Western Civilization

Western Civilization

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR JOHN MCLEAN

Western Civilization by Lumen Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
Contents

Part I. Ch. 1 The Study of History and the Rise of

Civilization

1. Splitting History 3
2. Dates and Calendars 11
3. Historical Bias 21
4. The Imperfect Historical Record 29
5. The Evolution of Humans 37
6. The Neolithic Revolution 45

Part II. Ch. 2 Ancient Mesopotamian Civilizations

and Other Early Civilizations

7. River Valley Civilizations 59

8. The Sumerians 66
9. Ur 74
10. The Akkadian Empire 80
11. Babylon 89
12. Hammurabi's Code 95
13. Babylonian Culture 101
14. Nebuchadnezzar and the Fall of Babylon 109
15. The Assyrians 115
16. The Hittites 120
17. The Phoenicians 125
18. The Minoans 134
 Part III. Ch. 3 Ancient Egypt

19. The Rise of Egyptian Civilization 143

20. The Old Kingdom 152
21. The First Intermediate Period 160
22. The Middle Kingdom 167
23. Ancient Egyptian Culture 175
24. The Second Intermediate Period 179
25. The New Kingdom 186
26. Hatshepsut 194
27. The Third Intermediate Period 203
28. The Decline of Ancient Egypt 210
29. Ancient Egyptian Religion 214
30. Ancient Egyptian Art 225
31. Ancient Egyptian Monuments 237
32. Ancient Egyptian Trade 247
33. Nubia and Ancient Culture 253

Part IV. Ch. 4 Ancient Greece and the Hellenistic

World

34. Greek Dark Ages 261

35. Archaic Greece 266
36. The Rise of Classical Greece 271
37. Sparta 280
38. Culture in Classical Sparta 287
39. The Persian Wars 294
40. Effects of the Persian Wars 301
41. Athens 306
42. Athenian Society 313
43. Classical Greek Philosophy 318
44. Classical Greek Poetry and History 329
45. Classical Greek Theater 337
46. Classical Greek Architecture 348
47. Scientific Advancements in the Classical Period 356
48. Introduction to the Peloponnesian War 362
49. Effects of the Peloponnesian War 369
50. The Rise of the Macedon 376
51. Alexander the Great 383
52. Alexander's Empire 389
53. The Legacy of Alexander the Great 395

Part V. Ch. 5 Early Roman Civilization and the

Roman Republic

54. The Origins of Etruria 407

55. Etruscan Artifacts 416
56. Etruscan Religion 420
57. The Founding of Rome 426
58. The Seven Kings 433
59. Early Roman Society 440
60. The Establishment of the Roman Republic 446
61. Roman Society Under the Republic 455
62. Structure of the Republic 461
63. Art and Literature in the Roman Republic 469
64. Republican Wars and Conquest 479
65. Crises of the Republic 487
 Part VI. Ch. 7 The Byzantine Empire

66. Naming of the Byzantine Empire 499

67. The Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine the 504
Great, and Byzantium
68. Justinian and Theodora 511
69. The Justinian Code 519
70. Emperor Heracluis 524
71. The Theme System 531
72. The Isaurian Dynasty 538
73. Iconoclasm in Byzantium 544
74. The Emperor Irene 551
75. The Macedonian Dynasty 560
76. The Great Schism of 1054 564
77. The Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars 571
78. The Double Disasters 576
79. Crisis and Fragmentation 582
80. The Last Byzantine Dynasty 589
81. The Fall of Constantinople 595
82. Byzantium's Legacy 602

Part VII. Chapter 6 The Roman Empire

83. Constantine 611

84. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 617
85. Diocletian and the Tetrarchy 625
86. The Rise of Christianity 632
87. The Shift East 637
88. Crises of the Roman Empire 643
89. Military Successes of the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty 650
90. The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty 656
91. Fall of the Flavian Emperors 666
92. Flavian Architecture 674
93. Eruptions of Vesuvius and Pompeii 679
94. Military Achievements of the Flavians 687
95. The Flavian Dynasty 693
96. The Last Julio-Claudian Emperors 702
97. The Julio-Claudian Emperors 711
98. The Pax Romana 722
99. Founding of the Roman Empire 730
100. Julius Caesar 736
101. Art and Culture Under the Nerva-Antonines 744

Part VIII. Ch. 8 The Middle Ages in Europe

102. The Germanic Tribes 751

103. Odoacer and the Fall of Rome 759
104. Theoderic the Great 768
105. The Vikings 777
106. The Catholic Church 785
107. The Development of Papal Supremacy 793
108. The Rise of the Monasteries 801
109. The Western Schism 810
110. The Coronation of 800 CE 816
111. The Rise of Charlemagne 823
112. Charlemagne's Reforms 829
113. Charles Martel and Pepin the Short 840
114. The End of the Carolingians 847
115. Rise of the Holy Roman Empire 854
116. Administration of the Empire 860
117. The Investiture Controversy 869
118. The Anglo-Saxons 877
119. The Norman Invasion of 1066 CE 886
120. William the Conqueror's Rule 891
121. The Magna Carta 898
122. The Hundred Years' War 908
123. The Crusades 920
124. The First Crusade 928
125. The Second Crusade 939
126. The Third Crusade 947
127. The Fourth Crusade 956
128. Feudalism 963
129. The Manor System 971
130. Trade and Commerce 981
131. Daily Medieval Life 989
132. Intellectual Life 999
133. Arts and Sciences 1008
134. The Black Death 1020

Part IX. Ch. 9 The Development of Russia

135. Rurik and the Foundation of Rus' 1033

136. Vladimir I and Christianization 1042
137. Yaroslav the Wise 1050
138. The Mongol Threat 1058
139. Ivan I and the Rise of Moscow 1067
140. The Formation of Russia 1076
141. Ivan the Terrible 1085
142. The Time of Troubles 1094
143. The Romanovs 1104
 Part X. Ch. 10 The Renaissance

144. Introduction to the Renaissance 1117

145. Italian Trade Cities 1119
146. Italian Politics 1123
147. The Church During the Italian Renaissance 1125
148. Petrarch 1127
149. Humanism 1129
150. Education and Humanism 1131
151. The Italian Renaissance 1133
152. Art and Patronage 1134
153. Leonardo da Vinci 1136
154. Michelangelo 1138
155. Mannerism 1140
156. The Rise of the Vernacular 1141
157. Renaissance Writers 1143
158. Christine de Pizan 1145
159. Machiavelli 1147
160. Erasmus 1149
161. The Printing Revolution 1151
162. Flemish Painting in the Northern Renaissance 1153

Part XI. Chapter 11: The Protestant Reformation

163. Discontent with the Roman Catholic Church 1157

164. Luther and Protestantism 1164
165. Calvinism 1172
166. The Anabaptists 1179
167. The Anglican Church 1185
168. The French Wars of Religion 1194
169. The Witch Trials 1203
170. Religious Divide in the Holy Roman Empire 1211
171. Bohemian Period 1217
172. Danish Intervention 1222
173. Swedish Intervention 1227
174. Swedish-French Intervention 1233
175. The Peace of Westphalia 1238

Part XII. Ch. 12 The Rise of Nation-States

176. Introduction to Nation-States 1245

177. The Peace of Westphalia and Sovereignty 1253
178. The Reconquista 1263
179. The Spanish Habsburgs 1272
180. Philip II and the Spanish Armada 1281
181. The Siglo de Oro 1291
182. Elizabeth I and English Patriotism 1302
183. The First Stuarts and Catholicism 1314
184. Charles I and the Power to Tax 1326
185. Cromwell and the Roundheads 1334
186. The English Protectorate 1345
187. Restoration of the Stuarts 1354
188. The Glorious Revolution 1364
189. France and Cardinal Richelieu 1374
190. Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde 1383
191. The Sun-King and Authoritarianism 1394
192. Louis XIV and the Huguenots 1403
193. Louis XIV's Wars 1412
194. The Question of Spanish Succession 1422
195. William of Orange and the Grand Alliance 1431
196. The Peace of Utrecht 1440
197. Peter the Great 1447
198. The Westernization of Russia 1456
199. Peter's Foreign Policy 1466
200. Peter's Domestic Reforms 1475

Part XIII. Course Information

201. Welcome 1487

Part XIV. Module #10: The Renaissance

202. Module Overview 1491

Part XV. Research paper assignment

203. Research Paper instructions 1495

PART I
CH. 1 THE STUDY OF
HISTORY AND THE RISE OF
CIVILIZATION

Ch. 1 The Study of History and the

Rise of Civilization | 1
1. Splitting History

Learning Objective

• Analyze the complications inherent to splitting

history for the purpose of academic study

Key Points

• The question of what kind of inquiries historians

pose, what knowledge they seek, and how they
interpret the evidence that they find remains
controversial. Historians draw conclusions from the
past approaches to history but in the end, they always
write in the context of their own time, current
dominant ideas of how to interpret the past, and even
subjective viewpoints.
• All events that are remembered and preserved in
some original form constitute the historical record.
The task of historians is to identify the sources that
can most usefully contribute to the production of
accurate accounts of the past. These sources, known
are primary sources or evidence, were produced at
the time under study and constitute the foundation
of historical inquiry.

Splitting History | 3
 • Periodization is the process of categorizing the past
into discrete, quantified named blocks of time in
order to facilitate the study and analysis of history.
This results in descriptive abstractions that provide
convenient terms for periods of time with relatively
stable characteristics. All systems of periodization are
arbitrary.
• The common general split between prehistory,
ancient history, Middle Ages, modern history, and
contemporary history is a Western division of the
largest blocks of time agreed upon by Western
historians. However, even within this largely accepted
division the perspective of specific national
developments and experiences often divides Western
historians, as some periodizing labels will be
applicable only to particular regions.
• The study of world history emerged as a distinct
academic field in order to examine history from a
global perspective rather than a solely national
perspective of investigation. However, the field still
struggles with an inherently Western periodization.
• World historians use a thematic approach to look
for common patterns that emerge across all cultures.
World history’s periodization, as imperfect and biased
as it is, serves as a way to organize and systematize
knowledge.

4 | Splitting History
 Terms

periodization

The process or study of categorizing the past into

discrete, quantified named blocks of time in order to
facilitate the study and analysis of history. This results in
descriptive abstractions that provide convenient terms for
periods of time with relatively stable characteristics.
However, determining the precise beginning and ending to
any period is usually arbitrary.

primary sources

Original sources of information about a topic. In the

study of history as an academic discipline, primary sources
include artifact, document, diary, manuscript,
autobiography, recording, or other source of information
that was created at the time under study.

How Do We Write History?

The word history comes ultimately from Ancient Greek historía,

meaning “inquiry,” “knowledge from inquiry,” or “judge.” However,
the question of what kind of inquiries historians pose, what
knowledge they seek, and how they interpret the evidence that they

Splitting History | 5
find remains controversial. Historians
draw conclusions from past approaches to history, but in the end,
they always write in the context of their own time, current
dominant ideas of how to interpret the past, and even subjective
viewpoints. Furthermore, current events and developments often
trigger which past events, historical periods, or
geographical regions are seen as critical and thus should be
investigated. Finally, historical studies are designed to provide
specific lessons for societies today. In the words of Benedetto
Croce, Italian philosopher and historian, “All history is
contemporary history.”
All events that are remembered and preserved in some original
form constitute the historical record. The task of historians is to
identify the sources that can most usefully contribute to the
production of accurate accounts of the past. These sources, known
are primary sources or evidence, were produced at the time under
study and constitute the foundation of historical inquiry. Ideally,
a historian will use as many available primary sources as can be
accessed, but in practice, sources may have been destroyed or
may not be available for research. In some cases, the only
eyewitness reports of an event may be memoirs, autobiographies,
or oral interviews taken years later. Sometimes, the only evidence
relating to an event or person in the distant past was written or
copied decades or centuries later. Historians remain cautious when
working with evidence recorded years, or even decades or
centuries, after an event; this kind of evidence poses the question
of to what extent witnesses remember events accurately. However,
historians also point out that hardly any historical evidence can be
seen as objective, as it is always a product of particular individuals,
times, and dominant ideas. This is also why researchers try to find
as many records of an event under investigation as possible, and it is
not unusual that they find evidence that may present contradictory
accounts of the same events.
In general, the sources of historical knowledge can be separated

6 | Splitting History
into three categories: what is written, what is said, and what is
physically preserved. Historians often consult all three.

Periodization

Periodization is the process of categorizing the past into discrete,

quantified, named blocks of time in order to facilitate the study
and analysis of history. This results in descriptive abstractions that
provide convenient terms for periods of time with relatively stable
characteristics.
To the extent that history is continuous and cannot be generalized,
all systems of periodization are arbitrary. Moreover, determining
the precise beginning and ending to any period is also a matter of
arbitrary decisions. Eventually, periodizing labels are a reflection of
very particular cultural and geographical perspectives, as well as
specific subfields or themes of history (e.g., military history, social
history, political history, intellectual history, cultural history, etc.).
Consequently, not only do periodizing blocks inevitably overlap, but
they also often seemingly conflict with or contradict one another.
Some have a cultural usage (the Gilded Age), others refer to
prominent historical events (the inter-war years: 1918–1939), yet
others are defined by decimal numbering systems (the 1960s, the
17th century). Other periods are named after influential individuals
whose impact may or may not have reached beyond certain
geographic regions (the Victorian Era, the Edwardian Era, the
Napoleonic Era).

Western Historical Periods

The common general split between prehistory (before written

history), ancient history, Middle Ages, modern history, and

Splitting History | 7
contemporary history (history within the living memory) is a
Western division of the largest blocks of time agreed upon by
Western historians and representing the Western point of view. For
example, the history of Asia or Africa cannot be neatly categorized
following these periods.
However, even within this largely accepted division, the
perspective of specific national developments and experiences
often divides Western historians, as some periodizing labels will be
applicable only to particular regions.
This is especially true of labels derived from individuals or ruling
dynasties, such as the Jacksonian Era in the United States, or the
Merovingian Period in France. Cultural terms may also have a
limited, even if larger, reach. For example, the concept of the
Romantic period is largely meaningless outside of Europe and
European-influenced cultures; even within those areas, different
European regions may mark the beginning and the ending points of
Romanticism differently. Likewise, the 1960s, although technically
applicable to anywhere in the world according to Common
Era numbering, has a certain set of specific cultural connotations
in certain countries, including sexual revolution, counterculture, or
youth rebellion. However, those never emerged in certain regions
(e.g., in Spain under Francisco Franco’s authoritarian regime). Some
historians have also noted that the 1960s, as a descriptive historical
period, actually began in the late 1950s and ended in the early
1970s, because the cultural and economic conditions that define the
meaning of the period dominated longer than the actual decade of
the 1960s.

8 | Splitting History
Petrarch by Andrea del Castagno. Petrarch, Italian poet and thinker,
conceived of the idea of a European “Dark Age,” which later evolved into the
tripartite periodization of Western history into Ancient, Middle Ages and
Modern.

Splitting History | 9
While world history (also referred to as global history or
transnational history) emerged as a distinct academic field of
historical study in the 1980s in order to examine history from a
global perspective rather than a solely national perspective of
investigation, it still struggles with an inherently Western
periodization. The common splits used when designing
comprehensive college-level world history courses (and thus also
used in history textbooks that are usually divided into volumes
covering pre-modern and modern eras) are still a result of certain
historical developments presented from the perspective of the
Western world and particular national experiences. However, even
the split between pre-modern and modern eras is problematic
because it is complicated by the question of how history educators,
textbook authors, and publishers decide to categorize what is
known as the early modern era, which is traditionally a period
between Renaissance and the end of the Age of Enlightenment. In
the end, whether the early modern era is included in the first or
the second part of a world history course frequently offered in U.S.
colleges is a subjective decision of history educators. As a result, the
same questions and choices apply to history textbooks written and
published for the U.S. audience.
World historians use a thematic approach to identify common
patterns that emerge across all cultures, with two major focal
points: integration (how processes of world history have drawn
people of the world together) and difference (how patterns of world
history reveal the diversity of the human experiences). The
periodization of world history, as imperfect and biased as it is,
serves as a way to organize and systematize knowledge.
Without it, history would be nothing more than scattered events
without a framework designed to help us understand the past.

Sources

10 | Splitting History
2. Dates and Calendars

Learning Objective

• Compare and contrast different calendars and how

they affect our understanding of history

Key Points

• The first recorded calendars date to the Bronze

Age, including the Egyptian and Sumerian calendars.
A larger number of calendar systems of the Ancient
Near East became accessible in the Iron Age and were
based on the Babylonian calendar. A great number of
Hellenic calendars also developed in Classical Greece
and influenced calendars outside of the immediate
sphere of Greek influence, giving rise to the various
Hindu calendars, as well as to the ancient Roman
calendar.
• Despite various calendars used across millennia,
cultures, and geographical regions, Western historical
scholarship has unified the standards of determining
dates based on the dominant Gregorian calendar.
• Julius Caesar effected drastic changes in the
existing timekeeping system. The New Year in 709

Dates and Calendars | 11

 AUC began on January first and ran over 365 days
until December 31. Further adjustments were made
under Augustus, who introduced the concept of the
leap year in 737 AUC (4 CE). The resultant Julian
calendar remained in almost universal use in Europe
until 1582.
• The Gregorian calendar, also called the Western
calendar and the Christian calendar, is internationally
the most widely used civil calendar today. It is named
after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in
October, 1582. The calendar was a refinement to the
Julian calendar, amounting to a 0.002% correction in
the length of the year.
• While the European Gregorian calendar eventually
dominated the world and historiography, a number of
other calendars have shaped timekeeping systems
that are still influential in some regions of the world.
These include the Islamic calendar, various Hindu
calendars, and the Mayan calendar.
• A calendar era that is often used as an alternative
naming of the long-accepted anno Domini/before
Christ system is Common Era or Current Era,
abbreviated CE. While both systems are an accepted
standard, the Common Era system is more neutral
and inclusive of a non-Christian perspective.

12 | Dates and Calendars

 Terms

Mayan calendar

A system of calendars used in pre-Columbian

Mesoamerica, and in many modern communities in the
Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas,
Mexico. The essentials of it are based upon a system that
was in common use throughout the region, dating back to
at least the fifth century BCE. It shares many aspects with
calendars employed by other earlier Mesoamerican
civilizations, such as the Zapotec and Olmec, and with
contemporary or later calendars, such as the Mixtec and
Aztec calendars.

anno Domini

The Medieval Latin term, which means in the year of the

Lord but is often translated as in the year of our
Lord. Dionysius Exiguus, of Scythia Minor, introduced the
system based on this concept in 525, counting the years
since the birth of Christ.

Calendars and Writing History

Methods of timekeeping can be reconstructed for the prehistoric

Dates and Calendars | 13

period from at least the Neolithic period. The natural units for
timekeeping used by most historical societies are the day, the solar
year, and the lunation. The first recorded calendars date to the
Bronze Age, and include the Egyptian and Sumerian calendars. A
larger number of calendar systems of the Ancient Near East became
accessible in the Iron Age and were based on the Babylonian
calendar. One of these was calendar of the Persian Empire, which
in turn gave rise to the Zoroastrian calendar, as well as the Hebrew
calendar.
A great number of Hellenic calendars were developed in Classical
Greece and influenced calendars outside of the immediate sphere of
Greek influence. These gave rise to the various Hindu calendars, as
well as to the ancient Roman calendar, which contained very ancient
remnants of a pre-Etruscan ten-month solar year. The Roman
calendar was reformed by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE. The Julian
calendar was no longer dependent on the observation of the new
moon, but simply followed an algorithm of introducing a leap day
every four years. This created a dissociation of the calendar month
from the lunation. The Gregorian calendar was introduced as a
refinement of the Julian calendar in 1582 and is today in worldwide
use as the de facto calendar for secular purposes.
Despite various calendars used across millennia, cultures, and
geographical regions, Western historical scholarship has unified the
standards of determining dates based on the dominant Gregorian
calendar. Regardless of what historical period or geographical areas
Western historians investigate and write about, they adjust dates
from the original timekeeping system to the Gregorian calendar.
Occasionally, some historians decide to use both dates: the dates
recorded under the original calendar used, and the date adjusted to
the Gregorian calendar, easily recognizable to the Western student
of history.

14 | Dates and Calendars

Julian Calendar

The old Roman year had 304 days divided into ten months,
beginning with March. However, the ancient historian, Livy, gave
credit to the second ancient Roman king, Numa Pompilious, for
devising a calendar of twelve months. The extra months Ianuarius
and Februarius had been invented, supposedly by Numa Pompilious,
as stop-gaps. Julius Caesar realized that the system had become
inoperable, so he effected drastic changes in the year of his third
consulship. The New Year in 709 AUC (ab urbe condita—
year from the founding of the City of Rome) began on January
first and ran over 365 days until December 31. Further adjustments
were made under Augustus, who introduced the concept of the leap
year in 737 AUC (4 CE). The resultant Julian calendar remained in
almost universal use in Europe until 1582. Marcus Terentius Varro
introduced the Ab urbe condita epoch, assuming a foundation of
Rome in 753 BCE. The system remained in use during the early
medieval period until the widespread adoption of the Dionysian
era in the Carolingian period. The seven-day week has a tradition
reaching back to the Ancient Near East, but the introduction of the
planetary week, which remains in modern use, dates to the Roman
Empire period.

Gregorian Calendar

The Gregorian calendar, also called the Western calendar and the
Christian calendar, is internationally the most widely used civil
calendar today. It is named after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced
it in October, 1582. The calendar was a refinement to the Julian
calendar, amounting to a 0.002% correction in the length of the
year. The motivation for the reform was to stop the drift of the
calendar with respect to the equinoxes and solstices—particularly

Dates and Calendars | 15

the vernal equinox, which set the date for Easter celebrations.
Transition to the Gregorian calendar would restore the holiday to
the time of the year in which it was celebrated when introduced by
the early Church. The reform was adopted initially by the Catholic
countries of Europe. Protestants and Eastern Orthodox countries
continued to use the traditional Julian calendar, and eventually
adopted the Gregorian reform for the sake of convenience in
international trade. The last European country to adopt the reform
was Greece in 1923.

16 | Dates and Calendars

The first page of the papal bull “Inter Gravissimas” by which Pope Gregory
XIII introduced his calendar. During the period between 1582, when the first
countries adopted the Gregorian calendar, and 1923, when the last European
country adopted it, it was often necessary to indicate the date of some event
in both the Julian calendar and in the Gregorian calendar. Even before 1582,

Dates and Calendars | 17

the year sometimes had to be double dated because of the different beginnings
of the year in various countries.

Calendars Outside of Europe

While the European Gregorian calendar eventually dominated the

world and historiography, a number of other calendars have shaped
timekeeping systems that are still influential in some regions of the
world.
The Islamic calendar determines the first year in 622 CE, during
which the emigration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, known
as the Hijra, occurred. It is used to date events in many Muslim
countries (concurrently with the Gregorian calendar), and is used
by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper days on which
to observe and celebrate Islamic religious practices (e.g., fasting),
holidays, and festivals.
Various Hindu calendars developed in the medieval period with
Gupta era astronomy as their common basis. Some of the more
prominent regional Hindu calendars include the Nepali calendar,
Assamese calendar, Bengali calendar, Malayalam calendar, Tamil
calendar, the Vikrama Samvat (used in Northern India), and
Shalivahana calendar. The common feature of all regional Hindu
calendars is that the names of the twelve months are the same
(because the names are based in Sanskrit) although the spelling and
pronunciation have come to vary slightly from region to region over
thousands of years. The month that starts the year also varies from
region to region. The Buddhist calendar and the traditional lunisolar
calendars of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand are
also based on an older version of the Hindu calendar.
Of all the ancient calendar systems, the Mayan and other
Mesoamerican systems are the most complex. The Mayan calendar
had two years, the 260-day Sacred Round, or tzolkin, and the
365-day Vague Year, or haab.

18 | Dates and Calendars

The essentials of the Mayan calendar are based upon a system
that was in common use throughout the region, dating back to at
least the fifth century BCE. It shares many aspects with calendars
employed by other earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the
Zapotec and Olmec, and contemporary or later ones, such as the
Mixtec and Aztec calendars. The Mayan calendar is still used in
many modern communities in the Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz,
Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico.

Islamic Calendar stamp issued at King Khaled airport (10 Rajab 1428 / 24 July
2007). The first year was the Islamic year beginning in AD 622, during which
the emigration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijra,
occurred. Each numbered year is designated either “H” for Hijra or “AH” for
the Latin Anno Hegirae (“in the year of the Hijra”). Hence, Muslims typically
call their calendar the Hijri calendar.

Anno Domini v. Common Era

The terms anno Domini (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to
label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The
term anno Domini is Medieval Latin, which means in the year of
the Lord, but is often translated as in the year of our Lord. It is

Dates and Calendars | 19

occasionally set out more fully as anno Domini nostri Iesu (or Jesu
Christi (“in the year of Our Lord Jesus Christ”). Dionysius Exiguus
of Scythia Minor introduced the AD system in AD 525, counting the
years since the birth of Christ. This calendar era is based on the
traditionally recognized year of the conception or birth of Jesus of
Nazareth, with AD counting years after the start of this epoch and
BC denoting years before the start of the era. There is no year zero
in this scheme, so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC.
This dating system was devised in 525, but was not widely used until
after 800.
A calendar era that is often used as an alternative naming of the
anno Domini
is Common Era or Current Era, abbreviated CE. The system uses
BCE as an abbreviation for “before the Common (or Current) Era.”
The CE/BCE designation uses the same numeric values as the AD/
BC system so the two notations (CE/BCE and AD/BC) are
numerically equivalent. The expression “Common Era” can be found
as early as 1708 in English and traced back to Latin usage among
European Christians to 1615, as vulgaris aerae, and to 1635 in English
as Vulgar Era.
Since the later 20th century, the use of CE and BCE have been
popularized in academic and scientific publications, and more
generally by authors and publishers wishing to emphasize
secularism or sensitivity to non-Christians, because the system
does not explicitly make use of religious titles for Jesus, such as
“Christ” and Dominus (“Lord”), which are used in the BC/AD
notation, nor does it give implicit expression to the Christian
creed that Jesus is the Christ. While both systems are thus an
accepted standard, the CE/BCE system is more neutral and
inclusive of a non-Christian perspective.

Sources

20 | Dates and Calendars

3. Historical Bias

Learning Objective

• Identify some examples of historical bias

Key Points

• Regardless of whether they are conscious or

learned implicitly within cultural contexts, biases
have been part of historical investigation since the
ancient beginnings of the discipline. As such, history
provides an excellent example of how biases change,
evolve, and even disappear.
• Early attempts to make history an empirical,
objective discipline (most notably by Voltaire) did not
find many followers. Throughout the 18th and 19th
centuries, European historians only strengthened
their biases. As Europe gradually dominated the world
through the self-imposed mission to colonize nearly
all the other continents, Eurocentrism prevailed in
history.
• Even within the Eurocentric perspective, not all
Europeans were equal; Western historians largely
ignored aspects of history, such as class, gender, or

Historical Bias | 21
 ethnicity. Until the rapid development of social
history in the 1960s and 1970s, mainstream Western
historical narratives focused on political and military
history, while cultural or social history was written
mostly from the perspective of the elites.
• The biased approach to history-writing transferred
also to history-teaching. From the origins of national
mass schooling systems in the 19th century, the
teaching of history to promote national sentiment has
been a high priority. History textbooks in most
countries have been tools to foster nationalism and
patriotism and to promote the most favorable version
of national history.
• Germany attempts to be an example of how to
remove nationalistic narratives from history
education. The history curriculum in Germany is
characterized by a transnational perspective that
emphasizes the all-European heritage, minimizes the
idea of national pride, and fosters the notion of civil
society centered on democracy, human rights, and
peace.
• Despite progress and increased focus on groups
that have been traditionally excluded from
mainstream historical narratives (people of color,
women, the working class, the poor, the disabled,
LGBTQI-identified people, etc.), bias remains a
component of historical investigation.

22 | Historical Bias
 TermS

Eurocentrism

The practice of viewing the world from a European or

generally Western perspective with an implied belief in the
pre-eminence of Western culture. It may also be used to
describe a view centered on the history or eminence of
white people. The term was coined in the 1980s, referring
to the notion of European exceptionalism and other
Western equivalents, such as American exceptionalism.

Bias in Historical Writing

Bias is an inclination or outlook to present or hold a partial

perspective, often accompanied by a refusal to consider the possible
merits of alternative points of view. Regardless of whether
conscious or learned implicitly within cultural contexts, biases have
been part of historical investigation since the ancient beginnings of
the discipline. As such, history provides an excellent example of how
biases change, evolve, and even disappear.
History as a modern academic discipline based on empirical
methods (in this case, studying primary sources in order to
reconstruct the past based on available evidence), rose to
prominence during the Age of Enlightenment. Voltaire, a French
author and thinker, is credited to have developed a fresh outlook
on history that broke from the tradition of narrating diplomatic and

Historical Bias | 23
military events and emphasized customs, social history (the history
of ordinary people) and achievements in the arts and sciences. His
Essay on Customs traced the progress of world civilization in a
universal context, thereby rejecting both nationalism and the
traditional Christian frame of reference. Voltaire was also the first
scholar to make a serious attempt to write the history of the world,
eliminating theological frameworks and emphasizing economics,
culture, and political history. He was the first to emphasize the
debt of medieval culture to Middle Eastern civilization. Although he
repeatedly warned against political bias on the part of the historian,
he did not miss many opportunities to expose the intolerance and
frauds of the Catholic Church over the ages—
a topic that was Voltaire’s life-long intellectual interest.
Voltaire’s early attempts to make history an empirical, objective
discipline did not find many followers. Throughout the 18th and
19th centuries, European historians only strengthened their biases.
As Europe gradually benefited from the ongoing scientific progress
and dominated the world in the self-imposed mission to colonize
nearly all other continents, Eurocentrism prevailed in history. The
practice of viewing and presenting the world from a European or
generally Western perspective, with an implied belief in the pre-
eminence of Western culture, dominated among European
historians who contrasted the progressively mechanized character
of European culture with traditional hunting, farming and herding
societies in many of the areas of the world being newly conquered
and colonized. These included the Americas, Asia, Africa and, later,
the Pacific and Australasia. Many European writers of this time
construed the history of Europe as paradigmatic for the rest of the
world. Other cultures were identified as having reached a stage
that Europe itself had already passed: primitive hunter-gatherer,
farming, early civilization, feudalism and modern liberal-capitalism.
Only Europe was considered to have achieved the last stage. With
this assumption, Europeans were also presented as racially superior,
and European history as a discipline became essentially the history
of the dominance of white peoples.

24 | Historical Bias
 However, even within the Eurocentric perspective, not all
Europeans were equal; Western historians largely ignored aspects of
history, such as class, gender, or ethnicity. Until relatively recently
(particularly the rapid development of social history in the 1960s
and 1970s), mainstream Western historical narratives focused on
political and military history, while cultural or social history was
written mostly from the perspective of the elites. Consequently,
what was in fact an experience of a selected few (usually white
males of upper classes, with some occasional mentions of their
female counterparts), was typically presented as the illustrative
experience of the entire society. In the United States, some of the
first to break this approach were African American scholars who at
the turn of the 20th century wrote histories of black Americans and
called for their inclusion in the mainstream historical narrative.

Historical Bias | 25
The title page to The Historians’ History of the World: A Comprehensive
Narrative of the Rise and Development of Nations as Recorded by over two
thousand of the Great Writers of all Ages, 1907. The Historians’ History of the
World is a 25-volume encyclopedia of world history originally published in
English near the beginning of the 20th century. It is quite extensive but its
perspective is entirely Western Eurocentric. For example, while four volumes
focus on the history of England (with Scotland and Ireland included in one of

26 | Historical Bias
them), “Poland, the Balkans, Turkey, minor Eastern states, China, Japan” are
all described in one volume. It was compiled by Henry Smith Williams, a
medical doctor and author, as well as other authorities on history, and
published in New York in 1902 by Encyclopædia Britannica and the Outlook
Company.

Bias in the Teaching of History

The biased approach to historical writing is present in the teaching

of history as well.
From the origins of national mass schooling systems in the 19th
century, the teaching of history to promote national sentiment has
been a high priority. Until today, in most countries history textbook
are tools to foster nationalism and patriotism and promote the most
favorable version of national history. In the United States, one of the
most striking examples of this approach is the continuous narrative
of the United States as a state established on the principles of
personal liberty and democracy. Although aspects of U.S. history,
such as slavery, genocide of American Indians, or disfranchisement
of the large segments of the society for decades after the onset
of the American statehood, are now taught in most (yet not all)
American schools, they are presented as marginal in the larger
narrative of liberty and democracy.
In many countries, history textbooks are sponsored by the
national government and are written to put the national heritage in
the most favorable light, although academic historians have often
fought against the politicization of the textbooks, sometimes with
success. Interestingly, the 21st-century Germany attempts to be
an example of how to remove nationalistic narratives from history
education. As the 20th-century history of Germany is filled with
events and processes that are rarely a cause of national pride, the
history curriculum in Germany (controlled by the 16 German states)
is characterized by a transnational perspective that emphasizes the

Historical Bias | 27
all-European heritage, minimizes the idea of national pride, and
fosters the notion of civil society centered on democracy, human
rights, and peace. Yet, even in the rather unusual German case,
Eurocentrism continues to dominate.
The challenge to replace national, or even nationalist,
perspectives with a more inclusive transnational or global view of
human history is also still very present in college-level history
curricula. In the United States after World War I, a strong movement
emerged at the university level to teach courses in Western
Civilization with the aim to give students a common heritage with
Europe. After 1980, attention increasingly moved toward teaching
world history or requiring students to take courses in non-western
cultures. Yet, world history courses still struggle to move beyond
the Eurocentric perspective, focusing heavily on the history of
Europe and its links to the United States.
Despite all the progress and much more focus on the groups
that have been traditionally excluded from mainstream historical
narratives (people of color, women, the working class, the poor, the
disabled, LGBTQI-identified people, etc.), bias remains a component
of historical investigation, whether it is a product of nationalism,
author’s political views, or an agenda-driven interpretation of
sources. It is only appropriate to state that the present world history
book, while written in accordance with the most recent scholarly
and educational practices, has been written and edited by authors
trained in American universities and published in the United States.
As such, it is also not free from both national (U.S.) and individual
(authors’) biases.

Sources

28 | Historical Bias
4. The Imperfect Historical
Record

Learning Objective

• Explain the consequences of the imperfect

historical record

Key Points

• In the study of history as an academic discipline, a

primary source is an artifact, document, diary,
manuscript, autobiography, recording, or other
source of information that was created at the time
under study.
• History as an academic discipline is based on
primary sources, as evaluated by the community of
scholars for whom primary sources are absolutely
fundamental to reconstructing the past. Ideally, a
historian will use as many primary sources that were
created during the time under study as can be
accessed. In practice however, some sources have
been destroyed, while others are not available for
research.

The Imperfect Historical Record | 29

 • While some sources are considered more reliable
or trustworthy than others, historians point out that
hardly any historical evidence can be seen as fully
objective since it is always a product of particular
individuals, times, and dominant ideas.
• Historical method comprises the techniques and
guidelines by which historians use primary
sources and other evidence (including the evidence of
archaeology) to research and write historical
accounts of the past.
• Primary sources may remain in private hands or are
located in archives, libraries, museums, historical
societies, and special collections. Traditionally,
historians attempt to answer historical questions
through the study of written documents and oral
accounts. They also use such sources as monuments,
inscriptions, and pictures. In general, the sources of
historical knowledge can be separated into three
categories: what is written, what is said, and what is
physically preserved. Historians often consult all
three.
• Historians use various strategies to reconstruct the
past when facing a lack of sources, including
collaborating with experts from other academic
disciplines, most notably archaeology.

30 | The Imperfect Historical Record

 Terms

historical method

A scholarly method that comprises the techniques and

guidelines by which historians use primary sources and
other evidence (including the evidence of archaeology) to
research and write historical accounts of the past.

primary source

In the study of history as an academic discipline, an

artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography,
recording, or other source of information that was created
at the time under study. It serves as an original source of
information about the topic.

secondary source

A document or recording that relates or discusses

information originally found in a primary source. It
contrasts with a primary source, which is an original source
of the information being discussed; a primary source can be
a person with direct knowledge of a situation, or a
document created by such a person. A secondary source
involves generalization, analysis, synthesis, interpretation,
or evaluation of the original information.

The Imperfect Historical Record | 31

Primary Sources

In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source

(also called original source or evidence) is an artifact, document,
diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or other source of
information that was created at the time under study. It serves as
an original source of information about the topic. Primary sources
are distinguished from secondary sources, which cite, comment
on, or build upon primary sources. In some cases, a secondary
source may also be a primary source, depending on how it is used.
For example, a memoir would be considered a primary source in
research concerning its author or about his or her friends
characterized within it, but the same memoir would be a secondary
source if it were used to examine the culture in which its author
lived. “Primary” and “secondary” should be understood as relative
terms, with sources categorized according to specific historical
contexts and what is being studied.

Using Primary Sources: Historical Method

History as an academic discipline is based on primary sources, as

evaluated by the community of scholars for whom primary sources
are absolutely fundamental to reconstructing the past. Ideally, a
historian will use as many primary sources that were created by
the people involved at the time under study as can be accessed. In
practice however, some sources have been destroyed, while others
are not available for research. In some cases, the only eyewitness
reports of an event may be memoirs, autobiographies, or oral
interviews taken years later. Sometimes, the only evidence relating
to an event or person in the distant past was written or copied
decades or centuries later. Manuscripts that are sources for
classical texts can be copies or fragments of documents. This is

32 | The Imperfect Historical Record

a common problem in classical studies, where sometimes only a
summary of a book or letter, but not the actual book or letter,
has survived. While some sources are considered more reliable or
trustworthy than others (e.g., an original government document
containing information about an event vs. a recording of a witness
recalling the same event years later), historians point out that hardly
any historical evidence can be seen as fully objective as it is always a
product of particular individuals, times, and dominant ideas. This is
also why researchers try to find as many records of an event under
investigation as possible, and attempt to resolve evidence that may
present contradictory accounts of the same events.

The Imperfect Historical Record | 33

This wall painting (known as The portrait of Paquius Proculo and currently
preserved at the Naples National Archaeological Museum) was found in the
Roman city of Pompeii and serves as a complex example of a primary
source.The fresco would not tell much to historians without corresponding
textual and archaeological evidence that helps to establish who the portrayed
couple might have been. The man wears a toga, the mark of a Roman citizen,
and holds a rotulus, suggesting he is involved in public and/or cultural
affairs. The woman holds a stylus and wax tablet, emphasizing that she is
educated and literate. It is suspected, based on the physical features of the
couple, that they are Samnites, which may explain the desire to show off the
status they have reached in Roman society.

Historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by

which historians use primary sources and other evidence (including

34 | The Imperfect Historical Record

the evidence of archaeology) to research and write historical
accounts of the past. Historians continue to debate what aspects
and practices of investigating primary sources should be
considered, and what constitutes a primary source when
developing the most effective historical method. The question of
the nature, and even the possibility, of a sound historical method is
so central that it has been continuously raised in the philosophy of
history as a question of epistemology.

Finding Primary Sources

Primary sources may remain in private hands or are located in

archives, libraries, museums, historical societies, and special
collections. These can be public or private. Some are affiliated with
universities and colleges, while others are government entities.
Materials relating to one area might be spread over a large number
of different institutions. These can be distant from the original
source of the document. For example, the Huntington Library in
California houses a large number of documents from the United
Kingdom. While the development of technology has resulted in an
increasing number of digitized sources, most primary source
materials are not digitized and may only be represented online with
a record or finding aid.
Traditionally, historians attempt to answer historical questions
through the study of written documents and oral accounts. They
also use such sources as monuments, inscriptions, and pictures. In
general, the sources of historical knowledge can be separated into
three categories: what is written, what is said, and what is physically
preserved. Historians often consult all three. However, writing is the
marker that separates history from what comes before.
Archaeology is one discipline that is especially helpful to
historians. By dealing with buried sites and objects, it contributes to
the reconstruction of the past. However, archaeology is constituted

The Imperfect Historical Record | 35

by a range of methodologies and approaches that are independent
from history. In other words, archaeology does not “fill the gaps”
within textual sources but often contrasts its conclusions against
those of contemporary textual sources.
Archaeology also provides an illustrative example of how
historians can be helped when written records are missing.
Unearthing artifacts and working with archaeologists to interpret
them based on the expertise of a particular historical era and
cultural or geographical area is one effective way to reconstruct
the past. If written records are missing, historians often attempt
to collect oral accounts of particular events, preferably by
eyewitnesses, but sometimes, because of the passage of time, they
are forced to work with the following generations. Thus, the
question of the reliability of oral history has been widely debated.
When dealing with many government records, historians usually
have to wait for a specific period of time before documents are
declassified and available to researchers. For political reasons, many
sensitive records may be destroyed, withdrawn from collections,
or hidden, which may also encourage researchers to rely on oral
histories. Missing records of events, or processes that historians
believe took place based on very fragmentary evidence, forces
historians to seek information in records that may not be a likely
sources of information. As archival research is always time-
consuming and labor-intensive, this approach poses the risk of
never producing desired results, despite the time and effort
invested in finding informative and reliable resources. In some
cases, historians are forced to speculate (this should be explicitly
noted) or simply admit that we do not have sufficient information to
reconstruct particular past events or processes.

Sources

36 | The Imperfect Historical Record

5. The Evolution of Humans

Learning Objective

• To understand the process and timeline of human

evolution

Key Points

• Humans began to evolve about seven million years

ago, and progressed through four stages of evolution.
Research shows that the first modern humans
appeared 200,000 years ago.
• Neanderthals were a separate species from
humans. Although they had larger brain capacity and
interbred with humans, they eventually died out.
• A number of theories examine the relationship
between environmental conditions and human
evolution.
• The main human adaptations have included
bipedalism, larger brain size, and reduced sexual
dimorphism.

The Evolution of Humans | 37

 Terms

aridity hypothesis

The theory that the savannah was expanding due to

increasingly arid conditions, which then drove hominin
adaptation.

turnover pulse hypothesis

The theory that extinctions due to environmental

conditions hurt specialist species more than generalist
ones, leading to greater evolution among specialists.

Red Queen hypothesis

The theory that species must constantly evolve in order

to compete with co-evolving animals around them.

encephalization

An evolutionary increase in the complexity and/or size of

the brain.

38 | The Evolution of Humans

 sexual dimorphism

Differences in size or appearance between the sexes of

an animal species.

social brain hypothesis

The theory that improving cognitive capabilities would

allow hominins to influence local groups and control
resources.

Toba catastrophe theory

The theory that there was a near-extinction event for

early humans about 70,000 years ago.

savannah hypothesis

The theory that hominins were forced out of the trees

they lived in and onto the expanding savannah; as they did
so, they began walking upright on two feet.

The Evolution of Humans | 39

 hominids

A primate of the family Hominidae that includes humans

and their fossil ancestors.

bipedal

Describing an animal that uses only two legs for walking.

Human evolution began with primates. Primate development

diverged from other mammals about 85 million years ago. Various
divergences among apes, gibbons, orangutans occurred during this
period, with Homini (including early humans and chimpanzees)
separating from Gorillini (gorillas) about 8 millions years ago.
Humans and chimps then separated about 7.5 million years ago.

Skeletal structure of humans and other primates. A comparison of the skeletal

structures of gibbons, humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans.

40 | The Evolution of Humans

Generally, it is believed that hominids first evolved in Africa and
then migrated to other areas. There were four main stages of human
evolution. The first, between four and seven million years ago,
consisted of the proto hominins Sahelanthropus, Orrorin and
Ardipithecus. These humans may have been bipedal, meaning they
walked upright on two legs. The second stage, around four million
years ago, was marked by the appearance of Australopithecus, and
the third, around 2.7 million years ago, featured Paranthropus.
The fourth stage features the genus Homo, which existed between
1.8 and 2.5 million years ago. Homo habilis, which used stone tools
and had a brain about the size of a chimpanzee, was an early
hominin in this period. Coordinating fine hand movements needed
for tool use may have led to increasing brain capacity. This was
followed by Homo erectus and Homo ergaster, who had double the
brain size and may have been the first to control fire and use more
complex tools. Homo heidelbergensis appeared about 800,000 years
ago, and modern humans, Homo sapiens, about 200,000 years ago.
Humans acquired symbolic culture and language about 50,000 years
ago.

Comparison of skull features among early humans.A comparison of Homo

habilis, Homo erectus, Homo floresiensis and Homo naledi skull features.

The Evolution of Humans | 41

Neanderthals

A separate species, Homo neanderthalensis, had a common ancestor

with humans about 660,000 years ago, and engaged in
interbreeding with Homo sapiens about 45,000 to 80,000 years ago.
Although their brains were larger, Neanderthals had fewer social
and technological innovations than humans, and they eventually
died out.

Theories of Early Human Evolution

The savannah hypothesis states that hominins were forced out of

the trees they lived in and onto the expanding savannah; as they did
so, they began walking upright on two feet. This idea was expanded
in the aridity hypothesis, which posited that the savannah was
expanding due to increasingly arid conditions resulting in hominin
adaptation. Thus, during periods of intense aridification, hominins
also were pushed to evolve and adapt.
The turnover pulse hypothesis states that extinctions due to
environmental conditions hurt specialist species more than
generalist ones. While generalist species spread out when
environmental conditions change, specialist species become more
specialized and have a greater rate of evolution. The Red Queen
hypothesis states that species must constantly evolve in order to
compete with co-evolving animals around them. The social brain
hypothesis states that improving cognitive capabilities would allow
hominins to influence local groups and control resources. The Toba
catastrophe theory states that there was a near-extinction event for
early humans about 70,000 years ago.

42 | The Evolution of Humans

Human Adaptations

Bipedalism, or walking upright, is one of the main human

evolutionary adaptations. Advantages to be found in bipedalism
include the freedom of the hands for labor and less physically taxing
movement. Walking upright better allows for long distance travel
and hunting, for a wider field of vision, a reduction of the amount
of skin exposed to the sun, and overall thrives in a savannah
environment. Bipedalism resulted in skeletal changes to the legs,
knee and ankle joints, spinal vertebrae, toes, and arms. Most
significantly, the pelvis became shorter and rounded, with a smaller
birth canal, making birth more difficult for humans than other
primates. In turn, this resulted in shorter gestation (as babies need
to be born before their heads become too large), and more helpless
infants who are not fully developed before birth.
Larger brain size, also called encephalization, began in early
humans with Homo habilis and continued through the Neanderthal
line (capacity of 1,200 – 1,900 cm3). The ability of the human brain to
continue to grow after birth meant that social learning and language
were possible. It is possible that a focus on eating meat, and
cooking, allowed for brain growth. Modern humans have a brain
volume of 1250 cm3.
Humans have reduced sexual dimorphism, or differences between
males and females, and hidden estrus, which means the female is
fertile year-round and shows no special sign of fertility. Human
sexes still have some differences between them, with males being
slightly larger and having more body hair and less body fat. These
changes may be related to pair bonding for long-term raising of
offspring.
Other adaptations include lessening of body hair, a chin, a
descended larynx, and an emphasis on vision instead of smell.

The Evolution of Humans | 43

Human Evolution

A video showing evolution from early animals to modern humans.

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the

text. You can view it online here:
https://library.achievingthedream.org/
herkimerwesterncivilization/?p=21

Sources

44 | The Evolution of Humans

6. The Neolithic Revolution

Learning Objective

• Explain the significance of the Neolithic Revolution

Key Points

• During the Paleolithic Era, humans grouped

together in small societies and subsisted by gathering
plants, and fishing, hunting or scavenging wild
animals.
• The Neolithic Revolution references a change from
a largely nomadic hunter-gatherer way of life to a
more settled, agrarian-based one, with the inception
of the domestication of various plant and animal
species—depending on species locally available and
likely also influenced by local culture.
• There are several competing (but not mutually
exclusive) theories as to the factors that drove
populations to take up agriculture, including the Hilly
Flanks hypothesis, the Feasting model, the
Demographic theories, the evolutionary/

The Neolithic Revolution | 45

 intentionality theory, and the largely discredited
Oasis Theory.
• The shift to agricultural food production supported
a denser population, which in turn supported larger
sedentary communities, the accumulation of goods
and tools, and specialization in diverse forms of new
labor.
• The nutritional standards of Neolithic populations
were generally inferior to that of hunter-gatherers,
and they worked longer hours and had shorter life
expectancies.
• Life today, including our governments, specialized
labor, and trade, is directly related to the advances
made in the Neolithic Revolution.

Terms

Hilly Flanks hypothesis

The theory that agriculture began in the hilly flanks of

the Taurus and Zagros mountains, where the climate was
not drier, and fertile land supported a variety of plants and
animals amenable to domestication.

46 | The Neolithic Revolution

 Evolutionary/Intentionality theory

The theory that domestication was part of an

evolutionary process between humans and plants.

Neolithic Revolution

The world’s first historically verifiable advancement in

agriculture. It took place around 12,000 years ago.

Hunter-gatherer

A nomadic lifestyle in which food is obtained from wild

plants and animals; in contrast to an agricultural lifestyle,
which relies mainly on domesticated species.

Paleolithic Era

A period of history that spans from 2.5 million to 20,000

years ago, during which time humans evolved, used stone
tools, and lived as hunter-gatherers.

The Neolithic Revolution | 47

 Oasis Theory

The theory that humans were forced into close

association with animals due to changes in climate.

Feasting model

The theory that displays of power through feasting drove

agricultural technology.

Specialization

A process where laborers focused on one specialty area

rather than creating all needed items.

Demographic theories

Theories about how sedentary populations may have

driven agricultural changes.

Before the Rise of Civilization: The Paleolithic

Era

The first humans evolved in Africa during the Paleolithic Era, or

48 | The Neolithic Revolution

Stone Age, which spans the period of history from 2.5 million to
about 10,000 BCE. During this time, humans lived in small groups
as hunter-gatherers, with clear gender divisions for labor. The men
hunted animals while the women gathered food, such as fruit, nuts
and berries, from the local area. Simple tools made of stone, wood,
and bone (such as hand axes, flints and spearheads) were used
throughout the period. Fire was controlled, which created heat and
light, and allowed for cooking.Humankind gradually evolved from
early members of the genus Homo—such as Homo habilis, who used
simple stone tools— into fully behaviorally and anatomically modern
humans (Homo sapiens) during the Paleolithic era. During the end
of the Paleolithic, specifically the Middle and or Upper Paleolithic,
humans began to produce the earliest works of art and engage in
religious and spiritual behavior, such as burial and ritual. Paleolithic
humans were nomads, who often moved their settlements as food
became scarce. This eventually resulted in humans spreading out
from Africa (beginning roughly 60,000 years ago) and into Eurasia,
Southeast Asia, and Australia. By about 40,000 years ago, they had
entered Europe, and by about 15,000 years ago, they had reached
North America followed by South America.

