The Middle Ages
Videos about the Middle Ages
Summary of the Middle Ages
Feudalism
The Crusades
Vocabulary
Feudalism and the Manor System
The Middle Ages - the years between ancient and modern times
medieval - referring to the Middle Ages
feudalism - a system in which land was owned by kinds or lord but held by vassals in return for their loyalty
manor - a large estate, often including farms and a village, ruled by a lord
serf - a farm worker considered part of the manor on which he or she worked
The Church and the Rise of Cities
clergy - persons with authority to perform religious services
excommunication - expelling someone from the Church
guild - medieval organization of crafts workers of tradespeople
apprentice - an unpaid person training in a craft or trade
chivalry - the code of honorable conduct for knights
troubadour - a travelling poet and musician of the Middle Ages
The Crusades
Holy Land - Jerusalem and parts of the surrounding area where Jesus lived and taught
Crusades - series of military expeditions launched by Christian Europeans to win the Holy Land back from Muslim control
Jerusalem - a city in the Holy Land, regarded as sacred by Christians, Muslims, and Jews
pilgrim - a person who journeys to a sacred place
Vocab Squares
For each of the sections, create a vocabulary square to help you remember the words and their definitions.
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The vocabulary word
The definition of the word
A sentence that correctly uses the word
A drawing that shows what the vocabulary word means
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Feudalism and the Manor System
The basic government and society in Europe during the Middle Ages was based around the feudal system. Small communities were formed around the local lord, or ruler, and the manor, or castle/mansion. The lord owned the land and everything in it. He would keep the peasants safe in return for their service. The lord, in return, would provide the king with soldiers and taxes.
Service for Land
Under the feudal system land was granted to people for service. It started at the top with the king granting his land to a baron for soldiers all the way down to a peasant getting land to grow crops.
The Manor
The center of life in the Middle Ages was the manor. The manor was run by the local lord. He lived in a large house or castle where people would gather for celebrations or for protection if they were attacked. A small village would form around the castle which would include the local church. Farms would then spread out from there which would be worked by the peasants.
Hierarchy of Rulers
King - The top leader in the land was the king. The king could not control all of the land by himself, so he divided it up among the Barons. In return, the Barons pledged their loyalty and soldiers to the king. When a king died, his firstborn son would inherit the throne. When one family stayed in power for a long time, this was called a dynasty.
Bishop - The Bishop was the top church leader in the kingdom and managed an area called a diocese. The Catholic Church was very powerful in most parts of Medieval Europe and this made the Bishop powerful as well. Not only that, but the church received a tithe of 10 percent from all the people. This made some Bishops very rich.
Barons and Nobles- The Barons and high ranking nobles ruled large areas of land called fiefs. They reported directly to the king and were very powerful. They divided up their land among Lords who ran individual manors. Their job was to maintain an army that was at the king's service. If they did not have an army, sometimes they would pay the king a tax instead. This tax was called shield money.
Lords and Knights - The lords ran the local manors. They also were the king's knights and could be called into battle at any moment by their Baron. The lords owned everything on their land including the peasants, crops, and village.
Peasants or Serfs - Most of the people living in the Middle Ages were peasants. They had a hard rough life. Some peasants were considered free and could own their own businesses like carpenters, bakers, and blacksmiths. Others were more like slaves. They owned nothing and were pledged to their local lord. They worked long days, 6 days a week, and often barely had enough food to survive.
Interesting Facts about the Feudal System
Around 90 percent of the people worked the land as peasants.
Peasants worked hard and died young. Most were dead before they reached 30 years old.
The kings believed they were given the right to rule by God. This was called "divine right".
Lords and Barons swore oaths of homage and fealty to their kings.
The Lord held absolute power over the fief or manor including holding court and deciding punishments for crimes
The Church and the Rise of Cities
Christianity and the Catholic Church played a major role in Europe during the Middle Ages. The local church was the center of town life. People attended weekly ceremonies. They were married, confirmed, and buried at the church. The church even confirmed kings on their throne giving them the divine right to rule.
