The Middle Ages

The time period between 500 C.E. and 1000 C.E. is usually called the

Middle Ages

A time of crisis and uncertaintyThe Middle Ages are sometimes called the “Dark Ages” for it was once believed that this time period was only endless warfare.

“The Fall of the Roman Empire”The fall of Rome can be seen as the end of an old civilization and the beginning of a new one. This new civilization included an upsurge in Christianity and the settlement of barbaric peoples in the Western provinces.

‘Fall of the Roman Empire”

• The downside to the fall of the Western Roman Empire was that for most of the people, life was brutish and short and except for a few clergy (religious people), all the people of Western Europe were illiterate, and the fear of constant warfare.

‘Fall of the Roman Empire”

• The downside to the fall of the Western Roman Empire was that for most of the people, life was brutish and short and except for a few clergy (religious people), all the people of Western Europe were illiterate, and the fear of constant warfare.

• The growth of this new civilization blended elements of classical (Roman and Greek), Christian, and barbarian cultures-during the eleventh and twelfth centuries a new distinctively Western culture emerged.

Ancient GreeceAncient Greece is the influence for literature, art, philosophy, and political theory (beliefs). Greece was not a unified “country” but made up of many city-states; cities that were independent of one another and controlled a small area of agriculture.

Ancient Greece

• Although the city-states were not unified they did share a common culture and identity. Ancient Rome (legendary founding date 753 B.C.E.), is the power that imposed ordered unity on a politically fragmented but culturally homogenous society.

RomeRomans displayed unusual qualities of discipline, prudence, stamina, and implacable ambition. By 50 C.E. Rome controlled territory that stretched from the North Sea to the Black Sea, followed the lines of the rivers Rhine and Danube, swept in a great arc around the Mediterranean to Africa.

Roman Empire

Roman• The Roman Empire was not

identical with the geographical region that we now call Europe, it did not include Scandinavia or Ireland or most of modern Germany or the Slavic lands to the east of Germany.

Roman Empire

Roman• The Roman Empire was not

identical with the geographical region that we now call Europe, it did not include Scandinavia or Ireland or most of modern Germany or the Slavic lands to the east of Germany.

Empire• In Gaul, Spain, and Britain

Rome established its rule in areas where no earlier pattern of high civilization existed. In the east Rome expanded by conquering territories that had civilizations older than its own-Egypt and Greece. In the west Latin was the main language in the east it was Greek.

Rome and “other” peoples.Throughout its history Rome had contact with people who it considered to be barbarians-for the Romans anyone who did not live in cities were barbarians.

Rome and Barbarians

• The Romans were loyal to their state/country (Rome) but the barbarians, like other primitive peoples had no such political relationship. These societies were woven together by ties of personal loyalty-kinship and lordship.

Rome and Barbarians

• The Romans were loyal to their state/country (Rome) but the barbarians, like other primitive peoples had no such political relationship. These societies were woven together by ties of personal loyalty-kinship and lordship.

• Kinship groups or clan was the most primitive unit. A group of associated clans formed a tribe. Although most of these groups were male-dominated warrior-society it is hard to say if they were purely patrilineal or matrilineal.

Rome and Barbarians

• An essential function of the kin group was mutual protection (something we will see in the Middle Ages). Lordship-one was born into a kin, but one choose a lord.

Rome and Barbarians

• An essential function of the kin group was mutual protection (something we will see in the Middle Ages). Lordship-one was born into a kin, but one choose a lord.

• The loyalty of a fighting man to his leader, transmuted into the feudal relationship of vassalage, remained a basic bond of society all through the Middle Ages.

Roman Empire

• Rome brought an idea of a shared culture, language, money, and cities. Need to remember that Rome was comprised of the rich and the poor with a slave system. Rome had the greatest military in the ancient world with soldiers fighting to expand the culture the Rome.

Roman Empire

• Rome brought an idea of a shared culture, language, money, and cities. Need to remember that Rome was comprised of the rich and the poor with a slave system. Rome had the greatest military in the ancient world with soldiers fighting to expand the culture the Rome.

• By the 200s C.E. the Western Empire was having problems, internal fighting and pressure on its borders from the barbarian tribes.

