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The Middle Ages (A.D. 500 –1300) The Middle Ages covers one of the darkest periods in European history— from the collapse of the Roman Empire through centuries of chaos, destruction, and barbarian rule. The civilizing power of the church, the rise of feudalism, the growth of monarchical rule, the dramatic rebirth of towns and cities, and the formation of the world’s first universities are among the events vividly documented in this richly illustrated text. Challenging map exercises and provocative review questions encourage meaningful reflection and historical analysis. Tests and answer keys included. MP3397 The Middle Ages Written by: Tim McNeese Illustrated by: Art Kirchoff Page Layout & Editing: Lisa Marty Cover Design: Jon Davis Managing Editor: Kathleen Hilmes Cover Art: Medieval feast (Bibliothèque nationale de France) Copyright © 1999 Milliken Publishing Company 11643 Lilburn Park Drive St. Louis, MO 63146 www.millikenpub.com Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

Permission to reproduce pages extends only to teacher-purchaser for individual classroom use, not to exceed in any event more than one copy per pupil in a course. The reproduction of any part for an entire school or school system or for commercial use is strictly prohibited.

Table of Contents

Creating the Middle Ages ................................................................1 The End of the Roman Empire ........................................................2 The Germanic Invasions ..................................................................3 The Eastern Empire Survives...........................................................4 The Byzantine Empire ....................................................................5 The Barbarian West..........................................................................6 The Early Medieval Church ............................................................7 Monastic Life ..................................................................................8 The Rise of the Franks ....................................................................9 The Frankish Empire of Charlemagne ..........................................10 The Vikings ....................................................................................11 Dividing Charlemagne’s Empire....................................................12 Developing the Feudal Order ........................................................13 Life in a Medieval Castle ..............................................................14 Test I (Worksheets 1–14) ..............................................................15 The High Middle Ages, Part I........................................................16 The High Middle Ages, Part II ......................................................17 The Crusades, Part I ......................................................................18 The Crusades, Part II......................................................................19 Medieval Town Life.......................................................................20 The Great Cathedrals. ....................................................................21 Medieval Universities ....................................................................22 Popular Christianity ......................................................................23 The Rising Power of the Church ...................................................24 Monarchy in England ....................................................................25 Monarchy in France ......................................................................26 The Rise and Fall of Germany ......................................................27 Test II (Worksheets 16 –27)............................................................28 Answer Key ..............................................................................29-30

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Creating the Middle Ages Before you read any further, write in the blanks below the first images that come to mind when you hear the term Middle Ages. __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ In the study of Western Civilization, historians have typically relied on three primary time frames. These divisions of Western history help the historian and the student of history understand how Western Civilization has developed in stages. The three time frames are generally referred to as the Ancient World, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Era. The Ancient World spans the development of civilization through Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. With the fall of the Roman Empire around A.D. 500, historians begin looking at a new stage in the advancement of Western Civilization: an era called the Middle Ages. Historians created the term Middle Ages to identify a long period of European history from the fall of Rome to the rise of a new era, the Modern World, which begins around 1500. The word middle is used to identify an era which lies between two others—one ancient, the other modern. The Middle Ages are also known as the medieval period. The term comes from two Latin words: medium, meaning “middle,” and aevum, meaning “age.” From their beginning to their end, the Middle Ages comprise a thousand years of European history. Many changes come to Europe during these centuries. With the rise of the medieval world, the center of the western world continues to move further west. During the Ancient period, the center of the western civilized world was the Near East (known as the Middle East today), a region which included Egypt, Mesopotamia, Syria, Persia, and other places. With the rise of the Greeks, the center of the civilized world shifted to the west to the region of the

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Mediterranean Sea. As the Romans became more dominant over the western world, civilization shifted to the north, further into Europe, as the Roman Empire spread into Gaul, Britain, Spain, and the region of the Germanic tribes. Thus, the history of the Middle Ages marks the shift from not only the ancient world to the medieval world, but a geographic shift from the Mediterranean further north across the European continent. Much change came to Western Civilization during the Middle Ages. In fact, so much change occurred that historians divide the Middle Ages into three categories of time: The Early Middle Ages—500 to 1000 The High Middle Ages—1000 to 1300 The Late Middle Ages—1300 to 1500 In each of these three eras of European medieval history, important changes occurred. The world of Europe in the year 1500 was very different from the experiences of Europeans in A.D. 500. By the close of the Middle Ages, great kings ruled over powerful states such as France and England; Columbus discovered the New World for Europe; the Portuguese sailed around Africa and reached the East; and the invention of gunpowder rendered medieval castles and knights outdated. In this book, we will be looking at the world of the Europeans during the Early and High Middle Ages. During these centuries, Western Civilization made great strides toward our time, helping to create the modern world in which we live.

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The End of the Roman Empire During the centuries, the Roman Empire faced many challenges. Difficult situations came and went, Rome coped, and life went on within the Empire. However, with the weakening of Rome from A.D. 200 into the 400s, the Empire finally faced too many problems. The end for Imperial Rome came during the 5th century. Economic, political, military, and social problems all worked against Rome in those centuries. But these internal challenges were made more difficult by forces outside the Empire. These challenges came in the form of foreign invasion. Throughout the history of the Empire, neighboring powers had occasionally marauded and plundered its fringes. In the later stages of Imperial Rome, the Empire faced great pressure from the north. It was here that roaming tribes of ferocious Germans (considered barbarians by the Romans) began to move against the power of Rome. The Germanic tribes lived in the region of Europe from the Rhine River on the western edge of Roman Gaul (modern-day France) to the east as far as modern-day Russia. They comprised many different tribes. Nearly all of these tribal groups were semi-nomadic. They practiced a limited agriculture and raised herds of cattle and sheep. In fact, their economy was so primitive that their standard of value was not money, but cattle. These “barbarian” groups enjoyed close family ties and tribal allegiances. They told each other stories of great warriors and battles. They practiced a religion which included several gods. Some of these deities provided names of the days of our week, such as Wotan, the chief of the gods (Wednesday is named for him); Thor, the god of power (Thursday); Thiu, the god of war (Tuesday) and Freya, goddess of fertility (Friday). While the Germanic tribes were always present to the north, they did not prove to be a significant threat to Rome until the later days of the Empire. Marius battled them successfully in 101 B.C. Julius Caesar conquered them in Gaul during his campaigns in the 1st century B.C. However, in A.D. 9, the Roman ruler Augustus and his army met German warriors in the dark forest north of the Rhine river and faced dramatic defeat. After this military loss,

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the Roman Empire established the Rhine and Danube Rivers as the northern frontier border of the Empire. Throughout the century-and-a-half of the Pax Romana, the Germanic tribes did not prove to be a significant challenge to the power of Rome. But during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161–180), the Germanic tribes began to menace the Roman frontier. This lasted for nearly a century. The tribes of the Franks and the Goths proved to be the most bothersome. After about A.D. 300, the Germans again slipped into a quieter mode and did not raid against the Romans to any significant degree for nearly 75 years. Through these decades, Rome was able to keep the Germanic tribes at bay by playing them off one another, maintaining a policy of “divide and conquer.” However, by the 4th century, the Germans were warring again, restless for land and the riches of the Empire. Meanwhile, a new group of invaders was on the horizon, the Huns. They were not Germanic, but Asiatic. The Huns were a nomadic Mongolian people who began raiding eastern Europe in the 300s. One Roman writer described these terrifying new raiders: Their mode of life is savage. They need no fire or prepared food but live on wild roots and the flesh of any kind of animal, eaten half raw; they warm it a little by putting it between their thighs and the back of their horses. Like unreasoning beasts, they are utterly ignorant of right and wrong. They burn with lust for gold. When the Huns entered eastern Europe in A.D. 372, they began conquering a tribe of Germans called the Ostrogoths (meaning the East Goths). In no time at all, the Huns proved to be a problem for the Roman Empire and its future.

Review and Write Describe the lifestyle of the Germanic tribes who were neighbors to the Roman Empire.

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The Germanic Invasions The Huns, an invading Asiatic tribe of horsemen, began menacing the Ostrogoths of eastern Europe in A.D. 372. The Romans observed these events with a watchful eye. While the Eastern Gothic people fell under the influence of the Huns, another Germanic tribe, the Visigoths (meaning the West Goths) began to fear their new Asiatic neighbors. In 376, the Visigoths turned to the Roman Empire and requested permission from Rome to cross the Danube River into Roman lands. By doing this, the Visigoths were asking Rome for protection. When the Romans agreed, the Visigothic people streamed into the Empire. The Roman emperor, Valens, allowed the Visigoths to enter the Roman frontier lands with the intention of using them in the Roman army. However, all did not go well. Roman officials along the frontier regions treated the Visigoths with little respect and did not distribute land to them as they were promised. Desperate for food and a home, the Visigoths turned on their hosts, the Romans, and began attacking Roman towns and villages. When Emperor Valens led an army against the Visigoths at Adrianople (modern-day Edirne, Turkey), the Visigoths defeated them and killed Valens. The Emperor Theodosius managed to fend off most invasions during his reign, but after 395, a Visigothic leader named Alaric, led raids onto the Italian peninsula and attacked the city of Rome in A.D. 410, sacking the Imperial capital. To bring peace, the Imperial government was forced to give Roman territory in southern Gaul to the Visigoths, where they established an extensive kingdom. Soon after this defeat, other barbarian tribes began to menace the Empire, invading at will across the frontier borders. After being pushed out of Gaul by the Visigoths, a tribe called the Vandals migrated to Roman Spain and then to northern Africa, where they established a kingdom. In 455, the Vandals reached their height of power and campaigned across the Mediterranean, landed in Italy and succeeded in sacking Rome. During the same period, the Burgundians moved into central Europe and the Franks settled in northern Gaul. Ultimately, a weakened Rome had no alternative but to retreat in the face of these repeated German

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invasions into its territories. Roman army units were withdrawn from frontier posts, and legions of border troops were pulled deeper into the Empire. After the withdrawal of such troops from England in A.D. 407, the British Isles were left without Imperial protection. Over the next 50 years, German tribes— including the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons—raided the countryside. The Celtic people there, left by the Romans, were nearly destroyed by these Danish invaders. Few of these new Germanic kingdoms lasted longer than a couple of centuries. Only two—the Angles and Saxons in Britain, and the Franks in Gaul (the name would later be used in renaming the region France)—managed to remain powerful over the long run. All these invasions, even the sacking of Rome twice, did not bring the Empire to an immediate end, however. But Roman rule was slipping fast. Germans were serving as officers and soldiers in the Roman army by this time. In 475, a German commander of Roman forces named Orestes led a coup and had his son, Romulus Augustus, placed on the Roman throne. The next year, another German commander, Odovacar, killed Orestes and deposed his son. This coup in A.D. 476 is considered by some historians as the year of the fall of the Roman Empire.

