Middle Ages

Briefly. Very Briefly.

Rome falls – chaos follows
• When government collapses, nobody is paying for
large projects – construction workers, stone masons,
iron workers, etc out of work
• When those people don’t have jobs, they have no
money for consumer goods – artisans out of work
• Education is nonexistent
• Only people left standing are the wealthy who own
land
Anything for food
• The masses of poor people look to the
landowners for work – work the land,
keep some of what they grow, give
rest to landowner
• Landowners – Nobles or Lords
• Land - fief
• Workers – Peasants or vassals
• How to protect all this? Knights.
Knights protect what the Lord owns
from bandits and raiders
 Monasteries
• The other option becomes
religious life – monasteries
built, places for Monks and
Nuns (Christian scholars) to
live, study, and worship
• Keeps alive reading, writing,
and education in West
Power of the Church
• Because nobody had legitimate power – that came
from Rome and Roman Empire is gone, leaders turn to
the Pope. The Pope is picking rulers.
Holy Roman Empire
• The Eastern part of
Charlemagne’s empire would
be named the Holy Roman
Empire in 962 CE when Otto I
was crowned by the Pope
• “Neither Holy, nor Roman,
nor an Empire” -Voltaire
• But any other
opinions varied
state-by-state
• Would mass for
defense
• Couldn’t mass for
attack
• Massive roadblock
of stability in
Europe because it
couldn’t start things
and nobody could
get around it to
start things
Magna Carta - 1215
• “The Great Charter”
• Britain has been a mess of Anglos and Saxons, struggle
for power between nobles and king
• Britain’s King John was brutal and taxed too much
• His nobles rebelled, cornered him, and made him
negotiate a charter BIGGER than the King
• EVERYONE, including Kings, would have to follow it
 Magna Carta
• Beginnings of all Western Democracies
• Echoed in all freedom documents of the
United States
• Only helps Nobles
• Peasants are excluded
• First time THE LAW is top
 The Crusades
I’m sure the world’s two largest religions fighting over a single city a
number of times will have no long-term impact on anything…
The Crusades
• Wars called for by the Pope for Christians to invade
Muslim lands to conquer Jerusalem for Christianity
• Begins in 1095 CE, last one in 1270 CE
• 8 sanctioned ones, many unofficial ones
Crusades – the logic
• Pope Urban II wanted to re-unite Christianity and felt
that helping the Byzantines against the Muslims would
help undo the Great Schism
• Pope Urban II also had other popes to worry about.
Unite against an outsider, be the better pope
• Byzantine Emperor wants lands back
First Crusade – the People’s Crusade (1095)
• Deus Vult! – “God wills it” chant of Crusaders
• Pope Urban II wants a real army of knights
• His speeches whip up the peasants, too. Many people
bankrupt themselves to fight in the holy land for their
ticket to heaven.
• Religious zealots like Peter the Hermit whip up groups
The People’s Crusade
• Groups of peasants marched toward Constantinople,
all of them stopping in Budapest, Hungary and
angering the governor, pillaging the countryside,
fighting with and losing against the local army, and
causing general havoc before being pushed to
Constantinople and then Anatolia
The Princes’ Crusade
• The professional armies (there were 5 with weird
leaders) got the aftermath of mistrust in Budapest and
in Constantinople they’re forced to swear an oath to
give any Byzantine land back to the Byzantines
• One of the leaders takes over a city and stays as its king
• July 13, 1099 – Jerusalem attacked and Muslims
massacred by Crusading Christians
• First Crusade is a success for Christianity
 Second Crusade – 1144 CE
• Wanted to take back a few cities
gained in the First Crusade and lost
after – ruined Byzantine’s political
alliances and failed to do anything
worthwhile
• In Muslim Spain, Crusaders attacked
in the Reconquista, or reconquering
what was lost 400 years ago
• Christians win, Spain will be
predominantly Christian ever since
Northern Crusade – 1100s through 1400s
• Eastern Germans flooded the Baltic and eastern
Europe to convert pagan tribes to Christianity
• Sometimes through violence!
