Feudalism and Medieval Europe Vocabulary

Day 82 AND 83: Focused on the origins of feudalism, discussing the socio-economic structures that defined Medieval Europe.

A clear and strict social order system is estabished when the fall of Rome hits people look for stability, money, and food!

• Turn towds the royalty which eventually turn into the kings!

• Excahnging food for loyalty ex kinights

• Establishing, peasants, knights, lords/vassals, kings

• Kings give fiefs (LAND!) to vasals, knights give loyalty to vasallas,

• Peasants worked land for the novles and knights offered them protection

• Fief: LAND (given from KINGS) to lords and vassals

Fedualism/Feual Order/The Feudal Syatem: Social and political system that was used during the Middle Ages

Manorsalism

• Economic system used in the Middle Age

• deep connections to deudalism

• Lords = legal control over peasants

• SELF SUFFICENTE

  • YOU did this for blah blah they did this, etc

  • Everything was done directly on the manor, where peasants worked the land in exchange for protection and a place to live.

  • BAD LIVING CONDITIONS

    • TRADE DECLINGED w/ fall of Rome so manors filled economic need

  • NO ONE LEFT —> ABSOLUTLEY NO TRADE!

Kings give land to nobles, they give it to knights, who give land and protection to knights

• THINGS IN EXCHANGE

The feudalism and clergy have a TONNN of similarities

• Clergy: the body of people ordained (offically give someone religious duities)

• Laity: the body of religous worshipers

• Excommunication; exclusion from the church. Not allowed to get sacraments and thus CANT get to heaven

Monasteries

• Places of strict religous worship

  • HELPED spread good role modlees

• Duties of Monks = purtiy, chastisy, DEDICATE THEIR LIFE,

st. pETER?

• one of the twelve disiples of jesus

• bishop of rome

• because he was crucified in Rome it is HOLY!

Vatican City

• Its own country

• st. Peters Basilica

  • Where the conclave happnes

  • All the cardinals go to the sistine chapel

Papal Supremacy: Doctrine that gives the Pope as Christ’s representative on Earch, FULL power over the Christian church

Timeline of the Franks

Clovis : First Chrsitian, king of franks

Charles Martel: Ruler of Francia

751 End of Merovingian Dynasty

Merovingian Dynasty: 509-751AD

Carolingian Dynasty: 751-843AD

Feudalism: Origins and Definitions

• Feudal Latin Root: "Feudum" (Fief or Land Grant)

  • The term "feudum" (plural: "feuda") appeared in medieval Latin around the 9th century.

  • It referred to a fief—a piece of land granted by a lord to a vassal in exchange for loyalty and service.

• Old French: "Feodal" (Relating to a Fief)

  • By the 12th–13th century, the term evolved into "féodal" in Old French, meaning pertaining to fiefs or the feudal system.

• Modern English: "Feudalism" (17th–19th Century)

  • The term "feudalism" was coined in the 17th century by historians and political theorists to describe the medieval system of land tenure and vassalage.

  • It became widely used in the 19th century to characterize the economic and social hierarchy of medieval Europe.

Aim

• How did Feudalism provide stability in Medieval Europe?

DO NOW Scenario: Post-Roman Empire Collapse

• Situation: The Roman Empire has fallen, leading to a absence of government services, law, order, and protection.

• Your Role: A member of a poor family lacking food, resources, medicine, clothing, and shelter, making you vulnerable to attack.

• Objective: Find assistance from one of four options:

  • Clergy (Priests)

    • Strict followers of Christianity.

    • Lots of land but few farmers.

    • No military to defend themselves.

    • Few resources.

  • Wealthy Aristocrats

    • Former nobles with vast amounts of land many workers and plenty of land.

    • A few bodyguards.

    • Interested in maintaining safety and power.

    • Plenty of resources.

  • Former Military Officers

    • Former soldiers of the Roman Empire.

    • Interested in power.

    • Not a lot of land but plenty of military strength.

    • Small amount of resource supplies

  • Criminal Gangs

    • Criminals with a lot of resources.

    • Not much land.

    • Plenty of military stores.

    • Interested in obtaining more resources and power.

