The Medieval Mêlée: The High and Later Middle Ages, 1000 to 1500
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Theme
Conflict between feudal ranks of kingdoms and clerical hierarchies of the Church nearly tore apart the newly formed Western Civilization. By the end of the Middle Ages an economic recovery based on the rise of towns and trade provided new resources to Western Europe.
Summaries
Return of the Kings
Royal authorities strengthened their control over European kingdoms.
Discipline and Domination
Monastic reforms helped reinforce the power of the popes.
Plenty of Papal Power
A reformed papacy asserted authority over the political power of kings.
The Age of Faith and Reason
The medieval Church helps pushed the development of rational methods of learning.
A New Estate
The bourgeois of the towns separated themselves from the estates of clergy, nobles, and peasants.
Not the End of the World
After the Black Death, people increasingly questioned the authorities of manorial lords, the Holy Roman Emperors, and the popes.
Keywords
Return of the Kings
High or Central Middle Ages, later Middle Ages, Otto I “the Great” (r. 935-973), Holy Roman Empire (962-1806), William “the Conqueror” (r. 1066-1087), Norman Conquest (1066), Domesday Book (1086), Henry II (r. 1154-1189), Angevin or Plantagenet dynasty (1154-1485), jury, Thomas Becket (d. 1172), Magna Carta (1215), Parliament (1295-), Philip II “Augustus” (r. 1180-1223), Philip IV “the Fair” (r.1285-1314), Estates-General (1302-1789)
Discipline and Domination
Cluniac Reform (910), canon law, Cistercian Reform (11th-12th cent.), canons regular, Hildebrandine or Gregorian Reform (1050-1150), Pope Gregory VII (r. 1073-1085), schism, [Eastern] Orthodox Christianity (1054), cardinals, simony
Plenty of Papal Power
Crusades, just war theory, Turks, monk-knights, Reconquista, (11th cent.-1492), assassination, Teutonic Knights, Prussia, Henry IV (r. 1056-1106), Investiture Contest (1075-1122), Concordat of Worms (1122)
The Age of Faith and Reason
universities, colleges, Peter Abelard (d. 1142), Thomas Aquinas (d. 1294), Scholasticism, nominalism, Dante's Divine Comedy, Romanesque, Gothic
A New Estate
Venice, fairs, industrialization, cottage industry, bourgeoisie, mayors, town councils, communes, guilds, mendicants, materialism, Francis of Assisi (d. 1226), apostolic poverty, Waldensians, Cathars or Albigensians, Catharism, inquisition
Not the End of the World
Black Death (1347), Peasant revolts, Pope Boniface VIII (r. 1294-1303), Avignon, “Babylonian Captivity” 1309-1377), “Great Western Schism” (1378-1415) conciliarism, Council of Constance (1414-1417)
Review Questions
- How did more centralized governments form in western Europe?
- How did reforms of monks lead to a reform of the wider Church and the creation of the medieval papacy?
- How did the popes fight with kings and other religious movements?
- How did medieval culture reflect both religion and rationalism?
- How did the revival of trade and towns change the West?
- How do the Later Middle Ages expose the problems of medieval institutions?
Other Questions
- What were the characteristic social institutions and behaviors which defined the High Middle Ages (ca. 1000-1300)? You might consider what new ideas, innovations or methods transformed the political structures, the economy, the authority of the Church, education and thought, art and literature.
- By what authority do medieval leaders rule? How did they discern that authority?
- What is the tension between power and wealth versus humility and simplicity within the Christian tradition?
