1. 500-1200

2.  Gradual decline of
Roman Empire
 Middle Ages= Medieval
Period
 500-1500
 New institution begin to
replace fallen Roman
traditions
 China and Southwest
Asia flourish, but
Europe is fragmented

4.  Germanic invasions
brought changes to
Western Europe
 Warfare brought
changes to
government, economy,
and culture
• Disruption of trade
• Downfall of Cities
(abandoned)
• Population Shifts (move
from urban to rural)

5. Germanic invaders
could not read of
write and had no
written tradition
Knowledge of Greek
was lost

6.  When the German-speaking people became mixed
with the Romans, Latin began to change
 Different dialects began
 By 800’s, French, Spanish and other languages
began

7.  Germanic kingdoms
began replaced Roman
provinces
 Church survived the fall
of the Roman Empire
 No loyalty to king, just to
their family
 In Gaul (France) , a
Germanic people called
the Franks held power
• Leader,Clovis, would
eventually bring Christianity
to region

8.  Clovis’ wife urged him
to join her faith,
Christianity
 When in war, fearing
defeat, he plead to the
Christian God
 They won, and then he
and his 3,000 warriors
were all baptized
 United Franks

10.  Monasteries= religious
communities
 Monks & Nuns
 Monks opened schools,
libraries, and copied books

13.  Gregory the Great becomes
pope
 He broadened the authority of
the papacy, or pope’s office
beyond its spiritual role
 Pope had secular (worldly)
power
 This idea of a church kingdom,
ruled by a pope, would become
the central theme of the Middle
Ages

15.  Charles Martel-
extended the Franks
reign to north, south and
east, defeated the
Muslim (Battle of Tours)
and halted Muslim
invasion and made him a
Christian hero
 Charles Pepin the
Short Charles the
Great (Charlemagne)

16.  Built an empire greater
than any known since
ancient Rome
 Reunited western Rome
 Encouragement of
learning
 Surrounded himself
around scholars
 Opened monasteries,
libraries
 After death, 3 sons fought
for kingdom
 Pact divided empire into 3
kingdoms

18. After attacks from invaders prompted a
new system
Lord= landowner
Fief= granted land
Vassal= person receiving a fief

19.  Knights= beneath
vassals, mounted
warriors who
pledged to defend
their lords’ lands in
exchange for fiefs
 The pyramid often
became a complex
triangle of conflicting
loyalties

22.  Status determined a person’s
prestige and power
 3 groups:
• Those who fought (nobles and
knights)
• Those who prayed (men and
women of Church)
• Those who worked (peasants,
majority of people)
Social classes are usually inherited

25.  = lord’s estate
 Obligations between a lord and his serfs
 Usually 15-30 families lived on a manor
 Self-sufficient community

27.  During warfare, feudal
lords defended their
estates, seized new
territories and increased
wealth
 Had a code of behavior

29.  Mounted
soldiers during
combat
 Saddle kept
knight on horse
 Stirrups
allowed him to
stand up while
riding and to
maneuver
heavier weapons

30. Feudal lords raised
private armies
Wealth from the land
allowed them to
devote their lives to
war
Rewarded knights
with land
Knight’s main
obligation was to
serve in battle

32.  Code of chivalry= set of ideals
 Cowardly knights who broke
the code faced public shame
• Armor stripped of
• His shield was cracked
• Spurs cut off
• Sword was broken over his head
• People then threw the knight into a
coffin and dragged him to church
• There a priest would chant a mock
funeral service

33. Began training for
knighthood at an early
age
Dubbed a knight
Gained experience in
local wars
Tournaments= mock
battles
Small practices did not
match bloodshed of
actual battles

35.  Battering Ram
 Tortoise= little moving
shield that moved with
soldiers to shelter them
from arrows
 Mantlet= shields
 Trebuchet= giant
slingshot, propelled
objects up to 980 ft
• Would sling: pots of burning
lime, boulders, severed
human heads, captured
soldiers, diseased cows,
dead horses

37.  Poems recounted a hero’s
deeds and adventures
 Retold stories of legendary
stories like King Arthur and
Charlemagne
 “The Song of Roland”= one
of the earliest and most
famous medieval epic
poems (tells of the story of a
band of French soldiers who
perished in battle during
Charlemagne’s reign)

