Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
233 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
Middle Ages: Religion: Apostolic Succession
|
The doctrine that holds that bishops are the direct successors of the original twelve apostles (excluding Judas) and are thus inheritors in an unbroken line to the ministry to which Jesus Himself ordained the Apostles. In the Episcopal Church, we believe that our bishops had hands laid upon them by bishops who had hands laid upon them by bishops who had hands laid upon them… all the way back to the original apostles. Refers to the succession of bishops in uninterrupted lines, said to be historically traceable back to the original twelve apostles Within Catholic Christianity apostolic succession is necessary for a bishop to perform legitimate or "valid" ordinations of priests, deacons, and other bishops.
|
|
|
Mddle Ages: Byzantine Empire: Architecture
|
"based on the great legacy of Roman formal and technical achievements. Justinian and Theodora embarked on a lavish building program of public works Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) Greatest monument in Constantinople was the cathedral of Holy Wisdom, known by its Greek name, Hagia Sophia -
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Architecture and Art: Gothic
|
"(The revival of European economic life and culture around the year 1000 inspired a phase of church-building that evolved through architectural styles known as Romanesque and Gothic. While the Romanesque structures of the 11th and 12th centuries were mostly established by monastic houses, the Gothic structures that arose between the 12th and 15th centuries were often funded by the rising merchant class) -
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Architecture and Art
|
The revival of European economic life and culture around the year 1000 inspired a phase of church-building that evolved through architectural styles known as Romanesque and Gothic. While the Romanesque structures of the 11th and 12th centuries were mostly established by monastic houses, the Gothic structures that arose between the 12th and 15th centuries were often funded by the rising merchant class
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Architecture and Art: Romanesque
|
"(The revival of European economic life and culture around the year 1000 inspired a phase of church-building that evolved through architectural styles known as Romanesque and Gothic. While the Romanesque structures of the 11th and 12th centuries were mostly established by monastic houses, the Gothic structures that arose between the 12th and 15th centuries were often funded by the rising merchant class) Although there is considerable varity of examples of Romanesque (“Roman-like”) architecture, common characteristics include the use of the -
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Astrolabe
|
"(Intellectual fift from Muslims) Device for measuring the position of celestial bodies – useful for legitimate astronomy The astrolabe is a historical astronomical instrument used by classical astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses included: •
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Averroes
|
Andalusian philosopher, physician, and polymath: a master of philosophy, theology, Maliki law and jurisprudence, astronomy, geography, mathematics, medicine, physics, psychology and science. Aristotle was often read in conjunction with a commentary on his works by the Muslim Arab scholar, {} He wrote commentaries on most of the surviving works of Aristotle. These were not based on primary sources (it is not known whether he knew Greek), but rather on Arabic translations. There were three levels of commentary: the Jami, the Talkhis and the Tafsir which are, respectively, a simplified overview, an intermediate commentary with more critical material, and an advanced study of Aristotelian thought in a Muslim context. The terms are taken from the names of different types of commentary on the Qur'an. It is not known whether he wrote commentaries of all three types on all the works: in most cases only one or two commentaries survives. He did not have access to any text of Aristotle's Politics. As a substitute for this, he commented on Plato's Republic, arguing that the state there described was the same as the original constitution of the Arabs and was rediscovered in the Almohad state of Ibn Tumart. His most important original philosophical work was The Incoherence of the Incoherence (Tahafut al-tahafut), in which he defended Aristotelian philosophy against al-Ghazali's claims in The Incoherence of the Philosophers (Tahafut al-falasifa). Al-Ghazali argued that Aristotelianism, especially as presented in the writings of Avicenna, was self-contradictory and an affront to the teachings of Islam. Averroes' rebuttal was two-pronged: he contended both that al-Ghazali's arguments were mistaken and that, in any case, the system of Avicenna was a distortion of genuine Aristotelianism so that al-Ghazali was aiming at the wrong target. Other works were the Fasl al-Maqal, which argued for the legality of philosophical investigation under Islamic law, and the Kitab al-Kashf, which argued against the proofs of Islam advanced by the Ash'arite school and discussed what proofs, on the popular level, should be used instead.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Avicenna
|
Arab philosopher who influenced medieval scholarship His most famous works are The Book of Healing, a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopaedia, and The Canon of Medicine Persian[9] polymath and the foremost physician and Islamic philosopher of his time. He was also an astronomer, chemist, Hafiz, logician, mathematician, physicist, poet, psychologist, scientist, Sheikh, soldier, statesman and theologian.[10]
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Roger Bacon
|
One of the most famous Franciscan friars of his time An English philosopher who placed considerable emphasis on empiricism, he is sometimes credited as one of the earliest European advocates of the modern scientific method[1] inspired by the works of early Muslim scientists. Began to develop a theory of experimental science
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Medieval Church: Benedictine Rule
|
Book of precepts written by St. Benedict of Nursia for monks living in community under the authority of an abbot. Since about the 7th century it has also been adopted by communities of women. During the 1500 years of its existence, it has become the leading guide in Western Christianity for monastic living in community, in Orthodoxy, Catholicism and (since the time of the Reformation) in the Anglican and Protestant traditions. (Charlemagne regulated monastic practice by promoting the use of the Benedictine Rule) Rose to preeminence partly because its inherent qualities made it successful and popular, and partly because it was promoted by popes like Gregory the Great and by the Carolingians Differed from other monastic rules not so much in requiring its adherents to renounce private property, sex, and free will (the standard vow of poverty, chastity, and obedience), but because it struck an ideal balance between three important requirements of monasticism: work, study and prayer Also differed from other monastic rules in focusing on the life of the community Its aim was to put the spiritual life within the reach of any devoted soul, not just the advanced individual While many other rules demanded difficult and painful acts of austerity, Benedict wanted his monks to receive enough food and sleep so that they could concentrate on prayer, and he did not encourage physical pain (such as flagellation) as a form of devotion Benedict did, however, allow corporal punishment, but only for the purpose of disciplining unruly monks who would not respond to more lenient forms of correction
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition: English Literature: Beowulf
|
Anglo-Saxons: their major epic was not written down until about the year 1000, but was based on an earlier tradition Describes a hero’s quest to vanquish terrible monsters Old English language heroic epic poem of anonymous authorship, dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between the 8th[1] to the 11th century,[2][3] Relates events described as having occurred in what is now Denmark and Sweden. Commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature, Beowulf has been the subject of much scholarly study, theory, speculation, discourse, and, at 3183 lines, it has been noted for its length. In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, battles three antagonists: Grendel, who has been attacking the mead hall in Denmark called Heorot and its inhabitants; Grendel's mother; and, later in life after returning to Geatland (modern southern Sweden) and becoming a king, he fights an unnamed dragon. Beowulf is fatally wounded in the final battle, and after his death he is buried in a barrow in Geatland by his retainers.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Black Death: (1) Spread of the Plague Along Trade Routes
|
During the Hundred Years War, most of Europe was struck with bubonic plague (or perhaps a collection of epidemics), which became known as the “Black Death” After the initial wave (1347 – 1351), the plague recurred at intervals in parts of Europe until the 18th century Spread by fleas living in the fur of rats Introduced into Europe from Asia by Italian merchant ships that plied the Black Sea The course which the plague took reveals that it followed the trade routes, and the speed with which it spread reflects the fact that commerce by the 14th century was vigorous and connected Europe with China (where the plague may have originated). The Italian merchant and explorer, Marco Polo (1254 – 1324) had pioneered these overland routes through central Asia known as the “Silk Road”, as he describes in his “Travels” The plague first struck Constantinople, then Italy ( a center of commerce), after which it spread through France to Spain, England, and Germany Poland and other parts of east central Europe were minimally affected, due to the low volume of trade there
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Black Death: Demographic Effects
|
In the space of just a few years, the plague reduced the population of Europe by about one-third – some regions suffered the loss of about half their population The plague was all the more terrible because of ignorance about its communicable nature The inability of doctors to explain the disease, coupled with its terrifying effects, created mass hysteria There was a widespread belief that the plague was a punishment sent by God, which prompted processions of flagellants – people who beat themselves publicly with whips in a show of repentance
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Black Death: Famine
|
The plague was not the first instance of declining population Earlier in the 14th century there was a series of crop failures (reflecting a shift in climate as the weather became colder and wetter and the growing season became shorter), which resulted in widespread famines The most serious famine occurred between 1315 and 1317: tax records indicate that the number of households in some places decreased an that time, reflecting at least a regional decline in population Thus, after 3 centuries of rapid growth beginning around the year 1000, Europe had reached the limits of population that its agriculture could sustain The malnutrition that Europeans suffered as a result of food shortages weakened people’s immune systems and made them more susceptible to the plague
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Black Death: Economic and Social Consequences
|
The high mortality of the plague caused businesses and banking institutions to collapse The long-term effects were actually beneficial to laborers but hurt the employers Before the plague there was high unemployment in Europe, but afterwards labor was in high demand and low supply, which resulted in greatly increased wages In contrast, the priced of food decreased as the supply was suddenly able to meet the decreased demand Yet employers and governments initially resisted grating concessions to laborers, which prompted a series of peasant rebellions (aggravated in England and France by the Hundred Years’ War), such as the Jacquerie in France (1358) and the Peasants’ Revolt led by Wat Tyler in England (1381) There was also a revolt of the wool-workers in Florence in 1378
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Church in the Late Middle Ages: Albigensian Crusade
|
(1208-1229) Heretical movements The popular religious ferment of the twelfth century did not always produce results that were favorable to the Church. Heretical movements arose as devout Christians who were scandalized by the luxurious lifestyle of some Cacholic bishops openly denounced the clerical hierarchy. Although many of these radical reformers worked in isolation, some banded together and became highly organized, such as the Cathars and the Waldensians. The Cathars (“pure ones”) were a dualist sect akin to the ancient Manichees and believed the material world was created by an evil god who opposed the the creator of the spiritual world. They rejected the Old Testament and organized themselves into a rival church in southern France centered at the town of Albi; they were, therefore, sometimes called Albigensians. The Waldensians took their name from Waldo of Lyons, a rich merchant whose reading of the New Testament inspired him to give away his property to the poor and embrace a life of poverty. His followers traveled throughout Europe preaching against the luxurious lifestyles of many Catholic bishops and winning coverts on the strength of their own simple, impoverished lifestyle and their strict interpretation of the social message of the Gosopel. Albigensian Crusade The ecclesiastical hierarchy responded to the challenges of the Cathars and the Waldensians by declaring them heretics, but excommunication did not deter their growth. Alarmed at the Cathars’ highly organized challenge tto the Churrch’s authority, which included the slaying of a papal envoy, Pop Innocent II declared a crusade against the Cathars which was known as the Albigensian Crusade (1208-1229). The northern French nobility eagerly participated in the campaign out of worldly motives, for the opede thereby to seize the lands of the heretics. The fighting was brutal and indiscriminate. Entire towns were razed if they were suspected of harboring heretics, without regard for killing innocent Catholics. A Cistercian abbot named Arnaud Amaury, who served as papal legate , is said to have recommended killing all 20,000 citizens of Beziers so that some 200 heretics who were thought to be hiding there would not escap, exclaiming, “Kill them all – God will know his own!” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albigensian_Crusade The Albigensian Crusade or Cathar Crusade (1209–1229) was a 20-year military campaign initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the heresy of the Cathars of Languedoc. When Innocent III's diplomatic attempts to roll back Catharism[1] met with little success, he declared a crusade against Languedoc, offering the lands of the schismatics to any French nobleman willing to take up arms. The violence led to France's acquisition of lands with closer cultural and linguistic ties to Catalonia (see Occitan). An estimated 1,000,000 people died during the crusade.[2][3] The Albigensian Crusade also had a role in the creation and institutionalization of both the Dominican Order and the Medieval Inquisition.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition: Giovanni Boccaccio
|
(1313-1375) Prominent Italian poet who ushered in the Renaisance “Decameron”: collection of dawdy stories told by a group of men and women staying in the countryside in order to escape the effects of the Black Death Italian author and poet, a friend and correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist in his own right and author of a number of notable works including On Famous Women, the Decameron, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Church in the Late Middle Ages: Heretical Movements
|
(1208-1229) Heretical movements The popular religious ferment of the twelfth century did not always produce results that were favorable to the Church. Heretical movements arose as devout Christians who were scandalized by the luxurious lifestyle of some Cacholic bishops openly denounced the clerical hierarchy. Although many of these radical reformers worked in isolation, some banded together and became highly organized, such as the Cathars and the Waldensians. The Cathars (“pure ones”) were a dualist sect akin to the ancient Manichees and believed the material world was created by an evil god who opposed the the creator of the spiritual world. They rejected the Old Testament and organized themselves into a rival church in southern France centered at the town of Albi; they were, therefore, sometimes called Albigensians. The Waldensians took their name from Waldo of Lyons, a rich merchant whose reading of the New Testament inspired him to give away his property to the poor and embrace a life of poverty. His followers traveled throughout Europe preaching against the luxurious lifestyles of many Catholic bishops and winning coverts on the strength of their own simple, impoverished lifestyle and their strict interpretation of the social message of the Gosopel.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Boethius
|
Christian philosopher of the 6th century. The Consolation of Philosophy: (480 – 424): devoted himself to the study of Plato and Aristotle and is most famous for his Neoplatonic text – he prepared a translation of Aristotelian logical texts known as the Organon (“Tool”): * Consolation of Philosophy, which he wrote in prison while awaiting his execution, but his lifelong project was a deliberate attempt to preserve ancient classical knowledge, particularly philosophy. He intended to translate all the works of Aristotle and Plato from the original Greek into Latin. His completed translations of Aristotle's works on logic were the only significant portions of Aristotle available in Europe until the 12th century. However, some of his translations (such as his treatment of the topoi in The Topics) were mixed with his own commentary, which reflected both Aristotelian and Platonic concepts. Born in Rome to an ancient and important family which included emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius and many consuls His father, Flavius Manlius Boethius, was consul in 487 after Odoacer deposed the last Western Roman Emperor. Was consul in 510 in the kingdom of the Ostrogoths. In 522 he saw his two sons become consuls. Boethius was executed by King Theodoric the Great, who suspected him of conspiring with the Byzantine Empire.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Jean Buridan
|
French priest who sowed the seeds of the Copernican revolution in Europe. Although he was one of the most famous and influential philosophers of the later Middle Ages, he is today among the least well known. Impetus: Developed the concept of impetus, the first step toward the modern concept of inertia. His name is most familiar through the thought experiment known as Buridan's ass (a thought experiment which does not appear in his extant writings). “Most natural philosophy, however, was conducted by “thought-experiments,” which led two French thinkers, Jean Buridan and Nicol Oresme to challenge Aristotle’s theory of motion with a theory of “impetus”, which came fairly close to the correct theory of momentum.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Byzantine Empire: Characteristics
|
The eastern half of the Roman Empire which survived the Germanic migrations is known to modern historians as the “Byzantine Empire,” (The new capital was built on the site of the ancient city of Byzantium at the entrance to the Black Sea.) The “Byzantines” continued to call themselves “Romans,”, but Greek replaced Latin as the common language Based in the wealthy commercial cities of the east, was better able to afford armies for its defense than the rural west, and thus remained intact
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Byzantine Empire: Beginnings
|
"330: Constantinople was founded in 330, when the Roman Empire was united under a single emperor, Constantine the Great (306-337) 395: It was divided into 2 halves to ease administration 476: the last of the western emperors was deposed – attempts by the eastern emperors to control the western provinces through barbarian allies were ineffective – a dramatic effort to reclaim the west was made by Justinian the Great (527-565), whose armies retook North Africa, part of Spain, and Italy.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Byzantine Empire: Justinian and Theodora
|
Early Byzantine history is dominated by a great leader, Justinian I. Much of Justinian’s success was due to his wife, the empress Theodora, who had been a dancing girl in her youth Early in Justinian’s reign (532) a fight between political factions erupted at the chariot races and became a protest against the government known as the Nika riots Justinian considered fleeing, but Theodora urged him to stay and risk his life suppressing the rebellion – her courageous intervention thus made possible all the later achievements of Justinian’s reign
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Byzantine Empire: Religion
|
Theodora’s influence was particularly important in religion – she sympathized with the heretical Monophysites and was able to secure toleration for them, thereby improving the obedience of the southeastern provinces, where the sect predominated ! Eastern Orthodox Christianity Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world. It is considered by its adherents to be the very same Church established by Christ and his Apostles. It is composed of numerous theologically unified autocephalous ecclesial bodies, each shepherded by a synod of independent bishops whose duty, among other things, is to preserve and teach the Apostolic and Patristic traditions and related Church practices. All Orthodox bishops trace their lineage back to one of the twelve Apostles through the process of apostolic succession.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Byzantine Empire: Architecture and the Arts
|
Justinian and Theodora embarked on a lavish building program of public works Their greatest monument in Constantinople was the cathedral of Holy Wisdom, known by its Greek name Hagia Sophia. This structure boasts a massive dome atop a rectangular base, and its interior is decorated by colorful mosaics which use an iconic, otherworldly style to emphasize the power and majesty of the empire in its role as defender of the Christian faith
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Byzantine Empire: Military Policy
|
While Justinian committed his armed forces to the reconquest of the west, he secured the eastern borders against attacks by the Sassanian dynasty of Persia through a combination of war, diplomacy, and the payment of tribute.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Byzantine Empire: Law
|
Perhaps Justinian’s greatest achievement was the codification of Roman Law, which he entrusted to a team of legal experts led by the jurist Tribonian in the 530s. Justinian’s Code, a collection of volumes written in Latin and known by the title Corpus Juris Civilis (“Body of Civil Law”), put many centuries of Roman legal precepts and judicial decisions into an orderly system. It served as the law code for the Byzantine Empire until the 9th century, when a condensed version known as the Basilica was issued in Greek. Later, Justinian’s Code served as a textbook during the revival of legal studies in western Europe.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Byzantine Empire: Aftermath of Justinian’s Reign
|
"The deeds of Justinian and Theodora were described by the Byzantine historian Procopius, whose official texts praised them, but whose Secret History depicted them as bloodthirsty tyrants and demon-worshippers Justinian’s achievements came at a high price – his successors had to deal with the bankruptcy incurred by his spending, as well as rebellion in the far flung corners of the empire
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition: English Literature: The Canterbury Tales
|
The most famous Middle English author was Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), whose most popular work, The Canterbury Tales, is a collection of short stories in verse told by pilgrims on their way to visit the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket (These tales offer a cross-section of English society)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Carolingians
|
The most powerful of the Frankish nobles were the members of the Carolingian dynasty, named after its founder, Charles Martel (whose name in Latin is Carolus) This dynasty held the office of Mayor of the Palace and used it to control the Merovingian kingdom In 732 Charles Martel (c 688-471) led the Frankish defense against Muslim raiders and defeated them at the Battle of Tour - this event prevented Islam from establishing itself beyond Spain
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Rise of Centralized Monarchies: Concordat of Worms
|
Sometimes called the Pactum Calixtinum by papal historians An agreement between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V on September 23, 1122 near the city of Worms. Brought to an end the first phase of the power struggle between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Emperors. The King was recognized as having the right to invest bishops with secular authority ("by the lance") in the territories they governed, but not with sacred authority ("by ring and staff"). (even after the Concordat of Worms, antagonism between emperors and popes continued, mainly because of imperial claims to Italy) While the Holy Roman Empire was essentially a German state, it theoretically included Rome and the norothern half of Italy The Italian city-states, however, like the German nobles, were fiercely independent, and they often rallied around the pope to oppose imperial attempts to control their lands
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Carolingians: 1st Carolingian King: Pepin the Short
|
Charles Martel’s son, Pepin (or Pippin) the Short (c 714-768), was not satisfied to rule the Franks as Mayor of the Palace 751: he deposed the last Merovingian king and asked the pope to legitimize his seizure of power Pope Stephen II (752-757) needed help against the Lombards, so in 754 he crowned Pepin king of the Franks – in gratitude, Pepin defeated the Lombards and in 755 gave part of their territory to the pope. This land grant, known as the donation of Pepin, founded the Papal States The alliance of the Carolingians and the papacy enhanced the authority of each: while the Carolingians became the legitimate king of the Franks, the popes received a sizable state in central Italy and became recognized as kingmakers
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Carolingians: 1st Carolingian King: Pepin the Short: Papal States
|
Charles Martel’s son, Pepin (or Pippin) the Short (c 714-768), was not satisfied to rule the Franks as Mayor of the Palace 751: he deposed the last Merovingian king and asked the pope to legitimize his seizure of power Pope Stephen II (752-757) needed help against the Lombards, so in 754 he crowned Pepin king of the Franks – in gratitude, Pepin defeated the Lombards and in 755 gave part of their territory to the pope. This land grant, known as the donation of Pepin, founde the Papal States The alliance of the Carolingians and the papacy enhanced the authority of each: while the Carolingians became the legitimate king of the Franks, the popes received a sizable state in central Italy and became recognized as kingmakers
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Carolingians: Charlemagne
|
King of the Franks from 768 to his death. Expanded the Frankish kingdoms into a Frankish Empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800 as a rival of the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople. His rule is also associated with the Carolingian Renaissance, a revival of art, religion, and culture through the medium of the Catholic Church. Through his foreign conquests and internal reforms, Charlemagne helped define both Western Europe and the Middle Ages. He is numbered as Charles I in the regnal lists of France, Germany, and the Holy Roman Empire. Pepin’s son (768-814) – whose name means “Charles the Great” (Carolus Magnus in Latin) – inherited the largest territory in the west since the days of the Roman Empire and greatly expanded it during his long reign He took northern Italy from the last Lombard king (774), seized a strip of territory from the Muslims in Spain (778), subjugated the Avars on the Danube (795-796), and forcibly converted the pagan Saxons to Christianity after campaigns spanning 32 years (772-804) In upholding his alliance with the papacy, Charlemagne suppressed an uprising in Italy, and on Christmas Day of the year 800 Pope Leo III (795- 816) crowned him Roman Emperor According to Charlemagne’s biographer, Einhard, the Frankish king was surprised and not pleased by the event, which implied that the emperor’s authority came from the pope. Nevertheless, Charlemagne refused neither the title nor the coronation – the event certainly displeased the Byzantise, who governed southern Italy, but eventually they recognized Charlemagne as the legitimate ruler in the north
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Carolingians: The Carolingian Renaissance
|
Charlemagne’s achievenments were not limited to conquest In administration, Charlemagne regularly met with his counts and bishops, and he sent special agents, called missi dominici, throughout his realm to check up on them Took greate care to ensure the spiritual and intellectual well-being of his realm Founded schools to train the clergy, regulated monastic practice by promoting the use of the Benedictine Rule, and gathered together the finest scholars from all over western Europe to his court at Aachen, which became an international center of learning Charlemagne was concerned to make available accurate copies of the Vulgate Bible and encouraged the development of a more legible script to keep errors from creeping into the text The scrip, which is known as the Carolingian minuscule, was developed at the monastery of Tours under the guidance of Alcuin of York Charlemagne favored the use of Latin as the common language so that men from various parts of his diverse empire could easily communicate with one another; to facilitate its study he encouraged the preservation of the Latin classics by careful copying of manuscripts
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Carolingians: The Later Carolingian Kings
|
Charlemagne was able to hold his empire together through personal energy and charisma, but toward the end of his life, it began to disintegrate So, Louis the Pious (814-840), was unable to keep it intact The sons of Louis fought over their shares of the realm but eventually came to an agreement known as the Treaty of Verdun (843), which divided the realm into 3 parts: the western part went to Charls the Bald, the central part (along wit the imperial title) went to Lothair, and the eastern part went to Louis the German Treaty of Mersen : By 870, the northern parts of the middle kingdom had been swallowed up by its neighbors and the new boundaries were then formalized in the Treaty of Mersen. These divisions were to hang long-lasting effects inasmuch as they roughly established the borders of the modern European states of France and Germany. Disagreements over the division of the middle kingdom – particularly the regions of Alsace and Lorraine (which is named after Lothair) – were a cause of friction between France and Germany as late as the 20th century
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Cultural Tradition: Cassiodorous
|
* Roman statesman and great writer, serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Senator was part of his surname not his rank. “The most important preservers of ancient learning were Cassiodorus, “Martianus Capella”, and Isidore of Seville (who were commonly read in the medieval schools)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church in the Late Middle Ages: Cathars
|
* Name given to a radical Christian religious sect with dualistic and gnostic elements that appeared in the Languedoc region of France in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries. Had its roots in the Paulician movement in Armenia and the Bogomiles of Bulgaria with whom the Paulicians merged. They also became influenced by dualist and, perhaps, Manichaean beliefs. The Cathars (“pure ones”) were a dualistic sect akin to the ancient Manichees and believed that the material world was created by an evil god who opposed the creator of the spiritual world They rejected the Old Testament and organized themselves into a rival church in southern France centered at the town of Albi – there, therefore sometimes called Albigensians Did not believe in one all-encompassing god, but in two, both equal and comparable in status. Held that the physical world was evil and created by Rex Mundi (translated from Latin as "king of the world"), who encompassed all that was corporeal, chaotic and powerful; the second god, the one whom they worshipped, was entirely disincarnate: a being or principle of pure spirit and completely unsullied by the taint of matter. He was the god of love, order and peace. According to some Cathars, the purpose of man's life on Earth was to transcend matter, renouncing perpetually anything connected with the principle of power and thereby attain union with the principle of love. According to others, man's purpose was to reclaim or redeem matter, spiritualizing and transforming it. This placed them at odds with the Catholic Church in regarding material creation, on behalf of which Jesus had supposedly died, as intrinsically evil and implying that God, whose word had created the world in the beginning, was a usurper. Furthermore, as the Cathars saw matter as intrinsically evil, they denied that Jesus could become incarnate and still be the son of God. Cathars vehemently repudiated the significance of the Crucifixion and the Cross. In fact, to the Cathars, Rome's opulent and luxurious church seemed to them a palpable embodiment and manifestation on Earth of Rex Mundi's sovereignty. The Catholic Church regarded the sect as dangerously heretical; faced with the rapid spread of the movement across the Languedoc region and the failure of peaceful attempts at conversion, which had been undertaken by Dominicans, the Church launched the Albigensian Crusade to crush the movement.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Cathedral Schools and the Renaissance of the 12th Century
|
