Unit 6a Middle Ages

What are the Middle Ages?

Open Ended

What do YOU think of when you hear ''medieval"'

Like this?

The reality of the Middle Ages is much more complex, and much less dismal!

Not so much!

NEVER use the term "Dark Ages!"

Seriously, no historian uses this anymore, I swear!

Multiple Choice

Which group had the healthiest diet?

• Kings and nobles in the Middle Ages

• Peasants in the MIddle Ages

• People in the Roman Empire

• People today, no question!

When are the Middle Ages?

500 - 1000 CE - Early Middle Ages
1000 - 1300 CE High Middle Ages
1300 - 1500 CE - Late Middle Ages

FACT: 'medieval' comes from the Latin for 'middle ages.' Middle Ages is a noun, and capitalized, but medieval is an adjective, and is not.

100-500 CE - Late Antiquity
- height of the Roman Empire (or 'pax romana') through its decline
500-1500 CE -Middle Ages
- a.k.a. 'medieval'

Multiple Choice

The Middle Ages are divided into:

• Early, Middle, and Late

• Low, MIddle, and High

• Early, High, and Late

• Early, On Time, and Late

It all begins with...

the Fall of Rome!

For the last few centuries of the Empire, wave after wave of tribes like the Huns, Vandals, Visigoths, and Goths kept invading Rome, looting and plundering.

Invading Tribes

At its height, the Empire was just too big to defend, and the army (and the budget) was overextended, leaving not enough resources at home.

Borders too large

Around 300-400, the climate took a dramatic turn, entering a mini ice age, which crippled the Empire's food production, and led to plagues and famines.

Climate cooling

Why did Rome fall?

Multiple Choice

A plague is:

• A period of war and violence

• A period of widespread sickness

• A period of truly horrible art and music

• A period of poverty

Multiple Choice

A famine is:

• A period of widespread sickness

• A period of poverty

• A period of starvation due to loss of crops

• A period of violence and war

Multiple Choice

Which of these was NOT invented in the Middle Ages?

• The University, w/ undergrad and grad degrees

• The romance novel

• Torture devices, like the 'iron maiden'

• Mechanical clocks that kept accurate time

• Eyeglasses

• Centered around Rome

• Latin

• More northern regions

• Trade with the east is difficult

Western Empire

• Centered around Constantinople

• Greek

• More southern regions

• Has open access to much of Asia

Eastern Empire (Byzantine)

• Struggles with cooler climate

• Trade stagnates

• 'Subsistence farming'

• Central authority breaks down into small local kings or chiefs

Western Empire

• Handles change in climate fairly well

• Active trade with near east and Asia

• Generally flourishes

• Maintains strong central authority under an Emperor

Eastern Empire (Byzantine)

Multiple Choice

The WESTERN Empire struggled with:

• A, Continuous invasions

• B. Cooler climate

• C. Lack of central leadership

• A and C only

• A, B, and C

• Still fighting invasions from N.

• AND fighting Islamic Expansion

Western Empire

• Mostly stable borders

• Ongoing fights with Persia

Eastern Empire (Byzantine)

Multiple Choice

In the early MIddle Ages, the EASTERN Empire fought against:

• Persia

• Greece

• The West

• China

Multiple Choice

Which writing innovation was developed in the Early Middle Ages?

• Punctuation to make reading easier

• Lower case letters (abc vs. ABC)

• Spaces between words

• All of these

Despite cooler climate, poverty, famines, and subsistence living, some things thrive!

Early Middle Ages in the West

Ireland, British Isles become more influential

Much of N Africa & Spain falls into Muslim control by 800s

Charles the Great

(No, literally Carolus [Charles] + 'magnus' [great] = Charlemagne

Charlemagne

United what is now France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Northern Spain, Northern & Central Italy, and more under one rule.

