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Medieval Europe
Chapter Summary
• In a.d. 476, Germanic leaders in Italy ended the Western
Roman Empire. Western Europe divided into Germanic
kingdoms. This began a new period in Europe called the
Middle Ages, or medieval times. The Middle Ages would last
about 1,000 years.
• The geography of Europe shaped its development. Rivers
and seas provided transportation. Mountains isolated large
areas of Europe and helped territories stay independent.
• Christianity spread throughout Europe. The Roman Catholic
Church played a key role in the growth and unity of Western
Europe. Christian officials influenced government. The
emperor and the Catholic Church were often in conflict.
• By 800, Charlemagne had forged an empire that included
the lands of Germany, France, northern Spain, and Italy.
The pope crowned him emperor. After Charlemagne’s death
in 814, his empire collapsed. Europe broke into small
territories.
• In 911, Germany united under an emperor. Beginning in
936, successive emperors of Germany joined forces with the
Catholic Church to regain control of Europe and reestablish
the Holy Roman Empire. A power struggle between the
emperors and the popes of the Catholic Church would affect
the rule of Europe for centuries.
• Feudalism was a new political and social order in Europe.
Under feudalism, a vassal served a lord in return for
protection. As a reward for military service, vassals received
lands, or fiefs, from their lords. Most vassals were
horsemen, or knights. Below vassals were freeman and
serfs, workers who could not move or own property.
• Europeans developed technology that improved farming and
helped the population grow. Key improvements included the
steel plow, the horse collar, the use of wind and water mills,
and crop rotation.
Lesson 1 The Early Middle Ages
Lesson 2 Feudalism and the Rise of Towns
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Medieval Europe
Chapter Summary Cont.
• Trade increased, helping cities grow. A new middle class of
merchants, bankers, and artisans arose in the cities.
Craftspeople created guilds, or business groups, to control
business and trade in towns. Townspeople began to demand
new rights and freedoms from local nobles.
• In the late a.d. 800s, Alfred the Great united the Anglo-
Saxons, creating England. In 1066, a French noble, William
of Normandy, conquered England.
• The English created a royal court and a body of common
law. In 1215, English nobles forced King John to sign the
Magna Carta, which limited the powers of the king.
Parliament, a group of lords, church leaders, knights, and
townspeople, helped the king rule. Its creation was a key
step toward representative government.
• Some Slavs in Eastern Europe adopted Eastern Orthodox
Christianity and founded Moscow. The rulers of Moscow
conquered lands that became the Russian empire.
• Pope Urban I called on Europe’s nobles to begin a holy war,
or crusade, against the Muslim invaders of the Holy Land in
the 1000s. A total of ten crusades were launched, but only
the first two were successful. The Crusades united Muslims
against a common foe and helped make the split between
the Eastern and Western Christian churches permanent.
• The Crusades brought Europeans new knowledge and
introduced them to many luxury goods. The Crusades also
helped end feudalism in Western Europe.
• In the 1100s, trade, banking and businesses thrived. More
money was available for building and education. Europeans
built many churches, first in the Romanesque style and later
in the Gothic style. By 1500 Europe had 80 universities.
• Scholars discovered texts by Greek and Roman
philosophers. These philosophers used reason and logic
rather than faith to reach their conclusions. Followers of
scholasticism wanted to combine faith with learning gained
through reason and experience.
Lesson 3 Kingdoms and Crusades
Lesson 4 Culture and the Church
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Medieval Europe
Chapter Summary Cont.
• During medieval times, Latin was the official language of the
church and the university. Most people spoke vernacular
languages that developed into Europe’s major languages.
• The Catholic Church was the center of medieval life. The
Church performed many tasks that governments do today,
including recording births, deaths, and marriages. On Sundays,
people attended mass and participated in sacraments.
• The Church seriously addressed threats of heresy, putting
heretics on trial. Christian leaders made laws that actively
persecuted Jews, causing most Jews to flee to Eastern Europe.
• In the early 1300s, the plague known as the Black Death
killed about half of all Europeans. The lower population
caused wages to rise and food prices to fall. Workers now
had more freedom to choose where and for whom they
worked. They were no longer tied to a particular lord or
manor, which weakened the traditional feudal system.
• The Catholic Church experienced a conflict called the Great
Schism. Several popes claimed to be the Church’s leader.
Europe’s political leaders began to question the Church’s
authority. Religious reformers began to call on the Church to
return to a more spiritual form of Christianity.
• Western Europe was torn apart by political conflicts. England
and France entered a conflict over territory, and the war
lasted more than 100 years. The loss of French lands
weakened England’s economy.
• Spain’s Christian population drove out the Muslims during
the struggle known as Reconquista. Later, Ferdinand and
Isabella unified Spain as a Catholic nation. They established
the Spanish Inquisition to punish heretics, or non-believers.
The Spanish Inquisition tried and tortured thousands,
including Jews and Muslims who had converted to
Catholicism but still secretly practiced their faiths. In 1492,
Ferdinand and Isabella ordered Jews who would not convert
to leave Spain. Muslims who would not convert were
ordered to leave ten years later.
Lesson 5 The Late Middle Ages
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