Megan Mallory

World History E-Core

Period 5

14 October 2004

 

Chapter 8 and 9 Study Guide

 

·        Peasant

 

o       Most of the peasants on a manor were called serfs

 

o       Serfs were bound to the land, and worked several days a week, farming their lords land, repairing, or cleaning

 

 

·        Usury

 

o       This was the money that was lent at an interest.

 

o       The clergy and the nobles despised the new middle class, and thought that lending money was immoral

 

·        Capital

 

o       This was the money that was used for investments

 

o       At this time, merchants needed money to buy goods, so they borrowed it from money lenders

 

·        Tithe

 

o       This was given to the church as a tax that was equal to a tenth of their incomes

 

o       The Church used the tithe to help the poor

 

·        Fief

 

o       Otherwise known as an estate and was granted from a lord to a vassal

 

o       Besides granting the estate, the lord promised protection to his vassal

 

·        Chivalry

 

o       This required knights to be brave, loyal, and true to their word

 

o       The code of chivalry called for women to be protected and cherished

 

·        Charter

 

o       This is a written document that set out the rights and privileges of the town

 

o       Even thought most charters varied from place to place, they almost all granted the people the right to choose their own leaders 

 

·        Troubadours

 

o       Otherwise known as wandering poets

 

o       They wrote love songs that praised the perfection, beauty, and wit of women throughout the ages

 

·        Manor economy

 

o       Most manors included a few dozen huts for the serfs, a water mill, fields surrounding the villages, a tiny church, and the manor house

 

o       Peasants produced almost everything that was needed such as growing food, sewing clothing, and making furniture and clothes 

 

·        How monks and nuns lived

 

o       Monks and Nuns tended to the sick, gave charity to the poor, and set up schools for the children

 

o       Monks and nuns took vows of chastity (purity) and obedience to the abbot 

 

·        Why was church reform desired?

 

o       There were many problems that brought serious problem to the church; as wealth and power grew, discipline weakened

 

§         Monks and nuns ignored their vows

 

§         Married priests devoted more time to the interests of their families than to their church duties

 

·        New agricultural technologies

 

o       Around the 800s, peasants were using new iron plows that carved much deeper than wooden ones did

 

o       Also, a new kind of harness allowed peasants to use horses rather than oxen

 

·        Defense of castles (moats, etc)

 

o       By the 1100s, some castles were built with high walls, towers, and drawbridges over wide moats

 

o       Castle dwellers stored up food and water so that they could withstand a long siege 

 

·        Battle of Tours

 

o       Muslim armies won victory over victory in the Mediterranean, and even Christian kingdoms in North Africa and Spain, and then headed for France

 

o       At the battle of Tours in 732, warriors led by Charles Martel defeated a Muslim army

 

§         This gave a new hope to the Christians   

 

·        Vassals

 

o       These were people who pledged service and loyalty to the greater lord

 

o       A vassal was required to pay 40 days of military service each year, certain money payments, and advice

 

·        Knights

 

o       At the age of 7, a boy could train to become a knight

 

o       At the age of 21 he would be ready to fight in battle

 

·        Lords

 

o       A lord had the most power a person could have without being a king

 

o       They usually had vassals to help rule their land 

 

·        Why did the church have great power over the people?

 

o       Medieval Christians believed that all people were sinners and that the only way to avoid the tortures of hell were to participate in sacraments

 

o       Because it decided who could participate in the sacraments, and thus who could gain salvation, the Church had absolute power in the religious life of the Christians during the middle ages

 

·        Cluniac reforms

 

o       Abbot Berno at the Cluny monastery in France, set out to end abuses

 

o       He announced that he would not permit nobles to interfere in the running of the monastery, and filled the monastery with men who were solely devoted to religious pursuits

 

·        Three field system

 

o       Peasants planted one field in grain, one in legumes, and one they left with no crops

 

o       The legumes restored soil fertility, and also added variety to their diet

 

·        Merchant guilds

 

o       Otherwise known as associations, and they dominated life in medieval towns

 

o       They passed laws, levied taxes, and decided local affairs

 

