STS05 - europe in the middle ages

• when was the middle age of europe

  1000 - 1500
• europe's population

  38 million - 74 million
• improvements in agriculture tools during middle ages

  1. heavy plow/iron plow
  2. three-field crop rotation
  3. horse harness
  4. windmills
  5. water wheels
• cycle of labor

  1. october - preparation for planting winter crops
  2. november - salting of meat for winter
  3. early spring - planting of spring crops
  4. early summer - weed fields, shear ship, spin wools
• spring crops

  • oats
  • barley
  • peas
  • beans
• how many feasts days are there in year during middle ages?

  50 feasts days
• church


  center of all religious and most social activities
• priests


  would teach peasants the basic beliefs of christianity
• typical village during middle ages consists of:

  • gardens
  • manor
  • fields
  • church
  • pastures
  • blacksmith
  • mill
• the manorial system is consists of:

  • manor
  • peasants
  • lords
• the manorial system

  • manor is run by lords and peasants and serfs work in it
  • peasants become serfs
  • in exchange for their labor, lords owe them protection incase of invasion
• manor


  self-sufficient agricultural estate run by a lord and worked by peasants and serfs
• serf


  was a peasant who was bound to the land & didn't really own any land of their own
• serf (2)

  were able to keep a percentage of the crops they produced on the manor for their own families.
• peasants lived

  a hard working simple life
• peasant diet

  • black bread
  • berries
  • cheese
  • egg
  • nuts
  • ale
  • wine
• differentiate ale & wine

  ale - lower class

  wine - upper class
• the century where towns and cities grew in europe

  11th - 12th century
• Higher agricultural output = 


  allowed for development of trade
• fairs


  large markets for exchanging goods
• Increase in trade –


  development of money economy and commercial capitalism
• social class

  • bourgeoisie
• bourgeoisie

  • middle class
  • city residents
• burg -


  walled enclosure
• daily life in medieval cities

  • City enclosed by a wall
  • Buildings very close together
  • Animals nearby
  • Tanning and animal slaughtering industries nearby without proper waste system – river dumping!
  • Poor sanitation
  • Structures mostly wood – fire hazard!
• women during the middle ages

  • Supervise the household and would occasionally work outside the home.
  • Women could help a husband manage a business, but few women worked independently.
  • Preparing the dead for burial.
  • Spinning wool into yarn.
• rise of guilds

  • Manage businesses (tanners, carpenters, bankers, etc.)
  • Regulates every aspects of business
  • Sets quality standards
  • Specifies method of production
• how to join a guild?

  • apprenticeship
  • journeymen
  • master craftsman
• If you want to operate a business -


  – join a guild!
• hierarchy in the catholic church

  1. god
  2. pope
  3. cardinals
  4. archibishops
  5. bishops
  6. priests
  7. people
• Pope Gregory VII

  • the Gregorian reforms
• Papal States


  territories controlled by the Pope and the Church
• simony


  practice developed where the lords would sell church offices

  important source of income for lords and nobles
• the church supreme

  “lower than God but higher than man... Judges all and is

  judged by no one... Princes have power on earth, priests over

  the soul. As much as the soul is worthier than the body, so

  much worthier is the priesthood than the monarchy... NO king

  can reign rightly unless he devoutly serve Christ’s vicar.”
• weapons of church

  • power of salvation
  • excommunication
  • interdict over an entire country
• power of salvation


  administration of the sacraments manipulate people and their leaders
• excommunication


  person cant receive sacraments
• interdict over an entire country

  no one in the entire country or region could receive sacraments
• universities in medieval era

  • university of bologna
  • university of oxford
  • university of paris
• first medieval university

  bologna, italy (univ of bologna)