The Middle Ages 800- 1300 C.E.

Chapters 8-9 Challenges of Expansion and Consolidation of Western European Kingdoms and

the Culture of Christendom

Bronze Age Beaker Culture

2800-1800 B.C.E.

Common artifacts

Common Burial Practices

Julius Caesar

1st Historian of Celts

Historians disagree over the exact dimensions of the culture and the particularities of various tribes described by Caesar, Tacitus and other Roman historians

Celtic Coins 4th to 1st Century B.C.E.

Influenced by trade with Macedonian Empire

CultureTribal

Militaristic

Pagan

Syncretism

Peoples of the Western Frontiers

• Called Barbarians by the Romans

• Celts

• Angles

• Saxons

• Britons

• Vandals

• Visigoths (Western Goths)

• Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths)

• Lombards

• Germans

• Franks

Chaos, Conflict and Order: The Middle Ages 800- 1300

Emergence of Kingdom of the Franks

Baptism of Clovis (466-511)

25 December 496

Religious Conflicts in Western Europe

• Nicene Christianity: Trinitarian theology from Council of Nicaea (Roman)

• Arian Christianity: Jesus was “begotten” & was not equal with God

• Clovis drove Visigoth’s from Gaul

• Paganism: Clovis banned divination

• Islam

• Adoption of Roman Christianity by Clovis: support from Roman aristocrats

• Clovis commissioned compilation of Roman law for Kingdom of Franks

• First Council of Orleans: Church reform and link between Church and ruler

• Right of sanctuary

• Divination forbidden

Charles Martel

Charles de Steuben,Bataille de PoitiersEn Octobre 782

• Defeated the Moors at the Battle of Tours (October 732)

• Alliance with Benedictine Missionaries

• Engaged with Papacy

• Defeated Lombards

Charlemagne (742-814) (R. 768-814)

Plunder, Booty & Land

Militarized state Conquests against Lombards

Counts appointed to supervise new lands Coinage system Ruler of Christendom

Kingly government is a sacred office designed by God to protect the church,defend Christians and promote salvation

No kingdom can prosper if lives of its subjects are displeasing to God

Carolingian Reforms in the Church

Controlled Bishops and Abbots

Changed liturgy to more uniformity

Prohibited pagan practices

Imposed Holy Baptism on subjects

Carolingian Renaissance

Classical learning is foundation of Christian

wisdom

Collating, correcting and copying Latin texts, including the Bible

New style of handwriting Carolingian Miniscule

Crowned Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas Day

800

Palatine Chapel at Charlemagne’s Palace at Aachen (Germany)

Interconnections between Byzantine, Islamic and Western European Kingdoms in 7th and 8th

Centuries

• Byzantium, Muslim Caliphates and Kingdoms of northwestern Europe developed their defining characteristics during the 6th and 7th centuries

• Fruitful if uneasy relationships

• Italian traders active in Constantinople

• Muslim traders were common in Southern Italy

• Anglo-Saxon merchants traded within the Mediterranean

• Jewish merchants in Rhineland traded with Muslim communities in Egypt

• Viking traders from Novgorod in Russia to Dublin

The Vikings 900-1100

Mid-twelfth century paintingOf Danish Seamen

Viking Raiders

• Vikings means “robbers”

• Raided Europe and British Isles from the middle of the 9th century

• Plunder- Silver and weapons

• Ransom

• Tribute collection

• Slaving

Alfred the Great (849-899)

England under Alfred the Great

• Ruled from 871 to 899

• Aelfraed (Old English: Elf Counsel)

• Modeled his reign after Charlemagne• Reorganized Army

• Founded new towns

• Codified English laws

• Established a court school

• Fostered Anglo-Saxon writing

• Wool trade

• By 1000, England was the most sophisticated administration in Europe

English Coin c. 800

Dukes of Saxony

Exercised power from 917 – 962

Engaged in successful conquests of the Slavs

955 Otto I defeated the “pagan” Hungarians

962 Otto crowned Emperor of the West

964 Otto deposes John XII as Pope and installs own man

Installs Bishops and Abbotts as defense against other Dukes

Otto the Great 962-973

Mathilda Cross c. 973 Commissioned by OttoThe Great

Technological Advances

• Heavy wheeled plow

• Water mills

• Windmills

• Increased population

• Urbanization

• Market for goods

Peasants

• Tied to the land

• Strip farming

• Tenants in kind

• Three field system of crop rotation

• Adaptable to climate

• 2 growing seasons

• Higher yields

Commerce

Long distance trade controlled by Venetian, Pisan and Genoese navies

Created expanding market for Eastern luxury goods

Champagne Fairs

Town Specialization

Paris and Bologna: universities

Venice, Genoa, Cologne & London: long distance tradeMilan, Florence, Ghent and Bruges: manufacturing centers

Universities Then and Now

The Guild System

• Male dominated professional associations of craftsmen

• Master craftsmen

• Journeymen

• Apprentice

• Preserve monopolies and limit competition

• Controlled prices

• Wages

• Methods of production

• Masterpiece

• Merchant guilds