Europe 800-1500 CE
“Bring out your Dead!”
Overview
• Formation of Kingdoms
• Role of Church • Expansion of Towns• Conflict & Reform
• Crusades• 116 Years War• Black Death• Renaissance
Formation of Kingdoms
• Creation of Frankish Kingdom in 9th century
• Charlemagne & later Kings– Consolidate power through link w/
Church– Force conversion of public to
Christianity– Build cathedrals, monasteries, etc.
• Creation of “Holy Roman Empire”– Protector of Christendom
• Conflict – temporal vs. spiritual– Early kings able to assert power
over Pope– Ex. Otto the Great, Henry IV of
France
Liuthiar Gospel – Otto III Enthroned
Role of the Church• Early church relies on secular
leaders to spread Christianity
• Clergy divided among ‘regular’ and ‘secular’
• Most priests were illiterate• Literate clergy often served as
advisors to secular leaders– Gained influence & power– Seen as threat by secular ldrs
• Struggle to maintain independence from secular leaders
• Clergy often lacked respect of public– Married, children, corrupt
Palace Chapel of Charlemagne
Growth of Towns
• Most towns developed along established trade routes
• Cathedral construction – economic boon to towns– Required supplies &
merchandise – Brought artisans,
craftsmen– Growth of trade groups
guilds
• Over 2700 churches constructed in France between 13-14th centuriesNôtre Dame de Paris, begun 1163
Conflict & Reform
• Cluny Reforms– Attempt to make church
more independent– Professional clergy– Pope appoints Bishops
• Investiture– 1st major conflict b/w
Pope & secular ldr (Henry IV)
– Henry challenges Cluny reforms
– Allowed to approved papal appointmentsHenry IV at Canossa
The Great Schism (1378-1417)• Urban VI’s plans to reform the Curia (hierarchy) leads to renewed
schism– Power struggle b/w Pope & Cardinals– Used by secular monarchs to gain influence
• Conciliar movement sought to resolve issue– Council of Constance fails– Council of Basel (1449) reunites church
• Cardinals maintain power– Weakens power of Pope
Papal Palace in Avignon
Crusades (1095-1204)
• Originally call to free Holy Land from ‘infidels’
• Later motivated by wealth, prestige, power
– Returned w/wealth, relics, etc.
• Committed atrocities in name of Christ
• Allowed for peace & stability in Europe for +100 years
• Stimulated trade, expansion & diffusion of goods & ideas contributes to Renaissance
Richard the Lionheart, Philip Augustus & Frederick Barbarossa
England v. France Struggle for national identity &
territory Access into Atlantic
British controlled western Channel & Flanders
France w/little access into Atlantic
Consequences Devastates France Burden of war falls on peasantry Emergence of national identity England develops domestic
weaving industry industrial revolution
Hundred Years War (1337-1453)
Black DeathEstimated population of Europe from 1000 to 1352.
1000 -- 38 million 1100 -- 48 million 1200 -- 59 million 1300 -- 70 million 1347 --75 million 1352 -- 50 million
• 25 million people died in under five years b/w 1347 – 1352.
• Est. 1/3 – 2/5 of population perished
Renaissance
• Renewed interest in classical literature & Ideas
• Contributing factors– Crusades– Black Death– Trade
• Scholasticism v. Humanism– Scholasticism-stressed
reading of material w/no analysis, criticism, or commentary
– Humanism-approached material critically and promoted the dignity of humankind, civic responsibility and political liberty
Dante-The Inferno
• Horrors of war & plague caused people to question government & religion
• Looked for answers in
Greek, Roman & other
classic literature• Shift to focus on rational
explanations for events • Writers begin to use
vernacular rather than Latin– Ex. Dante, Boccaccio,
Petrarch
Petrarch-Triumphs (1341)
Renaissance Art
• Artists began to focus on recreating ideal forms copied from classic Roman & Greek art
• Emphasis on realism and naturalism
• Giotto di Bondone credited w/introducing perspective & depth in painting
Giotto-Lamentation
• Considered among the greatest sculptors of the Renaissance
• Works showed greater depth of naturalism and emotion
Donatello
David (bronze)
Mary Magdalene (wood)
Raphael-School of Athens
• 1st ‘Great Master’ of Renaissance• Relied on classical themes, often include himself &
contemporaries in works
Michelangelo
Raphael
Leonardo da Vinci as Socrates
Michelangelo•Hailed as greatest artist of the Renaissance
•Sculptor, painter, architect
Tomb of Pope Julius II
Pieta
Last Judgment -East wall of Sistine Chapel
Leonardo da Vinci
• Considered the Greatest mind of the Renaissance
• Scientist, philosopher, artist• Embodied the ideal ‘Renaissance Man’• Believed man’s abilities were boundless
Virgin & Child w/Saint AnneAnatomical Study Vitruvious Man