History of Europe

What duties and responsibilities guided lives in medieval europe?

1. Social structure

- Feudal society:

- Based on land ownership and reciprocal obligations

- King at top of hierarchy, vassals below, then serfs

- Nobility:

- Govern lands, provide military service, protect vassals

- Chivalry and courtly love

- Jousting, tournaments, Crusades

- Clergy:

- Spiritual leaders, administer sacraments, educate

- Monasticism: Benedictine rule, Cistercians

- Pilgrimages, Crusades

- Peasants:

- Worked land, paid rent, provided labor to lord

- Limited mobility, tied to land

- Townspeople:

- Artisans, merchants, traders

- Guilds: regulate trade, ensure quality

- Town charters, self-government

2. Religious beliefs

- Christianity:

- Dominant religion in Europe

- Catholic Church: centralized authority, pope as head

- Sacraments, saints, Virgin Mary

- Religious rituals, pilgrimages, Crusades

- Religious wars:

- Crusades against Muslims in Holy Land

- Reconquista in Spain

- Heresies:

- Cathars, Waldensians, Lollards

- Suppression by Church and state

3. Economic activities

- Agriculture:

- Main economic activity

- Manorial system, three-field system

- Subsistence farming, limited surplus

- Trade:

- Long-distance trade: spices, silks, luxury goods

- Trade routes: Mediterranean, Baltic Sea, Silk Road

- Fairs and markets

- Hanseatic League: network of trading cities

4. Political institutions

- Monarchy:

- King or queen as head of state

- Limited power, shared with nobles and clergy

- Feudal courts and councils

- Magna Carta (1215)

- Parliament:

- Representative body in England

- House of Lords, House of Commons

- Estates-General:

- Representative body in France

- Three estates: clergy, nobles, commoners

- City-states:

- Independent cities in Italy and Germany

- Self-government, republican institutions

5. Cultural achievements

- Art and architecture:

- Romanesque and Gothic styles

- Cathedrals, castles, illuminated manuscripts

- Literature:

- Epic poems (Beowulf, Song of Roland)

- Courtly romances (Tristan and Isolde)

- Dante's Divine Comedy

- Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

- Music:

- Gregorian chant, polyphony

- Troubadours and trouvères

- Philosophy and science:

- Scholasticism: blend of faith and reason

- Universities (Paris, Oxford, Cambridge)

- Scientific discoveries (Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus)