Unit 3: The High Middle Ages and the Formation of Western Europe

Church Reform and the Crusades

Changes in the Church

  • Priests marrying and having families:
    • Marriages against Church law.
  • Simony:
    • Bishops selling Church positions.
    • Positions treated as feudal holdings.
  • Lay investiture:
    • Continued despite disagreements and attempts to stop it.

New Monastic Life

  • Desire for stricter, more devoted monastic life.
  • Cluny (910):
    • New monastery in France.
    • Strict adherence to Benedictine rules.
    • Controlled only by the Pope to avoid conflicts of interest.
  • Other monasteries adopted stricter rules.
  • Reform (1059):
    • Only cardinals (powerful bishops) could select a Pope.
    • Prevented feudal lords from manipulating the church.

Correcting Church Abuses

  • First abuse: Marriage of priests
    • Prohibited but practiced.
  • Second abuse: Simony
    • Selling church offices for money, corrupting leaders.
    • Money spent lavishly.
  • Third abuse: Lay investiture
    • Non-church officials naming church officials, allowing manipulation.

Changes to Catholic Church Structure

  • Catholic Church Structure:
    • Curia: Pope’s staff and advisors, created canon law.
    • Legates: Pope’s ambassadors, dealt with local leaders.
    • Bishops: Leaders in different countries, ran churches and courts for marriage, divorce, and wills (canon law).
  • Local church officials collected taxes.
  • Helping the poor was a priority with tax money; hospitals were created and run.

Friars

  • Traveling Monks:

    • Followed monastic rules but moved around.
    • Preached to people.
    • Tried to convert heretics.
    • No possessions.
    • Baldness symbolized renunciation of worldly fashion and devotion to God

  • Types:

    • Dominicans: Studious friars.
    • Franciscans: More in tune with nature.

  • Women helped but couldn't move around.

Church Architecture

  • Gothic Style:
    • Evolved in medieval Europe from the early 1100s.
    • Name “Gothic” originated from the Germanic tribe, the Goths.
    • Cathedrals built tall to reach towards Heaven, contrasting with the gloomy Romanesque style.
  • Characteristics:
    • Pointed vaults.
    • Flying buttresses.
    • Pointed arches.
    • Stained glass windows.
    • More windows to let in light.
  • Purpose:
    • To express the magnificence of God.
  • Examples:
    • Chartres (France)
    • Notre Dame (France)

The Crusades

Origin

  • Restore Christianity:
    • Rebuild Church organization.
    • Take the Holy Land.
  • Those who fought were promised immediate entry to Heaven.
  • Stopping Muslim attacks on the Byzantine Empire
  • Popes aimed to reclaim Palestine and reunite Christendom after the split in 1054 into Western and Eastern parts.
  • Byzantine emperor requested help from Western Europe.

Motivation of the Catholic Church

  • To regain the Holy Land and protect important Christian sites like the tomb of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.

Call to First Crusade

  • Urban II at the Council of Clermont:
    • Those who fought in the Crusade would have sins forgiven, souls purified, and receive great things in the next life.
    • The march to the Crusade would be a pilgrimage, not a battle.
    • Persuaded Christians to protect the tomb of Jesus Christ.

Motivation for Crusaders

  • Pope promised immediate entry to Heaven and forgiveness of sins.
  • Holy martyr status

Muslims in the Holy Land

  • Viewed the Crusades as a way to restore their religion and achieve salvation.
  • Did not realize the Holy Land's importance to Christians; confused by the nature of the battle.

The People’s Crusade

  • Army of various classes due to sickness (crusading bug).
  • Pope initially viewed it as a religious pilgrimage but changed to a revenge view after discovering their motives.

Targeting of Jews

  • Extremists wanted the Holy Land only for Christians and sought to eliminate the Jewish population.

Antioch

  • Siege, fall, Miracle of the Lance.
  • Knights and professional warriors, a significant upgrade from the People's Crusade (Modern day Turkey in the south-central area. Had recently been taken from the Byzantines by the Seljuks).
  • The battle started in 1097 when Bohemund and the knights arrived in Constantinople.
  • Crusaders found a relic which caused them to attack the Muslims more violently.

