Formation of Western Europe800-1500

Section 1: Church Reform and the

CrusadesMain Idea: The Catholic

Church underwent reform and launched Crusades (religious wars) against Muslims and others

Why it matters now? The Crusades resulted in trade and exploration between Christians and Muslims but left a legacy of distrust

Setting the Stage:

Between 500-1500 AD, Vikings attacked and looted Church monasteries

Centers of learning (Monasteries)

Church suffered

Monastic Revival & Church Reform

By 1000s, the monasteries led a

spiritual revivalReformers wanted to return to the basics

This age was called,

the “Age of Faith”

Problems in the Church

Major 3 problems:1. Many villages priests married and had families (against church rules)

2. Positions in the Church were

being sold by bishops (SIMONY)

3. Practice of lay investiture (Feudal lords appointing church leaders) put kings in control of church bishops

Reform Begins at Cluny

When? 910Where? Benedictine monastery at

Cluny, France

What happened? Cluny’s reputation spread and soon their were 300 houses under Cluny’s leadership

This movement influenced the papacy

Pope Leo IX, enforced Church laws against simony and the marriage of priests

Reform & Church Organization

By 1100s and 1200s, the Church was restructured to

resemble a kingdom, with the pope at the head

Papal Curia= pope’s group of advisers, acted as a court, developed CANON LAW (law of the Church)

Curia decided on laws about marriage, divorce, and inheritance

Church collected taxes in the form of taxes

Hospitals were ran by the Church

Preaching FriarsWandering FRIARS traveled from place to place preaching and spreading the Church’s ideas

Friars were like monks (same vows), but they did not live apart from the world in monasteries

DOMINICANS= one of the earliest orders of friars, founded by a Spanish priest (Dominic)

FRANCISCANS= order of friars, founded by St. Francis of Assisi (who gave up wealth for preaching)

Dominican Friars Pilgrimage

Religious Orders for Women

Women participated in the spiritual revival too

Franciscan order for women, known as the POOR CLARES

Unlike men, women were not allowed to travel from place to place as preachers

Many lived in poverty and worked to help the poor and sick

Poor Clares in Malawi

Young Women Flock to Ministry

Cathedrals-Cities of God

Cathedrals showed

evidence of the Church’s growing wealth

A New Style of Church Architecture

800-1100, churches were built in the ROMANESQUE (round arches and a heavy roof)

Early 1100s, GOTHIC (came from the Germanic tribe named the Goths)

Looked like it was reaching toward heaven

Stained-glass windows

Sculptures, woodcarvings

The cathedral represented the CITY OF GOD

Romanesque vs. Gothic

The Crusades

The Age of Faith inspired wars of conquest

Pope Urban II- asked by a Count to help against invading Muslim Turks, who threatened to conquer his capital, Constantinople

Pope Urban called for a

“holy war” (a Crusade)

Over the next 200 years, a number of Crusades were launched

GOAL OF CRUSADES: to recover Jerusalem and the Holy Land form the Muslim Turks

Crusades

Causes of the Crusading Spirit

Crusades had both ECONOMIC & RELIGIOUS motives

50,000- 60,000 knights became CRUSADERS

How did this benefit Europeans?

What did Crusaders get? Assured of a place in heaven

How did it benefit Kings and Church?

Got rid of some quarrelsome knights who fought against each other

How did Merchants profit? Making cash loans to finance the Crusade

The 1st and 2nd Crusades

First Crusade (1097):Mix of Germans, Englishmen, Scots, Italians, Spaniards, but mostly French

Ill prepared- knew nothing of the geography, climate or country of the Holy Land

No strategy to capture Jerusalem

Argued on who would be their leader

Result: Able to capture the city in 1099, carved out territory of a small section of Jerusalem to be ruled by nobles

Later on, in 1144, Turks were able to re=conquer Jerusalem

The 1st and 2nd Crusades

Second Crusade

Goal- organized to recapture the city

Result: failure

Jerusalem had fallen to the Muslim leader Saladin (1187)

The 3rd & 4th CrusadesThird Crusade:

Goal: recapture Jerusalem

Led by 3 monarchs (French, German, and English)

Richard the Lion-Hearted= English King

1 monarch died, 1 left, but Richard stayed

• Result1 : After many battles between Saladin and Richard,

agreed to a TRUCE

Result 2: Jerusalem would remain in Muslim hands, but Christian pilgrims could freely visit the city’s holy places

Richard vs. Saladin

The 3rd & 4th Crusades

4th CrusadePope Innocent III appealed for another Crusade to recapture Jerusalem

Knights became entangled in Italian politics, and looted Constantinople (which ended the 4th Crusade)

Result: there was a BREACH (split) between the Church in the east (Constantinople) and the Church in the West (Rome)

Why? Crusader’s looting habits

The Crusading Spirit Dwindles

In the 1200s, the Crusades became increasingly common and

unsuccessful

Religious spirit of the First Crusade faded, replaced by a search for

personal gain

The Later CrusadesExample 1: North Africa- led by French King, Louis IX who was popular throughout Europe

