THE 11TH, 12TH AND 13TH CENTURIES IN EUROPE ARE

KNOWN AS THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES

IT WAS A TIME OF PROSPERITY AND CHANGE IN EUROPE

KINGS ACHIEVED GREAT POWER

AGRICULTURE PROGRESSED

CITIES GREW

URBAN MIDDLE CLASS STARTED

GAINING IN IMPORTANCE

IN THE LATE 11TH CENTURY CHRISTIAN EUROPE STILL LOOKED LIKE A

MOSAIC MADE UP OF LITTLE STATES AND KINGDOMS LOCATED BETWEEN
THE NORTH, THE BALTIC AND THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

AT ITS CENTRE WERE

FRANCE AND THE
HOLY ROMAN
EMPIRE, THE TWO
MOST IMPORTANT
STATES. BOTH WERE
DIVIDED INTO
FEUDAL TERRITORIES
AND KINGS
AUTHORITY WAS
SOMETIMES
DISPUTED

THE NORMANS
FROM THE NORTH
EXTENDED THEIR
DOMINATIONS TO
OTHER AREAS OF
EUROPE (ENGLAND,
SICILY, AND THE
SOUTH OF ITALY),
UNTIL THEY STOPPED
THEIR ATTACKS IN
THE 11TH CENTURY

THE MUSLIMS IN THE

SOUTH AND EAST
DISPUTED THE
TERRITORIES IN THE
IBERIAN PENINSULA
AND IN THE
BYZANTINE EMPIRE,
WHILE FURTHER EAST
THE SLAVIC PEOPLE
ESTABLISHED
POWERFUL STATES
(KIEV)

EUROPEAN TERRITORIES TOWARDS

THE END OF THE 11TH CENTURY

THERE WERE MANY WARS BETWEEN KINGDOMS IN THE MIDDLE AGES

THE LONGEST WAS THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR

WHICH ENGLAND AND

FRANCE FOUGHT FOR OVER A
CENTURY (1337-1453)

THE MOST IMPORTANT POLITICAL CHANGES IN THE HIGH

MIDDLE AGES WERE THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE KINGS
POWER AND THE ORIGINGS OF PARLIAMENT

IT WAS CONSOLIDATED THANKS

TO THE HELP OF THE CITIES ,
WHICH GAVE KINGS FINANCIAL
SUPPORT.
IN EXCHANGE FOR THIS, KINGS
GAVE PRIVILEGES TO CITIES, SUCH
AS THE RIGTH TO GOVERN
THEMSELVES AND THEY ALLOWED
THEM TO HAVE TRADE FAIRS

ROYAL POWER CONSOLIDATION

THEY HAD DIFFERENT NAMES ACROSS EUROPE:

PARLIAMENT IN ENGLAND, TAT GNRAUX IN
FRANCE, CORTES IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA AND
DIET (KREISTAG) IN THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE. ITS
MAIN PURPOSE WAS TO PASS NEW LAWS ON
TAXATION AND THEY MET WHEN THE KING
SUMMONED THEM

PARLIAMENTS WERE POLITICAL

ASSEMBLIES FORMED BY
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
NOBILITY, THE CLERGY AND THE
CITIES (THESE WERE ADDED BY THE
KING TO BALANCE ITS POWER).
THEY ORIGINALLY CAME FROM
THE ROYAL COUNCIL WHICH
ADVISED THE KING ON POLITICAL
MATTERS

EMERGENCE OF PARLIAMENTS

THERE WAS A PERIOD OF ECONOMIC RECOVERY IN

EUROPE FROM THE 12TH CENTURY

2
TECHNICAL
CHANGES IN
AGRICULTURE
IMPROVED
PRODUCTIVITY.
THREE-YEAR CROP
ROTATION AND
MOULDBOARD
PLOUHG.
AGRICULTURE

3
THERE WAS A
GROWING
DEMAND FOR
CRAFT PRODUCTS.

CRAFT ACTIVITY

TRADE INCREASED
GREATLY IN THE
12TH CENTURY.