The Neolithic Revolution | 49

Stone ball from a set of Paleolithic bolas. Paleoliths (artifacts from the
Paleolithic), such as this stone ball, demonstrate some of the stone
technologies that the early humans used as tools and weapons.

During about 10,000 BCE, a major change occurred in the way

humans lived; this would have a cascading effect on every part
of human society and culture. That change was the Neolithic
Revolution.

50 | The Neolithic Revolution

The Neolithic Revolution: From
Hunter-Gatherer to Agriculturalist

The beginning of the Neolithic Revolution in different regions has

been dated from perhaps 8,000 BCE in the Kuk Early Agricultural
Site of Melanesia Kuk to 2,500 BCE in Subsaharan Africa, with some
considering the developments of 9,000-7,000 BCE in the Fertile
Crescent to be the most important. This transition everywhere is
associated with the change from a largely nomadic hunter-gatherer
way of life to a more settled, agrarian-based one, due to the
inception of the domestication of various plant and animal
species—depending on the species locally available, and probably
also influenced by local culture.It is not known why humans decided
to begin cultivating plants and domesticating animals. While more
labor-intensive, the people must have seen the relationship
between cultivation of grains and an increase in population. The
domestication of animals provided a new source of protein, through
meat and milk, along with hides and wool, which allowed for the
production of clothing and other objects.There are several
competing (but not mutually exclusive) theories about the factors
that drove populations to take up agriculture. The most prominent
of these are:

• The Oasis Theory, originally proposed by Raphael Pumpelly in

1908, and popularized by V. Gordon Childe in 1928, suggests as
the climate got drier due to the Atlantic depressions shifting
northward, communities contracted to oases where they were
forced into close association with animals. These animals were
then domesticated together with planting of seeds. However,
this theory has little support amongst archaeologists today
because subsequent climate data suggests that the region was
getting wetter rather than drier.
• The Hilly Flanks hypothesis, proposed by Robert Braidwood in
1948, suggests that agriculture began in the hilly flanks of the

The Neolithic Revolution | 51

 Taurus and Zagros mountains, where the climate was not drier,
as Childe had believed, and that fertile land supported a variety
of plants and animals amenable to domestication.
• The Feasting model by Brian Hayden suggests that agriculture
was driven by ostentatious displays of power, such as giving
feasts, to exert dominance. This system required assembling
large quantities of food, a demand which drove agricultural
technology.
• The Demographic theories proposed by Carl Sauer and
adapted by Lewis Binford and Kent Flannery posit that an
increasingly sedentary population outgrew the resources in
the local environment and required more food than could be
gathered. Various social and economic factors helped drive the
need for food.
• The Evolutionary/Intentionality theory, developed by David
Rindos and others, views agriculture as an evolutionary
adaptation of plants and humans. Starting with domestication
by protection of wild plants, it led to specialization of location
and then full-fledged domestication.

Effects of the Neolithic Revolution on Society

The traditional view is that the shift to agricultural food production

supported a denser population, which in turn supported larger
sedentary communities, the accumulation of goods and tools, and
specialization in diverse forms of new labor. Overall a population
could increase its size more rapidly when resources were more
available. The resulting larger societies led to the development of
different means of decision making and governmental organization.
Food surpluses made possible the development of a social elite
freed from labor, who dominated their communities and
monopolized decision-making. There were deep social divisions and
inequality between the sexes, with women’s status declining as men

52 | The Neolithic Revolution

took on greater roles as leaders and warriors. Social class was
determined by occupation, with farmers and craftsmen at the lower
end, and priests and warriors at the higher.

Effects of the Neolithic Revolution on Health

Neolithic populations generally had poorer nutrition, shorter life

expectancies, and a more labor-intensive lifestyle than hunter-
gatherers. Diseases jumped from animals to humans, and
agriculturalists suffered from more anemia, vitamin deficiencies,
spinal deformations, and dental pathologies.

Overall Impact of the Neolithic Revolution on

Modern Life

The way we live today is directly related to the advances made in

the Neolithic Revolution. From the governments we live under, to
the specialized work laborers do, to the trade of goods and food,
humans were irrevocably changed by the switch to sedentary
agriculture and domestication of animals. Human population
swelled from five million to seven billion today.

Sources

Boundless vets and curates high-quality, openly licensed content

from around the Internet. This particular resource used the
following sources:
“Neolithic Revolution.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_Revolution

The Neolithic Revolution | 53

Wikipedia
CC BY-SA.
“Neolithic Revolution.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic%20Revolution
Wikipedia
CC BY-SA 3.0.
“Civilization makes its début (8000 – 3000 BC).”

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/World_History/
Ancient_Civilizations%23Civilization_makes_its_d.C3.A9but_.288
000_-_3000_BC.29
Wikibooks
CC BY-SA 3.0.
“Before the Rise of Civilization.”

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/World_History/
Ancient_Civilizations%23Before_the_Rise_of_Civilization
Wikibooks
CC BY-SA 3.0.
“Paleolithic.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic
Wikipedia
CC BY-SA.
“Boundless.”

http://www.boundless.com//sociology/definition/hunter-
gatherer–2
Boundless Learning
CC BY-SA 3.0.
“The Neolithic Revolution and Sumer.”

http://globaleconomics.wikispaces.com/
The+Neolithic+Revolution+and+Sumer
Global Economics
CC BY 3.0.

54 | The Neolithic Revolution

“Paleolithic.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_period
Wikipedia
CC BY-SA.

The Neolithic Revolution | 55

PART II
CH. 2 ANCIENT
MESOPOTAMIAN
CIVILIZATIONS AND
OTHER EARLY
CIVILIZATIONS

Ch. 2 Ancient Mesopotamian

Civilizations and Other Early
7. River Valley Civilizations

Learning Objective

• Explain why early civilizations arose on the banks

of rivers

Key Points

• Rivers were attractive locations for the first

civilizations because they provided a steady supply of
drinking water and game, made the land fertile for
growing crops, and allowed for easy transportation.
• Early river civilizations were all hydraulic empires
that maintained power and control through exclusive
control over access to water. This system of
government arose through the need for flood control
and irrigation, which requires central coordination
and a specialized bureaucracy.
• Hydraulic hierarchies gave rise to the established
permanent institution of impersonal government,
since changes in ruling were usually in personnel, but
not in the structure of government.

River Valley Civilizations | 59

 Terms

Fertile Crescent

A crescent-shaped region containing the comparatively

moist and fertile land of otherwise arid and semi-arid
Western Asia, and the Nile Valley and Nile Delta of
northeast Africa. Often called the cradle of civilization.

Hydraulic empire

A social or governmental structure that maintains power

through exclusive control of water access.

Caste

A form of social stratification characterized by endogamy

(hereditary transmission of a lifestyle). This lifestyle often
includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and
customary social interaction and exclusion based on
cultural notions of purity and pollution.

60 | River Valley Civilizations

 Water crisis

There is not enough fresh, clean water to meet local

demand.

Water shortage

Water is less available due to climate change, pollution, or

overuse.

Neolithic Revolution

Also called the Agricultural Revolution, this was the wide-

scale transition of human cultures from being hunter-
gatherers to being settled agriculturalists.

Water stress

Difficulty in finding fresh water, or the depletion of

available water sources.

The First Civilizations

The first civilizations formed on the banks of rivers. The most

River Valley Civilizations | 61

notable examples are the Ancient Egyptians, who were based on
the Nile, the Mesopotamians in the Fertile Crescent on the Tigris/
Euphrates rivers, the Ancient Chinese on the Yellow River, and the
Ancient India on the Indus. These early civilizations began to form
around the time of the Neolithic Revolution (12000 BCE).Rivers were
attractive locations for the first civilizations because they provided
a steady supply of drinking water and made the land fertile for
growing crops. Moreover, goods and people could be transported
easily, and the people in these civilizations could fish and hunt
the animals that came to drink water. Additionally, those lost in
the wilderness could return to civilization by traveling downstream,
where the major centers of human population tend to concentrate.

The Nile River and Delta. Most of the Ancient Egyptian settlements occurred
along the northern part of the Nile, pictured in this satellite image taken from
orbit by NASA.

62 | River Valley Civilizations

Hydraulic Empires

Though each civilization was uniquely different, we can see

common patterns amongst these first civilizations since they were
all based around rivers. Most notably, these early civilizations were
all hydraulic empires. A hydraulic empire (also known as hydraulic
despotism, or water monopoly empire) is a social or governmental
structure which maintains power through exclusive control over
water access. This system of government arises through the need
for flood control and irrigation, which requires central coordination
and a specialized bureaucracy. This political structure is commonly
characterized by a system of hierarchy and control based around
class or caste. Power, both over resources (food, water, energy)
and a means of enforcement, such as the military, are vital for
the maintenance of control. Most hydraulic empires exist in desert
regions, but imperial China also had some such characteristics, due
to the exacting needs of rice cultivation. The only hydraulic empire
to exist in Africa was under the Ajuran State near the Jubba and
Shebelle Rivers in the 15th century CE.Karl August Wittfogel, the
German scholar who first developed the notion of the hydraulic
empire, argued in his book, Oriental Despotism (1957), that strong
government control characterized these civilizations because a
particular resource (in this case, river water) was both a central
part of economic processes and environmentally limited. This fact
made controlling supply and demand easier and allowed the
establishment of a more complete monopoly, and also prevented
the use of alternative resources to compensate. However, it is also
important to note that complex irrigation projects predated states
in Madagascar, Mexico, China and Mesopotamia, and thus it cannot
be said that a key, limited economic resource necessarily mandates
a strong centralized bureaucracy. According to Wittfogel, the
typical hydraulic empire government has no trace of an
independent aristocracy—in contrast to the decentralized feudalism
of medieval Europe. Though tribal societies had structures that

River Valley Civilizations | 63

were usually personal in nature, exercised by a patriarch over a
tribal group related by various degrees of kinship, hydraulic
hierarchies gave rise to the established permanent institution of
impersonal government. Popular revolution in such a state was very
difficult; a dynasty might die out or be overthrown by force, but
the new regime would differ very little from the old one. Hydraulic
empires were usually destroyed by foreign conquerors.

Water Scarcity Today

Access to water is still crucial to modern civilizations; water scarcity

affects more than 2.8 billion people globally. Water stress is the term
used to describe difficulty in finding fresh water or the depletion
of available water sources. Water shortage is the term used when
water is less available due to climate change, pollution, or overuse.
Water crisis is the term used when there is not enough fresh, clean
water to meet local demand. Water scarcity may be physical,
meaning there are inadequate water resources available in a region,
or economic, meaning governments are not managing available
resources properly. The United Nations Development Programme
has found that water scarcity generally results from the latter issue.

Sources

Boundless vets and curates high-quality, openly licensed content

from around the Internet. This particular resource used the
following sources:
“Hydraulic Empire.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_empire

64 | River Valley Civilizations

Wikipedi
CC BY-SA.
“Water Scarcity.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_scarcity
Wikipedia
CC BY 3.0.
“River Civilization.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_civilization
Wikipedia
CC BY-SA.
“Caste.”

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/caste
Wiktionary
CC BY-SA 3.0.
“Nile.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
File:Nile_River_and_delta_from_orbit.jpg
Wikipedia
Public domain.

River Valley Civilizations | 65

8. The Sumerians

Learning Objective

• To understand the history and accomplishments of

the Sumerian people

Key Points

• The Sumerians were a people living in

Mesopotamia from the 27th-20th century BCE.
• The major periods in Sumerian history were the
Ubaid period (6500-4100 BCE), the Uruk period
(4100-2900 BCE), the Early Dynastic period
(2900-2334 BCE), the Akkadian Empire period (2334 –
2218 BCE), the Gutian period (2218-2047 BCE),
Sumerian Renaissance/Third Dynasty of Ur
(2047-1940 BCE), and then decline.
• Many Sumerian clay tablets have been found with
writing. Initially, pictograms were used, followed by
cuneiform and then ideograms.
• Sumerians believed in anthropomorphic
polytheism, or of many gods in human form that were
specific to each city-state.
• Sumerians invented or perfected many forms of

66 | The Sumerians
 technology, including the wheel, mathematics, and
cuneiform script.

Terms

City-states

A city that with its surrounding territory forms an

independent state.

cuneiform script

Wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing

systems of Mesopotamia, surviving mainly on clay tablets.

ideograms

Written characters symbolizing an idea or entity without

indicating the sounds used to say it.

The Sumerians | 67
 pictograms

A pictorial symbol for a word or phrase. They are the

earliest known forms of writing.

pantheon

The collective gods of a people or religion.

Epic of Gilgamesh

An epic poem from the Third Dynasty of Ur (circa 2100

BCE), which is seen as the earliest surviving great work of
literature.

anthropomorphic

Having human characteristics.

“Sumerian” is the name given by the Semitic-speaking Akkadians to

non-Semitic speaking people living in Mespotamia. City-states in
the region, which were organized by canals and boundary stones
and dedicated to a patron god or goddess, first rose to power during
the prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk periods. Sumerian written history
began in the 27th century BCE, but the first intelligible writing
began in the 23rd century BCE. Classical Sumer ends with the rise

68 | The Sumerians
of the Akkadian Empire in the 23rd century BCE, and only enjoys
a brief renaissance in the 21st century BCE. The Sumerians were
eventually absorbed into the Akkadian/Babylonian population.

Periods in Sumerian History

The Ubaid period (6500-4100 BCE) saw the first settlement in

southern Mesopotamia by farmers who brought irrigation
agriculture. Distinctive, finely painted pottery was evident during
this time.
The Uruk period (4100-2900 BCE) saw several transitions. First,
pottery began to be mass-produced. Second, trade goods began to
flow down waterways in southern Mespotamia, and large, temple-
centered cities (most likely theocratic and run by priests-kings) rose
up to facilitate this trade. Slave labor was also utilized.
The Early Dynastic period (2900-2334 BCE) saw writing, in
contrast to pictograms, become commonplace and decipherable.
The Epic of Gilgamesh mentions several leaders, including
Gilgamesh himself, who were likely historical kings. The first
dynastic king was Etana, the 13th king of the first dynasty of Kish.
War was on the increase, and cities erected walls for self-
preservation. Sumerian culture began to spread from southern
Mesopotamia into surrounding areas.

The Sumerians | 69
 Sumerian Necklaces and Headgear Sumerian necklaces and headgear
discovered in the royal (and individual) graves, showing the way they
may have been worn.

70 | The Sumerians
During the Akkadian Empire period (2334-2218 BCE), many in the
region became bilingual in both Sumerian and Akkadian. Toward the
end of the empire, though, Sumerian became increasingly a literary
language.
The Gutian period (2218-2047 BCE) was marked by a period of
chaos and decline, as Guti barbarians defeated the Akkadian military
but were unable to support the civilizations in place.
The Sumerian Renaissance/Third Dynasty of Ur (2047-1940 BCE)
saw the rulers Ur-Nammu and Shulgi, whose power extended into
southern Assyria. However, the region was becoming more Semitic,
and the Sumerian language became a religious language.
The Sumerian Renaissance ended with invasion by the Amorites,
whose dynasty of Isin continued until 1700 BCE, at which point
Mespotamia came under Babylonian rule.

Language and Writing

Many Sumerian clay tablets written in cuneiform script have been

discovered. They are not the oldest example of writing, but
nevertheless represent a great advance in the human ability to write
down history and create literature. Initially, pictograms were used,
followed by cuneiform, and then ideograms. Letters, receipts,
hymns, prayers, and stories have all been found on clay tablets.

The Sumerians | 71
Bill of Sale on a Clay Tablet. This clay tablet shows a bill of sale for a male
slave and building, circa 2600 BCE.

Religion

Sumerians believed in anthropomorphic polytheism, or of many

gods in human form, which were specific to each city-state. The
core pantheon consisted of An (heaven), Enki (a healer and friend to
humans), Enlil (gave spells spirits must obey), Inanna (love and war),
Utu (sun-god), and Sin (moon-god).

72 | The Sumerians
Technology

Sumerians invented or improved a wide range of technology,

including the wheel, cuneiform script, arithmetic, geometry,
irrigation, saws and other tools, sandals, chariots, harpoons, and
beer.

Sources

The Sumerians | 73
9. Ur

Learning Objective

• To understand the significance of the city-state of

Ur

Key Points

• Ur was a major Sumerian city-state located in

Mesopotamia, founded circa 3800 BCE.
• Cuneiform tablets show that Ur was a highly
centralized, wealthy, bureaucratic state during the
third millennium BCE.
• The Ziggurat of Ur was built in the 21st century
BCE, during the reign of Ur-Nammu, and was
reconstructed in the 6th century BCE by Nabonidus,
the last king of Babylon.
• Control of Ur passed among various peoples until
the Third Dynasty of Ur, which featured the strong
kings Ur-Nammu and Shulgi.
• Ur was uninhabited by 500 BCE.

74 | Ur
 Terms

Sargon the Great

A Semitic emperor of the Akkadian Empire, known for

conquering Sumerian city-states in the 24th and 23rd
centuries BCE.

Ziggurat

A rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by

a temple.

Sumerian

A group of non-Semitic people living in ancient

Mesopotamia.

Cuneiform

Wedge-shaped characters imprinted onto clay tablets,

used in ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia.

Ur | 75
A Major Mesopotamian City

Ur was a major Sumerian city-state located in Mesopotamia, marked

today by Tell el-Muqayyar in southern Iraq. It was founded circa
3800 BCE, and was recorded in written history from the 26th
century BCE. Its patron god was Nanna, the moon god, and the city’s
name literally means “the abode of Nanna.”
Cuneiform tablets show that Ur was, during the third millennium
BCE, a highly centralized, wealthy, bureaucratic state. The discovery
of the Royal Tombs, dating from about the 25th century BCE,
showed that the area had luxury items made out of precious metals
and semi-precious stones, which would have required importation.
Some estimate that Ur was the largest city in the world from
2030-1980 BCE, with approximately 65,000 people.

76 | Ur
The City of Ur. This map shows Mesopotamia in the third millennium BCE,
with Ur in the south.

The Ziggurat of Ur

This temple was built in the 21st century BCE, during the reign
of Ur-Nammu, and was reconstructed in the 6th century BCE by
Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon. The ruins, which cover an area
of 3,900 feet by 2,600 feet, were uncovered in the 1930s. It was part
of a temple complex that served as an administrative center for the
city of Ur, and was dedicated to Nanna, the moon god.

Ur | 77
 The Ziggurat of Ur. This is a reconstruction of
Ur-Nammu’s ziggurat.

Control of Ur

Between the 24th and 22nd century BCE, Ur was controlled by

Sargon the Great, of the Akkadian Empire. After the fall of this
empire, Ur was ruled by the barbarian Gutians, until King Ur-
Nammu came to power, circa 2047 – 2030 BCE (the Third Dynasty of
Ur). Advances during this time included the building of temples, like
the Ziggurat, better agricultural irrigation, and a code of laws, called
the Code of Ur-Nammu, which preceded the Code of Hammurabi by
300 years.
Shulgi succeeded Ur-Nammu, and was able to increase Ur’s power
by creating a highly centralized bureaucratic state. Shulgi, who
eventually declared himself a god, ruled from 2029-1982 BCE, and
was well-known for at least two thousand years after.
Three more kings, Amar-Sin, Shu0Sin and Ibbi-Sin, ruled Ur
before it fell to the Elamites in 1940 BCE. Although Ur lost its
political power, it remained economically important. It was ruled
by the first dynasty of Babylonia, then part of the Sealand Dynasty,
then by the Kassites before falling to the Assyrian Empire from the

78 | Ur
10th-7th century BE. After the 7th century BCE, it was ruled by
the Chaldean Dynasty of Babylon. It began its final decline around
550 BCE, and was uninhabited by 500 BE. The final decline was
likely due to drought, changing river patterns and the silting of the
Persian Gulf.

Sources

Ur | 79
10. The Akkadian Empire

Learning Objective

• Describe the key political characteristics of the

Akkadian Empire

Key Points

• The Akkadian Empire was an ancient Semitic

empire centered in the city of Akkad and its
surrounding region in ancient Mesopotamia, which
united all the indigenous Akkadian speaking Semites
and the Sumerian speakers under one rule within a
multilingual empire.
• King Sargon, the founder of the empire, conquered
several regions in Mesopotamia and consolidated his
power by instating Akaddian officials in new
territories. He extended trade across Mesopotamia
and strengthened the economy through rain-fed
agriculture in northern Mesopotamia.
• The Akkadian Empire experienced a period of
successful conquest under Naram-Sin due to benign
climatic conditions, huge agricultural surpluses, and
the confiscation of wealth.

80 | The Akkadian Empire

 • The empire collapsed after the invasion of the
Gutians. Changing climatic conditions also
contributed to internal rivalries and fragmentation,
and the empire eventually split into the Assyrian
Empire in the north and the Babylonian empire in the
south.

Terms

Gutians

A group of barbarians from the Zagros Mountains who

invaded the Akkadian Empire and contributed to its
collapse.

Sargon

The first king of the Akkadians. He conquered many of

the surrounding regions to establish the massive
multilingual empire.

The Akkadian Empire | 81

 Akkadian Empire

An ancient Semitic empire centered in the city of Akkad

and its surrounding region in ancient Mesopotamia.

Cuneiform

One of the earliest known systems of writing,

distinguished by its wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets,
and made by means of a blunt reed for a stylus.

Semites

Today, the word “Semite” may be used to refer to any

member of any of a number of peoples of ancient
Southwest Asian descent, including the Akkadians,
Phoenicians, Hebrews (Jews), Arabs, and their descendants.

Naram-Sin

An Akkadian king who conquered Ebla, Armum, and

Magan, and built a royal residence at Tell Brak.

The Akkadian Empire was an ancient Semitic empire centered in the

city of Akkad, which united all the indigenous Akkadian speaking

82 | The Akkadian Empire

Semites and Sumerian speakers under one rule. The Empire
controlled Mesopotamia, the Levant, and parts of Iran.

Map of the Akkadian Empire. The Akkadian Empire is pictured in brown. The
directions of the military campaigns are shown as yellow arrows.

Its founder was Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BCE). Under Sargon

and his successors, the Akkadian Empire reached its political peak
between the 24th and 22nd centuries BCE. Akkad is sometimes
regarded as the first empire in history.

Sargon and His Dynasty

Sargon claimed to be the son of La’ibum or Itti-Bel, a humble

gardener, and possibly a hierodule, or priestess to Ishtar or Inanna.
Some later claimed that his mother was an “entu” priestess (high

The Akkadian Empire | 83

priestess). Originally a cupbearer to king Ur-Zababa of Kish, Sargon
became a gardener, which gave him access to a disciplined corps of
workers who also may have served as his first soldiers. Displacing
Ur-Zababa, Sargon was crowned king and began a career of foreign
conquest. He invaded Syria and Canaan on four different campaigns,
and spent three years subduing the countries of “the west” to unite
them with Mesopotamia “into a single empire.”
Sargon’s empire reached westward as far as the Mediterranean
Sea and perhaps Cyprus (Kaptara); northward as far as the
mountains; eastward over Elam; and as far south as Magan
(Oman)—a region over which he purportedly reigned for 56 years,
though only four “year-names” survive. He replaced rulers with
noble citizens of Akkad. Trade extended from the silver mines of
Anatolia to the lapis lazuli mines in Afghanistan, and from the cedars
of Lebanon to the copper of Magan. The empire’s breadbasket was
the rain-fed agricultural system of northern Mesopotamia (Assyria),
and a chain of fortresses was built to control the imperial wheat
production.
Sargon, throughout his long life, showed special deference to
the Sumerian deities, particularly Inanna (Ishtar), his patroness, and
Zababa, the warrior god of Kish. He called himself “the anointed
priest of Anu” and “the great ensi of Enlil”.
Sargon managed to crush his opposition even in old age.
Difficulties also broke out in the reign of his sons, Rimush
(2278–2270 BCE), who was assassinated by his own courtiers, and
Manishtushu (2269–2255 BCE), who reigned for 15 years. He, too,
was likely assassinated in a palace conspiracy.

84 | The Akkadian Empire

 Bronze head of a king. Bronze head of a king, most
likely Sargon of Akkad but possibly Naram-Sin.
Unearthed in Nineveh (now in Iraq).

Naram-Sin

Manishtushu’s son and successor, Naram-Sin (called, Beloved of Sin)

The Akkadian Empire | 85

(2254–2218 BCE), assumed the imperial title “King Naram-Sin, King
of the Four Quarters.” He was also, for the first time in Sumerian
culture, addressed as “the god of Agade (Akkad).” This represents a
marked shift away from the previous religious belief that kings were
only representatives of the people toward the gods.
Naram-Sin conquered Ebla and Armum, and built a royal
residence at Tell Brak, a crossroads at the heart of the Khabur
River basin of the Jezirah. Naram-Sin also conquered Magan and
created garrisons to protect the main roads. This productive period
of Akkadian conquest may have been based upon benign climatic
conditions, huge agricultural surpluses, and the confiscation of the
wealth of other peoples.

Stele of Naram-Sin. This stele commemorates Naram-Sin’s victory against the

Lullubi from Zagros in 2260 BCE. Naram-Sin is depicted to be wearing a
horned helmet, a symbol of divinity, and is also portrayed in a larger scale in
comparison to others to emphasize his superiority.

86 | The Akkadian Empire

Living in the Akkadian Empire

Future Mesopotamian states compared themselves to the Akkadian

Empire, which they saw as a classical standard in governance. The
economy was dependent on irrigated farmlands of southern Iraq,
and rain-fed agriculture of Northern Iraq. There was often a surplus
of agriculture but shortages of other goods, like metal ore, timber,
and building stone. Art of the period often focused on kings, and
depicted somber and grim conflict and subjugation to divinities.
Sumerians and Akkadians were bilingual in each other’s languages,
but Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian. The empire had a postal
service, and a library featuring astronomical observations.

Collapse of the Akkadian Empire

The Empire of Akkad collapsed in 2154 BCE, within 180 years of its
founding. The collapse ushered in a Dark Age period of regional
decline that lasted until the rise of the Third Dynasty of Ur in 2112
BCE. By the end of the reign of Naram-Sin’s son, Shar-kali-sharri
(2217-2193 BCE), the empire had weakened significantly. There was a
period of anarchy between 2192 BC and 2168 BCE. Some centralized
authority may have been restored under Shu-Durul (2168-2154 BCE),
but he was unable to prevent the empire collapsing outright from
the invasion of barbarian peoples, known as the Gutians, from the
Zagros Mountains.
Little is known about the Gutian period or for how long it lasted.
Cuneiform sources suggest that the Gutians’ administration showed
little concern for maintaining agriculture, written records, or public
safety; they reputedly released all farm animals to roam about
Mesopotamia freely, and soon brought about famine and rocketing
grain prices. The Sumerian king Ur-Nammu (2112-2095 BCE) later
cleared the Gutians from Mesopotamia during his reign.

The Akkadian Empire | 87

 The collapse of rain-fed agriculture in the Upper Country due to
drought meant the loss of the agrarian subsidies which had kept
the Akkadian Empire solvent in southern Mesopotamia. Rivalries
between pastoralists and farmers increased. Attempts to control
access to water led to increased political instability; meanwhile,
severe depopulation occurred.
After the fall of the Akkadian Empire, the Akkadian people
coalesced into two major Akkadian speaking nations: Assyria in the
north, and, a few centuries later, Babylonia in the south.

Sources

88 | The Akkadian Empire

11. Babylon

Learning Objective

• Describe key characteristics of the Babylonian

Empire under Hammurabi

Key Points

• A series of conflicts between the Amorites and the

Assyrians followed the collapse of the Akkadian
Empire, out of which Babylon arose as a powerful
city-state c. 1894 BCE.
• Babylon remained a minor territory for a century
after it was founded, until the reign of its sixth
Amorite ruler, Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE), an
extremely efficient ruler who established a
bureaucracy with taxation and centralized
government.
• Hammurabi also enjoyed various military successes
over the whole of southern Mesopotamia, modern-
day Iran and Syria, and the old Assyrian Empire in
Asian Minor.
• After the death of Hammurabi, the First Babylonian
Dynasty eventually fell due to attacks from outside its

Babylon | 89
 borders.

Terms

Marduk

The south Mesopotamian god that rose to supremacy in

the pantheon over the previous god, Enlil.

Hammurabi

The sixth king of Babylon, who, under his rule, saw

Babylonian advancements, both militarily and
bureaucratically.

Code of Hammurabi

A code of law that echoed and improved upon earlier

written laws of Sumer, Akkad, and Assyria.

90 | Babylon
 Amorites

An ancient Semitic-speaking people from ancient Syria

who also occupied large parts of Mesopotamia in the 21st
Century BCE.

The Rise of the First Babylonian Dynasty

Following the disintegration of the Akkadian Empire, the Sumerians

rose up with the Third Dynasty of Ur in the late 22nd century BCE,
and ejected the barbarian Gutians from southern Mesopotamia. The
Sumerian “Ur-III” dynasty eventually collapsed at the hands of the
Elamites, another Semitic people, in 2002 BCE. Conflicts between
the Amorites (Western Semitic nomads) and the Assyrians
continued until Sargon I (1920-1881 BCE) succeeded as king in
Assyria and withdrew Assyria from the region, leaving the Amorites
in control (the Amorite period).
One of these Amorite dynasties founded the city-state of Babylon
circa 1894 BCE, which would ultimately take over the others and
form the short-lived first Babylonian empire, also called the Old
Babylonian Period.
A chieftain named Sumuabum appropriated the then relatively
small city of Babylon from the neighboring Mesopotamian city state
of Kazallu, turning it into a state in its own right. Sumuabum
appears never to have been given the title of King, however.

Babylon | 91
The Babylonians Under Hammurabi

Babylon remained a minor territory for a century after it was

founded, until the reign of its sixth Amorite ruler, Hammurabi
(1792-1750 BCE). He was an efficient ruler, establishing a centralized
bureaucracy with taxation. Hammurabi freed Babylon from Elamite
dominance, and then conquered the whole of southern
Mesopotamia, bringing stability and the name of Babylonia to the
region.
The armies of Babylonia under Hammurabi were well-disciplined,
and he was able to invade modern-day Iran to the east and conquer
the pre-Iranic Elamites, Gutians and Kassites. To the west,
Hammurabi enjoyed military success against the Semitic states of
the Levant (modern Syria), including the powerful kingdom of Mari.
Hammurabi also entered into a protracted war with the Old
Assyrian Empire for control of Mesopotamia and the Near East.
Assyria had extended control over parts of Asia Minor from the
21st century BCE, and from the latter part of the 19th century BCE
had asserted itself over northeast Syria and central Mesopotamia as
well. After a protracted, unresolved struggle over decades with the
Assyrian king Ishme-Dagan, Hammurabi forced his successor, Mut-
Ashkur, to pay tribute to Babylon c. 1751 BCE, thus giving Babylonia
control over Assyria’s centuries-old Hattian and Hurrian colonies in
Asia Minor.

92 | Babylon
Babylonia under Hammurabi. The extent of the Babylonian Empire at the
start and end of Hammurabi’s reign.

One of the most important works of this First Dynasty of Babylon

was the compilation in about 1754 BCE of a code of laws, called the
Code of Hammurabi, which echoed and improved upon the earlier
written laws of Sumer, Akkad, and Assyria. It is one of the oldest
deciphered writings of significant length in the world. The Code
consists of 282 laws, with scaled punishments depending on social
status, adjusting “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Nearly one-
half of the Code deals with matters of contract. A third of the code
addresses issues concerning household and family relationships.
From before 3000 BC until the reign of Hammurabi, the major
cultural and religious center of southern Mesopotamia had been
the ancient city of Nippur, where the god Enlil reigned supreme.
However, with the rise of Hammurabi, this honor was transferred

Babylon | 93
to Babylon, and the god Marduk rose to supremacy (with the god
Ashur remaining the dominant deity in Assyria). The city of Babylon
became known as a “holy city,” where any legitimate ruler of
southern Mesopotamia had to be crowned. Hammurabi turned what
had previously been a minor administrative town into a major city,
increasing its size and population dramatically, and conducting a
number of impressive architectural works.

The Decline of the First Babylonian

Dynasty

Despite Hammurabi’s various military successes, southern

Mesopotamia had no natural, defensible boundaries, which made
it vulnerable to attack. After the death of Hammurabi, his empire
began to disintegrate rapidly. Under his successor Samsu-iluna
(1749-1712 BCE), the far south of Mesopotamia was lost to a native
Akkadian king, called Ilum-ma-ili, and became the Sealand Dynasty;
it remained free of Babylon for the next 272 years.
Both the Babylonians and their Amorite rulers were driven from
Assyria to the north by an Assyrian-Akkadian governor named
Puzur-Sin, c. 1740 BCE. Amorite rule survived in a much-reduced
Babylon, Samshu-iluna’s successor, Abi-Eshuh, made a vain attempt
to recapture the Sealand Dynasty for Babylon, but met defeat at the
hands of king Damqi-ilishu II. By the end of his reign, Babylonia had
shrunk to the small and relatively weak nation it had been upon its
foundation.

Sources

94 | Babylon
12. Hammurabi's Code

Learning Objective

• Describe the significance of Hammurabi’s code

Key Points

• The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest

deciphered writings of length in the world (written c.
1754 BCE), and features a code of law from ancient
Babylon in Mesopotamia.
• The Code consisted of 282 laws, with punishments
that varied based on social status (slaves, free men,
and property owners).
• Some have seen the Code as an early form of
constitutional government, as an early form of the
presumption of innocence, and as the ability to
present evidence in one’s case.
• Major laws covered in the Code include slander,
trade, slavery, the duties of workers, theft, liability,
and divorce. Nearly half of the code focused on
contracts, and a third on household relationships.
• There were three social classes: the amelu (the
elite), the mushkenu (free men) and ardu (slave).

Hammurabi's Code | 95
 • Women had limited rights, and were mostly based
around marriage contracts and divorce rights.

Terms

cuneiform

Wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing

systems of Mesopotamia, impressed on clay tablets.

ardu

In Babylon, a slave.

mushkenu

In Babylon, a free man who was probably landless.

amelu

In Babylon, an elite social class of people.

96 | Hammurabi's Code
 stele

A stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide,

erected as a monument.

The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest deciphered writings of

length in the world, and features a code of law from ancient Babylon
in Mesopotamia. Written in about 1754 BCE by the sixth king of
Babylon, Hammurabi, the Code was written on stone stele and clay
tablets. It consisted of 282 laws, with punishments that varied based
on social status (slaves, free men, and property owners). It is most
famous for the “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (lex talionis)
form of punishment. Other forms of codes of law had been in
existence in the region around this time, including the Code of Ur-
Nammu, king of Ur (c. 2050 BCE), the Laws of Eshnunna (c. 1930
BCE) and the codex of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin (c. 1870 BCE).
The laws were arranged in groups, so that citizens could easily
read what was required of them. Some have seen the Code as an
early form of constitutional government, and as an early form of the
presumption of innocence, and the ability to present evidence in
one’s case. Intent was often recognized and affected punishment,
with neglect severely punished. Some of the provisions may have
been codification of Hammurabi’s decisions, for the purpose of self-
glorification. Nevertheless, the Code was studied, copied, and used
as a model for legal reasoning for at least 1500 years after.
The prologue of the Code features Hammurabi stating that he
wants “to make justice visible in the land, to destroy the wicked
person and the evil-doer, that the strong might not injure the weak.”
Major laws covered in the Code include slander, trade, slavery, the
duties of workers, theft, liability, and divorce. Nearly half of the

Hammurabi's Code | 97
code focused on contracts, such as wages to be paid, terms of
transactions, and liability in case of property damage. A third of the
code focused on household and family issues, including inheritance,
divorce, paternity and sexual behavior. One section establishes that
a judge who incorrectly decides an issue may be removed from his
position permanently. A few sections address military service.
One of the most well-known sections of the Code was law #196:
“If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye.
If one break a man’s bone, they shall break his bone. If one destroy
the eye of a freeman or break the bone of a freeman he shall pay one
gold mina. If one destroy the eye of a man’s slave or break a bone of
a man’s slave he shall pay one-half his price.”

The Social Classes

Under Hammurabi’s reign, there were three social classes. The

amelu was originally an elite person with full civil rights, whose
birth, marriage and death were recorded. Although he had certain
privileges, he also was liable for harsher punishment and higher
fines. The king and his court, high officials, professionals and
craftsmen belonged to this group. The mushkenu was a free man
who may have been landless. He was required to accept monetary
compensation, paid smaller fines and lived in a separate section of
the city. The ardu was a slave whose master paid for his upkeep,
but also took his compensation. Ardu could own property and other
slaves, and could purchase his own freedom.

Women’s Rights

Women entered into marriage through a contract arranged by her

98 | Hammurabi's Code
family. She came with a dowry, and the gifts given by the groom
to the bride also came with her. Divorce was up to the husband,
but after divorce he then had to restore the dowry and provide her
with an income, and any children came under the woman’s custody.
However, if the woman was considered a “bad wife” she might be
sent away, or made a slave in the husband’s house. If a wife brought
action against her husband for cruelty and neglect, she could have
a legal separation if the case was proved. Otherwise, she might be
drowned as punishment. Adultery was punished with drowning of
both parties, unless a husband was willing to pardon his wife.

Discovery of the Code

Archaeologists, including Egyptologist Gustave Jequier, discovered

the code in 1901 at the ancient site of Susa in Khuzestan; a
translation was published in 1902 by Jean-Vincent Scheil. A basalt
stele containing the code in cuneiform script inscribed in the
Akkadian language is currently on display in the Louvre, in Paris,
France. Replicas are located at other museums throughout the
world.

Hammurabi's Code | 99
 The Code of Hammurabi. This basalt stele has
the Code of Hammurabi inscribed in
cuneiform script in the Akkadian language.

Sources

100 | Hammurabi's Code

13. Babylonian Culture

Learning Objective

• Evaluate the extent and influence of Babylonian

culture

Key Points

• Babylonian temples were massive structures of

crude brick, supported by buttresses. Such uses of
brick led to the early development of the pilaster and
column, and of frescoes and enameled tiles.
• Certain pieces of Babylonian art featured crude
three-dimensional statues, and gem-cutting was
considered a high-perfection art.
• The Babylonians produced extensive compendiums
of astronomical records containing catalogues of
stars and constellations, as well as schemes for
calculating various astronomical coordinates and
phenomena.
• Medicinally, the Babylonians introduced basic
medical processes, such as diagnosis and prognosis,
and also catalogued a variety of illnesses with their
symptoms.

Babylonian Culture | 101

 • Both Babylonian men and women learned to read
and write, and much of Babylonian literature is
translated from ancient Sumerian texts, such as the
Epic of Gilgamesh.

Terms

Epic of Gilgamesh

One of the most famous Babylonian works, a twelve-book

saga translated from the original Sumerian.

pilaster

An architectural element in classical architecture used to

give the appearance of a supporting column and to
articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental
function.

etiology

Causation. In medicine, cause or origin of disease or

condition.

102 | Babylonian Culture

 mudbrick

A brick mixture of loam, mud, sand, and water mixed with

a binding material, such as rice husks or straw.

Enūma Anu Enlil

A series of cuneiform tablets containing centuries of

Babylonian observations of celestial phenomena.

Diagnostic Handbook

The most extensive Babylonian medical text, written by

Esagil-kin-apli of Borsippa.

Art and Architecture

In Babylonia, an abundance of clay and lack of stone led to greater

use of mudbrick. Babylonian temples were thus massive structures
of crude brick, supported by buttresses. The use of brick led to the
early development of the pilaster and column, and of frescoes and
enameled tiles. The walls were brilliantly colored, and sometimes
plated with zinc or gold, as well as with tiles. Painted terracotta
cones for torches were also embedded in the plaster. In Babylonia,
in place of the bas-relief, there was a preponderance of three-

Babylonian Culture | 103

dimensional figures—the earliest examples being the Statues of
Gudea—that were realistic, if also somewhat clumsy. The paucity of
stone in Babylonia made every pebble a commodity and led to a high
perfection in the art of gem-cutting.

Astronomy

During the 8th and 7th centuries BCE, Babylonian astronomers

developed a new empirical approach to astronomy. They began
studying philosophy dealing with the ideal nature of the universe
and began employing an internal logic within their predictive
planetary systems. This was an important contribution to
astronomy and the philosophy of science, and some scholars have
thus referred to this new approach as the first scientific revolution.
Tablets dating back to the Old Babylonian period document the
application of mathematics to variations in the length of daylight
over a solar year. Centuries of Babylonian observations of celestial
phenomena are recorded in a series of cuneiform tablets known as
the “Enūma Anu Enlil.” In fact, the oldest significant astronomical
text known to mankind is Tablet 63 of the Enūma Anu Enlil, the
Venus tablet of Ammi-saduqa, which lists the first and last visible
risings of Venus over a period of about 21 years. This record is
the earliest evidence that planets were recognized as periodic
phenomena. The oldest rectangular astrolabe dates back to
Babylonia c. 1100 BCE. The MUL.APIN contains catalogues of stars
and constellations as well as schemes for predicting heliacal risings
and the settings of the planets, as well as lengths of daylight
measured by a water-clock, gnomon, shadows, and intercalations.
The Babylonian GU text arranges stars in “strings” that lie along
declination circles (thus measuring right-ascensions or time-
intervals), and also employs the stars of the zenith, which are also
separated by given right-ascensional differences.

104 | Babylonian Culture

Medicine

The oldest Babylonian texts on medicine date back to the First

Babylonian Dynasty in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. The
most extensive Babylonian medical text, however, is the Diagnostic
Handbook written by the ummânū, or chief scholar, Esagil-kin-apli
of Borsippa.
The Babylonians introduced the concepts of diagnosis, prognosis,
physical examination, and prescriptions. The Diagnostic Handbook
additionally introduced the methods of therapy and etiology
outlining the use of empiricism, logic, and rationality in diagnosis,
prognosis and treatment. For example, the text contains a list of
medical symptoms and often detailed empirical observations along
with logical rules used in combining observed symptoms on the
body of a patient with its diagnosis and prognosis. In particular,
Esagil-kin-apli discovered a variety of illnesses and diseases and
described their symptoms in his Diagnostic Handbook, including
those of many varieties of epilepsy and related ailments.

Literature

Libraries existed in most towns and temples. Women as well as

men learned to read and write, and had knowledge of the extinct
Sumerian language, along with a complicated and extensive
syllabary.
A considerable amount of Babylonian literature was translated
from Sumerian originals, and the language of religion and law long
continued to be written in the old agglutinative language of Sumer.
Vocabularies, grammars, and interlinear translations were compiled
for the use of students, as well as commentaries on the older texts
and explanations of obscure words and phrases. The characters of

Babylonian Culture | 105

the syllabary were organized and named, and elaborate lists of them
were drawn up.
There are many Babylonian literary works whose titles have come
down to us. One of the most famous of these was the Epic of
Gilgamesh, in twelve books, translated from the original Sumerian
by a certain Sin-liqi-unninni, and arranged upon an astronomical
principle. Each division contains the story of a single adventure
in the career of King Gilgamesh. The whole story is a composite
product, and it is probable that some of the stories are artificially
attached to the central figure.

106 | Babylonian Culture

A Tablet from the Epic of Gilgamesh. The Deluge tablet of the Gilgamesh epic
in Akkadian.

Philosophy

The origins of Babylonian philosophy can be traced back to early

Mesopotamian wisdom literature, which embodied certain
philosophies of life, particularly ethics, in the forms of dialectic,

Babylonian Culture | 107

dialogs, epic poetry, folklore, hymns, lyrics, prose, and proverbs.
Babylonian reasoning and rationality developed beyond empirical
observation. It is possible that Babylonian philosophy had an
influence on Greek philosophy, particularly Hellenistic philosophy.
The Babylonian text Dialogue of Pessimism contains similarities to
the agonistic thought of the sophists, the Heraclitean doctrine of
contrasts, and the dialogs of Plato, as well as a precursor to the
maieutic Socratic method of Socrates.

Neo-Babylonian Culture

The resurgence of Babylonian culture in the 7th and 6th century

BCE resulted in a number of developments. In astronomy, a new
approach was developed, based on the philosophy of the ideal
nature of the early universe, and an internal logic within their
predictive planetary systems. Some scholars have called this the
first scientific revolution, and it was later adopted by Greek
astronomers. The Babylonian astronomer Seleucus of Seleucia (b.
190 BCE) supported a heliocentric model of planetary motion. In
mathematics, the Babylonians devised the base 60 numeral system,
determined the square root of two correctly to seven places, and
demonstrated knowledge of the Pythagorean theorem before
Pythagoras.

Sources

108 | Babylonian Culture

14. Nebuchadnezzar and the
Fall of Babylon

Learning Objective

• Describe the key characteristics of the Second

Dynasty of Isin

Key Points

• Following the collapse of the First Babylonian

Dynasty under Hammurabi, the Babylonian Empire
entered a period of relatively weakened rule under
the Kassites for 576 years. The Kassite Dynasty
eventually fell itself due to the loss of territory and
military weakness.
• The Kassites were succeeded by the Elamites, who
themselves were conquered by Marduk-kabit-
ahheshu, the founder of the Second Dynasty of Isin.
• Nebuchadnezzar I was the most famous ruler of the
Second Dynasty of Isin. He enjoyed military successes
for the first part of his career, then turned to peaceful
building projects in his later years.
• The Babylonian Empire suffered major blows to its

Nebuchadnezzar and the Fall of

Babylon | 109
 power when Nebuchadnezzar’s sons lost a series of
wars with Assyria, and their successors effectively
became vassals of the Assyrian king. Babylonia
descended into a period of chaos in 1026 BCE.

Terms

Assyrian Empire

A major Semitic empire of the Ancient Near East which

existed as an independent state for a period of
approximately nineteen centuries.

Nebuchadnezzar I

The most famous ruler of the Second Dynasty of Isin,

who sacked the Elamite capital of Susa and devoted himself
to peaceful building projects after securing Babylonia’s
borders.

Elamites

An ancient civilization centered in the far west and

southwest of modern-day Iran.

110 | Nebuchadnezzar and the Fall of Babylon

 Kassite Dynasty

An ancient Near Eastern people who controlled Babylonia

for nearly 600 years after the fall of the First Babylonian
Dynasty.

Marduk-kabit-ahheshu

Overthrower of the Elamites and the founder of the

Second Dynasty of Isin.

Kudurru

A type of stone document used as boundary stones and

as records of land grants to vassals by the Kassites in
ancient Babylonia.

The Fall of the Kassite Dynasty and the Rise

of the Second Dynasty of Isin

Following the collapse of the First Babylonian Dynasty under

Hammurabi, the Babylonian Empire entered a period of relatively
weakened rule under the Kassites for 576 years— the longest
dynasty in Babylonian history. The Kassite Dynasty eventually fell

Nebuchadnezzar and the Fall of Babylon | 111

due to the loss of territory and military weakness, which resulted in
the evident reduction in literacy and culture. In 1157 BCE, Babylon
was conquered by Shutruk-Nahhunte of Elam.
The Elamites did not remain in control of Babylonia long, and
Marduk-kabit-ahheshu (1155-1139 BCE) established the Second
Dynasty of Isin. This dynasty was the very first native Akkadian-
speaking south Mesopotamian dynasty to rule Babylon, and was
to remain in power for some 125 years. The new king successfully
drove out the Elamites and prevented any possible Kassite revival.
Later in his reign, he went to war with Assyria and had some initial
success before suffering defeat at the hands of the Assyrian king
Ashur-Dan I. He was succeeded by his son Itti-Marduk-balatu in
1138 BCE, who was followed a year later by Ninurta-nadin-shumi in
1137 BCE.

The Reign of Nebuchadnezzar I and His

Sons

Nebuchadnezzar I (1124-1103 BCE) was the most famous ruler of

the Second Dynasty of Isin. He not only fought and defeated the
Elamites and drove them from Babylonian territory but invaded
Elam itself, sacked the Elamite capital Susa, and recovered the
sacred statue of Marduk that had been carried off from Babylon. In
the later years of his reign, he devoted himself to peaceful building
projects and securing Babylonia’s borders. His construction
activities are memorialized in building inscriptions of the Ekituš-
ḫegal-tila, the temple of Adad in Babylon, and on bricks from the
temple of Enlil in Nippur. A late Babylonian inventory lists his
donations of gold vessels in Ur. The earliest of three extant
economic texts is dated to Nebuchadnezzar’s eighth year; in
addition to two kudurrus and a stone memorial tablet, they form
the only existing commercial records. These artifacts evidence the

112 | Nebuchadnezzar and the Fall of Babylon

dynasty’s power as builders, craftsmen, and managers of the
business of the empire.

The Kudurru of Nebuchadnezzar. This detail depicts Nebuchadnezzar

granting Marduk freedom from taxation.

Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his two sons, firstly Enlil-nadin-

apli (1103-1100 BCE), who lost territory to Assyria, and then Marduk-
nadin-ahhe (1098-1081 BCE), who also went to war with Assyria.
Some initial success in these conflicts gave way to catastrophic
defeat at the hands of Tiglath-pileser I, who annexed huge swathes
of Babylonian territory, thereby further expanding the Assyrian
Empire. Following this military defeat, a terrible famine gripped
Babylon, which invited attacks from Semitic Aramean tribes from
the west.
In 1072 BCE, King Marduk-shapik-zeri signed a peace treaty with
Ashur-bel-kala of Assyria. His successor, Kadašman-Buriaš,
however, did not maintain his predecessor’s peaceful intentions, and
his actions prompted the Assyrian king to invade Babylonia and
place his own man on the throne. Assyrian domination continued

Nebuchadnezzar and the Fall of Babylon | 113

until c. 1050 BCE, with the two reigning Babylonian kings regarded
as vassals of Assyria. Assyria descended into a period of civil war
after 1050 BCE, which allowed Babylonia to once more largely free
itself from the Assyrian yoke for a few decades.
However, Babylonia soon began to suffer repeated incursions
from Semitic nomadic peoples migrating from the west, and large
swathes of Babylonia were appropriated and occupied by these
newly arrived Arameans, Chaldeans, and Suteans. Starting in 1026
and lasting till 911 BCE, Babylonia descended into a period of chaos.

