Notes

Europe after Rome

The Germanic Kingdoms
Germanic barbarians destroyed the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century A.D. Different German tribes created kingdoms on the ruins of the empire. The Ostrogoths set up a kingdom in Italy. A Visigothic kingdom arose in Spain and southern and western Gaul. The Vandals built a kingdom in North Africa. The Burgundians, Alemanni, and other tribes also created kingdoms. The Franks, another German tribe, began to expand during the 6th century A.D. The Frankish king Clovis conquered most of Gaul.

The descendants of Clovis (the Merovingians) were weak rulers. The official, known as "Mayor of the Palace," held the real power in the Frankish kingdom. In 732, one of these officials, Charles Martel, defeated an Arab invasion of Gaul. Charles's son, Pepin the Short, expanded the Frankish state. In 751 he became King Pepin III. Pepin aided the pope by defeating the Lombards who were threatening the papacy.

The Reign of Charlemagne
Pepin III's son was Charlemagne (Charles the Great). His reign lasted from 768 to 814 A.D. Under Charlemagne the Frankish state expanded by conquest. These conquests included northern and central Italy, western and southern Germany, northern Spain, and Frisia along the North Sea. When the Lombards threatened Pope Leo III, Charlemagne came to his aid. Pope Leo crowned Charlemagne "Emperor of the Romans" in 800 A.D.

Charlemagne ruled effectively through his nobles and government officials. He tried to promote learning in his realm. He established a palace school to educate his children and those of his nobles. He encouraged monasteries to set up schools and libraries. He supported the Catholic Church and its missionary work.

Charlemagne's empire fell apart rather quickly after his death in 814 A.D. His three grandsons fought a civil war. In 843 A.D. they divided the empire among themselves.

Life Changes during the Middle Ages
With the collapse of the Roman Empire, the classical period in European history ended. The once powerful central authority of the Roman Empire was replaced by decentralization in which lords ruled local areas. Trade and commerce, once extensive under both the Greeks and Romans, declined as roads fell into disrepair and travel became dangerous. The self-sufficient manorial economy replaced the extensive Roman economy, which included Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. Cultural pursuits also declined. Poetry, art, drama, literature, and music, which were greatly revered during Greek and Roman times, became of secondary importance in a society where mere survival took precedence. Interest in the arts did not gain momentum until the Renaissance.

Feudalism
Invasions by Vikings from the north, Magyars from the east, and Muslims from the south occurred during the 9th and 10th centuries. These invasions caused widespread death and destruction. Nobles engaged in frequent wars over land. Feudalism (the feudal system) developed to provide order and give people protection.

The control of land was the basis of the feudal system. Monarchs gave land called a fief to their nobles. These nobles became the king's vassals, and the king became their lord. In return for a fief, vassals pledged military service and loyalty to the king. Vassals usually gave fiefs to other nobles, a process known as subinfeudation. These vassals were then lords over these other nobles. Nobles might hold fiefs from more than one lord, a process called cross-infeudation.

Monarchs were usually weak under feudalism. Nobles often became more powerful than monarchs when they increased the lands they controlled. Lords usually ruled their own fiefs with little interference from the monarch. They had their own armies of knights. Nobles often took the side of their fellow nobles in any dispute with the ruler.

Manorialism
The invasions and civil wars of the 9th and 10th centuries destroyed many European towns and cities. Trade and a money economy almost disappeared. Along with feudalism an economic system called manorialism developed. Land was the chief source of wealth, not commerce. The estate of a lord was called the manor. Peasants lived and worked on the manor under the control of a lord. The peasants provided food and services to the lord in return for protection. Many peasants were serfs who could not leave the manor without the lord's permission. The manor was mostly self-sufficient. It produced the necessities of life without the need for trade.

Social Structure
The feudal system divided medieval society into rigid social classes. Rulers and nobles were at the top of the feudal system. They made up less than five percent of the population. Below them were free peasants and serfs. After the rise of towns and trade, townspeople composed another class of society, the middle class. Birth determined social class. Until the rise of towns and trade, there was little social mobility for the common people.

The Medieval Catholic Church
The Catholic Church was an important institution during the Middle Ages. It provided stability during a time of frequent feudal wars. Most of the people of Western Europe were Christians and the Church gave them a sense of unity. The Church was the only path to salvation for millions of Christians. It administered the sacraments, controlled worship, and punished heretics who questioned the Church's teachings.

The Church had many political functions. It maintained its own court and made laws for both the clergy and non-clergy. It kept records of births, deaths, and marriages. Popes often claimed supremacy over monarchs and challenged the authority of rulers. Conflicts between popes and monarchs often occurred during the Middle Ages.

The Church was the largest single landowner in medieval Europe. It was wealthy because it owned about one-third of the land. It also collected the tithe which is a 10 percent tax on a person's income. The Church tried to regulate economic activity. It outlawed usury -- charging interest for loans. It supported the idea of charging a just price for goods.

Medieval Learning and Culture
The Church had a near-monopoly over education during the early Middle Ages. It set up schools in monasteries and churches which became the centers of education. Priests and monks were the teachers. The Church also established Western Europe's first universities. Among the subjects taught were medicine, law, and religion. Soon non-Church related universities were developing. London, Paris, and Bologna developed as university cities.

Scientists in the Middle Ages tended to follow the work of the ancient Greeks and in particular the work of Aristotle, Galen, and Ptolemy. Many of these scientists simply relied on magic and practiced alchemy. Alchemists tried to change metals into gold. Roger Bacon, a more progressive thinker, recognized the importance of observation and experimentation in his chemistry studies. He is considered to be the "founder of experimental science."