TRADE

AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THIS CHANGES, THE POPULATION

OF EUROPE ALSO INCREASED CONSIDERABLY (45 MILLION
INHABITANTS IN EUROPE IN 1100 TO 75 IN 1300)

FOR CENTURIES PEASANTS HAD BEEN USING THE SAME

FARMING PRACTICES: THE ROMAN PLOUGH PULLED BY OXEN
DURING THE
AND THE TWO-FIELD CROP ROTATION SYSTEM
TECHNICAL CHANGES IN
AGRICULTURE IMPROVED
PRODUCTIVITY. THREE-YEAR
CROP ROTATION (ONLY ONE
THIRD REMAINS FALLOW
EVERY YEAR)..
AND THE INVENTION OF THE
MOULDBOARD PLOUGH
USUALLY PULLED BY HORSES
(HEAVIER AND ALLOWED
MORE AIR INTO THE SOIL).

THIS MEANT MORE FOOD

AVAILABLE TO THE
POPULATION. THEY BECAME
HEALTHIER EATING
REGULARLY

11TH
CENTURY

THERE WAS A GROWING DEMAND FOR CRAFT PRODUCTS. THESE

WERE MADE IN SPECIALISED WORKSHOPS

GUILDS
THE CRAFTMEN FORMED GUILDS,
WHICH WERE ASSOCIATIONS
THAT GROUPED TOGETHER ALL
THE PEOPLE WHO WORKED IN
THE SAME FIELD. THE GUILDS
REGULATED PRICES AND
WORKING PRACTICES BUT THEY
WERE ALSO ASSOCIATIONS FOR
MUTUAL ASSISTANCE
THERE WERE 3 DIFFERENT
CATEGORIES OF CRAFTSMAN:
MASTERS (THEY OWNED THE
WORKSHOP AND THE TOOLS
AND RAN THE GUILDS), OFFICERS
(THEY WORKED FOR THE MASTER
FOR A SALARY) AND
APPRENTICES THAT LEARNT THEIR
SKILLS IN RETURN FOR FOOD
AND ACCOMMODATION

TRADE INCREASED GREATLY IN THE 12TH CENTURY. IT WAS FAVOURED BY

THE RAISING DEMAND FOR PRODUCTS CAUSED BY THE INCREASE IN
POPULATION, ESPECIALLY IN CITIES
THERE WERE
TWO TYPES OF
TRADE
PRODUCTS WERE EXCHANGED
BETWEEN THE INHABITANTS OF A
CITY AND THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED
IN THE SURROUNDING AREA
LOCAL COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY

THIS WAS STILL RISKY AND

SOMETIMES DANGEROUS SO
MERCHANTS ORGANISED
THEMSELVES IN ASSOCIATIONS
LONG-DISTANCE TRADE
THE HANSEATIC
LEAGUE IN BALTIC

THERE WERE TWO

GREAT CENTRES OF
COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY
THERE WERE TRADE ROUTES ALL
ACROSS THE MEDITERRANEAN
FROM SPAIN AND ITALY TO THE
MUSLIM AND BYZANTINE PORTS.
CITIES LIKE MILAN, VENICE AND
GENOA BECAME VERY
IMPORTANT
THE MEDITERRANEAN

TRADE ROUTES LINKED PORTUGAL

AND THE CANTABRIAN COAST
WITH CITIES LIKE BRUGES, GHENT
AND ANTWERP IN NORT-WEST
EUROPE. LBECK AND HAMBURG,
ON THE GERMAN COAST TRADED
ACROSS THE BALTIC
THE ATLANTIC AND THE BALTIC

TRADE FAIRS
TRADE FAIRS WERE ATTENDED BY
MERCHANTS FROM THE GREAT TRADING
CITIES. TO FINANCE THEIR JOURNEYS
THE MERCHANTS SOMETIMES GRANTED
CREDIT, AND BILLS OF EXCHANGE WERE
USED INSTEAD OF MONEY.
THESE EARLY TYPES OF FINANCIAL
ACTIVITY LATER DEVELOPED INTO
BANKING

CITIES BEGAN TO GROW RAPIDLY IN THE 12TH CENTURY, AFTER 8 CENTURIES

(SINCE ROMAN TIMES) WHEN NEARLY ALL OF EUROPES INHABITANTS
HAD LIVED IN THE COUNTRYSIDE DUE TO
THE OLD ROMAN TOWNS
WERE REVIVED AND NEW
TOWNS WERE FOUNDED

THE EXPANSION OF
AGRICULTURE
MEANT THAT THERE
WAS A REGULAR
FOOD SUPPLY FOR
THE GROWING
URBAN POPULATION.
TRADE ALSO REVIVED
URBAN LIFE AND
CREATED A DEMAND
FOR THE WORK OF
SPECIALISED
CRAFTSMEN LIVING
IN THE CITIES

