Station 2: Maniacal Middle Ages

1. Station 2: Maniacal Middle Ages • 1066-1485 • 1119: Knights of the Templar is founded to protect pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land • 1170: Thomas Becket murdered • 1171: Henry II invades Ireland, beginning nearly 800 years of British domination • 1232: Pope Gregory IX starts the Inquisition • 1250: First commoners allowed in British Parliament • 1348: Black Death strikes England • 1381: Peasants’ Revolt in England • 1485: First Tudor King, Henry VIII, is crowned King of England

2. Station 2: Four Centuries of Change • The Norman Conquest of England created a powerful Anglo-Norman entity and brought England into the mainstream of European civilization (before this it was a backwoods island) • The feudal system centralized military, political, & economic power in the Crown • The Roman Church transcended National boundaries and fostered cultural unity among Europeans • The rise of towns and cities freed people to pursue their own commercial and artistic interests • The Magna Carts weakened the political power of the Church & laid the groundwork for later English constitutional law • Exposure to Eastern civilization as a result of the Crusades broadened Europeans’ intellectual horizons • The ideals of chivalry improved attitudes toward, but nottheright of, women • The rise of the yeoman class paved the way for democracy in England • The bubonic plague (Black Death) created a labor shortage that contributed to the end of feudalism and to the passing of the Middle Ages

3. Station 8: More Middle Ages • Feudalism: a social hierarchy where the King was the primary landholder & gave people land in exchange for military and/or economic support • Males above the serf class were expected to serve and train as knights • Women in the Middle Ages had no political rights. A woman’s social standing depended completely on either her husband’s or father’s status. • Chivalry led to an idealized attitude toward women and gave rise to a new form of literature—romance • Population centers shift to cities where people were able to live and work outside of the feudal system • Public outrage for the political assassination of Thomas a Becket created a backlash against the English monarchy and weakened the king in his power struggle with Rome

4. Station 8: More Middle Ages • In 1215, English barons forced King John to sign the Magna Carta as an effort to curb the Church’s power. The document later becomes the basis for English constitutional law • Although the English lost the 100 Years’ War with France, by the end of the war the yeoman (small landowners) replaced the knights in armor as the primary military force • The Black Death or Bubonic Plague spread by fleas who fed and lived on infected rats created a labor shortage which gave the working class more power and ended feudalism