SOCIAL AND CULTURAL GROWTH unit 5: SOCIAL AND CULTURAL GROWTH AND CONFLICT

Middle Ages (500 CE – 1500) What was life like during the Middle Ages?

Catholic Church (page 3) Why was the Catholic Church so important during the Middle Ages??

Catholic Church (page 3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx13YTD4r18

The Church in Medieval Life During the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church became the main stabilizing force in Western Europe. The Church provided religious leadership as well as secular, or worldly leadership. It also played a key role in reviving and preserving learning. CHURCH HIERARCHY The Pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church. He is believed to be the spiritual representative of Jesus on earth. Below the Pope came the Archbishops, bishops, and local Priests. For peasants and town dwellers, everyday life was closely tied to local priests and the village church.

Spiritual Role of the Church: The main responsibility of the Church was to serve the spiritual needs of medieval society. Local priests instructed peasants & townspeople in the faith and provided comfort to them in troubled times. The Church taught that all men and women were sinners but that Christians could achieve salvation, or eternal life in heaven, through faith in Jesus, good works, and participation in sacraments, or sacred spiritual rituals. To escape the punishment of hell, believers needed to take part in the sacraments of the Church

Economic Power- The Church filled many secular, or worldly, roles during the Middle Ages. As the largest landowner in Europe, the Church had significant economic power. The Church also gained wealth through the tithe, a tax. Christians were required to pay an amount that equaled 10% of their income.

Political Power- The Church had its own set of laws called Canon Law, and its own courts of justice. The Church claimed authority over secular rulers, but monarchs did not always recognize this authority. As a result, there were frequent power struggles between the Pope in Rome and various kings. Popes believed that they had authority over the kings. Popes sometimes excommunicated, or excluded from the Catholic Church, secular rulers who challenged or threatened papal power.

Monastic Orders- Some men and women became monks or nuns, leaving worldly society and devoting their lives to God. They entered monasteries, communities where Christian men and women focused on spiritual goals. Monks and nuns fulfilled many social needs, such as tending to the sick, helping the poor, and educating children.

Centers of Learning- In monasteries and convents (religious communities of women), monks and nuns also preserved ancient writing by copying ancient texts. Some monks and nuns taught Latin and Greek classics; others produced their own literary works.

Missionary Work- Not all monks and nuns remained in monasteries. Some because missionaries, risking their lives to spread the message of Christianity. The Church sometimes honored its missionaries by declaring them saints.

Gothic Cathedrals https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkfmK-CLvcc

Crusades Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvHMdU0HxjY

Crusades

Crusades

The Crusades has been dubbed by historians a “Successful Failure”. What does that mean??? Failed military operation, but successful in opening Europe to trade & exposure to Greek & Roman Achievements.

The Crusades (page 6) In the 1050s, the Seljuk Turks invaded the Byzantine empire. Over the next four decades, they overran most Byzantine lands in Asia Minor as well as Palestine. In 1095, the Byzantine emperor asked the pop, Urban II, for help. Pope Urban agreed. At the Council of Clermont, Urban encouraged French and German bishops to recover Palestine, or the Holy Land, as it was called by Christians. Christians referred to this area as the Holy Land because it was where Jesus had lived and taught (Remember??). Muslims and Jews also considered the land holy. Christians who answered the pope’s call were known as “crusaders”. Men and women from all over Western Europe left their homes to reclaim the Holy Land. Many never returned.

REASONS FOR THE CRUSADES There were several motives for the Crusades, some religious and some secular. These reasons were… The Pope believed that the Crusades would increase his power in Europe. Christians believed that their sins would be forgiven if they participated in the Crusades. Nobles hoped to gain wealth and land by participating in the Crusades. Adventurers saw the Crusades as a chance for travel and excitement. Serfs hoped to escape feudal oppression by fighting in the Crusades.

1ST CRUSADE…Christians captured Jerusalem (1099); followed by massacre of Muslims & Jews 2ND CRUSADE… Saladin unites the Muslim world & recaptured Jerusalem; didn’t harm defeated crusaders. 3RD CRUSADE… Richard the Lion-Hearted (King of England) won several victories but couldn’t capture Jerusalem. 4TH CRUSADE… Christian factions started fighting one another; Muslim victory (1291); Muslims massacred Christian inhabitants.

