1000-1500
In Western Europe the millennium opened with a myriad of skirmishes and minor wars between fiefdoms that sent out their knights in battle against each other, although rarely in as chivalrous a manner as later portrayed in romances such as those of Chrétien de Troyes in his stories of the Knights of the Round Table.100 Such ideals – about how to treat others with respect, particularly women – would establish rules of behavior and influence readers for centuries.
Christianity was founded upon principles of forgiveness101 and non-judgment.102 But once it had become the established religion in Europe it faced down numerous “heresies” that it believed challenged its absolute position as the representative of God on Earth. One reason for protests against the Church was that sacraments – and thus salvation – often were sold by priests who accumulated considerable wealth.103
An attempt to free the Church from political influence came about under Pope Gregory VII, starting in 1073, who declared that he had the ultimate authority on earth, including the ability to depose kings.104 He forbade the marriage of priests and outlawed the sale of Church offices. He separated the spiritual from the secular worlds, but with that opened new possibilities for the establishment of secular rule.
After the year 1000, what historians call “the rule of law” – a legal system where those who make the laws also are subject to them – became more firmly established in the West. Genuine rule of law is largely tied to economic growth and human creativity. States where people feel oppressed are less likely to create the trust needed for a robust economy. Rule of law also allows individuals to go about their daily lives – including holding and transferring property – without interference from government, except when they are challenged through legitimate governmental channels based on laws.
Many Western nations, if not actually democratic, witnessed progress toward recognition of the validity – and value – of individual human beings during this period, which moved the world in the direction of democracy. Some religious leaders, such as Francis of Assisi, were able to exert influence on the men and women of their time and subsequent times by inspiring them – via word and action – to acknowledge the holy aspect of God’s creation, including human beings, and thus treat each other with greater compassion:
Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.105
The Crusades began at the end of the eleventh century in an attempt to reverse Muslim successes in conquering much of the Middle East, Northern Africa, and the Iberian Peninsula – and to drive what the Pope considered infidels out of the Holy Land. Their stated intent was to spread the Christian principles of charity and compassion, but they practiced extreme violence, including the slaughter of those who got in their way including many Jews, Muslims and Christians. The first Crusade captured Jerusalem in 1099, but it was recaptured in 1187 by Saladin, the Muslim leader who commanded armies throughout the Middle East. Although the Crusades were not successful at reclaiming the Holy Land, working together toward a common cause increased the identification of many with the idea of a unified Europe.106
Louis IX (later Saint Louis) of France went on two Crusades, financing the first by taking land from Jews. His grandson, Philip IV (le Bel) established an independent Papacy starting with Clement V in Avignon in 1309 after a tax dispute with Boniface VIII of Rome.107 Philip also was the first to convene the Estates General in 1302, ostensibly an advisory body, composed of Clergy, Nobility and Commoners, but actually a means by which the king raised revenue. The Estates General met only periodically and when called.108
By the twelfth century the Church had established a central canon law and moral authority that superseded the laws of many governments. In the Eastern Church, bishops continued to be chosen by rulers, which had the effect of localizing the laws.109
English common law developed slowly after the conquest by William I of Normandy in 1066. William and subsequent kings traveled about the country enforcing laws that were intended to be fairly administered throughout the realm. Eventually a circuit of judges was trained to enforce these laws as equitably as possible.110
England had been organized into shires before 1066. The shire reeve (sheriff) became the ruler of each shire, as well as representative of the king. All freemen were required to attend meetings to discuss local issues, particularly grievances, in an effort to resolve them. This was a much more egalitarian model than existed in the rest of Europe at the time. A system called the hundreds (each composed of a hundred farm estates) led to the establishment of the jury system. Eventually royal courts replaced local jurisdictions.111
Henry II, great-grandson of William, reigned 1154-89 and brought effective rule to England after a series of weak monarchs. His descendants – the Plantagenet dynasty – lasted two hundred years. He traveled throughout his empire to maintain and administer justice and expand English common law.112
In Western Europe, despite high birth mortality rates, women began to marry later and have fewer children than in other parts of the world. More were in the work force. Although western countries were far from totally democratic, women often were recognized for attributes other than just child-bearing. Women in England were allowed to hold and dispose of property.113
Education, for those who received it, was mainly the domain of the Church, which meant a considerable dose of religion along with writing and history.114 The center of European theological studies was Paris. Peter Abelard, in the twelfth century, taught the use of “ceaseless questioning,” via Aristotle, to approach God, and that an accurate description of God is beyond us because of the limits of language.115 Thomas Aquinas maintained, in the thirteenth century, that the existence of God can be apprehended by a mystical understanding that transcends reason: “And just as the soul exists wholly everywhere in the body, so God exists wholly in each and every thing.”116
Europe’s economy still was primarily agricultural, although poverty became less prevalent as the era of serfdom ended. When pilgrims came to town for religious feast days they also brought their wares to market. The large Gothic cathedrals with their spires and transepts reaching up to the heavens presented a respite from the routine labors of everyday life. They provided a glimpse of the holy for those who were awe-struck by the magnificent architecture that – along with the rituals performed within – represented God on earth.117
Along with a greater acknowledgement of people’s needs, a gradual increase in democratization took place. In many towns laws were administered by jurists who presided over disputes. Town lords ruled, but greater liberties were granted and exercises in self-governance were introduced, such as in the town of Nimes in France, which agreed to the election of counsels in 1198. Examples in England include the granting of “customs” – similar to a constitution – by Henry I to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and the granting of “royal privilege” to London in 1155.118
In Eastern Europe, Hungary became a Christian nation in the twelfth century, as did Poland and Bohemia. Eastern Europe in general became a Christian region, although the borders between countries there would not be stabilized for centuries.
The Mendicant orders – including the Franciscans founded by Saint Francis in 1206 – were determined to return to the original teachings of Jesus. They renounced the worldly wealth that had become common among monks and were determined to live on alms. But as often happens when inspirational movements evolve to become the established tradition, the mendicants became the chief prosecutors of heretics under the Inquisition.119
The Normans established settlements in the north of France – the region still called Normandy – and then conquered parts of the Italian peninsula. A descendent of the Normans, Frederick II, established a kingdom early in the 1200’s in Palermo where a multicultural community of Christians, Jews and Muslims