91 - 92 Agricultural and Commercial Revolutions & Medieval Advancements

Agricultural and Commercial Revolution

Aim

  • To understand how changes in the economy impacted the development of Medieval Europe.

Do Now

  • Examine the chart in groups to determine what explains the changes in population of Western Europe from 500-1340 CE.
    • Italy:
      • 500 CE: 4.0 million
      • 650 CE: 2.5 million
      • 1000 CE: 5.0 million
      • 1340 CE: 10.0 million
    • Spain:
      • 500 CE: 4.0 million
      • 650 CE: 3.5 million
      • 1000 CE: 7.0 million
      • 1340 CE: 9.0 million
    • France, Holland, and Belgium:
      • 500 CE: 5.0 million
      • 650 CE: 3.0 million
      • 1000 CE: 6.0 million
      • 1340 CE: 19.0 million
    • Britain and Ireland:
      • 500 CE: 0.5 million
      • 650 CE: 0.5 million
      • 1000 CE: 2.0 million
      • 1340 CE: 5.0 million
    • Germany and Scandinavia:
      • 500 CE: 3.5 million
      • 650 CE: 2.0 million
      • 1000 CE: 4.0 million
      • 1340 CE: 11.5 million
    • Total:
      • 500 CE: 17.0 million
      • 650 CE: 11.5 million
      • 1000 CE: 24.0 million
      • 1340 CE: 54.5 million

Agricultural Revolution

  • Improvements in agricultural technology led to more food and a rise in populations.
  • Heavy Plough: Allowed serfs/peasants to cut through deep, wet, and heavy soils of Northern Europe.
  • Plow Horse: Horses were much faster & could work longer hours than oxen.
  • Invention of the horseshoe prevented horse hooves from cracking in the cold & wet soil.
  • Horse collar allowed horses to increase pulling power from 1000 lbs to 5000 lbs.

Three-Field System vs. Two-Field System

  • Two-Field System: Well-suited to the climate of the Mediterranean with its hot dry summers and one growing season in the cooler, wetter winters.
    • Planting two crops a year would exhaust the soil.
  • Three-Field System: One field for winter crops, one for summer crops, and one left fallow.
    • The use of the fields was rotated each year to prevent soil exhaustion.

Medieval Warm Period

  • Estimated temperature variations for the Northern Hemisphere and central England (1000-2000 CE).
  • A graph illustrates temperature changes, showing a medieval warm period followed by a little ice age.

Commercial Revolution = Revival of Trade

  • Land trade routes and water trade routes were established.
  • Principal markets and centers of banking activity emerged.
  • Principal trade goods included iron, furs, timber, wool, grain, and spices.

Activity 1: How did the Agricultural Revolution affect the economy of the Middle Ages?

  • Analyze primary sources to understand how the Agricultural Revolution contributed to the Commercial Revolution.
  • Discuss how feudalism played a role in the Commercial Revolution.
  • Document A: Europe was turning from a developing into a developed region because of the Agricultural Revolution.
    • Growth of cities occurred in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
    • Businessmen and craftsmen established "communes," declaring themselves free men.
    • Lords granted "charters" exempting city dwellers from feudal obligations.
    • Serfs were declared emancipated if they maintained themselves in a city for a year and a day.
  • Document B: Agricultural progress was an essential prerequisite of the Commercial Revolution.
    • When food surpluses increased, it became possible to release more people for governmental, religious, and cultural purposes.
    • Towns re-emerged, and merchants and craftsmen were able to provide more than just a few luxuries for the rich.

Conclusions

  • Similar to the Neolithic Revolution, Medieval Europe had a stable food supply, and the population grew.
  • Not everyone had to be farming all the time.
  • Feudalism provided the structure for this to happen.
  • This also disrupted feudalism because people started leaving manors for better opportunities.
  • Caution: There are 2 Agricultural Revolutions in history: Neolithic and Medieval.

Trade Fairs

  • Trade fairs were established in various cities.
  • Cities were also sites of banking activities.

Impact on Feudal Pyramid

  • The growth of towns impacted the feudal pyramid.

Formation of a New Class

  • The social and political organization of the Middle Ages included:
    • Early Middle Ages (500-1000 CE)
    • High Middle Ages (1066-1300 CE)
    • Late Middle Ages (1300-1500 CE)
  • Social Hierarchy:
    • Monarch (King)
    • Upper Nobles (Earls, Barons, Dukes, Lords)
    • Lesser Nobles (Knights, Sheriffs, Reeves, Chiefs)
    • Merchants, Farmers, Craftsmen
    • Common People (Peasants, Serfs)

How would the growth of towns impact feudalism?

