Medieval Europe Reader PDF

History and Geography Medieval Europe Reader Joan of Arc Charlemagne Saint Benedict of Nursia Battle of Hastings THIS BOOK IS THE PROPERTY OF: STATE Book No. PROVINCE Enter information in spaces to the left as instructed. COUNTY PARISH SCHOOL DISTRICT OTHER ISSUED TO Year Used CONDITION...

History and Geography Medieval Europe Reader Joan of Arc Charlemagne Saint Benedict of Nursia Battle of Hastings THIS BOOK IS THE PROPERTY OF: STATE Book No. PROVINCE Enter information in spaces to the left as instructed. COUNTY PARISH SCHOOL DISTRICT OTHER ISSUED TO Year Used CONDITION ISSUED RETURNED PUPILS to whom this textbook is issued must not write on any page or mark any part of it in any way, consumable textbooks excepted. 1. T eachers should see that the pupil’s name is clearly written in ink in the spaces above in every book issued. 2. The following terms should be used in recording the condition of the book: New; Good; Fair; Poor; Bad. Medieval Europe Reader Creative Commons Licensing This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 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ISBN: 978-1-68380-003-3 Copyright © 2016 Core Knowledge Foundation www.coreknowledge.org Medieval Europe Table of Contents Chapter 1 Changing Times. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Chapter 2 The Not-So-Dark Ages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Chapter 3 Two Churches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Chapter 4 Prayer and Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Chapter 5 Charlemagne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Chapter 6 A Feudal Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Chapter 7 To the Manor Born. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Chapter 8 Life in a Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Chapter 9 Days of a Knight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Chapter 10 A Serf and His Turf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Chapter 11 City Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Chapter 12 Women in the Middle Ages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Chapter 13 William the Conqueror. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Chapter 14 Henry II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Chapter 15 Thomas Becket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Chapter 16 Eleanor of Aquitaine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Chapter 17 Magna Carta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Chapter 18 A New Kind of Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Chapter 19 The Hundred Years’ War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Chapter 20 Joan of Arc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Chapter 21 The Black Death. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Medieval Europe Reader Core Knowledge Sequence History and Geography 4 Chapter 1 Changing Times Roads Lead to Rome You may have heard the expression, “All roads lead to Rome.” During the glory days of the Roman Empire, that saying was true. Rome was the center of the empire, and roads from all over Europe led there. Vocabulary empire, n. a group of countries controlled by a single authority The Big Question What changes led to the decline of the Western Roman Empire? These roads allowed the emperor to spread Roman ideas and laws throughout the vast empire. With the system of roads, the emperor could send messengers to carry instructions to the regional governors. Roads also allowed goods and taxes to travel across the empire into Rome. These goods and taxes kept the powerful Roman Empire running. More important, perhaps, was that Roman soldiers used the roads. Their job was to enforce the law and put down any rebellions or attacks on the empire. 2 Roads like this one in Italy were used to carry goods across the Roman Empire. 3 The roads helped hold the Roman Empire together, but they also played a role in its decline. Other armies could use these roads, too. The same roads that carried the Roman army out of Rome made it easy for outside invaders to march into the city. Beginning around 200 CE, some non-Roman groups of people wanted to do just that. At this time, Rome was still a vast and powerful empire, but it faced some serious problems. Powerful Roman generals were fighting each other. Each general wanted to gain enough power to become emperor. This conflict was harmful for the health and well-being of the empire. The Roman government’s main purpose was to provide law and order so that people could conduct Vocabulary decline, n. gradual loss of importance and power invader, n. a person or group that comes into a country by force boundary, n. the edge of a country or of an area; its outside limits business and live in safety. However, the fights among the generals undermined Roman law and order. The warring interrupted business, trade, and government. In addition, this large empire needed money to build roads, bridges, and buildings, as well as to pay administrators and soldiers. Over time, it became impossible to pay for everything. Managing the Roman Empire well became impossible. People on the Move The Roman Empire grew weak enough in the 200s and 300s that it began to attract the attention of various groups that lived on the edges of the empire, or outside its boundaries. Rome had 4 conquered some of these groups of people and had sent armies to guard the borders against others. The Romans, who mostly spoke Greek and Latin, looked down on these people who spoke different languages and had different cultures. They labeled them “barbarians.” The word barbarian comes from a Greek word meaning foreigner. The Romans dismissed these non-Greek- and non-Latin-speaking barbarians as primitive, uncultured, and inferior. However, many barbarian groups were not uncivilized. For example, many had skilled metal workers who created beautiful art, jewelry and coins. The Romans referred to a number of groups as barbarians, including the Angles, the Saxons, the Huns, the Vandals, and the Goths (including the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths). Several of these groups of people were Germanic. They lived in northern Europe. The Angles and the Saxons lived in what is now Denmark and northern Germany. They eventually drove the Romans out of England. The Goths and Vandals attacked and eventually sacked the city of Rome Vocabulary uncultured, adj. showing poor manners and bad taste; crude uncivilized, adj. not advanced socially or culturally sack, v. to destroy and steal things in a city or building, usually with an army itself. From the Roman point of view, the Vandals caused so much destruction that, even today, we still use the word vandalism to describe acts of destruction. However, the barbarians who left the longest memory of fear and destruction were not Germanic people. They were a nomadic people from central Asia called the Huns. The Huns lived on the 5 Barbarian Invasions of the Roman Empire N W S Key E Barbarian invasions of the Roman Empire Western Roman Empire North Sea Baltic Sea Eastern Roman Empire Capital Huns Visigoths Vandals el nn h Cha Englis Franks Angles, Saxons, Jutes Ad r iat Atlantic Ocean Rome ic S ea Constantinople Mediterranean Sea At its height, the Roman Empire covered parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia. Over time, non‑Roman groups seized Roman lands. The beige area shows lands outside its boundaries. steppe, a flat, grassy, treeless area that stretched across what is now Ukraine, southern Russia, and Kazakhstan. The Huns raised sheep, cattle, and horses on the steppe. As the seasons changed, and the available grasses dried up, the groups moved in search of new grazing lands for their livestock. The Huns were skilled horsemen and experts with bows and arrows. As young children, they learned to ride horses. So good was their horsemanship that one Roman historian described the Huns this way: “They are unable to put their feet on the ground. They live and sleep on their horses.” 