Europe During the Middle Ages

1. Europe During the Middle Ages AP World History Unit 2

2. Germanic States • Roman empire overran by Germanic groups with repeated invasions and constant warfare. • Breakdown of trade: money became scarce. • Cities abandoned, no longer center of economy or administration • Population became rural. • Decline of literacy – priests and other church officials were the few that were literate. • Breakup of unified empire – language began to change. No longer Latin. • End of Democracy.

3. End of Democracy • Rome • Unified by loyalty to public government and written law. • Orderly government • Germanic States • Family ties and personal loyalty. • People lived in small communities governed by unwritten rules and traditions. • Ruled by a chief who led a band or warriors loyal only to him, not some emperor they would never see.

4. Changes in Europe • After the decline of the Roman Empire small kingdoms sprang up all over Europe. • The largest and the strongest was controlled by the Franks. • Lead by Clovis, first Christian king. • Area that is now France. • Greatest king was Charlemagne. • Most powerful king in Western Europe. • Encouraged learning.

5. The Church and Life in Medieval Europe

6. The Church • Papacy keeps power of the monarchs in check. • Catholic Church is largest, single landowner in Western Europe. • Excommunication from the Church excludes the individual from the sacraments. • Accused heretics are tried by a special court called the Inquisition. • The Church organizes hospitals, refuges and orphanages for the ill and destitute.

7. The Clergy • Influenced all levels of society, especially kings. • The only group in society that was educated. • Guided everything in life. • Baptism, marriage, death, etc. • Power to condemn or to forgive. • Very powerful in people’s lives.

8. The Church Hierarchy • Pope • Head of the church. • Latin for “father”. • Cardinals • Advisors to the Pope. • Controlled the Archbishops. • Chooses new Pope from the Cardinals. • Archbishops • Controlled the archdiocese and bishops.

9. The Church Hierarchy • Bishops • Controlled the diocese. • Diocese are located in cities and provinces. • They are divided into many parishes. • Abbots • Controlled the monasteries and local parishes. • Priests • Controlled the local church or parish. • Led religious services. • Weddings, baptism, funerals, etc. • Cared for the sick.

10. The Church Hierarchy • Monks • Lived in monasteries. • Hard and physical labor to support the community they lived in. • Occasionally preached. • Lowest on the hierarchy, but very important because they had the most contact with the common people. • Nuns • Not considered part of the hierarchy, but the only position women could hold in the church. • Charitable work. • Worked with the poor. • Controlled convents. • Communities for nuns. • Sworn to never marry.

11. Monasteries • Complex design with many different buildings. • Granaries. • Breweries. • Bakeries • Wineries. • Churches. • Libraries. • Hospitals. • Schools. • Acted as a self contained town.

12. The Seven Sacraments • Sacred acts that impart grace upon the individual • Only members of the clergy can administer the sacraments. • Baptism • Confirmation • Ordination (for clergy) • Matrimony • Penance (confession and absolution of sins) • Eucharist (holy communion) • Extreme unction (last rites)

13. The Church and Nobles • Church encouraged people that their souls would be saved by giving money to the church. • Nobles were encouraged to leave land to the church when they died in return the Noble would go to heaven. • This increased the wealth of the church. • Power struggle with the Kings and the Popes.

14. The Good Side of the Church • Preserver of learning • Art • music, stained glass, and wood carvings • Medicine • Shelter for poor • Giver of food • Scientist • Illumination • People found hope • turned to the church for guidance and comfort • Church offered salvation through the sacraments

15. The Bad Side of the Church • Amassed wealth • Owned land • Some where dishonest • Simony • Political involvement • Corruption • Immorality

16. Evolution ofMedieval Life

17. Urban Life • Crusades open up new trade routes. • Markets, close to rivers, expand in response to flourishing trade and increased agricultural yields. • Urban space provides location for merchant class (middle class) to develop. • Charters of self-development purchased from lords give citizens of towns degree of independence.

18. Urban Life • Merchants and craftspeople form guilds to protect buyers and sellers. • Professions develop system of training where an apprentice learns the craft from a journeyman. • Commercial centers, like Bruges, Florence, and Venice, become influential city-states. • Stone walls, cathedrals, and guildhalls are built.

19. Universities • Began as cathedral schools in the urban centers of Western Europe like Bologna, Oxford, Paris, and Cambridge. • Comes from the word universities, which is Latin for guild or corporation. • Offered Liberal Arts curriculum: grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music.

20. Universities • Programs in theology, medicine, and law also offered. • Women are excluded from receiving a higher education. • Become places of lively debate.

21. Scholasticism • Theological scholars are influenced by Aristotle’s writings, transcribed and commented by Arabic scholars. • Scholars reconcile Aristotle’s rationalistic approach to knowledge with the Christian reliance on faith. • Aristotle’s logical explanation of the Unmoved Mover helps Aquinas prove God’s existence.

22. Scholasticism • Aquinas elevates the use of reason to discover God’s world, yet still relies on revelation to fathom God’s mysteries. • Thomas Aquinas’s theology exhibits a hierarchical view of the world with man being the closest of earthly creatures to God. • He lived from 1225-1274.

23. The Church in Medieval Europe Questions These questions do not need to be turned in for a grade, however you do need to know them for maybe a quiz or test in the future.  • Why do you think the Catholic Church felt the need to control the political life as well as the spiritual life of the people? How did it do so? • How did the development of a merchant class and urban life change the landscape of Europe? • Do you think scholasticism enhanced or undermined the power of the Catholic Church? • Why do you think the Last Judgment and visions of heaven and hell were popular subjects for literature, the visual arts and music? • How do the Gothic stained glass windows represent the Medieval view of the truth?