HIST 303 EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES

1. HIST 303 EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE AGES

2. GENERAL OBSERVATION • Civilization of the Middle Ages grew out of the fusion between the institutions of the Roman Empire, the religion of the Christian Church, and the cultures of the relatively primitive peoples the Romans called “barbarians” • Institutions of the Roman Empire had been originally shaped by the emperor Augustus • But they had been changed beyond recognition by 284 AD when Diocletian became emperor • Diocletian and Constantine created a new empire that only bore a slight resemblance to the old one established by Augustus • It was this new empire, increasingly influenced by the growth of a Christian Church, that merged with the cultures of the Germans and Celts to form the early medieval world

3. Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine had Greek, not Latin as common language Rome drew much of its culture from the Hellenized East While Rome civilized the West, the East, in many ways, civilized Rome Richest and most heavily populated provinces were also in the east Territory north of the sea had been last to be assimilated into the empire and was always relatively poor and thinly populated At its height in the 2nd century AD, Roman Empire stretched from northern Britain to the fringes of the Sahara Desert In the east, Rome had conquered territory that had civilizations that were older and more sophisticated than its own But it was an essentially Mediterranean state—Rome itself and its richest provinces were all grouped around the sea In Gaul, Spain, and Britain, Rome had established its rule were high civilization had never existed before People of these regions generally adopted Roman ways and took Latin culture as their own heritage Difference between eastern and western halves of the empire West was more heavily Romanized than the east

4. THE ROMAN “GENIUS” • Empire governed by all-powerful emperor and bureaucracy of professional administrators • Unity also assisted by network of excellent roads • Romans were inferior to Greeks in artistic and intellectual achievemnt but they were very good at practical things • Talented builders, administrators, engineers, and lawyers • Long success in establishing peace and order over huge empire is testament to Roman practical genius • Also its establishment of just and uniform law code Emperor Hadrian

5. REASONS FOR FALL: ARMY • Army was originally recruited exclusively from Italy • A good career • Received citizenship and good retirement benefits • By 200 AD, however, Italy good no longer meet military manpower needs • Began to recruit from the provincial population • Especially those who lived near frontiers • By 250 AD, Rome began to recruit barbarians, living just on the other side of the frontier • No instinctive attachment to Rome • Loyalty tended to focus on their commander, not the emperor

6. REASON FOR FALL: ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL DISUNITY • Common Roman culture only affected an educated minority • Most people had no common world view, language, religion, or ideals • East and West had been knit together by a commercial network • But this had broken down by 200 AD as the West began to manufacture its own stuff and imported less from East • Plunged Empire into depression • International trade tapered off and various regions tended more and more towards self-sufficiency

7. REASONS FOR FALL: POPULATION DECLINE • New slaves became increasingly scarce and expensive in 2nd century AD as Rome stabilized its borders • Problem made worse by general decline in population at about the same time • Caused by major epidemic between 165 and 180 AD • Followed by succession of other severe epidemics • Population decline had disastrous consequences • Shortage of soldiers, declining consumption, declining productions, declining tax revenues, etc.

8. REASONS FOR FALL: POLITICAL INSTABILITY I • System of imperial succession broke down in 180 AD with accession of Commodus to throne • Vicious and incompetent • Assassinated in 192 AD • Followed by Septimius Severus • 193-211 AD • Ruled as virtual military dictator • After 211, army took control of situation • Made and broke emperors at will • In return for promises of rewards Septimius Severus

9. REASONS FOR FALL: POLITICAL INSTABILITY II • Generals marched on Rome time and time again • Either killed reigning emperor or were killed trying • Weakened Roman borders • Undermined financial structure • Each new emperor had to provide huge “donations” to troops • Exhausted treasury, aggravated depression, and provoked bad inflation • Lowest point occurred in 259 AD • Emperor Valerian defeated and executed by Persians • Provoked new civil war and barbarian invasions escalated Valerian

10. DIOCLETIAN AND CONSTANTINE • Empire survived because of reforms of Diocletian and Constantine • Increased emphasis on the absolute power of the emperor • Reorganized the civil service and military • Created new tax structure • Implemented very strict economic regulation Constantine