Emperor ConstantineIn 313 C.E. Emperor Constantine came to power. He moved the capitol the Rome to Constantinople in modern Turkey. This part of the Roman Empire would last for another 1000 years after the fall of the Western Empire.

Duties of people changeFrom this time forward men were bound to the position held by their fathers. During the fifth century (400s) many of the aristocracy deserted the cities (high taxes) and organized their rural estates into virtually self-supporting communities. This “lord” usually maintained his own body guard-early stages of medieval society-ruralization and decentralization.

ReligionReligion in ancient Rome had little emotional content to inspire spiritual fervor; religion was largely a matter of scrupulously keeping a business bargain. Most of the gods were guardians of particular places or activities.

Religion

• The cult of the old gods did not, and was not intended to inspire people with a high moral ideal or teach them some ultimate meaning and purpose in life; religion was a series of formal transactions in which a gods favor was bought by appropriate tribute.

Religion

• The cult of the old gods did not, and was not intended to inspire people with a high moral ideal or teach them some ultimate meaning and purpose in life; religion was a series of formal transactions in which a gods favor was bought by appropriate tribute.

• Christianity became more appealing-it was simple, it could appeal to humble and illiterate people, but it also came to attract the most sophisticated intelligences of the late Roman Empire.

Christians

• The Christians were not just individual adherents of a new religion. They had a strong sense of themselves as an ordered community, a people set apart from the non-Christians (will see more of this in the Middle Ages). To become a Christian meant to give up all other forms of worship, including the official cult of the emperors (good emperors were considered to be gods after they died.)

Christians

• When Christianity became the official state religion (390s) the Christian church received special privileges from the imperial government.

Roman Society

• The role of women changes over time. Women could own property and later could run their own businesses. The Romans educated all children. Girls and boys from the upper and lower classes all learned to read and write. Romans believed in many gods and celebrated many feasts and festivals throughout the year.

Fall of the Western Roman EmpireMany problems lead to the “fall” Military, Political, Economic, Social Decay.

Fall of the West

• Military attacks-invasions by the barbarians, late Roman armies lacked discipline and training that the earlier armies had. During this time Rome also employed mercenaries who had little loyalty for Rome.

Fall of the West

• Military attacks-invasions by the barbarians, late Roman armies lacked discipline and training that the earlier armies had. During this time Rome also employed mercenaries who had little loyalty for Rome.

• Political turmoil-as the government become more oppressive and authoritarian, it lost the support of the people, frequent civil wars and the division of the Empire into west and east.

Fall of the West

• Economic weakness-heavy taxes to support the huge military establishment. The reliance on slave labor discouraged Romans from exploring new technology. The population itself declined as war and epidemic diseases swept the empire.

Fall of the West

• Economic weakness-heavy taxes to support the huge military establishment. The reliance on slave labor discouraged Romans from exploring new technology. The population itself declined as war and epidemic diseases swept the empire.

• Social decay-the need to replace citizen-soldiers with mercenaries testified to the decline of patriotism. The upper-class, which had once provided leaders, devoted itself to luxury and prestige (the power to impress or influence because of success or wealth).

Fall of the West

• In 476 C.E. the Western Roman Empire “falls.” “The fall of Rome” is shorthand for a long, slow change from one way of life to another. Over the following centuries, Germanic (barbarian) customs and languages replaced much of Roman culture.

Fall of the West

• In 476 C.E. the Western Roman Empire “falls.” “The fall of Rome” is shorthand for a long, slow change from one way of life to another. Over the following centuries, Germanic (barbarian) customs and languages replaced much of Roman culture.

• The old Roman cities crumbled, roads disappeared, but the Christian Church preserved elements of Roman civilization (organization, language). From the fall of the Western Roman Empire, 476 and the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire 1453, the time in-between is called the Middle Ages.

The Middle AgesAfter the collapse of Rome, Western Europe entered a period of political, social, and economic decline. From about 500 C.E. to 1000 C.E. it was politically divided, rural, and largely cut off from advanced civilizations in the Middle East, China, and India.

New PeopleWaves of invaders swept across the area, trade slowed to a trickle, towns emptied, and classical learning virtually stopped. For these reasons, this period in Europe has sometimes been called the Dark Ages.

