno** reformed and revived Benedictine rule, nobles were no longer allowed to interfere with church matters, only the church could decide it’s officials and filled it with pious and devoted men

What were the preaching orders?

Dominic and Francian orders, set up orders of friars women also participated by starting religious groups

What was the role of Jews in europe

Existed across Europe, preserved oral and written jewish laws in their homes, flourished under muslim rule in spain (Sephardim jews) were in important courts and officials

during middle ages migrated to eastern europe and became known as Ashkenazi (German) jews

How were the jews affected by anti semitism?

Christians and Jews coexisted peacefully, respected but taxed heavily. Eventually church persecuted them for being the cause the death of jesus, as the church’s power increased, jews rights decreased, and were barred from most jobs except for money lending and then economic problems were also blamed on them (so were disasters)

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migrated to eastern europe as a response