  • Towns were granted “charters,” which exempted them from feudal obligations.
  • This was given by the king or (less commonly) the lords.
  • Towns provided the king with money, and in a way, they were only loyal to the king.

Life in a Medieval Town

  • Conditions were often unsanitary, with issues like waste disposal and poor hygiene.

New Business Practices!

  • Revival in trade led to changes in the way business was conducted.
  • Capital: Money for investments.
  • Partnership: Merchants would join together and pool their funds to finance large-scale ventures.
  • A system of insurance developed.
  • Bill of Exchange: Adopted from Middle Eastern merchants.
    • A merchant deposited money in his home city and could exchange it for cash in a distant city with this document.

Jews & Banking

  • Usury: Lending money at interest.
  • The Church forbade Christians to lend money at interest.
  • This rule did not apply to Jews.
    • They were often not allowed to work in other professions, so they turned to money-lending.
    • This becomes critical for the growth of the economy.

Activity-2: What role did guilds play in the Medieval economy?

  • Read the primary source independently and then answer the questions collectively in your groups.
  • According to the document, how did guilds provide services for merchants and craftsmen?
  • Why were guilds a critical institution in the Medieval economy?
  • The Shearers of Arras, 1236
    • Requirements for engaging in the trade of a shearer include being in the Confraternity of St. Julien and paying dues.
    • Learning the trade requires being the son of a burgess or living in the town for a year and a day, and serving three years to learn the trade.
    • A master of the trade of shearer must have lived a year and a day in the town.

Medieval Guilds

  • Controlled membership: apprentice → journeyman → master craftsman
  • Controlled the quality of the product
  • Controlled prices
  • Examples of Guilds:
    • Goldsmith's
    • Cooper's
    • tawer, furrier, saddler, shoemaker, glover, barrel maker, hatter, weaver
    • dyer, barber, fisherman, miller

London Livery Companies

  • Included in textiles with their precedence number and day of incorporation:
    • The Mercers (1394) exported cloth
    • The Drapers (1364) sold cloth on the domestic market
    • The Merchant Taylors (1327) made cloth into garments
    • The Haberdashers (1371) made cloth worn beneath armor and sold accessories
    • The Clothworkers (1528) fulled, sheared, and packed the cloth
    • The Dyers (1471) dyed the wool or cloth
    • The Weavers (1155) wove the cloth
    • The Woolmen (1522) bought and sold raw wool
    • The Broderers (1561) embroidered cloth
    • The Upholders (1626) upholstered furniture
    • The Feltmakers (1604) made felt, hats, and headwear
    • The Framework Knitters (1657) made knitted cloth

Cultural Achievements of Medieval Europe

Do Now

  • Discuss how one result of the Crusades was exposure to Muslim learning and the revival of ancient works.
  • Discuss why Greek teachings about knowledge and reason clash with Church teachings.

Do Now: Main Take Away!

  • Western Europeans were exposed to works of the ancients (because of the Muslims).
  • Greeks promoted logic.
  • Church promoted faith.
  • When the Classics are revived, Science (logic, reason) vs. Church (faith, theism).

Medieval Period Advancements

  • The Medieval Period was not necessarily a dark age.
  • There was some education supported in monasteries.
  • There was increased trade and new business practices as a result of the agricultural and commercial revolution.
  • There was a growing middle class.
  • In some countries, certain liberties were established.

Medieval advancements during 1200s-1300s in:

  • Philosophy
  • Math
  • Literature
  • Architecture

What new scholarship emerged during The Middle Ages?

  • To deal with the challenge of FAITH vs. SCIENCE, scholars engaged in “SCHOLASTICISM”: the application of logic and reason to philosophical considerations of religious beliefs.
    • Thomas Aquinas was one of the most famous medieval philosophers.
  • Adopted Arabic number system (easier).
    • Solve sample math problems:
      • MCMLXXX + MMCCCLX
      • 1980 + 2360

Activity-1

  • To better understand scholasticism, read an excerpt by the philosopher Thomas Aquinas and answer the questions on the sheet.
  • Discuss/share with the group.
  • Thomas Aquinas, "On the Eternity of the World"
    • Aquinas explores whether the world has existed from eternity or had a beginning.
    • He distinguishes points of agreement with opponents from points of disagreement.
    • He states that nothing can exist unless it was caused by God.
    • He investigates whether being created by God and existing forever are logically incompatible concepts.

