CHAPTER 19: THE INCREASING INFLUENCE

OF EUROPE

THE REGIONAL STATES OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE

1) Intro
 Long after its collapse, the Roman empire inspired European thinkers, theologians, and rulers
 Dreamed of a centralized political structure embracing all of Christian Europe
 The Byzantines survived as the power in the eastern Med, where it flourished through the early 11 th century
 By 1100 ce, Byzantium experienced domestic social and econ problems, as well as foreign pressures from the
east and west
 As Byzantium was influencing the emergence of new states in both Russia and eastern Europe, the empire
itself divided and fell in 1453 to Turkish Muslims (Ottomans)
 As Byzantium declined, western Europe underwent state-building
 Beginning in the late 10th century, German princes formed the Holy Roman Empire
 Viewed it as a Christian revival of the Roman empire
 Independent monarchies emerged in France and England; other authorities ruled various regions of Italy and
Spain
 Medieval Europe was a political mosaic of independent and competing regional states

THE LATE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

2) Social and Economic Problems

 For about three centuries, the theme system served the Byzantine army well
 Supported both a powerful army and a prosperous independent peasantry
 About the 11th century, wealthy landowners undermined the theme system by acquiring the properties of
independent peasants
 Accumulated them into large estates
 Transformed formerly free peasants into a class of dependent agricultural laborers
 Reduced incentives to serve in the Byzantine military
 Diminished tax receipts for the central gov’t
3) Challenges from the West
 As domestic problems mounted, Byzantium faced fresh foreign challenges
 From the west came representatives of an increasingly dynamic western Europe
 Their rapid economic expansion led to military and political expansion
 During the 11th century, Norman adventurers carved out a regional state in southern Italy
 Descendants of the Vikings
 Had settled the Normandy peninsula in northern France
 Expelled the Byzantines in Italy
 During the 12th and 13th centuries, the Normans and other western European peoples mounted crusades
 Vast military campaigns to recapture Jerusalem and other holy sites from Muslims
 Took the opportunity to plunder the Byzantine empire
 Venetian merchants even took over the 4th crusade (1202-1204 ce) from its original mission and targeted
Constantinople
 Used it to strengthen their economic position against the Byzantines
 In 1204 the crusaders attacked Constantinople and subjected it to a sack
 Byzantines recaptured the city in 126, but the destruction of the capital dealt the Byzantines a crippling
blow
4) Challenges from the East
 As Europeans advanced from the west, nomadic Turkish peoples invaded from the east
 Most important among these were the Muslim Seljuqs
 Beginning in the 11th century, sent waves of invaders into Anatolia, the breadbasket of the Byzantine
empire
 In 1071, they handed the Byzantines a huge defeat at the battle of Manzikert
 Byzantine forces then turned on each other in a civil war
 Allowed the Seljuks free reign in Anatolia
 Crusaders held most of the rest
 The loss of Anatolia sealed the fate of the Byzantines
 A smaller Byz empire survived until the mid-15h century
 Enjoyed little autonomy and faced challenges from Italian merchants, western European adventurers. And
Turkish invaders
 In 1453, following a long era of decline, the Byzantines ended
 The Ottoman Turks, led by 21-year-old Sultan Mehmed II, captured Constantinople and absorbed the
Byzantine’s remaining territories into their expanding realm

THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

5) Otto I
 As the Carolingian empire faded, counts, dukes, and other local authorities took responsibility for order in their
own regions
 Gradually, some of them extended their influence and built larger states
 Otto of Saxony had become king of northern Germany by the mid-10th century
 Campaigned east of the Elbe River in Slavic lands
 Ventured into Italy twice to quell political disturbances, protect the church, and expand
 In appreciation of his aid to the church, Pope John XII proclaimed Otto emperor in 902
 Creating the concept of the Holy Roman Empire
 The imperial title had considerable value
 On more than one occasion, emperors almost made the HRE a hegemonic state that may have reintroduced
imperial hegemony to Europe
 Conflict within the papacy prevented the emperors from building a strong and dynamic state
 The relationship between the popes and the crown was usually tense
 Both popes and emperors made large claims of authority in Christian Europe
 The relationship was especially strained when emperors sought to influence the election of church officials
 Popes regarded this as their own prerogative
 Also, became tense when emperors sought to extend their authority into Italy, where the popes had long
provided political leadership
6) Investiture Contest
 Neither the popes nor the emperors were strong enough to dominate the other
 The popes were able to prevent the emperors from building a powerful imperial state that would threaten the
papacy
 The capacity of the papacy to hurt the HRE was apparent during the Investiture contest
 A controversy over the appointment of church officials in the late 11th and early 12th centuries
 Since the early days of the HRE, imperial authorities had named important church officials to their positions
 Higher clergy provided political and religious services
 In an effort to regain control of the clergy and ensure the church officials met specific spiritual criteria, Pope
Gregory VII (1073-1085 ce) ordered an end ot the practice of lay investiture
 The selection and installation of church officials by lay rulers (emperors)
 When emperor Henry IV (1056-1106) challenged the pope’s policy, Gregory excommunicated him and
released his subjects from their duty to obey him
 The German princes took this opportunity to rebel from the HRE
 Henry regained control, but only after begging for Gregory’s forgiveness (barefoot in the snow)
  Due to the pope’s intervention, the German princes won concessions that enhanced their independence and
diminished the emperor’s authority
7) Frederick Barbarossa
 Popes and emperors clashed over their conflicting interest in Italy as well as the appointment of church officials
 Among the most vigorous of medieval emperors was Frederick I, known as Frederick Barbarossa (“the red
beard”) (r. 1152-1190)
 Working from his lands in southern Germany, he sought to absorb the wealthy and quickly urbanizing region
of Lombardy in northern Italy
 May have provided Barbarossa with the resources to control the German princes, build a powerful state,
and rule much of Europe
 Did not appeal to the popes, who gathered power from the rest of Europe on behalf of the Italian cities
 By the end of Barbarossa’s reign, the papal coalition had forced the emperor to relinquish his rights in
Lombardy
 Once again, papal policies forestalled the transformation of the HRE into a powerful state
 Voltaire, the 18th-century writer, once quipped that the HRE was “neither holy, nor roman, nor an empire”
 While an empire principality in name, it was a regional state ruling Germany in reality
 Wielded intermittent influence in eastern Europe and Italy
 In no sense, did the HRE unify western Europe

