1. Western Europe

2. Problems CE
Rome’s decline left Italy fragmented but Rome still the center of the growing Catholic church
Spain in the hands of Muslims
Center of the postclassical west (France, Low countries, and southern/western Germany) had new civilization
Frequent invasions by the Vikings
No intellectual life (only Catholic church monasteries kept some scholarship alive)

3. Vikings

4. The Manorial System: Obligations and Allegiances
Political organization largely local
Manorialism- system of economic and political relations between landlords and their peasant laborers where most people were serfs (agricultural workers who received some protection from landlords)
Life of serfs not easy
Serfs were not slaves; they could not be bought or sold and they retained ownership of their lands as long as they kept up with their obligations

5. Feudal Monarchies
Feudal relationships linked military elites, mostly landlords, who could afford the horses and iron weaponry to fight. Greater lords provided protection to the lesser lords called vassals
Early feudalism local, while Charlemagne’s feudalism more stable- he paid his bureaucrats with estates- this inhibited the development of strong central states
France
England William the Conqueror- Duke of Normandy- invaded England and extended his tight feudal system to England

6. Limited Government
Strong monarchies didn’t develop evenly throughout Europe- west divided and diverse
Growth of monarchy cut into aristocratic power but this led to new statements on the limits of kings
1215 – Magna Carta- confirmed feudal rights against monarchical claims
Late 13th century- creation of parliaments- represented nobles and church

7. Charlemagne and His Successors
Royal house of the Franks grew in 8th century and Carolingians took over the monarchy (Charles Martel- or Charles the Hammer- defeated the Muslims in the battle of Tours in 732 and helped confine the Muslims to Spain)
Around 800 Charles the Great, or Charlemagne,( part of the Carolingian line) established strong empire in France and Germany
Helped restore some church-based education in western Europe and there was a slow recovery of intellectual activity

9. Died in 814 and empire split into three portions of inheritance for three grandsons (modern France, Germany, and low countries of Switzerland, and northern Italy) but these were weak rulers and this lead to gradual emergence of regional monarchies and absence of strong bureaucracy
Strong cultural unity with Christianity but no single language or government
Royal houses claimed the title of emperor around 10th century and called themselves Holy Roman emperors (merging Christian and classical themes)

11. The West’s Expansionist Impulse
East central Europe-from 11th century- Germanic knights in Germany and Poland
Spain- small Christian states in the north slowly attacked Muslim government, which ultimately was pushed out by 1492
Crusades against the Muslim control of the Holy Land
1095- Pope Urban II called for First Crusade
1097- met in Constantinople- then conqueror Jerusalem, which they held for a century, until Saladin recaptured it in the 12th century
Showed the aggressive spirit of the western middle ages but also exposed the west to new cultural and economic influences from the middle east and a thirst for trade

12. Medieval Europe and the Catholic Church
Catholic church only example of solid organization after Roman collapse
Authority of the church and cultural dominance of Christianity with the intellectual diversity of university life

13. The Decline of the Medieval Synthesis
12-14th Centuries Feudal political structures balanced by emerging central monarchies
Strong monarchies adjust state boundaries, Hundred Year’s War between France and England in 14th and 15th centuries (kings eventually had to reduce dependence on nobility and new military methods challenged the monopoly of feudal lords)- ended with French victory (Joan of Arc) but showed signs of stress in French monarchy
Disease- Black death 1348
Destroyed population

14. Signs of Strain
14th century ruling class showed signs of confusion. Claim to power always in control of land and military prowess but now open to question. Chivalry gained ground. Upper class became more cultivated.
Shift in balance between church and state. French kings wielded great influence over papacy in early 14th century. Pope moved to Avignon and then back to Rome. Religion still popular but the church as an institution not popular
Breakdown in intellectual synthesis – church officials less tolerant of intellectual daring.

15. The Postclassical West and Its Heritage
After 900 gains in population, trade and cities, and intellectual activity created a vigorous period in European history
Lasting impacts- universities, gothic style of architecture, new ideas about government
Change in the relationship between Europe and the regions around it as Europe gained strength. Advance by imitation.
Crusades a distinctive expansionist spirit