The Fall of Rome and

the Early Middle Ages.

Chapter 13

800-1215 AD

The Middle Ages were a

dangerous time in Europe

The strong empires of Rome and Greece

that protected trade routes and encouraged

science and personal liberties were fading

away.

The Roman empire not only had to fight the

plague but fight invaders from Europe and

Asia.

No more large cities, trade,

scholarship.

With all the disease, riots, outsideattacks and starvation people fled thecities of the once strong Roman empirefor the countryside. Cities weredangerous.

In Europe, people now lived onmanors, self-sufficient communitiesconsisting of a castle, church, villageand surrounding farmlands.

Even before the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, life in Europe began tochange. The German barbarians on the fringes of the empire had long hungered forRoman land. These barbarians were vigorous, restless people led by warrior chiefs. Asthey pushed down upon the empire in the 4th century, they threw back Romangarrisons. Meanwhile the strength and discipline of the Roman Empire were beingsapped by political decay, economic troubles, and decadent living. Surges of Goths,Vandals, Lombards, Franks, Angles, Saxons, and other tribes sacked and pillaged thecrumbling empire. Their customs gradually submerged Roman civilization. Thehighly developed systems of Roman law and government gave way to the rude formsof the barbarians. The invaders lacked the knowledge and skill to carry on Romanachievements in art, literature, and engineering. “The whole world,” St. Jerome wrote,“is sinking into ruin.” This early medieval period is sometimes called the Dark Ages.

It was, however, a time of preparation, like working a field before planting seeds. Evenas the barbarians pushed Roman civilization aside, they brought fresh, robust ideas oftheir own. Those ideas that most influenced the development of Europe arose from thebarbarian belief in the rights of the individual. To the Romans, the state had been moreimportant than the individual. From the barbarians’ ideal of personal rights grew theirrespect for women, their government by the people, and their crude but representativelaw courts. Kings and chiefs were elected by tribal councils, which also served ascourts of law.

Fall of the Roman Empire

The essential quality in a leader was bravery. If he cowered in battle, the tribe at oncehoisted another warrior on their shields as leader. When a tribe faltered, the women’spleas often stemmed retreat. Although the barbarians enveloped Europe and drove intoNorth Africa, only one barbarian group, the Franks, created a lasting state. Their firstgreat leader was Clovis, who in 481-511, established in Gaul the kingdom that was tobecome France.

Fall of the Roman Empire (cont’d)

Charlemagne Crowned Emperor

On Christmas Day in 800, while Charlemagne knelt in

prayer in St. Peter’s in Rome, Pope Leo III seized a

golden crown from the altar and placed it on the

bowed head of the king. The throng in the church

shouted, “To Charles the August, crowned by God,

great and pacific emperor long life and victory!”

Charlemagne is said to have been surprised by the

coronation, declaring that he would not have come

into the church had he known the pope’s plan.

However, some historians say the pope would not

have dared to act without Charlemagne’s knowledge.

The coronation was the foundation of the Holy

Roman Empire. Though Charlemagne did not use the

title, he is considered the first Holy Roman emperor.

The first emperor to officially use the title Holy

Roman Emperor was Otto I on 23 November 912 in

Wallhausen.

The Magdeburger Reiter: a tinted sandstone equestrian

monument, c. 1240, traditionally intended as a portrait

of Otto I (detail), Magdeburg, BRD

Like France, Germany can also lay claim

to Charlemagne (Karl der Groß) as an

important figure in their history. This

statue is in Frankfurt, BRD.

Charlemagne- French

Charles the Great- English

Karl der Gross- German

Carol Magnus- Latin

Charlemagne’s Renaissance and

Reformation

Charlemagne had deep sympathy for the peasants and believed that government should

be for the benefit of the governed. When he came to the throne, various local

governors, called “counts,” had become lax and oppressive. To reform them, he

expanded the work of investigators, called missi dominci. He prescribed their duties in

documents called capitularies and sent them out in teams of two– a churchman and a

noble. They rode to all parts of the realm, inspecting government, administering

justice, and reawakening all citizens to their civil and religious duties.

Twice a year, Charlemagne summoned the chief men of the empire to discuss its

affairs. In all problems, he was the final arbiter, even in church issues, and he largely

unified church and state.