Review and Write Why did the Roman government have so much trouble coping with German tribes on their borders?

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The Eastern Empire Survives In A.D. 330, on May 11, the history of the Roman Empire changed forever. On that date, the Emperor Constantine dedicated a new capital in the eastern half of the Roman Empire. He ordered the city christened as New Rome. It was an urban trading center first established by the Greeks centuries earlier and called Byzantium. The Roman Empire had been divided in two during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (285-305). While Diocletian ruled in the eastern half of the Empire at a city named Nicomedia, Constantine made New Rome his capital because he wanted a city as splendid as Rome itself. But Constantine had another reason for establishing the capital at New Rome, which was to be commonly called Constantinople, after the Emperor. Christianity had made great strides within the Empire over 300 years time. Constantine supported Christianity (although he was not baptized until just before his death in 337). Rome had long been considered by the Christians as a pagan city. Constantine believed that the Empire needed a new city, a Christian capital. A century and a half later, when the western half of the Roman Empire was being overrun by the Germanic tribes, the eastern half was somewhat untouched by such invasions. In addition, many of the problems the western Empire was facing, such as political assassinations, corrupt emperors, inflation and little trade, were not happening in the East. One reason was its geographic location. Constantinople (today the modern city of Istanbul, Turkey) was located on the southern end of the Bosporus, a neck of land that connects the northeastern Mediterranean and the route to the Black Sea. Positioned at the crossroads between Europe

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and Asia, Constantinople was destined to be a prosperous city, one which served as the great trading city of its day. The trade of Constantinople was to be based on gold coins, one in particular. Known as the bezant, it contained 65 grains of pure gold. For over 700 years, the bezant kept its value and was used in trade by many nations and peoples from the British Isles to the Far East, even China. As the Roman Empire in the West collapsed in the late 400s, in the East, the Empire flourished. Although the people of the Eastern Empire continued to refer to themselves as Roman, historians refer to this remaining half of the old Empire by a different name: the Byzantine Empire. Life in Byzantium (Constantinople) was, in many ways, similar to life in ancient Rome. Ironically, both cities were built across seven hills. Many of the buildings were similar to other Roman architecture. There was an immense chariot racing track just like the Hippodrome in Rome and an arena similar to the Coliseum. The city featured many public baths, just as Rome did. Free bread was distributed to the masses and games and races were common entertainment. Eventually, after the western half of the Roman Empire fell under German domination and Roman Imperial rule collapsed, the Byzantine Empire continued for another 1000 years. Ruled by many emperors, including eleven named Constantine, Byzantium did not fall to an enemy until May 29, in the year 1453, when the city was overrun following a siege laid down by Moslem Turks.

Review and Write 1. Why did Constantine establish a new Roman capital at Byzantium? 2. In what ways were the cities of Rome and Byzantium similar? 3. What was the bezant, and why was it important to the economy of Byzantium?

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The Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire was the direct continuation of the eastern half of the old Roman Empire. Long after Rome fell under the domination of the Germanic invaders of the fourth and fifth centuries, Byzantium continued on with an emperor on the throne in Constantinople. These emperors ruled as if the Roman Empire was still in existence. This empire, despite being only half of the old Roman Empire was an extensive kingdom nevertheless. Its territories spread along the southern shores of the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean. By the mid-500s, expansive-minded Byzantine emperors had moved into territory of the former western half of the Roman Empire including the Italian peninsula and northern Africa. Over the 1000 years of the Byzantine Empire, two periods of greatness stand out. The first took place in the 6th century (the 500s) and was followed by two centuries of relative decline of imperial power. The second great period was from the 8th to the 11th century (the 700s to 1000s). Four hundred years of decline followed, ultimately leading to the Empire’s fall to the Turks in 1453. During Byzantium’s first great period, one emperor was outstanding. His name was Justinian and he ruled from 527–565. His reign saw great Byzantine expansion across North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and even southern Spain. He fought other wars less successfully, including exhausting campaigns against the Persians. This great Byzantine emperor rose to power from a simple background. He was born a peasant, yet was fired by ambition and great energy. During his reign, he pursued high goals and ideals. He wanted to restore the empire to its former Roman glory. In one sense, Justinian was the last of the great Roman emperors. His reign was one of the last that still used Latin as the official royal language. After his death, the Latin tradition began to die out and

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Greek became the official language of the eastern empire. This caused the Byzantines to think of themselves ultimately as different from the Romans and loosened the historical ties between Rome and Constantinople. Great strides were taken by Justinian during his reign. He oversaw the construction of a great church in the city that would prove to be the shining example of Byzantine architecture. Known as the Church of the Hagia Sophia (HI yuh SO FI yuh), it was a monumental work. (Hagia Sophia translates from the Greek as Holy Wisdom.) The building measures 250 feet by 235 feet and features a great dome measuring 107 feet across and peaking at a height of 185 feet. The building took five years to complete with 10,000 men working on it. Inside, the great church was adorned with marble, elaborate columns, intricate mosaics, and gold. Another contribution of Justinian was the reforming and codifying of Roman law. He ordered the creation of a commission to study Roman law and to bring it together in a unified form. The result was the Code, which included all Roman law up to A.D. 534. Also, the commission arranged the Digest, which included all the cases that served as interpretations of the law. This new work commissioned by Justinian gave new prestige to old Roman law.

Review and Write 1. What are some of the successes of the reign of Emperor Justinian? 2. Why do you think a “Roman” emperor such as Justinian would order the construction of a great church such as the Hagia Sophia?

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The Barbarian West While the eastern half of the Roman Empire continued and prospered as the Byzantine Empire, in the western half, life grew difficult. When the centralized Roman government collapsed around A.D. 500, Western Europeans experienced 500 years of disorder, chaos, and darkness. Traditionally, this period in Western Europe is known as the Early Middle Ages. With the fall of Rome, the Germanic tribes became the dominant force in the West. However, they were relatively primitive people with little culture and civilization. They destroyed more than they brought or even borrowed from the Romans. Over the centuries following A.D. 500, civilization in the West nearly reached the point of extinction. With the demise of the Roman political system, destruction became commonplace. The barbarian Germans were brutal conquerors, murdering, raping, and turning their victims into slaves. The population in the West declined as a result. Former Roman towns and cities either lost large numbers of their populations or ceased to exist at all. The population of Rome, for example, had reached 10 million during its heyday. However, by A.D. 800, Rome was home to only 50,000 inhabitants. Throughout these years, many of the municipal (or city) systems ceased to operate. There were simply not enough people to keep the roads repaired. Great aqueducts which had delivered water to the city fell into disrepair. Buildings and bridges were not maintained and fell apart. The city’s streets became littered with waste and trash. Grass grew in along Rome’s streets and roads. Cattle grazed in the Roman Forum, formerly the city’s busy commercial and political center. Other Roman cities ceased to exist altogether. In England, the Roman city of London was completely abandoned and was not revived until hundreds of years later. A city in southern Gaul (France), Marseilles, fell from existence for 200 years. Shortages existed everywhere in the West. With little trade and little production, food shortages were constant. By the 700s, gold coins almost disappeared with only a few silver coins left in circulation. The chief export of the West became human beings who were sold into slavery.

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Each little village or rural group had to produce all its own food, clothing, and housing. Farming became less productive. There was a constant shortage of hay, so livestock could not be fed and consequently dwindled in numbers. Fewer farm animals meant less manure, which was in shortage to fertilize the hay fields, completing the tragic circle. There were reported incidents of cannibalism in the West. Children died at early ages; perhaps four out of five died in infancy. Learning nearly disappeared in the barbarian West. Schools ceased to exist and most people grew up illiterate. Only the church existed to provide some element of security in people’s lives. Within the church, literacy remained alive. For hundreds of years, life in Western Europe became desperate and frightening. People forgot how to be civilized. They forgot how to live in cities. They forgot how to read. It is no wonder that some historians still refer to these centuries in Western Europe as the Dark Ages.

Review and Write 1. In what ways did life in the western half of the old Roman Empire become barbaric after A.D. 500? 2. Describe the Germanic peoples who invaded the Roman Empire. 3. What happened to life in the city of Rome after the collapse of the western half of the Roman Empire?

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The Early Medieval Church With the collapse of the Roman Empire by A.D. 500, Roman civilization began a serious decline. For hundreds of years, Rome was a unifying force in the Mediterranean region, bringing security and prosperity to many within the Empire and for those who traded from the outside. Once the Empire ceased to wield power, however, the West experienced bleak times. Lawlessness was rampant. People lived in constant fear of invaders, robbers, and plunderers. No governmental power existed in the West that provided any sense of security and direction. There was no emperor and no great king to provide protection. Civilization itself seemed to many to be doomed. Although no great secular or worldly leader emerged in the West following the collapse of Rome, the early Church soon took a position of leadership among Western Europeans. The Church and its leaders became important in maintaining many elements of classical heritage, including literacy. Christianity continued to provide some element of civilization in a world increasingly barbarous and insecure. Even after Rome ceased to be the center of imperial power, the city continued to be an important Christian capital. Western Europeans looked to Rome for religious direction. The patriarch of Rome, in time, came to consider himself to be the leader of the Western Church. In the East, the patriarch in Constantinople thought himself to be the head of the Byzantine Church. This resulted in Christianity following several paths during the Early Middle Ages. Other splits among Christians also occurred. As different Church leaders emphasized various religious ideas, or theologies, splinter groups of Christians were formed. One example was the establishing of the Coptic Orthodox Church in

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Egypt around A.D. 450. Its leader was the patriarch of Alexandria. It was the Copts who created monasticism, the practice of setting one’s self apart from the secular world as a monk. In the West, various Roman patriarchs began redefining the scope of their Church office. Innocent I (who served as patriarch from A.D. 402–417) established himself as the only universal leader of the Church. Leo I (440–461) announced the principle of papal supremacy. He also obtained a decree from the Roman emperor recognizing Leo’s decisions as having the force of law. Other patriarchs—such as those in Constantinople, Alexandria, and Jerusalem—did not agree, of course. One justification given by Roman patriarchs for elevating themselves as leaders among the patriarchs was the tradition that the Apostle Peter, one of Jesus’ twelve followers, had lived the last years of his life in Rome. The Roman Church came to see Peter as the first Pope, and all other Roman patriarchs to follow him were supreme among Church leaders. From A.D. 500 to 800, various doctrinal issues further separated Christianity, including a long-standing debate about whether Jesus had been all flesh, all spirit, or a combination of both. Other controversies centered around the use of images, such as paintings and statues, in Christian worship. Some, especially in the Eastern Church, did not believe such images should be used. Such believers were known as iconoclasts, meaning “image-breakers.” Such theological issues plus the dividing of the old Roman Empire into eastern and western halves, caused splits among Christians which remain in place today.

