the lAte middle agessss

day 1: the crusades !!

the age of Faith and the crusades - challenges of the church

  • Some priests were illiterate and could not read their prayers

  • Some village priests married and had families - went against church teaching

  • Some bishops sold positions in the church - called Simony

  • Some bishops cared more about feudal positions than religious duties

  • Some popes had questionable morals (questionable 🤓 )

church reform

  • Pope Leo IX and Gregory VII enforced Church laws against simony and marriage of Priests

  • Reforms continue in the 1100s to 1200s

  • Church resembles a kingdom - Pope is the leader and has top-down control

    • court is called the Curia, the Pope’s advisors

  • Developed canon laws

    • marriage, divorce, and inheritance

  • Pope sent out diplomats to deal with Kings and Bishops

  • Collected taxes in the form of tithe

    • 10% tax income for social programs (SMTH else I cannot seeEEE)

new religious orders

  • Friars were like Monks - vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience

  • friars lived w the rest of society in towns and cities and traveled

  • owned nothing and lived by begging (dam)

    • Dominicans - Spanish priest

    • Dominic emphasized importance of study and scholarship to defend Church

    • Franciscans - Italian preacher - Francis of Assisi taught all creatures were spiritual brothers & sisters

Cathedrals

  • Cities of God

  • Gothic style replaces Romanesque style

  • Romanesque - heavy, dark/gloomy, round

  • Gothic - pointed spires reaching toward the heavens, huge stained glass windows: let in sunlight and told Biblical stories, flying buttress and ribbed vaults hold up structures

Call to Crusade

  • 1093- Byzantine Empire asks for aid from the Pope to stop the Muslim Turks from conquering Constantinople

  • Pope Urban II issued a call for Crusade or Holy War to gain control of holy land - palestine

    • promises forgiveness of sins and a place in heaven for those who died in Crusades

  • The religious fervor of the age of Faith prompted many Christians to join the Crusades over the next 300 years

Goals of the Crusades

  • Pope wants to reclaim the Holy Land and reunited Christendom after the Great Schism

  • Kings and the Church thought the crusades would be an opportunity to get rid of Knights who spent their time fighting one another and damaging Europe

  • Younger sons (who could not inherit from their fathers) had the opportunity to gain land, wealth, position in society, and adventure through the crusades

  • Merchants could profit by making loans, leasing ships, & controlling trade routes

First Crusade

  • 1069-1099

  • Crusaders met at Constantinople in 1097

    • mostly French knights

  • III (/??) prepared for the geography, climate, and culture of the Holy Land

  • 12,000 knights captured Jerusalem in July 1099

  • Massacred Jews and Muslims in the city

  • Carved out four states out of a narrow strip of land from Edesa to Jerusalem (650 miles)

Second Crusade

  • 1145 - 1149

  • Turks had counterattacked and captured the city of Edessa in 1144

  • A new Crusade was organized to recapture Edessa

  • Second Crusade was a failure and the European army marched home 😔

Third Crusade

  • King’s Crusade: 1189 - 1192

  • Kurdish warrior Saladin captured Jerusalem in 1187

  • Europe’s most powerful leaders came together to fight the Muslims

    • Richard the Lionheart of England

    • Philip II of France (argued w Richard and went home (skull))

    • Frederick I (Barbossa) of Germany (drowned in Turkey, his subjects basically pickled him by putting his body in a barrel of vinegar and took him home)

  • Richard and Saladin fought each other to a truce

  • Muslims would continue to control Jerusalem but Christian pilgrims could visit if they were unarmed

Other Crusades

  • Fourth Crusade - 1202 - 1204

    • Crusaders attack and loot the city of Constantinople and never make it to the holy land

    • Replaced the Byzantine Empire with a new kingdom

    • Furthered the split between Catholic and Orthodox Churches

  • Four more Crusades launched and all fail

    • Two Children’s Crusades(not endorsed by pope): both failed with the children dying from cold or starvation or sold into slavery

  • Religious spirit had faded and greed grew

  • 1291- Muslims control all of Holy Land & massacre Christians at Acre, the last Christian stronghold

