I. Creation of cities in Europe

• By the year 1000, Europe was a mostly agricultural, mostly rural society
• breakdown of Rome meant breakdown in trade
• fragmentation meant that towns lost there importance to the manor
• In 11th century, Egypt and Byzantine Empire started to trade with Europe (again), which helped to revive Italian towns and merchants
• this trade, combined with the strength of the feudal and manorial systems, along with new technology helped to create wealth
• new villages could be set up from cleared forest that were less tradition bound and more likely to accept          technological, agricultural innovation
• towns and cities grew up (or simply grew) as places to do trade, industry, arts, etc.
• in the 900s local lords had taken control of towns and taxation (except for the Jewish merchants, who were usually under special legal status under the king)
• these new towns wanted to become incorporated
• to have a direct legal relationship to the king rather than to local lords
• the towns had to pay for this right (reimburse the lords for loss of land and revenue and pay the king for the privilege)
• but this movegave townsmen (read: merchants) the power to direct their own affairs and to tax themselves in ways that would not hurt trade
• this was done through the town charter, which became increasingly important by the 1200s
• Famous trade towns grew throughout Europe: mostly in Flanders (modern day Belgium) and Italy, but also in France and German principalities (Flanders, Bruges, Ghent, Venice, Genoa, Florence, Toulouse, etc.)
• inside the town: guilds, like unions, controlled their trades and merchant groups, trained youth, set prices, and     fought for political power in the town
• three levels within a guild: apprentice, journeyman, master
• apprentices studied with a master for several years
• journeymen had more privileges, but could not own a business
• journeymen prepared a masterwork for approval of masters
• if approved, he became a master, and could open own business
• All of this (manorial system plus towns) illustrated the growing wealth of the high middle ages (1000-1400) and was critical for later growth and development in Europe

• Church had become a very powerful entity in European life, especially through monasticism
• brought civilization (Roman and Judeo-Christian ideas) to Europe
• spread Christianity and therefore unified Europeans under one faith
• powerful lords offered to start monasteries on their own land
• provided protection and land for monasteries
• monasticism was, after all, quite attractive
• provided social welfare, a place to live, a warm place to sleep, food to eat
• monastic rules were somewhat laxer than in the east (ie. Egypt)
• monks brought some trade, wealth, learning and prestige to a lord's land
• this move helped monasticism to grow, but the question of control remained--would monks be under the lord's supervision, the bishop's, or the pope's?
• beginning of monasteries directly under papal control
• a way to circumvent local control
• a way to make sure that monasteries were independent from secular control
• helped to create even more monasteries
• Cluny, Cistercians orders sprung up around Europe
• extremely popular
• expanded until there were hundreds of Clunaic and Cistercian houses across Europe

• Monastic groups found that papal see (authority) was in bad shape
• they therefore desired to reform the papacy
• made it independent of emperor and kings
• made sure that bishops and popes were picked by church rules, not for political reasons
• no longer had bishops and pope swear loyalty to the lords or kings
• tried to give the papacy more power by itself vis a vis the emperor or other secular authority
• strong monastic groups would help strengthen papcy
• created problem of control--return of the investiture controversy
• Holy Roman Emperor (especially Henry IV of Germany in mid-11th century) wanted to control bishops and popes (actually had strong interest in reforming what he saw as abuses within the church)
• those lords who wanted to limit Henry's power sided with the reformers (Pope Gregory VII humbled Henry publicly)
• led to the creation of many claims to the papal throne
• finally fixed in 1122
• Investiture controversy created two basic theories of authority
• "Gregorian" system (1073-85) called for the preeminence of Rome in all matters because salvation in heaven         was more important than politics on earth
• versus a "separate spheres" theory that said that pope should have spiritual authority and emperor should have      political authority
• this issue would remain a major issue throughout the next six centuries of European history
• result--papacy became more independent of politics (ie. the college of cardinals who picked the next pope, not    the emperor) but the emperor wanted more control over all political affairs

