Western Civilization Final Review

the Crusades

holy wars fought between Christians and Muslims; they were the first armed Christian pilgrimage and the first official Christian holy war in history

background of the Crusades

The Byzantine Emperor, Alexius I, asked Pope Urban II for help against the Seljuk Turks after they took over Palestine and started making travel for Christian pilgrims more difficult. The Pope saw this as an opportunity to provide papal leadership for a great cause: to rally the warriors of Europe for the liberation of Jerusalem and the Holy land from the Muslims.

Pope Urban II

he called the first crusade and offered clemency during the 11th century in Rome. by initiating the crusade, he left us with consequences by beginning ideas of holy war and worsening a conflict between Christians and Muslims that still exists today

the First Crusade

occurred from 1095-1099

the capture of Antioch (1098)

the capture of Jerusalem (1099)

The Latin Principalities (Edessa, Antioch, Tripoli, and Jerusalem)

the Fourth Crusade

occurred from 1202-1204

the sack of Constantinople

the Latin Christian Government (1204-1261)

weakened the Byzantium

the impact of the Crusades

they left an inheritance of deep bitterness in Christian-Muslim relations. each side dehumanized the other, viewing those who followed the other religion as unbelievers. the crusades shocked and dismayed the Muslims. they also proved to be a disaster for Jewish-Christian relations and legal restrictions on Jews to increase gradually throughout Europe.

Philip IV

political figure in France (the Fair) r. 1285-1314

• the Estates General (1302)

  • included the representatives from the clergy, the nobility, and townspeople

  • helped diffuse each group’s power (allowed kings to maintain control)

Edward I

political figure in England from 1272-1307

• the Parliament (1295)

  • barons and church lords → the House of Lords

  • Knights and burgesses → the House of Commons

the Romanesque Style

flourished in Europe (C. 1000-1150)

features:

• rectangular basilica shape

• barrel vaults and cross vaults

• massive pillars and stone walls

  → heavy, serious, and solid

the Gothic Style

started in the Ile-de-France (the 12th century)

features:

• pointed arches

• ribbed vaults

• flying buttresses

• stained-glass windows (rose windows)

  → the interior invoked light, harmony, and order

the Mongols

pastoral nomads from central Asia (modern-day Northern Mongolia)

carved out the largest contiguous land empire in world history

attacked China, central Asia, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Germany

conquered Iran and Iraq

used sophisticated military tactics and mobility

left a trail of depopulation & devastation

Chinngis Khan

“Universal Ruler”

what - united the various Mongol groups into one confederation, developed the army and conquered Asia

where - Central Asia

when - C. 1200

significance - he is known for increasing connections between Eurasian regions and unifying the East and West

the Black Death

bubonic plague that originated in South/Central Asia

• spread by flea-invested, plague-carrying rats that accompanied Mongol armies and merchant caravans

• one of the worst natural disasters in human history

• recurred every 10 to 12 years throughout the 14th century and continued until the 18th

the Crisis in the Church

a clash between popes and emperors

Pope Boniface VIII vs. King Philip IV of France

Pope Clement V (1305-1314)

the Avignon Papacy

who - Popes

what - decline in papal prestige

where - Avignon, France

when - C. 1300

why - decreased the status of the catholic church and the papacy

the Great Western Schism

Urban VI (supported by England, resided in Rome) vs. Clement VII (supported by France, resided in Avignon)

• excommunicated each other, causing schism

the Council of Pisa (1409)

• deposed both popes and elected Alexander V

• popes refused to step down, resulting in 3 popes

the Council of Constance

ended the schism

elected Martin V as Pope (r. 1417-1431)

• recognized by every significant ruler

the Renaissance

“rebirth” a period of innovation in culture, art, and learning that took place between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries

major features of the Renaissance

• urban society

• age of recovery

• revival of Greco-Roman culture

• emphasis on individual ability

the Intellectual Renaissance

many advances in education and many important thinkers came about during this time period

focused a lot on humanist education and producing complete citizens who could participate in the civic life of their communities

individualism

emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual, promotes realizing one’s goals and desires, valuing independence and self-reliance

secularism

position that religion should not influence civic and state affairs

Renaissance humanism

an intellectual movement based on the study of the classical literary works of Greece and Rome

education of the Intellectual Renaissance

grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy (ethics) and history = studia humanitas

mathematics, logic, and astronomy

a “Renaissance man”

thought to be a practical preparation for life. Its aim was not to create great scholars but to produce complete citizens who could participate in the civic life of their communities.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Italian historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist, and writer

what - he wrote the Prince which advised rulers to use deceit and violence when needed to achieve their goals

where - Italy

when - late 1400s early 1500s

why - he influenced rulers throughout all of history because of what he wrote in the Prince

the Artistic Renaissance

Artists sought to imitate the art of ancient Greece and Rome

tried to master realistic depiction of people and objects

• dynamic poses, expression, gesture, interaction, perspective and depth

Filippo Brunelleschi

credited with creating the linear perspective by using a horizon line, parallel lines and a vanishing point to portray depth and space realistically

designed chapels and the cathedrals

early 15th century

Donatello

created the west’s first major nude statue since Roman times (David)

Leonardo da Vinci

painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, and writer

considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived

universal genius, “Renaissance man”

the Holy Roman Empire

one of Europe’s largest medieval and early modern states (962-1806)

a confederation of small and medium-sized political entities

the Imperial Diet (elected the Holy Roman Emperor)

Charles V

• Ruler of both the spanish empire from 1516 

• Ruler of the holy roman empire from 1519 

• Dealt with ottoman incursions, religious distractions, and the difficulties of ruling a wide spread of territory 

• Brought under his rule extensive territories in western, central, and southern europe, and the spanish viceroyalties in the americas and asia 

