Medieval Europe - Intro to AP World History

Middle Ages

Period that Europe entered after the fall of Rome and it was the Age of Faith because of the dominance of Christianity and Islam

Early Middle Ages

500-1000 CE

High Middle Ages

1000-1350 CE

Late Middle Ages

1350-1500 CE

Germanic Tribes

Groups that shared a root language and cultural identity and had strong militaries and originated in Germania

Beowulf

The story of the titular character fighting a series of monsters, representing the values of a Germanic warrior

Weregild

Man price or blood money, a monetary value placed on a person’s life to be paid to their family if they are killed or injured

Franks

Germanic tribe that settled in France, Belgium, and Western Germany and the first Germanic people to convert to Christianity, under their leader Clovis

Clovis

First Germanic tribe leader to convert to Christianity which led to many others converting in Europe

Battle of Tours

Battle between the Franks and the Muslim Moors

Vikings

Germanic tribe that settled in Northern Scandinavia and were warrior people who would navigate the seas on their longships and mount hit-and-run raids along coastline

Leif Erikson

Led a group of vikings and were the first group of Europeans to set foot in North America in 1000 CE

Magyars

People who would settle along the Danube River, in what is now modern-day Hungary

Angles

Group that would be the first to settle in Great Britain after the Fall of Rome

Saxons

Group of people who would initially settle northern Germany, but later move into Great Britain

Anglo-Saxons

Group of people who were a combination of the different groups in Great Britain and would combine to form early England

Visigoths

People who were a group to sack Rome and settled in Spain afterwards, to be thrown out later by the Umayyads

Ostrogoths

People who were another group to sack Rome, but settled in Italy

Medieval Europe Church

A dominant force in people’s lives during the Middle Ages, influencing a variety of things from birth to death and it served as a unifying force during a chaotic time in Medieval society and politics and was initially threatened by various Germanic tribes, but was able to survive due to several groups converting to Catholicism, such as the Franks and Magyars and due to its position, it improved literacy in the different tribes it converted as well as kingdoms, improved transportation, and education

Pope Gregory I

Person who served as pontiff from 509 to 604 CE and helped to develop was would become the Roman Catholic Church in a secular (worldly) power and he collected and administered funds to rebuild roads, raise armies against the Lombards, and help the poor. Developed much of the Latin liturgy and “Gregorian Chant” used in Catholic worship and he commissioned Saint Augustine to lead a mission to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons

Clergy

The religious leaders who oversaw important religious ceremonies and delivered important teachings and it consisted of everyone in the church that held power, from priests to the pope

Church Hierarchy

Pope, Bishops, Cardinals, and then Priests

Pope

Head of the Church

Cardinals

Advisors to the Pope, administrators of the Church

Bishops

Religious leaders of s specific region

Priests

Religious leaders over a parish, village, or town church

Cathedral

A towering church of a diocese, the location with which the bishop is associated and were often important religious and social landmarks within cities that served as a hub for the religious community and were also locations for people to practice their faith, going to pray, take communion, talk to priests, perform baptisms, etc.

Monastery

Place where monks and nuns prayed and gained knowledge

Charles Martel

He defeated the Muslim Moors at the Battle of Tours in northern France in 732 CE and he is the father of Pepin the Short and the grandfather of Charlemagne

Pepin the Short

He fought against the Lombards in Italy, gaining the favor of the Church, starting the Carolingian Dynasty and he is the son of Charles Martel

Pope Leo III

He was a pope who crowned Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor on December 25th, 800 CE

Charlemagne

A Frankish ruler, becoming king of the kingdom in 768 CE, becoming named the Holy Roman Emperor in 800 CE who became the strongest leader in Western Europe and he was a Christian and a strong military general and he loved the arts and education

Charlemagne’s Goal

His goal was to unite all of the Germanic tribes under his rule, achieving this goal by battling such tribes as the Slavs, Lombards, and the Saxons

Charlemagne’s Death

He died in 814 CE, roughly 50 years after taking power, with his son Louis the Pious taking over

Treaty of Verdun

This was signed in 843 CE which split Charlemagne's Holy Roman Empire into three sections after a civil war because Charlemagne’s grandchildren couldn’t agree on who should rule

Feudalism

A system that was established after Charlemagne’s death as a way to help Western European Kings and nobles control their land and it created an economy based on the possession and utilization of land in exchange for services and this system grew out of a need to provide security and defense within the various European kingdoms

Kings

This person would give out land to noblemen known as lords

Lords

These people would grant portions of their land, known as fiefs, to lesser noblemen known as vassals

