U5. High & Late Middle Ages.

Unit 5
HIGH MIDDLE AGES.
URBAN RENAISSANCE
Unit 7 (p.132-133)
LATE MIDDLE AGES.
CRISIS & RECOVERY
11-13TH CENTURIES
14-15TH CENTURIES

Chronology of the Middle Ages
Start: 476 (fall of the WRE)
Finish: 1453 (fall of Constantinople) or
1492 (discovery of America)
• 5 – 10th
Century
Early
Middle Ages
• 11 – 13th
Century
High
Middle Ages • 14 – 15th
Century
Late
Middle Ages

Chronology of the Middle Ages
Alta Edad Media (5 – 10th Century)
Baja Edad Media (11-15th Century)
• Plena Edad Media (11 – 13th Century)
• Crisis de la Edad Media (14 – 15th Century)
Subperiods in
Spanish

Activity 1
a) When did the Middle Ages start & end?
b) Link each period of the Middle Ages with
its chronology.
 Late Middle Ages
 11 - 13th centuries.
 High Middle Ages
 Early Middle Ages

HIGH
MIDDLE
AGES
11-13th
Centuries
UNIT 5
(p.90 – 105)

General characteristics
High Middle
Ages
A new social
group
appeared: the
bourgeoisie
Cultural &
religious
changes:
· Universities
appeared
· Crusades &
Inquisition
· Gothic art
Cities were
revived
(VS villages)
Agriculture
progressed
so
economy
improved
Kings
gained
more
power
(VS nobles)
It was a period of prosperity & change in Europe.

1.1.The territorial framework (geography)
Europe was still a mosaic of small kingdoms.

Most important states  France & the Holy Roman Empire.
 Emerged as a consequence of the division of the Carolingian Empire.
 Divided into feudal territories (counties, duchies, marches…)

Normans (Vikings) settled in several areas:
• North of France (Duchy of Normandy)
• England
• Sicily
• South of Italy
Stop attacks (11th century)  PEACE & STABILITY FOR EUROPE!!!

Muslims fought for territories in the south (Iberian Peninsula)
& east (Byzantine Empire).

1.3. Political organisation
THE PARLIAMENT REPLACED
THE CURIA REGIS
 In the 12th Century the Curia Regis
(nobles & clergy) was replaced by a
new assembly, the Parliament, that
included nobility, clergy &
bourgeoisie. Finally “normal”
people were politically represented!!!
 Function: advise the king &
approve taxes.
 Different names for this assembly:
• Parliament  England
• Cortes  Spain
• États Généraux  France
• Diet  Holy Roman Empire

Parliaments with
representatives of the:
-Nobility
-Clergy
-Cities (bourgeoisie)

KINGS REGAINED
POWER OVER FEUDAL
LORDS
 Kings’ power increased (VS
nobles) thanks to the
economical support of
the new social group
(bourgeoisie) that
emerged in the cities.
 In exchange kings gave
CHARTERS to cities: a
document that granted
them liberty & the right
to govern themselves.

A CHARTER is a legal document that gives to a city and its inhabitants
(the bourgeoisie) the right to govern themselves independently.
Charters made cities "free“  they were directly protected by the
king, and were not part of a feudal fief.

CITY CHARTER OF BILBAO.
In Spanish we call them “Carta Puebla”, “Fuero” or “Carta de Privilegios”.

KINGS REGAINED
POWER OVER FEUDAL
LORDS
 Kings’ power increased (VS
nobles) thanks to the
economical support of
the new social group
(bourgeoisie) that
emerged in the cities.
 In exchange kings gave
CHARTERS to cities to
grant them liberty & the
right to govern
themselves.
THE PARLIAMENT REPLACED
THE CURIA REGIS
 In the 12th Century the Curia Regis
(nobles & clergy) was replaced by a
new assembly, the Parliament, that
included nobility, clergy &
bourgeoisie. Finally “normal”
people were politically represented!!!
 Function: advise the king &
approve taxes.
 Different names for this assembly:
• Parliament  England
• Cortes  Spain
• États Généraux  France
• Diet  Holy Roman Empire

Activity 2
 Page 90 - 91: exercises 2, 3 & 4.
 What happened to kings’ power
during the High Middle Ages and why?
 The assembly formed by the nobility,
the clergy & the bourgeoisie was
known as “Parliament” in England.
How was it known in France, in Spain
and in the Holy Roman Empire?

