The Middle Ages 800- 1300 C.E.Chapters 8-9 Challenges of Expansion and Consolidation of

Western European Kingdoms and the Culture of Christendom

Bronze Age Beaker Culture2800-1800 B.C.E.

Common artifacts

Common Burial Practices

Julius Caesar

1st Historian of Celts

Historians disagree over the exact dimensions of the culture and the particularities of various tribes described by Caesar, Tacitus and other Roman historians

Celtic Coins 4th to 1st Century B.C.E.

Influenced by trade with Macedonian Empire

Culture

Tribal

Militaristic

Pagan

Syncretism

Chaos, Conflict and Order: The Middle Ages 800- 1300

Charles Martel

Charles de Steuben,Bataille de PoitiersEn Octobre 782

Accomplishments

• Defeated the Moors at the Battle of Tours (October 732)

• Alliance with Benedictine Missionaries

• Engaged with Papacy

• Defeated Lombards

Charlemagne (742-814) (R. 768-814)

Militarized state Conquests against

LombardsCounts appointed to

supervise new landsCoinage system Ruler of Christendom

Plunder, Booty & Land

Kingly government is a sacred office designed by God to protect the church,defend Christians and promote salvation

No kingdom can prosper if lives of its subjects are displeasing to God

Controlled Bishops and Abbots

Changed liturgy to more uniformity

Prohibited pagan practices

Imposed Holy Baptism on subjects

Carolingian Reforms in the Church

Classical learning is foundation of Christian wisdom

Collating, correcting and copying Latin texts, including the Bible

New style of handwriting Carolingian Miniscule

Crowned Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day 800

Carolingian Renaissance

Palatine Chapel at Charlemagne’s Palace at Aachen (Germany)

Interconnections between Byzantine, Islamic and Western

European Kingdoms in 7th and 8th Centuries

• Byzantium, Muslim Caliphates and Kingdoms of northwestern Europe developed their defining characteristics during the 6th and 7th centuries

• Fruitful if uneasy relationships

• Italian traders active in Constantinople

• Muslim traders were common in Southern Italy

• Anglo-Saxon merchants traded within the Mediterranean

• Jewish merchants in Rhineland traded with Muslim communities in Egypt

• Viking traders from Novgorod in Russia to Dublin

The Vikings 900-1100

Mid-twelfth century paintingOf Danish Seamen

Viking Raiders

• Vikings means “robbers”

• Raided Europe and British Isles from the middle of the 9th century

• Plunder- Silver and weapons

• Ransom

• Tribute collection

• Slaving

Alfred the Great

• Ruled from 871to 899

• Aelfraed (Old English: Elf Counsel)

• Modeled his reign after Charlemagne

• Reorganized Army

• Founded new towns

• Codified English laws

• Established a court school

• Fostered Anglo-Saxon writing

• Wool trade

• By 1000, England was the most sophisticated administration in Europe

England under Alfred the Great

English Coin c. 800

Otto the Great 962-973

Mathilda Cross c. 973 Commissioned by OttoThe Great

• Heavy wheeled plow

• Water mills

• Windmills

• Increased population

• Urbanization

• Market for goods

Technological Advances

• Tied to the land

• Strip farming

• Tenants in kind

• Three field system of crop rotation

• Adaptable to climate

• 2 growing seasons

• Higher yields

Peasants

Long distance trade controlled by Venetian, Pisan and Genoese navies

Created expanding market for Eastern luxury goods

Champagne Fairs

Commerce

Town Specialization

Paris and Bologna: universities

Venice, Genoa, Cologne & London: long distance trade

Milan, Florence, Ghent and Bruges: manufacturing centers

Universities Then and Now

The Guild System

• Male dominated professional associations of craftsmen

• Master craftsmen

• Journeymen

• Apprentice

• Preserve monopolies and limit competition

• Controlled prices

• Wages

• Methods of production

• Masterpiece

• Merchant guilds

Exercised power from 917 – 962

Engaged in successful conquests of the Slavs

955 Otto I defeated the “pagan” Hungarians

962 Otto crowned Emperor of the West

964 Otto deposes John XII as Pope and installs own man

Installs Bishops and Abbotts as defense against other Dukes

Dukes of Saxony