IV. Monasticism begat education

• monks became known as great teachers
• especially in the field of theology and logic
• began from re-introduction to Aristotle and theories of natural observation
• started by Anselm (1035-1109) who taught that one's intellect could observe the world and understand God        and His existence logically
• we can perceive of a greater being, so He must exist, since a lesser being could not conceive of a greater being unless it did exist
• important theory of medieval theology--how to know God--was very intellectual pursuit, not a mystical nor an emotional pursuit
• Bernard of Clairveaux, who taught that logic was only important as it enhanced spirituality and helped to  gain the kingdom of heaven
• Abelard (c. 1070-1141; cf. Heloise), who taught that logic could be used in its own right, independent of  divine revelation
• this meant there would be a fight between learning as God's revelation and learning as human discovery
• This sort of teaching was extremely popular, and led to the growth of monasteries and the growth of universities!
• remember that there had been a Carolingian renaissance in learning too
• now, however, young men would swarm to the great teachers
• The first universities began in Italy at Genoa and Padua (law was the first subject)
• provided basis for our present-day universities
• creation of textbooks
• creation of logical methods of study
• by the end of the High Middle Ages, Paris had also begun to grow as a center of learning

• The Crusades and Cathedrals show the brash self-confidence of the High Middle Ages
•  With the crusades, instead of merely complaining about a problem (the lack of access to the Holy Land) the crusades attempted to take it back, a big contrast from the resignation to evil and withdrawal from the world preached by the church writers of the early Middle Ages
• Huge edifices were built as churches proclaimed their new found sense of power and wealth
• this brash self confidence lasted until it was cut down by the Black Death and the Hundred Years War
• The Crusades
• Origins of the Crusades
• in the late 10th century, Seljuk Turks had captured Jerusalem from their fellow Muslims
• while they did not stop pilgrims from going to the Holy Land, they did tax them heavily and make them unwelcome
• The Byzantine emperor was responsible for the pilgrims' safety, but having lost much of his population to the Turks, he called, as he frequently did, on the west for aid.
• The Byzantine empire was shocked to get the crusades, not a ragtag group of knights as they had expected, but organized armies bent on taking the area back
• The First Crusade
• Pope Urban II in 1095 asked the European nobility to take up the cross and free the Holy Land from the infidels
• The papacy was locked in a bitter struggle with the Holy Roman Emperor over the investiture controversy
• if the church could raise an international army loyal to the church, in which nationalistic identities would be submerged, it would strengthen the papacy's claim to leadership of Europe
• Secular rulers went along, because the crusades got rid of troublemakers--unruly knights who had never adjusted to the demands of chivalry, land hungry second sons eager to find a fortune, and serfs eager for escape from the dullness of everyday manor life could be dispatched
• as an added bonus, for the duration of the crusades, those engaged would be exempt from taxes, and debts would be temporarily canceled
• True religious zeal played a part since the Holy Land was in infidel hands, and priests promised many crusaders time off purgatory for their participation (something done without Urban's consent)
• The first crusade was successful in freeing Jerusalem
• this was done in spite of the Europeans' ignorance about the area and the tremendous incompetence of the crusade's leaders
• Their success was mainly due to Arab disunity and the Muslims' falling back before these strange, savage westerners who caught them by surprise
• Later Crusades
• As the crusades continued, new states were founded in the Holy Land along feudal lines (with feudal style fighting amongst one another) and new religious orders were set up
• The religious orders
• The most important of the religious orders were the Knights Templar
• they got their name because they were originally housed in the remains of the Old Temple in Jerusalem
• The Templars were originally a group of about 600 knights who could field up to 2000 people if necessary, and they were much feared for their military prowess
• Eventually, they learned about money-lending and banking from the Muslims and brought the concept of banks back into Europe with them, helping to pave the way for the economic revival of the 12th century
• The Knights Hospitaler were set up to care for the sick, and learned from the Muslims their advanced arts of medicine, especially how to combat the fevers which took more lives among the Europeans than battle ever did
• The Teutonic Knights were an exclusively German order
• The Third Crusade
• Jerusalem fell in 1187 to the Muslims under the leadership of Saladin
• this led to the Third Crusade, perhaps the most famous of them all