Sources

114 | Nebuchadnezzar and the Fall of Babylon

15. The Assyrians

Learning Objective

• Describe key characteristics and notable events of

the Assyrian Empire

Key Points

• Centered on the Upper Tigris river in northern

Mesopotamia, the Assyrians came to rule powerful
empires at several times, the last of which grew to be
the largest and most powerful empire the world had
yet seen.
• At its peak, the Assyrian empire stretched from
Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea to Persia, and from
the Caucasus Mountains (Armenia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan) to the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt. It was
at the height of technological, scientific, and cultural
achievements for its time.
• In the Old Assyrian period, Assyria established
colonies in Asia Minor and the Levant, and asserted
itself over southern Mesopotamia under king
Ilushuma.
• Assyria experienced fluctuating fortunes in the

The Assyrians | 115

 Middle Assyrian period, with some of its kings finding
themselves under the influence of foreign rulers
while others eclipsed neighboring empires.
• Assyria became a great military power during the
Neo-Assyrian period, and saw the conquests of large
empires, such as Egyptians, the Phoenicians, the
Hittites, and the Persians, among others.
• After its fall in the late 600s BCE, Assyria remained
a province and geo-political entity under various
empires until the mid-7th century CE.

Terms

Aššur

The original capital of the Assyrian Empire, which dates

back to 2600 BCE.

Assyrian Empire

A major Semitic kingdom of the Ancient Near East, which

existed as an independent state for a period of
approximately nineteen centuries from c. 2500-605 BCE.

The Assyrian Empire was a major Semitic kingdom, and often

116 | The Assyrians

empire, of the Ancient Near East. It existed as an independent state
for a period of approximately 19 centuries from c. 2500 BCE to 605
BCE, which spans the Early Bronze Age through to the late Iron
Age. For a further 13 centuries, from the end of the 7th century
BCE to the mid-7th century CE, it survived as a geo-political entity
ruled, for the most part, by foreign powers (although a number of
small Neo-Assyrian states arose at different times throughout this
period).

Map of the Ancient Near East during the 14th century BCE, showing the great
powers of the day. This map shows the extent of the empires of Egypt (orange),
Hatti (blue), the Kassite kingdom of Babylon (black), Assyria (yellow), and
Mitanni (brown). The extent of the Achaean/Mycenaean civilization is shown
in purple.

Centered on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia

(northern Iraq, northeast Syria, and southeastern Turkey), the
Assyrians came to rule powerful empires at several times, the last of
which grew to be the largest and most powerful empire the world
had yet seen.
As a substantial part of the greater Mesopotamian “Cradle of
Civilization,” Assyria was at the height of technological, scientific,
and cultural achievements for its time. At its peak, the Assyrian
empire stretched from Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea to Persia

The Assyrians | 117

(Iran), and from the Caucasus Mountains (Armenia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan) to the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt. Assyria is named
for its original capital, the ancient city of Ašur (a.k.a., Ashur) which
dates to c. 2600 BCE and was located in what is now the Saladin
Province of northern Iraq. Ashur was originally one of a number of
Akkadian city states in Mesopotamia. In the late 24th century BCE,
Assyrian kings were regional leaders under Sargon of Akkad, who
united all the Akkadian Semites and Sumerian-speaking peoples of
Mesopotamia under the Akkadian Empire (c. 2334 BC-2154 BCE).
Following the fall of the Akkadian Empire, c. 2154 BCE, and the
short-lived succeeding Sumerian Third Dynasty of Ur, which ruled
southern Assyria, Assyria regained full independence.
The history of Assyria proper is roughly divided into three
periods, known as Old Assyrian (late 21st-18th century BCE), Middle
Assyrian (1365-1056 BCE), and Neo-Assyrian (911- 612BCE). These
periods roughly correspond to the Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze
Age, and Early Iron Age, respectively. In the Old Assyrian period,
Assyria established colonies in Asia Minor and the Levant. Under
king Ilushuma, it asserted itself over southern Mesopotamia. From
the late 19th century BCE, Assyria came into conflict with the newly
created state of Babylonia, which eventually eclipsed the older
Sumero-Akkadian states in the south, such as Ur, Isin, Larsa and
Kish. Assyria experienced fluctuating fortunes in the Middle
Assyrian period. Assyria had a period of empire under Shamshi-
Adad I and Ishme-Dagan in the 19th and 18th centuries BCE.
Following the reigns of these two kings, it found itself under
Babylonian and Mitanni-Hurrian domination for short periods in the
18th and 15th centuries BCE, respectively.
However, a shift in the Assyrian’s dominance occurred with the
rise of the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365 BCE-1056 BCE). This period
saw the reigns of great kings, such as Ashur-uballit I, Arik-den-
ili, Tukulti-Ninurta I, and Tiglath-Pileser I. Additionally, during this
period, Assyria overthrew Mitanni and eclipsed both the Hittite
Empire and Egyptian Empire in the Near East. Long wars helped
build Assyria into a warrior society, supported by landed nobility,

118 | The Assyrians

which supplied horses to the military. All free male citizens were
required to serve in the military, and women had very low status.
Beginning with the campaigns of Adad-nirari II from 911 BCE,
Assyria again showed itself to be a great power over the next three
centuries during the Neo-Assyrian period. It overthrew the Twenty-
Fifth dynasty of Egypt, and conquered a number of other notable
civilizations, including Babylonia, Elam, Media, Persia, Phoenicia/
Canaan, Aramea (Syria), Arabia, Israel, and the Neo-Hittites. They
drove the Ethiopians and Nubians from Egypt, defeated the
Cimmerians and Scythians, and exacted tribute from Phrygia,
Magan, and Punt, among others.
After its fall (between 612-605 BCE), Assyria remained a province
and geo-political entity under the Babylonian, Median, Achaemenid,
Seleucid, Parthian, Roman, and Sassanid Empires, until the Arab
Islamic invasion and conquest of Mesopotamia in the mid-7th
century CE when it was finally dissolved.
Assyria is mainly remembered for its military victories,
technological advancements (such as using iron for weapons and
building roads), use of torture to inspire fear, and a written history
of conquests. Its military had not only general troops, but
charioteers, cavalry, bowmen, and lancers.

Sources

The Assyrians | 119

16. The Hittites

Learning Objective

• Describe the key characteristics of the Hittite

Empire

Key Points

• The Hittite Empire was established at Hattusa in

north-central Anatolia around 1600 BCE, and reached
its height during the mid-14th century BCE under
Suppiluliuma I.
• After c. 1180 BCE, the empire came to an end during
the Bronze Age collapse and splintered into several
independent “Neo-Hittite” city-states, some of which
survived until the 8th century BCE.
• The Hittite language was a member of the
Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language
family.
• The Hittite military made successful use of chariots
and advanced iron working technologies.
• After 1180 BCE, amid general turmoil in the Levant
associated with the sudden arrival of the Sea Peoples,
the kingdom disintegrated into several independent

120 | The Hittites

 “Neo-Hittite” city-states.
• The head of the Hittite state was the king, but
other officials exercised independent authority over
various branches of the government.

Terms

Indo-European language

A member of a family of several hundred related

languages and dialects that includes most major current
languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, the Indian
subcontinent, and ancient Anatolia.

Hittite Empire

An ancient Anatolian people who established an empire at

Hattusa in north-central Anatolia around 1600 BCE. It
reached its height during the mid-14th century BCE.

Tarhunt

The Hurrian god of sky and storm who oversaw Hittite

conflicts with foreign powers.

The Hittites | 121

 cuneiform

Wedge-shaped characters used in ancient Mesopotamian

writings, typically on clay tablets.

The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who established an

empire at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia around 1600 BCE. The
Hittite Empire reached its height during the mid-14th century BCE
under Suppiluliuma I, when it encompassed an area that included
most of Asia Minor as well as parts of the northern Levant and
Upper Mesopotamia. After c. 1180 BCE, the empire came to an end
during the Bronze Age collapse, and splintered into several
independent “Neo-Hittite” city-states, some of which survived until
the 8th century BCE.

The Hittite Empire at its greatest extent under Suppiluliuma I (c. 1350–1322
BCE) and Mursili II (c. 1321–1295 BCE). The approximate extent of the
maximum area of the Hittite rule (light green) and the Hittite rule c.
1350-1300 BCE (green line).

122 | The Hittites

The Hittite language was a member of the Anatolian branch of the
Indo-European language family. They referred to their native land
as Hatti. The conventional name “Hittites” is due to their initial
identification with the Biblical Hittites, according to 19th century
archaeology. The Hebrew Bible refers to “Hittites” in several
passages, and links them to an eponymous ancestor Heth, a
descendant of Ham through his son Canaan. The Hittites are
thereby counted among the Canaanites. The Hittites are usually
depicted as a people living among the Israelites—Abraham
purchases the Patriarchal burial-plot from “Ephron HaChiti”
(Ephron the Hittite), and Hittites serve as high military officers in
David’s army. In 2 Kings 7:6, they are depicted as a people with their
own kingdoms.
Despite the use of Hatti as the core of their territory, the Hittites
should be distinguished from the Hattians, an earlier people who
inhabited the same region (until the beginning of the 2nd
millennium BCE), and spoke a different language, possibly in the
Northwest Caucasian language group known as Hattic.
The Hittite military made successful use of chariots. Although
their civilization thrived during the Bronze Age, the Hittites were
the forerunners of the Iron Age and were manufacturing iron
artifacts from as early as the 14th century BCE. Correspondence
with rulers from other empires reveal a foreign demand for iron
goods.
After 1180 BCE, amid general turmoil in the Levant associated with
the sudden arrival of the Sea Peoples, the kingdom disintegrated
into several independent “Neo-Hittite” city-states. The history of
the Hittite civilization is known mostly from cuneiform texts found
in the area of their kingdom, and from diplomatic and commercial
correspondence found in various archives in Egypt and the Middle
East.

The Hittites | 123

Culture

Government

The head of the Hittite state was the king, followed by the heir-
apparent. However, some officials exercised independent authority
over various branches of the government. One of the most
important of these posts was that of the Gal Mesedi (Chief of the
Royal Bodyguards). It was superseded by the rank of the Gal Gestin
(Chief of the Wine Stewards), who, like the Gal Mesedi, was generally
a member of the royal family. The kingdom’s bureaucracy was
headed by the Gal Dubsar (Chief of the Scribes).

Religion

Hittite religion and mythology were heavily influenced by their

Hattic, Mesopotamian, and Hurrian counterparts. In earlier times,
Indo-European elements may still be clearly discerned.
“Storm gods” were prominent in the Hittite pantheon. Tarhunt
was referred to as “The Conqueror,” “The King of Kummiya,” “King
of Heaven,” and “Lord of the land of Hatti.” As the god of battle and
victory, especially against foreign powers, he was chief among the
gods and was depicted as a bearded man astride two mountains and
bearing a club.

Sources

124 | The Hittites

17. The Phoenicians

Learning Objective

• Describe key aspects of Phoenician culture

Key Points

• Phoenicia was an ancient Semitic maritime trading

culture situated on the western, coastal part of the
Fertile Crescent and centered on the coastline of
modern Lebanon and Tartus Governorate in Syria
from 1550 to 300 BCE.
• The Phoenicians used the galley, a man-powered
sailing vessel, and are credited with the invention of
the bireme.
• Each Phoenician city-state was a politically
independent unit. City-states often came into
conflict with others of its kind, or formed leagues and
alliances.
• A league of independent city-state ports, with
others on the islands and along other coasts of the
Mediterranean Sea, was ideally suited for trade
between the Levant area (which was rich in natural
resources) and the rest of the ancient world.

The Phoenicians | 125

 • Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Phoenicia in
539 BCE, and divided Phoenicia into four vassal
kingdoms: Sidon, Tyre, Arwad, and Byblos.
• Alexander the Great conquered Phoenicia
beginning with Tyre in 332 BCE. The rise of
Hellenistic Greece gradually ousted the remnants of
Phoenicia’s former dominance over the Eastern
Mediterranean trade routes.

Terms

city-state

An independent or autonomous entity, not administered

as a part of another local government, whose territory
consists of a city and possibly its surrounding territory.

bireme

An ancient oared warship (galley) with two decks of oars,

probably invented by the Phoenicians.

126 | The Phoenicians

 Phoenicia

An ancient Semitic maritime trading culture situated on

the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent.

Cyrus the Great

Also known as Cyrus II of Persia, Cyrus the Elder.

Founder of the Achaemenid Empire.

Alexander the Great

Also known as Alexander III of Macedon. His military was

extremely successful, and he created one of the largest
empires in history.

Phoenicia was an ancient Semitic civilization situated on the

western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent near modern-day
Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, and Syria. All major Phoenician
cities were on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an
enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the
Mediterranean from 1550 BCE to 300 BCE. The Phoenicians used
the galley, a man-powered sailing vessel, and are credited with the
invention of the bireme oared ship. They were famed in Classical
Greece and Rome as “traders in purple,” which refers to their
monopoly on the precious purple dye of the Murex snail, used for
royal clothing, among other things.

The Phoenicians | 127

Assyrian Warship. Assyrian warship (probably built by Phoenicians) with two
rows of oars, relief from Nineveh, c. 700 BCE.

Phoenician became one of the most widely used writing systems.

It was spread by Phoenician merchants across the Mediterranean
world, where it evolved and was assimilated by many other cultures.
The Aramaic alphabet, a modified form of Phoenician, was the
ancestor of modern Arabic script, while Hebrew script is a stylistic
variant of the Aramaic script. The Greek alphabet (and by extension
its descendants, such as the Latin, the Cyrillic, and the Coptic) was
a direct successor of Phoenician, though certain letter values were
changed to represent vowels.
Phoenicians are widely thought to have originated from the
earlier Canaanite inhabitants of the region. Although Egyptian
seafaring expeditions had already been made to Byblos to bring back
“cedars of Lebanon” as early as the 3rd millennium BCE, continuous
contact only occurred in the Egyptian New Empire period.
It is important to note that Phoenicia is a Classical Greek term
used to refer to the region of the major Canaanite port towns, and

128 | The Phoenicians

does not correspond exactly to a cultural identity that would have
been recognized by the Phoenicians themselves. It is uncertain to
what extent the Phoenicians viewed themselves as a single ethnicity
and nationality. Their civilization was organized in city-states,
similar to that of ancient Greece. However, in terms of archaeology,
language, life style and religion, there is little to set the Phoenicians
apart as markedly different from other Semitic cultures of Canaan.
As Canaanites, they were unique in their remarkable seafaring
achievements.
Each Phoenician city-state was a politically independent unit.
City-states often came into conflict with one another, with the
result that one may dominate another. City-states were also
inclined to collaborate in leagues and alliances. Though ancient
boundaries of city-centered cultures fluctuated, the city of Tyre
held the southernmost border of Phoenician territory.

The Phoenicians | 129

Phoenician Sarcophagus. A Phoenician sarcophagus at the burial grounds of
Antarados, northern Lebanon, 480-450 BCE. Made from Greek marble.

130 | The Phoenicians

Rise and Decline

The high point of Phoenician culture and sea power is usually placed
c. 1200-800 BCE, though many of the most important Phoenician
settlements had been established long before this period.
Archeology has identified cultural elements of the Phoenician
zenith as early as the 3rd millennium BCE. The league of
independent city-state ports, with others on the islands and along
other coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, was ideally suited for trade
between the Levant area (which was rich in natural resources) and
the rest of the ancient world. During the early Iron Age, around
1200 BCE, Sea Peoples appeared in the area from the north, which
weakened and destroyed the Egyptians and Hittites, respectively. In
the resulting power vacuum, a number of Phoenician cities rose as
significant maritime powers.
These societies rested on three power-bases: the king; the temple
and its priests; and the councils of elders. Byblos first became the
predominant center from where the Phoenicians dominated the
Mediterranean and Erythraean (Red) Sea routes. It was here that
the first inscription in the Phoenician alphabet was found, on the
sarcophagus of Ahiram (c. 1200 BCE). Tyre rose to power several
hundred years later. One of its kings, the priest Ithobaal (887–856
BCE), ruled Phoenicia as far north as Beirut and Cyprus. Carthage
was founded in 814 BCE, under Pygmalion of Tyre (820–774 BCE).
The collection of city-states constituting Phoenicia came to be
characterized by outsiders and the Phoenicians as Sidonia or Tyria.
Phoenicians and Canaanites alike were called Sidonians or Tyrians,
as one Phoenician city came to prominence after another.

The Phoenicians | 131

Phoenician Trade Network. Map of Phoenicia and its trade routes.

Persian Rule

Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Phoenicia in 539 BCE. The

Persians divided Phoenicia into four vassal kingdoms: Sidon, Tyre,
Arwad, and Byblos. Though these vassal kingdoms prospered and
furnished fleets for the Persian kings, Phoenician influence declined
after this period. It is likely that much of the Phoenician population
migrated to Carthage and other colonies following the Persian
conquest. In 350 or 345 BCE, a rebellion in Sidon was crushed by
Artaxerxes III.

132 | The Phoenicians

Hellenistic Rule

Alexander the Great took Tyre in 332 BCE after the Siege of Tyre,
and kept the existing king in power. He gained control of the other
Phoenician cities peacefully, and the rise of Hellenistic Greece
gradually ousted the remnants of Phoenicia’s former dominance
over the Eastern Mediterranean trade routes. Phoenician culture
disappeared entirely in the motherland. Carthage continued to
flourish in North Africa. It oversaw the mining of iron and precious
metals from Iberia, and used its considerable naval power and
mercenary armies to protect commercial interests. It was finally
destroyed by Rome in 146 BC, at the end of the Punic Wars.

Sources

The Phoenicians | 133

18. The Minoans

Learning Objective

• Evaluate the impact of Minoan culture on other

cultures and empires of the time

Key Points

• The Minoan civilization was an Aegean Bronze Age

civilization that arose on the island of Crete, and
flourished from approximately the 27th century to
the 15th century BCE.
• The term “Minoan” was coined after the mythic
“king” Minos, who was associated in Greek myth with
the labyrinth identified with the site at Knossos.
• The Bronze Age allowed upper Minoan classes to
practice leadership activities and to expand their
influence, eventually replacing the original
hierarchies of the local elites with monarchist power
structures.
• The apex of Minoan civilization occurred during a
period of large building projects, as palaces were
rebuilt and settlements sprung up throughout Crete.
• Evidence of the influence of Minoan civilization

134 | The Minoans

 outside Crete can be seen in Minoan handicraft on
the Greek mainland, likely the result of a connection
between Mycene and Minoan trade networks. The
Minoans were also connected to Egypt and the
Canaanite civilization.
• The Minoan civilization declined due to natural
catastrophe, but the Dynasty of Knossos was able to
spread its influence over Crete until it was overrun by
the Mycenaean Greeks.

Terms

Linear B

A syllabic script that was used for writing Mycenaean

Greek— the earliest attested form of Greek.

Minoan civilization

An Aegean Bronze Age civilization that arose on the

island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th
century to the 15th century BCE.

The Minoans | 135

 Knossos

A syllabic script that was used for writing Mycenaean

Greek, the earliest attested form of Greek.

Neopalatial period

The period of the new or second palaces of Minoan

Crete, corresponding roughly with 17th and 16th centuries
BCE.

Linear A

The primary script used in palace and religious writings

of the Minoan civilization, one of two currently
undeciphered writing systems used in ancient Crete.

The Minoan civilization was an Aegean Bronze Age civilization that

arose on the island of Crete, and flourished from approximately the
27th century to the 15th century BCE.

136 | The Minoans

Minoan Crete. A map of Minoan Crete.

The early inhabitants of Crete settled as early as 128,000 BCE,

during the Middle Paleolithic Age. It was not until 5000 BCE that the
first signs of advanced agriculture appeared, marking the beginning
of civilization. The term “Minoan” was coined by Arthur Evans after
the mythic “king” Minos. Minos was associated in Greek myth with
the labyrinth, which is identified with the site at Knossos.
The Bronze Age began in Crete around 2700 BCE, when several
localities on the island developed into centers of commerce and
handwork. This development enabled the upper classes to
continuously practice leadership activities and to expand their
influence. It is likely that the original hierarchies of the local elites
were replaced by monarchist power structures— a precondition for
the creation of the great palaces.
Around 1700 BCE, there was a large disturbance in Crete, possibly
an earthquake or an invasion from Anatolia. The palaces at Knossos,
Phaistos, Malia, and Kato Zakros were destroyed. But with the start
of the Neopalatial period (the 17th and 16th centuries BCE),
population increased again, palaces were rebuilt on a larger scale,

The Minoans | 137

and new settlements sprung up all over the island. This period
represents the apex of the Minoan civilization.

Knossos – North Portico. Restored North Entrance of the Knossos palace

complex, with the charging bull fresco.

The influence of the Minoan civilization outside Crete has been

seen in the evidence of valuable Minoan handicraft items on the
Greek mainland. It is likely that the ruling house of Mycene was
connected to the Minoan trade network. After c. 1700 BCE, the
material culture on the Greek mainland achieved a new level due to
Minoan influence. Connections between Egypt and Crete are also
prominent. Minoan ceramics are found in Egyptian cities, and the
Minoans imported several items from Egypt, especially papyrus, as
well as architectural and artistic ideas. The Egyptian hieroglyphs
served as a model for Minoan pictographic writing, from which
the famous Linear A and Linear B writing systems later developed.
There has also been evidence of Minoan influence among Canaanite
artifacts.

138 | The Minoans

 The Minoan culture began to decline c. 1450 BCE, following an
earthquake, the eruption of the Thera volcano, or another possible
natural catastrophe. Several important palaces in locations such as
Mallia, Tylissos, Phaistos, Hagia Triade, as well as the living quarters
of Knossos were destroyed, but the palace in Knossos seems to have
remained largely intact. The preservation of this palace resulted in
the Dynasty in Knossos spreading its influence over large parts of
Crete until it was overrun by Mycenaean Greeks.

Society and Culture

Pottery

The best surviving examples of Minoan art are its pottery and palace
architecture with frescos that include landscapes, stone carvings,
and intricately carved seal stones. Ceramics from the Early Minoan
period are characterized by linear patterns of spirals, triangles,
curved lines, crosses, and fishbone motifs. In the Middle Minoan
period, naturalistic designs such as fish, squid, birds, and lilies were
common. In the Late Minoan period, flowers and animals were
still the most characteristic, but the variability had increased. The
“palace style” of the region around Knossos is characterized by
a strong geometric simplification of naturalistic shapes and
monochromatic paintings. The similarities between Late Minoan
and Mycenaean art are notable. Frescoes were the main form of art
during the period of Late Minoan culture.

The Minoans | 139

Religion

The Minoans seem to have worshiped primarily goddesses, and can

be described as a “matriarchal religion.” Although there is some
evidence of male gods, depictions of Minoan goddesses vastly
outnumber depictions of anything that could be considered a
Minoan god. While some of these depictions of women are
speculated to be images of worshippers and priestesses officiating
at religious ceremonies, as opposed to the deity, several goddesses
appear to be portrayed. These include a mother goddess of fertility,
a mistress of the animals, a protectress of cities, the household,
the harvest, and the underworld, to name a few. The goddesses are
often depicted with serpents, birds, or poppies, and are often shown
with a figure of an animal upon her head.

Sources

140 | The Minoans

PART III
CH. 3 ANCIENT EGYPT

Ch. 3 Ancient Egypt | 141

19. The Rise of Egyptian
Civilization

Learning Objective

• Describe the rise of civilization along the Nile River

Key Points

• The prehistory of Egypt spans from early human

settlements to the beginning of the Early Dynastic
Period of Egypt (c. 3100 BCE), and is equivalent to the
Neolithic period.
• The Late Paleolithic in Egypt began around 30,000
BCE, and featured mobile buildings and tool-making
industry.
• The Mesolithic saw the rise of various cultures,
including Halfan, Qadan, Sebilian, and Harifian.
• The Neolithic saw the rise of cultures, including
Merimde, El Omari, Maadi, Tasian, and Badarian.
• Three phases of Naqada culture included: the rise
of new types of pottery (including blacktop-ware and
white cross-line-ware), the use of mud-bricks, and
increasingly sedentary lifestyles.

The Rise of Egyptian

Civilization | 143
 • During the Protodynastic period (3200-3000 BCE)
powerful kings were in place, and unification of the
state occurred, which led to the Early Dynastic
Period.

Terms

Neolithic

The later part of the Stone Age, during which ground or

polished stone weapons and implements were used.

nomadic pastoralism

The herding of livestock to find fresh pasture to graze.

Fertile Crescent

Also known as the Cradle of Civilization, the Fertile

Crescent is a crescent-shaped region containing the
comparatively moist and fertile land of Western Asia, the
Nile Valley, and the Nile Delta.

144 | The Rise of Egyptian Civilization

 serekhs

An ornamental vignette combining a view of a palace

facade and a top view of the royal courtyard. It was used as
a royal crest.

The prehistory of Egypt spans from early human settlements to

the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt (c. 3100 BCE),
which started with the first Pharoah Narmer (also known as Menes).
It is equivalent to the Neolithic period, and is divided into cultural
periods, named after locations where Egyptian settlements were
found.

The Late Paleolithic

This period began around 30,000 BCE. Ancient, mobile buildings,

capable of being disassembled and reassembled were found along
the southern border near Wadi Halfa. Aterian tool-making industry
reached Egypt around 40,000 BCE, and Khormusan industry began
between 40,000 and 30,000 BCE.

The Mesolithic

Halfan culture arose along the Nile Valley of Egypt and in Nubia
between 18,000 and 15,000 BCE. They appeared to be settled

The Rise of Egyptian Civilization | 145

people, descended from the Khormusan people, and spawned the
Ibero-Marusian industry. Material remains from these people
include stone tools, flakes, and rock paintings.
The Qadan culture practiced wild-grain harvesting along the Nile,
and developed sickles and grinding stones to collect and process
these plants. These people were likely residents of Libya who were
pushed into the Nile Valley due to desiccation in the Sahara. The
Sebilian culture (also known as Esna) gathered wheat and barley.
The Harifian culture migrated out of the Fayyum and the Eastern
deserts of Egypt to merge with the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B; this
created the Circum-Arabian Nomadic Pastoral Complex, who
invented nomadic pastoralism, and may have spread Proto-Semitic
language throughout Mesopotamia.

The Neolithic

Expansion of the Sahara desert forced more people to settle around

the Nile in a sedentary, agriculture-based lifestyle. Around 6000
BCE, Neolithic settlements began to appear in great number in this
area, likely as migrants from the Fertile Crescent returned to the
area. Weaving occurred for the first time in this period, and people
buried their dead close to or within their settlements.
The Merimde culture (5000-4200 BCE) was located in Lower
Egypt. People lived in small huts, created simple pottery, and had
stone tools. They had cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs, and planted
wheat, sorghum, and barley. The first Egyptian life-size clay head
comes from this culture.
The El Omari culture (4000-3100 BCE) lived near modern-day
Cairo. People lived in huts, and had undecorated pottery and stone
tools. Metal was unknown.
The Maadi culture (also known as Buto Maadi) is the most
important Lower Egyptian prehistoric culture. Copper was used,

146 | The Rise of Egyptian Civilization

pottery was simple and undecorated, and people lived in huts. The
dead were buried in cemeteries.
The Tasian culture (4500-3100 BCE) produced a kind of red,
brown, and black pottery, called blacktop-ware. From this period
on, Upper Egypt was strongly influenced by the culture of Lower
Egypt.
The Badarian culture (4400-4000 BCE) was similar to the Tasian,
except they improved blacktop-ware and used copper in addition to
stone.
The Amratian culture (Naqada I) (4000-3500 BCE) continued
making blacktop-ware, and added white cross-line-ware, which
featured pottery with close, parallel, white, crossed lines. Mud-
brick buildings were first seen in this period in small numbers.

The Rise of Egyptian Civilization | 147

 Amratian (Naqada I) Terracotta Figure. This terracotta female figure, c.
3500-3400 BCE, is housed at the Brooklyn Museum.

The Gerzean culture (Naqada II, 3500-3200 BCE) saw the laying of
the foundation for Dynastic Egypt. It developed out of Amratian
culture, moving south through Upper Egypt. Its pottery was painted
dark red with pictures of animals, people and ships. Life was
increasingly sedentary and focused on agriculture, as cities began

148 | The Rise of Egyptian Civilization

to grow. Mud bricks were mass-produced, copper was used for
tools and weapons, and silver, gold, lapis, and faience were used as
decorations. The first Egyptian-style tombs were built.

Naqada II Pottery. This pottery has a ship theme, and is done in the style
of Naqada II.

Protodynastic Period (Naqada III) (3200 –

The Rise of Egyptian Civilization | 149
3000 BCE)

During this period, the process of state formation, begun in Naqada

II, became clearer. Kings headed up powerful polities, but they were
unrelated. Political unification was underway, which culminated in
the formation of a single state in the Early Dynastic Period.
Hieroglyphs may have first been used in this period, along with
irrigation. Additionally, royal cemeteries and serekhs (royal crests)
came into use.

150 | The Rise of Egyptian Civilization

 Serekh of King Djet. This serekh (royal crest) shows the
Horus falcon.

Sources

The Rise of Egyptian Civilization | 151

20. The Old Kingdom

Learning Objective

• Explain the reasons for the rise and fall of the Old
Kingdom

Key Points

• The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to

the period when Egypt gained in complexity and
achievement, spanning from the Third Dynasty
through the Sixth Dynasty (2686-2181 BCE).
• The royal capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom
was located at Memphis, where the first notable king
of the Old Kingdom, Djoser, established his court.
• In the Third Dynasty, formerly independent ancient
Egyptian states became known as Nomes, which were
ruled solely by the pharaoh. The former rulers of
these states were subsequently forced to assume the
role of governors, or otherwise work in tax collection.
• Egyptians during this Dynasty worshipped their
pharaoh as a god, and believed that he ensured the
stability of the cycles that were responsible for the
annual flooding of the Nile. This flooding was

152 | The Old Kingdom

 necessary for their crops.
• The Fourth Dynasty saw multiple large-scale
construction projects under pharaohs Sneferu, Khufu,
and Khufu’s sons Djedefra and Khafra, including the
famous pyramid and Sphinx at Giza.
• The Fifth Dynasty saw changes in religious beliefs,
including the rise of the cult of the sun god Ra, and
the deity Osiris.

Terms

Ra

The sun god, or the supreme Egyptian deity, worshipped

as the creator of all life, and usually portrayed with a
falcon’s head bearing a solar disc.

Osiris

The Egyptian god of the underworld, and husband and

brother of Isis.

The Old Kingdom | 153

 Nomes

Subnational, administrative division of Ancient Egypt.

nomarchs

Semi-feudal rulers of Ancient Egyptian provinces.

Old Kingdom

Encompassing the Third to Eighth Dynasties, the name

commonly given to the period in the 3rd millennium BCE,
when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of complexity
and achievement.

Djoser

An ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Third Dynasty, and

the founder of the Old Kingdom.

necropolis

A cemetery, especially a large one belonging to an

ancient city.

154 | The Old Kingdom

 Sneferu

A king of the Fourth Dynasty, who used the greatest mass

of stones in building pyramids.

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to the period from
the Third Dynasty through the Sixth Dynasty (2686-2181 BCE), when
Egypt gained in complexity and achievement. The Old Kingdom is
the first of three so-called “Kingdom” periods that mark the high
points of civilization in the Nile Valley. During this time, a new type
of pyramid (the step) was created, as well as many other massive
building projects, including the Sphinx. Additionally, trade became
more widespread, new religious ideas were born, and the strong
centralized government was subtly weakened and finally collapsed.
The king (not yet called Pharaoh) of Egypt during this period
resided in the new royal capital, Memphis. He was considered a
living god, and was believed to ensure the annual flooding of the
Nile. This flooding was necessary for crop growth. The Old Kingdom
is perhaps best known for a large number of pyramids, which were
constructed as royal burial places. Thus, the period of the Old
Kingdom is often called “The Age of the Pyramids.”
Egypt’s Old Kingdom was also a dynamic period in the
development of Egyptian art. Sculptors created early portraits, the
first life-size statues, and perfected the art of carving intricate relief
decoration. These had two principal functions: to ensure an ordered
existence, and to defeat death by preserving life in the next world.

The Beginning: Third Dynasty (c. 2650-2613

The Old Kingdom | 155

BCE)

The first notable king of the Old Kingdom was Djoser (reigned from
2691-2625 BCE) of the Third Dynasty, who ordered the construction
of the step pyramid in Memphis’ necropolis, Saqqara. It was in this
era that formerly independent ancient Egyptian states became
known as nomes, and were ruled solely by the king. The former
rulers of these states were forced to assume the role of governors
or tax collectors.

Golden Age: Fourth Dynasty (2613-2494

BCE)

The Old Kingdom and its royal power reached a zenith under the
Fourth Dynasty, which began with Sneferu (2613-2589 BCE). Using a
greater mass of stones than any other king, he built three pyramids:
Meidum, the Bent Pyramid, and the Red Pyramid. He also sent his
military into Sinai, Nubia and Libya, and began to trade with
Lebanon for cedar.
Sneferu was succeeded by his (in)famous son, Khufu (2589-2566
BCE), who built the Great Pyramid of Giza. After Khufu’s death,
one of his sons built the second pyramid, and the Sphinx in Giza.
Creating these massive projects required a centralized government
with strong powers, sophistication and prosperity. Builders of the
pyramids were not slaves but peasants, working in the farming off-
season, along with specialists like stone cutters, mathematicians,
and priests. Each household needed to provide a worker for these
projects, although the wealthy could have a substitute.

156 | The Old Kingdom

The Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. The Great Pyramid of Giza was built c. 2560
BCE, by Khufu during the Fourth Dynasty. It was built as a tomb for Khufu
and constructed over a 20-year period. Modern estimates place construction
efforts to require an average workforce of 14,567 people and a peak workforce
of 40,000.

The Old Kingdom | 157

Great Sphinx of Giza and the pyramid of Khafre. The Sphinx is a limestone
statue of a reclining mythical creature with a lion’s body and a human head
that stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt.
The face is generally believed to represent the face of King Khafra.

The later kings of the Fourth Dynasty were king Menkaura

(2532-2504 BCE), who built the smallest pyramid in Giza, Shepseskaf
(2504-2498 BCE), and perhaps Djedefptah (2498-2496 BCE). During
this period, there were military expeditions into Canaan and Nubia,
spreading Egyptian influence along the Nile into modern-day
Sudan.

Religious Changes: Fifth Dynasty (2494-2345

BCE)

The Fifth Dynasty began with Userkaf (2494-2487 BCE), and with

158 | The Old Kingdom

several religious changes. The cult of the sun god Ra, and temples
built for him, began to grow in importance during the Fifth Dynasty.
This lessened efforts to build pyramids. Funerary prayers on royal
tombs (called Pyramid Texts) appeared, and the cult of the deity
Osiris ascended in importance.
Egyptians began to build ships to trade across maritime routes.
Goods included ebony, incense, gold, and copper. They traded with
Lebanon for cedar, and perhaps with modern-day Somalia for other
goods. Ships were held together by tightly tied ropes.

Decline and Collapse: The Sixth Dynasty

(2345-2181 BCE)

The power of the king and central government declined during

this period, while that of nomarchs (regional governors) increased.
These nomarchs were not part of the royal family. They passed
down the title through their lineage, thus creating local dynasties
that were not under the control of the king. Internal disorder
resulted during and after the long reign of Pepi II (2278-2184 BCE),
due to succession struggles, and eventually led to civil war. The
final blow was a severe drought between 2200-2150 BCE, which
prevented Nile flooding. Famine, conflict, and collapse beset the Old
Kingdom for decades.

Sources

The Old Kingdom | 159

21. The First Intermediate
Period

Learning Objective

• Describe the processes by which the First

Intermediate Period occurred, and then transitioned
into the Middle Kingdom

Key Points

• The First Intermediate Period was a dynamic time

in history, when rule of Egypt was roughly divided
between two competing power bases. One of those
bases resided at Heracleopolis in Lower Egypt, a city
just south of the Faiyum region. The other resided at
Thebes in Upper Egypt.
• The Old Kingdom fell due to problems with
succession from the Sixth Dynasty, the rising power
of provincial monarchs, and a drier climate that
resulted in widespread famine.
• Little is known about the Seventh and Eighth
Dynasties due to a lack of evidence, but the Seventh
Dynasty was most likely an oligarchy, while Eighth

160 | The First Intermediate Period

 Dynasty rulers claimed to be the descendants of the
Sixth Dynasty kings. Both ruled from Memphis.
• The Heracleopolitan Kings saw periods of both
violence and peace under their rule, and eventually
brought peace and order to the Nile Delta region.
• Siut princes to the south of the Heracleopolitan
Kingdom became wealthy from a variety of
agricultural and economic activities, and acted as a
buffer during times of conflict between the northern
and southern parts of Egypt.
• The Theban Kings enjoyed a string of military
successes, the last of which was a victory against the
Heracleopolitan Kings that unified Egypt under the
Twelfth Dynasty.

Terms

First Intermediate Period

A period of political conflict and instability lasting

approximately 100 years and spanning the Seventh to
Eleventh Dynasties.

The First Intermediate Period | 161

 Mentuhotep II

A pharaoh of the Eleventh Dynasty, who defeated the

Heracleopolitan Kings and unified Egypt. Often considered
the first pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom.

nomarchs

Ancient Egyptian administration officials responsible for

governing the provinces.

oligarchy

A form of power structure in which power effectively

rests with a small number of people who are distinguished
by royalty, wealth, family ties, education, corporate, or
military control.

The First Intermediate Period (c. 2181-2055 BCE), often described as

a “dark period” in ancient Egyptian history after the end of the Old
Kingdom, spanned approximately 100 years. It included the Seventh,
Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and part of the Eleventh dynasties.
The First Intermediate Period was a dynamic time in history when
rule of Egypt was roughly divided between two competing power
bases: Heracleopolis in Lower Egypt, and Thebes in Upper Egypt. It
is believed that political chaos during this time resulted in temples
being pillaged, artwork vandalized, and statues of kings destroyed.
These two kingdoms eventually came into military conflict. The

162 | The First Intermediate Period

Theban kings conquered the north, which resulted in the
reunification of Egypt under a single ruler during the second part of
the Eleventh dynasty.

Events Leading to the First Intermediate

Period

The Old Kingdom, which preceded this period, fell for numerous
reasons. One was the extremely long reign of Pepi II (the last major
king of the Sixth Dynasty), and the resulting succession issues.
Another major problem was the rise in power of the provincial
nomarchs. Toward the end of the Old Kingdom, the positions of
the nomarchs had become hereditary, creating family legacies
independent from the king. They erected tombs in their own
domains and often raised armies, and engaged in local rivalries. A
third reason for the dissolution of centralized kingship was the low
level of the Nile inundation, which may have resulted in a drier
climate, lower crop yields, and famine.

The Seventh and Eighth Dynasties at

Memphis

The Seventh and Eighth dynasties are often overlooked because

very little is known about the rulers of these two periods. The
Seventh Dynasty was most likely an oligarchy based in Memphis
that attempted to retain control of the country. The Eighth Dynasty
rulers, claiming to be the descendants of the Sixth Dynasty kings,
also ruled from Memphis.

The First Intermediate Period | 163

The Heracleopolitan Kings

After the obscure reign of the Seventh and Eighth dynasty kings, a
group of rulers rose out of Heracleopolis in Lower Egypt, and ruled
for approximately 94 years. These kings comprise the Ninth and
Tenth Dynasties, each with 19 rulers.
The founder of the Ninth Dynasty, Wahkare Khety I, is often
described as an evil and violent ruler who caused much harm to the
inhabitants of Egypt. He was seized with madness, and, as legend
would have it, was eventually killed by a crocodile. Kheti I was
succeeded by Kheti II, also known as Meryibre, whose reign was
essentially peaceful but experienced problems in the Nile Delta. His
successor, Kheti III, brought some degree of order to the Delta,
although the power and influence of these Ninth Dynasty kings
were still insignificant compared to that of the Old Kingdom kings.
A distinguished line of nomarchs rose out of Siut (or Asyut), which
was a powerful and wealthy province in the south of the
Heracleopolitan kingdom. These warrior princes maintained a close
relationship with the kings of the Heracleopolitan royal household,
as is evidenced by the inscriptions in their tombs. These inscriptions
provide a glimpse at the political situation that was present during
their reigns, and describe the Siut nomarchs digging canals,
reducing taxation, reaping rich harvests, raising cattle herds, and
maintaining an army and fleet. The Siut province acted as a buffer
state between the northern and southern rulers and bore the brunt
of the attacks from the Theban kings.

The Theban Kings

The Theban kings are believed to have been descendants of Intef

or Inyotef, the nomarch of Thebes, often called the “Keeper of the
Door of the South. ” He is credited with organizing Upper Egypt

164 | The First Intermediate Period

into an independent ruling body in the south, although he himself
did not appear to have tried to claim the title of king. Intef II began
the Theban assault on northern Egypt, and his successor, Intef III,
completed the attack and moved into Middle Egypt against the
Heracleopolitan kings. The first three kings of the Eleventh Dynasty
(all named Intef) were, therefore, also the last three kings of the
First Intermediate Period. They were succeeded by a line of kings
who were all called Mentuhotep. Mentuhotep II, also known as
Nebhepetra, would eventually defeat the Heracleopolitan kings
around 2033 BCE, and unify the country to continue the Eleventh
Dynasty and bring Egypt into the Middle Kingdom.

The First Intermediate Period | 165

Mentuhotep II. Painted sandstone seated statue of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II,
Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Sources

166 | The First Intermediate Period

22. The Middle Kingdom

Learning Objective

• Describe the various characteristics of Sensuret

III’s rule during the height of the Middle Kingdom

Key Points

• The Middle Kingdom had two phases: the end of

the Eleventh Dynasty, which ruled from Thebes, and
the Twelfth Dynasty onwards, which was centred
around el-Lisht.
• During the First Intermediate Period, the governors
of the nomes of Egypt—called nomarchs— gained
considerable power. Amenemhet I also instituted a
system of co-regency, which ensured a smooth
transition from monarch to monarch and contributed
to the stability of the Twelfth Dynasty.
• The height of the Middle Kingdom came under the
rules of Sensuret III and Amenemhat III, the former of
whom established clear boundaries for Egypt, and the
latter of whom efficiently exploited Egyptian
resources to bring about a period of economic
prosperity.

The Middle Kingdom | 167

 • The Middle Kingdom declined into the Second
Intermediate Period during the Thirteenth Dynasty,
after a gradual loss of dynastic power and the
disintegration of Egypt.

Terms

Amenemhat III

Egyptian king who saw a great period of economic

prosperity through efficient exploitation of natural
resources.

nomes

Subnational administrative divisions within ancient

Egypt.

Middle Kingdom

Period of unification in Ancient Egyptian history,

stretching from the end of the Eleventh Dynasty to the
Thirteenth Dynasty, roughly between 2030-1640 BCE.

168 | The Middle Kingdom

 Senusret III

Warrior-king during the Twelfth Dynasty, who

centralized power within Egypt through various military
successes.

Sobekneferu

The first known female ruler of Egypt.

waret

Administrative divisions in Egypt.

genut

Daybooks.

The Middle Kingdom, also known as the Period of Reunification,

is a period in the history of Ancient Egypt stretching from the
end of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Twelfth Dynasty,
roughly between 2000-1700 BCE. There were two phases: the end
of the Eleventh Dynasty, which ruled from Thebes, and the Twelfth
Dynasty onwards, which was centred around el-Lisht.

The Middle Kingdom | 169

The End of the Eleventh Dynasty and the
Rise of the Twelfth Dynasty

Toward the end of the First Intermediate Period, Mentuhotep II and

his successors unified Egypt under a single rule, and commanded
such faraway locations as Nubia and the Sinai. He reigned for 51
years and restored the cult of the ruler, considering himself a god
and wearing the headdresses of Amun and Min. His descendants
ruled Egypt, until a vizier, Amenemhet I, came to power and
initiated the Twelfth Dynasty.
From the Twelfth dynasty onward, pharaohs often kept well-
trained standing armies, which formed the basis of larger forces
raised for defense against invasion, or for expeditions up the Nile or
across the Sinai. However, the Middle Kingdom remained defensive
in its military strategy, with fortifications built at the First Cataract
of the Nile, in the Delta and across the Sinai Isthmus.
Amenemhet I never held the absolute power commanded, in
theory, by the Old Kingdom pharaohs. During the First Intermediate
Period, the governors of the nomes of Egypt—nomarchs— gained
considerable power. To strengthen his position, Amenemhet
required registration of land, modified nome borders, and
appointed nomarchs directly when offices became vacant.
Generally, however, he acquiesced to the nomarch system, creating
a strongly feudal organization.
In his 20th regnal year, Amenemhat established his son, Senusret
I, as his co-regent. This instituted a practice that would be used
throughout the Middle and New Kingdoms. The reign of
Amenemhat II, successor to Senusret I, has been characterized as
largely peaceful. It appears Amenemhet allowed nomarchs to
become hereditary again. In his 33rd regnal year, he appointed his
son, Senusret II, co-regent.
There is no evidence of military activity during the reign of
Senusret II. Senusret instead appears to have focused on domestic

170 | The Middle Kingdom

issues, particularly the irrigation of the Faiyum. He reigned only
fifteen years, and was succeeded by his son, Senusret III.

Height of the Middle Kingdom

Senusret III was a warrior-king, and launched a series of brutal

campaigns in Nubia. After his victories, Senusret built a series of
massive forts throughout the country as boundary markers; the
locals were closely watched.

The Middle Kingdom | 171

Statue head of Sensuret III. Statue head of Sensuret III, one of the kings in the
Twelfth Dynasty.

Domestically, Senusret has been given credit for an administrative

reform that put more power in the hands of appointees of the

172 | The Middle Kingdom

central government. Egypt was divided into three warets, or
administrative divisions: North, South, and Head of the South
(perhaps Lower Egypt, most of Upper Egypt, and the nomes of
the original Theban kingdom during the war with Herakleopolis,
respectively). The power of the nomarchs seems to drop off
permanently during Sensuret’s reign, which has been taken to
indicate that the central government had finally suppressed them,
though there is no record that Senusret took direct action against
them.
The reign of Amenemhat III was the height of Middle Kingdom
economic prosperity, and is remarkable for the degree to which
Egypt exploited its resources. Mining camps in the Sinai, that had
previously been used only by intermittent expeditions, were
operated on a semi-permanent basis. After a reign of 45 years,
Amenemhet III was succeeded by Amenemhet IV, under whom
dynastic power began to weaken. Contemporary records of the Nile
flood levels indicate that the end of the reign of Amenemhet III was
dry, and crop failures may have helped to destabilize the dynasty.
Furthermore, Amenemhet III had an inordinately long reign, which
led to succession problems. Amenemhet IV was succeeded by
Sobekneferu, the first historically attested female king of Egypt,
who ruled for no more than four years. She apparently had no heirs,
and when she died the Twelfth Dynasty came to a sudden end.

Decline into the Second Intermediate

Period

After the death of Sobeknefru, Egypt was ruled by a series of

ephemeral kings for about 10-15 years. Ancient Egyptian sources
regard these as the first kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty.
After the initial dynastic chaos, a series of longer reigning, better
attested kings ruled for about 50-80 years. The strongest king of

The Middle Kingdom | 173

this period, Neferhotep I, ruled for 11 years, maintained effective
control of Upper Egypt, Nubia, and the Delta, and was even
recognized as the suzerain of the ruler of Byblos. At some point
during the Thirteenth Dynasty, the provinces of Xois and Avaris
began governing themselves. Thus began the final portion of the
Thirteenth Dynasty, when southern kings continued to reign over
Upper Egypt; when the unity of Egypt fully disintegrated, however,
the Middle Kingdom gave way to the Second Intermediate Period.

Sources

174 | The Middle Kingdom

23. Ancient Egyptian Culture

Learning Objective

• Examine the artistic and social developments of the

Middle Kingdom

Key Points

• The Middle Kingdom (2134-1690 BCE) was a time of

prosperity and stability, as well as a resurgence of art,
literature, and architecture.Block statue was a new
type of sculpture invented in the Middle Kingdom,
and was often used as a funerary monument.
• Literature had new uses during the Middle
Kingdom, and many classics were written during the
period.

Ancient Egyptian Culture | 175

 Terms

funerary monuments

Sculpture meant to decorate a tomb within a pyramid.

The Middle Kingdom (2134-1690 BCE) was a time of prosperity and

stability, as well as a resurgence of art, literature, and architecture.
Two major innovations of the time were the block statue and new
forms of literature.

The Block Statue

The block statue came into use during this period. This type of
sculpture depicts a squatting man with knees drawn close to the
chest and arms folded on top of the knees. The body may be
adorned with a cloak, which makes the body appear to be a block
shape. The feet may be covered by the cloak, or left uncovered.
The head was often carved in great detail, and reflected Egyptian
beauty ideals, including large ears and small breasts. The block
statue became more popular over the years, with its high point
in the Late Period, and was often used as funerary monuments of
important, non-royal individuals. They may have been intended as
guardians, and were often fully inscribed.

176 | Ancient Egyptian Culture

 Example of Block Statue. An example of a block statue from
the Late Period, c. 650-633 BCE.

Literature

In the Middle Kingdom period, due to growth of middle class and

scribes, literature began to be written to entertain and provide

Ancient Egyptian Culture | 177

intellectual stimulation. Previously, literature served the purposes
of maintaining divine cults, preserving souls in the afterlife, and
documenting practical activities. However, some Middle Kingdom
literature may have been transcriptions of the oral literature and
poetry of the Old Kingdom. Future generations of Egyptians often
considered Middle Kingdom literature to be “classic,” with the
ultimate example being the Story of Sinuhe.

Sources

178 | Ancient Egyptian Culture

24. The Second Intermediate
Period

Learning Objective

• Explain the dynamics between the various groups

of people vying for power during the Second
Intermediate Period

Key Points

• The brilliant Twelfth Dynasty was succeeded by a

weaker Thirteenth Dynasty, which experienced a
splintering of power.
• The Hyksos made their first appearance during the
reign of Sobekhotep IV, and overran Egypt at the end
of the Fourteenth Dynasty. They ruled through the
Fifteenth and Sixteenth Dynasties.
• The Abydos Dynasty was a short-lived Dynasty that
ruled over part of Upper Egypt, and was
contemporaneous with the Fifteenth and Sixteenth
Dynasties.
• The Seventeeth Dynasty established itself in
Thebes around the time that the Hyksos took power

The Second Intermediate

Period | 179
 in Egypt, and co-existed with the Hyksos through
trade for a period of time. However, rulers from the
Seventeenth Dynasty undertook several wars of
liberation that eventually once again unified Egypt in
the Eighteenth Dynasty.

