Medieval Test #1 - Study Sheet PDF

Lecture #1 - Folk Tales/Nursery Rhymes o “Ring Around a’ rosies” (Black Death) o Humpty Dumpty (Richard lll and Battle of Bosworth Field 1485) o London Bridge (1269 Henry lll and Queen Eleanor) o “Fairy tales” genre as a whole (ie Handsel and Gretal)...

Lecture #1 - Folk Tales/Nursery Rhymes o “Ring Around a’ rosies” (Black Death) o Humpty Dumpty (Richard lll and Battle of Bosworth Field 1485) o London Bridge (1269 Henry lll and Queen Eleanor) o “Fairy tales” genre as a whole (ie Handsel and Gretal) - Rome At its Peak o 98-117 CE The Emperor Trajan conquers Dacia and annexes Arabia ▪ The Roman Empire is now at its greatest expanse ▪ Contains all or most of approximately 30 modern nations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa ▪ Population 45-60 million ▪ It is the superpower of its time ▪ Appears strong, invulnerable, wealthy and unstoppable ▪ Apperances are deciving and mask internal problems o Short periods of peace disrupted by almost constant civil war or foreign invasions - The Crisis of the 3rd Century: The Emperor o This period marked the beginning of the end for Rome o Short periods of peace disrupted by almost constant civil war or foreign invasion o Most politically ambitious “Barracks Emperors” (235-284) were short-lived and died violently - The Crisis of the 3rd Century: The “Enemy at the Gates” o Volkerwandurung (migrations) of the German tribes continue on a massive scale - The Crisis of the 3rd Century: The Economic Collapse o High, unfair taxes and rampant inflation - The Crisis of the 3rd Century: The Collapse of the City o Cities go bankrupt ▪ City counils become hereditary family obligations, and become impoverished - The Crisis of the 3rd Century: The Collapse of Society o Depopilation by famine, war, plague o Social dislocation (loss of civic pride) o Robber bands on the rise - Diocletian (284-305 CE)  o 293 CE establshes the Tetrarchy (Rule of Four Men) ▪ Empire divided offically into East and West ▪ Joint rule of 2 Augusti(co-Emperors) + 2 Caesars (2nd in command) ▪ Each half of Empire has one Augustus and one Caesar, each with their own capitals, and sections of the Empire to protect and administer - Provincial Reorganization o The Roman provinces were broken down into more manageable, and roughly equal sizes ▪ Grows from 50 to 100+ provinces o Rome is no longer a major city (capital and mint travel with the emperor) - Military Reorganization o Strategic defenses and forts along frontier set up, under local commanders (“Dukes” and Counts”) o Local forces held the fort and called for aid from the emperor’s comitateses o Comitantnese (“the emperor’s escort”) were an elite, mobile filed force, consisting largely of cavalry, smaller, lighter legions and missile-armed troops o Able to rush to any point to contain an invasion - Manpower Problems o 301 CE key industries and offices (such as Curiales/Town Senators) becoming hereditary occupations o Census defines your occupation ▪ Believed it would solve labor shortages o Diocletian’s reign wwould have far-reaching repercussions on Medieval society Lecture #2 - Diocletian Reforms o 293 CE establishes the Tetrarchy (Rule of Four Men) ▪ Empire divided officially into East and West o Empire grows from 50 to 100+ provinces ▪ Provinces further grouped into one of twelve new Diocenses ▪ Governors of each Diocese supervised by its official, called a Vicar o Frontiers guarded by local “Dukes” and “counts” ▪ Emperor’s central reserve army, the Comitatenses, established to rush to frontier ▪ Occupations starting to become hereditary - Constantine I, The “Great” o Constantine is the first “Christian” Emperor ▪ Given the title “The Great” by later Christian writers o 312 CE Constantine (Caesar of the West) wins the Battle of Milvian Bridge (to become the Augustus of the West) with divine aid. o According to Constantine, the Chirstian God came to him in a vision the night before the battle ▪ God gave him the “Chi-Rho” (first two letters in the Greek wrting of “Chr”ist) symbol ▪ God also instructed him “In Hoc Signo Vincas” (“In this sign you will conquer” o Constantine first Roman Emperor to use the “Chi-Rho” symbol ▪ Put it on his army’s shields and Labarum (battle standard) before the battle (and wins) ▪ Christianity was a very popular, but illegal and often persecuted religion at this time. Many of Constantine’s soldiers were “closet Christians” and would have been inspired by this very visual show of support. - Religious Reforms o 313 CE Christianity legalized by Emperor Constantine in the “Edict of Milan” o 321 CE Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, is made a legal holiday o 325 Constantine calls The Council of Nicaea ▪ Nicaea defined Church doctrine and organization ▪ Decisions still resonate today ▪ Formulated the Nicaean Creed (basic beliefs of the Christian Faith) - Military Reforms: The Comitatenses o Comitatenses are the elite, mobile field armies of the emperor ▪ Better trained and equipped troops  ▪ More armored cavalry ▪ Troops moved back into mobile reserves to rush to trouble spots along the frontier - Military Reforms: The Limitanei o Limitanei are the less well-equipped frontier armies o The mounted Equites (“Knight”) cavalry becomes the new military elite. - Constantine I (The Great) o 324 BCE moves the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome ▪ Creates his “New Rome” (capital city) at Byzantium ▪ City renamed Constantiople o Occupations continue to be hereditary to make sure you have a stable workforce (in theory) ▪ Occupations tattooed on people ▪ Growth of guilds to create a skilled workforce o In the reforms of Diocletian and Constantine, we see the birth of he Middle Ages - Theodosius I, The Great (379-395) o Last Emperor to rule a united Empire ▪ 380 CE Christianity was made the State Religion of Rome ▪ 391 all paganism banned and temples closed ▪ Even bans the Olympics ▪ Christians then begin to persecute pagans ▪ Slogan: “One ruler, one world, one creed” o Lets the Goths settle within the Empire (to avoid war and recruit them as troops) ▪ Large scale Germanization of the Roman army ▪ Some armies disappear when wages can’t be paid o Emppre is permently partitioned into the Eastern and Western Roman Empires - In the reigns of Diocletian, Constantine and Theodosius, we see the “birth of the Middle Ages” o Their reforms provide the basis and role models for: ▪ Feudalism and knighthood (ie dukes, counts, knights, town militias) ▪ Construction of local castles ▪ Guilds and serfdom ▪ Boundaries of later European nation states provinces and diocese ▪ Government, law, bureaucracy and civil servants ▪ Rise in authority of Christianity in all areas of society - The Decline of the West o 409 CE Rome pulls her troops out of Britian to defend Gaul ▪ Beginning of the Arthurian legends? o 410 CE Goths sack rome ▪ Rome taken for the first time in 800 years ▪ A huge psychological blow o 450’s Attila the Hun ravages Italy ▪ Attila defeat at the Battle of Chalons (451 CE) ▪ Death of Attila (453 CE) o 455 CE Vandals seize north Africa and sack Rome with such ferocity that it gave birth to the term “Vandalism” - The Last Caesar o 476 CE Romulus Augustulus (Last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire) o 476 CE Romulus Augustulus was rplaced by ODoacer, a German “barbarian” kind, who declared himself King of Italy ▪ Marks the “fall of Rome” in the West and the beginning of the “Dark ages” in the West ▪ Odoacer is the transitional kind between the end of the Western Roman Empire and beginning of the Middle Ages - The First “Medieval” King o 493 CE Theodoric German king of the Ostrogoths, becomes the Regent of Italy ▪ Murders Odoacer in 493 CE ▪ Becomes the first medieval king - The Creation of the early Middle Ages o Bureaucrats and monks/priests become scribes for illiterate German Kings - From Roman to Germanic o New tribal law codes introduced by Germanic Kings ▪ “Personal” not “civil” law - From Roman to Germanic Culture 5th-6th centuries o “Barbarians” settle and become “civilized” by copying Roman styles and institutions ▪ Their leaders become “Dukes” and “Counts” ▪ Germanic Warlords wish to be seen as “Roman” kings, not “Barbarian” raiders, so create law codes and coins under Roman influence ▪ Scribes usually provided by the Church  ▪ Kings embrace what they believe is the greatness of the Roman Empire o Churchmen provide literate scribes to illiterate kings ▪ Latin preserved ▪ Monasteries preserve the “wisdom of the ancients” (ie the Greco- Roman world) o Last masterpiece from Antiquity: Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy o Decline of education, e.g. Historian Gregory of Tours illiterate o Roma Aeterna (Eternal Rome) praised by late Latin poets o “ideal” of Rome continues through the ages - Eastern Roman Empire survives o Constantinople is their capital o They call themselves “Romans” o Historians call them the Byzantine Empire o In decline from the 10th century onwards o They are finally conquered in 1453 by the Ottoman Turks Lecture #3 - Byzantine Invasions o Eastern Roman Empire called themselves “Romans” ▪ Modern Historians call them the Byzantine Empire (after their capital) to differentiate between the time before and after the “fall of Rome ▪ They try to hold on to collapsing Empire - Justinian’ Code o “Corpus Juris Civilis” (“The Body of Civil Law”) one of his greatest achievements o Written between 528 and 534 o Divided into 3 parts, “The Code” “The Digest” “The Institutes” plus “The Novels” o Becomes the basis of modern Western Law - “The Code” o Published in 529 and revised in 534 o Included all Roman Law that was still in use at the time o 4,652 laws, divided into 12 “books” of law - “The Institutes and “The Novels o “The Institutes” became a general legal textbook for law students - Justinian’s re-conquest o Gothic War in Italy (534-554 CE) against the Ostrogoths  ▪ Devastates northern and central Italy Siege and counter-siege of Rome destroyed aqueducts and public buildings o City semi-abandoned o Rome finally taken in 551 CE - Arab Conquests o Islamic religion founded 622 CE by Muhammad of Mecca (571-632 CE) o Unified the Arab people under a new faith o Teachings defined his religious beliefs and the nature of a just society o Islam is Arabic for “Submission” or ‘Surrender” o Followers are Muslims (“those who surrender” to the Will of God) o Becomes a new, dynamic force - Division and Decline o Civil War of 655-61 splits leadership ▪ Sunnis (Quaran + practice of the prophet) are the majority and win ▪ Shi’ism (true, infallible descendants of the Prophet) are the minority and lose ▪ 732 Muslim armies are defeated by the Franks at Poiloers (Tours) in France Limits Western expansion - The Arrival of The Franks o 452 CE Franks help Romans defeat Attila’s Huns at the Battle of Chalons ▪ Roman rule in Gaul quickly disintegrates after that ▪ Only one Roman field army left in Gaul, at Soisson, not far from Letitia (Paris) ▪ Able to hold back Frankish expansion for a short period of time - The Rise of the Salian Franks o Franks are consolidated under the Merovingian Kings (beginning with the semi-mythical Merovech) ▪ Childric (d.481) is the first of the Merovingian Frankish kings we have historical proof of Succeeded by his 15 year old son, Clovis I o Merovingians kings are also known as the “long-haired kings” because they claimed to have been descended from a river god ▪ Believed that the hair of a king held special divine powers and, therefore, refused to cut or shave it ▪ Believed to be a “sacred” royal family as a result  o 486 Clovis I defeated the Roman commander Syagrius, at Soissons (Gaul), and took over his land, title, offices, money and army ▪ No other major Roman forces left in northern and central Frace/Gaul ▪ Many Franks move into central France, as far as the Loire River ▪ Gallo-Romans stay (Roman citizens of France/Gaul) For many Gallo-Romans, Clovis’ victory might appear no different than the series of successful revolts and warlords that they have learned to love with over the past 200 years - Conversion to “Roman” Christianity o Franks mostly heathen/pagans ▪ Some Arian Christians (considered heretics by mainstream Christians lead by the Pope in Rome) ▪ 493 CE Gallo-Roman bishops convince Clovis to marry Clotilda, a Catholic Christian Burgundian princess (niece of the Burgundian King Gundobad) ▪ Burgundians in southeast Gaul and far more “Romanized” (there since 443 CE) ▪ Franks begin to convert to “Roman Catholic” Christianity - Supremacy of the Salian Franks o 509 CE eliminates rival German Kings and unites Salian and Ripurian Franks ▪ Salian Franks the dominant group - Merovingian Society at the Time of Clovis o Writing, literacy and culture at its lowest (a “Dark Age”) o Most important source: Gregory of Tours (d.594), The History of the Franks ▪ Fairly illiterate author - Creation of the Pactus Legis Salicae o c. 507-511 Clovis creates first written Frankish law code The Salic Laws (Pactus Legis Salicae) - Impact of the Salic Code o 507-511 the Salic Code is written as a single code for all his subject peoples ▪ Aided by Roman scribes and legal experts, under the authority of Clovis (slow evolution and influence of Roman contact) ▪ Focused heavily on the “personality of law” where each person could claim the laws of their ancestors ▪ Anything outside of the Frankish code was covered by local customs (ie Gallo-Roman law, Visigoth law, Burgundian Code etc) - The Decline of the Merovingians  o Clovis’ empire and administration survives quite well into the 6 th and 7th centuries ▪ His empire was divided among his songs o Clovis had taken over collecting takes ▪ Used to reward retinue, retainers and administrators ▪ Aid church ▪ Buy allegiance of others and rivals ▪ Clovis collected more $ than needed o In the late 6th century land begins to replace $ as the main source of wealth ▪ Next 100 years Merovingians Kings give gifts of land to retainers and Church ▪ Land runs out (a finite resource) ▪ They run out of ways to reward/buy/influence others - Rise of the Carolingian Dynasty o 7th and 8th century Merovingian kings weak (known as the “Roi faineant” or “The Do Nothing Kings” o Moors cross the Pyrenees from Spain and raid Frankish lands ▪ Charles “the Hammer” Martel, the “Mayor of the Royal Palace” gathers an army ▪ 732 CE defeats Moors (at Tours) and becomes the de facto ruler of the Franks o 754 Pepin lll (also known as “the younger and “the short”) son of Charles Martel, was also “Mayor of the Royal Palace” ▪ Took power, aided by the Pope and the Catholic Church, from the weak Merovingian Dynasty ▪ 751banointed as king by Boniface, Archbishop of Mainz ▪ 754 Pope Stephen ll anointed him for a second time, and gave him the title of “patricius Romanorum” (“Patrician of the Romans) This was the first recorded time that a civil ruler was crowned by the Pope ▪ Founds what will become known as the Carolingian Dynasty (After Charles Martel) - Charlemangne/Charles the Great o Son of pepin o Co-ruled with his brother Carloman until his death in 771 CE o 26 when took power in 768 CE o Greate warrior and empire builder o Defeated all enemies, expanded Frankish lands and brought greater unity  - Creation of The Holy Roman Emperor o 800 CE Crowned Holy Roman Emperor (“Emperor of Rome in the West”) by Pope Leo lll on Christmas day - Carolingian “Renaissance o Initiated at the behest of Charlemagne o Renewed (but elitist) focus on culture o High-point in Carolingian culture o Fluent in Latin, understood Greek o Cold not write his own name o Devoted to liberal arts and astronomy o Imported scholars (Einhard, Paul the Deacon, Theodulf, Alcuin of York) o Reform of education ▪ Infroduced Carolingian Minuscule writing (adding punctuation and small case letters) - Charlemagne’s legal changes o Issued numerous instructions or memoranda (called capitularies from the habit of dividing them into chapters) that dealt with many aspects of the law o Courts of the counts and bishops visited at least four times a year by Charlemagne's agents (the missi dominci) ▪ Missi dominici (“Those