The new translations of Greek philosophy were studied primarily in the cathedral schools that arose during the cultural flowering known as the “12th – Century Renaissance” Like the Carolingian Renaissance before it and the Italian Renaissance after it, the 12th-Century Renaissance focused on reviving the study of the ancient classics The cathedral schools were a counterpart to the monastic schools; they were attached to the church of a bishop for the education of the secular clergy (“Secular” clergy were churchmen who did not follow a monistic rule but served as diocesan priests; “regular” clergy were churchmen who belonged to a monastic order and therefore followed a rule.) The most famous cathedral schools of northern France were Paris, Chartres, Orleans, and Laon * The Renaissance of the 12th century was a period of many changes during the High Middle Ages. It included social, political and economic transformations, and an intellectual revitalization of Europe with strong philosophical and scientific roots. These changes paved the way to later achievements such as the literary and artistic movement of the Italian Renaissance in the 15th century and the scientific developments of the 17th century.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Church in the Late Middle Ages: 1st Crusade
|
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades 1096: several groups led by lesser Frankish nobles or demagogues set out for Jerusalem The captured it in 1099 and massacred the inhabitants 4 feudal states known collectively as Outremer (“Beyond the Sea”), were carved out by their conquests: * Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem * Principality of Antioch * County of Tripoli * County of Edessa (The first 3 of these were located on the coast; the last was inland, on the upper reaches of the Euphrates River. The First Crusade succeeded partly because the Muslims were divide against one another)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Church in the Late Middle Ages: 2nd Crusade
|
1144: Muslims staged a counterattack and overthrew the County of Edessa A new crusade was proclaimed to win back Edessa, preached by the Cistercian monk Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Althougth led by the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III (1138-1152) and the French King Louis VII (1137 – 1180), the Second Crusade was a failure
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Church in the Late Middle Ages: 3rd Crusade
|
1187: the Muslim warrior Saladin, Prince of Egypt, dealt a crushing blow to the crusading armies at the Battle of Hattin and captured Jerusalem The crusade to win back Jerusalem attracted three kings: Richard I the Lion-Hearted of England (1189-1199) Philip II Augustus of France (1180-1223) Frederick I Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire (1152-1190) This crusade, like the one before it, was a failure Frederick died on the way to the Holy Land, while Philip found it impossible to cooperate with his rival, Richard, and soon returned to France Richard stayed on to fight Saladin, but was unable to do more than win back a few coastal cities, most notably Acre, where he slew over > 2k Muslim prisoners of war Jerusalem remained under Muslim control when Richard finally returned to England
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Church in the Late Middle Ages: 4th Crusade
|
Relations between the Byzantines and the Crusaders, who mistrusted each other, had been strained from the very start, but during the Fourth Crusade they reached an irreconcilable low The crusaders found themselves unable to pay the Venetians for passage to the Holy Land and were persuaded by them in 1203 to acquire the money first by raiding the Christian city of Zara (a rival of the Venetianss) on the Adriatic Sea, and then to sack Constantinople itself, which they did in 1024 The Byzantine imperial dynasty set up a government in exile, and the crusaders set up a Latin Empire in the Balkans in which the Venetians had special trading priviledges Diverted by the wealth of Byzantium, the crusaders never reached Muslim lands Pope Innocent III was initially displeased by this turn of events, but he eventually accepted it, since the new Latin patriarch of Constantinople was cooperative, unlike the old Greek patriarchs The Latin Empire lasted until 1261, when the Byzantines were able to regain control of Constantinople
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Church in the Late Middle Ages: Later Crusades
|
The crusading movement never regained its initial momentum The emperor Frederick II (1215 – 1250) took an army to the Holy Land in 1228, but this 5th Crusade relied on diplomacy rather than fighting; Frederick negotiated a treaty by which the Egyptians, who controlled the Holy Land, gave Christians access to Jerusalem 1249: Saint Louis IX of France (1226-1270) organized the Sixth Crusade which struck Egypt and took the coastal city off Damietta, but he was forced to surrender the following year and pay a huge ransom He organized the last major effort, the 7th Crusade in 1270 – this crusade tried to conquer Tunisia, but it was called off when Louis died during the campaign 1291: the last outpost in the Holy Land, the city of Acre, fell to the Muslims, ending the crusader states Although there was talk of reviving the Crusades for several centuries, no significant action against the Holy Land was taken The military action that did continue under the name of the Crusades shifted to other theaters: the reconquest of Spain, the suppression of a heretical movement in southern France (known as the Albigensian Crusade), and the conquest of the pagans in the Baltic Regions
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Christianity: Germanic Kingdoms: The Conversion of Britain
|
While the Franks were busy on the Continent, important changes were taking place in the former Roman province of Britain In the 5th century, the Celts at the northern end of Britian and the Germanic invaders who occupied the southern and central parts of the island were pagan In the 6th century, both groups were converted to Catholicism by monastic missionaries, one group from Ireland (which St. Patrick converted around 430), the other from Rome Irish monks led by St. Columba began converting the Picts (in Scotland) in 563, and Roman monks sent by Pope Gregory the Great and led by Augustine of Canterbury began to convert the Anglo-Saxons in 597 The Irish monks mad vital contributions to the preservation of ancient texts and produced lavishly illuminated manuscripts of religious texts Their art influenced the Anglo-Saxons. By the mid-seventh century the foundations of Christianity in britian were laid, but the two groups of missionaries – Celtic and Roman – came into conflict over discrepancies in religious practice, such as the calculation of the date of Easter and questions of ritual The conflict was resolved at the Synod of Whitby in 664 when the Celtic church accepted Latin practices
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Geoffrey Chaucer
|
English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales. (a collection of short stories in verse told by pilgrims on their way to visit the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket – these tales offer a cross-section of English society)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Eastern Europe: Conversion to Christianity
|
Eastern Europe did not enter recorded history until its conversion to Christianity, when missionaries brought literacy to the pagan peoples The effort was begun by the Byzantine Church in the 9th century, when the monks Cyril and Methodius converted the Czechs and Slovaks to Greek Orthodoxy and gave them the Cyrillic alphabet (which is based on Greek) The Slavs of Ukraine, centered at Kiev under their Varangian (Viking) rulers, adopted Greek Christianity late in the 10th century By that time, however, the Czechs and Slovaks had transferred their allegiance to Roman Catholicism as Latin missionaries converted their Polish neighbors Poland remained the easternmost Catholic region until the 14th century, when the pagan Lithuanians – faced by Latin Christians in the west and Greek Christians in the east – decide to accept Catholicism Their ruler, the grand duke Jagiello, was motivated to do so by the proposed union of his people with the Poles, on condition of accepting Catholicism. The two peoples were united by the marriage of Jagiello (1386 – 1434) with the Polish queen Jadwiga (An earlier Lithuanian ruler, Mindaugas, had actually converted to Catholicism in 1251, but when he was assassinated in 1263, the Lithuanians remained pagan.)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Medieval Church: Diocesan Structure
|
The Christian religion was the major civilizing influence in Europe during the Middle Ages The Church was modeled after the structure of the imperial Roman administration, which was organized into regional units known as dioceses When Roman government completely broke down, the parallel ecclesiastical structure remained intact, and amid the chaos of political fragmentation it continued to provide a framework for unity at least on the spiritual level In many cases bishops who ran the ecclesiastical dioceses assumed some of the political functions that Roman governors had previously performed – nowhere is this more obvious than in the case of the papacy
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Medieval Church: Rise of the Papacy
|
The bishops of Rome used the title “pope” (in Latin, papa, “father”) to assert their claim to spiritual leadership of the Church They based this claim on the concept of apostolic succession – the idea that they were successors to an Apostle – and the belief that St. Peter, whom Jesus chose as the leader of the Apostles, was also the first bishop of Rome As the Empire disintegrated, the papacy began to assume an important political dimension. For example: When the western emperor was hiding from Attila the Hun at Ravenna, Pope Leo I (440-461) spoke with the barbarian warlord and persuaded him not to sack Rome * The weakness of the western emperors, and later their complete absence, was a major reason for the rise of the papacy to a position of leadership By contrast, the patriarchs of Constantinople did not achieve a similar eminence because they were overshadowed by the eastern emperors, who often interfered in the governance of the Greek Church But although the papacy enjoyed spiritual freedom, it also had to endure political instability The Early Papacy Scanty pieces of evidence dating back to the 1st century AD indicate that the church at Rome had already attained a certain preeminence in doctrinal matters even among those few churches which could lay claim to apostolic foundation. The apostolic credentials of Rome, moreover, would appear to have been uniquely impressive. It is certain that Saint Paul had preached at Rome, and he was probably put to death there about 67 during the reign of Nero. It seems likely, as well, that Saint Peter had visited Rome and had also been martyred there. About Peter's actual position at Rome, however, and about the position of the early Roman bishops, the historical record is silent. What is unquestioned is that by the 3d century the Roman bishops were representing themselves as having succeeded to the primacy that Peter had enjoyed among the apostles and as wielding within the universal church a primacy of authority in doctrinal matters. During the 4th and 5th centuries, after the Roman emperor Constantine's grant of toleration to Christianity (the Edict of Milan, 313) and its rise to the status of an official religion, a series of popes, most notably Leo I (r. 440 - 61), translated that claim into a primacy of jurisdiction over the church. That claim was matched, however, by the rival claim of the church at Constantinople to a jurisdictional primacy in the East equal to that of Rome in the West. In fact, for at least another century, it was the Byzantine emperor of Constantinople who could actually claim to be functioning as the supreme leader of Christendom in spiritual as well as temporal matters. The Medieval Papacy The 6th to the 16th century marked the rise of the papacy to the position of unique prominence within the Christian community that, despite vicissitudes, it has since retained. In that complex development three broad phases may be emphasized. The first, extending from the late 6th to the late 8th century, was marked by the turning of the papacy to the West and its escape from subordination to the authority of the Byzantine emperors of Constantinople. This phase has sometimes, but improperly, been identified with the reign (590 - 604) of Gregory I, who, like his predecessors, represented to the inhabitants of the Roman world a church that was still identified with the empire. Unlike some of those predecessors, Gregory was forced to confront the collapse of imperial authority in northern Italy. As the leading civilian official of the empire in Rome, it fell to him to undertake the civil administration of the city and its environs and to negotiate for its protection with the Lombard invaders threatening it. In the 8th century, after the rise of Islam had weakened the Byzantine Empire and the Lombards had renewed their pressure in Italy, the popes finally sought support from the Frankish rulers of the West and received (754) from the Frankish king Pepin The Short the Italian territory later known as the Papal States. With the crowning (800) by Leo III of Charlemagne, first of the Carolingian emperors, the papacy also gained his protection. By the late 9th century, however, the Carolingian empire had disintegrated, the imperial government in Italy was powerless, and the bishopric of Rome had fallen under the domination of the nobles. Once again the papacy sought aid from the north, and in 962, Pope John XII crowned the German king Otto I emperor. In this revived empire, soon called the Holy Roman Empire, the pope theoretically was the spiritual head, and the emperor the temporal head. The relationship between temporal and spiritual authority, however, was to be a continuing arena of contention. Initially, the emperors were dominant and the papacy stagnated. The emperors themselves, however, set the papacy on the road to recovery. In 1046, Emperor Henry III deposed three rival claimants to the papal office and proceeded to appoint, in turn, three successors. With the appointment in 1049 of Leo IX, the third of these, the movement of church reform, which had been gathering momentum in Burgundy and Lorraine, finally came to Rome. It found there in Leo and in a series of distinguished successors the type of unified central leadership it had previously lacked. With the papacy taking the leadership in reform, the second great phase in the process of its rise to prominence began, one that extended from the mid 11th to the mid 13th century. It was distinguished, first, by Gregory VII's bold attack after 1075 on the traditional practices whereby the emperor had controlled appointments to the higher church offices, an attack that spawned the protracted civil and ecclesiastical strife in Germany and Italy known as the Investiture Controversy. It was distinguished, second, by Urban II's launching in 1095 of the Crusades, which, in an attempt to liberate the Holy Land from Muslim domination, marshaled under papal leadership the aggressive energies of the European nobility. Both these efforts, although ultimately unsuccessful, greatly enhanced papal prestige in the 12th and 13th centuries. Such powerful popes as Alexander III (r. 1159 - 81), Innocent III (r. 1198 - 1216), Gregory IX (r. 1227 - 41), and Innocent IV (r. 1243 - 54) wielded a primacy over the church that attempted to vindicate a jurisdictional supremacy over emperors and kings in temporal and spiritual affairs. This last attempt proved to be abortive. If Innocent IV triumphed over Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, a mere half - century later Boniface VIII (r. 1294 - 1303) fell victim to the hostility of the French king Philip IV. In 1309, Pope Clement V left Rome and took up residence in Avignon, the beginning of the so - called Babylonian Captivity (1309 - 78), during which all the popes were French, lived in Avignon, and were subject to French influence, until Gregory XI returned the papacy to Rome. During the 13th and 14th centuries, therefore, papal authority over the universal church was exercised increasingly at the sufferance of national rulers and local princes of Europe. This fact became dismally clear during the Great Schism of the West (1378 - 1418), when two, and later three, rival claimants disputed for the papal office, dividing the church into rival "obediences"; in their desperate attempts to win support, the claimants opened the way to the exploitation of ecclesiastical resources for dynastic and political ends. The years of schism, then, and the related efforts of the general councils of Constance and Basel to limit the papal authority, saw the onset of the process whereby the papacy was reduced to the status of an Italian principality. Its supreme authority over the universal church had come to be no more than theoretical, the power over the national and territorial churches having passed to kings, princes, and rulers of such city - states as Venice. The Papacy in the Age of Reformation Such was the situation when the papacy was confronted in the early 16th century with the great challenge posed by Martin Luther to the traditional teaching on the church's doctrinal authority and much else besides. The seeming inability of Leo X (r. 1513 - 21) and those popes who succeeded him to comprehend the significance of the threat that Luther posed - or, indeed, the alienation of many Christians by the corruption that had spread throughout the church - was a major factor in the rapid growth of the Protestant Reformation. By the time the need for a vigorous, reforming papal leadership was recognized, much of northern Europe was lost to Catholicism. Not until the election (1534) of Paul III, who placed the papacy itself at the head of a movement for churchwide reform, did the Counter - Reformation begin. Paul established a reform commission, appointed several leading reformers to the College of Cardinals, initiated reform of the central administrative apparatus at Rome, authorized the founding of the Jesuits, the order that was later to prove so loyal to the papacy, and convoked the Council of Trent, which met intermittently from 1545 to 1563. The council succeeded in initiating a far - ranging moral and administrative reform, including the reform of the papacy itself, that was destined to define the shape and set the tone of Roman Catholicism into the mid - 20th century. The 16th century also saw the development of foreign missions, which were encouraged by the popes and enhanced their prestige. The Papacy in the 18th and 19th Centuries Their diplomatic skills notwithstanding, the 17th and 18th century popes proved unable to reverse the long - established trend toward increasing royal control of national clergies and increasing autonomy of the national and local doctrines. National doctrines of French, German, and Austrian provenance (known respectively as Gallicanism, Febronianism, and Josephism, and all of them in some measure promoting the limitation of papal prerogatives) helped reduce these popes progressively to a state of political impotence. Their decline became manifest in 1773, when, capitulating to the Bourbons, Clement XIV suppressed the Jesuits, the papacy's most loyal supporters. A few years later, despite the Concordat of 1801 reestablishing the church in France after the Revolution, the imprisonment of Pius VII by Napoleon appeared to foreshadow the very demise of the papal office. What this event actually foreshadowed was the demise of the papal temporal power. Although in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars the Congress of Vienna (1815) restored the Papal States, they were forcibly annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy in 1870, and not until 1929 with the Lateran Treaty was the "Roman Question" - the problem of nonnational status for the pope - solved. The treaty, which created in the heart of Rome a tiny, sovereign Vatican state, restored to the papacy a measure of temporal independence but left it with political influence rather than actual political power. Paradoxically, the eclipse of papal temporal power during the 19th century was accompanied by a recovery of papal prestige. The monarchist reaction in the wake of the French Revolution and the later emergence of constitutional governments served alike, though in different ways, to sponsor that development. The reinstated monarchs of Catholic Europe saw in the papacy a conservative ally rather than a jurisdictional rival. Later, when the institution of constitutional governments broke the ties binding the clergy to the policies of royal regimes, Catholics were freed to respond to the renewed spiritual authority of the pope. The popes of the 19th and 20th centuries have come to exercise that authority with increasing vigor and in every aspect of religious life. By the crucial pontificate of Pius IX (r. 1846 - 78), for example, papal control over worldwide Catholic missionary activity was firmly established for the first time in history. The solemn definition of the papal primacy by the First Vatican Council gave clear theoretical underpinnings to Pius IX's own commitment to an intensified centralization of ecclesiastical government in Rome. The council's companion definition of papal infallibility strengthened the energetic exercise of the papal magisterial power that was so marked a feature of the years between Vatican I and the assembly of the Second Vatican Council in 1962. The Papacy in the 20th Century Never before had popes been quite so active in moral and doctrinal teaching, and the great encyclicals of Leo XIII (r. 1878 - 1903) and Pius XII (r. 1939 - 58) especially, dealing with an imposing range of topics from sexual morality and eucharistic teaching to economic, social, and political ideas, became determinative in shaping the development of Catholic thinking. The efforts of these popes, moreover, although punctuated in 1907 by Pius X's condemnation of Modernism, did much to reverse the uncompromising hostility to modern thinking that Pius IX's Syllabus of Errors, which in 1864 had condemned liberalism, socialism, modern scientific thought, biblical studies, and other liberal movements of the day, had served to dramatize. The continuing strength of the forces within the church favoring theological innovation and energetic reform became unmistakably evident at the Second Vatican Council, convened by John XXIII (r. 1958 - 63), and found expression especially in its decrees on ecumenism, religious liberty, the liturgy, and the nature of the church. The ambivalence of some of those decrees, however, and the disciplinary turmoil and doctrinal dissension following the ending of the council, brought about new challenges to papal authority. The establishment of national conferences of bishops tended to erode it to some degree, and Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968), reaffirming the prohibition of artificial birth control, was met with both evasion and defiance. By the late 1970s papal authority itself had become a bone of contention. Paul VI (r. 1963 - 78), however, continued the ecumenical efforts of John XXIII in his contacts with Protestant and Orthodox churches, as in his attempt to make discreet moves in the direction of pragmatic accommodation with the communist regimes of eastern Europe, a policy that would have been unthinkable during the reigns of Pius XI and Pius XII. Paul also reorganized the curia and spoke strongly for peace and social justice. With the accession of the Polish John Paul II (1978 - ) the church had, for the first time since Adrian VI in the 16th century, a non - Italian pope.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Medieval Church: Gregory the Great
|
The pontificate of St. Gregory I (590-604), known as the Great, demonstrates how the papacy was threatened by the chaos of the age and responded by assuming a political role Rome was threatened at the time by the Lombards – to counter the threat, Gregory negotiated with the barbarians and paid them tribute, which he raised from the papal estates – he also used this source of wealth to feed the poor of Rome and to maintain public works – functions that had once been performed by the imperial civil service All this activity was in addition to the role of spiritual leadership that Gregory brilliantly promoted – he maintained papal primacy over the patriarch of Constantinople in his regular communications with the eastern empire and wrote voluminous theological works for the education of the Christian people, earning the title “Doctor of the Church” His works include a massive commentary on the Book of Job known as the Moriala, and his Diologues recount the life of St. Benedict of Nursia, who founded the dominant monastic order in the Latin west Gregory himself was a monk, and his promotion of Benedictine monasticism contributed to its preeminence in medieval Europe
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Medieval Church: Conflicts with the Greeks
|
The popes used their new political prestige to reassert the claim to primacy in matters of doctrine and ecclesiastical administration They assumed the power to convene church councils (which once belonged to the emperors) – a move which caused tension with the eastern empire and church
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Medieval Church: Iconoclasm
|
The popes intervened in the Iconoclastic Controversy that shook the Greek Church in the 8th and 9th centuries The controversy arose in 726 when the Byzantine Emperor Leo III (717-741) forbade the veneration of icons (paintings of saints), which he condemned as idolatry The papacy supported the use of icons in devotions and condemned the imperial decrees, which were finally reversed in 843 by the Byzantine Empress Theodora II
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Medieval Church: The Filioque Controversy
|
Tensions flared again when the popes added a clause to the Nicene Creed in order to clarify the Church’s teaching on the Trinity This filioque clause asserted that the Holy Spirit proceeds not only from the Father but also “from the Son,” thereby giving the Son a greater role that the original Nicene Creed stated. This theological difference, coupled with centuries of antagonism over the question of papal supremacy, resulted in a schism during the ninth century between the Greek church led by the Patriarch Photius and the Latin church led by Pope Nicholas I (858-867) This temporary schism became permanent in 1054 when Pope Leo IX (1048-1054) attempted to extend papal jurisdiction over the Byzantine churches in southern Italy and was rebuffed by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Caerularius The two churches declared one another heretical, using the filioque clause to justify their action
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Medieval Church: Monasticism
|
In the age of the late empire and during its disintegration, many devout Christians became monks in order to leave the corrupting influence of the world and to focus on the spiritual life Inspired by their example, Christian society often turned to the monks for guidance Thus, the isolation of the monasteries was tempered by the service that monks performed, much of which consisted in converting pagans Monasticism was a self-regulating institution – it was not imposed by the papacy or church hierarchy, but arose independent of the diocesan structure as a kind of grass-roots movement In the 5th and 6th centuries, there were many independent groups of monks following different visions of what the monastic life should entail, reflected in written guides called “rules” An Italian monk, St. Benedict of Nursia (c 480 h- 547), revised one of these rules and added important innovations that made his monastic order superior to others The Benedictine order, which began at Monte Cassino in Italy, became the dominant form of monasticism in Western Europe until the 12th century
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Medieval Church: Benedictine Monasticism
|
A Benedictine monastery was governed by an abbot (“father”) who was chosen by the monks of the community The abbot had absolute power over the community and appointed the lower offices, of which the most important was the prior Nevertheless, he was sworn to uphold the Benedictine Rule and he conferred with his monks when important decisions had to be made St. Benedict’s monasteries were designed to be independent of the outside world, producing their own food, tools, and books To produce the books they needed for prayer and study, monasteries had a special room called the scriptorium, where monks copied texts onto parchment made from animal-skins (paper was unknown) While most of the books in the monasteries served religious purposes, the monks also preserved much classical pagan literature because these works offered models of good Latin, which the monks tried to imitate in their own writing Monasteries were islands of literacy in a sea of ignorance
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Medieval Church: Peace Movements
|
The Central message of Christianity was at odds with the tenor of early medieval society, which was dominated by violence – not only from invaders, but also between neighboring lords, who frequently fought one another In order to minimize the disruptive impact of war among Christian lords, the Church promoted two movements; know as the Peace of God and Truce of God The Peace of God: began in NW Europe during the 10th century as an effort to protect non-combatants such as priests and peasants The move was at first resisted by the nobles, but by the 11th century they tended to promote it in an effort to stop fighting between their henchmen The Truce of God was an attempt begin in the 11th century to limit the number of days on which combat could take place It tried to keep Sundays and major holidays such as Easter and Christmas free of fighting, and punished violators with excommunication (denial of the sacraments and exclusion from the Christian community)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Clovis
|
(481-511) Most important of the Merovingian kings The Franks arrived as pagans and were converted to Roman Catholic Christianity during the reign of Clovis ~ 500 With the blessings of the Catholic churchmen, Clovis attacked his Arian neighbors and established a large and powerful kingdom First King of the Franks to unite all the Frankish tribes under one ruler. Succeeded his father Childeric I in 481[1] as King of the Salian Franks, one of the Frankish tribes who were then occupying the area west of the lower Rhine, with their centre around Tournai and Cambrai along the modern frontier between France and Belgium, in an area known as Toxandria. Clovis conquered the neighbouring Frankish tribes and established himself as sole king before his death. He converted to Roman Catholicism, as opposed to the Arianism common among the Germanic peoples at the time, at the instigation of his wife, the Burgundian Clotilda, a Catholic. Was baptized in the Cathedral of Rheims, as most future French kings would be. This act was of immense importance in the subsequent history of France and Western Europe in general, for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of the old Roman province of Gaul (roughly modern France). Considered the founder both of France (which his state closely resembled geographically at his death) and the Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church and State: Cluniacs
|
Over time, monasteries tended to become wealthy from endowments given by secular rulers who wanted the monks to pray for their souls The lords often used their generosity as an excuse for interfering with the operations of the monasteries, and the monasteries often strayed from a strict interpretation of the Benedictine Rule An attempt to free monasticism from lay control and to revive a strict use of the Benedictine Rule began at the monastery of Cluny (eastern France), founded in 910 By the year 1200, about 1500 monasteries had joined the movement and formed an international association that spanned western Europe The Cluniacs used their influence to reform the Church in general, including the papacy, which had sunk to a low point during the 10th century * The Cluniac (Clunian) Reform was a series of changes within medieval monasticism, focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art and caring for the poor. It is named after the Abbey of Cluny in Burgundy, where it started within the Benedictine order. The reform was largely carried out by Saint Odo and spread through France (Burgundy, Provence, Auvergne, Poitou), England and much of Italy and Spain.[1] The impetus for the reform was corruption within the Benedictine order, seen to be the result of secular interference in monasteries. Since a Benedictine monastery required land, a local feudal lord would be the patron of a newly started monastery. However, he would often demand the right to interfere in its business.[2] The Cluny reform was an attempt to remedy this practice on the hope that a more independent abbot would have better success at enforcing the Rule of the order. William of Aquitaine formed the first Cluny monastery in 910 with the novel stipulation that the monastery would report directly to the pope rather than to a local lord. This meant essentially that the monastery would be independent, since the pope's authority was largely theoretical at that distance. During its height (c. 950–c.1130) the Cluniac movement was one of the largest religious forces in Europe.[3] Among the most notable reform supporters were Pope Urban II,[4] Lambert of Hersfeld and Abbot Richard of Saint Vannes at Verdun. The Cluniacs were supporters of the Peace of God concept, as well as pilgrimages to the Holy Lands.[5]
|
|
|
Middle Ages: End of the Conciliar Movement: Council of Basel
|
Ecumenical Council of bishops and other ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic Church. It began in 1431 in Basel, Switzerland, and became known as the Council of Ferrara after its transfer to Ferrara was decreed by Pope Eugene IV to convene in 1438. The council transferred to Florence in 1439 because of the danger of plague at Ferrara, and because the city of Florence had agreed, against future payment, to finance the Council.[1] The initial location at Basel reflected the desire among parties seeking reform to meet outside the territories of the Papacy, the Holy Roman Empire, or the kings of Aragon and France, whose influences the council hoped to avoid. Ambrogio Traversari attended the Council of Basel as legate of Pope Eugene IV. The council was convened at a period when the Conciliar movement was strong and the authority of the papacy weak. Under pressure for ecclesiastical reform Pope Martin V sanctioned a decree of the Council of Constance (9 October 1417) obliging the papacy to summon general councils periodically. At the expiration of the first term fixed by this decree, Pope Martin V complied by calling a council at Pavia. Due to an epidemic the location transferred almost at once to Siena (see Council of Siena) and disbanded—owing to circumstances still imperfectly known—just as it had begun to discuss the subject of reform (1424).
