UNIDAD EDUCATIVA PARTICULAR “SAN JOSÉ DE CALASANZ”

Name:………………………………………………………………… Date: ……….

…………………………….
Grade: 2do bachillerato Subject: History and Social
Sciences

PART III: LEGACY OF THE MIDDLE AGES

Church Reform and the Crusades
Magyars seeking plunder pushed up from the Danube River region. Vikings raided
western European church monasteries. These groups destroyed many of these centers
of learning. Around the 900s, however, a new spirit invaded the church and brought
about a spiritual revival in the clergy. Filled with new energy, the church began
restructuring itself and started massive building programs to create new places of
worship.
The Age of Faith
Monasteries led the spiritual revival. The monastery founded at Cluny in France in
910 was especially important. The reformers there wanted to return to the basic
principles of the Christian religion. To do so, they established new religious orders. A
new age of religious feeling was born—the Age of Faith. Still, many problems
troubled the Church.
Problems in the Church
Reformers were most distressed by three main issues.
• Many village priests married and had families. Such marriages were against Church
rulings.
• Bishops sold positions in the Church, a practice called simony.
• Using the practice of lay investiture, kings appointed church bishops.
Church reformers believed the Church alone should appoint bishops.
Reform and Church Organization
Pope Leo IX and Pope Gregory VII enforced Church laws against simony and the
marriage of priests. The popes who followed Leo and Gregory reorganized the Church
to continue the policy of reform. In the 1100s and 1200s, the Church was restructured
to resemble a kingdom, with the pope at its head. The pope’s group of advisers was
called the papal Curia. The Curia also acted as a court. It developed canon law (the
law of the Church) on matters such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. The Curia
also decided cases basedon these laws. Diplomats for the pope traveled through
Europe dealing with bishops and kings. In this way the popes established their
authority throughout Europe.
The Church collected taxes in the form of tithes. These consumed one-tenth the yearly
income from every Christian family. The Church used some of the money to perform
social services such as caring for the sick and the poor. In fact, the Church operated
most hospitals in medieval Europe.
A New Style of Church Architecture
A new spirit in the church and access to more money from
the growing wealth of towns and from trade helped fuel
the building of churches in several European countries. In
the early 1100s, a new style of architecture, known as
Gothic, evolved throughout medieval Europe. The term
Gothic comes from a Germanic tribe named the Goths.
Unlike the heavy, gloomy Romanesque buildings, Gothic
cathedrals thrust upward as if reaching toward heaven.
Light streamed in through huge stained glass windows. Other arts of the medieval
world were evident around or in the Gothic cathedral—sculpture, woodcarvings, and
stained glass windows. All of these elements were meant to inspire the worshiper with
the magnificence of God.
Soon Gothic cathedrals were built in many towns of France. In Paris, the vaulted
ceiling of the Cathedral of Notre Dame eventually rose to more than 100 feet. Then
Chartres, Reims, Amiens, and Beauvais built even taller cathedrals. In all, nearly 500
Gothic churches were built between 1170 and 1270.
The Crusades