who are sent by the king”) travel in pairs - Charlemagne’s Legacy o Charlemagne’s reign completed the break-up of the Western Roman world and established the creation of Germanic kingdoms on “Roman” soil Lecture #4 - Viking o Vikingr ▪ Someone who went on a journey ▪ Often to other countries and usually by sea ▪ Travel as part of a. group of other vikingar (plural of vikingr) ▪ Ethnically neutral term o To go Vikingr meant travel, but it could also mean to explore, go on a raid, or to trade o A “Viking” journey could include all of the above - Huscarls o Huscarls- elite warriors, armed with axe, shield, sword and spear, and usually wearing full chainmail o Bodyguard of the King, Jarl or Chieftain - Norse Religion o Warriors who died in battle were taken by the Valkyries (warrior maidens/goddesses) to Odin’s Hall, Valhalla (“hall of the slain”) in Asgard (home of the gods) o In Valhalla they feasted and battled each day, preparing for Ragnarök o Ragnarök (“Doom of the gods”) is the great battle at the end of time, where the Norse gods and the heroes of Valhalla battle against a massive army of giants, demons and monsters - Military Longships o Snekkja – At least 20 rowing benches and a crew of 41 - Norse raids o Monasteries: favorite targets (rich, poorly defended, and isolated) - The Norse in England o 865-67 Norse “Great Army” raids across England and captures York ▪ Opens way for large Norse migrations to Britain o 876 Norse begin to settle in England ▪ Alfred forced to retreat in the face of renewed Norse attacks northern half of Britian known as the “Danelaw” o 885-886 CE Danelaw Treaty in England between King Alfred of Wessex and Guthrum the Dane o 954 CE, Erik Bloodaxe, the last Viking king of York, was killed at the Battle of Steinmor ▪ York was then taken over by the English o 1043 death of Canute ▪ Edward the Confessor, son of King Aethelred “the Un-counselled" of Wessex (died 1016) is crowned King of England ▪ Rules well ▪ Died in 1066 without an heir o 1066 3 powerful men claim the English throne ▪ Earl Harald Godwinsson of Wessex ▪ King Harald Hardraada of Norway (“the last Viking”) ▪ Duke William “The Bastard” of Normandy - 1066: The End of “The Viking Era o 1066 sees the death of two kings ▪ January 6, Earl Harold Godwinsson of Wessex is crowned king of England  ▪ September 25 King Harold of Wessex defeats Norse invasion of Harad Hardraada of Norway at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in northern England, killing Harald Haraada in the battle ▪ October 14 King Harold of Wessex, the last Anglo-Saxon king, is then killed by the army of Duke William of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings ▪ William “the Bastard” then become “the conqueror” and King William l of England - The Norse in France o 911 Rollo, “the Ganger” conquered northern France and was granted land in the valley of lower Seine River by King Charles “the Simple” ▪ Land becomes known as “Normandy” (“the land of the Northmen”) ▪ The Norman French, under the leadership of William the Bastard, conquer England in 1066 - The Norse in the East o 911 CE The Varangian Guard created ▪ 6,000 Vikings are part of the Byzantine Emperor’s bodyguard - The Kensington Runestone o In 1898, Swedish American farmer Olof Ohman claimed to have found a 200 pound grey sandstone carved in Norse runes, on his farm, near Kensington, Minnesota, while clearing land. o The stone was proven time and again to be a hoax, but its authenticity has been supported by the strong Scandinavian community of Minnesota Lecture #5 - European Farming Communities o An urban centre (ie city, town or village) evolved, surrounded by farmland - Climate of Southern Europe o Staplle crops were spelt, wheat, barley, olives (for oil), and grapes (for wine) o Mild winters were ideal for the olive, which are easily killed by frost, and which require many years to reach maturity o Grapes flourish in the Mediterranean becuase its deep roots allow it to find moisture even in the summer drought - Climate of Northern Europe