TEACHER’S MANUAL for Medieval World History by Fred Hanko Calvin Kalsbeek Harry Langerak Agatha Lubbers Peter VanDer Schaff Published by The Federation of Protestant Reformed Christian Schools 1985 PREFACE The History Workshop worked for a total of 18 months on the Teachers’ Manual for Ancient World History. The Teachers’ Manual for Medieval History took us seven years; and we make no claim that the work is finished. It was our desire to create another set of materials that teachers can use as they make their daily lesson plans. We hope that these units are of practical use. It was also our desire to understand medieval history in the light of Scripture and the Confessions. We wished to help Protestant Reformed teachers make their teaching more Scriptural, more Reformed. Perhaps this, more than anything else, explains why the work on the Middle Ages took so much longer than the materials on ancient history. Feudalism, France, England, Islam are not mentioned explicitly in God’s Word, as are Egypt, Babylon, and Philistia. We were concerned that our application of Scripture not be artificial or appear “tacked on.” And so, at every meeting, the members of the workshop engaged in thoughtful and challenging, though time consuming, discussion as to how Reformed teachers should present the history of medieval Europe. We offer these units along with the sincerely meant challenge to our colleagues to improve on what we have done. It was with unmixed regret that we found that we would have to disband the workshop before the work was finished. We have left for another day the preparation of teaching materials on several topics that are important to the understanding of the Middle Ages — the rise of towns and capitalism, Jews during the Middle Ages, Italy, Spain, the Renaissance. This is not to mention the need for materials on the Reformation, Modern World History, and American History. We do not regret the time that we spent in studying, talking together as we shared ideas, reading the Scriptures together, and praying for understanding. We are thankful to God for all of that. The members of the workshop want to thank the board of the Federation of Protestant Reformed Schools for making this teachers’ manual possible. The board gave its financial and moral support to the History Workshop for nine years. A special word of mention goes to Miss Agatha Lubbers for her work as the workshop director during most of those nine years. We dedicate this manual to the students of Protestant Reformed schools. We consider them our heritage of the Lord, His reward. They are, in Christ, olive plants in strength and beauty. As teachers of God’s covenant seed we lay hold on His promise. “The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel” (Psalm 128:5-6). August, 1985 Peter VanDer Schaaf TABLE OF CONTENTS Page UNIT I The Barbarian Migrations....................................................................................... 4 UNIT II The Eastern or Byzantine Empire......................................................................... 11 UNIT III The Rise and Spread of Islam ............................................................................... 37 UNIT IV France in the Middle Ages.................................................................................... 50 UNIT V Great Britain in the Middle Ages.......................................................................... 99 UNIT VI The Crusades....................................................................................................... 148 UNIT VII Feudalism and the Manor.................................................................................... 158 UNIT VIII The Holy Roman Empire.................................................................................... 177 UNIT I: THE BARBARIAN MIGRATIONS I. Important Dates A.D. 378 — Battle of Adrianople (Eastern Roman Empire vs. Visigoths) A.D. 410 — Visigoths under Alaric sack Rome A.D. 451 — Huns under Attila defeated at Troyes A.D. 455 — Vandals under Gaiseric sack Rome A.D. 476 — Odoacer (Odovacar) takes the throne (End of the Western Empire) A.D. 493 — Theodoric and the Ostrogoths begin rule in Italy II. Important People A. Ulfilas (311? - 381) was the missionary to the Visigoths who persuaded them to leave their paganism and accept the Arian heresy. He was a descendant of a Christian captive from Cappadocia and was born and raised among the Goths north of the Danube. The Goths so respected his devotion, virtue, and wisdom that they adopted his Arian teachings. He was given the office of bishop and he with his followers was given permission by the Arian Emperor Constantius (son of Constantine the Great) to settle in the Roman Empire in Thrace (A.D. 376). During his lifetime he developed an alphabet for the Goths based on the Greek alphabet and translated the Bible into Gothic except the books of the Kings. (Ulfilas believed these books were too marital