High Middle Ages: Land, People, Trade, Learning, and Culture

These flashcards cover key developments of the High Middle Ages, including agricultural innovation, peasant life, aristocratic culture, the revival of trade and cities, university education, scholastic thought, literature, and Romanesque/Gothic architecture.

What two factors primarily improved farming conditions in the High Middle Ages?

A warmer climate and expansion of arable land.

Which century is considered the peak of medieval farming in Europe?

The 13th century.

What metal’s wider use spurred new agricultural and military tools in medieval Europe?

Iron.

Name the heavy iron-tipped plow that transformed agriculture north of the Alps.

The carruca (heavy wheeled plow).

Why was the heavy wheeled plow so important for northern European soils?

It could turn over the region’s heavy clay soils more effectively than earlier wooden plows.

Besides the plow, what two types of mills spread widely in medieval Europe?

Watermills and windmills.

What advantage did windmills offer over watermills?

They could operate where no rushing water existed and were not hindered by freezing rivers.

Which new crop-rotation practice replaced the two-field system and boosted yields?

The three-field system.

How did the three-field system prevent soil exhaustion?

By leaving only one-third fallow each year, allowing continuous nutrient recovery.

What growing 13th-century social change encouraged lords to rent land rather than exercise direct labor services?

Increasing demand for agricultural produce and the rise of a money economy.

What determined the rhythm of peasant labor during the year?

The agricultural seasons.

What foods formed the staple of the peasant diet throughout the year?

Bread and grains (supplemented seasonally by meat, legumes, and vegetables).

Which three major Christian feast days provided most medieval peasants with holidays?

Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.

In what structure did key life events such as baptism, marriage, and burial occur for peasants?

The village church.

Describe the typical construction material for peasant cottages.

Wood frames with wattle-and-daub walls and thatched roofs.

How many rooms did most peasant homes contain?

Usually one or two rooms (one for living/cooking, one for sleeping).

What was a peasant woman’s crucial household responsibility that often determined family survival?

Managing food production and household resources (spinning, weaving, cooking, gardening).

Which three social groups did medieval writers often say made up society?

Men of prayer, men of war, and men of work.

Define ‘aristocracy’ in the context of medieval Europe.

A hereditary warrior nobility that dominated political and social life.

List any three noble ranks found in medieval Europe.

Possible answers: kings, dukes, counts, barons, viscounts.

What Church initiative of the 11th century tried to curb knightly violence against noncombatants?

The Peace of God movement.

To what broader endeavor was knightly aggression redirected after Church intervention?

The Crusades against Muslim powers.

Besides residence, what defensive structure symbolized noble power in the countryside?

The castle.

Who managed estates when noble men were away at war?

Noble women (ladies of the castle).

Name the famous 12th-century noblewoman who married both the king of France and the king of England.

Eleanor of Aquitaine.

What moral and behavioral code for knights emerged in the 11th–12th centuries?

Chivalry.

What was the main purpose of aristocratic marriages?

To forge alliances, increase wealth, and produce heirs.

When was a medieval marriage considered legally binding?

After consummation (physical union).

Which Italian city pioneered the revival of Mediterranean long-distance trade around the 10th century?

Venice.

What goods did Italian merchants acquire in the East during the Crusades?

Silks, sugar, and spices.

Which region, famed for fine woolen cloth, became northern Europe’s major manufacturing zone?

Flanders (modern Belgium and northern France).

What event served as the great commercial marketplace linking northern and southern Europe?

The Champagne Fairs in France.

What economic term describes the 13th-century expansion of trade, banking, and new business practices?

The Commercial Revolution.

Why did many lords grant towns charters of liberties?

To earn new revenues from prosperous townspeople.

What was a ‘commune’ in medieval urban life?

An association of townspeople sworn to self-govern and secure local liberties.

Which occupational organizations dominated manufacturing in medieval cities?

Craft guilds.

Give one negative environmental consequence of rapid medieval urban growth.

Severe pollution from industry and household waste thrown into rivers.

What epidemic later exposed the unhygienic conditions of medieval cities?

The Black Death (14th-century plague).

Which two groups benefited from expanded market opportunities and often worked in small trade?

Urban women and artisan families.

What new type of institution, first appearing in the 12th century, offered higher education?

The university.

Which Italian city hosted Europe’s first university specializing in Roman law?

Bologna.

Which northern European university received its charter from King Philip Augustus around 1200?

The University of Paris.

What were the seven subjects of the medieval liberal arts curriculum?

Grammar, rhetoric, logic (the trivium) and arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music (the quadrivium).

Approximately how old were students when they began university studies?

Between 14 and 18 years old.

Which Greek philosopher’s works flooded western Europe in the 12th century, challenging theologians?

Aristotle.

What medieval intellectual movement sought to reconcile faith with reason?

Scholasticism.

Who wrote ‘Sic et Non’ and emphasized doubting before believing?

Peter Abelard.

Identify the two camps in the medieval ‘problem of universals.’

Realists (influenced by Plato) and Nominalists (influenced by Aristotle).

Which Dominican theologian composed the ‘Summa Theologica’ to synthesize Christian thought?

Thomas Aquinas.

What was the most popular vernacular poetic form celebrating courtly love in 12th-century Europe?

Troubadour poetry.

What architectural style dominated church building in the 11th–12th centuries with thick walls and barrel vaults?

Romanesque architecture.

Name two structural innovations that enabled the soaring height of Gothic cathedrals.

Ribbed vaults and pointed arches (often aided by flying buttresses).

Why was stained glass so prominent in Gothic cathedrals?

Medieval thinkers saw natural light, filtered through colored glass, as a symbol of divine light.