AP European History: The Late Middle Ages

- we are exploring the later Middle Ages 1000 to 1500 - even after end of Roman Empire, trade continued - during feudal period, manors traded w/manors - European trade carried on w/Byzantine Empire - spices, silk from Asia were traded for olive oil, wine from Europe - Europeans needed spices from Asia - kept food from spoiling and tasted better - even after Muslims controlled Med. Sea some Europeans con’t to trade w/Near East - by 1000's, Europe’s trade on increase again - after conquering island in Med. held by Muslims - the Crusades helped trade increase even more - men/women taken back and forth - from Holy Land to Europe - Venice, Genoa, Padua handled most of it - ships carried goods from as far as China - from Italy, goods traded to other nations - but one needs products to trade with - at first Europe only had raw materials to sell - products from nature like hides, lumber, fur - later Europeans learned to make woolen/silk cloth, metalware, leather goods - these were traded to Byzantine and Muslim empires - by late 1300's, Italian traders sending ships to W. Med. around to England and Scandinavia - taking goods imported from Asia and brought back copper, wood, furs, grain, fish - trade increased all over Europe - much took place in fairs - large trading meetings lasting weeks - several held ea. year in Champagne, NE France - merchants (traders) came from all over Europe - some fairs still held today - money is needed before large trade can be carried on - at first only a small amt. of money used - as trade increased, so did use of money - Kings, nobles had coins made that were used - but trading difficult - some coins worth more than others - Venetian coin c/b worth more than 4French - problem partly solved - money changer booths - decided how much money worth - then exchanged coins at certain rates - money kept in strong boxes - Merchants would give money to changers - to keep in these boxes for safekeeping - paid money changers for services - soon money changers had large amts. - forerunners of banks and bankers - European trade increased in spite of bad travel condition - roads too rough for wagons - instead, goods carried by mules or horses - also Europe had bad bridges - so merchants carried goods by water, not land - either way, merchants had to pay a toll every time they crossed a noble’sland - toll = tax - and was still danger of being robbed by bandits - sea travel not much safer b/c ships were small, had to sail close to land - where sea was safer but also dangerous - ships c/b wrecked by strong winds - privateers (pirates) - in spite of all this, trade began to increase WORLD HISTORY NOTES 22 THE GROWTH OF EUROPEAN TOWNS - after Roman Empire collapsed, some cities survived - in Italy, many old Roman cities remained although much smaller - outside of Italy, some Roman cities became church centers - where church leaders lived and worked - these centers attracted many settlers/visitors - many castles were built in early mid-ages - castle = burg in German - many located in N. & E. Europe which d/n have Roman towns - people who lived there called burghers - some burgs grew larger and eventually became towns - w/trade increasing @1000 - church centers & burgs that were good trading places grew into towns - some along rivers or near harbors - some where two roads crossed or rivers met - however most towns still ruled by feudal lord - people still had to pay taxes and work for the lord - this work slowed growth of business - to gain more freedom, rich townspeople offered their lord money in exchange for a charter - document making the burghers free people - d/n have to serve the lord and could govern themselves - some charters given in return for taxes - b/t 1000 & 1300, most towns had a charter - New towns governed by merchant guilds - group of merchants in the same kind of business - merchants were first to form these groups @ 1000 - later barbers, tailors, lawyers & skilled workers - leaders of guilds often members of town council - made town’s laws and acted as court - most laws made to help town’s guilds - guilds main purpose was protect workers in that biz - only guild members c/buy/sell goods or do business - they set up rules for their own members - all paid their workers the same wages - all worked same number of hours - all charged the same price for same goods - all tried to keep quality at high levels - there were 3 classes in guilds - apprentices, beginners or boys learning skill - got food, clothing, shelter but no wages - at 19 y/o, became a journeyman or day worker - if skilled enough, became a master - but only after proving it - had to crated a “masterpiece” (a really fine piece of work) - once a master, he opened a shop - in this way, guilds trained very good artisans - most European towns had small populations - 1200, Paris largest town in W. Europe pop. @ 100,000 - most were small, protected by walls - streets were narrow @10 feet wide and houses made of wood - largest buildings were church and guild hall - as population grew, houses built closer together and often 7 to 8 floors high - towns became crowded w/all these wooden homes - fire a constant danger which could destroy large parts of the town - from these towns came a new class - city