Unit 8

The Late Middle Ages

Chapter 24

Feudal Society

Chapter Focus

•After the fall of Rome, Feudalism developed in Western Europe.

•Lords & Vassals became landowners.

•The concept of the knight emerged.

•Life consisted of people living on the manor.

1. Charles Martel tied land ownership to military service when he gave soldiers fiefs (land). 

2. Following Charlemagne’s rule, kings began to depend on nobles for food, horses, & soldiers. 

3. Some nobles grew more powerful than the king and began to collect their own taxes, run their own courts, raise their own armies, and coin their own money. 

4. The nobles agreed to protect people from Viking attacks in exchange for land & labor. 

5. By 1000CE, the kingdoms of Western Europe were divided into thousands of feudal territories.

6. Lord’s gave their vassals land in return for loyalty & military service.

7. By the 1100s, nobles began living in stone castles.

8. Young nobles spent 8-9 years of training to become knights. 

9. Knights followed rules of behavior known as the code of chivalry. 

10. Knights trained for war by fighting in jousting tournaments. 

11. Most people lived on land divided into manors owned by nobles and worked by peasants. 

12. The manor had two groups of peasants: freemen & serfs. 

13. The most powerful institution in the late middle Ages was the church. 

14. All people felt they needed the church to achieve salvation, and all were fearful of being excommunicated.

Chapter 25

The Church

1. The Roman Catholic Church was the center of life in Europe during the Middle Ages.

2. Increased wealth led many members of the clergy to grow careless about their religious duties. 

3. Around 1000, the monks of Cluny began working to reform the church by giving attention to Christian ideals. 

4. In 1075, Pope Gregory VII issued a document stating that the Pope was above all kings and feudal lords and had the greatest power. 

5. By the 1200s, universities, which developed from cathedral schools, had spread all through Europe. 

6. During the Middle Ages, such scholars as Thomas Acquinas tried to bring faith and reason together. 

7. In 1071, the Slejuq Turks conquered Jerusalem and took control of the Christian shrines there.

8. In 1095, Pope Urban II agrees to help the Byzantines against the Turks and calls on the Christians of western Europe to join a crusade.

9. In 1097, the first crusade is fought between the Muslims & Christians. The Christians were successful at recapturing Jerusalem.

10. In the mid 1100s, the Muslim set out on a 2nd Crusade and recaptured Jerusalem again.

11. About a decade later, Richard the Lionhearted of England led a Christian Crusade against the Muslim leader Saladin. Neither side could gain victory so a truce was signed and both the Muslims and Christians shared Jerusalem.

12. In 1202, a 4th Crusade was fought in which the Christians did not seek control of Jerusalem, but rather attacked and looted Constantinople.

13. By 1291, the Muslims had regained control of Constantinople and rebuilt the city. The name of the city was later changed to Istanbul.

14. The Crusades had the following affects on Europe:

A)    permanent split in the Roman Catholic Church

B)    helped break down the system of feudalism

C)    encouraged the growth of trade & towns in western Europe

D)    weakened the power of the church

Chapter 26

Rise of Towns and Cities

Chapter Focus

•The Crusades caused many cultures to mix (cultural diffusion) and this lead to a rise in towns during the Middle Ages. 

•In these towns merchants developed and became an important part of European life. 

•Guilds (organization of workers) developed to protect workers in towns. 

•Living conditions in Medieval towns was crowded. House were built on top of each other, sanitation was poor, and rats were everywhere. 

•These rats caused a plague that wiped out half of Europe’s population in the 1300s. This was the Bubonic Plague or Black Death.

1. After the Crusades two major cities developed in western Europe: Venice and Flanders. 

2. These cities developed a very successful banking system. 

3. By the 1100s, Italian navies had driven the Muslims from the Mediterranean. 

4. Flanders became the earliest Atlantic trading center. 

5. By 1300, the Flemish had developed an international industry by importing wool from England, turning it into cloth, and then shipping the finished product back to England.

6. Many merchants traveled to these European cities and settle into towns called burgs.

7. Artisans and rich merchants called burghers controlled the business and trade of towns.

8. Nobles and church officials feared the growing merchant population. 

9. Nobles feared they would lose their wealth to the merchants. 

10. Church officials felt the merchants would interfere with their religion.

11. By the 1100s towns began to separate themselves from feudal laws and become independent states.

13. Guilds began to organize these towns. They set wages, prices, and working conditions. They helped members who were sick or out of work.

14. As townspeople grew richer and more powerful, they began looking to the kings again to protect their trade and their towns.

15. The growth of towns ended the power of feudalism and the church and re-strengthened the power of the Kings.

Chapter 27

Rise of Monarchies

Chapter Focus

•Kings and dynasties began to assume control in western Europe.

•A 116 year war was fought between England & France.

•The Holy Roman Empire paved the way for the development of Germany.

•The country of Spain was united by Catholic monarchs.

1. The rise of towns and trade in western Europe in the late Middle Ages led to the rise of strong monarchies (dynasties) and the birth of countries. 

2. The first of these dynasties began in 987 in France. This dynasty was the Capetian. 

3. The Capetian kings strengthened the French monarchy by granting town charters, wetting up a national court and currency, a tax system, and the Estates-General. 

4. In 1066, William the Conqueror (of Normandy) drove the Anglo-Saxon English from power by defeating them at the Battle of Hastings and united the English under the power of a monarch.

5. In 1154, Henry II became King of England. He united England under Common Law and created a court system to enforce these laws throughout the country. 

6. Even though Common Law did not apply to Henry II, his grand jury and trial jury system of justice became the basis for western law today.

7. By 1215, English nobles grew tired of the King ignoring English law. They threatened to revolt, but instead, King John signed the Magna Carta establishing that everyone is subject to the law…even the king.

8. In 1272, Edward I set up the Parliament as a voice of the people and an advisory board to the king.

9. Parliament became the first representative body in western Europe and would become the basis for the formation of the United States Congress. 

10. In 1337, England attempted to take control of the French monarchy and war ensued. This war lasted for over 100 years and became known as the 100 Years’ War.

11. The French hero, Joan of Arc, became known for driving the English form Orleans. She was 16 at the time.

12. In 962, Otto I was crowned Holy Roman Emperor and expanded the power of Germany.

13. In the early 1200s, Germany, under the leadership of Frederick II, began conquering territories in Italy. The Church, fearful of his growing power excommunicated him, thus making Germany an independent country free from control of the Church. 

14. Spain was mainly under control of the Holy Roman Empire until 1492 when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella united Spain under a Catholic monarchy, and attempted to drive all other religions away through a court system known as the Inquisition.