Charlemagne was a tireless reformer who tried to improve his people’s lot in many

ways. He set up money standards to encourage commerce, he tried to build a Rhein-

Danau canal, and urged better farming methods. He especially worked to spread

education and Christianity in every class of people.

He revived the Palace School at Aachen, his capital. He set up other schools, opening

them to peasant boys as well as nobles.

Charlemagne’s Renaissance and

Reformation (cont’d)

Charlemagne never stopped studying. He brought an

English monk, Alcuin, and other scholars to his

court. He learned to read Latin and some Greek but

apparently did not master writing. At meals, instead

of having jesters perform, he listened to men reading

from learned works.

To revive church music, Charlemagne had monks

sent from Rome to train his Frankish singers. To

restore some appreciation of art, he brought valuable

pieces from Italy. An impressive monument to his

religious devotion is the cathedral at Aachen, which

he built and where he was buried.

At Charlemagne’s death in 814, only one of his three

sons, Louis, was living. Louis’ weak rule brought on

the rise of civil wars and revolts. After his death, his

three quarreling sons split the empire between them

by the Partition of Verdun in 843.Statue of Charlemagne in Aachen in front of city

hall.

Charlemagne’s signature

Song of RolandCharlemagne, or Charles the Great, became king of the

Franks in 768 and later was master of western Europe. He

was a colorful figure who appealed to the imagination. As

the people of the United States have built up a mass of

legends around Davy Crockett, so did Europeans create

stories about Charlemagne. Gradually in their minds, he

became the champion of Christendom, the representative

of chivalry.

As Arthur was surrounded by the knights of the Round

Table, so Charlemagne had his knights who fought for him

and owed their allegiance to him. Prominent among these

was Roland, in legend the nephew of Charlemagne. The

work done in Italy with this material was expanded.

France produced one of the finest and the greatest of the

stories of Charlemagne in the form of the epic poem the

Song of Roland. The contents of the epic are concerned

with the events leading up to the tragic battle of

Roncesvalles, the battle itself, and the vengeance that

follows it.

Roland pledges loyalty to Charlemagne

Battle of Roncesvalles

The eight phases

of The Song of

Roland in one

picture. The story

follows the battle

between

Charlmagne’s

army in France

and the Muslims

in Spain.

Fall of Rome, Beginning of the Middle

Ages, Carolingian Empires Venn Diagram

Carolingian Empire

Middle AgesFall of Rome

1. When did Rome fall?

2. Name one of the Germanic tribes that

invaded the Western Roman Empire.

3. Who was the first medieval king?

4. Who was unofficially the the first Holy

Roman Emperor?

5. Name one of Charlemagne’s

accomplishments

Fall of Rome, Beginning of the Middle

Ages, Carolingian Empires Quiz

Vikings!

Vikings interrupted feudal life

with their raids on Medieval

Europe. They had poor soil

and few resources so they left

for other destinations to

conquer, pillage, and burn.

They created new cultures—

Norman and Russian.

V

I

K

I

N

G

LONGSHIPS USED FOR ATTACKING ENEMY SHORES.

Manoralism (econ. system)

or safety and for defense, people in the Middle Ages

formed small communities around a central lord or

master. Most people lived on a manor, which consisted

of the castle, the church, the village, and the surrounding

farm land. These manors were isolated, with occasional

visits from peddlers, pilgrims on their way to the

Crusades, or soldiers from other fiefdoms.

Why do you think everyone chose to be isolated?

The Feudal Middle Ages

Land = power Now Money = power

Feudalism (political system)

The kings had lots of land; he

gave land to lords in exchange

for protection and $.

Lords gave their land to knights

in exchange for protection, $.

Knights let serfs work the land

and he would protect them.

Serfs got food and shelter.

Thus, each person had rights

and responsibilities

Feudal Bonds and PowersIn the early feudal age, when a freeman gave up title to his land he became the lord’s

“man” and promised him fealty (loyalty). This was called commendation. Out of it

grew the ceremony called homage (from the Greek word homo, meaning “man”). The

vassal swore to serve his lord, to fight for him, to furnish knights in proportion to the

size of his fief, and to give aids in money on special ransom, if he should be made a

prisoner; on his departure for a crusade; when his oldest son was knighted; and at the

marriage of his oldest daughter.