6 In the 300s, the Huns, tired of trying to survive on the steppe, began to move westward across Europe. Thanks to their skill in warfare and their excellent horsemanship, the Huns easily conquered other groups of people and moved onto their land. Attila the Hun The Huns struck fear into the hearts of those they challenged. The most feared of all the barbarians was Attila the Hun. For about ten years, Attila and his brother Bleda shared the throne as rulers of the Huns. But Attila wanted to rule alone. He killed his brother and became the sole king and leader of the Huns. Attila became known as a brilliant but cruel general. He led the Huns westward, conquering other groups and leaving a trail of destruction. The Huns crossed the Danube River and crushed a Roman army in eastern Europe. Then they invaded what is present-day France. At one point, a Roman army joined with another barbarian group, the Visigoths, to defeat the Huns in a bloody battle in Gaul (present-day France). But that didn’t stop Attila. It was to be his only defeat. Next, Attila turned his attention to Rome itself. In 452, he swept across northern Italy. In an attempt to save Rome, Pope Leo I, the bishop of Rome, rode out to meet with the feared Hun general. Most Romans thought that was the last they would see of Pope Leo. But, as the legend goes, in a dramatic face-to-face meeting, Attila thought he saw a halo above the pope’s head. The Church believed that Attila retreated because he feared this holy man, who seemed to have a power the cruel conqueror knew nothing 7 about. Modern historians note, however, that Attila’s forces were very weak at this point. Attila may also have been aware that Roman armies were approaching from the east. Regardless of the reasons, Attila decided not to attack Rome. Soon after this meeting, Attila became sick and died. Without their leader, and weakened by disease, the Huns retreated into eastern Europe. This painting shows Pope Leo I (left), protected by angels, meeting Attila (right), who is on the black horse. 8 The End of the Roman Empire You may have heard the expression, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” It means that it takes a long time to accomplish a big task. It took hundreds of years before the Roman Empire reached its peak, and then it lasted for hundreds of years more. Eventually, the Roman Empire was split into two parts—the Western Roman Empire centered in Rome and the Eastern Roman Empire ruled from Constantinople. Finally, in 476, a German king named Odoacer (/oe*doh*ae*ser/) attacked Rome and killed the emperor. Since no new emperor was named, the date 476 is sometimes used to mark the end of the Western Roman Empire. The Eastern Roman Empire, which was not conquered, lasted for almost another thousand years. 9 Chapter 2 The Not-So-Dark Ages Life as Usual Today, we usually say The Big Question that the Middle Ages began in 476, What problems when the western half of the Roman arose as a result of Empire collapsed. However, to the not having a central government? people of the time, especially those who lived outside the Roman capital, there probably wasn’t any difference between life in 475 and 477. Even though the Roman government ceased to exist, day-to-day life went on as before for most people. People living far from Rome probably did not even hear about the barbarians or the fall of Rome. And even in areas where the barbarians took over, life remained more or less unchanged. Many of the barbarians respected Roman ways. As a result, the language and the structure of society remained the same. Religions, customs, and laws did not change all at once, either. People kept doing the things they had always done. For most people, their main concern was that law and order be preserved, and that they were able to feed themselves and their families. 10 Even after the collapse of the Roman Empire, Roman culture was much admired. This mosaic from Roman Britain most likely shows the Roman goddess Venus. 11 Gradual Change Little by little, however, things did begin to change. Many Roman roads and aqueducts that were used to carry people, goods, and water began to fall apart. Although there were many local governments, there was no Vocabulary aqueduct, n. a raised canal that carries water from one place to another longer a central government with money to fix the roads. Even if a ruler in one region decided to repair the roads that crossed his land, there was no guarantee that the roads in the neighboring regions would be fixed, too. The Romans were skilled builders. This aqueduct still stands over the River Gard in France. 12 Over time, trade declined in northern Europe. During the time of the Roman Empire, there had been lively trade among the Vocabulary trade, n. buying and selling goods among different peoples merchant, n. a person who buys and sells goods to earn money artisan, n. a person with a certain skill in making things northern outposts in Europe and northern Africa, as well as the eastern Mediterranean regions. Those northern European networks gradually stopped working. From around 600, it was nearly impossible for these regions to sell goods to northern Africa or to the eastern Mediterranean. With the decline of trade, cities also began to shrink. Merchants sought new items closer to home to trade. The governors who had once carried out Roman laws were gone. Without stores and government offices, there were fewer jobs in the cities. Most people survived by farming or soldiering. Without a central government to pay for big public buildings or ships, artisans couldn’t practice their skills. Today, we have many books that explain how to do different things. Back then, few people could read or write. Usually skills were passed from an older In the Middle Ages, most people survived by farming. 