Chapter Summary Crusades and Culture in the Middle Ages

Chapter Summary Crusades and Culture in the Middle Ages ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS How did the Church influence political and cultural changes in medieval Europe? How did both innovations and disruptive forces affect people during the Middle Ages? This chapter describes how strong leadership in the Catholic Church helped it to become a dominant presence in European society during the Middle Ages; how the Crusades affected Europe and southwest Asia; new forms of church architecture as well as the development of universities and vernacular literature; and how disastrous forces, including epidemic disease and war, caused widespread changes in medieval Europe. MEDIEVAL CHRISTIANITY The controversy between king and pope over lay investiture led to a reform of the papacy. The political power of the Catholic Church reached its height under Pope Innocent III. New religious orders including those involving women emerged and made a strong impact on the lives of medieval Europeans. The Church created a court to deal with those they believed went against its teachings. The Church of the High Middle Ages was a crucial part of people s lives from birth to death. THE CRUSADES The Crusades began when Byzantine Emperor Alexius I, a Christian, asked the Europeans for help against the Muslim Seljuk Turks. Italian port cities grew rich and powerful during the Crusades. Muslim and Christian forces fought for control of Jerusalem, but the Muslim ruler Saladin eventually gained control of the holy city. Crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204, thereby weakening the Byzantine Empire. One effect of the Crusades was the eventual breakdown of feudalism. CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES The development of ribbed vaults and pointed arches made Gothic cathedrals the artistic triumph of the High Middle Ages. The university of today with faculty, students, and degrees was a product of the High Middle Ages. Medieval university students applied scholasticism to the study of theology. Literature appeared in the vernacular, rather than in Latin, when educated people took interest in new sources of entertainment. Troubadour poetry and the heroic epic poem were popular forms of vernacular literature in the twelfth century. Powered by Cognero Page 1

THE LATE MIDDLE AGES The Black Death killed a large part of Europe s population, spreading through crowded cities and villages. The decline in population from famine and plague resulted in a decline in trade, a shortage of workers, rising labor prices, and falling food prices. Because many people did not know what caused the Black Death, some reactions were extreme and led to anti-semitism. The Great Schism of the Catholic Church caused great political conflict and left Europe divided for decades. Conflict between England and France over the duchy of Gascony resulted in the Hundred Years War and a shift in the nature of warfare. Although France, England, and Spain emerged as new monarchies by the late 1400s, states in the Holy Roman Empire and eastern Europe were still struggling to establish themselves. 1. What is this chapter about? Powered by Cognero Page 2

Reading Essentials and Study Guide Crusades and Culture in the Middle Ages Lesson 2 The Crusades ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS How did the Church influence political and cultural changes in medieval Europe? How did both innovations and disruptive forces affect people during the Middle Ages? Reading HELPDESK Content Vocabulary Crusades military expeditions carried out by European Christians in the Middle Ages to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims infidel an unbeliever; a term applied to the Muslims during the Crusades Academic Vocabulary proceed to advance or move along a course libel a written or oral defamatory statement or representation that conveys an unjustly unfavorable impression TAKING NOTES: Categorizing 2. ACTIVITY As you read, use the table below to identify each of the Crusades and the result of each. IT MATTERS BECAUSE European Christians carried out a series of military expeditions from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries. Their goal was to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims. These expeditions are known as Powered by Cognero Page 3