Terms

Hyksos

An Asiatic people from West Asia who took over the

eastern Nile Delta, ending the Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt
and initiating the Second Intermediate Period.

Abydos Dynasty

A short-lived local dynasty ruling over parts of Upper

Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period in Ancient
Egypt.

Baal

The native storm god of the Hyksos.

180 | The Second Intermediate Period

 Second Intermediate Period

Spanning the Fourteenth to Seventeenth Dynasties, a

period of Egyptian history where power was split between
the Hyksos and a Theban-based dynasty in Upper Egypt.

The Second Intermediate Period (c. 1782-1550 BCE) marks a time

when Ancient Egypt once again fell into disarray between the end
of the Middle Kingdom, and the start of the New Kingdom. It is
best known as the period when the Hyksos, who reigned during the
Fifteenth and Sixteenth Dynasties, made their appearance in Egypt.

The Thirteenth Dynasty (1803 – 1649 BCE)

The brilliant Egyptian Twelfth Dynasty—and the Golden Age of the

Middle Kingdom— came to an end around 1800 BCE with the death
of Queen Sobekneferu (1806-1802 BCE), and was succeeded by the
much weaker Thirteenth Dynasty (1803-1649 BCE). Pharoahs ruled
from Memphis until the Hyksos conquered the capital in 1650 BCE.

The Fourteenth Dynasty (c. 1725-1650 BCE)

The Thirteenth Dynasty proved unable to hold onto the long land
of Egypt, and the provincial ruling family in Xois, located in the
marshes of the western Delta, broke away from the central authority

The Second Intermediate Period | 181

to form the Fourteenth Dynasty. The capital of this dynasty was
likely Avaris. It existed concurrently with the Thirteenth Dynasty,
and its rulers seemed to be of Canaanite or West Semitic descent.

Fourteenth Dynasty Territory. The area in orange is

the territory possibly under control of the
Fourteenth Dynasty.

The Fifteenth Dynasty (c. 1650-1550 BCE)

The Hyksos made their first appearance in 1650 BCE and took
control of the town of Avaris. They would also conquer the Sixteenth
Dynasty in Thebes and a local dynasty in Abydos (see below). The
Hyksos were of mixed Asiatic origin with mainly Semitic
components, and their native storm god, Baal, became associated
with the Egyptian storm god Seth. They brought technological
innovation to Egypt, including bronze and pottery techniques, new
breeds of animals and new crops, the horse and chariot, composite

182 | The Second Intermediate Period

bow, battle-axes, and fortification techniques for warfare. These
advances helped Egypt later rise to prominence.

Luxor Temple. Thebes was the capital of many of the Sixteenth Dynasty
pharaohs.

The Sixteenth Dynasty

This dynasty ruled the Theban region in Upper Egypt for 70 years,
while the armies of the Fifteenth Dynasty advanced against
southern enemies and encroached on Sixteenth territory. Famine
was an issue during this period, most notably during the reign of
Neferhotep III.

The Abydos Dynasty

The Abydos Dynasty was a short-lived local dynasty that ruled over
part of Upper Egypt and was contemporaneous with the Fifteenth
and Sixteenth Dynasties c. 1650-1600 BCE. The royal necropolis of
the Abydos Dynasty was found in the southern part of Abydos, in an

The Second Intermediate Period | 183

area called Anubis Mountain in ancient times, adjacent to the tombs
of the Middle Kingdom rulers.

The Abydos Dynasty. This map shows the

possible extent of power of the Abydos
Dynasty (in red).

The Seventeenth Dynasty (c. 1580-1550

BCE)

Around the time Memphis and Itj-tawy fell to the Hyksos, the native
Egyptian ruling house in Thebes declared its independence from

184 | The Second Intermediate Period

Itj-tawy and became the Seventeenth Dynasty. This dynasty would
eventually lead the war of liberation that drove the Hyksos back into
Asia. The Theban-based Seventeenth Dynasty restored numerous
temples throughout Upper Egypt while maintaining peaceful
trading relations with the Hyksos kingdom in the north. Indeed,
Senakhtenre Ahmose, the first king in the line of Ahmoside kings,
even imported white limestone from the Hyksos-controlled region
of Tura to make a granary door at the Temple of Karnak. However,
his successors—the final two kings of this dynasty—,Seqenenre Tao
and Kamose, defeated the Hyksos through several wars of
liberation. With the creation of the Eighteenth Dynasty around 1550
BCE, the New Kingdom period of Egyptian history began with
Ahmose I, its first pharaoh, who completed the expulsion of the
Hyksos from Egypt and placed the country, once again, under
centralized administrative control.

Sources

The Second Intermediate Period | 185

25. The New Kingdom

Learning Objective

• Explain the reasons for the collapse of the New

Kingdom

Key Points

• The New Kingdom saw Egypt attempt to create a

buffer against the Levant and by attaining its greatest
territorial by extending into Nubia and the Near East.
This was possibly a result of the foreign rule of the
Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period,
• The Eighteenth Dynasty contained some of Egypt’s
most famous pharaohs, including Hatshepsut,
Akhenaten, Thutmose III, and Tutankhamun.
Hatshepsut concentrated on expanding Egyptian
trade, while Thutmose III consolidated power.
• Akhenaten’s devotion to Aten defined his reign with
religious fervor, while art flourished under his rule
and attained an unprecedented level of realism.
• Due to Akenaten’s lack of interest in international
affairs, the Hittites gradually extended their influence
into Phoenicia and Canaan.

186 | The New Kingdom

 • Ramesses II attempted war against the Hittites, but
eventually agreed to a peace treaty after an indecisive
result.
• The heavy cost of military efforts in addition to
climatic changes resulted in a loss of centralized
power at the end of the Twentieth Dynasty, leading to
the Third Intermediate Period.

Terms

Hyksos

An Asiatic people from West Asia who took over the

eastern Nile Delta, ending the Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt
and initiating the Second Intermediate Period.

Abydos Dynasty

A short-lived local dynasty ruling over parts of Upper

Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period in Ancient
Egypt.

The New Kingdom | 187

 Baal

The native storm god of the Hyksos.

Second Intermediate Period

Spanning the Fourteenth to Seventeenth Dynasties, a

period of Egyptian history where power was split between
the Hyksos and a Theban-based dynasty in Upper Egypt.

The New Kingdom of Egypt, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire,

is the period in ancient Egyptian history between 1550-1070 BCE,
covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of
Egypt. The New Kingdom followed the Second Intermediate Period,
and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate Period. It was Egypt’s
most prosperous time and marked the peak of its power.
The Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties (1292-1069 BCE) are also
known as the Ramesside period, after the eleven pharaohs that took
the name of Ramesses. The New Kingdom saw Egypt attempt to
create a buffer against the Levant and attain its greatest territorial
extent. This was possibly a result of the foreign rule of the Hyksos
during the Second Intermediate Period.

The Eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1543-1292 BCE)

The Eighteenth Dynasty, also known as the Thutmosid Dynasty,

188 | The New Kingdom

contained some of Egypt’s most famous pharaohs, including
Ahmose I, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten (c.
1353-1336 BCE) and his queen Nefertiti, and Tutankhamun. Queen
Hatshepsut (c. 1479 – 1458 BCE) concentrated on expanding Egypt’s
external trade by sending a commercial expedition to the land of
Punt, and was the longest-reigning woman pharaoh of an
indigenous dynasty. Thutmose III, who would become known as
the greatest military pharoah, expanded Egypt’s army and wielded
it with great success to consolidate the empire created by his
predecessors. These victories maximized Egyptian power and
wealth during the reign of Amenhotep III. It was also during the
reign of Thutmose III that the term “pharaoh,” originally referring to
the king’s palace, became a form of address for the king.
One of the best-known Eighteenth Dynasty pharaohs is
Amenhotep IV (c. 1353-1336 BCE), who changed his name to
Akhenaten in honor of Aten and whose exclusive worship of the
deity is often interpreted as the first instance of monotheism. Under
his reign Egyptian art flourished and attained an unprecedented
level of realism. Toward the end of this dynasty, the Hittites had
expanded their influence into Phoenicia and Canaan, the outcome
of which would be inherited by the rulers of the Nineteenth
Dynasty.

The New Kingdom | 189

Bust of Akhenaten. Akhenaten, born Amenhotep IV, was the son of Queen Tiye.
He rejected the old Egyptian religion and promoted the Aten as a supreme
deity.

190 | The New Kingdom

The Nineteenth Dynasty (c. 1292-1187 BCE)

New Kingdom Egypt would reach the height of its power under Seti
I and Ramesses II, who fought against the Libyans and Hittites. The
city of Kadesh was a flashpoint, captured first by Seti I and then
used as a peace bargain with the Hatti, and later attacked again by
Ramesses II. Eventually, the Egyptians and Hittites signed a lasting
peace treaty.

Egyptian and Hittite Empires. This map

shows the Egyptian (green) and Hittite (red)
Empires around 1274 BCE.

Ramesses II had a large number of children, and he built a massive

funerary complex for his sons in the Valley of the Kings. The
Nineteenth Dynasty ended in a revolt led by Setnakhte, the founder
of the Twentieth Dynasty.

The New Kingdom | 191

Temple of Ramesses II. Detail of the Temple of Ramesses II.

192 | The New Kingdom

The Twentieth Dynasty (c. 1187-1064 BCE)

The last “great” pharaoh from the New Kingdom is widely regarded
to be Ramesses III. In the eighth year of his reign, the Sea Peoples
invaded Egypt by land and sea, but were defeated by Ramesses III.
The heavy cost of warfare slowly drained Egypt’s treasury and
contributed to the gradual decline of the Egyptian Empire in Asia.
The severity of the difficulties is indicated by the fact that the first
known labor strike in recorded history occurred during the 29th
year of Ramesses III’s reign, over food rations. Despite a palace
conspiracy which may have killed Ramesses III, three of his sons
ascended the throne successively as Ramesses IV, Ramesses VI and
Ramesses VIII. Egypt was increasingly beset by droughts, below-
normal flooding of the Nile, famine, civil unrest, and official
corruption. The power of the last pharaoh of the dynasty, Ramesses
XI, grew so weak that, in the south, the High Priests of Amun at
Thebes became the de facto rulers of Upper Egypt. The Smendes
controlled Lower Egypt even before Ramesses XI’s death. Menes
eventually founded the Twenty-first Dynasty at Tanis.

Sources

The New Kingdom | 193

26. Hatshepsut

Learning Objective

• Describe the achievements of Hatshepsut in

Ancient Egypt

Key Points

• Hatshepsut reigned Egypt from 1478-1458 BCE,

during the Eighteenth Dynasty. She ruled longer than
any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty.
• Hatshepsut established trade networks that helped
build the wealth of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
• Hundreds of construction projects and statuary
were commissioned by Hatshepsut, including obelisks
and monuments at the Temple of Karnak.
• While not the first female ruler of Egypt,
Hatshepsut’s reign was longer and more prosperous;
she oversaw a peaceful, wealthy era.
• The average woman in Egypt was quite liberated
for the time, and had a variety of property and other
rights.
• Hatshepsut died in 1458 BCE in middle age, possibly
of diabetes and bone cancer. Her mummy was

194 | Hatshepsut
 discovered in 1903 and identified in 2007.

Terms

kohl

A black powder used as eye makeup.

obelisks

Stone pillars, typically having a square or rectangular

cross section and a pyramidal tip, used as a monument.

co-regent

The situation wherein a monarchical position, normally

held by one person, is held by two.

Hatshepsut reigned in Egypt from 1478-1458 BCE, during the

Eighteenth Dynasty, longer than any other woman of an indigenous
Egyptian dynasty. According to Egyptologist James Henry Breasted,
she was “the first great woman in history of whom we are informed.”
She was the daughter of Thutmose I and his wife Ahmes.
Hatshepsut’s husband, Thutmose II, was also a child of Thutmose I,

Hatshepsut | 195
but was conceived with a different wife. Hatshepsut had a daughter
named Neferure with her husband, Thutmose II. Thutmose II
also fathered Thutmose III with Iset, a secondary wife. Hatshepsut
ascended to the throne as co-regent with Thutmose III, who came
to the throne as a two-year old child.

Statue of Hatshepsut. This statue of Hatshepsut is

housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New
York City.

Trade Networks

Hatshepsut established trade networks that helped build the wealth

of the Eighteenth Dynasty. This included a successful mission to the
Land of Punt in the ninth year of her reign, which brought live myrrh
trees and frankincense (which Hatshepsut used as kohl eyeliner) to

196 | Hatshepsut
Egypt. She also sent raiding expeditions to Byblos and Sinai, and
may have led military campaigns against Nubia and Canaan.

Building Projects

Hatshepsut was a prolific builder, commissioning hundreds of

construction projects and statuary. She had monuments
constructed at the Temple of Karnak, and restored the original
Precinct of Mut at Karnak, which had been ravaged during the
Hyksos occupation of Egypt. She installed twin obelisks (the tallest
in the world at that time) at the entrance to this temple, one of
which still stands. Karnak’s Red Chapel was intended as a shrine to
her life, and may have stood with these obelisks.
The Temple of Pakhet was a monument to Bast and Sekhmet,
lioness war goddesses. Later in the Nineteenth Dynasty, King Seti I
attempted to take credit for this monument. However, Hatshepsut’s
masterpiece was a mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri; the focal point
was the Djeser-Djeseru (“the Sublime of Sublimes”), a colonnaded
structure built 1,000 years before the Greek Parthenon. The
Hatshepsut needle, a granite obelisk, is considered another great
accomplishment.

Hatshepsut | 197
Hatshepsut Temple. The colonnaded design is evident in this temple.

Female Rule

Hatshepsut was not the first female ruler of Egypt. She had been
preceded by Merneith of the First Dynasty, Nimaathap of the Third
Dynasty, Nitocris of the Sixth Dynasty, Sobekneferu of the Twelfth
Dynasty, Ahhotep I of the Seventeenth Dynasty, Ahmose-Nefertari,
and others. However, Hatshepsut’s reign was longer and more
prosperous; she oversaw a peaceful, wealthy era. She was also
proficient at self-promotion, which was enabled by her wealth.

198 | Hatshepsut
Hieroglyphs of Thutmose III and Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut, on the right, is
shown having the trappings of a greater role.

The word “king” was considered gender-neutral, and women could

take the title. During her father’s reign, she held the powerful office
of God’s Wife, and as wife to her husband, Thutmose II, she took
an active role in administration of the kingdom. As pharaoh, she
faced few challenges, even from her co-regent, who headed up
the powerful Egyptian army and could have unseated her, had he
chosen to do so.

Hatshepsut | 199
Women’s Status in Egypt

The average woman in Egypt was quite liberated for the time period.
While her foremost role was as mother and wife, an average woman
might have worked in weaving, perfume making, or entertainment.
Women could own their own businesses, own and sell property,
serve as witnesses in court cases, be in the company of men, divorce
and remarry, and have access to one-third of their husband’s
property.

Hatshepsut’s Death

Hatshepsut died in 1458 BCE in middle age; no cause of death is

known, although she may have had diabetes and bone cancer, likely
from a carcinogenic skin lotion. Her mummy was discovered in the
Valley of the Kings by Howard Carer in 1903, although at the time,
the mummy’s identity was not known. In 2007, the mummy was
found to be a match to a missing tooth known to have belonged to
Hatshepsut.

200 | Hatshepsut
 Osirian Statues of Hatshepsut. These statues of Hatshepsut at her
tomb show her holding the crook and flail associated with Osiris.

After her death, mostly during Thutmose III’s reign, haphazard

attempts were made to remove Hatshepsut from certain historical
and pharaonic records. Amenhotep II, the son of Thutmose III, may
have been responsible. The Tyldesley hypothesis states that

Hatshepsut | 201
Thutmose III may have decided to attempt to scale back
Hatshepsut’s role to that of regent rather than king.

Sources

202 | Hatshepsut
27. The Third Intermediate
Period

Learning Objective

• Describe the general landscape of the political

chaos during Third Intermediate Period

Key Points

• The period of the Twenty-first Dynasty was

characterized by the country’s fracturing kingship, as
power became split more and more between the
pharaoh and the High Priests of Amun at Thebes.
• Egypt was temporarily reunified during the
Twenty-second Dynasty, and experienced a period of
stability, but shattered into two states after the reign
of Osorkon II.
• Civil war raged in Thebes and was eventually
quelled by Osorkon B, who founded the Upper
Egyptian Libyan Dynasty. This dynasty collapsed,
however, with the rise of local city-states.
• The Twenty-fourth Dynasty saw the conquest of
the Nubians over native Egyptian rulers, and the

The Third Intermediate Period | 203

 Nubians ruled through the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty,
when they expanded Egyptian power to the extent of
the New Kingdom and restored many temples. Due to
lacking military power, however, the Egyptians were
conquered by the Assyrians toward the end of the
Twenty-fifth Dynasty.
• The end of the Third Intermediate Period and the
Twenty-sixth Dynasty saw Assyrian rule over Egypt.
Although some measure of independence was
regained, Egypt faced pressure and eventual defeat at
the hands of the Persians.

Terms

Nubia

A region along the Nile river, located in northern Sudan

and southern Egypt.

Third Intermediate Period

Spanning the Twenty-first to Twenty-sixth Dynasties. A

period of Egyptian decline and political instability.

204 | The Third Intermediate Period

 Assyrians

A major Mesopotamian East Semitic-speaking people.

High Priests of Amun

The highest-ranking priest in the priesthood of the

Ancient Egyptian god, Amun. Assumed significant power
along with the pharaoh in the Twenty-First Dynasty.

The Third Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt began with the

death of the last pharaoh of the New Kingdom, Ramesses XI in 1070
BCE, and ended with the start of the Postdynastic Period. The Third
Intermediate Period was one of decline and political instability. It
was marked by a division of the state for much of the period, as well
as conquest and rule by foreigners. However, many aspects of life
for ordinary Egyptians changed relatively little.

The Twenty-First Dynasty (c. 1077-943 BCE)

The period of the Twenty-first Dynasty was characterized by the

country’s fracturing kingship. Even in Ramesses XI’s day, the
Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt was losing its grip on power in the city
of Thebes, where priests were becoming increasingly powerful. The
Amun priests of Thebes owned 2/3 of all the temple lands in Egypt,
90% of ships, and many other resources. Consequently, the Amun

The Third Intermediate Period | 205

priests were as powerful as the Pharaoh, if not more so. After the
death of Ramesses XI, his successor, Smendes I, ruled from the city
of Tanis, but was mainly active only in Lower Egypt. Meanwhile,
the High Priests of Amun at Thebes effectively ruled Middle and
Upper Egypt in all but name. During this time, however, this division
was relatively insignificant, due to the fact that both priests and
pharaohs came from the same family.

The Twenty-Second (c. 943-716 BCE) and

Twenty-Third (c. 880-720 BCE) Dynasties

The country was firmly reunited by the Twenty-second Dynasty,

founded by Shoshenq I in approximately 943 BCE. Shoshenq I
descended from Meshwesh immigrants originally from Ancient
Libya. This unification brought stability to the country for well over
a century, but after the reign of Osorkon II, the country had
shattered in two states. Shoshenq III of the Twenty-Second Dynasty
controlled Lower Egypt by 818 BCE, while Takelot II and his son
Osorkon (the future Osorkon III) ruled Middle and Upper Egypt. In
Thebes, a civil war engulfed the city between the forces of Pedubast
I, a self-proclaimed pharaoh. Eventually Osorkon B defeated his
enemies, and proceeded to found the Upper Egyptian Libyan
Dynasty of Osorkon III, Takelot III, and Rudamun. This kingdom
quickly fragmented after Rudamun’s death with the rise of local
city-states.

206 | The Third Intermediate Period

The Twenty-Fourth Dynasty (c. 732-720
BCE)

The Nubian kingdom to the south took full advantage of the division
of the country. Nubia had already extended its influence into the
Egyptian city of Thebes around 752 BCE, when the Nubian ruler
Kashta coerced Shepenupet into adopting his own daughter
Amenirdis as her successor. Twenty years later, around 732 BCE,
these machinations bore fruit for Nubia when Kashta’s successor
Piye marched north in his Year 20 campaign into Egypt, and
defeated the combined might of the native Egyptian rulers.

The Twenty-Fifth Dynasty (c. 760-656 BCE)

Following his military conquests, Piye established the Twenty-fifth

Dynasty and appointed the defeated rulers as his provincial
governors. Rulers under this dynasty originated in the Nubian
Kingdom of Kush. Their reunification of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt,
and Kish created the largest Egyptian empire since the New
Kingdom. They assimilated into Egyptian culture but also brought
some aspects of Kushite culture. During this dynasty, the first
widespread building of pyramids since the Middle Kingdom
resumed. The Nubians were driven out of Egypt in 670 BCE by
the Assyrians, who installed an initial puppet dynasty loyal to the
Assyrians.

The Third Intermediate Period | 207

 Nubian Pharaohs. Statues of the Nubian Pharaohs of the
Twenty-fifth Dynasty.

End of the Third Intermediate Period

Upper Egypt remained under the rule of Tantamani for a time, while
Lower Egypt was ruled by the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, starting in
664 BCE. Although originally established as clients of the Assyrians,
the Twenty-sixth Dynasty managed to take advantage of the time
of troubles facing the Assyrian empire to successfully bring about
Egypt’s political independence. In 656 BCE, Psamtik I (last of the
Twenty-sixth Dynasty kings) occupied Thebes and became pharaoh,
the King of Upper and Lower Egypt. He proceeded to reign over a
united Egypt for 54 years from his capital at Sais. Four successive
Saite kings continued guiding Egypt through a period of peace and
prosperity from 610-525 BCE. Unfortunately for this dynasty,
however, a new power was growing in the Near East: Persia. Pharaoh
Psamtik III succeeded his father, Ahmose II, only six months before
he had to face the Persian Empire at Pelusium. The new king was
no match for the Persians, who had already taken Babylon. Psamtik
III was defeated and briefly escaped to Memphis. He was ultimately

208 | The Third Intermediate Period

imprisoned, and later executed at Susa, the capital of the Persian
king Cambyses. With the Saite kings exterminated, Camybes
assumed the formal title of Pharaoh.

Sources

The Third Intermediate Period | 209

28. The Decline of Ancient
Egypt

Learning Objective

• Explain why Ancient Egypt declined as an economic

and political force

Key Points

• After a renaissance in the 25th Dynasty, ancient

Egypt was occupied by Assyrians, initiating the Late
Period.
• In 525 BCE, Egypt was conquered by Persia, and
incorporated into the Achaemenid Persian Empire.
• In 332 BCE, Egypt was given to Macedonia and
Alexander the Great. During this period, the new
capital of Alexandria flourished.
• Egypt became a Roman province after the defeat of
Marc Antony and Queen Cleopatra VII in 30 BCE.
During this period, religious and other traditions
slowly declined.

210 | The Decline of Ancient Egypt

 Terms

Hellenistic

Relating to Greek history, language, and culture, during

the time between the death of Alexander the Great and the
defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BCE.

hieroglyphics

A formal writing system used by ancient Egyptians,

consisting of pictograms.

pagan

A person holding religious beliefs other than those of the

main world religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

Ancient Egypt went through a series of occupations and suffered

a slow decline over a long period of time. First occupied by the
Assyrians, then the Persians, and later the Macedonians and
Romans, Egyptians would never again reach the glorious heights of
self-rule they achieved during previous periods.

The Decline of Ancient Egypt | 211

Third Intermediate Period (1069-653 BCE)

After a renaissance in the Twenty-fifth dynasty, when religion, arts,

and architecture (including pyramids) were restored, struggles
against the Assyrians led to eventual conquest of Egypt by
Esarhaddon in 671 BCE. Native Egyptian rulers were installed but
could not retain control of the area, and former Pharaoh Taharqa
seized control of southern Egypt for a time, until he was defeated
again by the Assyrians. Taharqa’s successor, Tanutamun, also made
a failed attempt to regain Egypt, but was defeated.

Late Period (672-332 BCE)

Having been victorious in Egypt, the Assyrians installed a series

of vassals known as the Saite kings of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.
In 653 BCE, one of these kings, Psamtik I, was able to achieve
a peaceful separation from the Assyrians with the help of Lydian
and Greek mercenaries. In 609 BCE, the Egyptians attempted to
save the Assyrians, who were losing their war with the Babylonians,
Chaldeans, Medians, and Scythians. However, they were
unsuccessful.
In 525 BCE, the Persians, led by Cambyses II, invaded Egypt,
capturing the Pharaoh Psamtik III. Egypt was joined with Cyprus and
Phoenicia in the sixth satrapy of the Achaemenid Persian Empire,
also called the Twenty-seventh Dynasty. This ended in 402 BCE, and
the last native royal house of dynastic Egypt, known as the Thirtieth
Dynasty, was ruled by Nectanebo II. Persian rule was restored
briefly in 343 BCE, known as the Thirty-first Dynasty, but in 332
BCE, Egypt was handed over peacefully to the Macedonian ruler,
Alexander the Great.

212 | The Decline of Ancient Egypt

Macedonian and Ptolemaic Period (332-30
BCE)

Alexander the Great was welcomed into Egypt as a deliverer, and

the new capital city of Alexandria was a showcase of Hellenistic
rule, capped by the famous Library of Alexandria. Native Egyptian
traditions were honored, but eventually local revolts, plus interest in
Egyptian goods by the Romans, caused the Romans to wrest Egypt
from the Macedonians.

Roman Period (30 BCE-641CE)

Egypt became a Roman province after the defeat of Marc Antony

and Queen Cleopatra VII in 30 BCE. Some Egyptian traditions,
including mummification and worship of local gods, continued, but
local administration was handled exclusively by Romans. The spread
of Christianity proved to be too powerful, and pagan rites were
banned and temples closed. Egyptians continued to speak their
language, but the ability to read hieroglyphics disappeared as
temple priests diminished.

Sources

The Decline of Ancient Egypt | 213

29. Ancient Egyptian Religion

Learning Objective

• Describe the religious beliefs and practices of

Ancient Egypt

Key Points

• The religion of Ancient Egypt lasted for more than

3,000 years, and was polytheistic, meaning there
were a multitude of deities, who were believed to
reside within and control the forces of nature.
• Formal religious practice centered on the pharaoh,
or ruler, of Egypt, who was believed to be divine, and
acted as intermediary between the people and the
gods. His role was to sustain the gods so that they
could maintain order in the universe.
• The Egyptian universe centered on Ma’at, which
has several meanings in English, including truth,
justice and order. It was fixed and eternal; without it
the world would fall apart.
• The most important myth was of Osiris and Isis.
The divine ruler Osiris was murdered by Set (god of
chaos), then resurrected by his sister and wife Isis to

214 | Ancient Egyptian Religion

 conceive an heir, Horus. Osiris then became the ruler
of the dead, while Horus eventually avenged his
father and became king.
• Egyptians were very concerned about the fate of
their souls after death. They believed ka (life-force)
left the body upon death and needed to be fed. Ba, or
personal spirituality, remained in the body. The goal
was to unite ka and ba to create akh.
• Artistic depictions of gods were not literal
representations, as their true nature was considered
mysterious. However, symbolic imagery was used to
indicate this nature.
• Temples were the state’s method of sustaining the
gods, since their physical images were housed and
cared for; temples were not a place for the average
person to worship.
• Certain animals were worshipped and mummified
as representatives of gods.
• Oracles were used by all classes.

Terms

Ma’at

The Egyptian universe.

Ancient Egyptian Religion | 215

 heka

The ability to use natural forces to create “magic.”

pantheon

The core actors of a religion.

polytheistic

A religion with more than one worshipped god.

ka

The spiritual part of an individual human being or god

that survived after death.

Duat

The realm of the dead; residence of Osiris.

216 | Ancient Egyptian Religion

 ba

The spiritual characteristics of an individual person that

remained in the body after death. Ba could unite with the
ka.

akh

The combination of the ka and ba living in the afterlife.

The religion of Ancient Egypt lasted for more than 3,000 years, and
was polytheistic, meaning there were a multitude of deities, who
were believed to reside within and control the forces of nature.
Religious practices were deeply embedded in the lives of Egyptians,
as they attempted to provide for their gods and win their favor. The
complexity of the religion was evident as some deities existed in
different manifestations and had multiple mythological roles. The
pantheon included gods with major roles in the universe, minor
deities (or “demons”), foreign gods, and sometimes humans,
including deceased Pharaohs.
Formal religious practice centered on the pharaoh, or ruler, of
Egypt, who was believed to be divine, and acted as intermediary
between the people and the gods. His role was to sustain the gods so
that they could maintain order in the universe, and the state spent
its resources generously to build temples and provide for rituals.
The pharaoh was associated with Horus (and later Amun) and seen
as the son of Ra. Upon death, the pharaoh was fully deified, directly
identified with Ra and associated with Osiris, the god of death and
rebirth. However, individuals could appeal directly to the gods for

Ancient Egyptian Religion | 217

personal purposes through prayer or requests for magic; as the
pharaoh’s power declined, this personal form of practice became
stronger. Popular religious practice also involved ceremonies
around birth and naming. The people also invoked “magic” (called
heka) to make things happen using natural forces.

Gods of the Pantheon. This wall painting shows, from left to right, the
gods Osiris, Anubis and Horus.

218 | Ancient Egyptian Religion

Cosmology

The Egyptian universe centered on Ma’at, which has several

meanings in English, including truth, justice and order. It was fixed
and eternal (without it the world would fall apart), and there were
constant threats of disorder requiring society to work to maintain it.
Inhabitants of the cosmos included the gods, the spirits of deceased
humans, and living humans, the most important of which was the
pharaoh. Humans should cooperate to achieve this, and gods should
function in balance. Ma’at was renewed by periodic events, such
as the annual Nile flood, which echoed the original creation. Most
important of these was the daily journey of the sun god Ra.
Egyptians saw the earth as flat land (the god Geb), over which
arched the sky (goddess Nut); they were separated by Shu, the
god of air. Underneath the earth was a parallel underworld and
undersky, and beyond the skies lay Nu, the chaos before creation.
Duat was a mysterious area associated with death and rebirth, and
each day Ra passed through Duat after traveling over the earth
during the day.

Ancient Egyptian Religion | 219

Egyptian Cosmology. In this artwork, the air god Shu is assisted by other gods
in holding up Nut, the sky, as Geb, the earth, lies beneath.

Myths

Egyptian myths are mainly known from hymns, ritual and magical
texts, funerary texts, and the writings of Greeks and Romans. The
creation myth saw the world as emerging as a dry space in the
primordial ocean of chaos, marked by the first rising of Ra. Other
forms of the myth saw the primordial god Atum transforming into
the elements of the world, and the creative speech of the
intellectual god Ptah.
The most important myth was of Osiris and Isis. The divine ruler
Osiris was murdered by Set (god of chaos), then resurrected by his
sister and wife Isis to conceive an heir, Horus. Osiris then became
the ruler of the dead, while Horus eventually avenged his father and
became king. This myth set the Pharaohs, and their succession, as
orderliness against chaos.

220 | Ancient Egyptian Religion

The Afterlife

Egyptians were very concerned about the fate of their souls after
death, and built tombs, created grave goods and gave offerings to
preserve the bodies and spirits of the dead. They believed humans
possessed ka, or life-force, which left the body at death. To endure
after death, the ka must continue to receive offerings of food; it
could consume the spiritual essence of it. Humans also possessed
a ba, a set of spiritual characteristics unique to each person, which
remained in the body after death. Funeral rites were meant to
release the ba so it could move, rejoin with the ka, and live on as
an akh. However, the ba returned to the body at night, so the body
must be preserved.
Mummification involved elaborate embalming practices, and
wrapping in cloth, along with various rites, including the Opening of
the Mouth ceremony. Tombs were originally mastabas (rectangular
brick structures), and then pyramids.
However, this originally did not apply to the common person: they
passed into a dark, bleak realm that was the opposite of life. Nobles
did receive tombs and grave gifts from the pharaoh. Eventually, by
about 2181 BCE, Egyptians began to believe every person had a ba
and could access the afterlife. By the New Kingdom, the soul had to
face dangers in the Duat before having a final judgment, called the
Weighing of the Heart, where the gods compared the actions of the
deceased while alive to Ma’at, to see if they were worthy. If so, the
ka and ba were united into an akh, which then either traveled to the
lush underworld, or traveled with Ra on his daily journey, or even
returned to the world of the living to carry out magic.

Ancient Egyptian Religion | 221

Funerary Text. In this section from the Book of the Dead for the scribe
Hunefer, the Weighing of the Heart is shown.

Rise and Fall of Gods

Certain gods gained a primary status over time, and then fell as
other gods overtook them. These included the sun god Ra, the
creator god Amun, and the mother goddess Isis. There was even
a period of time where Egypt was monotheistic, under Pharaoh
Akhenaten, and his patron god Aten.

The Relationships of Deities

Just as the forces of nature had complex interrelationships, so did

222 | Ancient Egyptian Religion

Egyptian deities. Minor deities might be linked, or deities might
come together based on the meaning of numbers in Egyptian
mythology (i.e., pairs represented duality). Deities might also be
linked through syncretism, creating a composite deity.

Artistic Depictions of Gods

Artistic depictions of gods were not literal representations, since

their true nature was considered mysterious. However, symbolic
imagery was used to indicate this nature. An example was Anubis, a
funerary god, who was shown as a jackal to counter its traditional
meaning as a scavenger, and create protection for the mummy.

Temples

Temples were the state’s method of sustaining the gods, as their

physical images were housed and cared for; they were not a place
for the average person to worship. They were both mortuary
temples to serve deceased pharaohs and temples for patron gods.
Starting as simple structures, they grew more elaborate, and were
increasingly built from stone, with a common plan. Ritual duties
were normally carried out by priests, or government officials
serving in the role. In the New Kingdom, professional priesthood
became common, and their wealth rivaled that of the pharaoh.

Rituals and Festivals

Aside from numerous temple rituals, including the morning offering

Ancient Egyptian Religion | 223

ceremony and re-enactments of myths, there were coronation
ceremonies and the sed festival, a renewal of the pharaoh’s strength
during his reign. The Opet Festival at Karnak involved a procession
carrying the god’s image to visit other significant sites.

Animal Worship

At many sites, Egyptians worshipped specific animals that they

believed to be manifestations of deities. Examples include the Apis
bull (of the god Ptah), and mummified cats and other animals.

Use of Oracles

Commoners and pharaohs asked questions of oracles, and answers

could even be used during the New Kingdom to settle legal disputes.
This might involve asking a question while a divine image was being
carried, and interpreting movement, or drawing lots.

Sources

224 | Ancient Egyptian Religion

30. Ancient Egyptian Art

Learning Objective

• Examine the development of Egyptian Art under

the Old Kingdom

Key Points

• Ancient Egyptian art includes painting, sculpture,

architecture, and other forms of art, such as drawings
on papyrus, created between 3000 BCE and 100 CE.
• Most of this art was highly stylized and symbolic.
Much of the surviving forms come from tombs and
monuments, and thus have a focus on life after death
and preservation of knowledge.
• Symbolism meant order, shown through the
pharaoh’s regalia, or through the use of certain
colors.
• In Egyptian art, the size of a figure indicates its
relative importance.
• Paintings were often done on stone, and portrayed
pleasant scenes of the afterlife in tombs.
• Ancient Egyptians created both monumental and
smaller sculptures, using the technique of sunk relief.

Ancient Egyptian Art | 225

 • Ka statues, which were meant to provide a resting
place for the ka part of the soul, were often made of
wood and placed in tombs.
• Faience was sintered-quartz ceramic with surface
vitrification, used to create relatively cheap small
objects in many colors. Glass was originally a luxury
item but became more common, and was used to
make small jars, for perfume and other liquids, to be
placed in tombs. Carvings of vases, amulets, and
images of deities and animals were made of steatite.
Pottery was sometimes covered with enamel,
particularly in the color blue.
• Papyrus was used for writing and painting, and and
was used to record every aspect of Egyptian life.
• Architects carefully planned buildings, aligning
them with astronomically significant events, such as
solstices and equinoxes. They used mainly sun-baked
mud brick, limestone, sandstone, and granite.
• The Amarna period (1353-1336 BCE) represents an
interruption in ancient Egyptian art style, subjects
were represented more realistically, and scenes
included portrayals of affection among the royal
family.

226 | Ancient Egyptian Art

 Terms

scarabs

Ancient Egyptian gem cut in the form of a scarab beetle.

Faience

Glazed ceramic ware.

ushabti

Ancient Egyptian funerary figure.

Ka

The supposed spiritual part of an individual human being

or god that survived after death, and could reside in a
statue of the person.

sunk relief

Sculptural technique in which the outlines of modeled

Ancient Egyptian Art | 227

 forms are incised in a plane surface beyond which the
forms do not project.

regalia

The emblems or insignia of royalty.

papyrus

A material prepared in ancient Egypt from the stem of a

water plant, used in sheets for writing or painting on.

Ancient Egyptian art includes painting, sculpture, architecture, and

other forms of art, such as drawings on papyrus, created between
3000 BCE and 100 AD. Most of this art was highly stylized and
symbolic. Many of the surviving forms come from tombs and
monuments, and thus have a focus on life after death and
preservation of knowledge.

Symbolism

Symbolism in ancient Egyptian art conveyed a sense of order and

the influence of natural elements. The regalia of the pharaoh
symbolized his or her power to rule and maintain the order of the
universe. Blue and gold indicated divinity because they were rare
and were associated with precious materials, while black expressed
the fertility of the Nile River.

228 | Ancient Egyptian Art

Hierarchical Scale

In Egyptian art, the size of a figure indicates its relative importance.

This meant gods or the pharaoh were usually bigger than other
figures, followed by figures of high officials or the tomb owner;
the smallest figures were servants, entertainers, animals, trees and
architectural details.

Painting

Before painting a stone surface, it was whitewashed and sometimes

covered with mud plaster. Pigments were made of mineral and able
to stand up to strong sunlight with minimal fade. The binding
medium is unknown; the paint was applied to dried plaster in the
“fresco a secco” style. A varnish or resin was then applied as a
protective coating, which, along with the dry climate of Egypt,
protected the painting very well. The purpose of tomb paintings
was to create a pleasant afterlife for the dead person, with themes
such as journeying through the afterworld, or deities providing
protection. The side view of the person or animal was generally
shown, and paintings were often done in red, blue, green, gold, black
and yellow.

Ancient Egyptian Art | 229

 Wall Painting of Nefertari. In this wall painting of Nefertari, the
side view is apparent.

Sculpture

Ancient Egyptians created both monumental and smaller

sculptures, using the technique of sunk relief. In this technique, the

230 | Ancient Egyptian Art

image is made by cutting the relief sculpture into a flat surface, set
within a sunken area shaped around the image. In strong sunlight,
this technique is very visible, emphasizing the outlines and forms by
shadow. Figures are shown with the torso facing front, the head in
side view, and the legs parted, with males sometimes darker than
females. Large statues of deities (other than the pharaoh) were not
common, although deities were often shown in paintings and reliefs.
Colossal sculpture on the scale of the Great Sphinx of Giza was
not repeated, but smaller sphinxes and animals were found in
temple complexes. The most sacred cult image of a temple’s god was
supposedly held in the naos in small boats, carved out of precious
metal, but none have survived.
Ka statues, which were meant to provide a resting place for the ka
part of the soul, were present in tombs as of Dynasty IV (2680-2565
BCE). These were often made of wood, and were called reserve
heads, which were plain, hairless and naturalistic. Early tombs had
small models of slaves, animals, buildings, and objects to provide
life for the deceased in the afterworld. Later, ushabti figures were
present as funerary figures to act as servants for the deceased,
should he or she be called upon to do manual labor in the afterlife.

Ancient Egyptian Art | 231

 Ka Statue. The ka statue was placed in the tomb to provide a
physical place for the ka to manifest. This statue is found at the
Egyptian Museum of Cairo.

Many small carved objects have been discovered, from toys to

utensils, and alabaster was used for the more expensive objects. In
creating any statuary, strict conventions, accompanied by a rating

232 | Ancient Egyptian Art

system, were followed. This resulted in a rather timeless quality, as
few changes were instituted over thousands of years.

Faience, Pottery, and Glass

Faience was sintered-quartz ceramic with surface vitrification used

to create relatively cheap, small objects in many colors, but most
commonly blue-green. It was often used for jewelry, scarabs, and
figurines. Glass was originally a luxury item, but became more
common, and was to used to make small jars, of perfume and other
liquids, to be placed in tombs. Carvings of vases, amulets, and
images of deities and animals were made of steatite. Pottery was
sometimes covered with enamel, particularly in the color blue. In
tombs, pottery was used to represent organs of the body removed
during embalming, or to create cones, about ten inches tall,
engraved with legends of the deceased.

Papyrus

Papyrus is very delicate and was used for writing and painting; it
has only survived for long periods when buried in tombs. Every
aspect of Egyptian life is found recorded on papyrus, from literary
to administrative documents.

Architecture

Architects carefully planned buildings, aligning them with

astronomically significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes,

Ancient Egyptian Art | 233

and used mainly sun-baked mud brick, limestone, sandstone, and
granite. Stone was reserved for tombs and temples, while other
buildings, such as palaces and fortresses, were made of bricks.
Houses were made of mud from the Nile River that hardened in
the sun. Many of these houses were destroyed in flooding or
dismantled; examples of preserved structures include the village
Deir al-Madinah and the fortress at Buhen.
The Giza Necropolis, built in the Fourth Dynasty, includes the
Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the Great Pyramid or the Pyramid
of Cheops), the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure,
along with smaller “queen” pyramids and the Great Sphinx.

The Pyramids of Giza. The Pyramid of Khufu (Great Pyramid) is the largest of
the pyramids pictured here.

The Temple of Karnak was first built in the 16th century BCE. About
30 pharaohs contributed to the buildings, creating an extremely
large and diverse complex. It includes the Precincts of Amon-Re,
Montu and Mut, and the Temple of Amehotep IV (dismantled).

234 | Ancient Egyptian Art

 The Temple of Karnak. Shown here is the hypostyle hall of the
Temple of Karnak.

The Luxor Temple was constructed in the 14th century BCE by

Amenhotep III in the ancient city of Thebes, now Luxor, with a major
expansion by Ramesses II in the 13th century BCE. It includes the
79-foot high First Pylon, friezes, statues, and columns.

Ancient Egyptian Art | 235

The Amarna Period (1353-1336 BCE)

During this period, which represents an interruption in ancient

Egyptian art style, subjects were represented more realistically, and
scenes included portrayals of affection among the royal family.
There was a sense of movement in the images, with overlapping
figures and large crowds. The style reflects Akhenaten’s move to
monotheism, but it disappeared after his death.

Sources

236 | Ancient Egyptian Art

31. Ancient Egyptian
Monuments

Learning Objective

• Describe the impressive attributes of the

monuments erected by Egyptians in the Old Kingdom

Key Points

• Ancient Egyptian architects carefully planned

buildings, aligning them with astronomically
significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes,
and used mainly sun-baked mud brick, limestone,
sandstone, and granite.
• Egyptian pyramids were highly reflective,
referenced the sun, and were usually placed on the
West side of the Nile River.
• About 135 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt,
with the largest (in Egypt and the world) being the
Great Pyramid of Giza.
• The Great Sphinx of Giza is a reclining sphinx (a
mythical creature with a lion’s body and a human
head); its face is meant to represent the Pharaoh

Ancient Egyptian Monuments | 237

 Khafra. It is the world’s oldest and largest monolith.
• Egyptian temples were used for official, formal
worship of the gods by the state, and to
commemorate pharaohs. The temple was the house
of a particular god, and Egyptians would perform
rituals, give offerings, re-enact myths, and keep order
in the universe (ma’at).
• The Temple of Karnak was first built in the 16th
century BCE. About 30 pharaohs contributed to the
buildings, creating an extremely large and diverse
complex.
• The Luxor Temple was constructed in the 14th
century BCE by Amenhotep III in the ancient city of
Thebes, now Luxor. It later received a major
expansion by Ramesses II in the 13th century BCE.

Terms

monolith

A large single upright block of stone, especially one

shaped into, or serving as, a pillar or monument.

238 | Ancient Egyptian Monuments

 friezes

Broad, horizontal bands of sculpted or painted

decoration.

pylon

In ancient Egypt, two tapering towers with a less elevated

section between them, forming a gateway.

peristyle courts

In ancient Egypt, courts that open to the sky.

Hypostyle halls

In ancient Egypt, covered rooms with columns.

equinoxes

Either of the two times in the year when the sun crosses
the celestial equator, and day and night are of equal length.

Ancient Egyptian Monuments | 239

 solstices

Either of the two times in the year (summer and winter)

when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky
at noon.

ma’at

The ancient Egyptian concept of truth, balance, order,

harmony, law, morality and justice.

obelisks

Stone pillars, typically having a square or rectangular

cross section and pyramidal top, used as monuments or
landmarks.

Ancient Egyptian architects carefully planned buildings, aligning

them with astronomically significant events, such as solstices and
equinoxes. They used mainly sun-baked mud brick, limestone,
sandstone, and granite. Stone was reserved for tombs and temples,
while other buildings, such as palaces and fortresses, were made of
bricks.

240 | Ancient Egyptian Monuments

Pyramids

Egyptian pyramids referenced the rays of the sun, and appeared

highly polished and reflective, with a capstone that was generally
a hard stone like granite, sometimes plated with gold, silver or
electrum. Most were placed west of the Nile, to allow the pharaoh’s
soul to join with the sun during its descent.

Old Kingdom Pyramid Temple Reconstruction. In this reconstruction, a

causeway leads out to the valley temple.

About 135 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, with the largest
(in Egypt and the world) being the Great Pyramid of Giza. Its base is
over 566,000 square feet in area, and was one of the Seven Wonders
of the Ancient World. The Giza Necropolis, built in the Fourth
Dynasty, includes the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the Great
Pyramid or the Pyramid of Cheops), the Pyramid of Khafre and the
Pyramid of Menkaure, along with smaller “queens” pyramids and the
Great Sphinx.

Ancient Egyptian Monuments | 241

Map of Giza Pyramid Complex. A map showing the layout of the Giza Pyramid
area, including the Pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure, and the Great
Sphinx.

The Great Sphinx of Giza

This limestone statue of a reclining sphinx (a mythical creature with

a lion’s body and a human head) is located on the Giza Plateau to
the west of the Nile. It is believed the face is meant to represent the
Pharaoh Khafra. It is the largest and oldest monolith statue in the
world, at 241 feet long, 63 feet wide, and 66.34 feet tall. It is believed
to have been built during the reign of Pharaoh Khafra (2558-2532

242 | Ancient Egyptian Monuments

BCE). It was probably a focus of solar worship, as the lion is a symbol
associated with the sun.

The Great Sphinx of Giza. Here the Great Sphinx is shown against the
Pyramid of Kahfre.

Temples

Egyptian temples were used for official, formal worship of the gods
by the state, and to commemorate pharaohs. The temple was the
house dedicated to a particular god, and Egyptians would perform
rituals there, give offerings, re-enact myths and keep order in the
universe (ma’at). Pharaohs were in charge of caring for the gods, and
they dedicated massive resources to this task. Priests assisted in this
effort. The average citizen was not allowed into the inner sanctum
of the temple, but might still go there to pray, give offerings, or ask
questions of the gods.
The inner sanctuary had a cult image of the temple’s god, as well

Ancient Egyptian Monuments | 243

as a series of surrounding rooms that became large and elaborate
over time, evolving into massive stone edifices during the New
Kingdom. Temples also often owned surrounding land and
employed thousands of people to support its activities, creating a
powerful institution. The designs emphasized order, symmetry and
monumentality. Hypostyle halls (covered rooms filled with columns)
led to peristyle courts (open courts), where the public could meet
with priests. At the front of each court was a pylon (broad, flat
towers) that held flagpoles. Outside the temple building was the
temple enclosure, with a brick wall to symbolically protect from
outside disorder; often a sacred lake would be found here.
Decoration included reliefs (bas relief and sunken relief) of images
and hieroglyphic text and sculpture, including obelisks, figures of
gods (sometimes in sphinx form), and votive figures. Egyptian
religions faced persecution by Christians, and the last temple was
closed in 550 AD.
The Temple of Karnak was first built in the 16th century BCE.
About 30 pharaohs contributed to the buildings, creating an
extremely large and diverse complex. It includes the Precincts of
Amon-Re, Montu and Mut, and the Temple of Amehotep IV
(dismantled).

244 | Ancient Egyptian Monuments

Temple of KarnakThis view of the Temple of Karnak shows they hypostyle hall,
with massive columns.

The Luxor Temple was constructed in the 14th century BCE by

Amenhotep III in the ancient city of Thebes, now Luxor, with a major
expansion by Ramesses II in the 13th century BCE. It includes the
79-foot high First Pylon, friezes, statues, and columns.

Ancient Egyptian Monuments | 245

Luxor Temple. Shown here is the entrance pylon of Luxor Temple, one of the
major New Kingdom temples.

Sources

246 | Ancient Egyptian Monuments

32. Ancient Egyptian Trade

Learning Objective

• Describe the economic structure of ancient Egypt

Key Points

• Trade was occurring in the 5th century BCE

onwards, especially with Canaan, Lebanon, Nubia and
Punt.
• Just before the First Dynasty, Egypt had a colony in
southern Canaan that produced Egyptian pottery for
export to Egypt.
• In the Second Dynasty, Byblos provided quality
timber that could not be found in Egypt.
• By the Fifth Dynasty, trade with Punt gave
Egyptians gold, aromatic resins, ebony, ivory, and wild
animals.
• A well-traveled land route from the Nile to the Red
Sea crossed through the Wadi Hammamat. Another
route, the Darb el-Arbain, was used from the time of
the Old Kingdom of Egypt.
• Egyptians built ships as early as 3000 BCE by
lashing planks of wood together and stuffing the gaps

Ancient Egyptian Trade | 247

 with reeds. They used them to import goods from
Lebanon and Punt.

Terms

papyrus

A material prepared in ancient Egypt from the stem of a

water plant, used in sheets for writing, painting, or making
rope, sandals, and boats.

obsidian

A hard, dark, glasslike volcanic rock.

electrum

A natural or artifical alloy of gold, with at least 20% silver,

used for jewelry.

248 | Ancient Egyptian Trade

 myrrh

A fragrant gum resin obtained from certain trees, often

used in perfumery, medicine and incense.

malachite

A bright green mineral consisting of copper hydroxyl

carbonate.

