World and Geographical Studies

1. The Six Crusades
1000 - 1500
How did the Church influence political and cultural changes in medieval Europe?
How did both innovations and disruptive forces affect people during the Middle Ages?

2. Reform of the Papacy
• Church leaders realized, in the eleventh
century, that they needed more freedom
from the government, specifically when
appointing Church officials. The Church
officials were appointed through lay
investiture, or the practice by which secular
rulers both chose nominees to church
offices and gave them the symbols of their
office. In 1073, Pope Gregory VII was
elected pope and he believed God had
called him to reform the Church. Gregory
aimed to eliminate lay investiture so that
the Church could regain its freedom. A Holy
Roman Emperor and king of Germany by
the name of Henry IV disagreed with
Gregory. German kings, for years, had
appointed administers to the Church . The
conflict of these two men became known
as the Investiture Controversy. This
controversy was unending until a new pope
and king reached a compromise known as
the Concordat of Worms.
Pope Gregory VII

3. The New Religious Orders
• The religious enthusiasm in the late 1000s and
early 1100s led to a rise in the number of
monasteries. One of the new orders was the
Cistercian order, founded by a group of monks that
were unhappy about the lack of discipline at their
monastery. The Cistercians led a strict, simple life,
having no decorations, eating simply, and having
only one robe. The Cistercians gained more time
for prayer and manual labor by spending less time
at religious services. The number of women in
religious houses grew drastically. Most nuns were
from the ranks of the landed aristocracy. Single
women made up the majority of the convents at
this time. Hildegard of Bingen was an abbess of a
religious house and also an important woman
composer, contributing to the Gregorian chant. She
succeeded at a time when music was made up of
almost all men. The Franciscans and the
Dominicans were two new religious orders in the
1200s. The Franciscans believed in living in poverty
and begging for food. They lived among the
ordinary people and became very popular. The
Dominicans wanted to defend the Church’s
teachings against the heretics, who denied basic
Church doctrines. They believed that the
Franciscans would best be able to attack heresy.

4. The Early Crusades
• Many Christians attended the
Council of Clermont, where they
were highly encouraged to join
the crusades in order to win
back the Holy Land from the
Muslims. Christians were told
by the pope that if they died
while fighting for the Holy Land,
they would receive an instant
pass to heaven, which was very
motivation for the Christians.
The first crusade began as
three organized bands of
mostly French warriors. The
crusades panned out as shown
on the chart on the next slide.
The First Crusade

5. CRUSADES EFFECTS
1
2
3
4
5
6
divide into four states
total failure
Christians granted access to Jerusalem
Byzantine empire reduces in size, children’s
crusade, two ships sink, sold into slavery, R.C./
E.O.
failure
failure

7. The First Crusade - Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8JyoRyAfOY

8. Romanesque and Gothic
• Romanesque builders replaced the
basilica’s flat wooden roof with a long,
round vault made of stone or with a
cross vault. Because of the stone roofs,
the churches require massive pillars and
walls to hold them up. There was little
space for windows, leaving the church
somewhat dark.
• Gothic cathedral were made possible
because of the replacement of the round
barrel vault and the flying buttress, an
arched support made of stone that was
build onto the outside of walls. Gothic
cathedrals had thinner walls and stained
glass windows that depicted religious
scenes.
• It was believed at the time that the higher
the elevation of the church, the closer it
is to God.
Gothic Church

9. Romanesque Gothic
• change from
wooden roof to
arched stone
• Basilica shape
• thick walls
• few windows
• ribbed vaults,
pointed arches
• flying buttress
• Church is higher
(closer to God)
• stained glass
windows

10. Universities
• The first European university appeared in
Bologna, Italy. Students a these early
universities began by studying traditional
liberal arts such as grammar, rhetoric,
logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and
astronomy. After four to six years of
attending the university, students took oral
examinations to earn degrees such as
bachelor of arts degrees and master of
arts degrees. After ten years, they could
earn degrees for doctor of law, medicine,
or theology.
• Theology was strongly influence by a
philosophical system known as
scholasticism, a medieval philosophical
and theological system that tried to
reconcile faith and reason.
• Vernacular was the language of everyday
speech in a particular region. Literature
was being written in Vernacular.
University of Bologna

11. The Black Death Plague
• Poor sanitation, malnutrition, the little
ice age, cramped living conditions, no
indoor plumbing are all factors that
led to the spread of the Black Plague.
Trade and the flea infested rats spread
the disease. This epidemic affects the
social and economic means. Socially,
this epidemic was blamed on the
Jews because of their previous anti-
Semitism of the Jews. Economically,
trade decreased because 1/3 of the
population was killed off. The prices
decreased because none of the
merchants were selling anything.
There were also higher labor costs
because it was hard to get people to
work. Feudalism ended, resulting in
stronger government structure.
The Black Death

12. The Hundred Years War and
Joan of Arc
• The Hundred Years War began
after King Phillip VI seized the
land, duchy. King Edward III then
declared war on Phillip, beginning
the Hundred Years’ War. The War
was actually more than 100 years.
Joan of Arc was a French peasant
woman who was accused of
being a witch. She had visions of
victory and heroic visions about
the war. Joan was burned at the
stake by the English, accused of
witchcraft. The cannon and the
longbow were new inventions
that helped the French win the
war. The war was won because of
these inventions.
Joan of Arc

13. Deeper Thinking Questions
• Would you have joined the crusades if you were a
Christian at this time? Why?
• What was the significance of the Hundred Years War?
• Why were universities so important at this point in time?
• In what ways did the new religious orders affect the
people, both socially and economically?
• Do you prefer the Romanesque or Gothic style of
churches? Explain your answer in detail.

14. Image Sources
• http://www.evangeliumtagfuertag.org/main.php?
language=AM&module=saintfeast&localdate=20100525&id=10462&fd=0
• http://www.medievalists.net/tag/hildegard-von-bingen/
• http://www.touropia.com/gothic-cathedrals/
• http://bluenetworks.weebly.com/family-and-patronage-during-the-first-crusade.html
• https://inomics.com/university-bologna
• http://internationalstudentsguide.org/20-oldest-universities-of-the-world/
• https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/08/27/black-death-plague-back-correction-
never-left-thanks-evolution/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc
• http://www.scout.com/military/deadliest-blogger/story/1438544-the-crusades-part-two