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Council of Clermont
|
Pope Urban II (1088-1099) begani the crusading movement at the Council of Clermont in France (1095), when he urged Christian warriors to stop fighting one another and devote their energy to a worthier task, namely recapturing Jerusalem from the Seljuk Turks, a group of Muslims who hindered Christian pilgrims from visiting the Holy Land The Turks, a group from central Asia, had accepted Islam in the 10th century and invaded the eastern Med region in the 11th - In 1071 they defeated the Byzantine armies at Manzikert in Anatolia Desperate for help, the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus (1081-1118) asked the pope to organize military support (despite the unresolved schism between the Latin and Greek churches) The First Crusade was the result of this request * was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Catholic Church, which was held in November 1095 at Clermont, France and triggered the First Crusade. In 1095 Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus sent envoys to the west requesting military assistance against the Seljuk Turks. The message was received by Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza; later that year, in November, Urban called the Council of Clermont to discuss the matter further. In convoking the council, Urban urged the bishops and abbots whom he addressed directly, to bring with them the prominent lords in their provinces. The Council lasted from November 18 to November 28, and was attended by about 300 clerics from throughout France. Urban discussed Cluniac reforms of the Church, and also extended the excommunication of Philip I of France for his adulterous remarriage to Bertrade of Montfort. On November 27, Urban spoke for the first time about the problems in the east, as he declared bellum sacrum against the Muslims who had occupied the Holy Land and were attacking the Eastern Roman Empire.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Council of Constance
|
* 15th ecumenical council - held from 1414 to 1418. The council resolved the Western Schism, in which three men simultaneously claimed to be pope. In response to a controversy in Poland, the council ruled on issues of national sovereignty, the rights of pagans, and just war. The council represented a high point for the movement that promoted the authority of councils over the authority of the pope, but in the end the pope's authority was re-affirmed.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Dante (Alighieri)
|
"(1265-1321) Divine Comedy: most impressive example of vernacular lit was Divine Comedy He wrote in the Tuscan dialect of his native city, Florence Dante also wrote poems idealizing a young woman name Beatrice He was involved in Italian politics and eventually suffered exile, at which time he wrote the Divine Comedy: written in 3 parts: •
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Decameron
|
Boccaccio’s most famous work Collection of bawdy stories told by a group of men and women staying in the countryside in order to escape the effects of the Black Death Collection of 100 novellas by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, probably begun in 1350 and finished in 1353. Medieval allegorical work best known for its bawdy tales of love, appearing in all its possibilities from the erotic to the tragic. Many notable writers such as Chaucer are said to have drawn inspiration from The Decameron Boccaccio is particularly notable for his dialogue, of which it has been said that it surpasses in verisimilitude that of just about all of his contemporaries, since they were medieval writers and often followed formulaic models for character and plot.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Political Theory: Defender of the Peace
|
The principal political thinkers of the Middle Ages were John of Salisbury (1115-1180), who described medieval society as an organic unity in the form of a human body whos head is the king, and: Marsilius of Padua (1275-1343), whose Defender of the Peace (1324) argued that all political authority is derived from the people Marsilius opposed papal claims to political power, and he argued that popes could not even justify their claim to the spiritual leadership of the Church; He favored councils organized by laymen to govern the Church Defensor pacis extends the tradition of Dante's Monarchia separating the secular State from religious authority. On its face it affirmed the sovereignty of the people and civil law and sought to greatly limit the power of the Papacy, which he viewed as the "cause of the trouble which prevails among men" and which he characterized as a "fictitious" power. He proposed the seizure of church property by civil authority and the elimination of tithes. In his view, the Papacy would retain only an honorary pre-eminence without any authority to interpret the scriptures or define dogma.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: England: Norman Rule in England: Domesday Book
|
William was both an outstanding warrior and administrator – he combined the English system of shires with the feudal system of government in Normandy to create a powerful, centrally organized realm In 1086 he conducted a systematic inventory of all property in England known as the Domesday Book in order to determine taxes accurately
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Dominican Order
|
"* The Order of Preachers (Latin: Ordo Praedicatorum), after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order, founded by Saint Dominic in the early 13th century in France. Membership in the Order includes the friars,[1] the nuns, the sisters, and lay persons affiliated with the Order (formerly known as tertiaries). A number of other names have been used to refer to both the order and its members. •
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Medieval Church: Donation of Constantine
|
As noted earlier, Gregory’s successors established an alliance with the Carolingians against the Lombards and in 755 received a temporal state, carved from Lombard lands, through the Donation of Pepin Hoping to justify this new temporal power, the papal chancery forged a document later in the 8th century that purported to be a grant of sovereignty to the papacy from Constantine the Great (306-3337) This soc-called Donation of Constantine was proven to be a forgery by the Renaissance humanist Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457), but until the 15th century it was used to justify papal claims to temporal power
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: The 1st Caronlingian King: Pepin the Short
|
Charles Martel’s son, Pepin (or Pippin) the Short (c714-768), aws not satisfied to rule the Franks as Mayor of the Palace In 751 he deposed the last Merovingian king and asked the pope to legitimize his seizure of power Pope Stephen II (752-757) needed help against the Lombards, so in 754 he crowned Pepin king of the Franks In gratitude, Pepin defeated the Lombards and in 755 gave part of their territory to the pope This land grant, known as the Donation of Pepin, founded the Papal States The alliance of the Carolingians and the papacy enhanced the authority of each: while the Carolingians became the legitimate kings of the Franks, the popes received a sizable state in central Italy and became recognized as kingmakers
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition: Icelandic Literature: Younger / Elder Edda
|
The oral traditions of the Vikings were not recorded until after the conversion of the Scandinavians The tales were preserved in Old Norse by Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241), whose Younger Edda is a prose work composed as a complement to the Elder Edda, a collection of poems This Eddic literature preserves the pre-Christian mythology of the Northmen
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Eastern Europe: Teutonic Knights
|
One of several military religious orders founded during the Crusades, the Teutonic Knights transferred ops from the Holy Land to Europe and in 1226 received Prussia on the Baltic Sea as a fief from the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1215-1250), who charged them with the task of converting the pagans who lived there In 1234 Pope Gregory IX (1227-1241) gave the Teutonic Knights permission to expand their state through additional conquests of pagans By 1300 the Knights became the most powerful state in the Baltic region, invited German settlers to colonize the lands which they conquered, and made an alliance with the Hanseatic League When the Lithuanians, the last European pagans, converted to Christianity in 1386, the Teutonic Knights faced a crisis of purpose In the end they fought with Poland-Lithuania, and were defeated in 1410 at the Battle of Tannenberg. In 1525 the grand master of the order, Albrecht of Hohenzollern, converted to Lutheranism and established a Prussian duchy on the basis of the lands that the Teutonic Knights held His Hohenzollern dynasty would unify Germany in the 19th century
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Eastern Europe: Russia
|
The Vikings who founded colonies in eastern Europe during the 9th century were known as Varangians or Rus, and the lands where they lived became known as Russia (“lands of the Rus”) In 862 one of the Russian chieftains, a legendary figure named Rurik, became ruler of Novgorod, and in 882 this northern city-state became part of the state of Kiev, which had been taken over by Varangians in 860 The combined state is known as Kievan Rus – it reached its zenith in the 11th century under Jaroslav the Wise, but after his death in 1054 it became fragmented into about a dozen rival principalities that were often at war with one another Novgorod became dominant by the 13th century, especially under the rule of Alexander Nevsky (1236), who halted the eastward expansion of the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Lake Peipus in 1242
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Eastern Europe: The Mongols
|
The Mongol, a nomadic people led by Genghis Khan (c 1167-1227), formed an immense empire across Asia in the 13th century that reached east into China and west into Europe A group of Mongols seized Russia in 1237 and founded a state known as the Golden Horde (which included Tatars) Alexander Nevsky cooperated with them, and they appointed him their lieutenant in Kiev The key to survival and success at this time was a willingness to collaborate with the Mongols by paying tribute The rulers of Muscovy (Moscow) did so and were thus able to maneuver into a dominant position among the other subjugated Russian states When Ivan III the Great (1462 – 1505) finally overthrew the Golden Horde in the 15th century, the Muscovites were poised to assume control of the other Russian principalities * The Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous empire and the second largest empire overall in world history. At its greatest extent it stretched from Moscow to the South China Sea. It emerged from the unification of Mongol and Turkic tribes in modern day Mongolia, and grew through invasions, after Genghis Khan had been proclaimed ruler of all Mongols in 1206. * By 1279, the Mongol Empire covered over 33,000,000 km² (12,741,000 sq mi),[1] 22% of the Earth's total land area. It held sway over a population of over 100 million people. However, by that time the empire had already partly fragmented, with the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate being de facto independent and refusing to accept Kublai Khan as Khagan.[2][3] By the time of Kublai Khan's death, with no accepted Khagan in existence, the Mongol Empire became divided into four separate khanates.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Spain: The Reconquista: El Cid
|
Castilian nobleman, military leader and gifted diplomat, who after being exiled, conquered and governed the city of Valencia. Rodrigo Díaz was educated in the royal court of Castile and became the alférez, or chief general, of Alfonso VI, and his most valuable asset in the fight against the Moors. The nickname "El Cid" comes from the Spanish article "El", which means "The" and the dialectal Arab word سيد "sïdi" or sayyid, which means "Lord". So "El Cid" could be translated as "The Lord". The title "Campeador" is a vulgar Latin word that could be translated as "master of military arts".
|
|
|
Middle Ages: England: Parliament
|
Relations between the English kings and their barons were often troubled In 1263-1267, Simon de Monfort led the barons in a revolt against Heny III (1216-1272), who refused to recognize some amendments to the Magna Carto known as the Provisions of Oxford (1258) In 1264 the barons took Henry III prisoner, and in 1265 Montfort summoned an assembly with representatives from the towns – the first Parliament This assembly did not meet regularly but was called on special occasions when the king wished to institute some innovation (such as a new tax); it did not at first pass legislation, but served as a body of council, as well as a court of justice As Parliament was called into session with increasing frequency, it evolved to acquire a broader range of powers In the 14th century it was divided into two parts – the House of Commons and the House of Lords – and was empowered to assume responsibility concerning laws, taxation, and impeachment
|
|
|
Middle Ages: England: Norman Rule in England
|
William was both an outstanding warrior and administrator – he combined the English system of shires with the feudal system of government in Normandy to create powerful, centrally organized realm In 1086 he conducted a systematic inventory of all property in England known as the Domesday Book in order to determine taxes accurately
|
|
|
Middle Ages: England: Magna Carta (1215)
|
Richard I (1189-1199), known as the “Lion-Hearted”, was an adventurer who spent nearly his entire reign outside England. His younger brother, John (1199-1216), was an inept ruler whose attempt to raise new taxes for a war against France without first consulting his barons (as he was required by feudal law) sparked a rebellion In the end John had to make a concession known as the Magna Carta (1215) – this “Great Charter” guaranteed the protection of feudal privileges traditionally held by the English barons against royal attempts to expand the powers of the monarchy * English charter originally issued in 1215. It required the King to renounce certain rights, respect certain legal procedures and accept that his will could be bound by the law. * It explicitly protected certain rights of the King's subjects, whether free or fettered — most notably the writ of habeas corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment. Magna Carta was the most significant early influence on the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law today. Magna Carta influenced the development of the common law and many constitutional documents, such as the United States Constitution. Many clauses were renewed throughout the Middle Ages, and continued to be renewed as late as the 18th century. By the second half of the 19th century, however, most clauses in their original form had been repealed from English law. Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English King by his subjects in an attempt to limit his powers by law. It was preceded by the 1100 Charter of Liberties in which King Henry I voluntarily stated that his own powers were under the law. In practice, Magna Carta mostly did not limit the power of the King in the Middle Ages; by the time of the English Civil War, however, it had become an important symbol for those who wished to show that the King was bound by the law.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition: English Literature
|
The Anglo-Saxons translated the Bible into their own language, known as Old English, soon after their conversion and developed religious poetry of high quality
|
|
|
Middle Ages: 100 Years' War: Reversal
|
The fighting was revived in 1369 by the next French king, Charles V (1364-1380), who was able to reverse the losses and push the English back to the coastlands His sudden death, however resulted in a truce that took effect in 1389 Since both France and England then experienced a period of instability as each country fell into internal conflict, the fighting did not resume until 1415 – it was revived by Henry V of England (1413-1422), who invaded northern France and quickly won the Battel of Agincourt (1415) With help from Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, the English were able to seize Normany and parts of northwest France The French struck back in 1429 under the leadership of the charismatic peasant girl, Joan of Arc, who convinced her king, Charles VII (1422-1461), to go on the offensive. Although Joan was captured by the Burgundians in 1430 and executed the following year when she was handed over to the English, the French rallied In 1435 Philip the God ended his feud with France and abandoned the English, who were now overextended. After some desperate fighting, the English capitulated and retained only the coastal city of Calais The last few battles were decided by the use of a new weapon, artillery
|
|
|
Middle Ages: 100 Years' War: Opening Phase
|
At the time war began, England had lost most of its French possessions – the most important region still under English control was Gascony in the southwest The Angevins hoped to revive their once-proud empire by claiming the French throne according to the rules of succession Their opportunity arose in 1328 when the last Capetian king died without a mail heir The Angevin claim was based on the fact that the English king, Edward III (1327-1377), was the son of the French princess Isabella, daughter of Philip IV; Edward belived this entitled him to receive the French crown. The French, however, refused to recognize the English claim and city early Frankish law which forbade women from inheriting the crown or transmitting it to their sons – they chose a new dynasty, the Valois, to receive the crown. Fighting commenced in Flanders, which favored the English cause because of the close commercial ties between the two regions due to the wool trade. Battle of Crecy: The opening phase, which lasted until 1360, was a resounding English success – at the Battel of Crecy (1346), English longbowmen repeatedly halted charges by mounted French Knights, proving the superiority of ranged weapons against cavalry and sounding the beginning of the end of chivalric warfare Battle of Poitiers (1356), Edward the Black Prince (son of Edward III) captured the French king of the new Valois dynasty, John II (1350-1364), and took him to England as his prisoner Although Edward III’s claim to the French throne was still not recognized, the French gave him the province of Aquitaine (about a third of the country) in the Peace of Bretigny (1360)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: England: Henry II
|
Henry II built on the foundations of his predecessors to strengthen the centralized monarchy of England His most important achievement was the promotion of common law through his system of justice, which was available to all freemen, made use of juries, and was administered by judges who traveled around the country on a regular basis Henry II's courts thus applied to a common body of legal rules throughout his realm, which took business away from the courts of his feudal lords However, Henry was unable to do away with separate ecclesiastical courts His attempt to try churchmen accused of wrongdoing in the royal courts rather than in the church courts was opposed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas a Becket After years of bitter conflict, the quarrel ended in 1170 when Becket was murdered by four of Henry’s knights Henry professed ignorance of the plot, but since Becket was widely regarded as a martyr and soon declared a saint, he had to accept the continued existence of the ecclesiastical courts.Henry’s last years were saddened also by the rebellion of his sons, who were incited by his wife Eleanor
|
|
|
Middle Ages: 100 Years' War: Opening Phase
|
(The growing power of the centralized monarchies in France and England set of a long series of conflicts which are known collectively as the 100 Years’ War) At the time war began, England had lost most of its French possessions – the most important region still under English control was Gascony in the southwest The Angevins hoped to revive their once-proud empire by claiming the French throne according to the rules of succession Their opportunity arose in 1328 when the last Capetian king died without a mail heir The Angevin claim was based on the fact that the English king, Edward III (1327-1377), was the son of the French princess Isabella, daughter of Philip IV; Edward belived this entitled him to receive the French crown. The French, however, refused to recognize the English claim and city early Frankish law which forbade women from inheriting the crown or transmitting it to their sons – they chose a new dynasty, the Valois, to receive the crown
|
|
|
Middle Ages: 100 Years' War
|
(The growing power of the centralized monarchies in France and England set of a long series of conflicts which are known collectively as the 100 Years’ War) * The Hundred Years' War (French: Guerre de Cent Ans) was a prolonged conflict between two royal houses for the French throne, vacant with the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings. The two primary contenders were the House of Valois, and the House of Plantagenet. The House of Valois claimed the title of King of France, while the Plantagenets from England claimed to be Kings of France and England. The Plantagenet Kings in England, also known as the House of Anjou, had their roots in the French regions of Anjou and Normandy. French soldiers fought on both sides, with Burgundy and Aquitaine providing notable support for the Plantagenet side.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: England: Anglo-Saxon Kingdom
|
The seven kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons in England were unified in the 10th century by Wessex, whose most illustrious ruler was Alfred the Great (871-899) Alfred led the resistance against the Danish Vikings who settled the region of England that became known as the Danelaw, which was later conquered by his successors This English kingdom was the most advanced state in Europe, boasting a remarkably efficient system of taxation and balanced government at the local and national level The kingdom was divided into shires, each of which was governed by an officer of the king known as a shire-reeve, or sheriff, who linked local government with the centralized monarchy of the entire nation
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Anglo-Saxon England
|
The Germanic invaders of Britain established seven kingdoms (known as the Heptarchy) They fought among themselves until the 10th century, when the Kingdom of Wessex united all the others “History of the English Church and the People” An important source for the early history fo the Anglo-Saxons in Britain was written by the Northumbrian monk the Venerable Bebe (c 673-735), whose History of the English Church and the People testifies to the high quality of education in the English monasteries Charlemagne drew upon this talent when he invited Alcuin of York (735-804) to head the educational reforms of his own realm
|
|
|
Middle Ages: England: Angevin Empire
|
"* The term Angevin Empire describes a collection of states ruled by the Angevin Plantagenet dynasty. The Plantagenets ruled over an area stretching from the Pyrenees to Ireland during the 12th and early 13th centuries. Their 'empire' was roughly half of medieval France as well as all of England and Ireland. The term 'Angevin Empire' is a modern construction as the empire had no such collective term at the time. However, despite the extent of the Plantagenets' rule, they were defeated by the King of France, Philip II Augustus, of the House of Capet which left their empire split in two, losing the provinces Normandy and Anjou. This defeat, which left the ruling Plantagenets with their English territories and Gascony in France, set the scene for the Saintonge and the Hundred Years' War. After a period of chaos (1135-1154), England became the centerpiece of an empire with holdings in France This occurred during the reign of Henry II, a member of the Angevin (or Plantagenet) dynasty. Heny II (1154-1189) inherited the County of Anjou and the Duchy of Normandy from his father He acquired territories in southwestern France through marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, and he claimed the Kingdom of England through his mother Matilda (Maud) Henry later invaded Ireland, and he forced Wales and Scotland to recognize his authority Unlike the empire of Canute, Henry’s survived for centuries – its rise illustrates how marriage and dynastic ties could be used in medieval Europe to forge a large state rapidly – it also demonstrates how the feudal system tended toward the decentralization of power, for although Henry II was king of England (and therefore the supreme lord within that realm), he was a vassal of the king of France in his capacity as Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy and Aquitane -
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Feudalism and Manorialism: Organization of the Manor
|
Demesne: The best portion of the manor was reserved for the lord as his demesne The serfs were required to work the demesne in addition to the strips assigned to them for their own support Strips assigned to the serfs were scattered in several fields in order to ensure that all had a share of the best and worst land Much of the manor was not cultivated, but was left wild as the lord’s hunting preserve Assarts: When more cultivated fields were needed, however, some of the woodland would be cleared; these newly-cleared regions were called assarts The manor was essentially a self-sufficient economic unit, as it needed to be in an age of poor transportation when there was little trade
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Feudalism and Manorialism: Manorialism
|
The economic form of organization associated with feudalism is known as manorialism While feudalism describes the relationship between a lord and his vassal, manorialism describes the relationship between the owner of a fief and his laborers The manor (which was the same as the fief, but from an economic point of view) was derived form the large agricultural estates of the Roman Empire In the tumultuous third century, the emperors decreed that agricultural laborers (whether slave or tenant) could not leave the land Likewise in the Middle Ages these laborers, called serfs, were not free Nevertheless, they had certain rights: since they could not be separated from the land which they worked, they could not be sold as slaves (or Seigneurialism) was the organizing principle of rural economy and society widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe. Manorialism was characterised by the vesting of legal and economic power in a lord supported economically from his own direct landholding and from the obligatory contributions of a legally subject part of the peasant population under his jurisdiction. These obligations could be payable in labor (the French term corvée is conventionally applied), produce ("in kind") or, rarely, money. In the Eastern parts of Prussia, the Rittergut manors of Junkers remained until World War II. Manors each consisted of up to three classes of land: 1. Demesne, the part directly controlled by the lord and used for the benefit of his household and dependents; 2. Dependent (serf or villein) holdings carrying the obligation that the peasant household supply the lord with specified labour services or a part of its output (or cash in lieu thereof), subject to the custom attached to the holding; and 3. Free peasant land, without such obligation but otherwise subject to manorial jurisdiction and custom, and owing money rent fixed at the time of the lease.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Feudalism and Manorialism: Classical Feudalism
|
The abstract concept of “classical” feudalism designates a form of political and military organization Lord and Vassal: At its heart was the fief, a land grant made by a lord to a lower member of the nobility called a vassal. Lord and vassal entered into a personal relationship that involved contractual obligations on both sides – in addition to the land grant, which provided an income, the lord promised to protect his vassal from enemies In exchange, the vassal swore oaths of homage (respect) and fealty (loyalty); he thereby agreed to use the wealth produced by the fief to arm himself and his retainers in order to provide military service for his lord (in addition to fulfilling his other duties, such as serving in his lord’s court of law) Fiefs were hereditary as long as the vassal’s heir paid an inheritance tax and swore homage and fealty to the lord or the lord’s heir If the lord granted a large enough fief, the vassal could parcel it out to yet lower members of the nobility, in which case the vassal became a lord to his own vassals subinfeudation : This process is known as subinfeudation, whereby a social pyramid of nobles was erected with knights at the bottom and the king at the top Although in theory the king was supreme and owned all of the land, feudalism was characterized by weak central authority, for in an age of poor long-distance communication, the fief rather than the nation was the effective foundation of political power
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Feudalism and Manorialism: Limitations of the Terminology
|
The term “feudalism” is derived from the word “fief” (feudum in Latin), not from “feuds” or dynastic struggles One should be aware that the entire concept of feudalism has been criticized by some historians, who objecct that it was not actually a well-defined system and did not exist in all parts of Europe throughout the Middle Ages Indeed, what historians call feudalism did not appear until the 11th century, and mainly in the region of northern France, the Low Countries, and England, where it was most fully developed during the 12th and 13th centuries Yet even within this limited time and place, there was considerable variation from one region to another Feudalism is closely associated with the Normans Since this adventurous group conquered southern Italy, Sicily, and the Holy Land, feudal practices were exported to these regions as well.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Feudalism and Manorialism: Origins of Feudalism
|
The Barbarian kings who took control of the crumbing Roman Empire tended to treat the territories of the western provinces as their personal possessions They rewarded their retainers with grants of land which supplied wealth, mainly in the from of agricultural produce These land grants were not initially hereditary The Carolingians granted estates called benefices to support troops as long as the troops remained in their service It was not until about the year 1000 that the grants of land became hereditary and began to be called fiefs The fief gave rise to a new form of political organization called “feudalism”
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Trade and Towns: Craft Guilds
|
The craftsmen who bought raw materials from traveling merchants also began to organize themselves into guilds, and by the end of the 12th century were able to challenge merchants for domination of economic life in the towns These craft guilds were organized around specific trades (e.eg. shoemakers, weavers, butchers); members of the same guild would all live in the same quarter of town A craft guild dominated all aspects of a given trade, from quality control to setting limits on production and prices The guilds strove to curb competition, so that no one who had met the requirements for membership were carefully trained They began as apprentices who learned a trade by assisting a master and were eventually promoted to the rank of journeyman, at which point they received a fixed wage Finally they might be inducted into the guild as masters when they met the requirements imposed on them The craft guilds were eventually overshadowed by the rise of capitalism during the early modern age
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Trade and Towns: Merchant Guilds
|
Although travel had become safer by the 11th century, there will still danger Merchants banded together in caravans for protection against highway robbery, and this cooperation was the origin of the merchant guilds (corporations), which tended to dominate the economic life of the towns By joining forces through a guild, merchants were able to set prices, ensure quality control, and help one another in legal disputes, thus preventing unwanted competition from outsiders and presenting a united front against attempts to weaken their position Entry into a guild had to be approved by the existing members
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Intellectual Tradition: Arabic and Jewish Influences on European Philosophy: Guide for the Perplexed
|
Maimonides: The most influential Jewish thinker was Maimonides (1135-1204), who is best known for his attempt to harmonize reason and revelation in his Guide for the Perplexed * Moses Maimonides: The preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher, and his ideas also influenced the non-Jewish world. One of the central tenets of Maimonides' philosophy is that it is impossible for the truths arrived at by human intellect to contradict those revealed by God. Maimonides held to a strictly apophatic theology in which only negative statements toward a description of God may be considered correct. Thus, one does not say "God is One", but rather, "God is not multiple". Although many of his ideas met with the opposition of his contemporaries, Maimonides was embraced by later Jewish and many non-Jewish thinkers. St. Thomas Aquinas held him in high esteem, and the fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah today retains canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law. Although his copious works on Jewish law and ethics were initially met with opposition during his lifetime, he was posthumously acknowledged to be one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history. Today, his works and his views are considered a cornerstone of Jewish thought and study.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Science and Technology: Robert Grosseteste