Strictly speaking, feudalism involved only the noble classes. The system rested,

however, on the work of the serfs, or villeins, who supported the lords and their knights.

Officially the serfs were “unfree.” They, however, were not the chattel property of other

people, like slaves. They could not leave the place where they were born and were part

of the real property like buildings; but neither could the lord send them away.

The manor was almost self-supporting. The miller ground the grain, and the smith

welded and fashioned iron. The women spun linen and wool, wove fabrics, sewed,

baked, and brewed. The chief materials that had to be brought in were salt and iron.

The main business of the lord and his knights was warfare. His sons were trained in

horsemanship and handling weapons and also in social skills. Their code of behavior

was called chivalry.

Serfdom Succeeds Slavery

By the late Roman Empire, in the 4th and 5th centuries AD, there developed large

groups of hereditary agricultural slaves. These could not be sold apart from the land

itself. Their status became similar to that of tenant farmers who were part of the land

and worked the land for someone else. These slaves gradually became serfs: they and

their succeeding generations were tied by law to the land they occupied. In the

western section of the empire, slavery gradually disappeared after the 4th century and

was rarely heard of by the end of the 10th century. Serfdom became the common form

of agricultural labor and persisted as such until at least the 19th century in many parts

of Europe. Serfdom was one of the bases of feudalism, the system of mutual

responsibilities that bound society together during the Middle Ages.

In England, serfdom ceased soon after the end of the Great Peasant Revolt in 1381. In

certain parts of France serfdom did not disappear until the night of 4 Aug 1789, during

the French revolution. At that time, the nobles renounced all their feudal rights. In

Prussia, it persisted until 1811; and it was not until 1861 that Czar Alexander II, by

imperial decree, liberated the 40 million serfs of Russia, who had been increasing in

number since 1700.

Vikings, Manoralism, Feudalism,

and Serfdom Frayer Model

Definition

Serfdom Manoralism

Vikings

Feudalism

Vikings, Manoralism, Feudalism,

and Serfdom Quiz

1. Why did the Vikings leave their homes for raids on other countries?

2. Name the components of a manor.

3. What was the basis of power in the Middle Ages?

4. What was the largest group of agricultural labor in the Middle Ages?

5. What country liberated 40 million serfs in 1861?

Castles!

Burg Eltz,

Germany

Le Mont

Saint

Michel,

FranceLeeds

Castle,

Kent,

England

Neuschwanstein,

Germany

Copy this list of

famous castles

Copy this list

of castle parts

Castle LifeSupported by the brawn and taxes of the serfs, the feudal baron and his wife would seem

to have had a comfortable life. In many ways they did, despite the lack of creature

comforts and refinements.

Around the 12th century, palisaded, fortified wooden manorial dwellings began to give

way to stone castles. Some of these, with their great outer walls and courtyard buildings,

covered perhaps 15 acres and were built for defensive warfare.

Even in summer, dampness clung to the stone rooms, and the lord and his retinue spent as

much time as possible outdoors. At dawn, the watchman atop the donjon blew a blast on

his bugle to awaken the castle. After a scanty breakfast of bread and wine or beer, the

nobles attended mass in the castle chapel.

Sometime between 9AM and noon, a trumpet summoned the lord’s household to the great

hall for dinner. They gustily ate quantities of soup, game, birds, mutton, pork, some beef,

and often venison or boar slain in the hunt. In winter, the ill-preserved meat smacked

fierily of East Indian spices, bought at enormous cost to hide the rank taste. Great, flat

pieces of bread called trenchers served as plates and, after the meal, were flung to the

dogs around the table or given to the poor. Huge pies, or pastries, filled with several

kinds of fowl or fish, were relished. Metal or wood cups or leather “jacks” held cider,

beer, or wine. Coffee and tea were not used in Europe until after the Middle Ages.

Minstrels or jongleurs entertained at dinner.

CastlesThe structures were

surrounded by a moat, a ditch

filled with water.

The gatehouse was the living

quarters of the guards over the

main gate of the castle.

The portcullis was a heavy

gate made of wood and iron,

which could be dropped down

to close off the gatehouse.

Castles

The walls of a castle could be

as thick as 30ft!!!

The walls of a castle have

small slits in them called

arrow loops for men to shoot

arrows through.

