Notes: Western Europe, 400–1450 C.E. (Key Concepts for Exam)

Western Europe After Rome, 400-1450 C.E.

After the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 C.E., Western Europe enters the Middle Ages with decentralized Germanic kingdoms.
Early Middle Ages (first 500 years) sometimes called the Dark Ages: learning declined, cities declined, roads in disrepair, barter returns; coastal towns still connected via the Mediterranean trade.
High Middle Ages (from 1000 to 1450) experience revival of learning and trade; Abelard symbolizes this rebirth; studied Aristotelian logic to address church questions but remained within the church.
Political shift from a centralized empire to smaller, localized states; Franks unite under Clovis; recurring succession problems hinder centralized monarchy.

Carolingian Dynasty

Charles Martel defeats Muslims at the Battle of Tours in 732; founded the Carolingian Dynasty.
Pepin the Short (ruled 752-768) solidified his claim with papal endorsement.
Charlemagne (ruled 768-814) crowned Emperor of the Romans by the pope in 800; promoted church-led education; used regional administrators; foreshadowed the Holy Roman Empire.
The dynasty ends with divisions among Charlemagne’s grandsons in 814, accelerating feudal fragmentation.
Comparing Carolingians and Tang China: both used religion to legitimize rule, valued education, and used regional administration to control nobles; tang centralized governance and civil service; Europeans leaned toward feudal decentralization.
Tang China built the Grand Canal for administration and tribute, expanded connections via Silk Road; Europe lacked a lasting centralized system; reliance on papal legitimacy differed from Mandate of Heaven.

Invasions and Exchange in the Early Middle Ages

External pressures: Muslims push north to Tours; Vikings from the north with longships raid and settle, reaching Iceland, Greenland, Vinland; trade linked to Byzantium and Islamic world; coins found far west indicate networks.
Magyars from Central Asia invade east of Europe, settle in present-day Hungary, convert to Christianity, eventually come under central European monarchs after the tenth century.
The Byzantines and Islamic world maintain trade routes; despite invasions, the Mediterranean and Baltic routes keep Europe connected.
A major religious and political difference: a single major religion (Christianity) unites much of Western Europe, while South Asia remains religiously diverse.

Feudalism and the Manorial System

Feudalism: kings grant land (fiefs) to lords in exchange for military service; lords grant land to vassals; knights as vassals; code of chivalry governs conduct; women are protected but hold limited rights.
Manorial system: manors are self-sufficient estates with peasants/serfs tied to the land; serfs pay tribute in crops or labor; most land is worked locally; literacy and education are limited.
Agricultural innovations: the three-field system; crop rotation with wheat/rye, legumes, and fallow; improved plows, windmills, and later the horse collar and stirrups increase efficiency; land under cultivation grows over time.
Language shift: Latin remains the clergy’s language; vernacular languages (French, Italian, Spanish) develop among common people.
Social mobility exists in Europe (knights, clerics, guild members) but is limited compared to Tang China’s bureaucracy.

Social Classes in Europe and Asia

Europe: feudal hierarchy with mobility through church, knighthood, or guilds; serfdom is common but not universal; aristocracy dominates land and power.
Tang China: strong central bureaucracy; aristocrats exist but land ownership is more widespread; merchants gain some influence; scholar-gentry class emerges.
Women: in Europe, patriarchy is pronounced though some religious orders offer roles; Christine de Pisan later advocates women’s education and merit.
In Islamic societies and parts of Asia, women’s status varies; early Islamic and some Asian contexts show relatively greater equality in certain periods.

The Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages

The Church is the dominant authority in Western Europe; few people are literate, so Church staff read and write for others; monasteries preserve learning.
Education and culture: the Church establishes universities; art and architecture (Gothic cathedrals) educate and inspire.
Church and state: papal authority is asserted through hierarchy; Charters like the Donation of Constantine (later proven forged) bolster papal power.
The Great Schism (1045-1054) separates Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches; later, rival popes emerge during the Avignon Papacy (1309-1377), known as the Babylonian Captivity.
Monastic orders (Benedictines, Franciscans, Dominicans, Knights Templar) shape religious and political life; Cluniac reforms attempt to reform church corruption.
The Crusades (begun in 1095) mobilize Christian Europe; later reformers like Wycliffe, Hus, and Luther challenge the Church.

Education, Culture, and Learning

Medieval scholarship is church-centered; scholasticism (e.g., Thomas Aquinas) seeks to reconcile faith and reason.
Universities emerge (Paris, Oxford, Cambridge; Salerno earlier) to formalize studies in liberal arts and theology.
Preservation of classical texts by scribal work in monasteries; Arabic science and medicine (e.g., Avicenna, Canon of Medicine) contribute to later European knowledge; Arabic numerals and scientific methods influence Europe.
The Abbasid world (Baghdad) and Western Europe both sought to preserve and transmit classical knowledge, but differed in language and scientific approach.

Economic and Social Change in the High Middle Ages

Cities grow; commerce expands; guilds regulate trades and protect workers; Hanseatic League controls North and Baltic Sea trade; urban life is rough with sanitation and fire hazards, yet cities flourish (Italy and Low Countries higher urbanization).
Trade networks broaden: Silk Road, Mediterranean sea routes, Indian Ocean trade; Crusades open contact with East and Byzantium; Marco Polo’s accounts spur curiosity and mapmaking.
The rise of a middle class (bourgeoisie) and shifting social structures; urban centers foster literacy and commerce.
Climate: the Little Ice Age slows agricultural productivity after the 1300s, limiting urban growth.

Gender Roles and Religion

Patriarchy strengthens as societies urbanize; women’s rights erode, though religious orders and some writers (e.g., Christine de Pisan) advocate for women’s education.
Women in religious orders can exercise administrative roles; some guilds admit women; Islam sometimes offers relatively higher status in certain regions.

The Crusades and Cultural Exchange

Crusades (1095-1291) propel contact with the Islamic world and Byzantium, stimulating trade and knowledge transfer but also violence and religious tensions.
Europe gains exposure to Asian goods, science, and maps; this exchange paves the way for the Renaissance and secularism.
The Black Death ( 1347-1351 ) devastates Europe, reducing population and altering economic and social structures.

The Renaissance and the End of the Middle Ages

Growth of trade and a rising middle class fuels renewed interest in classical antiquity (Greco-Roman learning).
Humanism emphasizes human potential and secular education; revival of classical literature, art, and civic virtue.
Education and reform promote centralized monarchies and nationalist identities; vernacular languages rise as linguae francae alongside Latin.
The Renaissance lays groundwork for secularism, science, and later Enlightenment ideas.