European History High Middle Ages (1000-1200) Brief Overview Timeline People Events & Qs
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Brief Overview
By 920, the last of the Carolingian rulers had died; Magyars still ranged in the east, Vikings had begun to settle down in the West, and the Fatimids were occupying North Africa up to and including Egypt. In France, feudal nobles chose Hugh Capet as king in 987, since he was the weakest of nobles and not a threat to them. He and his successors had to act within the feudal system, using it to gradually attain more power, land, and prestige. By the late 1000s this process was moving along well enough such that Louis VI (1108-1137) was able to be supreme to other feudal lords in strength as well as title. Louis VII (1137-1180) had to deal with the Angevin Empire, an English-west French state based upon Anjou, Normandy, and England that was ruled by the Plantagenets. England had been conquered by William the Bastard in 1066, after which the top of Anglosaxon society was replaced by Normans. Thus, the Angevin Empire, based upon marriage alliances, was a real threat to French kings, and only in the time of Philip II Augustus (1180- 1223) was the French crown able to overcome their rivals, particularly at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, when John of England and Otto IV of Germany were defeated. John went home in disgrace to face a baronial revolt forcing him to accept the Magna Carta (1215). France, under St. Louis IX (1226-1270) was the feudal kingdom par excellence. He used the feudal system to be a supreme, powerful, well-organized ruler with a reputation for justice and piety.
Germany of the 930s-1050s was a comparatively strong monarchical state. Feudalism was shunned by the rulers from Otto I (937-973) onwards. After defeating the Magyars at Lechfeld in 955, he went on to rule based on reliance on and cotrol of the Church to get around nobles. He was drawn into Italy by rulership aspirations and Papal conflicts, and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 962. Otto II and Otto III were likewise crowned, appointing Popes, side-stepping nobility, and supporting Church reform. The arrangement led to Papal reform emerging from monasteries, which claimed that the Pope should have strict control of internal church affairs and that no secular ruler should meddle in church policy or appointments. This new tension led to the Papal- German Investiture Controversy during the period of Gregory VII ( 1073- 1084) and Henry IV (1056- 1106). Over the course of the controversy, the Emperor was deposed and the Pope ended up dying a Norman hostage, but by the 1130s it was gradually accepted by European sovereigns that only Popes could nominate high prelates, though kings could approve these appointments if they were strong enough. By 1100, the Papacy had become strong enough, well-organized enough, and prestigious enough, to call for a Crusade. Ever since the accomplishments of Byzantine Emperors from the 960s-1025, the Empire had entered a period of total internal decline. The Seljuk Turks' defeat of Byzantine forces at Manzikert (1071) made this decline an external one as well, and opened up Asia Minor to large-scale Turkic infiltration. The Eastern Church, in Schism from the Catholic west since 1054, seemed in danger, as did pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The First Crusade (1096-99) captured Jerusalem, and Crusader States stretching from Antioch to Ascalon were set up under western feudal nobles. By the 1140s, Muslim leaders had made a comeback, and the Second Crusade (1147) accomplished nothing. Jerusalem was lost to Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi in 1187. The Third Crusade (1189-91) was likewise unsuccessful. The Fourth Crusade (1202-1204) was diverted by its Venetian and Frankish leaders, and, feuding over unpayed ransom, ended up sacking Constantinople, and setting up Latin sates that lasted until the Byzantine ruler could return in 1261.
The German monarchy had been weakened by its dispute with the Papacy, and only in the rule of Frederick I Barbarossa (1152-1190) was the crown able to make a comeback, under the Hohenstaufen dynasty. Recognizing feudal reality, he was able to make the lords view him as their feudal sovereign, usually exacting their loyalty. He went into Italy to put down the communes and first to aid the cause of the Popes, then to meddle in Papal succession controversies. Italian towns and the Papacy felt hemmed in by him, and thus combined to defeat his forces at Legnano (1176). He died during a successful command of German forces in the Third Crusade (1190). His son was Frederick II (1215- 1250), king of Germany and Sicily by marriage into the Norman house. An extremely cultured man, he earned the opposition of the Papacy and Italian towns for his policies of aggrandizement in Italy, as well as his repeated postponement of a Crusading venture. Eventually, he went east in 1229, but since he was able to acquire Jerusalem by negotiation and not conquest, he was excommunicated by the Pope Innocent IV. For the rest of his reign, he had to fight Papal and Italian town scheming against him. Jerusalem was finally regained for the last time by Muslim Khwarazmshah troops fleeing Mongol invaders in 1244. Around the same years the Spanish Reconquista under Castilian kings had gained two-thirds of the Iberian peninsula, just as anti-clerical and heretical movements were petering out in France.
