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Summary Medieval Europe: a Short History - LET-GESB103-CEH (medievalhistory1)
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MEDIEVAL HISTORYChapter 1. “Romans, Christians, and Barbarians”
the Early Middle Ages —> +/- 500 - 1000 AD
what happened?
1) decay of Rome
2) multiple cultures blend
3) emergence of 3 new civilization (Western Christendom, the Byzantine Empire, the Islamic empires)
city of rome —> still vast & populous, considered itself the “eternal city”
other cities:
1) miniature versions of rome which served as centres of administration & tax collection
or
2) few stone building, few roads & little infrastructure
domestic proselytisation —> term describing conversion to christianity that were accomplished by the
marriages of christian women to pagan men
700s AD —> the Carolingians emerged and built an empire that would eventually stretch across most of
western christendom; lacking large cities & educated bureaucracy it collapsed soon
in the course of the barbarians’ invasions strong administration emerged in england & among the german-
speaking heirs; by 1000 the invasions had run their course, and a relative peace graced the beginning of the
2nd millennium
The Early Middle Ages began around 500 with the decay of an old & powerful civilization, and it ended
around 1000 with the coming of age a new civilization, radically different from ancient rome
The Roman Peace and After
1st 2 centuries of the CE —> the roman empire was one of the largest the world had ever known
Pax Romana:
- augustus is credited with launching it
- extended from the Euphrates to the shore of the Atlantic & from the Sahara to Danube & Rhine
- stretched 3k miles
- more than 50mil inhabitants
- traded silk with the chinese
- founded many cities often on foundations of smaller celt cities
- they were by no mean populated only by celts & romans
- the provinces were not uniformly rich:
- east - populous, prosperous
- south - provided valued resources
- west & north - relatively poor in ppl & resources
- the effects of roman civilization were often shallow
- housed many diverse people & cultures
- facilitated trade & communication between those different ppl
- power of rome was firm but not suffocating
- the empire was united by:
1) the power of administration of roman cities
2) the power of royal armies
3) the loyalty of local elites
4) the power idea of “rome”
- 1st 2 centuries - not always peaceful but still better than what was coming after
- 3rd century - everything went to shit:
- barbarians were on the borders of the empire
- roman troops made & unmade emperors super often
- plagues
- famines
- inflation
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,Trade link are important to historians bc they serve as tips of icebergs for other, less tangible exchanges, such
as those of ideas & diseases
roman culture —> rich & eclectic but it touched only a thin layer of society, as many ordinary ppl continued
to live their lives as they had done prior to the roman conquest - survival of many languages & cultures
Celts —> inhabitants of Western Eu; “roman” only to an extent
the division of the empire in the 3rd century:
- by Diocletian & Constantine
- rebuilt the loosely organized governed empire into an autocracy supported by a huge army, many
bureaucrats & inspiring emperors
- the different trajectories of the west & east were rooted in these reforms, for they began to divide the
empire, a process of profound importance for the development of a distinctive culture (medieval west)
- began with a line drawn through the balkans to north africa
- to the west —> Rome, society more rural, less wealthy, more vulnerable to invasion
- to the east —> Constantinople, more urban, secure & prosperous world
- with the death of Theodosius in 395 AD the division became permanent
- western & eastern empires drifted apart while sharing a common imperial past
Christianity
- by 395 the western & eastern parts of the empire shared a common faith - christianity, which was become
so integral that medieval ppl created a new word (christendom) to describe their world
- jesus was from judea and for the judean ppl, subjection to roman authority was a relatively & bitter
experience; brought before Pontius Pilate on the charge of claiming to be king of the jews (treason against
the emperor), he was condemned to crucification
- christians slowly became committed to the difficult & sophisticated notion of jesus christ
- initially a mystery religion - promised mystical union between the worshipers & divine beings
- gods & goddesses of ancient rome safeguarded the welfare of household & state, while new deities
offered comfort for individual worries & hopes
- differed from other religions in 2 fundamental ways that helped it slowly triumph over its competitors:
1) its founder was an actual person
2) the christian god was not merely the best of many deities but the one god unique in his exclusiveness &
omnipotence
- women were active in early christian congregations
- new faith drew converts from a wide swath of roman society
- baptism & eucharist — sacraments, they sustained christian communities
- hagiography — stories celebrating the lives of saints
- they grew more organized as they were developing:
- distinction between clergy & laity developed by the 3rd/4th century
- distinction within the clergy emerged too
- classical ideas about allegory provided a mean for christians to intellectualise the faith
- philo of alexandria — concrete stories of the jewish bible had abstract symbolic meaning
- many christians embraced it, other rejected & criticised it as pagan
christianity & the empire:
- christians of the roman empire were eager to win new converts
- uncompromising in their rejection of other religions
- martyrdom seemed to strengthen the faith
- refusal of christians to offer sacrifices to the state gods resulted in persecution
- beginning of the 4th century -> Diocletian launched a program of persecution but das al
- his failure to eradicate christianity showed that the empire had little choice but to accommodate itself to
the new religion
- 313 AD —> Constantine granted christians official toleration
- then he nurtured christianity bc he hoped that maybe it’d glue the empire together
- next emperors followed his lead
- built cool churches
- replaced the combat of gladiators with a sport of chariot racing
- ended the practice of crucifixion
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, - prohibited the abandonment of infants