Round walls made each part

of the castle harder to hit, and

they gradually get thicker.

Knights!

Albrecht Dürer’s Knight, Death, and the

Devil ca. 1513

A tapestry showing King Arthur

leading a procession of knights.

A boy starts on his way to knighthood at about the age of seven or eight.

This young trainee was known as a page.

Pages practiced fighting with a sword against a wooden stak or pell to develop muscles needed in becoming a strong knight.

Becoming A Knight

You have to be the between

the ages eighteen and twenty.

The next morning you would

be dressed in symbolically

colored clothes red (for his

blood), white (for purity), &

brown (for the return to earth

when he died).

A tap on each shoulder would

crown him a knight.

Chivalry- code of honor The Knights Code of Chivalry described in the Song of Roland and

an excellent representation of the Knights Codes of Chivalry are as

follows:

To fear God and maintain His Church

To serve the liege lord in valor and faith

To protect the weak and defenseless

To give succor to widows and orphans

To refrain from the wanton giving of offence

To live by honor and for glory

To despise pecuniary reward

To fight for the welfare of all

To obey those placed in authority

To guard the honor of fellow knights

To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit

To keep faith

At all times to speak the truth

To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun

To respect the honor of women

Never to refuse a challenge from an equal

Never to turn the back upon a foe

Of the seventeen entries in the Knights Codes of Chivalry, according

to the Song of Roland, at least 12 relate to acts of chivalry as

opposed to combat.

Knights and their Armor

The suits took 5 years

to make.

The armor was hand-

made by artisans and

craftsmen.

It took an hour to put

on the suit of armor.

Knights and their Armor

In the 12th century, the knights used an armor called mail.

When the armor was complete it weighted about 20 or 30 pounds and that was only the chest, arms, and back.

These suits lasted until the 15th century and then they started making full body suits our of plate armor.

The two-handed

sword was a very

large sword with

visions of the ordinary

sword.

The battle-axes were

on a yard handle, and

swung with both

hands.

The cross bows were

like a gun that shot

arrows.

WeaponsWarriors used all kinds of weapons.

The smallest weapon was a dagger.

Knights used lances during jousting tournaments.

A double-handed sword was used in the 13th

century.

Jousting reached its height as a spectator sport in the 13th century.

Knights met at a combined speed of 60 mph.

2 teams of knights would fight a mock battle, called a tourney.

It was outlawed by the Pope.

Jousts and Tournaments

In a joust, knights could show

off their skills without other

contestants getting in the

way.

A knight could score points if

he broke his opponent’s lance

on your shield.

Special armor was developed

for jousting to increase

protection.

Castle Life, Feudal Bonds, Knights, and

Chivalry Sequential Organizer

Castle Life Feudal Bonds & Knights Chivalry

Castle Life, Feudal Bonds,

Knights, and Chivalry Quiz

1. Name one of the famous castles.

2. Name one of the parts of a castle/manor

3. Name one of the foods served in castle life.

4. Name one of the phrases of the code of

chivalry.

5. Give one weapon and type of armor.

A Date and an Invasion that Changed

the Course of History

In 1066, England

was invaded by

Normans (Vikings

from modern-day

France) and

conquered all of

England

Bayeux Tapestry (ca 1082)

Embroidery of the Norman

invasion on linen.

The day England acquired

a new royal dynasty, a new

aristocracy, a new Church,

a new language, a new

…though a Norman

invasion

Battle of Hastings,

13 October 1066

Dover burnt

Harold killed

REIGN END RULER

Kings of WESSEX & All England

802-839 natural death Egbert

839-855 natural death Ethelwulf

855-860 natural death Ethelbald

860-865 natural death Ethelbert

865-871 wounded at Merton (fighting Danes) Ethelred I

871-899 Oct 26 illness; porphyria? Alfred "the Great"

899 Oct 26 - 925 Jul 17 natural death Edward "the Elder"

925 Jul 17 - 939 Oct 27 natural death AEthelstan

939 Oct 27 - 946 May 26 stabbed at dinner, Pucklechurch, GLC Edmund I "the Magnificent"

946 May 26 - 955 Nov 23 porphyria? Edred

955 Nov 23 - 959 Oct 1 ? Edwy "the Fair'

959 Oct 1 - 975 Jul 8 natural death Edgar "the Peaceful"

975 Jul 8 - 979 Mar 18 hacked to death by stepmother's men Edward "the Martyr"

979 Mar 18 - 1013 autumn1014 1) Danish conquest

Feb 3 - 1016 Apr 23 2) natural death Ethelred II "the Unready"