REGIONAL MONARCHIES IN FRANCE AND ENGLAND

8) Intro
 In the absence of effective imperial power, regional states emerged throughout medieval Europe
 In France and England, princes established regional monarchies on the basis of relationships between lords and
their retainers
9) Capetian France
 The French monarchy grew slowly from small beginnings
 When the last of the Carolingians died in 987 ce, the lords of France elected Hugh Capet, a minor noble, to
serve as king
 Only held a small territory around Paris, and was in no position to challenge his retainers
 Many were far more powerful than him
 During the next three centuries, his descendants, known as the Capetian kings, gradually added to their resources
and expanded their political influence
 Relied on the relationship between lords and retainers
 Absorbed the territories of retainers who died without heirs
 Established the right to administer justice throughout the realm
 By the early 14th century, the Capetian kings had centralized power and authority in France
10) The Normans
 The English monarchy developed quite differently
 Its founders were the Normans
 Nominally subjects to the Carolingian and Capetian rulers, they pursued their own interests with little
regard for their lords
 Within Normandy, the dukes built a tightly centralized state
 All authority came from the dukes themselves
 Also retained title to all the land in Normandy, and limited the right of their retainers to grant land to
others
 By the late 10th century, Norman lords had built a series of castles from which their armies dominated their
territories
 Emerged in the 11th century as prominent political and military leaders throughout Europe and beyond to
much of the Med basin as well
11) Norman England
 In 1066, Duke William of Normandy invaded England
  Was then ruled by descendants of the Angles, the Saxons, and other Germanic peoples who had migrated
there during the 5th and 6th centuries
 Following a speedy military victory, the duke, known as William the Conqueror, introduced Norman
principles of government and land tenure to England
 While retaining many institutions of their Anglo-Saxon predecessors, the Norman kings of England ruled of a
more tightly centralized realm than the Capetians in France
 Both the Capetians and the Normans faced challenges from retainers who attempted to pursue independent
policies or enlarge their powers at the expense of the monarchs
 They also both faced external challenges- often battling each other since the Normans periodically sought to
expand into France
 On the basis of relationships between lords and retainers, both the Capetians and the Normans managed to
organized regional monarchies
 Maintained order and provided reasonably effective gov’t

REGIONAL STATES IN ITALY AND IBERIA

12) Church Influence in Italy

 Regional states emerged in other lands of medieval Europe
 Not on such a large scale as the monarchies of France and England
 In Italy, no single regime controlled the entire peninsula
 Rather, a series ecclesiastical states, city-states, and principalities competed for power and position
 In central Italy the popes had provided political leadership since the Carolinigian era
 Indeed, while the pope was a spiritual rather than political post, the popes ruled a large amount of territory in
central Italy known as the Papal State
 In northern Italy, the church influenced political affairs, since bishops of the major cities took much of the
initiative in organizing public life in their regions
 During the high middle ages, as the cities grew wealthy from trade and manufacturing, lay classes challenged the
bishops, eventually displacing them as ruling authorities
13) Italian States
 By about the 12th century, a series of prosperous city-states (Florence, Bologna, Genoa, Milan, and Venice)
dominated their own cities and the surrounding areas
 In southern Italy, Norman adventurers invaded territories claimed by the Byzantines and Muslims
 First intervened in 999 when they aided Salerno against Muslim raiders
 Other Normans aided the city of Bari in its struggles for independence from Byzantine authority (1017-
1018)
 Norman mercenaries soon flocked to the region
 With approval from the papacy, they overcame Byzantine and Muslim authority in the region
 Brought southern Italy into the Roman Catholic realm
 Laid the foundation for the emergence of the kingdom of Naples
14) Christian and Muslims States in Iberia
 A series of regional states competed for power in the Iberian peninsula
 From the 8th-11th centuries, a series of Muslims states ruled most of the peninsula
 Only northern Spain still had Christian strongholds, mostly in mountainous regions
 Beginning in the mid-11th century, Christian adventurers began to attack Muslims territories, enlarging
their own domains
 As in southern Italy, political and military instability attracted Norman adventurers
 Joined the Christian kingdoms as soldiers of fortune
 By the late 13th century, the Christian kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, and Portugal controlled most of the Iberian
peninsula, leaving only Granada in Muslim hands
 With its Byzantine empire, HRE, regional monarchies, ecclesiastical principalities, city-states, and new conquest
states, medieval Europe presents a chaotic and confusing political spectacle
 Especially when compared to China, unified under imperial rule
  European rulers rarely sought to maintain the current state of affairs, but rather campaigned constantly to
enlarge their holdings at the expense of their neighbors
 As a result, the political history of medieval Europe was a complicated affair
 The regional states of the high middle ages effectively tended to public affairs in limited regions
 In doing so, they fashioned alternatives to a centralized empire as a form of political organization

