Feudalism

With collapse of a central power and the Viking invasions, Europe is militarized

Leads to the rise of feudalism

Feudalism has several elements and best understood using PERSIA

Political

Lords and vassalsA lord give a fief (land) to a vassal in return

for military supportVassals would wear armor and use large

horses wielding long lances to fight for their lord – they are commonly called knights

All of Europe was engaged in small bloody fights between rival lords – think gang warfare

Economic

New agriculture – iron plowshare, mills, windmills, and three-field system

Manor – agricultural estate operated by a lord and worked by serfs. Serfs were bound to the land and could not leave without the lord’s permission. Usually contained a castle

Rise of cities like Venice and Bruges increases trade

Northern European cities began to hold fairsBurghers: townspeople or merchants

A typical middle agesmanorNotice the 3 field system

Medieval Fair

Venice

Bruges

Rothenburg

Guilds

Craftspeople began to organize themselves into guilds

Guilds controlled the quality of the product, price of the product, and membership

Process: apprentice, journeymen, then master craftsmen

Had to produce a “masterpiece” judged by the guild in order to be a master craftsmen

Guilds

Social Pyramid

Intellectual

Rise of universities -Bologna, Italy -Oxford, England -Salamanca, SpainLecture – Latin for

“read”Studied grammar,

geometry, logic, etc.No exams, after 4

years they took oral exam

Scholasticism

Scholarly attempt to reconcile faith and reason

Harmonize Christian teaching with the work of Greek philosopher Aristotle

Thomas Aquinas – Summa Theologica

Vernacular Writers

To write in the local languageDante Alighierir – The Divine Comedy –

ItalianGeoffrey chaucer – The Cantebury Tales –

EnglishGiovanni Bocaccio – The Decameron - Italian

Artistic

BookOfKells

The FourEvangelists

Madonna in MajestyBy Cimabue

Madonna Enthroned by Duccio