Timeline
Alfred the Great (r. 871-899) of Wessex·Restricts Vikings to Danelaw, strengthens Wessex Defenses
912-961: ·rule of Abd al-Rahman III in Spain
919-936: ·Henry the Fowler in Germany, reannexes Lorriane
Aethelstan (r. 925-939)·Conquers the Danelaw
Otto I (r. 936-973)·Defeats rebellious counts, defeats Magyars (955), establishes Saxon control in Italy, is crowned Roman Emperor and appoints popes.
955: ·Battle of the Lech
960: Hugh Capet as Duke of Franks·Chosen by French counts specifically because he will be a weak ruler.
976-1025: Basil II, Byzantine Emperor·Fends off attacks to throne, sees to Conversion of Russians, helps peasant status, defeats Bulgar army and destroys Bulgar state.
1054: ·Schism between Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches
1066: Norman Conquest of England·William the Bastard (alternatively known as William the Conqueror) of Normandy invades and conquers England, ending the Anglosaxon period. Defeats Harold Godwinson at Hastings.
1071: Manzikert·Seljuk Turkish forces under Alp Arslan defeat Byzantine forces under Romanus IV Diogenes. Beginning of Turkification of Asia Minor.
1074: Gregory VII as Pope·Beginning of Investiture Controversy between Papacy and German Emperor Henry IV. Gregory's Dictatus Papae. Controversy continues ten years, to 1084.
1086: Battle of Sagrajas·Almoravids, coming from North Africa to Spain, defeat Alfonso VI of Leon and Castile.
1095: Pope Urban II preaches First Crusade at Clermont·Crusade goes from 1096-1099, capturing Jerusalem and setting up states of Edessa, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
1100-1135: King Henry I of England·Increases central government's efficiency, puts down baronial revolts, and begins the Norman-Plantagenet alliance.
1122: Concordat of Worms·Concordat between Pope Calixtus and German monarchy officially ends Investiture Controversy with the decision that only popes may invest bishops, but monarchs are allowed to be present.
1144: Muslim capture of Edessa·County of Edessa captured by Zengi of Mosul--beginning of Muslim counter- offensive in East.
1152-1180: Frederick I Barbarossa in Germany·Is crowned Emperor by Pope during one of six expeditions into Italy to tame Italian towns. Bases rule on feudal relations in Germany. Not able to assert claims totally on Italians.
1180-1223: Philip II Augustus of France·Increases royal power and makes monarch supreme in France. Works to end Angevin Empire, and defeats John of England at Bouvines.
1176: Myriocephalum·Manuel Comnenus (1143-1180) defeated by Seljuks of Rum under Kilij Arslan. Full scale Byzantine military decline sets in; reliance on the West increases.
1187: Hattin·Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi defeats Guy de Lusignon and then takes Jerusalem for Muslims.
1181-1226 ·St. Francis of Assisi and Franciscan orders emergence.
1190: Third Crusade.·Barbarossa of Germany dies, Richard the Lionheart gets restricted access to Holy Sites.
1198-1216: Pontificate of Innocent III·Launches and excommunicates Fourth Crusade. Insists on temporal powers of a centrally-controlled Church. Protects and crowns Frederick II. Recognizes Francis of Assisi. Holds Lateran councils.
1202-1204: Fourth Crusade·Diverted by Venice to sack Constantinople. Latin states in Byzantium emerge.
1212: Las Navas de Tolosa·Almohads defeated by Alfonso VII of Castile and Pedro II of Aragon. Most of Spain taken shortly thereafter.