|
"Along with Roger Bacon, began to develop a theory of experimental science * Best known as an original thinker for his work concerning what would today be called science or the scientific method. From about 1220 to 1235 he wrote a host of scientific treatises including: •
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church in the Late Middle Ages: The Great Schism
|
Many Christians were scandalized by the self-imposed exile of the papacy and demanded it return to Rome The last pope at Avignon, Gregory XI (1370-1378), finally yielded to pressure When he died, the College of Cardinals elected an Itialian successor, Urban VI (1378-1389) Not long afterwards, however, when Urban VI refused to make compromises with the cardinals, they protested that they had voted under duress – in fact, a Roman mob had demanded they elect an Italian The disgruntled cardinals therefore declared the election invalid and chose an antipope, Clement VII (1378-1394), who established himself in Avignon Urban VI, however, refused to abdicated and created his on College of Cardinals Europeans were unsure who was the true pope, and became divided along political lines: France, the Spanish kingdoms, the Kingdom of Naples, and Scotland supported Clement VII in Avignon while the Italian city-states, England, Ireland, Scandinavia, Hungary and Poland-Lithuanian supported Urban VI in Rome The Holy Roman Empire was divided The Schism continued beyond the deaths of Urban VI and Clement VII when the two rival groups of cardinal elected rival successors The situation became even more complicated in 1409 when the two colleges finally tried to end the Schism The cooperated to elect a new antipope, John XXIII, but the other two popes refused to resign, resulting in three men claiming the papal office
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Rise of the Centralized Monarchies: Holy Roman Empire: The Hohenstaufens
|
Vigorous efforts were put for the by the Hohenstaufen dynasty to control the lands south of the Alps, but an alliance of northern Itialian cities known as the Lombard League defeated Frederick I Barbarossa (1152-1190) at Legano in 1176 and forced him to abandon his political ambitions there. Frederick II (1215-1250) was more successful in subduing his Italian subjects, but when he died the nobles would not accept his infant son as emperor. The result was the Great Interregnum (1254-1273), a period when there was no emperor. As rivals fought for the title, nobles strengthened their hold over their own territories
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Rise of the Centralized Monarchies: Holy Roman Empire: The Golden Bull
|
To streamline the often difficult process of imperial succession, the Emperor Charles IV of Luxemburg (1347-1378) issued the Golden Bull (1356), which fixed an electoral college at seven members: the archbishops of Cologne, Mainz, and Trier; and the secular rulers of Bohemia, Brandenburg, Saxony, and the Rhineland-Palatinate A majority of these electors was needed to choose an emperor. By formalizing the electoral college, Charles IV hoped to prevent popes from meddling in imperial elections
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Architecture and Art: Giotto
|
The preeminent fresco painter of the medieval period was Giotto (c 1267-1337), who transformed the two-dimensional quality of Gothic painting by: adding the illusion of depth introducing a move toward naturalism emphasizing the human rather than divine His innovations inspired the art of the Italian Renaissance (Renaissance painting developed out of Giotto’s late medieval frescoes, which were marked by their naturalism, their humanistic focus, and the use of light and shadow (chiaroscuro) to indicated a sense of depth)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Rise of the Centralized Monarchies: Holy Roman Empire: Guelfs and Ghibellines
|
In Italy, politics were polarized over the question of whether to oppose the emperor and acknowledge the pope’s political leadership, or vice versa. Those who supported the pope against the emperor were called Guelfs, and their opponents were called Ghibellines The names of both these political parties, which dominated events from the 12th to the 14th centuries, were Italian adaptations of German family names – Welf and Waibingen (better known as Hohenstaufen) - who had contended for the imperial throne. In Italy, however, the labels became separated from their original context, so that after the emperors gave up their Italian ambitions, the labels were used to indicate support of or opposition to the claims of temporal power made by the popes
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition: German Literature
|
"Parzifal": German courtly love poets were also inspired by the Arthurian cycle, as seen in Parzifal by Wolfram von Eschenbach "Tristan and Isolt": Another legend of Celtic inspiration was the tragic love-story of Tristan and Isolt by Gottgried von Strassburg "Nibelungenlied": The Germans also recorded their own pre-Christian heritage in the Nibelungenlied (Song of the Nibelungs), which drew upon material in the Scandinavian saga of the Volsungs
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Rise of the Centralized Monarchies: Holy Roman Empire: Germany and Italy
|
The Investiture Controversy weakened the Holy Roman Empire by aggravating the divisions within the realm The emperor, in fact, constitutionally owed his position to the nobles who elected him Although the nobles generally respected dynastic continuity, the insisted on strong privileges within their own domains, thereby preventing emperors from imposing centralized power on the vast territories of the Empire Even after the Concordat of Worms, antagonism between emperors and popes continued, mainly because of imperial claims to Italy While the Holy Roman Empire was essentially a German state, it theoretically included Rom an the northern half of Italy The Italian city-states, however, like the German nobles, were fiercely independent, and they often rallied around the pope to oppose imperial attempts to control their lands
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Visigothic Spain
|
After sacking Rome in 410, the Visigoths settled in Spain and southern Gaul, but were driven from the latter by the Franks in 507. Confined to Spain, the Visigoths lost some territory to the Byzantine Empire during Justinian’s wars The kingdom was finally overthrown by Muslims from North Africa in 711
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Gerbert of Aurillac
|
Toward the year 1000, medieval scholars became acutely aware that they had lost much of the ancient tradition. They also discovered that the Muslims in Spain and Sicily had preserved most of this tradition in Arabic translations of the Greek classics Christian scholars, such as Gerbert of Aurillac, who later became Pope Sylvester II (999-1003), traveled to Spain and met with Arab and Jewish scholars in order to acquire this learning; * Prolific scholar, teacher, and pope. He introduced Arabic knowledge of arithmetic, mathematics, and astronomy to Europe, reintroducing the abacus and armillary sphere which had been lost to Europe since the end of the Greco-Roman era. He was the first French Pope (see list), reigning from 999 until his death. Due to his connection with science and intellectualism of the Islamic world, there were many rumors and legends in Europe of Sylvester II being a sorcerer in league with the devil. There is also speculation that he had Sephardic-Jewish ancestry.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Eastern Europe: The Mongols: Genghis Khan
|
(c 1167-1227) The Mongols, a nomadic people led by Genghis Khan, formed an immense empire across Asia in the 13th century that reached east into China and west into Europe * He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia. After founding the Mongol Empire and being proclaimed "Genghis Khan", he pursued an aggressive foreign policy by starting the Mongol invasions of East and Central Asia. During his life, the Mongol Empire eventually occupied most of Asia. Genghis Khan died in 1227 after defeating the Tangut. He was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in his native Mongolia. His descendants went on to stretch the Mongol Empire across most of Eurasia, conquering all of modern-day China, as well as substantial portions of modern Russia, southern Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Invasions of the 9th and 10th Centuries: Vikings, Saracens and Magyars
|
Eventually the Vikings began to settle in Ireland, Normandy (which was named after these “Northemen” or Normans), and England (in the region known as the Danelaw, named after Vikings from Denmark). As the Vikings struck in the north, two other groups assailed Europe from the south and east. In the south, the Muslims (whom medieval Christians generally called “Saracens”) gained control of the Med, established several bases outside Spain, and conducted piratical raids along the southern coasts of Europe - In 843 they even attacked Rome. In the east, a nomadic group known as the Magyars entered Europe around the year 900 and raided the crumbling remnants of the Carolingian empire. However, the victory of the German ruler Otto the Great over the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955 ended their depredations, and the defeated people settled in Hungary By the year 1000, the devastating raids finally ended and Europe was poised for a period of peace and prosperity that was to transform medieval civilization
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Vikings
|
Around the 800, England, Ireland and the northern coasts of the Continent began to suffer raids from Scandinavian pagans known as the Vikings These Northmen used their longships to conduct hit-and-run tactics along the coasts and up rivers Since the Vikings avoided pitched battles and struck isolated targets of opportunity, they were very difficult to deal with
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: The Late Merovingians
|
The Frankish practice of dividing up the kingdom among all the surviving sons when a monarch died led to periodic phases of civil war as brothers fought one another to re-establish a strong monarchy In such endemic warfare, the nobles on whom the kings relied tended to become strong In time, the nobles were able to manipulate the Merovingians, who became mere figureheads known as the “do-nothing” kings
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: The Franks under the Early Merovingians
|
The Roman province of Gaul came under the control of the Franks in the 5th century, and a dynasty founded Merovech (4448-458) united the two main groups, Salian and Ripuarian, from the lower and upper reaches of the Rhine River The most important of the Merovingian kings was Clovis (481-511) Unlike the Visigoths and Vandals, who entered the Empire as heretical Christians the Franks arrived as pagans and were converted to Roman Catholic Christianity during the reign of Clovis, around the year 500. With the blessings of Catholic churchmen, Clovis attacked his Arian neighbors and established a large and powerful kingdom The events of this age are described by Bishop Gregory of Tours (538-594), whose flawed writing style indicates the low quality of literacy among the Franks at the time. * Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region (known as as Francia in Latin) largely corresponding to ancient Gaul from the mid fifth to the mid eighth century. Their politics involved frequent civil warfare between branches of the family. During the final century of the Merovingian rule, the dynasty was increasingly pushed into a ceremonial role. The Merovingian rule was ended by a palace coup in 751 when Pepin the Short formally deposed Childeric III, beginning the Carolingian monarchy.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church in the Late Middle Ages: Mendicant Orders
|
"The mendicant orders are religious orders which depend directly on the charity of the people for their livelihood. In principle they do not own property, either individually or collectively, and have taken a vow of poverty, in order that all their time and energy could be expended on religious work. In the Middle Ages, the original mendicant orders of friars in the Church were the •
|
|
|
Middle Ages: France: Philip IV the Fair
|
St. Louis’ grandson, Philip IV (1285-1314), known as the Fair, also strengthened the French monarchy, but he was very different in temperament He used his enhanced royal power to crush his enemies, including Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303), who died soon after some of Philip’s henchmen manhandled him during a dispute over the taxation of the clergy. Philip’s reign was preoccupied with measures to raise money, which he needed for his wars against England and Flanders. He destroyed the Knights Templar, a military monastic order founded during the Crusades, in order to seize their assets He likewise expelled the Jews from France and seized their property (The Jews in England had been expelled in 1290) He also debased the currency. Philip’s more legitimate means of raising revenue was to use his bureaucracy of lawyers to negotiate tax agreements with the provinces by reinterpreting and manipulating feudal law Despite all this, Philip was a popular king – during his quarrel with the pope, he called the first meeting of the Estates-General, which was composed of the three orders (clergy, nobles, and burghers), and received their support
|
|
|
Middle Ages: France: Philip II Augustus
|
The Capetians focused on consolidating their power around Paris until the reign of Philip II Augustus (1180-1223). Philip, finally, was able to challenge his most powerful and menacing vassals, the Angevins (Plantagenets), who possessed many French lands and also ruled England He seized many territories from King John, including Normandy After his victory at the Flemish town of Bouvines in 1214, Philip threatened to invade England itself until he was forbidden by Pope Innocent III Yet Philip succeeded in his objective of making the Capetians the dominant family in France
|
|
|
Middle Ages: France
|
The Carolingians continued to rule the western Frankish kingdom until 987, when the title of king was seized by one of the powerful nobles, Hugh Capet (987-996), Count of Paris His Capetian dynasty held the royal title until 1328, during which time West Francia was transformed into France, and the Franks became the French The transformation of the realm from a feudal state to a national monarchy was very gradual, since the nobles of the realm were often stronger than the kings and were unwilling to given up their power and privileges As late as the 12th century, the kings had direct control over only a small region in the northeast centered on Paris and Orleans, known as the Ile de France (“Isle of France”)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: France: Louis IX
|
During the long reign of Louis IX (1226-1270), the monarch’s authority in the lands of his vassals was strengthened and the royal bureaucracy was built up Louis was a very active king, committed to regularizing the system of justice in his realm, and he participated in the Crusades Because of his deep personal piety, which motivated his service to the French people, he was recognized as a saint after his death
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Vernacular Tradition: French Literature
|
“The Song of Roland”: Among the earliest works in Old French is “The Song of Roland”, written around the year 1100, which describes the heroic defense of Charlemagne’s rearguard during his campaign against the Muslims in Spain “The Romance of the Rose”: The Most popular of French literary works was a long allegorical poem called “The Romance of the Rose”, a thirteenth-century epic begun by Guillame de Lorris and later expanded by Jean de Meun, whose characters are abstract personifications that depict the virtues and vices of the time The French developed a tradition of courtly literature, which describe the ideals of chivalry (the culture of mounted knights) in ballads known as chansons de geste (songs of deeds) A key element of chivalry was a complex form of romantic love, inspired by the troubadours of southern France, which drew parallels between feudal law and the feelings between the sexes A favorite theme of the chivalric poets was the cycle of Arthurian legends, based on the exploits of a legendary leader of the Britons who fought the invading Anglo-Saxons, which inspired the twelfth-century poets Chretien de Troyes and Marie de France
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Church in the Late Middle Ages: Fourth Lateran Council
|
(Innocent III) - The Fourth Lateran Council required that all adult Catholics receive the sacraments of confession and communion (the Eucharist) at least once a year and accept the doctrine of transubstantiation (that the bread and water used in the Mass actually become the body and blood of Jesus Christ) - The council formally condemned the Cathars and Waldensians as heretics and forbade the foundation of new monastic orders in an effort to regulate religious fervor Innocent III’s most significant achievement was the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 This church council was the largest in the Middle Ages, consisting of some 400 bishops and 800 monastic leaders, as well as secular rulers or their representatives It was attended by the Latin patriarchs of Constantinople and Jerusalem As a canon lawyer, Innocent sought to define in detail the requirements of membership in the Roman Catholic Church
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Hussite Wars
|
Also called the Bohemian Wars, involved the military actions against and amongst the followers of Jan Hus in Bohemia in the period 1420 to circa 1434. The Hussite Wars were arguably the first European war in which hand-held gunpowder weapons such as muskets made a decisive contribution. The Hussite warriors were basically infantry, and their many defeats of larger armies with heavily armoured knights helped effect the infantry revolution. In the end, it was an inconclusive war.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Wycliffe and Huss
|
The Council of Constance also took measures to curb heresy, which had not been controlled during the Schism They consequently condemned a Bohemian (Czech) reformer, John Huss (or Jan Hus, c 1370-1415), who was influenced by the writings of John Wycliffe (c 1330-1384) Wycliffe was an English reformer whose theology had been condemned because he was critical of the church hierarchy and emphasized the primacy of the Bible over the teachings of councils Wycliffe rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation and translated the Vulgate (Latin Bible) into English, which was used by his followers (called Lollards) to interpret Scripture as they saw fit Huss attended the Council of Constance in the hope of defending his beliefs, but was seized and burned at the stake His death touched off a patriotic conflict in Bohemia known as the Hussite Wars (1419-1436), which ended in a compromise between the Hussites (followers of Huss) and the Catholic Church
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Military Religious Orders: Knights Hospitallers
|
(got their name from the fact that they initially provided charitable services for pilgrims and only later acquired military functions, such as providing escort) * Christian organization that began as an Amalfitan hospital founded in Jerusalem in 1080 to provide care for poor, sick or injured pilgrims to the Holy Land. After the Western Christian conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade it became a religious/military order under its own charter, and was charged with the care and defense of the Holy Land. Following the loss of the Holy Land by Christian forces, the Order operated from Rhodes, over which it was sovereign, and later from Malta where it administered a vassal state under the Spanish viceroy of Sicily. When Napoleon captured Malta in 1798 the Knights ceased to be associated with any one place, and gave rise to successors in existence until the present including the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Holy Roman Empire: The Hohenstaufen Dynasty
|
Vigorous efforts were put for the by the Hohenstaufen dynasty to control the lands south of the Alps, but an alliance of northern Italian cities known as the Lombard League defeated Frederick I Barbarossa (1152-1190) at Legnano in 1176 and forced home to abandon his political ambitions there. Frederick II (1215-1250) was more successful in subduing his Italian subjects, but when he died the nobles would not accept his infant son as emperor. The result was the Great Interregnum (1254-1273), a period when there was no emperor As rivals fought for the title, nobles strengthened their hold over their own territories * dynasty of Germanic Kings (1138-1254), many of whom were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor and Dukes of Swabia. In 1194 the Hohenstaufen became also Kings of Sicily. The proper name, taken from their castle in Swabia, is Staufen. Therefore the dynasty is sometimes also called Swabian dynasty after the family's origin. The dynasty is named after Hohenstaufen Castle, which is located on a mountain of the same name near Göppingen. The castle was built by the first known member of the dynasty, Frederick I, Duke of Swabia.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Rise of Centralized Monarchies: Holy Roman Empire: The Hapsburgs
|
The Great Interregnum was finally ended when the German nobles elected Rudolf I Hapsburg (1273-1291) of Austria The medieval Hapsburgs were usually elected emperors – they did not try to impose their authority over Germany or Italy, but were content with the imperial title and based their real power strictly on their own dynastic possessions Their attempt to make Swiss territories part of their hereditary lands precipitated a revolt in 1291, when a group of local governments, known as cantons, banded together in a loose confederation for defense Over time neighboring states joined the Swiss Cantons, forming the core of Switzerland
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Trade and Towns: Trade Organizations: Hansa
|
* alliance of trading guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly along the coast of Northern Europe, from the Baltic to the North Sea, during the Late Middle Ages and Early modern period Sometimes merchants from neighboring towns joined forces The most notable example of such an association was the Hanseatic League, or Hansa, which began among German towns such as Lubeck, Hamburg, and Bremen, for protection against piracy It dominated trade between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea The Hansa arose in the 12th century, was at its height in the 14th, and was rendered obsolete by the commercial ventures of nation-states during the 16th century
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Byzantine Empire: Architecture and the Arts
|
Justinian and Theodora embarked on a lavish building program of public works Their greatest monument in Constantinople was the cathedral of Holy Wisdom, known by its Greek name, Hagia Sophia This structure boasts a massive dome atop a rectangular base, and its interior is decorated by colorful mosaics which use an iconic, otherworldly style to emphasize the power and majesty of the empire in its role as defender of the Christian faith In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks and Sultan Mehmed II ordered the building to be converted into a mosque. The bells, altar, iconostasis, and sacrificial vessels were removed, and many of the mosaics were eventually plastered over. The Islamic features - such as the mihrab, the minbar, and the four minarets outside - were added over the course of its history under the Ottomans. It remained as a mosque until 1935, when it was converted into a museum by the Republic of Turkey. * Former patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture. It was the largest cathedral ever built in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of the Medieval Seville Cathedral in 1520. The current building was originally constructed as a church between A.D. 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, and was in fact the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site (the previous two had both been destroyed by riots). It was designed by two architects, Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. The Church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 50 foot (15 m) silver iconostasis. It was the patriarchal church of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the religious focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly 1000 years. For almost 500 years the principal mosque of Istanbul, Hagia Sophia served as a model for many of the Ottoman mosques such as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque of Istanbul), the Şehzade Mosque, the Süleymaniye Mosque, and the Rüstem Pasha Mosque. Although it is sometimes referred to as Saint Sophia (Greek for wisdom), the Greek name in full is Ναός τῆς Ἁγίας τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφίας, Church of the Holy Wisdom of God, and it was dedicated to the Holy Wisdom of God rather than a specific saint named Sophia.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Intellectual Tradition: Scholasticism
|
! * Dominant form of theology and philosophy in the Latin West in the Middle Ages, particularly in the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries. ! Both a method and a system which aimed to reconcile the Christian theology of the Church Fathers with the Greek philosophy of Aristotle and his commentators. ! In the Renaissance, the deductive and a priori methods of scholasticism were superseded by the inductive reasoning of modern science, while its theological basis was challenged by humanism. The main figures of scholasticism were Peter Abelard, Albertus Magnus, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, Bonaventure and, above all, Thomas Aquinas, whose Summa Theologica is an ambitious synthesis of Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine. * (Even though Abelard’s teachings were condemned, his method of resolving contradictions in religious texts by the application of logic was retained and became a standard feature of “scholasticism”. The scholastic method treated philosophy as the “handmaiden” of theology.)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Intellectual Tradition: St. Thomas Aquinas
|
Aquinas is held in the Catholic Church to be the model teacher for those studying for the priesthood (Code of Canon Law, Can. 252, §3). The works for which he is best-known are the Summa Theologica and the Summa Contra Gentiles. One of the 33 Doctors of the Church, he is considered by many Catholics to be the Catholic Church's greatest theologian and philosopher. Consequently, many institutions of learning have been named after him. Italian Catholic priest in the Dominican Order, a philosopher and theologian in the scholastic tradition, known as Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Universalis and Doctor Communis. Frequently referred to as Thomas because "Aquinas" refers to his residence rather than his surname. Foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of the Thomistic school of philosophy and theology. ! The preeminent example of scholastic philosophy is the Summa Theologiae (Summary of Theology) by the Dominican friar St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1275). This text, which proposed to reconcile faith and reason, became the favored theological work of the Catholic church. It used the Aristotelian concepts of “substance” and “accident” to give a philosophical explanation of the doctrine of transubstantiation. Aquinas reasoned that the bread and wine used during the Mass become the actual substance of the body and blood of Jesus Christ even though they do not change their appearance, which is an accidental quality. Thus, Aquinas demonstrated how ancient Greek philosophy could be used to discuss the mysteries of religion.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Intellectual Tradition: Political Theory
|
The principal political thinkers of the Middle Ages were John of Salisbury (c 1115-1180), who described medieval society as an organic unity in the form of a human body whose head is the king, and Marsilius of Padua (1275-1343), whose “Defender of the Peace” (1324) argued that all political authority is derived from the people. Marsilius opposed papal claims to political power, and he argued that popes could not even justify their claim to spiritual leadership of the church; he favored councils organized by laymen to govern the Church
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Intellectual Tradition: Nominalism: Ockham’s Razor
|
In the fourteenth century a prominent nominalist named William Ockham (1285-1349) formulated a principle of logical economy which would later be used in the scientific method. * The principle states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory. ! This principle, known as “Ockham’s Razor”, requires a logical explanation for the existence of any presumed entity and thus reduces any given system to the smallest possible number of elements. This is often paraphrased as "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." In other words, when multiple competing theories are equal in other respects, the principle recommends selecting the theory that introduces the fewest assumptions and postulates the fewest entities. It is in this sense that Occam's razor is usually understood. Originally a tenet of the reductionist philosophy of nominalism, it is more often taken today as an heuristic maxim (rule of thumb) that advises economy, parsimony, or simplicity, often or especially in scientific theories. Ockham did not use this “razor” against central Christian doctrines, but against elaborate scholastic systems of theology. His teaching was condemned for its rejection of Thomism (the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, which became the standard teaching of the Catholic Church)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Intellectual Tradition: Nominalism
|
* Metaphysical view in philosophy according to which general or abstract terms and predicates exist but that either universals or abstract objects, which are sometimes thought to correspond to these terms, do not exist. Thus, there are at least two main versions of nominalism. One version denies the existence of universals—things that can be instantiated or exemplified by many particular things (for example, strength and humanity). The other version specifically denies the existence of abstract objects—objects that do not exist in space and time.* A long-lasting debate that generated interest in the twelfth century concerned the relationship between words and reality One school of thought, influenced by the Platonic doctrine of Forms and known as realism, maintained that universal concepts substantially exist in an intelligible world The contrary school of though, known as nominalism, objected that universals are merely words (nomina) that are used to describe abstractions and therefore do not correspond to any substantial reality
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Science and Technology
|
Europeans owed a debt to the Muslims for much of their scientific knowledge Gerbert of Aurillac (Pope Sylvester II) opened the way by visiting Spain and introducing Arabic numerals into Christian Europe. His example inspired later generations of Latin scholars to visit Spain or Sicily in order to translate ancient scientific texts into Latin. Although by the year 1100 westerners thus acquired treatises on astrology of dubious value, they also received devices fro measuring the position of celestial bodies know as astrolabes, which were useful for legitimate astronomy. Magnetic compasses for navigation came into used around 1100 or after. The scientific thinker Roger Bacon (1214-1294) knew the formula for gunpowder, which had been discovered by the Chinese and was later used during the Hundred Years’ War. Roger Bacon and another English thinker, Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253), began to develop a theory of experimental science A tradition of making careful observations of nature began to take root, as demonstrated by Albert the Great (1200-1280) Significant advances were made in the study of optics: lenses began to be used to correct vision during the 13th century. Most natural philosophy, however, was conducted by “thought-experiments,” which led two French thinkers, Jean Buridan (1297-1358) and Nicole Oresme (1330-1382) to challenge Aristotle’s theory of motion with a theory of “impetus,” which came fairly close to the correct theory of momentum. There were improvements in mechanical devices. Gerbert of Aurillac was credited with the invention of the pendulum clock in the tenth century; by the fourteenth century, fairly sophisticated mechanical clocks were being constructed. Paper also came into use during the fourteenth century, acquired from the Muslims (who had acquired it from the Chinese). Paper was relatively inexpensive to manufacture compared to parchment and would become the standard writing surface when the printing press was invented in the fifteenth century (c 1450).
