THE GROWTH OF EUROPEAN KINGDOMS

THE NORMAN CONQUEST

ANGLO-SAXONS

These Germanic ppl from Northern Europe had invaded England early in the 5th c.

WILLIAM: KING OF ENGLAND

On October 14, 1066, an army of knights under William of Normandy landed on the coast of England and defeated the last of the Anglo-Saxon kings at the Battle of Hastings

William was then crowned king of England

William made all nobles swear an oath of loyalty to him as sole ruler of England

ENGLISH EMERGES

The Norman ruling class spoke French, but the marriage of the Normans with the Anglo-Saxons nobility gradually merged the two into a new English culture

HENRY II

The power of the English monarchy was enlarged during the reign of Henry II, from 1154-1189

By expanding the power of the royal courts, Henry expanded the king’s power

A body of common law – law that was common to the whole kingdom- began to replace law codes that varied from place to place

THE MAGNA CARTA

Many English nobles resented the ongoing growth of the king’s power and rose in rebellion during the reign of King John

In 1215, John was forced to put his seal on a document of rights called the Magna Carta, or the “ Great Charter”

Feudal custom always recognized that the relationship btw Kings and vassals was based on mutual rights and obligations

The Magna Carta gave written recognition to that fact and was used in later years to strengthen the idea that a monarch’s power was limited, NOT absolute

THE FIRST PARLIAMENT

During the reign of Edward I, (13th c) a representative gov’t known as the English Parliament emerged

The Parliament was composed of two knights from every county, two people from every town, and all the nobles and bishops throughout England.

Eventually, the nobles and church lords formed the House of Lords ; knights and townspeople, the House of Commons

These Parliaments granted taxes and passed laws

THE FRENCH KINGDOM

KING PHILIP II AUGUSTUS

The reign of King Philip II Augustus, who ruled from 1180-1223, was a turning point in the growth of the French monarchy

Philip waged war against the rulers of England thus expanding the income of the French monarchy and greatly increased its power

Rulers after Philip II cont’d to add lands to the royal domain

By 1300 France was the largest and best-governed monarchial state in Europe

CHRISTIANITY AND MEDIEVAL CIVILIZATION

THE PAPAL MONARCHY

Since the 5th c, the popes of the Catholic Church had been supreme over the affairs of the Church

They had also gained control of territories in central Italy that came to be known as the Papal States

This control kept the popes involved in political matters, often at the expense of their spiritual duties

PAPAL REFORMS

Secular, or lay, rulers usually chose nominees to church offices and gave them the symbol of their office, a practice known as lay investiture

Realizing the need to be free from secular interference in the appointment of church officials, Pope Gregory VII decided to fight this practice

Gregory claimed that only by eliminating lay investiture could the Church regain its freedom

By “freedom” he meant the right of the Church to appoint clergy and run its own affairs

THE CHURCH SUPREME

During the papacy of Pope Innocent III in the 13th c, the Catholic Church reached the height of its political power

LETTER FROM INNOCENT III

“ As God, the creator of the universe, set two great lights in the firmament of heaven, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night so He set two great dignities in the firmament of the universal Church, …the greater to rule the day, that is, souls, and the lesser to rule the night, that is, bodies. These dignities are the papal authority and the royal power. And just as the moon gets her light from the sun, and is inferior to the sun….so the royal power gets the splendor of its dignity from the papal authority”

Innocent used the spiritual weapons at his command

His favorite was the interdict – forbids priests from giving the sacraments (Christian rites) of the Church to a particular group of people.

