Life and Culture in the Middle Ages

1. Life and Culture in the Middle Ages By 4thPerioD

2. Language and literature Language and Literature • Vernacular language was the language spoken by people with little education. • These languages were everyday speech that varied from place to place. • Troubadours where traveling singers who wrote poems about love and chivalry • Three different types of popular literature were romance, epics, and fabliaux. • DanteAlighieri and GeoffreyChaucer where two successful medieval writers. • Dante’s most popular work was called The Divine Comedy. • Geoffrey’s most popular work was called The Canterbury Tales. • Geoffreywaselectedintothe English Parliament 1386

3. Education (pg. 141) Group #2 : Madelyn Hone Jonny Via Matthew Slagle • •Few people during the middle ages received an education. • •It was mostly the Nobles and the Clergy who did. • •The schools were mostly located in churches and monasteries. • •Teachers and students united to form guilds to protect and gain rights for themselves…these were called UNIVERSITASwhich was Latin for association of people • Between 1000s and 1200s four major universities emerged:Oxford, Paris Bologna Salerno • By 1400 many universities had opened throughout Europe and earning a Bachelor of Arts was similar to finishing an apprenticeship or craft Guild.

4. Group #3 Philosophy • Scholasticism – the attempt to bring together faith and reason • Peter Abelard, who is a important philosopher. • Wrote a book called Sic et non • Thomas Aquinas, greatest medieval philosopher. He was also a monk of the Dominican order. • His principle of work was called Summa Theologiae, which summarized Christian thought

5. Architecture Architecture • During the mid eleven hundreds the master builders developed a different style of church architecture. • Many people did not like the new style and called it gothic. • The flying buttresses were connected to the church’s walls with arches and carried part of the roof weight. • Large stained-glass windows were set in the high walls. • Gothic cathedrals were constructed in many parts of Europe, including France, England, and Germany.

6. England and France: • The English King held land in France. This made him a vassal of the French King. The conflicts between the two men resulted in the 100 year war. • Edward the Third (English King) took the French throne because the member of the France’s Capetian dynasty died. • It continued for 116 years as a series of raids and battles; England won many battles, but lost the war. • Shortly after the Hundred Years’ War ended, a war for England’s throne began. In 1455 the York and Lancaster families started the War of the Roses. • In 1485, Henry Tudor of the House of Lancaster won the war. • During the Hundred Years’ war, France suffered more than England because the war tool place of French soil. Bands of English soldiers robbed the people and destroyed their property. • During the Hundred Year War a fight broke out between the royal family for the throne.

7. Church Power Weakens • After Innocent III was done being Pope from 1198 to 1216 the worldly power of the church began to weaken. • In 1294 a conflict arose between the Pope and the monarch. • King Philip IV ordered the clergy and France to pay taxes. • This angered Pope Boniface VIII and he degreed that Popes have power over worldly rulers. • After the fight between Pope Boniface VIII and Philip IV the church continued to lose power over this dispute for the next one hundred years.

8. Spain • Spain became a united nation in 1479 under Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. • In 1492 The Spanish army captured Granada, the last stronghold of the Moors, or Muslims in Spain. • In 1515 F and I added the kingdom of Navarre to their territory. • F and I took powers away from church courts and from the nobles. • They were die hard Catholics and didn’t like non-Catholics in Spain • 1492 they ordered all Jews to become Christians or leave; later they did the same for the Moors • As a result Spain was robbed of many of its leaders in industry and trade.

9. The Holy Roman Empire • Germany and Italy made up the Holy Roman Empire in the 1500s • This region remained divided into states and regions ruled by princes and knights. • Over time, the HR Emperors had given up much of their power to these nobles in return for military support., therefore, the emperors lacked any real power to exercise complete control. • A decree in 1356 removed the pope from the process of electing the emperor. (Charles IV hoped to rebuild his authority) • But this system really just enforced the 7 electors as independent rulers. (Emperor still had no real power) • In 1273 a member of the Habsburg family became Emperor (ruled a small state which is now Switzerland) • They gained power through arranged marriages • Over time the Habsburg family became the most powerful family in Europe. • They could not unite the HRE though….

10. Babylonian Captivity • French bishop elected Clement V the new pope who moved the headquarters in Avignon. This period of 368 years was known as the Babylonian Captivity. • During this time people lost respect for the church • During the period called the Great Schism the church had sometimes 3 popes at one time. These two times periods weakened the power of the pope. • John Wycliffe was a priest in the late 1300’s who opposed the power and wealth of the church, this idea appealed to many Europeans • The church accused Wycliff of being a heretic, although he got support from the royal court. However Jan Hus wasn't so lucky. Jan also supported Wycliff but was burned at the stake for his criticism of the church.

11. More Problems for the Church • The Babylonian Captivity and Great Schism weakened the authority of the pope but increased criticism of the church. • In 1324 two teachers at the University of Paris wrote Defender of the Faith which claimed that the pope was elected head of he church alone. • In the late 1300s John Wycliffe attacked the wealth of the church and the immortality of some of its clergy. • Wycliffe believed that individuals should be allowed to read and interpret scriptures for themselves. • The church accused Wycliffe of being a heretic and he was banned from teaching and forced to retire. • A religious reformer at the University of Prague named Jan Hus read Wycliffe's work and criticized abuses in the church. In 1414 the Council of Constance declared him a heretic and ordered his death.