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Intellectual Tradition: Arabic and Jewish Influences on European Philosophy
|
Aristotle was often read in conjunction with a commentary on his works by the Muslim Arab scholar, Averroes (1126-1198) Other Arab philosophers who influenced medieval scholarship were Alfarabi (870-950) and Avicenna “Guide for the Perplexed”: The most influential Jewish thinker was Maimonides (1135-1204), who is best known for his attempt to harmonize reason and revelation in his “Guide for the Perplexed”
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Curriculum and Specialized Studies
|
The universities recognized four faculties: * Liberal arts * Law * Medicine * Theology The last three were advanced studies, and universities initially specialized in only one or two of them 2 kinds of law: Civil Law (Roman Law) Canon Law (Church Law) Instruction in each of the faculties was based on the intensive study of established textbooks, which the teacher would read publicly and explain by way of commentary Eventually the comments (know as glosses) of important teachers would be written into the margins of a text as a special edition for study. “Corpus Juris Civilis”: The textbook for Roman law was Justinian’s “Corpus Juris Civilis”, whereas can law, which was based mainly on the decrees of church councils and papal decrees, was studied with the help of the Decretum of Gratian (c 1140) Medicine was largely based on the works of the ancient physician Galen (c 129-199) “Sentences”: Theology used the “Sentences” of Peter Lombard (c 1100-1160), a 12th century theologian who provide a thorough outline of topics that every theologian should cover. Although theology was the most prestigious and regarded as the “queen of the faculties”, is was actually the least studied. Most advanced degrees were granted in law or medicine, which were financially more lucrative fields than theology.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Colleges
|
The universities began to acquire a permanent physical identity when wealthy benefactors founded colleges in the 13th century, such as the one built by Robert de Sorbon in 1257 The colleges were originally residence halls for the support of students who could not afford to pay living expenses Since these buildings were a convenient place to conduct classes, they eventually became associated with instruction
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Universities
|
! Medieval universities arose in the towns of the 12th and 13th centuries ! Teachers and students organized themselves as guilds in order to set the curriculum, set fair prices for instruction, and negotiate with townsmen, on whom they depended for food and accommodation ! The Latin word universitas, from which “university” is derived, originally meant simply “guild” or “corporation,” and could be applied to describe any formal association of individuals, such as the guilds of merchants or craftsmen ! Since the early universities were associations of scholars who banded together for economic and legal protection, they did not have a permanent location; classes were held in rented halls or perhaps a teacher’s house ! This situation was useful in early instances of “town and gown” fights, for when a group of scholars wished to protest high costs of room and board, they could leave town as a group and thereby weaken the local economy until the townsfolk relented. ! Kings often became patrons of universities, relying on them for skilled men to staff their growing bureaucracies ! The earliest universities grew out of the schools in Bologna and Paris; Oxford was soon founded by scholars who had studied in Paris ! The universities began the practice of grating degrees in order to provide evidence that a student had passed all the rigorous requirements for becoming a master in the guild of scholars and was qualified to teach others ! The first higher education institution in medieval Europe was the University of Constantinople, followed by the University of Salerno (9th century), the Preslav Literary School and Ohrid Literary School in the Bulgarian Empire (9th century). The first degree-granting universities in Europe were the University of Bologna (1088), the University of Paris (c. 1150, later associated with the Sorbonne), the University of Oxford (1167), the University of Cambridge (1209), the University of Salamanca (1218), the University of Montpellier (1220), the University of Padua (1222), the University of Naples Federico II (1224), and the University of Toulouse (1229).[10][11] Some scholars such as George Makdisi, John Makdisi and Hugh Goddard argue that these medieval universities were influenced in many ways by the medieval Madrasah institutions in Islamic Spain, the Emirate of Sicily, and the Middle East (during the Crusades). ! The earliest universities in Western Europe were developed under the aegis of the Catholic Church, usually as cathedral schools or by papal bull as Studia Generali (NB: The development of cathedral schools into Universities actually appears to be quite rare, with the University of Paris being an exception - see Leff, Paris and Oxford Universities), later they were also founded by Kings (Charles University in Prague, Jagiellonian University in Krakow) or municipal administrations (University of Cologne, University of Erfurt). In the early medieval period, most new universities were founded from pre-existing schools, usually when these schools were deemed to have become primarily sites of higher education. Many historians state that universities and cathedral schools were a continuation of the interest in learning promoted by monasteries.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Cathedral Schools and the Renaissance of the 12th Century
|
The new translations of Greek philosophy were studied primarily in the cathedral schools that arose during the cultural flowering know a the “12th-century Renaissance.” Like the Carolingian Renaissance before it and the Italian Renaisssance after it, the 12th-century Renaissance focused on reviving the study of the ancient classics Were a counterpart to the monastic schools; they were attached to the church of a bishop for the education of the secular clergy (“Secular” clergy were churchmen who did not follow a monastic rule but served as diocesan priests; “regular” clergy were churchmen who belonged to a monastic order and therefore followed a rule) The most famous cathedral schools of northern France were Paris, Chatres, Orleans, and Laon
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Peter Abelard
|
The rise of Paris as a center for the study of theology is associated with the career of Peter Abelad (1079-1142), a charismatic teacher who promoted the use of logic in his “Sic it non” (“Yes and No”). While Anselm of Canterbury (1033-109) had recently demonstrated how logic could be used to prove the existence of God, Abelard demonstrated how logic could be used to resolve seeming contradictions in Scripture an the Church Fathers Abelard made many enemies among conservative thinkers who resisted the use of logic in theology, and they condemned his doctrines without a fair trial. Abelard also became notorious for his seduction of a young woman named Heloise, whom he was hired to tutor. They married secretly, but when Heloise’s family learned of their liaison, they had Abelard castrated. In disgrace, Abelard became a monk and Heloise a nun.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Church in the Late Middle Ages: Inquisition
|
Pope Gregory IX (1227-1241) established the Inquisition in 1231 to ferret out Cathars who had escaped the Albigensian Crusade and gone into hiding. The effort was entrusted to a new monastic order, the Dominicans. The Inquisition also persecuted the Waldensians and all who opposed the authority of the Catholic Church
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Holy Roman Empire: Germany and Italy
|
The Investiture Controversy weakened the Holy Roman Empire by aggravating the divisions within the realm The emperor, in fact, constitutionally owed his position to the nobles who elected him Although the nobles generally respected their own domains, thereby preventing emperors from imposing centralized power on the vast territories of the Empire Even after Concordat of Worms, antagonism between emperors and popes continued, mainly because of imperial claims to Italy While the Holy Roman Empire was essentially a German state, it theoretically included Rome and the northern half of Italy The Italian city-states, however, like the German nobles, were fiercely independent, and they often rallied around the pope to oppose imperial attempts to control their lands
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Rise of Centralized Monarchies
|
Beginning in the late 11th century, a movement began toward the centralization of power in the hands of monarchs. Theoretically, the king was supreme in his realm, but reality, due to the fragmentation caused by the invasions and the feudal system of government; his nobles were often stronger than he was. The centralization of power was best achieved in England and France Spain did not become a strong centralized state until the fifteenth century. Germany and Italy remained politically divided well into the nineteenth century * Powerful and influential Florentine family from the 13th to 17th century. The family produced three popes (Leo X, Clement VII, and Leo XI), numerous rulers of Florence (notably Lorenzo the Magnificent, patron of some of the most famous works of Renaissance art), and later members of the French and English royalty. Like other Signore families they dominated their city's government. They were able to bring Florence under their family's power, allowing for an environment where art and humanism could flourish. They led the birth of the Italian Renaissance along with the other great signore families of Italy like the Visconti and Sforza families of Milan, the Este of Ferrara, the Gonzaga of Mantua, and others. The Medici Bank was one of the most prosperous and most respected in Europe. There are some estimates that [citation needed] the Medici family was, for a period of time, the wealthiest family in Europe. From this base, the family acquired political power initially in Florence, and later in wider Italy and Europe. * A notable contribution to the profession of accounting was the improvement of the general ledger system through the development of the double-entry bookkeeping system for tracking credits and debits. This system was first used by accountants working for the Medici family in Florence.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Islam: Umayyads (661-750)
|
! second of the four Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. ! ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. ! The Umayyad Arab Caliphate is historically the fifth largest empire, the third largest contiguous empire and the third largest empire by percentage of world population (29.5%). Damascus was the capital. ( The two civil wars established Muawiyah’s dynasty, the Umayyads, and enabled the Muslims to continue their conquests. The Umayyads transferred the capital from Mecca to Damascus in order to direct the conquests more effectively There they received the help of skilled Christian administrators and adopted many Byzantine techniques of government. Since non-Muslims could be taxed heavily, the Umayyads did not encourage mass conversions to Islam )
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Islam: Succession: Division between Sunnites and Shiites
|
Arab expansion was then momentarily checked by the out break of a civil war over the question of succession When Mohammad died, he had no mail heir and had not designated a successor Abu Bakr : The Muslim community, or Umma, elected an early convert to Islam named Abu Bakr to serve as Muhammad’s “successor,” or caliph. This theocratic office combined religious and political power The brief caliphate of Abu Bakr (632-634) was spent putting down revolts in order to maintain the unity of the Muslims Umar: The next caliph, Umar (634-644), initiate the conquests. His successor, Uthman (644-656), alienated many Muslims by his practice of giving important positions to members of the old Meccan elite Uthman was assassinated and the Muslims became divided over the next successor The Shiites (sectarians) believed the caliph should be a descendant of Muhammad and chose his son-in-law Ali; The Sunnites (traditionalists) sided with Muawiyah, who was a kinsman of Uthman and demanded vengeance for his death. The civil war ended in 661 with Ali’s murder, and another flared up in 680 at the next succession, which ended with the death of Ali’s son, Hussein, The split between Sunnites and Shiites generated long-lasting animosity and instability within the Muslim world
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Islam: Hegira
|
In 622 Muhammad was invited to Median as a peacemaker and became the leader of the city This event is known as the Hegira, or “migration,” and marks the first year of the Muslim calendar (which is lunar rather than solar).
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Islam: Muhammad
|
Arabia during Muhammad’s youth was a polytheistic society that was acquainted with monotheism through Jewish and Christian contacts Muhammad’s revelations began in 610 His early attempts to convert fellow Arabs in the holy city of Mecca, which contained the shrine know as the Ka’ba, met with little success In 622 Muhammad was invited to Median as a peacemaker and became the leader of the city This event is known as the Hegira, or “migration,” and marks the first year of the Muslim calendar (which is lunar rather than solar). After fighting several battles with the Meccans, Muhammad became the first ruler to unite all of Arabia Central human figure of the religion of Islam and is regarded by Muslims as the messenger and prophet of God (Arabic: الله Allāh), the last and the greatest in a series of prophets of Islam. Muslims consider him the restorer of the uncorrupted original monotheistic faith (islām) of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Noah and other prophets of Islam. He was also active as a diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, reformer, military general, and, for Muslims and followers of several other religions, an agent of divine action. Born in 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca, he was orphaned at a young age and was brought up under the care of his uncle. He later worked mostly as a merchant, and was first married by age 25. Discontented with life in Mecca, he retreated to a cave in the surrounding mountains for meditation and reflection. According to Islamic beliefs it was here, at age 40, in the month of Ramadan, where he received his first revelation from God. Three years after this event Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" to Him (lit. islām) is the only way (dīn) acceptable to God, and that he himself was a prophet and messenger of God, in the same vein as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and other prophets in Islam Muhammad gained few followers early on, and was met with hostility from some tribes of Mecca; he was treated harshly and so were his followers. To escape persecution Muhammad and his followers migrated to Medina (then known as Yathrib) in the year 622. This event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. In Medina Muhammad managed to unite the conflicting tribes, and after eight years of fighting with the Meccan tribes, his followers, who by then had grown to ten thousand, conquered Mecca. In 632 a few months after returning to Medina from his Farewell pilgrimage, Muhammad fell ill and died. By the time of his death most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam and he united the tribes of Arabia into a singular Muslim religious polity. The revelations (or Ayats, lit. "Signs of God"), which Muhammad reported receiving until his death, form the verses of the Qur'an, regarded by Muslims as the “word of God”, around which his religion is based. Besides the Qur'an, Muhammad’s life (sira) and traditions (sunnah) are also upheld by Muslims. They discuss Muhammad and other prophets of Islam with reverence, adding the phrase peace be upon him whenever their names are mentioned. While conceptions of Muhammad in medieval Christendom and premodern times were largely negative, appraisals in modern times have been far less so. Besides this, his life and deeds have been debated by followers and opponents over the centuries.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Islam: Hajj
|
Pilgrimage to Mecca. Largest annual pilgrimage in the world. Fifth pillar of Islam, an obligation that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. It is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to Allah. Occurs from the 10th to the 15th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, eleven days shorter than the Gregorian calendar used in the Western world, the Gregorian date of the Hajj is eleven days earlier from year to year. In 2007, the Hajj was from December 17 to December 21; in 2008 from the first week of December. The Hajj is associated with the life of Muhammad, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca is considered by Muslims to stretch back to the time of Ibrahim and Is'mail, prominent figures in both Islam and in Judaism. Pilgrims join processions of hundreds of thousands of people, who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Hajj, and perform a series of rituals. As part of the Hajj, each person walks counter-clockwise seven times about the Kaaba, the cube-shaped building which acts as the Muslim direction of prayer (qibla); Runs back and forth between the hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah; Drinks from the Zamzam Well; Goes to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil; Throws stones in a ritual Stoning of the Devil The pilgrims then shave their heads, perform an animal sacrifice, and celebrate the four day global festival of Eid al-Adha.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Islam: 5 Pillars Of
|
* The profession of faith (“there is not God but God and Muhammad is his Prophet”) * Daily prayers at specified times * Almsgiving * Fasting during the month of Ramadan * A pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca known as the hajj The Ilamic holy book is the Quran, which means “recitation,” and refers to the oral revelation that Muhammad gave to his followers The Quran urges believers to spread the faith by any means, including military, although it requires that respect be shown to Jews and Christians (“People of the Book”), who could not be forcibly converted but were required to pay a special tax if the refused to become Muslim * Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the literal word of God as recited to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. Critics argue against this belief, and criticize various statements in the Qur'an.[1] * The Qur’an's teachings on matters of war and peace have become topics of heated discussion in recent years. On the one hand, some critics interpret that certain verses of the Qur’an sanction military action against unbelievers as a whole both during the lifetime of Muhammad and after.[107][108][109] On the other hand, other scholars argue that such verses of the Qur’an are interpreted out of context,[110][111][112] and argue that when the verses are read in context it clearly appears that the Qur’an prohibits aggression,[113][114][115] and allows fighting only in self defense.[116][117]
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Islam: Division of the Muslim World
|
One of the Umayyads escaped the purge and set up a rival caliphate in Spain, with Cordoba as its capital. Under the Umayyads, Cordoba became a magnificent cultural center, boasting libraries and a mosque that combined Roman architectural features, such as rounded arches and domes, with geometric designs characteristic of Arabic (which shunned the use of representational images in public places) Over the centuries, both the Abbasidand and Umayyad caliphates became politically fragmented. A 3rd caliphate, that of the Fatimids, established itself in North Africa during the 10th century and challenged the Abbasids, who eventually became puppets of their Turkish soldiers. They were finally overthrown by the Mongols in 1258
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Islam: Abbassids
|
Soon after the death of Muhammad in 632, the Arabs begain a dramatic series of conquests that established an Islamic Arab empire stretching from India in the east to Spain in the west, which they achieved within the span of a mere hundred years Reasons for their success are several: The new faith inspired zeal for action and urged spreading the faith through conquest The Arabs also struck at an opportune moment; the long wars between the Byzantines and Sassanians had weakened both of these empires and prevented them from mounting effective resistance The Byzantines were also divided by religious controversies: The Monophysites of Syria and Egypt had suffered persecution from the emperors in Constantinople and preferred Arab masters who granted them religious freedom to Christian masters who did not The Arab migrations also relieved population pressure in there desert homeland, which could not support an expanding population and depended on imports of food. By 656 the Arabs had conquered Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Islam: Abbassids
|
The luxury and worldliness of the Umayyads antagonized many devout Muslims In 750 they were overthrown by Abul Abbas, who founded the Abbasid dynasty He moved the capital from Damascus to the newly-built city of Baghdad beside the Tigris River, which became an advanced center of learning as the Abbasids patronized scholars who translated the philosophy, science, and medicine of the ancient world into Arabic Most of the Near East and North Africa converted to Islam during their reign
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Medieval Cultural Tradition: Liberal Arts in the Early Middles Ages: Isidore of Seville
|
“The most important preservers of ancient learning were Martianus Capella, Cassiodorus, and Isidore of Seville” * Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and has the reputation of being one of the great scholars of the early Middle Ages. All the later medieval history-writing of Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern Spain and Portugal) were based on his histories. At a time of disintegration of classical culture, and aristocratic violence and illiteracy, he was involved in the conversion of the royal Visigothic Arians to Catholicism, both assisting his brother Leander of Seville, and continuing after his brother's death. Like Leander, he took a most prominent part in the Councils of Toledo and Seville. The Visigothic legislation which resulted from these councils is regarded by modern historians as exercising an important influence on the beginnings of representative government.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition: Italian Literature
|
(Other than Dante) Giovanni Boccaccio, Francesco Petrarch: Two other prominent Italian poets who ushered in the Renaissance were the Florentine authors Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) and especially Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374). Petrarch championed the revival of a pure form of Latin (which had become corrupted, from his point of view, during the Middle Ages), but his most popular works were vernacular love poems (sonnets) which idealized his love for a women named Laura. "Decameron": Boccaccio’s most famous work is the Decameron, a collection of bawdy stories told by a group of men and women staying in the countrywide in order to escape the effects of the Black Death
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Intellectual Tradition: Political Theory: John of Salisbury
|
Described medieval society as an organic unity in the form of a human body whose head is the king ** Academic Skepticism The main philosophical theme connecting all of John's work is his professed adherence to the Academic school of philosophy. John's Academic tendencies are behind his defense of probabilism in the Metalogicon. In the Policraticus, they shape his view of virtue and moderation, and motivate his use of exempla rather than argument. In John's view of the history of philosophy, Aristotle's attack on Platonism drove the Academy back to a Socratic skepticism. This skepticism took three forms (Meta. IV 31 m251). The first doubts all things in a self-defeating effort to avoid error; a skeptic of this sort, he says, “forfeits the right to be called a philosopher.” The second believes only what is necessary and self-evident; however, since only God knows the limits of possibility and necessity, this second form of skepticism reduces to the first, at least with regard to any science of the created world (Meta. II 13 g104). The third form of Academic skepticism requires that one withhold judgment on matters that are doubtful to the wise. It is this more moderate skepticism that appeals to John. On matters that only a fool would dispute, as well as on more complex matters where the wise agree, one can claim to have probable knowledge. This form of skepticism avoids dogmatism and saves one from falling too quickly into error, yet also leaves one open to new learning. It is the epistemic stance of a man who counsels moderation in all things. ** has an enduring reputation based as much on whom he knew as on what he knew. He studied with almost all the great masters of the early twelfth century, including Peter Abelard and Gilbert of Poitiers, served as an aid to Thomas à Becket (1118-70), a friend to Pope Hadrian IV, an annoyance if not an enemy to England's King Henry II, and died as Bishop of Chartres. John walked the halls of power and learning as few have before or since. John's Policraticus reflects knowledge and insight that could only have come with practical experience; it was considered an authoritative text in political philosophy for centuries. His reflections on the schools of his day in the Metalogicon offer valuable insight into the academic life of Paris just as the works of Aristotle were being rediscovered. The Policraticus is John's massive, eight-book attempt to discuss all aspects of ethical and political life. Its topics vary from whether it is permissible to kill a tyrant to whether it is permissible to tell off-color jokes at dinner parties. The Metalogicon is ostensibly written as a defense of the study of logic, grammar, and rhetoric against the charges of the pseudonymous Cornificius and his followers. There was probably not a single person named Cornificius; more likely John was personifying common arguments against the value of a liberal education. The Cornificians believe that training is not relevant because rhetorical ability and intellectual acumen are natural gifts (Meta. I 8 m28), and the study of language and logic does not help one to understand the world (Meta. I 6 m25). These people want to seem rather than to be wise. Above all, they want to parlay the appearance of wisdom into lucrative careers (Meta. I 2 m13). John puts up a vigorous defense of the need for a solid training in the liberal arts in order to actually become wise and succeed in the “real world.”
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Black Death: Economic and Social Consequences: Jacqueirie
|
Post black death: no labor, but much work, yet employers and governments initially resisted granting concessions to laborers, which prompted a series of peasant rebellions (aggravated in England and France by the Hundred Year’s War), such as Jacquerie in France (1358) Peasants’ Revolt led by Wat Tyler in England (1381) Also a revolt of the wool-workers in Florence in 1378 * Popular revolt in late medieval Europe by peasants that took place in northern France in 1358, during the Hundred Years' War. The revolt centered in the Oise valley north of Paris. This rebellion became known as the Jacquerie because the nobles derided peasants as "Jacque" or "Jaque Bonhomme" for their padded surplice called "jacque".[1] Their revolutionary leader Guillaume Cale was also popularly known as Jacques Bonhomme ("Jim Goodfellow") or Callet. The word "Jacquerie" has become synonymous for peasant uprisings in general.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Vernacular Tradition: French Literature: Guillaume de Lorris
|
* French scholar and poet, and was the author of the first section of the Romance of the Rose. Little is known about him, other than that he wrote the earlier section of the poem around 1230, and that the work was completed forty years later by Jean de Meun. “The Romance of the Rose”: The Most popular of French literary works was a long allegorical poem called “The Romance of the Rose”, a thirteenth-century epic begun by Guillame de Lorris and later expanded by Jean de Meun, whose characters are abstract personifications that depict the virtues and vices of the time
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Liberal Arts in the early Middle Ages
|
Each liberal art had a set of classical textbooks that were used to teach it. The most prominent of the liberal arts in the Middle Ages was logic, which relied on the writings of Aristotle. The Roman scholar Boethius (480-525), who devoted himself to the stuffy of Plato and Aristotle and is most famous for his Neoplatonic text “The Consolidation of Philosophy”, prepared a translation of Aristotelian logical texts known as the Organon (“Tool”). The liberal arts were also summarized in encyclopedias which preserved ancient learning in a simplified form The most important preservers of ancient learning were Martianus Capella (c400), Cassiodorus (c 490-585), and Isidore of Sevill (c 560-636), who were commonely read in the medieval schools
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Wycliffe and Huss: Lollards
|
Lollardy was the political and religious movement of the Lollards from the mid-14th century to the English Reformation. Lollardy was supposed to have evolved from the teachings of John Wycliffe, a prominent theologian at the University of Oxford beginning in the 1350s – however, it is possible that the Lollards actually predated Wycliffe. Its demands were primarily for reform of Western Christianity. It taught that piety was a requirement for a priest to be a "true" priest or to perform the sacraments, and that a pious layman had power to perform those same rites, believing that religious power and authority came through piety and not through the Church hierarchy. Similarly, Lollardy emphasized the authority of the Scriptures over the authority of priests. It taught the concept of the "Church of the Saved", meaning that Christ's true Church was the community of the faithful, which overlapped with but was not the same as the official Church of Rome. It taught a form of predestination. It advocated apostolic poverty and taxation of Church properties. It also denied transubstantiation in favour of consubstantiation.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition: Spanish Literature
|
The Christians in Spain hosted a tradition of troubadors and courtly love poets, who wrote about the Reconquista. The legends of El Cid are a prominent example of their work
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Holy Roman Empire: The Hohenstaufen Dynasty: Lombard League
|
(Vigorous efforts were put for the by the Hohenstaufen dynasty to control the lands south of the Alps, but an alliance of northern Italian cities known as the Lombard League defeated Frederick I Barbarossa (1152-1190) at Legnano in 1176 and forced home to abandon his political ambitions there) * The Lombard League was an alliance formed around 1176, which at its apex included most of the cities of northern Italy (although its membership changed in time), including, among others, Milan, Piacenza, Cremona, Mantua, Bergamo, Brescia, Bologna, Padua, Treviso, Vicenza, Venice, Verona, Lodi, and Parma, and even some lords, such as the Marquis Malaspina and Ezzelino da Romano. The League was formed to counter the Holy Roman Empire's Frederick I, who was attempting to assert Imperial influence over Italy. Frederick claimed direct Imperial control over Italy at the Diet of Roncaglia (1158). The League had the support of Pope Alexander III, who also wished to see Imperial power in Italy decline. At the Battle of Legnano on May 29, 1176, Frederick I was defeated and, by the Peace of Venice, agreed to a six-year truce from 1177 to 1183, until the Second Treaty of Constance, where the Italian cities agreed to remain loyal to the Empire but retained local jurisdiction over their territories. The Lombard League was renewed several times and after 1226 regained its former prestige by countering the efforts of Frederick II to gain greater power in Italy. These efforts included the taking of Vicenza and the Battle of Cortenuova which established the reputation of the Emperor as a skillful strategist. He misjudged his strength, rejecting all Milanese peace overtures and insisting on unconditional surrender. It was a moment of grave historic importance when Frederick's hatred colored his judgment and blocked all possibilities of a peaceful settlement. Milan and five other cities held out, and in October 1238 he had to unsuccessfully raise the siege of Brescia. Once again receiving papal support, the Lombard League effectively countered Frederick's efforts. During the 1249 siege of Parma, the Imperial camp was assaulted and taken, and in the ensuing Battle of Parma the Imperial side was routed. Frederick lost the Imperial treasure and with it any hope of maintaining the impetus of his struggle against the rebellious communes and against the pope. The League was dissolved in 1250 once Frederick died.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Curriculum and Specialized Studies: Peter Lombard
|
“Sentences”: Theology used the “Sentences” of Peter Lombard (c 1100-1160), a 12th century theologian who provide a thorough outline of topics that every theologian should cover. * scholastic theologian and bishop and author of Four Books of Sentences, which became the standard textbook of theology, for which he is also known as Magister Sententiarum. * The Four Books of Sentences (Libri Quattuor Sententiarum) is a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the twelfth century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the 'sententia' or opinions on Biblical passages that it gathered together.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Crusades Overview
|