The Age of Faith also inspired wars of conquest. In 1093, the Byzantine emperor
Alexius Comnenus sent an appeal to Robert, Count of Flanders. The emperor asked
for help against the Muslim Turks. They were threatening to conquer his capital,
Constantinople.
Pope Urban II also read that letter. Shortly after this appeal, he issued a call for what
he termed a “holy war,” a Crusade, to gain control of the Holy Land. Over the next
300 years, a number of such Crusades were launched.
Goals of the Crusades
The Crusades had economic, social, and political goals as well as religious motives.
Muslims controlled Palestine (the Holy Land) and threatened Constantinople. The
Byzantine emperor in Constantinople appealed to Christians to stop Muslim attacks. In
addition, the pope wanted to reclaim Palestine and reunite Christendom, which had
split into Eastern and Western branches in 1054.
In addition, kings and the Church both saw the Crusades as an opportunity to get rid of
quarrelsome knights who fought each other. These knights threatened the peace of the
kingdoms, as well as Church property.
Others who participated in the Crusades were younger sons who, unlike eldest sons,
did not stand to inherit their father’s property. They were looking for land and a
position in society, or for adventure.
In the later Crusades, merchants profited by making cash loans to finance the journey.
They also leased their ships for a hefty fee to transport armies over the Mediterranean
Sea. In addition, the merchants of Pisa, Genoa, and Venice hoped to win control of
key trade routes to India, Southeast Asia, and China from Muslim traders.
The First and Second Crusades
Pope Urban’s call brought a tremendous outpouring of religious feeling and support
for the Crusade. According to the pope, those who died on Crusade were assured of a
place in heaven. With red crosses sewn on tunics worn over their armor and the battle
cry of “God wills it!” on their lips, knights and commoners were fired by religious
zeal and became Crusaders.
By early 1097, three armies of knights and people of all classes had gathered outside
Constantinople. Most of the Crusaders were French, but Bohemians, Germans,
Englishmen, Scots, Italians, and Spaniards came as well. The Crusaders were ill-
prepared for war in this First Crusade.
Many knew nothing of the geography, climate, or culture of the Holy Land. They had
no grand strategy to capture Jerusalem. The nobles argued among themselves and
couldn’t agree on a leader. Finally an army of 12,000 (less than one-fourth of the
original army) approached Jerusalem. The Crusaders besieged the city for over a
month. On July 15,1099, they captured the city.
All in all, the Crusaders had won a narrow strip of land. It stretched about 650 miles
from Edessa in the north to Jerusalem in the south. Four feudal Crusader states were
carved out of this territory, each ruled by a European noble.
The Crusaders’ states were extremely vulnerable to Muslim counterattack. In 1144,
Edessa was reconquered by the Turks. The Second Crusade was organized to
recapture the city. But its armies straggled home in defeat. In 1187, Europeans were
shocked to learn that Jerusalem itself had fallen to a Kurdish warrior and Muslim
leader Saladin.
The Third Crusade
The Third Crusade to recapture Jerusalem was led by three of Europe’s most powerful
monarchs. They were Philip II (Augustus) of France, German emperor Frederick I
(Barbarossa), and the English king, Richard the Lion-Hearted. Philip argued with
Richard and went home. Barbarossa drowned on the journey. So, Richard was left to
lead the Crusaders in an attempt to regain the Holy Land from Saladin. Both Richard
and Saladin were brilliant warriors. After many battles, the two agreed to a truce in
1192. Jerusalem remained under Muslim control. In return, Saladin promised that
unarmed Christian pilgrims could freely visit the city’s holy places.
The Crusading Spirit Dwindles
In 1204, the Fourth Crusade to capture Jerusalem failed. The knights did not reachthe
Holy Land. Instead, they ended up looting the city of Constantinople. In the 1200s,
four more Crusades to free the holy land were also unsuccessful. The religious spirit of
the First Crusade faded, and the search for personal gain grew. In two later Crusades,
armies marched not to the Holy Land but to Egypt. The Crusaders intended to weaken
Muslim forces there before going to the Holy Land. But none of these attempts
conquered much land.
The Children’s Crusade
The Children’s Crusade took place in 1212. In two different movements, thousands of
children set out to conquer Jerusalem. One group in France was led by 12-year-old
Stephen of Cloyes. An estimated 30,000 children under 18 joined him. They were
armed only with the belief that God would give them Jerusalem. On their march south
to the Mediterranean, many died from cold and starvation. The rest drowned at sea or
were sold into slavery.
In Germany, Nicholas of Cologne gathered about 20,000 children and young adults.
They began marching toward Rome. Thousands died in the cold and treacherous
crossing of the Alps. Those who survived the trip to Italy finally did meet the pope. He
told them to go home and wait until they were older. About 2,000 survived the return
trip to Germany. A few boarded a ship for the Holy Land and were never heard of
again.
A Spanish Crusade
In Spain, Muslims (called Moors) controlled most of the country until the 1100s. The
Reconquista was a long effort by the Spanish to drive the Muslims out of Spain. By
the late 1400s, the Muslims held only the tiny kingdom of Granada. In 1492, Granada
finally fell to the Christian army of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Spanish monarchs.
To unify their country under Christianity and to increase their power, Isabella and
Ferdinand made use of the Inquisition. This was a court held by the Church to
suppress heresy. Heretics were people whose religious beliefs differed from the
teachings of the Church. Many Jews and Muslims in Spain converted to Christianity
during the late 1400s. Even so, the inquisitors suspected these Jewish and Muslim
converts of heresy. A person suspected of heresy might be questioned for weeks and
even tortured. Once suspects confessed, they were often burned at the stake. In
1492,the monarchs expelled all practicing Jews and Muslims from Spain.
The Effects of the Crusades
The Crusades are a forceful example of the power of the Church during the medieval
period. The call to go to the Holy Land encouraged thousands to leave their homes and
travel to faraway lands. For those who stayed home, especially women, it meant a
chance to manage affairs on the estates or to operate shops and inns.
European merchants who lived and traded in the Crusader states expanded trade
between Europe and Southwest Asia. The goods imported from Southwest Asia
included spices, fruits, and cloth. This trade with the West benefited both Christians
and Muslims.
However, the failure of later Crusades also lessened the power of the pope. The
Crusades weakened the feudal nobility and increased the power of kings. Thousands
of knights and other participants lost their lives and fortunes. The fall of
Constantinople weakened the Byzantine Empire.
For Muslims, the intolerance and prejudice displayed by Christians in the Holy Land
left behind a legacy of bitterness and hatred. This legacy continues to the present. For
Christians and Jews who remained in the Muslim controlled region after the fall of the
Crusader states, relations with the Muslim leadership worsened. For Jews in Europe,
the Crusades were a time of increased persecution.
The Crusades grew out of religious fervor, feudalism, and chivalry, which came
together with explosive energy. This same energy led to the growth of trade, towns,
and universities in medieval Europe.
 UNIDAD EDUCATIVA PARTICULAR “SAN JOSÉ DE CALASANZ”
Name:………………………………………………………………… Date: ……….…………………………….
Grade: 2do bachillerato Subject: History and Social Sciences

PART III: LEGACY OF THE MIDDLE AGES WORKSHEET

#6

1. Which of the events of the Age of Faith do you think was most important to the
Church? Explain.
 ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

2. What were three main causes of the need to reform the Church?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

3. How did thepopes increase their power and authority?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

4. Which Crusade was the onlysuccessful one?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

5. How did the goals of the Crusades change over the years?
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

6. Define.
simony: _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
gothic: _____________________________________________________
crusade: _____________________________________________________
Reconquista:_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Inquisition: _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

7. Identify:
Urban II: _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Richard the Lion-Hearted:___________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

8. What, if anything,had the Crusaders gained by the end of the Second Crusade?
 ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

9. How does theChildren’s Crusade illustrate the power of the Church?

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

10.Which of the following do you think best represents the spirit of the Age of
Faith—Church reform, the Crusades, or the Gothic cathedrals? Explain.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK:
Write a script about an encounter between a Crusader and a Muslim defender of
Jerusalem.