European History Unit 10

Vladimir

A Rus ruler that married the Byzantine emperor's sister and official accepted the Eastern Orthodox Christianity for himself and his people. Orthodox Christianity became the religion of the state.

Serf

A peasant legally bound to the land/manor. They had to provide labor services, play rents, and be subject to the lord's control. By 800, 60% were serfs. Not technically slaves because their responsibilities were fairly fixed.

Common Law:

A uniform system of law that developed in England based on court decisions and on customs and usage rather than on written law codes; replaced law codes that varied from place to place.

Oleg

A viking leader that settled in Kiev. Created the Rus state Principality of Kiev. Opened trade with the Byzantines, increasing prosperity. He also extended the control over Eastern Slavs and expanded Kiev territory.

Patricians

A wealthy, powerful landowner; elections were rigged so only they were elected to public office in the city as a council member, judge, or official

Flanders

An area along the coast of present-day Belgium and northern France. It was a heavy trade area with a lot of money; money = power. Many merchants from surrounding areas came to trade.

Otto I

Best known Saxon King in Germany: Crowned emperor of Romans in 962 beginning the Holy Roman Empire

What factors led to the decline of the Carolingian Empire?

Charlemagne's death in 814 caused the empire to be divided into 3 sections, west Frankish lands, eastern Frankish lands, and the Middle Kingdom. The local nobles began to gain power while the rulers fought. There were many invasions by the Germanic Vikings that came for trade and loot.

Eastern Slavs

Converted to Orthodox Christianity

Western Slavs

Embraced Christianity (Catholic)

King Henry II

Expanded the power of the English Monarchy by increasing the number of criminal cases tried in the king's court. He also developed the common law. Henry wanted royal control over the church with the right to punish clergymen in royal courts. Thomas a Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, argued that only the church could try clerics. Henry sent his men to kill Becket and they did. There was so much outrage from the people that Henry backed down from the church.

Guilds

Groups developed for almost every craft; tanners. bakers, silk dealers. etc. Directed almost every aspect of production process; set standards for quality of objects produced

What was the role of the noblemen in Feudal Society?

Had large states and large political power in society. Put together an aristocracy with people who held political, economic, and social power.

Louis IX

He was deeply religious and made a saint by the Catholic Church. He was known for trying to bring justice to his people by hearing their complaints in person. Dominated much of the 13th century.

King Philip II

He was the turning point in the French Monarchy because he expanded income and power. He also fought wars against the English to gain more territory (including Normandy) and his successors also added more and more land.

Parliament

In 13th century England, the representative government that emerged; it was composed of two knights from every country, two people from every town, and all the nobles an bishops throughout England.

Manor

In medieval Europe, an agricultural estate that a lord ran and peasants worked.

What purpose did the code of chivalry serve in medieval society?

It was a way of keeping the knights under control and behaved using a moral system

Hanseatic League

It was an alliance of more than 100 northern European cities that joined together for mutual trade protection and economic opportunity; developed in Baltic + North Sea region.

Capetians

Kings of France; formed after the last Carolingian king died. The west Frankish nobles made Hugh Capet their king, establishing the Capetian dynasty of French kings. They controlled the area around Paris and weren't extremely powerful until they fought and gained land.

Philip IV

Known as Philip the Fair; expanded the royal bureaucracy by making the French monarchy the largest and best governed in Europe by 1300. He created a French Parliament known as the Estates General with 3 estates (social or political class), clergy, nobles, and townspeople/peasants

New Agricultural Improvements

Many new devices were made from iron, such as the carruca, a heavy wheeled plow with an iron plowshare drawn by 6-8 oxen, easy farming land. This led to the growth of farming villages where people worked together. The whole town usually had 1 carruca to share. Shifting from a two-field to three field crop rotation. This caused people to live longer because they received for nutrients and supplication.

What was the role of women in Feudal Society?

Most were under the control of men: Their fathers if unmarried, their husband if married. The lady of the castle acted as the housekeeper. They managed the estate, took care of the financial accounts and oversee the food supply and other supplies need. Elanor of Aquitaine was a popular woman in medieval ages

Revival of Trade

Once Vikings/Kings settled down people came out of their homes and out onto the roads for trade. They all gathered together and created towns and cities, expanding the trade market. People wanted to trade because trade=money=power

Peasant

Provided crops to the lord in exchange for protection. They were very poor people. A peasant lives and owns his own land while serfs do not. Lived in small cottages.

Holy Roman Empire

Started by Otto I. Ruled over Germany. Frederick I and II, instead of building a strong German kingdom, they tried to gain land in Italy because Frederick considered Italy the center of "holy empire". The Empire was non-holy because the Romans were not perfect; they fought multiple battles and killed many people. There were non-Roman because the romans never had any actual control over Rome because was Rome had too much money; they were German. They were not and empire because the Romans never had control and they were constantly fighting for it. They had over 300 lords and didn't work together.

