The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages

So what comes to mind when we say “Middle Ages?”

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Knights!

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Castles!

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Feudal Warfare!!!!

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Chivalry- code of honor

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Jousting Tournaments

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Invaders and Raiders make life dangerous

Vikings

Huns

Neighboring Tribes7

A dangerous time in Europe

The strong empires of Rome and Greece that protected trade routes and encouraged science and freedom were gone.

Education died out

Only the Christian Church kept education alive in monasteries– Hand copied books

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No Strong Central Govt.

• Lack of central government for protection leads to rise of Feudalism.

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What is Feudalism?

FeudalismFeudalism: “hierarchical system of government in which local lords governed their own lands but owed military service and other support to a greater lord.”

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Feudalism (social system)

The king had plenty of land; but hecould not control it allSo he gave land to lords (barons) in exchange for protection, loyaltyand $.

Lords then gave their land toknights in exchange for protection,service at war, loyalty and $.

Knights let serfs (peasants) workthe land and they got protection,food and shelter.

Barons

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Where did the people live?

In Medieval Europe, people lived on

manors= feudo = – self-sufficient communities consisting of a

castle, church, village and surrounding farmlands.

– Serfs worked land and gave part of their crops to the local (land) lord, for letting them farm the land.

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Problems with Feudalism

• 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.

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How to Gain / Stay in PowerGET More LAND!!

• More land = more crops = more $

• How to Get More Land?• Conquer it

(Medieval times saw constant fighting)

• Marry into it

• Make Alliances

• Marry off your daughter to secure an alliance

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The Norman Conquest• In 1066, England

was invaded by Normans (Vikings from modern-day France)

1066 The Battle of Hastings –Harold, the last Anglo Saxon King of England killed–William of Normandy (William the Conqueror) takes over.–England becomes a French colony

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William of Normandy introduced French culture and language and codified feudalism.

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• French was spoken in the English court for the next 200 years.

• MIDDLE ENGLISH (1100-1500) = grammatically simpler + structures and a lot of vocabulary from French.

• 1086 - William I creates Domesday Book for purposes of fair tax collection.(= Great resource for modernhistorians to learn about Medievallife)

Norman ship

William of Normandy

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The Plantagenet

• The last Norman King Stephen was followed by the first Angevin king

• Henry of Anjou =

• Henry II

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Thomas Becket (p. 41)• Archbishop of

Canterbury• Disagreement• “Murder in the

Cathedral”• Was made saint and

martyr• Pilgrimage• J. Chaucer

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Richard (I) the Lion Heart

• Emblem of a good king

• Chivalry (King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table)

• Legend of Robin Hood

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The Magna Carta

• English King John (Lackland) was an unpopular king so his nobles forced him to sign it.

• Limited powers of king. • Signed in 1215• Example of Rule of Law.

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Magna Carta - 1215• No royal official shall take goods from any

man without immediate payment.• No free man shall be imprisoned except by

the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.

• In future no official shall place a man on trial without producing credible witnesses.

• Courts shall be held in a fixed place at a fixed time.

• The barons shall elect a House of Lords for the creation of laws.

• The English church shall be free.• For a trivial offence, a free man shall be

fined only in proportion to the degree of his offence.

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• The conflict was between France and England lasting 116 years, though there were long periods between battles.

• It was fought primarily over claims by the English kings to the French throne.

• It was started by Edward III (his mother was the daughter of the French King Philip IV).

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King Philip IVCharles of Valois

Philip of ValoisHe was chosen in preference to King Edward III

Isabella of France Edward II of England

Edward III

King of France

EARLY ENGLISH VICTORIES

The battle also saw the first use of cannons on a European battlefield.

At Agincourt in 1415, the English, led by Henry V obtained an historic victory.

Henry was declared the legitimate heir to the French throne.

This left Henry’s infant son, Henry VI [r. 1422-1461], to inherit BOTH thrones.

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THE FRENCH RECONQUESTIn 1429, with the aid of the mysterious peasant Joan of Arc, the French king, Charles VII, was able to defeat the English at Orleans.

Joan was later burnt at stake at the request of the English and became a martyr to the French and the symbol of the French resistance.

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The End of the War

• By 1450 the English had lost all their major centers except Calais.

• There was not treaty, only a cessation of hostilities.

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What happened during the first phase of the 100 Years War?• The plague spread all over the country in 1348

(BLACK DEATH).

- Killed a third of the population of England

• A Peasant Revolt in 1381 caused by the king’s oppressive measures.

• The rise of a religious reformist movement that anticipated the Protestan Reformation of 16° century. The Lollardy Movement founded by John Wycliffe.

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The War of the Roses

(1455-1485)

• The War of the Roses was a series of dynastic civil wars in England fought between 1455 and 1485 between two branches on the same family, the House of York and the House of Lancaster.

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Causes

• The War of the Roses began in 1455, when many barons accused Henry VI of being responsible for the defeat in the war vs. France and that the Lancaster family (Henry V, IV or VI) were not the rightful kings.

• According to the barons, the York family, cousins of the Lancasters, were truly entitled to reign.

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• The Lancaster emblem was a red rose and the York emblem a white rose.

• The conflict included a series of battles with alternative results.

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The Battle of Bosworth 1485

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The battle of Bosworth and the defeat of Richard III by Henry Tudor (from France), planted the Tudor house on the throne of England.

THE TUDORS

After the battle, Henry Tudor was crowned as King Henry VII, marking the beginning of the 118-year reign of the Tudor dynasty in England.

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Henry Vll (representing the Lancaster family) married Elizabeth of York (representing the York family).

This marriage united the two families.

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