Early examples of ancient Egyptian trade included contact with

Syria in the 5th century BCE, and importation of pottery and
construction ideas from Canaan in the 4th century BCE. By this
time, shipping was common, and the donkey, camel, and horse were
domesticated and used for transportation. Lebanese cedar has been
found in the tombs of Nekhen, dated to the Naqada I and II periods.
Egyptians during this period also imported obsidian from Ethiopia,
gold and incense from Nubia in the south, oil jugs from Palestine,
and other goods from the oases of the western desert and the
cultures of the eastern Mediterranean. Egyptian artifacts from this
era have been found in Canaan and parts of the former
Mesopotamia. In the latter half of the 4th century BCE, the
gemstone lapis lazuli was being imported from Badakhshan
(modern-day Afghanistan).
Just before the First Dynasty, Egypt had a colony in southern
Canaan that produced Egyptian pottery for export to Egypt. In the
Second Dynasty, Byblos provided quality timber that could not be
found in Egypt. By the Fifth Dynasty, trade with Punt gave Egyptians
gold, aromatic resins, ebony, ivory, and wild animals. Egypt also

Ancient Egyptian Trade | 249

traded with Anatolia for tin and copper in order to make bronze.
Mediterranean trading partners provided olive oil and other fine
goods.
Egypt commonly exported grain, gold, linen, papyrus, and
finished goods, such as glass and stone objects.

Depiction of Queen Hatshepsut’s Expedition to Punt. This painting shows

Queen Hatshepsut’s expedition to Punt.

Land Trade Routes

A well-traveled land route from the Nile to the Red Sea crossed
through the Wadi Hammamat, and was known from predynastic
times. This route allowed travelers to move from Thebes to the Red
Sea port of Elim, and led to the rise of ancient cities.
Another route, the Darb el-Arbain, was used from the time of the
Old Kingdom of Egypt to trade gold, ivory, spices, wheat, animals,
and plants. This route passed through Kharga in the south and Asyut
in the north, and was a major route between Nubia and Egypt.

250 | Ancient Egyptian Trade

Maritime Trade Routes

Egyptians built ships as early as 3000 BCE by lashing planks of wood

together and stuffing the gaps with reeds.

Egyptian Sailing Ship. This painting depicts an Egyptian ship from c. 1420
BCE.

Pharaoh Sahure, of the Fifth Dynasty, is known to have sent ships

to Lebanon to import cedar, and to the Land of Punt for myrrh,
malachite, and electrum. Queen Hatshepsut sent ships for myrrh in
Punt, and extended Egyptian trade into modern-day Somalia and
the Mediterranean.

Ancient Egyptian Trade | 251

 Queen Hatshepsut. Queen Hatshepsut expanded
trade into modern-day Somalia and the
Mediterranean.

An ancient form of the Suez Canal is believed to have been started

by Pharaoh Senusret II or III of the Twelfth Dynasty, in order to
connect the Nile River with the Red Sea.

Sources

252 | Ancient Egyptian Trade

33. Nubia and Ancient
Culture

Learning Objective

• Describe the Nubian kingdoms, emphasizing their

relationship with Egypt

Key Points

• Nubia consisted of two major regions along the Nile

River, from Aswan to Khartoum.
• Nubian history can be traced from c. 2000 BCE
onward to 1504 AD, when Nubia was divided between
Egypt and the Sennar sultanate and became Arabized.
• Nubia and Ancient Egypt had periods of both peace
and war.
• Around 3500 BCE, the “A-Group” of Nubians arose,
existing side-by-side with the Naqada of Upper
Egypt.
• Nubia was first mentioned by ancient Egyptian
trading accounts in 2300 BCE.
• During the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (c. 2040-1640
BCE), Egypt began expanding into Nubian territory in

Nubia and Ancient Culture | 253

 order to control trade routes, and to build a series of
forts along the Nile.
• The “Medjay” were people from the Nubia region
who worked in the Egyptian military.
• Some Egyptian pharaohs were of Nubian origin,
especially during the Kushite Period, although they
closely followed the usual Egyptian methods of
governing.

Terms

pharaoh

A ruler in ancient Egypt.

Nubia consisted of two major regions along the Nile River, from
Aswan to Khartoum. Upper Nubia sat between the Second and Sixth
Cataracts of the Nile (modern-day central Sudan), and Lower Nubia
sat between the First and Second Cataracts (modern-day southern
Egypt and northern Sudan).

254 | Nubia and Ancient Culture

 The Nubian Region. This map shows the
modern-day location of Nubia.

Nubian history can be traced from c. 2000 BCE onward to 1504 AD,
when Nubia was divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate
and became Arabized. It was later united within the Ottoman Egypt
in the 19th century, and the Kingdom of Egypt from 1899 to 1956.

Nubia and Ancient Culture | 255

Depiction of Nubians Worshipping. This painting shows Nubians at worship.

Nubia and Egypt

Nubia and Ancient Egypt had periods of both peace and war. It is
believed, based on rock art, that Nubian rulers and early Egyptian
pharaohs used similar royal symbols. There was often peaceful
cultural exchange and cooperation, and marriages between the two
did occur. Egyptians did, however, conquer Nubian territory at
various times. Nubians conquered Egypt in the 25th Dynasty.
Egyptians called the Nubian region “Ta-Seti,” which means “The
Land of the Bow,” a reference to Nubian archery skills. Around 3500
BCE, the “A-Group” of Nubians arose, existing side-by-side with the
Naqada of Upper Egypt. These two groups traded gold, copper tools,
faience, stone vessels, pots, and more. Egyptian unification in 3300
BCE may have been helped along by Nubian culture, which was
conquered by Upper Egypt.

256 | Nubia and Ancient Culture

 Nubia was first mentioned by ancient Egyptian trading accounts
in 2300 BCE. Nubia was a gateway to the riches of Africa, and goods
like gold, incense, ebony, copper, ivory, and animals flowed through
it. By the Sixth Dynasty, Nubia was fractured into a group of small
kingdoms; the population (called “C-Group”) may have been made
up of Saharan nomads.
During the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (c. 2040-1640 BCE), Egypt
began expanding into Nubian territory in order to control trade
routes, and to build a series of forts along the Nile.

Depiction of Battle with the Nubians. This painting shows Ramses II battling
Nubians from his war chariot.

The Egyptians called a certain region of northern modern-day

Sudan, where ancient Nubians lived, “Medjay.” This name gradually
began to reference people, not the region. Those who lived in this
region worked in the Egyptian military as scouts, later as garrison
troops, and finally as elite paramilitary police.
Some Egyptian pharaohs were of Nubian origin, especially during
the Kushite Period, although they closely followed the usual
Egyptian methods of governing. In fact, they were seen, and saw
themselves, as culturally Egyptian. The two cultures were so close
that some scholars see them as indistinguishable. Nubians appear to
have been assimilated into Egyptian culture.

Nubia and Ancient Culture | 257

Sources

258 | Nubia and Ancient Culture

PART IV
CH. 4 ANCIENT GREECE
AND THE HELLENISTIC
WORLD

Ch. 4 Ancient Greece and the

Hellenistic World | 259
34. Greek Dark Ages

Learning Objective

• Understand the characteristics of the Greek Dark

Ages

Key Points

• The Late Bronze Age collapse, also known as the

Age of Calamities, was a transition in the Aegean
Region, Eastern Mediterranean, and Southwestern
Asia. It took place from the Late Bronze Age to the
Early Iron Age. Historians believe this period was
violent, sudden, and culturally disruptive.
• Many historians attribute the fall of the
Mycenaeans, and overall Bronze Age collapse, to
climatic or environmental catastrophe combined with
an invasion by the Dorians (or Sea Peoples).
• During the Dark Ages, Greece was most likely
divided into independent regions according to
kinship groups, and the oikoi, or households.
• Toward the end of the Greek Dark Ages,
communities began to develop that were governed by
elite groups of aristocrats, as opposed to singular

Greek Dark Ages | 261

 kings or chieftains of earlier periods. Additionally,
trade with other communities in the Mediterranean
and the Levant began to strengthen, based upon
findings from archaeological sites.

Terms

oikoi

The basic unit of society in most Greek city-states. In

some usage, it refers to the line of descent from a father to
a son throughout generations. Alternatively, it can refer to
everybody living in a given house.

Linear B

Syllabic script that was used for writing Mycenaean

Greek, the earliest documented form of the Greek
language.

palace economy

A system of economic organization in which a substantial

share of wealth flows into the control of a centralized

262 | Greek Dark Ages

 administration (i.e., the palace), and then outward to the
general population.

Age of Calamities

The Late Bronze Age collapse, or Age of Calamities, was a transition

in the Aegean Region, Eastern Mediterranean, and Southwestern
Asia that took place from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age.
Historians believe this period was violent, sudden, and culturally
disruptive. The palace economy of the Aegean Region that had
characterized the Late Bronze Age, was replaced, after a hiatus,
by the isolated village cultures of the Greek Dark Ages—a period
that lasted for more than 400 years. Cities like Athens continued
to be occupied, but with a more local sphere of influence, limited
evidence of trade, and an impoverished culture, which took
centuries to recover.

Fall of the Mycenaeans

Many historians attribute the fall of the Mycenaeans, and overall

Bronze Age collapse, to climatic or environmental catastrophe,
combined with an invasion by the Dorians or Sea Peoples—a group
of people who possibly originated from different parts of the
Mediterranean like the Black Sea, though their origins remain
obscure. Historians also point to the widespread availability of
edged iron weapons as an exasperating factor. Despite this, no
single explanation fits all available archaeological evidence in
explaining the fall of the Mycenaean culture.

Greek Dark Ages | 263

 Many large-scale revolts took place in several parts of the eastern
Mediterranean during this time, and attempts to overthrow existing
kingdoms were made as a result of economic and political instability
by peoples already plagued with famine and hardship. Some regions
in Greece, such as Attica, Euboea, and central Crete, recovered
economically quicker from these events than other regions, but life
for the poorest Greeks would have remained relatively unchanged.
Farming, weaving, metalworking, and potting continued at lower
levels of output and for local use. Some technical innovations were
introduced around 1050 BCE with the start of the Proto-geometric
style. However, the overall trend was toward simpler, less intricate
pieces with fewer resources being devoted to the creation of art.
None of the Mycenaean palaces of the Late Bronze Age survived,
with the possible exception of the Cyclopean fortifications on the
Acropolis of Athens. The archaeological record shows that
destruction was heaviest at palaces and fortified sites. Up to 90%
of small sites in the Peloponnese were abandoned, suggesting major
depopulation. The Linear B writing of the Greek language used by
Mycenaean bureaucrats ceased, and decorations on Greek pottery
after about 1100 BCE lacks the figurative decoration of the
Mycenaeans, and was restricted to simpler geometric styles.

Society During the Greek Dark Ages

Greece was most likely divided into independent regions according

to kinship groups and the oikoi, or households. Excavations of Dark
Age communities, such as Nichoria in the Peloponnese, have shown
how a Bronze Age town was abandoned in 1150 BCE, but then
reemerged as a small village cluster by 1075 BCE. Archaeological
evidence suggests that only 40 families lived in Nichoria and that
there was abundant farming and grazing land. Some remains appear
to have been the living quarters of a chieftain. High status

264 | Greek Dark Ages

individuals did exist during the Dark Ages; however, their standards
of living were not significantly higher than others in their village.
By the mid- to late 8th century BCE, a new alphabet system was
adopted by the Greek, and borrowed from the Phoenician writing
system. This writing system introduced characters for vowel
sounds, creating the first truly alphabetic (as opposed to abjad)
writing system. The new system of writing spread throughout the
Mediterranean, and was used not only to write in Greek, but also
Phrygian and other languages.
It was previously believed that all contact had been lost between
mainland Hellenes and foreign powers during this period; however,
artifacts from excavations at Lefkandi in Euboea show that
significant cultural and trade links with the east, especially the
Levant coast, developed from approximately 900 BCE onward.
Evidence has also emerged of a Hellenic presence in sub-
Mycenaean Cyprus, and on the Syrian coast at Al Mina. The
archaeological record of many sites demonstrates that the
economic recovery of Greece was well advanced by the beginning of
the 8th century BCE. Many burial sites contained offerings from the
Near East, Egypt, and Italy. The decoration of pottery also became
more elaborate, featuring figured scenes that parallel the stories of
Homeric tradition. Iron tools and weapons also became better in
quality, and communities began to develop that were governed by
elite groups of aristocrats, as opposed to singular kings or chieftains
of earlier periods.

Sources

Greek Dark Ages | 265

35. Archaic Greece

Learning Objective

• Understand the changes to Greek society during

the Archaic Period

Key Points

• The Archaic period saw significant urbanization,

and the development of the concept of the polis, as it
was used in classical
Greece.
• Archaic Greece, from the mid-seventh century
onward, has been referred to as an “age of tyrants.”
• The Homeric Question concerns the doubts and
consequent debate over the historicity of the
Iliad and the Odyssey, as well as the identity of their
author, Homer.

266 | Archaic Greece

 Terms

synoecism

The amalgamation of several small settlements into a

single urban center.

polis

The literal translation of this word from Greek is “city.” It

typically refers to the Greek city-states of the Archaic and
Classical periods.

Archaic Greece

The Archaic period of Greek history lasted from the 8th century
BCE to the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BCE. The
period began with a massive increase in the Greek population and a
structural revolution that established the Greek city-states, or polis.
The Archaic period saw developments in Greek politics, economics,
international relations, warfare, and culture. It also laid the
groundwork for the classical period, both politically and culturally.
During this time, the Greek alphabet developed, and the earliest
surviving Greek literature was composed. Monumental sculpture
and red-figure pottery also developed in Greece, and in Athens, the
earliest institutions of democracy were implemented.

Archaic Greece | 267

 Some written accounts of life exist from this time period in the
form of poetry, law codes, inscriptions on votive offerings, and
epigrams inscribed on tombs. However, thorough written histories,
such as those that exist from the Greek classical period, are lacking.
Historians do have access to rich archaeological evidence from this
period, however, that informs our understanding of Greek life
during the Archaic period.

View from Philopappos, Acropolis Hill. The Acropolis of Athens, a noted polis
of classical Greece.

Development of the Polis

The Archaic period saw significant urbanization and the

development of the concept of the polis as it was used in classical
Greece. However, the polis did not become the dominant form of
sociopolitical organization throughout Greece during the Archaic
period, and in the north and west of the country it did not become
dominant until later in the classical period. The process of
urbanization known as “synoecism” (or the amalgamation of several
small settlements into a single urban center), took place in much of

268 | Archaic Greece

Greece during the 8th century. Both Athens and Argos, for example,
coalesced into single settlements near the end of that century. In
some settlements, physical unification was marked by the
construction of defensive city walls. The increase in population, and
evolution of the polis as a sociopolitical structure, necessitated a
new form of political organization.

Age of Tyranny

Archaic Greece from the mid-7th century onward has been

referred to as an “age of tyrants.” Various explanations have been
provided for the rise of tyranny in the 7th century. The most popular
explanation dates back to Aristotle, who argued that tyrants were
set up by the people in response to the nobility becoming less
tolerable. Because there is no evidence from this time period
demonstrating this to be the case, historians have looked for
alternate explanations. Some argue that tyrannies were set up by
individuals who controlled privates armies, and that early tyrants
did not need the support of the people at all. Others suggest that
tyrannies were established as a consequence of in-fighting between
rival oligarchs, rather than as a result of fighting between oligarchs
and the people.
Other historians question the existence of a 7th century “age of
tyrants” altogether. In the Archaic period, the Greek word tyrannos
did not have the negative connotations it had later in the classical
period. Often the word could be used as synonymous with “king.”
As a result, many historians argue that Greek tyrants were not
considered illegitimate rulers, and cannot be distinguished from any
other rulers during the same period.

Archaic Greece | 269

The Homeric Question

The Homeric Question concerns the doubts and consequent debate

over the identity of Homer, the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey;
it also questions the historicity of the two books. Many scholars
agree that regardless of who authored Homer’s works, it is highly
likely that the poems attributed to him were part of a generations-
old oral tradition, with many scholars believing the works to be
th
transcribed some time in the 6 century BCE or earlier. Many
estimates place the events of Homer’s Trojan War as preceding
the Greek Dark Ages, of approximately 1250 to 750 BCE. The Iliad,
however, has been placed immediately following the Greek Dark Age
period.

Sources

270 | Archaic Greece

36. The Rise of Classical
Greece

Learning Objective

• Understand the significance of Cleisthenes’ reforms

to the rise of Classical Greece

Key Points

• The classical period followed the Archaic period,

and was succeeded by the Hellenistic period.
• Much of modern Western politics, artistic and
scientific thought, literature, and philosophy derives
from this period of Greek history.
• Through Cleisthenes’ reforms, the people endowed
their city with isonomic institutions, and established
ostracism.
• A corpus of reforms made to Athenian political
administration during this time led to the emergence
of a wider democracy in the 460s and 450s BCE.

The Rise of Classical Greece | 271

 Terms

Classical Greece

A 200 year period in Greek culture, lasting from the 5th

through 4th centuries BCE.

Cleisthenes

A noble Athenian of the Alcmaeonid family, credited with

reforming the constitution of ancient Athens, and setting it
on a democratic footing in 508/7 BCE.

isonomic

A word used by ancient Greek writers to refer to various

kinds of popular government with the general goal of “equal
rights.”

ostracism

A procedure under Athenian democracy by which any

citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for
ten years.

272 | The Rise of Classical Greece

 trittyes

Population divisions in ancient Attica, established by the

reforms of Cleisthenes in 508 BCE.

Classical Greece was a 200-year period in Greek culture lasting

th th
from the 5 to the 4 centuries BCE. This period saw the
annexation of much of modern-day Greece by the Persian Empire,
as well as its subsequent independence. Classical Greece also had
a powerful influence on the Roman Empire, and greatly influenced
the foundations of Western civilization. Much of modern Western
politics, artistic and scientific thought, literature, and philosophy
derives from this period of Greek history. The classical period was
preceded by the Archaic period, and was succeeded by the
Hellenistic period.

Rise of the City-States

The term “city-state,” which is English in origin, does not fully

translate the Greek term for these same entities, polis. Poleis were
different from ancient city-states in that they were ruled by bodies
of the citizens who lived there. Many were initially established,
as in Sparta, via a network of villages, with a governance center
being established in a central urban center. As notions of citizenship
rose to prominence among landowners, polis came to embody an
entire body of citizens and the term could be used to describe the
populace of a place, rather than the physical location itself. Basic
elements of a polis often included the following:

The Rise of Classical Greece | 273

 • Self-governance, autonomy, and independence
• A social hub and financial marketplace, called an agora
• Urban planning and architecture
• Temples, altars, and other sacred precincts, many of which
would be dedicated to the patron deity of the city
• Public spaces, such as gymnasia and theaters
• Defensive walls to protect against invasion
• Coinage minted by the city

Polis were established and expanded by synoecism, or the

absorption of nearby villages and tribes. Most cities were composed
of several tribes that were in turn composed of groups sharing
common ancestry, and their extended families. Territory was a less
helpful means of thinking about the shape of a polis than regions of
shared religious and political associations.
Dwellers of a polis were typically divided into four separate social
classes, with an individual’s status usually being determined at birth.
Free adult men born of legitimate citizens were considered citizens
with full legal and political rights, including the right to vote, be
elected into office, and bear arms, with the obligation to serve
in the army during wartime. The female relatives and underage
children of full citizens were also considered citizens, but they had
no formal political rights. They were typically represented within
society by their adult male relatives. Citizens of other poleis who
chose to reside in a different polis possessed full rights in their
place of origin, but had no political rights in their new place of
residence. Otherwise, such citizens had full personal and property
rights subject to taxation. Finally, slaves were considered
possessions of their owner and had no rights or privileges other
than those granted by their owner.

274 | The Rise of Classical Greece

Greco-Persian Wars

The Greco-Persian Wars, also referred to as the Persian Wars, were

a series of conflicts that began in 499 BCE and lasted until 449
BCE, between the Achaemenid Empire of Persia (modern-day Iran)
and Greek city-states. The conflict began when Cyrus the Great
conquered the Greek-inhabited region of Ionia in 547 BCE. After
struggling to control the cities of Ionia, the Persians appointed
tyrants to rule each of them. When the tyrant of Miletus embarked
on an unsuccessful expedition to conquer the island of Naxos with
Persian support, however, a rebellion was incited throughout
Hellenic Asia Minor against the Persians. This rebellion, known as
the Ionian Revolt, lasted until 493 BCE, and drew increasingly more
regions throughout Asia Minor into the conflict.
Eventually the Ionians suffered a decisive defeat and the rebellion
collapsed. Subsequently, Darius the Great, the Persian ruler, sought
to secure his empire from further revolts and interference from the
mainland Greeks, and embarked upon a scheme to conquer all of
Greece. The first Persian invasion of Greece began in 492 BCE, and
was successful in conquering Macedon and re-subjugating Thrace.
In 490 BCE, a second force was sent to Greece across the Aegean
Sea, successfully subjugating the Cyclades. However, the Persians
were defeated by the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon, putting a
halt to Darius’s plan until his death in 486 BCE.
In 480 BCE, Darius’s son, Xerxes, personally led the second
Persian invasion of Greece with one of the largest ancient armies
ever assembled. His invasion was successful and Athens was burned.
However, the following year, the Allied Greek states went on the
offensive, defeating the Persian army at the Battle of Plataea and
ending the invasion of Greece. The Greeks continued to expel
Persian forces from Greece and surrounding areas, but the actions
of Spartan General Pausanias at the siege of Byzantium alienated
many of the Greek states from the Spartans, causing the anti-
Persian alliance to be reconstituted around Athenian leadership

The Rise of Classical Greece | 275

in what became known as the Delian League. The Delian League
continued the campaign against the Persians for the next three
decades. Some historical sources suggest the end of hostilities
between the Greeks and the Persians was marked by a peace treaty
between Athens and Persia, called the Peace of Callias.

Athenian Democracy

Athenian democracy developed around the 5th century BCE, in the

Greek city-state of Athens. It is the first known democracy in the
world. Other Greek cities set up democracies, most following the
Athenian model, but none are as well documented as Athens.
Athenian democracy was a system of direct democracy, in which
participating citizens voted directly on legislation and executive
bills. Participation was open to adult, land-owning men, which
historians estimate numbered between 30,000 and 50,000
individuals, out of a total population of approximately 250,000 to
300,000.
Before the first attempt at democratic government, Athens was
ruled by a series of archons, or chief magistrates, and the Areopagus,
which was made up of ex-archons. Archons were typically
aristocrats who ruled to their own advantage. Additionally, a series
of laws codified by Draco in 621 BCE reinforced the power of the
aristocracy over all other citizens. A mediator called Solon reshaped
the city-state by restructuring the way citizenship was defined in
order to absorb the traditional aristocracy within it, and established
the right of every Athenian to participate in meetings of governing
assemblies. The Areopagus, however, retained ultimate lawmaking
authorities.

276 | The Rise of Classical Greece

Cleisthenes

In 510 BCE, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow their

king, the tyrant Hippias, son of Peisistratos. Cleomenes I, king of
Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy headed by Isagoras.
But his rival, Cleisthenes, with the support of the middle class and
aided by democrats, managed to take over. Cleomenes intervened
in 508 and 506 BCE, but could not stop Cleisthenes, who was then
supported by the Athenians. Through his reforms, the people
endowed their city with institutions furnished with equal rights (i.e.,
isonomic institutions), and established ostracism, a procedure by
which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens
for ten years.

The Rise of Classical Greece | 277

Bust of Cleisthenes. Modern bust of Cleisthenes, known as “the father of
Athenian democracy,” on view at the Ohio Statehouse, Columbus, Ohio.
Cleisthenes, the father of Greek democracy, reformed traditional Athenian
government controlled by ruling tribes into the first government “of the
people” (a demos, or democracy).

The isonomic and isegoric democracy was first organized into about
130 demes— political subdivisions created throughout Attica. Ten

278 | The Rise of Classical Greece

thousand citizens exercised their power via an assembly (the
ekklesia, in Greek), of which they all were a part, that was headed by
a council of 500 citizens chosen at random. The city’s administrative
geography was reworked, the goal being to have mixed political
groups—not federated by local interests linked to the sea, the city,
or farming—whose decisions (declaration of war, etc.) would depend
on their geographical situations. The territory of the city was
subsequently divided into 30 trittyes. It was this corpus of reforms
that would allow the emergence of a wider democracy in the 460s
and 450s BCE.

Sources

The Rise of Classical Greece | 279

37. Sparta

Learning Objective

• Distinguish key differences between Athens and

Sparta

Key Points

• Sparta was a prominent city-state in ancient

Greece, situated on the banks of the Eurotas River in
Laconia in southeastern Peloponnese.
• Given its military preeminence, Sparta was
recognized as the overall leader of the combined
Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars, and
defeated Athens during the Peloponnesian War.
• Sparta’s defeat by Thebes in the Battle of Leuctra in
371 BCE ended Sparta’s prominent role in Greece, but
it maintained its political independence until the
Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BCE.
• Sparta functioned under an oligarchy of two
hereditary kings.
• Unique in ancient Greece for its social system and
constitution, Spartan society focused heavily on
military training and excellence.

280 | Sparta
 • Spartan women enjoyed status, power, and respect
that was unequaled in the rest of the classical world.

Terms

Sparta

A prominent city-state in ancient Greece situated on the

banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia. The dominant
military power in ancient Greece.

agoge

The rigorous education and training regimen mandated

for all male Spartan citizens, except for the firstborn sons
of the ruling houses Eurypontid and Agiad.

Sparta was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece situated on the

banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia in southeastern Peloponnese.
th
It emerged as a political entity around the 10 century BCE, when
the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population.
Around 650 BCE, it rose to become the dominant military power
in ancient Greece. Given its military preeminence, Sparta was
recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces
during the Greco-Persian Wars. Between 431 and 404 BCE, Sparta

Sparta | 281
was the principal enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War,
from which it emerged victorious, though at great cost. Sparta’s
defeat by Thebes in the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BCE ended Sparta’s
prominent role in Greece. However, it maintained its political
independence until the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 BCE.

Political geography of ancient Greece. The map shows the political structure
of Greece in the Archaic Age.

The Rise of Classical Sparta

The Spartans were already considered a land-fighting force to be

reckoned with when, in 480 BCE, a small force of Spartans,
Thespians, and Thebans made a legendary final stand at the Battle
of Thermopylae against the massive Persian army during the Greco-
Persian Wars. The Greek forces suffered very high casualties before
finally being encircled and defeated. One year later, Sparta led a

282 | Sparta
Greek alliance against the Persians at the Battle of Plataea where
their superior weaponry, strategy, and bronze armor proved a huge
asset in achieving a resounding victory. This decisive victory put
an end to the Greco-Persian War, as well as Persian ambitions of
spreading into Europe. Despite being fought as part of a alliance, the
victory was credited to Sparta, which had been the de facto leader
of the entire Greek expedition.
In the later classical period, Sparta fought amongst Athens,
Thebes, and Persia for supremacy within the region. As a result of
the Peloponnesian War, Sparta developed formidable naval power,
enabling it to subdue many key Greek states and even overpower
the elite Athenian navy. A period of Spartan Hegemony was
inaugurated at the end of the 5th century BCE, when Sparta
defeated the Athenian Empire and invaded Persian provinces in
Anatolia.

Spartan Culture and Government

Sparta functioned under an oligarchy. The state was ruled by two

hereditary kings of the Agiad and Eurypontid families, both
supposedly descendants of Heracles, and equal in authority so that
one could not act against the power and political enactments of
his colleague. Unique in ancient Greece for its social system and
constitution, Spartan society was completely focused on military
training and excellence. Its inhabitants were classified as Spartiates
(Spartan citizens who enjoyed full rights), Mothakes (non-Spartan,
free men raised as Spartans), Perioikoi (freed men), and Helots
(state-owned serfs, part of the enslaved, non-Spartan, local
population).
Male Spartans began military training at age seven. The training
was designed to encourage discipline and physical toughness, as
well as emphasize the importance of the Spartan state. Boys lived
in communal messes and, according to Xenophon, whose sons

Sparta | 283
attended the agoge, the boys were fed “just the right amount for
them never to become sluggish through being too full, while also
giving them a taste of what it is not to have enough.” Besides
physical and weapons training, boys studied reading, writing, music,
and dancing. Special punishments were imposed if boys failed to
answer questions sufficiently laconically (i.e., briefly and wittily).

284 | Sparta
Spartan Hoplite. Marble statue of a helmed hoplite (5th century BCE),
Archaeological Museum of Sparta, Greece.

At age 20, the Spartan citizen began his membership in one of the

Sparta | 285
syssitia (dining messes or clubs), which were composed of about 15
members each, and were compulsory. Here each group learned how
to bond and rely on one another. The Spartans were not eligible for
election to public office until the age of 30. Only native Spartans
were considered full citizens, and were obliged to undergo military
training as prescribed by law, as well as participate in, and
contribute financially to, one of the syssitia.

Spartan Women

Female Spartan citizens enjoyed status, power, and respect that

was unequaled in the rest of the classical world. The higher status
of females in Spartan society started at birth. Unlike in Athens,
Spartan girls were fed the same food as their brothers. Nor were
they confined to their father’s house or prevented from exercising
or getting fresh air. Spartan women even competed in sports. Most
important, rather than being married at the age of 12 or 13, Spartan
law forbade the marriage of a girl until she was in her late teens
or early 20s. The reasons for delaying marriage were to ensure the
birth of healthy children, but the effect was to spare Spartan women
the hazards and lasting health damage associated with pregnancy
among adolescents.
Spartan women, better fed from childhood and fit from exercise,
stood a far better chance of reaching old age than their sisters in
other Greek cities, where the median life expectancy was 34.6 years,
or roughly ten years below that of men. Unlike Athenian women,
who wore heavy, concealing clothes and were rarely seen outside
the house, Spartan women wore dresses (peplos) slit up the side
to allow freer movement, and moved freely about the city, either
walking or driving chariots.

Sources

286 | Sparta
38. Culture in Classical Sparta

Learning Objective

• Understand the key characteristics of Sparta’s

society

Key Points

• Sparta was an oligarchic city-state, ruled by two

hereditary kings equal in authority.
• Spartan society was largely structured around the
military, and around military training.
• Inhabitants were classified as Spartiates (Spartan
citizens, who enjoyed full rights), Mothakes (non-
Spartan, free men raised as Spartans), Perioikoi (free,
but non-citizen inhabitants), and Helots (state-owned
serfs, part of the enslaved non-Spartan, local
population).
• Spartiates began military training at the age of
seven.
• At the age of 20, Spartiates were initiated into full
citizenship and joined a syssitia.
• Helots were granted many privileges, in
comparison to enslaved populations in other Greek

Culture in Classical Sparta | 287

 city-states.
• The Helot population outnumbered the Spartiate
population, and grew over time, causing societal
tensions.
• Female Spartans enjoyed status, power, and respect
that was unequaled in the rest of the classical world.

Terms

ephors

Ephors were ancient Spartan officials who shared power

with the hereditary kings. Five individuals were elected
annually to swear on behalf of the city, whereas kings
served for a lifetime and swore only on their own behalf.

gerousia

The gerousia were a council of Spartan elders comprised

of men over the age of 60, who were elected for life, and
usually were members of one of the two kings’ households.

288 | Culture in Classical Sparta

 Delphi

A famous ancient sanctuary that served as the seat of an

oracle, who consulted on important decisions throughout
the ancient classical world.

The Spartan Political System

Sparta functioned under an oligarchy. The state was ruled by two

hereditary kings of the Agiad and Eurypontid families, both
supposedly descendants of Heracles, and equal in authority so that
one could not act against the power and political enactments of
his colleague. The duties of the kings were religious, judicial, and
military in nature. They were the chief priests of the state, and
maintained contact with Delphi, the sanctuary that exercised great
authority in Spartan politics.
By 450 BCE, the kings’ judicial authority was restricted to cases
dealing with heiresses, adoptions, and public roads. Over time, royal
prerogatives were curtailed further until, aside from their service as
military generals, the kings became mere figureheads. For example,
from the time of the Greco-Persian Wars, the kings lost the right
to declare war and were shadowed in the field by two officials,
known as ephors. The ephors also supplanted the kings’ leadership
in the realm of foreign policy. Civil and criminal cases were also
decided by ephors, as well as a council of 28 elders over the age
of 60, called the gerousia. The gerousia were elected for life, and
usually were members of one of the two kings’ households. The
gerousia discussed high state policy decisions, then proposed action

Culture in Classical Sparta | 289

alternatives to the damos—a collective body of Spartan citizenry,
who would then select one of the options by voting.

Spartan Citizenship

Unique in ancient Greece for its social system, Spartan society was
completely focused on military training and excellence. Its
inhabitants were classified as Spartiates (Spartan citizens, who
enjoyed full rights), Mothakes (non-Spartan, free men raised as
Spartans), Perioikoi (free, but non-citizen inhabitants), and Helots
(state-owned serfs, part of the enslaved, non-Spartan, local
population).

Structure of Spartan society. Spartan society was highly regimented, with a

clearly delineated class system.

Male Spartans began military training at age seven. The training was
designed to encourage discipline and physical toughness, as well
as emphasize the importance of the Spartan state. Typically only

290 | Culture in Classical Sparta

men who were to become Spartiates underwent military training,
although two exceptions existed to this rule. Trophimoi, or “foster
sons,” from other Greek city-states were allowed to attend training
as foreign students. For example, the Athenian general Xenophon
sent his two sons to Sparta as trophimoi. Additionally, sons of a
Helot could enroll as a syntrophos if a Spartiate formally adopted
him and paid his way. If a syntrophos did exceptionally well in
training, he could be sponsored to become a Spartiate. Likewise,
if a Spartan could not afford to pay the expenses associated with
military training, they potentially could lose their right to
citizenship.
Boys who underwent training lived in communal messes and,
according to Xenophon, whose sons attended the agoge, the boys
were fed “just the right amount for them never to become sluggish
through being too full, while also giving them a taste of what it is
not to have enough.” Besides physical and weapons training, boys
studied reading, writing, music, and dancing. Special punishments
were imposed if boys failed to answer questions sufficiently
laconically (i.e., briefly and wittily).
At age 20, the Spartan citizen began his membership in one of the
syssitia (dining messes or clubs), which were composed of about 15
members each, and were compulsory. Here each group learned how
to bond and rely on one another. The Spartans were not eligible for
election to public office until the age of 30. Only native Spartans
were considered full citizens, and were obliged to undergo military
training as prescribed by law, as well as participate in, and
contribute financially to, one of the syssitia.

Helots

Spartiates were actually a minority within Sparta, and Helots made

up the largest class of inhabitants of the city-state. Helots were
originally free Greeks that the Spartans had defeated in battle, and

Culture in Classical Sparta | 291

subsequently enslaved. In contrast to populations conquered by
other Greek cities, the male Helot population was not exterminated,
and women and children were not treated as chattel. Instead, Helots
were given a subordinate position within Spartan society more
comparable to the serfs of medieval Europe. Although Helots did
not have voting rights, they otherwise enjoyed a relatively privileged
position, in comparison to slave populations in other Greek city-
states.
The Spartan poet, Tyrtaios, gives account that Helots were
permitted to marry and retain half the fruits of their labor. They
were also allowed religious freedoms and could own a limited
amount of personal property. Up to 6,000 Helots even accumulated
enough wealth to buy their own freedom in 227 BCE.
Since Spartiates were full-time soldiers, manual labor fell to the
Helot population who worked as unskilled serfs, tilling the Spartan
land or accompanying the Spartan army as non-combatants. Helot
women were often used as wet nurses.
Relations between Helots and their Spartan masters were often
strained, and there is evidence that at least one Helot revolt
occurred circa 465-460 BCE. Many historians argue that because
the Helots were permitted such privileges as the maintenance of
family and kinship groups and ownership of property, they were
better able to retain their identity as a conquered people and thus
were more effective at organizing rebellions. Over time, the
Spartiate population continued to decline and the Helot population
grew, and the imbalance in power exasperated tensions that already
existed.

Spartan Women

Female Spartans enjoyed status, power, and respect that was

unequaled in the rest of the classical world. The higher status of
females in Spartan society started at birth. Unlike in Athens, Spartan

292 | Culture in Classical Sparta

girls were fed the same food as their brothers. Nor were they
confined to their father’s house or prevented from exercising or
getting fresh air. Spartan women even competed in sports. Most
important, rather than being married at the age of 12 or 13, Spartan
law forbade the marriage of a girl until she was in her late teens
or early 20s. The reasons for delaying marriage were to ensure the
birth of healthy children, but the effect was to spare Spartan women
the hazards and lasting health damage associated with pregnancy
among adolescents.
Spartan women, better fed from childhood and fit from exercise,
stood a far better chance of reaching old age than their sisters in
other Greek cities where the median life expectancy was 34.6 years,
or roughly ten years below that of men. Unlike Athenian women
who wore heavy, concealing clothes and were rarely seen outside
the house, Spartan women wore dresses (peplos) slit up the side
to allow freer movement, and moved freely about the city, either
walking or driving chariots.

Sources

Culture in Classical Sparta | 293

39. The Persian Wars

Learning Objective

• Explain the consequences of the Persian Wars.

Key Points

• The Persian Wars began in 499 BCE, when Greeks

in the Persian-controlled territory rose in the Ionian
Revolt.
• Athens, and other Greek cities, sent aid, but were
quickly forced to back down after defeat in 494 BCE.
• Subsequently, the Persians suffered many defeats at
the hands of the Greeks, led by the Athenians.
• Silver mining contributed to the funding of a
massive Greek army that was able to rebuke Persian
assaults and eventually defeat the Persians entirely.
• The end of the Persian Wars led to the rise of
Athens as the leader of the Delian League.

294 | The Persian Wars

 Terms

Persian Wars

A series of conflicts, from 499-449 BCE, between the

Achaemenid Empire of Persia and city-states of the
Hellenic world.

hoplites

A citizen-soldier of one of the ancient Greek city-states,

armed primarily with spears and a shield.

The Persian Wars (499-449 BCE) were fought between the

Achaemenid Empire and the Hellenic world during the Greek
classical period. The conflict saw the rise of Athens, and led to its
Golden Age.

Origins of the Conflict

Greeks of the classical period believed, and historians generally

agree, that in the aftermath of the fall of Mycenaean civilization,
many Greek tribes emigrated and settled in Asia Minor. These
settlers were from three tribal groups: the Aeolians, Dorians, and
Ionians. The Ionians settled along the coasts of Lydia and Caria,
and founded 12 towns that remained politically separate from one

The Persian Wars | 295

another, although they did recognize a shared cultural heritage.
This formed the basis for an exclusive Ionian “cultural league.” The
Lydians of western Asia Minor conquered the cities of Ionia, which
put the region at conflict with the Median Empire, the precursor to
the Achaemenid Empire of the Persian Wars, and a power that the
Lydians opposed.
In 553 through 550 BCE, the Persian prince Cyrus led a successful
revolt against the last Median king Astyages, and founded the
Achaemenid Empire. Seeing an opportunity in the upheaval, the
famous Lydian king Croesus asked the oracle at Delphi whether he
should attack the Persians in order to extend his realm. According
to Herodotus, he received the ambiguous answer that “if Croesus
was to cross the Halys [River] he would destroy a great empire.”
Croesus chose to attack, and in the process he destroyed his own
empire, with Lydia falling to Prince Cyrus. The Ionians sought to
maintain autonomy under the Persians as they had under the
Lydians, and resisted the Persians militarily for some time. However,
due to their unwillingness to rise against the Lydians during
previous conflicts, they were not granted special terms. Finding the
Ionians difficult to rule, the Persians installed tyrants in every city,
as a means of control.

Achaemenid Empire Map. The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent.

296 | The Persian Wars

The Ionian Revolt

In 499 BCE, Greeks in the region rose up against Persian rule in the
Ionian Revolt. At the heart of the rebellion lay a deep dissatisfaction
with the tyrants who were appointed by the Persians to rule the
local Greek communities. Specifically, the riot was incited by the
Milesian tyrant Aristagoras, who in the wake of a failed expedition
to conquer Naxos, utilized Greek unrest against Persian king Darius
the Great to his own political purposes.
Athens and other Greek cities sent aid, but were quickly forced
to back down after defeat in 494 BCE, at the Battle of Lade. As
a result, Asia Minor returned to Persian control. Nonetheless, the
Ionian Revolt remains significant as the first major conflict between
Greece and the Persian Empire, as well as the first phase of the
Persian Wars. Darius vowed to exact revenge against Athens, and
developed a plan to conquer all Greeks in an attempt to secure the
stability of his empire.

First Persian Invasion of Greece

In 492 BCE, the Persian general, Mardonius, led a campaign through

Thrace and Macedonia. During this campaign, Mardonius re-
subjugated Thrace and forced Macedonia to become a fully
submissive client of the Persian Empire, whereas before they had
maintained a broad degree of autonomy. While victorious, he was
wounded and forced to retreat back into Asia Minor. Additionally,
he lost his 1200-ship naval fleet to a storm off the coast of Mount
Athos. Darius sent ambassadors to all Greek cities to demand full
submission in light of the recent Persian victory, and all cities
submitted, with the exceptions of Athens and Sparta, both of which
executed their respective ambassadors. These actions signaled
Athens’ continued defiance and brought Sparta into the conflict.

The Persian Wars | 297

 In 490 BCE, approximately 100,000 Persians landed in Attica
intending to conquer Athens, but were defeated at the Battle of
Marathon by a Greek army of 9,000 Athenian hoplites and 1,000
Plateans, led by the Athenian general, Miltiades. The Persian fleet
continued to sail to Athens but, seeing it garrisoned, decided not
to attempt an assault. The Battle of Marathon was a watershed
moment in the Persian Wars, in that it demonstrated to the Greeks
that the Persians could be defeated. It also demonstrated the
superiority of the more heavily armed Greek hoplites.

Greek-Persian duel. Depiction of a Greek hoplite and a Persian warrior

fighting each other on an ancient kylix.

298 | The Persian Wars

Interbellum (490-480 BCE)

After the failure of the first Persian invasion, Darius raised a large
army with the intent of invading Greece again. However, in 486 BCE,
Darius’s Egyptian subjects revolted, postponing any advancement
against Greece. During preparations to march on Egypt, Darius died
and his son, Xerxes I, inherited the throne. Xerxes quickly crushed
the Egyptians and resumed preparations to invade Greece.

Second Invasion of Greece

In 480 BCE, Xerxes sent a much more powerful force of 300,000

soldiers by land, with 1,207 ships in support, across a double
pontoon bridge over the Hellespont. This army took Thrace before
descending on Thessaly and Boetia, whilst the Persian navy skirted
the coast and resupplied the ground troops. The Greek fleet,
meanwhile, dashed to block Cape Artemision. After being delayed
by Leonidas I, the Spartan king of the Agiad Dynasty, at the Battle
of Thermopylae (a battle made famous due to the sheer imbalance
of forces, with 300 Spartans facing the entire Persian Army), Xerxes
advanced into Attica, where he captured and burned Athens. But the
Athenians had evacuated the city by sea, and under the command of
Themistocles, defeated the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis.
In 483 BCE, during the period of peace between the two Persian
invasions, a vein of silver ore had been discovered in the Laurion
(a small mountain range near Athens), and the ore that was mined
there paid for the construction of 200 warships to combat
Aeginetan piracy. A year later, the Greeks, under the Spartan
Pausanias, defeated the Persian army at Plataea. Meanwhile, the
allied Greek navy won a decisive victory at the Battle of Mycale,
destroying the Persian fleet, crippling Xerxe’s sea power, and
marking the ascendency of the Greek fleet. Following the Battle of

The Persian Wars | 299

Plataea and the Battle of Mycale, the Persians began withdrawing
from Greece and never attempted an invasion again.

Greek Counterattack

The Battle of Mycale was in many ways a turning point, after which
the Greeks went on the offensive against the Persian fleet. The
Athenian fleet turned to chasing the Persians from the Aegean Sea,
and in 478 BCE, the fleet then proceeded to capture Byzantium. In
the course of doing so, Athens enrolled all the island states, and
some mainland states, into an alliance called the Delian League—
so named because its treasury was kept on the sacred island of
Delos, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire,
prepare for future invasions, and organize a means of dividing the
spoils of war. The Spartans, although they had taken part in the
war, withdrew into isolation afterwards. The Spartans believed that
the war’s purpose had already been reached through the liberation
of mainland Greece and the Greek cities of Asia Minor. Historians
also speculate that Sparta was unconvinced of the ability of the
Delian League to secure long-term security for Asian Greeks. The
Spartan withdrawal from the League allowed Athens to establish
unchallenged naval and commercial power within the Hellenic
world.

Sources

300 | The Persian Wars

40. Effects of the Persian Wars

Learning Objective

• Understand the effect the Persian Wars had on the

balance of power throughout the classical world

Key Points

• After the second Persian invasion of Greece was

halted, Sparta withdrew from the Delian League and
reformed the Peloponnesian League with its original
allies.
• Many Greek city-states had been alienated from
Sparta following the violent actions of Spartan leader
Pausanias during the siege of Byzantium.
• Following Sparta’s departure from the Delian
League, Athens was able to use the resources of the
League to its own ends, which led it into conflict with
less powerful members of the League.
• The Persian Empire adopted a divide-and-rule
strategy in relation to the Greek city-states in the
wake of the Persian Wars, stoking already simmering
conflicts, including the rivalry between Athens and
Sparta, to protect the Persian Empire against further

Effects of the Persian Wars | 301

 Greek attacks.

Terms

Peloponnesian League

An alliance formed around Sparta in the Peloponnesus,

from the 6th to 4th centuries BCE.

Delian League

An association of Greek city-states under the leadership

of Athens, the purpose of which was to continue fighting
the Persian Empire after the Greek victories at the end of
the Second Persian invasion of Greece.

hegemony

The political, economic, or military predominance or

control of one state over others.

302 | Effects of the Persian Wars

Aftermath of the Persian Wars

As a result of the allied Greek success, a large contingent of the

Persian fleet was destroyed and all Persian garrisons were expelled
from Europe, marking an end of Persia’s advance westward into
the continent. The cities of Ionia were also liberated from Persian
control. Despite their successes, however, the spoils of war caused
greater inner conflict within the Hellenic world. The violent actions
of Spartan leader Pausanias at the siege of Byzantium, for instance,
alienated many of the Greek states from Sparta, and led to a shift in
the military command of the Delian League from Sparta to Athens.
This set the stage for Sparta’s eventual withdrawal from the Delian
League.

Two Leagues

Following the two Persian invasions of Greece, and during the Greek
counterattacks that commenced after the Battles of Plataea and
Mycale, Athens enrolled all island and some mainland city-states
into an alliance, called the Delian League, the purpose of which
was to pursue conflict with the Persian Empire, prepare for future
invasions, and organize a means of dividing the spoils of war. The
Spartans, although they had taken part in the war, withdrew from
the Delian League early on, believing that the war’s initial purpose
had been met with the liberation of mainland Greece and the Greek
cities of Asia Minor. Historians also speculate that Sparta decided
to leave the League for pragmatic reasons, remaining unconvinced
that it was possible to secure long-term security for Greeks residing
in Asia Minor, and as a result of their unease with Athenian efforts to
increase their power. Once Sparta withdrew from the Delian League
after the Persian Wars, it reformed the Peloponnesian League,
th
which had originally been formed in the 6 century and provided

Effects of the Persian Wars | 303

the blueprint for what was now the Delian League. The Spartan
withdrawal from the League had the effect, however, of allowing
Athens to establish unchallenged naval and commercial power,
unrivaled throughout the Hellenic world. In fact, shortly after the
League’s inception, Athens began to use the League’s navy for its
own purposes, which frequently led it into conflict with other, less
powerful League members.

Map of the Athenian Empire c. 431 BCE. The Delian League was the basis for
the Athenian Empire, shown here on the brink of the Peloponnesian War (c.
431 BCE).

Delian League Rebellions

A series of rebellions occurred between Athens and the smaller

city-states that were members of the League. For example, Naxos
was the first member of the League to attempt to secede, in

304 | Effects of the Persian Wars

approximately 471 BCE. It was later defeated and forced to tear
down its defensive city walls, surrender its fleet, and lost voting
privileges in the League. Thasos, another League member, also
defected when, in 465 BCE, Athens founded the colony of
Amphipolis on the Strymon River, which threatened Thasos’
interests in the mines of Mt Pangaion. Thasos allied with Persia
and petitioned Sparta for assistance, but Sparta was unable to help
because it was facing the largest helot revolution in its history.
Nonetheless, relations between Athens and Sparta were soured by
the situation. After a three-year long siege, Thasos was recaptured
and forced back into the Delian League, though it also lost its
defensive walls and fleet, its mines were turned over to Athens, and
the city-state was forced to pay yearly tribute and fines. According
to Thucydides, the siege of Thasos marked the transformation of the
League from an alliance into a hegemony.

Persia

Following their defeats at the hands of the Greeks, and plagued

by internal rebellions that hindered their ability to fight foreign
enemies, the Persians adopted a policy of divide-and-rule.
Beginning in 449 BCE, the Persians attempted to aggravate the
growing tensions between Athens and Sparta, and would even bribe
politicians to achieve these aims. Their strategy was to keep the
Greeks distracted with in-fighting, so as to stop the tide of
counterattacks reaching the Persian Empire. Their strategy was
largely successful, and there was no open conflict between the
Greeks and Persia until 396 BCE, when the Spartan king Agesilaus
briefly invaded Asia Minor.

Sources

Effects of the Persian Wars | 305

41. Athens

Learning Objective

• Understand the factors contributing to the rise and

fall of Athens

Key Points

• Cleisthenes overthrew the dictator Hippias in 511/

510 BCE in order to establish democracy at Athens.
th
• Athens entered its Golden Age in the 5 century
BCE, when it abandoned the pretense of parity and
relocated the treasury of the Delian League from
Delos to Athens. This money funded the building of
the Athenian Acropolis, put half the Athenian
population on the public payroll, and allowed Athens
to build and maintain the dominant naval power in
the Greek world.
• With the empire’s funds, military dominance, and
its political fortunes as guided by statesman and
orator Pericles, Athens produced some of the most
influential and enduring cultural artifacts of the
Western tradition.
• Tensions within the Delian League brought about

306 | Athens
 the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE), during which
Athens was defeated by its rival, Sparta. Athens lost
further power when the armies of Philip II defeated
an alliance of Greek city-states.

Terms

Acropolis

A settlement, especially a citadel, built upon an area of

elevated ground, frequently a hill with precipitous sides,
chosen for purposes of defense. Often the nuclei of large
cities of classical antiquity.