1214: Battle of Bouvines·Philip Augustus defeats John of England, the Flanders Count, and Otto IV of Germany. Plantagenet possessions in France reduced to Anjou only. Great victory for the French crown.
1215-1250: Frederick II of Germany and Sicily·Protected at first by Innocent III. Becomes king of Sicily based on mother's inheritance. Rules Germany feudally, Italy centrally, though towns and later Pope oppose him. Goes on Crusade in 1229, but excommunicated for negotiating access to Jerusalem and not conquering it.
1226-1270: St. Louis IX of France·Makes administration of France much more sophisticated. Dies on his second Crusading venture.
1261: Mamluk defeat of Mongols; ·Byzantine return to Constantinople.
Key People
Muawiya (RA)
First Ummayad Caliph, comes to power by defeating Ali in 661. Starts naval incursions into Byzantium.
Bulgars
Pagan people that moved southwest from Caspian are and began raiding Byzantium from 500s. Created state in 700-800s. Destroyed by Basil II.
Leo the Isuarian
Byzantine Theme General who took power in 717 and then fought off the second Muslim siege. Inaugurated Iconoclasm.
Irene
Byzantine Empress at end of 9th century. Rejected Iconoclasm and was financially profligate. Overthrown in 802.
John Tzimisces
Brilliant Byzantine general, on December 10, 969 murdered Nicephoras Phocas. Major concerns dealt with his neighbors to the north and east, such as Sviatoslav of the Russians, who was finally defeated at Dristra on the Danube, in July 972. In 975, John turned his full attention to the East, campaigns here would represent the furthest extent of Byzantine reconquest for all the state's history. By the fall of that year, most of Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon were under Byzantine control.
Sviatoslav
Russian leader and general, led men south of the Danube in 970s. Imperial forces utterly defeated the Russians at Arcadiopolis. In 972, John Tzimisces led armies to the old Bulgarian capital of Preslav and engaged the Russians in a fierce battle. The Russians broke, and so Preslav was later occupied by Greek forces around Easter 972. Sviatoslav fled and was finally defeated at Dristra on the Danube, in July 972.
Fatimid
Shi'i Muslim dynasty emerging from Tunisia to conquer Egypt in 969. Controlled Palestine during Crusades to 1170s.
Basil II
Byzantine Emperor, 976-1025. Destroyed Bulgars, held up eastern defenses. Most glorious ruler of Byzantium after Heraclius.
Vladimir of Rus
Head of Russian Kiev state. Helped Basil II retain power early on; married Basil's sister in return for conversion to Greek Orthodoxy.
Otto I (r. 936-973)
Saxon emperor of Germany. Defeated Magyars, settled Papal matters, was crowned emperor. Ruled without feudal relations.
Henry III (r. 1039-1056)
German Emperor descending into Rome to install mostly reform popes.
Pope Leo IX (1048-1054)
Pope installed by Henry III, supported papal autonomy from secular rulers and was a reforming bishop.
Henry IV (1056-1106)
German Emperor during Investiture Controversy. German nobles had gained power during his long minority, and as emperor he faced a revolt of nobles in league with the papacy. Eventually put both down, but the effort weakened the German monarchy.
Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085)
Hildebrand, reforming pope, and chief Church protagonist in Investiture Controversy. Died as a Norman hostage. Began many ideas that later emerged in Crusades.
Pope Urban II (1088-1099)
Had been a secretary to Gregory VII. Brought Papacy back to Rome. Was a Cluniac Prior. Articulated Crusader idea, launched the first one. Established a better central papal bureaucracy.
Alexius Comnenus
Byzantine Emperor from 1080-1118. Appealed to West for help post-Manzikert. Reclaimed western Asia Minor lands after First Crusade.
Godfrey of Bouillon
Crusading leader in First Crusade, became king of Jerusalem for one year in 1099.
Bohemond
Norman adventurer-crusader from First Crusade. Became Count of Antioch in 1098.
Zengi
Seljukid Amir of Mosul who began Muslim comeback in Crusades. Took Edessa in 1144.
Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi
Overthrew Fatimids in Egypt, setting up Ayyubid dynasty and uniting Egypt and the Fertile Crescent. Defeated crusader armies at Hattin in 1187 and took Jerusalem back in 1188. Muslim personage of great chivalry value to western medieval legend.
Seljuks of Rum
Turkic principality focused on Anatolia. Under nominal suzerainty of Great Seljuks in Baghdad. Defeated Byzantine forces under Manuel Comnenus in 1071 and 1176.
Manuel Comnenus (1143-1180)
Byzantine Emperor, insisted on Crusader states recognizing his imperial status. Allowed more privileges to westerners in empire. Was defeated by Seljuks at Myriocephalum in 1176.
Philip I (1060-1108)
French king, began turning the tide of feudal decomposition in France by insisting on his crown rights and using all means to increase his power.
Philip II Augustus
French king, 1180-1223. Saw to institutional growth of French monarchy; reined in feudal nobles. Fought Angevins and beat John of England at Bouvines, bringing much of France back to crown control. Participated in Third Crusade.
Louis IX
St. Louis, French king 1226-1270. French monarchy at strongest relative to nobles. Known for piety, justice. Crusaded twice, got all Plantagenet lands back except for Gascony.
Ferdinand I of Leon
Important Reconquista personage. Began appointing French monks as Spanish bishops from the 1050s. These monks were not as impressed with Muslim grandeur as the Spaniards had been, and the Church reformation gave the Spaniards a reinvigorated Christian identity, highlighting confessional differences from the Muslims.
Barbarossa
German emperor, 1152-1190. Attempted over twenty years to reassert German control in Italy, over towns and Popes. Extremely activist, but was unable to control the independent Italian towns. Died during Third Crusade.
Arnold of Brescia
Leader of Italian commune in 1050s. Anti-sacerdotal, called on Church to return to apostolic poverty. Captured and executed by Barbarossa.
Frederick II
German Emperor (1215-1250), king of Sicily through mother. Highly cultured and of eclectic interests, knew Arabic, more Sicilian than German, espoused feudal laissez faire policies in Germany but aspired to close central control in Italy. Opposed by Pope for his Italian interests, and excommunicated when negotiated return of Jerusalem in 1229 rather than its military liberation. Fought the resurrected Lombard league, was never able to pacify north-central Italy.
Robert Guiscard
Norman leader in Sicily, agreed to protect Popes.
Alfonso VI of Leon
Began serious Reconquista in late eleventh century. Defeated by Almoravids at Sagrajas, 1086.
Louis VII
Important French king able to build a central bureaucracy and begin the taming of French nobles.
Almoravids
Revivalist Muslim dynasty from North Africa. Crossed over to Spain in 1080s and shored up defenses against Christians until early 1100s.
Alfonso VIII of Castile (1158-1214)
Victor at Las Navas de Tolosa, opened way for thirteenth-century Reconquista thrust.
Key Terms
Theme
Military district in Anatolia. From Heraclius onwards, commander combined administrative and military roles, with a peasant-soldier population.
fursten
Princes set up German monarchs to help in urban administration and sidestep nobles. Became nobles.
enqueteurs
Philip Augustus' agents sent out to monitor local officials.
Cluny
In Burgundy, earnest monastics convinced William the Pious of Aquitane to found the Cluny monastery around 910. It was endowed generously from the start, so that it would not be dependent on secular rulers. Additional gifts of land or provisions would not be in return for feudal services, but would be recompensed by the monks' prayers. The monks received the right to elect their own abbot, putting the position beyond lay interference. Cluny's founders tried to eliminate any potentially idle time by instituting heavy schedules of communal liturgical prayer services, in addition to fieldwork and manuscript reproduction. Cluniac monks attained a high level of sustainable piety and discipline throughout the tenth century and into the eleventh.
Constitution of Melfi
Frederick II's new code of Law for Sicily. The king's total authority as legislator and adjudicator was underscored. Nobles saw prerogatives limited, and all major cases were assigned to royal courts. Sicily was administratively divided into provinces, and local officials were supervised by the central government. To encourage trade, customs duties were decreased.
