THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES

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THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES

• HISTORIC OVERVIEW

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MIDDLE AGES FOLLOW ROME

• Middle Ages is the name given to 1000 years of
  European (from Europe) history
• Also called Medieval times from Latin words
  meaning, middle and age

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Roman Empire at Peak
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TIMELINE

• Began after Fall of Rome
• Lasted till Renaissance (Rebirth)
• From about 476 to about 1500
• Early Middle Ages about 350 - 1050

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TIMELINE

• 1CE - JESUS
• GERMANIC INVASIONS
• 476 - END OF ROME
• BEGINNING OF MIDDLE AGES
• 600 KING ARTHUR
• 800 CHARLEMAGNE FEUDALISM
• 1000 VIKINGS
• 1100 CRUSADES
• GROWTH OF TOWNS
• 1300 BLACK DEATH
• 1500 RENAISSANCE AGE OF DISCOVERY
• 2000 PRESENT TIMES

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WESTS GRADUAL TRANSITION INTO MIDDLE AGES

• Period after the fall of Rome called Early Middle
  Ages
• Period of war, confusion and chaos

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THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES

• Germanic tribes, such as Vandals, Huns and Goths
  began first living in and then attacking Roman
  cities.
• In 476 a Visigoth chief replaced the last Roman
  Emperor.

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DARK AGES

• Several centuries of war and unrest followed
• Often called Dark Ages derogatory term
• Germanic tribes spread across southern and
  Western Europe
• Gradually settled down into stable kingdoms
•     

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NEW KINGDOMS

• The Holy Roman Empire replaced the Roman Empire
  of the Ancient world
• Power Struggles between Popes and Kings resulted
  both wanted to rule

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KINGDOM OF THE FRANKS

• The nomadic northern tribesmen gradually settled
  down into kingdoms
• The Franks were greatest of these kingdoms
• Charlemagne was king of the Franks.  

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HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

• In 800 CE Charlemagne was crowned emperor by the
  pope.
• In 936 Otto, his successor,
• was crowned
• Holy Roman Emperor.

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POWER STRUGGLES

• Both Popes, spiritual leaders, as well as Holy
  Roman Emperors and kings wanted power
• Popes had great political power as well as
  religious authority
• Church owned vast lands in Italy.  

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POWER GIVEN BY GOD

• Both popes and kings believed they got their
  authority from God
• Hard for anyone to argue with that!
• Popes crowned kings and gave them the right to
  rule.

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GREGORY AND HENRY

• Pope Gregory excommunicated Emperor Henry IV
• Henry wanted to choose the Bishop of Milan
• Pope Gregory did not want him to have that power,
  wanted the church to have all power over clergy

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EXCOMMUNICATION

• Gregory excommunicated Henry
• Excommunication was a really bad thing
• It meant the king no longer had authority to
  rule
• It also meant when he died he would go to hell,
  eternal damnation

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POWER STRUGGLES

• Henry apologized by standing barefoot in the snow
  for three days outside the Popes palace
• Pope Gregory forgave him
• Finally, war erupted and ended with a compromise
• Kings had small role Popes main role

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LEARNING KEPT ALIVE

•    Most people were illiterate.
• Monks kept learning alive in monasteries
•  

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THE AGE OF FAITH

• Unlike today almost everybody in Medieval Europe
  was deeply religious
• Called The Age of Faith
• No freedom of religion
• Unbelievers were called heretics and often
  executed

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2 RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES

• Western Europe Pope in Rome was leader Roman
  Catholic
• Eastern Europe Patriarch in Constantinople was
  leader Greek Orthodox

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MOORISH SPAIN

• Spain was the exception, ruled mainly by Islamic
  Moors
• More tolerant allowed Jews freedom of religion
  till 1492 when Inquisition
• Court expelled Jews and Spain became Christian.
•  
•   

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JEWS IN EUROPE

• A few Jews did live in Europe
• There were many restrictions and uncertainties in
  their status
• Frequently had to pack and leave

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THE MONASTIC WORLD

• The Germanic tribes lacked learning
• Christian Church saved knowledge
• Preserved philosophy, literature and science of
  the Ancient World
• Would have been lost without Church

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LITERATE PRIESTS

• Priests had to learn reading and writing in order
  to read the Bible and pass on religious knowledge
  
• Scholarship continued in monasteries, religious
  communities of monks or nuns

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LIBRARIES SAVED

• The books of the Ancient World were preserved in
  libraries and copied by hand
• Monasteries were quiet and peaceful and learning
  thrived.

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LATIN AND GREEK

• Priests had to know Latin or Greek to do their
  work in addition to their own language. Thus
  these two languages were preserved.
• Latin was the language of all learned people
• Even kings could not read or write and had to
  employ priests (clerics) to write letters, record
  laws and maintain accounts

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FEUDALISM

• The king owned all the land.
• The king (the liege lord) would give chunks of
  land (called fiefs) to favored lords
• The lords then became his vassals.

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MILITARY SERVICE FOR PROTECTION

• In return lords had to give the king military
  service and perhaps other services when the king
  wanted it.
• The king would protect the lord and help with
  disputes

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DOWN THE FEUDAL LADDER

• In turn the powerful lords did the same with
  their land.
• They gave fiefs to lesser lords who in turn owed
  them loyalty and military service

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FEUDALISM PYRAMID
Emperor Major Lords Kings Dukes Earls
Counts Lesser Lords Barons, Knights Even Lesser
Lords Humbler knights, squires, freemen Serfs
and Peasants
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MEDIEVAL SOCIETY

• Not much social mobility, little changed
• Position in society fixed at birth
• King had most power
• Nobles were next
• Lowest class serfs

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PEASANTS AND SERFS

• Peasants were farm workers
• Serfs were peasants who belonged to the manor
  house or castle where they were born.
• They were attached to the land and couldnt move
• Few legal rights.

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TRAPPED IN YOUR GROOVE

• Some few could advance by joining the church
• Skill at battle could earn a knighthood 
• Women had few rights
• Marriages were arranged
• Women were legally inferior to men.

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THE VIKINGS

• Great sailors and boat builders
• Also known as Danes and Norsemen
• Settled as far as Iceland and Greenland

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LEIF ERICSSON

• Believed to have sailed as far as the north coast
  of North America perhaps New England
• Leif Ericsson found grapes and wheat on his
  travels there.
•  

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VIKINGS EXPAND

• Between 700 and 900 the Vikings terrified their
  neighbors
• Raided and looted monasteries and settlements.

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VIKING RAIDERS

• First attacked and then settled and assimilated
• Became less aggressive over time
• Gradually settled permanently in Britain along
  the coast and in France Normandy.

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SETTLED AND CONVERTED

• Settled permanently in Britain along the coast
• Settled in France in Normandy
• Became Christian
• Built cities York, Limerick, Dublin

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WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR

• 1066 The Battle of Hastings
• William of Normandy conquered England
• Became King of Britain
• Viking stories called sagas

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