Also there are additional notes that I am giving in lectures that add into your A Brief look at the Middle Ages/Medieval World Packet. They are broken up by packet section as follows:

A Brief look at the Middle Ages/Medieval World Packet Introduction

  • During the Middle Ages “life was harsh, uncertain, and dangerous.”
  • Late Middle Ages is also known as the Renaissance.
  • Medieval people were born, lived their entire lives, and died within a 5 mile radius.
  • Life expectancy was between 30-50 (40)

The Early Middle Ages (500-1000)

  • Middle Ages were also called the Dark Agesbecause people were not enlightened (educated).
  • Infant mortality rate was 90% during the Early Middle Ages.
  • The goal for most people during this time was to survive.
  • Events/people in the Early Middle Ages

Charlemagne: (late 800’s)King of France that sort of united most of western Europe.

Alfred the Great: King Alfred the Great reigned in England from 871-899. The title "great" was given to him because of his great leadership over the land and the people he served. This great leadership was shown most through his resistance to the Danes (Vikings) as they invaded the northwest portion of England trying to conquer the Anglo-Saxons in the 800's.

Vikings: Lots of activity around the North Atlantic during Early Middle Ages.

  • They may even have gotten as far as the east coast of America.
  • Not much known about them as there are few written records.
  • We do know that they named Iceland and Greenland.

Named them just the opposite of what they were.

Iceland= is nice climate with a good growing season.

Greenland = Mostly a big chunk of permanently frozen ground; not a good place of live.

They named the countries that way as to lure other people to settle on the worst ground, and then they could keep the good ground for themselves.

Islam:Major world religion founded by Muhammad in Arabia in the early 600’s.

  • The Arabic word Islam means "surrender" — specifically, surrender to the will of the one God.
  • Is a strictly monotheistic religion.
  • Allah is the word for God in Arabic.
  • Followers are called Muslims.
  • They regard the Prophet Muhammad as the last and most perfect of God's messengers, who include Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and others.
  • The sacred scripture of Islam is the Qur'an, which contains God's revelations to Muhammad.
  • The religious obligations of all Muslims are summed up in the Five Pillars of Islam (which we studied in the last chapter)
  • It spread rapidly in Northern Africa and Spain during the Early Middle Ages.

Christianity: Major world religion founded on the life and teachings of Jesus.

  • Its sacred scripture is the Bible, particularly the New Testament.
  • Its principal tenets are that Jesus is the Son of God.
  • God's love for the world is the essential component of his being, and that Jesus died to redeem humankind.
  • Christianity was originally a movement of Jews who accepted Jesus as the messiah, but the movement quickly became predominantly Gentile (non-Jewish).
  • Spread throughout much of Europe during the Early Middle Ages.
  • Medieval and early modern Christianity deeply affected folklore. Most old calendar customs are ‘holidays’ related to ‘holy days’
  • The Papacy evolved into a powerful political entity during the Middle Ages.

Most historians see the Early Middle Ages as a bridge between the Ancient and the Early Modern World where significant factors from both eras overlap.

The High Middle Ages (1000-1350)

  • The High Medieval Era is the period of time that seems to typify the Middle Ages best.
  • By the end of the 11th century, nearly every corner of Europe had become Christianized (with the notable exception of much of Spain).
  • The Papacy long established as a political force, was in constant struggle with some secular governments and alliance with others.
  • Events/people in the Early Middle Ages

1066 The Norman Conquest: Kind of a civil war. Two guys were promised the English throne – William of Normandy and Harold II (Godwinson). Harold was crowned king, and William wanted it.

  • The military conquest of England by William the Conqueror, (duke of Normandy), primarily effected by his decisive victory at the Battle of Hastings (Oct. 14, 1066) and resulting ultimately in profound political, administrative, and social changes in the British Isles.

Crusades begin in 1096-97. They were a series of several military campaigns that took place during the 11th through 13th centuries. Originally, they were Roman Catholic endeavors to re-capture the Holy Lands from the Muslims. (More on these later)

Crusade / Dates of Crusade / Crusades Timeline of Events
First Crusade / 1096 - 1099 / The People's Crusade - Freeing the Holy Lands. 1st Crusade led by Count Raymond IV of Toulouse and proclaimed by many wandering preachers, notably Peter the Hermit.
* This really was the only “successful” crusade.
Second Crusade / 1144 -1155 / Crusaders prepared to attack Damascus. 2nd crusade led by Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III and by King Louis VII of France
Third Crusade / 1187 -1192 / 3rd Crusade led by Richard the Lionheart of England, Philip II of France, and Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I. Richard I made a truce with Saladin
The Children's Crusade / 1212 / The Children's Crusade was a Crusade led by a young boy who wanted to join adults defending Christendom during the tumult of the Middle Ages. There is some debate as to whether the boy was French or German, but in 1212, he motivated a large crowd which followed him to Italy, and then to the Middle East, where the young Crusaders were ultimately captured and sold into slavery. It certainly sounds like a fascinating story, especially to modern readers interested in medieval history; unfortunately, all the evidence suggests that the Children's Crusade didn't actually happen.

