Unit 8: Early Medieval History Flashcards
1
Q
the MIddle Ages
A
- medieval period
- 500-1500
- new society emerged
- ROOTS……
1. the classical heritage of Rome
2. the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church
3. the customs of various Germanic tribes
2
Q
3 ways civilization in western Europe declined after the Roman Empire fell
A
- Disruption of Trade = merchant’s business collapsed beacuse of the invasions from land and sea; the breakdown of trade destroyed Europe’s cities as economic centers (money = scarce)
- Downfall of Cities = the fall of the Roman Empire caused cities to be abandoned as centers of administration
- population shifts from the cities to the countryside
- no central gov (had local personal connections )
- no more Latin
- no more long distance communication
- almost all literacy was lost ( only ppl of the Church were literate)
3
Q
the Decline of Learning
A
- Germanic invaders who invaded Rome were illiterate
- they had a rich oral of songs and legends but no written language
- level of learning shrank as families left for rural areas
- few (priests and other church officials) were literate
- few could read Greek words of literature, science, and philosophy
- knowledge of Greek (long important in Roman culture) was almost lost
4
Q
Loss of a Common Language
A
- Latin changed as German-speaking ppls mixed with the Roman population
- it was still an offical language but no one understood it
- by 800s = French, Spanish, and other Roman-based languages had evolved from Latin
5
Q
How did the concept of government change?
A
- Roman society was unified through loyalty to public government and written law
- Germanic societies were held together by family ties and personal loyalty, rather than citizenship in a public state
- unlike the Romans, Germanic ppls lived in small communities that were governed by unwritten rules and traditions
- every Germanic chief led a band of warriors who pledged their loyalty to him (lived inthe lord’s hall during peacetime)
- he gave them food, weapons, treasure….
- worriors fought to the death at lord’s side (it was a disgrace to to outlive the lord)
- they felt no obligation to obey a king they didn’t know and they didn’t obey officials to collect taxes/administer justice in the name of the emperor they never met
- Germanic stress on personal ties made it impossible to establishorderly gov for large territories
6
Q
the Franks
A
- germanic ppls
- lived in the Roman province of Gaul, where they held power
7
Q
Clovis
A
- frankish leader
- brought Christianity to the Franks
- 496 = led his warriors against another Germanic army
- he feared losing
- he prayed to the Christian God (said “For I have called on my gods but i find they are far from my aid……Now I call on Thee. I Iong to believe in Thee. Only, please deliver me from my enemies”
- he won
- after he, and his 3,000 warriors asked a bishop to baptize them
- The Church in Rome welcomed Clovis and supported his military campaigns against other Germanic ppls
- 511 = clovis united the Franks into one kingdom
- the alliance between the Church and Clovis’s Frankish kingdom marked the start of a partnership between 2 powerful forces
8
Q
Clothilde
A
- Clovis’s wife
- urged him to convert to Christianity
9
Q
monasteries
A
- religious communities built but the Church to help adapt to rural conditions
- became Europe’s best-educated communities
- where monks lived
- monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books
10
Q
monks
A
- Christian men
- gave up their private possessions and devoted their lives to serving God
11
Q
nuns
A
- women who followed the same way of life as the monks
- lived in convents
12
Q
Benedict
A
- Italian monk
- at 15, he left school and hiked up the Sabine Hills, where he lived as a hermit (in a cave)
- wrote a book describing a strict yet practical set of rules for monasteries
- these guidelines became a model for many religious communities in western Europe
13
Q
Scholastica
A
- Benedict’s sister
- headed a convent
- adapted the same rules that Benedict wrote but for women
14
Q
the Venerable Bede
A
- English monk
- 731 = wrote a history of England
- scholars consider it the best historical work of the early Middle Ages
15
Q
Gregory I
A
- aka: Gregory the Great
- 590 = became pope
- broadened the authority of the papacy beyond spiritual control
- the papacy became a secular power involved in politics
- used church revenues to raise armies, repair roads, and help the poor
- negotiated peace treaties with invaders (ex: Lombards)
- the region of Italy to England and from Spain to Germany fell under his responsibility
- he strengthened the vision of Christendom
16
Q
papacy
A
pope’s office
17
Q
secular
A
worldly
18
Q
Christendom
A
- a spiritual kingdom fanning out from Rome to the most distant churches