1013 autumn - 1014 Feb 3 ? died - suddenly = at Gainsborough, Lincs Sweyn Forkbeard

1016 Apr 23 - 1016 Nov 30 died naturally, or murdered? Edmund II "Ironside"

1016 Nov 30 - 1035 Nov 12 ? died at Shaftesbury, Dorset Canute "the Great"

1035 Nov 12 - 1040 Mar 17 ? died at Oxford Harold II "Harefoot"

1040 Mar 17 - 1042 Jun 8 convulsion at a wedding feast at Lambeth Hardicanute

1042 Jun 8 - 1065 Dec 28 natural death 1066 5 Jan Edward "the Confessor"

1065 Dec 28 - 1066 Oct 14 slain by Normans at Hastings Harold II

NORMANDY

1066 Oct 14 - 1087 Sep 9 natural death William "the Conqueror"

1087 Sep 9 - 1100 Aug 2 New Forest hunting accident ... William II "Rufus"

1100 Aug 2- 1135 Dec 1 ptomaine from lampreys Henry I "Beauclerc"

1135 Dec 1 - 1154 Oct 25 natural death (appendicitis+) Stephen of Blois

The Conqueror’s footprints

Plotted by the destruction recorded in Domesday Book

Castles of the Conquest

The castle was introduced into England by the

Normans, who built them:

It has been estimated that possibly 500 castles were built by

the end of the eleventh century, an enormous capital

investment; but fewer than 100 can be securely documented

‘far and wide throughout

the country, and oppressed

the wretched people’

(Anglo-Saxon Chronicle)

Castles of the Conquest

Domesday

Book

names the

majority of

those

castles

known to

have

existed by

1086

Castles of the Conquest

Ludlow

Chepstow

ChepstowHastings

Shrewsbury

Genocide in Yorkshire

The Conquest, the rebellions which followed the

Conqueror's coronation, and the ferocity with which some

were suppressed, laid waste large areas of England.

The infamous ‘harrying of the north’ between 1069 and 1070

was an act of genocide which left much of northern England

uninhabited for a generation.

One chronicler, Ordericus Vitalis, wrote of this ‘harrying’:

‘He [the Conqueror] harried the land and burnt homes to

ashes. Nowhere else had William shown such cruelty. In

his anger he commanded that all crops and herds, chattels

and food of every kind, should be brought together and

burned to ashes with consuming fire, so that the whole

region north of the Humber might be stripped of all means

of sustenance.

In consequence, so serious a scarcity was felt in England,

and so terrible a famine fell upon the humble and

defenceless populace, that more than 100,000 Christian folk

of both sexes, young and old, perished of hunger’

Genocide in Yorkshire

Genocide in YorkshireThe same writer says that this act haunted the Conqueror

to his dying day. On his death-bed, he repented:

‘I ... caused the death of thousands by starvation and war,

especially in Yorkshire. In a mad fury,

I descended on the English of the north like a raging lion,

and ordered that all their homes and crops,

and all their equipment and furnishings,

should be burnt at once;

and their great flocks and herds of sheep and cattle

slaughtered everywhere.

So I chastised a great multitude of men and women

with the lash of starvation and, alas,

was the cruel murderer of many thousands’

On the basis of

recorded waste in

Domesday Book, it

has been calculated

that 15 years after the

‘harrying’ Yorkshire

still had only 25% of

the men and ploughs

there had been on

the day in 1066

’when King Edward

was alive and dead’

Genocide in Yorkshire

recorded waste in Domesday Book

Forest LawForest law was another oppressive feature of Norman rule. One

chronicler, half-Norman himself, described the death of two of the

Conqueror's sons in hunting accidents in the New Forest as a just

punishment for his excesses committed in the name of the royal

sport of hunting:

‘Now, reader, let me explain why the forest ... is called 'new'. That part of

the country had been populous in earlier days ... But after William I

conquered the realm of England, so great was his love of woods that he

laid waste more than 60 parishes, forced the peasants to move to other

places, and replaced the men with beasts of the forest so that he might

hunt to his heart's content. There he lost two sons, Richard and William

Rufus, and his grandson Richard ... by which the Lord plainly showed his

anger’

(Ordericus Vitalis).