ECONOMIC
GROWTH

FEUDAL LORDS DID

NOT CONTROL THE
CITIES, WHOSE
INHABITANTS WERE
FREE. MONARCHS
GRANTED CITIES
CHARTERS AND
PRIVILEGES IN
ORDER TO REDUCE
THE INFLUENCE OF
NOBILITY
URBAN
PRIVILEGES

MANY PEASANTS
FLED FROM HARSH
CONDITIONS IN THE
COUNTRYSIDE, AND
WENT TO LIVE IN
CITIES WHERE THEY
WERE FREE FROM
FEUDAL
OBLIGATIONS

RURAL
INMIGRATION

MOST OF THE POPULATION OF EUROPE WAS STILL RURAL BUT

CITIES BECAME GREAT CENTRES OF ECONOMIC AND
CULTURAL ACTIVITY
CITIES THAT HAD ALREADY EXISTED IN THE LATE
ROMAN EMPIRE BECAME IMPORTANT ONCE AGAIN
BUT THERE WERE ALSO COMPLETELY NEW
SETTLEMENTS WHERE MERCHANTS AND
CRAFTSMEN SETTLED IN WELL-PLACED
LOCATIONS NEAR PORTS, ROADS AND CASTLES

WITH THE TIME

THESE
SETTLEMENTS
GREW INTO
CITIES. THEIR
LEADING
FIGURES WERE
KNOWN AS
BURGHERS

A MEDIEVAL CITY WAS SURROUNDED BY WALLS FOR ITS

PROTECTION. AT THE CITY GATES A TAX WAS CHARGED ON ALL
THE PRODUCTS THAT WERE BROUGHT INTO THE CITY TO BE SOLD

URBAN LIFE WAS VERY UNHEALTHY BECAUSE THE

CITIES DID NOT HAVE SEWERS, AND THEIR STREETS
WERE FULL OF MUD AND DIRTY WATER.
MOST MEDIEVAL CITIES WERE QUITE SMALL, WITH JUST A
FEW THOUNSAND PEOPLE. BUT THERE WERE ALSO SEVERAL
VERY LARGE CITIES WITH MORE THAN 100.000 INHABITANTS,
SUCH AS MILAN, VENICE AND PARIS. OTHER VERY IMPORTANT
CITIES WERE LONDON, BARCELONA AND BRUGES

URBAN SOCIETY WAS VERY DIFFERENT FROM RURAL LIFE.

MONARCHS GRANTED CITIES THE RIGTH TO FORM MUNICIPAL
GOVERNMENTS THAT WERE ELECTED BY THE LEADING CITIZENS.
THIS WAS THE BEGINNING OF CITY COUNCILS

IN SOME REGIONS, LIKE ITALY, CITIES FORMED

INDEPENDENT REPUBLICS THAT RULED THE
SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE. IN OTHER AREAS,
INCLUDING ENGLAND AND THE IBERIAN
PENINSULA, THE CITIES APPOINTED
REPRESENTATIVES FOR ASSEMBLIES THAT ADVISED
THE MONARCH
A NEW SOCIAL GROUP EMERGED IN THE CITIES, THE
BOURGEOSIE, WHICH WAS MADE UP OF THE MERCHANTS
AND WEALTHIER CRAFTSMEN. IT WAS A NEW SOCIAL ELITE
THAT CONTROLLED MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
THERE WERE ALSO MINORITIES IN THE CITIES. THE JEWS
LIVED IN THEIR OWN JEWISH QUARTER. THERE WERE
ALSO MUSLIM QUARTERS ON THE IBERIAN PENINSULA

AFTER THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE THERE WAS NO LONGER A

UNIFIED POLITICAL POWER IN EUROPE

HOWEVER, THE CHURCH, CONTROLLED BY THE

POPE IN ROME, BECAME THE DOMINANT POWER IN
THE WEST
THE CLERGY WAS THE FIRST
WITH THE GROWTH OF CITIES AND
STATE AND AN IMPORTANT PART
TOWNS NEW RELIGIOUS ORDERS
OF THE MALE AND FEMALE
APPEARED
POPULATION BELONGED TO IT
MENDICANT ORDERS
THE FRANCISCANS AND
THE DOMINICANS
STARTED PREACHING IN
THE STREETS.
IN THEORY THEY LIVED OFF CHARITY,
BUT OCCASIONALLY THEY BECAME
VERY HEALTHY AND POWERFUL

