1. The Middle Ages: Myth and Reality

2. The Middle Ages: The Myth
We think of knights in shining armor, lavish banquets, wandering minstrels, kings, queens, bishops, monks, pilgrims, and glorious pageantry.
In film and in literature, medieval life seems heroic, entertaining, and romantic.

3. The Middle Ages: The Reality
In reality, life in the Middle Ages, a period that extended from approximately the 5th century to the 15th century in Western Europe, could also be harsh, uncertain, and dangerous.

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

5. 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.

7. 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.

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

9. 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.

10. 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.
Code of Chivalry

11. NotableMonarchs Charlemagne- Holy Roman Emperor
Eleanor of Acquitaine-troubadours
Hugh Capet
Normans & Anglo-Saxons
Danish Vikings, Alfred the Great
Norman Conquest, William
Domesday Book

12. Germany-936 Otto the Great unites Germany, Holy Roman Emperor
Spain & Portugal- trouble with Muslims, the Moors
Reconquista to reclaim for Christians

13. The Magna Carta
In 1215, the English barons formed an alliance that forced King John to sign the Magna Carta. It limited the king's powers of taxation and required trials by jury. It was the first time that an English monarch was subject to the law.

14. 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.

15. MEDIEVAL LIFE Cooperation and Mutual Obligations KING
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

16. The Catholic Church
The Catholic Church was the only church in Europe during the Middle Ages, and it had its own laws and large income.
Church leaders such as bishops and archbishops sat on the king's council and played leading roles in government.

17. The Canterbury Tales
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is a series of stories told by 30 pilgrims as they traveled to Canterbury.

18. Religious Crises
Heresy: beliefs that oppose the official teachings of the Church
Inquisition to fight heresy, abuses
Development of additional orders to combat- Francis of Assisi and Dominic of Osma-friars live amongst people instead of separate
Arguments over who should be pope lead to Schism- 2 Popes, Rome & Avignon

19. Health & Hygiene
As the populations of medieval towns and cities increased, hygienic conditions worsened, leading to a vast array of health problems.

20. Medicine
Medical knowledge was limited and, despite the efforts of medical practitioners and public and religious institutions to institute regulations, medieval Europe did not have an adequate health care system

21. Remedies
Many medieval medical manuscripts contained recipes for remedies that called for hundreds of therapeutic substances.
Believed that disease could be the result of sinful behavior.
Blood letting by the surgeon.

22. Black Death 1347-1351 Sweep the Continent
Mongol armies first, merchants carry
Up to 1/3 population dies in Europe
Effects: 1. role of the Church/God
2.anti-Semitic backlash
3. lower population-ends manorial system, survivor want higher wages, move from land

23. Tradesmen
With the advent of trade and commerce, feudal life declined. As the tradesmen became wealthier, they resented having to give their profits to their lords.

24. Boroughs
Arrangements were made for the townspeople to pay a fixed annual sum to the lord or king and gain independence for their town as a "borough" with the power to govern itself. The marketplace became the focus of many towns.

25. Guilds
Guilds were established to gain higher wages for their members and protect them from competitors. As the guilds grew rich and powerful, they built guildhalls and began taking an active role in civic affairs, setting up courts to settle disputes and punish wrongdoers.

26. The Merchant Class
The new merchant class included artisans, masons, armorers, bakers, shoemakers, ropemakers, dyers, and other skilled workers.

27. Masons
Of all the craftsmen, the masons were the highest paid and most respected. They were, after all, responsible for building the cathedrals, hospitals, universities, castles, and guildhalls.

28. Apprentices
Masons learned their craft as apprentices to a master mason, living at lodges for up to seven years. The master mason was essentially an architect, a general contractor, and a teacher.

29. The First Companies
The population of cities swelled for the first time since before the Dark Ages. With the new merchant activity, companies were formed. Merchants hired bookkeepers, scribes, and clerks, creating new jobs.

30. The Printing Press
Printing began in 1450 with the publication of the Bible by Johannes Gutenberg. This revolutionized the spread of learning. Other inventions of the time included mechanical clocks, tower mills, and guns.

31. Wars
Crusades- Pope Urban II calls for Christian nations to put aside their differences to reclaim the Holy Land from Turks
Nine Crusades-First Crusade reclaims Jerusalem
Third- Saladin v. Richard the Lionhearted
Economic Effects: trade, Social Effects: knowledge, persecutions,Political Effects: death of nobles increases power of kings

32. Hundred Years Wars-English/French, Joan of Arc solidifies nationalism in France, military technology
War of the Roses- battle between York and Lancastrian families for English crown

33. References
Adapted from the Annenberg Media/Learner.org website “The Middle Ages”