Review and Write Why did Christianity split into several different Churches during the Early Middle Ages? Cite three reasons.

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Monastic Life As the power and significance of the Church in Western Europe expanded after the fall of the Roman Empire, new Christian lifestyles developed. The old Roman parish system was adopted by the Church, and local parish priests were appointed to provide spiritual guidance for the Christians in their village or locale. In the West, many priests were illiterate; many were raised as peasants. Many priests in the early Church married and had children. Bishops often came from the unruly nobility who were frequently uncouth and illiterate themselves. In time, the clergy—Church leaders including the local priests—developed into two distinct groups: the secular clergy, who lived in the world and interacted with people on a regular basis; and the regular clergy, which was made up of men and women known as monks and nuns. The word monk is taken from a Greek word meaning solitary or alone. The original monks came out of Egypt and Syria in the Near East. Early monks were hermits who sometimes practiced fasting and self-torture. Others, such as St. Simeon Stylites the Elder lived on top of a tall stone pillar out in the Syrian desert for more than 36 years. Perhaps the most important outgrowth of monasticism was the establishment of monasteries in Western Europe. Benedict (480–543) was the founder of one of the first monastic systems. He established rules for monks to follow, including taking vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Such rules were part of what became known as the Benedictine rule. Benedict established a monastery in southern Italy at Monte Cassino, which still exists today. By the end of the 600s, most monasteries in the West followed the Benedictine rule. A century later, the great Frankish king, Charlemagne, required all monks to follow the rule. From 500 to 1100, monasteries played a key role in the Western Church. In a period when few schools existed in Western Europe, the monasteries were important centers of knowledge, information, and literacy. In fact, while few people could read in Europe during the Early Middle Ages, the monasteries were home to dedicated scholars who could read, write, and copy manuscripts, especially copies of the Bible. The printing press was not invented until the

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1300s, so men who could copy the Scriptures were important. When pagan Germanic tribes harassed the Church and its clergy between A.D. 400 and 800, many monks and scholars fled the Continent to Ireland, in the northern British Isles. During these centuries, Ireland became an important center of learning and scholarship. When few people in Gaul could read, Irish scholars could read both Greek and Latin texts. These scholar-monks copied the Bible, as well as ancient Greek and Roman manuscripts, helping keep learning and Western heritage alive. One of the leading Irish monks was known as the Venerable Bede (BEED), who lived from 673 to 735. Bede was raised in a monastery from age seven and spent his entire life studying, reading, copying manuscripts, and writing some of the early histories of England. He made popular the term anno Domini, meaning “in the year of our Lord,” abbreviated A.D. The works of the Irish monks, such as Bede, produced some of the most beautiful books in the world. Such books were printed on animal skin called vellum, and were hand-sewn with wooden covers adorned with gold leaf and precious stones. The works produced by these monks were passed down through the ages. So beautiful were their works that people in Gothic times, during the High Middle Ages, actually thought such books had been created by angels!

Review and Write What contributions did Benedict make to the European monastic system?

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The Rise of the Franks Among the Germanic tribes that invaded Western Europe causing the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, the Franks played a very important role. The Franks were a nomadic Germanic tribe who lived in the Rhine River valley, which flows through modern-day Germany. In the 400s, the Franks were restless and began to invade Roman Gaul (the France of today). The Franks were ruled by a family called the Merovingians. Clovis I ruled the Franks from 481 to 511. Under his leadership, this tribal kingdom became the most powerful group in Western Europe. Born a pagan, Clovis was converted to Christianity in 496 by his wife, a princess named Clotilda. (According to the 6th-century historian Gregory of Tours, Clovis was baptized after he won the battle of Strasbourg against a rival German tribe to fulfill a promise he made to God before the battle.) Not only did Clovis convert to Christianity, but so did his people. The Christianizing of the Franks is important historically. It made certain that Christians, especially Catholics, in his kingdom, would be loyal to Clovis. After his death in 511, Clovis’s kingdom was extended by his sons and grandsons to include all of modern-day France, Belgium, and the larger part of Germany. However, the Merovingian kingdom faced many challenges. The royal household was corrupt; royal plots of murder and assassination were common. The Merovingians were destined to lose their power in time. By the 600s, the Merovingian kings were too weak to rule in reality, and the Frankish kingdom was divided into three independent kingdoms. Although the dynasty continued to support a king, the chief official of the royal house, known as the Mayor of the Palace, held power. The Merovingian kings were reduced to nothing. Among the foreign challenges the Merovingians faced in these years was the invasion of Western Europe by the Moslems, the followers of the prophet Muhammad, who had created a new religion in Arabia known as Islam during the early 600s. A great horde of Moslem Arabs was rampaging on horseback in the late 7th century, threatening Spain and ultimately the Frankish kingdom.

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In 714, a skilled and capable Mayor of the Palace, Charles Martel, came to power. One of the Carolingian family who had challenged the power of the Merovingians and other Mayors of the Palace, Charles brought unity to the Kingdom of the Franks while managing to keep the Merovingians weak figureheads.

It would be Charles Martel who would face the advancing Moslems. In 732, he faced them in battle at Tours (southwest of Paris). The battle featured Frankish infantry troops against horse-bound Moslem cavalry. The Moslems faced heavy losses, and when their commander was killed, they retreated to Spain. The battle of Tours is considered one of the key military engagements of history. It guaranteed that Moslems would not rule in a future France, and that Christianity would remain the religion of the Franks. Another important result of the battle of Tours was that Charles realized the effectiveness of mounted cavalry. Following this victory, he began to create military units of Frankish cavalry. This led to the development of mounted knights, an important fighting force in the medieval world.

Review and Write Compare the success of the Merovingians and the Carolingians in leading the Kingdom of the Franks.

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The Frankish Empire of Charlemagne Through his extensive military campaigns, Charlemagne was able to create an extraordinary empire for himself. In the year 800, on Christmas Day, he was crowned as emperor, with Pope Leo III placing a gold crown on his head. This crowning of Charlemagne was an attempt to bring back the glory days of the long-dead Roman Empire. And his lands were impressive in scope. The Frankish Empire, or what came to be known as the Carolingian Empire, included all of the western half of the old Roman Empire minus Africa, Britain, southern Italy, and most of Spain. It stretched from the Baltic Sea south to the Adriatic Sea in the east to the coast of Denmark and to northern Spain in the west. Charlemagne maintained his Empire through military campaigns, which took place during nearly every year of his reign. What kind of man was Charlemagne? He was one of the most powerful rulers of the Early Middle Ages, a military commander and a capable statesman. He stood tall (over 6' 3") in an age when few people were over 5' 5". He loved hunting and swimming (his palace in Aachen had a marble pool which could accommodate 100 bathers). He was fond of music, despised lavish court decorations, spoke German and Latin, and even knew a little Greek. Although he was not well educated, Charlemagne was a great supporter, or patron, of the arts. He encouraged and paid for a revival of learning within his kingdom. Called the Carolingian Renaissance, his scribes, who included scholar-monks, copied many manuscripts during his reign. He had schools established throughout his Empire, usually attached to monasteries and churches where priests could learn to read, write, and do simple arithmetic. More than 90 percent of the old Roman writings which survive today find their earliest form in a Carolingian text. The writing style used was called Carolingian minuscule, since copyists used lowercase letters, rather than all capital letters, as had been the Roman practice. Although his reign was a model for later medieval kings and his lands were extensive, when he died, his sons divided his kingdom up, bringing to an end the glory days of the Carolingians.

A sample of Carolingian miniscule Charles Martel, an outstanding Mayor of the Palace, managed to defeat the Moslems at the battle of Tours in 732. This success helped pave the way for his family, the Carolingians, to come to royal power over the kingdom of the Franks. His son, Pepin the Short, inherited his father’s title and soon succeeded in gaining further power for himself. He ruled from 741 to 768, years of increasing power for the Frankish kingdom. He convinced Pope Boniface that he, Pepin, was the actual ruler of the kingdom. During the winter of 751–52, Boniface crowned Pepin as King of the Franks and the last Merovingian monarch was shipped quietly off to a monastery. Pepin’s close relationship with the papacy in Rome strengthened both his monarchy and the influence of the Church in northern Europe. The alliance between these two powers helped speed up the separation of Western Christianity from the Eastern or Greek version. This first Carolingian king, Pepin, proved to be a successful monarch. However, his son would outshine his father. His name was Charlemagne (SHAR luh mayn). Born in 742, his Latin name was Carolus Magnus (which translates as Charles the Great). When his father died in 768, Charlemagne and his brother inherited his throne as joint heirs. After his brother’s death three years later, Charlemagne became the sole ruler of the Franks. He soon embodied the ideal of a medieval king. The alliance between the Franks and the Pope was maintained.

