High Medieval Europe in a Nutshell. A REALLY Big Nutshell Ehrstein

Transcription

1 High Medieval Europe in a Nutshell A REALLY Big Nutshell Ehrstein

2 I. Carolingian Demise a. Fell apart under attack and subdivision (no primogeniture) b. Legacy i. Aristocratic families take over administrative units ii. Weak France many nobles; little royal power iii. Government style lives on in England and Germany

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4 II. France a. Largest land area of Carolingian remains b. Most heavily disrupted by upheavals c. First to produce the classic feudal/manorial systems

5 Feudalism/Manorialism a. Both too simplistic - are good models for intro to subject (like bogus atomic models in Physics/Chemistry) b. Describe the defensive reaction of society to the threats (Arabs, Hungarians and Vikings) and opportunities (grabbing land and being own lord) of the 9th-10th centuries

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7 Feudalism/Manorialism (cont) c. Feudalism - sets of relationships between individuals for the distribution of land (wealth) in exchange for obligation of service i. Lord gives land (fief) to a lesser lord (vassal) in return for his service as a soldier. Vassal could subdivide land with the same arrangement. The king was the ii. highest lord; knights generally the lowest. Spread-out military presence in the country (no central army) - quicker reactions to threats

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9 Feudalism/Manorialism (cont) d. Manorialism - sets of relationships between individuals for protection in exchange for service i. Lord s fief (see above) had one or more manors (small agricultural communities) worked by peasants or serfs (bound to land but not slaves) for lord s protection ii. Self-supporting communities throughout countryside to support dispersed military created by feudalism

10 II. France (cont) d. Division of country resulted in Carolingian dynasty being destroyed e. Capetians - Hugh Capet elected by other nobles in 987 to be king i. Only ruled as first among equals with other nobles ii. iii. created instability Slowly built up power from base in Ile de France (area around Paris) Spent period from 987 to 1328 wrangling with and overcoming overmighty vassals (especially English king!) and incorporating their lands into his

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12 II. France (cont) f. Valois i. Philip of Valois took throne in 1328 (edged out better claimant Edward III) ii. Plunged France into Hundred Year s War ( ) iii. iv. Valois kings struggled with legacy of feudalism End of Hundred Year s War finally allowed for regrowth of French state

13 III. Germany a. Aka Austrasia, Roman Empire, Holy Roman Empire b. Inherited the Carolingian tradition and stuck with it i. Idea of empire lasted until Napoleon! ii. Kept up the idea of aristocracy of service (like the Carolingian comes and missi) idea only vaguely matched reality

14 III. Germany (cont) c. HRE founded in 917 by Henry I of Saxony d. HR Emperors rapidly came into conflict with Popes over lay investiture (Investiture Struggle); who controls the wealth (land) and how does an emperor get to be emperor? e. Fighting with popes, idea of empire drew, and covering their rear drew HRE into Italy; wound up ruling pieces of it off and on for entire period.

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17 HRE by 1520

18 III. Germany (cont) f. Italian preoccupations, loss of investiture struggle, and papal interference created instability and central weakness i. Germany continued devolving into increasing numbers of substates by late 13 th c. (process started with Frederick Barbarossa getting rid of overmighty ii. vassals c compare with France) HRE went from being state with Emperor as representative of universal Christian rule (like Charlemagne s idea) to being essentially a German confederation

19 IV. England a. Anglo-Saxon monarchy inherited Carolingian centralized gov t b Norman Conquest i. William took Carolingian gov t style and merged it with perfect, clean-slate ii. feudalism Created strong hybrid state with a tradition of law, not personal arrogation

20 IV. England (cont) c. English/French history and power and kin relations deeply intermingled but two very different states that led to their different constitutional histories i. France personal power of lords with overlay of vassalage; highly regionalized ii. England power devolved from a king; centralized and based from written law

21 IV. England (cont) d. Plantagenets - Henry II to Richard II ( ) i. Ruled through period of English gov t evolution ii. iii. Henry II ( ) dueled with Pope over control of Church offices and clergy John ( ) forced by barons to sign Magna Carta essentially granted power to barons to control king s national purse (as opposed to his personal wealth negligible)

22 IV. England (cont) e. Magna Carta important that it allowed for a structured opposition/check on royal power f. Barons did rise seriously once more i. Simon de Montfort and others rose to totally undermine Henry III; failed ii. Until end of medieval English monarchs in 15 th c. barons never united again gov t continued to evolve within a documentary context

23 IV. England (cont) g. English territorial expansion matched gov t strengthening i. Wales (1282) ii. Scotland ( ) iii. Back to France! (1337) Hundred Year s War

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25 IV. England (cont) h. Hundred Year s War fatally weakened English medieval state i. Need for money increases taxes and fees ii. Need for troops brutalizes English iii. Lack of attention on England allows for decay of ruler/ruled relationship

26 IV. England (cont) i. Internal problems and leadership divisions led to War of Roses conflict between two branches of royal family (Lancaster and York) j. Both sides devastated by 1485 traditional top aristocracy almost wiped out

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28 IV. England (cont) k. War of Roses results i. Old barons essentially gone; new ones in the ii. iii. iv. wings drawn from: The gentry (lower level local nobility) schooled in law and violence Gentry had learned that knowledge of law and use of power in Parliament was an effective tool New kings (Tudors) had to deal with an established institution firmly embedded in the life of the nation