middle class made up of merchants of the town - many rich through trade and other business - would be an important development in Euro.Gov’t WORLD HISTORY NOTES 23 FRANCE & ENGLAND IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES - after Charlemagne died, empire taken over by nobles - in time, this western part of the empire b/c France - 987 French nobles chose Hugh Capet to be king - but he only controlled land around Paris b/c most of France controlled by nobles - 1180 Philip Augustus became king - was powerful enough to conquer large part of Fr. held by England - including Normandy & Anjou - 1226 to 1270, France ruled by Louis IX - he improved French court system - sent officials to provinces to check up on locals - both he and Philip helped build Fr. into one nation - England also becoming a nation - 40 to 410, England a Roman province - after Rome, Angles, Saxons, Jutes took over - Angles and Saxons merged into Anglo-Saxons - most famous was Alfred the Great - ruled England 871 to 899 - set up schools, encouraged learning - formed a code of laws and improved local gov’t - built a strong navy and army - after Alfred died, the Danes began to conquer England - but by 1042 the Anglo-Saxons regained power - 1066 William, Duke of Normandy and Norman Army invaded England - defeated Anglo-Saxons at battle of Hastings - so William the Conqueror b/c first Norman king - under Normans, England changed greatly - most important nobles, church leaders were Norman - the king gained more power over feudal nobles - William divided lands owned by A/S and gave them to Norman followers - in return Normans swore fealty only to William making William even more powerful - 1154 to 1189 Henry II now king - set up courts to replace those of nobles/Church - serious crimes now tried in royal courts by royal judges - Henry also dev. the jury system - group of people reporting to the judge names of people who might be guilty of crimes - judge decided innocence or guilt - later this job also went to the jury - who also decided punishment - when judges decided, wrote down their decisions - over centuries these decisions became known as English common law - beginning of equal justice for all - another imp. development happened under King John, son of Henry II - John was unpopular ruler who refused to give the nobles more power - 1215 nobles revolted and forced John to sign the Magna Carta - Great Charter - gave nobles certain rights as well as rights to the common people - king c/n tax w/o approval of the council - king c/n imprison anyone b/c he d/n like them - citizens c/refuse to obey king if rights denied - so Magna Carta was imp. document of freedom but the King was still powerful WORLD HISTORY NOTES 24 EDUCATION AND LEARNING IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES - people who study certain subjects very carefully are called scholars - had imp. role in later mid ages - 1100 studied Christianity in new way - tried to show faith & science agreed w/ea other - this was called scholasticism - Peter Abelard of Univ of Paris was one of most famous - helped make scholasticism imp. method of learning - during late 1100, Eur. scholars began to study Greek writings - esp. Plato and Aristotle - brought by Greek, Arabic and Hebrew books - also Arabic books about science and math - these were translated in Latin - at first scholars felt Aristotle d/n agree with Christianity - Thomas Aquinas, Roman Catholic philosopher wrote book showing how they did agree - as a result, more accepted Aristotle’s ideas - after Aquinas’ death in 1275, scholasticism less imp. - scholars began arguing about less imp. matters - later, though, scholasticism became imp. again - still used by Catholic leaders today - during 1100's, universities and colleges started in Euro. - schools of higher learning w/outstanding teachers - began as guilds of groups of students/teachers - some univ. were controlled by students like the University of Bologna in Italy - others followed Univ. of Paris - teachers set up rules, students took orders from teachers - this system is followed in most universities today. - most universities received charters from king or pope - gave many rights/freedoms - including power to run own affairs - students/teachers not forced to pay tax - students/teachers not forced to serve in army - even had own law courts - these freedoms very imp. all over the world - these were called academic freedoms - Univ. d/n have libraries or labs, only places were teachers/students lived - and few large lecture halls - if students/teachers d/n like town Univ. is in, moved to town they DID like - many universities developed in this way - main power of Univ.s was right to give teaching degrees - after 4 yrs of study, got Bachelor’s degree and could become a beginning teacher - could study 2-3 more yrs and get Master’s degree now well trained to be teachers - highest degree was the doctorate or doctor’s degree - given to advanced student in law, medicine, religion - took many years to get this - had to spend all day answering questions from teachers, other scholars - if passed, then now able to become a scholar - universities helped make learning more important - trained students to be teachers, doctors, lawyers, gov’t leaders, even church leaders - today’s