13 skilled worker to a younger worker. When the skills were no longer used and passed on, people often forgot them. The Dark Ages Because people forgot, or no longer used certain skills that were known by the Greeks and Romans, this period from about 500 to 800 was once called the Dark Ages. Was the term Dark Ages accurate? Well, not really! Vocabulary scholar, n. a person with special knowledge about a subject The term was introduced by writers and scholars during the period in history that followed the Middle Ages. This period is known as the Renaissance. These writers gave their own accounts of what happened during the Middle Ages. They looked down on the Middle Ages as a time when there was no learning, so they called these years the Dark Ages. For a long time, people accepted what the Renaissance writers said about the Middle Ages. Today, historians present a more balanced view, admitting the shortcomings of the Middle Ages but also noting its strengths. It is true that some valuable skills were forgotten during this time. Because travel was difficult and sometimes dangerous, most people stayed in their own areas. The Middle Ages also had its fair share of violence. However, today historians agree that the Middle Ages was probably not any more violent than the time of the Roman Empire, or the Renaissance. Modern historians see these years as a time of change and growth, contributing to the rise of Western civilization in many ways. 14 Spreading Out In the years following the fall of Rome, nations that would greatly influence a changing Europe were slowly being created. Remember the destructive Visigoths who sacked Rome? They continued to move westward, into present-day France. Then they crossed the Pyrenees Mountains and moved into Spain and Portugal, where they settled into a life of farming. The Ostrogoths moved into the area of central Europe that is now the Czech Republic and Hungary. The Huns were absorbed by other ethnic groups. The Angles and Saxons moved across the sea to England, whose name comes from the Angles—“Angle-land.” History is a little bit like a cake. Many ingredients go into it—and something very different comes out. In these years, the groups of people who brought down the Roman Empire began the process of creating a new and different Europe. 15 Chapter 3 Two Churches The Bishop of Rome Although the city of Rome was much smaller after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was still a city. People living in the city needed food and other supplies. It is very difficult for people who live in cities The Big Question Why did the collapse of the Western Roman Empire make it possible for the bishop of Rome to become more powerful? to grow the food they need. Food has to come from farming areas outside the city. After the fall of the empire, however, there was no one to take charge and arrange to bring these kinds of supplies into Rome. Who would perform those duties now? Vocabulary bishop, n. a highranking member of the church in some Christian religions Remember when Attila the Hun almost attacked Rome? The person who talked him out of doing that was Pope Leo I, Rome’s bishop. The term pope is another title given to the bishop of Rome. There was still an emperor at that time, but the power of the emperor was fading fast. The power of Rome’s bishop, on the other hand, was growing. 16 Popes in the Middle Ages, such as Pope Gregory I, shown here, often had a lot of power. 17 The Victors Convert Many Germanic groups conquered the Roman lands. And yet, in a sense, the victors had also been conquered. They weren’t conquered by the Roman army, but by the Roman church. Rome was a Christian empire when it fell in 476, and many of the people who took Rome’s lands eventually converted to Christianity. They also adopted Rome’s customs, or traditions. Many also began to speak the language of Rome. Over time, the Roman language in the different parts of the old empire began to develop into different but related languages. That is why modern French, Italian, and Spanish are called Romance languages. These languages developed from the Latin Vocabulary victor, n. a person who defeats an opponent or enemy; winner Christian, adj. related to beliefs based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth language of Rome over hundreds of years. Even though newcomers had conquered Rome, they admired what it stood for. It had been the center of the most powerful empire for hundreds of years. Rome’s conquerors respected and held on to many Roman laws and customs. They also kept the Latin language and the Roman religion. convert, v. to change religious beliefs; to switch from one religion to another custom, n. a tradition, or way of doing something, that belongs to a particular society, place, or time 18 Roman letters on a tomb Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of Rome, surrendered to the German king Odoacer in 476. When there was no longer a western emperor, the bishop of Rome became the most important official in the city. Pope Leo said that the bishop of Rome was the most important official in the Christian Church. He claimed that his power as bishop of Rome reached far beyond the city of Rome itself. 19 What were the reasons behind Leo’s claim to power? He claimed that the power of the bishop of Rome came from Jesus himself, through Saint Peter. Leo said that Jesus chose Peter to be the head Vocabulary heir, n. a person who will legally receive the property of someone who dies; the person who will become king or queen after the current king or queen dies or steps down of the Church. According to Christian belief, Peter left Jerusalem after Jesus was killed and went to Rome. Leo and his supporters believed that Peter became the first bishop of Rome. The bishops of Rome that followed him were heirs to Peter’s position as head of the Christian Church. Using this argument, Leo and those who followed him claimed that they were the papa (from which we get the word pope), or father, of the Christian Church. With the former Western Roman Empire broken up into many smaller kingdoms and territories, the bishop of Rome, as leader of the Church in all these regions, claimed power throughout Europe. Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris was built in the 1100s. It is a fine example of Gothic architecture, which became popular in the Western Church of the Middle Ages. It is also a symbol of the power of the Church in the Middle Ages. 20 The Eastern Empire Not everyone agreed with the claims of the bishops of Rome. In fact, there were four other bishops who also viewed themselves as leaders of the Christian Church. These were the bishops of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. These cities were all located in the Eastern Roman Empire. Remember how the Roman Empire was divided into two parts? One part was the Western Roman Empire, centered in Rome. The other part was the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire. In the early 300s, Emperor Constantine, the first Christian emperor of the Roman Empire, built a new eastern capital at the site of the ancient Greek city of Byzantium. He named this new capital Constantinople. While the Western Empire was weakened by internal problems and eventually destroyed by invaders, the Eastern Empire survived. However, the Eastern Empire’s culture was much less Roman than the Western Empire’s. The eastern part of the empire was more Greek than Roman. Most of its people did not speak Latin or languages that were influenced by