The goal was to cause the people under interdiction, who were deprived of the comforts of religion, to exert pressure against their ruler

THE CULTURE OF THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES

THE RISE OF UNIVERSITIES

The university as we know it today, with faculty, students, and degrees, was a product of the High Middle Ages

THE FIRST UNIVERSITIES

The first European university appeared in Bologna (buh-LOH-nyuh), Italy

A great teacher that taught Roman law attracted students from all over Europe (men) Most were administrators for kings

and princes

These men were eager to learn more about the law in order to apply it in their own jobs

The first university in northern Europe was the University of Paris

In the 12th c., several students and masters(teachers) left Paris and started their own university at Oxford, England

Kings, popes, and princes thought it honorable to found new universities

By 1500, there were 80 universities in Europe

UNIVERSITY CURRICULA

Students began their studies at medieval university w/ the traditional liberal arts curriculum Consisted of grammar, rhetoric, logic,

arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy

Teaching was down using the lecture method The word “lecture” is derived from

Latin and means “to read” Books were expensive and few

students could afford them, so teachers read from a basic text and then added their explanations

There were no exams after lectures however when a student applied for a degree, they were given an oral examination by a committee of teachers

These exams were taken after a four-six year period of study

Levels of degree: Bachelor of arts Masters (Doctorate / PhD)

A student cold go on to study law, medicine, or theology Theology – the study of religion and God – was the most highly regarded subject of the medieval university

The study of law, medicine, or theology could take 10 yrs or more

A student who passed his final oral examination in one of these areas was granted a doctor’s degree

SCHOLASTICISM

The study of theology in universities was strongly influenced by a philosophical and theological system known as scholasticism Scholasticism tried to reconcile faith

and reason – to show that what was accepted on faith was in harmony with what could be learned through reason and experience

The chief task was to harmonize Christian teachings with the works of Greek philosophers Western Europe has been introduced to the works of Aristotle (famous Greek philosopher) in the 12th c

Aristotle’s works upset many Christian theologians

He had arrived at his conclusions by rational thought and not by faith

Some of his ideas contradicted the teachings of the Church

In the 13th c. Saint Thomas Aquinas made the most famous attempt to reconcile Aristotle w/ the doctrines of Christianity

His work, Summa Theologica, ( A summary of Theology) was organized according to the logical method of intellectual investigation used by scholars

He would pose a question like “Does God Exist?”

He would cite opposing opinions and then reconcile them and arrive at a conclusion

He took for granted that there were truths arrived at by reason and those by faith

He was certain that the two truths couldn’t be in conflict with each other

He believed that the human mind, w/o faith, could use reason and experience to arrive at truths concerning the physical universe. However, reason alone could not grasp spiritual truths

VERNACULAR LITERATURE

Latin was the universal language of medieval civilization

It enabled learned people to communicate anywhere in Europe

In the 12th c, new literature was written in the vernacular – language of everyday speech

Vernacular literature became more and more popular as educated people took interest in new forms of entertainment

The most popular was troubadour poetry

This poetry told of the love of a knight for a lady, who inspires him to be a braver knight and a better poet

Another type of was the chanson de geste or heroic epic

The chief events described in heroic poems are battles and political contests

ARCHITECTURE

The 11th and 12th c saw a massive increase in church building

Churches built in the 11th c were based on the Romanesque style Rectangular with flat wooden roofs Barrel vaults were added later

A new style, Gothic, appeared in the 12th c and was perfected in the 13th c

These cathedrals remain one of the greatest artistic triumphs of the High Middle Ages

Two innovations made these cathedrals possible: Ribbed vaults and pointed arches Flying buttress

The combo of ribbed vaults and pointed arches creates an impression of upward movement, as if the building is reaching to God

The flying buttress made it possible to distribute weight outward and down

b/c of this, Gothic Cathedrals were built with thinner walls which could be filled with stained glass windows that depicted religious scenes

The Gothic cathedral, with its towers soaring toward heaven, bears witness to an age when most ppl believed in a spiritual world

THE LATE MIDDLE AGES

IN THIS SECTION

There are 3 main topics in this section: Black death The Great Schism 100 years war

THE BLACK DEATH

Basically this is a nasty bacteria-based epidemic that was spread along trade routes Rats carrying fleas that had the bacterium were the catalyst

The plague spread through

trade routes Italian merchant ships (a playground for rats) brought the disease with them from the Black Sea in October 1347

By the end of the year it had spread throughout Italy, France, and Spain

Out of a total European population of 75 million, 38 million died of the plague between 1347-1351 (4 years) That’s 9.5 million per year That’s 182,693 / week Over 26,000 / day That’s over 5 Willis’s / day

The plague spread quickest in over-crowded cities Makes sense….lots of people in close

proximity…lots of contact with each other…gross.