Scholasticism was the philosophy that was emphasized during the Middle Ages. According to scholastic teachers faith could be achieved through logical reasoning. Thomas Aquinas, a famous scholastic teacher, demonstrated logical proof of the existence of God, life after death, and the authority of the Church.

Medieval art and architecture were based upon faith. Great cathedrals were built in the Gothic style. This style emphasized pointed arches, tall spires, flying buttresses (stone or brick supports on the outside of the building), carved statues of stone, and stained-glass windows. The cathedrals of Notre Dame de Paris and Chartres are excellent examples of this type of architecture. A more modern example is Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

Medieval art and music were also created as expressions of faith. Paintings and reliefs (raised figures that stand out from a flat surface) found on walls and archways all centered around religious themes and figures. Medieval music consisted mainly of hymns to God and chants, particularly Gregorian chants, which heightened the reciting of prayers.

Jews in Medieval Europe
In the early years of the Roman Empire Jews were accepted as citizens with full rights. However, under the Emperor Constantine (307-337) discrimination against Jews developed. Judaism was referred to as "a nefarious sect" and Jews were forbidden to convert pagans or intermarry. Jews were not allowed to own land, join a guild, or hire Christian workers. They were forced to wear badges of identification on their garments. Judaism was reduced to a position of "legal inferiority." Pope Gregory (590-604) permitted Jews to worship freely. Synagogues (house of worship) could be maintained, but new ones could not be built. Jews were forced to live very restricted lives in Jewish quarters (ghettos) in larger towns and cities, or in small villages. They maintained their religious beliefs and the synagogue became the center of religious and communal life.

The Crusades
During the late 11th century A.D. the Seljuk Turks conquered Palestine and much of the Middle East. The Seljuks, who were Muslims, interfered with Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land. In 1095 A.D. the Byzantine emperor appealed to the pope in Rome for help. Pope Urban II called for a holy war, or crusade against the Turks. The nobility of Western Europe answered the pope's call.

Pope Urban's plea for a crusade began a series of military campaigns against the Muslims that lasted for about 200 years. There were seven Crusades by the Christians of Europe. During the First Crusade, European nobles defeated Muslim armies and conquered Palestine and western Syria. However, the Muslims soon counterattacked. They destroyed the Crusader states during the 12th century. Later Crusades did not succeed in recapturing the Holy Land.

The Crusades failed in their purpose of gaining Palestine and saving the Byzantine Empire. However, they did bring widespread changes to Europe. Europeans came into contact with the advanced Muslim and Byzantine cultures. An exchange of ideas occurred that increased scientific knowledge in Western Europe. Crusaders sampled the luxury goods of the East -- spices, silks, and perfume. The demand for these goods increased and helped to stimulate a revival of commerce and towns in Europe.

Christian and Muslim View Points
Following the proclamation of the first crusade by Pope Urban II at the Council Clermont in France (1095), the Crusaders viewed themselves as soldiers of God on a campaign to regain and protect the Holy City (Jerusalem) and the rest of the Holy Lands. Crying, "God wills it," the Norman and Frank Crusaders, under the leadership of the Pope, believed they were fighting a righteous war to end the suffering of Christians and to put an end to the destruction of churches and holy places. Soon Crusaders from all over western Europe, England, and the Holy Roman Empire joined in the holy mission. In calling for a crusade, the Pope believed that the Church would be able to expand its influence to the Middle East, and gain prestige for liberating Jerusalem. Many Europeans seeking adventure joined the Crusades. Some joined for personal reasons, some for religious ones: in order to gain land and riches, the promise of salvation, and the forgiveness of sins. Merchants and rulers of states such as Genoa, Pisa, and Venice were anxious to gain wealth and to dominate trade in the eastern Mediterranean.

The Arab and non-Arab Muslims of the Middle East now encountered the soldiers of the West for the first time. Muslims, Christians, and Jews had lived side-by-side in relative peace in Spain, North Africa, and the Middle East. The Muslims were not prepared for the barbarity of the Christian Crusaders, who turned the war of liberation into a Christian holy War and an offensive attack on all non-Christians. The Muslims repressed their hatred of the Western invaders and despaired over the occupation by non-believers of what they viewed as their lands. Following the massacre of thousands of men, women, and children, and the sacking of Jerusalem, Arab disunity came to an end. In response, Arabs called for a holy war (jihad) of self-defense. The massacre and destruction of Jerusalem, the third holiest city in the Islamic world (Mecca is the first and Medina is second), created the Muslim counter-crusade.

The Crusades were a military failure. The Holy Lands and much of the Middle East remained under Muslim control. However, the merchants of the Italian city-states did develop a thriving trade and domination of the Eastern Mediterranean trade routes. For the Muslims, the Crusades represented the start of a long history of Western aggression against the Islamic world of the Middle East that they believe continues to the present time.

Rise of Trade and Towns
The Viking and Magyar invasions ended by the middle of the 10th century A.D. Improved agricultural methods made it possible to increase farm production. This is turn caused an increase in population. More peaceful times and the increase in population caused a revival of trade. One center of commerce was Italy. Italian cities traded with the Byzantine Empire and Muslim lands in North Africa and the Middle East. Another center of commerce was in Europe along the shores of the North and Baltic Seas. Cities in that region banded together in the Hanseatic League to promote trade and provide protection to merchants. Flanders (modern Belgium and northern France) became a center for the production of textiles. Urban merchants and artisans formed organizations called guilds to regulate production and commerce.

The revival of trade weakened manorialism and serfdom. Towns began to replace the manors as the centers of medieval economic life. A growth of a money economy created a new class of wealthy merchants who invested capital in trade and production. The increase in the urban population provided a new market for food and raw materials like wool. Peasants living on the manors of Europe produced surpluses for sale in the towns and cities. Serfs often were able to escape to a town and find work. Many serfs bought their freedom from lords and became tenant farmers.