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Western Europe 500 - 1500 CE
1.
WESTERN EUROPE500 CE – 1500 CE
2.
MEDIEVAL EUROPE: PERIODIZATION• Early Middle Ages: 500 – 1000 CE
• High Middle Ages: 1000 – 1250 CE
• Late Middle Ages: 1250 – 1500 CE
3.
CHANGE IN WESTERN EUROPE• By the year 1000 = invasions from
outsiders (Vikings, Muslims, Magyars)
had stopped
• Either stopped or were absorbed
into western European society
Result = peace and stability = things
took a positive turn in Western Europe
• At the same time = general climate
change warmer conditions = better
agriculture
4.
POLITICAL LIFE IN WESTERN EUROPE• Western Europe = now a
series of regional kingdoms
instead of one united
empire
• Many Germanic rulers were
influenced by and
embraced Roman culture
• Many leaders wanted to
recreate that unity that
existed with the Roman
Empire
5.
CHARLEMAGNE• Ruled the Carolingian
Empire from 768 to 814 CE
• Set up an imperial
bureaucracy
• Standardized weights and
measures
• Acted like an old imperial
ruler
• Christmas Day of 800 CE =
he was crowned the “new
Roman emperor” by the
Pope
6.
CHARLEMAGNE• His empire was divided
among his sons after his
death
• Attempt at unity =
unsuccessful
7.
OTTO I OF SAXONY• Created the Holy Roman
Empire (mostly Germany
and its surrounding areas)
• Ruled from 936 to 973
• Tried to regain unity in
Western Europe just like
Charlemagne
• Also received title of
emperor from the Pope
• Unsuccessful
8.
A NEW POLITICAL SYSTEM• These new kingdoms = created a highly fragmented and
decentralized society
• Europe full of thousands of independent and isolated manors
(estates)
• Gave rise to a new system in Europe = feudalism = a political,
economic, and social system based on loyalty and military
service
9.
A NEW POLITICAL SYSTEM• Power = exercised by monarchs
and elite landowning lords
• Lesser lords and knights swore
allegiance to greater lords and
kings
• Lesser lords = vassals =
people who entered into a
mutual obligation to a higher
lord or monarch
• Gave them: military protection
and support
• In return they got: land or fiefs
• Fiefs = estates that came with
serfs to work the land
10.
PROBLEMS WITH FEUDALISM• Possible to have allegiances to more than one person
• System relied on loyalty of subjects
• No strong central government
• King must ask his lords for knights in time of war.
• King must ask his lords for money to pay for things.
• Lords hold most of the power.
• Lords constantly fighting among themselves.
11.
12.
LIFE OF THE NOBILITY• Nobility consisted of lords, ladies, and knights
• A lord had almost total authority over his fief
• A lady had few, if any, rights
• For entertainment, tournaments were held
• Mock battles between knights
• Other entertainment = archery, big dinners, minstrels, and
singers
13.
BECOMING A KNIGHT…• Boys became knights by:
• Starting as a page (assistant) to
the lord at age 7
• At 15, he became a squire who
assisted a knight
• Once he proved himself in battle,
he was knighted in a ceremony
14.
BECOMING A KNIGHT…• Knights’ behavior was governed by a code of chivalry
• This became the basis for good manners in western society
15.
THE MANORIAL SYSTEM• Peasants lived on & worked the lord’s
land
• This agricultural economic system is
known as manorialism
• In return for the lord’s protection, the
peasants provided services for the lord
• Farming, herding, weapon making, etc.
• Most peasants were serfs = people
who couldn’t leave the lord’s manor
without permission
16.
SERFS VS. SLAVES• Serfs = tied to the land; not
the personal property of a
specific person
• Slaves = belong to their
master
17.
CHRISTIANITY OF WESTERN EUROPE• Roman Catholicism
• How did it spread throughout Western Europe?
• Church leaders and missionaries used a
“top-down” strategy
• Converted people at the top (kings and
higher lords) first then they would
persuade those below them to convert as
well
• Many kings & lords chose to convert
because: they liked the Church’s
connection to the “civilized” and “grand”
Roman Empire
18.
