Question

Lesson #21 – Charlemagne
When were the Middle Ages?
Why are the Middle Ages also referred to as the Dark Ages?
What new languages were formed during the Middle Ages?
What are three ways that civilization in Western Europe declined after the Roman Empire fell?
What is Clovis mainly remembered for?
What is the significance of a monastery as it relates to the Dark Ages?
What was the most significant achievement of Pope Gregory I?
Describe one significant example of a pope’s “secular” power.
Why was Charles Martel’s victory at the Battle of Tours so important for Christianity?

Lesson #22 – Feudalism
What groups invaded Europe in the 800s?
Who was involved in the first example of Feudalism?
What is a fief?
What obligations did a peasant have to the lord of the manor?
What benefits were provided to the serfs who lived on the manor?
What were the three social classes of the feudal system?
How was a manor largely self-sufficient during the Middle Ages?
Why was life expectancy so low during the feudal period?
What invention changed the technology of warfare for knights?
What was the point of a castle?
Lesson #23 – The Power of the Church
How was the structure of the Church like that of the feudal system?
What were the 5 levels of the Church’s structure?
Why was Otto I such an effective ruler of Medieval Germany?
Who did canon law apply to?
Why did lay investiture cause a struggle between kings and popes?
How was the conflict between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV resolved?
What was the significance for KINGS of the Showdown at Canossa?
Churches (cathedrals) were viewed as representing: summarize and number answers and don't write question

Answer 1

1. c. 5th century (after Rome’s fall, about 476 CE) to the late 15th century (roughly 1450–1500; often to 1453 or 1492).

2. Because later writers saw a drop in urban life, long-distance trade, classical learning, and written records after Rome’s fall — a period of instability and fewer surviving sources; the term is now considered misleading.

3. The Romance languages that developed from Latin (French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, etc.) and other vernaculars (e.g., Old English evolving into Middle English).

4. Examples of decline after Rome: breakdown of central government and law/security; collapse of long-distance trade and urban life; loss of classical learning and reduced literacy/infrastructure upkeep.

5. Uniting the Frankish tribes under his rule and converting to (and promoting) Catholic Christianity, creating an alliance with the Church.

6. Monasteries preserved learning and literacy (copying manuscripts), provided education and charity, served as centers of agriculture and administration, and supported missionary work — stabilizing forces in the “Dark Ages.”

7. Strengthening the papacy’s spiritual and political authority (organizing Rome’s administration and defense) and promoting missionary work — notably sending Augustine to convert the Anglo-Saxons.

8. Example: In 800 Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor, asserting the pope’s power to confer political legitimacy and shaping medieval political order.

9. Charles Martel’s victory at Tours (732) halted a major northward Muslim advance from Iberia, helping preserve Christian rule in Western Europe and enhancing Carolingian prestige.

10. Vikings, Magyars, and Muslim (Saracen) raiders.

11. A lord and a vassal (kings/nobles granting land/privileges to military followers/knights in exchange for service).

12. A fief: land or a grant given by a lord to a vassal in return for military or other services.

13. Peasant obligations: work the lord’s demesne, perform labor services, pay rents and fees, and owe various manorial dues.

14. Benefits to serfs: protection, a plot of land to farm, food/shelter, use of common resources, and customary legal rights within the manor.

15. Three social orders: those who pray (clergy), those who fight (nobility/knights), those who work (peasants/serfs).

16. Manors were self-sufficient because they produced food and most goods on-site (fields, mills, workshops, livestock, church), minimizing need for outside trade.

17. Low life expectancy due to high infant/child mortality, disease and epidemics, poor nutrition, limited medical knowledge, and frequent violence/war.

18. The stirrup — which made heavy cavalry and more effective mounted combat possible.

19. Castles served as defensive strongholds, residences for the lord, control centers for the surrounding territory, and symbols of authority.

20. Both were hierarchical systems with authority concentrated at the top and delegated downward; local leaders (bishops/lords) exercised regional control and owed loyalty upward.

21. Pope; Cardinals; Archbishops; Bishops; Priests (parish priests).

22. He defeated external threats (e.g., Magyars), centralized authority by appointing loyal bishops as administrators, allied closely with the Church, and secured imperial recognition (reviving the idea of a Roman-style empire).

23. Canon law applied to the clergy and, in many matters (marriage, morality, wills, etc.), to lay Christians — enforced by church courts.

24. Because lay rulers appointed bishops/abbots, granting them secular power and loyalty; popes argued only the Church should appoint clergy, leading to conflict over spiritual versus temporal authority.

25. Henry IV was excommunicated; he did public penance at Canossa in 1077 to have the excommunication lifted (a temporary resolution), though the broader investiture conflict continued.

26. It showed that the pope could compel a king to humble himself publicly and seek forgiveness, reinforcing papal authority over secular rulers’ legitimacy.

27. They represented: God’s glory and the heavenly, the Church’s wealth and power, the spiritual center/gateway to heaven for the community, and civic pride/architectural achievement.