ECONOMIC GROWTH AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

15) Intro
 As regional states provided increasingly effective political organization, medieval Europe experienced dramatic
economic growth and social development
 The economic revival resembled the events in China, India, and the Islamic world in previous eras
 Increased farming production, urbanization, manufacturing, and trade changed Europe into a powerful society
 Drew it into commercial relations with distant lands

GROWTH OF THE AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY

16) Intro
 As in China, India, and dar al-Islam in the early postclassical era, dramatic increases in farming yields were the
foundation of economic growth and social development
 Several developments helped account for this increased production
 Opening of new lands to cultivation
 Improved farming techniques
 Use of new tools and tech
 New crops
17) Expansion of Arable Land
 Beginning in the late 10th century, as local lords made their lands more peaceful, Europe began to experience
population pressure
 In response, serfs and monks cleared forests, drained swamps, and increased the amount of land for farming
 At first, some lords opposed the efforts in an attempt to keep hold of their game preserves
 They eventually realized that more farming land would created higher taxes, making them wealthier
 By the 12th century, lords were encouraging the expansion of cultivation
18) Improved Agricultural Techniques
 Reliance of improved agricultural techniques led to higher productivity
 During the high middle ages, European cultivators refined and improved their techniques for larger yields
 Experimented with new crops and different cycles of crop rotation
 Wanted to ensure the most abundant harvests possible without compromising the soil fertility
 Esp increased cultivation of beans
 Dietary protein but also had lots of nitrogen that improved the soil
 Kept more domestic animals
 Beasts of burden but also fertilizer poop
 Dug ponds for fish, another dietary supplements
 By the 13th century, observation and experimentation with new crops and techniques had vastly increased the
understanding or farming affairs
 News of these discoveries widely circulated throughout Europe in books and treatises on household
economics and farming methods
 Were written in vernacular for lay readers
 Helped publicize innovations, which in turn led to increased farming productivity
19) New Tools and Tech
 During the high middle ages, European ppl expanded their use of water mills and heavy plows (appeared in early
middle ages)
 Introduced new tools and tech
  Two items in particular- the horseshoe and horse collar- made it possible to increase the amount of land that
cultivators could work
 Horseshoes helped prevent softened and split hooves on horses that tramped through moist European soils
 Horse collars displaced the burden of hauling things to the chest and shoulders rather than neck
 Enabled them to pull heavy weight without choking
 Could hitch plows to horses, who were quicker than oxen
20) New Crops
 Expansion of land under cultivation, improved methods of cultivation, and the use of new tools and tech
combined to increase the quantity and quality of food supplies
 During the early middle ages, the European diet was almost entirely grains and grain products
 During the centuries from 1000 to 1300, meat, dairy, fish, veggies, and legumes became more prominent in
the European diet
 The Med area greatly benefited from widespread cultivation of crops that had early been disseminated
through the Islamic world
 Hard durum wheat, rice, spinach, artichokes, eggplant, lemons, lime, oranges, melons
21) Population Growth
 As in other lands, increase farming supported rapid population growth in Medieval Europe
 In 800 ce, during the Carolingian era, European pop was around 29 million
 By 1000, when regional states ended invasions and restored order, gone up to 36 million
 During the next few centuries, as the farming economy expanded, pop surged
 By 1100, had reached 44 million
 1200, 58 million
 1300, 79 million
 During the 14th century, epidemic plague severely reduced populations and disrupted economies in Europe, Asia,
and north Africa
 Between 1000 and 13000, rapid demographic growth helped stimulate a vigorous revival of towns and trade
in medieval Europe
22) Reverberations of the Diffusion of Technologies
 The use of horse collars by Europeans around the beginning of the 12th century allowed horses to pull much
heavier loads without choking
 Meant that horses could pull heavy plows and wagons instead of oxen
 Was one of the ways Europeans increased their farming productivity
 Scholars believed that the diffusion of the horse collars was a complex phenomenon
 The collar came from central Asia through northern Europe
 The breast strap from north Africa through Islamic Iberia
 Think about the relationship between increase farming productivity in Europe and the ability of Europeans to
engaged with regions outside of Europe when thinking about the long-term consequences of the diffusion of tech