2.AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS
11–13th centuries  economy grew thanks to
agricultural innovations &
improvements.
CAUSES OF
AGRICULTURAL
PROGRESS
Triennial crop
rotation
(instead of biennial
crop rotation)
Horse collar
(instead of yoke)
Metal horseshoes
to protect horses’
hooves.
Mouldboard
plough
(instead of the
Roman plough)
Watermills
(instead of windmills)

 Made of iron, heavier, made deeper holes.
 It turned over the soil & allowed more air into the soil,
so it was more productive.
 Supported by wheels.
 Pulled by horses, that moved faster than oxen.
Mouldboard
plough
(instead of the
Roman plough)

 Land divided in 3 parts, where
each year they rotated:
i. Fallow land
ii. Cereals
iii. Legumes or oats (avena)
 It reduced the amount of
uncultivated land.  only ⅓
was uncultivated.
Triennial crop
rotation
(instead of biennial
crop rotation)

 Distributes the load better, and its made with leather &
filled with straw  avoid injuries.
 Enables the horse to use its full strength when pulling.
Horse
collar
(collera)
Yoke
(yugo)
Horse collar
(instead of yoke)
VS

Used to grind grain into cereals.
It was more productive since it didn’t
depend on the weather.
Watermills
(instead of windmills)

However, watermills weren’t invented in the High Middle Ages… They
were already used in the Ancient Period!! Example: Roman “Albolafia”
watermill (Córdoba).
What’s true is that during the High Middle Ages the use of water
mills spread a lot! For example in England...:
• 11th century  6,000 water mills
• 14th century  10,000 - 15,000 water mills

 Protected horses’ hooves.
 It’s not clear if it was invented in
the High Middle Ages, but in this
period its use spread a lot too.
Metal horseshoes
to protect horses’
hooves.

2.2. CONSEQUENCES OF AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS:
IMPROVED AGRICULTURAL TOOLS &TECHNIQUES
Agricultural production increased
Improvement in nutrition
Population grew a lot:
- 11th Cent.  36 millions
- 14th Cent.  80 millions
Cultivated surface was
extended
Agricultural surpluses
(agricultural production that exceeds the needs
of the people who produces it)
Trade was
reactivated

Dutch polders.
 Land was won from the sea
using dams.

Activity 3
 Devise a diagram about the causes and the
consequences of the agricultural progress.
 Page 92  exercise 1.

3. MEDIEVAL CITIES
In the 11th century urban life was restored: old Roman cities
were revived & new cities were founded.
• WHY? Because of the increase in agricultural production  each
fief produced more food than what it needed, so they could sell
the extra food (agricultural surplus) in the markets. This
favoured the development of trade & crafts, main economic
activities developed in the cities.

• WHERE DID NEW CITIES EMERGED? They emerged
around the markets that were established:
 Near castles & monasteries (wealthy people!)
 Along busy roads & crossroads
 Sea ports

Next to those markets, neighbourhoods of craftsmen & traders
(known as boroughs) were created, which were eventually
surrounded by walls and became cities.
Over time, the word “BOROUGH” (Burgh / Burg / Burgo…) was
used to designate a medieval walled city. Its inhabitants were called
“BOURGEOIS”, and constituted a new social group (the
Bourgeoisie).

A good example of a
medieval city is Prague!!!

Nottingham
(England)
Carcassonne
(France)

• Cities were usually small
(<50,000).
• Usually walled & organized
around a main square (where
the market was held once a
week), where the cathedral &
town hall were generally
located.
• They were important economic
centres. Its main professions
were crafts & trade.
• They were also important religious & cultural centres: there were
churches, monasteries, schools & universities…
• Cities were organized in neighbourhoods. Each one was inhabited by
people belonging to the same craft. There were special quarters for
minorities (jews, muslims).