Jerusalem

  • Siege, entry, massacre, occupation.
  • Great loss of knights on the way.
  • Faced huge walls, a moat, and precipices.
  • Crusaders built siege towers, catapults, and battering rams successfully with the arrival of Genoese ships.
  • Massacre of Muslims with deaths estimated between 10,000-75,000.

Achievements of the First Crusade

  • Taking the Holy Land and protecting the tomb of Jesus Christ.
  • Creating permanent colonies and kingdoms throughout Europe.

Failures of the First Crusade

  • Breakdown of the Byzantine empire.
  • Increase in attacks on minority groups.

The Second Crusade

  • Goal: To take back the County of Edessa.
  • France (led by Louis VII) and Germany (led by Conrad III) participated.
  • The German army failed to capture the city.
  • The French were not able to achieve anything as well.

The Third Crusade

  • Goal: To retake Jerusalem after it fell to Saladin in 1187.
  • Participants: Frederick I of Germany, Philip II, and Richard I of England.
  • Jerusalem was not recaptured.
  • Conflicts between leaders; some left.
  • The English king negotiated free access to Jerusalem with Saladin for Christian pilgrims.

The Fourth Crusade

  • Goal: To retake Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
  • Participants: Pope Innocent III and his army.
  • The army captured Zara for Venice, involving them in the struggle for the Byzantine throne.
  • Pope Innocent III and his army formed the Latin Empire instead of recapturing Jerusalem.

The Children’s Crusade

  • A group of kids wanted to claim the Holy Land for Catholics and convert everyone to their religion.
  • Many did not make it due to lack of food, armor, weapons, and equipment.

Overall Positives of the Crusades

  • Strengthened the Church.
  • Stimulated trade.
  • Development of banking.
  • Cooperation between countries, even if temporary.
  • Spreading religion.
  • Women gained more rights while their husbands were away.
  • New technologies from different areas.
  • Temporary realization for goals.

Overall Negatives of the Crusades

  • Mass murder.
  • Persecution.
  • Weakening of empires.
  • More divisions between religions and countries.
  • Creating negative stereotypes about certain countries and religions.
  • Gave too much power to the Church.
  • Took a lot of resources and money.
  • Loss of many monarchs.
  • Never really achieved anything.
  • Inability to hold their lands.

Reconquista

  • Process of removing Muslims from Spain due to conflicts and attacks.

Spanish Inquisition

  • Court created by the Church to suppress heresy among Jewish and Muslim converts.

Changes in Medieval Society

Farming Improvements

  • Horses:
    • Used horses to plow fields since they were able to cover more land at a quicker rate.
    • Could plow three times as much as oxen.
  • Harness:
    • Used across the horse’s chest to pull a plow.
    • Used for horses to pull wagons.
  • Three Field System:
    • Allowed farmers to grow crops on two-thirds of their land each year.
    • One field lay fallow (resting).
  • Benefits:
    • More food to eat.
    • Increase in food production.
    • Better resistance of diseases.
    • Living longer.
    • Population growth throughout Europe.

Guilds

  • Definition:

    • Organization of individuals in the same business/occupation.
    • Worked together to improve economic, social, and conditions for its members.

  • Merchant Guilds:

    • Focused on controlling the number of goods traded and keeping prices up.
    • Provided security and reduced losses.

  • Craft Guilds:

    • Specialized in different areas such as wheelwrights, glassmakers, winemakers, tailors, and druggists.

  • Functions of Guilds:

    • Set standards for quality of work, wages, and working conditions.
    • Created supervised training plans for new workers.
    • Contributed to the medieval economy.

Levels in Guilds

  • Apprentice:
    • Parents paid for the training.
    • Lived with a master and his family
    • Trained for 2-7 years.
    • Not allowed to marry during their training.
  • Journeyman:
    • Worked for a master to earn their salary.
    • Worked around 6 days a week.
    • Had to produce a masterpiece.
    • Approval by the guild was needed to become a master.
  • Master:
    • Owned his shop completely.
    • Worked alongside other masters to protect their trade.
    • Served in civic government at times.

