The document summarizes major developments in Europe between 500-1200 CE: 1) The decline of the Western Roman Empire led to the emergence of the Middle Ages and new political systems like feudalism replaced Roman traditions. 2) Germanic invasions disrupted trade, depopulated cities, and shifted populations to rural areas in Western Europe. 3) New languages like French and Spanish developed from Latin as Germanic peoples mixed with Romans. 4) The Catholic Church survived the fall of Rome and became a unifying institution across Europe during the Middle Ages. 5) Feudalism established a pyramid-like hierarchy of lords, vassals, and knights in which land was exchanged for military service.

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…)