UNIT 3.

THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES

1. Economic growth in the High Middle Ages

What were the High Middle Ages?

12th and 13th:

Economy: - Improved agriculture + food + population.

- + Trade.
Society and - + inhabitants expanding cities.
government: - People free from feudal lords.
- Lords lost power, monarchs strengthened their kingdoms.
Culture: - Cathedrals and universities.

Improvements in agriculture
Three-field-crop rotation: 1/3 of farm land now rested (fallow) each year.
Area of land farmed increased.
Heavy plough replaced the Roman plough
Irrigation: spread throughout the Mediterranean regions. New crops introduced.
Windmills and watermills people free to do other works.

Trade and early banking

Two main routes:
Route Mediterranean Atlantic and Baltic: controlled by Hanseatic
League (association of merchants)
Linked Spanish and Italian cities to Islamic and Portuguese and Cantabrian ports to cities in
Byzantine ports. Flanders and Russia.
Products Luxury items: perfumes, silk, porcelain and Spanish and English wool, French wine, English
spices. tin, amber, leather, wood and wheat from Baltic
Textiles and weapons. countries.

Merchants met at trade fairs products from Europe, Africa and Asia exchanged.
Most important fair in Champagne (France).

New ways to manage money that later developed into banking:

- Credit: merchants did not have to pay immediately.
- Bills of exchange: because coins were easily stolen.

2. Medieval cities

The growth of cities

Old cities expanded and new cities were founded. Reasons:

Agricultural innovations reduced the need for farm workers but population , many
unemployed farmers went to cities looking for works.
Escaping serfdom: peasants who lived in a city for one year were freed from they obligations
as serfs.
Merchants settled in cities for protection.

Medieval cities were small. Few big cities with +50.000 inhabitants: Paris and London.
Urban society
Elite: wealthy merchants + artisans= bourgeoise.
Modest artisans + shopkeepers + house servants + students.
Poor people (beg and steal).

Most people were Christian. Jews Jewish quarter Muslim Moorish

quarter.

The city charter

-Some cities were controlled by a feudal lord.

-City inhabitants fought to gain the right to govern themselves. When successful king granted
a:
charter (or fuero) legal document that established self-government for a city and
specified its rights and privileges.

The city hall or council

Assembly governed each city.

City hall/council was formed councillors + mayor.
- Security and defence.
- Tax collection
- Maintenance of walls.
- Management of schools and hospitals.
Over time, wealthy people took control.

3. Life in medieval cities

The medieval city

Cities were surrounded by high walls whose gates were closed at night.
Main buildings: - Cathedral - City hall - Palace
- Covered markets - Hospitals - Schools
Cities divided in parishes (districts), named after their patron saint.
Streets were narrow and crowded. Market square large and open space were farmers
and merchants sold their products.
Cities were very unhealthy rubbish and domestic animals. Disease widespread. Frequent
fires because houses were made of wood.

Artisans
Artisans people who made products by hand or simple tools.
-Products made and sold in workshops.

3 stages to become an artisan:

1. Apprentices: worked for a master, no salary, learning the trade.
2. Journeymen: worked for different masters, salary.
3. Masters: owners of workshop and tools.

Guilds

Craft guilds: group of artisans of the same trade. Guilds had control over their trade:

Only guild members could make and sell their products in the city.
 Members accepted a statute (rules).
Guilds controlled production.
Protected their members from the competition from unqualified artisans.

Not just professionals but they also looked after sick members and widows.

4. Culture of the High Middle Ages

What was the 12th century Renaissance?

Boom in architecture: Churches, cathedrals, markets places and city halls.

-Early periods Church commissioned paintings and sculptures.
- From the 12th to the 13th c. noblemen and wealthy merchants decorated their palaces.
Advances in education, literature and philosophy.

Culture of the 12th century = Renaissance.

Schools

City families wanted their children to be well-prepared.

- In earlier periods schools only for entry into the Church.

- Now only boys received and education too:

Cathedral schools: religious schools controlled by a bishop.

Municipal schools: established by city councils for the urban bourgeoisie.

The first universities

Rise of schools + teachers + students universities (to defend their autonomy and privileges).

University meant association of people.

Famous universities: Bologna, Oxford, Paris and Salamanca.

Teachers travelled around to teach in different universities New ideas spread.
Universities divided into faculties: Liberal Arts, Medicine, Law and Theology.

Philosophy and literature

Works of Greek philosophers were rediscovered Aristotle. Arabic translations.

Thomas Aquinas inspired by Aristotle reconcile reason + religious faith.

New genres:
Anonymous epic poems celebrated heroic actions of knights. Ex.: Poem of the Cid.
Shorter lyrical poetry. Ex.: Poems of the Italian Petrarch.
Early 14th c. Dante Alighieri wrote the long narrative poem The Divine Comedy.

-Works written in vernacular languages: Spanish or Italianspoken by most of the population.

- Latin widely used in Church and universities.

5. The rise of the monarchies

The growth of royal power
12th c. Monarchs strengthened their authority over feudal lords:
Economic growth: More taxes collected. Began to form professional armies less
dependent of feudal nobility.
Royal administration: New class of educated court officials. Leading lawyers restored Roman
law.
Growth of cities: Kings granted charters to cities in exchange for their support against the
feudal nobility.

Monarchies with leading Europeans powers: France, England, Portugal, Castile and Aragn.

The first parliaments

12th Monarchs looked for support outside the feudal nobility by calling parliaments
assemblies raised taxes and helped finding additional financing in wartime:

Members were not elected. Only nobility, clergy and wealthiest residents represented.
Only assembled at the monarchs request.

- In some kingdoms (Castile), parliaments simply approved the monarchs decisions.

- In other kingdoms (Aragn), the king needed to look for agreement.

War in medieval Europe

- Frontiers of states changed due to marriages and inheritance. Rules of succession were
complicated, which led to conflicts: Hundred Years War (1337-1453) King of England held
land in France and claimed the French throne.

Conflicts by border disputes unclear the beginning and ends of a kingdom. Castles built
along the frontier between England and Scotland.

Monarchs tried to dominate the feudal nobility. 13th c. King of France used a campaign
against religious heresy to impose his authority over the Counts of Toulouse.

Division in the Catholic Church

The Western Schism crisis that divided the Catholic Church: from 1378 two and later three
popes competed. This crisis was political + religious each candidate supported by rival
European monarchs. In 1417 Martin V was elected but the prestige of the Papacy was affected.

6. The crisis of the Late Middle Ages

14th c. Late Middle Ages crisis affected agriculture, demography and economy.

Agriculture

Climate change: increased precipitations loss of many crops.

Overexploitation of farmland to feed large populations soil became poor.
Famine: bad harvests + poor soils + lack of agricultural innovations rise in agricultural
prices + less food.
Destructive wars: loss of life and destruction of crops. Peasants served in the armies and
crops unharvested. Ex. The Hundred Years War.

Social tensions
 In the countryside raised taxes to compensate less population + agricultural production.
Peasant rebellions: Jacquerie in France (1358) and the Peasants Revolt in England (1381).

Cities less food and crafts. Riots in cities (Florencia, 1378), where artisans protested
against high taxes and called for more participation in city government.