Medieval Europe: Late Middle Ages

 

THE CRUSADES

   

During the Middle Ages many Christians thought that people who did not believe in Christ were bad. These Christians called their religion "the one true faith."

 

But there were many non-Christians living outside of Europe at that time. They had held other beliefs for thousands of years. Some of these non-Christians were the Arab Muslims and Seljuk Turks who occupied the Middle East and northern Africa. Jewish people also lived in the region.

 

Muslims felt as strongly about their Islamic prophet, Muhammad, as Christians did about Christ. Muslims had lived in the City of Jerusalem for more than four hundred years. The religion they practiced is is called islam. Jews had their own prophet, Abraham. Jews had lived in and around Jerusalem for thousands of years. The Jewish religion is called Judaism.

 

The word crusade comes form the Latin word meaning"marked with a cross." The pope wanted his people to take part in the crusades to get back the Holy Land and to cahnge Turks, Muslims, and Jews in Christians. The pope and other Church leaders also wanted to take the many lands and riches found in the MIddle East.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laws In The Middle Ages

It wasn't hard to be an outlaw during the Middle Ages. A very small part of the population-the barons and members of royal families-made all the laws. They designed these laws so that they could hold onto their wealth and special privileges. They also wanted to keep tight control over the peasants and commoners. Common people had few rights and, if they were accused of a crime, there were not many ways to prove their innocence.

 

The Catholic Church also made laws. It controlled all court cases related to Church officials and property. The Church also decided cases involving marriages and wills. Some of the punishments for breaking Church laws were harsh. People who practiced beliefs diffrent from those of the Church could be excommiunicated. That meant they were not allowed to talk to or do buiness with their families and communities. They were not allowed to get married, or even be buried in a cemetery. This was very serious during a time when people help deep religious beliefs.

 

But the Church also helped people in trouble with the law. If someone was being hunted by a sheriff or mob, he or she could take sanctuary, or find safety, in a local church. If the person confessed to the crime, the Church would guarantee his or her safety until punishment was decided or the person could make arrangements to leave the country.

 

 

Joan of ArC

Like most people in the MIddle Ages, joan was very religious. When she was about 13 years old, Joan began to see visions of angels. She believed they spoke to her, telling her to be good, obey her parents, and pray often.

 

One day Joan claimed that two saints had ordered her on a mission from God. According to Joan, she was to bring Charles, the prince of France, to Reims, where French kings had been crowned for 1,000 years. This would return the throne to the French. It would also mean fighting against the English army who occupied Reims and man of its surrounding lands.

 

Joans message attracted the attention of many important people. Joan dressed as a boy because a girl traveling alone would have attracted too much attention. When she arrived at court, priests questioned her for over three weeks. Finally, they decided that Joan might indeed be able to free them from the English. Charles gave Joan a suit of white armor, a horse, and a banner swen with religious symbolds to protect her from harm. Chalres and his soldiers, including Joan, were ready to amrch into battle.

 

Joan faught in many battles, defeating the English at Reims. Cahrles was crowned King of France July 16, 1429. Co ntinuing to fight the English Joan was captures. English preists said that only churchmen could communicate with god. They offered her a chance to repent by confessing to her lies about seeing visions. If she ahd done so she would recieve life in prinson. On May 20,1431 Joan was burned to death.