THE REVIVAL OF TOWNS AND TRADE

23) Urbanization
 With abundant supplies of food, European society was able to support large numbers of urban residents
 Artisans, craft workers, merchants, and professionals
 Attracted by urban opportunities, peasants and serfs from the countryside flocked to established cities
 Founded new towns at strategically located sites
 Cities such as Paris, London, and Toledo, founded during Roman times, became thriving centers of gov’t and
business
 New urban centers emerged from Venice in Italy to Bergen in Norway
 Northern Italy and Flanders experienced strong urbanization in particular
 For the first time since the fall of Rome, cities began to play a major role in European economic and social
development
24) Textile Production
 The growth of towns and cities brought about increasing specialization of labor
  In turn, resulted in dramatic expansion of manufacturing and trade
 Manufacturing especially expanded in the textile sector
 Cities of Italy and Flanders became lively centers of spinning, weaving, and dyeing of wool
 Trade in wool helped fuel economic development throughout Europe
 By the 12th century, the counts of Champagne in northern France sponsored fairs that were year-round
 Served as marketplaces where merchants from all parts of Europe exchanged goods
25) Mediterranean Trade
 The revival of urban society was most pronounced in Italy
 Geographically well situated to participate in the trade networks of the Med basin
 During the 10th century the cities of Amalfi and Venice served as ports for merchants engaged in trade with
Byzantine and Muslims partners in the eastern Med
 In the 11th century, the commercial networks of the Med expanded to embrace Genoa, Pisa, Naples
 Exchanged salt, olive oil, wine, wool, fabrics, leather products, and glass for luxury goods such as gems,
spices, silk that was brought by Muslim merchants
 As trade expanded, Italian merchants established colonies in the major ports and commercial centers of the Med
and Black Sea
 By the 13th century, Venetian and Genoese merchants maintained large communities in Constantinople,
Alexandria, Cairo, Damascus, and the Black Sea ports of Tana, Caffa, and Trebizond
 The Black Sea trading ports enabled them to exchange with India, SE Asia, and China overland
 By the mid-13th century, Italian merchants were beginning to venture beyond the Med basin in search of
commercial opportunities
26) The Hanseatic League
 Although medieval trade was most active in the Med basin, a lively commerce also grew up in the northern seas
 The Baltic Sea and the North Sea were sites of a well-developed trade network known as the Hanseatic League
(Hansa)
 An association of trading cities from Novgorod to London and embraced all of the commercial centers of
POlan, northern Germany, and Scandinavia
 Dominated trade in furs, timber, and pitch from northern Europe
 The fairs of Champagne as well as the rivers Rhine and Danube helped link the Hansa trade network with that
of the Med
27) Improved Business Techniques
 As in PC China and the Islamic world, a rapidly increasing volume of trade encouraged the development of credit,
banking, and new forms of business organizations occurred
 Bankers issued letter of credit to merchants traveling to distant markets
 Freed them from the risk of carrying too much cash or bullion
 When at their destination, they would exchange their letters of credit for merchandise or cash in the local
currency
 Made it possible to trade on a large scale
 Merchants devised new ways of spreading and pooling risks
 Entered into partnerships with other merchants
 Limited the liability of partners to the extent of their individual investments
 Limitation of liability encouraged the formation of commercial partnerships, further stimulating the European
economy

SOCIAL CHANGE

28) The Three Estates

 Medieval social commentators held that European society embraced three estates or classes
 “Those who pray, those who fight, and those who work”
 First estate were the clergy of the Roman Catholic church
 From lowly parish priests to bishops, cardinals, and popes, the clergy was a spiritual estate owing its
loyalty to the church rather than secular rulers
 Second estate were the nobility, from where the “fighters” came
  Inherited their positions in society and received an education concentrating on equestrian and military
skills
 Third estate were the peasants, those who “worked’
 Vast majority of the population
 Mostly cultivated land as peasants dependent on their lord for protection
 This idea of three major social classes of medieval Europe exposed a lot of aspects of the time and place
 Reflects a society marked by social, political, and economic inequality
 The two upper estates enjoyed rights and honors denied to those who worked
 Clerics, while bound by law, were members of an international spiritual society before they were subjects of a
lord
 If they were involved in legal problems, they faced courts of law administered by the church rather than
secular rulers
 The nobles lived off the surplus production of dependent peasants and serfs
29) Chivalry
 This formulation ignores processes that brought considerable change to medieval Europe
 Within the nobility, an emphasis on chivalry and courtly behavior introduced expectations of high ethical
standards and refined manners that encouraged warriors to become cultivated members of society
 Chivalry was an informal but widely recognized code of ethics and behavior for nobility
 Church officials promoted the chivalric code in an effort to curb fighting within Christendom
 Rather than seeking wealth, the noble who observed the chivalric code would devote himself to the causes of
order, piety, and the Christian faith
30) Troubadours
 Aristocratic women found the chivalric code much to their liking
 Went to some lengths to spread its values
 Instead of emphasizing the code’s religious dimensions, they promoted refined behavior and tender,
respectful relations between the sexes
 Reflections of their interests survive in the songs and poems of the troubadours, a class of traveling poets,
minstrels, and entertainers whom aristocratic women patronized
 The troubadours, most active in southern France and northern Italy, drew inspiration from a long tradition of
love poetry from Muslim Spain
 Enchanted by the refined literature of Christian Spain (influenced by Muslims), they began to produce similar
verses for their own aristocratic patrons
31) Eleanor of Aquitaine
 During the late 12th and early 13th centuries, troubadours traveled from one aristocratic court to the next
 Noblewomen would reward them for singing song and reciting verses celebrating passionate love between a
man and a women
 Especially flocked to Poitiers, where Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204) liberally supported poets and
entertainers
 The most celebrated woman of her day
 The wife of two powerful kings
 Mother of three kings
 Used her influence to encourage the cultivation of good manners, refinement, and romantic love
 Over the long term, the code of chivalry and romantic poetry and song presented at courts softened the
manners of the nobility
32) Independent Cities
 Social changes also touched those who worked
 By the 12th century, the ranks of workers included not only peasants but also merchants, artisans, craftsmen,
and professionals (physicians, lawyers)
 The expansion of the urban working population promoted the development of towns and cities as jurisdictions
 Fit awkwardly in the framework of the medieval political order
 Because of their military power, lords could dominate small towns and tax their wealth
 As they grew large, however, urban populations were able to resist the demands of nobles and guide their own
affairs
  By the late 11th century, inhabitants of prosperous towns were demanding that local lords grant them charters
of incorporation
 Exempted them from political regulation
 Allowed them to manage their own affairs
 Abolished taxes and tools on commerce within the urban istrict
 Sometimes the cities organized leagues to advance their commercial interests (Hansa) or to protect themselves
against the encroachments of political authorities
33) Guilds
 The cities of medieval Europe were not egalitarian
 Cities attracted noble migrants, peasants, and serfs
 Urban nobles dominated affairs
 These towns did reflect the interests and contributions of the working classes
 Merchants and workers in all the arts, crafts, and trades organized guilds that regulated the production and sale of
goods within their jurisdictions
 By the 13th century the guilds had come to control much of the urban economy of medieval Europe
 Established standards of quality for manufactured goods
 Even requiring members to adopt specific techniques of production
 Determined the prices that members had to sell at
 To maintain the balance between supply and demand, they also regulated the entry of new workers into the
group
 Also to protect the interest of their members
 Guilds also had social significance
 Provided friendship and mutual support
 Regularly socialized with one another and sometimes built large halls for meetings, banquets, and parties
 Came to the aid of families by providing financial and moral support
 Arranged funeral services and support for surviving family members
 The guilds, while regulating work, also were a social infrastructure that made it possible for medieval cities to
function
34) Urban Women
 Women who lived in the countryside performed the same tasks their ancestors had- chores, weaving, and taking
care of the domestic animals
 In medieval towns and cities, there were new opportunities for women
 In the patriarchal system of Europe there were few routes to power for women
 But in larger cities, women worked along with men in their jobs
 Dominated some occupations, especially textiles and decorative arts
 Most guilds admitted women to their ranks, and some were exclusively female membership
 Despite the persistence of patriarchal social structures, the increasing prominence of women in European
society illustrates the significance of towns and cities as agents of social change in medieval Europe