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The Vikings Even during Emperor Charlemagne’s lifetime, his empire was being threatened from foreign invaders. Europe itself was besieged by many roaming bands of restless marauders who brought with them great upheaval. The Slavs occupied Eastern Europe from the Balkans of the north to Greece in the south. The nomadic horsemen called the Magyars stormed in from the East, leading raids into northern Italy and the Rhine Valley of Germany. By the 900s, they finally settled down to quiet farm living on the rich plains of Hungary. To the south, the Moslem Arabs campaigned across the eastern Mediterranean Sea region. They invaded Italy, and in 846 sacked the city of Rome. Despite the force and power displayed by these invaders, from the northern reaches of Europe came marauders more dreaded than any other—the Vikings. They were a Germanic people called the Normans who had traditionally farmed the thin soil of Scandinavia for centuries. They were also a seafaring culture, adept at navigation in small, shallow boats called drakken, or dragon ships. Such ships measured about 60 feet long, with a keel carved from a single tree trunk. The hull was ribbed, and the entire vessel was flexible. A single center mast boasted a great coarse woolen sail, often striped with various colors. At the bow of the drakken, a wooden dragon’s head rose to frighten the enemies of the Vikings. The men slept on an open deck, exposed to the elements and the sea waves. The Vikings were considered barbarians. They were coarse and rough, tall and blond-bearded, with great red cloaks thrown over their broad shoulders. They fought with ferocity and, to their victims, seemed bloodthirsty. Viking warriors believed that their chief god, Odin, would protect them in a fight and strike their opponents blind and deaf and turn their swords into harmless sticks. The Viking technique of attacking an enemy usually began by establishing a base of operation © Milliken Publishing Company

on a coastal island or through the taking of a walled seaside town. From there, they sailed their shallow drakken up a river, attacking villages along the way, stealing horses and riding into the countryside, plundering as they went. No one was safe from the attacks of the marauding Vikings. They even invaded churches and monasteries, killing the monks and priests, taking the gold and silver artifacts and crosses, even stripping the jewels from the covers of Bibles. Among the Vikings, the most savage were the warriors known as the berserkrs, meaning “bear shirts.” These men went wildly into a fight, naked except for animal skins, often that of a wolf. Some historians believe this practice may have given rise to early tales of werewolves. Today, our word berserk comes from the practices of these frenzied Vikings. So fearful were the Vikings that a prayer was developed by Western European Christians, and spoken at the first sign of an invading band of Vikings: “From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord deliver us!” The Vikings raided all across Europe. They established colonies in Iceland and Greenland during the 800s, and in the late 900s even reached America. In England, in 853, they set up a kingdom with its capital in Dublin. In 810, they raided the whole of Charlemagne’s Empire, besieging Paris four times, pillaging it three times, and burning it twice. Over time, the Northmen settled down, often with Frankish women, and became civilized. In 911, a Viking chieftain named Rollo accepted land from the Frankish King Charles the Simple, in exchange for the conversion of the Northmen to Christianity. Today, this region of France is called Normandy, after the Norman Vikings.

Review and Write What technique was used by the Vikings when raiding an enemy? 11

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Dividing Charlemagne’s Empire The great Carolingian rulers were a grandfather, son, and grandson: Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, and Charlemagne. Between them, they provided a century of solid rule over the Franks and their neighbors—from approximately 714 to 814. Destroying much of their combined legacy, however, only took one generation. By the mid-800s, Charlemagne’s Empire was divided three ways, creating in the process the modern nations of France and Germany. Before his own death, Charlemagne witnessed the crowning of his son Louis the Pious who almost immediately partitioned, or divided, the Empire between his three sons: Lothair the Elder, Louis the German, and Charles the Bald. The three sons soon quarreled between themselves, even to the point of fighting one another through civil war. Louis and Charles sided against their brother Lothair, signing the famous Strasbourg Oaths in 842. Interestingly, the oath document was written in two languages: French, to be understood by Charles’s followers, and German, for those loyal to Louis, many of whom lived on the eastern side of the Rhine river. The use of these two languages, indicates that the Frankish Empire was already facing division between two groups: those living in East Frankland and those of Germany.

The next year, in 843, the three brothers ended their fighting and signed the Treaty of Verdun. The result was a three-way split of the Empire. Charles the Bald gained title over the western empire and Louis the German over the eastern portion. Lothair (he was to keep the title of Carolingian emperor) was granted land which lay between the other two. It included the northern half of Italy, and a strip of territory about 150 miles wide, running from Italy to the modern-day Netherlands and the North Sea. Never again would the Carolingians rule over a united empire. In fact, Frankish nobles overthrew the last Carolingian in the West in 887 and the final Carolingian rulers in East Frankland died in 911. Besides bringing about an end to Charlemagne’s Empire, the Treaty of Verdun had other primary results. The states established for Louis the German and Charles the Bald helped to create the modern nations of France and Germany. The kingdom of Lothair, called Lotharingia or Lorraine, became destined to be a battleground between France and Germany in later centuries, including the Twentieth. Such weak rulers on the thrones of Europe helped give rise to more localized rule by regionally powerful noblemen. These lords controlled estates through a system known as feudalism, which we will be studying later.

Map Exercise This map shows the Empire of Charlemagne at the time of his death. In short order, it would be divided between his three grandsons. Using colored pencils, shade the three kingdoms established by the Treaty of Verdun. Identify the kingdoms ruled by Lothair the Elder, Louis the German, and Charles the Bald.

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Developing the Feudal Order The long coast of northwestern France became home to a tribe of Vikings in 91l after the Frankish (or French) king Charles the Simple struck a bargain with the marauding, seafaring Vikings. Deciding it would be easier and less destructive to grant land from his kingdom to the Vikings rather than face their recurring invasions, which featured pillage, plunder, rape, and burning, Charles surrendered a coastal region of thick forests, rolling hills, and rich pastures to the Normans. The Normans lived up to their end of the bargain, promising to recognize Charles as their king and agreeing to convert to Christianity. Soon, the Vikings intermarried with local women, and adopted the French language. Once they settled down, they began establishing their loyalty to the Frankish kings. They became warriors in their service. Normandy was a rich land of pastures where horses thrived. The Normans became expert riders. Such horse-bound fighting men developed into an elite group of military servants to their king known as knights. Knights soon became the standard warrior of kings across Europe. Such men were highly trained professional soldiers. Our popular image of the medieval knight is of a fighter wearing heavy-plate armor that completely covered him from head to toe. However, earlier knights wore long, knee-length shirts made of chain mail called hauberks. Such protective garments consisted of small, interlocking iron rings, often hundreds of thousands of them. They were usually hooded and split from the waist down to allow the knight to mount and ride a horse. Other gear rounded out their military wardrobe, including iron helmets, lances, shields, and swords. The Norman knights living on the French coast were used in important battles on behalf of the Frankish king. In 1053, a Norman army of knights defeated an army of Pope Leo IX in the battle of Civitate. In 1066, Norman cavalry defeated Saxon

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infantry in the famous battle of Hastings in 1066. This fight took place on the English mainland. Victory in this battle allowed William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy, to defeat the Saxons and establish himself over a great kingdom on both sides of the English Channel, the body of water which separates England and France. To ensure their occupation of the English mainland, the Normans built strong fortifications called castles. Such structures provided powerful stone strongholds not only in England but in France, and ultimately throughout all of Europe. Holding together the developing relationship between knights and their loyalty to kings was a system known as feudalism. It was a series of relationships, between a king or a lesser lord and his knights. Under this system, an exchange took place. A lord distributed land to his knights in exchange for their vow of service, known as a fealty oath. This oath was made during a ceremony of homage. The knight knelt before his lord, placing his hands within his master’s and vowed to him, “Lord, I become your man.” The lord then ordered his knight servant, or vassal, to stand, followed by a ceremonial kiss. The service the knight promised to his lord was military in nature. He would fight for his lord and protect his estate or kingdom. Along with the land granted to a knight, there were farming people who came with it, peasants, who were bound to the land all their lives, agreeing to accept the protection of lord and knights in exchange for their labor. Such peasants, bound by contract to the land, were known as serfs. Feudalism served as the primary social, political, economic, and military system in Europe between 900 and 1300. During these centuries, approximately 80 to 90 percent of the people served their lord as serfs.

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Life in a Medieval Castle Beginning during the Early Middle Ages, the medieval castle was to become the home of many lords and ladies of the nobility. The word castle comes from the Latin word, castelum, which means “fort.” Such places were originally simple fortified camps, first built by the Romans, and later by European nobility and military leaders.

could fire arrows on their enemies. Inside the castle was a large, open courtyard lined with the lord’s living quarters, as well as his chapel, workshops, kitchens, and servant’s rooms. Life there was secure and simple. Typically, the noble and his family attended chapel each morning. Time was spent throughout the day in a variety of ways. The lord might oversee his lands outside the castle, confer with his knights, practice his war arts, keep records of trade, and engage in an occasional pastime of chess, backgammon, or cards. The lady of the castle often spent time sewing and raising the children. Servants were everywhere, carrying out the chores of cooking, keeping animals, tending gardens, and seeing to the needs of lord and lady. Meals were prepared in large open kitchens with broad fireplaces. Dinners were served in a great hall, which was the central room within the castle. Here, banquets might be held, affairs of state carried out, and entertainment performed. Such halls were often decorated with large tapestries or other embroidered hangings that showed hunting or Biblical scenes. On the floor, straw was scattered about. Here people often sat, for furniture in a castle was scant. The lord might sit in a chair (we use the term chairman to refer to one who presides over a meeting for this reason). Castles were generally cold places. Fireplaces were built in later castles, while earlier ones featured a fire built in the center of the great hall. Bedrooms were often chilly places. Medieval lords and ladies wore several layers of clothing to stay warm. Despite popular myth, medieval people enjoyed taking baths. A castle might include a “bath room” near the kitchen (where hot water was prepared). “Toilets” were built into the walls of the castle. This allowed waste to drop down a chute and into the moat of water surrounding the castle.

Early versions of the castle were constructed by the Normans. Many were built following the defeat of the Saxons by William in 1066, to provide protection for the Norman forces occupying medieval England. These early castles were constructed on top of an earthen mound called a motte. A wooden fort was built commanding the lands around the motte and enclosed by a bailey, a wooden-fenced stockade. The motte-and-bailey castle could be thrown up in just a few weeks. By 1100, England alone had at least 500 such castles. The completion of most castles was followed by the building of a small village for the local people. In time, many of these wooden fortifications were replaced by castles of stone and mortar. These later models were large and imposing, designed to serve not only as a fort or defensive stronghold, but as home to the lord and his family as well as armory, local governmental center, prison, and treasure house. Such castles often took hundreds of laborers and years to build. The castles of the High Middle Ages became elaborately constructed fortifications. While there is no standard model, and castles varied widely from one to another, a typical castle included high, thick, stone walls. Built within the walls were round towers called merlons from which the castle’s defenders

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Review and Write What do you think would have been the most uncomfortable part of life in a medieval castle?

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Test I Part I. Multiple Choice (Worksheets 1–7) Match the answers to the right with the statement on the left. ______ ______ ______ ______ ______

1. Word derived from two Latin words meaning “middle ages” 2. Important god of several Germanic tribes 3. Germanic tribe whose name means “East Goths” 4. Germanic tribe whose name means “West Goths” 5. German military commander who deposed the last Roman emperor in A.D. 476 ______ 6. Name given the eastern half of the Old Roman Empire ______ 7. Great church constructed in Constantinople in the 6th century A.D. ______ 8. Emperor in Constantinople from A.D. 527–565 ______ 9. Christian church established in Egypt around A.D. 450 ______ 10. Churchmen who separated themselves from the secular world ______ 11. Christians who did not believe in the use of images in worship ______ 12. Roman patriarch who established himself as universal leader of Christianity during the 5th century A.D.