Rich and Powerful
The Catholic Church became very rich and powerful during the Middle Ages. People gave the church 1/10th of their earnings in tithes. They also paid the church for various sacraments such as baptism, marriage, and communion. People also paid penances to the church. The wealthy often gave the church land.
Eventually, the church owned about one third of the land in Western Europe. Because the church was considered independent, they did not have to pay the king any tax for their land. Leaders of the church became rich and powerful. Many nobles became leaders such as abbots or bishops in the church.
Structure of the Church
The leader of the Catholic Church was the pope. Right below the pope were powerful men called cardinals. Next were bishops and abbots. Even bishops held a lot of power on the local level and often served on the council of the king.
Life in the Country
The majority of people living during the Middle Ages lived in the country and worked as farmers. Usually there was a local lord who lived in a large house called a manor or a castle. Local peasants would work the land for the lord. The peasants were called the lord's "villeins", which was like a servant.
The peasants worked hard all year long. They grew crops such as barley, wheat, and oats. They also had gardens where they grew vegetables and fruits. They also sometimes had a few animals such as chickens for eggs and cows for milk.
Life in the City
City life was very different from country life, but it wasn't much easier. The cities were crowded and dirty. A lot of people worked as craftsmen and were members of a guild. Young boys would serve as apprentices for seven years learning a craft. Other jobs in the city included servants, merchants, bakers, doctors, and lawyers.
Guilds
Guilds in the Middle Ages were associations or groups of craftsmen. Each guild focused on a specific trade such as the candlemaker's guild or the tanner's guild.
Guilds in the Middle Ages played an important role in society. They provided a way for trade skills to be learned and passed down from generation to generation. Members of a guild had the opportunity to rise in society through hard work.
The guild protected members in many ways. Members were supported by the guild if they came onto hard times or were sick. They controlled working conditions and hours of work. Some guild members were even exempt from paying high taxes from the lords and kings.
The Crusades
The Crusades were a series of wars during the Middle Ages where the Christians of Europe tried to retake control of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslims.
Why did they want to control Jerusalem?
Jerusalem was important to a number of religions during the Middle Ages. It was important to Jewish people as it was the site of the original temple to God built by King Solomon. It was important to the Muslims because it was where they believe Muhammad ascended to heaven. It was important to Christians as it is where Christ was crucified and rose again.
Who fought in the Crusades?
The Crusades were between the armies of Europe, mostly the Holy Roman Empire, and the Arabs that had control of Jerusalem. In the first Crusade Europe battled the Seljuk Turks. There were around 30,000 soldiers from Europe in the first Crusade, they were made up of Knights, peasants, and other commoners. Some saw the army as a way to get rich and try out their fighting skills, while others saw it as a way into heaven
How they got started
The initial Crusade began when the Seljuk Turks took control of the Holy Land. Prior to this, the Arabs had been in control of the land. However, the Arabs had allowed Christians to pilgrimage and visit the city of Jerusalem. In 1070, when the Turks took control, they began to refuse Christian pilgrims into the area. Byzantine Emperor Alexius I called for help from the Pope with defending his empire from the Turks and to help push them out of the Holy Land. The Pope helped to gather an army, primarily with the help of the Franks and the Holy Roman Empire.
Timeline of the Crusades
There were a number of Crusades that took place over the course of 200 years starting in 1095:
The First Crusade (1095-1099): The First Crusade was the most successful. Armies from Europe drove out the Turks and took control of Jerusalem.
The Second Crusade (1147-1149): In 1146 the city of Edessa was conquered by the Turks. The entire population was killed or sold into slavery. Then a second Crusade was launched, but was unsuccessful.
