Unit 5 -- Roman Legacy in the West -- Medieval Europe and Christendom

Political entities in Medieval Europe

1. England – conquered by William in 1066AD (Battle of Hastings)

• Strong king, but will rule with a council (original Great Council had been William’s Norman allies)
• Establishment of Common Law and Trial by Jury – these two concepts will help place limits on Royal and noble power – US judicial system is based on these two concepts
• 1215 AD – Magna Carta signed by King John – limits king’s power with respect to his nobles – King can not collect taxes without consent of the nobility
• England will develop a Constitutional Monarchy, whereby the monarch will be limited in power.
• By 1400 AD, Parliament had divided into two houses (bicameral) – House of Lords (Clergy and Nobility) and House of Commons (Lower knights and Middle Class -- Merchants)

1. France – Settled by the Franks after the fall of Rome

• Strong Ruler sanctioned by the Church
• Rule by Divine Right – develops into Absolutism
• 1314 AD – Estates-General created (French Parliament) – never becomes the force it does in England – King can dismiss it and rule by decree
• 1^st Estate – Clergy
• 2^nd Estate – Nobility
• 3^rd Estate – Commoners
• each estate has one vote – holds power of commoners in check

1. Holy Roman Empire (Central Europe) – loose confederation of Germanic States

• Powerful Germanic nobles and states prevented unification
• Tied to the papacy, but constantly quarreling with it
• Entangled in Northern Italian affairs – Strong City-states emerging in Northern Italy help intensify the problem of unification
• Powerful and important Germanic States: Bavaria and Austria (Hapsburgs) in Southern Germany – Prussia (Hollenzollern) in Northern Germany

1. Byzantine Empire (Southeastern Europe) – already covered – fighting the Muslims over the Holy Land – Will eventually fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 AD
2. Ottoman Empire (Asia Minor through North Africa) – Turkish clans that come together to become a major force – Largest and most powerful Muslim empire in Europe -- Captures Constantinople in 1453 -- Empire won’t fall until 1918 – we’ll deal with them in unit 8
3. Papacy – controls the Papal States as a king – controls Christendom spiritually

• Development of the Seven Sacraments – Christians must have these sacraments to get to heaven – can only have 6 of the 7

1. Baptism – removes original sin
2. Confession -- Penance
3. Communion – Body and blood of Christ
4. Confirmation – admittance to the Church as an adult
5. Matrimony
6. Holy Orders – priesthood
7. Extreme Unction -- Last Rights

• Crusades against the spread of Islam in the Holy Land
• Early crusades (pious) show the strength of the Papacy, but later crusades controlled by secular leaders (one even attacks and sacks Constantinople) – shows that the papacy is weakening
• 1305 AD to 1377 AD – Avignon Papacy – papacy under the control of the French monarch – papacy moved to Avignon, France

1. Russian Empire (Eastern Europe) – Contact with Byzantium, but isolated from Western Europe – Czars consolidating their power around Muscovy – After Constantinople falls in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks, Russian rulers will consider themselves as the true successors to Rome’s legacy. Feudalism will come to Russia fairly early – no development of the middle class at all -- We’ll come back to Russia in chapter 17
2. Iberian Peninsula – not united – Reconquest underway against the Moors – won’t be completed until 1492. As time goes along, three states will come to dominate the Christian sector: Portugal, Arragon and Castile – We’ll come back to these states in Chapter 16
3. Vikings (Northern Europe, Iceland, Greenland, Canada)

• roving bands of warriors from Scandinavia that traveled by ship throughout Europe – sailed to Iceland and Greenland – settled in Normandy (William is Norse)

1. Magyars (Huns) – Originally from Asia, launch raids into Europe during the 900s AD – eventually settle in what is today Hungary and adopt Christianity. As the Austrians grow in power, then Magyars will come into conflict with them.

Important Events of the Medieval Period

1. Crusades – holy war against Islam – called by the pope after Islam captures the Holy Land

• many different crusades
• Crusades ultimately a failure – Holy Land stays in the hands of Islam until the 19th century, when the British will take it over
• As the crusades go on, the kings begin to run them, rather than the pope. This foreshadows a decline on papal power.
• Crusades do have two positive results

1. Europe gets a glimpse of what it has lost in terms of science, art and learning. The Renaissance will begin as the crusades are ending
2. Europe discovers spices from the Orient that go through the Middle East along trade routes. This discovery leads to the Renaissance in Northern Italy (the city-states of Northern Italy will become European brokers for the spice trade, giving wealthy merchant patrons the money to spend on the Renaissance). Eventually, Portuguese and Spanish explorers will go in search of spice routes to bypass the Italians. They will bump into the Americas.

1. Bubonic Plague (Black Death) – originally from Asia, starts to invade Europe via rats and fleas in the 1340s. Eventually it claims the lives of 1/3 of Europe’s population

• spread by fleas and rats
• very bad in town and cities, where sanitation was atrocious
• Monks and priests helped spread the disease by traveling from town to town ministering to the sick
• Actually helped strengthen monarchs by weakening the power of the Church. God seemed to have abandoned the people and prayer did little to alleviate the suffering or forestall death. Opens the door for reason and humanism of the Renaissance

1. Hundred Years War (1337 to 1453) – France vs. England for control of France

• English rulers still controlled Normandy and had claim to parts of France
• France and England will fight a long protracted war
• Eventually France will gain control of the area and the English will be forced to go home.
• The French will begin to develop a new sense of National Unity (the war gave them a common enemy)
• The English also began to develop a sense of national unity as well, as now there were no more "English French"
• These two countries will fight every so often until the early 20^th century, when they finally put aside their differences for WWI

1. Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula – takes over 700 years, but Christians will eventually recapture the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors (Spanish Muslims). The Reconquest will be completed in 1492. We’ll come back to this later.
2. Rise of a new middle class in Europe – merchants and traders in towns begin to make money, sometimes a tremendous amount of money

• Very slow process – lack of government and monetary system inhibits growth
• Banks begin to appear – often run by Jews (no worry about usury)
• Merchants will begin to call for more political power.
• Money = power
• Middle Class will control the Renaissance and Exploration – this leads the way eventually to Revolution
• English Middle Class – Burgesses (a town was balled a "burg")
• French – Bourgeoisie