Forest LawDomesday Book

shows many

depopulated

areas in what is

now the New

Forest, where

the ploughs and

peasants of King

Edward's days

had been

replaced with

royal forest by

1086the New Forest in 1086

These and other disinherited native nobles

fought back against Norman tyranny from the

shelter of the forests the Normans had created

Rebels and outlaws

Small wonder then that the forest features

largely in myths of the Norman Yoke

from the days of Hereward the Wake and

Edric the Wild to Robin Hood

Rebels and outlaws

Edric the Wild features in many

Domesday entries

Edric the Wild

- or Edric of the

Woods – was,

like Robin

Hood after

him, a

disinherited

nobleman who

took to the

forest to fight

Norman

tyranny

Rebels and outlaws

The origins of the

legend of Robin Hood

are unknown; but the

Norman Conquest

would provide the

perfect setting

Unsurprisingly,

nostalgia for the Good

Old Days can be

detected in Domesday

as in this custom

which made the

Lady of the Manor

‘happy’

Fools and jesters

one of two jesters named in Domesday (whose quips may

have had a bitter edge)

Domesday BookAll this, and much

more, is recorded

in Domesday

Book, the single

most valuable

source for early

medieval history

…......

Domesday

1086

Domesday

2000

Domesday BookDomesday Book is a major source for the disciplines of:

• Archaeology

• Geography

• Genealogy

• Law

• Linguistics

• Onomastics

• Palaeography

• Philology

• Prosopography

• Topography

Domesday BookDomesday Book is known and studied world-wide. Scholars from the following countries have published significant work on Domesday Book:

• Australia

• Belgium

• Canada

• Denmark

• France

• Germany

• Holland

• Japan

• Norway

• Russia

• Sweden

• U.S.A.

A complete bibliography of Domesday Book would probably

number 10,000 publications

• as well as the U.K.

William the Conqueror of Normandy helped

make England what it is today and codified

feudalism (gave it the force of law).

Very few people lived in the north

and west of England.

Everybody lived in the south.

Most of the South of England was

covered in forest and people lived in

villages.

England’s army is strong.

England’s army is

scattered.

William’s army was strong.

William’s army lived and trained

together.

William the Conqueror and the

Norman Invasion Concept Map

Norman

Invasion

Origins

Government and law

Examples

Characteristics

William the Conqueror and the

Norman Invasion Quiz

1. What was the invasion of England by the

Normans and the date?

2. Name one of the castles of conquest.

3. What document recorded all the

information in England?

4. Name one of the countries that have

studied the Domesday Book?

5. Who codified the feudalism in England?

Magna Carta

Signed in 1215

Example of Rule of Law

English King John was a bad king so his nobles forced him to sign it.

Limited powers of king.

Changes in English Common

Law and Government 1100-1300

Common law Henry I (1100-1135) began to establish a common legal

system for all England. He sent royal judges to different

parts of the kingdom to try cases.

Henry II (1154-1189) expanded the legal system by

taking cases into the royal courts. These decisions

became known as common law.

Juries A jury system began to take shape under Henry II.

Groups of citizens later called grand juries were brought

together to report the names of suspected criminals to

royal judges. Trial juries also developed.

Magna Carta In this document (“Great Charter”), King John (1199-

1216) agreed to recognize the barons’ right and

privileges. The Magna Carta established three

principles:

1. Taxation only with representation

2. The right to trial

3. Government according to the law

Parliament This official group of representatives was formed in the

late 1200’s to advise the king. Parliament’s control of

finances helped set limits on the monarch’s power.

Role of Catholic Church in

Middle Ages

Never was there atime when the Churchwas so powerful inWestern Civilization.

The Church was ledby popes. Priests andnuns converted, gavecare to people and wasstructured on theformer RomanEmpire.

RomeConstantinople

Antioch

JerusalemAlexandria

Divisions of Control for the Christian Church

Coptic

OrthodoxCatholic

Role of Church

Monks and nuns

were spiritual

servants.