United huge area

Firm believer in literacy, opened schools, helped reform writing to make it easier by adding lowercase letters, punctuation, spacing, and standard letters

Literacy

Hired artists, writers, scholars, historians, and more, creating an amazingly dynamic period of creativity and learning.

Art, literature

If you think THIS^^ is easier to read than THIS^^
thank Charlemagne!

• Historians like Bede and Boethius record accurate histories

• Song of Roland, El Cid; create sweeping epics of great exciting adventures

• They considered themselves heirs of Rome

Literary & Artistic Expansion

Multiple Choice

Which of these were NOT common in the Middle Ages?

• Witch trials and burnings

• Voting on local politics

• Study of nature and science

• Women had rights, owned property, and had choices about how to live

For some reason, history books & teachers at this level think the entire Middle Ages can be summed up in Feudalism. Not really, but you should know what it means. So, here we go!

Feudalism

• A 'system' like democracy or capitalism

• A word anyone THEN ever used

• Anything planned or imposed by anyone in power

• (In fact, the word 'feudal' refers to land ownership, NOT governance!)

​​It is NOT:

• A word to describe a trend in how communities organized themselves based on how people understood the role of kings

• A way to understand social relationships in the Middle Ages

It IS:

• Exactly how this worked varied from place to place, and king to king

• Inheritance and division of land messed everything up

• Not even remotely unique to Middle Ages

• As soon as this sort of becomes the norm, everything changes again anyway.

Kind of. It's not that simple!

Multiple Select

Which of these people are knights?

• Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, etc.)

• Iain McKellen (Gandalf, Magneto, etc)

• Steven Spielberg (director)

• Angelina Jolie (actress, humanitarian)

• Ralph Lauren (fashion designer)

When the Pope (kind of a big deal) was captured, Charlemagne rescused him.The Pope offered to make him Holy Roman Emperor. What's odd about that?

Charlemagne, the G.O.A.T.

This started a nearly 800 year long struggle over who had the right to crown kings OR choose church officials.
(Sounds boring, but led to countless wars, and shaped Christian doctrine.)

The Pope had NO right to do that!

What things do you think would change that lead to a more advanced, safer, more creative time period?

Into the High Middle Ages

• 'Barbarian' invasion stop, Germanic tribes become part of the larger society.

• Larger kingdoms form with more stable borders

• Climate warms, allowing surplus crops

Beginning with climate, everything changes!

Multiple Choice

In the Middle Ages, people ate with:

• Chopsticks

• A knife and spoon; forks did not exist

• Knife, fork, and spoon, what els

• Two knives, one sharp, one dull

• Nomadic, polytheistic

• Wealth is portable, divided among heirs

• Justice is reparative, and public

Germanic Culture

• Monotheistic, but 'saint' culture

• Confession & reparation

• Religion IS the fabric of society

Christian Culture

• From the Latin & Greek

• Traditions of law, governance

• Values literacy, rationality

• Plato & Greek myth large role

Classical Culture

​Western culture becomes a fusion of:

This leads to stabilty (vs. constant fighting between many kindgoms)

Small kingdoms unite under larger rule

• New types of farming equipment make farming more productive

• ​The waterwheel and windmill make food production faster

• ​Surplus leads to trade - trade for what you don't have

Crops lead to invention and trade

Multiple Choice

This item, common in the Middle Ages, if improperly stored, could make you feel drunk, hallucinate, or even kill you!

• Rye and other grains, because of a fungus

• Water if it was not boiled before drinking

• Eggs, because chickens were fed beer

• Cabbage, because medieval farmers grew a different variety.

• With travel comes exchange of ideas (also helps innovation)

• Culture flourishes (exchange AND free time!)

• Disposable income also leads to tradesmen/craftsmen

Trade leads to travel, towns grow from trade centers

Multiple Choice

There is evidence of these being used as currency (though not often):

• Eels

• Teeth

• Shoes

• Acorns

This creates all kinds of confusion!

The Three Orders
of medieval society:
Those who work.
Those who fight.
Those who pray.

