The Effects of the Crusades on Western Europe

Bell Assignment Read the article and list the changes in Europe after the Crusades.

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages was characterized by several factors: ▫Western Europe was under developed (No real major cities) ▫Weak Economy ▫98% of population illiterate ▫85 % Poverty Life in general was very bad for most people.

Effects of the Crusades The Crusades left a bitter legacy of religious hatred behind them. The wars also helped to quicken the pace of changes already underway in Europe.

Crusades and Change By the end of the High Middle Ages, the Crusades brought change to Western Europe. The following are changes that the Crusades brought to Europe: ▫Exposure to luxuries (silk, sugar, cinnamon and other spices) ▫Exposure to beautiful works of art ▫Reintroduced to Greek and Roman achievements

Economic Expansion The Crusades increased trade; Crusaders introduced fabrics, spices and perfumes from the Middle East. Merchants in Venice built large fleets to carry Crusaders to the Holy Land. Those fleets were later used to carry out trade. Our words sugar, cotton and rice are borrowed from Arabic.

Increased Power for Monarchs The Crusades helped increase the power of monarchs. Rulers won new rights to levy taxes to support the Crusades. Some rulers, like Louis IX of France, led crusades, greatly adding to their prestige.

The Church Enthusiasm for the Crusades brought papal power to its greatest height. This period of prestige was short-lived, however. Popes were soon involved in bitter power clashes with monarchs. The Crusades failed to end the schism between the Roman and Byzantine churches.

Education After the Crusades, the Church demanded better education for its clergy and royal governments wanted literate men for government jobs. By 1300 A.D., there were universities in Paris, Bologna, and Oxford. The universities offered degrees in law, medicine, and theology.

Student Life at a University 5 A.M. – Morning Prayers Classes until 10 A.M.; From 10 A.M. – 12 P.M. – There was lunch and church service Afternoon class were held from 1 P.M. – 5 P.M. The classes included basic math, geometry, music, grammar, rhetoric (speaking), and astronomy.

A Wider Worldview Contact with the Muslim world led Christians to realize that millions of people lived in regions they had never known existed. In 1271, a young Venetian, Marco Polo, set out for China. He returned with stories about the wonders of Chinese civilization. By the 1400s, a desire to trade with India and China led Europeans to a new age of exploration.

Marco Polo

The Reconquista The crusading spirit spread to Spain. Several tiny Christian kingdoms in the north sought to take over Muslim lands. Their campaign became known as the Reconquista. By 1300, Christians controlled the entire Iberian peninsula, except for Granada.

Ferdinand and Isabella In 1469, Isabella of Castile married Ferdinand of Aragon. In 1492, Granada fell. Isabella ended the policy of religious toleration and launched a brutal crusade against Jews and Muslims.

Spanish Inquisition