Western Europe in the Middle Ages. European Middle Ages Early / Post-ClassicalEarly / Post-Classical –the Dark Ages disorder, disunity, despair High Middle.

Western Europe in Western Europe in the the

Middle AgesMiddle Ages

European Middle European Middle AgesAges• Early / Post-ClassicalEarly / Post-Classical

–“the Dark Ages” disorder, disunity, despair

• HighHigh Middle AgesMiddle Ages

–Rise of crown, commerce & cities

• LateLate Middle AgesMiddle Ages

–3 disasters: church scandal, 100 years war & BLACK DEATHBLACK DEATH

Post-Classical/ Early Post-Classical/ Early Middle AgesMiddle Ages

• 550 – 900 CE – fragmented & chaotic

• Catholic church only source of intellectual development & literacy

• Church power

• Manorialism

• Feudalism

The FranksThe Franks• tribes unified (by Clovis)

• Converted to Christianity (by Clovis)

• Muslims/Moors halted at Tours (732; Charles Martel)

• Aided the Pope

• Charlemagne - strong but brief Empire

• Crowned Holy Roman Emperor

• Split / Viking invasions/ disunity

The Angles The Angles && SaxonsSaxons• Invaded Britain (which was

defended by “King Arthur”?)

• Small kingdoms

• Adopted Christianity 7th century

• 9th century – Alfred the Great

• Danes / Vikings

• Became known as England (land of the Angles)

TransitionTransition• Europeans were newer to

“civilization” than the Middle East

• Decline of Islamic and Mongol influence

• Important changes in West…

High Middle High Middle AgesAges

The Rise of a Medieval Urban Culture

Feudal Monarchies and Feudal Monarchies and Political AdvancesPolitical Advances

• primogeniture

• Holy Roman Emperor

• Capetian kings

• Norman conquest

• More stability

Limited GovernmentLimited Government

• Church main authority

• Aristocrats vs. monarchical power /Magna Carta

• 1st English parliament

• Three key estates

• Conflicts church &

Kings

The West’s Expansionist The West’s Expansionist ImpulseImpulse• Reasons

–Pop growth

–Memory of Rome

–Religious zeal

• Reconquest of Spain

• Vikings

• Crusadescultural diffusion & trade

Western CivilizationWestern Civilization

• Christianity was unifying element

• Little classical thought before 1000

• Crusades classical works

• Aristotle especially

Trends…Trends… warming in Europe food production population strong monarchies travel trade towns… urban culture

Rise of Rise of Trade, Trade,

Towns, & Towns, & CitiesCities

Role of Role of ItalyItaly• Italian towns had not decayed to

same degree as rest of W. Europe

• Italy’s location – trade cities

• Crusades resulted in trade of goods – luxury items from the east & middle east

• Connection between Mediterranean trade system & rest of Europe

FlandersFlanders

• Belgium and N. France

• Textile capital of Europe;

• woolen industry

• Center of trade in European Northern Coast: across France, down Rhine River and across English Channel

Hanseatic League• Trading towns along

Baltic Coast

• 70 member cities

• Established permanent trading routes

• Traded in fur, timber, fish, grain

• Violators punished by boycott or war

•Medieval FairsMedieval Fairs• Champagne (France) had the

best known fairs

lasted 4-6 weeks and were held several times per year

• Development of Money Economy

• led to decline of feudal system & emergence of market economy

• Capital: wealth earned, accumulated and invested

• Coinage – silver, then gold

• Banking - Italian “banca” = money changers table

• European traders less wealthy than Islamic counterparts

Growth of Cities and Growth of Cities and TownsTowns

• Resulted from:

• the revival of trade

• serfs leaving manor for opportunities

• strong monarchies • Developed Where?

Near well-traveled roads, transfer points or waterways

• Conditions in Conditions in Towns:Towns:

• Crowded (epidemics spread quickly)

• filthy (sewage/stench of animals)

• violent, noisy (don’t go out after dark!) But provided opportunities...

GuildsGuilds: Business : Business Organization of Merchants Organization of Merchants

and Artisansand Artisans–set quality standard

–loans to members

–ill / disabled members

–Protected businesses

–set prices /conditions

–prohibited competition

–supervised training…

Apprentice System Apprentice System of Craft Guildof Craft Guild

• Apprentice: worked for master without pay to learn skills

• Journeyman: worked for daily pay; submitted work to guild for approval to become master; could work in other towns

• Master: artisans who owned their own shops & tools & employed less-skilled workers as helpers

UniversitiesUniversities Develop

• Begin as learning guilds (an association of people organized for the purpose of learning and teaching)

• Limited to specific subjects (ex: theology, law, medicine)

• Academic degrees develop (B.A., M.A. PhD)

ScholasticismScholasticism

• Intellectual movement that attempted to reconcile faith & reason

–Faith = Church teachings

–Reason = Aristotle’s logic

–Scholastic philosphers:

Thomas AquinasThomas Aquinas• 13th century Italian priest• Wrote Summa Theologica • reason was God’s gift • church doctrine could be supported

through logic • Proposed 5 logic proofs of the

existence of God...

Proof #1: Argument of Motion

Everything is in motion and what is in motion must be moved by some mover. Thomas concluded that reason demands that there must have been a “first mover” or “unmoved mover” and this is God.

Vernacular LiteratureVernacular Literature• Vernacular: language of everyday

speech

–people spoke the language that had developed in their own countries from Latin or German roots (Eng, Fr, Ger, Ital, Span)

–each kingdom a distinct identity

–literature more accessible

Vernacular WritersVernacular Writers• Dante Alighieri: The Divine

Comedy, epic poem in Italian that describes an imaginary journey through hell, purgatory and heaven

• Geoffrey Chaucer:

Canterbury Tales–English narrative poems that described a group

of pilgrims who tell stories to amuse one another on their way to Thomas Beckett’s shrine

Gothic Architecture• Characteristics: walls high & thin,

flying buttresses supported weight of roof, large stained-glass windows, pointed arches

• Symbolism:

–ground plan in shape of a cross

–with high walls and pointed arches, everything appeared to be “reaching towards heaven”

Cruciform plan

Flying Buttresses

Clerestory Windows

ChartresChartres the nave

Illuminated

Page

Global Connections: Medieval Europe and the World

• Europe seemed threatened by outsiders, yet adopted many of their ideas and trade

Decline of the Old Order

• Byzantium and Abbasid fall (rise of Ottoman Turks and Mongols)

Rise of the West

Sources of Dynamism: Medieval Vitality

Imitation and International Problems

Secular Directions in the Italian Renaissance

Human Values and Renaissance Culture

Iberian Spirit of Religious Mission

Western Expansion: The Experimental Phase

Early Explorations

Colonial Patterns

Outside the World Network

Political Issues in the Americas

Expansion, Migration and Conquest in Polynesia

The Problem of Ethnocentrism

Isolated Achievements by the Maoris

Adding Up the Changes

Problems for Europe

• Black Death (1348)

• Avignon Papacy / Great Schism

• Hundred Years War

Global Connections: 1450 and the World

• Changes and continuities were present

• Muslims still active

• Mongols offer new contacts

• Decline Mongols returns attention to Indian Ocean trade

• Southeast Asia drawn into trade

• African merchants connected to Middle East