1. End of Europe’s Medieval Period

2. Battle of Hastings
In 1066, Norman invaders killed the Saxon King, Harold, and established a new Monarchy in England, led by William the Conqueror.

3. England: Magna Carta & Parliament
In 1215, English barons rebelled against the taxes and forced loans being collected by King John.
King John was forced to sign an agreement promising not to take away any free man’s property or to imprison any free man without following procedures established by the laws of the land.
The Magna Carta, as it was called, guaranteed all free men the right to a trial by jury, and further forced the king to obtain the consent of a council of nobles for most new taxes.
Later English kings summoned nobles & representatives of the towns to grant them new taxes
This led to the origins of Parliament

4. St. Thomas Aquinas: Early Progress in Thought
St. Thomas Aquinas ( ) wrote at a time when Muslim & Jewish scholars had just discovered lost works of Aristotle.
Some Christian scholars felt such pre-Christian thinkers had no value.
Aquinas showed how these works by Aristotle were compatible with Christian teachings.
He said God had given man the power of reason to help him explain and interpret the world.
Therefore, we should trust reason as well as faith

5. Thomas Aquinas: Natural Laws
Aquinas also believed in the existence of “natural law” –universal laws independent of any laws passed by government
These natural laws were based on reason
Aquinas thought humans could evaluate governments by using their understandings of natural laws
To him, if a human (govt) law conflicted with a natural law, then people did not need to obey it.
Aquinas thought people had the right to remove rulers who continually enacted unjust laws.

6. Major Causes of the end of Medieval Times
The Crusades
The Great Famine
The Black Death
The Hundred Years’ War
The Great Schism

7. The Crusades
The Crusades exposed Europe to Eastern ideas & goods (like spices)
The desire for these goods sparked trade, which stimulated the economy and gave Europe even more exposure to the East.
Increased trade led to the growth of towns and the middle class which pushed Europe out of the feudal system.

8. The Great Famine (1313-1322) Unusually heavy rains led to flooding.
Eventually crops spoiled and livestock drowned in waterlogged fields.
This led to Famine
Farm animals needed for work were slaughtered for food & seed grain was eaten
This shortage of grain increased grain prices by more than six times.
Millions of people died from the famine
Many questioned the church on why this catastrophe was happening.

9. The Black Death (Bubonic Plague)
( ) This occurred only 25 years after the Great Famine
Rats with fleas carrying the disease entered Europe from Asia on trading ships.
Between 1347 & 1351, 25 Million people (1/3 of Europe’s population) died
People were buried in mass graves without receiving any blessing from the Church
Some blamed the Jews
Others claimed the plague was God’s punishment for sinful living
The Black death created a labor shortage in Europe
Large numbers of peasants escaped from serfdom when landowners and town, needing laborers, offered freedom in exchange for work.

12. The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453)
This war began when the French king died without an heir and the King of England claimed the French throne.
This long period of warfare slowly strengthened the royal power in both countries
Both England & France developed a greater national feeling & more loyalty to their king
Instead of relying on a feudal army based on the service of his nobles, each king developed a standing army of foot soldiers
New weapons were developed like the English long bow and cannons which use gun powder
These helped make knights much less important in battle

13. Battle of Potiers

14. Joan of Arc
During the Hundred Years’ War, a young French maiden, named Joan of Arc, rallied the French troops around the heir to the throne.
She turned the tide when she successfully drove the English out of the city of Orleans & crowned the new French king at Rheims Cathedral
Later, Joan was captured and burned at the stake by the English as a witch

15. The Great Schism
The Pope often clashed with Europe’s secular rulers over power
In 1305, a Frenchman was elected Pope
He moved the Papacy to Avignon in France, from Rome
In 1378, an Italian was elected Pope who moved the Papacy back to Rome
French Cardinals claimed the election was unlawful and elected a French Pope to keep the Papacy in Avignon.

16. Great Schism
This schism (or split) greatly weakened the Church’s authority.
A Church Council made matters worse by electing a third Pope in 1409.
Finally, a new church Council deposed all three Popes, and elected a single Pope in 1417, but the Church’s prestige was greatly weakened

17. The Renaissance
As Europe left the Middle Ages, they would enter into a time known as “rebirth” of learning and scholarship
This was a time of great intellectual and artistic creativity
This was known as the Renaissance
The Renaissance began in Italy because of its strategic location along the Mediterranean Sea
The Renaissance was:
An Efflorescence of arts (visual & literary) and ideas in Europe that coincided with the rediscovery of Greek and Roman culture.