• it was known as the "kingly crusade" because it was led by King Richard the Lion-Hearted of England, King Philip Augustus of France, and Frederick Barbarossa, the Holy Roman Emperor
• Frederick drowned and, after many quarrels, Philip returned home to France in a huff
• Saladin and Richard concluded a diplomatic treaty safeguarding the rights of Christian pilgrims, but on Richard's way home, he was captured by the new Holy Roman Emperor and held for ransom
• The high taxes necessary to ransom Richard were a direct cause of the Magna Carta forced upon his brother King John
• Decline of the Crusades
• the crusading impulse fell into disrepute, especially after the fourth crusade sacked Constantinople
• The idea of one band of Christians attacking another helped to discredit the entire movement
• In 1291, the church finally abandoned the crusades, leaving the Muslims in control of the entire Holy Land
• But the crusades had killed off many rebellious nobles, helping to strengthen the hand of the kings at home
• In the long run, the fact that crusades appeared to be politically motivated lessened the authority of the popes, as did their increasingly scandalous behavior
• Cathedrals
• The other main example of the brash self confidence was the Gothic cathedrals
• There was a boom of cathedral building in the 12th century, with more stone quarried in about 100 years than had been quarried in the totality of the history of ancient Egypt
• Between 1180-1270, in France alone, 80 cathedrals were built, and over 500 abbey churches, most in the new Gothic style
• These cathedrals were built mostly in towns, and serve as an example of middle class wealth and civic pride, as they beautified their cities with such remarkable edifices
•  Almost all social classes worked on the cathedrals at one point or another
• sometimes, cathedral building led to rivalries among towns for the biggest and best
• In 1163, Notre Dame was built in Paris to be 114 feet high
• 1194 saw Chartres challenge this with a cathedral 119 feet high
• In 1247, in Beauvais, the cathedral was to be 157 feet tall, but such height was beyond the engineering of the day, and the roof collapsed several times--only the apse remains today
• Cathedrals were also social centers, where people met on feast days, and where local guilds and even town courts met
• Gothic versus Romanesque style
• The Gothic style replaced the Romanesque, named for the Roman models Europeans were familiar with
• the Romanesque style
• featured rounded arches, massive stone walls and small windows
• Most look like the fortresses they frequently became during the Viking invasions
• To provide fireproofing against possible invaders, roofs were made of stone, but this required massive walls and few windows--Windows would have weakened the walls that supported the heavy roofs
• The inside of these churches was dark as a result
• The Romanesque cathedral reflects the military, pre-urban society of the 10th century, where defense was the primary concern
• Romanesque cathedrals did, however, reintroduce sculpture to Europe as the stories of the church were told in carvings around the outside
• Most surviving Romanesque churches are outside of the towns; the towns frequently destroyed them to make way for the new Gothic style
• Gothic cathedrals
• Gothic architecture got its name during the Renaissance, which disdained anything the Middle Ages had done and so claimed that only people as primitive as the Goths could have invented such horrendous looking buildings
• The Gothic is defined by the use of pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses
• All these elements had been known before, but for the first time were used together
• What is new is the amount of light
• Since the ceilings weighed less and were supported from the outside by the flying buttresses, the walls could be opened up to permit as many windows as one could want
• Stained glass created magnificent colors by adding various minerals to the molten glass, so striking Henry Adams, the American philosopher, once called Chartres, "the boudoir of the Virgin."
• The first Gothic cathedral was built in 1144 at St. Denis, outside Paris in France, by Suger, but the new style soon swept northern Europe
• Like the Romanesque before them, the Gothic cathedrals taught the lessons of the church in sculpture in an easy to understand fashion to a pre-literate society
• Most Gothic cathedrals were dedicated to the cult of Mary  that became very popular in the 12th century
• The Cistercians had already made her their patron saint, for example
• Notre Dame simply means "our lady," and almost all the cathedrals of France are named Notre Dame, distinguished from one another by their site, such as Notre Dame de Paris, Notre Dame de Chartres, etc.
• Mary was important, for this was the first time a woman was very important in the Christian faith which had maintained a strong misogynistic stance before.
• The crusades and cathedrals were expensive undertakings.  The money to pay for them came from the economic revival of the High Middle Ages, a revival that also led to the creation of nation states.