THE POPE, THE DOMINANT POWER IN THE WEST, HAD TO STRUGGLE WITH

CONFLICTS WITH
RULERS

QUARRELS WITHIN
THE CHURCH

TO ESTABLISH WHETHER
THE POPE HAD AUTHORITY
OVER SECULAR RULERS

THERE WERE DIVISIONS AS

A RESULT OF THE CLAIMS
OF RIVAL CANDIDATES TO
BE THE POPE

MANY OF THESE DISPUTES

WERE WITH THE HOLY ROMAN
EMPIRE, WHICH RULED MANY
PARTS OF GERMANY AND
ITALY. A LONG DISPUTE
THE CONCORDAT OF
INVESTITURE
WORMS (1122)
CONTROVERSY
RESOLVED THE
CONFLICT: THE

CENTRED ON WHETHER IT WAS

CHURCH RETAINED
THE POPE OR THE EMPEROR THE RIGHT BUT IN
WHO APPOINTED BISHOPS
PRESENCE OF THE
EMPEROR

THE WESTERN SCHISM

THE SEAT OF PAPACY WAS
TRANSFERRED TO AVIGNON IN FRANCE
(UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE
FRENCH MONARCHY). AFTER 1378,
THERE WERE RIVAL POPES IN ROME
AND AVIGNON
THIS HARMED THE
PRESTIGE OF THE PAPACY

THE CRUSADES WERE MILITARY EXPEDITIONS

THAT THE POPE ORGANISED WITH THE HELP OF
CHRISTIAN KINGS

THEIR PURPOSE WAS TO

TAKE BACK JERUSALEM AND
THE HOLY LAND FROM THE
MUSLIMS AND TO STOP
THEIR EXPANSION IN THE
MEDITERRANEAN

1
2
3

HOSPITALLERS
THE KNIGHTS
TEMPLAR
THE ORDER OF THE
HOLY SEPULCHRE

FROM 1095 TO 1270

THERE WERE A TOTAL
OF 8 CRUSADES WITH
VARYING RESULTS

THEY HELPED THE PILGRIMS

AND CARED FOR THE SIICK

WHO PROTECTED THE

PILGRIMS

WHO GUARDED THE TOMB

OF JESUS CHRIST AGAINST
THE UNFAITHFUL

THEIR MEMBERS
HAD TO TAKE
WOWS OF
OBEDIENCE,
POVERTY AND
CHASTITY

THE CRUSADERS WORE

THE CROSS ON THEIR
CLOTHES (WHICH GAVE
THEM THEIR NAME)
AND WERE FORGIVEN
FOR ALL THEIR SINS BY
THE POPE

THE SECURITY AND DEFENCE

OF THE TERRITORIES
CAPTURED IN THE HOLY
LAND WERE CONTROLLED BY
MILITARY ORDERS AND
RELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS
THAT WERE TIPICALLY
FORMED BY KNIGHTS

THE EMERGENCE OF STRONGER MONARCHIES AND THE GROWTH

OF CITIES HAD GREAT INFLUENCE ON EUROPEAN CULTURE
PREVIOUSLY, THERE HAD BEEN LITTLE LEARNING OUTSIDE THE
MONASTERIES, BUT IN THE CENTURIES 11TH AND 12TH NEW
CATHEDRAL SCHOOLS WERE CREATED IN CITIES LIKE PARIS OR
CHARTRES. THESE SCHOOLS TRAINED MEMBERS OF THE CLERGY
AND FUTURE ROYAL OFFICIALS

THE FIRST UNIVERSITIES WERE CREATED

IN THE 13TH CENTURY UNDER ROYAL,
ARISTROCRATIC OR RELIGIOUS
PATRONAGE
PARIS,

SALAMANCA,
BOLOGNA,
STUDENTS STUDIED A RANGE OF SUBJECTS OXFORD AND
SUCH AS THEOLOGY, LAW AND MEDICINE CAMBRIDGE
THE METHOD, CALLED THE SCHOLASTIC METHOD,
WAS A COMBINATION OF LECTURES,
DISPUTATIONS AND EXAMINATIONS AND ALL
TAUGHT IN LATIN