Latin. Do you think the bishops of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem were more influenced by the bishop of Constantinople or by the bishop of Rome? If you said Constantinople, you were right. Over time, the number of differences between Christians in the eastern and western regions increased. There had always been some differences, of course. Even though both groups were Christians, they spoke different languages and had different cultures. However, more 21 and more disagreements sprang up. Some of these disagreements may seem trivial today, but in the Middle Ages they were not. For example, Christians in the former Western Empire used flat bread made Vocabulary “holy ceremony,” (phrase), a religious act or ritual performed according to tradition without yeast in their holy ceremonies. Christians in the Eastern Empire used bread made with yeast in their holy ceremonies. More important was the larger issue of who was in charge of the Church. Bishops in the Eastern Empire did not like accepting the rule of the bishop of Rome as the final word on all Church matters. They were used to ruling in a more cooperative manner, in which each bishop had a vote. Over time the bishops in the Eastern Church developed a very different tradition of governing the Church and its religious customs. They did, however, accept the belief that the bishop of Rome was the heir of Saint Peter. In 1054, the differences between the bishops of Rome and Constantinople came to a head. After some major disagreements, the two churches Hagia Sophia, the Church of the Holy Wisdom, was built in the 500s in Constantinople as the main cathedral for the Eastern Empire. 22 separated. Two Separate Churches Christian bishops in the Eastern Empire, including Bulgarians, Serbs, Russians, Syrians, and Egyptians, chose to join with the bishop of Constantinople. People on both sides of this argument expected that the division between the two parts of the Church was just temporary. Over time, however, the two sides did not get back together. In fact, they found more reasons to disagree. Today, the Church that is headed by the bishop of Rome (the pope) is known as the Roman Catholic Church. The Church in the region that was ruled by Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey,) is generally known as the Eastern Orthodox Church. In the rest of this unit, we will mostly focus on the lands of the Western Church. Split Between the Eastern and Western Churches Catholic Orthodox Western Church Eastern Church el ann sh Ch Engli N W Latin-speaking Greek-speaking E S Constantinople Atlantic Ocean Rome Key Western Church Eastern Church Mediterranean Sea Central city At the time, most people thought that the conflict between the two parts of the Church would be resolved. 23 Chapter 4 Prayer and Work Saint Benedict of Nursia Just about The Big Question the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, a boy named Bennet How did Saint Benedict’s ideas help was born in the mountain village of people in Europe during the Middle Nursia, northeast of Rome. He was Ages? a very serious child who thought a lot about right and wrong. He was described as having “the mind of an old man” in a young man’s body. 24 The Abbey of Sant’Antimo near Siena, Italy, followed the rules of Saint Benedict. 25 Bennet’s parents sent him to Rome to study, but the lying, cheating, and dishonesty he saw in the city upset him. He left Rome and decided to live as a monk, devoting himself to a religious life. At that time there were Vocabulary monk, n. a member of a religious community of men who promise to live very simply many monks in Asia, but there were very few of them in Europe. The European monks who did exist lived isolated from the world—alone and away from all other people. They denied themselves the comforts of life for religious reasons. Many of them did things that were harsh and painful to themselves. They went without food, or lived in a cave for years on end. That is what Bennet did at first. He spent three years living in a cave by himself. Eventually, Bennet, now called Benedict, decided that it was not enough to pray alone in a cave. He believed that monks should serve God and people. Gradually Benedict became known as a holy man. A group 26 Benedict’s good works and holiness made him one of the most important saints of the Catholic Church. of rich and influential monks invited him to become the leader of a monastery. Benedict accepted, but things did not go very well. When Benedict tried to get the other monks to serve God by helping other Vocabulary monastery, n. a place where a community of monks live people, they refused. The situation became so hostile that some of the monks even tried to poison Benedict. Benedict saw that to put his new ideas into practice, he would have to start his own monastery. He moved to the town of Monte Cassino and wrote a book that is known today as the Rule of Saint Benedict. This book contains a list of rules to be followed in the monastery. Benedict did not ask people to seek holiness by going without food and water. Instead, Benedict asked monks to find God in ordinary, simple, and useful work. Work was balanced with prayer and reading, sleeping, and eating. He also emphasized the importance of working together, and getting along with everyone else in the monastery. Medieval monks (and nuns) spent a lot of time praying. They also composed beautiful music and hymns. 27 Self-Sufficient and Hard-Working Monte Cassino was a successful monastery, and Benedict’s fame spread. Soon other monasteries were created to follow his rules. Monasteries following Saint Benedict’s rules were called Benedictine monasteries. These monasteries tried to be self-sufficient. That means that the monks Monks grew their own food and made wine and beer. grew and made almost everything they needed for themselves. They had gardens in which they raised their own vegetables. They kept chickens and goats to provide eggs and milk. They made cheese. They also baked their own bread, sewed their own clothing, brewed beer, and made wine. Does it seem strange that these deeply religious people drank beer and wine? This is a good example of how customs change over time. In the Middle Ages, almost everyone drank small amounts of beer every day. Beer was considered a healthy drink because of the grains used to make it. There was usually just one meal a day, with a cold snack in the evening. Meals consisted of bread with eggs, cheese, or fish. The monks ate at assigned places. There was no 28 conversation during the meals, but one monk read aloud from the Scriptures, or other religious books. Benedict also asked monks to follow a shared schedule. When the bell rang for prayer, everyone in the monastery stopped whatever he was doing and went to the church. A day in the monastery was divided into three general work periods. Monks spent about six hours in prayer and six hours doing manual work such as gardening, cooking, or sewing. About four hours were spent studying and writing. Monks slept seven to eight hours a night. Saint Benedict’s rules are interesting to read in today’s busy times. The abbot made the rules in the monastery, and all monks had to obey him. Monks were required to show hospitality to all guests, whether invited or not. They had to treat all the monastery’s possessions— Vocabulary scripture, n. the sacred writings of a religion abbot, n. the leader of a monastery convent, n. a community of nuns, or women who live a simple, religious life whether gardening tools or precious altar pieces—with great care. Missionaries, Hospitals, Schools, and Libraries The Rule of Saint Benedict had a great influence not only on Benedictine monasteries but also on other types of monasteries that developed later. This influence extended to convents and therefore to nuns, too. All together these religious institutions had a great impact on Europe’s history. 