Monks, Nuns, and Mendicants

• Monks and nuns took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.  They spent their lives in work, study, and prayer, living in separate communities called monasteries and convents.
• Friars did not shut themselves off from the rest of the world.  They traveled among ordinary people to preach.  

Holidays

• Medieval holidays honored important events in the life of Jesus, such as his birth and Resurrection.  Holidays also honored Christian saints and important religious concepts.
• People celebrated holidays by attending church and with feasts, music, dancing, games, and other forms of entertainment.  

Battle of Carnival and Lent by painter Pieter Brueghel

Art and Architecture

• Since most people could not read, art helped them understand Biblical stories.
• Cathedrals were large churches and the seat of a bishop.  Some key features included the nave, transepts, flying buttresses, gargoyles, pillars, and stained glass windows.

flying buttresses

nave

Cathedral ground plan. The shaded area is the transept; darker shading represents the crossing.

transept

gargoyles 

pillars 

stained glass window

rhetoric

The study of persuasive writing and speaking 

Crusades

     The crusades were a military expeditions to the land where Jesus had lived, which Christians called the Holy Land.  During the seventh century, this part of the Near East had come under the control of Muslims.

The battle between the Hussite warriors and the Crusaders, Jena Codex, 15th century

Pilgrimages and Relics

A journey, especially a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion

People went on pilgrimages to show devotion to God, as an act of penance, or to find a cure for an illness.  Popular destinations included Jerusalem, Rome, and Canterbury.

The hill of apparitions in Medjugorie, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Some European pilgrims on the ancient pilgrimage road to Santiago de Compostela in 2005.

Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai

A relic is a body part of a saint, or else another type of holy object, carefully perserved

Relic skull and reliquary of Saint Ivo of Kermartin(also St. Yves or St. Ives), (1253–1303) in Treguier, Brittany, France

The 7 Sacraments

 Baptism ... Birth

Confirmation ... Young Adult

Eucharist ... The Body if Christ

Matrimony

Holy Orders ... Becoming a Priest or Nun

Penance ... Confession of Sins

Last Rights ... Death 

• The church taught that Christians had to receive sacraments in order to achieve salvation.
• The seven sacraments were baptism, confirmation, Eucharist, matrimony holy orders, penace, and extreme unction. 

Excommunication

To formally deprive a person of membership in a church

The Excommunication of Martin Luther, 1521

A depiction of Pope Gregory IX excommunicating.

The Hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church

The Role of the Christian Church in Medieval Europe

The Mass of Saint Giles, painted around 1500

The Christian religion is one of the most important legacies of ancient Rome.  Christians are followers of Jesus Christ, who was put to death on a Roman cross in the first century C.E.  Christians believe he was the son of God, that God sent him to Earth to save people from their sins, and that he rose form the dead after his crucifixion.

• Initially, the Romans persecuted Christians for their beliefs.
• By the start of the Middle Ages, all Christians in western Europe belonged to a single church, which became known as the Roman catholic Church.
• The church provided leadership and over time developed an organization that was modeled on the structure of the Roman government.
• Monasteries, or communities of monks, copied and preserved old texts, and in this way helped keep learning alive. 
• During the Middle Ages, the church acquired great economic and political power that at times rivaled that of the monarchs.

Illuminated Manuscripts

During the Middle Ages, all books were written by hand and served to glorify religion.  Each page was beautifully designed, especially the first letter of the page.  Some pages contained “illuminated” details painted in real gold.  These books are known as illuminated manuscripts.

Monty Python's Peasants

Medieval Peasants

Typical thatched roof home of the peasants

The Peasant Wedding, by Flemish painter Pieter Brueghe

Monty Python's Knights Who Say "Ni!"

Monty Python's Black Knight

Medieval Knights

• Mounted soliders
• Expected to be loyal to church and their Lord
• Followed a code of chivalry 
• Sometimes employed by the King in times of war

Medieval Nobles

• Managed and defended the manor house and the fief
• Acted as judges to their villagers
• Paid taxes to the king
• Supplied the king with knights in a time of war

Medieval Monarchs

• At the very top of feudal society were the monarchs, or kings and queens.  
• They believed in the Divine Right of Kings, the idea that God had given them the right to rule.  
• They were responsible for keeping order and providing protection for the entire kingdom.  

For more information click the following links...
Medieval Kings
Medieval Kings & Queens
Medieval Kings Clothing

Medieval Castles

Bodiam Castle, built in the 14th century in Sussex, England

inside the castle

inside the castle walls

For more information click on the following links...
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/castles.html
http://www.medieval-castle.com/
http://www.medieval-castles.net/
Top 100 Medieval Castles
Parts of a castle
http://www.medieval-castles.org/

This YouTube video contains scenes from The Lion in Winter.
When I was in college one of my history professors had us watch this to get a visual of Medieval Life.

Vikings

Viking Ships...

Feudal Estate

The Development of Feudalism in Western Europe

VOCABULARY

monarch

Divine Right of Kings

noble

duke

pope

pope

Roman Catholic Church

Christianity

manor

fief

armor

chivalry

barbarian 

hierarchy

feudalism