Political Effects of the Crusades

  • Weakened the Pope and the Church

    • faith in Pope altered due to failure

  • Strengthened the monarchs of Europe

  • Weakened the nobility and feudalism

    • many nobles and knights had left to fight in the Crusades

  • Weakened the Byzantine Empire

    • Constantinople would fall to the Muslim Turks in 1453

  • Left a lasting bitterness between Muslims, Jews, and Christians

  • Women managed estates, shops, and inns

Economic Effects of the Crusades

  • Growth of credit and banking

  • Trade expands between Europe, Middle East, and Asia

    • Europeans want spices, fruits, and cloth

    • Europeans produce more goods to trade to the Middle East

  • Increase in trade brings cultural diffusion

day 2: inquisition and black plague

dark times in the middle ages 😔

reconquista !

  • The Spanish Crusade

  • Spain had been under Muslim control for centuries

  • 1063 - start of the Reconquista - the reconquest of Spain from the Moors (Spanish Muslims)

  • 1085 - recaptured Toledo

  • By 1300, only Granada remained out of Spanish control

  • 1492 - Granada falls and the Reconquista is complete

unification of spain

  • Spain had been divided into three kingdoms - portugal, castille, and aragon

  • 1469 - spain was unified when ferdinand of aragon and isabella of castille marry

  • ferdinand and isabella also finance the voyage of christopher columbus

the inquisition

  • after retaking all of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella began the Grand Inquisition in Spain - goal, a completely Catholic kingdom

    • Church courts used to investigate for heresy
      heretic - person w beliefs different from doctrines of the Church

    • suspect sometimes interrogated using torture

    • some forced to confess for crimes they didn’t commit

    • thousands are executed over the course of about a century and a half

Muslims and Jews

  • Jews and Muslims are forced to convert or expelled from Spain

  • Many Jews go to the Middle East which hurts Spain economically because Jews and Muslims made up a prosperous merchant class

  • a total of 150,000 left Spain during this time

  • By 1492, most Muslims and Jews had been expelled from Spain

the bubonic plague

  • painful swelling called buboes in the lymph nodes (armpits and groin)

  • also known as the Black Death due to the black/purple buboes

  • Also causes necrosis around fingers

    Extremely high fever, heavy sweats, chills, convulsive coughing, delirium, death in 2 or 3 days

  • Bacteria from rats are transferred by fleas to people

origins of the plague

  • originated in the Gobi desert of Mongolia and moved w the mongols in china

  • fleas and rats infested the caravans traveling west along the trade routes

  • the plague spread through Asia, the middle East, and Africa

  • in 1347, a fleet of Genoese trading ships landed in Sicily and brought the disease to Europe

  • spread throughout all of Europe in 3 years because of the unsanitary conditions

danse macabre

  • an artistic style that originated from the Bubonic Plague

  • Thoughts of death surrounded everyone

    • life on Earth is fragile

    • Death is personified as a skeleton or reaper

  • Death unites all people

    • young and old, rich and poor, kings and serfs are all at risk

  • Ring around the Rosie - possibly a folksong from the Black Death (disputed)

Attempts to stop the plague

  • leeches to suck out the ‘bad blood’

  • flagellant brothers

    • Christians who punish themselves using whips to atone for the sins of humanity

    • seek god’s forgiveness

  • pogroms - Jews were blamed for bringing on the plague

    • were driven from their homes and in some cases massacred (uh oh..)

Effects of the Plague

  • Decline in population- town populations fell by 2/3 - ¾ in some places

  • Scarcity of labor - serfs left the manor in search of better wages

  • Trade declined and prices rose

  • Towns freed from feudal obligations

  • Decline of Church influence

    • plagues spread despite prayers, some priests abandoned their duties

  • Helped to break down the feudal system of Europe

day 3, rise of nation states, 4/5/24

the high middle ages : 1000-15000

  • a time when the feudal monarchs in Western Europe moved toward

    • increased power over the nobles and the church

    • more centralized governments

    • the formation of the nations we know today

what to expect?