Feudalism: A Social and Political System

• The Feudal Order

• The Feudal System

  • Social and political system that was used during the Middle Ages.

Manorialism: An Economic System

• Manor System

  • Economic system used during the Middle Ages.

  • Has deep connections to feudalism but is a distinct regime.

  • Lord exercises legal and economic control over the peasants.

  • Trade declined after the Fall of Rome, so manors filled an economic need.

  • Self-sufficient!

Feudal Pyramid of Power

• KING

  • LAND

• NOBLES

  • LAND

  • PROTECTION and MILITARY SERVICE

• KNIGHTS

  • LAND

  • MONEY AND KNIGHTS

• PEASANTS

  • FOOD AND SERVICES

Hierarchy of the Feudal System

• KING

• LORDS BARONS EARLS BISHOPS ABBOTS

  • LAND

  • LEASE

• KNIGHTS

  • LAND

• PEASANTS

  • FIGHTING

  • FARMING

Plan of a Mediaeval Manor

• Various features that might be found in English manors (or vills) of the mediaeval period.

• The more important changes in the agricultural system which occurred in England from the fourteenth century onward.

• Many of these manorial features, of course, appeared in similar domains on the continent.

Self-Sufficiency of Manors

• MANORIALISM MANOR SYSTEM

  • Economic system that defined the Middle Ages in Europe.

  • Had deep connections to feudalism, but it is a distinct entity.

  • The lord exercised legal and economic control over the peasants.

  • Trade declined after the decline of Rome, so manors filled an economic need.

  • THEY ARE SELF-SUFFICIENT!

Hierarchy of the Medieval Catholic Church

• WHO IS MISSING FROM THIS SYSTEM?

  • THE CHURCH!!!

• Pope

• Cardinal

• Archbishop

• Bishop

• Priest Abbot/Abbess

• Monk/Nun

Church Organization/Hierarchy

• Pope

  • Head of the Roman Catholic Church

• Cardinals

  • Supervised bishops and elected Popes

• Archbishops

  • Supervised priests, settled disputes over Church teachings and practices

• Bishops

• Priests

  • Administered the Sacraments, gave advice, taught about right and wrong

• Monks and Nuns

  • Lived apart from society in monasteries or convents. Devoted their lives to prayer and good works. Might teach skills like carpentry and weaving. Often set up hospitals and gave shelter to travelers. These were also the missionaries of their day.

In Return

• KING

  • The king owned all the land in the country and made the laws-he gave an area of land called a fife to rich lords and nobles

  • Loyalty Military Aid

• LORDS

  • In return, the lords and nobles agreed to supply the king with soldiers and horses for his army.

  • Food Homage

• KNIGHTS

  • The nobles gave some land to professional soldiers - In return these Knights fought for nobles & the king.

  • Protection Shelter Military Service

• PEASANTS

  • Peasants worked the land for the nobles and knights who in turn offered them protection

  • Food Protection Shelter Farm the Land Pay Rent

Key Terms

• Clergy: the body of people ordained (officially give someone religious duties)

  • priests, bishops, deacons, etc.

• Laity: the body of religious worshipers

• Doctrine: an official body of teachings from the Church

• Secular: non-religious; worldly things

Catholic Beliefs

• Sacraments - religious rites/ceremonies that followers had to perform if they wished to God/heaven (baptism, confirmation, priest conducts marriage)

• Canon law - Church law; applied religious teachings to clergy, marriages, moral behavior

More Catholic Beliefs

• Excommunication: exclusion from the church. Not allowed to get sacraments (and thus can’t get to heaven)

• Interdiction: denial of sacraments (a whole town, kingdom, etc could be denied).

Monasteries & Convents

• Places of strict religious worship.

  • Usually located in isolated areas.

• Benedictine Rule (530 AD): A set of rules for monks & nuns.

Rule of St. Benedict, 6th century

• Chapter V: The first degree of humility is obedience without delay.

• Chapter VI: Let us do what the prophet says: "I will watch my ways and what I say. I will monitor my mouth."

• Chapter VII: A monk should be humble in heart and in his body. He should showcase humility in his oratory.