Fairs and Banking

  • Relation to religious festivals:
    • Similar structure, held festivals many times a year, people from different areas would attend.
  • Local fair characteristics:
    • Products such as cloth, bacon, salt, honey, cheese, wine, leather, dye, knives, and ropes.
  • Great Fair characteristics:
    • Trading festivals were held several times throughout the year.
    • Merchants set up stalls.
  • Expansion of Banking:
    • Incorporated different types of currency.
    • Established exchange rates throughout the different coinage systems for when bills were being exchanged.
    • Established letters or credit to help merchants carry large amounts of cash around.

Growth of Towns

  • Larger towns Example:

    • Constantinople, Paris (no more than 60,000 people)
    • Allowed for more people to live in cities.
    • Gave more room for workshops and stores.
    • Better hotspots for trading festivals

  • Towns-what city life was like:

    • Narrow streets.
    • Animals and waste all over the streets.
    • No sewers; people dumped household and human waste into the street.
    • Lacked fresh air, light, and clean water
    • Houses were a fire hazard since they were built out of wood with thatched roofs

  • New roles for townspeople:

    • More people working in trade.
    • People earned money from working.
    • Did not have to work on a manor
    • Merchants and craftspeople organized and demanded privileges.
    • Burghers resented paying taxes, fees, and rents in their trade and commerce.

  • Conflict with lords:

    • Lords lost power as the feudal and manorial system declined.
    • Serfs ran away from their lord.

Revival of Learning

  • Muslim shared knowledge:
    • Western scholars translated Greek works (Aristotle) from Arabic to Latin.
    • Subjects included science, philosophy, law, mathematics.
    • Crusaders brought back Muslim technologies in ships, navigation, and weapons.
  • Universities and characteristics:
    • A group of scholars meeting wherever and whenever they could.
    • Slowly began meeting in buildings and then have buildings solely built for scholars to learn.
  • Vernacular allowed for more learning:
    • Everyday language of an individual’s homeland.
    • Poets used it for their writings
  • Thomas Aquinas writes Summa Theologicae:
    • Combined ancient Greek and Christian thought.
    • Inspired by Aristotle.
    • Met with other scholars at great universities known as scholastics.
    • Debated and discussed many issues of their time with their knowledge of Aristotle
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England and France Develop

Early “Englishman”

  • Around 800, England was inhabited Saxons and some Angles (both Germanic tribes from the mainland of Europe)
  • Vikings settled there, and cultures blended
  • In 1066, King Edward dies, setting up a battle for the throne
  • Angles and Saxons- Helped fight and push the vikings back from England from invading and reeking havoc. Contributed to the development of how England first got its name and unified the kingdom under one rule.
  • Viking influence on England:
    • Danish Vikings: Since this group was so feared, there were many special prayers that were said in churches to push away vikings and keep them safe. This helped develop practices in their religion and church as it was developing more

Battle of Hastings

  • Fight between the Normans and Anglo-saxons on October 14, 1066.
  • Changed the entire course of English history from being ruled by the Anglo-Saxons to being taken over by a new group.

William the Conqueror

  • Youth, Normandy, rise to the throne, acts as King, questions from reading on William
  • Duke of Normandy who invaded England.
  • Unified control of the land and laid the foundation for a centralized government.
  • Secured England after becoming king:
    • Crowned in London
    • Campaigned throughout England.
    • Punished resisters.
    • Distributed land to supporters.
    • Tally each piece of property in the kingdom to tax
    • Suppressed revolts and killed resisters.

Harold Godwinson

  • Anglo-Saxon lord in England

Henry II

  • Control, Aquitaine, jury development, etc.
  • Ruled England from 1154 to 1189
  • Married Eleanor of Aquitaine from France to add more lands
  • Strengthened royal courts by sending judges to each section of England about once a year

King John

  • Why he was bad, what he did, what he lost
  • Wrote about the toxic practices of the early Middle Ages.
  • Discussed the manorial system, false arrests, selling serfs, and restrictions on movement.
  • Lost power after being forced to sign the Magna Carta which limits the powers King John had

Magna Carta

  • A document that ensured selected basic political rights for citizens.
  • Developed by English nobles and forced John to create the publishing of the Magna Carta as the most celebrated document in English history for its importance
  • Protected citizens from manipulation by higher-ranking officials. Guaranteed basic legal rights (Due process= Right to trial and protection of the law).