A. Ostrogoths B. monks C. Justinian D. medieval E. iconoclasts F. Byzantine Empire G. Innocent I H. Odovacar I. Coptic J. Visigoths K. Hagia Sophia L. Wotan

Part II. Multiple Choice (Worksheets 8–14) ______ 1. Church leader who established a monastic order ______ 2. Irish monk who popularized the use of A.D. ______ 3. Animal skin used to make books ______ 4. Frankish ruler who was of the Merovingian dynasty ______ 5. Frankish Mayor of the Palace who defeated the Moslems at Tours ______ 6. Son of Pepin the Short; he was a great Carolingian king ______ 7. Style of writing using lowercase letters ______ 8. Dragon ships of the Vikings ______ 9. Wild Viking warriors who wore nothing but animal skins ______ 10. Region of northern France settled by Vikings ______ 11. Peace which divided up the Empire of Charlemagne ______ 12. Promise of service made by a vassal-knight to his lord

A. Charles Martel B. berserkrs C. Carolingian minuscule D. Benedict E. Normandy F. Clovis I G. Charlemagne H. drakken I. vellum J. Venerable Bede K. fealty oath L. Treaty of Verdun

Part III. Respond and Write After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century A.D., generally describe what happened to the eastern half and the western half of the Empire. Be as specific as you can. Did life continue as it always had? Was life different? What forces took the place of the Roman Empire?

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The High Middle Ages, Part I During the 500 years from the collapse of the Roman Empire to the year A.D. 1000, life in Western Europe was less than perfect. With no powerful government in place, the people and powers of the West faced constant challenges from invasion, wars, civil wars, food shortages, and disease. However, around the year 1000, and for the next 300 years to follow, a dramatic series of changes came to the West. There was a brilliant recovery from the semi-barbarism that had held Western Europe in its clutches for centuries. Life in the West not only improved, it improved substantially. These centuries—from 1000 to nearly 1300—mark the rise of the High Middle Ages. How did this happen? And what were the changes that allowed Western Europe to turn a corner to a better world? By 1000, many of the Germanic tribes which had proven so destructive in the West had settled down. There were fewer invasions and internal civil wars, bringing greater stability and less chaos. The nature of destructive wars and invasions changed. Most of the medieval conflicts consisted of lengthy sieges of heavily fortified castles and other fortresses. Typically, no more than a few dozen men were needed to protect a castle, leading to less direct violence and bloodshed. Even field conflicts involving knights were limited skirmishes with minimal loss of life. This allowed more young people to survive, which resulted in a population rise in the West. This population explosion is an important trend in the West of the 11th and 12th centuries. Other reasons for the population increase include the fact that between the 10th and 14th centuries, Europe was not hit by a major plague or killing disease. Also, the period between 1000 and 1200 experienced a better weather pattern. This meant a significant long-term warming trend, which brought milder winters and drier summers and allowed for an increase in agricultural production, resulting in healthier people, less disease, and better lifestyles. The population changes in the West were significantly greater. For example, between 950 and 1350, England’s population increased from one million to three million. Overall, Europe’s population doubled

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in the four centuries beginning in A.D. 950. This growth in population caused some ecological problems for Europe, however. As the population grew, the old balance between the land and the populace was upset: farming was expanded into completely new regions; forests were chopped down and cleared; and swamps were drained for agriculture. As Europe’s population grew by leaps and bounds, the size of feudal holdings also increased. The land owned by a lord typically expanded in size during the High Middle Ages. The changes that Europe experienced during the High Middle Ages resulted in a decline in slavery. Buying and selling slaves had been an important trade activity during the Early Middle Ages. However, slavery barely survived the High Middle Ages. With the population boom, there was no manpower shortage in the West, resulting in less slavery. Also, changes in farming and the use of the horse reduced the need for slavery. The High Middle Ages witnessed the adoption of the padded horsecollar, the tandem harness, and the nailed horseshoe—all of which improved the work capacity of the horse by four times. When feeding a horse became cheaper than feeding four slaves, and a horse could produce more work, the result was an inevitable lessening of reliance on human labor. Such innovations were bringing a new quality of life to Western Europe. And more changes were on the way.

Review and Write How did life in western Europe improve greatly between 1000 and 1300?

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The High Middle Ages, Part II As we have seen, the High Middle Ages brought positive change to Western Europe during the centuries between 1000 and 1300. These changes included advancements in farming methods, an increased urbanization, and new technologies. Perhaps nowhere else did medieval life change more dramatically than in farming. The heavywheeled plow was invented which cut deeper furrows in fields and eliminated the need for crossplowing, going several times over a field before the soil was broken up enough to plant a crop. In addition, the three-field system of agriculture was adopted. In earlier centuries, medieval farms used a two-field system. Each spring, half the fields were planted with a grain crop and the other half lay fallow, or lay idle. Under the new system, fields were carved into thirds, with one-third planted with a winter crop of wheat, rye, or barley; another third sown with spring crops of grain, peas, or beans; and only a third left fallow. Such changes brought more abundance from medieval farming. Industrial changes also occurred during the High Middle Ages. The modern factory did not exist during this period, but other mechanization did. For example, there was a dramatic increase in water and wind-powered mills. Where slaves had once been used to grind grain, the High Middle Ages introduced the water mill. Most such mills provided services for about 50 families, grinding grain, sawing lumber, beating cloth, and crushing ore. Several significant inventions came into existence in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. One such medieval invention was the crank, a simple device consisting of two shafts at right angles. This technology transformed up-and-down and backward-and-forward motion into circular motion. The crank allowed people to lift more with less strain. The spinning wheel was another important medieval technology. It allowed for the production of inexpensive thread and cloth. Such a tool gave those of the medieval period a greater access not only to clothing, but to additional items such as sheets, towels, and even underwear. As the spinning wheel brought more cloth items to the medieval wardrobe, it also changed the nature of the material people wrote on. As clothing wore

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out, the rags—mostly linen—allowed for the production of cheap paper, rather than vellum made from animal skins or expensive parchment. The result was cheaper books produced on paper. Other items which revolutionized life in the Middle Ages were the mechanized clock (by the 1300s) and the button for clothing. By the 14th century, gunpowder had been introduced to Europe by way of China, which changed the nature of warfare and made the castle as a defensive tool obsolete. Another trend of the period was the revival of urban life. Many towns and cities had declined or ceased to exist in the West during the Early Middle Ages. But by the 10th century, towns were back and large cities once again gained importance. Such cities led to greater trade. This trade helped expand the economy of the High Middle Ages. Rather than just producing to survive, medieval people were now accumulating surpluses, which they sold to the East, including Constantinople and the Moslems.

In Italy, great trading cities grew and connected with the East. Leading the way were the city-states of Venice, Genoa, and Pisa. Such cities were filled with merchants, shippers, and traders who helped connect the West with the East.

Review and Write After studying the changes brought to Europe between 1000 and 1300, make a list of what appear to be the three greatest changes, and explain why.

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The Crusades, Part I During the High Middle Ages, Christians from all over Europe expressed their faith in many ways. One spiritual act especially important to many of the followers of Christ was to make a trip to the land where Jesus had lived, walked, and spread his message during his ministry. That place was known as the Holy Land. For hundreds of years, Christian travelers called pilgrims took an inspirational tour of the land of Palestine (today, the nation of Israel) to visit the sites spoken of in their New Testaments: the Garden of Gethsemane, the Sea of Galilee, and the site of the Holy sepulcher (the traditional site where Jesus was laid to rest after his crucifixion). Until the 11th century, Christian Europeans had no trouble gaining access to the Holy Land, despite the presence of the Moslems who ruled there. Moslem governors had been more than happy to allow Christians into their lands to visit their holy places. However, during the mid-11th century, a fanatical group of Moslems known as the Seljuk Turks invaded the Near East, including the Holy Land, and occupied the region. These Moslems were not friendly to Christians and refused to allow pilgrims to visit. When the Seljuks raided to the north and fought a Byzantine army and defeated it in 1071, the eastern emperor (a new one—the old one was killed fighting the Moslems) appealed to the West and to the Pope to come to the rescue of Byzantium. When Constantinople itself was threatened, the Westerners considered responding. After hearing stories of atrocities by the Moslems against Christians in the Near East, a Western pope named Urban II finally began to rally others to offer help. In 1095, he called Western Europeans to participate in a holy war against the Moslems. This First Crusade led Christian rulers to commit their knights to fight to free the Holy Land once again. The word “Crusade” was taken from the term meaning “taking the Cross.” The knights who participated in this and other Crusades wore white cloth tunics over their armor, which bore the symbol of a red cross.

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While many Europeans who went to fight did so for religious reasons, some had other motivations. A crusader became a privileged person. While away on a crusade, he did not have to pay taxes and his debts were cancelled temporarily. Others saw opportunities to gain new lands in Syria or Palestine for themselves. Italian merchants provided many ships to carry crusaders to the Holy Land, making huge profits for themselves. Over a period of 200 years, there were eight distinct crusades and several smaller ventures. The First Crusade involved lords and knights from France, Germany, and southern Italy. This was the most successful of all the crusades. Approximately 3000 knights and 12,000 infantry helped to fight the Turkish Moslems. Ultimately these Christian warriors were able to win great victories, including capturing Jerusalem, the Holy City. Once these crusading knights succeeded in defeating the Turks in Syria and Asia Minor, they created a feudal Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, which lasted from 1099 to 1187. A second crusade was called in the 1140s when the Turks were close to seeing to the fall of Jerusalem. This crusade was called by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Two European leaders—Louis VII and the Byzantine Emperor Conrad III—joined forces in 1147, and had many problems just getting their armies to the Near East. They never made it to Jerusalem and this crusade failed to even capture the city of Damascus from the Moslems. Other crusades lay ahead, however.

Review and Write 1. What were some of the primary reasons why the crusaders agreed to fight against the Moslems so far from home? 2. Why was the land of Palestine so important to the Christians of Europe?

