Middle Ages P. 2

Manors and Serfs

Nov 15, 800

Manors were agricultural estates that were ran by lords and worked by peasants. These peasants were eventually turned into serfs who are legally bound to the land. Although the serfs had to work for the lords the lords had to be civil to the serfs. They weren't allowed to take away land or change a serf's responsibilities and they had to protect their serfs.

Farming Techniques Increased the Population

Nov 15, 1000

Between 1000 and 1300 the population nearly doubled for several reasons. The population spike was because the invasions stopped and it was more peaceful, there was more food, and a warmer climate.

Trade Cities

Nov 15, 1000

In 1000 to 1100 towns and cities grew because of trade. Italy took the lead in the Mediterranean but other areas also flourished. Venice developed a mercantile fleet and Flanders, the area along the coast of Belgium and France, also grew. Another result of the tradings that were taking place of the establishing of commercial capitalism, a system where people invest in trade and goods to make a profit.

Lay Investiture

Nov 15, 1073

Lay investiture is when a non-religious ruler chooses nominees for Church offices and then gives them a symbol. Pope Gregory VII fought this practice and got rid of any rulers who thought differently. One ruler was stubborn and that was Henry IV. His and Gregory VII's argument became known as the Investiture Controversy. It wasn't until Gregory excommunicated Henry when Henry gave in and appoints and new pope and the Concordat of Worms settled the whole thing.

Dominicans and Heresy

Nov 15, 1200

Dominicans were a new religious order founded by Dominic de Guzman. Their goal was to battle heresy, the basic denial of Church doctrines. At first they though teaching and poverty would be the best way to deal with it but when that didn't work they turned to Inquisition. Inquisition is a Holy Office that was created just to deal with heresy. Those who confessed performed public penance and received a punishment. Beatings and eventually torture was used to extract these confessions.

Guilds

Nov 15, 1200

Guilds are business associations and by the 1200's there was a guild for almost everything. To become a part of a guild you had to first become an apprentice, most started this at the age of about ten. As an apprentice a master gives you room and board and teaches you their skill. After 5-7 years of that you move up to a journeyman which is when you can actually work for wages. A journeyman then has to create a masterpiece and if the other members of the guild see it worthy you are in the club.

Pope Innocent III

Nov 15, 1200

Pope Innocent III's favorite weapon was Interdict which forbids priests from giving sacraments to certain people. This increased a pope's political power and the group that wasn't given sacraments would pressure other rulers.

Pope Boniface VIII and King Philip IV

Nov 15, 1305

Philip IV wanted to tax the clergy but Pope Boniface said no because he is the one in charge of all things Catholic. Philip sent troops to arrest the pope but he escaped and died so he got a new pope elected. This pope lived in luxury in Avignon in southern France and popes continued doing this from 1305 to 1377. There continued being disputes with more than one pope at a time and living in France and Rome until 1417 when another new pope was elected and the whole issue was resolved.

100 Year War

Nov 15, 1337

The 100 Year War started in 1337 between King Edward III of England and King Philip VI of France over territory. France saw peasants as inferior and used more knights while England, even though they still used knights, used a lot of peasants armed with longbows. Longbows were more powerful had a longer range and a faster reload time compared to a crossbow.

Black Death

Nov 15, 1347

The Black Death began in 1347 because of infested fleas that lived on rats. People thought that either God was punishing them or the devil caused it and they weren't very sure of the source. It spread throughout all of Europe in four years and killed almost half of it's population of 75 million people.

Joan of Arc

Nov 15, 1430

Joan of Arc was a young peasant girl who was deeply religious and believed that saints had told her to save France. She was able to go with Charles and his army to Orleans where she commanded the troops and they seized Orleans. She was very good at what she did an eventually turned the war although she wasn't alive to see it. In 1430 she was captured and accused of heresy when she was burned at the stake.