Model Parliament

  • Taxes, House of Commons/Lords, checks and balances, etc.
  • Developed by King Edward I, who gathered burgesses and knights from each area.
  • Acted as a legislative group and first met in Westminster, London.
  • Served as a model for future kings.

Hugh Capet and the Capetian Dynasty

  • Successor of the last Carolingian dynasty member.
  • Ruled a smaller piece of land including Paris.
  • Began the Capetian dynasty and the long line of French kings.
  • These kings weren’t very strong decision makers, the territory that they ruled over made it easy for them to succeed.

Philip II (Augustus)

  • Actions vs. John, increase of French power
  • Ruled from 1180-1223
  • Took down the power of the English kings.
  • Regained Normandy and tripled the amount of his land.
  • Established bailiffs to collect taxes.
  • His grandson Louis IX developed French appeal courts to override local court rulings

Philip IV

  • Actions
  • Created the estates general, which helped the king and the church decide on certain policies.
  • It was similar to the parliament in England but evolved to play different roles.

Estates General (Philip V)

  • Levels and roles.
  • A meeting that contained wealthy landowners or merchants.
  • They worked towards some of their goals like increasing royal power over the nobility and overthrowing the French monarchy.
  • Never really like Parliament had evolved to become. never became a form of independent force

The Hundred Years’ War and the Plague

The Black Plague

  • Origins/causes
    • Started in China, India, and Middle East
    • Fleas bit infected rats
    • Carried to different countries from rats on trading ships
    • Originated in Asia and spread through trading ships.
  • Warfare and the plague:
    • Interaction with Mongols in fights spread quicker
    • Used dead, infected corpses to their advantage
    • Soldiers from the western countries carried the plague to Europe cause it to spread quicker.
    • Battles occurred between different groups of people because they disagreed on the reasoning of the plague
    • Jumped and killed every Jew in sight
    • Pope Clement sent troops to kill and get flagellants out of their country
  • How it spread:
    • Rapidly spread from east to west.
    • Rats carried the disease on trade cargo
    • Mongols threw infected corpses into towns
  • Symptoms/incubation/transmission:
    • Fevers, chills, welts, swelling of the lymph nodes, septic shock, multi-organ failure, hemorrhaging, vomiting, diarrhea, aches and pains, coughing up blood
    • Spread by coughing or sneezing
    • Extremely and highly contagious
  • Religious responses:
    • The Black Plague was a sign of God punishing everyone for sins that they did
    • The Flagellants were a developed group of upper-class men who traveled to many di erent towns to engage in public displays of penance and punishment. (beating themselves with sharp pieces of metal)
    • Attacked Jews because they thought they were the reason. Tortured them.
  • ”Curing” the plague and “solutions:
    • Praying it away
    • Used leeches to suck the disease out of the body
    • Mixed herbs together
    • Using fire to burn and prevent the disease
    • Used onions, yeast, butter, etc. to cure the welts and boils
  • End of the plague:
    • Isolating sailors.
    • Abandoning heavily infected cities
  • Positives/negatives of the plague:
    • Positives:
      • Medical advances
      • Technology advances
      • More space in towns
      • More available resources
    • Negatives:
      • ⅓ of Europe’s population died
      • Many abandoned and vacant cities
      • More division between people
  • Overall results of the plague:
    • Took a very long time to work back up and recover from the plague

Popes and religion/power in the 1300’s

  • Power & relationship between popes and kings; before and after
    • Divided with many conflicts

Boniface VIII

  • Goals
    • Attempted to make kings follow his rule

Bulls

  • Official statements from the pope.
    • Taxing: Said all clergy was exempt from taxing, Philip IV of France did not listen
    • Legitimacy: Boniface VII (the pope) pass a bull the Unam Sanctum

Unam Sanctum

  • (1302) Said that holy power was always more important than the power of kings

Philip IV vs. the Pope

  • Conflict, kidnapping, etc.
  • Philip did not agree with the Unam Sanctum so he kidnapped the pope to put him on trial.
  • Pope Boniface VIII was returned but died soon after he was released.
  • Philip IV was a king, he rigged the election so he could control who got to be the Pope.

