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
Q
Einhard
A
-Charlemagne’s secretary
26
Q
counts
A
powerful landholders
27
Q
How did Charlemagne strengthen his royal power?
A
- 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
Q
What was the source of Carolingian wealth and power?
A
the managements of his huge estates
29
Q
Louis the Pious
A
- 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
Q
fuedalism
A
- 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
Q
Vikings
A
-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
Q
Leif Ericson
A
- viking explorer
- reached North America in about 1000 (500 years before Columbus)
33
Q
3 groups that invaded Europe in the 800s
A
- 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
Q
Rollo
A
- head of the Viking army
- ruled Normandy
35
Q
Charles the Simple
A
-king of France but held little power
36
Q
lord
A
landowner
37
Q
fief
A
the granted land given to the vassal by the lord
38
Q
vassal
A
the person recieving a fief
39
Q
3 social calsses of the fuedal system
A
Medieval writers classified ppl into 3 groups
- those who fought (nobles, knights)
- those who prayed (men and women of the Church)
- those who worked (peasnats)
40
Q
The Fuedal Pyramid
A
- king
- vassals = wealthy landowners (nobles/bishops)
- knights
- landless peasnats
41
Q
knights
A
- 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
Q
serfs
A
- 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
Q
manor
A
- 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
Q
the manor system
A
- 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
Q
tithe
A
- church tax
- represented 10% of serf income
46
Q
2 inventions that changed the technology of warfare in western Europe
A
- 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
Q
code of chivalry
A
- 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
Q
Knight’s Training
A
- 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
Q
tournaments
A
- mock battles young knights participated in to gain experience
- combined recreation with combat training
- winner usually demands large ransoms of the defeated knight
50
Q
themes in medieval literature
A
- 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
Q
The Song of Roland
A
- one of the earliest and most famous medieval epic poems
- LOOK ON PG 367
52
Q
Troubadours
A
- 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
Q
Eleanor of Aquitaine
A
- 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
Q
Role of Noblewomen
A
- 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
Q
Role of Peasant women
A
- 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