Medieval cities were usually walled. When the city grew
too much, they often built a new wall further away.

Jewish & Muslim quarters
(“Juderías” y Morerías”)
Alcalá de Henares
Cordoba
Toledo
Mulhouse
(France)
Madrid

• Medieval cities were crowded, busy, noisy & dirty places:
Narrow, dirty & unpaved streets.
There were no sewerage systems. Rubbish was thrown out of the window,
and rats & parasites proliferated so infectious diseases were common.
Fires were common because most houses were built with wood & mud.
In the streets you could find all kinds of people & things happening…
 Artisans working
& traders selling
their products
 Puppeteers,
jesters,
minstrels &
troubadours
performing
 Beggars begging
 Animals running
about

NARROW MEDIEVAL
STREETS
“Barrio
gótico”
(Barcelona)
Medieval street in
York (England)
Medieval
street in
Mont-
Saint
Michel
(France)

JESTERS (“bufones”): were in charge of making people laugh.
They had a wide variety of skills which could include
acrobatics, juggling, magic, songs, music...

MINSTRELS (or JONGLEUR) & TROBADOURS were in
charge of entertaining people. They were story-tellers.
TROUBADOUR (“trobadores”):
they were poet-musicians. They
composed poems (romances) about
love, heroes & chivalry that were
recited as poems set to music. They
came from upper classes.
MINSTRELS (“Juglares”): they
memorized & recited poems, but
didn’t composed them. They came
from lower social classes and
their role wasn’t as refined as the
Troubadours’.

Beggars, people drinking in the taverns…

Festivals - People of all social classes stopped
working for a day and celebrated.
They also cleaned on festival days because....

Medieval cities were quite disgusting!! Mud, animals &
human excrements were all around the place!!
VIDEO: Filthy Medieval London

Activity 4
 Page 95  exercises 1.
 Page 99  exercise 5.
 Write a composition (10-15 lines)
describing how do you imagine a Medieval
City smelled & looked like.

4.1. HOWWERE CITIES
GOVERNED?
• At the beginning  cities were controlled by the feudal lord of the
area where the city was located.

• Later on  when the king gave a “charter” to a city, it began to be
governed by itself.
 “Charter”: document that the king gave
to a city that granted them liberty & the
right to govern themselves.
 Having gained their freedom, cities were
governed by a Communal Council
(Concejo Municipal):
‐ Its members were elected by
the citizens.
‐ It was presided by a mayor.
‐ They met in the town hall.
‐ Over time the government of
the cities was in the hands of
the richest families in the city:
the urban patriciate.

Medieval town halls in
Brussels & Leuven
(Belgium)

“Salón de Ciento”  room of
the Town Hall of Barcelona
where the Communal Council
met in the High Middle Ages

4.2. GUILDS & CRAFTSMEN
Function of the guilds:
 Control the production: guilds controlled the quality & quantity of their
products (decided raw materials used, manufacturing processes…), regulated
prices of the products & the salaries of its workers.  they avoided
competition so that everything cost the same in every shop!!!
 Protect their members (helped guild’s members in case of illness, death…)
3 categories:
 Master craftesman  owner of the workshop. Expert in his craft.
 Journeymen (or officers)  received a salary for their works. Could
become a master if he produced a “masterpiece”.
 Apprentices  Learning the craft. Not paid. Lived in the master’s house.
Artisans were organized in GUILDS: associations of artisans
who practiced the same craft. Each craft had its own guild.

MEDIEVAL GUILDS:
- Kept the “mysteries” (know-how) of their craft.
- Were established by a charter given by the city.
- Held the monopoly on trade in its craft within the city: it was
forbidden by law for an artisan to run a business if he wasn’t a member
of its corresponding guild.
- Aimed to reduce free competition.