• Chapter LV: Let there be given to the brethren clothing suitable to the character and climate of the place where they live.

Collective Questions

• What conclusions can we make about the lifestyle and values of monks in the Middle Ages? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

• How did the role of monasteries reinforce the role of the church in the Middle Ages?

The Divine Office: a set of prayers

• Matins (during the night, at midnight with some); also called Vigils or Nocturns or, in monastic usage, the Night Office

• Lauds or Dawn Prayer (at Dawn, or 3 a.m.)

• Prime or Early Morning Prayer (First Hour approximately 6 a.m.)

• Terce or Mid-Morning Prayer (Third Hour = approximately 9 a.m.)

• Sext or Midday Prayer (Sixth Hour approximately 12 noon)

• None or Mid-Afternoon Prayer (Ninth Hour = approximately 3 p.m.)

• Vespers or Evening Prayer ("at the lighting of the lamps", generally at 6 p.m.)

• Compline or Night Prayer (before retiring, generally at 9 p.m.)

The Monastic Life: Summer Schedule

• Sleeping

• Church Service

• Eating

• Meditation & Reading

• Work

Duties of Monks

• Purity, chastity, and poverty.

• Pray, study, and work on the grounds of the monastery.

• Represented loyalty/dedication to the Church!

• Monasteries became best education centers in the medieval world; translated works of the ancients.

• Provided lodging /hospital care too.

• Because of the work done in monasteries, the Church had a good reputation.

St. Peter

• One of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ.

• Traveled to Rome- considered first Bishop of Rome.

• He was crucified, upside down, by Emperor Nero.

CONCLUSIONS About St. Peter

• St. Peter was chosen by Jesus to build the Christian church, making him Jesus’ successor.

• Since he was the first Bishop of Rome and he was crucified there, Rome became the center of religious authority.

• Peter’s role in Catholicism is crucial to the church’s claim of divine authority on Earth.

Why is the Papacy Located in Rome?

• Discuss!

• What other cities would make sense as the seat of Christian authority?

• Explain your reasoning!

1054 AD

• Patriarch is appointed by the Byzantine Emperor.

• Pope is elected by Cardinals (starting in 1059).

Papal Supremacy

• Papal Supremacy: doctrine that gives the Pope, as Christ’s representative on Earth, has full, supreme, and universal power over the Christian Church.

• This is a power he can exercise unhindered.

• These sometimes overlap and contradict the powers and will of secular leader.

The Church in Medieval Society

• How did the Catholic Church establish in place in Medieval society?

• Did it contribute to social order and stability?

Review: Political, Social, Economic, and Cultural Characteristics of Western Europe after the Fall of the Roman Empire

• Political

• Social

• Economic

• Cultural

Conclusions from Pope Gelasius Letter

• According to Pope Gelasius, who has more power- the pope or the emperor? Explain your reasoning with evidence from the text.

• How would an emperor or a king feel about Pope Gelasius’ letter? Explain your reasoning.

Migration Patterns After the Fall of Rome

• Map of Migration Patterns with notes on various tribes like the Franks, Visigoths, Vandals, and Huns.

• Important battles and movements are highlighted, such as the Battle of Adrianople and the sack of Rome.

Europe After Charlemagne

• Splits Europe along lines of Germanic and Romance cultures.

• WW1 - trench warfare followed almost the same lines of division between French and Germanic societies – some went to France.

• WW2 - territory of Alsace-Lorraine contested by Nazis – reclaimed.

• Today Belgium remains a culturally divided nation with Frenchspeaking culture in the Legacy of Division of Charlemagne’s Empire

Charlemagne's Empire

• Details about Charlemagne's kingdom, territory gained through conquests, and the subsequent partition of Verdun.

Charlemagne: Great or Not?

• It took him over thirty years to conquer Saxony (a region in modern Germany).

• He killed all the Saxon chiefs and any Saxons who refused to convert to Christianity.

• Despite fighting the Muslims of Spain for 20 years, he never conquered Spain

• By the end of his reign, Europe was still rural, with a low population, and with very limited and localized trade networks

• He wanted all boys to have an education, but in actuality only nobles and boys becoming monks and priests did

• His empire dissolved shortly after he died, plunging Europe into the "Dark Ages"
  *Assess: How "great" was Charlemagne (Charles the Great)? Use plenty of specific evidence.