CHRISTIANITY OF WESTERN EUROPE• Church authorities also had a lot of
political power
• They worked together with kings,
nobles, and knights
• Rulers gave the Church: protection
and support of the religion
• The Church gave the rulers:
religious legitimacy for their power
(“It is the will of the Creator…”)
• Sometimes they competed for power
as well
19.
THE INVESTITURE CONFLICT• Conflict over: who should appoint bishops
and the pope himself
• The Church? Or kings and emperors?
• Compromise = the Church can select its
own officials and rulers retain an informal
and symbolic role in the process
20.
THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES 1000-130021.
CHANGE IN WESTERN EUROPE• Population of Europe more than
doubled
• Increased agriculture
• More agriculture = more trade
• Major European centers of trade:
• Northern Europe from England
to the Baltic coast
• Italian towns such as Florence,
Genoa, and Venice
22.
CHANGE IN WESTERN EUROPE• Large European trading fairs
held merchants from Northern
and Southern Europe met to
trade products from their
respective areas
23.
CHANGE IN WESTERN EUROPE• This led to the growth of banking
• Moneychangers exchanged
one currency for another
• Also took deposits and
arranged loans
• Set up ways to transfer
money from one place to
another
24.
CHANGE IN WESTERN EUROPE• Increased population = increased
urbanization
• Growth of cities/towns and
different groups within them
• Merchants
• Bankers
• Artisans
• Lawyers, doctors, and
scholars
25.
GUILDS• Guilds = business associations organized by merchants
and artisans in the same line of work
• Created rules concerning foreign trading, pricing of goods,
wages, etc.
• Guilds were controlled by masters = artisans who owned their
own shops and tools
26.
GUILDS• Apprentices worked for masters to learn the craft --> were not
paid
• Apprentices became journeymen and received pay
• To become a master, had to submit a sample of his work to the
guild for approval
27.
GROWTH OF TOWNS• A number of towns in western Europe grew tremendously
• Townspeople built walls around towns for protection
• Buildings were mostly made of wood, making fire a constant
hazard
• Cities were dirty, smelled terribly, and had almost no sanitation
• Garbage and sewage tossed into the streets
• Caused the rapid spread of diseases such as typhoid,
influenza, and malaria
• Could become epidemics
28.
THE BLACK DEATH• Worst = Bubonic Plague
(1348-1350) --> killed 1/3 of
the population = called the
Black Death
• Ring around the Rosie
is a reference to the
Black Death
29.
THE CRUSADES30.
THE CRUSADES• The Crusades = a series of 9 “holy
wars” led by European Christians to
recapture the holy lands and
spread Christianity
• Lasted several centuries
• Authorized by the Pope
• Belief that it was “God’s
command”
Pope Urban II calling for the Crusades
31.
THE CRUSADES32.
THE CRUSADES• Participants = knights, peasants,
middle-class, nobles, kings,
church authorities all walks of
life!
• Participants received:
• Indulgences = removed any
penalties for their confessed
sins
• Immunity from lawsuits
• Cancellation of debts
• Honor and glory
33.
THE CRUSADES• Most famous Crusades = those
aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem
and other holy places in the
Middle East from the Muslims
• Crusaders = very violent
• 1099 = seizure of
Jerusalem thousands of
Muslims and Jewish people
slaughtered
34.
THE CRUSADES• The 1st crusade managed to conquer Jerusalem
• The Europeans then created 4 feudal “Crusader States” in the Holy
Land, each ruled by a European noble.
• The 4th crusade sent Knights back to the Holy Land, however they never
made it to Jerusalem.
• Instead attacked the city of Constantinople because they were in
desperate need of supplies and funds.
• The Children's Crusade in 1212
• They believed God would protect them because they were children.
• When the ships landed in North Africa, some children were slaughtered
and others were sold in to slavery.
35.
THE CRUSADES• Other targets of the Crusaders:
• Muslims on the Iberian
Peninsula (Spain)
• Lands along the Baltic Sea
• The Byzantine Empire and
Russia
• Enemies of the Popes
• Opponents of the Catholic
Church
36.
