Medieval Europe

Fall of Rome to 1347Day 1

Medieval Europe

476 622 721 793 1095 1200 1347

Rome Falls

Islam Begins

Battle of Chalons

Vikings sack abbey on Lindisfarne

-Feudalism Begins

Pope Urban II calls for First

Crusade

Gothic Era in Architecture

Black Death

reaches Sicily

Era of Feudalism, Chivalry, Catholicism

Fall of Rome• Roman Empire 753 BC - 476AD

• Absorbed multiple civilizations including Hellenistic Greece

– Law, democracy, technology, stoic culture, architecture and art

• Disseminated Greco-Roman Culture throughout Western Europe

• Provided stability for trade, commerce, learning

• Empire began decline in 180 AD

– Slave-based economy, loss of Roman stoic values, spread of Christianity, lack of order of succession, barbarian invasions

• Fall of Rome – 476 AD

The Dark Ages476-800

• Period between fall of Rome and coronation of Charlemagne

• Characterized by– Lack of central authority

• Barbarian invasions– Goths, Germans, Huns, Gauls,

Pics, Scots, Celts– Commerce, trade, learning

greatly slowed (in Europe)

Rise of Islam• Began in 622

– Mohammed lead followers from Mecca to Medina

• Followers believe Mohammed was “The Prophet” to whom Angel Gabriel had revealed Allah

• Recorded orally and then in Quran

• Golden Age

– Islamic Empire spread from Arabian Peninsula across northern Africa to Iberian Peninsula

• First modern hospital's, first degree program, R & D program

• Spread halted in 732 at Battle of Chalons, France

• Western Europe would be dominated by Christianity

Viking Invasions• Began in 793 in Scotland, England,

and Ireland

• Spread to northern France, Russia, Denmark, Sicily, Iceland

• Viking motives unclear

– Lack of arable land, lack of females, “Youth bulge” in population, revenge against Charlemagne’s forced conversions

• Impact

– Most Vikings settled in new lands

– But Fear of attack lead Europeans to adopt the Feudal System

Save us, oh Lord, from the Fury of the Northmen!

Medieval Political Structure800-1450

• Feudalism-– Decentralized & localized

government of the Middle Ages– Local lord promised land to

warriors in return for military service

– Lords promised protection to peasants (serfs) in return for their labor, obedience

– No central ruler, code of law, standing army

– IE. No sovereign State • Chivalry

– Code of conduct by which knights (warriors) lived

Medieval Economic System• Manorial System

– local, self sufficient economic system

– Overwhelmingly agrarian– Usually composed of a town,

surrounding villages, farmland, forests

– Owned by a Lord• Open-field system

– Communal method of dividing land between families into strips

• Guild– Craft union– Manufacturing sector of medieval

economy– Controlled prices, quality, training– Erected barriers to enter

artisanship

The Catholic ChurchMatrix of medieval life

• Governed birth, death, marriage, cooking, sex, …• A comforter, protector, physician• Promoted idea that man was inherently sinful and

depraved• Provided salvation from “eternal damnation”

– 7 Sacraments• Controlled architecture, art

– Gothic• Exerted political & economic power

– Crowned Kings– Promoted Feudalism– Usury Laws– Tithes

• Promoted expected social behavior– Chivalry, “Peace of God”

• Controlled Education– Scholasticism

St. Francis’Rule Approved

Giotto

1288-92?

Tempera on wood and ground gold.

Late Medieval Art

The Crusades• Religious Wars between

European Christians and Muslims (1095-1200s)

• Apex of Catholic Church’s power

• Pope Urban II (1095)– Calls on Catholics to

retake Jerusalem from Muslims and rescue Constantinople

– Ulterior motives?

Impact of the Crusades• Marked apex of

power for Church

• Exposed Europeans to a more advanced culture

• Opened up trade with the East

• Ultimately weakened Church Power– Children’s Crusade