 Constantly called to battle to defend a lords Manor.  Used the wealth from their fief to buy weapons, armor, and warhorses  Spent most of their time preparing and training for war ◦ Age 7: young noble would be sent off to serve as a page for another lord; ◦ Age 14: he would be promoted to squire (the servant of a knight) ◦ Age 21 he would be knighted by his lord

 Word comes from chevalier, French for “horse-riding knight”  The code was a complex set of ideals that a knight was supposed to hold ◦ Courage, loyalty, bravery, courtesy, and protection of the weak and poor ◦ Pledged to fight bravely in honor of their three “masters”: God, lord, and lady ◦ Gained experience fighting in tournaments

 Medieval literature downplayed the brutality of medieval life and idealized knighthood, chivalry, royalty, and battles ◦ Troubadours (travelling poet- musicians) would entertain the nobles with epic poems about a hero’s deeds and adventures

 Beginning in the 1000s, a spiritual revival spread across Europe led by monasteries  Reformers wanted to restore piety (religious devotion and reverence for God) to the Church ◦ Many village priests married and had families against canon law ◦ Popes, bishops, and abbots had become corrupt and cared only for money, power, and pleasure ◦ Simony = Positions in the Church were sold by bishops ◦ Lay investiture = Kings were allowed to appoint bishops, so they became very political

 Pope Leo IX (1049 – 1054) and Pope Gregory VII (1073 – 1085) ◦ Began to enforce Church laws ◦ Church strengthened and grew in power and authority under their rule  Friars ◦ Like monks ◦ Didn’t live secluded in monasteries ◦ Traveled from place to place, preaching to and teaching the poor

 In the early 1100s, a new architectural style was created called Gothic ◦ Built very high, to symbolize reaching toward heaven ◦ Light streamed in through huge stained- glass windows

 Needed to find new ways to increase food supply as the population grew ◦ Switched to oxen from horses for plowing ◦ Switched from a two- field to a three-field system so that they could grow crops on 2/3 of their land instead of ½ of it

 By the 1000s, artisans and craftsmen were manufacturing goods for local and long- distance trade  With the growth of trade, Europe became more urbanized ◦ Weakened the feudal and manorial systems

 Artisans and merchants organized into guilds ◦ Associations of people who worked in the same occupation and controlled the wages, prices, and quality standards  Guilds created the need for currency and credit