  • kings strive to increase their power

  • kings begin to raise taxes and maintain standing armies

  • establish strong central government

  • commoners begin to identify King w country/..??

england !

  • Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons, and Vikings had settled and invaded England

  • In 886, an Anglo-Saxon leader by the name of Alfred the Great was able to unite these kingdoms into one nation, which he called Angleland

  • The Anglo-Saxon kings would rule England for the next 200 years

  • In 1066, the Anglo-Saxon ruler, King Edward, died without an heir

  • A council of nobles chose his brother-in-law, Harold, as the successor

  • Duke William of Normandy (England’s cousin) also made claims to the throne

  • Normandy was a land in Northern France that had been conquered by ….

  • William sailed his army across the English Channel in 1066 and in the Battle of Hastings, his army defeated Harold

    • Harold was struck in the eye by an arrow (ouch)

  • On Christmas Day of 1066, William was crowned King of England

  • William divided the land between 200 Norman lords, who swore allegiance to him, but kept 1/5 of the land for himself

William I

  • Brought all of England under his control, unified England, and laid the foundation for a central government

  • Domesday Book - complete census, “every castle, field, and pigpen”

  • Recorded all of England’s territory - made tax collecting more efficient

  • Created the royal ……

Henry II

  • Became king in 1154

  • Established common law - law was the same for all people based on precedent from previous cases

  • Developed an early jury system based on 12 peers who help the Royal Judge decide cases

  • Sent judges to all parts of England to collect taxes, settle lawsuits, and enforce punishments

  • Married to Eleanor of Aquitaine, giving him a fief in France

Henry and Thomas Becket

  • Clashed with the church over whether clergy should be tried in royal or church courts

  • Led to the murder of his friend, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury

King Richard the Lionhearted

  • Son of Henry II

  • War Hero during the Third Crusade

  • Left his brother, Prince John, in charge of England while he was away

  • John becomes king after death of Richard

King John

  • Ruled from 1199-1216

  • Weak military leader

    • called John the Soft-Sword (dam 💀 )

  • Lost Normandy to the French (what an accomplishment my guy)

  • Cruel leader who tried to squeeze tax money from his subjects (wow it keeps getting worse)

  • Fought with nobility over taxes and power

  • Threatened to remove self-charters guaranteeing self-government (Dam)

  • Alienated the Church (wowza)

Magna Carta - 1215

  • The nobles revolted and forced King John to sign a document which listed the demands for certain rights of nobles

  • This document was the magna carta or “Great charter”

  • It guaranteed basic political rights to nobles and safeguarded their feudal rights

  • Later extended to all

Limits on the King’s Power

  • King must:

    • obey the law

    • consult his council

  • King cannot:

    • collect taxes unless approved by council

    • right to a trial by a jury of peers

    • no imprisonment without a witness

  • Influenced the U.S Constitution

Edward I

  • needed to raise taxes for war with France

  • Called for a meeting with representatives from the entire kingdom - nobles, clergy, knights, and burgresses (common citizens of wealth and property)

  • The beginning of a true legislative body in England, The Model Parliament

    • House of Lords: Nobles and Bishops

    • House of Commons: Knights and burgresses

  • At first it was a check on noble power, but it became stronger and became a check on Royal Power

War of the Roses

  • 1455 - 1483

  • Fought between the Yorks (white rose) and Lancasters (red rose) for the throne

  • Richard III is defeated

  • Henry Tudor (Henry VI) ascends the throne (a Lancaster)

    • appoints advisors from middle class

    • uses local government

Day 4, Rise of Nation States (but part two :OOO )

France

  • 1000 CE, France divided into many small feudal territories

  • Hugh Capet (King of Paris) was chosen king in 987

  • Family ruled for 300 years (made the position of king hereditary) - Capetian Dynasty

  • Capetian Kings expanded their power and territory from Paris until France became a united kingdom

  • Phillip Augustus (Phillip II)

    • Seized Normandy from King John of England (omg that terrible king)

    • Established royal officers called Bailiffs who presided over the king’s court and collected taxes

    • Creates a standing army and only a king makes war

  • Lous IX (St. Louis)