29 Monasteries took on the role of supplying missionaries to spread Christianity. Saint Benedict himself was a missionary. Perhaps one of the most famous missionaries was Saint Patrick, who brought the Christian religion to Ireland. Saint Augustine of Canterbury, another famous missionary, brought Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons of Britain. Saint Boniface converted many groups Young boys and girls trained from an early age to become monks and nuns. of people in what is now Germany. Vocabulary missionary, n. a person on a journey for the purpose of spreading a particular religious belief During this time, governments provided little or no help for poor people. Saint Benedict believed that each monastery should offer help to the poor and needy. Thanks to him, over time, more help came from the Church. Monks and nuns ran hospitals for the poor and schools for children to train to become monks and nuns. Priests, monks, and nuns demonstrated that caring for the poor was part of their Christian duty. 30 Works of Art One of the most important things that monasteries and convents did was to set up libraries. In the early Middle Ages, books were rare and expensive. Some people went their whole lives without ever seeing a book. Every book that had been written was copied by hand! Although there were important Islamic libraries in Asia and Africa, in Europe almost all the libraries that existed were in monasteries. Monks worked long hours, often by candlelight, copying ancient texts. Most of the texts they copied were much longer than the book you are reading now. Think of how long it would take you to copy every word in this book by hand! Monks didn’t just copy the words, either. They also decorated the first letters of important words Knowledge was kept alive by monks, who would spend lots of time copying books for monastery libraries. 31 and the borders of their manuscripts, and they produced beautiful illustrations. Today, these handwritten books from the Middle Ages are considered valuable works Vocabulary manuscript, n. a book or document written by hand of art. Nearly all the manuscripts from the early Middle Ages were written in Latin. Even after the fall of the Roman Empire, Latin remained the official written language in Europe. Any document that had religious, legal, or scholarly significance was written in Latin. For the most part, the only people who knew how to read and write during this time were priests, monks, and nuns. This was largely because the only schools that existed were religious schools. And most of the students there were in training for a religious career. People learned about the Bible from listening to a priest, monk, or nun. Instead of books, information was passed along in different ways. Most people learned by watching and doing. Children would watch their parents make things, take care of animals, and farm. They grew up learning to do these things. Eventually they would get married and pass on these skills to their own children. For more skilled crafts, such as shoe-making and barrel-making, young men would work alongside master artisans to learn their craft. Reading was an important activity in many monasteries and convents, but few people sat and read silently to themselves. Most of the time one person would read aloud to a group. If people 32 wanted to make an oath, it was considered more important to say it out loud than to write it down and sign it. Monasteries and convents still exist in the modern world, and monks and nuns continue the work they have done for more than a thousand years. Today, however, there are thousands of schools, universities, hospitals, and libraries all over the world. It may be hard to imagine how important the work of the Benedictine monasteries was to the lives of Europeans. But, for hundreds of years, monks and nuns were the teachers, writers, librarians, book publishers, doctors, and nurses for all of Europe. 33 Chapter 5 Charlemagne A Head Above the Others Monks The Big Question and monasteries spread Christianity Why did King through much of what was Europe. Charles earn the title In the late 700s, however, one man Charles the Great, or Charlemagne? would come along who was not a monk but who would do more than any other person to spread Christianity and strengthen the Western Church. That man was Charles, the king of the Franks. The Franks were a group of people who lived along the Rhine River in present-day Germany. Charles was not just the king: he might have also been the tallest man in his kingdom. Charles was six feet, three and a half inches tall. (We know that because his bones have been measured.) Even by today’s standards, that is tall. But in the 700s, when people were shorter, he was really tall. 34 Charlemagne’s people, the Franks, lived near the Rhine River. 35 Charles was not only tall, he was healthy and energetic as well. He followed health advice you’ve probably heard all your life! He ate healthy foods, exercised every day (he loved to swim), and got plenty of rest (he liked to nap). He was a hard worker, too. He started having meetings the minute he got out of bed, before he had finished dressing. His advisors would come into his bedroom and ask him questions. Charles’s greatest talent was This illustration shows Charlemagne as a powerful ruler. organizing and managing people. He knew how to inspire armies to fight, and he also knew how to move them quickly from one place to another. This was an important skill for a leader in a time when there were no reliable maps. He didn’t give up either. Once he started something, he finished it. He expected the same of his men. Vocabulary manage, v. to lead and direct; to run something, such as a project or business Charles enjoyed being king. Like most rulers, he enjoyed the power of ruling. But unlike some kings, he had goals beyond gaining power for himself. He wanted to spread Christianity, and he encouraged learning. These goals, and Charles’s ability to make things happen, combined to make him one of the greatest rulers Europe had 36 ever known. Charles became so great that the “great” became part of his name. By the time he died, people were calling him Charlemagne (/shar*lә*maen/). Charlemagne means Charles the Great, and that is what historians today call him. To the Rescue The Frankish army was an impressive sight. Strong and