Pericles

A prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator, and

general of Athens during its Golden Age, in the time
between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars.

Delian League

Founded in 478 BCE, an association of Greek city-states

Athens | 307
 under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to fight
the Persian Empire during the Greco-Persian Wars.

The Rise of Athens (508-448 BCE)

In 514 BCE, the dictator Hippias established stability and prosperity

with his rule of Athens, but remained very unpopular as a ruler. With
the help of an army from Sparta in 511/510 BCE, he was overthrown
by Cleisthenes, a radical politician of aristocratic background who
established democracy in Athens.
Prior to the rise of Athens, Sparta, a city-state with a militaristic
culture, considered itself the leader of the Greeks, and enforced
an hegemony. In 499 BCE, Athens sent troops to aid the Ionian
Greeks of Asia Minor, who were rebelling against the Persian Empire
during the Ionian Revolt. This provoked two Persian invasions of
Greece, both of which were repelled under the leadership of the
soldier-statesmen Miltiades and Themistocles, during the Persian
Wars. In the decades that followed, the Athenians, with the help of
the Spartans and other allied Greek city-states, managed to rout
the Persians. These victories enabled Athens to bring most of the
Aegean, and many other parts of Greece, together in the Delian
League, creating an Athenian-dominated alliance from which Sparta
and its allies withdrew.

308 | Athens
Greek-Persian Duel.

Athenian Hegemony and the Age of

Pericles

th
The 5 century BCE was a period of Athenian political hegemony,
economic growth, and cultural flourishing that is sometimes
referred to as the Golden Age of Athens. The latter part of this time
period is often called The Age of Pericles. After peace was made
th
with Persia in the 5 century BCE, what started as an alliance of
independent city-states became an Athenian empire. Athens moved
to abandon the pretense of parity among its allies, and relocated

Athens | 309
the Delian League treasury from Delos to Athens, where it funded
the building of the Athenian Acropolis, put half its population on
the public payroll, and maintained the dominant naval power in
the Greek world. With the empire’s funds, military dominance, and
its political fortunes as guided by statesman and orator Pericles,
Athens produced some of the most influential and enduring cultural
artifacts of Western tradition, during what became known as the
Golden Age of Athenian democracy, or the Age of Pericles. The
playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides all lived and
worked in Athens during this time, as did historians Herodotus
and Thucydides, the physician Hippocrates, and the philosopher
Socrates.

Caryatid Statues. The caryatid statues of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis.

Pericles was arguably the most prominent and influential Greek

statesman, orator, and general of Athens during its Golden Age. One
of his most popular reforms while in power was to allow thetes
(Athenians without wealth) to occupy public office. Another success

310 | Athens
of his administration was the creation of the misthophoria, a special
salary for the citizens that attended the courts as jurors. As Athens’
ruler, he helped the city to prosper with a resplendent culture and
democratic institutions.

5th century Athenian Political Institutions

The administration of the Athenian state was managed by a group of

people referred to as magistrates, who were submitted to rigorous
public control and chosen by lot. Only two magistrates were directly
elected by the Popular Assembly: strategos (or generals), and
magistrates of finance. All magistrates served for a year or less, with
the exception of Pericles, who was elected year after year to public
office. At the end of their service, magistrates were required to give
an account of their administration and use of public finances.
The most elite posts in the Athenian political system belonged to
archons. In ages past, they served as heads of the Athenian state,
but in the Age of Pericles they lost much of their influence and
power, though they still presided over tribunals. The Assembly of
the People was the first organ of democracy in Athens. In theory, it
was composed of all the citizens of Athens. However, it is estimated
that the maximum number of participants it witnessed was 6,000.
The Assembly met in front of the Acropolis and decided on laws and
decrees. Once the Assembly gave its decision in a certain matter,
the issue was raised to the Council, or Boule, to provide definitive
approval.
The Council consisted of 500 members, 50 from each tribe, and
functioned as an extension of the Assembly. Council members were
chosen by lot in a similar manner to magistrates and supervised
the work of the magistrates in addition to other legal projects and
administrative details. They also oversaw the city-state’s external
affairs.

Athens | 311
Athenian Defeat and Conquest By Macedon

Originally intended as an association of Greek city-states to

continue the fight against the Persians, the Delian League soon
turned into a vehicle for Athens’s own imperial ambitions and
empire-building. The resulting tensions brought about the
Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE), in which Athens was defeated by
th
its rival, Sparta. By the mid-4 century BCE, the northern Greek
kingdom of Macedon was becoming dominant in Athenian affairs. In
338 BCE, the armies of Philip II of Macedon defeated an alliance of
some of the Greek city-states, including Athens and Thebes, at the
Battle of Chaeronea, effectively ending Athenian independence.

Sources

312 | Athens
42. Athenian Society

Learning Objective

• Understand the structures of Athenian society in

the classical period

Key Points

• The citizens of Athens decided matters of state in

the Assembly of the People, the principle organ of
Athen’s democracy.
• The Athenian democracy provided a number of
governmental resources to its population in order to
encourage participation in the democratic process.
• Many governmental posts in classical Athens were
chosen by lot, in an attempt to discourage corruption
and patronage.
• The Athenian elite lived relatively modestly, and
wealth and land were not concentrated in the hands
of the few, but rather distributed fairly evenly across
the upper classes.
• Thetes occupied the lowest rung of Athenian
society, but were granted the right to hold public
office during the reforms of Ephialtes and Pericles.

Athenian Society | 313

 • Athenian society was a patriarchy; men held all
rights and advantages, such as access to education
and power.
• Athenian women were dedicated to the care and
upkeep of the family home.

Terms

thetes

The lowest social class of citizens in ancient Athens.

Assembly of the People

The democratic congregation of classical Athens, which,

in theory, brought together all citizens to decide upon
proposed laws and decrees.

Structure of the Athenian Government

In the Assembly of the People, Athenian citizens decided matters

of state. In theory, it was composed of all the citizens of Athens;
however, it is estimated that the maximum number of participants

314 | Athenian Society

it included was 6,000. Since many citizens were incapable of
exercising political rights, due to their poverty or ignorance, a
number of governmental resources existed to encourage inclusivity.
For example, the Athenian democracy provided the following to its
population:

• Concession of salaries to public functionaries

• Help finding work for the poor
• Land grants for dispossessed villagers
• Public assistance for war widows, invalids, orphans, and
indigents

In order to discourage corruption and patronage, most public

offices that did not require specialized expertise were appointed
by lot rather than by election. Offices were also rotated so that
members could serve in all capacities in turn, in order to ensure
that political functions were instituted as smoothly as possible
regardless of each individual official’s capacity.
When the Assembly of the People reached decisions on laws and
decrees, the issue was raised to a body called the Council, or Boule,
to provide definitive approval. The Council consisted of 500
members, 50 from each tribe, and functioned as an extension of the
Assembly. Council members, who were chosen by lot, supervised
the work of other government officials, legal projects, and other
administrative details. They also oversaw the city-state’s external
affairs.

Athenian Society | 315

The Acropolis. View of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.

Athenians in the Age of Pericles

The Athenian elite lived modestly and without great luxuries

compared to the elites of other ancient societies. Wealth and land
ownership was not typically concentrated in the hands of a few
people. In fact, 71-73% of the citizen population owned 60-65%
of the land. By contrast, thetes occupied the lowest social class of
citizens in Athens. Thetes worked for wages or had less than 200
medimnoi as yearly income. Many held crucial roles in the Athenian
navy as rowers, due to the preference of many ancient navies to rely
on free men to row their galleys. During the reforms of Ephialtes
and Pericles around 460-450 BCE, thetes were granted the right to
hold public office.
Boys were educated at home until the age of seven, at which time
they began formal schooling. Subjects included reading, writing,
mathematics, and music, as well as physical education classes that

316 | Athenian Society

were intended to prepare students for future military service. At the
age of 18, service in the army was compulsory.
Athenian women were dedicated to the care and upkeep of the
family home. Athenian society was a patriarchy; men held all rights
and advantages, such as access to education and power.
Nonetheless, some women, known as hetaeras, did receive an
education with the specific purpose of entertaining men, similar
to the Japanese geisha tradition. Hetaeras were considered higher
in status than other women, but lower in status than men. One
famous example of a hetaera is Pericles’ mistress, Aspasia of Miletus,
who is said to have debated with prominent writers and thinkers,
including Socrates.

Sources

Athenian Society | 317

43. Classical Greek
Philosophy

Learning Objective

• Understand the main philosophical beliefs of

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

Key Points

• Socrates is best known for having pursued a

probing question-and-answer style of examination on
a number of topics, usually attempting to arrive at a
defensible and attractive definition of a virtue.
• In 399 BCE, Socrates was charged for his
philosophical inquiries, convicted, and sentenced to
death.
• Plato was a student of Socrates, and is the author of
numerous dialogues and letters, as well as one of the
primary sources available to modern scholars on
Socrates’ life.
• In his defining work, The Republic, Plato reaches
the conclusion that a utopian city is likely impossible
because philosophers would refuse to rule and the

318 | Classical Greek Philosophy

 people would refuse to compel them to do so.
• Aristotle was a student of Plato, the tutor of
Alexander the Great, and founder of the Lyceum and
Peripatetic School of philosophy in Athens. He wrote
on a number of subjects, including logic, physics,
metaphysics, ethics, rhetoric, politics, and botany.

Terms

allegory of the cave

A paradoxical analogy wherein Socrates argues that the

invisible world is the most intelligible, and the visible world
is the least knowable and obscure. Plato has Socrates
describe a gathering of people who have lived chained to
the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall upon
which shadows are projected. The shadows are as close as
the prisoners get to viewing reality.

Aristotle

The student of Plato, tutor to Alexander the Great, and

founder of the Lyceum. A Greek philosopher who wrote on
a number of topics, including logic, ethics, and
metaphysics.

Classical Greek Philosophy | 319

 aporia

In philosophy, a paradox or state of puzzlement; in

rhetoric, a useful expression of doubt.

Socrates

A classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher credited as one

of the founders of Western philosophy. Known for a
question-answer style of examination.

Plato

The student of Socrates and author of The Republic. A

philosopher and mathematician in classical Greece.

Classical Greece saw a flourishing of philosophers, especially in

Athens during its Golden Age. Of these philosophers, the most
famous are Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

320 | Classical Greek Philosophy

Socrates

Socrates. Bust of Socrates, currently in the Louvre.

Socrates, born in Athens in the 5th century BCE, marks a watershed

Classical Greek Philosophy | 321

in ancient Greek philosophy. Athens was a center of learning, with
sophists and philosophers traveling from across Greece to teach
rhetoric, astronomy, cosmology, geometry, and the like. The great
statesman Pericles was closely associated with these new teachings,
however, and his political opponents struck at him by taking
advantage of a conservative reaction against the philosophers. It
became a crime to investigate issues above the heavens or below
the earth because they were considered impious. While other
philosophers, such as Anaxagoras, were forced to flee Athens,
Socrates was the only documented individual charged under this
law, convicted, and sentenced to death in 399 BCE. In the version
of his defense speech presented by Plato, he claims that the envy
others experience on account of his being a philosopher is what will
lead to his conviction.
Many conversations involving Socrates (as recounted by Plato and
Xenophon) end without having reached a firm conclusion, a style
known as aporia. Socrates is said to have pursued this probing
question-and-answer style of examination on a number of topics,
usually attempting to arrive at a defensible and attractive definition
of a virtue. While Socrates’ recorded conversations rarely provide
a definitive answer to the question under examination, several
maxims or paradoxes for which he has become known recur.
Socrates taught that no one desires what is bad, and so if anyone
does something that truly is bad, it must be unwillingly or out
of ignorance; consequently, all virtue is knowledge. He frequently
remarks on his own ignorance (claiming that he does not know what
courage is, for example). Plato presents Socrates as distinguishing
himself from the common run of mankind by the fact that, while
they know nothing noble and good, they do not know that they
do not know, whereas Socrates knows and acknowledges that he
knows nothing noble and good.
Socrates was morally, intellectually, and politically at odds with
many of his fellow Athenians. When he was on trial, he used his
method of elenchos, a dialectic method of inquiry that resembles
the scientific method, to demonstrate to the jurors that their moral

322 | Classical Greek Philosophy

values are wrong-headed. He tells them they are concerned with
their families, careers, and political responsibilities when they
ought to be worried about the “welfare of their souls.” Socrates’
assertion that the gods had singled him out as a divine emissary
seemed to provoke irritation, if not outright ridicule. Socrates also
questioned the Sophistic doctrine that arete (virtue) can be taught.
He liked to observe that successful fathers (such as the prominent
military general Pericles) did not produce sons of their own quality.
Socrates argued that moral excellence was more a matter of divine
bequest than parental nurture.

Classical Greek Philosophy | 323

Plato

Plato. A copy of Plato’s portrait bust by Silanion.

324 | Classical Greek Philosophy

Plato was an Athenian of the generation after Socrates. Ancient
tradition ascribes 36 dialogues and 13 letters to him, although of
these only 24 of the dialogues are now universally recognized as
authentic. Most modern scholars believe that at least 28 dialogues,
and two of the letters, were in fact written by Plato, although all
of the 36 dialogues have some defenders. Plato’s dialogues feature
Socrates, although not always as the leader of the conversation.
Along with Xenophon, Plato is the primary source of information
about Socrates’ life and beliefs, and it is not always easy to
distinguish between the two.
Much of what is known about Plato’s doctrines is derived from
what Aristotle reports about them, and many of Plato’s political
doctrines are derived from Aristotle’s works, The Republic, the Laws,
and the Statesman. The Republic contains the suggestion that there
will not be justice in cities unless they are ruled by philosopher
kings; those responsible for enforcing the laws are compelled to
hold their women, children, and property in common; and the
individual is taught to pursue the common good through noble
lies. The Republic determines that such a city is likely impossible,
however, and generally assumes that philosophers would refuse to
rule if the citizenry asked them to, and moreover, the citizenry
would refuse to compel philosophers to rule in the first place.
“Platonism” is a term coined by scholars to refer to the intellectual
consequences of denying, as Plato’s Socrates often does, the reality
of the material world. In several dialogues, most notably The
Republic, Socrates inverts the common man’s intuition about what
is knowable and what is real. While most people take the objects of
their senses to be real if anything is, Socrates is contemptuous of
people who think that something has to be graspable in the hands
to be real. Socrates’s idea that reality is unavailable to those who
use their senses is what puts him at odds with the common man
and with common sense. Socrates says that he who sees with his
eyes is blind, and this idea is most famously captured in his allegory
of the cave, a paradoxical analogy wherein Socrates argues that the
invisible world is the most intelligible and that the visible world

Classical Greek Philosophy | 325

is the least knowable and most obscure. In the allegory, Socrates
describes a gathering of people who have lived chained to the wall
of a cave facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected
on the wall from the fire burning behind them, and the people begin
to name and describe the shadows, which are the closest images
they have to reality. Socrates then explains that a philosopher is like
a prisoner released from that cave who comes to understand the
shadows on the wall are not reality.

326 | Classical Greek Philosophy

Aristotle

Aristotle. Roman copy in marble of a Greek bronze bust of Aristotle by

Lysippus, c. 330 BCE. The alabaster mantle is modern.

Classical Greek Philosophy | 327

Aristotle moved to Athens from his native Stageira in 367 BCE, and
began to study philosophy, and perhaps even rhetoric, under
Isocrates. He eventually enrolled at Plato’s Academy. He left Athens
approximately twenty years later to study botany and zoology,
became a tutor of Alexander the Great, and ultimately returned to
Athens a decade later to establish his own school, the Lyceum. He is
the founder of the Peripatetic School of philosophy, which aims to
glean facts from experiences and explore the “why” in all things. In
other words, he advocates learning by induction.
At least 29 of Aristotle’s treatises have survived, known as the
corpus Aristotelicum, and address a variety of subjects including
logic, physics, optics, metaphysics, ethics, rhetoric, politics, poetry,
botany, and zoology. Aristotle is often portrayed as disagreeing with
his teacher, Plato. He criticizes the regimes described in Plato’s
Republic and Laws, and refers to the theory of forms as “empty
words and poetic metaphors.” He preferred utilizing empirical
observation and practical concerns in his works. Aristotle did not
consider virtue to be simple knowledge as Plato did, but founded
in one’s nature, habit, and reason. Virtue was gained by acting in
accordance with nature and moderation.

Sources

328 | Classical Greek Philosophy

44. Classical Greek Poetry
and History

Learning Objective

• Explain how epic poetry influenced the

development of classical Greek historical texts

Key Points

• The formative influence of the Homeric epics in

shaping Greek culture was widely recognized, and
Homer was described as the teacher of Greece.
• The Iliad, sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion
or Song of Ilium, is set during the Trojan War and
recounts the battles and events surrounding a quarrel
between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles.
• Herodotus is referred to as “The Father of History,”
and is the first historian known to have broken from
Homeric tradition in order to treat historical subjects
as a method of investigation arranged into a
historiographic narrative.
• Thucydides, who had been trained in rhetoric,
provided a model of historical prose-writing based

Classical Greek Poetry and

History | 329
 more firmly in factual progression of a narrative,
whereas Herodotus, due to frequent digressions and
asides, appeared to minimize his authorial control.
• Thucydides is sometimes known as the father of
th
“scientific history,” or an early precursor to 20
century scientific positivism, because of his strict
adherence to evidence-gathering and analysis of
historical cause and effect without reference to
divine intervention.
• Despite its heavy political slant, scholars cite
strong literary and philosophical influences in
Thucydides’ work.

Terms

Homer

A Greek poet of the 7th or 8th century BCE; author of the

Iliad and the Odyssey.

dactylic hexameter

A form of meter in poetry or a rhythmic scheme.

Traditionally associated with the quantitative meter of
classical epic poetry in both Greek and Latin, and

330 | Classical Greek Poetry and History

 consequently considered to be the grand style of classical
poetry.

Homer

In the Western classical tradition, Homer is the author of the Iliad

and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest of ancient Greek
epic poets. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon
of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of
literature.
Whether and when Homer lived is unknown. The ancient Greek
author Herodotus estimates that Homer lived 400 years before his
own time, which would place him at around 850 BCE, while other
ancient sources claim that he lived much nearer to the supposed
th
time of the Trojan War, in the early 12 century BCE. Most modern
th th
researchers place Homer in the 7 or 8 centuries BCE.

Classical Greek Poetry and History | 331

Homer. Idealized portrayal of Homer dating to the Hellenistic period; located
at the British Museum.

The formative influence of the Homeric epics in shaping Greek

culture was widely recognized, and Homer was described as the
“Teacher of Greece.” Homer’s works, some 50% of which are
speeches, provided models in persuasive speaking and writing that
were emulated throughout the ancient and medieval Greek worlds.

332 | Classical Greek Poetry and History

Fragments of Homer account for nearly half of all identifiable Greek
literary papyrus finds.

The Iliad

The Iliad (sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion or Song of

Ilium) is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter. Set
during the Trojan War (the ten-year siege of the city of Troy (Ilium)
by a coalition of Greek states), it tells of the battles and events
surrounding a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior
Achilles. Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final
year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek
legends about the siege. The epic narrative describes events
prophesied for the future, such as Achilles’ looming death and the
sack of Troy. The events are prefigured and alluded to more and
more vividly, so that when the story reaches an end, the poem has
told a more or less complete tale of the Trojan War.
Nineteenth century excavations at Hisarlik provided scholars with
historical evidence for the events of the Trojan War, as told by
Homer in the Iliad. Additionally, linguistic studies into oral epic
traditions in nearby civilizations, and the deciphering of Linear B in
the 1950s, provided further evidence that the Homeric poems could
have been derived from oral transmissions of long-form tales about
a war that actually took place. The likely historicity of the Iliad as a
piece of literature, however, must be balanced against the creative
license that would have been taken over years of transmission, as
well as the alteration of historical fact to conform with tribal
preferences and provide entertainment value to its intended
audiences.

Classical Greek Poetry and History | 333

Herodotus

Herodotus was a Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus

th
(modern-day Bodrum, Turkey) and lived in the 5 century BCE. He
was a contemporary of Socrates. He is referred to as “The Father
of History” and is the first historian known to have broken from
Homeric tradition in order to treat historical subjects as a method
of investigation arranged into a historiographic narrative. His only
known work is a history on the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars,
entitled, The Histories. Herodotus states that he only reports that
which was told to him, and some of his stories are fanciful and/or
inaccurate; however, the majority of his information appears to be
accurate.
Athenian tragic poets and storytellers appear to have provided
heavy inspiration for Herodotus, as did Homer. Herodotus appears
to have drawn on an Ionian tradition of storytelling, collecting and
interpreting oral histories he happened upon during his travels in
much the same way that oral poetry formed the basis for much of
Homer’s works. While these oral histories often contained folk-tale
motifs and fed into a central moral, they also related verifiable facts
relating to geography, anthropology, and history. For this reason,
Herodotus drew criticism from his contemporaries, being touted as
a mere storyteller and even a falsifier of information. In contrast to
this type of approach, Thucydides, who had been trained in rhetoric,
provided a model of historical prose-writing based more firmly in
factual progression of a narrative, whereas Herodotus, due to
frequent digressions and asides, appeared to minimize his authorial
control.

Thucydides

Thucydides was an Athenian historian and general. His History of

334 | Classical Greek Poetry and History

 th
the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5 century BCE war between
Athens and Sparta. Thucydides is sometimes known as the father of
th
“scientific history,” or an early precursor to 20 century scientific
positivism, because of his strict adherence to evidence-gathering
and analysis of historical cause and effect without reference to
divine intervention. He is also considered the father of political
realism, which is a school of thought within the realm of political
science that views the political behavior of individuals and the
relations between states to be governed by self-interest and fear.
More generally, Thucydides’ texts show concern with
understanding why individuals react the way they do during such
crises as plague, massacres, and civil war.
Unlike Herodotus, Thucydides did not view his historical accounts
as a source of moral lessons, but rather as a factual reporting of
contemporary political and military events. Thucydides viewed life
in political terms rather than moral terms, and viewed history in
political terms. Thucydides also tended to omit, or at least
downplay, geographic and ethnographic aspects of events from his
work, whereas Herodotus recorded all information as part of the
narrative. Thucydides’ accounts are generally held to be more
unambiguous and reliable than those of Herodotus. However, unlike
his predecessor, Thucydides does not reveal his sources. Curiously,
although subsequent Greek historians, such as Plutarch, held up
Thucydides’ writings as a model for scholars of their field, many of
them continued to view history as a source of moral lessons, as did
Herodotus.
Despite its heavy political slant, scholars cite strong literary and
philosophical influences in Thucydides’ work. In particular, the
History of the Peloponnesian Warechoes the narrative tradition of
Homer, and draws heavily from epic poetry and tragedy to
construct what is essentially a positivistic account of world events.
Additionally, it brings to the forefront themes of justice and
suffering in a similar manner to the philosophical texts of Aristotle
and Plato.

Classical Greek Poetry and History | 335

Sources

336 | Classical Greek Poetry and History

45. Classical Greek Theater

Learning Objective

• Describe the common themes found in classical

Greek plays

Key Points

• The city-state of Athens was the center of cultural

power during this period, and held a drama festival in
honor of the god Dionysus, called the Dionysia.
• Two dramatic genres to emerge from this era of
Greek theater were tragedy and comedy, both of
which rose to prominence around 500-490 BCE.
• Greek tragedy is an extension of the ancient rites
carried out in honor of Dionysus; it heavily influenced
the theater of ancient Rome and the Renaissance.
• Tragic plots were often based upon myths from the
oral traditions of archaic epics, and took the form of
narratives presented by actors.
• Aeschylus was the first tragedian to codify the
basic rules of tragic drama, and is considered by
many to be the “father of tragedy.”
• Athenian comedy is divided into three periods: Old

Classical Greek Theater | 337

 Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy.

Terms

chorus

In the context of Greek theatre, a homogeneous, non-

individualized group of performers who comment, with a
collective voice, on dramatic action.

deus ex machina

A plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem is

suddenly and abruptly resolved by the unexpected
intervention of some new event, character, ability, or
object.

monody

In the context of ancient Greek theater and literature,

lyric poetry sung by a single performer rather than by a
chorus.

The theatrical culture of ancient Greece flourished from

338 | Classical Greek Theater

approximately 700 BCE onward. The city-state of Athens was the
center of cultural power during this period and held a drama festival
in honor of the god Dionysus, called the Dionysia. This festival
was exported to many of Athen’s numerous colonies to promote a
common cultural identity across the empire. Two dramatic genres
to emerge from this era of Greek theater were tragedy and comedy,
both of which rose to prominence around 500-490 BCE.

Greek Tragedy

Sometimes referred to as Attic tragedy, Greek tragedy is an

extension of the ancient rites carried out in honor of Dionysus,
and it heavily influenced the theater of ancient Rome and the
Renaissance. Tragic plots were often based upon myths from the
oral traditions of archaic epics, and took the form of narratives
presented by actors. Tragedies typically began with a prologue, in
which one or more characters introduce the plot and explain the
background to the ensuing story. The prologue is then followed
by paraodos, after which the story unfolds through three or more
episodes. The episodes are interspersed by stasima, or choral
interludes that explain or comment on the situation that is
developing. The tragedy then ends with an exodus, which concludes
the story.

Aeschylus and the Codification of Tragic Drama

Aeschylus was the first tragedian to codify the basic rules of tragic
drama. He is often described as the father of tragedy. He is credited
with inventing the trilogy, a series of three tragedies that tell one
long story. Trilogies were often performed in sequence over the
course of a day, from sunrise to sunset. At the end of the last play,

Classical Greek Theater | 339

a satyr play was staged to revive the spirits of the public after they
had witnessed the heavy events of the tragedy that had preceded it.

Marble bust of Aeschylus.

340 | Classical Greek Theater

According to Aristotle, Aeschylus also expanded the number of
actors in theater to allow for the dramatization of conflict on stage.
Previously, it was standard for only one character to be present
and interact with the homogeneous chorus, which commented in
unison on the dramatic action unfolding on stage. Aeschylus’s works
show an evolution and enrichment in dialogue, contrasts, and
theatrical effects over time, due to the rich competition that existed
among playwrights of this era. Unfortunately, his plays, and those
of Sophocles and Euripides, are the only works of classical Greek
literature to have survived mostly intact, so there are not many rival
texts to examine his works against.

Classical Greek Theater | 341

The Reforms of Sophocles

Cast of Sophocles’ bust in the Pushkin Museum.

Sophocles was one such rival who triumphed against the famous

342 | Classical Greek Theater

and previously unchallenged Aeschylus. Sophocles introduced a
third actor to staged tragedies, increased the chorus to 15 members,
broke the cycle of trilogies (making possible the production of
independent dramas), and introduced the concept of scenery to
theater. Compared to the works of Aeschylus, choruses in
Sophocles’ plays did less explanatory work, shifting the focus to
deeper character development and staged conflict. The events that
took place were often left unexplained or unjustified, forcing the
audience to reflect upon the human condition.

The Realism of Euripides

Euripides differs from Aeschylus and Sophocles in his search for

technical experimentation and increased focus on feelings as a
mechanism to elaborate the unfolding of tragic events. In Euripides’
tragedies, there are three experimental aspects that reoccur. The
first is the transition of the prologue to a monologue performed by
an actor informing spectators of a story’s background. The second
is the introduction of deus ex machina, or a plot device whereby a
seemingly unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved by
the unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability,
or object. Finally, the use of a chorus was minimized in favor of a
monody sung by the characters.

Classical Greek Theater | 343

344 | Classical Greek Theater
 Statue of Euripides.

Another novelty introduced by Euripidean drama is the realism with

which characters’ psychological dynamics are portrayed. Unlike in
Aeschylus or Sophocles’ works, heroes in Euripides’ plays were
portrayed as insecure characters troubled by internal conflict
rather than simply resolute. Female protagonists were also used to
portray tormented sensitivity and irrational impulses that collided
with the world of reason.

Greek Comedy

As Aristotle wrote in his Poetics, comedy is defined by the

representation of laughable people, and involves some kind of
blunder or ugliness that does not cause pain or disaster. Athenian
comedy is divided into three periods: Old Comedy, Middle Comedy,
and New Comedy. The Old Comedy period is largely represented
by the 11 surviving plays of Aristophanes, whereas much of the
work of the Middle Comedy period has been lost. New Comedy is
known primarily by the substantial papyrus fragments of Menander.
In general, the divisions between these periods is largely arbitrary,
and ancient Greek comedy almost certainly developed constantly
over the years.

Old Comedy and Aristophanes

Aristophanes, the most important Old Comic dramatist, wrote plays

that abounded with political satire, as well as sexual and scatological
innuendo. He lampooned the most important personalities and

Classical Greek Theater | 345

institutions of his day, including Socrates in The Clouds. His works
are characterized as definitive to the genre of comedy even today.

Middle Comedy

Although the line between Old and Middle Comedy is not clearly
marked chronologically, there are some important thematic
differences between the two. For instance, the role of the chorus in
Middle Comedy was largely diminished to the point where it had no
influence on the plot. Additionally, public characters were no longer
impersonated or personified onstage, and objects of ridicule tended
to be more general rather than personal, and in many instances,
literary rather than political. For some time, mythological burlesque
was popular among Middle Comic poets. Stock characters also were
employed during this period. In-depth assessment and critique of
the styling of Middle Comedy is difficult, given the lack of complete
bodies of work. However, given the revival of this style in Sicily and
Magna Graecia, it appears that the works of this period did have
considerable widespread literary and social impact.

New Comedy

The style of New Comedy is comparable to what is contemporarily

referred to as situation comedy or comedy of manners. The
playwrights of Greek New Comedy built upon the devices,
characters, and situations their predecessors had developed.
Prologues to shape the audience’s understanding of events,
messengers’ speeches to announce offstage action, and ex machina
endings were all well established tropes that were used in New
Comedies. Satire and farce occupied less importance in the works
of this time, and mythological themes and subjects were replaced by

346 | Classical Greek Theater

everyday concerns. Gods and goddesses were, at best, personified
abstractions rather than actual characters, and no miracles or
metamorphoses occurred. For the first time, love became a
principal element in this type of theater.
Three playwrights are well known from this period: Menander,
Philemon, and Diphilus. Menander was the most successful of the
New Comedians. Menander’s comedies focused on the fears and
foibles of the ordinary man, as opposed to satirical accounts of
political and public life, which perhaps lent to his comparative
success within the genre. His comedies are the first to demonstrate
the five-act structure later to become common in modern plays.
Philemon’s comedies dwell on philosophical issues, whereas
Diphilus was noted for his use of farcical violence.

Sources

Classical Greek Theater | 347

46. Classical Greek
Architecture

Learning Objective

• Describe the distinguishing characteristics of

Classical Greek Architecture

Key Points

• Classical Greek architecture is best represented by

substantially intact ruins of temples and open-air
theaters.
• The architectural style of classical Greece can be
divided into three separate orders: the Doric Order,
the Ionic Order, and the Corinthian Order. All three
styles have had a profound impact on Western
architecture of later periods.
• While the three orders of Greek architecture are
most easily recognizable by their capitals, the orders
also governed the form, proportions, details, and
relationships of the columns, entablature, pediment,
and stylobate.
• The Parthenon is considered the most important

348 | Classical Greek Architecture

 surviving building of classical Greece, and the zenith
of Doric Order architecture.

Terms

capitals

In architecture, a capital forms the topmost member of a

column.

entablature

An entablature is the superstructure of moldings and

bands that lay horizontally above columns and rest on
capitals.

pediment

A pediment is an element in classical, neoclassical, and

baroque architecture that is placed above the horizontal
structure of an entablature, and is typically supported by
columns.

Classical Greek Architecture | 349

 stylobate

In classical Greek architecture, a stylobate is the top step

of a stepped platform upon which colonnades of temple
columns are placed. In other words, the stylobate
comprises the temple flooring.

Classical Greek architecture is highly formalized in structure and

decoration, and is best known for its temples, many of which are
found throughout the region as substantially intact ruins. Each
classical Greek temple appears to have been conceived as a
sculptural entity within the landscape, and is usually raised on
higher ground so that its proportions and the effects of light on
its surface can be viewed from multiple angles. Open-air theaters
are also an important type of building that survives throughout the
Hellenic world, with the earliest dating from approximately 525-480
BCE.
Greek architectural style can be divided into three separate
orders: the Doric Order, the Ionic Order, and the Corinthian Order.
These styles have had a profound impact on Western architecture of
later periods. In particular, the architecture of ancient Rome grew
out of Greek architecture. Revivals of Classicism have also brought
about renewed interest in the architectural styles of ancient Greece.
While the three orders of Greek architecture are most easily
recognizable by their capitals, the orders also governed the form,
proportions, details, and relationships of the columns, entablature,
pediment, and stylobate. Orders were applied to the whole range of
buildings and monuments.

350 | Classical Greek Architecture

The Doric Order

The Doric Order developed on mainland Greece and spread to Italy.

It is most easily recognized by its capital, which appears as a circular
cushion placed on top of a column onto which a lintel rests. In early
examples of the Doric Order, the cushion is splayed and flat, but
over time, it became more refined, deeper, and with a greater curve.
Doric columns almost always feature fluting down the length of
the column, numbering up to 20 flutes. The flutes meet at sharp
edges, called arrises. Doric columns typically have no bases, with
the exception of a few examples dating from the Hellenistic period.
Columns of an early Doric temple, such as the Temple of Apollo at
Syracuse, could have a column height to an entablature ratio of 2:1,
and a column height to a base diameter ratio of only 4:1. Later, a
column height to a diameter ratio of 6:1 became more usual, and
there is a column height to an entablature ratio at the Parthenon
oapproximately 3:1.
Doric entablatures consist of three parts: the architrave, the
frieze, and the cornice. The architrave is composed of stone lintels
that span the space between columns. On top of this rests the frieze,
one of the major areas of sculptural decoration. The frieze is divided
into triglyps and metopes. The triglyphs have three vertical grooves,
similar to columnar fluting, and below them are guttae, small strips
that appear to connect the triglyps to the architrave below. The
triglyps are located above the center of each capital and the center
of each lintel.
Pediments in the Doric style were decorated with figures in relief
in early examples; however, by the time the sculptures on the
Parthenon were created, many pediment decorations were
freestanding.

Classical Greek Architecture | 351

The Parthenon

The Parthenon is considered the most important surviving building

of classical Greece and the zenith of Doric Order architecture. It is
a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis dedicated to the patron
goddess of Athens, Athena. Construction began on the Parthenon in
447 BCE, when the Athenian Empire was at its peak. Construction
was completed in 438 BCE, but decoration of the building continued
until 432 BCE. Although most architectural elements of the
Parthenon belong to the Doric Order, a continuous sculptured
frieze in low relief that sits above the architrave belongs to the Ionic
style.

The Parthenon. The Parthenon under restoration in 2008.

352 | Classical Greek Architecture

The Ionic Order

The Ionic Order coexisted with the Doric Order and was favored
by Greek cities in Ionia, Asia Minor, and the Aegean Islands. It did
th
not evolve into a clearly defined style until the mid-5 century BCE.
Early Ionic temples in Asia Minor were particularly ambitious in
scale.
The Ionic Order is most easily identified by its voluted capital.
The cushion placed on top of the column is similarly shaped to that
of the Doric Order, but is decorated with a stylized ornament and
surmounted by a horizontal band that scrolls under to either side.
Ionic Order columns are fluted with narrow, shallow flutes that
do not meet at a sharp edge, but have a flat band between them. The
usual number of flutes is 24, but there can be as many as 44. The
architrave is not always decorated, but more often it rises in three
outwardly-stepped bands. The frieze runs in a continuous band and
is separated from other members by rows of small projecting blocks.
The Ionic Order is lighter in appearance than the Doric Order,
with columns that have a 9:1 ratio, and the diameter and the whole
entablature appears much narrower and less heavy than those of
the Doric. Decorations were distributed with some variation, and
Ionic entablatures often featured formalized bands of motifs. The
external frieze often contained a continuous band of figurative
sculpture of ornament, though this was not always the case.
Caryatids—draped female figures used as supporting members to
the entablature—were also a feature of the Ionic Order.

Classical Greek Architecture | 353

The Erechteum on the Acropolis of Athens, Greece. Corner capital in the Ionic
style with a diagonal volute, showing also details of the fluting separated by
fillets.

The Corinthian Order

th
The Corinthian Order grew directly from the Ionic in the mid-5
century BCE, and was initially of a very similar style and proportion,
with the only distinguishing factor being its more ornate capitals.
The capitals of the Corinthian Order were much deeper than those
of the Doric and Ionic Orders. They were shaped like a bell-shaped
mixing bowl and ornamented with a double row of acanthus leaves
above which rose splayed, voluted tendrils. The ratio of column
height to diameter of the Corinthian Order is generally 10:1, with the
capital taking up more than a tenth of the height. The ratio of capital
height to diameter is generally about 1:16:1.
Initially the Corinthian Order was used internally in such sites as
the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae. By the late 300s, features

354 | Classical Greek Architecture

of the Corinthian Order began to be used externally at sites such
as the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates and the Temple of Zeus
Olympia, both in Athens. During the Hellenistic period, Corinthian
columns were sometimes built without fluting. The Corinthian
Order became popular among the Romans, who added a number of
refinements and decorative details.

Sources

Classical Greek Architecture | 355

47. Scientific Advancements
in the Classical Period

Learning Objective

• Describe the various scientific advancements made

during the Hellenistic period

Key Points

• Great seats of learning rose during the Hellenistic

Period, including those at Alexandria and Antioch.
• Scientific inquiries were often sponsored by royal
patrons.
• The discoveries of several Greek mathematicians,
including Pythagoras and Euclid, are still used in
mathematical teaching today. Important
developments include the basic rules of geometry,
the idea of a formal mathematical proof, and
discoveries in number theory, mathematical analysis,
and applied mathematics.
• The Greeks also developed the field of astronomy,
which they treated as a branch of mathematics to a
highly sophisticated level.

356 | Scientific Advancements in the

Classical Period
 • Hippocrates was a physician of the classical period,
and is considered one of the most outstanding figures
in the history of medicine. Most notably, he founded
the Hippocratic school of medicine, which
revolutionized medicine in ancient Greece by
establishing it as a discipline distinct from other
fields, and making medicine a profession.

Terms

Hellenistic period

The period of ancient Greek and Mediterranean history

between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE and
the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the
Battle of Actium in 31 BCE.

Alexandria

An important seat of learning within the Hellenistic

civilization and the capital of Hellenistic, Roman, and
Byzantine Egypt for almost 1,000 years, until the Muslim
conquest of Egypt in 641 CE.

Scientific Advancements in the Classical Period | 357

Hellenistic Culture

Hellenistic culture produced seats of learning in Alexandria, Egypt

and Antioch, Syria, along with Greek-speaking populations across
several monarchies. Hellenistic science differed from Greek science
in at least two ways. First, it benefited from the cross-fertilization of
Greek ideas with those that had developed in the larger Hellenistic
world. Secondly, to some extent, it was supported by royal patrons
in the kingdoms founded by Alexander’s successors.
Especially important to Hellenistic science was the city of
Alexandria in Egypt, which became a major center of scientific
rd
research in the 3 century BCE. Two institutions established there
during the reigns of Ptolemy I Soter (reigned 323-283 BCE) and
Ptolemy II Philadelphus (reigned 281-246 BCE) were the Library and
the Museum. Unlike Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum, these
institutions were officially supported by the Ptolemies, although the
extent of patronage could be precarious, depending on the policies
of the current ruler.

358 | Scientific Advancements in the Classical Period

The Great Library of Alexandria. The Great Library of Alexandria, O. Von
Corven. 19th century.

Mathematics and Astronomy

The discoveries of several Greek mathematicians, including

Pythagoras and Euclid, are still used in mathematical teaching
today. Important developments include the basic rules of geometry,
the idea of a formal mathematical proof, and discoveries in number
theory, mathematical analysis, and applied mathematics. Ancient
Greek mathematicians also came close to establishing integral
calculus.

Scientific Advancements in the Classical Period | 359

 The Greeks also developed the field of astronomy, which they
treated as a branch of mathematics, to a highly sophisticated level.
The first geometrical, three-dimensional models to explain the
th
apparent motion of the planets was developed in the 4 century
BCE, by Eudoxus of Cnidus and Callippus of Cyzicus. Their younger
contemporary, Heraclides Ponticus, proposed that the Earth rotates
rd
around its axis. In the 3 century BCE, Aristarchus of Samos was
nd
the first to suggest a heliocentric system. In the 2 century BCE,
Hipparchus of Nicea made a number of contributions, including the
first measurement of precession and the compilation of the first
star catalog, in which he proposed the modern system of apparent
magnitudes.
The Antikythera mechanism, a device for calculating the
movements of the planets, was the first ancestor of the
astronomical computer. It dates from about 80 BCE, and was
discovered in an ancient shipwreck off the Greek island of
Antikythera. The device became famous for its use of a differential
gear, which was previously believed to have been invented in the
th
16 century, as well as the miniaturization and complexity of its
parts, which has been compared to that of clocks produced in the
th
18 century.

The Medical Field

The ancient Greeks also made important discoveries in the medical

field. Hippocrates was a physician of the classical period, and is
considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of
medicine. He is sometimes even referred to as the “father of
medicine.” Most notably, he founded the Hippocratic school of
medicine, which revolutionized medicine in ancient Greece by
establishing it as a discipline distinct from other fields, and making
medicine a profession.

360 | Scientific Advancements in the Classical Period

 Other notable Hellenistic scientists and their achievements
include:

• Herophilos (335-280 BCE), who was the first to base medical

conclusions on dissection of the human body and to describe
the nervous system
• Archimedes (c. 287-212 BCE), a geometer, physicist, and
engineer who laid the foundations of hydrostatics and statics,
and explained the principle of the lever
• Eratosthenes (c. 276 BCE-195/194 BCE), who measured the
distance between the Sun and the Earth, as well as the size of
the Earth

Sources

Scientific Advancements in the Classical Period | 361

48. Introduction to the
Peloponnesian War

Learning Objective

• Describe the events of the Peloponnesian War

Key Points

• The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) was fought

between Athens and its empire, known as the Delian
League, and the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta.
• During this conflict, Greek warfare evolved from an
originally limited and formalized form of conflict, to
all-out struggles between city-states, with large-
scale atrocities.
• During the first phase, known as the Archidamian
War, Sparta launched repeated invasions of Attica
while Athens took advantage of its naval supremacy
to raid the Peloponnese coast.
• Initially Athens’ strategy, as guided by Pericles, was
to avoid open battle with the more numerous and
better trained Spartan hoplites, and to instead rely on
Athens’ superior naval fleet.

362 | Introduction to the

Peloponnesian War
 • In the aftermath of a devastating plague, Athenians
turned against Pericles’s defensive strategy in favor of
a more aggressive one that would bring war directly
to Sparta and its allies.
• The Peace of Nicias was signed in 421 BCE, and
concluded the first phase of the war. The treaty was
undermined, however, by continued fighting and calls
for revolt throughout the Peloponnese.
• The destruction of Athens’ fleet at Aegospotami
during the Decelean War effectively ended the
Peloponnesian War. Athens surrendered a year later
in 404 BCE.

Terms

hoplites

Hoplites were citizen-soldiers of Ancient Greek city-

states who were primarily armed with spears and shields.

helot

Helots were a subjugated population group that formed

the main population of Laconia and Messenia, the
territories controlled by Sparta.

Introduction to the Peloponnesian War | 363

The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) was fought between Athens
and its empire, known as the Delian League, and the Peloponnesian
League, led by Sparta. During this conflict, Greek warfare evolved
from an originally limited and formalized form of conflict, to all-out
struggles between city-states, complete with large-scale atrocities.
th
The Peloponnesian War provided a dramatic end to the 5 century
BCE, shattering religious and cultural taboos, devastating vast
swathes of countryside, and destroying whole cities. Historians have
traditionally divided the war into several different phases.

The Archidamian War

During the first phase, known as the Archidamian War, Sparta

launched repeated invasions of Attica while Athens took advantage
of its naval supremacy to raid the Peloponnese coast. Sparta and
its allies, with the exception of Corinth, were almost exclusively
land-based powers, whereas the Athens empire, though based on
a peninsula, had developed impressive naval power. As a result,
the two powers were relatively unable to fight decisive battles.The
Spartan strategy during the Archidamian War was to invade the land
surrounding Athens, depriving Athenians of the productive land
around their city. However, Athens maintained access to the sea
and did not suffer much from this strategy, though many citizens
of Attica abandoned their farms and moved inside the long walls
connecting Athens to port Piraeus.

364 | Introduction to the Peloponnesian War

The Walls Protecting Athens. The walls protecting Athens during the
Peloponnesian War.

Initially Athens’ strategy, as guided by Pericles, was to avoid open

battle with the more numerous, and better trained Spartan hoplites,
and to instead rely on Athens’ superior fleet. As a result, Athens’
fleet went on the offensive, winning a victory at Naupactus. Their
victory was short-lived, however, because in 430 BCE, an outbreak
of plague hit Athens, ravaging the densely packed city and wiping
out over 30,000 citizens, sailors, and soldiers, which amounted to
roughly one-third to two-thirds of the Athenian population. As a
result, Athenian manpower was drastically reduced, and due to
widespread fears of plague, foreign mercenaries refused to hire
themselves out to Athens. Sparta also abandoned its invasion of
Attica during this time, unwilling to risk contact with their diseased
enemy.
Pericles and his sons perished as a result of plague, and in the
aftermath, Athenians turned against Pericles’s defensive strategy in

Introduction to the Peloponnesian War | 365

favor of a more aggressive one that would bring war directly to
Sparta and its allies. Initially this strategy met with some success
as Athens pursued naval raids throughout the Peloponnese. Their
successes allowed them to fortify posts throughout the
Peloponnese. One such post was near Pylos, on a tiny island called
Sphacteria. It began attracting helot runaways from Sparta, which
in turn raised Spartan fears that Athenian activities throughout
the Peloponnese would incite a mass helot revolt. As a result, the
Spartans were driven into action. During the ensuing conflicts, 300
to 400 Spartans were taken hostage, providing Athens with a
bargaining chip.
In return, the Spartans raised an army of allies and helots and
marched the length of Greece to the Athenian colony of Amphipolis,
which controlled several nearby silver mines. These mines were
particularly important because they provided much of the money
that financed the Athenian war effort. The capture of this colony
provided Sparta a bargaining chip as well, and the two rival city-
states agreed to sign a truce, exchanging the Spartan hostages for
Amphipolis and its silver mines.

Peace of Nicias

The Peace of Nicias was signed in 421 BCE, concluding the first
phase of the war. Due to the loss of war hawks in both city-states
during the previous conflict, the peace endured for approximately
six years. The treaty was undermined, however, by continued
fighting and calls for revolt throughout the Peloponnese. Although
the Spartans refrained from such actions themselves, their allies
remained vocal, particularly Argos. The Athenians supported the
Argives and encouraged them to form a coalition of democratic
states within the Peloponnese and separate from Sparta. Early
Spartan attempts to thwart such a coalition ultimately failed, and

366 | Introduction to the Peloponnesian War

the Argives, their allies, and a small Athenian force moved to seize
the city of Tegea, near Sparta.
The Battle of Mantinea was the largest land battle fought within
Greece during the Peloponnesian War. The Argive allied coalition
initially utilized the sheer strength of their combined forces to score
early successes, but failed to capitalize on them, providing the elite
Spartan forces opportunities to defeat the coalition and save their
city from a strategic defeat. The Argive democratic alliance was
broken up, and most members were reincorporated into Sparta’s
Peloponnesian League, reestablishing Spartan hegemony
throughout the region.

The Sicilian Expedition

th
During the 17 year of war, Athens received news that one of their
distant allies in Sicily was under attack from Syracuse. The people
of Syracuse were ethnically Dorian like the Spartans, and Sicily
and their allies, the Athenians, were ethnically Ionian. In 415 BCE,
Athens dispatched a massive expeditionary force to attack Syracuse
in Sicily. The Athenian force consisted of more than 100 ships,
approximately 5,000 infantry, and lightly armored troops. However,
their cavalry was limited to about 30 horses, which proved to be no
match for the large and highly trained Syracusan cavalry.
Meanwhile, the Syracusans petitioned Sparta for assistance in
the matter, and Sparta sent their general, Gylippus, to Sicily with
reinforcements. Subsequent Athenian attacks failed and Athens’
entire force was destroyed by 413 BCE.

Introduction to the Peloponnesian War | 367

The Second War

This ushered in the final phase of the war, known as the Decelean
War, or the Ionian War. By this time, Sparta was receiving support
from Persia, and Sparta bolstered rebellions in Athens’ Aegean Sea
and Ionian subject states, in order to undermine Athens empire.
This eventually led to the erosion of Athens’ naval supremacy. The
Lacedaemonians were no longer content with simply sending aid
to Sicily as a means of supporting their ally. Instead, their focus
shifted to an offensive strategy against Athens. As a result, Decelea,
a town near Athens, was fortified in order to prevent the Athenians
from making use of their land year-round, and to thwart overland
shipments of supplies. Nearby silver mines were also disrupted, with
Spartan hoplites freeing as many as 20,000 Athenian slaves in the
vicinity. Due to this disruption in finance, Athens was forced to
demand increased tribute from its subject allies, further increasing
tension and the threat of rebellion throughout the Athenian empire.
Members of the Peloponnesian League continued to send
reinforcements to Syracuse in hopes of driving off the Athenians,
but instead, Athens sent another 100 ships and 5,000 troops to
Sicily. Gylippus’s forces, combined with those of the Syracusans,
defeated the Athenians on land. The destruction of Athens’ fleet at
Aegospotami effectively ended the war, and Athens surrendered a
year later in 404 BCE. Corinth and Thebes demanded that Athens
be destroyed and all its citizens enslaved, but Sparta refused to
destroy a city that had done good service at a time of great danger
to Greece, and took Athens into their own alliance system.

Sources

368 | Introduction to the Peloponnesian War

49. Effects of the
Peloponnesian War

Learning Objective

• Understand the effects of the Peloponnesian War

on the Greek city-states

Key Points

• The Peloponnesian War ended in victory for Sparta

and its allies, but signaled the demise of Athenian
naval and political hegemony throughout the
Mediterranean.
• Democracy in Athens was briefly overthrown in 411
BCE as a result of its poor handling of the
Peloponnesian War. Lysander, the Spartan admiral
who commanded the Spartan fleet at Aegospotami in
405 BCE, helped to organize the Thirty Tyrants as
Athens’ government for the 13 months they
maintained power.
• Lysander established many pro-Spartan
governments throughout the Aegean, where the
ruling classes were more loyal to him than to Sparta

Effects of the Peloponnesian

War | 369
 as a whole. Eventually Spartan kings, Agis and
Pausanias, abolished these Aegean decarchies,
curbing Lysander’s political influence.
• Agesilaus II was one of two Spartan kings during
the period of Spartan hegemony, and is remembered
for his multiple campaigns in the eastern Aegean and
Persian territories.
• Agesilaus’s loss at the Battle of Leuctra effectively
ended Spartan hegemony throughout the region.

