European History Before 1492

Overview

This lecture reviews the major social, political, and religious changes in Europe before 1492, setting the stage for the Age of Exploration and Columbus’s voyage.

Fall of the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages

• The Roman Empire fell in 476 CE, leading to political fragmentation in Europe.
• The Middle Ages (500–1500 CE), also called the Dark Ages, saw less trade, population, and literacy compared to Roman times.
• The Black Death (1347–1351) killed roughly one-third of Europe's population.
• Feudalism was the dominant political and economic system, with local lords controlling land and providing protection.

Structure of Feudal Society

• Lords owned land and manors (castles), provided protection, and controlled local economies.
• Knights served the lords militarily in exchange for land and protection.
• Serfs (peasants) farmed land for the lords, living under harsh conditions with a diet based on wheat and livestock.

Religion and the Church

• Despite political fragmentation, Western Europe was unified under the Catholic Church, led by the Pope.
• Christianity spread through the Roman Empire and remained influential after its fall.
• The Great Schism in 1054 divided Christianity into Western (Roman Catholicism, led by the Pope) and Eastern (Orthodox, led by the Patriarch of Constantinople) branches.
• The Church heavily influenced daily life, explaining events through religious belief and associating misfortune with spiritual causes.

Rise of Islam and Religious Conflicts

• Islam, founded by Muhammad in 622 CE, spread quickly across the Middle East, North Africa, and into Spain.
• The Battle of Tours (732) stopped the spread of Islam into Western Europe.
• The Reconquista was an 800-year conflict in Spain between Christian and Muslim rulers for control of the peninsula.
• The Crusades were European Christian military campaigns to recapture Jerusalem, leading to increased religious persecution and renewed East-West trade.

Revival of Trade and Exploration

• The Crusades re-exposed Europeans to valuable trade goods from Asia via the Silk Roads, such as silk, porcelain, and spices.
• European demand for these goods grew, but Muslim merchants controlled the trade at high prices.
• Portugal and Spain, located on the Iberian Peninsula, led efforts to find new trade routes to bypass Muslim middlemen.

Early Exploration and Columbus

• Vikings, led by Leif Erikson around 1000 CE, briefly settled in North America but did not establish lasting connections.
• Portugal, under Prince Henry the Navigator, pioneered exploration along the West African coast using advanced ships (caravels).
• Spain, unified under Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand after ending the Reconquista, sought overseas expansion and religious purity (Spanish Inquisition).
• Christopher Columbus proposed reaching Asia by sailing west; Spain funded his voyage, and in 1492 he landed in the Bahamas, not Asia.

Key Terms & Definitions

• Feudalism — a decentralized system where local lords controlled land, provided protection, and peasants worked the land.
• Serf — a peasant bound to a lord’s land, providing agricultural labor in exchange for protection.
• Catholic Church — the dominant religious institution in Western Europe, led by the Pope.
• Great Schism (1054) — the division of Christianity into Western (Roman Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox) branches.
• Islam — a monotheistic religion founded by Muhammad in the 7th century, with the Qur’an as its holy book.
• Reconquista — the centuries-long struggle by Spanish Christians to drive Muslims out of Spain.
• Crusades — military campaigns by European Christians to capture the Holy Land from Muslims.
• Iberian Peninsula — the region including Spain and Portugal.
• Caravel — a small, fast Portuguese ship used for exploration.
• Inquisition — a religious court established in Spain to enforce Catholic orthodoxy.
• Columbus’s Voyage (1492) — the first lasting European contact with the Americas, funded by Spain.

Action Items / Next Steps

• Review the summary and key terms for the quiz.
• Read the next section on the Age of Exploration after 1492.