The document summarizes key developments in Europe between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the Renaissance period. It discusses the decline of the Roman and Byzantine Empires due to corruption and invasions. It also outlines the rise of Christianity and the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages, as well as the establishment of feudalism and manorialism as social and economic systems.

1. Out of the “Light”

2.  Corrupt governments in both empires
 Infighting among political elites
 Empires too large in area to manage
 Invasions from hostile nomadic tribes

4.  Council of Nicaea: sets basic tenets of Christianity
 Eastern Orthodoxy develops after the schism
between that church and the Catholic Church
 Church develops in power during the Middle Ages
in Europe

5.  Middle Ages seen as the “Age of Faith”
 Missionaries spread Christianity
 Shared beliefs in Christianity bond the people of
medieval Europe
 Church provided stability and security in times of
frequent wars
 At the local level, the church was the religious and social
center. People met there for service, and social gatherings
 Performed social services such as caring for the sick and
the poor.
 The Church operated most hospitals in medieval Europe.

6.  2 Empires (Rome/Byzantine); 2 Popes
 Christian Church splits over…
 use of leaven or unleavened bread
 Power of the Pope and Rome’s role
 Excommunicated each other

8.  Authority of the pope as head of the Church
challenged by…
 John Wycliffe, who believes that God is sole
authority,
 Jan Huss, who believes the authority of the Bible is
higher than the pope’s authority.
 Beginning of challenges to the authority of the Catholic
Church that leads to the Reformation.

10. Roman Catholic Eastern Orthodoxy
• Strict hierarchy • Patriarch and other
• Latin bishops lead the church as
a collective group
• Priests celibate
• Services conducted in
• No divorces; only Greek or local languages
annulments • Priests may marry
• Divorce is allowed under
certain circumstances

11.  Constantine relocates the capital of the Eastern
Roman Empire to Byzantium and renames it
Constantinople
 Justinian constructs the Hagia Sophia (pronounced
ay-uh Sophia) along with numerous other grand
churches throughout his empire to show the close
connection between church and state
 Missionary Saints Cyril and Methodius
Christianize Slavs to the north of the empire and
develop the Cyrillic language to promote religion
to the Slavs

12.  Authority in medieval Europe based on the
Church
 Charlemagne
 crowned emperor by Pope Leo III
 shows the close connection between church and state
 Creates the Holy Roman Empire
 Links Church and government
 Church creates a system of justice, canon
law, to regulate people’s conduct

13.  Reciprocal military obligations between
members of the warrior nobility in Medieval
Europe
 Lords grant parcels of land known as fiefs to lesser
knights who are known as vassals, who in
turn, provide military service to the lord. Chivalry
and fealty between a lord and the vassal relationship
 Contributing factors
-Fall of the Roman Empire leaves a gap in protection
and services to people
-invaders (Muslims & Vikings) overrun
communities, people turn to lords for their protection

14.  Manorialism – Smallest economic, social unit
revolving around an estate, controlled by a lord, who
gives land and protection to his serfs, who in turn give
him their services.
 Land = wealth
 Characteristics – Manors were self-sufficient where serfs raised
and produced nearly everything needed for that community.
 The open field system allowed several families of serfs to farm
strips of the same parcel of land. Living conditions for serfs
were generally harsh on manors.
 Contributing factors – Model of villas in the Roman
Empire used to manage rural economies; decline in
overland and sea trade after the fall of the Roman
Empire

15. Magna Carta
1215
Political ideas – Limited power of the nobility
Legal ideas – No one is above the law
Thomas Aquinas: (1225-1274)
Truth is known through reason and faith

16.  Moors (Muslims from North Africa) occupy Spain
for over 700 years and promote a golden age in art,
literature, science, and mathematics
 Defeat by the Franks at Tours in 732 stops the
Muslim invasion of Europe
 Preserve Roman/Greek knowledge and advance
mathematics and science
 Reconquista drives out the Muslims in the late
1400s
 Inquisition in Spain leads to torture and expulsion
of Muslims and Jew

18.  Nine official Crusades in to the Middle East
 Recapture Jerusalem
 Pope told Christians its ok to kill non-Christians
 Pogroms against Jews and Orthodox too
 Casualties weakened the feudal nobility
 Impacts
 Failure lessened the power of the Pope
 Mistrust of West by Muslims
 Trade in spices and other goods from Southwest
Asia lead to European desire for new trade routes
 Desire for spice begins the Era of Exploration

19.  1348-50
 Bubonic plague brought from China on trade ships
 Fleas on rats
 Most devastating pandemic in human history
 Wiped out 30-60 of Europe’s population
 World population went from 450 to 350-375 million
Social Impacts
 Collapse of manorial system as productivity ends and serfs
leave in search of work; peasant
 Rebellions grow in response to nobles’ refusal to increase
wages
 Church loses prestige as it is unable to stop the plague
through prayer and intervention

22.  Emergence of nationalism and monarchs as
national leaders in England and France
 Instability in England after the Hundred Years
War leads to the War of the Roses, which
strengthens Parliament since it is called
frequently by King Edward III to increase taxes
to finance this new war
 Democracy advanced as Parliament gains
greater “power of the purse”