DURING THE 14TH CENTURY THREE

CATASTROPHES AFFECTED EUROPE: WAR, FAMINE
AND THE BLACK DEATH

WARS

FAMINE

BLACK DEATH

THEY WERE
CONTINOUS IN THIS
PERIOD, THE MOST
DEVASTATING WAS,
THE ALREADY
STUDIED, THE
HUNDRED YEARS
WAR. IN OTHER
COUNTRIES FEUDAL
LORDS FOUGHT
AGAINST EACH OTHER
AND AGAINST THEIR
KINGS IN WARS THAT
DESTROYED HARVESTS
AND FIELDS

IT WAS ALSO CAUSED

BY A LACK OF FOOD
BECAUSE A CHANGE IN
THE CLIMATE
BROUGHT HARSHER
WINTERS AND
REDUCED THE
HARVESTS.
MALNUTRITION
DEBILITATED THE
POPULATION, WHICH
HAD WEAKER
DEFENCENCS AGAINST
ILLNESSES COMPARED
TO PEOPLE TODAY

THE BLACK DEATH,

MOST PROBABLY AN
EPIDEMIC OF BUBONIC
PLAGUE, CAUSED THE
DEATH OF ONE THIRD
OF THE POPULATION
IN EUROPE BETWEEN
1348 AND 1352. IT
CAME FROM ASIA AND
SPREAD ALONG THE
TRADE ROUTES, SO IT
AFFECTED THE CITIES
MOST

THE CRISIS AFFECTED

POPULATION

THE ECONOMY
SUFFERED A
RECESSION SINCE
AGRICULTURAL
PRODUCTION FELL
AND THERE WAS LESS
DEMAND FOR
MANUFACTURED
PRODUCTS. TRADING
PROFITS WERE ALSO
MUCH LOWER

THE CRISIS PRODUCED

VARIOUS SOCIAL CONFLICTS:
THERE WERE FREQUENT
PEASANT REBELLIONS
AGAINST THE LANDOWNERS,
WHO TRIED TO COMPENSATE
FOR THEIR LOSSES BY
PUTTING PRESSURE ON THEIR
TENANTS
HERE THE POPULATION
ATTACKED THE WEALTHIER
CLASSES, AND SOMETIMES
DESTROYED JEWISH
DISTRICTS BLAMING THE
JEWS FOR ALL THE
CATASTROPHES

IN THE CITIES

SOCIETY

IN THE
COUNTRYSIDE

THE POPULATION
DROPPED FROM 80 TO
45 MILLION BETWEEN
1300 AND 1400

ECONOMY

DURING THE 15TH CENTURY THERE WAS A STEADY RECOVERY

KINGS CONTROLLED THE FEUDAL LORDS

THE POPULATION STARTED GROWING AGAIN
AGRICULTURE AND CRAFTSMANSHIP RECOVERED DUE TO
GREATER DEMAND AND TRADING IMPROVED, WHILE THE
SEARCH FOR NEW TRADE ROUTES BEGAN, LEADING TO GREAT
GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES
PROSPERITY ALSO BROUGHT
A NEW MENTALITY AND NEW
DISCOVERIES THAT LED TO THE
EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE

WHAT IS A CRISIS?
MULTIPLE CAUSES
SHORT AND LONG TERM CAUSES
IMPACT ON HUMANS
CHARACTERISTICS OF A CRISIS TODAY

EASTERN AND
WESTERN RELATIONS

COMMON
MEDICINAL
PRACTICES
CLEANLINESS

LACK OF
SANITATION

LACK OF
IMMUNIZATION

REGAIN
LAND
WOOL
TRADE

HEREDITARY
SUCESSION
DIVERTING
ATTENTION
FROM
INTERNAL
PROBLEMS

FLEAS

TRADE

LITTLE ICE AGE

BLACK
DEATH

DECREASE IN
AGRICULTURE

CHIVALRY

ECONOMY
BASED IN
AGRICULTURE

100 YEARS
WAR

FAMINE

POPULATION
DECREASE
DECREASE IN
AGRICULTURE
PRODUCTION

ECONOMIC
RECESSION

DECREASE
IN TRADE

JEWISH
PERSECUTION

SOCIAL
CONFLICTS

PEASANTS
REVOLTS

POLITICAL
CHANGES

CIVIL
WARS

MALNUTRITION

LACK OF
DIVERSITY IN
FOODS

BLACK
DEATH

100 YEARS
WAR

FAMINE