Universities, Churches, and Government

I. New Schools and Churches

A. The New Learning and the Rise of the University

1. Medieval Learning — Monastery and cathedral schools had a long history. By the end of the eleventh century in some cities, schools developed reputations for particular approaches or specialization in theology, literature, or law. Many students were willing to pay to hear lectures from the best teachers. Using the common language of Latin, students could drift from school to school throughout Europe, stopping wherever a noted master was teaching. Courses of study focused on the seven liberal arts, which included grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music theory, and astronomy. Logic had the most appeal to medieval students, for many saw it as a discipline that would bring order and clarity to other issues. The study of medicine, theology, and law prepared students for jobs. A remarkable renewal of scholarship and learning was taking place.

2. Abelard and Heloise — Peter Abelard (1079–1142) was one of the era’s greatest thinkers. He renounced both his inheritance and the soldier’s lifestyle to become a student and then a teacher. His work Sic et Non juxtaposed authoritative sources on both sides of important questions. Abelard was engaged as a private tutor for Heloise, the niece of a Parisian cleric named Fulbert, and became her lover. When she became pregnant they were secretly married, but Fulbert suspected them and had Abelard castrated, and Abelard and Heloise entered separate monasteries.  Abelard’s writings about the Trinity were condemned by the Council of Soissons in 1121.

3. Peter the Chanter — Peter the Chanter (d. 1197) was an influential master of scholars whose lectures and commentary focused on biblical texts. Unlike most theology masters, Peter commented on all books of the Bible, and also “disputed” the texts, drawing on the logic of Aristotle to describe other explanations and refute them. He also offered popular sermons.

4. Universities — Universities began as guilds, and they developed their own rules and regulations, with apprentices (students) and masters (teachers). Students were disciplined, tested, and housed at the university. Different universities had different characters and specialties, and curriculum varied. Masters and students were considered to be clerics, which barred women from joining. The special privileges of universities made them virtually self-governing corporations, which sometimes led to friction with their respective towns.

B. Architectural Style: From Romanesque to Gothic

1. Romanesque Solidity — Romanesque church buildings were heavy, serious, and solid. They had massive stone walls and interiors decorated with wall paintings. Different parts of the church functioned as discrete units. Plainchant (or Gregorian chant) melodies, sung in unison and rhythmically free, worked well in large Romanesque churches with cavernous choirs. Elaborate reliquaries and altars were considered the appropriate accoutrements of worship in Romanesque churches, and monks and priests who benefited from the gift economy offered prayers to God in the most splendid of settings.

2. Gothic Style — Gothic churches emerged in cities in the twelfth to fifteenth centuries and reflected the wealth and self-confidence of merchants, guildspeople, bishops, and kings. Gothic churches were usually cathedrals, characterized by pointed arches and features designed to invoke heaven, including ribbed vaulting, flying buttresses, and large rose windows. The Gothic style began with Abbot Suger’s rebuilding of portions of the church at St. Denis around 1135. Gothic exteriors were opaque, bristling and forbidding, while the interior invoked light, harmony, and order. With regional variations, the style spread across Europe

II. Governments as Institutions

A. England: Unity through Common Law

1. The Accession of Henry II, 1154 — Henry II became king after a civil war that began when the English barons refused to be ruled by Henry I’s daughter Matilda. The house of Anjou (Henry II’s family) struggled for power with the house of Blois from 1139–1153. Stephen of Blois was eventually forced to name Mathilda’s son, Henry of Anjou, as his successor, beginning the Angevin dynasty. In 1152, Henry married Eleanor of Aquitane, formerly the wife of Louis VII of France. Eleanor, who brought heirs and territory to the marriage, was powerful and independent-minded, but she lost much of her power to the domineering Henry. She later plotted with her eldest son to overthrow Henry, but the rebellion was put down.

2. Royal Authority and Common Law — Henry II was determined to restore the power of the monarchy, and asserting control over the administration of justice was an important part of that project. He built on the existing Anglo-Saxon tradition of local courts, but added eyres, or judicial visits from royal officials to localities. In this way, the Angevin kings made local affairs royal business and united the kingdom under a system of common law. Common law offered new civil remedies for disputes, and the monarchy benefited from associated fines and fees. Conflict occurred over the jurisdiction of royal courts over churchmen.

