Western Civilization
Outline #17
Professor Knight

The Medieval World

I.  The High Middle Ages: c. 1050-1300
	Germany:  The Holy Roman Empire
	England:  The Norman Invasion, 1066
	France:  Rise of the Capetian Dynasty

II. Characteristics of the Middle Ages
	Flourishing Intellectual Life
	Revival of Religious Life, Reform of the Church
	Growth of Towns, Commerce

III.  The Medieval Countryside
	Demographic Cycles:  Famines, Epidemics every generation
	Population Explosion
		European Population grows from 38 to 74 million, 1000-1300
	Possible explanations for growth
		Climactic change
		Peace
		Technical Changes in Agriculture
			The Heavy Plow
				Open Fields, Strips
			Three Field System
			Horses as draft animals
		Expansion of land under cultivation
			Slash and burn argiculture
	Village life
		Fields, Pastures, Meadows, Forest
		Roles of Women

IV.  The Manor: Life of the Nobility
	Serfdom:  Peasants ties to the land, lockinto obligations to landlord.
	Bailiffs
	Chivalry
	Tournaments
	Life of Noble Women:  Stay home, bear children while men fight.
		Exceptions: Abbesses, Female mystics and saints.
		St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)