Curia
Papal cabinet of sorts, invigorated under Urban II to help him centrally administrate Church.
Carthusian
Part of the monastic revival movement of the 1100s. Bernard of Clairvaux was one.
Cathari
Heretical movement coming first from Anatolia and then Bulgaria. Manicheans seeing the Catholic Church as the incarnation of the Devils' rule. Also called Albigensians, focused in Languedoc.
Kingdom of Asturias
Small kingdom in northern Spain. Christian, emerges in 700s.
Key Events
Iconoclasm
Campaign in Eastern Church started by Leo III to end the use of pictorial representations of Christ, Mary, etc., in prayer. Repealed and re-enacted throughout eighth and ninth centuries.
Manzikert
Battle in 1071 where Romanus Diogenes and Byzantine forces were defeated by Seljuk Turks. Opens Anatolia up to Turkic migration and Islamization.
Schism of 1054
Final break between Eastern Greek Orthodox and Western Catholic Churches.
Lechfeld
955 battle where Otto I defeated Magyars definitively. Established him as "the Great".
Second Crusade
Spurred by Zengi's capture of Edessa. Launched in 1145. Accomplished nothing.
Hattin
Salah al-Din's defeat of Crusader forces in 1187, leading to Christian loss of Jerusalem soon after.
Third Crusade
Launched in 1189-90 in response to Christian defeat at Hattin. Barbarossa participated and died. Richard Lionheart also participated, as did Philip Augustus. Did nothing, but Richard did capture Acre and received limited access to Jerusalem for pilgrims.
Myriocephalum
Defeat of Manuel Comnenus by Seljuk Kilij Arlsan. Full scale military decomposition of Byzantium sets in.
Fourth Crusade
Called after failed Third Crusade, by Innocent III. Diverted by Venetian and other leaders to sack Constantinople when the Emperor they installed did not pay the funds or provisions he had promised. Numerous Latin States sprang up as result.
Bouvines
Battle principally between John of England and Philip Augustus of France. English defeat. Most Angevin lands return to French Crown.
Magna Carta
John of England forced to give more power to English barons regarding campaigns, taxes, and general policy, after the excesses leading up to 1214 and rapacious taxation.
1259 Peace of Paris
St. Louis officially obtains English renunciation of claims to Angevin lands in France.
Legnano
Lombard League defeat of Barbarossa, ends his aspirations to establish dominion in northern Italy towns supported by the Pope.
Las Navas de Tolosa
Defeat of Almohads by Castilian-Aragonese kings. Opens Iberia to large- scale Christian reconquest, in 1212.
Study Questions
Describe the Norman Conquest of England and explain why it went beyond the substitution of one king for another.
Even though William the Bastard defeated Harold Godwinson decisively enough to be crowned William I on Christmas 1066, he faced problems for the rest of the decade. All of these revolts failed though, because 1) the Anglosaxon army had been destroyed, 2) all of the revolts were in York, far from William's center of power, and 3) there was no good candidate as an anti-king. However, in putting down revolts, William changed England, decapitating the top of Anglosaxon society. His conquest started as a dynastic change, yet when he saw opposition, he started to do away with native nobility, substituting French feudal aristocrats in their place. With the complete destruction of the Anglosaxon military and hierarchy, all their ideas regarding government and administration could be taken over by the Normans and modified to better fit their aims. Part of this involved the increasing personalization of rule and a more feudal approach.
Two more things shaped the English dynamic. 1) In order to get support in continental Europe, William promised Pope Gregory VII to reform the English church. This succeeded in attracting papal support. When William became entrenched in England, he ousted most of their bishops, abbots, and put in French ones. 2) In 1069, he devastated Northern England to deny his opponent Estrithson a base of operations. This demographically altered the region in a profound, lasting manner.
By the late 10th century the French kingdom was feudally fragmented and the German king was Europe's strongest. Why did royal power collapse in France but survive in Germany?