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The Crusades, Part II With the failure of the 2nd Crusade, the Moslems continued to strike at the fringes of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem until they caused its fall in 1187. Led by a fanatical, yet brilliant, general named Saladin, the Moslem takeover of the Holy Land signalled the call for a third crusade. This 3rd Crusade was led by three kings: Philip Augustus of France, Richard I (known as the Lionhearted) of England, and Frederick Barbarossa, Emperor of Germany. (“Barbarossa” was a reference to the king’s red beard.) These three men led their armies into the crusade sometimes referred to as the Crusade of Kings. Their alliance was to be an uneasy one. Along the way, Philip and Richard quarreled and the French king quit the crusade and returned home before ever reaching the Holy Land. Frederick Barbarossa drowned in a river before seeing a single Moslem opponent. Only Richard and his army fought Saladin. Richard’s forces fought fairly well and in 1191 succeeded in capturing the Moslem-controlled city of Acre, located along the eastern Mediterranean coast, north of Jerusalem. (At Acre, the Christian army used a huge catapult known as Bad Neighbor.) However, he did not succeed in taking Jerusalem. In the end, Richard had to be content with an agreement from Saladin which opened the Holy City to Christian pilgrims. The crusades were not over. Saladin died in 1193. In 1198, a new pope, Innocent III, called for a 4th Crusade. This one went terribly wrong. Few knights volunteered to go on this crusade. Many of those who did arrived in Venice, the great port city on the eastern coast of Italy, needing passage to the Holy Land. The Venetian merchants, seeing an opportunity for great profit, charged the crusaders so much for the voyage that most of the knights could not afford the trip. A deal was soon struck which completely violated the ideals of the crusade. The Venetians offered to give the knights passage only if they agreed to attack the

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city of Zara first. Located on the opposite side of the Adriatic from Venice, Zara was Venice’s rival in trade. The Christian knights agreed. The irony was that Zara was not a Moslem city, but a Christian one! Once Christian knights destroyed the Christian city of Zara, the Venetians urged them to attack the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, another Christian community. The knights attacked Constantinople on April 12, 1204. They looted the city and killed the emperor. Most of these knights never finished their journey to the Holy Land. The crusaders established a new Latin Empire of Constantinople. This new kingdom did not see Byzantine rule again until 1261. This destruction by Western Christians resulted in a decline of the Eastern Empire. Byzantium would never be as powerful as it had been before the Christian attack. This attack by Christians on Christians brought an end to any reasonable spirit for future crusades. The final four crusades accomplished very little. The 5th Crusade (1217–1221) was directed at Egypt, not the Holy Land, since it was a Moslem stronghold. They failed to take the city of Cairo, however, due to squabbling in their ranks. The 6th (1248) and 7th (1270) Crusades were led by the French king, Louis IX. Both failed and Louis lost his life in the second one. The 8th Crusade was an abject failure as well. Although the Crusades failed ultimately to secure the Holy Land for Christians over the long run, they did help to stabilize life in Western Europe by causing young knights to fight the Moslems or Eastern Christians rather than fight one another at home.

Knights en route to the Crusades

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Medieval Town Life During the Early Middle Ages, town and urban life came close to fading away. Old Roman towns sometimes ceased to exist altogether. During the High Middle Ages, however, beginning around A.D. 1000, Western Europe experienced a revival of town life. The influences that had worked to destroy the old Roman communities—a lack of communication and trade, wars, lawlessness, little local government—had been reduced in influence.

Such defensive walls were important to the security of the town. The gates of the community were closed at night to keep out marauders and thugs. A night guard patrolled the streets, which were dark without street lights. In case of an emergency—such as a fire or raid—a town crier was responsible for waking up the citizens. Some of these medieval urban centers were built on the sites of old Roman cities that had fallen into ruin or maintained minimal populations. Others were completely new towns, many built near a local lord’s castle or manor house. The streets of medieval towns were lined with many private homes and businesses, shops which sold a wide variety of goods, many locally produced by the very merchant who ran the shop. There was little advertising along the streets, but local patrons—most illiterate—could identify the shops by signs indicating what was sold inside: a boot, a fish, a loaf of bread. The local barber shop featured a redand-white-striped pole indicating the place where one could shave and receive a bloodletting, a practice of the day done for health reasons. Medieval towns were often not pleasant places. There were few sewage systems, and waste water flowed down the streets. People threw their garbage and trash out their doors and windows into the alleyways, where pigs roamed to help clean up the refuse. Typically, streets were narrow, about six or eight feet wide. Mud and manure were everywhere, and keeping clean on a walk down a town lane could be difficult. Such towns smelled bad and could be detected by an approaching traveler from miles away. If life in such a town was so bad, what caused people to live there? One reason was the freedom one had in a town. Townspeople were not bound to anyone. A common saying of the day told the story: “Town air makes men free.” Town growth was an important development of the High Middle Ages. In 919, Germany had only 30 towns. By 1125, there were 150. By 1300, Paris and Venice had populations of over 100,000, while Milan and London could boast populations of 50,000. By the beginning of the 14th century, approximately 10 percent of Europe’s population lived in towns.

Local noblemen were partly responsible for this urban growth. Under the feudal system, the serfs worked the lands of the local lord in exchange for agricultural produce such as sheep, cattle, wheat, and other crops. Such a system did not bring ready cash to the estate, however. Lords and other nobles began encouraging sprawling settlements of free people to establish themselves under a town charter. Such charters provided the framework of government for a town or borough. Local tradesmen established themselves in the towns, traded and manufactured, and created a local cash economy. Under this system, urban centers were governed not by the local lord, but through a town council, established under the town charter. Local residents of the town accepted the authority of an elected mayor and other officers of the community. They paid taxes to the local lord and the town officials. Such municipal taxes might be used to construct a defensive wall around the town, or to build roads or bridges.

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The Great Cathedrals With the rise of towns and urban centers in Europe during the High Middle Ages, Christian places of worship were changing in style and size. As these trading centers prospered, towns were able to afford the construction of great churches called cathedrals. Such buildings were monumental undertakings requiring much skill, labor, and great sacrifice on the part of the Christian community. Artistically, such buildings were part of a new style of architecture called Gothic. These medieval buildings, especially cathedrals, emphasized an openness using many windows to let in massive amounts of light. Builders used tall, slender arches, and narrow columns that rose to spectacular heights. Light was so important in a Gothic cathedral that the designers used dozens of large windows. The glass was of many colors called stained glass. Since most of the people of the medieval period were illiterate, such windows might depict a scene from the Bible or tell a story. One of the first Gothic buildings was the abbey church of St. Denis (den NEE) near Paris. Inspired by the famous abbot Suger, St. Denis was built between 1140 and 1150. Although the Gothic style began as an architectural form in northern France, by the mid-1200s, the style was being copied all over Europe. Perhaps the French produced some of the greatest cathedrals, notably those built at Paris, Reims, Amiens, and Chartres. These cathedrals rose high above the landscapes and townscapes surrounding them. From the floor to the top of the cathedral’s central corridor, or nave, Notre Dame rose 107 feet. Chartres stood at 118 feet, and Amiens’ nave measured 144 feet. One reason for the great height of the Gothic cathedrals was to take the building closer to God. Another was an ongoing rivalry between towns and cities to build the largest, tallest cathedral. Such competition was dampened in 1284 when the choir walls of a cathedral at Beauvais, France, built to a record height of 157 feet, suddenly collapsed. Building a cathedral was a long and difficult © Milliken Publishing Company

process, often taking decades to complete. Work at a cathedral site used all the technology, mathematics, and engineering knowledge of the period. Unskilled workers dug the foundations and moved massive stone blocks into place. But many skilled workers and artisans were needed to carve intricate patterns in stone, as well as create all the artwork, including stained glass, statuary, and decorations, that went into building a typical cathedral. Hundreds of cathedrals were constructed in the High Middle Ages. In France alone, 80 cathedrals were built between 1180 and 1270. In Europe as a whole, over 500 cathedrals were built within a 400-year period. Such great houses of worship provided a common meeting place for Christians, where often as many as 5000 of the faithful might gather for special services. The cathedrals were a symbol of pride for a community and were the sites of many pilgrimages. Inside a cathedral a relic was usually included, an object which was considered holy and meant for worship, such as a piece of Jesus’ cross or the bones of a saint.

Review and Write Give two reasons why Gothic cathedrals were constructed to such great heights?

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Medieval Universities The Early Middle Ages had not witnessed great strides in learning. Schools were few. The large majority of the population of Europe could not read or write. People remained ignorant of many things in their world. There was much superstition among the masses. Even believers in Christianity were convinced that monsters, dragons, and ogres lived in the forest. They did not think to question the existence of fairies, trolls, nymphs, and other mythical creatures. For this reason, such imaginary beings are found in popular stories we call “fairy tales.” During the High Middle Ages, however, a revival in learning and knowledge took place. Institutions of study called universities came into existence in Europe for the first time. Such places of higher learning had been founded in the Arab countries hundreds of years before and in cities such as Baghdad and Cordova, Spain. In these great centers of knowledge, Western scholars came to better understand their world and the worlds of others. Early universities in Europe were founded by the Church. They provided the facilities to train men to serve in the growing number of administrative positions of the medieval Church and of the state. Prior to the university, monasteries and cathedral schools provided the only formal education in Europe. The earliest chartered university in Europe was the University of Paris, founded in 1150. This was to become the center of university learning. Other institutions followed, such as Oxford University, which was established in the 1160s. By 1500, Western Europe was home to 77 universities. These schools were different from modern universities and colleges. The typical medieval university was a guild, or organized corporation of masters. Early universities did not usually have classrooms, gymnasiums, stadiums, laboratories, dormitories, or theaters. They were often nothing more than a rented hall where students met with a master. Such students found their own lodging in the local town.

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The subjects taught at a medieval university were different from the typical curriculum today. The heart of the university studies was the school of liberal arts. There were seven liberal arts, which were divided into two categories. The Trivium consisted of the literary arts of grammar, rhetoric, and logic. The other four, called the Quadrivium, were the numerical arts of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. Lectures were given in Latin. Students took notes, asked questions, and held discussions with the professor. Textbooks were not used. They were too costly. Once a student completed his studies, he received a bachelor’s degree. He might continue his university work in graduate school where he could study law, medicine, or theology. There he could earn a master’s or doctoral degree. Upon graduation, the student wore a cap and gown, much like graduates do today. In fact, the ceremonial caps, gowns, and hoods used in modern graduations date from the medieval period. In some cases, before a candidate seeking a degree could receive his, he had to provide gifts or perhaps even a banquet for his professors. In Spain, a university graduate was sometimes expected to provide a bullfight before officially graduating.

Review and Write Name four ways in which a modern university is different from a university of the medieval period. What similarities do medieval and modern universities share?