Saladin

Richard the Lion Hearted

Crusades: "Successful Failures (page 9)" The crusaders failed to attain their main goal of retaking the Holy Land. Unfortunately, the Crusades left behind a legacy of religious hatred between Christians and Muslims, since each group had committed terrible acts of violence against the other. Crusaders sometimes turned their hatred on Jews in Europe as they traveled to or from Palestine. At times crusaders destroyed entire Jewish communities. The crusades did, however, have some positive effects. The European economy began to grow, and Europeans gained an expanded view of the world.

Increased Trade – demand for goods from the east (sugar, cotton, rice); trade routes stayed open after the crusades Encouraged Learning – learning was stimulated as Europeans were introduced to new cultures; saw great universities; saw great advancements (of the Islamic Golden Age) in math, science, literature, art, and geographical knowledge. Change in Church – temporarily increased the power of the Pope; HOWEVER conflict with kings decreased the power of the Pope; widened the gap between Roman and Orthodox churches. ***THE POPE’S POWER DECLINED!!!! Change in Feudal System – increased the power of Monarchs (kings); FEUDALISM WEAKENED; economy based on $$$$, not land emerged

What if the plague hit the United States? How would people react to this disease?

Plague doctors wore a mask with a bird-like beak to protect them from being infected by the disease, which they believed was airborne. Herbs & Spices were packed into the beak to protect the doctors.

What if the plague hit the United States? Short term effects on the USA? Long term effects on the USA?

The Bubonic Plague (page 11) Bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, devastated Europe in the mid-1300s. The epidemic was the worst disaster Europe had ever known. About a third of the people of the continent died. In some areas, the death toll was even greater—more than half the population. Scientists now belief that the epidemic originated in rodent burrows in Asia. Infected rats were drawn to the food supplies of armies and caravans in China. Fleas traveled from the rats to people, carrying plague with them. The disease spread westward, along the routes traders and soldiers took, to south Asia, southwest Asia, and even Africa. After reaching the Black Sea, it was carried to the cities and countryside of Europe. Some areas of Europe were not as severely affected by the plague as others, but no one is certain why. There may have been weaker, less deadly types of the plague virus in some places. In general, the illness spread faster and killed more people in cities, which were crowded and dirty, than it did in rural areas.

Bubonic Plague Devastates Europe, 1347 – 1351 1. What do the shades and dates on the map represent? 2. From what direction did the plague travel to Europe? Where did it originate? 3. During what years did plague spread through Europe? 4. Which areas of Europe were less severely affected by the plague? What may some reasons for the lower death tolls in those areas?

Bubonic Plague 1) What do the shades and dates on the map represent? Shades = areas of outbreak. Dates = when the disease started in a specific area.   2) From what direction did the plague travel to Europe? Where did it originate? Plague traveled west into Europe. Originated east (from Asia).

Bubonic Plague 3) During what years did plague spread through Europe?  1347-1351.    4) Which areas of Europe were less severely affected by the plague? What were some reasons for the lower death tolls in those areas? Eastern Europe. Not a lot of people live there (rural area). Less trade.

Bubonic Plague Page 12. Video fun time!!

Bubonic Plague A) How did migration spread the Bubonic Plague from Asia to Europe? Trade & war. B) How did people react to the epidemic? Thought they were being punished by god. Murdered Jews. Questioned the church. Left the manors.

Bubonic Plague C) When was the disease intentionally used as a weapon? Siege of Kaffa (1345) on Black Sea. Mongols shot bodies infected with plague over the city walls.

Bubonic Plague D) How did Bubonic Plague change the system of Feudalism? Ended it. Why?? Workforce dead. E) How might history have been different if this epidemic had not occurred? Feudalism may have continued.

Bubonic Plague F) Do you see any parallel in today’s world in regards to the devastation of an epidemic? Explain. Aids. Cancer.