1. Emerging from the Middle Ages
The Renaissance
Emerging from
the Middle Ages

2. In the feudal structure of the Middle Ages, the nobles who lived in the country provided the king with protection in exchange for land. Peasants worked the land for the nobles, for which they received protection and their own small parcels of land.

3. These rural peasants worked from sunup to sundown, but even the nobles had few creature comforts. In feudal cities, where there was a small middle-class population, life was a little easier and individuals had the freedom to pursue whatever trade or industry they liked.

4. In the late Middle Ages, when the threat of invasion from barbarians had lessened, people left the country for towns and cities so they could engage in more profitable pursuits.
Sounds pretty good, right?

5. Why do/did people look down on the Middle Ages?

6. Why do/did people look down on the Middle Ages?
Backward (low tech)
Superstitions
People were uneducated
Lawlessness
No strong government
Coinage, military, etc.

7. Why do/did people look down on the Middle Ages?
Is that a fair assessment?
What do you know of the Middle Ages?

8. The High Middle Ages: 800-1300 Thriving intellectual life
Standardization of Church Practice and Architecture
New Political and Economic Arrangements
Absolute Christendom
Breakdown of centralized power
Attacks by non-Christian civilizations
Church intertwined with state, social, economic and military activity

9. MEDIEVAL LIFE FEUDALISM: POLITICAL SYSTEM
Cooperation and Mutual Obligations
FEUDALISM: POLITICAL SYSTEM
Decentralized, local government
Dependent upon the relationship between members of the nobility
Lord and his vassals administered justice and were the highest authority in their land
MANORIALISM: ECONOMIC SYSTEM
Agriculture the basis for wealth
Lands divided up into self-sufficient manors
Peasants (serfs) worked the land and paid rent In exchange for protection
Barter the usual form of exchange
KING
LORDS (VASSALS TO KING)
KNIGHTS (VASSALS TO LORDS)
Fief and Peasants
Military Aid
Food Protection Shelter
Food Protection Shelter
PEASANTS (SERFS)
Pay Rent
Farm the Land
Homage
Military Service
Loyalty

10. The Lord of the Manor
For safety and defense, people in the Middle Ages formed small communities around a central lord or master.

11. The Manor
Most people lived on a manor, which consisted of the castle (or manor house), the church, the village, and the surrounding farm land.

13. Self-Sufficiency
Each manor was largely self-sufficient, growing or producing all of the basic items needed for food, clothing, and shelter.
To meet these needs, the manor had buildings devoted to special purposes, such as:
The mill for grinding grain
The bake house for making bread
The blacksmith shop for creating metal goods.

14. Isolation
These manors were isolated, with occasional visits from peddlers, pilgrims on their way to the Crusades, or soldiers from other fiefdoms.

15. The Feudal System
Under the feudal system, the king awarded land grants or fiefs to his most important nobles, barons, and bishops, in return for their contribution of soldiers for the king's armies.

16. Nobles and Vassals
Nobles divided their land among the lesser nobility, who became their vassals. Many of these vassals became so powerful that the kings had difficulty controlling them.

17. The Peasants
At the lowest level of society were the peasants, also called serfs or villeins.
The lord offered his peasants protection in exchange for living and working on his land.

18. Hard Work & High Taxes
Peasants worked hard to cultivate the land and produce the goods that the lord and his manor needed.
They were heavily taxed and were required to relinquish much of what they harvested.

19. Bound by law and custom…
It is the custom in England, as with other countries, for the nobility to have great power over the common people, who are serfs. This means that they are bound by law and custom to plough the field of their masters, harvest the corn, gather it into barns, and thresh and winnow the grain; they must also mow and carry home the hay, cut and collect wood, and perform all manner of tasks of this kind Jean Froissart, 1395 

21. Women: Household Chores
Whether they were nobles or peasants, women held a difficult position in society.
They were largely confined to household tasks such as cooking, baking bread, sewing, weaving, and spinning.

22. Bishops
Bishops, who were often wealthy and came from noble families, ruled over groups of parishes called dioceses.
Many times, they were part of the feudal system and in exchange for a fief and peasants had to provide homage and military aid to a liege lord.

23. Parish Priests
Parish priests, on the other hand, came from humbler backgrounds and often had little education.
The village priest tended to the sick and indigent and, if he was able, taught Latin and the Bible to the youth of the village

24. So what happened to change all of this?

25. So what happened to change all of this?
Crusades
Goods and knowledge brought back from East.
Plague
Disrupted the social order and turned everything upside down

26. The Plague
Life in the city was soon to change drastically. During the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance ( ) the bubonic plague, also called the "Black Death," devastated one half of the population of Europe. The plague, which was almost always fatal, spread most rapidly in cities, where people were in close contact with each other.

27. The Plague
The only way to avoid the disease was to leave the city for the country. This solution was, unfortunately, available only to those wealthy enough to make the trip.

28. The Plague
The population decrease caused by the plague led to an economic depression. Merchants and tradespeople had fewer people to whom they could sell their wares. Products therefore accumulated, and the merchants and traders suffered a loss in income.

29. The Plague Children were orphaned and families were destroyed.
Ring around the rosie
Macabre art