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Popular Christianity All across Europe, the growth of universities as centers of learning during the High Middle Ages gave a renewed emphasis to literacy and a new interest in scholarship and theology. It also led to a revival in the study of classical literature, the works of the ancient Greeks and Romans, which had fallen into obscurity during the Early Middle Ages. This new scholarship gave rise to such notable theologians as Peter Abelard (1079–1142). He was a leading philosopher and thinker of the Middle Ages. From 1113 to 1118, Abelard taught theology in Paris. He founded a school that eventually developed into the University of Paris. Abelard’s studies led him to emphasize logic in the forming of ideas about one’s Christianity. He said that Peter Abelard logic may be used to understand and even to defend Christian beliefs. Despite the rise of universities, scholarship, and other intellectual pursuits, the beliefs of most European Christians remained quite simple, even primitive. They were often as superstitious as they were faithful—perhaps more so. Especially in rural areas, Christianity was a combination of legends and near-pagan rituals and practices, which did not mirror the official theology of the Church. Superstitions led people to believe in demons, witches, and ghosts, whose spirits returned to haunt the living. Other practices helped to create an emotional form of Christianity that relied heavily on an imaginative theology, a blind belief, and a strong fear of the unknown. Everywhere, popular Christianity expected to see signs and miracles. Stories circulated throughout Europe of nuns who cured diseases, of bleeding statues, and other alleged demonstrations of God’s power. One powerful belief system that developed in the Middle Ages was the belief in the existence of miraculous relics. A relic was an object that connected one with power because of the source of the object. For example, when a religious person died, especially one who would soon be considered a saint, he or she left behind a physical body as well as articles which he or she possessed. Those objects, including the body, were considered in and of themselves sacred, holding great power to heal or bless the owner. An entire cult of relics developed. Anything connected with Jesus or another Biblical figure, such as his Apostles, was considered to have the power to work miracles. There were thousands of popular relics: the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus, wooden pieces of His Cross, hay from His stall in Bethlehem, hairs from Noah’s beard, the tooth of an Apostle. Cathedrals and churches competed for such relics, for a powerful relic could attract pilgrims to their city or town. Many of the alleged relics circulated during the medieval period were fakes, however. A pig’s bones were passed off as those of a saint. And sometimes there were one, two, or three churches that might claim to have the same relic, such as the head of John the Baptist. Even some popes of the period questioned the authenticity of many of the alleged relics. Another Christian cult which developed in the Middle Ages was known as the Mary Cult. By the 12th century, Mary, Jesus’ mother, had become very popular with the masses. They began worshipping her, praying directly to her. Many stories were created about the life of Mary, nearly all of which were false. Such belief systems were often tolerated by the leadership of the Catholic Church, which sometimes encouraged these popular forms of Christianity.

Review and Write Why do you think so many people in the medieval Church practiced such a simple, yet superstitious, belief system?

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The Rising Power of the Church Between the years 1000 and 1200 the Roman Catholic Church rose to its most powerful position in the history of Europe. These were years of sweeping reform in the Church. Despite the relative failure of the Crusades, the leaders of the faithful gained more power and prestige. By 1200, the Church was the strongest institution in the West.

threatened to excommunicate, or deny worship and salvation, to any secular ruler who committed lay investiture. Additional changes and reforms were instituted by the Church. In 1215, the Sacramental system was firmly established, recognizing seven sacraments within Catholic doctrine. The sacraments included baptism, confirmation, (which recognizes a young person’s preparation for adult Church membership), marriage, the Eucharist, (taking the elements of wine and bread during Mass), ordination for the priesthood, penance through confession, and anointing the sick. These practices first took on significance during the medieval period as the instruments of salvation serving as a sign of a believer’s relationship with God. During the 1200s, other religious orders were established to further strengthen the papacy and to give new life to the Church. The old monasteries were losing their purity and enthusiasm. New ministers, called friars, were providing the needs of Christians across Europe. (The word friar comes from the Latin word for “brother.”) These men served as preachers for the Church. They did not completely separate from society as the monks did, but rather connected to the people, traveling about, rallying Christian communities, hearing their confessions, and seeking out heretics and critics of the Church. Two such orders were established in the early 1200s: the Dominicans in Spain and the Franciscans of Italy. The founder of the Dominicans was Domingo de Guzman, who saw the need for highly educated preachers to fight heresy with learning. The Franciscans were founded by Giovanni Francesco de Bernadone, who was later known as St. Francis. His followers were less educated than the Dominicans, but they were devoted to preaching love and the brotherhood of humans. Despite these efforts to strengthen the Church between 1000 and 1200, this was the high water mark for the power of the Church in Europe. Political powers were soon going to require the Church to take a backseat, reducing the strength of Church leaders.

One base of power for the Church was the continuing growth of monasteries. They were expanding in numbers and influence. In France alone, the A.D. 900s witnessed 157 new monasteries, 326 in the 11th century, and a whopping 702 in the 12th century. In England, by the 1200s, nearly one of every 50 adult males was a monk. New monastic orders were established during these centuries. In 910, the Cluniac system was founded, with the abbey of Cluny, France, controlling 200 satellite monasteries. In 1098, the Cistercian order was created, also in France, by Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux. He was responsible for the calling of the 2nd Crusade. The papacy was also gaining power. In the 11th century, popes rose to new positions of prominence, partially due to the monastic movement. Strong stands were taken by the papacy against marriage among the Church’s priests, bishops, and other administrative clergy. Pope Gregory VII (1073–1085) held a council in Rome denouncing a practice of secular rulers called lay investiture. This occurred when a king or local ruler took it upon himself to fill an empty Church office with a candidate of his choosing. Gregory believed that all Church positions came under his control and were to be filled by the Church. He even

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Monarchy in England During the High Middle Ages, Europe witnessed the development of strong nation-states with powerful, ruling, secular kings. Many circumstances allowed for this development. The prosperity and peace brought by the period encouraged the rise of such rulers. Also, many Europeans wanted to see strong national governments to help protect them. The development of secular national governments did not take place everywhere in Europe in this period. Indeed, only a few states saw such a change. The two most important ones were England and France. In 1154, a powerful secular ruler came to the throne. Henry II was lord of England and all of western France. He lived in France during most of his reign (for it was there he held the largest territory). England had seen few powerful and capable kings prior to Henry II. But he worked hard to create in England a strong government. To do so, Henry enlarged the jurisdiction of the royal courts. He helped establish English common law. Circuit judges and juries found a new prominence in England. By 1250, all important cases in England, whether criminal or civil, were decided by juries. Such courts helped to strengthen the influence of kings like Henry and weakened the influence of the king’s vassal lords and barons. Rather than take a case to the local lord, the people began flocking to the king’s courts for decisions and protection. Using common law as its basis, Henry II developed a legal system which applied to everybody in the kingdom, regardless of their local lord. To ensure a uniform application of the law, the first textbook on English common law was written near the end of Henry’s reign. Common law in England eventually became a great symbol of English nationalism. Henry II also brought greater prosperity to the royal treasury. As his grandfather, Henry I, had done, Henry II accepted money from his vassal lords, in addition to military service. He also established new taxes, including a general tax on the country in 1188. Although the people did not like such taxes, they paid them, since Henry prom-

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King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215 A.D. ised to use the money to launch a crusade. Despite the effective leadership of Henry II, his two sons did not share in his abilities. Richard (1189–1199), known as the Lionhearted, spent only ten months of his reign in England. Otherwise, he was away fighting either the Moslems during the Third Crusade or Philip Augustus in France. His brother John (1199–1216) was an intelligent but suspicious ruler. His mismanagement resulted in his losing territory to the French. He taxed the people heavily and sometimes abandoned jury trials to punish his enemies. Because he was so ineffective as a king, a large group of his vassal lords revolted against him in 1215. The revolt was supported by London merchants and the Archbishop of Canterbury. This combined force brought a direct conflict with King John, which resulted in his forced signing of a document called the Magna Carta on June 15, 1215, at Runnymede. This document—soon known as the Great Charter of Liberties—insisted that the king was bound by law and that he could not tax without consent. The Magna Carta also required the king to observe due process of law and denied him the right to punish without a trial. Although the Magna Carta was intended to protect the rights of the feudal lords, by the end of the century, others, such as merchants and peasants without property, were protected as well. In time, the Magna Carta became the centerpiece of the English system of constitutional government.

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Monarchy in France As England created a powerful monarchy in the Philip’s rule. making Philip stronger than any of his 12th century, the overriding problem was how to vassal lords. limit an overpowerful king. In France, the To help maintain his newly acquired lands, Philip problem was just the opposite. There the land was set about creating new structures that protected his divided into nearly independent feudal states. French rule over these feudal estates. In doing so, Philip was states such as Flanders, Normandy, and Champagne responsible for establishing the true French monarhad well-defined governmental systems by the end chy. Two principles gave him direction. of the 1100s but lacked an effective power base of First, he used local institutions, laws, and cusunification under a strong, centralized ruler. toms as often as possible rather than force change on During the 12th century, the French monarchy a regional people within his kingdom. By doing this, gradually gained power and prestige. Just as in he kept on his subjects’ good side. Second, he dividEngland during the same period, the French legal ed his lands into smaller administrative units and system of the king captured a new level of promiestablished a local ruler over each district. nence. The people of the French lands wanted law and order, and they felt that 1190 1223 they achieved both through the royal law 1035 courts. As developed in England, the opportunity rose for a powerful ruler to take advantage of the honor given to royal courts and gain a stronger power base for himself. Philip II, known as Philip Augustus (1180–1223), was such a monarch. Growth of the French Monarchy. In 1035, the black region (Ile de Philip was the first highly capable France) marked the full extent of royal power. Extensive growth and intelligent ruler of the Capetian resulted under Philip II. (Striped areas show English control.) dynasty. Much of his rule was spent expanding the borders of his kingdom from a tiny state with Paris as its center, to a larger nation. To The result was that states within the ruled lands accomplish this goal, Philip Augustus had to fight of Philip retained a high degree of local custom, law, both the English king Richard and then his brother, and tradition. The king’s recognition of such regional John. Richard was able to match Philip’s military differences caused many people to accept his authorventures. ity without question. But brother John was not as skilled a general as Philip placed these appointed administrators, Richard. Nor was he a capable administrator. After known as bailiffs, over thirteen regional districts. he blundered on several fronts, including murdering The bailiffs realized their power came from the king, one of his own nephews who was in line to inherit and generally served him loyally and efficiently. the county of Brittany in eastern France, his French Philip paid such local rulers handsomely. lords revolted against him. When his English lords This system of control added greatly to Philip’s fought poorly and his French vassals did not fight power and prestige. Most Frenchmen were able to for him at all, John was forced to surrender lands in remain connected to their individual traditions and France to Philip Augustus. customs, caring little about the power wielded by a Such a turn of events resulted in Philip’s annexking of a national government. This allowed Philip ing of Normandy, Poitou, and Anjou in France. Augustus to build France into a powerful state, held These holdings helped to triple the lands under together by him and his royally appointed officials.

