| European Civilization Carey The Middle Ages 500 – 1300: The
Brief Lecture
Timeline
330 – Constantine moves Roman Empire’s capital to
Constantinople
378/476 – Acknowledged fall of the Western Roman Empire
600s to1000s – Continued invasions and raids by various
groups:
Muslim, Northmen (Vikings) and Magyars
622 – Mohammed’s flight to Medina, start of the Islamic
calendar
732 – Battle of Tours
800 – Charlemagne crowned emperor in Rome
1095 – Urban II’s speech initiating the crusades to
regain the Holy Lands
1000s to 1100s – Rise of towns, population, and the
steady revival of trade; slow consolidation of power by
various kings
1100s to 1200s – Rise of urban centers, universities,
and the middle class (beginning of break with feudalism
and Church authority)
1300s - Italian city-state resurgence (based on trade);
revitalized economic, political, and religious period
heralds the beginning of the end of the medieval world
and the emergence of the modern outlook.
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Main Concepts
Breakdown of central authority in Western Roman
Empire
- Problems of Empire: Internal: weakening economy, civil
wars, crushing bureaucracy and taxes
External: open borders and barbarian invasions (some
seen as liberators),
- Disintegration of Western Empire: Constantine’s shift
to Constantinople in 330 signified the change
Survival of Eastern Roman Empire: Byzantium, the second
Rome
- Religion: Christian (Eastern Orthodox) - Church of
Saint Sophia
- Culture: Greek - Preserved Greek learning
- Administration: Roman - Justinian Code
- Expansion: Eastern Mediterranean - Constantinople as
capital city, renamed Byzantium;
Initial expansion, then a long slow loss of land and
powerEmergence of Islam:
- Incredible expansion following Mohammed’s victorious
taking of Mecca (Mekkah)
- Islamic expansion from Persia to Portugal; checked
only by geography, over-reach, Byzantium and Charles
Martel
- The center of learning and civilization during the
Middle Ages (Cordoba in Spain)
Brief Resurgence of Carolingians (Franks) under
Charlemagne
- Kingdom of Franks in present-day France and western
Germany, Aachen as capital
- Crowning of Charlemagne as Emperor of Romans:
intermingling of Germanic, Christian and Roman elements
- ‘Pale shadow’: loose kingdom slowly fractionalizes
after Charlemagne (768-814)
Rise of Feudalism and Manorialism
- Feudalism: a political and economic system based on
the relation of the lord to vassal as a result of land
being held on the condition of homage, fealty, and
service
- Manorialism: the economic base of feudalism in which a
village community (manor) was headed by a lord or his
steward and farmed by serfs (who were bound to the land)
Latin Christendom: growth of power and vitality
- Inherent structure and hierarchy of church fills
political and social power vacuum in western Europe
- Conversions spread the faith and gave semblance of
unity: power and authority to Church leaders and their
interpretations
- Revitalization of economic and political aspects in
High Middle Ages (1050-1300) led to power struggles
between the church and kings and within the church
itself (temporal versus spiritual struggle).
- Spiritual, otherworldly focus of church gradually
incorporated Greek rationalism, Roman law and aspects of
humanism
- Tertullian may have been right…
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