- did not ban slavery bc it was too important for the economy
- end of 4th c —> Theodosius banned the worship of old roman god
- by 400 AD —> christianity was the official religion
christianity and judaism:
- judaism was also changing after the failure of 2 jewish uprisings (70, 135 AD) as they have devastated
judea
- many jews left judea after the uprisings & resettled in the eastern empire & western cities
- thank to a long tradition of romans respecting jewish “ancestral law”, jews were allowed to practice their
religion & become citizens of rome
- when theodosius banned other religions, he extended his protection to jews
- 4th —> when christianity started dominating, jews still could practice their religion but more grudgingly
- early christian theologians did not like judaism bc they saw it as no longer justified & flawed
- by 500 —> jewish communities were established throughout the world but the disinterest of pagan rome
was replaced with christianity anxious toleration
neoplatonism —> loosely based on plato; taught of one god who was infinite, unknowable &
unapproachable except through mystical experience; deity was the ultimate source of everything; the human
soul, trapped in a human body, should seek to return, via mysticism, to god;
—> christians incorporated ideas about the soul, the role of mysticism & the corruption of the material world
catholic —> universal
most of the debates about christian faith were being resolved at councils
1st ever council in Nicea in 325 AD —> rendered arians as heretical bc they did not consider jesus as fully
divine
orthodoxy & heresy shaped the religious landscape of early medieval eu
christian scholars who have changed the faith:
St. Ambrose (339 - 397)
- bishop of milan
- vigorous opponent of arianism
- successful assertion of the church’s moral authority over the emperor — ambrose’s bold stand & the
emperor’s public submission established a long-remembered precedent of ecclesiastical supremacy over
political leaders
Jerome (340 - 420)
- the most celebrated scholar of his time
- tried to resolve his internal conflict by putting his mastery of greco-roman literature to christian service &
translated the bible into latin —> the Latin Vulgate Bible (used throughout the middle ages)
Augustine (354 - 430)
- a bishop in north africa
- wrote volumes against pagan & heretical doctrines
- managed to examine most of the central problems of religion: the nature of the trinity, the existence of
devil, the role of marriage & sexuality, the nature of free will & predestination
- in his hands neoplatonism became the basis for new christian theology in which the material world was
less important than the spiritual one but was still created by god
- god created humans with free will to choose between evil & good
- the central goal of the christian life was to attain the salvation that jesus’ sacrifice had made possible
- “City of God”
- set forth a radically new & comprehensive christian philosophy of history that was radically new &
deeply influential throughout the middle ages
- viewed history as a purposeful process of god’s interaction with humanity
- the single determining force in history was human moral character & the single goal of salvation
- divided humanity into 2 opposing groups:
- those who live in god’s grace, lived in the city of god
- those who did not, belonged to the earthly city
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, - those 2 cities were intertwined but their members would be determined at death
- his teachings on marriage, sexuality also shaped christianity
- at the beginning christians avoided marriage & embraced chastity
- after martyrdom by death was eliminated, disciplined chastity replaced it for some
- sharply criticized the idea that all christians should live celibate lives but its not for everyone
- his defense of marriage profoundly influenced medieval canon law on marriage-making, divorce & birth
control
Barbarians & the Western Empire
“barbarian”
—> for us: savagery & lacks of culture
—> for greek & romans: foreigner
some historians prefers to call them “Germanic” but thats misleading cause it implies that they shared a
common heritage linked to modern germany
life on the frontiers (especially on these created by rhine & danube) has changed in the later 4th century —>
outsiders began to press hard across these rivers, and romans were more willing than ever to grant them
entry; they were mostly from central & southwestern europe - Celts, Slavs, Middle East, but there was so
many of them that its dangerous to make broad generalizations regarding their cultures & institutions
they lived in tribes which were flexible, taking form around successful war leaders, disintegrating when
military fortunes declined, and then re-forming around new leaders. before their 1st contact with empire,
they were illiterate so thats why theres no written records, only few archeological remains
women were regarded as lifelong minor subject to the guardianship of their fathers / husbands
romans traded merchandise with the barbarians
from the late 3rd c, rhine & danube became prime recruitment areas for the roman army
throughout this whole barbaric period in the empire, these tribes were also developing & changing &
absorbing roman culture;
- some of them were pastoralists & moved with their herds
- they produced fine metalwork
- had few cities
- organized their societies on 4 foundations
1) kingship
2) war-bands
3) law codes
4) ethnicity
[each of these came to become an important barbarian contribution to medieval civilization]
- traced descent through both parents so kingship networks were large & fluid
- expected their kin to offer protection that we now have from police (or do we)
- if a barbarian was injured / killed, kinfolk were obliged to avenge the dead
- initially — conduct a feud
- eventually — customary to establish a wergild
[both blood feuds & wergilds would continue far into the middle ages, and both spoke to the enduring
importance of kingship as a source of protection & aid]
comitatus —> a group of warriors bound together by their loyalty to a warlord; military brotherhood based
on honor, fidelity, courage & mutual respect; their heroic virtues would persist throughout the early middle
ages as the characteristic ideology of the european warrior aristocracy
barbarian law:
- barbarians found unity in law codes & kingship & comitatus;
- barbarian law was based on custom & traditions
- enforced by general agreement
- applicable to those in a specific tribe
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