Overview of the Crusades By Wikipedia.org CBN.com -- Historically, the Crusades were a series of several military campaigns, usually sanctioned by the Papacy, that took place during the 11th through 13th centuries. Originally, they were Roman Catholic endeavors to re-capture the Holy Land from the Muslims. Some were directed against other Christians, such as the Fourth Crusade against Constantinople and the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars of southern France. In a broader sense, "crusade" can be used, always in a rhetorical and metaphorical sense, to identify as righteous any war that is given a religious justification ("Gott mit uns," "God with us") and asserted to be holy ("jihad" being the term used in specifically Muslim contexts). Ardent activists may also refer to their causes as "crusades," as in the "Crusade against Adult Illiteracy," or a "Crusade against Littering." In recent years, however, there has been some heightened awareness among Westerners to the historical and political problems with the use of the term "crusade", and where any casual respect for Muslim culture has relevance, the term has largely fallen into disuse. A more sophisticated (youthful) use of the term may (sarcastictically or pejoratively) characterize the zealotry of agenda promoters, for example with the monicker "Public Crusader" or the campaigns "Crusade for women's rights," and the "Crusade for prayer in public schools." Table of contents: 1 Historical background 2 Historical context 3 The major crusades 3.1 First Crusade 3.2 Second Crusade 3.3 Third Crusade 3.4 Fourth Crusade 3.5 Albigensian Crusade 3.6 Children's Crusade 3.7 Fifth Crusade 3.8 Sixth Crusade 3.9 Seventh Crusade 3.10 Eighth Crusade 3.11 Ninth Crusade 3.12 Crusades in Baltic and Central Europe 4 Effect on Europe 5 Effect in the Islamic world 6 Effect on the Jewish community 7 The term "crusade" 8 Popular reputation 9 References 10 External links Historical background The origins of the crusades lie in Western developments earlier in the Middle Ages, as well as the deteriorating situation of the Byzantine Empire. The breakdown of the Carolingian Empire in the later 9th century, combined with the relative stabilization of local European borders after the Christianization of the Vikings, Slavs, and Magyars, meant that there was an entire class of warriors who now had very little to do but fight among themselves and terrorize the peasant population. The Church tried to stem this violence with the Peace and Truce of God movements, forbidding violence against certain people at certain times of the year. This was somewhat successful, but trained warriors always sought an outlet for their violence. A plea for help from the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I in opposing Muslim attacks thus fell on ready ears. One later outlet was the Reconquista in Spain, which at times occupied Spanish knights and some mercenaries from elsewhere in Europe in the fight against the Islamic Moors. In 1063, Pope Alexander II had given papal blessing to Spanish Christians in their wars against the Muslims, granting both a papal standard (the vexillum sancti Petri) and an indulgence to those who were killed in battle. This background in the Christian West must be matched with that in the Muslim East. Muslim presence in the Holy Land goes back to the initial Arab conquest of Palestine in the 7th century. This did not interfere much with pilgrimage to Christian holy sites or the security of monasteries and Christian communities in the Holy Land of Christendom, and western Europeans were not much concerned with the loss of far-away Jerusalem when, in the ensuing decades and centuries, they were themselves faced with invasions by Muslims and other hostile non-Christians such as the Vikings and Magyars. However, the Muslim armies' successes were putting strong pressure on the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine Empire. A turning point in western attitudes towards the east came in the year 1009, when the Fatimid caliph of Cairo, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, had the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem destroyed. His successor permitted the Byzantine Empire to rebuild it under stringent circumstances, and pilgrimage was again permitted, but many stories began to be circulated in the West about the cruelty of Muslims toward Christian pilgrims; these rumors then played an important role in the development of the crusades later in the century. Historical context It is necessary to look for the origin of a crusading ideal in the struggle between Christians and Moslems in Spain and consider how the idea of a holy war emerged from this background. — Norman F. Cantor The trigger for the First Crusade was Emperor Alexius I's appeal to Pope Urban II for mercenaries to help him resist Muslim advances into territory of the Byzantine Empire. Although the East-West Schism was brewing between the Catholic Western church and the Greek Orthodox Eastern church, Alexius I expected some help from a fellow Christian. However, the response was much larger, and less helpful, than Alexius I desired, as the Pope called for a large invasion force to not merely defend the Byzantine Empire but also retake Jerusalem. When the First Crusade was preached in 1095, the Christian princes of northern Iberia had been fighting their way out of the mountains of Galicia and Asturias, the Basque country and Navarre, with increasing success, for about a hundred years. The fall of Moorish Toledo to the Kingdom of León in 1085 was a major victory, but the turning points of the Reconquista still lay in the future. The disunity of the Muslim emirs was an essential factor, and the Christians, whose wives remained safely behind, were hard to beat: they knew nothing except fighting, they had no gardens and libraries to defend, and they worked their way forward through alien territory populated by infidels, where the Christian fighters felt they could afford to wreak havoc. All these factors were soon to be replayed in the fighting grounds of the East. Spanish historians have traditionally seen the Reconquista as the molding force in the Castilian character, with its sense that the highest good was to die fighting for the cause of the right deity, in a Christian jihad. An ascetic religious fanaticism enforced by a military aristocracy became the dominant social value. While the Reconquista was the most prominent example of Christian war against Muslim conquests, it is not the only such example. The Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard had conquered the "toe of Italy," Calabria, in 1057 and was holding what had traditionally been Byzantine territory against the Muslims of Sicily. The maritime states of Pisa, Genoa and Catalonia were all actively fighting Islamic strongholds in Majorca and Sardinia, freeing the coasts of Italy and Catalonia from Muslim raids. Much earlier, of course, the Christian homelands of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, and so on had been conquered by Muslim armies. This long history of losing territories to a religious enemy, as well as a powerful pincer movement on all of Western Europe, created a powerful motive to respond to Byzantine emperor Alexius I's call for holy war to defend Christendom, and to recapture the lost lands, starting at the most important one of all, in modern Israel. The papacy of Pope Gregory VII had struggled with reservations about the doctrinal validity of a holy war and the shedding of blood for the Lord and had resolved the question in favor of justified violence. Actions against Arians and other heretics offered historical precedents in a society where violence against unbelievers, and indeed against other Christians, was acceptable and common. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Gregory's intellectual model, had justified the use of force in the service of Christ in The City of God, and a Christian "just war" might enhance the wider standing of an aggressively ambitious leader of Europe, as Gregory saw himself. The northerners would be cemented to Rome and their troublesome knights could see the only kind of action that suited them. Previous attempts by the church to stem such violence, such as the concept of the "Peace of God", were not as successful as hoped. To the south of Rome, Normans were showing how such energies might be unleashed against both Arabs (in Sicily) and Byzantines (on the mainland). A Latin hegemony in the Levant would provide leverage in resolving the Papacy's claims of supremacy over the Patriarch of Constantinople, which had resulted in the Great Schism of 1054, a rift that might yet be resolved through the force of Frankish arms. In the Byzantine homelands the Eastern Emperor's weakness was revealed by the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, which reduced the Empire's Asian territory to a region in western Anatolia and around Constantinople. A sure sign of Byzantine desperation was the appeal of Alexius I Comnenus to his enemy the Pope for aid. But Gregory was occupied with the Investiture Controversy and could not call on the German emperor and the crusade never took shape. For Gregory's more moderate successor Pope Urban II, a crusade would serve to reunite Christendom, bolster the Papacy, and perhaps bring the East under his control. The disaffected Germans and the Normans were not to be counted on, but the heart and backbone of a crusade could be found in Urban's own homeland among the northern French. On a popular level, the first crusades unleashed an unprecedented wave of impassioned, personally felt pious fury that was expressed in the massacres of Jews that accompanied the movement of mobs through Europe, and the violent treatment of "schismatic" Orthodox Christians of the east. This first phase of the Crusading movement culminated and largely spent itself in the rampages of the sack of Constantinople in 1204. The 13th century crusades never expressed such a popular fever, and after Acre fell for the last time in 1291, and after the extermination of the Occitan Cathars in the Albigensian Crusade, the crusading ideal became devalued by Papal justifications of political and territorial aggressions within Catholic Europe. The last crusading order of knights to hold territory were the Knights Hospitaller. After the final fall of Acre they took control of the island of Rhodes, and in the sixteenth century were driven to Malta. These last crusaders were finally unseated by Napoleon in 1798. The major crusades A traditional numbering scheme for the crusades gives us nine during the 11th to 13th centuries, as well as other smaller crusaders that are mostly contemporaneous and unnumbered. There were frequent "minor" crusades throughout this period, not only in Palestine but also in Spain and central Europe, against not only Muslims, but also Christian heretics and personal enemies of the Papacy or other powerful monarchs. Such "crusades" continued into the 16th century, until the Renaissance and Reformation when the political and religious climate of Europe was significantly different than that of the Middle Ages. The following is a listing of the "major" crusades. First Crusade Full article: First Crusade After Byzantine emperor Alexius I called for help with defending his empire against the Seljuk Turks, in 1095 Pope Urban II called upon all Christians to join a war against the Turks, a war which would count as full penance. Crusader armies marched to Jerusalem, sacking several cities on their way. In 1099, they took Jerusalem and massacred the population. As a result of the First Crusade, several small Crusader states were created, notably the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Following this crusade there was a second, unsuccessful wave of crusaders; see Crusade of 1101. Second Crusade Full article: Second Crusade After a period of relative peace, in which Christians and Muslims co-existed in the Holy Land, Bernard of Clairvaux called for a new crusade when the town of Edessa was conquered by the Turks. French and German armies marched to Asia Minor in 1147, but failed to accomplish any major successes, and indeed endangered the survival of the Crusader states with a foolish attack on Damascus. In 1149, both leaders had returned to their countries without any result. Third Crusade Full article: Third Crusade In 1187, Saladin recaptured Jerusalem. Pope Gregory VIII preached a crusade, which was led by several of Europe's most important leaders: Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. Frederick drowned in Cilicia in 1190, leaving an unstable alliance between the English and the French. Philip left in 1191 after the Crusaders had recaptured Acre from the Muslims. The Crusader army headed down the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Saladin would attack the Crusaders, but the Crusaders would not respond. They defeated the Muslims near Arsuf and were in sight of Jerusalem. But, Saladin poisoned the wells and destroyed the crops. Richard left the following year after establishing a truce with Saladin. On Richard's way home his ship was wrecked leading him to Austria. In Austria his enemy Duke Leopold captured him and Richard was held for a king's ransom. Fourth Crusade Full article: Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade was initiated by Pope Innocent III in 1202, with the intention of invading the Holy Land through Egypt. The Venetians gained control of this crusade and diverted it to Constantinople where they attempted to place a Byzantine exile on the throne. After a series of misunderstandings and outbreaks of violence the city was sacked in 1204. The popular spirit of the movement was now dead, and the succeeding crusades are to be explained rather as arising from the Papacy's struggle to divert the military energies of the European nations toward Syria. Albigensian Crusade Full article: Albigensian Crusade The Albigensian Crusade was launched in 1209 to eliminate the "heretical" Cathars of southern France. It was a decades-long struggle that had as much to do with the concerns of northern France to extend its control southwards as it did with heresy. In the end both the Cathars and the independence of southern France were exterminated. Children's Crusade Full article: Children's Crusade The Children's Crusade is a possibly fictitious or misinterpreted crusade of 1212. The story is that an outburst of the old popular enthusiasm led a gathering of children in France and Germany, which Pope Innocent III interpreted as a reproof from heaven to their unworthy elders. None of the children actually reached the Holy Land, being sold as slaves or dying of hunger during the journey. Fifth Crusade Full article: Fifth Crusade By processions, prayers, and preaching, the Church attempted to set another crusade on foot, and the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215) formulated a plan for the recovery of the Holy Land. A crusading force from Hungary, Austria, and Bavaria achieved a remarkable feat in the capture of Damietta in Egypt in 1219, but under the urgent insistence of the papal legate, Pelagius, they proceeded to a foolhardy attack on Cairo, and an inundation of the Nile compelled them to choose between surrender and destruction. Sixth Crusade Full article: Sixth Crusade In 1228, Emperor Frederick II set sail from Brindisi for Syria, though laden with the papal excommunication. Through diplomacy he achieved unexpected success, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem being delivered to the Crusaders for a period of ten years. This was the first major crusade not initiated by the Papacy, a trend that was to continue for the rest of the century. Louis IX attacks Damietta -- Seventh Crusade Full article: Seventh Crusade The papal interests represented by the Templars brought on a conflict with Egypt in 1243, and in the following year a Khwarezmian force summoned by the latter stormed Jerusalem. Although this provoked no widespread outrage in Europe as the fall of Jerusalem in 1187 had done, Louis IX of France organized a crusade against Egypt from 1248 to 1254, leaving from the newly constructed port of Aigues-Mortes in southern France. It was a failure and Louis spent much of the crusade living at the court of the Crusader kingdom in Acre. In the midst of this crusade was the first Shepherds' Crusade in 1251. Eighth Crusade Full article: Eighth Crusade The eighth Crusade was organized by Louis IX in 1270, again sailing from Aigues-Mortes, initially to come to the aid of the remnants of the Crusader states in Syria. However, the crusade was diverted to Tunis, where Louis spent only two months before dying. Ninth Crusade Full article: Ninth Crusade The future Edward I of England undertook another expedition in 1271, after having accompanied Louis on the Eighth Crusade. He accomplished very little in Syria and retired the following year after a truce. With the fall of Antioch (1268), Tripoli (1289), and Acre (1291) the last traces of the Christian occupation of Syria disappeared. Crusades in Baltic and Central Europe Full article: Northern Crusades The Crusades in the Baltic Sea area and in Central Europe were efforts by (mostly German) Christians to subjugate and convert the peoples of these areas to Christianity. These Crusades ranged from the 12th century, contemporaneous with the Second Crusade, to the 16th century. Effect on Europe The Crusades had an enormous influence on the European Middle Ages. At times much of the continent was united under a powerful Papacy, but by the 14th century the old concept of Christendom was fragmented, and the development of centralized bureaucracies, the foundation of the modern nation state was well on its way, in France, England, Burgundy, Portugal, Castile and Aragon partly because of the dominance of the church at the beginning of the crusading era. Although Europe had been exposed to Islamic culture for centuries through contacts in Spain and Sicily, much Islamic thought, such as science, medicine, and architecture, was transferred to the west during the crusades; for example, European castles became massive stone structures, as they were in the east, rather than smaller wooden buildings as they had typically been in the past. The crusades also aided the beginning of the Renaissance in Italy, as various Italian city-states from the very beginning had important and profitable trading colonies in the crusader states, both in the Holy Land and later in captured Byzantine territory. Effect in the Islamic world The crusades had a profound effect upon the Islamic world, where the equivalents of "Franks" and "crusaders" are still expressions of disdain for Western values. Muslims traditionally celebrate Saladin, the Kurdish warrior, as a hero against the Crusaders. Among Muslims, the Crusades are regarded as cruel and savage onslaughts by European Christians upon Islamic culture. Many in the Arab world refer to modern Western aggression directed toward them as a "crusade." Others also see the defeat of modern "crusaders" as a triumph for their respective causes, of Arab independence and Pan-Islamism. Effect on the Jewish community The crusaders' atrocities against Jews in the German and Hungarian towns, later also in those of France and England, and in the massacres of non-combatants in Palestine and Syria have become a part of anti-Semitic history. This left behind for centuries strong feelings of ill will on both sides. The social position of the Jews in western Europe was distinctly worsened by the Crusades, and legal restrictions became frequent during and after them. They prepared the way for the anti-Jewish legislation of Pope Innocent III, and formed the turning-point in the medieval history of the Jews. The term "crusade" For other uses of the term "crusade", see Crusade (disambiguation). The crusades were never referred to as such by their participants. The original crusaders were known by various terms, including fideles Sancti Petri (the faithful of St. Peter) or milites Christi (knights of Christ). They saw themselves as undertaking an iter, a journey, or a peregrinatio, a pilgrimage, though pilgrims were usually forbidden from carrying arms. Like pilgrims, each crusader swore an vow (a votus), to be fulfilled on successfully reaching Jerusalem, and they were granted a cloth cross (crux) to be sewn into their clothes. This "taking of the cross", the crux, eventually became associated with the entire journey; the word "crusade" (coming into English from the French croisade, the Italian crociata, or the Portuguese cruzado) developed from this. Since the 17th century the term "crusade" has carried a connotation in the west of being a "righteous campaign", usually to "root out evil", or to fight for a just cause. In the Arab world, the equivalent term is jihad, while "crusade" is a term which connotes a hostile and foreign invasion by "infidels", those disrespectful or defiling of Muslim culture. In ordinary use, the Western term "crusade" and the Islamic term "jihad" tend to mirror each other, and both terms similarly tend to be viewed by the other as terms for aggression directed toward them. Popular reputation Cecil B. DeMille's Crusades, 1935In the popular imaginations of East and West, the complex phenomenon of the Crusades has resolved itself as a series of symbolic and instructive frozen vignettes. Popular history can be recognized as a form of pseudohistory in part by the use made of such imagery. Genuine history is as unclear as the motivation of strangers, and often has little immediate relevance to current events. Popular history is crystal-clear and full of implied prophecies and other vividly direct relations to modern times. Thus, in Western Europe, the Crusades have traditionally been regarded by laypeople as heroic adventures, though the mass enthusiasm of common people was largely expended in the First Crusade, from which so few of their class returned. Today, the "Saracen" adversary is crystallized in the lone figure of Saladdin; his adversary Richard the Lionheart is, in the English-speaking world, the archetypical crusader king, while Frederick Barbarossa (illustration, below left) and Louis IX fill the same symbolic niche in German and French culture. Even in contemporary areas, the crusades and their leaders were romanticized in popular literature; the Chanson d'Antioche was a chanson de geste dealing with the First Crusade, and the Song of Roland, dealing with the era of the similarly romanticized Charlemagne, was directly influenced by the experience of the crusades, going so far as to replace Charlemagne's historic Basque opponents with Muslims. A popular theme for troubadors was the knight winning the love of his lady by going on crusade in the east. The ever-living Frederick Barbarossa, in his mountain cave: a late 19th century German woodcutIn the 14th century, Godfrey of Bouillon was united with the Trojan War and the adventures of Alexander the Great against a backdrop for military and courtly heroics of the Nine Worthies who stood as popular secular culture heroes into the 16th century, when more critical literary tastes ran instead to Torquato Tasso and Rinaldo and Armida, Roger and Angelica. Later, the rise of a more authentic sense of history among literate people brought the Crusades into a new focus for the Romantic generation in the romances of Sir Walter Scott in the early 19th century. Crusading imagery could be found even in the Crimean War, in which the United Kingdom and France were allied with the Muslim Ottoman Empire, and in the First World War, especially Allenby's capture of Jerusalem in 1917 (illustration, below right). Depiction of Richard I overlooking Jerusalem, in Punch Magazine, December 1917. The caption read: "At last my dream come true."In Spain, the popular reputation of the Crusades is outshone by the particularly Spanish history of the Reconquista. El Cid is the central figure. Eastern Orthodoxy Like Muslims, Eastern Orthodox Christians also see the Crusades as attacks by the barbarian West, but centered on the sack of Constantinople in 1204. Many relics and artifacts taken from Constantinople are still in Roman Catholic hands, in the Vatican and elsewhere. Modern Turks universally agree that the Greek horses on the facade of St. Mark's in Venice should be returned to Istanbul. A picture of Turkish popular history of the Crusades can be assembled by compiling text of official Turkish brochures on Crusader fortifications in the Aegean coast and coastal islands. Countries of Central Europe, despite the fact that formally they also belonged to Western Christianity, were the most skeptical about the idea of Crusades. Many cities in Hungary were sacked by passing bands of Crusaders; one ruler of Poland refused to join a Crusade, allegedly because of the lack of beer in the Holy land. Later on Poland and Hungary were themselves subject to conquest from the Crusaders (see Teutonic Order), and therefore invented the idea that pagans have the right to live in peace and have property rights to their lands (see Pawel Wlodkowic).
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Medieval Church: Conflict with the Greeks
|
The popes used their new political prestige to reassert the claim to primacy in matters of doctrine and ecclesiastical administration They assumed the power to convene church councils (which once belonged to the emperors) – a move which caused tension with the eastern empire and church
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Conciliar Movement
|
In order to resolve the deadlock, John XXIII was persuaded to call a general council. This measure envisioned a new theory of the Church, which reasoned that ultimate authority does not reside in the papacy but in the body of all believers, so that a representative assembly consisting of church leaders could make decisions in emergencies. The result was the Council of Constance (1414-1418), which deposed the other popes and elected Martin V (1417 – 1431) as the true pope This time the Christian community was in agreement, and the confusion of the Great Schism (1378-1417) was finally over. The papacy emerged from the Schism a much humbled office – it could no longer exert significant political influence outside Italy
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church and State: College of Cardinals
|
Many churchmen, including the Cluniacs, in principle disapproved of imperial interference in the affairs of the Church, even when it was beneficial. In 1059 the reformers established the College of Cardinals, whose purpose was to elect the pope. Only the highest-ranking members of the church hierarchy, known as the cardinals, belonged to this electoral college, which thus excluded emperors.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church and State: Canons Regular
|
In order to institute clerical celibacy, the reformers promoted the foundation of the canons regular, a semic-monastic order following the Rule of St. Augustine, which recommended that diocesan priests live together in a community rather than in private homes, where they were more susceptible to temptations * Members of certain bodies of Canons (priests) living in community under the Augustinian Rule ("regula" in Latin), and sharing their property in common as a type of vow of poverty. Distinct from monks, who live a cloistered, contemplative life and sometimes engage in ministry to those from oustide the monastery, the purpose of the life of a canon is to engage in public ministry of liturgy and sacraments for those who visit their churches. Distinct from Clerks Regular or Regular Clerics (an example of which is the Jesuit order), they are members of a particular community of a particular place, and are bound to the public praying of the Liturgy of the Hours in choir. Secular canons by contrast belong to a community of priests attached to a church but do not take vows or live under a rule. Canons Regular are sometimes called Black or White Canons, depending on the order to which they belong.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Avignon Papacy
|
The next pope, Clement V (1305-1314), was a Frenchman who was persuaded by Philip IV and the French cardinals to move the papal residence from Rome to Avignon on the Rhone River, where the papacy came under the influence of the French monarchy. The papal residence remained in Avignon from 1309 to 1377, a period which is known as the “Babylonian Captivity.” All the popes elected during this time were French * In the history of the Roman Catholic Church, the Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1377 during which seven popes, all French, resided in Avignon: * Pope Clement V: 1305–1314 * Pope John XXII: 1316–1334 * Pope Benedict XII: 1334–1342 * Pope Clement VI: 1342–1352 * Pope Innocent VI: 1352–1362 * Pope Urban V: 1362–1370 * Pope Gregory XI: 1370–1378 In 1376, Gregory XI moved the papal residence back to Rome and died there in 1378. Due to a dispute over the subsequent election, a faction of cardinals set up an antipope back in Avignon: * Clement VII: 1378–1394 * Benedict XIII: 1394–1423 (expelled from Avignon in 1403) This was the period of difficulty from 1378 to 1417 which Catholic scholars refer to as the "Western schism" or, "the great controversy of the antipopes" (also called "the second great schism" by some secular and Protestant historians), when parties within the Catholic Church were divided in their allegiances among the various claimants to the office of pope. The Council of Constance in 1417 finally resolved the controversy. The Pontifical States (today limited to Vatican City) included land around Avignon (Comtat Venaissin) and a small enclave to the east. They remained part of the Pontifical States up to the French Revolution, during which they became part of France in 1791.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Islam: Mecca
|
Islam's holiest city home to the Kaaba shrine and the Grand mosque. The city is known for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, which being one of the five pillars of Islam, attracts close to 2 million pilgrims. Islamic tradition attributes the beginning of Mecca to Ishmael's descendants. In the 7th century, the Islamic prophet Muhammad proclaimed Islam in the city, by now an important trading center, and the city played an important role in the early history of Islam. After 966, Mecca was led by local sharifs, until 1924, when it came under the rule of the Saudis.[1] In its modern period, Mecca has seen a great expansion in size and infrastructure.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Carolingians: Charles Martel
|
The most powerful of the Frankish nobles were the members of the Carolingian dynasty, named after its founder, Charles Martel (whose name in Latin is Carolus). This dynasty held the office of Mayor of the Palace and used it to control the Merovingian kingdom. In 732 Charles Martel (c 688-471) led the Frankish defense against Muslim raiders and defeated them at the Battle of Tour - this event prevented Islam from establishing itself beyond Spain Best remembered for winning the Battle of Tours in 732, which has traditionally been characterized as an event that halted the Islamic expansionism in Europe that had conquered Iberia.[3] "Charles's victory has often been regarded as decisive for world history, since it preserved western Europe from Muslim conquest and Islamization." In addition to being the leader of the army that prevailed at Tours, Charles Martel was a truly giant figure of the Middle Ages. A brilliant general, he is considered the forefather of western heavy cavalry, chivalry, founder of the Carolingian Empire (which was named after him), and a catalyst for the feudal system, which would see Europe through the Middle Ages. Although some recent scholars have suggested he was more of a beneficiary of the feudal system than a knowing agent for social change, others continue to see him as the primary catalyst for the feudal system.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Intellectual Tradition: Political Theory: Marsilius of Padua
|
Late-Medieval Italian scholar. “Defender of the Peace” (1324) argued that all political authority is derived from the people. * Marsilius - writing alone, not with John, as once thought - set out to demonstrate, by arguments from reason [Dictio I] and from authority [Dictio II] the independence of the Empire from the papacy, and the emptiness of the prerogatives “usurped” by the sovereign pontiffs—a demonstration naturally calculated to give him a claim on the gratitude of the German sovereign.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Trades and Towns: Maritime Trade
|
While fairs were good for stimulating trade inland, it flourished most of all along the coasts, since ships could move goods more quickly and efficiently than wagons and carts. By the 12th century, the Muslims had lost control of the Med and trade became dominated by Italian cities, most notably Venice and Genoa, who fought one another in naval battles as an extension of their commercial rivalry. Trade was also robust along the shores of the Baltic and North Seas, where the cities of the Netherlands and the coastal German cities dominated commerce
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Intellectual Tradition: Arabic and Jewish Influences on European Philosophy: Maimonides
|
Maimonides: The most influential Jewish thinker was Maimonides (1135-1204), who is best known for his attempt to harmonize reason and revelation in his “Guide for the Perplexed” * Moses Maimonides: The preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher, and his ideas also influenced the non-Jewish world. One of the central tenets of Maimonides' philosophy is that it is impossible for the truths arrived at by human intellect to contradict those revealed by God. Maimonides held to a strictly apophatic theology in which only negative statements toward a description of God may be considered correct. Thus, one does not say "God is One", but rather, "God is not multiple". Although many of his ideas met with the opposition of his contemporaries, Maimonides was embraced by later Jewish and many non-Jewish thinkers. St. Thomas Aquinas held him in high esteem, and the fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah today retains canonical authority as a codification of Talmudic law. Although his copious works on Jewish law and ethics were initially met with opposition during his lifetime, he was posthumously acknowledged to be one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history. Today, his works and his views are considered a cornerstone of Jewish thought and study.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Invasions of the 9th and 10th Centuries: Vikings, Saracens and Magyars: Magyars
|
In the east, a nomadic group known as the Magyars entered Europe around the year 900 and raided the crumbling remnants of the Carolingian empire. However, the victory of the German ruler Otto the Great over the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955 ended their depredations, and the defeated people settled in Hungary Hungarians (Hungarian: magyarok) or Magyars are an ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. There are around 9.97 million Magyars in Hungary (as of 2001).[1] Magyars were the main inhabitants of the Kingdom of Hungary that existed through most of the second millennium. After the Treaty of Trianon Magyars became minority inhabitants in the territory of present-day Romania (1,440,000; see: Hungarian minority in Romania), Slovakia (520,500), Serbia (293,000; largely in Vojvodina), Ukraine and Russia (170,000), Austria (40,583), Croatia (16,500), the Czech Republic (14,600) and Slovenia (10,000). Significant groups of people with Magyar ancestry live in various other parts of the world (e.g. 1,400,000 in the United States), but unlike the Magyars living within the former Kingdom of Hungary, only some of these largely preserve the Hungarian language and traditions. The Hungarians can be classified in several sub-groups according to local linguistic and cultural characteristics. Hungarian ethnic subgroups that have a distinct identity are the Székelys, Csángós, Jassic people and Palócs.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church and State: Renewal of
|
At the time that trade and towns were beginning to revive, the Church also began a process of renewal. Reformers intended to establish a purer form of worship, and one that was free of control by laymen. Since the functions of the Church were to an extent political, this reform movement was perceived by some rulers as a challenge to their authority and resulted in a conflict between church and state.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: New Religious Orders
|
The new military religious orders were part of a larger movement of Church reform, which saw eth rise of several new monastic orders Although the Clunica movement had arisen as a reform in the tenth century, in time the Cluniacs themselves had become to worldly, and new reformers set about founding orders to live a simpler Christian life. Foremost among theme were the Cistercians, who founded at Citeaux (France) By Robert of Molesmes in 1098 with the intention of following an even stricter interpretation of the Benedictine Rule. The New orders’ most prominent spokesman was Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) Other orders (all originating in the 12th century) included: the Carmelites, founded at Mt. Carmel (Palestine); the Carthusians, founded in the Chartreuse valley (France); and the Premstratensians, or Norbetines, founded at Premontre (France)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church and State: The Investiture Controversy
|
* 11th century dispute between Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Pope Gregory VII over who would control appointments of church officials (investiture). It was the most significant conflict between secular and religious powers in medieval Europe. By undercutting the Imperial power established by the Salian emperors, the controversy lead to nearly 50 years of civil war in Germany, the triumph of the great dukes and abbots, and the disintegration of the Holy Roman Empire from which Germany would not recover until the unification of Germany in the 19th century. The appointment of bishops was a major problem in the German church The Holy Roman Emperors, who could not depend on their rebellious nobles, relied on churchmen to perform political functions for them, and they regularly appointed bishops to key offices. Gregory VII’s demand that they stop this practice faced the Emperor Henry IV (1056-1106) with a crisis. He responded in 1076 by convening a council at Worms to depose Gregory VII, who answered with excommunication. Henry IV’s nobles required him to seek absolution or abdicated, which led the humiliated emperor in 1077 to go to the pope’s winter retreat at Canossa, where he stood outside in the snow for 3 days before Gregory VII absolved him. In 1084, however, when Henry’s position in Germany was more secure, he challenged Gregory VII once more and captured Rome with an army, driving the pope into exile The controversy over the appointment of bishops raged until 1122, when a compromise solution was finally reached with the Concordat of Worms This agreement allowed churchmen to elect bishops and invest them with the symbols of spiritual authority, but required the approval of the emperor, who invested the bishops of the Empire with their political authority. Nevertheless, tension on this issue remained throughout the later Middle Ages
