Chapter 9: Christian Societies Emerge in Europe, 600-1200 Flashcards
When were the Middle Ages?
Between the Classical Period (Greco- Roman) and Modern Period (Renaissance)
The Dark Ages are after the fall of what? What were they like?
Rome. Byzantium was robust and self-confident with late Roman society and economy. Western Europe had no political unity and severe economic depression.
By the year 1200 what were Byzantium and W. Europe like?
Byzantium showed signs of decline and military weakness. W. Europe showed renewed vitality and military strength.
Who was Justinian and what did he do?
Justinian was a ruler of the Byzantine Empire. He was determined to re-establish the glory of the
Roman Empire in the entire Mediterranean world. He took N. Aftrica and Italy, but neither lasted long. He codified Roman Law and had the Hagia Sophia built.
What happened after the Bubonic Plague/ what were the effects in the Byzantine Empire?
The Bubonic Plague arrived via trade routes in Constantinople. Population, wealth, urban elite, and trade declined. Women became more confined to the home, wore veils, and only socialized with family men.
What/where was the Byzantine Empire? How was it ruled?
The Eastern half of the Roman Empire that lived after the fall. Constantinople was the capital.
Byzantine emperors ruled by absolute authority, especially over the economy, whose industries were monopolized.
What was the Justinian Code of Law?
A law code including Roman laws, legal writings, and a student handbook to help preserve the basis of the Roman Catholic Church.
What important international factor did Constantinople control?
Key trade routes that linked Europe and Asia until the Crusades when Italian city-states started to rise.
What was Eastern Orthodox Christianity?
The Byzantine emperor controlled the overall business of the Church and appointed the patriarch. It used Caesaropapism, an autocratic/ religious leader comparable to a caliph
What was the Great Schism?
a permanent split between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church beginning in 1054
What was the Investiture Controversy?
a rivalry between popes and kings to appoint clergy/ the bishop (ecclesiastical appointments)
What did the Vikings do in Kievan Russia?
They raided and pillaged, settled, and traded
What was Christianization of the eastern Slavs like?
Vladimir I, Prince of Novgorod from 970 and Grand Prince of Kiev from 978 until his death in 1015, picked Eastern Orthodox instead of other religions like Judaism and Islam.
He converted in 988, which was a significant event in the process; the decision didn’t meet much notable resistance. It’s undisputed that this event occurred proximally to his marriage to a Byzantine princess and his siege and capture of a Byzantine city in the Crimea; quite what the relation of these events are to each other is disputed.
What was the economic system of Kievan Russia like?
The basis of wealth was trade, not land.
How did new technology lead to population growth in Western Europe?
The horse collar, horseshoes, and plow increased agriculture and food supply, thus increasing the population.
Describe the self-governing cities in Italy and Flanders.
There was trade, and they asked lords for independence. Serfs fled there because they could become free.
What was the impact of the Crusades?
Islamic forces eventually united under Saladin. Italian trading cities became wealthy and there was an exposure to Muslim culture, including advanced technology and Arabic commentaries and translation of ancient Greek work. Constantinople was sacked, and Christians were no longer a significant force in the Middle East.
What did the Byzantine emperors establish as the official religion?
Christianity. This represented the continuation of Roman imperial rule and tradition.
What prevented the breakup of eastern Europe?
There was one ruler considered legitimate with supreme legal and religious authority.
How/ why was the Byzantine Empire conquered by Muslims?
Territorial losses sapped their strength, and 2/3 of Christians in conquered territories converted to Islam.
What did imperial authority and urban prosperity in the late Roman Empire shelter Byzantium from?
Economic and population losses suffered by W. Europe
What did the Carolingian family do?
- Increased military effectiveness in Medieval Europe
- Expanded and consolidated the Frankish Empire established by the Merovingians after the fall of Rome
What happened after Louis the Pious died?
The Treaty of Verdun, 843
The Frankish empire split into 3 parts:
- West- French speaking peoples
- Middle- Burgundy
- East- Germanic speaking
What was the Carolingian system based on?
Landed wealth and intellectual revival, common heritage.
What did the Vikings do?
Attacked, raided, pillaged, and seized areas in Europe and around the Mediterranean from their homelands in Scandinavia. Their versatile vessels could brave stormy N. Atlantic and maneuver rivers. They settled seized lands in Normandy, converting to Christianity and accepting vassalage to the King of France in 911, and William the Conquerer conquered England in 1066. They severed Sicily from the Muslim world though conquest from 999-1094.
