Hi and welcome back to Heimler’s History. In these last few videos we’ve been flying around the world and seeing what’s been going on between the years 1200-1450. Today we get to Europe. Let’s get it. So let’s reach back a little bit. The western half of the Roman empire fell in 476 but the empire continued in the east for another 1000 years by the name of the Byzantine Empire. And between 476 and 1000 Europe, culturally and politically, was basically fractured into small tribal kingdoms who were constantly at battle for dominance. If you had to give a word to how this continent was organized politically and socially, I think we could call it feudalism. Feudalism is a system of mutual obligations that exists between classes. What do you mean, Heimler? Well let me splain it up. There were essentially four social layers in society. On top, there was a king and the king granted land to the next level down, the Lords, in exchange for their service and tribute. The Lords contracted the folks in the next level down, Knights, to protect their land and in some cases go to war. And bottom of all is the peasantry. These folks work the land of the Lords in exchange for providing the Lords with the produce of the land. The peasants were called serfs, and while they weren’t slaves in the sense that we think of today, they were certainly not free. Their lives were tied to the land. And since they were under the authority of the Lord, they had to have the Lord’s permission to marry and to travel. And if a serf had a baby, then they added a new serf to the family. These years used to be known as the Dark Ages because in Europe trade declined, people’s standard of living declined, intellectual life declined. But from about 1000-1450, the sun started to rise again and this is what is known as the High Middle Ages. One of the major changes occurring during this period was the rise of monarchs. Kings were able to consolidate more land and power during this time and political power shifted away from the feudal lords. And the way kings consolidated power successfully is two-fold. First, they established large bureaucracies who carried out their will. Second, they conscripted massive standing armies. Both of these entities were directly answerable to the king. Therefore: power. But by the 13th century power began shifting back towards the noble class yet again. This transfer of power was facilitated by the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. Led by the noble class, the Magna Carta officially guaranteed rights to the nobles like the right to a jury trial and the right of all free citizens to own and inherit property. And a few years later in 1265 power further shifted into the hands of the nobles with the establishment of the English parliament, which was a body that represented the interests of the noble class. Now in the middle of all this change, one significant constant was the persistence of the Roman Catholic Church. During this time the Catholic church established the first universities in Europe. And therefore, most philosophers and thinkers and educators were religious men in those days. Artists also were beholden to the church. Much of the art produced during this time was heavy with Christian themes. And they did this to provide a visual education to the illiterate peasantry who couldn’t read about the good news of Jesus Christ for themselves. Now with the rise of these stronger monarchs, there came something of a power struggle between the church and the state. While small regional kingdoms were the norm, the Catholic Church was pretty settled in its position of providing cultural and ideological unity across Europe. But then these more powerful kinds started to threaten that cultural hold. One response to this was the Crusades. Starting in the 12th century the pope and bishops urged Christians to take up their swords and reclaim Jerusalem from the infidel Muslims. And if they did, getting into heaven is gonna be pretty easy. So go stab a couple of infidels in the face and you’ve basically earned your forgiveness. Well whatever other effects this had, it surely shifted people’s allegiance back toward the church and away from the monarchs. Okay, let’s talk about economic and social change that happened during this time. In the late 13th century an Italian by the name of Marco Polo left his home to explore and found himself all the way in China at the court of Kublai Khan. Polo wrote an account of his travels and it sold like crazy in Europe. And it opened Europeans’ imagination to the exotic culture and wealth of the far East. And this led to innovations in mapmaking and cartography so it would be easier to get back there. Back in normal life, a new economic class started to emerge: the middle class, or what is known as the bourgeoisie. These were people who were not as rich as the nobles and not as poor as the peasants. They included shopkeepers, merchants, and small landowners. Also, not to be forgotten, there was a little Ice Age during this time. For a few years temperatures steadily fell which led to a sharp decrease in agricultural productivity. Decreased agricultural productivity led to a declining population. And a declining population led to less trade. And less trade led to sinking economic conditions. So that’s rough, but don’t worry, they got out of it. And after 1300 Europeans experienced the bright optimism of the Renaissance. The word means “rebirth.” So something new wasn’t being introduced, something old was being reborn. What was it? The ancient Greek and Roman culture, and art, and literature. During this time some of our world’s most magnificent pieces of art were created like Dante’s Divine Comedy, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and on and on and on. And that is not even close to everything that was going on in Europe from 1200-1450, but that’s enough of an overview for your AP World History exam. See you in the next one.