Vassals

These people paid taxes to and pledged military service to their lord and many vassals had at their disposal or were themselves knights, or warriors on horseback and in exchange for the taxes, lords had their vassals protected and these people would in turn rent out land to peasants who would farm it for them

Knights

These people were medieval gentleman-soldiers from the upper classes, trained in warfare, and equipped with the best military equipment and education and they were often either noblemen or vassals, as they had an important position within medieval European society and they also followed the rules of chivalry, which was a code of ethic that the nobility would have to follow and some qualities that must be followed would be to be courageous, honorable, loyal, and be able to recite poetry

Serfs

These were the majority of people in Medieval Europe, finding themselves at the bottom of the social hierarchy and they were the lowest class, working as farmers, laborers, artisans, and merchants and they were tied to the land, giving their lord most of what they produced as payment for the shelter and protection and they were not enslaved, as they could theoretically buy their way out of poverty and servitude, but this was not common

King Arthur

Legend of a knight in a feudalistic society who had to pull the sword out of the rock

Manor System

This was a self-contained world for the lower class serfs and peasants and it was a basic unit, a walled in, self-contained world located on land belonging to a lord and it would include a manor house, a church, a village, and land with meadows, forests, pastures, and farms and usually housed 15-30 families and the farmland was split into three sections, one for the lord, one for the church, and one for the serfs and peasants to share and laborers would farm all three sections and provide crops and money as payment for being able to use to land

The Crusades

A series of religious wars ordered by the Pope to reclaim the Holy Land

The Black Plague

A disease called the bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s

Byzantine Defeat

Defeated by the Muslim Turks in 1071 at the battle of Manzikert which led to the First Crusade

Pope Urban II

Called a council and gave a speech in 1095 which began the First Crusade

Crusade Effects

* Weakened the Pope and nobles
* Stimulated trade
* Left a legacy of bitterness
* Weakened the Byzantine Empire
* Change in attitudes towards death
* Introduction of the Black Death

Nation-State

This is a defined territory with a single government, consisting of people who share a common culture, history, and language and a nation is a group of people with a common culture in one area and a state is an independent political unit that controls its own affairs (sovereign)

Hugh Capet

Person who was elected by the nobility to be king of France, becoming the first of the Capetian dynasty in 987 CE

France

This nation-state had a monarchy during the medieval period, with the Carolingians and the Capetians being the largest and most influential dynasties and it also had a legislative body known as the Estates General

Estates General

A legislative body in France that had the power to create and enforce taxes and undertake reforms in France and it consisted of three estates, or groups of people: the clergy, nobility, and commoners

Philip II

This person helped expand French control to more modern-french territory

Eleanor of Aquitaine

This person was the Queen of France and Duchess of Aquitaine, also became Queen of England, would become imprisoned by Henry II for supporting her eldest son’s revolt against him

Hundred Years War

S series of conflicts between England and France over who should receive the French throne and English Rulers claimed to have titles and lands in France and when the French king died without a direct heir, the next closest relative was Edward III of England and French nobles did not want an English king, so there was a war over the next 120 years, with an eventual French victory

Joan of Arc

An important French hero during the Hundred Years War and she was a peasant girl who believed God had chosen her to lead the French against the British in the Hundred Years War and she led French armies to victory in Orleans, giving the French a massive morale boost but sh would get captured by the British and burned at the stake for heresy in 1431

England

The Anglo-Saxons and Vikings would settle much of this nation-state and Edward the Confessor, and Anglo-Saxon king of this place would die in 1066 CE, leaving them without an heir, leading to the Norman Invasion of this nation-state

Norman Invasion

William the Conqueror defeated Harold Godwinson and England and took the throne which led to the Norman Dynasty

William the Conqueror

This person claimed the English throne after the death of Edward the Confessor, invading England and he was the Duke of Normandy, which is part of the territory of France that England would have rights to and he became the King of England after the Battle of Hastings

Battle of Hastings

Battle where William defeated Harold Godwinson to become the King of England

King Henry II

He strengthened the English courts by sending royal judges to every part of England at least once a year and he also instituted juries that consisted of 12 neighbors of the accused

Common Law

This is a unified body of law based on previous decisions in the courts that would develop become of King Henry II and an English judge would determine the verdict (decision) of the case, and all future cases involving this specific circumstance would base their decision off of that first one

Parliament

This English body of governing would be instituted as the legislative body of England

Magna Carta

This document stated the king had to follow the same laws as everybody else, as well as addressed the rights of the nobles to their property and it was passed in June 1215 CE

