7.6 Medieval Europe

Role of the Church and monasteries

after the fall of Rome

The church continued such traditions of the empire as using the Latin language, and making its center Rome. Laws under Christian rulers included many elements of the Roman systems of property ownership and taxation. Monasteries, or religious communities formed by monks, devoted themselves to preserving the ideas of ancient Rome and Greece, as well as church writings.

Development of Feudalism including the role of the manor and the growth of towns and political order.Feudalism was a social and political arrangement that was rooted in the people’s need for protection against invaders and in landowner’s needs for defense. Small farmers turned to powerful landowners for protection. People received protection in return for service as soldiers or for turning over title and ownership of their land to the large landowners. The manor, or home of the large landowner became the center for feudal life and a place for safety during battle. It was built for security, not for comfort.

Not all people lived in feudal manors. Peasants seeking freedom, younger sons of nobles seeking a fortune, scholars seeking new ideas, and freed serfs left the country manor for towns. The town was were feudalism began to die. Powered by trade, the new commercial way of life that developed in the towns looked beyond the closed world of the manor.

CharlemagneCharlemagne made his defeated opponents accept the Roman church and swear loyalty to him as their new ruler.In 800 Charlemagne marched into Italy to help Pope Leo III put down a rebellion there. Charlemagne also made sure that religious services were performed the same way throughout Europe. He forced illiterate clergy to become educated, and tried to rid the church of corruption.

Magna CartaIn 1215, Parliament forced King John of England, to sign a document known as the Magna CartaMagna Carta. The Magna Carta acknowledges the rights of the lords and prevented the king from taking those rights away. By subjecting the king to the rule of law, the Magna Carta became the basis for future reforms. Our own Bill of Rights and the concept of “due process of law” grew out of the Magna Carta.

Religious Crusades and the effect on Muslim/Jewish populationsThe crusades were a series of eight wars Europeans fought to win the Holy Land from the Muslims. These wars, called the crusades, occurred between 1096 and 1270. Four of the eight crusades involved Europeans in major warfare. Those who fought were called crusaders, because they vowed to “take up the cross.”

At the same the crusaders set out to fight Muslims in the East, the crusaders destroyed a number of Jewish towns along the Rhine River. Along the way, crusaders slaughtered the eastern and western Jewish populations.

Spread of the Black DeathThe plague was a disease that swept like wildfire through Europe beginning in 1347. It was first seen in China in 1331 and in 15 years spread across Asia to the Black Sea.

People later called it the Black Death, because black spots formed under the skin from internal bleeding.

By the late 1300’s one fourth to one third of the population of Europe had died. In some towns, over fifty percent of the people died.

Importance of the Catholic ChurchIn medieval Europe, the Church was the sole source of truth and a center for authority. The Church controlled almost all areas of thought and teaching, preserving the Latin language and religious texts. In addition, the Church helped to found the first universities. This gave the Church great power. Even kings had to submit to the teachings of the Church and the judgments of the pope. No one dared to challenge the power of the Church.