38.  Lord’s duty to his lady was
as high as his lords
 Troubadours= poet-
musicians at the castles
and courts of Europe
 Short verses and songs
about the joys and sorrow
of romantic love
 Eleanor of Aquitaine= most
celebrated woman of the
age, mother of Richard the
Lion-Hearted and King
John

39. Church viewed women as
inferior to men
In contrast, the idea of
romantic love placed
noblewomen on a pedestal
where they would be
worshipped
Women’s status declined
under feudalism (limited to
home and convent)

40.  A noblewoman could inherit
an estate from her husband
 Under the lord’s request, she
could also send his knights to
war
 When the husband was off,
she acted as military
commander and a warrior
 Lord’s passed down their fiefs
to their sons, not their
daughters

42. Majority of women
were peasants
Performed labor at
home and in the fields
Power and powerless
Economic contribution
was essential to the
survival of the peasant
household

43. Middle Age women’s
status declined
The Church played a
part in medieval
women’s declining
fortunes (Church claimed
took control convents
and monasteries)

44. Clergy= religious officials

45. Power was based off
status (different ranks)
Pope- leader of whole
Church
Clergy-
• Bishops- settled disputes
over Church teachings and
practices
• Priests- served as main
contacts for the Church in
local cities

46.  Feudalism & the manor
system created divisions,
but the Church is what
they all had in common
 Gave a sense of security
during the Middle Ages
 All had the same path to
salvation
• Sacraments= religious
ceremonies (needed for
salvation)
 Worshipped together at
church

47. Church’s authority was both
religious and political
Canon Law= Church law (
• All were expected to follow
(peasant or king)
• Guided people’s conduct
• 2 most harsh punishments-
excommunication & interdict
(excludes from certain rites of
the Church individuals or
groups, not excommunicated)

48. Pope used his power to have control over
political rulers
• Example 1: Excommunication not only denied the
king salvation, but all his vassals were free from
their duties to him
• Example 2: Interdict- those in king’s land could not
take sacraments

49. When Pope Leo 3 crowned Charlemagne
emperor in 800, he set the stage for future
problems between popes and emperors

50.  Otto 1
• Ruler of Medieval Germany
• Aka Otto the Great
• Formed a close alliance with the
Church
• He ended up dominating the
Church (gaining support of
bishops and other leaders)
• Used his power to defeat
German princes
• Invaded Italy on the pope’s
behalf- the Pope rewarded Otto
by crowning him emperor

51.  Otto created the first
called Roman Empire of
the German Nation (later
called the Holy Roman
Empire)
 Remained the strongest
state in Europe till 1100
 Rising problem: Many
Italian nobles and popes
resented German power
over Italy

52. Church was not happy
that kings, like Otto, had
control over clergy
Lay investiture= a
ceremony in which kings
and nobles appoint
church officials
1075- Pope Gregory VII
banned lay investiture

53.  Henry IV (German
emperor) was angry about
this and ordered the
removal of Gregory
 Gregory, then,
excommunicated Henry
 Result: Many clergy sided
with the pope and Henry
tried to win the pope’s
forgiveness

54.  Canossa= Italian town
• Henry approached the
castle where Pope
Gregory was staying and
begged in front of the
castle for forgiveness (in
the snow for 3 days)
• The Pope was obligated
to forgive any sinner who
begged in such a fashion
 Result:
Excommunication
lifted

55.  Successors of Gregory and
Henry continued to fight
about lay investitures
 Worms= city in Germany
 Concordat= compromise
 Result: Only the Church
could appoint a bishop, but
the emperor could veto the
appointment

56. In 1152, 7 princes elected a German King
They needed someone strong to keep the
peace

57.  Nicknamed,
“Barbarossa”= red beard
• First ruler to call his land, the
Holy Roman Empire
• Like others before him, he
attacked rich Italian cities,
which turned the Italian
merchants against him
 Battle of Legnano=
Italians vs. Germans
• Italians used crossbows to
defeat the medieval knights
for the first time in history
• Frederick made peace with
the pope and returned to
Germany
 1190- drowned and the
empire fell to pieces

58. Many rulers continued to try to revive
Charlemagne’s empire and his alliances
with the Church
Conflicts during the Middle Ages was one
reason the feudal states did not unify
during the Middle Ages

59.  = series of religiously
inspired Christian military
campaigns against
Muslims that were
dominating politics of
western Europe

60. Exposure to
Muslim culture
made Europeans
more aware of
lackings in their
own lives (how to
make pasta,
sugar, colored
glass…)