Middle Ages History Lecture Outline

Honors Humanities

The Middle Ages were the time after _______________________________

and before ___________________________________________________.

Middle Ages: approximately 476-1500 C.E.

Early Middle Ages: 476-1000 C.E. [Sometimes called Dark Ages]

High Middle Ages: 1000-1300 C.E. [Romanesque Architecture 1000-1200]
Late Middle Ages: 1300-1500 C.E. [Gothic Architecture 1100-1400]
Why dont historians and scholars use the term Dark Ages?

____________________________________________________________________________

***

A.D. means ___________________________________________________________________.

C.E. means ___________________________________________________________________.

***

476 C.E. Last emperor of the Western Empire is deposed by the Germanic barbarian
Odoacer (the rest of the Western Empire was already in the hands of various
invaders) and the Roman Empire ceases to exist

476-800 C.E. Continued incursions across Europe by non-Christian Goths, Visigoths,

Ostrogoths, Vandals, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, C.E.lts, Franks, Burgundians, Slavs,
Muslim Arabs, Vikings, Huns, Mongols, and Avars

This era used to be called the Dark Ages because daily life was _________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

List and explain three benefits of the Catholic Church after the fall of the Roman Empire:

1)

2)

3)
Definition of feudalism: _________________________________________________________
Fill in this chart of the hierarchy of the political and social order under feudalism:

TITLE DEFINITION AND VISUAL DEPICTION

God

king

noblemen:
duke, princes,
earls, barons,
etc.

bishops

lords
(and ladies)

knights
(lords / sons
of lords)

freemen /
vassals

serfs /
peasants

slaves
Draw a small, basic map of a manor here. Include pasture, farmland, a manor house, a parsonage,
a church, a meadow (open green space), some woodland, a village for the vassals and serfs, and
some closes (enclosed rough pasture land, orchards, gardens, or paddocks for animals)

Medieval castles had to be strong, simple, and heavily fortified in order to withstand attack. They
were not pretty places with ornate decorations. Even kings and their families, who lived in the
keep, had very basic accomodations. Draw an aerial map or 3D view of a typical early medieval
castle here. Include the barbican, drawbridge, moat, thick castle walls, watchtowers, bailey,
chapel, and keep.
800 C.E. Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III. Much of
Western Europe is united again for the first time since the fall of the Roman
Empire. Charlemagne is sometimes called the Father of Europe and was a
protector and defender of the church. He campaigned against the Muslim Moors
of southern Spain, Christianizing many at the tip of a sword.

1066 C.E. Invasion of England by William the Conqueror, from Normandy in northern
France

Why was the Battle of Hastings important?

____________________________________________________________________________

Why is the Bayeux Tapestry important?

____________________________________________________________________________

What was the language of people in England before 1066? What did it sound like? [Please listen
to the videos. Dont forget the ten-minute history. It is fun and funny!]

____________________________________________________________________________

What was the language of the rich and powerful after 1066 in England?

____________________________________________________________________________

What was the language of the ordinary people of England after 1066? What did it sound like?

____________________________________________________________________________

1085-1086 C.E. Domesday Book commissioned by William the Conqueror records census and
economic data; feudal hierarchy and manorial system dominate life

What does Domesday mean? How is it pronounced?

____________________________________________________________________________

Share two interesting facts about the Domesday Book:

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

1096-1291 C.E. Crusades (8 in total)

What was the purpose of the Crusades, from the perspective of the Catholic Church?

____________________________________________________________________________
What did Pope Urban II say would be the benefit of dying in the Crusades?

____________________________________________________________________________

What were some of the worst things about the Crusades for Christendom?

____________________________________________________________________________

What were some of the benefits of the Crusades to Europe?

____________________________________________________________________________

***

Courtly love poetry was one of the literary innovations of the Middle Ages and elevated chivalry
(manners, honor) to become one of the highest values of the culture. What kind of love is valued
in the courtly love stories?

____________________________________________________________________________

Name two famous and familiar stories that demonstrate the values of courtly love and chivalry:

____________________________________________________________________________

Over the course of the Middle Ages, the culture shifted from a focus on manly values like

____________________________________________________________________________

to more domestic and refined values like ___________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________.

***

1215 C.E. Magna Carta law code helps to limit powers of king; balance kings power with
that of the church and the barons/lords; and establish business practices

1338-1453 C.E. Hundred Years War between England and France; rise of idea of nationhood

***

1347-1350 C.E. Bubonic Plague (Black Death) across Europe; recurrences of forms of the
plague continue for centuries

How did the Plague, or Black Death, spread throughout Europe? How many people died?

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________
What was the effect of the Plague on the social, political, and economic structures of western
Europe?

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

What was a guild? ____________________________________________________________

Name a couple of functions the guilds served in the lives of families in the high and late Middle
Ages:
____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

***

1320.1381 C.E. Uprisings of peasants in France and England are squelched rapidly by kings,
barons, and lords. The rise of burgs, craftsmen, and merchants (freemen) gives
society a lot more movement between classes and emboldens peasants.

***

What is a burg?

____________________________________________________________________________

Who are the bourgeoisie?

____________________________________________________________________________

***

What did the rich and poor have in common throughout the Middle Ages? Answers:

All were subservient to Gods church and the church was integral to every
aspect of daily life.

All feared eternal damnation in hell as a result of sins; all wanted to reach
heaven. [See Dante Alighieris Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, and
Paradiso.]

All believed that great cathedrals would glorify God. See separate PowerPoint
on medieval Romanesque and Gothic architecture, which we will view in class.]