Magna Carta: (or Magna Charta), is the thirteenth-century document regarded as the foundation of English constitutional liberty.

  • Signed by King John in 1215
  • Represents the first time the often tyrannical power of the monarchy was restrained by law and popular resistance.
  • This period is often what we think of when someone mentions "medieval culture."
  • “Intellectual renaissance” in the 12th century. Renaissance means “rebirth”.

* Education became important= for people in power in the Church,

andrich people.

  • Notable philosophers as Pierre (Peter) Abelard and Thomas Aquinas.

Abelard, “The first key to wisdom is the constant and frequent questioning. For by doubting we are led to question, and questioning we arrive at the truth.”

  • The establishment of such universities as those in Paris, France; Oxford, England; and Bologna, Italy.

* Went to school four-five years and then took an oral exit exam.

If you passed it to the satisfaction of your professors, you were

awarded a degree. If not, you started over.

  • There was an explosion of stone castle-building, and the construction of some of the most magnificent cathedrals in Europe.

Cathedrals

Characteristics of Medieval Gothic Architecture- used during the period of 1200 - 1300

  • The large blocks of stone (used by the Normans), were replaced by shaped stone.
  • The stone of castles was cut with precision.
  • The hollow walls were replaced with solid walls and pillars - allowing them to hold far greater weights.
  • The Gothic style provided much bigger castles!
  • The architecture emphasized height and made good use of the pointed arch
  • The pointed arch could support greater weight, allowing the walls of the Medieval Castle to be thinner with wider window openings.
  • The introduction of flying buttresses in Medieval Castle
  • Gothic architecture and design allowed architects to spread the weight to different points of the castle.
  • Towers were often surmounted with very slender towers.
  • Improved Medieval tools such as the chisel, as opposed to axes, led to more decorative designs
  • Sculptures of Stone Gargoyles were introduced as waterspouts protecting the foundations from rain.

Cathedral examples:

  • Italy - the churches at Florence and Pisa.
  • France - the cathedrals of Leon, of Paris, of Chartres, of Rouen, of Reims, of Amiens.
  • Notre-Dame was the first building in northern Europe where the roof was more than a hundred feet high.
  • England- Westminster Abbey.
  • Germany-the cathedrals of Munster, Regensburg, Bremen, Freiburg, and Cologne and in Italy with Milan.
  • Material culture: Trade in luxury items as well as staples flourished. People began to be much more

materialistic.

  • Political/Town Structure:

Feudalism: A political system where the lord gives a fief to a vassal in return for services, loyalty, and faith.

  • Towns were granted charters of privilege and even established anew by feudal lords.
  • Well-fed population was beginning to multiply.

By the end of the thirteenth century, Europe was at an economic and cultural height, perched at the verge of a downturn.

The Late Middle Ages (1350-1500)

  • The end of the Middle Ages can be characterized as a transformation from the medieval world to the early modern one.
  • Though famine and disease had always been a lurking presence, the Late Medieval era saw the horrific results of both in abundance.
  • The Black Death, preceded by famine and overpopulation, wiped out at least a third of Europe and marked the end of the prosperity that had characterized the high medieval era.
  • The Church, once so highly respected by the general populace, suffered reduced status when some of its priests refused to minister to the dying during the plague and sparked resentment when it enjoyed enormous profits in bequests from plague victims.
  • More and more towns and cities were wresting control of their own governments from the hands of the Church or nobility that had previously ruled them.
  • Andthe reduction in population triggered economic and political changes that would never be reversed.
  • High medieval society had been characterized by corporation (groups). The nobility, the clergy, the peasantry, the guilds -- all were group entities that saw to the welfare of their members but put the welfare of the community, and their own community in particular, first.
  • A new regard for the value of the individual was growing.
  • By no means was late medieval nor early modern society a culture of equality, but the seeds of the idea of human rights had been sown.

Events of the 14th century (1300s)

  • Hundred Years War1337 – 1453

The Hundred Years War actually lasted for 116 years.

All of the battles of the Hundred Years War were fought in France.

The Hundred Years War was fought between England and France (and later Burgundy)

Joan of Arc was a major figure in the Hundred Years War.

  • Joan of Arc: also called the Maid of Orleans, a patron saint of France and a national heroine, led the resistance to the English invasion of France in the Hundred Years War. She was executed by the British 1431.

The high number of sieges in the Hundred Years War led to the development of technology with new siege engines and the use of the longbow as an English weapon - the power of the mounted knights came to an end.