The Third Crusade (1187-1192): In 1187 Saladin, the sultan of Egypt, recaptured the city of Jerusalem from the Christians. A third Crusade was launched led by Emperor Barbarossa of Germany, King Philip Augustus of France, and King Richard the Lionheart of England. Richard the Lionheart fought Saladin for several years. In the end he could not conquer Jerusalem, but he did win the right for pilgrims to visit the holy city once again.
The Fourth Crusade (1202-1204): The Fourth Crusade was formed by Pope Innocent III with the hope of taking back the Holy Land. However, the Crusaders got sidetracked and greedy and ended up conquering and plundering Constantinople instead.
Children's Crusade (1212): Started by a French child named Stephen of Cloyes and a German kid named Nicholas, tens of thousands of children gathered to march to the Holy Land. This ended in total disaster. None of the children made it to the Holy Land and many were never seen again. They were likely sold into slavery.
Crusades Five through Nine (1217 - 1272): Over the next several years there would be 5 more Crusades. None of them would be very successful in terms of gaining control of the Holy Land
Sources and Additional Readings
Middle Ages -The Black Plague
The Black Death is the name for a terrible disease that spread throughout Europe from 1347 to 1350. There was no cure for the disease and it was highly contagious.
How did it start?
The plague likely started in Asia and traveled westward along the Silk Road. The disease was carried by fleas that lived on rats. Historians think that black rats living on European merchant ships caught the disease, eventually bringing it to Europe.
How bad was it?
It's hard to imagine how scary life was in the Middle Ages during the Black Death. By the time the disease ran its course, it had killed at least one third of the people in Europe and probably more. In Paris, France it's estimated that around 800 people died a day. There were so many dead that they couldn't bury them. They had to carry them to massive pits.
Unfortunately, the people in the Middle Ages didn't know that the disease was carried by rats. This made larger cities and towns, which were very dirty during the Middle Ages, especially dangerous as there were lots of rats there. Sometimes entire towns or villages were wiped out by the plague.
What did the people do?
As you might expect, there was panic. Many people were sure it was the end of the world. People locked their doors and tried to hide in their houses. However, this did little good in cities where rats, and therefore fleas, were everywhere. They also burned down houses and even entire villages to try and stop the disease.
The Bubonic Plague
Today we call this disease the bubonic plague. Very few people get the disease today and most of those that do recover fine. When people got the disease in the Middle Ages, they almost always died. People would get really sick including black and blue blotches all over their body.
Rebuilding After the Black Death
Much of the infrastructure of Europe was gone when the Black Death finally subsided. It's estimated that it took around 150 years for Europe to rebuild.
Facts about the Black Death
Many people thought that the Black Death was punishment from God.
It is estimated that somewhere between 75 million and 200 million people died of the plague.
Some scientists think it was a bacteria called Yersinia pestis that caused the disease.
The plague was not called the Black Death until many years later. Some think it was called this because of how the skin turned dark at the late stages of the disease, but it was more likely called "Black" to reflect the dark and horrible time in history.
Some people thought that pockets of bad air released by earthquakes caused the plague. Others went so far as to blame Jewish people for bringing the plague to kill Christians.
The epidemic returned to Europe several times, but wasn't as bad as the Black Death period
After reading the passage, answer the following questions.
1) What was the Black Death?
A. Another name for the Guillotine
B. A disease that killed many people in Europe
C. The name for secret soldiers in the Roman army
D. The name of the sword used by King Arthur
E.A religious cult during the Middle Ages
2) What animal carried the Black Death and transferred it to humans?
A. Fleas
B. Birds
C. Dogs
D. Mosquitoes
E. Cows
3) Where do historians think that the Black Death started?
A. In Africa
B. In North America
C. In Russia
D. In England
E. In Asia
4) What did people do when the disease started killing people?
A. They locked their doors
B. They burned down houses and villages
C. They panicked
D. They tried to run and hide
E. All of the above
5) What is the Black Death called today?
A. Malaria
B. Smallpox
C. Bubonic Plague
D. Influenza
E. Bird Flu