medieval europe
Feudalism
Feudalism is a political and social system in which a lord gave land to a noble to work, govern and defend in return for the noble's loyalty. It lasted from about 900-1300 AD, during the height of the Middle Ages. It began with the collapse of the Roman Empire. For hundreds of years, Europe was unified under the rule of Rome. But the empire fell apart in 5century AD and Europe broke into dozens of small kingdoms. The rulers had trouble repelling attacks from their neighbors, and the feudal system helped solve these problems. Under the feudal system, the king gave big chunks of land, called fiefs to noblemen, who in return, swore loyalty towards the king. Nobles became the Kings vassals, swearing to serve and protect him. Just like the king, the noblemen would give fiefs to their own vassals and some of them were specially trained soldiers called Knights who protected the fiefs as well as the Kings land. Today economy is based on money but back them, having land was considered rich. Once you got a fief, you could keep it in your family forever. So, basically if you were born rich, you would stay rich but if you were born poor, you would stay poor. 90% of the population were the serfs or peasants. The serfs had to obey laws, work in the lords fields and pay taxes. In the 14th century, famine and disease killed a huge chunk of the European population. So there was a labor shortage and the ones left demanded more rights and freedom. Towns and cities began growing and a new middle class of merchants and craftsmen began forming. Money began to become the main source of wealth.
|
CharlemAgne
Charlemagne's domain stretched from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. When Charlemagne's father died, his kingdom was given to Chaelemagne and his brother. For several years, the land was ruled separately. At the age of twenty four, Charlemagne was the sole shareholder of the largest kingdom in Europe as his brother had died. He launched over fifty military campaigns, designed to expand his empire and save souls. He divided his kingdom into 350 different counties and put each into the hands of a count who answered to him directly. Throughout his empire, he would build a chain of schools, which would ignite a whole new age of learning. Charlemagne made a concerted effort to read and write, even though it was the work of the monks. By the time of 800, he was almost 60 years old and had ruled for more than three decades. In 800 AD, in Rome, a new emperor was incharge, the first in so many years, he was Charlemagne. He would be remembered as one of the most illuminating figures of the Dark Ages. This was the reign of Charlemagne.
|
the crusades
Crusades are holy wars sponsored by the Catholic Church to capture Jerusalem from the Muslims. Jerusalem is a holy country to Judaism, Christianity and Muslims/Islamic religions, also called the holy land. Europe was split into two parts-
|
effectS of the crusades
- Western Europe wanted apricots, cotton, and other things from east, increasing trade, exchanging of ideas.
- Since nobles and Knights died, Kings took back land and regained power.
- News no more trusted Christians as they attacked Jews during the crusades.
- Because of the attack on Constantinople, the divide between Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches continues.
the bubonic plague
The Black Death or the Black Plague was a pandemic that killed hundreds of people during the Middle Ages. A pandemic is when an infectious disease spreads over a largepart of the world. The Balck Dath first showed up in China in 1333 where it killed five million people.Traders and soldiers carried this disease over the Silk Road to the Middle East. In October,1347, a fleet of plague-infected merchant ships landed in Messina, Italy. After that the Black Death spread rapidly across Europe. In four years, the disease killed one-third and two-third of the people living in Europe. Smaller outbreaks occurred over the centuries. There were May other reasons people died, like famine,war and terrible weather. Hunger makes people's immune system weak and diseases easily penetrate people in such conditions. Nobody, even doctors didn't know what had caused the disease. Some practices such as bloodletting which involved making a person bleed a lot so that the sickness could be bled out of them which made the sickness even worse. Folk remedies like charms and germs were basically harmless but didn't do much good either. Most importantly, people were unaware of simple hygiene like washing your hands and bathing, etc. today may historians believe that the Black Death was really a outbreak of the disease called the bubonic plague. It's caused by the bacteria Yersinia Pestis. Bubonic plague is usually found on rodents but it can spread to people when a flea carrying the bacteria, jumps from the rat to a human. People often died a few weeks after showing the symptoms. Some scientists say that the Balck Death may not have been caused by the Bubonic Plague at all. It can be anthrax, Ebola or smallpox or a variety of bacteria including the bubonic plague. The pandemic caused so much fear that the whole socialorder broke down. So many people died that there was hardly anyone left to work in the fields. Because of this, the peasants were able to demand more rights and more money. After the outbreak, the disease came back after 400 years in several countries. Thousands died as untrained professionals called plague doctors went house to house, providing ineffective remedies.