EUROPEAN CHRISTIANITY DURING THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES

35) Intro
 Through the middle ages, Christianity guided European thought on religious, moral, and ethical matters
 Eastern Orthodox in the Byzantine empire, Roman Catholicism in western Europe
 Administered rituals associated with birth, marriage, and death
 Most of the art, literature, and music drew inspiration from Christian doctrine and stories
 Much like the mosques and minarets of dar al-Islam, the spires of churches and cathedrals were the main
points on the landscape
 A visual testimony to the importance of religion and the pervasive presence of the eastern Orthodox and
Roman Catholic churches

SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES, AND SCHOLASTIC THEOLOGY

36) Intro
 During the early middle ages, Euro society was not stable and wealthy enough to support advanced education
 Monasteries sometimes maintained schools that provided a rudimentary education
 Political leaders occasionally supported scholars who lived at their courts
 Very few schools offered education beyond an elementary level
 In the absence of a widely observed curriculum, medieval scholars drew inspiration from the Bible
 The major spokesman of the early Christian church was St. Augustine of Hippo (among others)
37) Cathedral Schools
 During the high middle ages, economic development sharply increased the wealth of Europe
 Made more resource available for education
 At the same time, an increasingly complex society created a demand for educated individuals who could deal with
complicated political, legal, and theological issues
 Beginning in the early 11th century, bishops in France and northern Italy organized schools in their cathedrals
 Invited well-known scholars to serve as master techers
 Esp at Paris, Chartres, and Bologna
 By the 12th century, the cathedral school had established formal curriculum based on Latin writings
 Instruction concentrated on the liberal arts, especially literature and philosophy
 Read St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, as well as classical lit and the few works of Plato and Aristotle
that were available
 Some schools also offered advanced instruction in medicine, law, and theology
38) Universities
 About the mid-12th century, students and teachers organized academic guilds
 Persuaded political authorities to grant charters guaranteeing their rights
 Student guilds demanded fair treatment for students from townspeople
 Would charge excessive rates for room and board
 Called on teachers to provide rigorous, high-quality instruction
 Faculty guilds sought to vest teachers with the right to bestow academic degrees
 Served as licenses to teach in other cities
 Also, wanted to control the curriculum in their institutions
 These guilds had the effects of transforming cathedral schools into universities
 First were Bologna, Paris, and Salerno, noted for law, theology, and medicine respectively
 By the late 13th century, universities also appeared in Rome, Naples, Seville, Salamanca, Oxford,
Cambridge
39) The Influence of Aristotle
 The evolution of the university coincided with the rediscovery of the works of Aristotle
 Western European scholars of the early middle ages knew only a few of Aristotle’s minor works that were
available in Latin translation
 Byzantine scholars knew Aristotle in the original Greek, but rarely dealt with their Roman Catholic
counterparts
 During the high middle ages, as commerce and communication increased between the Byzantines and Roman
Catholic Christians, western Europeans learned about Aristotle’s thought and obtained Latin translations
 Also learned about Aristotle through Muslim philosophers who appreciated the power of his thought
 Christian and Jewish scholars in Sicily and Spain became aware of those Arabic translations, which they
translated into Latin
40) Scholasticism: St. Thomas Aquinas
 During the 13th century, understanding of Aristotle’s thought and Latin translations of his works spread
throughout Europe
 Profoundly influenced almost all branches of thought
 The most notable result was the emergence of scholastic theology
 Sought to synthesize the beliefs and values of Christianity with the logical rigor of Greek philosophy
 The most famous of these theologians was St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
 Spent most of his career teaching at the University of Paris
 While being a fervent Christian, St. Thomas believed Aristotle had understood and explained the workings of
the world better than any other thinker
  Saw now contradiction between Aristotle and Christian revelation
 Viewed them as complementary authorities
 Aristotle provided the best analysis of the world of human reason
 Christianity explained the world and human life as the result of a divine plan
 By combining Aristotle’s rational power with the teachings of Christianity, St. Thomas expected to formulate the
most truthful and persuasive system of thought possible
 In St. Thomas’s view, belief in the existence of God did not depend exclusively on an individual’s faith
 By drawing on Arsitotle, it was possible to prove rationally that God existed
 Aristotle never recognized a personal deity like in Judaism or Christianity, but argued that a conscious agent
had set the world in motion
 St. Thomas borrowed Aristotle’s arguments and identified the conscious agent with the Jewish and Christian
God
 Outlined his plan for the world in the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament
 Scholastic theology, in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, represented the harmonization of Aristotle with
Christianity and the synthesis of reason and faith
 Like the neo-Confucianism of Zhu Xi or the Islamic philosophy of Ibn Rushd, scholastic theology
reinterpreted inherited beliefs in light of the most advanced knowledge of the time

