The High Middle Ages
What separates High from Low?
• Major changes in government
• Exposures to cultures outside Europe
• Spreading of knowledge outside of the Church
to Universities
• The growth of towns and cities
The Crusades
The Crusades
• Definition: A series of wars between 10951291CE that involved repeated attempts by
Catholic led forces to seize territory in the
Holy Land from Muslim control
• Crusades were originally called by Pope Urban
II
– Urban was originally contacted by Byzantine
Empire asking for help in dealing with encroaching
Muslim Empire
The Crusades
• Urban called a council known as the Council of
Clermont and declared holy war
– Said that any fighting in the Crusades would get
remission from sin
– Attracted huge number of landless knights
People’s Crusade
• Inspired by the Pope’s preaching, Peter the
Hermit, a religious figure in Eastern France
raised a mob of 20,000 people intent on
marching to Jerusalem
– Instead, this mob terrorized and slaughtered
Orthodox Christians and Jews
– Eventually were themselves massacred by the
Turkish army as they entered Muslim territory
• Only a few thousand survive
The End of the People’s Crusade
The First Crusade
• Official Crusader Army reaches Turkey in 1096
• Siege of Antioch
– Antioch an important city on the route to
Jerusalem
– Crusaders besieging the city fear that approaching
Turkish army will trap them
• Bribe a guard to open the gate and slaughter everyone
in the city
• The Turks arrive, and besiege the Crusaders in the city
they just captured
Siege of Antioch
• Locked and starving in the city, the Crusaders
despair
– A monk named Peter Bartholomew claims to
discover The Lance of Destiny in the basement
• Claims it’s the spear that stabbed Jesus Christ on the
cross
• Crusaders rally behind Bartholomew and lead an all-out
attack out of the gate, routing the Muslim forces
• Later turn on the surrounding populace, massacring
hundreds of Jews and Muslims
Siege of Jerusalem
• Crusaders arrive at Jerusalem with only
25,000 out of their original 40,000 force
– Jewish and Muslim residents of the city fight
together against Christian invaders
– Without outside relief the city falls to Christians in
1099, Crusaders proceed to slaughter 10,000
within the city
Crusades
• Crusaders establish the Crusader States in the
Holy Land run by Papal Armies
• The Crusades cause important changes within
Europe
Changes brought by the Crusades
• Introduction of modern banking:
– Knights Templar, the holy order established to run
Jerusalem establish the first Christian banking
system
• Prior to this, money lending done primarily by Jewish
communities
– Due to laws forbidding usury, or lending with interest
• Allowed pilgrims to store cash with their local church in
order to use it later in Jerusalem
• Knights Templar grew extremely rich
• Idea was later modeled by Italians
Changes brought by the Crusades
• Reintroduction of knowledge
– Muslim Empires maintained hundreds of books
from Ancient Greece and Rome previously
thought lost
– Many of these were brought back to Italy and
retranslated
– Europe gains major advances in mathematics,
science and philosophy
Changes brought by the Crusades
• New trade goods
– Europeans have access to goods from the silk road
previously lost to them
• Include silk, ivory and most importantly, spices
• Europeans begin actively seeking new ways to acquire
these goods
Later Crusades
• Overtime, Crusades become less organized and
fractured
– 1187-1192 Third Crusade ends with the capture of
Richard I of England for most of his life
– 1212-1204 Forth Crusade results in the sacking of
Constantinople and several other Byzantine cities
– 1212 Children’s Crusade: created by a group of
pirates, they lead over 1000 young children onto
ships, convincing them they can take the Holy Land
back, only to sell them into slavery in N. Africa
Weakening of the Church: The Avignon
Papacy
• 1309: Prince Philip IV of France becomes
involved in dispute with Pope Boniface VIII
over investiture
– Philip marches to Rome and murders Pope
– Forces Cardinals to elect a new pope named
Clement V
– Clement moves Papacy to Avignon, France
– Pope rules in Avignon until 1376
Papal Palace, Avignon France
Weakening the Church
• For several decades, Church has multiple
Popes, both of which excommunicate each
other
• Both sides begin raising money in the form of
Indulgences
– Using cash to pay for sin
• This angers many intellectuals within the
Church
The Growth of Towns and Cities