Southern Slavs

The Croats, Serbs, and Bulgarians embraced Eastern Orthodox; croats were catholic

Alexander Nevsky

The Mongols conquered Russia. Alexander, the Prince of Novgorod rose up and defeated a German invading army in northwestern Russia in 1242. The khan, the leader of west Mongol, gave Nevsky the title of Grand Prince. The descendants of Nevsky were princes of Moscow and were leaders of all of Russia.

Vikings

The Norsemen of Scandinavia. They invaded many areas of Europe, and contributed to the fall of the Carolingian empire. They sacked many villages and towns, destroyed churches, and easily conquered small armies. They were warriors and were great shipbuilders and sailors. In 911 the west Frankish gave the Vikings land at the mouth of the Seine River, forming a region of France that became Normandy. The Vikings were converted to Christianity and became part of the European civilization.

William of Normandy

The Norwegians (Vikings) attacked the northeastern part of England and were defeated. Three days after William took advantage and went to southern England and defeated King Harold in the Battle of Hastings. Happened in 1066. William became the king of England/William the Conqueror. He took a census known as the Domesday Book so he knew what to tax his people.

How did the political and social order known as feudalism arise?

The Vikings were a large threat to the people in Europe. It became difficult for the torn apart rulers of the Carolingian Empire to to protect their people. So people turned to their local nobles to protect them in return for service, aka feudalism

What was gained by converting the Vikings to Christianity and giving them Normandy?

The Vikings were a strong force and if the Franks didn't give the Vikings some land there would have been a lot more blood shed and even more land lost. Because of this the Vikings became mostly content with their new land Normandy, and being that they were converted to Christianity meant that the Vikings became a part of the European Civilization

Normandy

The area of the land that the Western Franks gave to the Vikings as they invaded the area. Here the Vikings settled and converted to Christianity, becoming a part of the European Civilization

Estates General

The first French Parliament created by King Philip IV

Hugh Capet

The first French king of the Capetian dynasty

King Harold

The last Anglo-Saxon King of England. He was defeated and killed in the Battle of Hastings just three days after winning the battle against he Norwegians.

How cities formed

The revival of trade led to the revival of cities. Merchants began to settle in the old Roman cities and were soon followed by many craftspeople and artisans. This made the old cities come alive with new populations and growth. New cities were formed especially in northern Europe. A group of merchants would build a settlement near a castle because it was along a trade route/ river, and because the lords of the castle would offer protection.

What political changes occurred in the Carolingian empire as a result centralized government?

There was no powerful ruler so many of the local lords and nobles started to rise up in power. There was no control, which led to many invasions by the Vikings and other groups. Rulers then couldn't defend their people so the people turned to their local nobles to protect them in exchange for service. This caused feudalism.

King Edward I

This king developed an important institution in the development of representative government known as the Parliament.

Frederick I + II

Tried to conquer land in Italy (Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan) for the Holy Roman Empire to get money, which did not go well because Rome had more money and better armies.

Cyril and Methodius

Two missionary brothers who converted the eastern Slavs of Moravia (Russia) to Orthodox Christianity. Cyril created the Cyrillic alphabet so that he could create a Christian Bible and liturgy in the Slavic language.

Fief

Under feudalism, a grant of land made to a vassal; the vassal held political authority within his fief.

Vassal

Under feudalism, a man who served a lord in a military capacity

Knight

Under feudalism, a member of the heavily armored cavalry

Feudal Contract

Under feudalism, the unwritten rules that determined the relationship between a lord and his vassal. A peasants farms the land and pays rent in exchange from food, shelter, and protection from the knights/vassals. The knights and vassals give homage and military service in exchange for food land and protection from the lords. The lords provide loyalty and military service to the king in exchange for fiefs and peasants and military aid.

King John

Was forced to sign the Magna Carta or the Great Charter of rights by the English nobles at Runnymede in 1215. This strengthened the idea that a monarch's power was limited, not absolute.

Chivalry

in the Middle Ages, the ideal of civilized behavior that developed among the nobility; it was a code of ethics that knights were supposed to uphold.

Feudalism

political and social order that developed during the Middle Ages when royal governments were no longer able to defend their subjects; nobles offered protection and land in return for service

Magna Carta

the "Great Charter" of rights, which King John was forced to sign by the English nobles at Runnymede in 1215.

Bourgeoise

the middle class, including merchants, industrialists, and professional people. They are the people that were of the new trading cities that were formed near castles.