disciplined, they wore leather vests and light armor. Their most important weapons were their swords, and Frankish soldiers treated their swords with care. Many of them had cases for their swords, called scabbards, decorated with silver, gold, and even jewels. The Frankish army was very successful in battle. These strong soldiers with their glittering weapons conquered much of the territory that had once been part of the Western Roman Empire. The Moors, or Muslim North Africans, controlled most of the Iberian Peninsula, including Spain and Portugal. However, Charlemagne took parts of northern Spain, as well as most of what is now France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. He united them into a Frankish empire. He had successes in northern Italy, too. You have already read about how the bishop of Rome, also known as the pope, tried to gain more power after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. You have also read that the bishops of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem didn’t like that very much. Well, Pope Leo III had enemies even closer to home. Powerful princes from the lands around Rome grew jealous of the Church’s wealth and power. The pope’s enemies actually attacked 37 him as he was walking through the streets of Rome! They pushed him to the ground, pulled off his robes, and beat him. The pope fled Rome and appealed to Charlemagne for help. Charlemagne did not let the pope down. He sent an army to escort the pope back to Rome, where his soldiers punished the pope’s enemies. The following year, Charlemagne went to Rome for two purposes. He wanted to make sure the pope was safe from any more attacks, and he wanted to celebrate Christmas with the pope. It was the year 800, the beginning of a new century, and Charlemagne wanted to celebrate this special year with the pope in Saint Peter’s Church. Emperor of the Romans The celebration proved to be even more special than Charlemagne had dreamed possible. According to one of Charlemagne’s biographers, Charlemagne prepared for a traditional Christmas Mass. When he arrived at the cathedral, he found it packed with people from all over his empire. His children were there, too. When Charlemagne reached the front of Vocabulary Mass, n. the name for the religious ceremony in which Catholics celebrate their relationship with God cathedral, n. the bishop’s church; any large and important church the cathedral, he knelt in prayer. After a long time he stood up, and the pope placed a crown on Charlemagne’s head. The people in the church cheered. “Long life and victory to Charles Augustus, 38 crowned by God, great and peaceful emperor of the Romans,” they cried. Reading this today, it is hard to believe that Charlemagne was surprised by being crowned by the pope. But that’s the story that has come down through the ages. The crowning of Charlemagne as emperor accomplished three things. First, it gave the Romans an emperor for the first time since 476. Second, it gave Charlemagne the Vocabulary crown, v. to put a crown on someone’s head in a ceremony, making him or her king, queen, or emperor of a certain area blessing, n. a prayer of support, protection, and approval for someone blessing of the pope. And, lastly, it established that Charlemagne agreed that the pope had the power to crown an emperor. A Great Ruler Charlemagne expanded his empire through warfare. However, what made him great wasn’t what he did on the battlefield, but rather the way he governed his empire. Charlemagne built a beautiful capital city Aachen (/ah*ken/), in what is now northwestern Germany. He built a palace and a chapel. He also had a great library. He started a school in his palace and allowed the sons of poor people to attend as well as In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans. 39 the children of nobles. Charlemagne believed that women should be educated as well as men, an unusual view for his time. He even tried to provide free education for his subjects. Charlemagne was a good manager in times of peace as well as in war. He improved communication and organization throughout his empire. He sent teams of ambassadors chosen for their good character to enforce laws and solve conflicts in various parts of his empire. Like the Romans, he built roads and bridges to make trade and travel easier. Vocabulary manager, n. a person who leads and directs something, such as a project or business When Charlemagne first began conquering the Saxons and other groups of people, long before he became emperor, he tried to force them to become Christians. At first, his rule was very harsh. People who would not convert to Christianity were killed. Later in his life, however, Charlemagne realized that force was not the best way to win people over. By the 790s, he allowed his conquered subjects to make their own choices about Christianity. Charlemagne died in 814. None of the rulers who followed had his gift for leadership. However, Charlemagne set a new standard for learning and management. He helped shape what would later become some of the modern countries of Europe. The Franks originally spoke an early form of German. By the time Charlemagne died, many Franks were speaking a new language that was influenced by Latin. This language became known (to English speakers) as French. Over the next 200 to 300 years, the French-speaking part of Charlemagne’s empire broke away to form the kingdom of France. 40 Charlemagne ruled areas that would become part of modern Europe. The Holy Roman Empire Charlemagne’s empire continued in various forms for hundreds of years. Part of it expanded toward the east. It still included Rome, however, and a strong alliance remained between the pope and the rulers of this German-speaking empire. In the 1200s, the Hapsburg family took control of this German empire. It was at this point that it became known as the Holy Vocabulary alliance, n. a partnership of different countries, organizations, or people who agree to work together Roman Empire, having been blessed by the pope. This empire stretched roughly from the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in the north to the Mediterranean Sea in the south, and from the Rhone River in the west to beyond the Oder River in the east. 41 Chapter 6 A Feudal Society A New Society Who do you think is the most important person in your town or state? In every society there are certain people who are more powerful and influential than others. The Big Question How did the feudal system hold people, communities, and kingdoms together? In the Middle Ages, they didn’t have elections the way modern democracies do today. The important people in the Middle Ages were those who controlled land. These were the kings, lords, and knights who fought for the kings. Therefore, the people close to the Vocabulary lord, n. a person with nobility, n. powerful power and influence families that held fiefs who controls land given and titles to him by a king feudalism, n. a system knight, n. a soldier on of government in which horseback who serves a land is exchanged for king or other ruler loyalty and services 42 king, especially the nobility, were the ones who had the most important jobs. The system that developed around the most powerful people is called feudalism. King Lords Lesser Lords Knights Ordinary People Feudal society was based on a system of loyalty among all in the kingdom. 