Result: Did not conquer much land

Example 2: Children’s Crusade- thousands of children went to the Holy Land, only armed with the belief that God would give them the land

Result: many died on the march of cold or starvation, one group turned back, the rest drowned at sea or were sold into slavery

Horrible Histories: Crusades

A Spanish Crusade

Location: Spain

Who was in control (until 1100s):

the Moors (Muslims)

Reconquista= long effort to drive the Muslims out of Spain

Result: By the late 1400s, Muslims held only tiny portion of land (Granada) and then they lost that to a Christian army of Ferdinand and Isabella (Spanish monarchs)

A Spanish Crusade

Spain had a large Jewish population

Many Jews achieved high positions in finance, government and medicine

Many Jews and Muslims converted

Inquisition= Roman Catholic tribunal for investigating and prosecuting charges of

heresy (views which differed from the Church)

If you were a suspect, you could be tried and tortured for months

If you confessed, then you were burned at the stake

1492- monarchs expelled all practicing Jews and Muslims from Spain

“Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition”

Spanish Inquisition

Medieval Torture Techniques

Medieval Torture

The Effects of the Crusades

Negative Effects:1. Failure of the later

Crusades, lessened the power of the Pope

2. Weakened feudal nobility

3. Thousands of knights lost their lives and fortunes

4. Legacy of bitterness towards Muslims which continued

Positive Effects:1. Stimulated trade between

Europe and Southwest Asia

Section 2: Trade, Towns & Financial RevolutionMain Idea: European cities challenged the feudal system as agriculture, trade, finance, and universities developed

Why it matters now? The various changes in the Middle Ages laid the foundation for modern Europe

Setting the Stage:

During the Church reform and Crusades, other changes were occurring during the Medieval Ages

Between 1000- 1300:

Agriculture, trade and finance made remarkable progress

Towns and cities grew

Population grew because of territorial expansion

Creativity exploded

A Growing Food Supply

Expanding civilization required an increased

food supply

Farming was helped by a warmer climate, so farmers could cultivate in land that was once too cold to farm

New methods were developed to take advantage of the new land

Using HorsepowerPrevious way: oxen to pull their plows

Oxen were easy to keep, but they moved slowly, did not need a lot of food

Horses needed better food, but a team of horses could plow twice as much as an oxen

New HARNESS (Old harness nearly strangled the animal when it pulled)

The 3-Field System

Old System: 2 field system

New System: 3 field system (farmers could grow crops on 2/3 of their land each year, not just half of it)

Result: increase in population, could raise larger families

Trade & Finance ExpandPopulation growth led to more artisans and craftsmen manufacturing goods by

hand for local and long-distance trade

Trade routes spread out (partially because of the Crusades)

Fairs & TradeMost trade took place in towns

Peasants from nearby manors traveled to town on fair days, bringing items to trade

Most common trade item:

cloth

Other items sold: bacon, salt, honey, cheese, wine, leather, dyes, knives and ropes

No longer was everything produced on a self-sufficient manor

The Guilds

Guild= association of people who worked at the same occupation (similar to a union today)

Guilds :controlled all wages and prices on their craft

Enforced a standard of quality

Artisans: wheelwrights, glassmakers, winemakers, tailors, and druggists

A Financial Revolution

Fairs and guilds needed a lot of money

To make a profit, usually merchants had to purchase things from distant lands to then make their product

Many needed to take out loans, but the Church forbid Christians from lending

money (usury)

Money lending became big among moneylenders

Urban Splendor Reborn

Population was growing in Western Europe (from 30 to 42 million)

Paris: largest populated city, 60,000 people

Trade & Towns Grow Together

As trading grew, so did towns

These people were no longer content with their old feudal system

Many fled the manors for the townsMedieval towns were

organized chaotically

Medieval Towns

Streets were narrow

Filled with horses, pigs, oxen

No sewers, people dumped their waste (both animal and human) into the street in front of the house

Most people never bathed

Houses were made of wood and thatched roofs- fire hazard

Towns & the Social Order

So many serfs fled the manors, that a law was passed that a serf could now be free by living within a town for a year and a day

At first, towns came under the authority of feudal lords who levied taxes, fees and rents

Burghars= town dwellers, resented the feudal lords

The Revival of Learning

Growing trade and towns brought a new interest in learning

New European institution- the UNIVERSITY

Scholars & Writers“University” originally designated a group of scholars meeting wherever they could

Goal of most students- job in the government or the Church

Serious scholars and writers were writing in Latin

Vernacular- everyday language of their homeland

Masterpieces of the time: The Divine Comedy, The Canterbury Tales, The City of Ladies

The Muslim Connection

Crusades brought Europeans into contact with Muslims and Byzantines

who had preserved their libraries and writings of Greek philosophers

Europeans acquired a new wealth of knowledge with

the works of ancient scholars

Aquinas & Medieval Philosophy

Question that arose: “Could a Christian scholar use Aristotle’s logical approach to truth and still keep faith with the Bible?”

Thomas Aquinas= scholar, argued that the most basic religious truth could be proved by logic

Scholastics= schoolmen

Homework Reading:

Ch 14:3-4