TTO1 - History (Bricks) - Early Middle Ages

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Early Middle Ages (500-1000 AD)

Content:

- Early Kingdoms: Franks, Frisians

- Charlemagne and his Carolingian culture

- The manorial system and feudalism

- Christianity & monks in early Middle Ages. 

How did the Roman Empire fall?
(Hint: check your book!)

Word Duty

Franks - most powerful of the Germanic tribes

Warrior culture - culture in which fights and battles are ways to achieve honour and power

Lord - medieval word for rulers, such as kings

Vassals - follower of a lord with special rights

Hall - room to accomodate a large group. It was used to make important decisions

Hereditary: going from father to son(s).

Frisians - people who lived in the northern and western parts of the Netherlands and along the river delta in the middle of the Netherlands.

Charlemagne - also known as Charles the Great, was king of the Franks. He united most of Western Europe into one empire.

Saxons - Germanic tribe, they invaded England

Barrows - large mounds used as graves

KEY WORDS

What do you know about
the Middle Ages?

The Middle Ages

• The time after the Roman Empire (Antiquity) and before the Early Modern Times.

• 500 AD - 1500 AD
  Early Middle Ages : 500-1000
  Late Middle Ages : 1000-1500
  
  
• Often seen as a bridge period  between Antiquity and modern times. 
  

Troubled times in
Early Middle Ages (500-800)

• After the fall of the (Western) Roman Empire a lot of wars occured in Europe
  
• Travelling was very dangerous so people lived in tiny villages or with wealthy lords.

• Great cities, like Rome, no longer existed.
  Europe went back to an agricultural society.
  

Germanic Tribes

- After the Roman Empire fell, they were rulers of their own local region, no longer ruled by Rome.

- The Franks had a warrior culture.

- Two Germanic Tribes were the Franks and the Frisians.

- Germanic society had a system of lords and vassals.

Frankish Empire

Area of the Frisians
(Does it look familliar?) 

Lords & Vassals

A system with mutual benefits
-> The lord gave his vassals protection, shelter, income and gifts. 
-> The vassals gave their lords respect, fought for him and gave advice when needed. 

Charlemagne

- Frankish empire was at its largest during his reign.

- Leader of the Carolingian culture

- He made sure his empire would develop laws, science and education.

Frankish Empire

Charlemagne was a great warrior and war leader. 
He conquered a large territory by 771 AD. He even took down the sturdy Frisians in the north. 

Charlemagne was coronated as emperor in 800 AD

4.2 - Feudalism and the Manorial system

Key words

Feudal system: medieval government system based on the bond between a lord and his vassal.

Fief: the land a lord lent to his vassal.

Nobles: the most important lords that served under a kind

Pledge fealty: to swear loyalty

Knights: vassals who became milirary specialists

Manorial system: system in which lords provided security to their serfs in return for their services.

Manor: large piece of adjoining land.

Domain: Large farmhouse where the lord lived.

Serfs: servants who depended entirely on their lord and were not allowed to leave the domain.

Self-sufficient: when people are able to produce everything they need themselves.

Manors

• Many Christian lords also gave land to bishops and abbots.
• By the end of the 8th century, landowners started to manage their lands using the manorial system.
• A manor was a large piece of adjoining land made up out of two parts: a part on which the lord or vassal lived and a part on which farmers lived.
• The domain was surrounded by the land of the lord.  Further away were forests and barren lands, used to collect wood and develop into farmland.

Serfs

• Farmers depended entirely on their lord; they were called serfs. 
• Serfs were bound to the manor. They could not leave the manor to settle elsewhere without the permission of their lord.
• Serfs had many obligations. They had to give away a big part of their farming produce to the lord of the manor. Serfs also had to perform services for their lord.
• In return the serfs received protection and the right to farm on the lands

Self-sufficient

• In many cases the manor was self-sufficient. This means that farmers produce everything they need themselves
• Many of the products that were needed as necessary were grown or made by the serfs.
• Trade took place on a very small scale; farmers sold their surplus on markets.

Manorial system

The Manorial system did not always consist of only two parts. In reality, there were many variations of the manorial system. 

Sometimes the land was split into many pieces, in that case the serfs depended less on their lords.  Sometimes the distance between the serfs and the domain was too great, it became impossible to work on the land of the lord. 

Besides manors, there were also places were free farmers lived. Free farmers did their work without involvement of a lord and focused mostly on livestock.

Famine

• Heavy weather and war violence led to crop failure.
• Greedy lords still demanded their payment of rent. This could cause a food shortage.
• If there were no reserves from previous harvests it would cause a famine.
• Charlemagne made a law that obliged the vassals to help the poor. 

       Lords

4.3 Christianity in the Early Middle Ages

- Christianity was still present since the Roman Ages. 
- In Northern-Europe most people believed in other Gods than just one superior God. 
- You'd probably imagine that this led to some conflict in the north...
- Imagine that someone told you...

Characteristics of Early Middle Ages christianity:

- To devote their life to God, some christians became hermits.

- Hermits wanted to resist worldly temptations.
- Hermits lived in monasteries, that were led by an abbot. 

- They lived according to a set of rules; precepts. 

- People who weren't christians were called heathens. 

800 AD: Charlemagne coronated as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by the Pope, leader of the church

Why would the Pope crown Charlemagne as a Holy Emperor?

Why would Charlemagne want the rest of his empire to be christian as well?

Converting heathens

In the Early Middle Ages some 
hermits decided to travel across
Europe to convert people to 
christianity. 
--> they had a holy mission to 
convince more people of their 
religion --> missionaries

Many monks wished to spread their religion and convert …………. Some monks, like the famous …………, travelled to convince people to become Christians and they were called …………. To convert people to Christianity they had to be …………... 

Baptized

Willibrord

Heathens

Missionaries

4.6 / 5.6 - Travelling in the Middle-Ages

Was travelling dangerous in that time?
Explain your answer by giving examples!

Why was travelling by horse only meant for the rich?

Pilgrimage

Christians often travelled to far away places. 
Not for holiday or vacation...
To pay their respect to saints and relics.
They believed that paying respect would enhance and increase their relationship/bond with God. 
This was called a pilgrimage.

Pilgrimage

Why would people often take this pilgrimage together with others?
Isn't that a personal thing?

Q1

What do we call these countries together? 

Q2

What characterizes the landscape? 

Q3

What famous people came from these countries in the Early Middle Ages? 

Q4

If you combine Q2 en Q3. What problems were these people facing? 

Q5

What are these people known for? 

Vikings characteristics

- Pillagers and raiders

- Polytheistic

- a.k.a. Norse people

- Probably first Europeans that discovered America

- Different lifestyle than other European people

Norse pantheon / gods

Valhalla - Heaven for vikings

Vikings lived near fjords like these. It's usually a U-shaped dent in the landscape, mostly near coasts

Longhouses

Dragon boats / Drakkar