Transcript Hist 100 World Civilization I Instructor: Dr. Donald R. Shaffer Upper Iowa University.

Hist 100
World Civilization I
Instructor: Dr. Donald R. Shaffer
Upper Iowa University
Lecture 10
Introduction
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Before the fall of the Roman Empire
in the West, Europe outside the
Mediterranean basin was a
backwater
Western Europe below the Rhine
and Danube rivers became part of
the Roman Empire, but their
conquests never extended above it
Two general cultural groups lived in
the region at the periphery or outside the northern boundary of the
Roman Empire
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Celts
Germans
Celts came partially under Roman
control, Germans not
Lecture 10
Germanic Tribes
 The western half of the Roman
empire fell to invading German tribes
during the 4th and 5th centuries CE
 German origins: linguistic and
archeological evidence suggest
Germans originated in Scandinavia
 German life
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Ancient Germans were tribal
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Women engaged in agriculture, men
hunted and served as warriors
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Leaders chosen from ablest members
of the ruling family
Comitatus
Germanic law: tried to control
violence and private feuds
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Wergeld
Trial by combat
Lecture 10
Changes in Life after Rome’s Fall
 The new order that emerged after
the fall of Rome in the West was a
mixture of old Roman customs with
those of the Germanic tribes
 Changes in life
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Decline of urban life
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Decline of long-distance trade
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Rome had been an urban-based
civilization
Germanic tribes interested in the wealth
of Roman cities, but not in living there
With the decline of Roman cities,
centralized authority collapsed
Due to lack of security and decline of
Roman road network
Economy becomes more local and rural
Collapse of higher civilization
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Under the new order most people went
uneducated, illiteracy increased
Painting depicting the Visigoth’s
sack of Rome in 410 CE
Lecture 10
New Institutions: Manorialism
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One of the institutions to survive the
collapse of Rome in the west were
“manors” or agricultural estates
The manor thrived in the new order
because it could offer people
protection formerly guaranteed by
Roman authorities
Serfdom
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To gain the protection of the lord of
the manor, however, the price was
a loss of freedom
Serfs became bound to the estate,
and were expected to hand over a
portion of the harvest and perform
other labor services
The rise of manorialism resulted in a
general decline in living standards
and life expectancy
Lecture 10
New Institutions: Feudalism
 Just as manorialism filled the
economic void created by the
collapse of Rome, feudalism filled
the political void
 Feudalism created a series of
unequal but reciprocal relationships
that created a highly decentralized
political system
 In order to guarantee security to his
serfs, a lord (or baron) had to employ
soldiers (or knights)
Benefice: the compensation of a
knight for military service
 Fiefs: for lords with larger land
holdings, they might give some
leading knights their own estates,
known as “fiefs”
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Lecture 10
New Institutions: Monasticism (1)
 The highly devout Christianity that
emerged in the Middle Ages in
Europe was a fertile ground for the
rise of monasticism
Monasticism was the impulse to
isolate oneself from the everyday
world and concentrate on spiritual
matters
 The impulse was inherited from
Judaism which had had its own
monastic communities
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Example: Essenes
 Early Christian monasticism had two
traditions: hermit communities and
ordered monasticism
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Over time the ordered communities
became more dominant because of
the excesses of some hermits
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Qumran:
Essene
monastic
community
Simeon Stylites
Simeon
Stylites
Lecture 10
New Institutions: Monasticism (2)
 St. Benedict of Nursia (480-550)
A hermit monk whose piety attracted
followers and forced him to establish
rules that became the basis for
medieval monastic life
 Monks (and nuns) lived lives of
carefully regulated communal prayer,
devotional reading, and work
 Yet they were decently clothed and
adequately fed
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 Monasteries became influential
institutions of medieval life
Bastions of education and literacy
 Although monks took vows of poverty,
because of their hard work and the
piety of admirers many monasteries
became wealthy
 They were at the forefront missionary
work
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St. Benedict
of Nursia
Lecture 10
The Carolingian Empire (1)
 Gradually between the 5th and 8th
centuries CE, a synthesis between
the old Roman culture, Christianity,
and the Germanic peoples occurred
 The first significant empire to arise in
Western Europe after Rome did so
among the Franks
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A Germanic people that conquered
what is today France
 Merovingians
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Predecessors of the Carolingians that
emerged in the 6th century CE under
Clovis
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Clovis converted to Christianity and won
the church’s support against other
Germanic tribes
Their power waned by 8th century CE
Lecture 10
The Carolingian Empire (2)
 The Carolingians started out as
vassals of the Merovingians
By the time of Charles Martel (714741) they had supplanted their
masters
 Merovingian kingdom still nominally
under Merovingian control, but
Carolingians rule as “mayors”
 Under Pepin the Short (751-768), the
Pope anointed Pepin “King of the
Franks” in return for protection
against the Lombards
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 Under Pepin’s son Charlemagne
(768-814), the Carolingian empire
reached the peak of its power and
influence
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Charlemagne talented as both a
military leader and statesman, a
model of medieval kingship
Charlemagne
Lecture 10
The Carolingian Empire (3)
 Charlemagne extended the power of
the Carolingians
Conquered the Saxons in Germany
 Conquered the Lombards in Italy
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The Pope in 800 declared Charlemagne
“Holy Roman Emperor”
Eventually his empire encompassed
what is today modern France,
western Germany, and northern Italy
 Fall of the Carolingians
The fall began with Louis the Pious,
who had three sons, and in Germanic
fashion split the empire between them
 Reinforced a natural division between
the west which was speaking an early
version of French and the east
speaking early German
 Fate sealed by invasions of
Saracens, Magyars, and Vikings
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Lecture 10
The Crusades (1)
 Although they had little ultimate
impact on the geopolitical map, the
Crusades were a turning point in
world history
The represent the first significant
outward thrust of Europe since the fall
of Rome in the west
 Contact with the East also whetted
Europe’s appetite for eastern trade
goods, laying the basis for more
expansion later on
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 Basis of the crusades
11th century Europe an incredibly
religious region
 Crusades prompted by pious
religiosity and a desire to capture the
holy land from Muslim control
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Lecture 10
The Crusades (2)
 First Crusade
Launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II
 In response to an appeal from the
Byzantine emperor for help against
renewed Muslim invasions
 Jerusalem conquered in 1099,
crusader kingdoms established in
modern Palestine, Lebanon, Syria,
and Turkey
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Muslims eventually extinguished these
kingdoms, most within a century of their
creation
 Later Crusades
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Seven crusades followed the first,
none of which was very successful
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Last launched in 1270
The 4th never even made it to
Palestine, instead sacking
Constantinople
 But they did renew Europe’s interest
in the world beyond its borders