·        Clergy

 

o       Part of the Canon law that applied to religious teachings

 

o       If someone did not follow these rules, they could not receive sacraments, which meant that the could not have salvation

 

·        Nobles

 

o       A noble had control of his land and held power over his serfs

 

o       Some nobles were knights, and some were lords or vassals 

 

·        Charlemagne

 

o       Known later as Charles the Great; he worked closely with the Church and declared Christianity as the official language of Rome

 

o       Although Charlemagne himself could not write, he set up many schools throughout his empire and encouraged learning 

 

·        Leif Erikson

o       He was a troubadour, or a wandering poet

 

o       He wrote many poems that described the beauty and grace of women

 

·        Serf

 

o       A serf was bound to their land, but could not be bought or sold like a slave

 

o       They could not leave the manor without their lord’s permission 

 

·        Excommunication

 

o       People who refused to follow “the canon” were excommunicated and could not receive the sacraments

 

o       To people who believed in the tortures of hell, a punishment like this was terrifying 

 

·        Steel plow

 

o       Steel plows carved into the soil much more than the wooden ones ever did

 

o       The wooden ones were designed for the light soil of the Mediterranean region, not western europe

 

·        Feudal system

 

o       Because Vikings, Muslims, and Magyars were invading people, kings and emperors were too weak to maintain order.

 

o       People needed to defend their land and homes, and so a loosely organized system of rule in which powerful local lords divided their large landholdings among the lesser lords, otherwise known as feudalism 

 

·        Black Death- which regions were most devastated? % Population died? Result?

 

o       The Black Death killed every one in three people- more than any war in history

 

o       The worst was in Cairo where it killed about 7,000 people a day!

 

o       People blamed the Jews for this “attack from God” and slaughtered all the Jews that they could find

 

o       One-third of all Europe was killed

 

·        Magna Carta

 

o       This agreement was created because the King of that time, King John, was angering nobles with heavy-handed taxes and other abuses of power

 

o       In 1215, a group of rebellious barons cornered him and forced him to sign the Magna Carta

 

o       This restricted his rights as King  

 

·        Concordat of Worms

 

o       The struggle over investiture lasted over 50 years; finally, in 1122, both sides accepted a treaty known as the Concordat of Worms

 

o       This agreement stated that the church had the sole power to elect and invest bishops with spiritual authority 

 

·        Chief goal of/ and result of the Crusades

 

o       The goal of a crusade was to “purify the church” and convert people to Christianity

 

o       The results were: tens of thousands of people were killed 

 

·        Reconquista

 

o       Queen Isabella started a crusade against Jews and Muslims in Spain, and those who did not convert to Christianity were burned at the stake

 

o       More than 150,000 people fled into exile 

 

·        Early jury system

 

o       The “parliament” was developed in the 1200s and came to power in 1295

 

o       As the parliament would continue to gain power, it would limit the power of the monarch 

 

·        Conflict between emperors and popes

 

o       Emperors fought over who would control appointment to church offices

 

o       The Concordat of Worms brought both sides to an agreement which stated that the pope had the power to elect and invest bishops, while emperors had the right to invest them with fiefs 

 

Short Answer

 

A.    5 reasons late Middle Ages were a time of decline:

 

a.  The middle ages were a time of decline because there was a lot of suffering through people of different religions, countries, and social class. The Christians, Jews, and Muslims all suffered from crusades and battles; the Jews were blamed for many things. Another reason why the middle age was a time of decline was because the Black Death killed 1/3 of all of the people in Europe, which means that 1/3 of the scholars, workers, and future leaders were killed. The middle class suffered in the middle ages as well because there were few schools or learning centers. The social class was set, so that if you were born a peasant, you would die a peasant. These are the reasons why the Middle Ages were a time of decline. 

 

B.    3 long-term effects of the crusades

 

a.       Some long-term effects of the crusades were that the first crusades rose the spirits of the men who went on them, which continued on throughout their life. The crusading spirit continued long after the European defeat at Acre; it flourished especially in Spain, where Christian warriors had been battling Muslims for centuries. As they slowly expanded their borders, they sought to take over Muslim lands. The Christian warriors tried, and the results were that they killed hundreds, if not thousands of people, and more than 150,000 people fled into exile.

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