43 A Special System Feudalism appeared first in Charlemagne’s time. Over time, it gradually spread across medieval Europe. Feudalism arose because kings often needed warriors to fight for them. These kings made deals with powerful leaders, or lords. A lord would become a king’s vassal. The king would give him a large amount of land, called a fief. And each would make certain promises to the other. The vassal would swear to fight loyally for the king. In return, the king promised to protect and support the vassal. Vocabulary medieval, adj. relating to the Middle Ages in Europe vassal, n. a person who receives land from a ruler and in return promises to fight for the ruler fief, n. a plot of land exchanged for loyalty to a ruler Feudal government was not like our modern government. During the Middle Ages there were no nations or central governments in the modern sense. Instead there were networks of lords and vassals under the rule of a king. And, the promises, or oaths, that vassals swore were what held these networks together. The links between vassals and lords encouraged people to think of themselves as part of a larger whole. Feudal agreements were meant to last. These agreements were made public with special ceremonies held in a church and arranged by kings and priests. The ceremony in which a man became a vassal was called an act of homage (/oh*mij/). Homage is the French word for honor or respect. Let’s time-travel back to the Middle Ages and watch as a medieval lord pays homage to a king. 44 Kiss of Peace Imagine being in a cathedral lit by hundreds of flickering candles. There are beautiful windows of stained glass and paintings and sculptures. The altar is made of carefully carved wood. Sitting in the cathedral are all the great lords of the kingdom and their families. They are dressed in their finest robes and jewels. At the front stands the king, waiting to receive his vassal. A lord walks slowly down the center aisle of the cathedral. When he reaches the king, he falls to his knees and swears an oath. He promises to love and serve the king forever. A lord would fall to his knees and promise loyalty to a king. 45 The king then raises the kneeling man to his feet and announces that he is giving land to the lord. This is in exchange for the lord’s promise of loyalty and other services. The king kisses his new vassal on the cheek in a “kiss of peace.” But feudalism was more than just the relationship between the king and his lords. The king’s lords would also divide up part of their land and grant fiefs to vassals of their own. For example, the king’s lords would grant portions of their land to lesser lords and to other soldiers called knights. Feudal Government Feudal loyalties held law and order in place within a kingdom. But there were few laws shared across different kingdoms. Individual lords made their own laws and enforced them in their own fiefs. The one law that extended across Europe was the sacred oath of loyalty that a vassal took. If a vassal failed to serve his lord or betrayed his lord, he became an outlaw, shunned and persecuted by other lords. Over the years these noble titles and arrangements were inherited. This means that they were handed down from father to son. For example, if a father were a duke, earl, baron, count, or marquis, his son might get that title when the father died. The families who held fiefs became the nobility of central and western Europe. As nobles, they had special privileges that other people did not have. In this book, you will learn how feudalism in the Middle Ages provided a way for people to make a living. Feudalism also created a culture of knights, battles, and honor that is still remembered today. 46 King Richard II knighting his lords 47 Chapter 7 To the Manor Born A Self-Sufficient Village You might The Big Question be wondering what happened to What kinds of jobs the land that the vassals received were serfs required from their lords. You probably know to do on the manor enough about dukes and counts and estate? other nobles to Vocabulary guess that they weren’t out milking self-sufficient, adj. cows and planting crops. needing no help from others to live or survive 48 A manor house, a church, a mill, serfs’ houses, and fields were all part of a typical manor estate in the Middle Ages. 49 Vocabulary manor, n. a large country house and its surrounding land estate, n. an area of land or property village, n. a group of houses and buildings, smaller than a town, in a rural area On the other hand, there were plenty of people living during the Middle Ages who needed to eat but who did not receive fiefs from a king. In much of northern Europe, each lord lived in a castle or manor house. The manor house was usually surrounded by the land where the food was grown and where the people who worked in the fields lived. The manor estate, as it was called, was a lot like a village. Nearly everything that people needed was grown or made there. In addition to their food, people who lived on the estate made their own soap, candles, furniture, leather, tools, and cloth. Most of the people who lived on the estate farmed. There were also some skilled workers, such as blacksmiths who made metal tools, horseshoes, and even swords. In addition to the manor house for the lord, and cottages for the people who lived on the estate, there was usually a church. Sunday worship, baptisms, weddings, and funerals were held there. Next to the manor church there would probably be a graveyard where people from the estate were buried when they died. Exchanging Labor for Land The lord of the manor allowed serfs, farmers who were bound to the lord’s 50 Vocabulary serf, n. a person living on a feudal estate who was required to work for the lord of the manor; a serf could not choose to leave the estate but was required to stay and work the land as the lord demanded; a peasant who is not free land, to use his land. The serfs grew food on the land, kept animals that grazed on the land, and used the wood from the forests. The lord provided a mill to grind the grain grown on the manor, and large community ovens for baking the grain into bread. The lord also provided farming equipment such as plows and wagons, and teams of oxen to pull the plows and wagons. The lord of the manor had other responsibilities, too. The lord provided the serfs with law and order. The lord had the authority to make important decisions. He also had the right to punish a serf caught committing a crime. In addition, a serf could not leave the estate he or she lived on, nor could he or she marry without the lord’s approval. Only the king and the law of the Church could limit the lord’s powers. The lord also protected the people who lived on the manor estate. If an enemy were to attack, the lord’s army would protect his people. The lord did not provide these important services without getting a lot from the