the Crusades. The Early Crusades GUIDING QUESTION What were the religious, political, and economic motivations behind the Crusades? The Crusades started when the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus asked for help to defend his empire against the Seljuk Turks. The Seljuk Turks were Muslims who had taken control of Asia Minor. Pope Urban II responded to the request. He saw an opportunity to provide leadership for a great cause. He wanted Europe s warriors to free Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslims. Christians viewed the Muslims as infidels, or unbelievers. The Council of Clermont took place in southern France near the end of 1095. Here, Urban II asked Christians to take up their weapons and join in a holy war. The pope promised that any who died in the war would have all of their sins forgiven immediately. The excited crowd responded that the war was God s will. Warriors of western Europe, particularly France, formed the first crusading armies. These knights were mostly motivated by religion, but some wanted adventure and welcomed the chance to fight. Others saw an opportunity to gain wealth and a possible title. Italian merchants also wanted new trade in Byzantine and Muslim lands. The Byzantines became worried after asking for help. Alexius I s daughter was Anna Comnena, the Byzantine Empire s only female historian. The western crusading armies would have to go through Byzantine lands to get to the Holy Land. Alexius and Anna feared that might be harmful to the Byzantine Empire itself. The First Crusade began as three organized groups, mostly made up of French warriors who made their way to the East. The crusading army included thousands of men in cavalry and infantry. They captured Antioch in 1098 and proceeded down the Palestinian coast. They avoided the well-defended coastal cities and reached Jerusalem in June 1099. The Holy City was taken during a horrible massacre of its people. The crusaders organized four Latin crusader states in the East after more conquests. One of these was the kingdom of Jerusalem under Godfrey de Bouillon. He was one of the Frankish leaders of the First Crusade. Godfrey rejected the title of king because he felt that it belonged only to God. Muslim areas surrounded these crusader kingdoms. As a result, the kingdoms depended on Italian cities for supplies. Some Italian port cities, such as Genoa, Pisa, and especially Venice, grew rich and powerful because of this activity. It was not easy for the crusader kingdoms to support themselves in the East. The Muslims had begun to fight back by the 1140s. One of the Latin kingdoms was defeated by the Muslims. The monastic leader Bernard of Clairvaux called for another crusade. He said that the enemies of Christianity were attacking because of Christians sins. He wanted Christians to fight to keep Christianity alive in the Holy Powered by Cognero Page 4

Land. Bernard managed to get support from two powerful rulers in a Second Crusade. King Louis VII of France and Emperor Conrad III of Germany agreed to help, but this campaign was a total failure. In 1187 Jerusalem fell to Muslim forces under Saladin. Saladin had made himself sultan of Egypt in 1169. He led the Muslim attack against the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem. Three European rulers then agreed to lead a Third Crusade after Saladin s success: German emperor Frederick Barbarossa, English king Richard I (Richard the Lionhearted), and French king Philip II Augustus. Some members of the Third Crusade arrived in the East by 1189, but they had problems. Frederick drowned in a local river. The English and French arrived by sea and captured the coastal cities, but they were unable to move inland against the Muslim forces. Richard negotiated a settlement, or agreement, with Saladin after Philip returned home. It allowed Christian pilgrims free access to Jerusalem. PROGRESS CHECK 3. Summarizing How many early Crusades were there? What was the common factor? The Later Crusades GUIDING QUESTION How did the Crusades affect Europe and Southwest Asia? In 1193 Saladin died. Pope Innocent III initiated the Fourth Crusade about six years after Saladin s death. The crusading army entered a fight over the Byzantine throne as the army headed east. The Byzantine Empire was Venice s greatest commercial competitor. The Venetian leaders used the situation to weaken the empire. The crusaders sacked the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, in 1204. This added to the division between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. Western forces also set up a new Latin empire of Constantinople. A Byzantine army recaptured Constantinople in 1261. However, the Byzantine Empire was no longer a great Mediterranean power. It was now made up of the city of Constantinople and its surrounding lands. It also included part of Asia Minor. The empire existed in this reduced, or smaller, size for another 190 years, but it was weak. Its weakness helped the Ottoman Turks conquer it in 1453. The crusading ideal continued even though there were failures. In Germany in 1212, a young man known as Nicholas of Cologne said that God had told him to lead a children s crusade to the Holy Land. Thousands of young people joined Nicholas. They traveled down the Rhine and across the Alps to Italy, where the pope told them to go home. Most tried to go home. At about the same time, about 20,000 French children headed to Marseille. There two ship-owners agreed to take them to the Holy Land. Seven ships carrying young people left Marseille. Two of the ships went down in a storm. The Powered by Cognero Page 5

other five sailed to North Africa where the children were sold into slavery. The next Crusades of adult warriors were also not very successful. King Louis IX of France organized the last two major Crusades. Louis was defeated by the Baybars, the sultan of Egypt. Louis tried again, but he was unsuccessful. He died of the plague without any conquests. Historians disagree about the effect the Crusades had on European civilization. The Crusades did help the Italian port cities. However, Italian merchants would probably have increased trade with the Eastern world even without the Crusades. The Crusades had some negative effects on European society. The first widespread attacks on the Jews were related to the Crusades. Some Christians blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus. They argued that it was unthinkable to fight the Muslims while Jews at home were free. The Jews of medieval Europe faced periodic libels, attacks, and removals. Perhaps the greatest impact of the Crusades was political. The Crusades eventually helped to break down feudalism. Nobles who joined the Crusades sometimes sold their lands and freed their serfs. At the same time, kings imposed taxes and raised armies. As a result, the kings were creating stronger central governments as nobles were losing power. Taxes on trade with the East also provided kings with new sources of wealth. This helped the development of true nation-states. Three strong nation-states would develop in Europe by the mid- 1400s. These were Spain, England, and France. PROGRESS CHECK 4. Monitoring Was the Fourth Crusade successful? Explain your answer. Powered by Cognero Page 6