Larger, healthier and better-trained armies were needed. Most governments began to rely on paid mercenaries to do their fighting for them. The problem with mercenaries is that they were expensive to obtain an even more expensive to retain. More often than not, the mercenary had no allegiance to anyone king and fought for the highest bidder.

  • Black Death: See handout
  • Avignon Papacy: refers to the Catholic papacy during the period 1309-1377, when the popes lived in and operated out of Avignon, France, instead of their traditional home in Rome. Also known as: the Babylon Captivity.
  • Italian Renaissance: Renaissance is a French word that means “rebirth.” Historians consider the Renaissance to be the beginning of modern history. It was a period of European history, lasting from about 1300 to 1600, during which renewed interest in classical culture led to far-reaching changes in art, learning, and views of the world.
  • Peasants' Revolt (1381): An army of peasants from Kent and Essex marched on London. They did something no-one had done before or since - they captured the Tower of London. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the King’s Treasurer were killed. The king,Richard II, was only 14 at the time but despite his youth, he agreed to meet the peasants at a place called Mile End.
  • What were the peasants angry about and why had they come to London?

After the Black Death, many manors were left short of workers. To encourage those who had survived to stay on their manor, many lords had given the peasants on their estates their freedom and paid them to work on their land. Now, nearly 35 years after the Black Death, many peasants feared that the lords would take back these privileges and they were prepared to fight for them.

Many peasants had to work for free on church land, sometimes up to two days in the week. This meant that they could not work on their own land which made it difficult to grow enough food for their families. Peasants wanted to be free of this burden that made the church rich but made them poor.

There had been a long war with France. Wars cost money and that money usually came from the peasants through the taxes that they paid. In 1380, Richard II introduced a new tax called the Poll Tax. This made everyone who was on the tax register pay 5pence. It was the third time in four years that such a tax had been used. By 1381, the peasants had had enough. Five pence to them was a great deal of money. If they could not pay in cash, they could pay in kind, such as seeds, tools etc., anything that could be vital to survival in the coming year.

Events of the 15th century (1400s)

  • Joan of Arc burned at the stake during the Hundred Years War.
  • Johannes Gutenberg invents printing press with metal movable type. (1455)
  • The fall of Constantinople to the Turks: The significance of the fall of the fall of Constantinople is that it was the fall of the last Christian empire in Eastern Europe.
  • Reconquista: The Moors driven from Spain and the Jews expelled. It is the name given to the long process in which the Christians drove the Muslims out of the Iberian peninsula. The Reconquista was important because it put the Iberian Peninsula back under Catholic control and represented the only really successful Holy War completed in the Renaissance.
  • The Wars of the Roses: were a series of civil wars fought in medieval England from 1455 to 1487 between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The name Wars of the Roses is based on the badges used by the two sides, the red rose for the Lancastrians and the white rose for the Yorkists.
  • Major causes of the conflict include: 1) both houses were direct descendents of King Edward III; 2) the ruling Lancastrian king, Henry VI, surrounded himself with unpopular nobles; 3) the civil unrest of much of the population; 4) the availability of many powerful lords with their own private armies.
  • The voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World (1492): It started the first Global Age.
  • Vasco da Gama travels around tip of Africa to India and returns with jewelsand spices; Portugal

establishes trading posts in Spice Islands. (1498)

Events of the 16th century (1500s)

  • Reformation: a movement that caused a change in the Church’s ways of teaching

and practicing Christianity.

  • Protestantism: A new form of Christianity which was a result of the Reformation.
  • Protestant: A protestant is any non-Catholic Christian.
  • Henry VIII rules England (1509-1547)
  • William Shakespeare: The most famous writer of the Elizabethan Age. Many people regard him as the greatest playwright of all time. His works display a masterful command of the English language and a deep understanding of human beings. He revealed the souls of men and women through scenes of dramatic conflict. Many of these plays examine human flaws. His most famous plays include the tragedies Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear, and the comedies A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Taming of the Shrew.
  • Michelangelo begins painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1508). Michelangelo spent four years painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He worked unassisted.
  • Hernando (Hernan) Cortes completes the conquest of Mexico (1517). Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortes conquered the Aztec capital of Techotchitlan. Thus completing his brutal conquest of the Aztec Indians and all of Mexico.
  • Ferdinand Magellan sets sail to go around the world (1519) Portuguese navigator Magellan left Seville with a fleet of five ships on a journey of exploration. He found a route around South America through the strait that now bear his name. Magellan died in the Pacific, but his lieutenant and 18 of his men returned to Seville in 1522, after circumnavigating the globe.
  • Andreas Vesalius makes the first illustrated study of human body (1543). Vesalius published De Humani Corporis Fabrica. It was the first illustrated systematic study of the human anatomy, and revived the concept of scientific study of the human body

Events of 17th century (1600s)