Scholasticism & Thomas Aquinas

  • Scholasticist philosophers tried to illustrate the struggle humans face considering God’s existence, when the world began, if something can exist before God, etc.
  • They presented their ideas using logic & reason, BUT there was no Church-bashing or questioning of faith.

Changes in literature!

  • In medieval times, Church teachings (all written in Latin) were unreadable by the average Christian.

How did new ways of writing advance medieval culture?

  • Writing started to appear in the vernacular of the everyday people instead of Latin = more people could learn!
  • DANTE Alighieri - one of the most famous medieval Italian poets who wrote in the vernacular.

The Divine Comedy

  • How does the illustration of Dante's DIVINE COMEDY illustrate Christian themes?
  • Excerpt from Dante's Divine Comedy:
    • The gate to hell speaks:
    • "Through me you pass into the city of woe: Through me you pass into eternal pain: Through me among the people lost for aye.
    • Justice the founder of my fabric mov'd: To rear me was the task of power divine, Supremest wisdom, and primeval love."
    • Before me things create were none, save things Eternal, and eternal I shall endure. All hope abandon, ye who enter here."

Scholasticist Philosophy Reflected

  • He presents Hell not as chaos but as a rational, ordered part of God's creation.
  • Justice, divine power, supreme wisdom, and primordial love are cited as the reasons for Hell's existence.
  • The idea that punishment is based on divine justice and fits logically into the cosmic order is straight out of Scholastic thought.
  • Even the language ("power divine Supremest wisdom and…") reflects this.

Cardinal Sins

  • Various sins are listed.

How did new architecture in the Middle Ages improve upon earlier styles and support the Church?

  • The two common styles of architecture were: Romanesque and Gothic.

Romanesque Church: St. Filibert, France

  • Images of Romanesque and Gothic Cathedrals are compared.

Romanesque Floor Plan, Gothic Floor Plan

  • Floor plans of Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals are compared.

Interior of a Romanesque Cathedral, Interior of a Gothic Cathedral

  • Interior views of Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals are compared.

Romanesque Cathedral Architectural Style

  • Rounded Arches.
  • Barrel vaults.
  • Thick walls.
  • Darker, simplistic interiors.
  • Small windows, usually at the top of the wall.

Gothic Cathedral Architectural Style

  • Began in France in the 12c– so now public work projects were based around architecture FOR the Church. And it was architecture that illustrated the church as strong and beautiful.
  • Pointed arches.
  • Flying buttresses.
  • Stained glass windows.
  • Elaborate, ornate interior.
  • Taller more airy - lots of light

FUN FACT!

  • The term "Gothic" for cathedrals was originally meant as an insult.
  • Coined during the Renaissance (1400s–1500s).
  • Renaissance thinkers admired the classical architecture of ancient Greece and Rome.
  • However, they saw medieval architecture as barbaric and non-classical.
  • So they called it "Gothic" — after the Goths a Germanic tribe.

St. Etienne, Bourges, late 12th

  • Flying Buttresses

Chartres Cathedral, Paris

  • Royal Portal
  • The "Pillar People"
  • Jamb Figures

Cathedral Gargoyles

  • Practical Function: Water Drainage
    • Primary purpose: They act as water spouts to carry rainwater away from the walls and foundations of a building.
    • Their elongated, grotesque mouths help project water far from the stone—preventing erosion and damage.
    • The word "gargoyle" comes from the French gargouille, meaning "throat" or "gurgling", echoing the sound of water rushing through.
  • Symbolic Function: Spiritual Warnings
    • Many gargoyles are carved as grotesque beasts, monsters, or demons.
    • They serve as visual warnings: reminders of evil, sin, and the need for spiritual protection.
    • By placing frightening figures outside the cathedral, they suggest that safety can be found within is.

Stained Glass Windows

  • For the glory of God.
  • For religious instructions.

Notre Dame Cathedral

  • Images of Notre Dame Cathedral are shown.

Summary Question

  • What are 3 examples that W. European society started to advance (move away from the Dark Ages) in the High Middle Ages (1000-1400)?
  • How was the Church reinforced during this time? (3 reasons)

Summary Question: Answers

  • What are 3 examples that W. European society started to advance (move away from the dark ages) in High Middle Ages (1000-1400)?
    • More open-minded to reason (scholasticism help).
    • New leanings: math!
    • Able to write in the vernacular so many people can start to write/understand writings.
  • How was the Church reinforced during this time? (3 reasons)
    • Scholasticism helps promote Church and reason together.
    • Literature emphasizes Christian themes.
    • Architecture emphasized the Church.