• This was not one crusade, but a number of unofficial
ones doing what the Pope generally wanted
• Leading these were the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
• A German group of professional
soldiers and knights
• Super organized, great fighters,
highly unified
• Personal symbols or
individualism was discouraged
• Enough people surrendered to
them that they formed a country
in Northern Europe
• Their people would eventually
form Prussia
 Third Crusade – 1189 CE
• Led by Richard the Lionhearted
of England, Frederick
Barbarossa of HRE, and Philip II
of France – only Richard even
gets there
• Jerusalem had fallen to a
Muslim King named Saladin
• Talent recognizes talent,
Muslims keep Jerusalem,
Christians are allowed to visit on
pilgrimage
Knights Templar
• Formed 1119 CE, they were a group
sworn to protect pilgrims on their
journey to Jerusalem
• Pooled money and donations kept
them going
• Approved by the Pope – really got
into Crusading
• Medieval bankers – a deposit in one
Templar church could be taken out
of any Templar church
 Fourth Crusade – 1202 CE
• Christians want to
retake Jerusalem
(again)
• Idea: Invade from
Egypt! Super sneaky!
• Problem: Crusaders
need boats
• Venice has boats!
• No money to pay
Venice
 Fourth Crusade
• Idea: Venice is owed
money by Zara, go
conquer them
• Problem: Zara, in
Hungary, is Catholic
• Solution: Attack Zara
anyway!
• Pope Excommunicates
Venice, Crusaders don’t
pay off their debt, BUT
they have boats!
Fourth Crusade
• A Byzantine prince offers
to pay Crusaders to
overthrow the Byzantine
Emperor
• Pro: Money! They need to
pay Venice
• Con: Means invading
Constantinople
• Invade Constantinople and
overthrow Emperor, then
the city itself
• Bigger split now between
Orthodox and Catholics
Fifth Crusade – 1217 CE
• Idea: Conquer Jerusalem by first
conquering cities in Egypt!
• Captured one city, tried to trade
it for Jerusalem
• Everyone moved too slowly and
couldn’t make decisions
• Crusaders tried to cross the Nile
and defeat the Muslims, but
they waited too long and lost
their ships in flooding
• Everyone went home with
nothing, blaming each other
Sixth Crusade – 1228 CE
• NOT sanctioned by Pope.
• King Frederick II of Germany promised
to go in 5th Crusade, never did.
Promises to go on 6th, keeps delaying –
excommunicated for procrastinating
• King Frederick II marries Isabella II,
heiress to Kingdom of Jerusalem –
marches on Jerusalem
• Problems among both sides for
negotiation: Christians own all but the
Temple Mount, Muslims can visit
Seventh Crusade – 1248 CE
• Jerusalem reconquered by
Muslims in 1244
• French King Louis IX begs Pope for
Crusade – granted
• Paid for it by taking all land and
property from French Jews
• Invaded Egypt, dumb moves led
to defeats
• Mamluk Turks begin taking over
weakened Muslim Caliphate
Eighth Crusade – 1270 CE
• Louis IX again.
• Idea: Invade Tunis, Tunisia
THEN Egypt then Jerusalem
• Muslims are fighting the Turks,
then Mongols invade
• Crusaders land at Carthage,
Louis gets sick, dies
• Everyone goes home
ALL THE (Official) CRUSADES
• First Crusade – Inspired by Urban II, People’s Crusade is a mess,
Prince’s Crusade takes Jerusalem – only full success
• Second Crusade – Useless in Middle East, Reconquista takes Spain
• Northern Crusade – Teutonic Knights convert pagan Northern
Europe
• Third Crusade – Richard v Saladin, negotiated for Christian visits
• Fourth Crusade – mess where Christians sack Constantinople
• Fifth Crusade – try Egypt first. Then try trade a city. Fail.
• Sixth Crusade – No Pope. Negotiate. Get most of Jerusalem.
• Seventh Crusade – French leadership, invade Egypt, botch it
• Eighth Crusade – French again, get sick and go home
Effects of Crusades
• Cultural Diffusion
• Europe learns about SO MANY THINGS that the Muslims
have had for centuries – copies them.
• Major boom in invention, creativity, and education in Europe
• People begin to leave the Castles
• The Pope couldn’t win the Holy Land – question Church
authority (first time, starts this trend)
• All this will lead to The Renaissance