11. DIOCLETIAN • Recognized that most obvious weakness of the empire was absence of stable central authority that was universally respected and obeyed • Transformed emperor into an overt, divine-right absolute monarch • Ruled through edicts without approval or consent of anyone • Presented and acted as god on earth • Elaborate protocol for visitors, splendid robes, gold crown, gold scepter, etc • Common people not even allowed to see him

12. ADMINISTRATIVE OVERHAUL • Divided empire into 4 prefectures. Each governed by a Praetorian Prefect • Each prefecture divided into three dioceses. Each administered by a vicar Goal was to permanently separate civilian and military functions of government and make both utterly dependent on the emperor Officials were only civilian administrators Separate hierarchy of commanders and generals had charge of Army. But they had no civilian power

13. SUCCESSION • Appointed a co-emperor to rule West while he ruled East • Both appointed a deputy (called Caesars) who would automatically move up when either co-emperor died or abdicated • Diocletian and co-emperor abdicated in 305 and were succeeded by their Caesars • New civil wars erupted immediately • Winner was Constantine • Never appointed a co-emperor • Empire divided between two sons when he died in 337 • Usual situation from this point on was that one emperor would rule East and the other would rule the West

14. CONSTANTINE • All Constantine did was continue and intensify Diocletian’s policies • But he did make two important innovations • Decided to embrace Christianity • Established new imperial capital at old Greek city-state of Byzantium • Called Constantinople • Would be greatest city in the world for 1000 years after collapse of Western Roman Empire • But never became “New Rome” because culture was heavily Greek

15. WEAKNESSES • Neither Diocletian nor Constantine understood underlying social and economic weaknesses of the empire • In fact, their policies tended to make existing weaknesses worse, not better • Example • Population had been declining for a long time and many fields were left uncultivated • Obvious solution would be to increase individual productivity by improving technology • Romans never did this • They preferred slaves, even when they had become scarce and expensive • Declining farming population was therefore unable to support huge urban population, army, and bureaucracy

16. ECONOMIC REGULATION I • Only policy Diocletian and successors could come up with was to regulate economic activity in order to guarantee that tax revenue continued to flow into the treasury • New tax system in which each district was taxed according to fertility of soil and number of inhabitants • Tax was collected in kind and became basic source of imperial revenue • Supplemented by indirect taxes and frequent forced contributions from the wealthy • Common people also forced to maintain roads and public buildings for no pay

17. ECONOMIC REGULATION II • Taxes could only be collected from land that was occupied and cultivated • When small farmers tried to escape tax burden by fleeing their farms, emperor decreed that they and their descendants were bound to their land • Could not leave under pain of death • Urban tradesmen also bound to their residences and trades • All occupations in the empire were made hereditary and those engaged in them were forbidden to change jobs or move

18. ECONOMIC REGULATION III • Wealthy upper classes in cities had traditionally volunteered to run local government • Diocletian made these people responsible for collecting taxes in their cities • If they did not collect assigned quota, their property would be confiscated and they would be publicly flogged • As a result, no one volunteered to serve in local government • Diocletian therefore forced them to take these jobs, made them hereditary, and prohibited anyone from quitting them Diocletian’s palace

19. RESULTS • Rigid stratification of society • No mobility • Everyone frozen in their positions • Economic initiative was destroyed • Why work hard when you had no chance to move up and taxation took all your profits • Terrible corruption • Officials collected more than they passed on to the treasury

20. TRANSFORMATION IN THE WEST • Wealthy Eastern half of empire suffered under this system but managed to survive • Totally transformed the structure of society in the West • Upper class fled cities and moved to rural estates • Organizing them into self-supporting little communities • Maintained bodyguards to defy imperial officials

21. COLONI • Landlords worked their land with coloni • Each coloni given piece of land for which he paid rent • Some were descendants of slaves • Most were small free farmers who had given up their land to escape their tax burden • Some estates survived the chaos of the coming barbarian invasions • Even before invasions, ruralization and decentralization already existed in Western Europe

22. SUMMARY • Some have accused Diocletian and Constantine of turning the Roman Empire into a huge prison camp • But they did not take over a vigorous, healthy society and reduce it to slavery • Severe policies were designed to hold together an empire that was on the verge of total disintegration • And it worked for a while • But in the long run their policies stifled the creativity, vitality, and social flexibility need for survival