MED - The Medieval Period Module Overview

 

The Medieval Period

Introduction

Photograph of St Vitus Cathedral in PragueThough outside the scope of the AP Exam, this period is important as it lays the framework for much of the AP European course. In order to understand the radical change presented in the Renaissance, we must first explore the Middle Ages. Want to know why it was such a big deal for Martin Luther to rebel during the Reformation? Find out here in addition to WHY he and others might want to rebel against the status quo. This time period also helps give the framework for understanding tensions between France and England as well as the power struggle between all of Europe and the Church. European involvement in the Crusades will also have a major impact during the Renaissance, throughout the Scientific Revolution and even today.

Essential Questions

  • What was the basic political, economic, and social structure of the Feudal system? 
  • What was the significance of the Holy Roman Empire to the modernization of Europe and the spread of Christianity there?
  • What role did the Roman Catholic Church play in the power structure of Medieval Europe?
  • What is the basic hierarchy of the Medieval Church?
  • What factors contributed to the weakening of the Medieval Church?  (Hint:  Babylonian Captivity, Great Schism, Plague, Crusades)
  • How did the 100 Years War impact the political and economic structure of Europe?
  • What impact did the Black Death have on Europe?

 

Textbook Assignment and Unit Review Form

As you work through this module, be certain to read the Late (or High) Middle Ages chapter in your textbook. As you are reading you may wish to jot down notes in the unit review form. This is for your notes, not to submit.

Click here to download a copy of the unit review form. Links to an external site.

 

Key Terms and People

The items below are helpful in seeing some of the more important people and terms, but are by no means a definitive list. Because the content in this module falls outside the scope of the AP Exam, there is no exact list you will be held accountable for, rather the items below (and throughout your reading) are there to help give you an understanding of peoples and events that will impact your later studies.

  • Philip IV (France) - King of France (1285–1314) and of Navarre (1284–1305) as the husband of Joan I of Navarre (1273–1305). His reign was marked by controversy with the papacy and expansion of royal prerogative.
  • Boniface VIII (1235-1303) - Boniface's contest with Philip IV of France was the principal feature of his career. The pope tried to stop Philip from his illegal levies on the clergy by the bull Clericis laicos (1296), enunciating the principle that laymen could not tax clerics without the consent of the Holy See.
  • William the Conqueror - King of England (1066–1087) and duke of Normandy (1035–1087). He led the Norman invasion of England (1066) after being promised the English throne by his cousin Edward the Confessor. He defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings and as king, adopted a feudal constitution.
  • Geoffrey Chaucer - English poet regarded as the greatest literary figure of medieval England. His works include The Book of the Duchess (1369), Troilus and Criseyde (c. 1385), and his masterwork, The Canterbury Tales (1387–1400).
  • William of Occam - William of Occam (also spelled Ockham) was a 14th century English philosopher who was also a Franciscan friar. Resistant to the popular wave of Scholasticism, a philosophical position that tried to unify worldly and religious ideas, he asserted that one could not know God through reason and rationality.
  • Charlemagne - first Holy Roman Emperor (title given to him by the Pope), his reign instituted the Carolingian Renaissance with unifying weights and measures across the empire, instituting the first major road project since Roman times and streamlining writing with a common typestyle - Carolingian Miniscule
  • Henry IV - Holy Roman Emperor who violated the ban on Lay Investiture, was excommunicated and went to Canossa to ask the Pope for forgiveness

 

PHOTOGRAPH OF ST VITUS CATHEDRAL BY BILLY WILSON VIA FLICKR (CC-BY-NC)