Reading Essentials and Study Guide Crusades and Culture in the Middle Ages Lesson 3 Culture of the Middle Ages ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS How did the Church influence political and cultural changes in medieval Europe? How did both innovations and disruptive forces affect people during the Middle Ages? Reading HELPDESK Content Vocabulary theology the study of religion and God scholasticism a medieval philosophical and theological system that tried to reconcile faith and reason vernacular the language of everyday speech in a particular region chanson de geste a type of vernacular literature, this heroic epic was popular in medieval Europe and described battles and political contests Academic Vocabulary technical of or pertaining to a technique corporation a business organization that has a separate legal entity with all the rights and responsibilities of an individual, including the right to buy and sell property, enter into legal contracts, and sue and be sued TAKING NOTES: Contrasting 5. ACTIVITY As you read, use the table below to compare the Romanesque style of architecture with the Gothic style of architecture. IT MATTERS BECAUSE New ideas about architecture and learning developed in Europe during the High Middle Ages. Beautiful cathedrals, or large churches, were built across Europe. Europe s first universities were created. Powered by Cognero Page 7

Architecture GUIDING QUESTION How did innovations change the architecture of churches and cathedrals in the High Middle Ages? Many cathedrals were built in Europe during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. These churches were built in the Romanesque style. Romanesque churches normally followed the basilica shape of churches built in the late Roman Empire. Basilicas were rectangular buildings with flat wooden roofs. Romanesque builders replaced the basilica s flat wooden roof with a long, round, arched vault made of stone. This was called a barrel vault. Some roofs were built with a cross vault in which two barrel vaults intersected. The builder used the cross vault to create a church plan shaped like a cross. Romanesque churches required huge pillars and walls to hold them up. This was because stone roofs were very heavy. There was not much space for windows, so Romanesque churches were dark on the inside. A new style appeared in the twelfth century called Gothic. It was perfected in the thirteenth century. The Gothic cathedral was one of the greatest artistic successes of the High Middle Ages. Two basic innovations made Gothic cathedrals possible. One innovation was replacing the round barrel vault of Romanesque churches. This was replaced with a combination of ribbed vaults and pointed arches. Builders could now make Gothic churches higher. This gave the churches a feeling of upward movement, as if the building was reaching to God. Another technical innovation was the flying buttress. This was a heavy, arched support of stone built onto the outside of the walls. Flying buttresses made it possible to distribute, or spread out, the weight of the church s vaulted ceilings outward and down. This also got rid of the heavy walls that were needed in Romanesque churches. Gothic cathedrals were built with thinner walls filled with stained glass windows. The stained glass windows of Gothic cathedrals show both religious scenes and scenes from daily life. They are made of pieces of colored glass. The light from the sun shines through the windows and creates shifting patterns of colors on the floors and walls of the cathedral. The Gothic cathedral s towers reach up toward Heaven. The cathedrals tell about a time when most people believed in a spiritual world. PROGRESS CHECK Powered by Cognero Page 8