for the warlike Goths.) The other barbarians adopted Arianism from the Goths so that almost all of the Goths that invaded the Roman Empire were Arian. B. Alaric (370 - 410) was the leader of the Visigoths who led them on an expedition to plunder Greece in 395. In 401, 403, and 410 he led invasions of Italy. On the first two invasions he was stopped by the Roman army under Stilicho, but on the third he led his army all the way to southern Italy sacking Rome on the way. He died in Italy in 410. C. Stilicho (410) was a Vandal who became commander of the Roman army in the West. He served as regent for the youthful Western Emperor Honorius. He defeated the Visigoths twice and succeeded in keeping them out of Italy for ten years. Suspected of treason, he was killed on orders of Honorius in 408. His death marked the beginning of the successful invasion of the Visigoths. D. Attila (444 - 453) was a leader of the barbarian Huns. He led them in such ruthless plundering and destruction that he was called the “Scourge of God.” Under his leadership the Huns invaded Gaul and were finally stopped at Troyes by the combined armies of the Romans and the Goths. Theodosius II of the Eastern Empire and Valentinian of the Western Empire paid him vast amounts of tribute. In 452 he invaded Italy and plundered the northern part, but he left after a conference with Pope Leo I. E. Gaiseric (428 - 477) was the strongest leader of the Vandals. He led the Vandal conquest of North Africa. He built a fleet that stopped almost all ships in the Mediterranean by piracy. His fleet ravaged the coasts of Greece, Italy, and Spain. In 455 he led his armies to Rome and sacked the city, sparing the Christian churches but carrying away the golden furniture from the temple in Jerusalem. F. Odoacer (Odovacar) was a barbarian general who led several barbarian tribes into Italy in 475. He put the last Roman emperor, Romulus Agustulus, off the throne and became the first barbarian to rule Italy. He ruled with the formal permission of the Eastern emperor but actually ignored the authority of the Eastern emperor. The accession of Odoacer in 476 marks the end of the Roman Empire in the West. G. Theodoric the Great (ruled 474 - 526), chief of the Ostrogoths living in the Balkan Peninsula, was commissioned by Emperor Zeno to dethrone the rebellious Odovacar. In 489 Theodoric gladly invaded Italy and began a five campaign that ended when he killed Odovacar in 493. Theodoric became the king of Italy ruling from the capital in Ravenna. III. The German “Barbarians” A. The Germanic peoples were one of the branches of the Indo-European peoples. They were tall, broad, fair-skinned, blue-eyed, and had blond or reddish hair. B. By the end of the fourth century, the Goths had moved south from the Baltic Sea and divided into two nations: the Ostrogoths, who occupied the land north of the Black Sea; and the Visigoths, who lived west of the Black Sea and North of the Danube River. In the central part of Europe were a large number of tribes: Thuringians, Burgundians, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, Gepidae, Quadi, Vandals, Alamanni, Sueves, Lombards, and Franks. C. By the time the great invasions began the German barbarians had been influenced by several centuries of contact with the Roman civilization through trade and war. Many of them had adopted a system of writing and a government with laws that included rule by a king. Many of them had given up paganism and adopted Arianism. They admired and respected Roman civilization, though they themselves were rough and uncultured. In morality, courage, and honesty they were an improvement on many of the later Romans. They made their living by agriculture and raising domestic animals. Because of their rugged individualism, their government was loosely organized. D. The German barbarians had been settling in the Roman Empire since the time of Augustine who invited them to settle in vacant areas and used them to fill the ranks of his legions. Later emperors adopted the same policy. The increase in the number of Germans outside the Empire and the desire to gain the good land in Gaul led to many attempts of the Germans to enter the Empire either peacefully or by force. Many of the barbarians gained high positions in Roman politics and in the army. By the time of Constantine the Great (c. 300) there were more barbarians than Romans in the Roman army. IV. The Barbarian Invasions A. The major reason for the great invasions that began in 376 was the threat of the Huns. The Huns were a Mongoloid tribe who originally occupied an area north of the Aral Sea. They were short, swarthy, and fierce, with pinhole eyes and scarred faces. About 372 they conquered the Ostrogoths and defeated the Visigoths. The Barbarian tribes fled from them in terror. (Mothers made their children behave with the threat of the Huns.) The Germans sought for protection and escape within the Roman Empire.