Life in Medieval Towns

Life in Medieval Towns

• Guilds were organizations of craftsmen overseeing specific trades.
• Apprentices, typically aged 12-15, trained in specific crafts.
• Guild founders were usually skilled artisans or master craftsmen in fields like baking, blacksmithing, or weaving.
• Medieval homes were constructed using wattle and daub (woven sticks and mud).
• Living conditions were narrow, smoky, and cold, heated only by a fireplace and dimly lit by candles.
• There was no running water, trash, and human waste were often discarded in the streets.
• Poor families shared cramped spaces, while rich families had large, multi-story homes with more space and decoration.
• Disease spread due to poor sanitation, overcrowding, and lack of hygiene.
• Medical treatments included bloodletting with leeches or cutting, use of flowers and herbs, and prayer.
• Common law was based on court decisions and precedent and included the right to a trial.
• Punishments for minor crimes involved public humiliation in stocks or pillories.
• Major crimes were punished by hanging or burning.
• Jails had dirty conditions, and prisoners relied on family for food.
• Leisure activities included mystery plays performed by guilds, animal baiting, and Easter boat jousting.

Medieval Social Structure

• Feudalism was a social and political system where kings gave land to lords for military aid.
• Lords provided land and protection to knights for military service.
• Knights protected the land and obtained crops/labor from peasants.
• Peasants (serfs) worked the land in exchange for food, shelter, and protection.
• The feudal pyramid structure was King, Lords (Nobles), Knights (Vassals), and Peasants (Serfs).
• The King gave land and received loyalty.
• The Lords gave protection and received service.
• The Knights gave protection and received food/labor.
• The Peasants worked land and paid rent and received protection.

Vikings

• The Vikings originated from Scandinavia, including Norway, Denmark, and Sweden.
• They consisted of independent groups of warriors.
• The term "Viking" may derive from Viken, a place in Norway.
• Monasteries were religious communities of monks led by an abbot.
• Monks spent their time praying, working, and studying the Bible in Monasteries.
• Monasteries included a church, cloister, dormitory, and other buildings.
• Monks copied books by hand, lived simply, owned no personal belongings, and could not marry.
• In 793, Vikings raided the monastery of Lindisfarne in northern England, marking one of the first Viking raids.
• Monks were killed, the monastery was burned, and gold, jewels, and treasure were taken.
• Viking longships were fast, light, and easy to steer.
• They used sails for ocean travel and oars for rowing.
• Longships varied in size, holding 24 to 100 crew members, and could travel down rivers and across seas.
• After 1066, the Viking Age ended, but their influence remained.
• Vikings (especially Danes) became villains in medieval stories.
• Old Norse words are still used in English.
• Many Viking descendants remained in England, converted to Christianity, and became part of society.
• A major legacy they helped start the chain of events that led to the creation of England itself.

Medieval Architecture

• The Normans were originally Norsemen (Vikings) from Denmark settling in Normandy, northern France.
• They invaded Italy, Sicily, and attacked the Byzantine Empire.
• They are best known for the invasion of England in 1066.
• At the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the Norman army defeated the Saxons.
• Romanesque architecture featured heavy, solid structures.
• It has thick pillars and walls to support barrel vault stone roofs, rounded arches and windows, and arches often decorated with a jagged dog-tooth pattern.
• Examples of Romanesque architecture include Lessay Abbey in Normandy and Pont du Gard in southern France.
• Gothic architecture is recognized by pointed arches and diagonal rib vaults in the roofs, taller than Romanesque buildings,
• It has large stained glass windows and high, vaulted roofs, and flying buttresses.
• Rose windows symbolize eternity and the divine.
• Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France is an example of Gothic architecture.
• The Goths were a nomadic group who fought against Roman rule in the late 300s and early 400s.
• The term "Gothic" was created by Italian Renaissance architects negatively to describe medieval architecture.
• The Goths loved high towers and slender spires, inspiring the Gothic style.
• Additional key features are pointed arches, ribbed vaults, large stained glass windows, flying buttresses, and ornate embellishments.

The Magna Carta

• King John of England was unpopular and unsuccessful in wars because he raised taxes.
• In June 1215, barons drew up the Magna Carta at Runnymede.
• King John of England was forced to be subject to English law and to guarantee rights to free men.
• The Pope declared the original Magna Carta unlawful, leading to renewed civil war.
• King Henry III reissued a revised Magna Carta, which led to the formation of Parliament.
• The Magna Carta was a symbol of limiting royal power.

Byzantine Empire / Constantinople

• The Roman Empire split because it was too large and complex to govern.
• The Eastern Roman Empire became known as the Byzantine Empire.
• The Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476 CE, but the Byzantine Empire continued for over 1,000 years.
• The Byzantine Empire ruled much of Eastern and Southern Europe during the Middle Ages.
• Its capital, Constantinople, was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe, in modern-day Istanbul, Turkey.
• The peak of the Byzantine Empire occurred during the Justinian Dynasty.
• In 527, Justinian I became Emperor.
• Under Justinian's rule, the empire expanded its territory and reached its height in power and wealth.
• Justinian promoted the arts and invested in public works such as the Valens Aqueduct.
• In 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire.