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5.3. High Middle Ages: 1000-1250

Hello, everybody this is the third part of the Chapter five, High Middle Ages.

1. The population of Europe boomed during the High Middle Ages and reached a peak around 1300 to around 100 million. There are various reasons of this population increase. First one is the warmer climate; the time from 950 to 1250 was called the Medieval Warm Period. Secondly, the improved agriculture techniques and equipment produced more food. Thirdly compare with other times this periods experienced less wars.

2. Empire and kingdoms

We can see Countries of the High Meddle Ages in Europe. 2 Empire: Holy Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. There are many kingdoms: in Brittan England and Scotland, in the north Norway, Sweden and Denmark, in the east Poland, Hungary, and in Italy Papal State and kingdom of Sicily.

3. Holy Roman Empire 800-1806

Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire.

4. As the Carolingian Empire declined, there were five stem duchies in the east Francia. Stem means tribes. They were Saxony, Franconia, Lorraine, Swabia and Bavaria. A duchy is an area of land that is owned or ruled by a duke. A duke is the highest rank below the king.

5. The Carolingian Dynasty ended in 911 in east krancia. In 919 the duke of Saxony Henry the Fowler (876 – 936) was elected king. Fowler is someone who hunts wild birds. It is said when the messengers came to inform him that he was to be king he was fixing his birding nets. Henry was the first Saxon king of East Francia and the founder of the Ottonian dynasty. His family ruled East Francia and later Holy Roman Empire from 919 until 1024.

In the ninth and tenth centuries, Hungarians, also known as Magyars, an ethnic group native to Hungary invaded nearly all over the Europe. The eastern border of the East Francia was threatened. Henry first made a ten-year-truce in 924, agreed to pay annual tribute to Magyars. After that he built an extensive system of fortifications and mobile heavy cavalry and in 933 defeated and drove them away. He also put down the rebellions of dukes of Bavaria and Swabia.

6. Otto I, also called Otto the Great (912 – 973), was German king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962. He was the son of Henry the Fowler. In 955 at the Battle of Lechfeld Otto defeated the Magyars completely. That time Magyars were still pagans thus Otto earned a reputation as a savior of Christen world. Otto also conquered Lombardy and brought northern and central Italy into the Holy Roman Empire. In 962 Otto was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Some historians marked 800 as the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire when Charlemagne was crowned; others thought it started in 962 by Otto’s coronation. Otto spent his later years ruling from Rome.

7. Investiture controversy

The emperor was crowned by the Pope, but sometime Emperors also intervened in the papal elections. During the time of Henry III, the Holy Roman Emperor from 1046 to 1056 there were three people claimed popes. Henry deposed all three and installed a German as a new Pope.

The Investiture controversy was a conflict between Catholic Church and state over the authority to appoint local church officials through investiture. Investiture is a ceremony to give someone an official title. The controversy began as a power struggle between Pope Gregory VII and holy Roman Emperor Henry IV in 1076. Henry tried to depose the Pope but failed. Gregory excommunicated Henry. Henry crossed the Alps in the winter, standing three days in the snow asking for forgiveness before the castle of Canossa in northern Italy where the pope lived. Today if someone says "I will never go to Canossa" that means never yield or give in like Henry did. In 1080 Gregory excommunicated Henry again. But this time supported by German nobles and bishops Henry marched on Rome and drove the pope away.

8. Hugh Capet (c. 939 – 996)

France and England emerged as nation states during the high middle ages. Nation state is a sovereign state whose majority of people belongs to the same ethnic group and has same culture and language.

The Carolingian dynasty ended in in the West Francia in 987 when Hugh Capet became the first King of Capetian dynasty. Most historians regard the coronation of Hugh Capet in 987 as the beginnings of modern France. He came from the family of Count of Paris, he made the city his power center.

In 1190 Philip II first called himself "King of France". The Capetians and their cadet lines the Valois and Bourbon ruled Franc until 1792 the French Revolution overthrown the monarch. Primogeniture is the right of firstborn son to succeed his parent's estate. Cadets are younger sons.

From Hugh Capet until the death of Philip IV in 1314, all kings left a son to succeed his father. This good luck was one reason made France the most powerful kingdom in Europe.

9. England

By the time of the death of Alfred in 899, southern England was united by the kingdom of Wessex. Northern England was controlled by Danes known as Danelaw. In 1013 England was conquered by Danish king Sweyn Forkbeard and it became the center of a short-lived North Sea Empire that also included Denmark and Norway. In 1042 the last king of the House of Wessex Edward the Confessor restored Anglo-Saxon kingdom. He built Westminster Abbey, one of the grandest churches in Europe. He ruled 24 years and died in 1066. A dispute over the succession to Edward led to wars. The result was the Norman conquest of England led by William in 1066.

10.William the Conqueror (c. 1028–1087), was the first Norman King of England. House of Normandy ruled England from 1066 until 1135. Eventually the Normans merged with the natives Anglo-Saxons. The Normans were an ethnic group originated from Scandinavia and since the late 9^th century they had settled in Normandy, a northern region of France.

Angevin Empire

The Angevin kings ruled England from 1154 to 1216. It had three monarchs: Henry II, Richard I and John. They were kings of England, but England was only less than half of the empire they ruled. The Angevin Empire covered an area including half of France, all of England, and parts of Ireland and Wales. The last Angevin king John, was defeated in the Anglo-French War (1213–1214) by King Philip II of France, most of the lands in France was lost. At home John was also challenged by his subjects. He was forced to sign Magna Carta, Great charter of Liberties, a document recognizing the rights and privileges of the barons, church, and freemen. Baron is a man who is a member of the lowest rank of the nobility. The principle of the charter was that the king is not above the law.

11.The House of Plantagenet

Angevin means from Anjou. Plantagenet was the nickname of Henry’ father Geoffrey. Plantagenet is a flower broom 金雀花. His father was the Count of Anjou, a county in France. Plantagenet’ descendants, The House of Plantagenet and its two cadet branches, the Houses of Lancaster and York held the English throne for more than three centuries from 1154 until 1485 when Richard III died.

Monastery

A monastery is a building in which monks or nuns live from the outside world. Supported by Christens especially founded by nobles, monasteries reached its height across Europe in the 11^th and 12^th centuries. The most famous one was Cluny Abbey in France. It was the first international organization of monastic centers. The leader of a monastery called abbot. The abbot of Cluny Abbey was among the most powerful people, equals to king, emperor even pope.

12. University

Some famous universities were founded during this period. They taught Arts, theology, medicine and laws. The University of Bologna in Italy was founded in 1088, it is the oldest university in Europe. It was organized by the guild of students. A guild is a formal association of people with similar interests or same job. The University of Paris was Founded c. 1150. In 1200 king Philip granted a charter guaranteed its rights and immunities from the control of the city. In England the University of Oxford was founded in 1096, and the University of Cambridge was founded in 1209.

13. The University of Bologna in Italy

14. Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious wars sanctioned by the Catholic Church from 1096 to 1272. The aim of the Crusades was to recovering the Holy Land from Muslim rule. The Holy Land is the Land of Israel. In 1095, Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade. He encouraged military support for the Byzantine Empire Emperor who needed help for his conflict with Muslim Turks. In 1099 the Crusader conquered Jerusalem and established a Latin kingdom in Palestine. Eight Crusades were launched.

15. These are crusaders.

16. The East–West Schism

The Roman Catholic Church is headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the Pope. Its central administration, the Holy See, is in the Vatican City within Rome. The Catholic Church teaches that it is founded by Jesus Christ, and the Pope is the successor to Saint Peter. The leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church is the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople since the founding of the city in 330 AD by Constantine the Great. Ecumenical means universal. Patriarch of Constantinople is regarded as the successor of Andrew the Apostle.

In 1054 ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes between the Greek East and Latin West caused the mutual excommunication. They officially separated. This is called the Great Schism or the East–West Schism.

Let’s look at the key words of today

Otto the Great, Hugh Capet, William the Conqueror, Crusades, the East–West Schism,

This is the third part of the chapter five High Middle Ages