    • Created an appeals court which could overturn local judge’s decisions

  • King Phillip IV feuded with the Pope over the right to tax priests

  • Established the Estates-General (similar to English Parliament) in 1302 to gain more support against Pope

  • To gain more support, Phillip included commoners

    • 1st estate- clergy

    • 2nd estate - nobles

    • 3rd estate - commoners

      • usually only wealthy landowners or merchants

Holy Roman Empire (Germany)

  • After Charlemagne, Germany fell apart into many separate states

  • In 936, Duke Otto I of Saxony was able to take control of Germany

  • Crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope after assisting in putting down a rebellion in Rome

Henry IV

  • Fought with the Pope over Lay Investiture (the power to appoint and install bishops in office)

  • Concordat of Worms - treaty between Pope and Holy Roman Empire

  • Only the Pope could appoint and invest, but the Emperor could veto the appointment

Emperor Frederick (Barbossa) and Frederick II

  • Continued the fight to control more of Italy, unsuccessful

    • Lost battle of Legano and German princes gained power

  • Holy Roman Empire fragmented under Frederick II because his interests were in Italy

  • Germany would not unify again for 600 years

Spain

  • Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile married to unify Spain into one kingdom

  • Drove out Muslims and Jews during the Reconquista

  • Used the Inquisition to force all Spanish subjects to become catholic

  • Spanish Empire expands under Charles V

the Hundred Years War - 1337 - 1453

  • Fought between France and England over land rights in France

    • England was trying to regain lost land in France

  • For the first 75 years, England won the important battles of Crecy, Poiters and Agincourt, mostly by using the longbow

The English longbow

  • 6 ft long, 3 arrows in the time it took to fire once with a crossbow

  • Could pierce the armor worn by knights

  • Could fire 15 arrows per minute and hit a man at 250 yards

    • Fatal within 100 yards

  • Called “the machine gun of the Middle Ages”

Joan of Arc

  • 1429, Joan of Arc, a 17 year old French peasant girl, convinced the King of France that God had sent her to save France and drive the English out

  • She led the French in battle and defeated the English at Orleans

  • Captured by the Burgundians (French allies of England) and tried by the English, condemned as a witch and a heretic, burned at the stake in 1431

  • Inspired, the French took the offensive and using a new weapon, the cannon, attacked English castles

  • By 1453, the English had lost all territory in France except the port city of Calais

Effects of the Hundred Years War

  • A sense of nationalism emerged (pride and loyalty to one’s country (ik) ) in France and England

  • Power of the French monarch increased

    • The King was the national leader

  • Knights are ineffective on the battlefield and lose prestige

    • Foot soldiers, long bow, and cannon replace the mounted knight

The End of the Middle Ages

  • most historians consider the end of the Hundred Years War to be the end of the Middle Ages

  • The importance of the Church declined and feudal society with its Knights, castles, and code of Chivalry began to disappear

  • We will see a revolution of commerce next class, the final step to end the Middle Ages

Day 5: Commercial Revolution

Agricultural Revolution

  • By 800 CE, new innovations in farming (and a warmer climate) allowed for production of more food/better crop yields

    • Steel Plow

      • Heavier - cuts deeper into Earth

    • New horse harness

      • did not choke horse

    • windmills

    • 3 field system

      • farmers can use 2/3 of the land instead of ½ at a time

    • Old ox harness - oxen are slower than horses and the ox harness cuts into the windpipe of a horse

    • New horse harness - allows horse to pull 4 to 5 times more weight and plow 3 times as much land as oxen

  • Results of the agricultural revolution - food production increased → well-fed people could better resist disease and live longer → population nearly doubled

Trade

  • Commercial Revolution - The expansion of trade and business

  • As population grew, more items were needed such as iron, wool, furs, silk, spices, etc.