Terms

hegemony

The political, economic, or military predominance or

control of one state over others.

harmosts

A Spartan term for a military governor.

370 | Effects of the Peloponnesian War

 oligarchy

A form of power structure in which a small group of

people hold all power and influence in a state.

The Peloponnesian War ended in victory for Sparta and its allies,
and led directly to the rising naval power of Sparta. However, it
marked the demise of Athenian naval and political hegemony
throughout the Mediterranean. The destruction from the
Peloponnesian War weakened and divided the Greeks for years to
come, eventually allowing the Macedonians an opportunity to
th
conquer them in the mid-4 century BCE.

Athens

Democracy in Athens was briefly overthrown in 411 BCE as a result

of its poor handling of the Peloponnesian War. Citizens reacted
against Athens’ defeat, blaming democratic politicians, such as
Cleon and Cleophon. The Spartan army encouraged revolt, installing
a pro-Spartan oligarchy within Athens, called the Thirty Tyrants,
in 404 BCE. Lysander, the Spartan admiral who commanded the
Spartan fleet at Aegospotami in 405 BCE, helped to organize the
Thirty Tyrants as a government for the 13 months they maintained
power.
During the Thirty Tyrants’ rule, five percent of the Athenian
population was killed, private property was confiscated, and
democratic supporters were exiled. The Thirty appointed a council
of 500 to serve the judicial functions that had formerly belonged to

Effects of the Peloponnesian War | 371

all citizens. Despite all this, not all Athenian men had their rights
removed. In fact, 3,000 such men were chosen by the Thirty to
share in the government of Athens. These men were permitted to
carry weapons, entitled to jury trial, and allowed to reside with
the city limits. This list of men was constantly being revised, and
selection was most likely a reflection of loyalty to the regime, with
the majority of Athenians not supporting the Thirty Tyrants’ rule.
Nonetheless, the Thirty’s regime was not met with much overt
opposition for the majority of their rule, as a result of the harsh
penalties placed on dissenters. Eventually, the level of violence and
brutality carried out by the Thirty in Athens led to increased
opposition, stemming primarily from a rebel group of exiles led by
Thrasybulus, a former trierarch in the Athenian navy. The increased
opposition culminated in a revolution that ultimately overthrew the
Thirty’s regime. In the aftermath, Athens gave amnesty to the 3,000
men who were given special treatment under the regime, with the
exception of those who comprised the governing Thirty and their
associated governmental officials. Athens struggled to recover from
the upheaval caused by the Thirty Tyrants in the years that followed.

Sparta

As a result of the Peloponnesian War, Sparta, which had primarily

been a continental culture, became a naval power. At its peak, Sparta
overpowered many key Greek states, including the elite Athenian
th
navy. By the end of the 5 century BCE, Sparta’s successes against
the Athenian Empire and ability to invade Persian provinces in
Anatolia ushered in a period of Spartan hegemony. This hegemonic
period was to be short-lived, however.

372 | Effects of the Peloponnesian War

Lysander

After the end of the Peloponnesian War, Lysander established many

pro-Spartan governments throughout the Aegean. Most of the
ruling systems set up by Lysander were ten-man oligarchies, called
decarchies, in which harmosts, Spartan military governors, were the
heads of the government. Because Lysander appointed from within
the ruling classes of these governments, the men were more loyal
to Lysander than Sparta, making these Aegean outposts similar to a
private empire.
Lysander and Spartan king Agis were in agreement with Corinth
and Thebes that Athens should be totally destroyed in the aftermath
of the Peloponnesian War, but they were opposed by a more
moderate faction, headed by Pausanias. Eventually, Pausanias’
moderate faction gained the upper hand and Athens was spared,
though its defensive walls and port fortifications at Piraeus were
demolished. Lysander also managed to require Athens to recall its
exiles, causing political instability within the city-state, of which
Lysander took advantage to establish the oligarchy that came to be
known as the Thirty Tyrants. Because Lysander was also directly
involved in the selection of the Thirty, these men were loyal to
him over Sparta, causing King Agis and King Pausanias to agree
to the abolishment of his Aegean decarchies, and eventually the
restoration of democracy in Athens, which quickly curbed
Lysander’s political influence.

Effects of the Peloponnesian War | 373

Lysander. A 16th century engraving of Lysander

Agesilaus and His Campaigns

Agesilaus II was one of two Spartan kings during the period of

Spartan hegemony. Lysander was one of Agesilaus’s biggest
supporters, and was even a mentor. During his kingship, Agesilaus
embarked on a number of military campaigns in the eastern Aegean
and Persian territories. During these campaigns, the Spartans under

374 | Effects of the Peloponnesian War

Agesilaus’s command met with numerous rebelling Greek poleis,
including the Thebans. The Thebans, Argives, Corinthians, and
Athenians had rebelled during the Corinthian War from 395-386
BCE, and the Persians aided the Thebans, Corinthians, and
Athenians against the Spartans.
During the winter of 379/378 BCE, a group of Theban exiles snuck
into Thebes and succeeded in liberating it, despite resistance from
a 1,500-strong Spartan garrison. This led to a number of Spartan
expeditions against Thebes, known as The Boeotian War. The Greek
city-states eventually attempted to broker peace, but Theban
diplomat Epaminondas angered Agesilaus by arguing for the
freedom of non-Spartan citizens within Laconia. As a result,
Agesilaus excluded the Thebans from the treaty, and the Battle of
Leuctra broke out in 371 BCE; the Spartans eventually lost. Sparta’s
international political influence precipitated quickly after their
defeat.

Sources

Effects of the Peloponnesian War | 375

50. The Rise of the Macedon

Learning Objective

• Describe Philip II’s achievements and how he built

up Macedon

Key Points

• The military skills Philip II learned while in Thebes,

coupled with his expansionist vision of Macedonian
greatness, brought him early successes when he
ascended to the throne in 359 BCE.
• Philip earned immense prestige, and secured
Macedon’s position in the Hellenic world during his
involvement in the Third Sacred War, which began in
Greece in 356 BCE.
• War with Athens would arise intermittently for the
duration of Philip’s campaigns, due to conflicts over
land, and/or with allies.
• In 337 BCE, Philip created and led the League of
Corinth, a federation of Greek states that aimed to
invade the Persian Empire.
• In 336 BCE, Philip was assassinated during the
earliest stages of the League of Corinth’s Persian

376 | The Rise of the Macedon

 venture.
• Many Macedonian institutions and demonstrations
of power mirrored established Achaemenid
conventions.

TermS

sarissas

A long spear or pike about 13-20 feet in length, used in

ancient Greek and Hellenistic warfare, that was initially
introduced by
Philip II of Macedon.

Macedon rose from a small kingdom on the periphery of classical

Greek affairs, to a dominant player in the Hellenic world and
beyond, within the span of 25 years between 359 and 336 BCE.
Macedon’s rise is largely attributable to the policies during Philip II’s
rule.

Background

In the aftermath of the Peloponnesian War, Sparta rose as a

hegemonic power in classical Greece. Sparta’s dominance was

The Rise of the Macedon | 377

challenged by many Greek city-states who had traditionally been
independent during the Corinthian War of 395-387 BCE. Sparta
prevailed in the conflict, but only because Persia intervened on
their behalf, demonstrating the fragility with which Sparta held
its power over the other Greek city-states. In the next decade,
the Thebans revolted against Sparta, successfully liberating their
city-state, and later defeating the Spartans at the Battle of Leuctra
(371 BCE). Theban general Epaminondas then led an invasion of
the Peloponnesus in 370 BCE, invaded Messenia, and liberated the
helots, permanently crippling Sparta.
These series of events allowed the Thebans to replace Spartan
hegemonic power with their own. For the next nine years,
Epaminondas and Theban general Pelopidas further extended
Theban power and influence via a series of campaigns throughout
Greece, bringing almost every city-state in Greece into the conflict.
These years of war ultimately left Greece war-weary and depleted,
and during Epaminondas’s fourth invasion of the Peloponnesus in
362 BCE, Epaminondas was killed at the Battle of Mantinea.
Although Thebes emerged victorious, their losses were heavy, and
the Thebans returned to a defensive policy, allowing Athens to
reclaim its position at the center of the Greek political system for
the first time since the Peloponnesian War. The Athenians’ second
confederacy would be Macedon’s main rivals for control of the lands
of the north Aegean.

378 | The Rise of the Macedon

Philip II’s Accession

Philip II of Macedon. Bust of Philip II.

The Rise of the Macedon | 379

While Philip was young, he was held hostage in Thebes, and received
a military and diplomatic education from Epaminondas. By 364 BCE,
Philip returned to Macedon, and the skills he learned while in
Thebes, coupled with his expansionist vision of Macedonian
greatness, brought him early successes when he ascended to the
throne in 359 BCE. When he assumed the throne, the eastern
regions of Macedonia had been sacked and invaded by the
Paionians, and the Thracians and the Athenians had landed a
contingent on the coast at Methoni. Philip pushed the Paionians and
Thracians back, promising them tributes, and defeated the 3,000
Athenian hoplites at Methoni. In the interim between conflicts,
Philip focused on strengthening his army and his overall position
domestically, introducing the phalanx infantry corps and arming
them with long spears, called sarissas.

A Macedonian Phalanx. Depiction of a Macedonian phalanx armed with

sarissas.

In 358 BCE, Philip marched against the Illyrians, establishing his

authority inland as far as Lake Ohrid. Subsequently, he agreed to
lease the gold mines of Mount Pangaion to the Athenians in
exchange for the return of the city of Pydna to Macedon. Ultimately,
after conquering Amphipolis in 357 BCE, he reneged on his
agreement, which led to war with Athens. During that conflict,
Philip conquered Potidaea, but ceded it to the Chalkidian League of

380 | The Rise of the Macedon

Olynthus, with which he was allied. A year later, he also conquered
Crenides and changed its name to Philippi, using the gold from the
mines there to finance subsequent campaigns.

Third Sacred War

Philip earned immense prestige and secured Macedon’s position

in the Hellenic world during his involvement in the Third Sacred
War, which began in Greece in 356 BCE. Early in the war, Philip
defeated the Thessalians at the Battle of Crocus Field, allowing
him to acquire Pherae and Magnesia, which was the location of an
important harbor, Pagasae. He did not attempt to advance further
into central Greece, however, because the Athenians occupied
Thermopylae. Although there were no open hostilities between the
Athenians and Macedonians at the time, tensions had arisen as
a result of Philip’s recent land and resource acquisitions. Instead,
Philip focused on subjugating the Balkan hill-country in the west
and north, and attacking Greek coastal cities, many of which Philip
maintained friendly relations with, until he had conquered their
surrounding territories. Nonetheless, war with Athens would arise
intermittently for the duration of Philip’s campaigns, due to
conflicts over land and/or with allies.

Persian Influences

For many Macedonian rulers, the Achaemenid Empire in Persia was

a major sociopolitical influence, and Philip II was no exception.
Many institutions and demonstrations of his power mirrored
established Achaemenid conventions. For example, Philip
established a Royal Secretary and Archive, as well as the institution

The Rise of the Macedon | 381

of Royal Pages, which would mount the king on his horse in a
manner very similar to the way in which Persian kings were
mounted. He also aimed to make his power both political and
religious in nature, utilizing a special throne stylized after those
of the Achaemenid court, to demonstrate his elevated rank.
Achaemenid administrative practices were also utilized in
Macedonia rule of conquered lands, such as Thrace in 342-334 BCE.
In 337 BCE, Philip created and led the League of Corinth. Members
of the league agreed not to engage in conflict with one another
unless their aim was to suppress revolution. Another stated aim of
the league was to invade the Persian Empire. Ironically, in 336 BCE,
Philip was assassinated during the earliest stages of the Persian
venture, during the marriage of his daughter Cleopatra to Alexander
I of Epirus.

Sources

382 | The Rise of the Macedon

51. Alexander the Great

Learning Objective

• Examine Alexander the Great’s successes and

failures

Key Points

• Alexander the Great spent most of his ruling years

on an unprecedented military campaign through Asia
and northeast Africa. By the age of 30, he created an
empire that stretched from Greece to Egypt, and into
present-day Pakistan.
• Alexander inherited a strong kingdom and
experienced army, both of which contributed to his
successes.
• Alexander’s legacy includes the cultural diffusion
his engendered conquests, and the rise of Hellenistic
culture as a result of his military campaigns.
• Alexander’s impressive record was largely due to
his smart use of terrain, phalanx and cavalry tactics,
bold and adaptive strategy, and the fierce loyalty of
his troops.

Alexander the Great | 383

 Terms

Philip II

A king of the Greek kingdom of Macedon from 359 BCE

until his assassination in 336 BCE. He was the father of
Alexander the Great.

Alexander the Great

Formally Alexander III of Macedon, a Macedonian king

who was undefeated in battle and is considered one of
history’s most successful commanders.

phalanx

A rectangular mass military formation, usually composed

entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas,
or similar weapons.

Following the decline of the Greek city-states, the Greek kingdom

of Macedon rose to power under Philip II. Alexander III, commonly
known as Alexander the Great, was born to Philip II in Pella in
356 BCE, and succeeded his father to the throne at the age of 20.
He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military
campaign through Asia and northeast Africa, and by the age of 30,
had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, which

384 | Alexander the Great

stretched from Greece to Egypt and into present-day Pakistan. He
was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history’s most
successful commanders.

Alexander the Great. Bust of a young Alexander the Great from the Hellenistic
era, now at the British Museum.

Alexander the Great | 385

During his youth, Alexander was tutored by the philosopher
Aristotle, until the age of 16. When he succeeded his father to the
throne in 336 BCE, after Philip was assassinated, Alexander
inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. He had been
awarded the generalship of Greece, and used this authority to
launch his father’s military expansion plans. In 334 BCE, he invaded
the Achaemenid Empire, ruled Asia Minor, and began a series of
campaigns that lasted ten years. Alexander broke the power of
Persia in a series of decisive battles, most notably the battles of
Issus and Gaugamela. He overthrew the Persian King Darius III, and
conquered the entirety of the Persian Empire. At that point, his
empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River.
Seeking to reach the “ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea,”
he invaded India in 326 BCE, but was eventually forced to turn back
at the demand of his troops. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BCE,
the city he planned to establish as his capital, without executing a
series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion
of Arabia. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore
his empire apart, resulting in several states ruled by the Diadochi,
Alexander’s surviving generals and heirs. Alexander’s legacy includes
the cultural diffusion his engendered conquests. He founded some
20 cities that bore his name, the most notable being Alexandria in
Egypt. Alexander’s settlement of Greek colonists, and the spread of
Greek culture in the east, resulted in a new Hellenistic civilization,
aspects of which were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine
Empire in the mid-15th century. Alexander became legendary as a
classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in
the history and myth of Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became
the measure against which military leaders compared themselves,
and military academies throughout the world still teach his tactics.

386 | Alexander the Great

Military Generalship

Alexander earned the honorific epithet “the Great” due to his

unparalleled success as a military commander. He never lost a
battle, despite typically being outnumbered. His impressive record
was largely due to his smart use of terrain, phalanx and cavalry
tactics, bold strategy, and the fierce loyalty of his troops. The
Macedonian phalanx, armed with the sarissa, a spear up to 20 feet
long, had been developed and perfected by Alexander’s father, Philip
II. Alexander used its speed and maneuverability to great effect
against larger, but more disparate, Persian forces. Alexander also
recognized the potential for disunity among his diverse army, due
to the various languages, cultures, and preferred weapons individual
soldiers wielded. He overcame the possibility of unrest among his
troops by being personally involved in battles, as was common
among Macedonian kings.
In his first battle in Asia, at Granicus, Alexander used only a
small part of his forces—perhaps 13,000 infantry, with 5,000
cavalry—against a much larger Persian force of 40,000. Alexander
placed the phalanx at the center, and cavalry and archers on the
wings, so that his line matched the length of the Persian cavalry line.
By contrast, the Persian infantry was stationed behind its cavalry.
Alexander’s military positioning ensured that his troops would not
be outflanked; further, his phalanx, armed with long pikes, had a
considerable advantage over the Persians’ scimitars and javelins.
Macedonian losses were negligible compared to those of the
Persians.
At Issus in 333 BCE, his first confrontation with Darius, he used
the same deployment, and again the central phalanx pushed
through. Alexander personally led the charge in the center and
routed the opposing army. At the decisive encounter with Alexander
at Gaugamela, Darius equipped his chariots with scythes on the
wheels to break up the phalanx and equipped his cavalry with pikes.
Alexander in turn arranged a double phalanx, with the center

Alexander the Great | 387

advancing at an angle, which parted when the chariots bore down
and reformed once they had passed. The advance proved successful
and broke Darius’s center, and Darius was forced to retreat once
again.
When faced with opponents who used unfamiliar fighting
techniques, such as in Central Asia and India, Alexander adapted his
forces to his opponents’ style. For example, in Bactria and Sogdiana,
Alexander successfully used his javelin throwers and archers to
prevent outflanking movements, while massing his cavalry at the
center. In India, confronted by Porus’s elephant corps, the
Macedonians opened their ranks to envelop the elephants, and used
their sarissas to strike upwards and dislodge the elephants’
handlers.

Sources

388 | Alexander the Great

52. Alexander's Empire

Learning Objective

• Describe the legacy Alexander left within his

conquered territories

Key Points

• Alexander’s campaigns greatly increased contacts

and trade between the East and West, and vast areas
to the east were significantly exposed to Greek
civilization and influence. Successor states remained
dominant for the next 300 years during the
Hellenistic period.
• Over the course of his conquests, Alexander
founded some 20 cities that bore his name, and these
cities became centers of culture and diversity. The
most famous of these cities is Egypt’s Mediterranean
port of Alexandria.
• Hellenization refers to the spread of Greek
language, culture, and population into the former
Persian empire after Alexander’s conquest.
• Alexander’s death was sudden and his empire
disintegrated into a 40-year period of war and chaos

Alexander's Empire | 389

 in 321 BCE. The Hellenistic world eventually settled
into four stable power blocks: the Ptolemaic Kingdom
of Egypt, the Seleucid Empire in the east, the
Kingdom of Pergamon in Asia Minor, and Macedon.

Terms

Hellenization

The spread of Greek language, culture, and population

into the former Persian empire after Alexander’s conquests.

Alexander’s legacy extended beyond his military conquests. His

campaigns greatly increased contacts and trade between the East
and West, and vast areas to the east were exposed to Greek
civilization and influence. Some of the cities he founded became
st
major cultural centers, and many survived into the 21 century. His
chroniclers recorded valuable information about the areas through
which he marched, while the Greeks themselves attained a sense of
belonging to a world beyond the Mediterranean.

Hellenistic Kingdoms

Alexander’s most immediate legacy was the introduction of

390 | Alexander's Empire

Macedonian rule to huge swathes of Asia. Many of the areas he
conquered remained in Macedonian hands or under Greek
influence for the next 200 to 300 years. The successor states that
emerged were, at least initially, dominant forces, and this 300 year
period is often referred to as the Hellenistic period.

Alexander’s name in hieroglyphics. Name of Alexander the Great in Egyptian

hieroglyphs (written from right to left), c. 330 BCE, Egypt; Louvre Museum.

The eastern borders of Alexander’s empire began to collapse during

his lifetime. However, the power vacuum he left in the northwest
of the Indian subcontinent directly gave rise to one of the most
powerful Indian dynasties in history. Taking advantage of this,
Chandragupta Maurya (referred to in Greek sources as
Sandrokottos), of relatively humble origin, took control of the
Punjab, and with that power base proceeded to conquer the Nanda
Empire.

Alexander's Empire | 391

Hellenization

The term “Hellenization” was coined to denote the spread of Greek

language, culture, and population into the former Persian empire
after Alexander’s conquest. Alexander deliberately pursued
Hellenization policies in the communities he conquered. While his
intentions may have simply been to disseminate Greek culture, it is
more likely that his policies were pragmatic in nature and intended
to aid in the rule of his enormous empire via cultural
homogenization. Alexander’s Hellenization policies can also be
viewed as a result of his probable megalomania. Later his successors
explicitly rejected these policies. Nevertheless, Hellenization
occurred throughout the region, accompanied by a distinct and
opposite “Orientalization” of the successor states.
The core of Hellenistic culture was essentially Athenian. The close
association of men from across Greece in Alexander’s army directly
led to the emergence of the largely Attic-based koine (or “common”)
Greek dialect. Koine spread throughout the Hellenistic world,
becoming the lingua franca of Hellenistic lands, and eventually the
ancestor of modern Greek. Furthermore, town planning, education,
local government, and art during the Hellenistic periods were all
based on classical Greek ideals, evolving into distinct new forms
commonly grouped as Hellenistic.

The Founding of Cities

Over the course of his conquests, Alexander founded some 20 cities

that bore his name, most of them east of the Tigris River. The first,
and greatest, was Alexandria in Egypt, which would become one
of the leading Mediterranean cities. The cities’ locations reflected
trade routes, as well as defensive positions. At first, the cities must
have been inhospitable, and little more than defensive garrisons.

392 | Alexander's Empire

Following Alexander’s death, many Greeks who had settled there
tried to return to Greece. However, a century or so after Alexander’s
death, many of these cities were thriving with elaborate public
buildings and substantial populations that included both Greek and
local peoples.
Alexander’s cities were most likely intended to be administrative
headquarters for his empire, primarily settled by Greeks, many of
whom would have served in Alexander’s military campaigns. The
purpose of these administrative centers was to control the newly
conquered subject populations. Alexander attempted to create a
unified ruling class in conquered territories like Persia, often using
marriage ties to intermingle the conquered with conquerors. He
also adopted elements of the Persian court culture, adopting his
own version of their royal robes, and imitating some court
ceremonies. Many Macedonians resented these policies, believing
hybridization of Greek and foreign cultures to be irreverent.
Alexander’s attempts at unification also extended to his army.
He placed Persian soldiers, some of who had been trained in the
Macedonian style, within Macedonian ranks, solving chronic
manpower problems.

Division of the Empire

Alexander’s death was so sudden that when reports of his death

reached Greece, they were not immediately believed. Alexander had
no obvious or legitimate heir because his son, Alexander IV, was
born after Alexander’s death. According to Diodorus, an ancient
Greek historian, Alexander’s companions asked him on his deathbed
to whom he bequeathed his kingdom. His laconic reply was, tôi
kratistôi (“to the strongest”). Another, more plausible, story claims
that Alexander passed his signet ring to Perdiccas, a bodyguard and
leader of the companion cavalry, thereby nominating him as his
official successor.

Alexander's Empire | 393

 Perdiccas initially did not claim power, instead suggesting that
Alexander’s unborn baby would be king, if male. He also offered
himself, Craterus, Leonnatus, and Antipater, as guardians of
Alexander’s unborn child. However, the infantry rejected this
arrangement since they had been excluded from the discussion.
Instead, they supported Alexander’s half-brother, Philip Arrhidaeus,
as Alexander’s successor. Eventually the two sides reconciled, and
after the birth of Alexander IV, Perdiccas and Philip III were
appointed joint kings, albeit in name only.
Dissension and rivalry soon afflicted the Macedonians. After the
assassination of Perdiccas in 321 BCE, Macedonian unity collapsed,
and 40 years of war between “The Successors” (Diadochi) ensued,
before the Hellenistic world settled into four stable power blocks:
the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, the Seleucid Empire in the east,
the Kingdom of Pergamon in Asia Minor, and Macedon. In the
process, both Alexander IV and Philip III were murdered.

Sources

394 | Alexander's Empire

53. The Legacy of Alexander
the Great

Learning Objective

• Evaluate Alexander the Great’s legacy as carried out

by his successors

Key Points

• After the assassination of Perdiccas in 321 BCE,

Macedonian unity collapsed, and 40 years of war
between “The Successors” (Diadochi) ensued before
the Hellenistic world settled into four stable power
blocks: the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, the Seleucid
Empire, the Kingdom of Pergamon in Asia Minor, and
Macedon.
• The Ptolemaic Kingdom was ruled by the Ptolemaic
dynasty, starting with Ptolemy I Soter’s accession to
the throne following the death of Alexander the
Great. The dynasty survived until the death of
Cleopatra VII in 30 BCE, at which point Egypt was
conquered by the Romans.
• Although the Ptolemaic Kingdom observed the

The Legacy of Alexander the

Great | 395
 Egyptian religion and customs, Greek inhabitants
were treated as a privileged minority.
• The Seleucid Empire was a major center of
Hellenistic culture where Greek customs prevailed
and the Greek political elite dominated, though
mostly in urban areas.
• The Attalid kingdom of Pergamon began as a rump
state, but was expanded by subsequent rulers.
• The Attalids were some of the most loyal
supporters of Rome in the Hellenistic world and were
known for their generous and intelligent rule.
• The Macedonian regime is the only successor state
to Alexander the Great’s empire that maintained
archaic perceptions of kingship, and elided the
adoption of Hellenistic monarchical customs.

Terms

satrap

A governor of a province in the Hellenistic empire. The

word is also used metaphorically to refer to leaders who are
heavily influenced by larger superpowers or hegemonies,
and regionally act as a surrogate for those larger players.

396 | The Legacy of Alexander the Great

 proskynesis

A traditional Persian act of bowing or prostrating oneself

before a person of higher social rank.

Background

Alexander’s death was so sudden that when reports of his death

reached Greece, they were not immediately believed. Alexander had
no obvious or legitimate heir because his son, Alexander IV, was
born after Alexander’s death. According to Diodorus, an ancient
Greek historian, Alexander’s companions asked him on his deathbed
to whom he bequeathed his kingdom. His laconic reply was tôi
kratistôi (“to the strongest”). Another, more plausible, story claims
that Alexander passed his signet ring to Perdiccas, a bodyguard and
leader of the companion cavalry, thereby nominating him as his
official successor.
Perdiccas initially did not claim power, instead suggesting that
Alexander’s unborn baby would be king, if male. He also offered
himself, Craterus, Leonnatus, and Antipater, as guardians of
Alexander’s unborn child. However, the infantry rejected this
arrangement since they had been excluded from the discussion.
Instead, they supported Alexander’s half-brother, Philip Arrhidaeus,
as Alexander’s successor. Eventually the two sides reconciled, and
after the birth of Alexander IV, Perdiccas and Philip III were
appointed joint kings, albeit in name only.
Dissension and rivalry soon afflicted the Macedonians. After the
assassination of Perdiccas in 321 BCE, Macedonian unity collapsed,

The Legacy of Alexander the Great | 397

and 40 years of war between “The Successors” (Diadochi) ensued
before the Hellenistic world settled into four stable power blocks:
the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, the Seleucid Empire in the east,
the Kingdom of Pergamon in Asia Minor, and Macedon. In the
process, both Alexander IV and Philip III were murdered.

The Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt

The Ptolemaic Kingdom was a Hellenistic kingdom based in Egypt,

and ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty, starting with Ptolemy I Soter’s
accession to the throne following the death of Alexander the Great.
The Ptolemaic dynasty survived until the death of Cleopatra VII
in 30 BCE, at which point Egypt was conquered by the Romans.
Ptolemy was appointed as satrap of Egypt in 323 BCE, by Perdiccas
during the succession crisis that erupted following Alexander the
Great. From that time, Ptolemy ruled Egypt nominally in the name
of joint kings Philip III and Alexander IV. As Alexander the Great’s
empire disintegrated, however, Ptolemy established himself as a
ruler in his own right. In 321 BCE, Ptolemy defended Egypt against
an invasion by Perdiccas. During the Wars of the Diadochi (322-301
BCE), Ptolemy further consolidated his position within Egypt and
the region by taking the title of King.

398 | The Legacy of Alexander the Great

Ptolemy I Soter. Bust of Ptolemy I Soter, king of Egypt (305-282 BCE) and
founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty. The identification is based upon coin
effigies.

The Legacy of Alexander the Great | 399

Early in the Ptolemaic dyansty, Egyptian religion and customs were
observed, and magnificent new temples were built in the style of
the old pharaohs. During the reign of Ptolemies II and III, thousands
of Macedonian veterans were rewarded with farm land grants, and
settled in colonies and garrisons throughout the country. Within a
century, Greek influence had spread throughout the country and
intermarriage produced a large Greco-Egyptian educated class.
Despite this, the Greeks remained a privileged minority in Ptolemaic
Egypt. Greek individuals lived under Greek law, received a Greek
education, were tried in Greek courts, and were citizens of Greek
cities, rather than Egyptian cities.

The Seleucid Empire

Seleucid Empire. Seleucid Empire at its greatest extent, 281 BCE.

The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic state ruled by the Seleucid

400 | The Legacy of Alexander the Great

Dynasty, which existed from 312 BCE-63 BCE. It was founded by
Seleucus I Nicator following the dissolution of Alexander the Great’s
empire. Following Ptolemy’s successes in the Wars of the Diadochi,
Seleucus, then a senior officer in the Macedonian Royal Army,
received Babylonia. From there, he expanded his dominion to
include much of Alexander’s near eastern territories. At the height
of its power, the Seleucid Empire encompassed central Anatolia,
Persia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and what is now Kuwait,
Afghanistan, and parts of Pakistan and Turkmenistan. Seleucus
himself traveled as far as India in his campaigns. Seleucid expansion
into Anatolia and Greece was halted, however, after decisive defeats
at the hands of the Roman army.
The Seleucid Empire was a major center of Hellenistic culture,
where Greek customs prevailed and the Greek political elite
dominated, though mostly in urban areas. Existing Greek
populations within the empire were supplemented with Greek
immigrants.

The Legacy of Alexander the Great | 401

The Kingdom of Pergamon

Asia Minor, 188 BCE. The Kingdom of Pergamon (colored olive), shown at its
greatest extent in 188 BCE.

The ancient Greek city of Pergamon was taken by Lysimachus, King

of Thrace, in 301 BCE, a short-lived possession that ended when
the kingdom of Thrace collapsed. It became the capital of a new
kingdom of Pergamon, which Philetaerus founded in 281 BCE, thus
beginning the rule of the Attalid Dynasty. The Attalid kingdom
began as a rump state, but was expanded by subsequent rulers.
The Attalids themselves were some of the most loyal supporters
of Rome in the Hellenistic world. Under Attalus I (r. 241-197 BCE),
the Attalids allied with Rome against Philip V of Macedon, during
the first and second Macedonian Wars. They allied with Rome again
under Eumenes II (r. 197-158 BCE) against Perseus of Macedon,
during the Third Macedonian War. Additionally, in exchange for
their support against the Seleucids, the Attalids were given all
former Seleucid domains in Asia Minor.
The Attalids were known for their intelligent and generous rule.
Many historical documents from the era demonstrate that the

402 | The Legacy of Alexander the Great

Attalids supported the growth of towns by sending in skilled
artisans and remitting taxes. They also allowed Greek cities to
maintain nominal independence and sent gifts to Greek cultural
sites, such as Delphi, Delos, and Athens, and even remodeled the
Acropolis of Pergamon after the Acropolis in Athens. When Attalus
III (r. 138-133 BCE) died without an heir, he bequeathed his entire
kingdom to Rome to prevent civil war.

Macedon

TIS
ON
OP
PR
A
E
G
E
A
N
S
E
A

D
O
D
EC
AN
ES
LADES E
CYC

The Kingdom of Macedon at the death of Philip II (336 BCE).

Macedon, or Macedonia, was the dominant state of Hellenistic

Greece. In the partition of Alexander’s empire among the Diadochi,

The Legacy of Alexander the Great | 403

Macedon fell to the Antipatrid Dynasty, which was headed by
Antipater and his son, Cassander. Following Cassander’s death in
297 BCE, Macedon slid into a long period of civil strife. Antigonus
II (r. 277-239 BCE) successfully restored order and prosperity in
the region, and established a stable monarchy under the Antigonid
Dynasty, though he lost control of many Greek city-states in the
process.
Notably, the Macedonian regime is the only successor state to
Alexander the Great’s empire that maintained archaic perceptions
of kingship, and elided the adoption of Hellenistic monarchical
customs. The Macedonian king was never deified in the same way
that kings of the Ptolemaic and Seleucid Dynasties had been.
Additionally, the custom of proskynesis, a traditional Persian act of
bowing or prostrating oneself before a person of higher social rank,
was never adopted. Instead, Macedonian subjects addressed their
kings in a far more casual manner, and kings still consulted with
their aristocracy in the process of making decisions.
During the reigns of Philip V (r. 221-179 BCE) and his son Perseus
(r. 179-168 BCE), Macedon clashed with the rising Roman republic.
nd st
During the 2 and 1 centuries BCE, Macedon fought a series of
wars against Rome. Two decisive defeats in 197 and 168 BCE resulted
in the deposition of the Antigonid Dynasty, and the dismantling of
the kingdom of Macedon.

Sources

404 | The Legacy of Alexander the Great

PART V
CH. 5 EARLY ROMAN
CIVILIZATION AND THE
ROMAN REPUBLIC

Ch. 5 Early Roman Civilization and

the Roman Republic | 405
54. The Origins of Etruria

Learning Objective

• Explain the relationship between the Etruscan and

Roman civilizations

Key Points

• The prevailing view is that Rome was founded by

Italics who later merged with Etruscans. Rome was
likely a small settlement until the arrival of the
Etruscans, who then established Rome’s urban
infrastructure.
• The Etruscans were indigenous to the
Mediterranean area, probably stemming from the
Villanovan culture.
• The mining and commerce of metal, especially
copper and iron, led to an enrichment of the
Etruscans, and to the expansion of their influence in
the Italian Peninsula and the western Mediterranean
Sea. Conflicts with the Greeks led the Etruscans to
ally themselves with the Carthaginians.
• The Etruscans governed within a state system,
with only remnants of the chiefdom or tribal forms.

The Origins of Etruria | 407

 The Etruscan state government was essentially a
theocracy.
• Aristocratic families were important within
Etruscan society, and women enjoyed, comparatively,
many freedoms within society.
• The Etruscan system of belief was an immanent
polytheism that incorporated indigenous, Indo-
European, and Greek influences.
• It is believed that the Etruscans spoke a non-Indo-
European language, probably related to what is called
the Tyrsenian language family, which is itself an
isolate family, or in other words, unrelated directly to
other known language groups.

Terms

Etruscan

The modern name given to a civilization of ancient Italy

in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany, western
Umbria, and northern Latium.

theocracy

A form of government in which a deity is officially

408 | The Origins of Etruria

 recognized as the civil ruler, and official policy is governed
by officials regarded as divinely guided, or is pursuant to
the doctrine of a particular religion or religious group.

oligarchic

A form of power structure in which power effectively

rests with a small number of people. These people could be
distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, education,
corporate, or military control. Such states are often
controlled by a few prominent families who typically pass
their influence from one generation to the next; however,
inheritance is not a necessary condition for the application
of this term.

Those who subscribe to an Italic (a diverse group of people who

inhabited pre-Roman Italy) foundation of Rome, followed by an
Etruscan invasion, typically speak of an Etruscan “influence” on
Roman culture; that is, cultural objects that were adopted by Rome
from neighboring Etruria. The prevailing view is that Rome was
founded by Italics who later merged with Etruscans. In that case,
Etruscan cultural objects are not a heritage but are, instead,
influences. Rome was likely a small settlement until the arrival of the
Etruscans, who then established its initial urban infrastructure.

Origins

The origins of the Etruscans are mostly lost in prehistory. Historians

have no literature, and no original texts of religion or philosophy.

The Origins of Etruria | 409

Therefore, much of what is known about this civilization is derived
from grave goods and tomb findings. The main hypotheses state
that the Etruscans were indigenous to the region, probably
stemming from the Villanovan culture or from the Near East.
Etruscan expansion was focused both to the north, beyond the
Apennines, and into Campania. The mining and commerce of metal,
especially copper and iron, led to an enrichment of the Etruscans,
and to the expansion of their influence in the Italian Peninsula
and the western Mediterranean Sea. Here, their interests collided
h
with those of the Greeks, especially in the 6t century BCE, when
Phoceans of Italy founded colonies along the coast of Sardinia,
Spain, and Corsica. This led the Etruscans to ally themselves with
the Carthaginians, whose interests also collided with the Greeks.

410 | The Origins of Etruria

Map of the Etruscan Civilization. Extent of Etruscan civilization and the 12
Etruscan League cities.

Around 540 BCE, the Battle of Alalia led to a new distribution of

power in the western Mediterranean Sea. Though the battle had no
clear winner, Carthage managed to expand its sphere of influence
at the expense of the Greeks, and Etruria saw itself relegated to
the northern Tyrrhenian Sea with full ownership of Corsica. From
th
the first half of the 5 century BCE, the new international political

The Origins of Etruria | 411

situation signaled the beginning of Etruscan decline after they had
lost their southern provinces. In 480 BCE, Etruria’s ally, Carthage,
was defeated by a coalition of Magna Graecia cities led by Syracuse.
A few years later, in 474 BCE, Syracuse’s tyrant, Hiero, defeated
the Etruscans at the Battle of Cumae. Etruria’s influence over the
cities of Latium and Campania weakened, and it was taken over
th
by the Romans and Samnites. In the 4 century, Etruria saw a
Gallic invasion end its influence over the Po valley and the Adriatic
coast. Meanwhile, Rome had started annexing Etruscan cities. These
events led to the loss of the Northern Etruscan provinces. Etruria
rd
was conquered by Rome in the 3 century BCE.

Etruscan Government

The Etruscans governed using a state system of society, with only

remnants of the chiefdom and tribal forms. In this way, they were
different from the surrounding Italics. Rome was, in a sense, the
first Italic state, but it began as an Etruscan one. It is believed that
the Etruscan government style changed from total monarchy to an
th
oligarchic republic (as the Roman Republic did) in the 6 century
BCE, although it is important to note this did not happen to all city-
states.
The Etruscan state government was essentially a theocracy. The
government was viewed as being a central authority over all tribal
and clan organizations. It retained the power of life and death; in
fact, the gorgon, an ancient symbol of that power, appears as a motif
in Etruscan decoration. The adherents to this state power were
united by a common religion. Political unity in Etruscan society
was the city-state, and Etruscan texts name quite a number of
magistrates without explanation of their function (the camthi, the
parnich, the purth, the tamera, the macstrev, etc.).

412 | The Origins of Etruria

Etruscan Families

According to inscriptional evidence from

tombs, aristocratic families were important
within Etruscan society. Most likely,
aristocratic families rose to prominence
over time through the accumulation of
wealth via trade, with many of the
wealthiest Etruscan cities located near the
coast. The Etruscan name for family was
lautn, and at the center of the lautn was the
married couple. Etruscans were
monogamous, and the lids of large numbers
of sarcophagi were decorated with images of
smiling couples in the prime of their life,
often reclining next to each other or in an
embrace. Many tombs also included
funerary inscriptions naming the parents of
the deceased, indicating the importance of
the mother’s side of the family in Etruscan
society. Additionally, Etruscan women were
allowed considerable freedoms in
comparison to Greek and Roman women,
and mixed-sex socialization outside the

The Origins of Etruria | 413

domestic realm occurred. Etruscan Religion

The Etruscan system of belief was an immanent polytheism; that

is, all visible phenomena were considered to be a manifestation
of divine power, and that power was subdivided into deities that
acted continually on the world of man and could be dissuaded or
persuaded in favor of human affairs. Three layers of deities are
evident in the extensive Etruscan art motifs. One appears to be
divinities of an indigenous nature: Catha and Usil, the sun; Tivr, the
moon; Selvans, a civil god; Turan, the goddess of love; Laran, the god
of war; Leinth, the goddess of death; Maris; Thalna; Turms; and the
ever-popular Fufluns, whose name is related in an unknown way to
the city of Populonia and the populus Romanus, the Roman people.
Ruling over this pantheon of lesser deities were higher ones that
seem to reflect the Indo-European system: Tin or Tinia, the sky;
Uni, his wife (Juno); and Cel, the earth goddess. In addition the
Greek gods were taken into the Etruscan system: Aritimi (Artemis),
Menrva (Minerva), and Pacha (Bacchus). The Greek heroes taken
from Homer also appear extensively in art motifs.
The Greek polytheistic approach was similar to the Etruscan
religious and cultural base. As the Romans emerged from the legacy
created by both of these groups, it shared in a belief system of many
gods and deities.

Etruscan Language and Etymology

Knowledge of the Etruscan language is still far from complete. It is

believed that the Etruscans spoke a non-Indo-European language,
probably related to what is called the Tyrsenian language family,
which is itself an isolate family, or in other words, unrelated directly
to other known language groups. No etymology exists for Rasna,
the Etruscans’ name for themselves, though Italian historic linguist,

414 | The Origins of Etruria

Massimo Pittau, has proposed that it meant “shaved” or “beardless.”
The hypothesized etymology for Tusci, a root for “Tuscan” or
“Etruscan,” suggests a connection to the Latin and Greek words for
“tower,” illustrating the Tusci people as those who built towers. This
was possibly based upon the Etruscan preference for building hill
towns on high precipices that were enhanced by walls. The word
may also be related to the city of Troy, which was also a city of
towers, suggesting large numbers of migrants from that region into
Etruria.

Sources

The Origins of Etruria | 415

55. Etruscan Artifacts

Learning Objective

• Explain the importance of Etruscan artifacts to our

understanding of their history

Key Points

• Princely tombs did not house individuals, but

families who were interred over long periods.
• Although many Etruscan cities were later
assimilated by Italic, Celtlic, or Roman ethnic groups,
the Etruscan names and inscriptions that survive
within the ruins provide historic evidence as to the
range of settlements that the Etruscans constructed.
• It is unclear whether Etruscan cultural objects are
influences upon Roman culture or part of native
Roman heritage. The criterion for deciding whether
or not an object originated in Rome or descended to
the Romans from the Etruscans is the date of the
object and the opinion of ancient sources regarding
the provenance of the object’s style.
st
• Although Diodorus of Sicily wrote, in the 1
century, of the great achievements of the Etruscans,

416 | Etruscan Artifacts

 little survives or is known of it.

Terms

oligarchic

A form of power structure in which power effectively

rests with a small number of people. These people could be
distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, education,
corporate, or military control. Such states are often
controlled by a few prominent families who typically pass
their influence from one generation to the next, but
inheritance is not a necessary condition for the application
of this term.

sarcophagi

A box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most

commonly carved in stone and displayed above ground.

Historians have no literature or original Etruscan religious or

philosophical texts on which to base knowledge of their civilization,
so much of what is known is derived from grave goods and tomb
findings. Princely tombs did not house individuals, but families who
were interred over long periods. The decorations and objects

Etruscan Artifacts | 417

included at these sites paint a picture of Etruscan social and
political life. For instance, wealth from trade seems to have
supported the rise of aristocratic families who, in turn, were likely
foundational to the Etruscan oligarchic system of governance.
Indeed, at some Etruscan tombs, physical evidence of trade has
been found in the form of grave goods, including fine faience ware
cups, which was likely the result of trade with Egypt. Additionally,
the depiction of married couples on many sarcophagi provide
insight into the respect and freedoms granted to women within
Etruscan society, as well as the emphasis placed on romantic love as
a basis for marriage pairings.

Sarcophagus of the Spouses. Sarcophagus of an Etruscan couple in the Louvre,

Room 18.

Although many Etruscan cities were later assimilated by Italic,

Celtic, or Roman ethnic groups, the Etruscan names and
inscriptions that survive within the ruins provide historic evidence
of the range of settlements constructed by the Etruscans. Etruscan

418 | Etruscan Artifacts

cities flourished over most of Italy during the Roman Iron Age.
According to ancient sources, some cities were founded by the
Etruscans in prehistoric times, and bore entirely Etruscan names.
Others were later colonized by the Etruscans from Italic groups.
Nonetheless, relatively little is known about the architecture of
the ancient Etruscans. What is known is that they adapted the
native Italic styles with influence from the external appearance
of Greek architecture. Etruscan architecture is not generally
considered part of the body of Greco-Roman classical architecture.
Though the houses of the wealthy were evidently very large and
comfortable, the burial chambers of tombs, and the grave-goods
that filled them, survived in greater numbers. In the southern
Etruscan area, tombs contain large, rock-cut chambers under a
tumulus in large necropoli.
There is some debate among historians as to whether Rome was
founded by Italic cultures and then invaded by the Etruscans, or
whether Etruscan cultural objects were adopted subsequently by
Roman peoples. In other words, it is unclear whether Etruscan
cultural objects are influences upon Roman culture, or part of native
Roman heritage. Among archaeologists, the main criteria for
deciding whether or not an object originated in Rome, or descended
to the Romans from the Etruscans, is the date of the object, which
is often determined by process of carbon dating. After this process,
the opinion of ancient sources is consulted.
Although Diodorus of Sicily wrote in the 1st century of the great
achievements of the Etruscans, little survives or is known of it. Most
Etruscan script that does survive are fragments of religious and
funeral texts. However, it is evident, from Etruscan visual art, that
Greek myths were well known.

Sources

Etruscan Artifacts | 419

56. Etruscan Religion

Learning Objective

• Describe some of the key characteristics of the

Etruscan belief system

Key Points

• The Etruscan system of belief was an immanent

polytheism, meaning all visible phenomena were
considered to be a manifestation of divine power, and
that power was subdivided into deities that acted
continually on the world of man.
• The Etruscan scriptures were a corpus of texts
termed the Etrusca Disciplina, a set of rules for the
conduct of all divination.
• Three layers of deities are evident in the extensive
Etruscan art motifs: indigenous, Indo-European, and
Greek.
• Etruscan beliefs concerning the afterlife were
influenced by a number of sources, particularly those
of the early Mediterranean region.

420 | Etruscan Religion

 Terms

polytheism

The worship of, or belief in, multiple deities, usually

assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, each
with their own specific religions and rituals.

Etrusca Disciplina

A corpus of texts that comprised the Etruscan scriptures,

which essentially provided a systematic guide to divination.

The Etruscan system of belief was an immanent polytheism; that

is, all visible phenomena were considered to be a manifestation
of divine power and that power was subdivided into deities that
acted continually on the world of man, and could be dissuaded
or persuaded in favor of human affairs. The Greek polytheistic
approach was similar to the Etruscan religious and cultural base.
As the Romans emerged from the legacy created by both of these
groups, it shared in a belief system of many gods and deities.

Etrusca Disciplina

The Etruscan scriptures were a corpus of texts, termed the Etrusca

Disciplina. These texts were not scriptures in the typical sense,

Etruscan Religion | 421

and foretold no prophecies. The Etruscans did not appear to have
a systematic rubric for ethics or morals. Instead, they concerned
themselves with the problem of understanding the will of the gods,
which the Etruscans considered inscrutable. The Etruscans did not
attempt to rationalize or explain divine actions or intentions, but to
simply divine what the gods’ wills were through an elaborate system
of divination. Therefore, the Etrusca Disciplina is mainly a set of
rules for the conduct of all sorts of divination. It does not dictate
what laws shall be made or how humans are to behave, but instead
elaborates rules for how to ask the gods these questions and receive
their answers.
Divinations were conducted by priests, who the Romans called
haruspices or sacerdotes. A special magistrate was designated to
look after sacred items, but every man had religious responsibilities.
In this way, the Etruscans placed special emphasis upon intimate
contact with divinity, consulting with the gods and seeking signs
from them before embarking upon a task.

Spirits and Deities

Three layers of deities are evident in the extensive Etruscan art

motifs. One appears to be divinities of an indigenous nature: Catha
and Usil, the sun; Tivr, the moon; Selvans, a civil god; Turan, the
goddess of love; Laran, the god of war; Leinth, the goddess of death;
Maris; Thalna; Turms; and the ever-popular Fufluns, whose name
is related in some unknown way to the city of Populonia and the
populus Romanus (the Roman people). Ruling over this pantheon
of lesser deities were higher ones that seem to reflect the Indo-
European system: Tin or Tinia, the sky; Uni, his wife (Juno); and
Cel, the earth goddess. In addition, the Greek gods were taken
into the Etruscan system: Aritimi (Artemis), Menrva (Minerva), and
Pacha (Bacchus). The Greek heroes taken from Homer also appear
extensively in art motifs.

422 | Etruscan Religion

Mars of Todi. The Mars of Todi, a life-sized Etruscan bronze sculpture of a
soldier making a votive offering, most likely to Laran, the Etruscan god of
war; late 5th to early 4th century BCE.

Etruscan Religion | 423

The Afterlife

Etruscan beliefs concerning the afterlife seem to be influenced by

a number of sources. The Etruscans shared in general early
Mediterranean beliefs. For instance, much like the Egyptians, the
Etruscans believed that survival and prosperity in the afterlife
depended on the treatment of the deceased’s remains. Souls of
ancestors are found depicted around Etruscan tombs, and after
the 5th century BCE, the deceased are depicted in iconography
as traveling to the underworld. In several instances, spirits of the
dead are referred to as hinthial, or one who is underneath. The
transmigrational world beyond the grave was patterned after the
Greek Hades and ruled by Aita. The deceased were guided there
by Charun, the equivalent of Death, who was blue and wielded a
hammer. The Etruscan version of Hades was populated by Greek
mythological figures, some of which were of composite appearance
to those in Greek mythology.
Etruscan tombs imitated domestic structures, contained wall
paintings and even furniture, and were spacious. The deceased was
depicted in the tomb at the prime of their life, and often with a
spouse. Not everyone had a sarcophagus, however. Some deceased
individuals were laid out on stone benches, and depending on the
proportion of inhumation, versus cremation, rites followed,
cremated ashes and bones might be put into an urn in the shape of
a house, or in a representation of the deceased.

424 | Etruscan Religion

Reconstruction of an Etruscan Temple. 19th century reconstruction of an
Etruscan temple, in the courtyard of the Villa Giulia Museum in Rome, Italy.