POPULAR RELIGION

41) Intro
 St. Thomas and the other scholastic theologians addressed a sophisticated, intellectual elite, not the common
people of medieval Europe
 The popular masses neither knew nor cared much about Aristotle
 For them, Christianity was important mainly as a set of beliefs and rituals that gave meaning to individual
lives
 Bound them together into coherent communities
 Formal doctrine and theology did not appeal to popular audiences as much as the ceremonies and observances that
involved individuals in the life of the larger community
 Brought benefits in the form of supernatural aid or protection for an individual’s crops or family
42) Sacraments
 Popular piety generally entailed observance of the sacraments and devotion to the saints recognized by the Roman
Catholic church
 Sacraments are holy rituals that bring spiritual blessing on the observants
 Recognized seven sacraments, including baptism, matrimony, penance, and the Eucharist
 Most important was the Eucharist, where priests offered a ritual meal commemorating Jesus’ last meal with
his disciples before his trial and execution
 While also preparing individuals for salvation and symbolizing their membership in a holy community,
the Eucharist had mundane uses: popular beliefs held that the sacrament would protect individuals from
sudden death and advance their worldly interests
43) Devotion to Saints
 Popular religion also took the form of devotion to the saints
 Human beings who had led such exemplary lives that God held them in special esteem
 As a result, they enjoyed special influence with heavenly authorities and were able to intervene on behalf of
individuals living in the world
 Medieval Europeans constantly prayed for saints to look after their spiritual interests and to ensure their
admission to heaven
 Often, they involed the aid of saints who had reputations for helping living peoples as well as souls of the
dead
 Tradition held that certain saints could cure diseases, relieve toothaches, and guide sailors through storms to a
port
44) The Virgin Mary
 During the high middle ages, the most popular saint was always the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus
  Personified the Christian ideal of womanhood, love, and sympathy
 Lavished aid on her devotees
 During the 12th and 13th centuries, Europeans dedicated hundreds of churches and cathedrals to the Virgin
Mary
 Notre Dame of Paris
45) Saints’ Relics
 Medieval Europeans went to great lengths to express their adoration of the Virgin and other saints through
veneration of their relics and physical remains
 Widely believed to retain the powers associated with those holy individuals
 Churches assembled vast collections of relics
 Especially esteemed were relics associated with Jesus of the Virgin
 The practice of assembling relics opened the door to fraud, but medieval Europeans continued to admire and
venerate saints’ relics
46) Pilgrimage
 Some collections of relics became famous beyond their regions
 Like Muslims making the hajj, pilgrims make long treks to honor the saints the relics represented
 Throughout the high middle ages, streams of pilgrims visited two European cities in particular
 Rome in Italy and Compostela in Spain
 Some ventured even into Jerusalem and the holy land
 Rome was the spiritual center of western Christian society
 Popes, central admin of the R.C. church, the relics of St. Peter and St. Paul
 Compostela was on the periphery of the Christian society in NW Spain
 Relics of St. James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela were especially attractive
 Some visited Jerusalem to visit the sites associated with the origin of Christianity
 Spiritual and commercial interest called Europe into the larger world
 The making of pilgrimages became so common that a travel industry emerged to serve the pilgrimages
 Inns dotted the routes leading to popular churches and shrines
 Guides shepherded groups of pilgrims to religious sites and explained their significance
 Even guidebooks that pointed out the main attractions along pilgrims’ routes
 Warned them of difficulties

REFORM MOVEMENTS AND POPULAR HERESIES

47) Intro
 Although veneration of the saints and the making of pilgrimages indicated a deep reservoir of piety, popular
religion also reflected the social and economic development of medieval Europe
 Particularly in western Europe, as wealth increased, several groups of devout individuals feared that European
society was becoming materialistic
 Even the Roman Catholic church seemed tainted by materialism
 Benedictine monasteries, in which monks observed the virtues of poverty, chastity, and obedience, had in
many cases become comfortable retreats where privileged individuals led leisurely lives
 Meanwhile, the central administration of the Roman church expanded dramatically as lawyers and bureaucrats ran
the church’s affairs and sought ways to swell its treasury
48) Dominicans and Franciscans
 The devout responded to this state of affairs in several ways
 Working within the Roman church, some individuals organized movements designed to champion spiritual
over matieralistic values
 Most prominent of them were St. Dominic (1170-1221) and St. Francis (1182-1226)
 During the 13th century, St. Dominic and St. Francis found orders of mendicants (beggars), known as the
Dominican and Franciscan friars
 Would have no personal possessions and would beg for their food and others from audiences to whom
they preached
  Especially active in towns and cities where recent migrants had moved to where the existing churches and
clergy could not serve them
 The Dominicans and Franciscans worked zealously to combat heterodox movements and to persuade heretics to
return to the Roman Catholic church
49) Popular Heresy
 Whereas the Dominicans and the Franciscans worked within the church, others rejected the Roman Catholic
church altogether and organized alternative religious movements
 During the 12th and 13th centuries, several popular movements protested the materialism of European society
 The Waldensians, most active in southern France and northern Italy, despised the Roman Catholic church as
immoral and corrupt
 Advocated for modest and simple lives
 Asserted the right of the laity to preach and administer sacraments, which were reserved for priests
 Didn’t hesitate to criticize the church on biblical teachings
 While the church declared them heretical, the Waldensians continued to attract participants
50) Bogomils and Cathars
 Some popular heresies flourished in both the Byzantine empire and western Europe
 As long-distance trade networks linked Med lands, alternative religious ideas spread readily throughout the
region
 Reviving the dualist views of the Manichaeans, the Bogomils of Bulgaria and Byzantium viewed the world as
a site of a struggle between good and evil
 In a quest for purity and spiritual perfection, they despised the material world and adopted an ascetic
regime
 Renounced wealth, marriage, and material pleasures
 Their movement grew rapidly in the alte 10th century
 In the 11th century, the Cathars (Albigensians) were promoting similar views in southern France and northern
Italy
 Both rejected official churches, which they considered corrupt, along with the priests and sacraments
 Both in Byzantium and western Europe, established authorities took a dim view of these popular movements
 Regarded as threats to cultural stability and religious orthodoxy
 Beginning in the late 11th century gov’t and church officials teamed up and mounted ruthless campaigns to
destroy the Bogomils and Cathars
 By the 14th century, the two groups survived in only a few remote regions of Europe