  • No longer were all items made on a self-sufficient manor and some items came from foreign lands

  • New trade routes opened by the Crusades - Italy to Flanders, along the Mediterranean to Constantinople, something in North Africa

Banking

  • Merchants need for credit/cash led to growth of the banking system

  • Church relaxes policy against usury - lending money with interest

  • Exchange rates between countries established

  • Letters of Credit

  • Rise of a money economy which replaced the barter system

  • Weakens feudalism

Towns and Cities

  • Merchants went all over Europe and traded goods - emergence of fairs and festivals near waterways and trade routes

  • Over time, these areas where traders met evolved into towns, and as the population grew, cities, all across Europe

  • These towns were granted charters by the king that allowed them to elect their own leaders and control local affairs in return for money

  • Eventually gain political power

  • High walls built

  • Narrow streets and tall, wooden houses = constant danger of fire (yikes)

  • No sewers, filthy conditions, ideal for spread of disease like the Black Plague (yIKES)

Social Changes

  • More people start to move to cities

  • Middle class - merchants (Burghers) , traders, artisans

  • Many serfs ran away from the manors - Live a year and a day in the town - “town air makes you free’

  • Serfs who stayed on manors became tenants who paid their lord with money

The Guilds

  • A organization of individuals in the same business or occupation working to improve the economic and social conditions of its members

  • Dominated medieval town economy

  • Prevented competition/regulated hours

  • Provided social services

  • 3 levels

    • Apprentice (2 - 7 years) : parents paid for training, lived with master, not allowed to marry

    • Journeyman (day worker) : Worked for a master to earn salary, worked to create a masterpiece ( ✨ )

    • Master : owned his own shop, worked with other masters to protect trade, served in government

Two Types of Guilds

  • Merchant guilds : merchants who controlled number of goods traded, kept prices up, and provided security in training

  • Craft guilds : skilled craft makers who set work standards for quality of work, wages, working conditions, and supervise new workers’ training

    • ex - bakers required to sell loaves of bread at same size and weight

    • glassmakers, winemakers, tailors, bakers, etc.

  • husbands and wives worked together in crafts

  • surnames can be traced to medieval occupations

increase in trade

  • a) more workers needed

  • b) more cash, banking and lending services needed

  • c_merchant’s wealth and ower

  • →expands

  • aa) serfs move to towns, workers paid for labor kings

  • bb) more money for building businesses

  • cc) merchant’s taxes increase

Revival of Learning

  • much of the writing of Greek philosophers had been lost after the fall of Rome and the invasions of western Europe

  • Muslim and Jewish scholars in Spain translated these works from Greek to Arabic and then Latin

  • European contact/trade with the Muslim world due to the Crusades brought back new technology like shipbuilding, navigation, and weapons

  • Europeans acquired this huge new body of knowledge in science, law, philosophy, mathematics, etc

Reason V.S Faith

  • These new ideas, especially from Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, challenged Europeans by emphasizing reason more, to discover basic truths

  • Some Europeans had accepted ideas primarily on faith and the Church’s authority, nd had not emphasized philosophy

Thomas Aquinas and Scholasticism

  • A way of thinking called Scholasticism evolved, that used Greek thinking and reason to support Christian beliefs

  • Scholastics - followers of Aquinas

  • Scholasticism - to use reason to understand faith

  • 1267 - Thomas Aquinas wrote Summa Theologica - basic religious truth that could be supported by logical argument

Medieval Universities

  • As economics and political conditions improved, the need for education expanded

  • Originally meant scholars who met to discuss ideas, not the buildings

  • The Church wanted better educated clergy

  • Monarchs needed literate men for bureaucracies

  • Universities established in England (Oxford) and France

  • Women were not allowed to attend (damn)

  • Education became more secular

  • Bachelor’s Degree took five to seven years to earn

  • Master’s Degree took at least 12 years of study

  • New ideas flowed from scholars at universities

  • Serious scholars used Latin, but writers and poets did not

Literature

  • New writers appeared in the vernacular (every day language) instead of Latin

  • Song of Roland - heroic tale of Charlemagne’s knights

  • The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri - tale of a journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven

  • The Canterbury tales by Chaucer - English pilgrims on the way to visit Thomas Becket’s tomb

  • Beowulf - Important Anglo-Saxons Work

  • Nations embrace song and literature