Topic 1: Discuss the collapse of Western Civilization following the fall of Rome as well as the people and institutions that attempted to provide order and preserve civilization.

- Trade:

• The disruption of trade destroyed Europe’s economy and led to the downfall of cities. Cities became abandoned. The population went rural to grow food. This created tribes (soon to be countries).

  • The Roman Empire had a common currency and language which made it incredibly easy for trade. The Empire also provided protection to people and travelers. After it fell, trade collapsed.

• Learning plummeted. Germanic invaders couldn’t read or write. Latin changed and there was no longer a common language. Vernacular brought Spanish and French, etc.

  • Knowledge really fell off and was lost. About 1% are educated in Europe. Before the Empire fell, it was 10%. Books and literacy also plummeted.

- Church:

• The leader of the Franks, Clovis, brought Christianity/Catholicism to the region.

• The Catholic Church brought a lot of stability.

  • St Benedict established monasteries in Western Europe. These were used as centers of learning. manuscripts were copied and preserved.

  • The church played an important part in people's morality. They kept all the serfs in check so they could continue doing their jobs, even tho it sucked. Basically this is all God’s plan.

    • Under Gregory the great, the papacy became a secular (worldly) power. he used Church funds to raise armies, repair roads, and help the poor.

  • The church was an authoritative figure

  • After 800, the church sought to influence both spiritual and political matters.

  • Shared beliefs in the teachings of the church bonded people together. during an era of constant warfare and political turmoil, the church offered stability. there was also a social aspect to it too.

- Carolingian Empire

• The church asked Pepin to help fight the Lombards and would appoint Pepin king if he protected the Pope. Pepin becoming king brought forth the Carolingian Dynasty.

• Charlemagne is Pepin’s son who inherits his dynasty. He expanded the empire to almost the size of the Roman Empire.

  • Through his conquests, he spreads Christianity, reunites western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire, and became the most powerful king in Western Europe.

  • He was later crowned by the Pope with the title “Roman Emperor” signaling the joining of Germanic powers, the Church, and the heritage of the Roman Empire.

• Charlemagne’s accomplishments

  • Limited authority of the nobles

  • Encouraged learning

    • called the “Carolingian Renaissance” which helped create Carolingian minuscule (modern writing)

- Feudalism:

• Feudalism arose because lords needed protection from the invading Vikings. The King can’t help but the knights can! In exchange for military protection, a lord granted a vassal land (fief). The lords also had serfs working on their land which the church helped keep in check. The Lord provides serfs with housing, farmland, and protection in exchange for work; serfs tended the land, cared for animals, and did other house tasks.

• The manor was largely self-sufficient; they raised and grew everything they needed like crops, fuel, cloth, leather, and lumber. they only needed a few outside goods through trade.

• The serfs accepted their economic hardships because its part of the church’s teachings. God determines a person’s status.

• Feudalism establishing a stable social order that offered protection for everyone. it really helped trade and led to the growth of cities.

Topic 2: Starting in the 11th Century, in what ways did Europe begin to recover from its “Dark Ages”

• Global Warming (800-1270 ad)

  • Global warming thaws/opens new land for people to farm. This settles down the Vikings so there isn’t constant warfare going on.

  • New technology: horse collar, 3 field system which increased farm yield by ~70%, iron plow that can go through hard soil, the horseshoe, and the windmill.

• Trade and Cities

  • Cities began to increase in population, which sparked trade and spread ideas.

  • Cities means increased learning.

    • Universities/colleges began popping up all over Europe.

    • Vernacular became popularized by writers Dante and Chaucer in Italian and English respectively. vernacular helped literacy increase because before, most writing was in Latin, which most people couldn’t read.

    • Thomas Aquinas argued that science can be used in religion and that they aren’t mutually exclusive. Greek philosophy is okay to follow

    • The creation of glasses also increased learning

    • The movable type printing press helped mass produce books

  • In towns

    • guilds promoted trade, set and maintained standards for work, and managed prices.

    • guilds got many people jobs through apprenticeships

    • A clock helped pay hourly wages to workers

  • New technology: letters of credit allowed long distant trade (like a check), compass, triangular sails helped navigate, rudders so one person can steer a boat, etc.

• Other tech:

  • Military:

    • The military became a lot more powerful with better, stronger weapons. Now they can go and kill people but better

Topic 3: Discuss the collapse of the feudal system during the late Middle Ages. Include its nature as well as its causes

- The Nation State:

• In the 12th century countries start to form. A nation state has a well defined boundaries of territories. There is one government- a king. Its not about local control anymore, its about a king imposing his rule. They all speak a common language. There’s a sense of loyalty to the nations, but its pretty small. “I don’t belong to a lord, i belong to a greater power (nation).” This makes it hard for the feudal system to work

-Growth of Cities:

• The number of cities and populations boomed. Cities were a place of refuge for peasants who didn’t want to live on the lords manor. Peasants were worked to death and exploited. cities were a place to go for refuge. They can get a job in the city and became more independent. Technically lords could try to capture them and drag them back to their land, but it becomes hard for a lord to do this when the cities have thousands of people. It weakened the control the lord has over their peasants. 

-14th Century- a time of troubles

• Problems in the Church

  • Corruption

    • In an attempt to get rid of the corruption, the church had enforced celibacy and the local priests were not following it. This made the church look bad

    • The churches also sold a lot of holy relics for money, but there were a lot of duplicates. This weakened the church’s reputation

  • Babylonian Captivity and the Papal Schism

    • The French kidnap or popenap the Pope which didn’t go well. There were rumors that the Pope was having a little too much fun at Avignon. It makes the church look really corrupt because he shouldn’t have fun!

    • At one point there were three Popes. not good

• Plague

  • Many members of the church abandoned their positions once the plague hit. All the church did to offer support during this time was tell people to pray which obviously didn’t work.

  • Results

    • It was good for peasants because labor was in short supply and they got paid a lot more. Lords couldn’t exploit them and had to treat them nicer.

    • Church’s authority is hurt. People start questioning church leadership because the people have been doing what the church told them and if this was god’s punishment them maybe the teachings are wrong

• New developments

  • Standing armies. Because the employment was only 30 days for vassals they didn’t have enough time to starve out a castle. But a standing army could!