- this idea of a churchly kingdom, ruled by a pope, would be a central theme of the Middle Ages
19
Q
Charles Martel
A
- aka: Charles the Hammer
- 719 = mayor of the palace
- held more power than the king
- Battle of Tours in 732 = defeated Muslim raiders from Spain (if the Muslims won, western Europe might have become part of the Muslim Empire
- his victory made him a Christian hero
20
Q
major domo
A
- mayor of the palace
- became the most powerful person in the Frankish kingdom
21
Q
Pepin the Short
A
-Charles Martel’s son
-became king
-didn’t cooperate well with the pope
-on behalf of the Church, he agreed to fight the Lombards who invaded Italy and threatened Rome
-in exchange, the pope appointed Pepin “king by the grace of God”
-died in 768
left his kingdom to his sons, Carloman and Charles
22
Q
the Carolingian Dynasty
A
- began when the pope appointed Pepin “king by the grace of God”
- a family that would rule the Franks from 751-987
23
Q
Carloman
A
- Chralemagne’s brother
- died 771
24
Q
Charlemagne
A
- Charles/Charles the Great
- 6 ft 4 in tall
- built a empire greater than any known since Rome
- fought Muslims in Spain and tribes from other Germanic kingdoms
- conquered lands in the south and east and through these he spread Christianity
- he reunited western Europe for the first time since the Byzantine Empire
- 800 = traveled to Rome to crush a mob that attacked the pope
- the pope crowned him emperor and the title “Roman Emperor”
- this title was given to a European king
- this event signaled the joining of the Germanic power, the Church, and the heritage of the Roman Empire
- a year before he died, he crowned his only surviving son (louis the pious) as emperor
25
Einhard
-Charlemagne's secretary
26
counts
powerful landholders
27
How did Charlemagne strengthen his royal power?
- he limited the authority of the nobles
- he sent out royal agents, who made sure the counts governed their counties justly
- he visted parts of his kingdom
- on of his greatest accomplishments was the encouragement of learning
- opened a palace school
- surrounded himself with English, German, Italian and Spanish scholars
- ordered monasteries to open schools to train future monks and priests
28
What was the source of Carolingian wealth and power?
the managements of his huge estates
29
Louis the Pious
- Charlemagne's only surviving son
- 814 = crowned as emperor
- devoutly religious but an ineffective ruler
- 3 sons: Lothair, Charles the Bald, and Louis the German
- they fought each other for control of the Empire
- 843 = they signed the Treaty of Verdun (divided the empire into 3 kingdoms)
- as a result, the Carolingians lost power and central authority broke down
- they lack of strong rulers led to a new system of governing and landholding (feudalism)
30
fuedalism
- a political and economic system based on land ownership and personal loyalty (system of governing and landholding)
- depended on the control of land
- the fuedal systerm was based on rights and oligations
31
Vikings
-aka: Northmen/Norsemen
-Germanic ppl
-worshiped warlike gods
-sailed from Sacndinavia (wintry, wooded region in Northern Europe)
-took pride in nicknames (Eric Bloodaxe, Thorfinn Skull Splitter)
looted villages and monasteries
-warships = held 300 warriors, 72 oars; ha d ahead of a sea monster carved into the prow of each ship
-it might weigh 20 tins when fully loaded
-the boats could sail in 3 ft deep waters
-Vikings were traders, farmers, and explorers too
-journeyed to heart of Russia, Constantinople, and the North Atlantic
-they gradually accepted Christianity and stopped raiding monasteries
-because Scandinavia's climate warmed, farming became easier and resulted in fewer Scandinavians to adopt the sea-faring life of Vikings
32
Leif Ericson
- viking explorer
| - reached North America in about 1000 (500 years before Columbus)
33
3 groups that invaded Europe in the 800s
- Vikings
- Magyars = nomadic ppl from the east (Hungary); went accross Danube River-->attacked isolated villages and monasteries; didn'dettle in conquered lands but took captives to sell as slaves
- Muslims = attacked from south (from North Africa, to Italy and Spain); planned to conquer and settle in Europe; goal was to plunder; expert sea-farers
- these invasions caused disorder ans suffering
- most western European lived in constant dager and kings couldn't defens their lands
- ppl no longer looked to a ruler for security but many turned to local leaders who had their own armies
- any leader who could fight the invaders gained followers and political strength
34
Rollo
- head of the Viking army
| - ruled Normandy
35
Charles the Simple
-king of France but held little power
36
lord
landowner
37
fief
the granted land given to the vassal by the lord
38
vassal
the person recieving a fief