THE MEDIEVAL EXPANSION OF EUROPE

51) Intro
 During the high middle ages, the relationship between western European peoples and their neighbors underwent
dramatic change
 Powerful states, economic expansion, and demographic growth all strengthened European society
 Church officials encouraged the colonization of pagan and Muslim lands
 A way to extend the influence of Roman Catholic Christianity
 Beginning about the mid-11th century, Europeans embarked on expansive ventures on several fronts- Atlantic,
Baltic, and Mediterranean
 Scandinavian seafarers ventured into the Atlantic Ocean, creating colonies in Iceland, Greenland, and briefly
North America
 In the Baltic region, Europeans conquered and introduced Christianity to Prussia, Livonia, Lithuania, and
Finland
 In the Med basin, Europeans recaptured Spain and the Med islands that the Muslims had conquered between
the 8th and 10th centuries
 Knights from all over Europe mounted enormous campaigns to seize the hold land of Palestine from Muslims and
place it under Christian authority
 The crusades achieved limited success as they brought the hold land into Christian hands only temporarily
  They signaled that Europeans were going to play a much larger role in the affairs of the eastern hemisphere
than in the previous 500 years

ATLANTIC AND BALTIC COLONIZATION

52) Vinland
 While regional states began to emerge and protect western Europe from Viking raids during the 9 th and 10th
centuries, Scandinavian seafarers turned their eyes to the Atlantic Ocean islands
 Occupied Iceland beginning in the late 9th century
 At the end of the 10th century, a party led by Eric the Red discovered Greenland and established a small
colony there
 Around 1000 ce, his son Leif Ericsson led another exploratory party SW of Greenland
 Eventually arrived at modern-day Newfoundland in Canada
 Leif called in Vinland due to the wild grapes of the region
 Made several efforts to permanently colonize Vinland in the next years
 Archaeologists have discovered evidence that shows the Vikings had settled Newfoundland for several
decades
 Ultimately, they left Vinland (or died there) since they didn’t have the resources to sustain such a long-
distance settlement
 Establishment of such colonies indicated a growing capacity of Europeans to venture into the larger world
53) Christianity in Scandinavia
 While Scandinavians explored the North Atlantic, the Roman Catholic church drew Scandinavia into the larger
Roman Catholic community
 Kings of Denmark and Norway converted to Christianity in the 10th century
 Conversion of their subjects came gradually and with lots of resistance (held to their indigenous beliefs)
 In 999-1000, the Norwegian colony in Iceland also adopted Christianity
 Between the 12th and 14th century, Sweden and Finland also adopted the religion
54) Crusading Orders and Baltic Expansion
 In the Baltic lands of Prussia, Livonia, and Lithuania, Christian authority arrived in the wake of military conquest
 During the crusades, zealous Christians formed a series of military-religious orders
 Most prominent of these were the Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic Knights
 Not only took religious vows but also pledged to devote their lives and efforts to the struggle against
Muslims and pagans
 The Teutonic Knights were the most active in the Baltic region
 Waged military campaigns against the pagan Slavic peoples during the 12 th and 13th centuries
 Aided by German missionaries, the Knights founded churches and monasteries in the territories they
subdued
 By the late 13th century, the R.C. church had established its presence throughout the Baltic region