Key Points about the Middle Ages

• Key themes include: Conflict between church and monarchs, powers of the kings, religious tension with Islam, cultural growth, and pandemics and wars.

Relationship Between Clergy and Emperors in the EARLY Middle Ages (700’s/800’s)

• The relationship was amicable between the Pope and western Europe’s first true emperor since the fall of Rome—Charlemagne.

• Remember, the Pope crowned Charlemagne and Charlemagne protected the Pope.

• The Cluny Reforms gave the Church more power in the 900’s

• Abbot Berno of Cluny revived Benedictine rules and enforced them more strictly.

• He excluded nobles from monastery affairs, and only filled monasteries

Rule of The Pope

• The Pope is the only person whose feet are kissed by all princes. His title is unique in the world. He may depose [remove] emperors.

• Does anyone doubt that the priests of Christ are to be considered as fathers and masters of kings and princes and of all believers?

Rule of The King

• …it was decided and decreed that no one would ever become Pope except by the election of the archbishops and the approval of the people, and by the consent and authority of the king.

• You dared to threaten to take the kingship away from us-as though we had received the kingship from you, as though the kingship and empire were in your hand and not in the hand of God.

Investiture Controversy 1056-1122

• Pope Gregory VII Dictatus Papae

• Henry IV 1075

  • Only the Pope has power to invest bishops & church leaders.

  • Pope can depose kings, absolve subjects of oaths of fealty.

  • All princes have to kiss the Pope’s feet.

1154

• Energetic king entered the throne Henry II.

• Henry II wanted to be able to try clergy in royal courts.

• His friend, archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, opposed him. When charges were brought against him for speaking out against the king, he had a clever way of responding. What did he do?

Lay Investiture

• Popular debate of the time was: Should lay investiture be allowed?

  • Lay investiture= Kings appointed bishops to their positions.

    • Many church officials owned land AND had gov’t jobs so King Henry IV felt that this was a fair practice.

    • But the Pope did not want kings appointing bishops that secretly were loyal to monarchs over the Church.

  • 1076- When Henry refuses to give Pope Gregory VII the power to choose officials, Henry is excommunicated by the Pope.

  • Henry IV now faced revolts at home so he had to make peace. He goes to the Pope and begs for forgiveness. (How embarrassing!)

  • Pope Gregory knew Henry was just trying to save his throne, but as a Catholic he had to practice forgiveness, so he revoked the interdict.

  • 1122 (50 years later!) The two finally settle the dispute at the Concordat of Worms:

    • Church could elect bishops.

    • But the king still had the right to give them fiefs, and thus have political alliances in their countries.

What would the church and secular Leaders want more power?

• Why would the religious order want more power?

• What is the threat to the secular authority when the church has too much power?

Lay

• adjective

  • not ordained into or belonging to the clergy.
    • "a lay preacher"
    • synonyms: nonclerical, nonordained, nonecclesiastical, secular, temporal
    • antonyms: ordained
    -a nonordained male member of a Church.
    • synonyms: layperson, unordained person, member of the congregation, parishioner; laywoman

How did Catholism Spread Throughout Europe?

• The Pope will send out Missionaries: a missionary is a person sent on a religious mission to promote and spread the message of Christianity.

• They will often use whatever means necessary to convert the people.

• Preaching: publicly proclaiming and teaching a religion.

• Slowly all of Europe will be converted from paganism to Christianity. St. Boniface chopping down Thor’s Oak.

Pilgrimages

• Pilgrimage: a journey to a shrine, which often housed the relics of a saint, or some other location of importance to a person's religion.

• The three most important pilgrimage sites were Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela.

How did Muslims rule Jerusalem?

• Under Byzantine rule, Jews were forbidden to enter the city. Following the Arab capture of Jerusalem in 638 A.D., Muslim rulers such as Umar ibn al-Khattab allowed Jews back into the city to live and practice their religion freely. Umar also personally came to receive the key to the city by the Greek Orthodox patriarch, Sophronius, and was invited to offer Muslim prayers at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
  Sixty years later, the Umayyad Dynasty caliph Abd al-Malik commissioned and completed the construction of the Dome of the Rock over the Foundation Stone on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

What were the Crusades?

