1. The Reshaping of Medieval
Europe
Chapter 10
Mrs. Stephanie Holland
Trinity Christian School

3. During the late medieval period, there was a
gradual breakdown of the church, the manor
system, and feudalism.
Commerce and trade altered the economy and
small towns and cities sprouted up. A middle
class formed out of businessmen.
Kings who amassed large armies were able to
overpower popes and feudal nobility altering
the power status quo.

4. Section 1: The Revival of Trade
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Trade routes
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Southern Route – almost entirely on water. Goods
from China and India sailed across the Arabian Seat
up the Read Sea and then taken by land to the Nile
and then to the Mediterranean.
Central Route – Combined land and sea. Ships from
the Far East carried goodds to the Persian Gulf and
caravans took them to Baghdad or Damascus where
they were taken to port cities along the Mediterranean
and Black Seas
Northern Route – Silk Road – Overland across central
Asia. It connected Beijing and Caonstantinople.

5. 
Markets became primary trade centers
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Once a week
Church yards or town squares
Craftsmen and surplus food
Encouraged serfs to produce more so that
there was more surplus and they could profit
and maybe buy their freedom .
Trade Fairs attracted merchants from all over
Europe.
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Annually and could last several days or weeks
Most famous were in Champagne, northern France
Foreign traders brought silks, rugs, gems, spices,
linen, cotton, and dyes – luxury items. They traded for
fish, timber, wool and grain.

7. 
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Italy controlled Mediterranean Trade
Flanders ( Belgium, France and Holland )
– the Flemish controlled the market in
northern Europe

8. Usury – The practice of charging interest for the use
of lent money.
Just price – a price that included the cost of materials,
a fair return for labor and a reasonable profit.
According to the church, it was wrong to sell an
item for more than it was worth or not to pay a fair
price. If any man received a profit greater than his
needs, he was expected to give it to charity.
Moneychangers – men experienced in judging the
approximate value of coins, recognizing counterfeit
currency and determining one currency’s value in
relation to another. They charged a fee to
exchange one currency for another.

9. Usury was considered a sin. The church believed
that anyone who borrowed money was in great
need. To profit on a loan made to someone in
need was wrong. Such a loan should be an act
of kindness and not a business investment.
The revival would change this view. Business men
would begin getting loans to as a business
investment, therefore it was acceptable to make
a profit on these loans because you should be
rewarded for taking a risk when there was an
equal possibility of loss.

10. During early medieval times, the church held
the following views on economic activity:
Restraints should be in place in order to
prevent greed and the hoarding of wealth
Man was expected to work for the good of
society
Any profit beyond the needs of the seller
should go to charity.

11. The revival of trade and changes in
business methods brought opportunity
and economic incentive to the population.
Economic principles, rather than the view
of the church began to guide business.
Dignity of labor
Legitimacy of profit
Freedom of exchange
Individual NOT GROUP responsibility for
economic matters.

12. Section II: Growth of Towns
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Renewed trade stimulated the growth of
towns. They provided the needed markets
for the increase in agricultural products
brought on by improved farming methods.
The increased food supply boosted the
population.
The increased food supply also allowed
for an increase in surplus to sell, thus
allowing craftsmen and tradesmen could
devote more time to their craft and
business than to growing crops.

13. 
Some towns renewed within the old walls
of Roman cities, but others grew around
locations important to trade:
Cross roads, bridges, fords, river mouths,
harbors, castles, churches and monasteries. .

14. Merchants and craftsmen did not quite fit into
the feudal system, yet they were still considered
to be subject to some feudal lord.
Townsmen with similar interests banded
together to gain freedom from feudal
interference and secure self government.
This freedom could be bought, or was
sometimes given freely by a lord. In this
instance-towns revolted.

15. 
A charter is a legal document that
contained the privileges granted a town by
its lord.
The more favorable the charter, the greater
the number of people who desired to settle
in the town.

16. 
Most townsmen had certain freedoms
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Free Status – Anyone who lived in a town for 1 year
and a day was considered free, regardless of his
previous status
Exemption from Manorial Obligations – Townsmen
were exempt from labor obligations, they paid a
cash payment instead.
Town Justice – Townsmen were tried in the town
court and judged according to town customs
Commercial privileges – Free from feudal
interference to buy and sell freely in the town
market

17. 
Merchants and craftsmen formed guilds to
regulate the business activity of a given
town
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Also prided aid to members in need
Established schools and cared for the poor,
widows and orphans
Helped town obtain favorable charters and
played an important role in town government
Two types – merchant and craft

18. 
Merchant guilds – guarded trade interests,
creating a monopoly of a towns trade.
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Restricted outsiders from doing business without
paying a heavy fee.
Fixed prices
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Later separated into specialized craft guilds
(banks/butchers/bakers….)
Craftsmen guilds – regulated work hours,
wages earned, and number of workers hired.
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Quality of the crafts was guaranteed.
Those disobeying regulations were fined.
Three classes of members: apprentice,
journeyman, master

19. 
Towns often formed associations to
promote mutual commercial interests. The
most famous of these was the Hanseatic
League made up of over seventy German
cities in North western Europe.
This league also became a political
force negotiating treaties, maintaining a
navy and waging war against other
countries.
 This league sought to organize and
control trade in the Baltic region.
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20. The growth of small towns created a new
social class – the Middle Class.
This class shaped the new medieval society
by:
 Contributing to the decline of the feudal
system
 Threatening the position of the noblemen
 Weakening he political authority of the
noblemen
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They desired the stable and uniform
government of a national king rather than a
feudal lord.