So…. What is it? This epidemic left huge boils in the groin,

neck and armpits that oozed pus and bled when open

Usually followed by acute fever and vomiting blood

Most died in 2-7 days after initial infection

The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin (Ring around the rosy). Pockets and pouches were filled with sweet smelling herbs ( or posies) which were carried due to the belief that the disease was transmitted by bad smells. The term "Ashes Ashes" refers to the cremation of the dead bodies!

SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE PLAGUE

Imagine that everyone around you is dying…how would you feel?

Don’t forget, people of the Middle Ages are deeply religious Many believed the plague was sent by God to punish them for their sins or had been caused by the Devil himself

The belief that the plague was either God or Satan, led to the outbreak of anti-Semitism – hostility toward Jews some towns accused Jews of poisoning

the town water supplies The worst attacks occurred in Germany

(big surprise) and many Jews fled to neighboring Poland whose King offered refuge

ECONOMIC EFFECT

The death of so many ppl in the 14th c led to a decline in trade and shortage of workers this caused a dramatic increase in the cost of labor

At the same time, the population decline meant that demand for food and other goods decline…resulting in falling prices

Some peasants bargained with their lords to pay rent instead of owing services

This essentially freed them from serfdom

DECLINE OF CHURCH POWER

European kings had grown unwilling to accept papal claims of supremacy by the end of the 13th c.

This was evident in the struggles btw Pope Boniface VIII and King Philip IV

Basically, Philip wanted to tax the clergy and Boniface said that they will not be taxed because they are above state

Philip disagreed and sent troops to capture Boniface and bring him to trial Boniface escaped by died soon after the

ordeal from the shock of the experience

Philip made to where a Frenchman was elected Pope and moved the papal offices to Avignon, France. From 1305-1377 popes live in Avignon…

NOT Rome

Eventually the papal offices returned to Rome in 1377 under Pope Gregory XI He died soon after the journey home

THE GREAT SCHISM

After Gregory’ death an Italian was elected Pope

A group of French cardinals declared the election invalid and chose a Frenchman as pope.

This split began what is known as the Great Schism of the Church

This lasted from 1378-1417 The French Pope lived in Avignon, the

Italian Pope lived in Rome The allies of France recognized the French

pope as the head of the Church France’s enemies, mainly England and her

allies, recognized the Italian Pope as head of the Church

Both popes attacked the other and label him as the Antichrist.

This back and forth pestering and name-calling led many people to lose faith in the Church’s authority

The Great Schism ended at a church council in 1417

By the early 1400s, the Church had lost much of its political power

The pope no longer had any hope of asserting supremacy over the state

The papacy and the Church had lost much of their spiritual authority

THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR

1337-1453 Was fought between France and

England Began when the French King Philip VI

tried to invaded a small English territory in France

This caused King Edward III of England to declare war

Early English success was made possible by the use of the longbow which had great striking power, longer range, and more rapid speed of fire than the crossbow (formerly the weapon of choice)

The English was a few key battles at Crecy and Agincourt

When hope was all but lost, the French monarchy and military rallied behind a young woman named Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc was a deeply religious person who came to believe she had experienced visions from God

She persuaded the French king to allow her to accompany the army to Orleans Here, her faith inspired the French forces

and led to a victory

Seeing her as a threat and rallying point, the English captured Joan and she was turned over to the Inquisition on charges of witchcraft Joan was condemned as a heretic and

sentence to burn at the stake

Eventually the French won the war in 1453 with the help of a new weapon...the cannon

This was made possible by the invention of gunpowder