New People

• Today, historians recognize that this period was not “dark” the Greco-Roman, Germanic, and Christian traditions slowly blended, creating a new civilization. This period between ancient times and modern times-500 to 1500-is now called the Middle Ages. This culture is called Medieval civilization, from the Latin words for “middle age.”

New CulturesThe groups that invaded and conquered Western Europe are called Germanic tribes-some of these tribes were the Goths, Vandals, Saxons, and Franks.

Germanic Peoples

• These Germanic peoples were mostly farmers and herders, they had no cities or written laws. They lived in small communities governed by unwritten customs. Kings were elected by tribal councils. Warriors swore loyalty to the king in exchange for weapons and a share in the plunder taken from conquered people. Between 400 and 700 these Germanic tribes carved Western Europe into small kingdoms.

The FranksIn 486, Clovis, king of the Franks, conquered the former Roman province of Gaul, now France. He ruled his new land according to Frankish custom but preserved much of the Roman legacy. He converted to Christianity, the religion of his subjects. Doing this helped him gain an important ally, the Pope, leader of the Christian Church of Rome.

The Frankish EmpireThe first real post-Roman Empire was created by Charlemagne (Charles the Great) when he became king of the Franks in 768.

Charlemagne

• His empire reached across France, Germany and part of Italy. In 799 Pope Leo III asked Charlemagne for help against rebellious nobles in Rome. On Christmas Day in 800 Charlemagne was proclaimed Emperor of the Romans.

Charlemagne

• His empire reached across France, Germany and part of Italy. In 799 Pope Leo III asked Charlemagne for help against rebellious nobles in Rome. On Christmas Day in 800 Charlemagne was proclaimed Emperor of the Romans.

• The Eastern Roman Emperor was not happy, he saw himself as the sole ruler of the Romans. This event would also lead to struggles between the church and future rulers..

CharlemagneWorking with the Pope, Charlemagne strove to create a united Christian Europe, he helped to spread Christianity to the conquered peoples on the fringes of his empire.

Charlemagne

• Like other Germanic kings Charlemagne appointed powerful nobles to rule local regions. While Charlemagne himself was not educated, he regarded education as another why to unify his kingdom.

Charlemagne

• Like other Germanic kings Charlemagne appointed powerful nobles to rule local regions. While Charlemagne himself was not educated, he regarded education as another why to unify his kingdom.

• He encouraged the creation of local schools. Charlemagne died in 814, his three sons battled for power, in 843 his grandsons drew up the Treaty of Verdun, which split the empire into three regions.

Charlemagne

• While his empire did not survive it did serve as an example for later rulers, when they tried to strengthen their own kingdoms. Charlemagne also helped establish feudalism-by way of rewarding knights with land and privileges in return for military service.

9th and 10th Centuries

• During the 9th and 10th centuries, Western Europe was threatened by three main groups: Muslim, Magyars, and Vikings. Muslims-followers of the religion of Islam. Magyars-a central Asian people. Vikings-from present day Norway and Denmark. To combat these further threats and invasions the people of Western Europe develop feudalism.

Feudalism

Feudalism

Feudalism

• In response to the need for protection, a new political structure evolved-feudalism. Feudalism is a loosely organized system of rule in which powerful local lords divided their land holdings among lesser lords. These lesser lords, vassals, pledged service and loyalty to the greater lord. Exchange of land for loyalty.

Feudalism

• A powerful lord granted his vassal a fief, or estate. Fiefs ranged from a few acres to hundreds of square miles. Fiefs also included peasants to work the land as well as any towns or buildings on it. This system was well established by 1000 C.E.-called the High Middle Ages.

FeudalismIn theory, all the land in he kingdom belonged to the monarch (ruler, king)-some land was owned by the Church. The king granted some of his land, fiefs, to his most important lords, who became his vassals.

Social Structure

• The bottom of the social order were peasants. The Lords rented some of their land to peasants who worked for them, but some peasants were serfs, they were tied to the land. The serfs could not leave the lords land.

Social Structure

• The bottom of the social order were peasants. The Lords rented some of their land to peasants who worked for them, but some peasants were serfs, they were tied to the land. The serfs could not leave the lords land.

• Most of the lords lived on manors-large estates. These manors were in the country, everything had to be produced on the lands of the manor for all the people who lived on the fief. During the Middle Ages, people were born into a social class for life. They had the same social position, and often the same job as their parents.