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Announcements. Read Wiesner, chap. 8 for Friday, and be prepared to discuss. Pick up essays and other graded work from Prof. C. Note Revised schedule for next week, per online syllabus and as announced last class. Go Sox…. The “Middle Ages”. Why is this era important?. Why this name? .
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Announcements • Read Wiesner, chap. 8 for Friday, and be prepared to discuss. • Pick up essays and other graded work from Prof. C. • Note Revised schedule for next week, per online syllabus and as announced last class. • Go Sox….
The “Middle Ages” Why is this era important? Why this name? Dives and Lazarus
Today’s Agenda • I. High Middle Ages (900-1300) • Agriculture • Towns • Crusades • Next week = Late Middle Ages (1200-1400) • Medieval Society • Universities • Plague, etc.
High Middle Ages (900-1300) • Major Themes: • Rural Agriculture (manorialism, demesne) • Rise of Towns • Economic expansion (int’l trade, new businesses) • Local Politics (Feudalism) & fragmented empires • Christian expansion (cathedrals, Crusades) • Intellectual growth (universities) • Religious fervor (mendicants, heresy, Inquisition) • Rural, hierarchical, continuity in daily life = Tradition • Expansion, growth, new opportunities = Innovation
Medieval Agriculture -everyone is involved in agriculture -influences the calendar, military strategy, life expectancy, etc. -prosperity
Agricultural surplus • New technologies • more efficient mills • ability to harness horses • New crops • New cultivation methods • three-field system • increased land in cultivation every year from 1/2 to 2/3rds • decreased risk of starvation due to crop failure
Another Medieval Manor map:How does this compare to the previous map?
A new power in European politics: TOWNS • Recall the link between “civilization” and “cities” • The collapse of Roman civilization was a collapse of Roman cities and all that went with their culture and society • c. 1000, towns began to re-emerge throughout Western Europe • revival of trade • made possible due to growth of European population • 900: approx. 18.5 million • 1300: approx. 49.5 million
Where were towns? • Geography: • trade routes (rivers, ports, roads) • Military: • near castles built to establish a royal or noble presence in the countryside • Ecclesiastical • seat of a bishop or archbishop • Historical • often built on the ruins of a Roman settlement • Always fortified by walls
The Geography of urban growth; Paris, c.1200 “Left Bank” = Rive Gauche = Latin Quarter = Student zone
A Growing TownFlorence, Italy 1200: 15K pop. 1300: 96K pop. 1350: 30K pop.
Various medieval towns/cities(Mont St. Michel; Lucca; Munich; Dordogne)
Crusades • 5 Ws • 1096-1215 • Eastern Med. & “Crusader States” • Economic expansion; religious conversion; buoyant optimism; Catholic-Orthodox antagonism; Turks’ invasion; chivalric knighthood. • Saladin; Richard Lion-Hearted; Pilgrims & Knights • Crucesignati = signed by the cross • Urban II: Call to Crusaders(p. 308, Noble) • “Dius le vult!” (God wills it)…. • Ibn Al-Athir’s perspective on Crusades (p. 310, Noble)