Life in the Middle Ages

Western Civilization

Elizabeth Kirkland

Collapse of the Carolingian Empire

• Charlemagne’s grandsons struggled after his death to control their grandfather’s empire o empire split in three parts

• With internal conflicts, centralized power vanished;o small lords preferred their autonomy over allegiance to new king

• Invasion of Northmen, Magyars, Muslims (850-1000)

Europe After Charlemagne’s Death, 814 CE

European revival and the feudal system (1000-1300)

• FACTORS FOR THE RECOVERYo Invasions subsided (around 1000)o Further penetration of Christianityo Religious pressure on warlords to stop fightingo Agricultural productivity increased

• Warmer climate• Improvements in farming technology (windmill, collar

harness, the fallow system)

THREE ESTATES

1. THOSE WHO PRAY

2. THOSE WHO FIGHT

3. THOSE WHO WORK

LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES

The development of the feudal system• Social and political organization which slowly

emerged between 8th and 11th centuries• System of economic and political dependencies

between those who held power and those who did not.

Social organization of feudal society

• THE SOCIETY OF THE THREE ORDERSo The Clergy (prayed + authority over Christian religion)o The Nobility (fought + ruled)o The Third Order:

• The peasants (85% to 90% of the population)• The bourgeoisie• They worked and had little power

The Oath of Fealty

"I promise on my faith that I will in the future be faithful to the lord, never cause him harm

and will observe my homage to him completely against all persons in good faith

and without deceit."

Life in the Middle Ages

• What was life like?o Life on the Manoro Life in the Church

• What did people believe?o Christianityo Mysticism

• How was society changing?

What was life like: Life on the Manor

• Vast majority of people were peasants

• Many levels of peasants:o Slaves – lacked freedom, could be

personally bought and soldo Serfs – lacked freedom but could not be

bought or soldo Freed serfs – chance for upward mobility

Life on the Manor: Work

• Cooperative cultivation of land by peasants

• Men: cleared new land, plowing, care of large animals

• Women: care of small animals, spinning, and food preparation

• Both: planting and harvesting, vineyards, preparation of crops for textile industry

Life on the Manor: Peasant Housing

• Villages made up of small houses for individual families

• Household – nuclear family

• Size and quality of houses depended on prosperity

Life on the Manor: Outside of Work

• Little travel or movement for most peasants.

• Stable but dull?

• Festivals and feasts

Life on the Manor: Healthcare

• General health of peasants

• Caring for the sick:o Relativeso Hospitals and leprosariumso Barber-surgeons and apothecarieso “Healers”

Life on the Manor: Marriage and Children

• Marriage

• Family input

• Legitimate end of marriage: death

• Pregnancy

Life on the Manor: Childhood

• Chances of surviving beyond 5 yrso 2 in 3 during normal yearso 1 in 2 during plague, droughts, or famines

• Childbirth dangers

• Child abandonment

Life on the Manor: Nobility

• A very small but powerful group

• Full Spectrum: o from poor knights who held very small parcels of land to dukes and

counts with vast territories.

• Knighthood and chivalry

Life on the Manor: Responsibilities of Nobles

• Military service

• Attending court

• Maintaining estates and dispensing justice

• Women: “inner economy”

• Loyalty to church

Life in the Church

• Monasteries and Convents:o Daily life based on Divine Offices o Practical maintaining of estateso Centres of scholarshipo Social work – care for sick, orphans,

poor

Life in the Church:

• Parish priests

• Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals

• Pope

What did people believe?

• Christianity officially and practically permeating every aspect of life

• Local traditions mixing with Christian doctrine

What did people believe?God and the Devil

• Strong sense of the presence of God

• Virtuous Living = peace, good health and prosperity

• Sinful living = disease, poor harvests and war

• Sin caused by the devil who lurked everywhere (especially in the dark!)

What did people believe? The Church

• Church was God’s presence on earth.

• Total obedience to church and clergy = total obedience to God

What did people believe?Death and the Afterlife

• Want to be pure and forgiven at death

• Purgatory (make amends for earthly sins)o Indulgences

• Final Destination: Heaven or Hell

What did people believe?Other religions

• Christianity only true religion

• Islamo Reconquista in Spain

• Judaismo Crusades and the Inquisition

Spanish Reconquista

Inquisition

.. for punishment does not take place primarily and per se for the correction and good of the person punished, but for the public good in order that others may become terrified and weaned away from the evils they would commit.

Crusades

What did people believe?Mysticism

• Combining of old “pagan” religious ideas with Christianity (i.e. death, Halloween)

• Catholicism developed a very extensive mystical branch

England• Invasions (Vikings)

• 878 Alfredo One royal law takes precedence over local customso “shires”

• William the Conqueroro Battle of Hastings, 1066o Doomsday Book

• King John of Englando Magna Carta, 1215

France• After Carolingians – Hugh Capet (987)

o Primogeniture

o Slower, weaker monarchy

o Provinces

Elsewhere• Iberia

• Central Europe

Decline and Turbulences: 1300-1400• Struggle for subsistence → overpopulation, bad

weather, declining productivity

Decline and Turbulence:The Black Death

• The Great Plague (The Black Death)-1348-1351• Came from Asia on fleas on rats• Worst outbreak of the plague in European history

Decline and Turbulence:The Black Death

• Consequences of the plague:

• Killed approx. 1/3 to ½ of European pop.

• Profound psychological impact (breakdown of faith in institutions, church, sometimes religion)

Decline and Turbulence:Economic Impact

• Shortage of laborers = wages ↑ = landowners putting increased pressure on free farmers to restrict their freedom

• With food shortages and aristocratic pressures = peasant rebellions

Decline and Turbulence: The Hundred Years War

(1337-1453)

Decline and Turbulence: The Great Schism

(1378-1417)