UNIT ONE

UNIT ONE

Western Civilization

THE MEDIEVAL WORLD_1Wb

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

1. RELIGION: What role did Religion play in western civilization?

2. WARFARE: How has the nature of War and Peace impacted world history?

3. SOCIAL ADVANCEMENTS: How has the growth and evolution of Social Classes

influenced world civilization?

OVERVIEW:

The Middle Ages, or Medieval Age, which is it? What do we call this period and does it matter? In actuality the term Middle Ages first came into use during the Renaissance as the men and women of letters looked back to the Classical World of Greece and Rome. They felt their era, the Renaissance, to be a model of the Classical World. Hence they saw the period intervening as a period between with no real value. It was as if the Classical World and the Renaissance were steps forward in history while the time in between was a rest period at best or a regression at worst. This view of history was the dominant one for a long time. In the first half of the twentieth century new scholarship began to change this view and a more positive view of the Medieval Era emerged. One of the issues we must deal with in this unit was whether the time period is worthy of a separate name or was it truly a middle period in which very little was accomplished. Both terms, the Medieval Era and Middle Ages, will be acceptable and unless otherwise noted will be interchangeable.

The Medieval Era occurred roughly from 500 to 1500. It is itself often divided into three separate subdivisions. The Early Middle Ages, or Early Medieval Period, goes from the fall of Rome to 1000. This is sometimes called the Dark Ages because the world had lost the “light” of the Roman Empire. The High Middle Ages run from about 1000 to 1300 while the Late Middle Ages goes from 1300 to as late as the 1600’s. Not all historians agree with these divisions but we shall use them for this class.

Many aspects of the Medieval World will be assessed in this course. The art, literature, philosophy, living styles, and music of this era warrant attention. We shall try to survey some of these to give you a multi-sided view of the era. In addition you will read about the Islamic and Byzantine worlds. Clearly both of these last two subjects have become more important and relevant as a result of September 11.

Finally, the Middle Ages owes much of its character to the Rise of the Christian Church. The Christian Church in turn owed much of its character to Judaism. But these were not the only religions of the era. Islam grew rapidly during this period while the Orthodox Churches also have their beginnings during this period. Perhaps the Middle Ages should be called the Golden Age of Religions. In any case, religion has played a central role in western civilization. Beginning with this unit we will trace that history.

Clearly the Medieval Era is an important one and a good place to start a course on western civilization. For example, the word Europe first became a usable word during the Middle Ages. Before the fall of Rome it was not a valid term. In trying to understand the Medieval World we will look at a number of the major forces that would help form that European world. We have already mentioned one, the role of religion. The second is the political system we call feudalism. Feudalism is the heart of the Medieval Era and we must understand it to comprehend the era and its role in western civilization. We hope to make this easier with a case study of a representative medieval village, the English village of Cuxham. In Cuxham we will introduce you to another major force of the era, the manor. These are only a sample of the reasons we have decided to start this course on western civilization with the Medieval Era. Keep the following content questions in mind as you progress through the unit.

CONTENT QUESTIONS:

1. What was feudalism? How did it differ from manorialism?

2. What was the role of the Christian Church during the Middle Ages?

3. What were the important contributions made by the Islamic and Byzantine rule?

4. What were the political and economic effects of the Crusades?

5. What important contributions did the Middle Ages make in the arts, education, and philosophy?

KEY TERMS:

Feudalism Manor (Manorialism)

Knights Templars Classical World

Crusades Chivalry

Paul of Tarsus Joshua Ben Joseph

Bishop of Rome Town-Crown relationship

Monasticism Francis of Assisi

Thomas Aquinas “Unam Sanctum”

Glebe land Domain (demesne)

Holy Roman Empire Innocent III

Dark Ages Charlemagne

Constantine Byzantine

Islam/ Moslem Scholasticism

Arab Realism vs. Nominalism

Pax Romana Muhammad

Augustine of Hippo Secular

Benedict of Nursia Comitatus

Justinian Bede

Koran Serf

Vassal Lay Investiture

Guilds High Middle Ages

Boniface VIII Basil the Great

Peter Gregory the Great

Gregory VII Franks

Christian Heresies Sadducees

Pharisees Essenes

Fief Judaism

Missi dominici Carolingian Renaissance

Hanseatic League Fairs Canossa Peace of God

Town Charter Seignorial System Vikings Clientela

TIME LINE:

313 Constantine accepts Christianity

315 Constantinople becomes new Roman capital

395 Christianity becomes official religion of Empire

410 Visigoths sack Rome - "Fall" of Rome

455 Vandals overrun Rome - "Fall" of Rome

476 Last Roman Emperor deposed - "Fall" of Rome

520 St. Benedict sets up his monastic order

533 Justinian Code - Corpus juris civilis

570 Mohammed born

622 Islam religion founded (Islamic calendar begins)

700 Islam enters Golden Age

732 Battle of Tours

768-814 Reign of Charlemagne

800 Byzantium enters Golden Age

800 Charlemagne crowned

850 Viking Invasions

900-1100 Rise of towns, guilds and urban culture in the West

1000 Romanesque period at height

1054 Schism splits churches of Rome and Greece

1066 Battle of Hastings

1071 Battle of Manzikert

1095-1291 The Crusades

1198-1216 Pope Innocent III – Height of medieval papacy

1150 Development of Gothic Architecture

1265 Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica begun

1302 Boniface VIII issues bull Unam Sanctam

1453 Fall of Constantinople

SOURCES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:

A. Bibliography:

Agold, Michael. The Byzantine Empire, 1025-1204. (1985).

Barber, Malcolm. The Two Cities: Medieval Europe, 1050-1320. (1992)

Collins, Roger. Early Medieval Europe: 300-1000. (1991).

Dahmus, Joseph. Dictionary of Medieval Civilization. (1984).

Durant, Will. The Age of Faith. (l950).

Geary, P. Before France and Germany: The Age of Charlemagne. (1988).

Gibb, H. A. R. Mohammedism: An Historical Survey. (1953).

Gluber, Shirley. Knights in Armor. (1969).

Grant, Michael. The Fall of the Roman Empire. (1990).

Hollister, C. Warren. Medieval Europe. A Short History, 6th ed. (1990).

Hourani, Albert. A History of the Arab Peoples. (1991).

Kennedy, Hugh. The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates. (1986).

Koenigsberger, H. G. Medieval Europe 400-1500. (1993).

Platt, Colin. Atlas of Medieval Man. (1979).

Rice, David. European Civilization-The Dark Ages. (1965).

Ricker, John and John Saywell. The Emergence of Europe. (1976).

Sherrard, Philip. Byzantium. (1966).

Stewart, Desmond. Early Islam. (1967).

Strayer, Joseph R. and D. C. Munro. The Middle Ages 395-1500. (1959).

Tierney, Brian and Sidney Painter. Western Europe in the Middle Ages 300-1475. (1983).

Trevor-Roper, Hugh. The Rise of Christian Europe. (1989).

Tuchman, Barbara. A Distant Mirror. (1978).

Wallace-Hadrill, J. M. The Barbarian West 400-1000, 3rd ed. (1988).

Watt, W. M. Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. (1961).

B. Web Sites:

Did Rome Fall, Or Was It Pushed? http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/rome/rome.html

Rome - Fall of Rome and the Roman Empire - http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/fallofrome/

Dark Ages - http://cfcc.net/dutch/DarkAges.htm

Dark Ages Web - http://www.fernweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/mf/

Dark Ages Bibliography - http://members.tripod.com/HistoricalNovelists/darkages.htm

Medieval teaching resources - http://members.aol.com/tmatrust/teach.html

Life in the Middle Ages -http://www.learner.org/exhibits/middleages/feudal.html

Byzantium - http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/byzantium/

Islam – (Saudi Arabian site) - http://www.iad.org/

Islam – (BBC site) - http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/index.shtml

Judaism – http://www.shamash.org/trb/judaism.html

Everything Jewish - http://www.resourcehelp.com/bib_jud.htm

Christianity - http://religion.rutgers.edu/vri/xnity.html

Art - http://witcombe.sbc.edu/ARTHmedieval.html

Documents - http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html

Avalon Project at Yale Law- http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/medieval/medmenu.htm

End of Europe’s Middle Ages - a tutorial-

http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/endmiddle/