D

Quick Background to the Christian Middle Ages

  • Christianity began as a Middle Eastern religion; grew most quickly in Rome.
  • After the rise of Islam, non-European communities were cut off and shrank.
  • Examples: Armenia, Ethiopia; Da Qin Pagoda for a Christian monastery, 781\ CE, China; Bete Giyorgis Church, Ethiopia (12th cent. CE).

Political History

  • Western Europe faced pressure to defend itself without an efficient tax system, leading to decentralization (feudalism) and decline of cities.
  • Beginning in the 1100s, this trend began to reverse as kings re-established authority in emerging nation-states.

The "Feudal Pyramid" (simplified model)

  • Hierarchy (top to bottom):
    • King
    • Nobles
    • Knights / vassals
    • Land (fief)
    • Peasants
  • Key concepts: Land provides protection and military service, money and knights fund defense, and food/services support the system.

Social and Economic History, and the History of Technology

  • Serfs: half-free, half-slave peasants; tied to land as permanent tenants; sometimes called manorialism.
  • Manorialism begins to reverse after 1200 as states protect free men again.
  • Serfs gain freedom by: running away to towns, seeking law courts, or (post-1347) employers needing laborers.
  • Innovations boost economy: three-field crop rotation, improved plow, horse collar; watermills and windmills with advanced gearing for processing grain and wood.

Classic Manorialism

  • Manor: the estate granted to a lord or knight as part of a fief; land worked by serfs.

The Underlying Cause of Growth

  • Growth driven by trade linked to increased agricultural and artisan production.
  • Kings fostered trade; Italians became middlemen between Europe and Africa & the Middle East.
  • Italian dominance shaped long-distance commerce across the region.

Venice: The First of the Great Italian Trading Cities

  • Venice rises as the leading Italian trading city; major networks include:
    • Routes of Venice, Genoa, and Hanseatic League across the Mediterranean and Baltic.
    • Key terrestrial trade routes linking inland centers to port cities.
  • The commercial system connected Europe to the Levant and beyond.

Italians Invent Banking (NOT in Strayer)

  • Origin of the term “bank” from Italian banco (bench) used in markets to lend money.
  • Merchant families provided the capital and developed credit systems.
  • Innovations include Bills of Exchange, enabling cross-border purchases without carrying cash.
  • Banking parallels private and merchant finance traditions seen in other regions (e.g., China’s flying cash).

Culture and Religion

  • The Church played a central role in education, marriage, government; educated clergy often held political power.
  • The Church invented universities.
  • Christianization fostered new marriage ideals (love-based) and led to institutions for the poor, including first hospitals staffed by nuns.

Culture

  • Europe’s flourishing was aided by knowledge from the Muslim world (Aristotle’s works preserved, Hindu-Arabic numerals).
  • St. Thomas Aquinas became one of the most influential theologians; universities like Cambridge developed.
  • Medieval hospitals emerged as part of cultural growth.

Crusades: Causes and Effects

  • Causes:
    • Christian losses to Islam in the Middle East
    • Warrior elite’s fear about damnation
  • Effects:
    • Temporary gains in land, but long-term weakening of Christian states and minority communities in the Middle East
    • Permanent gains for Christian states in Spain (Reconquista)
    • Increased knowledge transfer from the Muslim world despite ongoing Christian–Muslim wars
    • Trade routes between Christians and Muslims continued and grew