Western Christendom Chapter 10

Geography Far western end of Eurasia At a distance from growing trade routes Geography made political unity difficult: mountains, forests, peninsulas, islands But coastlines and rivers helped with exchange Moderate climate, plentiful rainfall, and fertile soil helped agriculture Urban life diminished Population declined due to war and disease

Warming trend after 750=more agriculture During High Middle Ages (1000-1300) population grew from about 35 million to 80 million Marshes drained, trees felled to provide more land for population

Politics Although Rome fell in 476, decline had been going on long before that Barbarians: Goths, Visigoths, Franks, Lombards, Angles, Saxons, etc. Regional kingdoms Some used Roman law Charlemagne: reigned 768-814, Carolingian Empire, crowned by Pope, France and other areas Otto of Saxony: reigned 936-973, Germany and other principalities, Holy Roman Empire Feudalism: land exchanged for military service and loyalty, political, economic, and social; needed due to invasions from various peoples like Vikings

Lords and vassals: lords granted vassals fiefs of land, contracts, manors, serfs During High Middle Ages, monarchs gained more control and consolidated their authority, royal courts, bureaucratic administration These kingdoms had their own distinct languages and cultures. In Italy=city-states Holy Roman Empire=small principalities

The Crusades: peasants and serfs followed their lords into battle, knights got to show their military training, Christian states set up in Holy Land System of competing states, warfare Gunpowder revolution

Society Hierarchy: King, Clergy, Lords, Knights, Peasants, Serfs Serfdom: lowest, tied to the land Educated people spoke/read Greek and Latin “It is the will of the Creator that the higher shall always rule over the lower.” In High Middle Ages they saw more job specialization: merchants, bankers, artisans, university-trained professionals

Women were involved in numerous professions Some predominantly female professions became dominated by men Some women went to convents and saw some measure of authority, but that too was taken over by men Women saw a loss in their role in the Church Beguines: laywomen who devoted themselves to weaving and helping the needy Anchoresses: locked cells, fasting and praying

Men were not “warriors” anymore, now seen as “providers” Crusades hardened cultural differences: Eastern Orthodox vs. Catholicism, anti-semitism

Religion The Church: later known as Roman Catholic Latin Wealthy Converted pagans: started with kings and worked their way down Reported miracles Syncretism: blending of Christianity with earlier cultural practices to a point Investiture conflict: who has the right to appoint bishops/pope? Church or King?

Monastic life: monasteries and convents, Beguines and Anchoresses Cathedrals Monastic life: monasteries and convents, Beguines and Anchoresses Crusades=holy wars, 1095, “God wills it!”, rescue the Holy Land of Jerusalem from the Muslims, several Crusades Later used to recapture Iberian peninsula from Muslims Byzantium weakened as Crusaders sacked the capital Contact with Islamic world, desire for Asian goods Greek philosophy

Economics Serfdom: bound to their masters’ estates as peasant laborers and owed payments and services to the lord of the manor, in return received small farm and protection Increased agricultural production in High Middle Ages brings revival of/growth in long-distance trade. Commercial center in Northern Europe: wood beeswax, furs, rye, wheat, salt, cloth, wine Hanseatic League or Hansa Italian center: traded with Arabs and Byzantines

Northern and Southern Europe traded Guilds formed: associations of people in the same occupation; apprentice, journeyman, master Crusades created a desire for Asian goods, increased trade

Achievements Roman culture continued Cathedrals Universities Through Crusades, lost classical knowledge was regained Engaged with borrowed from advanced civilizations in the East. Technological breakthroughs: heavy wheeled plow, new horse collar, three-field system of crop rotation, horseshoes, windmill, water-driven mill, cranks, flywheels, camshafts, cannon,