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church and State: The Gregorian Reforms
|
* series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, circa 1050–1080, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. These reforms are considered to be named after Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085), however he personally denied this and claimed his reforms, like his regnal name, honored Gregory the Great. The College of Cardinals immediately began to elect popes from among the reformers The most extreme was an Italian named Hildebrand, who took the papal name Gregory VII (1073-1085) The reform movement was named after him The main goals of the Gregorian reform were to enforce the ideal of clerical celibacy (priests often had wives or concubines until this time), to end the sale of church offices (known as simony), and to end lay interference in ecclesiastical appointments)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Greek philosophy in
|
Medieval churchmen looked to Greek philosophy for inspiration in their formulation of theological problems
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Decline of the Papacy
|
Popes after Innocent III were not as successful in controlling the rulers of Europe. As king consolidated their power, they became unwilling to obey the will of the pope. A low point came during the pontificate of Boniface VIII (1294-1303), whose attempt to reassert papal supremacy over kings and emperors, as formulated in the papal bull know as Unam Sanctam (1302), was met with hostility. He was at that time in the midst of a dispute with Philip IV of France over the king’s right to task the clergy. During the controversy, a band of French soldiers raided the papal residence and took Boniface prisoner. He escaped, but was so weakened by the ordeal that he soon died.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Military Religious Orders
|
One curious development of the Crusades was the rise of military religious orders These were made up of men who took the monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but who also provided military service The 3 main orders arose in the Holy Land: The Templars – devised an innovative method of banking to fund their military activities and became very wealthy and powerful, with chapters all over Europe; their immense wealth aroused the envy of the French king Philip IV, who exploited rumors that the Templars were engaged in immoral behavior and develop worship to have the order suppressed in 1312; he then confiscated their money Teutonic Knights – transferred their operations to the Baltic region of Europe, where they waged crusades against pagans The Hospitallers: got their name from the fact that they initially provide charitable services for pilgrims and only later acquired military functions, such as providing escort
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Trade and Towns: Fairs
|
Trade benefited the regions where it occurred. In order to draw merchants into a given region, rulers or towns would organize fairs, which facilitated trade by bringing merchants and their goods from distant parts into close contact. The most famous of the medieval fairs were those of Champagne in France.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Trade and Towns: The Threefold Model of Medieval Society
|
The agricultural society of the early Middle Ages conceived of itself as three closes, or orders, characterized by the function each performed: “those who fight, those who pray, those who work.” The 3 classes depended on one another. The warriors protected men of prayer and laborers; the men of prayer cared for the needs of the soul; and the laborers provided food. “merchants”: When trade and towns arose, so did a new social class, that of the merchants The merchants lived in towns rather than on the manor and were therefore called burghers, or bourgeois, after the medieval words for “town” (burg, bourg). Since they did not fit into the three traditional orders bet defied convention by seeking to acquire wealth and privilege, they were at first frowned upon. The Church in particular distrusted their interest in making money, which was denounced as the sin of avarice, and tried to regulate their activity by forbidding profits from the charging of interest (which was called usury) and by recommending the “just price,” which urged the earning of a modest profit rather than charging as high a price as the market would bear. Eventually, however, the merchant came to be accepted as a vital member of medieval society. Kings allied themselves with merchants in order to increase their own power and came to rely on them for loans.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Trade and Towns: Rise of Towns
|
A consequence of political stability and the population explosion of the 11th century was the revival of trade and the rise of towns. Since travel was now safer, trade began to revive and towns, which are focal points for the exchange of goods, began to appear at intersections along the path of commerce. http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/rise_of_towns.html : The number of towns in Western Europe grew rapidly. Many sprang up along the sides of the road on the trading routes. War between barbarian tribes had declined, but there were many bandits. Townspeople built walls around the town to protect themselves. Early Town Life: Inside the wall, there were narrow winding streets, and horse drawn carts piled high with goods to trade. Along each narrow street, there were little shops. Store owners lived above their shops. Shops were made of wood with thatched roofs. Fire was a constant worry. In the beginning, people who lived in town were not that cramped. Towns were more of a grouping of traders, each with a permanent shops - traders that had banded together to protect themselves from outside attack. There were some inns to house travelers, and some stables to take care of the horses, and maybe a doctor or two. But towns were small. As more and more people moved to the towns, the towns grew in size. Things were not as organized. Towns began to stink. There was no plumbing in the towns. Garbage and sewage was tossed into the street. The only people who cleaned up and burned the garbage were the shop owners in the area who needed to keep the streets somewhat passable so that people could come to their shops. Much of the garbage stayed in the streets until it rotted. People got sick all the time. The living conditions were horrible. Unless you had a shop of your own, with customers that paid their bills, you either worked for someone in exchange for food and shelter, or you begged. In spite of the conditions, more and more people arrived in the towns, eager to escape their life as serfs on the manors. http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/rise_of_towns.html
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Spain: The Reconquista
|
Like Germany and Italy, Spain was too divided to foster a centralized monarchy, but the foundations for one were laid during the Reconquista, or “reconquest” of the Iberian peninsula from the Muslims. Although most of Spain had been quickly overrun by the Muslims in the invasion that began in 711, the Visigothic Christians were able to hold out in a small northern region known as the kingdom of Asturias. Over the course of eight centuries, the successors of these Christian warriors gradually pushed the Muslims back. The reconquest was not a continuous or unified effort – there were long periods of peace when Muslims and Christians, who were both highly fragmented politically, cooperated and shared in a beneficial cultural exchange While many of the early fighters were adventurers like El Cid (Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, 1043-1099), the reconquest eventually took on strong religious overtones, and was eventually declared part of the crusading movement Several Christian kingdoms emerged, most notably Navarre, Castile, Leon, and Aragon. While some of these political units combined, they also often fragmented – most notably, Portugal declared its independence from the combined kingdom of Castile-Leon in 1139 and was recognized by the pope in 1179.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Population Growth: Social Opportunities
|
The lot of the peasants generally improved In exchange for clearing forests, they might receive a reduction of manorial obligations. They might also win their freedom by escaping to one of the new towns that were rising all over Europe; if they stayed there for a certain length of time, they became burghers (citizen of the town) and could engage any of the specialized trades that were plied there. The situation was summed up in a medieval proverb: “town air makes one free”
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition
|
While Latin was the common language spoken by educated men throughout Europe (all university instruction was in Latin), national literary traditions based on the vernacular languages came into prominence during the Middle Ages
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Islam: A New Religion
|
Islam was founded by Muhammad (570-632), who is considered the final Prophet by the Muslims The Arabic word Islam means “submission” to the will of God (Allah) as set forth by the Prophet Muhammad, and muslim means “one who submits.” The religion is a monotheistic faith within the Judeo-Christian tradition whose basic tenets, or practices, are summed up in five “pillars”
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Plato and Aristotle in the Middle Ages
|
Until the 12th century, most respected ancient philosopher was Plato, whose description of the creation of the world in Timaeus was avidly read and compared to the biblical account in Genesis The Timaeus was in fact the only work of Plato’s to be translated into Latin during the period of the late empire and therefore available in the west In the twelfth century, only two more Platonic dialogues were translated into Latin (Meno and Phaedo). Plato lost favor because he wrote dialogues on a few select topics rather than systematic treatises, and Aristotle gained favor because he had taught every subject in a comprehensive system of knowledge. Thus, even when medieval scholars disagreed with Aristotle’s conclusions (for example, they rejected his doctrine of the eternity of the world), they appreciated the framework he provided. By the 13th century he was so greatly favored that he was called simply “the Philosopher”
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Translations from Spain and Sicily
|
Toward the year 1000, medieval scholars became acutely aware that they had lost much of the ancient tradition. They also discovered that the Muslims in Spain and Sicily had preserved most of this tradition in Arabic translations of the Greek classics Christian scholars, such as Gerbert of Aurillac, who later became Pope Sylvester II (999-1003), traveled to Spain and met with Arab and Jewish scholars in order to acquire this learning; the Jews, who traveled between the Muslims and Christians as merchants, were often trilingual and made excellent interpreters. Throughout the 12th century, Christian scholars traveled to Spain and Sicily where they translated the works of Aristotle from Arabic into Latin. These imperfect translations greatly increased interest in Aristotle, so that later, in the 13th century, a new effort was mad to translate Aristotle directly from Greek into Latin, using texts acquired from the Byzantines.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms
|
During the age of Islam’s rapid conquests and Byzantium’s struggle for survival, the Germanic peoples established kingdoms in the west Those in Gaul and Britain established the foundations for the modern European states of France and England
|
|
|
Middle Ages: England: Conquests
|
In the 11th century, the Anglo-Saxons lost control of England to two separate groups who were descended from the Vikings; the Danes and the Normans, both of whom were now members of the Christian community King Canute (1016-1035) made England part of his North Sea empire, which include Norway as well as Denmark. This empire disintegrated after Canute’s death, and an Anglo-Saxon king, Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), once again ruled England When Edward died without an heir in 1066, three men struggled for control of the kingdom: Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex; Harald Hardrada, King of Norway; and William, Duke of Normandy. Although Harold Godwinson defeated Harald Hardrada at Stamford Bridge in September, he was defeated in October at Hastings by William, who was thereafter known as the Conqueror (1066-1087)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Medieval Cultural Tradition
|
Medieval thought depended largely on the study of the ancient classics of Greece and Rome but used these pagan texts in novel ways for the benefit of Christian society. At the heart of medieval education was the tradition of the liberal arts, which was used in combination with the Bible and the writings of the Church Fathers in the study of theology
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Architecture and Art: Painting
|
* Frescoes * Illuminations / miniatures * Celtic, Gothic * Gothic manuscript * Historiated initial Although frescoes (watercolor paintings on plaster) were used in the walls of medieval churches, most painting appeared in books, where they were called “illuminations” (illustrations) or “miniatures” (not because they were small but because they used lead oxide, called minium, as a pigment). The early Celtic style consisted of very intricate abstract designs The much later Gothic style was a lively departure from the flat Byzantine models that dominated Romanesque art. Gothic manuscript art tended to adorn the margins with fantastic creatures (dragons, birds with human heads, etc.) known as “grotesque” or “drolleries”. A favorite device was the “historiated initial” – figures painted within an oversized letter of the first word of a chapter to provide a visual accompaniment that symbolically summarizes the text.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Architecture and Art: Script
|
http://www.leavesofgold.org/learn/children/how_made/scripts.html ! The term "script" is used to refer to the handwriting in medieval manuscripts. Carolingian Minuscule A lower-case script developed in the scriptoria of the Carolingian dynasty, of which Charlemagne is the most famous representative, in the later eighth century. The letter forms in this script are easier for us to read than the two examples that follow. Gothic The round forms of the Carolingian minuscule gradually gave way to the more pointed forms of the Gothic script, also known as textura. It is a tight, dense script that has the advantage of allowing the scribe to fit more on the page than the minuscule it succeeded -- very important given the expense of parchment and vellum. Bâtarde This script is a hybrid of the formal style with a cursive script, and was widely used in the manuscripts of the later middle ages. If you compare it with the Gothic script in the last example, you will see many similarities in the letter forms, but you will also see that it is more flowing and less angular. By the 12th century medieval handwriting also changed from the simplicity of Carolingian miniscule (on which modern typography is based) to the more elaborate and ornate Gothic minuscule, which inspired black-letter typography Original letter-forms used by Johannes Gutenberg (c 1400-1468) were based on Gothic script, but they were replaced later by Italian humanists who preferred the clearer Carolingian script, which they erroneously believed had been the letter-forms used by the ancient Romans “Gothic” art and script received his name as a pejorative by humanists of the Renaissance, who thought the styles were inspired by the barbarians who had invaded the classical world
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Population Growth: Agricultural Improvements
|
* 3 field system * Horse-collar replaced oxen with horses * Climate After centuries of decline, European population experienced an explosion that was aided by improvements in agricultural technique and technology. A three-field system replaced the old two-field system of agriculture, allowing one-third of the land to lay fallow (unused) every three years while crops were rotated in the other two fields. In this way nutrients in the soil were replenished and crop yields were boosted. The development of the horse-collar replaced oxen with horses as draft animals and allowed the use of a heavier plow, which was fitted with a moldboard that could turn over the dense soils of northern Europe more efficiently. Climate also favored agriculture at this time, for a long spell of warmer weather extended the growing season.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Science and Technology: Nicole Oresme
|
! “Impetus”: Most natural philosophy, however, was conducted by “thought-experiments,” which led two French thinkers, Jean Buridan (1297-1358) and Nicole Oresme (1330-1382) to challenge Aristotle’s theory of motion with a theory of “impetus,” which came fairly close to the correct theory of momentum. ! Oresme discovered the psychological "unconscious" and its great importance for perception and behaviour. * One of the most famous and influential philosophers of the later Middle Ages. He was an economist, mathematician, physicist, astronomer, philosopher, psychologist, musicologist, theologian and Bishop of Lisieux, a competent translator, counselor of King Charles V of France, one of the principal founders[1] and popularizers of modern sciences, and probably one of the most original thinkers of the 14th century.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: England: Parliament: Simon de Montfort
|
Principal leader of the baronial opposition to King Henry III of England. After the rebellion of 1263-1264, de Montfort became de facto ruler of England and called the first directly-elected parliament in medieval Europe. Because of this, de Montfort is today regarded as one of the progenitors of modern parliamentary democracy.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Byzantine Empire: Procopius
|
! (The deeds of Justinian and Theodora were described by the Byzantine historian Procopius, whose official texts praised them, but whoso Secret History depicted them as bloodthirsty tyrants and demon-worshipers.) ! Prominent Eastern Roman scholar of the family Procopius. He is commonly held to be the last major ancient historian. The writings of Procopius are the primary source of information for the rule of the Roman emperor Justinian. Procopius was the author of a history in eight books of the wars fought byJustinian I, a panegyric on Justinian's public works throughout the empire, and a book known as the Secret History (Greek: Anekdota) that claims to report the scandals that Procopius could not include in his published history. ! The Secret History reveals an author who had become deeply disillusioned with the emperor Justinian and his wife, Theodora, as well as Belisarius, his old commander, and Antonina, Belisarius' wife. The anecdotes claim to expose the secret springs of their public actions, as well as the private lives of the Emperor, his wife, and their entourage. Justinian is raked over the coals as cruel, venal, prodigal and incompetent; as for Theodora, the reader is treated to the most detailed and titillating portrayals of vulgarity and insatiable lust combined with shrewish and calculating mean-spiritedness.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Marco Pollo
|
! Polo, together with his father Niccolò and his uncle Maffeo, was one of the first Westerners to travel the Silk Road to China (which he called Cathay, after the Khitan) and visit the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, Kublai Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan) * Venetian trader and explorer who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione ("The Million" or The Travels of Marco Polo) also known as Oriente Poliano (the Orient of the Polos) and the Description of the World. Black Death: (Spread of the Plague along Trade Routes – the Italian merchant and explorer, Marco Polo (1254-1324), had pioneered these overland routes through central Asia known as the “Silk Road,” as he describes in his “Travels”.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Islam: “People of the Book”
|
The Quran urges believers to spread the faith by any means, including military, although it requires that respect be shown to Jews and Christians (“People of the Book”), who could not be forcibly converted but were required to pay a special tax if they refused to become Muslim
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition: German Literature: Parzifal
|
! Major medieval German epic poem attributed to the poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, written in the Middle High German language. ! Commonly dated circa the first quarter of the 13th century. ! The poem is, in part, an adaptation of Chretien de Troyes’ Perceval, the Story of the Grail and mainly centers on the Arthurian hero Parzival (Percival in English) and his long quest for the Holy Grail, following his initial failure to achieve it. A long middle section is devoted to Parzival's friend Gawan and his adventures defending himself from a false murder charge and winning the hand of the maiden Orgeluse. The poem continues to be read in Middle High German and translated into modern languages around the world. Among the most striking elements of the text are the scope of its plot and its emphasis on the virtues of compassion and spiritual questioning. German courtly love poets were also inspired by the Arthurian cycle, as seen in Parzifal by Wolfram von Eschenbach
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Paper (Creation)
|
! Came into use during the fourteenth century - acquired from the Muslims (who had acquired it from the Chinese). ! Paper was relatively inexpensive to manufacture compared to parchment and would become the standard writing surface when the printing press was invented in the fifteenth century (c 1450). ! The word paper derives from the Greek term for the ancient Egyptian writing material called papyrus, which was formed from beaten strips of papyrus plants. ! Papyrus was produced as early as 3500 BC in Egypt, and sold to ancient Greece and Rome. The establishment of the Library of Alexandria in the 3rd century BC put a drain on the supply of papyrus. Papermaking is considered to be one of the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China, since the first papermaking process was developed in China during the early 2nd century.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Carolingians: Creation of Papal States
|
Charles Martel’s son, Pepin (or Pippin) the Short (c 714-768), was not satisfied to rule the Franks as Mayor of the Palace 751: he deposed the last Merovingian king and asked the pope to legitimize his seizure of power Pope Stephen II (752-757) needed help against the Lombards, so in 754 he crowned Pepin king of the Franks – in gratitude, Pepin defeated the Lombards and in 755 gave part of their territory to the pope. This land grant, known as the donation of Pepin, founded the Papal States The alliance of the Carolingians and the papacy enhanced the authority of each: while the Carolingians became the legitimate king of the Franks, the popes received a sizable state in central Italy and became recognized as kingmakers
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Reform of the Papacy
|
The temporal power that came to the bishops of Rome from the alliance with the Carolingians solved some problems, but also created new ones. The Roman nobles, hoping to expand their own power against rivals, began to treat the papacy as a secular office that could be used to dominate local politics, so they fought one another in the attempt to get their sons elected pope. The situation deteriorated severely in the 10th century with a series of worldly popes, most notoriously John XII (955-964), who became pontiff at the age of 18 and was infamous for his sinful behavior. John XII called upon the German ruler, Otto I, for aid against his enemies in Italy, and in gratitude for the help revived the imperial title, crowning Otto the Holy Roman Emperor in 962. However, Otto I (962-973) later replaced the profligate John XII with a worthier pope (Leo VIII), and German emperors thereafter regularly intervened in papal elections. (This was often to good effect: For example, Otto III (996-1002) appointed his former tutor and the foremost scholar in western Europe, Gerbert of Aurillac, as Pope Sylvester II (999-1003), who was committed to reform. However, since he was the first Frenchman to receive the office, he was viewed with enmity by some as an outsider, and his intellectual abilities led to malicious gossip that he was a magician in league with the devil.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Papal Monarchy
|
While the Holy Roman Empire was weakened by the Investiture Controversy, the papacy benefited from it, and used the prestige it acquired by challenging the emperors to adopt the Gregorian reforms. ! The popes then put forth an ambitious program on reshaping Christian society that gave them a considerable measure of political power extending far beyond the bound the boundaries of the Papal States, as exemplified by the series of invasions they initiated known as the Crusades ! The Papacy reached the height of its power during the period from 1059 when the College of Cardinals is established through 1309 when the Avignon Papacy begins. The First Four Hundred Years. The Roman Catholic Church has undergone many changes during its long history. We have previously discussed the Doctrine of Petrine Succession, which holds that the Popes derive their authority directly from Peter, who was commissioned by Jesus. Nonetheless, during the first four centuries of the development of Christianity, there were other powerful centers of the Christian Churches besides Rome. Not until the division of the Roman Empire into East and West after 395 did Rome become dominant in the West. Great Popes through 600. The following four Popes helped to develop the idea of Papal Supremacy in the West. Damasus, 366 - 384, addressed other bishops as "sons" rather than as "brothers." Leo I, 440 - 461, expounded the Doctrine of Petrine Supremacy, that the Pope is the heir of Peter, to whom Jesus had given "the keys to the kingdom of God." Gelasius I, 492 - 496, proclaimed the doctrine of the two swords: Church and Empire. The Church has heavier burden and is superior to the State in spiritual matters. Gregory the Great, 590 - 604 , real founder of the Papal States. The Carolingian Period. During the Carolingian Period of the Frankish Kingdom, we saw that the Popes forged an alliance with the Pepin the Short and Charlemagne. Pepin defended the papacy against the Lombards and issued the Donation of Pepin, which granted the land around Rome to the pope as a fief. The popes argued that the Donation of Pepin merely confirmed the earlier Donation of Constantine. (During the Renaissance, the Donation of Constantine was proven to be a medieval forgery). Charlemagne was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day 800. The Feudal Period. The Ninth Century Invasions and the development of the Feudal System caused a general decline within the Church. Under the Saxon monarchy of the so-called Holy Roman Empire, the Popes and the Church became part of feudalism. Popes and bishops were appointed frequently by Feudal lords, such as the Holy Roman Emperor. But, the effort to reform the Church by freeing it from domination by feudal lords began almost as soon as the Feudal System. The monastery of Cluny, founded in 910 by Duke William of Aquitaine, led this reform, which is usually called the Cluniac Reform Movement. Efforts were made to eliminate simony, the buying of church offices, concubinage, and lay investiture. CLUNIAC REFORMS OF THE CHURCH "Beginning in the late eleventh century the papacy attempted to assert the church's independence from secular control. The first of these popes, Leo IX (1049 - 1054), deposed corrupt bishops and reasserted papal supremacy over all the clergy. COLLEGE OF CARDINALS 1059 "In 1059 a church council took a major step in freeing the papacy itself from imperial control by establishing the right of the College of Cardinals to elect future popes, a practice still in effect. GREGORY VII, 1073 - 1085 "In 1075 Gregory VII (1073 - 1085) attempted to restore the election of bishops and abbots to the church by terminating the practice of lay investiture--a bestowal of the insignia of an ecclesiastical office by a layperson. Practically speaking, lay investiture entailed the right of the laity, such as emperors or kings, to select bishops and abbots, though this was in violation of church law and tradition. A vigorous reformed church could hardly be established if its key officials were selected with a view to political, monetary, and family considerations rather than spiritual qualifications and if the loyalty of such persons was ultimately to the sovereign who appointed them rather than to the pope." INVESTITURE STRUGGLE "The immediate target of Gregory's decree was the emperor Henry IV (1056 - 1106), who enjoyed the support of his bishops but not the German territorial princes. The latter stood to gain by any reduction of imperial power. Recognizing the implications of the decree, Henry had his prelates declare Gregory deposed, to which the pope responded by excommunicating Henry, absolving his subjects from their duty to obey him, and depriving the imperial bishops of their offices. "Delighted at this turn of events, the renegade princes in Germany called for a council, over which Gregory would preside, at Augsburg in February 1077; its task would be to ascertain the validity of Henry's claim to the imperial crown. Unprepared to cope with a rebellion, the emperor intercepted Gregory at Canossa in Italy to seek absolution. "As a priest, Gregory had to forgive the penitent Henry, thereby giving the emperor the upper hand in the civil war that ensured in Germany. "Henry was in a much stronger position when Gregory again excommunicated him in 1080. Four years later Henry's troops occupied Rome, driving Gregory into exile and installing a rival or "antipope," Clement VII, on the papal throne." (pp. 226 - 228, Greaves) URBAN II, 1088 - 1099 The Byzantine Emperor Alexius I asked Pope Urban II for military help against the Seljuk Turks. At the Church Council of Clermont in 1095, Urban II issued a call to arms to liberate Jerusalem and the Holy Land. This set off the Crusades. The First Crusade took Jerusalem in July 1099. For the next 150 years, Western Crusaders sought to preserve what first Crusade had gained. CONCORDAT OF WORMS 1122 "The investiture struggle dragged on until 1122, when Henry V (1106 - 1125) and Pope Calixtus II (1119 - 1124) agreed in the Concordat of Worms that the church would henceforth give prelates their offices and spiritual authority but that the emperor could be present when German bishops were elected and invest them with fiefs. "In theory, at least, the clergy were now more independent of secular control, though in practice their selection and work were still very political. "The real winners in the investiture struggle were the powerful territorial princes, who consolidated their hold over their own lands while imperial attention focused on Rome, and the emerging urban communes of northern Italy, which seized this opportunity to achieve a semi-independent status. In the end the biggest losers were not only the emperors but the German people, who were increasingly subjected to feudal conflict at a time when the French and English were laying the foundations of unified states." (pp. 226 - 228, Greaves) POPE INNOCENT III 1198 - 1216 "Innocent III (1198 - 1216), arguable the most powerful of the medieval popes, took advantage of the chaos that followed Henry's untimely death to undermine the link between Germany and Sicily. Germany was thrust into civil war when the leading Hohenstaufen candidate for the imperial throne, Philip of Swabia, Henry VI's brother, was challenged by Otto of Brunswick. Although Innocent crowned Otto in 1198, the latter's attempt to control Sicily prompted the pope to excommunicate him. "At the urging of the French king, Philip Augustus, Innocent recognized the hereditary claim of Henry's son, Frederick II, as king of the Romans (and hence emperor-elect) in 1212. Philip's victory over Otto at Bouvines (1214) decided the struggle in Frederick's favor, though Frederick continued to fight with the popes over Sicily for the rest of his reign. "Innocent enhanced papal authority by issuing numerous decrees that spelled out the pope's powers in clear legal terms. The "plenitude of power" that he asserted (as had Pope Leo the Great) did not- entail a claim to temporal world power but to supreme spiritual sovereignty, including the right to intervene in secular affairs when the faith or morals of the church were affected. Monarchs rightly reigned, in his view, only if they devoutly served the pope as Christ's vicar. "As we have seen, he acted on these principles when he humbled England's King John over a disputed election for the archbishop of Canterbury. In a quarrel that lasted two decades, he finally forced King Philip Augustus of France to take back his Danish wife after Philip had rejected her the day following their wedding. Innocent strengthened the church in numerous other ways, including approval for the establishment of new religious orders and attention to the restoration and decoration of various churches." (pp. 228 - 230, Greaves) GREAT INTERREGNUM, 1254 - 1273 "After Frederick's death in 1250, the papacy encouraged civil strife in Germany so successfully that between 1254 and 1273 there was no generally recognized emperor. Moreover, the Hohenstaufen line itself died out in 1268. The Great Interregnum, as the period without a recognized emperor was called, marked the triumph of the papacy over the empire--a victory achieved with French support. Yet half a century after the interregnum began, the French monarchy delivered a crippling blow to papal power and prestige." POPE BONIFACE VIII AND THE END OF PAPAL HEGEMONY THE AVIGNON PAPACY AND THE GREAT SCHISM
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Height of Papal Monarchy: Innocent III
|
The persecution of Cathors and Waldensianss was an expression of the newtemporal powers that the papacy had acquired over the course of the 12th century ! Most prominent representative of this politically forceful “papal monarchy” was Innocent III (1198-1216) ! Innocent declared the Albigensian Crusade ! Most significant achievement was the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) ! In looking after the interest of the Church, Innocent frequently intervened in the affairs of kings. ! Refused to allow Philip II Augustus to divorce his wife and forbade him from invading England ! Also put England under interdict (a suspension of celebrating the sacraments) when he excommunicated King John for resisting his choice for the office of Archbishop of Canterbury To end the controversy, King John was forced to submit the kingdom of England as a papal fief.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church and State: Canons Regular: Rule of St. Augustine
|
In order to institute clerical celibacy, the reformers promoted the foundation of the canons regular, a semic-monastic order following the Rule of St. Augustine, which recommended that diocesan priests live together in a community rather than in private homes, where they were more susceptible to temptations The ancient Rule of life formally constituted for the hermits around 1243, had its origins established soon after St. Augustine was converted by Ambrose in Milan around the year 384 AD. He and some friends returned to his native Thagaste in North Africa, gave away their possessions and began a life of prayer and study. Probably, Augustine didn't compose a formal monastic rule despite the extant Augustinian Rule. Augustine's hortatory letter to the nuns at Hippo Regius (Epist., ccxi, Benedictine ed.) is not considered a formal Monastic rule by some scholars. However, the present rule has strong consonance with the existing writings and teaching of Augustine of Hippo.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Vernacular Tradition: French Literature: The Romance of the Rose