Spain

This nation-state was initially under control of the Muslim Moors following the creation of the Cordoban Caliphate but Ferdinand and Isabella combined their kingdoms to make it

Reconquista

This reconquest was roughly 800 years of war where Christians campaigned the recapture territory from the Muslims in Spain

Spanish Inquisition

This was established to combat heresy and consolidate power in the monarchy in Spain and it did so through brutal torture methods and punishment of those not practicing Christianity or speaking out against it

Renaissance

The period of Medieval Europe where people focused on humanity and the arts and creativeness around the 15th century and they focused on Greco-Roman classical texts and culture

Humanism

This is the dominant value of the Renaissance, with all the others influenced somewhat by it and it placed humanity at the center of the universe, placing emphasis on the study of humans and their activities throughout history, rather than divine or supernatural forces and they wanted a society where everybody was educated enough to read and write, as these individuals would then fulfill their civic duties, as those in the classical period did and they printing press helped

Printing Press

This was developed by Gutenberg in 1450 and it helped the expansion of books and knowledge for humanists

Francesco Petrarch

This person was the “Father of Humanism” due to his influence on the philosophy and his discovery of many classical texts and many of his personal writings were inspired by Greco-Roman texts and he argued that God gave humans their intellect and the free will to make their own decisions

Desiderius Erasmus

This person was the “Prince of the Humanists” as he helped place a humanist approach to classical literature and he was the author of In Praise of Folly, a satirical critique of superstitions and the Western Church and he inspired much of the Protestant Reformation

Individualism

This was the belief that the individual was capable of great things, and should aspire to be well-rounded and skillful in many different things and it gave rise to the idea of the “Renaissance Man” or someone skilled in a variety of pursuits from art and sculpture to engineering and mathematics and an example could be Leonardo da Vinci, a skilled artist and inventor

Leonardo da Vinci

Known as the Renaissance Man because he had all the values needed during the Renaissance

Secularism

This belief was developed as a counterpoint to religion, with value placed on life on Earth and making it as special and comfortable as possible

Scepticism

This belief placed value on Renaissance thinkers to ask questions, consider alternatives, and experiment and it led to some significant scientific discoveries, such as advances in understanding the human body, our place in the physical universe, developments in mathematics and engineering, etc.

Renaissance Art

This was based heavily in the values previously discussed, with artists depicting various secular, humanist, or classical scenes and Renaissance artists were patronized (financially supported) by a variety of different people to portray more scenes depicting the realities of everyday life and real people and it was inspired by Greco-Roman styles and subjects, we see a shift to depict more realistic features VS the ideal figure

Michelangelo

This person was hired by Vatican City to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel

Building that had painted scenes of the Book of Genesis on the ceiling and it was painted by Michelangelo

Statue of David

This is a marble statue of Biblical figure David and it was sculpted in realistic features with lifelike anatomy by Michelangelo

Mona Lisa

This is the most famous painting in the world and its natural landscape portrays secularism and realistic human features, Da Vinci had an understanding of human musculature he used in his art and it was painted by Leonardo da Vinci

Last Supper

This painting depicted a Biblical scene where Jesus declares and apostle will betray him and it used geometric shapes to show realism and humanism and it was also painted by Leonardo da Vinci

Renaissance Literature

This was similar to art in the Renaissance, literature was influenced heavily by the values that developed throughout the time period and many writers came from Northern Europe, compared to the famous artists hailing primarily from Italy, making these individuals representative of the early Northern Renaissance

Sonnets

Petrarch wrote these which were a style of poetry and they were vernacular which means they used native languages

In Praise of Folly

Erasmus wrote this because he was critical of corrupt Church practices and superstitious beliefs

Sir Thomas Moore

An English Author who was a Humanist and he wrote the perfect Utopia which was based on monastic communism

Crusade Causes

* Muslim Turks defeat the Byzantine Empire in 1071
* Pope Urban II’s speech
* Leads to First Crusade

First Crusade

* European Christians head for hold land
* Crusaders claim Jerusalem
* Crusader states are created to protect the holy land
* Leads to Second Crusade

Second Crusade

* Crusader States attacked by Muslims
* Saladin takes Jerusalem
* Leads to the Third Crusade

Third Crusade

* Saladin claims the hold land
* Richard the Lionhearted launched a crusade against Saladin but fails
* Peace Treaty between Saladin and Richard
* Leads to Fourth Crusade

Fourth Crusade

* Pope Innocent calls the crusade on Egypt
* Christians sack Constantinople and divided the lands of the emperor
* End of the Crusades