THE CRUSADES: RESULTS• Relatively unsuccessful
• Little lasting impact
• Increased power of the popes
• As a result of contact with the Islamic
world, Europeans gained:
• A demand for Asian goods
• Muslim scholarship
• Techniques for producing sugar on
large-scale plantations
37.
THE CRUSADES: RESULTS• Greater rift between Eastern
Orthodoxy and Roman
Catholicism
• Growth of anti-Semitism
• Solidified cultural barriers
38.
THE MAGNA CARTA• English King John was a bad king so his
nobles forced him to sign the Magna
Carta
• It limited powers of king.
• Signed in 1215
• Example of Rule of Law
39.
WESTERN EUROPEA COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
40.
CATCHING UP• Western Europe was much less developed
than: the Byzantine Empire, China, India, and
the Islamic world
• Smaller cities
• Politically weaker
• Less international economy
• Inferior technology
41.
EUROPE’S WILLINGNESS TO BORROWFrom:
Received:
Arabs
Scientific ideas, business
practices, goods like spices and
sugar
Philosophical and artistic ideas
Mathematical concepts, spices
Silks, porcelain, gunpowder,
papermaking, compass, iron
casting, nautical technology, a
public postal service
Pagan Greeks
India
China
42.
EUROPE’S OWN BREAKTHROUGHS• In agriculture = new heavy
wheeled plow that could handle
the dense soils of Northern
Europe
• In energy = non-animal sources =
windmill, water-driven mill,
complex gearing mechanisms,
etc.
• Revolutionized production in
many industries
43.
PLURALISM IN POLITICS• Political life in Western Europe became
a system of competing states
• Ex: France, Spain, England,
Sweden, etc.
• Why no single European empire?
• Geographic barriers
• Ethnic and linguistic diversity
• Shifting balances of power among
the many states
44.
PLURALISM IN POLITICS• Result of this type of
political system:
• Frequent warfare
• Enhanced the role and
status of military men
• Drove the “gunpowder
revolution”
45.
PLURALISM IN POLITICS• 3-way struggle for power in western
European states between: monarchs,
high-ranking nobles, and church leaders
• As a result = most cities ended up
making their own laws and appointing
their own local officials
• In many cities kings granted
charters = allowed citizens to have their
own courts, laws, and governments
46.
PAVING THE WAY FOR THE FUTURE…• Development of capitalism
• Development of representative institutions and parliaments
• First parliaments represented “estates”
• First estate = the clergy
• Second estate = the landowning nobility
• Third estate = Urban merchants
47.
REASON AND FAITH• Rising tension in Europe between:
human reason and faith
• Classical Greek philosophy
Does it contradict religion? Or can
it be used to help disclose the
truths of Christianity
48.
RISE OF EUROPEAN UNIVERSITIES• Considered “zones of intellectual
autonomy”
• Professors and students could
pursue their studies with some
freedom from political and religious
authorities
• Guild of scholars organized
• Major universities in: Paris, Oxford,
Cambridge
49.
MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITIESUniversity of Paris in France
Cambridge in England
50.
MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITIES51.
REASON AND FAITH• At these universities is where
scholars and students began to
examine faith and religion using
reason and logic
• Example of a student’s question =
Can you prove that God exists
based solely on reason, without
the Bible or other source of divine
revelation?
52.
REASON AND FAITH• However, many scholars and students believed that reason
could coexist with faith
• Logic, philosophy, and rationality would operate in service to
Christ
53.
DESIRE FOR ANCIENT GREEK TEXTS• Focus on reason and rationality =
led scholars to seek out original
Greek texts
• Especially those of Aristotle
his writings became the basis
for university education
• Many translated from Greek and
Arabic into Latin
54.
BIRTH OF THE RENAISSANCE• The Renaissance will be caused by:
• An increased interest in acquiring new goods from Asia, Africa and the
Middle East.
• Demand for things such as silks, spices, ivory and pearls. This created a
demand for trade with the Middle East.
• Increased trade = Increased income for Italian merchants
• Sophisticated Muslim culture, arts and philosophy were introduced to the
Europeans