• Cities grow in response to a rise in trade
– Most of the first major cities were port towns
• Towns typically grew up around fairs
– Meetings of merchants and traders to exchange
goods
Rise of the Merchant Class
• Towns began to gather permanent craftsmen
to trade their goods
• These tradesmen formed Guilds
Guilds
• Guilds served three major purposes:
– Training: Guilds created a formal way to train new
members
– Most guilds had 3 ranks
• Apprenticeship: young people were taken to serve under a
master, where they learned the trade
• Journeymen: Someone who had completed their training
but not yet demonstrated their mastery of the art
• Master: Someone who had proven their skill by creating a
master piece, an example of their skill. Masters paid guild
dues and could make their own shops
Guilds
• Protection: Guilds set prices for their
members and ensured that no one area had
too much competition
• New Ideas: Masters who developed new
techniques were required to share them with
the rest of the guild
Towns gain independence
• As towns became wealthier, Kings granted
them charters
– Charters set towns apart from the interference of
local lords
– Allowed towns to pay their own taxes and elect
their own governments
– Typically elected representatives from trades to
make laws, known as Burghers or Bourgeoisie.
• Members of a Burg (town)
Jakob Fugger, Grand Burgher of
Augsburg
Knowledge Spreads: The Rise of the
University
• University comes from the Latin word
Universitas, meaning organization or Guild
– Originally designed to train members of the
Church, it quickly became a way for middle class
merchants and nobility to gain an education
University Curriculum
• Philosophy: The study of fundamental
problems of existence, (i.e. knowledge,
existence, morality and reason)
• Theology: The study of religion
• Natural Sciences and Mathematics
• Law
Rise of Scholasticism
• Created by Thomas Aquinas
• Beliefs: Any field of study should be open to
free inquiry with the exception of questioning
scripture
• Importance: Adopted by all medieval
universities, led to ideas of academic freedom
– Example: Scholars travelling between universities
got free passage, no matter how controversial
their ideas
Rise of Universities
• Universities increased literacy
• New writings in Europe included both fiction
and nonfiction for the first time
• Early Universities became famous for their
rivalries with other Guilds
– Famous brawls between students and apprentices
known as “Town and Gown” riots
New Governments
• England
– 1215: King John fights several losing wars in
France, eventually incurring anger of the Pope
– Begins demanding high taxes from nobles to
finance more wars
• When nobles protest, John argues that he has divine
right to do as he pleases
– The notion that kingship is endorsed by God, and thus has
absolute power
New Governments
• England
– The nobility rises up and defeats John at the Battle
of Runnymeade
– Forces John to sign the Magna Carta (Great
Document). Creating basic rights (for the nobility)
• No taxes can be assessed without the consent of the
nobles
• Land or Life cannot be taken without a fair trial by a
jury of peers
• The King cannot unlawfully seize the arms of a noble
• The King cannot levy unjust fines or punishments
New governments
• England
– Magna Carta creates the idea of a Constitutional
Monarchy
• A government in which the King is subject to the law
New Governments
• Italian City-States
• Trade with the Middle-East and Africa made
Italian cities very wealthy
• Powerful families rose to take control of the
Burgher elected Republics
– Example: Lorenzo di’Medici took control of
Florence
• Lorenzo was a powerful banker
New Governments
• Italian City States
– These powerful families became patrons of the
arts, hired famous artists to create artwork for
them
• Example: The Medici family paid to keep Leonardo da
Vinci creating art in Florence
New Governments
• France
– In 1302, French King declared the establishment
of a new government to aid him in times of crisis
• Used as a justification by King to raise new taxes to fight
the English
– Called the Estates General, it consisted of three
bodies
• The Church: Represented by the Arch-Bishop
• The Nobility
• The Commoners: Members of towns
The Estates General
Power of the Estates General
• 2 out of 3 bodies had to agree to any rules
– King could not raise taxes without consent of
Estates
– Kept rising power of towns in check by combining
