The Middle Ages• Also known as the Dark Ages because this was when

Western Europe wasn’t the great learned place it was under the Romans and wasn’t again until the Renaissance.

• Also known as the medieval period.

• Approximately 500-1500

• Began with the FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE!

• Europe is FRAGMENTED!

You’ll recall that when we last left the Roman Empire, it was in decline, spurred largely by the barbarian Germanic tribes that were invading the empire.

• By the beginning of the sixth century, the damage was pretty much done and the western Roman Empire was no more.

• The invasions caused the following problems:

1. Disruption of Trade

• Centralized Roman authority broke down and with it went the protection of trade.

• Recall that during the Pax Romana, the Empire was relatively safe. This enabled widespread, and long-distance, trade and commerce. Without that Roman power, though, roads and trade routes were no longer safe. Without trade and commerce, the economy tanked.

2. Downfall of Cities

• Cities got a double-whammy. First, with the trade disruption, cities were no longer the vital economic centers they once were.

• Second, with the breakdown of central Roman authority, cities were no longer needed as centers of governmental administration.

3. Population Shifts

• With the cities no longer the important places they once were, people started migrating into the country.

4. Decline of Learning

• The barbarians weren’t very good with the fancy reading and writing.

• The Germanic languages started becoming important, but they lacked a writing system.

• Important stuff was all in Latin, or more likely, Greek. The science and philosophy of the ancients started getting ignored. The barbarians didn’t have much use for it anyway.

5. Loss of a Common Language

• As the old Empire was divided up among the different barbarian tribes, the Latin language started evolving differently in the different regions.

• The changes came partly from the separation among the peoples as well as the influence of the Germanic peoples living in the particular areas.

• The dialects became the Romance languages.

6. Decline of Infrastructure

• All the great public works fell into disrepair: the aqueducts, the public baths, libraries, arenas, etc.

• The barbarian overlords didn’t really destroy them, they just didn’t see the need to maintain them.

• In most cases, due to the lack of centralized authority and tax collection abilities, they didn’t have the means or money to maintain them anyway.

• It didn’t help that these things were mainly located in cities, which, as we have seen, were largely abandoned.

The Church

• The Roman Catholic Church was the one centralized institution that remained from the Empire.

• It was also the only literate one.

• Since literacy was necessary for the practice of the religion, the clergy was able to read.

• Provided some kind of stability in the chaos.

The beginnings of feudalism

• Without the centralized government, there was no one entity responsible for taxing, administering law and services, fielding a military, etc.

• Instead, these responsibilities started falling to local or regional nobles. They would give land and/or titles to people (later known as knights) who would in turn pledge their allegiance and military skill to the noble.

• In turn, peasants worked the land, often as serfs who were bound to the land.

• This replaced slavery which also largely disappeared with the Empire.

King

Nobles

Knights

Peasants

Grants land to

Grants land to

Grants land to

Provide food and services

Provide protection and

military service

Provide money and

knights

• Was aided by the fact that the Germanic peoples were tribal, fiercely independent, but fiercely loyal to their local tribal leaders. This made small government easy, but large centralized governments nearly impossible.

Various Frankish Kings (Clovis, Charles “The Hammer” Martel, and Pepin the Short), and Charlemagne

• Pepin’s son Charles (henceforth known as Charlemagne: Charles the Great) becomes king in 771.

• His contemporary biographer described him thus:• Charles was large and strong, and of lofty stature, though not

disproportionately tall (his height is well known to have been seven times the length of his foot); the upper part of his head was round, his eyes very large and animated, nose a little long, hair fair, and face laughing and merry. Thus his appearance was always stately and dignified, whether he was standing or sitting; although his neck was thick and somewhat short, and his belly rather prominent; but the symmetry of the rest of his body concealed these defects. His gait was firm, his whole carriage manly, and his voice clear, but not so strong as his size led one to expect.

Prominent belly.

Short neck.

Yet pleasantly symmetrical.

• Charlemagne built an empire greater than any that had existed since the fall of Rome.

• Charlemagne also spread Christianity

• In 800, Pope Leo III crowned him emperor in Rome (pretty big deal that the pope claimed the right to give the title “Roman Emperor” to a European King.)

• Limited the authority of the nobles

• Encouraged learning

• Weak sons (3) divided the empire , which led to the loss of central authority and the beginning of feudalism.

• The crown used to coronate Charlemagene continued to be used in French coronation ceremonies up until the late 1700’s when it was destroyed during the French Revolution.

• Interestingly, when Napoleon became emperor of the French in 1804, he specifically crowned himself, instead of the pope doing it, in order to demonstrate the pope was not his overlord.

• His body was moved a couple of times, but the remains now reside in this casket.

The marble throne on which he was seated.

• Oh, and in the 1700’s, they measured his bones and found that he was about 6’4”.

Thus we see the beginnings of feudalism

• Western Europe was getting invaded by Vikings from the north, Magyars from the east, and Muslims from the south.

• Since there wasn’t a central authority who could take charge and repel invaders, defense became a more localized matter.

Feudalism

• System based on land-ownership

• Political, Economic (manor) AND Social system!

• Loyalty = PROTECTION

King

Nobles

Knights

Peasants

Grants land to

Grants land to

Grants land to

Provide food and services

Provide protection and

military service

Provide money and

knights

The Church

• A powerful force among the weak governments of Medieval Europe!

• Structure:• POPE (Rome)• Cardinals (Rome)• Bishops-Supervised

priests, helped settle disputes over teachings/practices

• Priests-worked directly with the people

Church Authority

• Religious-provided spiritual beliefs ands guidelines

• Political-created system of justice

• Canon Law-Law of the Church-applied to kings and peasants alike in matters of marriage and religious practices

• Excommunication/Interdiction

• Lay Investiture-Big Problem (Kings/Nobles appointing Church officials)

• Power struggle