Medieval: Rise of Cities

Albigensian Crusade

A series of military campaigns initiated in the 13th century aimed at eliminating the Cathar heresy in southern France, characterized by extreme violence and suppression of dissent.

Apostolic Poverty

A Christian practice advocating for living a life free from material possessions, emphasizing reliance on God and community support. It was a significant aspect of various religious movements in the Middle Ages.

Apprentices

Individuals in training for a trade or craft, learning under a skilled master through hands-on experience and instruction.

Artisans

Skilled workers who create products by hand, often specializing in a particular craft such as woodworking, metalworking, or textiles.

Battle of Bouvines

• A pivotal battle in 1214 where King Philip II of France defeated a coalition of English, Flemish, and German forces, asserting French dominance in medieval Europe.

• King Johns Revenge on losing Normandy and Brittany to the French

Siege of Beziers

• Siege and massacre of all people in Beziers, Christian or non-Christian

• Based on a notion that “God will know his own”

Blanche of Castile

• Saint Louis Mother

• Used bureaucracy and economic policy to prevent the French decline

• Religious conservative

Cathars

• Heresy that claimed the church was too powerful and wealthy

• They believed that the world must be rejected to enter Heaven, like a novo-Manichaeism.

• Escaped the Crusade, and fled to the Swiss Alps

Charters

• Legal documents in which kings/nobles gave special rights to the citizens of a city

• Encouraged trade and merchants

Commune

• Elected, oligarchic governments for a city

• A council was elected by the wealthy to represent them

• Reserved for important decisions, like going to war, or raising taxes

Constitutions of Melfi

• Frederick II’s sweeping legal reforms in Sicily

• Compiled the entirety of Sicilian Law into one book, centralizing the state

• Nobles were no longer exempt from taxation

• Proto-advisory parliament created

Cult of the Virgin

• Medieval people saw the Virgin Mary as a protector of heaven and Earth

• The revered model for courtly love, and seen as a mentor

• Became a popular intercessor for prayer

Dominican Order

• Became a cosmopolitan, female friendly order

• Stressed educational training, and the importance of learning from human error

Eighth Crusade

• Crusade that was supposed to go after Egypt, and destroy the Mamluks

• Instead, it was based on the one western ally, the Sultan of Tunis

• Louis and his team sieged Tunis, which was heavily fortified, in July

• They had very little water, all got dysentery, and died.

Emperor Frederick II

• Highly educated, connected with the Arab world

• Made the leader of Sicily

• Excommunicated multiple times from the Church

• Master of diplomacy

Emperor Otto IV

Enrico Dandolo

• Doge of Venice

• Trapped the Crusaders into a major fee, created an alliance with the Sultan

• Promised the Crusaders their debts waived if they sieged Zara

• Excommunicated for killing Christians

Fifth Crusade

Fourth Crusade

• Called immediately after the Third Crusade

• Crusaders went to Venice for supplies, tricked into attacking Zara, a Christian City

• Also included the failed siege of Constantinople, which promised the Crusaders re-communication

  • This led to the fall of the Byzantines

Franciscan Order

• Took a vow of poverty and chastity, traveling and preaching to the people

• Argued that the Church could not be the true church, because they embraced power and wealth

• Were not heretics as they agreed to sell out radicals and denounce apostolic poverty

Guilds

• Formal clubs made of artisans and merchants in a town

  • Specified for each profession, and each town had one

• Vital to the profession, as they regulated the market and encouraged stable competition

• Lobbied local governments for their interests

Inquisition

Journeymen

• Skilled tradesman

• Paid, made the bulk of the goods in the shop

• No security or status

King John

• Administrator, good warrior, but struggled with tenants and allies

• Collapsed the Angevin Empire

• Tried to reform France, but pushed them away

  • Due to the killing of a rebel, and stealing the most powerful Nobles bride

• Lost Normandy and Brittany

  • Failed to recapture these lands

King Philip II Augustus

• Richard the Lionhearts former lover

• French King

• Intelligent, and a brilliant diplomat and administrator

• Expanded the French domain through the Albigensian Crusade, which turned into a Genocide

• Consolidated power in France, building massive Churches and paving roads

King Richard I

• Leader of the Third Crusade

  • Arrested by the Holy Roman Empire while returning home, and held for ransom

• Focused on defending territories in France

Kingdom of Sicily

Magna Carta

• Document created by English nobles, aiming to trap John and the Church from gaining too much power

• John then became a vassal to the Pope, making it void

• Takes the kings power over the Army, Church, and all political and military power

Mamluks

• Rebel group that called for a Muslim counter-crusade against the West

• Shia, which was in contrast to most of Sunni Arab countries

• Defeated the Khwarezmians, and conquered most of the Middle East

Medieval Education

Medieval Shops

Merchants

• Propped up the economies of the cities

• At the top of the newly formed Middle Class

• Soon became wealthier than the nobles

Pope Gregory IX

• Concerned with the rise of Frederick II’s power

• Declared Frederick the anti-Christ after violating agreements and using diplomacy

Pope Innocent III

• Wanted to move the Papacy to Jerusalem, which resulted in the 4th crusade

  • Excommunicated them after the attack on Zara

• Called the Albigensian Crusade

• Temporarily took control over England while John became a vassal

• Prevented Frederick from unifying Sicily and Italy

Pope Innocent IV

• Appointed because Frederick wanted a moderate Pope, even though he was radical

• Tried to assassinate Frederick and his family

• Called a Crusade on Sicily

Popular Religion in Cities

Seventh Crusade

• Louis’ attack on Egypt

  • Egypt was allied with the West, and wanted to drive the Mongols out

• Tricked the Sultan into invading Syria, Louis captured Damietta

• Louis then marched overland towards Cairo

  • He was then pummeled by the vastly superior Egyptian army

• Louis was captured, and held for ransom by the Sultan

Sixth Crusade

• Frederick ignored his excommunication, and went on a crusade of negotiation

• Negotiated with his old Sultan friends

  • Frederick got Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem

  • Frederick had to promise that there would be no more Crusades

• Frederick was excommunicated again, and in return, he induced Apostolic Poverty on the Sicilian Church

Spiritual Franciscans

• Argued that the Church could not be the true church until they renounced their worldly power and wealth

Saint Francis of Assisi

• Son of a merchant in Assisi

  • He gave up his worldly posessions, and begged on the street

  • He wanted to live his life as closely as Jesus did

• He wandered and preached, eventually creating the Franciscan Order

Saint Louis IX

• Started his reign under regency, with his mother ruling

• Famously pious

• Not a very good military leader, but good with the Lord

Sumptuary Laws

• Laws that restricted certain clothing and food by social class

• Intended to stabilize the social order, and make the power of the Nobles clear

Third Crusade

• Triple Crusade, with the French, English, and Holy Roman Empire uniting against the United Islamic City States

• Most of the Holy Roman Crusaders abandoned the trek after Barbarossa’s death

• Richard and Philip then barely sieged Acre

  • They then executed every single person inside the city walls

• Richard then tried to march to Jerusalem

  • He failed, but the Islamic states shattered

Unskilled Labor

• Porters, stevedores, or shippers

• Backbreaking jobs, with very little pay

• Tended to be rougher types, but they could work their way up the social ladder

Waldensians

• Created by Peter Waldo, who gave his riches away to live an apostolic life

• Emphasized the authority of the Bible

• Argued that the Church needed to practice what it preached