• The Crusades (1096-1291):

  • Series of holy wars launched by Christian states against Muslims in “the kingdom of Jerusalem” (modern day Israel).

• WHY???? (Discuss…)

Dome of the Rock

• How was Muslim treatment of Christians in the Holy Land? Initiation of Muslim rule of Jerusalem in 638 AD was marked by respect for both Jews and Christians alike. However, from 1000 to 1021, the rule of Fatimid caliph, Al-Hakim, would be marked by outrageous “mood swings” between cruelty and softness, logical decision-making and sheer madness. The key features of his reign were a rise in Shi‘i Muslim religious fanaticism; oppression of Jews, Christians and Sunni Muslims; many cruel executions and punishments; rebellions and other expressions of discontent by civilians; and Hakim’s madness and insistence that he was a manifestation of God. It started in 1003, when Al-Hakim prohibited the reconstruction of a church and built a mosque in its place. The following year, he ordered that all Christians and Jews should be forced to wear black belts and turbans to indicate their faith (note the similarity with Trump’s ideas of a registry for Muslims or “religious tests”).

In 1007, Hakim prohibited the Palm Sunday procession in Jerusalem; in 1008, he had the possessions of many churches and monasteries in Egypt confiscated. These measures continued and culminated in him ordering, in 1009, the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the most sacred site for Christians, in Jerusalem; this was the same church that the second caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab, had once respectfully refused to pray in, out of the fear that Muslims might someday claim some kind of authority over it. And it was this event in 1009 which is often cited as having given Pope Urban II the pretext to call for the Crusades. (Though of course, the Crusades were far more complicated than that).

In 1070–71, the Turkic emir Atsiz ibn Uvaq al-Khwarizmi besieged and captured the city, placing it under the nominal control of the 'Abbasid caliphate. In 1077, on his return from a disastrous attempt to capture Cairo, the capital of the Fatimid caliphate, he found that in his absence the inhabitants of Jerusalem had rebelled and forced his garrison to shelter in the citadel. He therefore besieged the city again, and on recapturing it, slaughtered an estimated 3,000 of the rebel inhabitants, including those who had taken shelter in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. In 1079, Atsiz was murdered by his nominal ally Tutush

Why did Pope Urban II agree to participate?

• This was a way to unite Western Christians who were currently fighting each other. (Feudal society was divided into competing kingdoms.)

• Also, remember that Popes and monarchs were competing for power (lay investiture).
  ○A religious fight against a new enemy—the Muslims– would give the Pope and the Church more power and demonstrate supremacy.

Why did Western Europeans Have Difficulty Fighting in the Middle East?

• Had to cross long distances.

• Difficult to cross terrain like desert and seas.

• Hard to transport people and goods. Families traveled together! A Crusade caravan could be a few miles long with thousands of people.

• Might come into contact with enemies and be unprepared for battle.

• They sometimes had to fight with the Byzantines! When the crusaders showed up in Constantinople, Alexius was so angry at the Pope for not sending trained knights that he locked them out of the city!

The People's Crusade

• Destruction of Jewish communities and massacres.

• Estimate between 2,000 to 12,000 Jews murdered.

• European condemnation, and the clergy forbade it on subsequent crusades.

Quote from Pope Urban Calls for a Crusade to reclaim the Holy Lands from Muslims (1095)

*         From the city of Jerusalem and the city of Constantinople comes a horrible tale. A race from the Kingdom of the Persians, an accursed race, a race utterly alienated from God, has invaded the lands of Christians and depopulated them with the sword, pillage, and fire.
*         This race has either entirely destroyed the churches of God or taken them for the practice of its own religion.
*         These people have destroyed altars and defiled¹ them with their uncleanliness.

Why was it difficult for the West to fight in the Middle East?

ENGLAND
Key to Crusades
London POLAND
Canterbury … First 1095-1099
Canterbury