What occurred under the new Germanic political order?
There was an economic transformation. The urban-based civilization of the Romans declined.
- Roads and public buildings dilapidated.
- The use of money decreased
- Bartering increased
- Literacy decreased.
- People started drinking beer and eating lard, butter, bread, pork, acorns, and beechnuts.
Why were manors created in Western Europe?
Common farmers were vulnerable and gave land to large landowners in exchange for political and physical protection. They were self-sufficient farming estates and the primary center of agricultural production.
What was a serf?
An agricultural worker who belonged to the manor, tilled fields, and owed other dues. They could not leave the manor.
What was feudalism?
Kings and lords gave land (fiefs) to vassals in return for military support.
Who were the central figures in medieval warfare by the 11th century?
Knights.
What problems did the Western church face?
- lingering polytheism
- enforcement against clergy marriage
- nepotism
- simony
What was the western church like?
There were regional disagreements over church regulations, shortages of educated and trained clergy, difficult communications, political disorder, and insecurity. These were obstacles in unifying church standards and practices.
What did the Law of the Church (canon) give the pope legal jurisdiction over?
all clergy and church property
What was the Concordat of Worms?
It was a compromise in 1122 that ended the Investiture Controversy (late 11th and early 12th centuries)
“Bishops and abbots were to be chosen by the clergy, but the emperor was authorized to decide contested elections. The man chosen was first to be invested with the regalia, or powers, privileges, and lands pertaining to his office as vassal, for which he did homage to the emperor, and then with the spiritualia, or ecclesiastical powers and lands, symbolized by the staff and ring, which he acquired by his consecration and from his ecclesiastical superior, who represented the authority of the church.” https://www.britannica.com/event/Concordat-of-Worms
Investiture is the process or an instance of being formally placed in an office or organization https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/investiture
Why was political life in Western Europe more complicated than in Byzantium or other lands of Islam?
Competing legal traditions
- Feudal law (Germanic custom) gave supreme power to the king
- Canon law (Roman precedent) hierarchial legal institution with jurisdiction over all of w. Christendom
What new technology emerged in Kiev?
- new type of plow that made it possible to farm heavy, wet clays of n. river valleys
- horse collar that moved the point of traction from the horse’s throat to shoulders
What were the Crusades?
A series of religiously inspired Christian military campaigns primarily against Muslims in the east Mediterranean.
“The Crusades were a series of military campaigns organised by popes and Christian western powers to take Jerusalem and the Holy Land back from Muslim control and then defend those gains. There were eight major official crusades between 1095 and 1270, as well as many more unofficial ones.” https://www.worldhistory.org/Crusades/
After what Crusade did Muslim forces retake Jerusalem?
The Third Crusade.
“The Third Crusade (1189-1192 CE) was launched to retake Jerusalem after its fall to the Muslim leader Saladin in 1187 CE. The Crusade was led by three European monarchs, hence its other name of ‘the Kings’ Crusade’. The three leaders were: Frederick I Barbarossa, King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1152-1190 CE), Philip II of France (r. 1180-1223 CE) and Richard I ‘the Lionhearted’ of England (r. 1189-1199 CE). Despite this pedigree, the campaign was a failure, the Holy City never even being attacked.” https://www.worldhistory.org/Third_Crusade/
What were the impacts of the Crusades?
Exposure to Muslim culture made Europeans aware of things lacking in their own lives. They borrowed from Muslim society gradually. Europeans e.g. learned how to make paper, pasta, refined sugar, and colored glass.
What is meant by “medieval”?
The Middle Ages
What social and religious functions did monastics/monasteries serve?
-preserved literacy and learning, planted churches, served community
What factors contributed to the emergence of the Crusades?
- Returning leaders of the Latin Church popularized the Truth of God
- Norman chieftains were looking for new lands to conquer
- Nobles (especially younger sons) were looking for land and titles to maintain status
- Italian merchants were looking to increase trade in the East Mediterranean
- The desire of the church to demonstrate political authority
- Pilgrimages drew attention to the Holy Land
- Popes offered to repent sins
What language and religion did the Byzantine Empire use?
Greek and Orthodox Christianity
Who was Charles Martel and what did he do?
He was a Frank political and military leader who led the revolt against Muslim armies in 732 and defeated them at the Battle of Tours. He then founded the Carolingian Dynasty.
Who was Charlemagne and what did he do?
He was Pepin the Short’s son and Charles Martel’s grandson. He created the Holy Roman Empire.
