· Islamic influence
o Copied down works of Greek and Latin thinkers, preserving them
o Advanced the study of mathematics, science and medicine, passing these advancements down to the Europeans
o Reintroduced Europe to ancient scholarship
· Eastern vs. Western Europe
o Western Europe
§ national Institutions
· Political, economic, legal
§ Centralized
§ Mild serfdom
§ Weakened aristocracy
§ Politically strong monarchs
§ Middle class
§ Commercial revolution
o Eastern Europe
§ Politically soft
§ No national institutions
§ Not really centralized
§ Slave-like serfdom- Peasants tied to land
§ Strong noble class
§ Politically weak monarchs
§ No middle class
§ Greek influence
§ Did not benefit from commercial revolution
§ Fewer towns
o Poor East feeds the wealthy West
· Holy Roman Empire
o Politically divided
§ Princely states-small German state ruled by German Prince
· Owed oath of faith to emperor, but prince ran things
§ Ecclesiastical state-ruled by Bishop
· Lord is bishop instead of prince (ie. Bishoprics)
§ Imperial Free Cities-Cities/Towns with charter from emperor to operate as own commercial & political unit
§ Imperial Knights-Knights of the empire who have large estates
· Can almost claim political status themselves
· Loyal directly to emperor
· Sometimes located in middle of princely states
§ 300 to 1000 independent political units
§ Not centralized
§ From 1452 on, always ruled by Habsburgs
· Hanseatic League-Group of German towns raised an army to protect themselves and their commercial ambitions from ambitions kings & lords
· Hapsburgs
o Influential through marriage
o Arranged marriages to inherit land
o Charles V was most powerful ruler in Europe since Charlemagne
§ Spain (Charles I)
§ Spain’s New World holdings
§ Southern Italy, Sicily, Sardegna-Spain’s European holdings
§ Northern Italy
§ Holy Roman Empire (Charles V)
§ Austria & Hungary
§ Burgundy
· Social Structure in Late Middle Ages
o Marriage
§ Nuclear family
§ No divorce
§ Marriages arranged for economic reasons
§ Urban prostitution
§ Males married in mid-20’s, females in early 20’s
§ Manners shape men to please women
§ Few pay attention to Church rules regarding marriage
§ Church encourages cult of paternal care
§ Relative sexual equality
o Social Structure
§ Church dominates
§ Feudalism
§ Proper enjoyment of wealth vs. poverty
§ Civic humanism
· Build hospitals, public squares, parks instead of cathedrals
§ Slavery-few blacks in Europe
o Nutrition & Health
§ Poor harvests lead to malnutrition
§ Black plague leads to death of 1/3 of Europe
o Status of Women
§ Upper class women have better status than the following 2 centuries
