Changes in the Middle Ages

(starting around 1000 AD)(A whole lot of cause and effect)

Agricultural Revolution• Improved Technology

– Peasants were using iron plows by the 800s– A new harness allowed horses to pull the plows (rather than oxen)– Result: more land farmed and more crops harvested!

• Production and Population Grow– Lords saw that they could make more money by growing more

food, so they cleared more land and drained swamps to make more and better farmland available

– A 3-way rotating field system was put into place to keep soil from being exhausted

– Result: more land farmed and more crops harvested!– Result’s result: population began to grow…the population of Europe

almost TRIPLED in 300 years (from 1000 to 1300 AD)

The Revival of Trade and Travel• Trade Routes Expanded

– Feudal in-fighting and foreign invasions declined, so people began to travel more– Crusaders brought back goods from the Middle East– Traders brought silks, spices, gold, and other luxuries through Constantinople

from Asia– German towns along the Baltic sea formed a trade organization to protect their

trading interests and safety• Towns and Cities Grew

– Merchants had to wait in towns when trade fairs closed, which led to growing settlements…which led to the first medieval cities

– Some cities had populations of 10,000 people; the biggest were along trade routes

– Merchants paid a yearly fee to set up a town; kings were still in charge of them and wrote out charters for the town giving it the right to exist

– Sometimes serfs ran away to cities and (if it was in the city’s charter) could be declared free if they lived there for a year and a day

Commercial Revolution• Credit and Capital

– For businesses to expand, someone needs to invest in them…give them money (capital) to start with that will be paid back after the business gets going

– To make that happen, merchants developed a system of credit to loan out money to each other

– Groups of merchants formed partnerships to start business ventures that would be too expensive for just one of them alone

– A system of insurance developed; merchants could insure their shipments against loss

• Effects on Society– The Church didn’t let Christians lend money with interest, so many Jewish people

who weren’t allowed into other professions became money lenders (which led to anti-Jewish sentiment later)

– Feudal society was undermined by the introduction of a money system • Feudal lords needed $ to buy nice things• Peasants sold farm products in the town to obtain cash• Peasants paid rent in cash rather than farm products• By 1300, most peasants were tenant farmers who paid rent for their land or were hired farm

laborers

The Rise of the Middle Class• The New Middle Class

– Merchants, traders and artisans formed the new middle class– They were below nobles and above peasants– Many nobles and clergy distrusted or despised them for upsetting their

social balance and control• Guilds

– Merchants and artisans formed business associations called guilds– Since merchants were basically in charge of early towns, the guild had a lot

of power,• They could pass taxes• Decide which streets to cobble• Make sure to protect their members by providing schools and hospitals

– There was one guild for the workers of each occupation (weavers, bakers, blacksmiths, etc)

– You had to be in a guild if you wanted to work in that trade– Guilds set prices for goods in their area, regulated hours that people could

work, and protected the quality of the goods

Guild Membership• Becoming a member– You had to follow certain steps to become a full guild member– Apprentice: at around 7 or 8 years old, began working under a

master learning the trade for free• Trainee• Housing and food provided

– Journeymen: salaried workers– Masters: top in the trade– Women could work in the trades and often learned the same

trade as their husband so that they could take over if the husband died

Royal Power Grows• Early in the middle ages, nobles and the Church

had as much power as monarchs (kings)– They all had their own land– They all collected taxes– They all had their own armies

• This started to change between 1000 and 1300 AD– Monarchs began to centralize power– Monarchs strengthened their ties with the people

(especially the new middle class)– Monarchs expanded their areas of control and their

standing armies

Some Examples!• England

– Williams of Normandy Conquered England in 1066 and expanded his power– King Henry II inherited the English throne in 1154 and set up a system of

common law where people brought their disputes to the royal court rather than to the Church or nobles

• France– King Hugh Capet in 987 made the throne hereditary, which took the power away

from the nobles to decide who would be king– Phillip II in 1179 filled his government with middle class people instead of nobles

and increased France’s land holdings– Louis IX in 1226 centralized power, got rid of serfdom in his area, and won over

the support of the Church and the people– Louis’s son, Philip IV, raised new taxes from the clergy (the Pope wasn’t happy,

but died soon after) and moved the papal court to Avignon (in France) so French rulers could have more control. He also set up the Estates General, a body of representatives from all three French classes, to get the support of the people.

William of Normandy

King Henry II

Hugh Capet

Philip II

Louis IX

Philip IV

Evolving Traditions of Government• Henry’s son John and the Pope argued over the selection

of a new Archbishop of Canterbury– The Pope excommunicated him and refused to allow Church

services in all of England, so John backed off– John made the nobles mad through taxes and an abuse of

power…as a result, they forced him to sign the Magna Carta, which said nobles (and later English citizens) have certain rights, the monarch must obey the law, and the monarch must consult the Great Council of Lords and Clergy (which became Parliament) before raising taxes

– Magna Carta (1215): • Limited the rights of the king• Established due process of law• Established habeas corpus (no one can be held in prison without being

charged with a crime)