Medieval History Textbook

After the decline of the Roman Empire came the rise of the Middle Ages, or medieval

period, from around 500 to 1500. This period gave rise to a new culture with roots in “the

classical heritage of Rome … the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, and … the customs

of various Germanic tribes.” (353). This shift came about due to the invasions of Germanic

tribes, which “altered the economy, government, and culture.” (353). These invasions led to

the collapse of merchants’ businesses, and the overall breakdown of trade in European cities.

Along with trade, government was no longer centered in cities, and the population shifted

from the cities to the countryside. Germanic tribes did not know how to read and write, so

education was largely forgotten, and Greek knowledge was almost lost due to the lack of

people who knew Greek. Throughout time, the peoples of Western Europe began to speak

different languages depending on their region, which led to the loss of a common language.

Between 400 and 600, Germanic kingdoms began to replace Roman provinces,

causing a change in the concept of government. Unlike Roman society, where people were

loyal to public government and written law, “family ties and personal loyalty, rather than

citizenship in a public state, held Germanic society together.” (354). Germanic peoples

followed unwritten laws and traditions in small communities instead. Personal connections to

their leaders was valued and they lived with their king and fought alongside him in return for

weapons, food and treasure. The Franks became a Catholic nation when Clovis partnered

with the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, who supported their military campaigns against

other Germanic tribes. Through the help of the Church Clovis united the Franks under one

king.

Many Germanic tribes adopted Christianity by 600, with the help of the Franks and

politics. Monasteries and convents were built for religious communities who wished to

dedicate their lives to serving God. Monasteries became the most educated communities:
“monks opened schools, maintained libraries, and copied books.” (355). The Venerable Bede,

an English monk, wrote a history of the Church in England in 731, a work still considered

“the best historical work of the early Middle Ages.” (355). Gregory I became pope, and

expanded the powers of the papacy, allowing the Church to gain political power in the

kingdoms of Western Europe. “This idea of a churchly kingdom, ruled by a pope, would be a

central theme of the Middle Ages.” (355).

Charles Martel, the major domo, or mayor of the palace became the most powerful

person in the kingdom of the Franks. Charles Martel became a Christian hero by fighting the

Muslims off from Europe, preventing Western Europe to become part of the Muslim Empire.

In 768, Charlemagne became king. Charlemagne created the biggest empire since Rome, and

became the most powerful king, eventually taking the title of emperor and later opened a

school. He died in 814, leaving his only surviving son, Louis the Pious, to take the throne as

emperor. Louis was inept as a ruler, though devoutly religious. His sons, Lothair, Charles the

Bald, and Louis the German, fought over control of the Empire their grandfather had created.

They signed the Treaty of Verdun in 843, and divided the empire into three kingdoms, this

led to a system of governing and landholding called feudalism.

A new wave of invaders, this time the Vikings, came from Scandinavia. They were

skilled raiders and a warlike people. Although the Vikings are known for their brutality in

battle, the Vikings were also traders, farmers and explorers. Leif Ericson reached North

America around 1000, and about the same time, the Vikings adopted Christianity and stopped

raiding; Scandinavia’s rising temperatures also allowed for easier farming, so Scandinavians

eventually stopped living as sea-faring Viking warriors.

As the Vikings became less of a threat, a new threat arose in the Magyars, a group of

nomadic people, who were attacking from the East, and Muslims, who were attacking from
the south. The Magyars attacked monasteries and villages and the Muslims goal was to

conquer and occupy Western Europe.

Feudalism took over as a new social structure. In the Feudal system the hierarchy was

as follows: the kings were at the top; then came the wealthy landowners, such as nobles and

bishops; beneath these were the knights, who defended their lords’ land in exchange for fiefs;

at the bottom were the serfs, who were tied to the land of their lords. The social classes were

well defined and the class in which one was born was the class in which one stayed

throughout their lifetime.

The lords’ estates were called manors, and “rested on a set of rights and obligations

between a lord and his serfs.” The lord provided housing, protection, and land for the serfs;

the serfs worked the lords’ lands, took care of their animals, and maintained the lords’ estates.

The manor was largely self-sufficient and from fifteen to twenty families lived on its

premises. Serfs lives were not comfortable or enjoyable in any respect.

Knights began to fight on horseback and would defend their lords. These warriors

were mainly part of private armies. Knights had a code of chivalry that they lived by. They

were supposed “to display courage in battle and loyalty to their lord” (365). Sons of nobles

began their training at age seven, became squires, and at age twenty-one became full knights.

Knights would show off their skill in tournaments., which were set up like real battles and

were usually “fierce and bloody competitions.” (367).

The literature surrounding knights and castle life largely downplayed the realities of

the feudal system, “glorif[ying] knighthood and chivalry, tournaments and real battles.”

(367). The code of chivalry also emphasized the duty a knight has to his lady. This duty has

sparked love poems and songs. Noblewomen and peasant women have very different lives.

The noblewomen could inherit land and could order knights to go to war when her husband

asked. She could also act as military commander and warrior when her husband was away.
She was, however, limited in her power. They were “generally … confined to activities in the

home or the convent” (369) and held little property of their own because their land was

passed down to sons, not daughters. Peasants labored in the fields and home, performed

household tasks, and were not educated.

The Church had power over much of Western Europe; they also had a hierarchy: the

pope was at the top; then came the clergy (the bishops then the priests); and last came the

monks and nuns. The Church unified the people of different kingdoms, and stabilized

Western Europe during times of “warfare and political turmoil” (370). Everyone was subject

to canon law and the Church established courts to try people who broke canon law.

Excommunication was one punishment that church would use. The holy Roman Empire was

a German-Italian empire created by Otto I, who allied with the Church.

A Concise History of the Crusades, Chapter 1.

Were the Muslims to win against the Western Europeans, how would the world today be

different?

Why are the crusades usually remembered with derision?