Clement V and move to France

  • Clement V was a pope that Philip had elected from France to come to Rome
  • Created a plan to move the papacy to France
  • Clement stayed in Rome for around one year and then decided that he “was not safe” in Rome so they could move the papacy (home of the Pope) to Avignon, France (1309)

John Wycliffe

  • Professor at Oxford
  • The true head of church was Jesus, not the Pope.
  • The Bible was the true authority of religion
  • Clergy should be poor like Jesus and his disciples

Avignon

  • A city in France where the papacy moved to and stayed for almost 70 years (1309-1376)
  • Views of French/rest of Europe on move to Avignon
    • Most Europeans (except French) were upset

Great Schism

  • Events, causes, resolution.
  • Pope returns to Rome for a visit, dies while there (1378)
  • Italian Urban VI elected shortly after
  • French cardinals elect a new pope (Clement VII)
  • The Great Schism lasts for 39 years.

Religious reformers

  • John Huss
  • Czech leader that believed in Wycliffe and his ideas
  • John Huss was excommunicated and then killed at a meeting called the Council of Constance

Council of Constance

  • Took place in 1414, their main goal was to end the Great Schism: forced all popes to resign (there were 3!!!!!!!!)
  • Named Martin V the new Pope, and ended the Great Schism.

Origins/Causes of the 100 Years’ War

  • France and England
  • Edward III launched the war when he claimed the French throne

Longbow

  • Technology and the effect in battle.
  • Affordable, easy to carry, penetrated armor, fired arrows fast

Joan of Arc

  • French peasant girl
  • Felt moved by God to rescue France from the 100 Years’ War

Battle of Orleans

  • Led a French army to stop the French army

Joan and Charles VII

  • Convinced Charles VII to let her go to Reims with him.
  • He was then crowned king there on July 17, 1429.

Death of Joan of Arc

  • Captured by Burgundians
  • Burned at the stake on May 30, 1431

Impact of 100 Years’ War

  • Nationalism
  • The thought that the king became a national leader and was fighting for the glory of their country
  • Changes to Europe after the war
    War of the Roses: battle between two noble houses

End of 100 Years’ War as “end of the Middle Ages”

  • Historians believed that the 100 Years’ War caused the end of the Middle Ages because religious devotion and the code of chivalry was crumbling out of existence.

  • Phase 1: the Edwardian War (1337-1360) 23 years total
    Edward III goes to war after the French take Aquitaine
    Edward III declares himself king of France and invades
    Edward III wins a lot of battles in France
    The war pauses in 1350 because of the black plague
    The war resumes and Edward III wins big victories and even captures and ransoms the new French King
    Treaty eventually signed in 1360 that gives Edward land in France for renouncing (refusing) the French throne
    England wins Phase 1!!
    Phase 2 The Caroline War (1369-1389) 20 years total
    New French King (Charles V) send for Edward’s son, who is now king of England, to come to France for a meeting (this English guy is named Edward IV, but known as “The Black Prince” due to his black armor worn during battle)
    Remember, the Black Prince is technically a “vassal” to the French King (at least in France… because he controls French land), so he’s supposed to go when called
    The Black Prince says, “No way, I’m not coming”
    Charles says, “Fine, then I’m seizing your land in France”
    War happens in France and goes on for 20 years, France grabs back some of the land they lost in phase 1 (The Edwardian War)
    Over the period of the war, Charles V dies and the Black Prince dies
    Their sons Charles IV (France) and Richard II (England) negotiate a peace treaty in 1389
    France wins Phase 2!!

    Phase 3: The Lancastrian War (1415-1453) 38 years total
    England invades France to gain land
    English whoop up at first…gain territory and control
    English leaders actually get control of the crown!
    Henry the V gets crowned as the King of France (Henry first, and his brother John)
    Then… Joan of Arc happens!