Post on 17-Jan-2016
Charlemagne: King of the Franks• Charlemagne’s armies reunite
western Europe, spread Christianity.
• In 800, Charlemagne travels to Rome to protect Pope Leo III.
• Pope crowns Charlemagne “Holy Roman Emperor”
• His empire broke up after his death. It was divided up among his 3 grandsons.
• European leaders begin to use primogeniture (eldest son inherits all) to protect against this happening in the future.
FeudalismA system of mutual obligations devised due to a lack of protection by a central government.
Weakened by…1-The Crusades (lords gone east to fight)2-The Plague (increased value of serfs)
The Power of the Medieval Church• Many popes decreed that all
monarchs had to obey the pope.
• Canon Law: religious guidelines rather than actual laws (marriage, divorce, wills)
• Excommunication- exclude from the church and its sacraments.
• Interdict- excommunicate an entire kingdom.
• Tithe: 10% tax• Heresy- speaking against Church
punishable by death.• Inquisition- root out heretics
Monks and Monasteries
• Scholasticism– Efforts of the monks to
reconcile the teachings of the church (assist the poor) with changing economics (capitalism).– St. Thomas Aquinas said,
you can make $, and charge interest, as long as you give some to charity.
Kings Consolidate Power
• Circuit courts: courts traveled from town to town to ensure consistency of justice and that the kings’s laws were being enforced.
• Domesday Book: records to improve efficiency of taxation.
• Common law: system where earlier court verdicts became the basis for future decisions.
• Strengthening military power
The Church Weakens• Lay investiture- kings naming of religious
leaders to control the church.• Simony- people making profit out of sacred
things and buying church offices.• Babylonian Captivity
– 7 consecutive popes reside in Avignon, France rather than in Rome.
• The Great Schism (1378-1417)– Both Roman and French cardinals elect
their own pope. Urban VI vs. Clement VII.
– Excommunicated each other.– Council of Constance
• Usury– Church doctrine outlaws interest charged
on loans– Church struggling to match the power
and wealth of the Kings.
Towns/Middle Class GrowFeudalism weakens, replaced by strong central government (divine right
monarchies) that protect property.
• Serfs escape from manors– Many lords were
away/never returned from Crusades
– Stay 1 year = freedom.– Sell produce & pay rent
w/ $ rather than labor.
• Townspeople support a strong king; protection.
• Vernacular languages spoken (English, Spanish, Italian, French, German)
• Domestic System is the beginning of the market economy/capitalism.– Manufacturing– Banking– Capital replaces barter
• Apprentice-Journeyman- Master worker
• Craft Guilds– Unions
• Merchant Guilds– Monopolies
Suleiman the Magnificent• His expansion into Europe had
given the Ottoman Turks a powerful presence in the European balance of power.
• The administrative and legal reforms which earned him the name Law Giver
• Suleiman also presided over the Golden Age of the Ottoman Empire, representing the pinnacle of the Ottoman Turks' cultural achievement in the realm of architecture, literature, art, theology and philosophy.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdWZvq4yvLU&list=PL09U128MbAED4kKCKVlyjTFu4cV22Qxat
Effects of the Crusades• Weakened feudalism- many lords
never returned• Increased power of the kings
(centralization of government) • Increased status of women (lords
left estates in their care)• Increased trade, technology &
cultural diffusion with the east• Encouraged growth of the middle class: craftsmen• Market economy: banks &
investments (usury ignored thanks to Aquinas) grow
• Weakened the power of the church as power of kings grow
Gothic Architecture• Symbolic of the power of God.• Stained glass windows (icons)
and the light of God’s presence.
• Most cathedrals shaped like a cross.
• Flying buttresses• Pointed arches• Vaulted ceilings• http
://video.pbs.org/video/1619317222/
• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/arch-physics.htm
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Growth of Democracy“demos” is people.
• Magna Carta – The king is not above the law– Kings power is chipped away by the
lords.– King cannot make new taxes w/o
approval of lords (Parliament)– King cannot take land w/o paying for
it– Trial by jury
• Mayflower Compact– Magna Carta travels to America and
evolves into a document that increases the freedom of the common man.
The Plague: Black Death