colleges carry on the work of the later mid ages WORLD HISTORY NOTES 25 SCIENCE, BUILDING AND WRITING IN LATER MIDDLE AGES - @1100 Eur. scholars began study Arabic and Greek ideas in science and math - they used Arabic numerals and the zero from Arabs - improved Arabic & Greek ideas in algebra, geometry, trigonometry - also studied Arabic astronomy, medicine, chemistry - Roger Bacon best known Eur. scientist of mid-ages - invented the scientific method - find truth by experimenting and observing - Bacon only accepted fact proving using sci. meth. - but sci.meth. d/n become popular till way after Middle ages over - several new inventions after 1100 - magnetic compass from China used to find direction at sea - invention of the rudder or steering lever - easier to steer ships - better sails speeded up sailing - other inventions - spinning wheel, mechanical clock, the button - better ways of making iron. and gunpowder from China - imp. in warfare - most imp. change was new kind of power to do jobs - Eur farmers learned to use water power - turned machinery to grind grain, saw wood - the windmill used to pump water from ground - by later mid ages most Eur. use more machine power - and less human power than ever before in history - many famous churches built in later mid ages - in early years, built in Romanesque style based on Roman buildings - thick walls, round arches, narrow windows - late 1100's, new Gothic style - higher, thinner walls, larger windows w/stained glass and many statues - all the people helped build these churches - and ea. town tried to build a bigger, better one - some took hundred of years to build - many book in mid ages written in Latin the official language of the church - works in religion, history, poetry also much church music - other writers began to use language of their own country - earliest ones were long poems called epics - Anglo-Saxon Beowulf - Spanish El Cid - French Song of Roland - no one knows who really wrote these epics - perhaps may different people - 2 writers of the time were Dante (It.) & Chaucer (Eng.) - Dante born in Florence - wrote in Italian - the Divine Comedy - describes a trip to heaven & hell as he pictured them to be - is one of the greatest of all poems - Chaucer born in London - wrote in English - the Canterbury Tales - describes a group of people who made a trip to Canterbury, England @1300 - tells a lot about life then -like Dante, helped shape his country’s language WORLD HISTORY NOTES 26 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE LATER MIDDLE AGES - the Church favored the growing trade in Europe - trade provided what people needed in their lives - church helped by building/maintaining roads - or Order of Bridge Builders helped build bridges - church also encouraged the guilds - and guilds worked w/in the church - each had its own patron saint - aids and protects guild and its members - guild members put on plays - and attended church as a group - they gave money/labor to help build churches in their towns - the church also tried to keep guilds from cheating people - they required merchants/artisans to charge fair price - enough to pay expenses and small profit - it was a sin to charge more - growth of trade helped money changers/lenders to become bankers - but church d/n allow the charging of interest - a fee for lending money - therefore many early lenders were Jews - however, as need or money increased, church let up - bankers could charge low interest - soon Italian Catholic merchants took over banking - large banks appeared all over Europe - even the church used them to take care of its money - Education - almost all teachers in Eur. universities were priests - or at least members of Catholic groups - church was interested in education - to train people to be church leaders - or scholars in church law -leading scholars (Abelard, Aquinas) and scientists (Roger Bacon) were very religious people - after all, main reason to study science in mid-ages was to aid people in u/s God - As Eur. life changed, so did the Roman Catholic Church - tried to make itself more powerful in affairs of Eur. - was Pope Innocent III’s new plan - led church 1190 to 1216 - same time rulers in Eng./Fr. getting more powerful - Innocent wanted a league of Christian nations - w/Pope at its head - could live together peacefully and fight only the Muslims - he never formed this league - however he did get powerful enough to make Eng., Port., Hung., Pol., and other nations his vassals - he was also strong enough to chose the next Holy Roman Emperor - German Emperor - also under him, better leaders trained and the church grew stronger - Innocent encouraged monks to leave monastaries - to work among the people - those who did were called friars - freres = brothers - friars were both monks & priests -not allowed to own property - not allowed to earn wages - depended on others for food, clothes, shelter for whom they served - two most famous groups of friars were the Dominicans and Franciscans - Dominicans founded by St. Dominic - known as famous teachers and taught in many Eur. universities - Franciscans founded by St. Francis - carried on missionary work while some became teachers - both groups encouraged others to follow their example - and help spread religion all over Europe.