HOME WORKSHOPS: craftmen worked & lived in the same
place. Their houses usually had two floors:
GROUND FLOOR:
• Workshop
• Shop front
(open to the
street)
• Kitchen
• Pantry
• Courtyard
FIRST FLOOR:
• Bedrooms

Since the 11th Century trade was also revived.
• Cities were the major trading centres.
 Markets were held once a week.
 Trade fairs were held once a year. These were gatherings of merchants
in certain cities where products from distant places were sold.
Some port cities
became prosperous
international
commercial centres
(Venice, Genoa,
Marseille, Barcelona,
Hamburg, Brugge...)
4.3. RISE OF TRADE

4.THE NEW URBAN SOCIETY
 A new social class appeared in the cities: the BOURGEOISIE:
 Inhabitants of the “boroughs” (cities).
 Formed by craftsmen & traders.
 In feudal society they were included in the same group as the peasants
(third class or commoners). They were non-privileged.
 2 distinct groups:
• High bourgeoisie  rich merchants, bankers, guilds’ masters… They
controlled the government of the cities.
• Petite bourgeoisie  small traders, guilds’ journeymen & apprentices,
servants… They were the non-ruling class.
 In the cities there were also:
 Minority groups (Jews, Muslims) that lived separated in special quarters.
 Marginalized people (beggars, disabled, unemployed…)

High bourgeoisie
VS
Petite bourgeoisie

 Jewish quarters (judería /aljama)
 Muslim quarters (Morerías)
Alcalá de Henares
Cordoba
Toledo
Mulhouse
(France)
Madrid

Activity 5
 Define the following words:
◦ Charter
◦ Communal Council
◦ Town hall
◦ Mayor
 Devise a diagram to explain Medieval Guilds
(definition / Functions / Types of members).
 P.96  exercise 3.
 What’s the bourgeoisie? Explain its composition.
 P. 98  exercise 1.

6.1. URBAN CULTURE
 Early Middle Ages 
education only interested
the clergy and took place
in monasteries.
 High Middle Ages  the development
of cities & trade increased the interest in
education of the nobility & bourgeoisie
to be able to do business & govern cities.
Schools & universities were founded.

Cathedral Schools
 Controlled by the
Church.
 They taught the future
clergy.
 Focused on religious
studies
Urban schools
Municipal Schools
 Controlled by the
government.
 Opened to common
people
 Focused on reading,
writing, mathematics,
law, and medicine

 Appeared in the 12th Century.
 Universities were similar to
guilds of teachers & students.
Each one had its own classes
and rules that teachers and
students had to follow.
 All classes were taught in
Latin.
Universities
Advanced schools promoted by the Church.
3 oldest Universities in Europe:
 University of Bologna (Italy, 1088)
 University of Paris (France, 1150)
 University of Oxford (UK, 1167)

Universities were divided into four specialties:
LIBERAL ARTS
(MUSIC, MATHS,
ASTRONOMY,
PHILOSOPHY,
LANGUAGE)
MEDICINE
LAW
THEOLOGY

Oxford University
Medieval manuscript
showing a meeting of
doctors at the
University of Paris.

Evidence of this is the
fact that the quarter
where the University of
Paris (Sorbonne) was
located is known as the
“Latin Quarter”
The international
language of
learning during
the Middle Ages
was LATIN.

Activity 6
a) Why did the nobility & bourgeoisie began to be
interested in education in the High Middle Ages?
b) What were the differences between Cathedral
Schools & Municipal Schools?
c) Name 2 examples of medieval universities.
d) What was the international language of learning
used in all medieval universities?

MEDIEVAL
RELIGION:
Crusades &
Inquisition

ACTIVITY 7: Copy these questions into
your notebooks. Answer them as we go.
CRUSADES
a) Why did the Pope want to organise the Crusades?
b) What is a crusader? What benefits did they receive?
c) Were crusades finally successful?
INQUISITION
a) Define:
• Inquisition
• Heretics
a) When was the Inquisition?
c) Give two examples of torture/punishment techniques.

Military expeditions organized by
the Pope & the Christian Kings to
expel the Muslims from the Holy
Land & stop their expansion.
Crusades
•There were 8 crusades between 1095 and 1270.
– Each crusade only lasted a few years.
– They were organized by the Pope and led by Christian Kings
•Crusaders were knights from different Christian kingdoms:
– They fought to gain land and were forgiven for all their sins by the Pope.
– They wore crosses on their clothes.
– Protected pilgrims.