serfs in return. The serfs had to spend most of their time working in the fields, producing food for the lord of the manor and his household. During certain times of the year, such as the planting and the harvesting seasons, the amount of work required would be increased. Serfs also had to give part of everything they grew or produced to the lord of the manor. They had to give the lord a portion of the milk they got from their goats and cows. They gave him some of the eggs they got from their chickens. They gave him some of the firewood they collected in the forest. And if they used the lord’s 51 Usually a manor estate had a mill. mill to grind their grain into flour, they had to give the lord some of that, too. In addition, the serfs had to provide other services to the lord. For example, the serfs had to keep the walls of the lord’s manor repaired. If heavy barrels needed to be stacked or moved, the serfs had to do it. If war broke out, serfs had to help defend the lord’s land. If the lord had guests, serfs might have to work in the stables taking care of the extra horses, or in the kitchen helping to prepare the food. This meant that the serfs had little time to do chores for themselves. You might wonder why serfs would agree to give the lord so much. The answer is that within this system there was little choice. The lords had all the power. They had land, weapons, 52 and authority. During periods of unrest, no peasant family could survive without a lord’s protection. The Church also supported the feudal system. However, it is also probably true to say that for most ordinary people, so long as they had a home, a job, food to eat, and their lord’s protection, they accepted the system they were born into. The Three-Field System Despite all this hard work, there was not always enough food for all the people who worked on the land. For example, the soil in England and northern Europe was rich, but the growing season was short and rainy. People had to make the most of what they had. When crops failed, people starved. In the Middle Ages, people did not have an understanding of science in the way we do today, but they did know quite a lot about farming. People knew that if a field was farmed year after year, it lost its ability to grow healthy crops. They came up with a solution to that problem: the three-field system. In this system, all the cropland on an estate was divided into three fields. Each year, one field was planted in the spring, one field was planted in the fall, and one field was left fallow, or unplanted. The next year, each field would be used differently. One year it might be used to grow crops planted in the spring, like wheat and rye. The next year, it would be used to grow crops planted in the fall, like oats, barley, and beans. The third year the field would be left unplanted. This gave the soil a chance to recover. 53 Children learned important skills so that they could continue to live and work on the estate. The three-field system allowed the soil to keep renewing itself. The crops that were planted in the spring used different nutrients than those that were planted in the fall. The fields that were not planted Vocabulary nutrient, n. something that provides what is needed to grow and live had a chance to recover nutrients as old matter broke down and replenished the soil. Cooperation was the Key People on a manor estate lived closely together. They had to cooperate with one another. They had to share pastureland. They had to agree on when to plant wheat and oats and when to leave 54 fields fallow. People had to work together to create or produce goods for trade. Cooperation was essential to survival. It wasn’t really a choice. A smart lord took good care of his serfs. Yet the lord was always the boss. In the society of the Middle Ages, he was superior to the serfs—and few questioned that. The residents of the manor came together for special holidays. Christmas and Easter and many other religious holidays were celebrated together. The lord, his family, and the serfs would attend church together. There would be a feast, games, and celebrations. In this way, serfs and their lord formed a community that endured through the Middle Ages. 55 Chapter 8 Life in a Castle Castles: Dream and Reality You’ve The Big Question probably heard fairy tales about Why were castles kings and queens and castles. important in the There’s always something magical Middle Ages? going on in the fairy tales. Wizards, witches, and fairy godmothers are likely to be hanging around the castle casting and breaking spells. Gatehouse Outer Wall Drawbridge 56 Kitchen Lord’s Chamber Tower Keep Great Hall Moat A castle in the Middle Ages was like a small city. 57 Castles are real, however, even if some of the characters in these stories are not. Even today you can see medieval castles all over Europe. In this chapter you’ll learn why people built castles and what it was like to Vocabulary fortress, n. a fort; a place that has been built to be strong enough to provide protection live in one. Castle Fortress Castles were designed to be fortresses. Kings and some nobles built castles to defend themselves and their estates against attacks. The forts were usually built on high ground. This way the defenders could look down on the attacking enemy. In the early Middle Ages, people built wooden forts, with wooden fences around them. Surrounding the fence was a big ditch, called a moat, that was often filled with water. If you were attacking such a fort, what would you do? If you answered, “Burn it!”, you would have made a good general in the Middle Ages. Wooden castles were easy to build, but they provided little protection against flaming arrows. Kings and nobles realized that they needed to build castles out of stone to get any real protection from invaders. It was certainly a lot more work. But, by the year 1000, many stone castles were being built in different parts of Europe. What did a stone castle look like? What was it like to live and fight in one? Read on and find out. 58 Castle Construction Put yourself in the place of a king or noble in the Middle Ages. You need to build a castle. What’s the first thing you’re going to think about? If you answered “location,” you get an 'A' for good planning. A castle needed to be in a place that would be possible to defend. Have you ever wondered why many castles were built on hilltops? A hilltop was easier to defend. Soldiers could see their enemies coming. Castles had high watchtowers for spotting approaching enemies. The enemies had to march up the hill, while soldiers in the castle used weapons against them from above. Most castles were surrounded by tall stone walls and a water-filled moat. Some castles had more than one moat and more than one wall. Drawbridges could be lowered or raised to create or remove a roadway over the moat. These extra walls and moats provided additional lines of defense. Some castles also had underground tunnels for moving soldiers between different parts of the castle. On top of the walls there were usually walkways from which soldiers could shoot arrows or dump boulders and hot oil down on the