3. Henry’s Successors — Henry’s sons Richard I (r. 1189–1199)  and John (r. 1199–1216) further strengthened the financial condition of the monarchy, which grew rich from court fees, royal estates, taxes, and feudal dues. However, both were distracted by external affairs; Richard was captured in the Third Crusade and died protecting his continental possessions, while John was desperate for crown revenues to finance his struggle for continental territories.

4. Magna Carta, 1215 — A baron’s rebellion in 1215 forced John to sign the Magna Carta, which defined the customary obligations of the nobility and obliged the king to uphold certain rights of his subjects, implying that the king was not above the law and expanding the definition of free men to include all subjects.

B. France: Consolidation and Conquest

1. The Rise of the French Monarchy under Phillip — In 1180 at the age of 14, Philip Augustus, son of Louis VII, became king of France, (although Henry II of England controlled much of the territory of what would become modern France). Henry and the counts of Flanders and Champagne tried to control the young king, but Philip quickly learned to play the three rulers against each other and gain territory for the crown. Victory over King John at the battle of Boucines in 1214 strengthened his grip on power.

2. Philip’s Rule — Phillip used officers who followed many Norman customs, and he received a great deal of Norman support. He introduced new efficient administrative practices and increased the use of written records. He made good use of the minor nobility in serving his court and as tax collectors.

C. Germany: The Revived Monarchy of Frederick Barbarossa

1. The Hohenstaufens vs. the Welfs — Aristocratic families in the German empire were strengthened by the weakening position of the emperor after the Investiture Conflict. During that conflict, the Staufer clan rallied support for the emperor, while the Hohenstaufens did the same for the papacy, involving both in a legendary struggle for power that extended beyond the 1122 Diet of Worms. Longing for peace, they agreed in 1152 to elect Frederick I emperor, a strong candidate with support in both families.

2. New Foundations of Power — Once in power, the bearded Frederick of Barbarossa was impressive and firm. He strengthened the power of the emperor and succeeded in subordinating the princes. He saw his imperial office as sacred and sought to extend its rights. His marriage to Beatrice of Burgundy strengthened him politically and territorially.

3. Frederick and Italy — Having gained control of Rome, Frederick sought more Italian territory. However, the emperor’s control of Italy was largely nominal, with independent cities jealous of Rome’s liberty and the pope jealous of the emperor’s authority. By 1158, Frederick conquered northern Italy, but heavy-handed rule by German magistrates led cities to rebel and join with the pope in the Lombard League by 1167. The league defeated Frederick at the Battle of Legano in 1176 and pushed Frederick out of most of Italy.

4. Henry the Lion: Lord and Vassal — Frederick’s dependency on older systems of personal loyalty and vassalage had internal consequences in Germany, where Henry the Lion (c. 1130–1195), the duke of Saxony and Bavaria, grew so powerful and wealthy that he came into conflict with Frederick, whose authority he refused to recognize. By 1180, Henry had been driven out of Germany and his estates were confiscated. To accomplish this, Frederick had to grant additional power and influence to the princes who supported him and divide Henry’s lands among all of them rather than keeping them for himself.

D. Eastern Europe and Byzantium: Fragmenting Realms

1. Political Fragmentation in Eastern Europe: Hungary and Rus — Regions where rulers failed to establish effective bureaucratic institutions struggled to hold together. In Hungary, King Bela III (r. 1172-1196) built up a large and powerful state, but after his death his failure to establish effective institutions led to the splintering of his kingdom. Similarly in Rus, the nascent muscovite state, built on the accomplishments of the Rus at Kiev, crumbled as rival claimants fought for power and control.

2. The Weakening Byzantine Empire — While western rule became more bureaucratic, Byzantine rule became increasingly personal during the last half of the twelfth century. The Fourth Crusade’s sacking of Constantinople in 1204 weakened the state considerably. Although they retook Constantinople from its crusader-appointed “emperor” in 1261, the empire never recovered.