the middle ages

the middle ages

the time period between when the roman empire falls to when the renaissance begins

^^fall of the roman empire (476)^^

  • doing very well
  • taking over several places
  • THENNNNN
    • it gets very bad with gout and other circumstances
    • small resurgence with constantine, takes byzantine and names it constantinople
    • then they hit rock bottom and they get sacked three times
  • so final fall of the western civilization, falls in 476 - the east is able to go on for a while (1453)

byzantine

  • constantinople
  • reign of justinian
    • military expedition, codification of roman law, building projects, and hagia sophia
  • problems in byzantium
  • split of the church \\ the great schism - 1054

monastic culture

  • Dedicate their entire life to the church
    • Monks
    • Nuns
    • Community outreach pilgrimages
    • Basically everything attached to the church
    • Kind of deletes the rationality ideas

invasion

  • invading western europe
    • vikings (north)
    • magdars (east)
    • islamic empires (south)

daily life

  • Church
  • Surviving
  • Avoiding invasions

charlemagne

  • charles the great
  • 747-814
  • church fils in the gaps of the government
  • carolingian dynasty
  • invasion
    • his grandfather and father protected the french family legacy??
  • creates empire until napoleon bonaparte
  • creates new political party like thing
    • recognizes the church
    • “divine right of kings”
    • depends on local lords and their armies for “loyalty” and power
    • basic idea of feudalism
    • “here’s land, but you have to give me your men when i need them”
    • lasts until his death

feudalism

  • by creating the feudal system
    • Creates ties for political centralism
    • Creates stability
    • Built on mutual obligation

 

characteristics and developments of the middle ages

economy

agricultural improvements - three fields system

growth of trade

rise of towns and merchants (guilds -> early unions?)

society

intellectual flowering || university becomes more smarter

role of women - trade, kitchen & kids, and finances

societal structure

university

  • not individual thinking
  • not research institutions
  • scholastic thinking

politics

centralization and expansion

to political centralize

focusing or giving power to one government or organization

conflict between church, state, and nobility

if the power goes to the government, then the clergy and the nobles lose power (but they’re not really supposed to have power)

****clergy: if you are employed by the church, if you aren’t then you are a laidy/ lay person

crises and chaos in the late middle ages

disease, disaster, and catastrophe

100 years war [1337-1453]

england vs france

england has a claim to the french throne, england wants to expand and france is a kingdom. FRANCE DOES NOT WANT THIS!

first stage - england wins

the french had more people and money, but not good leadership

second stage - england wins

henry V becomes king of both france and england

joan of arc!

16/17 year old girl - claims that God is telling her to lead

ends up getting captured by the english, “witch” claims, and gets burned at the stake

france wins third stage

results in

  • early form of nationalism
  • accelerate centralization process
  • makes peasants really mad (due to taxes)
  • get treated better, reduction of serfdom in both countries

<<THE BLACK DEATH<<

the middle ages were doing pretty bad as they were dealing with famine, they were unsanitary, overall just bad!

then, enter bubonic plague (the black death)

  • causes
    • (possibly) comes from east asia
    • (possibly) rats and stuff on ships
    • (possibly) invasion by the mongols
  • symptoms
    • fever
    • nodules
    • formed on the neck, arms, etc.
    • turned black - “black death”
    • usually a week after - death!
  • don’t know if related to black death but…
    • smallpox
    • pneumonic plague
    • septicemic plague

black death followed trade routes into europe (silk road?) a ⅓ of the entire population of europe died! in trade center areas 50% of the people died. church loses a little mortality because they couldn’t stop the plague. nobles also lost power because the peasants were dying.

immediate reactions to the plague

  • god is mad
  • must please god
  • persecution of the jews
  • believed that the jews were the reason

crises in the church

  • babylonian captivity
  • western schism

king of france wanted to tax the clergy but couldn't without the pope’s consent, and why would he consent? king of france kidnaps and captures the pope, who escapes but dies. pope’s dead so the cardinals will elect a new pope. they elect a french pope due to the pressure from the king. pope is moved to france from rome - but this man is the bishop of rome???? this is the babylonian captivity.

romans are tired of this, when going to elect a pope (this is a few popes after) and then they (the romans) turn into a mob. kidnaps the cardinals and demands for a roman pope. this is the western schism.

cardinal group i - “sure! let's have a roman pope”

cardinal group ii - “YALL CAPTURED US NOT HAPPENING!!”

NOW THERE ARE TWO POPES

the pope’s supposed to be the voice of god - there can be only one!!!! so the cardinals hold a meeting in pisa, find another reconciliation pope. SO NOW THERE ARE THREE?

now the people are like “what?!” now who am i supposed to believe in? am i supposed to believe in a guy that you guys can’t decide (i don’t get it either). so then the church loses a lot of power. and then with martin V it goes back to a single pope!