6. Visualizing Imagine visiting a Romanesque church and then a Gothic church on a warm and sunny day. How might you describe your experience? Universities GUIDING QUESTION How did universities reflect the intellectual revival that occurred in Europe during the High Middle Ages? Today s universities include faculty, students, and degrees. They are a product of the High Middle Ages. The word university comes from the Latin word universitas, which means corporation or guild. The first European university appeared in Bologna (buh LOH nyuh), Italy. Students were men only. They came from all over Europe to learn law from the great teacher Irnerius. The University of Paris was the first university in northern Europe. Many students and masters (teachers) left Paris in the late 1300s to start a university at Oxford, England. Kings, popes, and princes thought it was honorable to found universities. Europe had 80 universities by 1500. Students began their studies with the traditional liberal arts. These subjects were grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. Teachers lectured by reading from a basic text and adding explanations. Students took oral examinations after four to six years to earn a bachelor of arts degree and later a master of arts. Students earned a doctorate of law, medicine, or theology after about ten more years. The most highly thought of subject was theology. This is the study of religion and God. The study of theology was strongly influenced by a philosophy known as scholasticism. Scholasticism tried to show that faith, or belief in God, was in harmony, or agreement, with reason. Its main goal was to make Christian teachings fit with the works of the ancient Greek philosophers. For example, the Greek philosopher Aristotle reached his conclusions by reason, not by faith. His ideas sometimes contradicted Church teachings. Anselm of Canterbury was a monastic theologian. His major work was the Proslogion, which made one of the first attempts in the eleventh century to show how faith could be used together with reason. Anselm argued that reason could prove that God exists. Thomas Aquinas (uh KWY nuhs) made the most famous attempt to reconcile the teachings of Aristotle and Christianity in the 1200s. Aquinas is best known for his Summa Theologica. A summa was a summary of all knowledge on a topic. His masterpiece followed a logical, or reasonable, method of scholarly study. Aquinas first asked a question such as, Does God exist? Then he discussed opposing opinions before he made his own conclusions. He believed that truths arrived at through reason or faith could not conflict with each other. Reason without faith could only show truths about the physical world. It could not show spiritual truths. Aquinas also believed that humans could arrive at natural law Powered by Cognero Page 9

by using reason. Natural law determines what is naturally good or evil. It is part of God s eternal law. Roger Bacon was an English philosopher who wrote Opus Majus in the late 1260s at the request of Pope Clement IV. It was an encyclopedia supporting a reformation, or improvement, of all sciences. These sciences included logic, mathematics, physics, experimentation, and philosophy. Bacon felt mathematics was very important for the study of philosophy. PROGRESS CHECK 7. Summarizing What degrees could students obtain by going to university? Powered by Cognero Page 10

Vernacular Literature GUIDING QUESTION Why was the development of vernacular literature important during the High Middle Ages? Latin was the universal language of medieval civilization. However, new literature was being written in the vernacular in the twelfth century. The vernacular is the language of everyday speech in a particular region. It includes languages such as Spanish, French, English, or German. The demand and desire for vernacular literature appeared in the twelfth century. Educated people at courts and in the cities took an interest in new sources of entertainment, and literature was one of them. Perhaps the most popular vernacular literature of the twelfth century was troubadour poetry. This was chiefly the product of nobles and knights. This poetry told of the love of a knight for a lady who inspires him to become a braver knight and a better poet. Another type of vernacular literature was known as the chanson de geste. This is a heroic epic. The main events described in heroic epic poems are battles in which knights fight with courage for their kings and lords. The earliest and best example of this literature is The Song of Roland. It appeared around 1100 and was written in French. The English author Geoffrey Chaucer used the English vernacular in his famous work The Canterbury Tales in the fourteenth century. This work is a collection of stories told by a group of 29 pilgrims. They represented many people in English society. They journeyed together to the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury, England. PROGRESS CHECK 8. Identifying What were two popular types of vernacular literature in the twelfth century? Powered by Cognero Page 11

Reading Essentials and Study Guide Crusades and Culture in the Middle Ages Lesson 4 The Late Middle Ages ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS How did the Church influence political and cultural changes in medieval Europe? How did both innovations and disruptive forces affect people during the Middle Ages? Reading HELPDESK Content Vocabulary anti-semitism hostility toward or discrimination against Jews new monarchy in the fifteenth century, government in which power had been centralized under a king or queen, i.e., France, England, and Spain taille an annual direct tax, usually on land or property, that provided a regular source of income for the French monarchy Academic Vocabulary period an interval of time consequence the effect or result of an action TAKING NOTES: Categorizing 9. ACTIVITY As you read, use the chart below to identify the impact of the Black Death. IT MATTERS BECAUSE Medieval European society reached its high point in the 1200s, but much changed in the 1300s. A series of problems caused trouble across Europe. The Black Death spread, killing more than one-third Powered by Cognero Page 12