o The crops were primarily grains:spelt, wheat, barley, oats, and rye, complemented by beans and peas o Grapes were extensively cultivated south of the Loire and in the Rhine valley  o The north was too cold for the olives, so northern Europeans relied on butter for oil - Climate of Northern Europe o The average person in the Midde Ages ate relatively little meat and that was mainly pork, since cattle were maintained mainly for milk and cheese, while oxen and horses were used for their labor o The main protein source for the average European of the High Middle Ages was salt herring from the Baltic and North Seas - Agriculture Techniques o Southern soil is thin, dry and sandy (easy to plow) ▪ The “aratrum” (or “ard”) is the Roman scratch-plough, drawn by oxen - Early Middle Ages (500-1000 CE o Wheat most desirable grain, but barley, oats and rye easier to cultivate - Early Middle Ages: Agricultural labour o Slaves still used, esp. In Mediterranean o In early Germanic law, there were half-free people (the alidus or litus) o Free non-noble people gradually lost freedom through dependence on landlords for protection (feudalism) - Later Middle Ages (1000-1200 CE) o Increase of population, increased proportion of cultivated land (positive feedback loop) o Europe begins to move beyond the subsistence farming in the early Middle Ages to surplus production o Circa 1200 ▪ A new plow, the Carruca, was invented A heavy, wheeled plough, pulled by a team of six or eight oxen or horses o Shift from the Mediterranean square fields to long, narrow fields (the furlong) o Around 800 CE, shift from 2-field system to 3-field system o With crop rotation and one field fallow - Agriculture, Economics, Politics, Population o Agriculture was the single most important economic activity in Medieval Europe o It was also one of the basic building blocks of the Feudal System o By 1200, agriculture sustained a total population of about 65 million people ▪ An increase of 100 percent since the year 1000 CE o Population boom was made possible by the surpluses generated by the labor of millions of nameless peasants - Feudal system Trminology o Fealty (Oath of) ▪ The oath by which a vassal swore loyalty to his lord, usually on a relic of saints or on the bible o Fief ▪ Land or revenue-producing property granted by a lord in return for a vassal’s service o Homage ▪ The ceremony by which a vassal pleges his fealty to his lord, and acknowledges all other feudal obligations, in return for a grant of land. o Lord ▪ A person who rented land to another in return for a variety of military support, labor, crops and/or cash o Vassal ▪ A free man who held land (fief) from a lord to whom he pid homage and swore fealty. He owed various services and obligations, primarily military. - Feudalism and Society o The concept of Feudalism is based on the social structure of an agrarian society - Feudalism o Based on the bestowing of a “fief” (Latin, “feudum”, hence “feudalism”) by a lord to a vassal - Feudalism obligation o The king owed his Noble Vassals land (fief) with serfs/peasants (both free and tied to the fief) to work the land o The Noble Vassals owed the King loyalty and military support, and owed their Vassal Knights land, food, protection, and shelter o Vassal Knights owed their Noble Lords homage ad military service, and their Vassal Serfs land, protection and food o The Vassal Serfs worked the land and owed their Knight Lord rent in labor, and, in some cases payment in produce or cash - Feudalism obligations – key Concept o All were obliged to provide loyalty and support to those “above” you, and protection to those “below” you o When everyone lives up to their obligations, the Feudal System works well - Feudalism and the Knight  o This development also gave to a Knightly culture, which produced chivalry (which is a variation of the word cavalry) and heraldry - The Church as Feudal Landlord o One of the reasons that the Church could raise huge armies of “ministerial” knights to serve and protect Church interests