might of nobility and Church
– Final time the Estates would be called was 1789,
leading to French Revolution
New Governments
• Papacy
– In the 12th Century, Papacy creates a new office
called the Inquisition
• Designed to root out and destroy heretics
– People who doubt or deny the core tenets of a religion they
claim to follow
• Inquisition commonly used torture to extract
confessions
• Known for performing auto-de-fe’ the public burning at
the stake of the convicted
New Governments
• Papacy
– Inquisition further alienates academics in Europe
by executing anyone who writes the Bible in the
vernacular
• The local language
Inquisition
Inquisition
• Members of the Inquisition also participated
in the forced conversion of Jews in the 1450s60s
– Part of a mandate by the Spanish crown to forcibly
convert Muslims and Jews in land taken back from
the Muslim Moors
– The reconquest of Spain by Christian forces was
completed in 1492, known as the Reconquista
• At this point, all Jews were formally expelled from Spain
The end of the Knight: The 100 Years
War
• War lasts from 1337-1453
• A prolonged battle between The French and
English Crown over who controls Normandy, a
large portion of Northern France
Background
• In 1066, King Edgar of England dies, leaving
crown to his son Harold
– Harold’s half-brother William of Normandy also
claims the crown
• William prepares to invade England just as it is
attacked by Vikings
• Harold defeats a large Viking army, then
forced to march south to fight William
Background
• Harold’s exhausted army faces William at the
Battle of Hastings
– Harold’s line almost holds, until the King dies by
an arrow to the eye
– William defeats Harold’s army, claims rulership of
England
• William remains Duke of Normandy, but
becomes King of England
Start of the 100 Years War
• King of France dies leaving only daughters in
1328
– Nearest male relative was Edward III of England
– French nobles revolt at idea of rule by English
King, instead select King’s cousin Philip as new
ruler
– English invade
Course of the 100 Years War
100 Years War
• Battle goes through several invasions,
followed by brief periods of peace
• Chief weapons
– French Crossbow: A spring loaded weapon
designed for portability
• Advantages: easier to use, accurate with long range
• Disadvantages: Long reload time, unable to pierce
heavy armor
• Chief Weapons
– Welsh Longbow: English bow that could measure
upwards of six feet in length
• Advantages: Could be fired quickly, used heavy arrows
that could pierce armor
• Disadvantages: Required highly skilled and trained
archers to use
Longbow vs. Crossbow
Battle of Agincourt
• Fought in 1415
• Henry V of England led forces against French
King Charles VI
• French brought larger army, including the best
of France’s knights, the Chevaliers
Battle of Agincourt
• English men-at-arms fall back in the face of a
French charge, drawing the French closer
• As French Knights charged, they are picked
apart by English archers, English win major
victory
– Battle demonstrates the age of Feudalism nearing
an end
– Governments begin to transition from noble led
armies to professionally trained government
soldiers
Henry unhorsed at Agincourt
End of the 100 Years War
• English attempt to lay siege to city of Orleans
– A young French peasant-woman named Joan of
Arc convinces French crown to let her lead army
• Claims vision from God
– Joan defeats English forces, later liberates
Burgundy
End of the War
• English offer to retreat in exchange for Joan of
Arc’s capture
– French forces abandon her
– English burn Joan as a heretic
End of the War
• 100 Years War sees first widespread use of
gunpowder in combat, further reducing need
for knights
• Battle of Castillon
– Last English ally in France defeated when Duke of
Burgundy is pulled off horse and beaten to death
– English agree to abandon France
• Black plague ravaging population of Europe
• English facing a struggle over who is to be the next
King, need their armies at home
Movement from Feudalism
• Kings begin to weaken power of nobility
– Land of nobility broken up with more town
charters
– Nobles become advisors or members of the
military, rather than rulers in the own right
– More power given to the citizens in the form of
Parliaments
Conclusion
• Stage is set for great changes in Europe
– Powerful new kings looking to expand their
empires
– Seek wealth of the East with new sea trade routes
and exploration
– European military now the most powerful in the
world