CAUSES
(Factors that enabled the Crusades to happen)
• Turks had conquered the Holy Land
(Jerusalem).
• People were very naive (they
believed everything that the church
said).
• The Pope didn’t like the division of
Christianity since the East-West
Schism of 1054 (orthodox VS
catholic) and he wanted to reunify
them.
• Many unemployed knights (only the
1st son inherited land; Vikings had
stopped their invasions...) who were
bored and needed something to do
and a way of achieving land.
After capturing territories from the
Muslims, the lands were controlled by
military orders and religious
organizations formed by Knights, such as
the Knights Templar

Crusades’ Role Play
Characters:
Pope Christian Lord The Lord’s 2 sons
Basileus Turk 2 Pilgrims

The Inquisition was the tribunal of the Church that
judged crimes against the faith. Its aim was to combat
heresy. The Church persecuted & judged heretics, and
the State punished them.
The Inquisition

Who did the Inquisition put on trial?
• The inquisition tried
heretics, who were
those that had
committed an act of
heresy. Heresy is any
action that goes
against the Church
or church beliefs.

What the Bible says...
• If a prophet […] appears among you and he says, “Let us follow
other gods”, that prophet must be put to death. You must purge
evil from among you.
• If your very own brother entices you, saying, “Let us go and
worship other gods”... Do not listen to him. Show him no pity...
You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first
in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
Stone him to death.
• If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown
away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the
fire and burned.

When was the inquisition?
• The Inquisition began
in the 13th Century
(1230). It lasted over
600 years, until the
early 19th century.

The Inquisitions’ justice system
Torture: The Inquisitors
used torture to extract an
“in full” confession.
Investigation:
When the
Inquisition
arrived in a new
town their job
was to identify
the heretics.
Trial: The trial favored the
Church. An accused heretic’s
best option was to confess “in
full”, which meant confessing
what they had done and what
all the members of their
family had done.
Punishment:
According to
the Church,
punishments
were necessary
to save the
souls of
heretics. But, if
punishments
were to result
in death, they
were carried
out by the
State.

Torture and Punishment techniques
Death by burning

Strappado
It’s a form of torture that began
with the Medieval Inquisition. The
hands of the accused were tied
behind his back and the rope
looped over a brace in the ceiling
of the chamber or attached to a
pulley. Then the subject was
raised until he was hanging from
his arms. This might cause the
shoulders to pull out of their
sockets. Sometimes, the torturers
added a series of drops, jerking
the subject up and down. Weights
could be added to the ankles and
feet to make the hanging even
more painful.

The Rack
The subject had his hands and feet
tied or chained to rollers at one or
both ends of a wooden or metal
frame. The torturer turned the rollers
with a handle, which pulled the chains
or ropes in increments and stretched
the subject's joints, often until they
dislocated. If the torturer continued
turning the rollers, the accused's
arms and legs could be torn off.
Often, simply seeing someone else
being tortured on the rack was
enough to make another person
confess.

The
heretics
fork
This instrument consisted of two little forks one set against the other, with the four prongs
rammed into the flesh, under the chin and above the chest. A small collar supported the
instrument in such a manner that the victims were forced to hold their head erect, thus
preventing any movement.
The forks did not penetrate any vital points, and thus suffering was prolonged and death
avoided. Obviously the victims' hands were tied behind their back.

The Head Crusher
Compresses the skull,
shatters teeth, squeezes
out the eyes

The brazen bull is an executionary device first invented in
Ancient Greece.
The subject was locked inside the brazen bull and set a fire
underneath it. He was slowly burned alive to death.
Even though this torture was not used as frequently during
the Middle Ages as it was used earlier by the Greek and
Romans, it was still used in Central Europe.
The
brazen
bull

Hanging cages
This method was used to punish and kill
criminals found guilty of any offense requiring
everybody to see what could happen if they
commited same crime.
It was also used to punish criminals whose
offenses created commotion between
citizens. Prisoners were enclosed there nude or
barely dressed. No food, no compassion… just
hanging there to die starving and thirsty, frozen
during winter and with severe sunburns during
summer.