They lived in

monasteries and

nunneries that acted

like trade schools

and

YMCA/YWCAs.

Role of Church

They spent years

transcribing the

Bible since the

printing press

wasn’t invented

yet.

Churches and Cathedrals during

the Middle Ages

~In the Middle Ages, the main purpose for acathedral was religion.

~The bells in the tower often signaled beginningsof services or served as a clock to tell time.

~Stained glass windows, statues, and paintingswere picture Bibles for those who couldn’tread.

Role of Church

Since there were no strong empires or kingdoms, the Church was one organization that had respect and power.

Popes were more powerful than kings and emperors at certain periods of history!

The Medieval Church

Beginning in the 7th century, all of North Africa, the Middle East, and the whole

Eastern, or Byzantine, Empire were conquered by the armies of Islam Caliphate.

The Western Empire disintegrated, but the descendants of its former citizens

gradually became Roman Catholic. In effect, all the people in those regions of

Europe were citizens of specific kingdoms and principalities, and they were also

adherents of one religion.

From the 8th to the 11th century, the many European rulers considered the churches in

their domains as theirs to rule, and they freely appointed bishops and abbots of

monasteries. In the 11th century, this trend began to reverse as the church claimed

independence from all ruling political powers. This independence eventually

asserted itself as a theory that the church was supreme over all earthly rulers because

spiritual power was by nature superior to all earthly authority.

By the 14th century, the church was so weakened by internal strife and division that it

could not enforce this claim of superiority. Instead, the church had to make treaties

called concordats with the rulers of the emerging nation-states, granting them a large

measure of authority over the churches within their domains.

Organization of the Roman Catholic

Church in Medieval Europe

Pope Leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome.

College of Cardinals Advisory council to the Pope. Elected the Pope.

Archbishops Supervised the bishops.

Bishops Supervised priests.

Settled disputes over Church teachings and

religious practices.

Priests Administered the sacraments, gave advice,

taught the rules of right and wrong, tried to help

the sick and needy.

Monks and nuns Lived apart from society in monasteries or

convents; devoted their lives to prayer and good

works.

Taught skills such as carpentry and weaving; set

up hospitals; gave shelter to travelers.

Monks kept classical learning alive by reading

and writing Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, studying

ancient manuscripts, and copying them by hand.

Served as missionaries.

Medieval Monks

Monks were men who devoted their lives to the service of God.

The chapel house is were monks go to speak to pardons.

They did not talk at dinner;instead they made signals to each other for talking.

Monks and Nuns

Some monks wore shirts made of

hair as undershirts,to purposely

scratch their skin and constantly

remind them of the suffering that

Jesus had done.

There is a special type of haircut

required of monks in some

churches.

It is called Tonsure,and it leaves a

ring of hair around the head to

represent the crown of thorns that

Jesus wore.

Monks and NunsMonks lived alone, but met in a common chapel.

Monks went to monastery churches eight times a day.

The life of a monk or nun was full of prayer, physical work, and prayer.

The

Monk’s

Timetable

EXCOMMUNICATED

Exiled from the Catholic Church

SORRY NO SACRAMENTS FOR YOU

INQUISITIONS

CATHOLIC,

MAINLY SPANISH,

COURTS SET UP TO

TRY HERETICS

MOORS AND

JEWISH PEOPLE

IMPRISONED OR

KILLED

YOU BETTER

BELIEVE!!!

Summary

The Roman Empire fell due to outside

attacks and disease (brought on by

trade)

The Middle Ages began as the Church

replaced governments as the central

authority.

Feudalism/ Manoralism came from people’sneed for protection. Each member of thesocioeconomic system had rights andresponsibilities.

Cultures interact through wars and tradeideas such as democratic ideas or religiousideas.

Magna Carta, English Common Law and

the Medieval Church Concept Map

Control of

Medieval

England/Euro

pe

Origins

Type

Examples

Characteristics

Magna Carta, English Common Law and

the Medieval Church Quiz

1. What was the first form of law that gave the nobility rights?

2. What institution was most powerful during the Middle Ages?

3. Name one of the Christian denominational dominions and one of the five major churches.

4. During what century was the Catholic Church strongest?

5. Name one of the positions within the Catholic Church.