Middle+Ages

Rhiannon Clark and Emily Meyer 1000-1500

** "Veni, Sancte Spiritus, Et emitte coelitus Lucis tuae radium." ** (Come Holy Spirit, and send out from heaven the beam of your light.)  - ** Stephen Langton - **** d.1228 **





The Middle Ages lasted from 500 AD to 1500 AD. The middle ages mainly took place in Europe. The emphases were mainly on the people, the church, and literature. The people that lived during this time in this area were very diverse and had many conflicts. There were the Germanic Kingdoms of which the Franks were the strongest. The Frankish Rulers were also known as the Merovingian Rulers. Clovis was the first Barbarian King to become Christian, and he participated in the battle of Alamanni and gained control of most of the old Western Roman Empire. Then there was Charles Martel or Charles the Hammer who battled in the Battle of Tours. He also started Feudalism in Europe. There was also Pepin the Short was elected King of the Franks by nobles, his appointment was approved by the pope. Charlemagne otherwise known as the “Holy Barbarian” or Charles the Great united Europe for the first time and started the Carolingian Empire. Then there were the Vikings who were from Scandinavia. They were also known as the Norse or the North men. A berserker was a Viking warrior, and danegeld was the gold and silver that was used to pay off the Vikings when they came pillaging through town. The two most important Vikings were both explorers. The first one was Erik the Red who discovered Greenland. The second one was Leif Erickson who landed at Newfoundland which is said to be North America. Then there were the knights the one who was said to be the greatest Knight of all time was William Marshal. A knight was a mounted warrior, they usually had a squire or knights assistant, and they usually started out as pages when they were about seven years old. There was Joan of Arc also known as “The Maid” She inspired the French to win against the English in the hundred year’s war. Then there were the English people also known as the Anglo-Saxons. Alfred the Great drove the Danes out of England. King Canute of Denmark was a Danish King who conquered England. He was the first Viking Leader welcomed as equal to Christian Kings. There was also Edward the Confessor who was a Religious Fanatic and a very weak king, Westminster Abbey was built during his reign. William the Conqueror was the Duke of Normandy and was promised the throne by Edward, but it King Harold II was crowned instead. At the battle of Hastings though William the Conqueror defeated King Harold and became King. There were five important Kings after them during the middle ages they were Henry I, Henry II (“God Father of the English State”), King Richard I (“Lion Hearted”), King John (“Soft Sword”), and Edward I (“Long Shanks”). The Scandinavians started out believing in Asgard and Valhalla, but converted to Christianity at a later point in history. Many things were connected to the church even the rules of warfare where you couldn’t fight on holy land or during holy days. During the 1200’s the church’s power peaked and the Christian church dominated Europe. The church had a hierarchy that went Pope, Cardinal, Bishop, and then the parish priest. Cannon Law was the Church Laws that if you didn’t follow, you would be kicked out of the church by excommunication. The church had the power to tax and collected a tithe. In Monasticism, monks had total dedication to god, and the leader of the monastery was the Abbot. They had Missionaries sent around to spread religious messages. Some of the different monasteries were St. Benedict, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Dominic. In the inquisition the church tortured and executed heretics or unbelievers. The crusades went from 1096 to 1291 AD. Pope Urban II commanded the crusades he said “God wills it!” In the first crusade the crusaders captured Jerusalem. The crusaders were soldiers of Christ and there symbol was the Red Cross. In the second crusade the Muslims defeated the Christians and Edessa fell to the Turkish people. The third crusade was also known as the 3 kings crusade in which King Richard couldn’t win Jerusalem back from the Muslims. The Knights Templar protected Christians that traveled to the holy land. In the Fourth Crusade merchants from Venice paid the Crusaders to attack Constantinople. In the Children’s Crusade Nicholas and Stephan led 20,000 kids, but they were sold into slavery in North Africa by Hugh the Iron and William the Pig. Medieval Literature was very much differentiated. There was Beowulf which was the story of an Anglo-Saxon warrior. The Song of Roland was written by Charlemagne’s knights and was a chivalrous defense of Christianity. Troubadours were traveling poet-musicians who told songs of love and feats of knights. The Divine Comedy was written by Dante and it was an imaginary journey from heaven to hell. There were also the Canterbury Tales by Chaucer which told of a pilgrims’ journey to England.
 * __ 5 Important people __**
 * __ 1: Charlemagne: __ Know as Charles the great and "Holy Barbarian". He spread Christianity, united Europe,and was crowned on Christmas day in 800 A.D. **
 * __ 2: Sir Wiliam Wallace: __Also known as, "Brave Heart" He was a Scottish national hero. He resisted the English rule and invaded England in 1297.**
 * __ 3:Clovis __ : He was the first barbarian king to be come a christian. He changed rules so that kingship would be held by his heirs not others. **
 * __ 4: ____ Henry I: __The first Norman King, he was born and educated in England, he was also the third son of William the Conqueror.**
 * __ 5:Eleanor of Aquitaure: __** **Most powerful woman of the Era, known as "Queen of four Kings". In her life she married two kings and had two sons, both who would grow up to be Kings givin gher great infulence in political matters**.

__** 5 Important term **__
 * __ 1.Pope- __ The pope is the bishop of Rome and the head of the Catholic church, the pope has a lot of say in what happens in society, and what can or cannot happen. **
 * __ 2.Guild- __A business association associated with a particulartradeor craft; guilds evovled in the twelfth century and came to play aleading role in the economic life of medieval cities.**
 * __ 3.Masterpiece- __A piece created by a journey man who aspires to be a master creaftsperson; it allowed the members of a guild to judge whether the journeyman was qualified t o become a master and join the guild.**
 * __ 4.Vassal- __ Under feudalism, a man who served a lord in military support and mutual protection, sometimes the vassals would have their own vassals and so on and so forth until you got to serfs. **
 * __ 5.Lay Investiture- __The preactice by which secular rulers both chose nominees to churhc offices andgave them the symbols of their office.**



1) [|Battle of Tours]-This website has information on who was part of the Battle of Tours, what happened and what the consequences were. 2) [|Charlemagne]-This website is a biography of Charlemagne, the man who united Europe. It goes into alot of detail and could be very interesting if you would like to learn more about this great leader. 3) [|Vikings]-This website has information about the norsemen and there gods. 4) [|Who Really Discovered America]-This website is an opinion piece on who really discoved America, was it Christopher Columbus or really Leif Erickson, a Scandinavian, who claimed to go there in 1000AD. 5) [|Feudalism]-This website has lists explaining the way feudalism worked, as in who gave what to who in order to make society work.
 * 5 links*

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