THE RECONQUEST OF ITALY AND SPAIN

55) Intro
 The boundaries of Christian Europe also expanded into the Med basin
 Came into conflict with Muslims, whose ancestors had conquered the major Med islands and most of the
Iberian peninsula between the 8th and 10th centuries
 As their society became stronger, Europeans undertook to reconquer those territories and reintegrate them
into Christian society
56) The Reconquest of Sicily
 Most important of these islands was Sicily, which Muslims had conquered in the 9 th century
 During the 11th century, Norman warriors returned Sicily to Christian hands
  The Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard carved out a state for himself in southern Italy while Roger
undertook the conquest of Sicily
 By 1090, after almost 20 years, Roger had established his authority throughout the island
 Missionaries and clergy soon appeared throughout the island and reintroduced Roman Catholicism
 Islam did not disappear immediately, as Muslims continued to practice their faith privately
 Muslim scholars introduced their Christian counterparts to the Aristotle translations that inspired the
scholastic philosophers
 Over the longer term, as Muslims either left the island or converted, Islam gradually disappeared from the
island
57) The Reconquest of Spain
 The reconquest of Spain (the Reconquista) took a much longer time than the capture of Sicily
 Following the Muslims invasion and conquest of the early 8th century, the caliphate of Cordoba ruled most of
the Iberian peninsula
 A small Christian state survived in Catalonia in the far NE, and the kingdom of Leon resisted in the far
NW
 The process of Reconquista began in the 1060s from these Christian areas
 By 1150 they had recaptured Lisbon and established their authority over half of the peninsula
 Their success lured reinforcements from France and England
 A new campaign in the first half of the 13th century brought most of Iberia and the Balearic islands into
Christian hands
 Only Granada in the far south of the peninsula remained Muslims
 Survived as an outpost of Islam until 1492 when Christian forces completed the Reconquista
 The political, economic, and the demographic strength of Christian Europe helped explain the reconquests of
Sicily and Spain as military ventures
 Especially in the case of Spain, it is clear that religious concerns drove these campaigns as well
 The popes and other leaders of the R.C. church regarded Islam as an affront to Christianity and
enthusiastically encouraged campaigns against the Muslims
 When reconquered lands fell into Christian hands, they immediately organized bishoprics and asserted
Christian authority
 Organized campaigns to convert local populations
 Dominican friars were especially active in Spain
 Appealed to learned audiences by explaining Christianity in terms of the scholasticism derived from
Aristotle
 Held in high esteem by Muslims intellectuals
 When addressed popular audiences, they simply outlined the basic teachings
 With the establishment of Christian rule, the R.C. church began to displace Islam in conquered Spain

THE CRUSADES

58) Intro
 The term crusade refers to a holy war
 When a pope declared a crusade, warriors would venture forth to fight on behalf of Christianity
 The wars that Christians fought against pagans in the Baltic and Muslims in the Med were crusades in the
sense of the term
 As was the campaign against the Cathar heretics in southern France
 In popular terms, the crusades generally refer to the huge expeditions of the R.C. Christians mounted in an effort
to recapture Palestine, the land of Christian origins, and the holy city of Jerusalem from Muslim authorities
59) Urban II
 Pope Urban II launched the Crusades in 1095
 Speaking at the council of Clermont in central France, Urban warned church leaders that Muslim Turks were
threatening the eastern borders of Christianity
 Had received an urgent appeal from the Byzantine emperor who requested military forces from west
Europe to help defend against Turkish invaders
  Urban urged European princes to stabilize Christendom’s borders
 Also, expand and recapture Jerusalem and restore Christian rule to the holy land
 “God wills it!”
60) The First Crusade
 French and Norman nobles began to organize a military expedition to the Holy Land
 In late 1096, the crusading armies began the long trek to Palestine
 In 1097 and 1098, the captured Edessa, Antioch, and other strategic sites
 In 1099, Jerusalem fell to the crusaders
 Proceeded to expand their conquests and carve conquered territories into Christian states
 Their quick victories largely came due to the disarray of the Muslims forces, not their prowess
 The crusaders’ successes, encouraged the Turks, Egyptians, and other Muslims groups to set aside their
differences temporarily to expel European Christian from the eastern Med
 By the mid-12th century, the crusaders kingdoms had come under tremendous pressure
 Edessa fell to Turks in 1144
 During the third crusade, Muslim leader Salah al-Din (Saladin) recaptured Jerusalem in 1187
 Crusaders maintained several of their enclaves for another century
 Saladin’s victory sealed the fate of Christian forces in the eastern Med
61) Later Crusades
 Europeans did not immediately concede Palestine to the Muslims
 By the mid-13th century, they had launched five major crusades with none of the later ventures succeeding
 The fourth crusade (1202-1204) led to the crusaders ravaging Constantinople, the seat of Eastern Orthodoxy
 Even though the later crusades failed in their main objective, the crusading idea inspired European dreams of
conquest in the eastern Med until the late 16th century
62) Consequences of the Crusades
 As holy wars intended to expand the realm of R.C. and reestablish it in the Holy Land, the crusades were wars of
military and political expansion
 In the long run, the crusaders were much more important for their social, economic, commercial, and cultural
consequences
 As European armies built crusader states, European scholars and missionaries exchanged with Muslims
philosophers and theologians
 European merchants traded eagerly with their Muslims counterparts
 The result was a large-scale exchange of ideas, tech, and trade goods that profoundly influenced European
development
 European Christians, through their interaction with Muslims, became acquainted with the works of Aristotle,
Islamic science and astronomy, “Arabic” numerals (from India), paper production (China)
 Learned to appreciate new foods and products (spices, sugar, coffee, dates, silk, cotton, carpets, tapestries)
 In the early days of the crusades, Europeans had little to exchange for these products other than wool textiles,
furs, and timber
 During the crusader era, demand for the new commodities increased throughout western Europe
 More ppl developed taste for goods previously only accessed by the wealthy elites
 Italian merchants developed new products and marketed them in commercial centers and port cities to meet
the demand
 Traded in gems and jewelry, and other merchants marketed fine woolen textiles or glassware
 By the 13th century, Italian merchants began to travel beyond Egypt, Palestine, and Syria to avoid Muslim
intermediaries and deal directly with the producers of silk and spices in India, China, and SE Asia
 While they failed as military ventures, the crusades encouraged the reintegration of western Europe into the larger
economy of the eastern hemisphere
63) Thinking about Encounters
 Military campaigns commonly bring death and destruction, and the crusades were no different
 The crusades also promoted important cultural and intellectual exchanges
 How would characterize the historical significance of the crusades?