Middle Ages Flashcards
- It started in the town of Bethlehem in Judea when Jesus was born.
- The Roman officials in Judea were not happy with his popularity. For the Romans, only the emperor should be regarded as a god.
- When Constantine became emperor, he issued the Edict of Milan which recognized Christianity as a religion. He gave the people the right to choose their own religion.
- Christianity was further strengthened when Emperor Theodosius ordered Christianity to be the official religion of the Roman Empire.
A. The Beginning of Christianity
- The law of the church
- It is a body of laws adopted by church officials for the entire church administration and its members
B. Canon Law
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- It was not only responsible for religious work but also nonchurch activities such as helping the poor.
- During the Middle Ages, the Church played a very significant role in European societies:
a. People’s lives centered on the church, thus influencing the common people.
b. Nobles were also influenced by the Church, and in return, they granted lands to the Church, thus expanding its properties.
c. The Church received money from various sources, including donations.
d. Europeans who were threatened by invasions sought refuge and security in the Church.
C. Power of the Church
a. Diocletian split the Roman Empire into two: East and West
b. The Western (Roman) Empire was ruled by Rome and the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire was ruled by Constantinople.
c. The Fall of Rome refers to the Western Roman Empire’s crumble after it fell in the hands of the Germanic or “barbaric” tribes that included the Goths, Huns, Franks, and Vandals.
d. The Dark Ages begin when the last emperor of the Western Empire was forced to give up his crown by a Germanic barbarian who eventually became the king of Italy
- The Fall of Rome
- The origin of modern-day France
- Charlemagne was crowned by then head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Leo II as emperor of the Roman Empire.
● Upon Charlemagne’s death, the empire split into two: The East and the West. The western part is what is now France and the eastern part became Germany. Germany continued the empire.
a. Franks
- Otto III ruled the empire and made Rome its capital.
- Popes and emperors were in conflict as to who had the right to choose religious leaders
b. Saxons
- Frederick I Barbarossa added the word ‘holy’ to the name of the empire because he wanted to have as much respect as the pope had.
c. Hohenstaufens
- Often, Habsburg emperors were crowned without the approval of the pope.
d. Habsburg
In the 1500s some people broke away from the Roman Catholic church and formed Protestant churches, weakening the empire. German leaders who became Protestant opposed the Roman Catholic emperors.
After about 1650 the empire was only a loose grouping of German states. In 1806 Emperor Francis II finally ended the Holy Roman Empire. Francis continued to rule, however, as emperor of Austria.
- End of the Empire
a. Muhammad or Mohammed - founder of Islam
b. Islam means “surrender to Allah”
c. The Muslims were divided into two factions: Shiites and Sunnis
d. Shiites believed that only Mohammed’s direct descendants should lead the caliphate. The Sunnis believed that any Muslim can be a caliph.
e. Caliph - the chief Muslim civil and religious ruler
f. Caliphate - an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward
g. The city of Jerusalem in Israel was important to the Muslims because it is where Mohammed ascended to heaven. It is also important to Christians because it is where Jesus preached. This is one of the reasons for the major Crusades that took place
- The Rise of Islam
● Crusade comes from the Latin word crux which means
cross
- Led by Godfrey of Bouillon
- Soldiers consisted of peasants and knights, but there were more peasants than knights.
- They successfully acquired Jerusalem. Muslims retaliated by declaring a jihad, or a holy war against the Crusaders.
a. The First Crusade
- The jihad resulted in the capture of Edessa, one of the Crusader States. This led to Pope Eugenius III calling for another crusade.
- King Louis VII of France and Emperor Conrad III of Germany responded to the call.
- The French did not believe in the German’s capabilities, so they marched separately.
- This led to the defeat of the Christians by the Muslims, and Jerusalem was recaptured by the Muslims.
b. The Second Crusade
- “Crusade of Kings”
- Frederick Barbarossa of The Holy Roman Empire, Richard the Lionheart of England, and Philip Augustus of France led the mission.
- Barbarossa was unable to continue because he drowned. Richard and Philip disagreed a lot which resulted in King Richard facing the Muslims’ army led by Saladin alone.
c. The Third Crusade
- The failure to recapture Jerusalem resulted to the Fourth Crusade
- This crusade was motivated by greed. The crusaders decided to rob Constantinople.
d. The Fourth Crusade