Merchants

• Craftsmen (who make things)

• Tradesmen (who do things)

• A whole range of skilled workers

They are:

• Literate

• Wealthy (ish)

• Independent

• NOT one of the Three Orders!

What's not there?
Middle Class!

Multiple Choice

Which of these was the most valuable thing in the Middle Ages?

• A hairbrush

• A sewing needle

• A pen

• A ruler

Open Ended

What do all of these names have in common:
Wainwright, Cooper, Dyer, Schumacher, Miller, Fletcher,
Mason, Chandler, Taylor

We get many of our last names from the medieval custom of calling someone by what they did; John Baker, William Smith, Matthew Carter, etc.

They are all occupations

Multiple Choice

A chandler:

• Makes chairs

• Makes candles

• Collects taxes

• Weaves cloth

Multiple Choice

A cooper:

• Transports goods in a cart

• Makes homes for chickens

• Makes barrels

• Knits socks

Multiple Choice

A wainright

• Makes wallpaper

• Makes wagons and wagonwheels

• Prepares wool to be spun into thread

• Makes bottles

Much like modern unions (of teachers, grocers, truck drivers), Guilds unite worked in a profession and give them some serious power!

Those craftsmen become powerful with Guilds!

Multiple Choice

Illustrating manuscripts was a dangerous job because:

• People would want to steal what you were working on

• You could be severely punished if you made a mistake

• The pigments (paints) used were incredibly toxic

• Many poeple were allergic to sheepskin parchment

Daily life...

...was not quite as brutal as we might think...
they played in the snow...

and they loved to warm up after a good snowball fight

They played all kinds of games...

...and loved music, dancing, and a good party

And cats, well...

have always been cats...

They were also weird in sometimes delightful ways!

(& apparently, rabbits were terrifying...)

Definitely not all fun & games, however.
Some serious things were happening!

Soaring stone cathedrals emerge in the 1100s-1300s.

This is Chartres, France, completed in 1194.

Others: Paris, Foix, Reims, St. Denis (France) ; Köln, Germany

Gothic Cathedrals

Interior, Chartres, France
This is made of stone, with no mortar, no steel or metal supports, just stone. (121 ft inside, 371 ft. towers)

Multiple Choice

What was the purpose of a Gargoyle?

• Scare away evil spirits

• To channel rainwater from the roof

• To scare sinners into proper behavior

• To provide a place for birds to perch

We don't have scientific method or many of the tools we do later, but the approach to exploring the world is there:

PROTO-SCIENCE

The first hints of science

Multiple Choice

A medieval practice known as a 'partimen' (or 'flyting,' if you were from Scandinavia) was an early form of:

• A beauty contest

• A dance much like a polka

• A rap battle

• A tug-of-war

Detailed & accurate botany texts (herbals)

Complex understanding of astronomy

Math & geometry

How?
Scholasticism!

Fancy term that means the work of the Greek academic Aristotle was rediscovered in the West.

(From where? Any guesses?)

Opened up a whole new outlook on the world.
Aristotle studied EVERYTHING, and said everyone else should, too.

Aristoelian Recovery

Worked extensively with Aristorle's work.
Also wrote about averything, but included theology (His 'Summa Theologia' means 'All theology!)

But he was an absolute TITAN in terms of his impact on the Middle Ages, and Scholasticism.

Thomas Aquinas

Faith w/o reason is meaningless.
To understand god one must understand his creation.
Hence a craze for exploring, cataloging, understanding the natural world.

Scholasticism:
Faith & Reason MUST work together.

Some begin at 'Cathedral Schools.' Some are religious at first, but soon, most are not!

Education becomes separate from the Church

Universities

• Bachelor's & Master's degrees.

• Trivium: grammar, logic, & rhetoric, (composition & speaking)

• Quadrivium: arithmetic, astronomy, music, and geometry

Trivium & Quadrivium

What is NOT here?