This presentation provides an overview of the Middle Ages

2. Battle of
Hastings
October 14, 1066
 Edward the Confessor
dies, no heir
 Recommends Harold
as king
 Duke William of
Normandy says he was
promised throne
 Norman invasion becomes William I, the
first king of the Middle
Ages

3. The Bayeux Tapestry is a pictorial record of the Battle of
Hastings. It is an artwork made with needle point that
measures approximately 220 feet.

4. William I
* Norman - brings his
language to England
*Orders the creation of
the Domesday Book - an
inventory and census of
all of England’s wealth
* Used for taxing
purposes

5. The Normans placed great emphasis on religion. Starting with William
I, large amounts of money were set aside for the building of cathedrals.
The Normans built cathedrals in Ely (1083), Peterborough (1118) and
Durham (1099)

6. Feudal System
 King Rules entire country
 Divides kingdom and gives
to fifes (vassals)
 Fifes rule own section
(laws, taxes, protection)
 Fifes pay king and provide
army
 System creates serfs farmed land but did not
own it.

8. Women
• Had few rights
• Ruled by father, brother or
husband
• Not allowed to own land worked at home and raised
children or became a nun
• Marriages arranged for
political reasons

9. Chivalry
• Regulated the behavior of
gentlemen according to fixed
moral principles - A code of
ethics for knights
• 1. Loyal to feudal
obligations
• 2. Generous to church
• 3. Respectful of church
authority
• 4. Do not break an oath

10. Courtly Love
• Romantic idealization of
love
• Compensation for brutal
existence
• Lover, not husband, adored
women
• Believed there was no true
love in marriage
• Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight

11. Crusades
Religious wars that took place
from 1095-1270 (7 major waves)
Christians serving God waged
war on Islamic countries
Key is conversion
Believed they had a better
chance to get to heaven
Richard I - held for ransom by
Leopold of Austria
Robin Hood

13. Eleanor of
Aquitaine
• Married to Louis VII (two
daughters) and Henry II
(four sons and two
daughters
• Helped her sons plot
against their father
• Spent ten years in prison
• Perhaps the most
powerful woman of the
Middle Ages

14. Henry II vs. Thomas Becket
• King of England best friend of
Thomas
• Husband to Eleanor of Aquitaine
• Archbishop of Canterbury England’s highest religious office
• Conflict with Henry II
• Sons worked against him
• Two (Richard and John) become
kings
• Murdered on the Steps of
Canterbury Cathedral

16. Magna Carta
• Signed by King John in
1215 (forced)
• Took power away
from pope and king
• Gave nothing to
common people only
more power to the
aristocrats
• Basis for English
constitutional law

17. The Black Death
• Killed 1/3 of Europe
(25 million)
• Passed through
fleas
• Painful death
• Helped surviving
workers

18. Hundred Years
War
• First national war between
England and France
• English lose most of land held
in France
• Typical knight is replaced by
landowners(yeomen) with
longbows
• Edward the Black Prince at
Poitiers - Henry V at
Agincourt - Joan of Arc at Orleans