• Voluntarily stepped down by a series of abdications between 1554 and 1556

the European Expansion

the long expansion of European power to the rest of the world that began in the 15th century

European states expanded rapidly and aggressively due to their relative poverty and pursuit of direct access to luxury goods

motives of the European Expansion

• fantastic lands

  • The Travels of John Mandeville

• economic motives

  • new sources of wealth

  • overseas exploration

• religious zeal

means of the European Expansion

• maps

  • Ptolemy’s Geography (1477)

• ships and sailing

  • hybrid ships

• improved navigational techniques

  • astrolabe

  • compass

• military technology

  • gunpowder

  • cannons

the Columbian Exchange

the enormous widespread exchange of plants, animals, human populations, manufactured goods, precious metals, communicable diseases , and ideas between the Eastern and Western hemispheres that occurred after 1492

significance of the Columbian Exchange

one of the most significant events in the history of world ecology, agriculture, and culture

the Protestant Reformation

a religious movement that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of Protestant churches

the permanent split within the Catholic Church that resulted in multiple competing denominations of Christian practice and belief

causes of the Protestant Reformation

• The continuing crisis of the catholic church 

  • Ritual, secularization, wealth, greed, corruption, abuses, scandals (sale of indulgences, simony, pluralism) 

• Cultural 

  • Society (better educated, more humanistic and secular, critical of the church)

  • Growing individualism 

• Technological 

  • Printing press (helped spread new ideas) 

• Spiritual 

  • Growing piety, mysticism, and religious fervor 

• Political 

  • England (a political instability) 

  • The holy roman empire (decentralization) 

Martin Luther

what - criticized church practices, rejected pope authority, wrote 95 theses, argued the bible provided all necessary teachings for salvation (“by scripture alone”), preached idea that salvation could not be attained through priests or donations but only through faith (“by faith alone”)

where - Germany

when - C. 1500

why - Luther’s ideas led not only to the establishment of Protestantism, but also other protestant denominations. his ideas became central beliefs of Protestant theology and continue to shape it.

Jean Calvin

what - laid out doctrine of predestination, argued that God had preordained everyone to either salvation or damnation, created Calvinism with strict moral code, discipline, and pure religious practices, fused church and society into the theocratic reformed church

where - Geneva

when - 16th century

why - Calvin’s ideas contributed to the broader development of Protestant theology and the understanding of the relationship between church and state; his insistence on simplicity and plainness in worship influenced the appearance of Reformed churches; his concepts still continue to shape Calvinism

Henry VIII

what - broken the official English church, renamed the church of England - away from the Roman Catholic Church, he then seized great Wealth from English Catholic institutions and used it to fund his military buildup

where - England

when - C. 1500

why - his ideas initiated religious churches in England; his break with the Roman Catholic Church led to English Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England

the Catholic Reformation

while it began as a reaction against Protestantism, it culminated in reforming the Church itself

the culmination of the Reformist trends that had been present in the Catholic Church for centuries before Martin Luther set off the Protestant break with the Roman Church

aims of the Catholic Reformation

to reform the church

to secure church’s traditions

the Council of Trent

Church officials debated all of the articles and charges that had been leveled against the Church

reaffirmed traditional Catholic teachings

• scripture and tradition

• faith and good works

• Sacraments

also started educating priests through seminaries (colleges for new priest training)

tactics of the Catholic Reformation

Pope Paul III commissioned a report to evaluate the possibility and necessity of reform, which concluded that there were numerous abuses abuses within the Church that had to be corrected. the essential beliefs and practices of the Church were to be judged entirely correct and Luther (and soon, Calvin) was judged to be entirely wrong.

the Inquisition

Pope Paul III approved the creation of a permanent branch of the church devoted to holding Protestantism in check: the Holy office. It existed to search out signs of Heresy, including Protestantism, in areas under catholic control. It had the right to subject people to interrogation and torture and in extreme cases, to execute them.

the Index of Forbidden Books

created by Pope Paul IV, would go on to form the basis of royal censorship in all Catholic countries for the next two centuries. a list of books forbidden by Roman Catholic churches as dangerous to the faith or morals of Roman Catholics. He also enforced that the Bible was not to be translated into vernacular languages but instead had to remain in Latin, an explicit rejection of the Protestant practice of translating the Bible into everyday language for Christians to read and interpret themselves.

the Thirty Years War

The most devastating religious conflict in European history

dragged on for decades and saw the reduction in the population of German lands between 20-40%

saw the most horrific acts of violence, the greatest loss of life, and the greatest suffering among both soldiers and civilians of any of the religious wars of the period

causes of the Thirty Years War

• Religious dispute 

  • Catholics vs protestants 

  • The peace of augsburg (1555) 

    • Contributed to tension between the catholics and the protestants 

    • Granted right to the secular princes to settle the religion (catholicism or lutheranism) within their own territories

      • Oppression 

    • Failed to recognize catholicism 

• Political rivalries 

  • Holy roman empire 

    • Wanted to extend its power under one ruling family (Habsburg)

    • Relied too much on the catholic church and rome

  • Sweden, denmark, german states 

    • Wanted to gain control over the baltic sea 

  • France 

    • Allied with the protestants across europe 

  • Spain 

    • Supported all anti-protestant groups 

results of the Thirty Years War

already-weak centralized power of Holy Roman Empire further reduced

Catholicism itself benefited from the early success of the Habsburgs. Roughly half of Western and Central Europe was Protestant in 1590 but only one-fifth of it was in 1690; in large part because few people remained protestants in Habsburg lands after the war

The Thirty Years War is thought to have claimed between 4 and 12 million lives. Around 450k people died in combat. Disease and famine took the lion’s share of the death toll. Estimates suggest that 20% of Europe’s people perished, with some areas seeing their population fall by as much as 60%.