Unit 5: Western Europe Middle Ages Reading and Questions

Fall of Rome - The Roman Empire fell due to a variety of factors. When it fell, it led to profound
changes in the government, economy and culture of Western Europe. Governmentally, Europe
split into small, independent kingdoms, and the feudalism emerged. Written law disappeared,
and loyalty was given to kinship groups and monarchs rather than to a nation. Formerly, the
Roman Empire had constructed and protected well-engineered roads that served as trade
routes, and had issued currency that could be used throughout the Empire. After Romes fall,
the roads fell into disrepair, bandits plagued the trade routes, and Roman currency disappeared.
As a result, long-distance trade collapsed and the manor system emerged. Culturally, the
Roman Empire spread the Latin language throughout Western Europe. When it fell, distance
and lack of contact led Latin to develop into different languages: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese,
and French. These are called Romance languages because of their roots in the Roman Empire.
Rates of literacy plunged after Romes fall, to the point where clergy were often the only literate
people in a given area.

Feudalism - Feudalism is a system of government based on exchanges and obligations. At the

top of the feudal system is the king. Kings claimed the right to rule based on Gods will, and the
Catholic Church validated this claim as long as the king followed directives from the church. This
is called the divine right of kings. Kings word was law, and subject to change at any time.
Technically, the king owned all the land in his kingdom. The king would give parts of his land to
nobles. In exchange for this grant of land, nobles would swear allegiance to the king, pay taxes
to him, and fight with him in the event of war. Thus, feudalism was primarily based on the
exchange of land for loyalty. Nobles would often grant parts of their land called fiefs to vassals,
who were lesser landowners. Knights were armored soldiers who swore allegiance to a king or
noble. Their daily life consisted of training in warfare. They followed a code called chivalry,
which stressed bravery, loyalty and religious piety. Serfs occupied the lowest position in the
feudal system. They were peasant agricultural workers. The vast majority of what they grew was
paid to their vassal, noble or king as payment for living on his land. They had almost no legal
rights; they could not travel, marry or do almost anything without the nobles permission. Serfs
were almost 90% of the population during the early Middle Ages. Most of the time, status in the
feudalism, from king down to serf, were hereditary.

Manor System - While feudalism was the government during the Middle Ages, the manor
system was the economy. After the fall of Rome, there was very little trade throughout Western
Europe. Instead, all goods were produced near the manor, or castle, that a king or lord lived in.
Since there was no trade, there was very little variety of goods. Serfs grew and harvested crops.
Most of what they grew went to nobles as taxes. Thus, the manor system was extremely
hierarchical and led to a deep division between economic classes; kings and nobles lived a
relatively wealthy lifestyle while serfs lived in extreme poverty with food always in short supply.
The few skilled workers or artisans focused on making tools for serfs to use in the fields,
weapons and armor for knights, and luxury goods for kings and nobles.
Role of the Church - With Western Europe politically and economically divided, Christianity
became the sole unifying factor for the region. At this time, the Catholic Church was the only
Christian denomination (the Great Schism and Protestant Reformation had not yet occurred).
The Pope, the leader of the Catholic Church, was perhaps the most powerful man in Europe.
The Pope was also one of Europes largest landowners, ruling the Papal States in Italy just as
kings ruled their kingdoms. Everyone from kings to serfs believed that they Church held the
keys to salvation; obeying the clergy and canon law, paying a tithe and receiving the
sacraments were necessary to get to heaven. If a person failed to do these things, they could
be excommunicated, or banished from the church and condemned to hell. Furthermore, the
Bible was only written in Latin, the language of the old Roman Empire. During their education,
priests would learn to read Latin; no one else in Europe could read it. Monopolizing knowledge
of the Bible kept the Church in power. They protected that power by making it a death penalty
offense to translate the Bible out of Latin into vernacular, or regularly spoken language.

Great Schism - The Pope tried to exert political as well as religious control over the Byzantine
Emperor. Religious conflicts occurred over use of icons, marriage of priests, and language of
church services. Political conflict grew out of a simple question: who was in charge, the Pope or
Emperor? In 1054, the Pope excommunicated the Byzantine emperor, who went on to form the
Eastern Orthodox churches throughout his empire.