In the late 900s, Germany was becoming more unified and controllable by a central authority, and was able to influence affairs outside its pre-940 borders. Unlike the monarch's credibility and power in Germany, France's royalty was unable to enforce its prerogative on the counts, and quickly degenerated into a feudal quagmire. There are many reasons for this, ranging from foreign influence to feudal ideas.
The France of the early 900s was suffering from an inexorable Viking onslaught. The way it dealt with them produced central authority's downfall. First, the king relied increasingly on the dukes and counts; he encouraged them to build defensive castles, and in the case of the Norsemen (Normans), Charles the Simple, appraised them by granting them lands in 911, in Normandy. This was a flawed tactic. Castles also caused problems in that the counts became as impervious to royal power as they were to the Vikings. Thus the power of government contracted to the local level. This progressed later in the 10th century with the advent of the Motte and Bailey castles which allowed poorer counts to erect many castles quite quickly and thereby impose their will on the peasant. Therefore, in south and eastern France and parts of Lorraine, government contracted to the local level and its nature was spasmodic and personal. Because of time and distance constraints, the king could not impose his will.
Also, during the same period, the French monarchy was abdicating power. Because of its impoverishment, it relinquished land to counts in return for loyalty and services. As they ran out of land they were forced to relinquish government power, sometimes in the form of urban control, in return for prior services. With a hereditary nature, these powers made their holders see them as their personal property, and loyalty to the crown suffered. Viking invasions affected the power of Hugh Capet and his descendents in another way. The crown could not stop them, and this led to a lower estimation of monarchical power, as well as a loss of credibility. Since the normal tendency of feudal lords is to increase their power if possible, any hint of lost monarchical power resulted in nobles' usurpation. This led to internecine strife and a bastardization of the feudal relationship. Vassals had many lands, and thus many conflicts, and the lack of any powerful central authority or hierarchy created and arena for expansionism.
Germany, on the other hand, differed. Though Magyar invasions had somewhat debilitated German kings, by the 930s Henry the Fowler had beaten them back badly enough to reassert monarchical credibility. Also, because Otto I was able to subdue two revolts and had a quasi-Carolingian past, the clergy supported him: 1) they thought a king was good for social stability, and 2) he supported them against the dukes. Further, when he embraced the clergy's assistance in government in 955 by taking rebel land and giving it to them, he received in return 1) a ministerial army, 2) literate administrative personnel, and 3) good logistical support. Further, by setting up marcher lordships in Germany, he was identified with the activities of successful leaders: missionizing and conquest. Finally, by imposing his will in Italy, he further strengthened his prestige and was able enforce the support of his underlings.
Describe and explain the Italian Towns' rise. Why did they grow and how did they become independent? What kind of governments emerged?
The spur for Italian Towns' growth was the relearning of Ancient Rome's agricultural lessons. 1) They re- terraced the hills; 2) dyked the rivers; and 3) drained the swamps. With the resulting financial surplus towns were able to form. In the mid to late 1000s, a new type of government formed, the commune. A sworn association, members pledged to care for each other and terrorize common enemies. They possessed an elected assembly and two consuls as a government. At this stage they went out to surrounding countrysides and forced nobles into the towns. Three things permitted this: 1) economically, they survived based on the town-country exchange of wares for food. 2) Independent city-states were only possible in a post-Investiture Controversy Northern Italy when German imperial power was at a low-ebb; there was no challenging power until Barbarossa in 1158. 3) Italian nobility never adopted primogeniture, but kept dividing inheritances between the sons, so there were no large domains, and very little power. Also, unlike Northern European nobles, they would often move into towns, unless forcibly brought in
Another factor behind Italian town growth was the trans-Mediterranean trade of Pisa, Genoa, Venice, and Amalfi. By 1123, the Mediterranean was an Italian lake: the Egyptian navy was destroyed , and Levantine trade brought funds and self-sufficiency.
However, the towns' early governments failed, because when nobles entered the towns, so did feuds. In towns, noble alliances fought a lot, reducing the areas to urban battle zones. Towns could not maintain mutually friendly relations, as the post-1176 Lombard league collapse indicates. The urban strife proved too much to support further growth.