21. 
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The Black Death
Killed ¼ of Europe’s population during the
fourteenth century.
Spread throughout Europe from Asia by
rats and fleas from merchant ships
Often caused family members to turn from
each other – not assisting or helping from
fear of death.

Instead of being humbled by the disease,
many became bolder in their sin. “Eat, drink
and be merry; for tomorrow we die.”

22. Most medieval towns were small and
enclosed in protective walls. Houses were
crowded together on narrow streets.
Streets were dark, crooked and dirty.
Townspeople often threw their garbage
into open gutters lining the streets. Poor
sanitation caused disease and epidemics
to spread rapidly.
The smell of some towns could be detected
for miles.

23. The primary centers of education in the middle
ages were cathedrals and monasteries. It was
divided into two groups of study
 Trivium – grammar, rhetoric, and logic
 Quadrivium – arithmetic, geometry, astronomy
and music.
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Early science was filled with magic and
superstition.
Universities began to replace monasteries and
cathedral schools. Students chose schools
according to the teachers at the schools and
would travel all over Europe to find the best
instructor.

24. 
There was a renewed interest in theology
and philosophy. This new movement was
called Scholasticism.
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This movement relied on faith and reason as
their two sources of knowledge. They hoped
to defend the Christian faith by using reason.
They did not seek to discover new knowledge,
but to support that which already existed.
Abelard – Sic et Non (yes and no)
Aquinas – Summa Theologica
Anselm – earliest scholastic thinker; used
logical arguments to prove God’s existence.

25. 
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Bacon – English Scientist/advocated observation
and experimentation
Dante – wrote about in imaginary journey
through hell, purgatory and paradise.
Chaucer – wrote about pilgrims traveling to
Becket’s shrine
The language for teaching was usually Latin.
During the Middle Ages, they began writing in
the common spoken or vernacular language.
Vernacular literature first developed in the form
of long narrative poems. (Beowulf)

26. 
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Troubadours (wondering minstrels)
popularized the vernacular in lyric poetry.
They travelled singing songs of love and
adventure.
Francis of Assissi and Bernard of
Clairvaux are credited with writing
medieval hymns.

27. 
Art of the Middle Ages was primarily
religious.
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Since many were illiterate, they used visual
arts to tell stories. They used symbols to help
the observer identify the figures.
Architecture:
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Romanesque – 1050 to 1150 – rectangular,
thick walls, stone vaults and ceilings, rounded
arches, heavy columns and small doors and
windows – dark and gloomy.
Gothic – beginning around thirteenth century –
flying buttresses, high ceilings, thinner walls,
larger windows and doors – light and delicate.

28. 
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Nation states emerged as people became
more aware of shared traditions and culture.
Fourteenth and fifteenth centuries – Hundred
Years’ War between England and France.
The longbow greatly aided the English. They
had greater range and accuracy than the
crossbow. (Demonstrated at Agincourt,
Pointers and Crecy)
Joan of Arc inspired a sense of nationalism
which motivated the French to fight in the
Hundred Years’ War.

29. 
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One French consequence of the war was
the taille – a royal land tax used to raise
money for the army.
After fighting with the French, the English
entered into a series of conflicts over the
throne called the Wars of the Roses. The
Lancaster’s won and Henry Tudor became
Henry VII, King of England.

30. 
In the eleventh century, a small group of
non-Muslim states in the north of the Iberian
Peninsula began a combined effort to drive
the Muslims out and reclaim the peninsula.
This was called the Reconquista.
When Ferdinand and Isabella married, this
combined Aragon and Castile to create
Spain.

31. 
The Golden Bull was a written constitution
that established the Diet of the Holy
Roman Empire. It was the German
equivalent of the English Parliament.
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This effectively kept the real power in
Germany in the hands of the nobility. The
electors passes the imperial crown from one
family to another in order to prevent one
family from becoming too strong.
The German Hapsburg family build a strong
base of power and took control of Austria and
all of her possessions.

32. 
The fall of the Papacy began under Boniface
VIII.
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He had attempted to control Europe much as his
predecessors. Times were changing and the kings,
as well as the people, sought to end such rule.
Philip IV levied a tax on the clergy which Boniface
renounced, issuing Unam Sanctum asserting that
all were subject to the Roman pontiff. (Philip also
had a bishop arrested and tried for criminal
offenses.)
Philip was supported by the French people. He
accused Boniface of heresy and sought to try him.
He could not be arrested, but was humiliated. He
died one month later.

33. 
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Babylonian Captivity – Avignon Exile – during
this time, the popes were heavily influenced
by the French kings and the papacy
continued to decline.
The Great Schism – Time period in which
more that one pope claimed supremacy,
dividing the allegiances of Europe
Council of Constance – Large gathering of
church leaders deposed all papal claims
except for Martin V. They healed the schism
and restored the papacy to Rome. However,
they were unable to initiate any other
meaningful reforms.