Crusades - After the life of Muhammad, Islam spread rapidly throughout the Middle East and
North Africa. One of the areas that fell under Islamic rule was known to Europeans as the Holy
Land, the area around Jerusalem where Jesus had lived and founded Christianity. The
Byzantine Emperor sent the Pope a plea for help to combat the invading Islamic armies. In
1095, Pope Urban II called on all Christians to take up arms and free the Holy Land from
Muslim control. The Pope also hoped to bring the Eastern Orthodox churches back under
Catholic control as the Crusaders passed through the Byzantine Empire on the way to the Holy
Land. The First Crusade was briefly successful, recapturing Jerusalem for a few years.
However, Emperor Saladin, an Islamic leader, soon retook the city. He struck an agreement
that Christian pilgrims could visit the city, but it would remain under Muslim control. This proved
unsatisfactory for European Christians. Over the next two centuries, they launched several more
failed attempts to retake the Holy Land. The Crusades had profound effects. They left a legacy
of hatred between Muslims and Christians. The Catholic Church had initiated the Crusades, and
told Crusaders that God would ensure their victory. When this failed to occur, the Church lost
credibility and prestige. The power of kings increased at the Churchs expense. Perhaps most
importantly, the Crusades initiated an era of increased exchange between Western Europe and
the Middle East. Crusaders were amazed at the advanced level of technology in the Middle
East, especially in weaponry and navigation. Western Europeans also developed a taste for
spices available in the Middle East such as nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper. Because of the
Crusades, trade and exchange restarted between Western Europe and Asia.
Magna Carta - Magna Carta is Latin for great charter. This treaty was signed between the
English King John and his nobles. Before the Magna Carta, Englands king ruled by divine right
and with almost unlimited power. King John was engaged in a lengthy and expensive war with
France. The burden of these taxes fell on the nobles, who eventually revolted as a result. In
1215, the nobles met with King John and forced him to sign a treaty. It declared that the king
could not raise taxes on them without their consent. If the king proposed a tax increase, they
nobles would gather together and vote on it. This gathering became known as Parliament,
which is now the legislative body of England. The Magna Carta also declared that the king could
not imprison nobles in an arbitrary manner; if the king brought charges against a noble, a jury of
the nobles peers had to determine if he was guilty or not. The treaty also protected the rights of
merchants and the church against unfair treatment from the king. The Magna Carta is
remembered today as an important step towards representative government, guaranteed rights
for citizens and limited power for rulers. However, the Magna Carta was written for nobles and
by nobles, and did not apply to the vast majority of the population, such as serfs.

Bubonic Plague - The Bubonic Plague was a pandemic disease that struck Europe most
famously and devastatingly in the 1300s. It was often spread by fleas carried by rats. The
Plague killed between one-third and one-half of the population at that time. Its effects included
decreased trade and economic decline. The Plague also decreased the power of the Catholic
Church. People turned to the church for answers about how to avoid or cure the plague. Church
officials typically responded that people should avoid sinning and pay their tithes. The failure of
these proposed solutions, coupled with the fact that Church officials were not immune from the
plague, led the Church to lose credibility in the eyes of the people. The Plague also increased
wages; due to the scarcity of labor, workers could demand more money for their services.

Commercial Revolution - The Commercial Revolution was major change in Europes economy
that began during the 1300s. There was a major increase in trade. Another aspect was
diversification and specialization of labor, and greater amount and variety of products available.
Numbers of artisans and merchants increased. Cities and towns grew as people gathered in
these areas to buy and sell new products. The Commercial Revolution challenged the power of
feudal lords, as these new towns and cities resisted efforts by nobles to control and tax their
commerce. Artisans, or skilled workers, formed groups called guilds. These groups sought to
protect their trade in various ways. Guilds would agree on what to charge to ensure that
competition didnt drive prices down. They also sought to ensure quality of goods. Aspiring
members to a guild would have to serve as an apprentice for a number of years, then produce a
work that would be judged by members of the guild. If the guild deemed the work to be of
sufficient quality, the guild would then admit the apprentice as a full member. Serfs also began
fleeing manors, seeking greater freedom and opportunity in these newly urbanized areas. The
Commercial Revolution increased the power of the new merchant class, who would soon
compete with the old feudal nobility for dominance in national affairs.

100 Years War - Both the English and French kings claimed authority over the same territories,
leading to a long conflict from the mid 1300s to the mid 1400s. Eventually the French defeated
the English and claimed all the disputed territory, stripping England of its territory on the
European continent and leaving it as an isolated island. Technologically, the invention of the
longbow revolutionized warfare and the feudal system. Arrows show from the longbow could
pierce knights armor, making them less effective on the battlefield. Archers and lightly armed
infantry replaced knights as the most important component of armies. This increased the status
of the peasants who typically served in these roles. The war also increased nationalism and
national identity in England and France. Rather than identifying with their class or locality,
people began viewing themselves as English or French, and distinct from other nationalities.

Reconquista and Inquisition - Islamic armies took over Spain in the 700s. As they tried to
move through Spain into France and the rest of Europe, they were stopped at the Battle of
Tours in 732 by the Frankish king Charles Martel. Islam in Europe was now confined to Spain.
European Christian armies spent the next 700 years attempting to reconquer it. This effort is
known as the Reconquista, or reconquering in Spanish. Once they had reconquered Spain,
Europeans set out to remove any Islamic influence in the area, as well as any non-Christian
people. Muslims and Jews were required to convert to Christianity or leave spain. The
Inquisition was a court that judged accusations against former Jews or Muslims who were
suspected of not having truly converted. The Inquisition also heard charges for violations of
canon law, and suspected witchcraft or sorcery. Torture was occasionally used to elicit
confessions from the accused.

Short-Answer Questions
1. How did the fall of the Roman Empire change the government, economy and culture of
Western Europe?
2. Describe feudalism as a system of government based on exchanges, with description of
each groups role in the system.
3. What policies did the Catholic Church use to maintain its power during the Middle Ages?
4. What were the political and economic effects of the Crusades?
5. How did the Magna Carta change government in England, and what is its legacy?
6. What were the political and economic effects of the Bubonic Plague?
7. How did the Commercial Revolution change and challenge the manor system economy?
8. How did the Hundred Years War challenge the feudal system?