The saw
The wheel

Judas
Cradle
Spanish
Donkey

Waterboarding
consisted of introducing a cloth into
the mouth of the victim, and forcing
them to ingest water spilled from a jar
so that they had the impression of
drowning"

Waterboarding
consisted of introducing a cloth into
the mouth of the victim, and forcing
them to ingest water spilled from a jar
so that they had the impression of
drowning"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEX8WeZU2wA

LATE
MIDDLE
AGES
14-15th
Centuries
UNIT 7
(p.132 – 133)

CRISIS OF THE 14th CENTURY
During the 14th Century (Late Middle Ages) Europe
suffered a deep crisis. It marked a clear end to the
earlier period of growth and prosperity between the 11th
and the 13th centuries (High Middle Ages).

CAUSES OF THE 14th
CENTURY CRISIS
WARS FAMINE BLACK DEATH

CAUSES OF THE 14th
CENTURY CRISIS
• Hundred Years War:
 England VS France
 1337 - 1453
• Between feudal lords &
kings.

Hundred Years’ War (1337–1475)
FRANCE
(Valois
dynasty)
ENGLAND
(Plantagenet
dynasty)
VS
It broke out
due to
dynastic
problems in
France as
Charles IV
died leaving
no male
descendants.

CAUSES OF THE 14th
CENTURY CRISIS
 1337 - 1453
kings.
• Climatic calamities
(heavy rainfalls) led to
less harvests,
malnutrition and
famine among the
European population.

Great Famine
of 1315–1317
Illuminated manuscript
about the Apocalypse in a
Bible of the 14th Century.
The “Death” sits on lion
whose long tail ends in a
ball of flame (hell) where
we can see a
representation of famine
(“fames") pointing at her
hungry mouth.

CAUSES OF THE 14th
CENTURY CRISIS
 1337 - 1453
kings.
• Climatic calamities
(heavy rainfalls) led to
less harvests,
malnutrition and
famine among the
European population.
• Plague epidemic
between 1348 – 1352
that killed about 1/3
of the European
population.

- 1348 - 1352
- Epidemic of the bubonic plague.
- Killed ⅓ of European population (≈ 25 million people)
- Originated in Asia. Then it spread towards the West by rats & fleas
through the trade routes.
- Factors: lack of hygiene, medicines & information.
- Symptoms: buboes (lumps), black marks & fever.
- Doctors were unable to control the disease. They used bleeding
treatment to try to treat it.
The Black Death
- Though it was spread by rats, people
believed it was a punishment from God.
Some hit themselves with leather whips
to show repentance (flagellants).

Symptoms of the bubonic plague

♫♫ Ring Around the Rosy ♫♫

Consequences of the
Black Death
 Families were torn apart and
villages deserted.
 Businesses collapsed and fiefs were left bankrupt
by loss of taxes.
 There was a strengthened belief in God, but an
increased skepticism about the established Church.
 The shortage of labor shifted the balance of power
between the lords and the serfs.
 Authority and tradition were no longer accepted
with out question.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE
14th CENTURY CRISIS
POPULATION
DROP
ECONOMIC
DECLINE
SOCIAL
CONFLICTS
1300: 80 million people
1400: 45 million people
• Agricultural production
dropped so prices of food
raised.
• The demand of handcrafted
goods decreased (less
population = less demand) so
craftwork & trade went into
a crisis
• In the countryside peasants
rebelled against the lords,
who had increased feudal
taxes to make up for the
decreased population.
• In the cities the poorer
people attacked the
wealthier classes in demand
of jobs. Jews were also
attacked due to a rumour
that said that they had
caused the Black Death by
poisoning the water wells.

15th
Century
recovery
Population
began to
grow again
Economy improved
(agriculture, crafts &
trade) due to
greater demand, so
social conflicts
stopped
Search for
new trade
routes (fall of
Constatinople, 1453)
led to
geographical
discoveries
New
mentality
(humanism)
led to the
European
Renaissance
Kings gained
control over
the feudal
lords

Activity 8
P. 132 
 exercise 3
 exercise 4
 exercises 5a / 5b / 5c

U5. High & Late Middle Ages.

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U5. High & Late Middle Ages.