39
3 social calsses of the fuedal system
Medieval writers classified ppl into 3 groups
1. those who fought (nobles, knights)
2. those who prayed (men and women of the Church)
3. those who worked (peasnats)
40
The Fuedal Pyramid
1. king
2. vassals = wealthy landowners (nobles/bishops)
3. knights
4. landless peasnats
41
knights
- main obligation = serve in battle
- mounted horsemen who pledged to defend thier lords' lands in exhange for fiefs (land, estates)
- the wealth from the fiefs allowed knights to devote lives to war and enabled them to afford weapons, armor, and warhorses
- lord demanded that they fight 40 days a year
- passtimes revolved around training for war (hunting and wrestling)
42
serfs
- ppl who couldn't lawfully leave the place they were born
- not slave (but they were bound to the land they worked on)
- mostly peasants
- lived in crowded cottages (1or 2 rooms)
- whatever they produced belonged to the lord
- paid a tax on all grain ground in the lord's mill and on marriage
- after paying these taxes, peasant families owed the village a tithe
43
manor
- the lord's estate
- covered few miles of land
- had a mill
- had a church and workshops
- fields, pastures, and woodlands surrounded it
- sometimes a stream went through it (had fish --> source of food)
- self sufficient community
- serfs raised everything they and the lords need for daily life (crops, milk, cheese, fuel, cloth, leather goods, lumber)
- outside bought objects = salt, iron, millstones
44
the manor system
- basic economic arrangement
- rested on a set of rights and obligations between lord and serf
- the lord provided the serf with housing, farmland, and protection
- in return, the serfs tend to the lord's land, cared for his animals, and maintained the estate
- all peasants (free or serf) owed the lord's certain duties (few days of labor each week and a portion of their grain)
45
tithe
- church tax
| - represented 10% of serf income
46
2 inventions that changed the technology of warfare in western Europe
- stirrup = enabled knights to ride and handle heavier weapons (without it, a charging warrior would fall off the horse)
- saddles = kep warrior firmly seated in a moving horse
47
code of chivalry
- complex set of ideas
- demanded that the knight fight bravely in defense of their 3 masters (feudal lord, heavenly lord, and chosen lady)
- protect weak and poor
- ideal knight = loyal, brave, courteous
- most knights didn't meet these standards (they treated lower class brutally)
- promoted a false image of knights, making them seem more romantic than brutal
48
Knight's Training
- age 7 = boy is sent to a castle of another lord
- he is a page (waited on his hosts and practiced fighting skills)
- age 14 = boy is a squire (servant to a knight)
- age 21 = squire becomes knight
- after being dubbed a knight, they traveled for a year or 2, gaining experience from fighting in local wars
49
tournaments
- mock battles young knights participated in to gain experience
- combined recreation with combat training
- winner usually demands large ransoms of the defeated knight
50
themes in medieval literature
- brutality of knighthood and feudal warfare
- many stories idealized catle life
- glorified knighthood and chivalry ,tournaments and real battles
- songs and poems about a knight's undying love for his lady
51
The Song of Roland
- one of the earliest and most famous medieval epic poems
| - LOOK ON PG 367
52
Troubadours
- traveling poet musicains at castles and courts
- composed short verses and songs about the joys and sorrows of romantic love
- sings about love's disappointments and about lovesick knights who adored ladies they would probably never win
- these love songs created a fake image of women
- in the troubadour's eyes, noblewomen were always beautiful and pure
53
Eleanor of Aquitaine
- 122-1204
- most celebrated woman of the age
- troubadours flocked her as the French duchy of Aquitaine
- was the queen of france but then became the queen of England
- without her, the songs about hopeless love that troubadours sang wouldn't exist
- mother of Richard the Lion-Hearted and John
- Richard wrote romantic songs and poems
54
Role of Noblewomen
- could inherit an estate from husband
- she could send his knights to war
- when husband was away fighting, the ladyof the castle might act as a military commander and warrior
- sometimes, women would defend the castle (hurl rocks, and fire arrows)
- lives were limited (confined to activities in the home of covenant)
- held little property because lords passed their land down to their sons not daughters
- educated
55
Role of Peasant women
- performed endless labor around home and fields
- poor and powerless
- bore children
- took care of families
- peasant girls learned household skills from mothers at early age
