Europe
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Medieval Europe. (2022). In Q-files Encyclopedia, History, Europe. Retrieved from
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"Medieval Europe." History, Europe, Q-files Encyclopedia, 10 Feb. 2022.
https://www.q-files.com/history/europe/medieval-europe.
Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.
Medieval Europe 2022. History, Europe. Retrieved 19 March 2024, from
https://www.q-files.com/history/europe/medieval-europe
History, Europe, s.v. "Medieval Europe," accessed March 19, 2024.
https://www.q-files.com/history/europe/medieval-europe
Medieval Europe
In Europe, the period from about AD 500 to 1500 is known as the Middle Ages, or the medieval period. The Middle Ages are said to have begun after the collapse of the Roman Empire and to end with the start of the Renaissance. The early part of this period was a time of invasions, including Viking raids and the conquest of England by Duke William of Normandy in 1066. The later centuries saw frequent wars between the kingdoms that covered Europe, including the so-called Hundred Years’ War fought between England and France (1337–1453).
Feudalism
During the Middle Ages, Europe became a patchwork of kingdoms, frequently warring amongst themselves. Most countries were ruled by a king—but only with the help of powerful lords. The king allowed the lords to own large tracts of land and build castles in return for a promise to fight for him in war. A lord could not control all his lands without help, so he gave some of it to knights in return for a promise to fight for him when the need arose. Also under the lord’s control were the people who lived on and farmed the land: the peasants. They were protected by the lord in return for giving him some of the crops they grew. This arrangement was known as feudalism.
Feudalism had its roots with the Franks, a group of Germanic tribes who had came to rule much of western Europe by the 700s. Frankish warriors pledged loyalty to a ruler or lord in return for some sort of protection and reward. Feudalism spread across Europe between the 800s and 1200s. But by the late 1200s, the system was beginning to fall apart. People began to make more use of money, preferring to pay rent for land than be bound by the feudal system. Lords, too, could pay for soldiers rather than reward them with land.
Manors
A baron’s land was divided into manors and farmed by peasants. In return, they gave some of their crops to their landlord. The manor consisted of three large fields: one each for wheat and barley and a third left unsown (lying fallow) so that the soil could recover its richness. These fields were, in turn, divided into strips. Peasants worked their strips of land and lived in the villages that grew up around a manor house, where the local lord lived. As well as labouring in their lord’s fields, the peasants had small plots of land on which to grow their own food.
Most peasants were villeins. They had to stay on the manor where they were born. A few were freemen: they were free to move from one manor to another. The peasants lived in cramped and disease-ridden conditions, with a monotonous diet of coarse bread, porridge and vegetables. They very rarely ate fish or meat—these were delicacies reserved for the table of the lord of the manor.
Windmills
Some manors had windmills for grinding grain into flour. The windmill was owned by the lord. All the farmers on his land had to bring their grain to be ground into flour here. The lord charged them a fee for this, called multure. When the mill was not working, the miller positioned the sails in a diagonal cross to signal to the farmers not to come.
Christian Church
The Christian Church became very powerful during the Middle Ages in Europe. Christianity was an important part of everyday life for everyone. Many men and women chose to devote their lives to the Church by becoming monks or nuns. They lived in monasteries or nunneries and also worked in the fields or looked after the poor and the sick. They also spent much of their time in prayer and study, perhaps copying out texts and decorating them with pictures and letters, called illuminations. As a result, monasteries and nunneries became centres of scholarship across Europe. There were several orders (organizations) of monks and nuns. The earliest was started by St Benedict of Nursia, who founded the Benedictine order in the 500s. St Benedict was the author of the "Rule"—a set of guidelines for monastic life.
Abbeys and cathedrals
Thousands of monasteries, abbeys, churches and cathedrals were constructed across Europe during the Middle Ages. The largest took many years to complete. Some of the largest abbeys, such as Cluny in France, were like small, self-contained towns within their own walls. Many magnificent cathedrals were also built. The word “cathedral” comes from the Latin cathedra, meaning “throne”. A cathedral was the building where the bishop’s throne was kept.
Domesday book
In early 1086, King William I of England ordered a survey of the whole of his country. After his victory of 1066, he wanted information about his new kingdom. The result was a place-by-place survey of the whole of England (except for London, Winchester and parts of northern England), listing population, wealth and who owned what. It was later called the Domesday Book. Similar surveys were also made elsewhere in Europe from the 12th century onwards.
Such detailed work required people who could read and write, and it was during the Middle Ages that the earliest universities were founded in Europe—for example, in the Italian town of Bologna (1088).
Population increase
Before the years of plague and famine, starting in around 1315 with the Great Famine, medieval Europe was an increasingly wealthy place. Food production grew. Merchants started to trade goods from further afield. Wool, iron and furs from the north of Europe were traded for silks, spices and sugar from the south. Sea ports were founded to handle this trade.
Across Europe, land was drained and forests were cut down to bring more land under cultivation. In some places this process happened as villages expanded. In other places, castles were built as defence against invaders, or monasteries were founded in remote places, providing the starting-points for new settlements.
As food production increased, so did the population. In 1000 it is estimated that the population of Europe was about 40 million. It rose dramatically to about 80 million in 1300, falling again in the 1300s as a result of plague and famine.
The Hanseatic League
Towns were important centres of growth between 1000 and 1300, particularly those on the great trading routes. In Germany, several towns joined together to form a trade alliance, known as the Hanseatic League. The League gained control of the trade in furs, fish and timber in northern Europe. Further south on the Mediterranean Sea, Italian cities such as Venice and Genoa became centres for trade with Asia and North Africa. Many of these exotic wares—silks, spices and sugar—were then transported across the Alpine passes for sale in northern Europe. In the other direction, wool, iron and furs were taken southwards.
People of the Middle Ages
In medieval feudal society, the nobility held all the wealth and power. Below them came merchants and craftworkers. Peasants and servants were the poorest people.
On the left of the illustration above are a merchant and a noble lady, both of them wearing rich clothing. In the middle is a falconer. The falconer would have worked at court, or for the lord of the manor. Falconry was very popular in Europe in the Middle Ages, and was known as the “sport of kings”. Falcons, hawks and eagles were all trained to hunt. The falconer wore a heavy glove to protect his hand when the bird perched on it. The next figure is a friar, who was a monk who did not live inside a monastery. Instead he travelled from place to place, preaching Christianity as he went. On the right is a peasant woman, who is wearing simple, undyed clothes.
Consultant: Philip Parker