of the population. The Great Schism caused problems in the Catholic Church, and people s faith was weakened. Then the Hundred Years War started. Recovery began in the 1400s, and rulers responded by creating their new monarchies. The Black Death GUIDING QUESTION What social and economic effects did the Black Death have on Europe? Weather patterns changed in Europe toward the end of the thirteenth century. Europe entered a period that has been called a little ice age. There was a drop in overall temperatures, which led to shorter growing seasons and bad weather conditions. Heavy rains between 1315 and 1317 in northern Europe destroyed crops and caused food shortages. This caused extreme hunger and starvation. The Great Famine expanded to other parts of Europe as well. Famine may have led to constant malnutrition. Malnourished people are less able to stop infection. This might help explain the high mortality, or high number of deaths of the great plague known as the Black Death, which was the most destructive natural disaster in European history. Bubonic plague was the most common form of the Black Death. It was spread by black rats that were full of fleas carrying a deadly bacterium. Italian merchants brought the plague with them from Kaffa on the Black Sea to the island of Sicily in October 1347. The plague had spread to southern Italy and southern France by the end of 1347. The path of the Black Death usually followed trade routes. The plague spread through France, the Low Countries (modern Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands), and Germany in 1348 and 1349. It spread to England in 1349 and then it expanded to northern Europe and Scandinavia. Eastern Europe and Russia were affected by 1351. The total European population before the Black Death was 75 million. Possibly more than one-third of the population died of the plague between 1347 and 1351. Italy s crowded cities were hit very hard, where between 50 and 60 percent of the people died. Entire villages disappeared in England and Germany. People did not know what caused the plague. Many believed that God sent it as punishment for their sins or that the devil caused it. Extreme reactions led to anti-semitism, or a feeling of anger toward Jews. Jews were sometimes accused of causing the plague by poisoning town wells. The death of so many people had economic consequences. Trade declined, and a shortage of workers caused a sharp rise in the price of labor. The decline in the number of people also lowered the demand for food, which resulted in falling prices for food. Landlords were now paying more for labor at the same time that their incomes from rents were declining. Serfdom had been declining throughout the High Middle Ages. Some peasants made an agreement with their lords to pay rent instead of owing services. This change freed them from serfdom. PROGRESS CHECK Powered by Cognero Page 13

10. Identifying What did many people believe caused the plague? The Hundred Years War GUIDING QUESTION Why was the Hundred Years War a turning point in warfare and what were its consequences? Plague, economic crisis, and the decline of the Catholic Church were not the only problems of the late Middle Ages. War and political instability also caused problems. The Hundred Years War was the most violent struggle during this period. Trouble began over the duchy of Gascony in France. England controlled it, and France wanted it. King Edward III of England was also the duke of Gascony and a vassal to the French king. King Philip VI of France seized the duchy in 1337, and Edward declared war on Philip. This action started the Hundred Years War. Knights were looking forward to battle when this war between England and France began. Knights were trained to be warriors. They viewed battle as a chance to show their fighting abilities. However, the Hundred Years War was an important turning point in the nature of warfare. Peasant foot soldiers instead of knights won the main battles of the war. France s heavily armed noble cavalrymen viewed foot soldiers as social inferiors. The English also used heavily armed cavalry, but they relied more on large numbers of peasants. The peasants were paid to be foot soldiers. English soldiers were armed with pikes, or heavy spears. They also used longbows. These had greater striking power, a longer range, and more rapid speed of fire than the crossbow, which had previously been used. The first major battle of the Hundred Years War occurred in 1346 at Crécy. The larger French army did not follow a battle plan and attacked in a disorderly way. The English archers defeated them with their use of long bows. The Battle of Crécy was not decisive, and it did not end the war. The English did not have enough resources to conquer all of France, but they continued to try. The English king Henry V achieved victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The French knights who attacked Henry s forces across a muddy field were defeated. About 1,500 French nobles died in battle. Charles was heir to the French throne. It was now up to him to handle the French cause, which seemed hopeless. A French peasant woman saved the fearful monarch. She was Joan of Arc, the daughter of successful peasants. She was a very religious person, and she experienced visions and Powered by Cognero Page 14

believed that saints had commanded her to free France. Charles felt Joan was honest, and he allowed her to accompany a French army to Orléans when she was only 17. Joan s faith also inspired the French armies. They found new confidence, and they seized Orléans. Joan had brought the war to a turning point but did not live to see its end. The English captured Joan in 1430. They accused her of witchcraft, or the use of magic, and they turned her over to the Inquisition. At the time, visions were thought to be inspired by either God or the devil. Joan was put to death, but her achievements were decisive. The war continued on for another two decades, but English defeats at Normandy and Aquitaine led to a French victory by 1453. Also important to the French success was the use of the cannon. It was a new weapon made possible by the invention of gunpowder. PROGRESS CHECK 11. Identifying What event sparked the Hundred Years War? Powered by Cognero Page 15