|
! (The most popular of French literatury works was a long allegorical poem called “The Romance of the Rose”, a 13th-century epic begun by Guillaume de Lorris and later expanded by Jean de Meun, whose characters are abstract personifications that depict the virtues and vices of the time) ! Medieval French poem styled as an allegorical dream vision. ! Notable instance of courtly literature - the work's stated purpose is to both entertain and to teach others about the Art of Love. At various times in the poem, the "Rose" of the title is seen as the name of the lady, and as a symbol of female sexuality in general. Likewise, the other characters' names function both as regular names and as abstractions illustrating the various factors that are involved in a love affair.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Intellectual Tradition: Nominalism: Realism
|
(A long-lasting debate that generated interest in the 12th century concerned the relationship between words and reality) Realism: maintains that universal concepts substantially exist in an intelligible world Nominalism: objected that universals are merely words (nomina) that are used to describe abstractions and therefore do not correspond to any substantial reality Nominalist: William of Ockham: Ockham’s Razor
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Intellectual Tradition: Summa Theologica
|
! Most famous work of Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274) although it was never finished. ! Proposed to reconcile faith and reason, became the favored theological work of teh Catholic Church. Intended as a manual for beginners as a compilation of all of the main theological teachings of that time. Summarizes the reasonings for almost all points of Christian theology in the West, which, before the Protestant Reformation, subsisted solely in the Roman Catholic Church. The Summa's topics follow a cycle: the existence of God, God's creation, Man, Man's purpose, Christ, the Sacraments, and back to God. Famous for its five arguments for the existence of God, the Quinquae viae (Latin: five ways). Throughout his work, Aquinas cites Augustine, Aristotle, and other Christian, Jewish and even Muslim and ancient pagan scholars. The Summa Theologica is a more mature and structured version of Aquinas's earlier Summa Contra Gentiles. This earlier work was more apologetic, each article refuting a belief of a heresy. Aquinas's death left the Summa, perhaps the greatest theological statement of the Middle Ages, unfinished. It used the Aristotelian concepts of substance and accident to give a philosophical explanation of the doctrine of transubstantiation. Aquinas reasoned that the bread and wine used during the Mass become the actual substance of the body and blood of Jesus Christ even though they do not change their appearance, which is an accidental quality. Thus, Aquinas demonstrated how ancient Greek philosophy could be used to discuss the mysteries of religion.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Feudalism and Manorialism: Classical Feudalism: Subinfeudation
|
If the lord granted a large enough fief, the vassal could parcel it out to yet lower members of the nobility, in which case the vassal became a lord to his own vassals subinfeudation : This process is known as subinfeudation, whereby a social pyramid of nobles was erected with knights at the bottom and the king at the top * Practice by which tenants, holding land under the king or other superior lord, carved out in their turn by sub-letting or alienating a part of their lands new and distinct tenures. The tenants were termed "mesne-lords," with regard to those holding from them, the immediate tenant being tenant in capite. The lowest tenant of all was the freeholder, or, as he was sometimes termed tenant paravail. The Crown, who in theory owned all lands, was lord paramount. The great lords looked with dissatisfaction on the increase of such subtenures. Accordingly in 1290 a statute was passed, Quia Emptores, which allowed the tenant to alienate whenever he pleased, but the person to whom he granted the land was to hold it for the same immediate lord, and by the same services as the alienor held it before.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition: Icelandic Literature: Snorri Sturluson
|
! Icelandic historian, poet and politician. ! ("Younger Edda" is a prose work composed as a complement to the Elder Edda, a collection of poems. This Eddict literature preserves the pre-Christian mythology of the Northmen) Two-time elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. Author of the Prose Edda or Younger Edda, which consists of Gylfaginning ("the fooling of Gylfi"), a narrative of Norse mythology, the Skáldskaparmál, a book of poetic language, and the Háttatal, a list of verse forms. Also the author of the Heimskringla, a history of the Norwegian kings that begins with legendary material in Ynglinga saga and moves through to early medieval Scandinavian history. For stylistic and methodological reasons, Snorri is often taken to be the author of Egils saga.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition: German Literature: Gottfried von Strassburg
|
Author of the Middle High German courtly romance “Tristan”, which is regarded, alongside Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival and the Nibelungenlied, as one of the great narrative masterpieces of the German Middle Ages. * “Preceding the work of Brother Robert chronologically is the Tristan and Isolt of Gottfried von Strassburg, written circa 1211-1215. The poem was Gottfried's only known work, and was left incomplete due to his death with the retelling reaching half-way through the main plot. The poem was later completed by authors such as Heinrich von Freiberg and Ulrich von Türheim, but with the "common" branch of the legend as the ideal source” Probably also the composer of a small number of surviving lyrics. His work became a source of inspiration for Richard Wagner's operas.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Medieval Inquisition
|
Series of Inquisitions (Roman Catholic Church bodies charged with suppressing heresy) from around 1184, including the Episcopal Inquisition (1184-1230s) and later the Papal Inquisition (1230s). Response to large popular movements throughout Europe considered apostate or heretical to Christianity, in particular Catharism and Waldensians in southern France and northern Italy - These were the first inquisition movements of many that would follow. The Medieval Inquisitions were in response to growing religious movements, in particular the Cathars first noted in the 1140s and the Waldensians starting around 1170, in southern France and northern Italy. Individual "Heretics", for example Peter of Bruis, had often challenged the Church. However, the Cathars were the first mass heretical organization in the second millennium that posed a serious threat to the authority of the Church.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Vernacular Tradition: French Literature: The Song of Roland
|
1100 - Among the earliest works in Old French, written around the year 1100, which describes the heroic defense of Charlemagne’s rearguard during his campaign against the Muslims in Spain The epic poem is the first and most outstanding example of the “chanson de geste”, a literary form that flourished between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries and celebrated the legendary deeds of a hero
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Silk Road
|
Or Silk Routes, refers to an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, including North Africa and Europe. The so-called "Silk Routes" were not only conduits for silk, but for many other products and were also very important paths for cultural and technological transmission by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from China to the Mediterranean Sea for thousands of years Enabled people to transport trade goods, especially luxuries such as silk, satins, musk, rubies, diamonds, pearls and rhubarb from different parts of the world in China, India, and Asia Minor to the Mediterranean, extending over 8,000 km (5,000 miles). Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, India, Egypt, Persia, Arabia, Rome, and Byzantium and helped to lay the foundations for the modern world in several respects. Although the term the Silk Road implies a continuous journey, very few travelers traveled the route from end to end. For the most part, goods were transported by a series of agents on varying routes and trade took place in the bustling mercantile markets of the oasis towns. The Central Asian part of the trade route was initiated around 114 BCE by the Han Dynasty largely through the missions and explorations of Zhang Qian although earlier trade across the continents had already existed. In the late Middle Ages, use of the Silk Road declined as sea trade increased * ! the Venetian explorer Marco Polo became one of the first Europeans to travel the Silk Road to China, and his tales, documented in Ptolemaic dynasty, opened Western eyes to some of the customs of the Far East. He was not the first to bring back stories, but he was one of the widest-read. He had been preceded by numerous Christian missionaries to the East, such as William of Rubruck, Benedykt Polak, Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, and Andrew of Longjumeau.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Invasions of the 9th and 10th Centuries: Saracens
|
! term used by Europeans in the Middle Ages for Fatimids at first, then later for all who professed the religion of Islam.[1] In the south, the Muslims (whom medieval Christians generally called “Saracens”) gained control of the Mediterranean, established several bases outside Spain, and conducted piratical raids along the southern coasts of Europe. (In 843, they even attacked Rome.)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Church in the Late Middle Ages: 3rd Crusade: Saladin
|
! Sultan of Egypt and Syria. ! Kurdish Muslim, led the Islamic opposition to the Third Crusade. At the height of his power, the Ayyubid dynasty he founded, ruled over Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Hejaz, and Yemen. ! He led Muslim resistance to the European Crusaders and eventually recaptured Palestine from the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. As such, he is a notable figure in Arab, Kurdish, and Muslim culture. ! Saladin was a strict practitioner of Sunni Islam. He did not maim, kill or retaliate against those whom he defeated, with the notable exception of certain events following the Battle of Hattin. His generally chivalrous behaviour was noted by Christian chroniclers, especially in the accounts of the siege of Krak in Moab. ( 1187: the Muslim warrior Saladin, Prince of Egypt, dealt a crushing blow to the crusading armies at the Battle of Hattin and captured Jerusalem The crusade to win back Jerusalem attracted three kings: Richard I the Lion-Hearted of England (1189-1199) Philip II Augustus of France (1180-1223) Frederick I Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire (1152-1190) )
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: The Conversion of Britain: St. Patrick
|
! Christian missionary and patron saint of Ireland. ! 430 - Converted a group of pagans (Celts north, Germanic invaders in southern and central parts)\\ Born near the west coast of Roman Britain, and had the given name Succat. His father, Calpurnius, was a deacon and a municipal official. ! After being captured by Irish raiders at 15, he was made a servant in Ireland for six years, herding pigs for Milchu on Mount Slemish, Co. Antrim. There, in the first of seven dream-visions, as tradition relates, he was instructed how to escape on a ship exporting wolfhounds. After his return to Britain, he dreamt he heard the voices of the Irish calling to him. He confronted the druidic order at the court of the High King Laegaire at Tara[see also kingship]. In the tradition, he destroys the idol Crom Cruaich and banishes snakes from the country. The conversion of Ireland to Christianity appears to have occurred within his lifetime, and Patrick records that he baptized thousands in his journeys through Ireland, ordaining clergy and founding churches. The Confessioprovides an autobiographical account of his work in Ireland. The Lorica or Breastplate of St Patrick is believed to be of later provenance, and has no historical connection with the saint.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church in the Late Middle Ages: Mendicant Orders: St. Francis of Assisi
|
! Roman Catholic friar and the founder of the Order of Friars Minor, more commonly known as the Franciscans. ! known as the patron saint of animals, birds, the environment, and Italy, and it is customary for Catholic churches to hold ceremonies honoring animals around his feast day of October 4
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church in the Late Middle Ages: Mendicant Orders: Domincans: St. Dominic Guzman
|
! Founder of the “Friars Preachers!, popularly called the Dominicans or Order of Preachers (OP), a Catholic religious order. * Patron saint of astronomers and the Dominican Republic. ! Saw the need for a new type of organization to address the needs of his time, one that would bring the dedication and systematic education of the older monastic orders to bear on the religious problems of the burgeoning population of cities, but with more organizational flexibility than either monastic orders or the secular clergy. ! The final result of his deliberations was the establishment of his order. In the same year, the year of the Fourth Lateran Council, Dominic and Foulques went to Rome to secure the approval of the pope, Innocent III. Dominic returned to Rome a year later, and was finally granted written authority in December 1216 and January1217 by the new pope, Honorius III for an order to be named "The Order of Preachers" (Ordo Praedicatorum, or O.P., popularly known as the Dominican Order).[7] This organizations has as its motto "to praise, to bless, to preach" (in Latin: Laudare, benedicere, praedicare), taken from the Preface of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Missal
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Medieval Church: Monasticism: The Rule of St. Benedict
|
The Rule of St Benedict (fl. 6th century) is a book of precepts written by St. Benedict of Nursia for monks living in a community under the authority of an abbot. Since about the 7th century it has also been adopted by communities of women. During the 1500 years of its existence, it has become the leading guide in Western Christianity for monastic living in community, in Orthodoxy, Catholicism and (since the time of the Reformation) in the Anglican and Protestant traditions.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Medieval Church: Monasticism: St. Benedict of Nursia
|
! Saint from Italy, the founder of Western Christian monastic communities, and a rule-giver for cenobitic monks. ! Main achievement is his "Rule", containing precepts for his monks. It is heavily influenced by the writings of John Cassian, and shows strong affinity with the Rule of the Master. But it also has a unique spirit of balance, moderation and reasonableness, and this persuaded most religious communities founded throughout the Middle Ages to adopt it. As a result, the Rule of St Benedict became one of the most influential religious rules in Western Christendom. For this reason Benedict is often called "the founder of western Christian monasticism". The order is of modern origin and, moreover, not an "order" as commonly understood but merely a confederation of congregations into which the traditionally independent Benedictine abbeys have affiliated themselves for the purpose of representing their mutual interests, without however ceasing any of their autonomy. (In the 5th and 6th centuries, there were many independent groups of monks following different visions of what the monastic life should entail, reflected in written guides called “rules” An Italian monk, St. Benedict of Nursia (c 480 h- 547), revised one of these rules and added important innovations that made his monastic order superior to others The Benedictine order, which began at Monte Cassino in Italy, became the dominant form of monasticism in Western Europe until the 12th century)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Black Death: Economic and Social Consequences: Wat Tyler
|
Post black death, there was a shortage of labor, yet employers and governments initially resisted grating concessions to laborers, which prompted a series of peasant rebellions (aggravated in England and France by the Hundred Years’ War), such as the Jacquerie in France (1358) and the Peasants’ Revolt led by Wat Tyler in England (1381) ! * Leader of the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The rising is significant because it marked the beginning of the end of serfdom in medieval England. It led to calls for the reform offeudalism in England and an increase in rights for the serf class. The revolt was precipitated by heavy-handed attempts to enforce the third poll tax, first levied in 1377 supposedly to finance military campaigns overseas — a continuation of the Hundred Years' War initiated by King Edward III of England. The third poll tax, unlike the two earlier, was not levied on a flat rate basis (as in 1377) nor according to schedule (as in 1379), but in a manner that allowed some of the poor to pay a reduced rate, but others with essentially the same economic position to pay the full tax, prompting calls of injustice.: it was also set at 3Groat compared with the 1399 rate of 1 groat. The young King, Richard II, was also another reason for the uprising, as he was only 14 at the time, and therefore unpopular men such asJohn of Gaunt (the acting regent), Simon Sudbury (Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury, who in fact acted as the figurehead to what many saw as a corrupt Church at the time) and Sir Robert Hales (the Lord Treasurer, responsible for the poll tax) were left to rule instead, and many saw them as corrupt officials, trying to exploit the weakness of the King
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition: German Literature: Tristan and Isolt
|
The legend of Tristan and Iseult is an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with as many variations. The tragic story of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan (Tristram) and the Irish princess Iseult (Isolde, Yseult, etc.), the narrative predates and most likely influenced the Arthurian romance of Lancelot and Guinevere, and has had a substantial impact on Western art and literature since it first appeared in the 12th century. While the details of the story differ from one author to another, the overall plot structure remains much the same.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Carolingians: The Later Carolingian Kings: Treaty of Verdun
|
(843) (Charlemagne was able to hold his empire together through personal energy and charisma, but toward the end of his life, it began to disintegrate So, Louis the Pious (814-840), was unable to keep it intact ! The sons of Louis fought over their shares of the realm but eventually came to an agreement known as the Treaty of Verdun (843), which divided the realm into 3 parts: the western part went to Charls the Bald, the central part (along wit the imperial title) went to Lothair, and the eastern part went to Louis the German) * The three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, Charlemagne's grandsons, divided his territories, theCarolingian Empire, into three kingdoms. Though often presented as the beginning of a devolution or dissolution of Charlemagne's unitary empire, it in fact reflected the continued adherence to the Germanic, and therefore Frankish, idea of a partible or divisible inheritance rather than primogeniture, inheritance by the eldest son.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Carolingians: The Later Carolingian Kings: Treaty of Mersen
|
By 870, the northern parts of the middle kingdom had been swallowed up by its neighbors and the new boundaries were then formalized in the Treaty of Mersen. ! These divisions were to hang long-lasting effects inasmuch as they roughly established the borders of the modern European states of France and Germany. * Agreement of the division of the Carolingian Empire by the surviving sons ofLouis I, Charles II of the West Franks and Louis the German of East Franks, signed at the town of Meerssen, north ofMaastricht, which is now in the Netherlands. Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor, who ruled Northern Italy and the Kingdom of Provence, sought a piece of the partition, with the support of Pope Hadrian II but was denied. The treaty replaced the Treaty of Verdun. The Kingdom of Lotharingia - a band of territory stretching from the Jura mountains in modern Switzerland to the North Sea - was divided between Charles II and Louis the German, in 869, after the death of their nephew Lothar II, King of Lotharingia. The north of Lotharingia was under Danish Viking control and was only divided between West Francia and East Francia on paper.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Church in the Late Middle Ages: Transubstantiation
|
The change of the substance of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ occurring in the Eucharist according to the teaching of some Christian Churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, while all that is accessible to the senses remain as before. In Greek it is called μετουσίωσις (see Metousiosis). ! Consubstantiation is a theological doctrine that (like transubstantiation) attempts to describe the nature of the Christian Eucharist in concrete metaphysicalterms. It holds that during the sacrament the fundamental "substance" of the body and blood of Christ are present alongside the substance of the bread and wine, which remain present.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Intellectual Tradition: Thomism
|
Philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Thomas Aquinas. ! Aquinas worked to create a philosophical system which integrated Christian doctrine with elements taken from Aristotelianism. Generally, he augmented the neoplatonic view of philosophy which, after Augustine, had become tremendously influential among medieval philosophers, with insights drawn from Aristotle. In this he was greatly influenced by his reading of earlier and contemporary Islamic philosophers, especially the works of Avicenna (see Avicennism), Algazel, and Averroes (see Averroism), though he rejected Averroes' primary conclusions and themes. ! Aquinas is, therefore, generally agreed to have moved the focus of Scholastic philosophy from Plato to Aristotle. The extent to which he was successful in doing this is still debated. ! The Second Vatican Council described Aquinas's system as the "Perennial Philosophy" ! (William of Ockham's teaching was condemned for its rejection of Thomism) The word comes from the name of its originator, whose "Summa Theologica" is arguably second only to the Bible in importance to the Roman Catholic Church. In the encyclical Doctoris Angelici, Pope Pius X cautioned that the teachings of the Church cannot be understood scientifically without the basic philosophical underpinnings of Aquinas's major thesis. The capital theses in the philosophy of St. Thomas are not to be placed in the category of opinions capable of being debated one way or another, but are to be considered as the foundations upon which the whole science of natural and divine things is based; if such principles are once removed or in any way impaired, it must necessarily follow that students of the sacred sciences will ultimately fail to perceive so much as the meaning of the words in which the dogmas of divine revelation are proposed by the magistracy of the Church.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Walls of Constantinople
|
! Series of stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul in Turkey) since its founding as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. ! With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification system of Antiquity, and one of the most complex and elaborate systems ever built. ! Initially built by Constantine the Great, the walls surrounded the new city on all sides, protecting it against attack from both sea and land. ! As the city grew, the famous double line of the Theodosian Walls was built in the 5th century. ! Although the other sections of the walls were less elaborate, when well manned, they were almost impregnable for any medieval besieger, saving the city, and the Byzantine Empire with it, during sieges from the Avars, Arabs, Rus', and Bulgars, among others (see Sieges of Constantinople). Only the advent of gunpowder siege cannons rendered the fortifications obsolete, resulting in the final siege and fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans on May 29th 1453
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Byzantine Empire: Justinian and Theodora: Theodora
|
* Empress of the Byzantine Empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I. Like her husband, she is a saint in the Orthodox Church, commemorated on November 14. ! (Early in Justinian’s reign (532) a fight between political factions erupted at the chariot races and became a protest against the government known as the Nika riots ! Justinian considered fleeing, but Theodora urged him to stay and risk his life suppressing the rebellion – her courageous intervention thus made possible all the later achievements of Justinian’s reign) Perhaps the most influential and powerful woman in the Byzantine Empire's history. She returned to Constantinople in 522 and gave up her former lifestyle, settling as a wool spinner in a house near the palace. Her beauty, wit and amusing character drew the attention of Justinian, who wanted to marry her. However, he could not: He was heir of the throne of his uncle, Emperor Justin I, and a Roman law from Constantine's time prevented government officials from marrying actresses. Empress Euphemia, who liked Justinian and ordinarily refused him nothing, was against his wedding with an actress. However, Justin was fond of Theodora. In 525, when Euphemia had died, Justin repealed the law, and Justinian managed to marry Theodora. By this point, she already had a daughter (whose name has been lost). Justinian apparently treated the daughter and the daughter's son Athanasius as fully legitimate, although sources disagree whether Justinian was the girl's father. She returned to Constantinople in 522 and gave up her former lifestyle, settling as a wool spinner in a house near the palace. Her beauty, wit and amusing character drew the attention of Justinian, who wanted to marry her. However, he could not: He was heir of the throne of his uncle, Emperor Justin I, and a Roman law from Constantine's time prevented government officials from marrying actresses. Empress Euphemia, who liked Justinian and ordinarily refused him nothing, was against his wedding with an actress. However, Justin was fond of Theodora. In 525, when Euphemia had died, Justin repealed the law, and Justinian managed to marry Theodora. By this point, she already had a daughter (whose name has been lost). Justinian apparently treated the daughter and the daughter's son Athanasius as fully legitimate, although sources disagree whether Justinian was the girl's father. ! Theodora proved herself a worthy and able leader during the Nika riots. There were two rival political factions in the empire, the Blues and the Greens, which started a riot stemming from many grievances in January 532, during a chariot race in the hippodrome. The rioters set many public buildings on fire and proclaimed a new emperor. Theodora proved herself ruthless, as it was her will that Pompeius and Hypatius, the nephews of Anastasius I, be put to death when the mob had chosen Hypatius to replace Justinian. Unable to control the mob, Justinian and his officials prepared to flee. At a meeting of the government council, Theodora spoke out against leaving the palace and underlined the significance of someone who died as a ruler instead of living as nothing. Her determined speech convinced them all. As a result, Justinian ordered his loyal troops led by two reliable officers, Belisarius and Mundus, to attack the demonstrators in the hippodrome. His generals attacked the hippodrome, killing over 30,000 rebels. Historians agree that it was Theodora's courage and decisiveness that saved Justinian's reign.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Military Religious Orders: Knights Templar
|
! Among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders. ! Existed for approximately two centuries in the Middle Ages, founded in the aftermath of the First Crusade of 1096, with its original purpose to ensure the safety of the many Christians who made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem after its conquest. ! Officially endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church around 1129, the Order became a favored charity throughout Christendom and grew rapidly in membership and power. ! In their distinctive white mantles with red cross, were among the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades. ! Non-combatant members of the Order managed a large economic infrastructure throughout Christendom, innovating financial techniques that were an early form of banking, and building many fortifications across Europe and the Holy Land. The Templars' success was tied closely to the Crusades; when the Holy Land was lost, support for the Order faded. Rumors about the Templars' secret initiation ceremony created mistrust, and King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, began pressuring Pope Clement V to take action against the Order. In 1307, many of the Order's members in France were arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at the stake. In 1312, Pope Clement, under continuing pressure from King Philip, disbanded the Order. The abrupt disappearance of a major part of the European infrastructure gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the "Templar" name alive into the modern day.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Vernacular Tradition: German Literature: Wolfram von Eschenbach
|
! German knight and poet, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of his time. ! Best known today for his Parzival, sometimes regarded as the greatest of all German epics from that time. ! As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry. Based on Chrétien de Troyes'Perceval, le Conte du Graal, it is the first extant work in German to have as its subject the Holy Grail. In the poem, Wolfram expresses disdain for Chrétien's (unfinished) version of the tale, and states that his source was a poet from Provence called Kyot. Some scholars believe Wolfram might have meant Guiot de Provins (though none of the latter's surviving works relate to the themes of Parzival), however others believe Kyot was simply a literary device invented by Wolfram to explain his deviations from Chrétien's version.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Church: Wycliffe and Huss: John Wycliffe
|
! English theologian, translator and reformist. ! Early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. ! Considered the founder of the Lollard movement, a precursor to the Protestant Reformation (for this reason, he is sometimes called "The Morning Star of the Reformation"). ! One of the earliest opponents of papal encroachment on secular power. ! Wycliffe was also an early advocate for translation of the Bible directly from the Vulgate into vernacular English in the year 1382, now known as the Wycliffe Bible. ! Believed that he personally translated the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; and it is possible he translated the entire New Testament, while his associates translated the Old Testament. Wycliff's Bible appears to have been completed by 1384, with additional updated versions being done by Wycliffe's assistant John Purvey and others in 1388 and 1395.
|
|
|
Middle Ages: The Church in the Late Middle Ages: Heretical Movements: Waldensians
|
The Waldensians, Waldenses or Vaudois began as a Christian spiritual movement of the later Middle Ages, descendants of which still exist in various regions. Over time, the denomination joined the Genevan or Reformed branch of the Protestant Reformation. ! (The Waldensians took their name from Waldo of Lyons, a rich merchant whose reading of the New Testament inspired him to give away his property to the poor and embrace a life of poverty. His followers traveled throughout Europe preaching against the luxurious lifestyles of many Catholic bishops and winning coverts on the strength of their own simple, impoverished lifestyle and their strict interpretation of the social message of the Gosopel.) ! Particular efforts against the movement began in the 1230s with the Inquisition seeking the leaders of the movements. The movement had been almost completely suppressed in southern France within twenty years but the persecution lasted beyond into the 14th century. About the earlier history of the Waldenses considerable uncertainty exists because of the lack of extant source material. They were persecuted as heretical before the 16th Century, endured near annihilation in the 17th century, and were then confronted with organized and generalized discrimination in centuries that followed. There are active congregations in Europe, South America, and North America. The contemporary and historic Waldensian spiritual heritage includes proclaiming the Gospel, serving among the marginalized, promoting social justice, fostering inter-religious work, and advocating respect for religious diversity and freedom of conscience. ! The earliest Waldensians believed in poverty and austerity, promoting true poverty, public preaching and the personal study of the scriptures ! In 1179, they went to Rome, where Pope Alexander III blessed their life but forbade preaching without authorization from the local clergy
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Germanic Kingdoms: Anglo-Saxon England: Venerable Bebe
|
“History of the English Church” and the “People”: An important source for the early history of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain was written by the Northumbrian monk the Venerable Bebe (c 673-735), whose “History of the English Church” and the “People” testifies to the high quality of education in the English monasteries
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Medieval Church: Donation of Constantine: Lorenzo Valla
|
! Italian humanist, rhetorician, and educator. ! He demonstrated that the document known as the Constitutum Constantini (or "donatio Constantini" as he refers to it in his writings), or the Donation of Constantine, could not possibly have been written in the historical era of Constantine I (4th Century), as its vernacular style dated conclusively to a later era (8th Century). ! One of his reasons was that the document contained the word "satrap" which he believed Romans such as Constantine I would not have used ! Valla's originality, critical acumen, and knowledge of classical Latin style were put to good use in an essay he wrote between 1439 and 1440, “De falso credita et ementita Constantini Donatione declamation”. (As noted earlier, Gregory’s successors established an alliance with the Carolingians against the Lombards and in 755 received a temporal state, carved from Lombard lands, through the Donation of Pepin Hoping to justify this new temporal power, the papal chancery forged a document later in the 8th century that purported to be a grant of sovereignty to the papacy from Constantine the Great (306-3337) This soc-called Donation of Constantine was proven to be a forgery by the Renaissance humanist Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457), but until the 15th century it was used to justify papal claims to temporal power)
|
|
|
Middle Ages: Black Death: Economic and Social Consequences: Unemployment
|
! Before the plague there was high unemployment in Europe, but afterwards labor was in high demand and low supply, which resulted in greatly increased wages ! Yet employers and governments initially resisted grating concessions to laborers, which prompted a series of peasant rebellions (aggravated in England and France by the Hundred Years’ War), such as the Jacquerie in France (1358) and the Peasants’ Revolt led by Wat Tyler in England (1381). There was also a revolt of the wool-workers in Florence in 1378
|
