Middle+ages

“My Story of the World;” Middle Ages Mini-Chapter

The approximate dates of the Middle Ages are from A.D 500 to 1400s. Charles Martel’s was a Frankish leader whose grandson, named Charlemagne, lead the Franks and who spread Roman Christianity throughout Europe. Charlemagne (it means “Charles the Great”) conquered many lands, including present-day France, Germany, and Italy. The leader crowned Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor because Charlemagne had spread Roman Christianity throughout the territory that had previously been controlled by the Roman Empire. The form of government in the Middle Ages was called feudalism. This was a way to keep the peace in Europe. It was a system of governing based on fiefs of land and fiefs to a landowner. In the feudal system a lord gave land to the nobles, who in turn gave loyalty to the vassals. The vassal received an area of land called a serf in exchange for his loyalty to the lord. The “pledge of allegiance” made by a vassal was called an oath of loyalty. The vassal promised to protect the lord, if asked, and to act as a soldier. When a vassal wore armor on horseback in defense of his lord, they were called knights. They followed a Code of conduct. Knights had to know music and poetry, have good manners, and protect the church. A serf was a person who was bound to work on a noble’s farmland. Serfs had to pay their lord taxes in the form of crops or produce. A manor is a settlement that had a village, farmland, a mill on it, and a central manor house. During the Middle Ages, a tribe from Scandinavia, called the Norse (Vikings) tried to exert their control over Europe. One such tribe, named the Vikings traveled throughout Europe. They terrified people, and stole from towns and burning them. They were also great explorers who settled in Iceland, Greenland, and even in North America. In 1066, Willam the conqueror crossed the English Channel from the north coast of France. He defeated the Saxon king of England at Hastings, who was named Harold. William made himself King of England. William brought elements of the French culture to England and established a strong government. The English king of England, King John, was forced by his vassals to sign an important document called the magna carta. This “Great Charter” was important, because it said that King John could not violate the rights of free men. The Magna Carta said that the king could not unfairly raise taxes, or make unfair demands of goods or labor from his citizens. The primary religion in the Middle Ages was normandy Catholicism. This religion made its influence felt throughout the Middle Ages. Monks were religious follower who lived in monasteries and who dedicated themselves to serving god and to do acts of kindness and good works. In one room in the monastery, called the scriptorium, monks copied ancient Latin and Greek texts onto books. Women who devoted their lives to serving god were called nuns. They lived in convents. A cathedral is/was a huge Christian church. In the Middle Ages, thife of the community centered around cathedrals. The Crusades was a series of wars that Christians fought to regain control of the Holy Land. Including Jerusalem and the surrounding lanstilstill more. Crusaders battled with the Muslims, who were then in control of the Holy Land. The reconquista was a long war fought by Christian armies in an attempt to recapture Spain from Muslem control.

A craftsman was a man who makes products, such as coats or stained-glass. A salesman sold those crafts. If you were an apprentice to a master craftsman, you had to learn basic crafts. An apprentice craftsman would go on travels in order to get to know other towns and other ways of working. They went on foot and often spent years wandering through the many countries before they returned home or found a city that had a place for a master of their trade. An apprentice to a craftsman is just starting to learn the craft. You would become a master craftsman only after you had been an apprentice and served your time as a journeyman and finally completed a master piece. If you created this, you would be declared a Master and be admitted to a guild. A guild is a knight of master craftsmen. A guild made sure there were no more masters of any trade than was necessary. A member of a guild was expected to support his fellow members and not steal their trade, and not cheat his customers with poor goods.

In 1348, a terrible disease struck Europe called the Black death or the Bubonic plague. The plague was transmitted by fleas carried by rats. The Plague killed one-third of the European population.