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The Rise and Fall of Germany At the beginning of the High Middle Ages (about the year 1000), Germany was one of the most centralized and well-ruled territories in all of Europe. The previous 100 years had seen to that. During the 900s, the Carolingian Empire, established by Charlemagne in the 800s, was collapsing. However, even as the house of the Carolingians fell, Germany remained mostly united under five lords or dukes. In 936, a ruler named Otto came to the throne. Known as Otto the Great (936–973), he extended his power over all five dukes and established a strong kingdom. By 962, he was crowned emperor. His empire—known as the Roman Empire of the German Nation—was one of the strongest in Europe until 1100. After that, it remained a powerful force for the next 200 years. Otto maintained his power through close ties with the Church and its leaders. He thought of himself as the successor of Charlemagne. He also thought of himself as protector of the Western Church and the papacy. Yet despite the power and prestige of the national monarchy over Germany, in time, this strong imperial government came to lose its significance. Where Germany was the most organized and best-ruled territory in Europe in 1100, by 1300 its leadership was reduced to practically nothing. In a time when stronger centralized monarchies were the rule in Europe, why did the monarchy in Germany decline? Otto and his successors were able to gain power through close ties to the Church, and by halting invasions from outside. So close were the German monarchy and the Church that emperors established many churchmen, including bishops and archbishops, in administrative government positions. Increasingly, emperors appointed new churchmen, without consulting the pope and the Church leadership. During the reign of Henry IV (1056–1106), a pope named Gregory VII (1073–1085) challenged his authority over churchmen and their appointments. Gregory created an alliance between the Church and German dukes and princes. They were prepared to help depose Henry, because he challenged the authority of the Church. When Gregory threatened to excommunicate Henry, the emperor panicked.

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In the middle of winter in 1077, Henry made a pilgrimage over the snowy Alps to reconcile himself with the pope. When he arrived at Gregory’s castle at Canossa, in northern Italy, Henry spent three days barefoot, crying at the gate, waiting to be received by Pope Gregory. This proved to be a great humiliation for Henry. His support from German secular leaders faded away, and his reign was doomed. In 1105, he was forced to surrender his throne when one of his own sons turned against him in rebellion. Because the emperors of Germany did not control their feudal lords, they lost power. (Control of the feudal lords in England and France had resulted in strong monarchies there.) Although the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (who ruled the Empire from 1155 to 1190) tried to reassert his authority by calling his empire the Holy Roman Empire, he did not succeed in stopping the dividing of his territory. By the 1300s, the German princes gained the right to elect the Holy Roman Emperor. Rule in Germany was then held by powerful dukes, not by the centralized rule of a strong emperor.

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Test II Part I. Multiple Choice (Worksheets 16–21) Match the answers to the right with the statement on the left. ______ 1. The period of medieval history from 1000–1300 ______ 2. Invention which improved the work capacity of the horse ______ 3. Christian traveler of the Middle Ages ______ 4. Moslems who occupied the Holy Land by the mid-11th century ______ 5. Word which means “taking the Cross” ______ 6. Great Gothic churches ______ 7. Abbot responsible for the construction of the church at St. Denis ______ 8. English monarch during the Third Crusade (Crusade of Kings) ______ 9. Church leader who called for the Second Crusade ______ 10. Christian city attacked by Christian knights during the Fourth Crusade ______ 11. Name of catapult used by Europeans during the Fourth Crusade ______ 12. Great cathedral found in Paris

A. Suger B. tandem harness C. crusade D. Notre Dame E. pilgrim F. Zara G. Bad Neighbor H. Seljuk Turks I. cathedrals J. High Middle Ages K. Bernard of Clairvaux L. Richard the Lionhearted

Part II. Multiple Choice (Worksheets 22–27) ______ 1. An organized corporation of masters ______ 2. University liberal arts which included grammar and rhetoric ______ 3. University liberal arts which included geometry and music ______ 4. Leading philosopher and theologian of the Middle Ages ______ 5. Popular worship of the mother of Jesus ______ 6. Examples include pieces of True Cross and apostle’s tooth ______ 7. Practice of secular rulers appointing Churchmen ______ 8. Latin word for “brother” ______ 9. King who worked hard in England to create a strong government ______ 10. English document which assured due process of law ______ 11. Powerful 12th-century French monarch ______ 12. Name for the German states created by Frederick Barbarossa

A. friar B. relics C. Henry II D. guild E. Holy Roman Empire F. Philip Augustus G. Quadrivium H. lay investiture I. Mary Cult J. Peter Abelard K. Trivium L. Magna Carta

Part III. Respond and Write How significant was the Church and Christianity in European history during the Middle Ages? What were the strengths of the Church? What were the weaknesses? How did the Church leadership attempt to add to its power throughout the period?

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Answer Key Page 3 Answers will vary. They should include some of the following: the Roman army was not as effective as it once was owing to Germanic influences; the Roman government gave sanctuary to the Visogoths within the borders of the Empire; the Romans faced attacks from too many different fronts within the Empire; there was a blurring of the lines between the Romans and the Germans—i.e., German commanders.

3. By A.D. 800, Rome was home to only 50,000 inhabitants. Many of the municipal systems ceased to operate. Roads went unrepaired, aqueducts fell apart, streets became littered with waste and trash, cattle grazed in the Roman Forum. Page 7 Answers will vary but should include: Church leaders in Rome, Constantinople, and other cities did not recognize the authority of one another over themselves; various theologies led Christians to pursue separate goals; Rome ceased to be the leading city of the Empire.

Page 4 1. Answers will vary. He wanted the Eastern half of the Roman Empire to have a capital as splendid as Rome itself. Constantinople was also a Christian capital (to Constantine), unlike Rome which was known as a pagan city. 2. Answers will vary. They were similar in that they were each built on seven hills; they had similar architecture; free bread was distributed to the masses; and games and races were a common entertainment. 3. The trade of Constantinople was based on gold coins, one in particular. Known as the bezant, it kept its value for 700 years and was used in trade by many nations.

Page 8 He established rules for monks to follow, including taking vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Page 9 The Merovingians did not produce a good leader after Clovis I. His sons and grandsons were corrupt and unskilled. The Carolingians blossomed and gave prestige to the kingdom of the Franks through several generations, including Charles Martel, Pepin the Short, and Charlemagne. Charlemagne created an empire which was a shining example of what a centralized government could accomplish in the 9th century under a strong ruler.

Page 5 1. Answers will vary. He expanded the borders of his empire through successful military campaigns; the great church, the Hagia Sophia, was constructed; he gave the Romans in Constantinople a positive image of themselves; and he codified and reformed Roman law. 2. Answers will vary. He wanted the Roman tradition of greatness to continue; however, he wanted his empire to have a basis in Christianity, thus a great Church building.

Page 11 They began by establishing a base of operation on a coastal island or through the taking of a walled seaside town. From there, they sailed their shallow drakken up a river, attacking villages along the way, stealing horses and riding into the countryside, plundering as they went. Page 14 Answers should include: cold in the winter, hot in the summer; poor sanitation; drafty, routine-oriented.

Page 6 1. Answers will vary but should include the following: city life nearly came to a halt, people resorted to nearly tribal existence, trade was nearly nonexistent, barter was common, farming was subsistent, literacy declined dramatically, culture declined, schools ceased to exist. 2. The barbarian Germans were brutal conquerors— murdering, raping, and turning their victims into slaves. They destroyed more than they brought or even borrowed from the Romans.

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Page 15 Part I. 1. D 2. L 3. A 4. J 5. H 6. F

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7. K 8. C 9. I 10. L 11. E 12. G

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Answer Key Part II. 1. D 2. J 3. I 4. F 5. A 6. G

cities to build the largest, tallest cathedral. 7. C 8. H 9. B 10. E 11. L 12. K

Page 22 Answers will vary but should include the following differences: Medieval universities did not have classrooms, gymnasiums, stadiums, laboratories, dormitories, or theaters. They had limited curricula, and textbooks were not used. Similarities include: professors lectured, students took notes, bachelor and graduate degrees were granted, robes were worn as well as caps and hoods.

Part III. Answers will vary. Life in the eastern half of the Empire continued under the auspices of the Byzantine Empire with its capital at Constantinople. In the Western half of the Empire, life fell into chaos following the Germanic invasions which witnessed the collapse of Rome and a near end of urban living in Western Europe.

Page 23 Answers will vary. The crux of this point is that many people in the medieval world did not have a scientific understanding of their world. They believed in many things related to the spirit world, which led to an extended belief in miracles, powerful relics, and so on.

Page 16 The nature of destructive wars and invasions changed. Most consisted of lengthy sieges of heavily fortified castles and other fortresses. Invasions were fewer and internal civil wars were fewer bringing greater stability and less chaos. Population increased, but Europe was not hit by a major plague. Weather patterns improved, allowing increased agricultural production.

Page 28 Part I. 1. J 2. B 3. E 4. H 5. C 6. I

Page 17 Answers will vary but could include: advances in technology, learning, urban growth, better farming, important inventions, such as crank, spinning wheel, etc., better weather patterns, decline in slavery, increased use of the horse owing to inventions such as the padded horsecollar, the tandem harness, and the horseshoe.

Part II. 1. D 2. K 3. G 4. J 5. I 6. B

Page 18 Answers will vary. Some were led by their faith, others went to gain glory or honor, others fought because they did not have to pay taxes while crusading, debts of crusaders were canceled, greed for new land, great profits possible.

7. H 8. A 9. C 10. L 11. F 12. E

Part III. Answers will vary. The Church was a powerful institution during the Early and High Middle Ages. It solidified its power by allying itself with kings and emperors, built great churches such as cathedrals, established orders of monks, nuns, and friars, established the sacramental system, fought lay investiture, and sponsored the Crusades.

Page 21 One reason was to make the building closer to God. Another was an ongoing rivalry between towns and

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7. A 8. L 9. K 10. F 11. G 12. D

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