Sources

Etruscan Religion | 425

57. The Founding of Rome

Learning Objective

• Explain how the founding of Rome is rooted in

mythology

Key Points

• The national epic poem of mythical Rome, the

Aeneid by Virgil, tells the story of how the Trojan
prince, Aeneas, came to Italy. The Aeneid was written
under the emperor Augustus, who, through Julius
Caesar, claimed ancestry from Aeneas.
• The Alba Longan line, begun by Iulus, Aeneas’s son,
extends to King Procas, who fathered two sons,
Numitor and Amulius.
According to the myth of Romulus and
Remus,Amulius captured Numitor, sent him to prison,
and forced the daughter of Numitor, Rhea Silvia, to
become a virgin priestess among the Vestals.
• Despite Amulius’ best efforts, Rhea Silvia had twin
boys, Romulus and Remus, by Mars. Romulus and
Remus eventually overthrew Amulius, and restored
Numitor.

426 | The Founding of Rome

 • In the course of a dispute during the founding of
the city of Rome, Romulus killed Remus. Thus Rome
began with a fratricide, a story that was later taken to
represent the city’s history of internecine political
strife and bloodshed.
• According to the archaeological record of the
region, the development of Rome itself is presumed
to have coalesced around the migrations of various
Italic tribes, who originally inhabited the Alban Hills
as they moved into the agriculturally-superior valley
near the Tiber River.
• The discovery of a series of fortification walls on
the north slope of Palatine Hill, most likely dating to
the middle of the 8th century BCE, provide the
strongest evidence of the original site and date of the
founding of the city of Rome.

Terms

Romulus

The founder of Rome, and one of two twin sons of Rhea

Silvia and Mars.

The Founding of Rome | 427

 Aeneas

A Trojan survivor of the Trojan War who, according to

legend, journeyed to Italy and founded the bloodline that
would eventually lead to the Julio-Claudian emperors.

Rome

An Italic civilization that began on the Italian Peninsula as

early as the 8th century BCE. Located along the
Mediterranean Sea, and centered on one city, it expanded
to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world.

The founding of Rome can be investigated through archaeology, but

traditional stories, handed down by the ancient Romans themselves,
explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth.
The most familiar of these myths, and perhaps the most famous of
all Roman myths, is the story of Romulus and Remus, the twins who
were suckled by a she-wolf. This story had to be reconciled with a
dual tradition, set earlier in time.

428 | The Founding of Rome

Romulus and the Founding of Rome

The Capitoline Wolf. The iconic sculpture of Romulus and Remus being
suckled by the she-wolf who raised them. Traditional scholarship says the
wolf-figure is Etruscan, 5th century BCE, with figures of Romulus and Remus
added in the 15th century CE by Antonio Pollaiuolo. Recent studies suggest
that the wolf may be a medieval sculpture dating from the 13th century CE.

Romulus and Remus were purported to be sons of Rhea Silvia and

Mars, the god of war. Because of a prophecy that they would
overthrow their great-uncle Amulius, who had overthrown Silvia’s
father, Numitor, they were, in the manner of many mythological
heroes, abandoned at birth. Both sons were left to die on the Tiber
River, but were saved by a number of miraculous interventions.
After being carried to safety by the river itself, the twins were
nurtured by a she-wolf and fed by a woodpecker, until a shepherd,
named Faustulus, found them and took them as his sons.
When Remus and Romulus became adults and learned the truth
about their birth and upbringing, they killed Amulius and restored
Numitor to the throne. Rather than wait to inherit Alba Longa, the

The Founding of Rome | 429

city of their birth, the twins decided to establish their own city.
They quarreled, however, over where to locate the new city, and in
the process of their dispute, Romulus killed his brother. Thus Rome
began with a fratricide, a story that was later taken to represent the
city’s history of internecine political strife and bloodshed.

Aeneas and the Aeneid

The national epic of mythical Rome, the Aeneid by Virgil, tells the
story of how the Trojan prince, Aeneas, came to Italy. Although the
Aeneid was written under the emperor Augustus between 29 and
19 BCE, it tells the story of the founding of Rome centuries before
Augustus’s time. The hero, Aeneas, was already well known within
Greco-Roman legend and myth, having been a character in the Iliad.
But Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas’s wanderings, and
his vague association with the foundation of Rome, and fashioned it
into a compelling foundation myth or national epic. The story tied
Rome to the legends of Troy, explained the Punic Wars, glorified
traditional Roman virtues, and legitimized the Julio-Claudian
dynasty as descendants of the founders, heroes, and gods of Rome
and Troy.
Virgil makes use of symbolism to draw comparisons between the
emperor Augustus and Aeneas, painting them both as founders of
Rome. The Aeneid also contains prophecies about Rome’s future,
the deeds of Augustus, his ancestors, and other famous Romans.
The shield of Aeneas even depicts Augustus’s victory at Actium in
31 BCE. Virgil wrote the Aeneid during a time of major political and
social change in Rome, with the fall of the republic and the Final War
of the Roman Republic tearing through society and causing many
to question Rome’s inherent greatness. In this context, Augustus
instituted a new era of prosperity and peace through the
reintroduction of traditional Roman moral values. The Aeneid was
seen as reflecting this aim by depicting Aeneas as a man devoted

430 | The Founding of Rome

and loyal to his country and its greatness, rather than being
concerned with his own personal gains. The Aeneid also gives
mythic legitimization to the rule of Julius Caesar, and by extension,
to his adopted son, Augustus, by immortalizing the tradition that
renamed Aeneas’s son Iulus, making him an ancestor to the family of
Julius Caesar.
According to the Aeneid, the survivors from the fallen city of Troy
banded together under Aeneas, underwent a series of adventures
around the Mediterranean Sea, including a stop at newly founded
Carthage under the rule of Queen Dido, and eventually reached the
Italian coast. The Trojans were thought to have landed in an area
between modern Anzio and Fiumicino, southwest of Rome, probably
at Laurentum, or in other versions, at Lavinium, a place named for
Lavinia, the daughter of King Latinus, who Aeneas married. Aeneas’
arrival started a series of armed conflicts with Turnus over the
marriage of Lavinia. Before the arrival of Aeneas, Turnus was
engaged to Lavinia, who then married Aeneas, which began the
conflict. Aeneas eventually won the war and killed Turnus, which
granted the Trojans the right to stay and to assimilate with the local
peoples. The young son of Aeneas, Ascanius, also known as Iulus,
went on to found Alba Longa and the line of Alban kings who filled
the chronological gap between the Trojan saga and the traditional
founding of Rome in the 8th century BCE.
Toward the end of this line, King Procas appears as the father
of Numitor and Amulius. At Procas’ death, Numitor became king of
Alba Longa, but Amulius captured him and sent him to prison. He
also forced the daughter of Numitor, Rhea Silvia, to become a virgin
priestess among the Vestals. For many years, Amulius was the king.
The tortuous nature of the chronology is indicated by Rhea Silvia’s
ordination among the Vestals, whose order was traditionally said to
have been founded by the successor of Romulus, Numa Pompilius.

The Founding of Rome | 431

The Archaeological Record

According to the archaeological record of the region, the Italic

tribes who originally inhabited the Alban Hills moved down into
the valleys, which provided better land for agriculture. The area
around the Tiber River was particularly advantageous and offered
many strategic resources. For instance, the river itself provided a
natural border on one side of the settlement, and the hills on the
other side provided another defensive position for the townspeople.
A settlement in this area would have also allowed for control of the
river, including commercial and military traffic, as well as a natural
observation point at Isola Tiberina. This was especially important,
since Rome was at the intersection of the principal roads to the sea
from Sabinum and Etruria, and traffic from those roads could not be
as easily controlled.
The development of Rome itself is presumed to have coalesced
around the migrations of these various tribes into the valley, as
evidenced by differences in pottery and burial techniques. The
discovery of a series of fortification walls on the north slope of
Palatine Hill, most likely dating to the middle of the 8th century BCE,
provide the strongest evidence for the original site and date of the
founding of the city of Rome.

Sources

432 | The Founding of Rome

58. The Seven Kings

Learning Objective

• Explain the significance of the Seven Kings of Rome

to Roman culture

Key Points

• Romulus was Rome’s first king and the city’s

founder. He is best known for the Rape of the Sabine
Women and the establishment of the Senate, as well
as various voting practices.
• Numa Pompilius was a just, pious king who
established the cult of the Vestal Virgins at Rome, and
the position of Pontifex Maximus. His reign was
characterized by peace.
• Tullus Hostilius had little regard for the Roman
gods, and focused entirely on military expansion. He
constructed the home of the Roman Senate, the
Curia Hostilia.
• Ancus Marcius ruled peacefully and only fought
wars when Roman territories needed defending.
• Lucius Tarquinius Priscus increased the size of the
Senate and began major construction works,

The Seven Kings | 433

 including the Temple to Jupiter Optimus Maximus,
and the Circus Maximus.
• Servius Tullius built the first pomerium—walls that
fully encircled the Seven Hills of Rome. He also made
organizational changes to the Roman army, and
implemented a new constitution for the Romans,
further developing the citizen classes.
• Lucius Tarquinius Superbus’s reign is remembered
for his use of violence and intimidation, as well as his
disrespect of Roman custom and the Roman Senate.
He was eventually overthrown, thus leading to the
establishment of the Roman Republic.

Terms

absolute monarchy

A monarchical form of government in which the monarch

has absolute power among his or her people. This amounts
to unrestricted political power over a sovereign state and
its people.

patrician

A group of elite families in ancient Rome.

434 | The Seven Kings

The first 200 years of Roman history occurred under a monarchy.
Rome was ruled by seven kings over this period of time, and each
of their reigns were characterized by the personality of the ruler in
question. Each of these kings is credited either with establishing a
key Roman tradition, or constructing an important building. None
of the seven kings were known to be dynasts, and no reference is
made to the hereditary nature of kingdom until after the fifth king,
Tarquinius Priscus.
The king of Rome possessed absolute power over the people,
and the Senate provided only a weak, oligarchic counterbalance to
his power, primarily exercising only minor administrative powers.
For these reasons, the kingdom of Rome is considered an absolute
monarchy. Despite this, Roman kings, with the exception of
Romulus, were elected by citizens of Rome who occupied the
Curiate Assembly. There, members would vote on candidates that
had been nominated by a chosen member of the Senate, called an
interrex. Candidates could be chosen from any source.

Romulus

Romulus was Rome’s legendary first king and the city’s founder. In
753 BCE, Romulus began building the city upon the Palatine Hill.
After founding and naming Rome, as the story goes, he permitted
men of all classes to come to Rome as citizens, including slaves
and freemen, without distinction. To provide his citizens with wives,
Romulus invited the neighboring tribes to a festival in Rome where
he abducted the young women amongst them (this is known as The
Rape of the Sabine Women). After the ensuing war with the Sabines,
Romulus shared the kingship with the Sabine king, Titus Tatius.
Romulus selected 100 of the most noble men to form the Roman
Senate as an advisory council to the king. These men were called
patres (from pater: father, head), and their descendants became
the patricians. He also established voting, and class structures that

The Seven Kings | 435

would define sociopolitical proceedings throughout the Roman
Republic and Empire.

Numa Pompilius

After the death of Romulus, there was an interregnum for one year,
during which ten men chosen from the senate governed Rome as
successive interreges. Numa Pompilius, a Sabine, was eventually
chosen by the senate to succeed Romulus because of his reputation
for justice and piety. Numa’s reign was marked by peace and
religious reform. Numa constructed a new temple to Janus and,
after establishing peace with Rome’s neighbors, shut the doors of
the temple to indicate a state of peace. The doors of the temple
remained closed for the balance of his reign. He established the cult
of the Vestal Virgins at Rome, as well as the “leaping priests,” known
as the Salii, and three flamines, or priests, assigned to Jupiter, Mars,
and Quirinus. He also established the office and duties of Pontifex
Maximus, the head priest of the Roman state religion.

Tullus Hostilius

Tullus Hostilius was much like Romulus in his warlike behavior,

and completely unlike Numa in his lack of respect for the gods.
Tullus waged war against Alba Longa, Fidenae and Veii, and the
Sabines. It was during Tullus’ reign that the city of Alba Longa was
completely destroyed, after which Tullus integrated its population
into Rome. According to the Roman historian Livy, Tullus neglected
the worship of the gods until, towards the end of his reign, he
fell ill and became superstitious. However, when Tullus called upon
Jupiter and begged assistance, Jupiter responded with a bolt of

436 | The Seven Kings

lightning that burned the king and his house to ashes. Tullus is
attributed with constructing a new home for the Senate, the Curia
Hostilia, which survived for 562 years after his death.

Ancus Marcius

Following the death of Tullus, the Romans elected a peaceful and

religious king in his place—Numa’s grandson, Ancus Marcius. Much
like his grandfather, Ancus did little to expand the borders of Rome,
and only fought war when his territories needed defending.

Lucius Tarquinius Priscus

Lucius Tarquinius Priscus was the fifth king of Rome and the first
of Etruscan birth. After immigrating to Rome, he gained favor with
Ancus, who later adopted him as his son. Upon ascending the
throne, he waged wars against the Sabines and Etruscans, doubling
the size of Rome and bringing great treasures to the city.One of his
first reforms was to add 100 new members to the Senate from the
conquered Etruscan tribes, bringing the total number of senators to
200. He used the treasures Rome had acquired from conquests to
build great monuments for Rome, including the Roman Forum, the
temple to Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill, and the Circus Maximus.
His reign is best remembered for the introduction of Etruscan
symbols of military distinction and civilian authority
into the Roman tradition, including the scepter of the king, the rings
worn by senators, and the use of the tuba for military purposes.

The Seven Kings | 437

The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. 19th century illustration depicting
the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus above the Tiber River during the
Roman Republic.

Servius Tullus

Following Priscus’s death, his son-in-law, Servius Tullius, succeeded

him to the throne. Like his father-in-law before him, Servius fought
successful wars against the Etruscans. He used the treasure from
his campaigns to build the first pomerium—walls that fully encircled
the Seven Hills of Rome. He also made organizational changes to
the Roman army, and was renowned for implementing a new
constitution for the Romans and further developing the citizen
classes. Servius’s reforms brought about a major change in Roman
life—voting rights were now based on socioeconomic status,
transferring much of the power into the hands of the Roman elite.
The 44-year reign of Servius came to an abrupt end when he was
assassinated in a conspiracy led by his own daughter, Tullia, and her
husband, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus.

438 | The Seven Kings

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus

While in power, Tarquinius conducted a number of wars against

Rome’s neighbors, including the Volsci, Gabii, and the Rutuli.
Tarquinius also engaged in a series of public works, notably the
completion of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the
Capitoline Hill. Tarquin’s reign, however, is best remembered for
his use of violence and intimidation in his attempts to maintain
control over Rome, as well as his disrespect of Roman custom and
the Roman Senate. Tensions came to a head when the king’s son,
Sextus Tarquinius, raped Lucretia, wife and daughter to powerful
Roman nobles. Lucretia then told her relatives about the attack
and subsequently committed suicide to avoid the dishonor of the
episode. Four men, led by Lucius Junius Brutus, incited a revolution,
and as a result, Tarquinius and his family were deposed and expelled
from Rome in 509 BCE. Because of his actions and the way they
were viewed by the people, the word for King, rex, held a negative
connotation in Roman culture until the fall of the Roman Empire.
Brutus and Collatinus became Rome’s first consuls, marking the
beginning of the Roman Republic. This new government would
survive for the next 500 years, until the rise of Julius Caesar and
Caesar Augustus, and cover a period in which Rome’s authority and
area of control extended to cover great areas of Europe, North
Africa, and the Middle East.

Sources

The Seven Kings | 439

59. Early Roman Society

Learning Objective

• Describe what Roman society was like in its early

years

Key Points

• Roman society was extremely patriarchal and

hierarchical. The adult male head of a household had
special legal powers and privileges that gave him
jurisdiction over all the members of his family.
• The status of freeborn Romans was established by
their ancestry, census ranking, and citizenship.
• The most important division within Roman society
was between patricians, a small elite who
monopolized political power, and plebeians, who
comprised the majority of Roman society.
• The Roman census divided citizens into six
complex classes based on property holdings.
• Most adult, free-born men within the city limits of
Rome held Roman citizenship. Classes of non-citizens
existed and held different legal rights.

440 | Early Roman Society

 Terms

tax farming

A technique of financial management in which future,

uncertain revenue streams are fixed into periodic rents via
assignment by legal contract to a third party.

plebeians

A general body of free Roman citizens who were part of

the lower strata of society.

patricians

A group of ruling class families in ancient Rome.

Roman society was extremely patriarchal and hierarchical. The

adult male head of a household had special legal powers and
privileges that gave him jurisdiction over all the members of his
family, including his wife, adult sons, adult married daughters, and
slaves, but there were multiple, overlapping hierarchies at play
within society at large. An individual’s relative position in one
hierarchy might have been higher or lower than it was in another.
The status of freeborn Romans was established by the following:

• Their ancestry

Early Roman Society | 441

 • Their census rank, which in turn was determined by the
individual’s wealth and political privilege
• Citizenship, of which there were grades with varying rights
and privileges

Ancestry

The most important division within Roman society was between

patricians, a small elite who monopolized political power, and
plebeians, who comprised the majority of Roman society. These
designations were established at birth, with patricians tracing their
ancestry back to the first Senate established under Romulus. Adult,
male non-citizens fell outside the realms of these divisions, but
women and children, who were also not considered formal citizens,
took the social status of their father or husband. Originally, all public
offices were only open to patricians and the classes could not
intermarry, but, over time, the differentiation between patrician and
plebeian statuses became less pronounced, particularly after the
establishment of the Roman republic.

Census Rankings

The Roman census divided citizens into six complex classes based
on property holdings. The richest class was called the senatorial
class, with wealth based on ownership of large agricultural estates,
since members of the highest social classes did not traditionally
engage in commercial activity. Below the senatorial class was the
equestrian order, comprised of members who held the same volume
of wealth as the senatorial classes, but who engaged in commerce,
making them an influential early business class. Certain political and

442 | Early Roman Society

quasi-political positions were filled by members of the equestrian
order, including tax farming and leadership of the Praetorian Guard.
Three additional property-owning classes occupied the rungs
beneath the equestrian order. Finally, the proletarii occupied the
bottom rung with the lowest property values in the kingdom.

Citizenship

Citizenship in ancient Rome afforded political and legal privileges

to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance.
Most adult, free-born men within the city limits of Rome held
Roman citizenship. Men who lived in towns outside of Rome might
also hold citizenship, but some lacked the right to vote. Free-born,
foreign subjects during this period were known as peregrini, and
special laws existed to govern their conduct and disputes, though
they were not considered Roman citizens during the Roman
kingdom period. Free-born women in ancient Rome were
considered citizens, but they could not vote or hold political office.
The status of woman’s citizenship affected the citizenship of her
offspring. For example, in a type of Roman marriage called
conubium, both spouses must be citizens in order to marry.
Additionally, the phrase ex duobus civibus Romanis natos, translated
to mean “children born of two Roman citizens,” reinforces the
importance of both parents’ legal status in determining that of their
offspring.

Early Roman Society | 443

 Roman citizenship. The toga, shown here on
a statue restored with the head of Nerva, was
the distinctive garb of Roman citizens

Classes of non-citizens existed and held different legal rights. Under

Roman law, slaves were considered property and held no rights.
However, certain laws did regulate the institution of slavery, and
extended protections to slaves that were not granted to other forms
of property. Slaves who had been manumitted became freedmen
and enjoyed largely the same rights and protections as free-born
citizens. Many slaves descended from debtors or prisoners of war,

444 | Early Roman Society

especially women and children who were captured during foreign
military campaigns and sieges.
Ironically, many slaves originated from Rome’s conquest of
Greece, and yet Greek culture was considered, in some respects
by the Romans, to be superior to their own. In this way, it seems
Romans regarded slavery as a circumstance of birth, misfortune, or
war, rather than being limited to, or defined by, ethnicity or race.
Because it was defined mainly in terms of a lack of legal rights
and status, it was also not considered a permanent or inescapable
position. Some who had received educations or learned skills that
allowed them to earn their own living were manumitted upon the
death of their owner, or allowed to earn money to buy their freedom
during their owner’s lifetime. Some slave owners also freed slaves
who they believed to be their natural children. Nonetheless, many
worked under harsh conditions, and/or suffered inhumanely under
their owners during their enslavement.
Most freed slaves joined the lower plebeian classes, and worked
as farmers or tradesmen, though as time progressed and their
numbers increased, many were also accepted into the equestrian
class. Some went on to populate the civil service, whereas others
engaged in commerce, amassing vast fortunes that were rivaled only
by those in the wealthiest classes.

Sources

Early Roman Society | 445

60. The Establishment of the
Roman Republic

Learning Objective

• Explain why and how Rome transitioned from a

monarchy to a republic

Key Points

• The Roman monarchy was overthrown around 509

BCE, during a political revolution that resulted in the
expulsion of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last king
of Rome.
• Despite waging a number of successful campaigns
against Rome’s neighbors, securing Rome’s position as
head of the Latin cities, and engaging in a series of
public works, Tarquinius was a very unpopular king,
due to his violence and abuses of power.
• When word spread that Tarquinius’s son raped
Lucretia, the wife of the governor of Collatia, an
uprising occurred in which a number of prominent
patricians argued for a change in government.
• A general election was held during a legal assembly,

446 | The Establishment of the

Roman Republic
 and participants voted in favor of the establishment
of a Roman republic.
• Subsequently, all Tarquins were exiled from Rome
and an interrex and two consuls were established to
lead the new republic.

Terms

interrex

Literally, this translates to mean a ruler that presides

over the period between the rule of two separate kings; or,
in other words, a short-term regent.

plebeians

A general body of free Roman citizens who were part of

the lower strata of society.

patricians

A group of ruling class families in ancient Rome.

The Roman monarchy was overthrown around 509 BCE, during

The Establishment of the Roman Republic | 447

a political revolution that resulted in the expulsion of Lucius
Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome. Subsequently, the
Roman Republic was established.

Background

Tarquinius was the son of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king
of Rome’s Seven Kings period. Tarquinius was married to Tullia
Minor, the daughter of Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome’s
Seven Kings period. Around 535 BCE, Tarquinius and his wife, Tullia
Minor, arranged for the murder of his father-in-law. Tarquinius
became king following Servius Tullius’s death.
Tarquinius waged a number of successful campaigns against
Rome’s neighbors, including the Volsci, Gabii, and the Rutuli. He also
secured Rome’s position as head of the Latin cities, and engaged
in a series of public works, such as the completion of the Temple
of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. However, Tarquinius remained an
unpopular king for a number of reasons. He refused to bury his
predecessor and executed a number of leading senators whom he
suspected remained loyal to Servius. Following these actions, he
refused to replace the senators he executed and refused to consult
the Senate in matters of government going forward, thus
diminishing the size and influence of the Senate greatly. He also
went on to judge capital criminal cases without the advice of his
counselors, stoking fear among his political opponents that they
would be unfairly targeted.

448 | The Establishment of the Roman Republic

The Rape of Lucretia and An Uprising

Tarquin and Lucretia. Titian’s Tarquin and Lucretia (1571).

The Establishment of the Roman Republic | 449

During Tarquinius’s war with the Rutuli, his son, Sextus Tarquinius,
was sent on a military errand to Collatia, where he was received
with great hospitality at the governor’s mansion. The governor’s
wife, Lucretia, hosted Sextus while the governor was away at war.
During the night, Sextus entered her bedroom and raped her. The
next day, Lucretia traveled to her father, Spurius Lucretius, a
distinguished prefect in Rome, and, before witnesses, informed him
of what had happened. Because her father was a chief magistrate of
Rome, her pleas for justice and vengeance could not be ignored. At
the end of her pleas, she stabbed herself in the heart with a dagger,
ultimately dying in her own father’s arms. The scene struck those
who had witnessed it with such horror that they collectively vowed
to publicly defend their liberty against the outrages of such tyrants.
Lucius Junius Brutus, a leading citizen and the grandson of Rome’s
fifth king, Tarquinius Priscus, publicly opened a debate on the form
of government that Rome should have in place of the existing
monarchy. A number of patricians attended the debate, in which
Brutus proposed the banishment of the Tarquins from all territories
of Rome, and the appointment of an interrex to nominate new
magistrates and to oversee an election of ratification. It was decided
that a republican form of government should temporarily replace
the monarchy, with two consuls replacing the king and executing
the will of a patrician senate. Spurius Lucretius was elected interrex,
and he proposed Brutus, and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, a leading
citizen who was also related to Tarquinius Priscus, as the first two
consuls. His choice was ratified by the comitia curiata, an
organization of patrician families who primarily ratified decrees of
the king.
In order to rally the plebeians to their cause, all were summoned
to a legal assembly in the forum, and Lucretia’s body was paraded
through the streets. Brutus gave a speech and a general election was
held. The results were in favor of a republic. Brutus left Lucretius
in command of the city as interrex, and pursued the king in Ardea
where he had been positioned with his army on campaign.
Tarquinius, however, who had heard of developments in Rome, fled

450 | The Establishment of the Roman Republic

the camp before Brutus arrived, and the army received Brutus
favorably, expelling the king’s sons from their encampment.
Tarquinius was subsequently refused entry into Rome and lived as
an exile with his family.

The Establishment of the Roman Republic | 451

The Establishment of the Republic

452 | The Establishment of the Roman Republic

Brutus and Lucretia. The statue shows Brutus holding the knife and swearing
the oath, with Lucretia.

The Establishment of the Roman Republic | 453

Although there is no scholarly agreement as to whether or not it
actually took place, Plutarch and Appian both claim that Brutus’s
first act as consul was to initiate an oath for the people, swearing
never again to allow a king to rule Rome. What is known for certain
is that he replenished the Senate to its original number of 300
senators, recruiting men from among the equestrian class. The new
consuls also created a separate office, called the rex sacrorum, to
carry out and oversee religious duties, a task that had previously
fallen to the king.
The two consuls continued to be elected annually by Roman
citizens and advised by the senate. Both consuls were elected for
one-year terms and could veto each other’s actions. Initially, they
were endowed with all the powers of kings past, though over time
these were broken down further by the addition of magistrates
to the governmental system. The first magistrate added was the
praetor, an office that assumed judicial authority from the consuls.
After the praetor, the censor was established, who assumed the
power to conduct the Roman census.

Sources

454 | The Establishment of the Roman Republic

61. Roman Society Under the
Republic

Learning Objective

• Describe the relationship between the government

and the people in the time of the Roman Republic

Key Points

• A number of developments affected the

relationship between Rome’s republican government
and society, particularly in regard to how that
relationship differed among patricians and plebeians.
• In 494 BCE, plebeian soldiers refused to march
against a wartime enemy, in order to demand the
right to elect their own officials.
• The passage of Lex Trebonia forbade the co-opting
of colleagues to fill vacant positions on tribunes in
order to sway voting in favor of patrician blocs over
plebeians.
• Throughout the 4th century BCE, a series of
reforms were passed that required all laws passed by
the plebeian council to have the full force of law over

Roman Society Under the

Republic | 455
 the entire population. This gave the plebeian tribunes
a positive political impact over the entire population
for the first time in Roman history.
• In 445 BCE, the plebeians demanded the right to
stand for election as consul. Ultimately, a
compromise was reached in which consular
command authority was granted to a select number
of military tribunes.
• The Licinio-Sextian law was passed in 367 BCE; it
addressed the economic plight of the plebeians and
prevented the election of further patrician
magistrates.
• In the decades following the passage of the Licinio-
Sextian law, further legislation was enacted that
granted political equality to the plebeians.
Nonetheless, it remained difficult for a plebeian from
an unknown family to enter the Senate, due to the
rise of a new patricio-plebeian aristocracy that was
less interested in the plight of the average plebeian.

Terms

plebeian

A general body of free Roman citizens who were part of

the lower strata of society.

456 | Roman Society Under the Republic

 patricians

A group of ruling class families in ancient Rome.

In the first few centuries of the Roman Republic, a number of

developments affected the relationship between the government
and the Roman people, particularly in regard to how that
relationship differed across the separate strata of society.

The Patrician Era (509-367 BCE)

The last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was overthrown

in 509 BCE. One of the biggest changes that occurred as a result
was the establishment of two chief magistrates, called consuls, who
were elected by the citizens of Rome for an annual term. This stood
in stark contrast to the previous system, in which a king was elected
by senators, for life. Built in to the consul system were checks on
authority, since each consul could provide balance to the decisions
made by his colleague. Their limited terms of office also opened
them up to the possibility of prosecution in the event of abuses
of power. However, when consuls exercised their political powers
in tandem, the magnitude and influence they wielded was hardly
different from that of the old kings.
In 494 BCE, Rome was at war with two neighboring tribes, and
plebeian soldiers refused to march against the enemy, instead
seceding to the Aventine Hill. There, the plebeian soldiers took
advantage of the situation to demand the right to elect their own
officials. The patricians assented to their demands, and the plebeian

Roman Society Under the Republic | 457

soldiers returned to battle. The new offices that were created as a
result came to be known as “plebeian tribunes,” and they were to be
assisted by “plebeian aediles.”
In the early years of the republic, plebeians were not permitted
to hold magisterial office. Tribunes and aediles were technically
not magistrates, since they were only elected by fellow plebeians,
as opposed to the unified population of plebeians and patricians.
Although plebeian tribunes regularly attempted to block legislation
they considered unfavorable, patricians could still override their
veto with the support of one or more other tribunes. Tension over
this imbalance of power led to the passage of Lex Trebonia, which
forbade the co-opting of colleagues to fill vacant positions on
tribunes in order to sway voting in favor of one or another bloc.
Throughout the 4th century BCE, a series of reforms were passed
that required all laws passed by the plebeian council to have equal
force over the entire population, regardless of status as patrician or
plebeian. This gave the plebeian tribunes a positive political impact
over the entire population for the first time in Roman history.

Gaius Gracchus. This 18th century drawing shows Gaius Gracchus, tribune of
the people, presiding over the plebeian council.

458 | Roman Society Under the Republic

In 445 BCE, the plebeians demanded the right to stand for election
as consul. The Roman Senate initially refused them this right, but
ultimately a compromise was reached in which consular command
authority was granted to a select number of military tribunes, who,
in turn, were elected by the centuriate assembly with veto power
being retained by the senate.
Around 400 BCE, during a series of wars that were fought against
neighboring tribes, the plebeians demanded concessions for the
disenfranchisement they experienced as foot soldiers fighting for
spoils of war that they were never to see. As a result, the Licinio-
Sextian law was eventually passed in 367 BCE, which addressed
the economic plight of the plebeians and prevented the election of
further patrician magistrates.

The Conflict of the Orders Ends (367-287

BCE)

In the decades following the passage of the Licinio-Sextian law,

further legislation was enacted that granted political equality to the
plebeians. Nonetheless, it remained difficult for a plebeian from an
unknown family to enter the Senate. In fact, the very presence of
a long-standing nobility, and the Roman population’s deep respect
for it, made it very difficult for individuals from unknown families to
be elected to high office. Additionally, elections could be expensive,
neither senators nor magistrates were paid for their services, and
the Senate usually did not reimburse magistrates for expenses
incurred during their official duties, providing many barriers to the
entry of high political office by the non-affluent.
Ultimately, a new patricio-plebeian aristocracy emerged and
replaced the old patrician nobility. Whereas the old patrician
nobility existed simply on the basis of being able to run for office,
the new aristocracy existed on the basis of affluence. Although a

Roman Society Under the Republic | 459

small number of plebeians had achieved the same standing as the
patrician families of the past, new plebeian aristocrats were less
interested in the plight of the average plebeian than were the old
patrician aristocrats. For a time, the plebeian plight was mitigated,
due higher employment, income, and patriotism that was wrought
by a series of wars in which Rome was engaged; these things
eliminated the threat of plebeian unrest. But by 287 BCE, the
economic conditions of the plebeians deteriorated as a result of
widespread indebtedness, and the plebeians sought relief. Roman
senators, most of whom were also creditors, refused to give in to
the plebeians’ demands, resulting in the first plebeian secession to
Janiculum Hill.
In order to end the plebeian secession, a dictator, Quintus
Hortensius, was appointed. Hortensius, who was himself a plebeian,
passed a law known as the “Hortensian Law.” This law ended the
requirement that an auctoritas patrum be passed before a bill could
be considered by either the plebeian council or the tribal assembly,
thus removing the final patrician senatorial check on the plebeian
council. The requirement was not changed, however, in the
centuriate assembly. This provided a loophole through which the
patrician senate could still deter plebeian legislative influence.

Sources

460 | Roman Society Under the Republic

62. Structure of the Republic

Learning Objective

• Describe the political structure of the Roman

Republic

Key Points

• The Constitution of the Roman Republic was a set

of guidelines and principles passed down, mainly
through precedent. The constitution was largely
unwritten and uncodified, and evolved over time.
• Roman citizenship was a
vital prerequisite to possessing many important legal
rights.The Senate passed decrees that were called
senatus consulta, ostensibly “advice” from the senate
to a magistrate. The focus of the Roman Senate was
usually foreign policy.
• There were two types of legislative assemblies. The
first was the comitia (“committees”), which were
assemblies of all Roman citizens. The second was the
concilia (“councils”), which were assemblies of
specific groups of citizens.
• The comitia centuriata was the assembly of the

Structure of the Republic | 461

 centuries (soldiers), and they elected magistrates who
had imperium powers (consuls and praetors). The
comitia tributa, or assembly of the tribes (the citizens
of Rome), was presided over by a consul and
composed of 35 tribes. They elected quaestors, curule
aediles, and military tribunes.
• Dictators were sometimes elected during times of
military emergency, during which the constitutional
government would be disbanded.

Terms

patricians

A group of ruling class families in ancient Rome.

plebeian

A general body of free Roman citizens who were part of

the lower strata of society.

Roman Senate

A political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. It

462 | Structure of the Republic

 was not an elected body, but one whose members were
appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors.

The Constitution of the Roman Republic was a set of guidelines

and principles passed down, mainly through precedent. The
constitution was largely unwritten and uncodified, and evolved over
time. Rather than creating a government that was primarily a
democracy (as was ancient Athens), an aristocracy (as was ancient
Sparta), or a monarchy (as was Rome before, and in many respects
after, the Republic), the Roman constitution mixed these three
elements of governance into their overall political system. The
democratic element took the form of legislative assemblies; the
aristocratic element took the form of the Senate; and the
monarchical element took the form of the many term-limited
consuls.

The Roman SPQR Banner. “SPQR” (senatus populusque

romanus) was the Roman motto, which stood for “the
Senate and people of Rome.”

Structure of the Republic | 463

The Roman Senate

The Senate’s ultimate authority derived from the esteem and

prestige of the senators, and was based on both precedent and
custom. The Senate passed decrees, which were called senatus
consulta, ostensibly “advice” handed down from the senate to a
magistrate. In practice, the magistrates usually followed the senatus
consulta. The focus of the Roman Senate was usually foreign policy.
However, the power of the Senate expanded over time as the power
of the legislative assemblies declined, and eventually the Senate
took a greater role in civil law-making. Senators were usually
appointed by Roman censors, but during times of military
st
emergency, such as the civil wars of the 1 century BCE, this
practice became less prevalent, and the Roman dictator, triumvir, or
the Senate itself would select its members.

464 | Structure of the Republic

Curia Iulia—the Roman Senate House. The Curia Julia in the Roman Forum,
the seat of the imperial Senate.

Legislative Assemblies

Roman citizenship was a vital prerequisite to possessing many

important legal rights, such as the rights to trial and appeal,
marriage, suffrage, to hold office, to enter binding contracts, and
to enjoy special tax exemptions. An adult male citizen with full
legal and political rights was called optimo jure. The optimo jure
elected assemblies, and the assemblies elected magistrates, enacted
legislation, presided over trials in capital cases, declared war and
peace, and forged or dissolved treaties. There were two types of

Structure of the Republic | 465

legislative assemblies. The first was the comitia (“committees”),
which were assemblies of all optimo jure. The second was the
concilia (“councils”), which were assemblies of specific groups of
optimo jure.
Citizens on these assemblies were organized further on the basis
of curiae (familial groupings), centuries (for military purposes), and
tribes (for civil purposes), and each would each gather into their
own assemblies. The Curiate Assembly served only a symbolic
purpose in the late Republic, though the assembly was used to ratify
the powers of newly elected magistrates by passing laws known
as leges curiatae. The comitia centuriata was the assembly of the
centuries (soldiers). The president of the comitia centuriata was
usually a consul, and the comitia centuriata would elect magistrates
who had imperium powers (consuls and praetors). It also elected
censors. Only the comitia centuriata could declare war and ratify
the results of a census. It also served as the highest court of appeal
in certain judicial cases.
The assembly of the tribes, the comitia tributa, was presided over
by a consul, and was composed of 35 tribes. The tribes were not
ethnic or kinship groups, but rather geographical subdivisions.
While it did not pass many laws, the comitia tributa did elect
quaestors, curule aediles, and military tribunes. The Plebeian
Council was identical to the assembly of the tribes, but excluded the
patricians. They elected their own officers, plebeian tribunes, and
plebeian aediles. Usually a plebeian tribune would preside over the
assembly. This assembly passed most laws, and could also act as a
court of appeal.
Since the tribunes were considered to be the embodiment of the
plebeians, they were sacrosanct. Their sacrosanctness was enforced
by a pledge, taken by the plebeians, to kill any person who harmed
or interfered with a tribune during his term of office. As such, it
was considered a capital offense to harm a tribune, to disregard his
veto, or to interfere with his actions. In times of military emergency,
a dictator would be appointed for a term of six months. The
constitutional government would be dissolved, and the dictator

466 | Structure of the Republic

would be the absolute master of the state. When the dictator’s term
ended, constitutional government would be restored.

Executive Magistrates

Magistrates were the elected officials of the Roman republic. Each

magistrate was vested with a degree of power, and the dictator,
when there was one, had the highest level of power. Below the
dictator was the censor (when they existed), and the consuls, the
highest ranking ordinary magistrates. Two were elected every year
and wielded supreme power in both civil and military powers. The
ranking among both consuls flipped every month, with one
outranking the other.
Below the consuls were the praetors, who administered civil law,
presided over the courts, and commanded provincial armies.
Censors conducted the Roman census, during which time they
could appoint people to the Senate. Curule aediles were officers
elected to conduct domestic affairs in Rome, who were vested with
powers over the markets, public games, and shows. Finally, at the
bottom of magistrate rankings were the quaestors, who usually
assisted the consuls in Rome and the governors in the provinces
with financial tasks. Plebeian tribunes and plebeian aediles were
considered representatives of the people, and acted as a popular
check over the Senate through use of their veto powers, thus
safeguarding the civil liberties of all Roman citizens.
Each magistrate could only veto an action that was taken by
an equal or lower ranked magistrate. The most significant
constitutional power a magistrate could hold was that of imperium
or command, which was held only by consuls and praetors. This
gave the magistrate in question the constitutional authority to issue
commands, military or otherwise.
Election to a magisterial office resulted in automatic membership
in the Senate for life, unless impeached. Once a magistrate’s annual

Structure of the Republic | 467

term in office expired, he had to wait at least ten years before
serving in that office again. Occasionally, however, a magistrate
would have his command powers extended through prorogation,
which effectively allowed him to retain the powers of his office as a
promagistrate.

Sources

468 | Structure of the Republic

63. Art and Literature in the
Roman Republic

Learning Objective

• Recognize the wide extent of art and literature

created during the Roman Republic

Key Points

• Roman literature was, from its very inception,

influenced heavily by Greek authors. Some of the
earliest works we possess are of historical epics that
tell the early military history of Rome. However,
authors diversified their genres as the Republic
expanded.
• Cicero is one of the most famous Republican
authors, and his letters provide detailed information
about an important period in Roman history.
• Romans typically produced historical sculptures in
relief, as opposed to Greek free-standing sculpture.
Small sculptures were considered luxury items, while
moulded relief decoration in pottery vessels and
small figurines were produced in great quantities for

Art and Literature in the Roman

Republic | 469
 a wider section of the population.
• The most well-known surviving examples of Roman
painting consist of the wall paintings from Pompeii
and
Herculaneum that were preserved in the aftermath of
the fatal eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE.
• Veristic portraiture is a hallmark of Roman art
during the Republic, though its use began to diminish
during the 1st century BCE as civil wars threatened
the empire and individual strong men began amassing
more power.

Terms

veristic portraiture

A hyper-realistic portrayal of the subject’s facial

characteristics; a common style of portraiture in the early
to mid-Republic.

Cicero

A Roman philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, political

theorist, consul, and constitutionalist.

470 | Art and Literature in the Roman Republic

Literature

Roman literature was, from its very inception, heavily influenced by

Greek authors. Some of the earliest works we possess are historical
epics telling the early military history of Rome, similar to the Greek
epic narratives of Homer, Herodotus, and Thucydides. Virgil, though
generally considered to be an Augustan poet, represents the
pinnacle of Roman epic poetry. His Aeneid tells the story of the
flight of Aeneas from Troy, and his settlement of the city that would
become Rome. As the Republic expanded, authors began to produce
poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy. Lucretius, in his De rerum
natura (On the Nature of Things), attempted to explicate science in
an epic poem. The genre of satire was also common in Rome, and
satires were written by, among others, Juvenal and Persius.

Art and Literature in the Roman Republic | 471

The Age of Cicero

Bust of Cicero. A mid-first century CE bust of Cicero, in the Capitoline

Museums, Rome.

Cicero has traditionally been considered the master of Latin prose.

472 | Art and Literature in the Roman Republic

The writing he produced from approximately 80 BCE until his death
in 43 BCE, exceeds that of any Latin author whose work survives,
in terms of quantity and variety of genre and subject matter. It also
possesses unsurpassed stylistic excellence. Cicero’s many works can
be divided into four groups: letters, rhetorical treatises,
philosophical works, and orations. His letters provide detailed
information about an important period in Roman history, and offers
a vivid picture of public and private life among the Roman governing
class. Cicero’s works on oratory are our most valuable Latin sources
for ancient theories on education and rhetoric. His philosophical
works were the basis of moral philosophy during the Middle Ages,
and his speeches inspired many European political leaders, as well
as the founders of the United States.

Art

Early Roman art was greatly influenced by the art of Greece and the
neighboring Etruscans, who were also greatly influenced by Greek
art via trade. As the Roman Republic conquered Greek territory,
expanding its imperial domain throughout the Hellenistic world,
official and patrician sculpture grew out of the Hellenistic style
that many Romans encountered during their campaigns, making
it difficult to distinguish truly Roman elements from elements of
Greek style. This was especially true since much of what survives
of Greek sculpture are actually copies made of Greek originals by
Romans. By the 2nd century BCE, most sculptors working within
Rome were Greek, many of whom were enslaved following military
conquests, and whose names were rarely recorded with the work
they created. Vast numbers of Greek statues were also imported to
Rome as a result of conquest as well as trade.
Rather than create free-standing works depicting heroic exploits
from history or mythology, as the Greeks had, the Romans produced
historical works in relief. Small sculptures were considered luxury

Art and Literature in the Roman Republic | 473

items and were frequently the object of client-patron relationships.
The silver Warren Cup and glass Lycurgus cup are examples of
the high quality works that were produced during this period. For
a wider section of the population, moulded relief decoration in
pottery vessels and small figurines were produced in great
quantities, and were often of great quality.
In the 3rd century BCE, Greek art taken during wars became
popular, and many Roman homes were decorated with landscapes
by Greek artists.
Of the vast body of Roman painting that once existed, only a
few examples survive to the modern-age. The most well-known
surviving examples of Roman painting are the wall paintings from
Pompeii and Herculaneum, that were preserved in the aftermath of
the fatal eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. A large number of
paintings also survived in the catacombs of Rome, dating from the
3rd century CE to 400, prior to the Christian age, demonstrating a
continuation of the domestic decorative tradition for use in humble
burial chambers.Wall painting was not considered high art in either
Greece or Rome. Sculpture and panel painting, usually consisting of
tempera or encaustic painting on wooden panels, were considered
more prestigious art forms.
A large number of Fayum mummy portraits, bust portraits on
wood added to the outside of mummies by the Romanized middle
class, exist in Roman Egypt. Although these are in some ways
distinctively local, they are also broadly representative of the Roman
style of painted portraits.
Roman portraiture during the Republic is identified by its
considerable realism, known as veristic portraiture. Verism refers
to a hyper-realistic portrayal of the subject’s facial characteristics.
The style originated from Hellenistic Greece; however, its use in
Republican Rome and survival throughout much of the Republic is
due to Roman values, customs, and political life. As with other forms
of Roman art, Roman portraiture borrowed certain details from
Greek art, but adapted these to their own needs. Veristic images
often show their male subject with receding hairlines, deep winkles,

474 | Art and Literature in the Roman Republic

and even with warts. While the face of the portrait was often shown
with incredible detail and likeness, the body of the subject would be
idealized, and did not seem to correspond to the age shown in the
face.

Art and Literature in the Roman Republic | 475

Bust of an Old Man. Veristic portraiture of an Old Man. Verism refers to a
hyper-realistic portrayal of the subject’s facial characteristics.

476 | Art and Literature in the Roman Republic

Portrait sculpture during the period utilized youthful and classical
proportions, evolving later into a mixture of realism and idealism.
Advancements were also made in relief sculptures, often depicting
Roman victories. The Romans, however, completely lacked a
tradition of figurative vase-painting comparable to that of the
ancient Greeks, which the Etruscans had also emulated.

The Late Republic

The use of veristic portraiture began to diminish during the Late

Republic in the 1st century BCE. During this time, civil wars
threatened the empire and individual men began to gain more
power. The portraits of Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar, two
political rivals who were also the most powerful generals in the
Republic, began to change the style of portraits and their use. The
portraits of Pompey the Great were neither fully idealized, nor were
they created in the same veristic style of Republican senators.
Pompey borrowed a specific parting and curl of his hair from
Alexander the Great, linking Pompey visually to Alexander’s likeness,
and triggering his audience to associate him with Alexander’s
characteristics and qualities.

Art and Literature in the Roman Republic | 477

Bust of Pompey the Great. The portraits of Pompey the Great were neither
fully idealized, nor were they created in the same veristic style of Republican
senators. This bust clearly shows the specific parting and curl of his hair that
would have likened him to Alexander the Great.

Sources

478 | Art and Literature in the Roman Republic

64. Republican Wars and
Conquest

Learning Objective

• Describe the key results and effects of major

Republican wars

Key Points

• Early Roman Republican wars were wars of both

expansion and defense, aimed at protecting Rome
from neighboring cities and nations, and establishing
its territory within the region.
• The Samnite Wars were fought against the
Etruscans and effectively finished off all vestiges of
Etruscan power by 282 BCE.
• By the middle of the 3rd century and the end of the
Pyrrhic War, Rome had effectively dominated the
Italian peninsula and won an international military
reputation.
• Over the course of the three Punic Wars, Rome
completely defeated Hannibal and razed Carthage to
the ground, thereby acquiring all of Carthage’s North

Republican Wars and Conquest | 479

 African and Spanish territories.
• After four Macedonian Wars, Rome had established
its first permanent foothold in the Greek world, and
divided the Macedonian Kingdom into four client
republics.

Terms

Punic Wars

A series of three wars fought between Rome and

Carthage, from 264 BCE to 146 BCE, that resulted in the
complete destruction of Carthage.

Pyrrhus

Greek general and statesman of the Hellenistic era. Later

he became king of Epirus (r. 306-302, 297-272 BCE) and
Macedon (r. 288-284, 273-272 BCE). He was one of the
strongest opponents of early Rome. Some of his battles,
though successful, cost him heavy losses, from which the
term “Pyrrhic victory” was coined.

480 | Republican Wars and Conquest

Roman Conquest of the Italian Peninsula. This map shows the expansion of
Roman territory through the various wars fought during the Republican
period.

Early Republic

Early Campaigns (458-396 BCE)

The first Roman Republican wars were wars of both expansion and

Republican Wars and Conquest | 481

defense, aimed at protecting Rome from neighboring cities and
nations, as well as establishing its territory in the region. Initially,
Rome’s immediate neighbors were either Latin towns and villages
or tribal Sabines from the Apennine hills beyond. One by one, Rome
defeated both the persistent Sabines and the nearby Etruscan and
Latin cities. By the end of this period, Rome had effectively secured
its position against all immediate threats.

Expansion into Italy and the Samnite Wars

(343-282 BCE)

The First Samnite War, of 343 BCE-341 BCE, was a relatively short
affair. The Romans beat the Samnites in two battles, but were forced
to withdraw from the war before they could pursue the conflict
further, due to the revolt of several of their Latin allies in the Latin
War. The Second Samnite War, from 327 BCE-304 BCE, was much
longer and more serious for both the Romans and Samnites, but by
304 BCE the Romans had effectively annexed the greater part of the
Samnite territory and founded several colonies therein. Seven years
after their defeat, with Roman dominance of the area seemingly
assured, the Samnites rose again and defeated a Roman army in 298
BCE, to open the Third Samnite War. With this success in hand, they
managed to bring together a coalition of several of Rome’s enemies,
but by 282 BCE, Rome finished off the last vestiges of Etruscan
power in the region.

Pyrrhic War (280-275 BCE)

By the beginning of the 3rd century BCE, Rome had established

itself as a major power on the Italian Peninsula, but had not yet
come into conflict with the dominant military powers in the

482 | Republican Wars and Conquest

Mediterranean Basin at the time: the Carthage and Greek kingdoms.
When a diplomatic dispute between Rome and a Greek colony
erupted into a naval confrontation, the Greek colony appealed for
military aid to Pyrrhus, ruler of the northwestern Greek kingdom of
Epirus. Motivated by a personal desire for military accomplishment,
Pyrrhus landed a Greek army of approximately 25,000 men on
Italian soil in 280 BCE. Despite early victories, Pyrrhus found his
position in Italy untenable. Rome steadfastly refused to negotiate
with Pyrrhus as long as his army remained in Italy. Facing
unacceptably heavy losses with each encounter with the Roman
army, Pyrrhus withdrew from the peninsula (thus giving rise to the
term “pyrrhic victory”).
In 275 BCE, Pyrrhus again met the Roman army at the Battle of
Beneventum. While Beneventum’s outcome was indecisive, it led to
Pyrrhus’s complete withdrawal from Italy, due to the decimation of
his army following years of foreign campaigns, and the diminishing
likelihood of further material gains. These conflicts with Pyrrhus
would have a positive effect on Rome. Rome had shown it was
capable of pitting its armies successfully against the dominant
military powers of the Mediterranean, and that the Greek kingdoms
were incapable of defending their colonies in Italy and abroad. Rome
quickly moved into southern Italia, subjugating and dividing the
rd
Greek colonies. By the middle of the 3 century, Rome effectively
dominated the Italian peninsula, and had won an international
military reputation.

Mid-Republic

Punic Wars

The First Punic War began in 264 BCE, when Rome and Carthage

Republican Wars and Conquest | 483

became interested in using settlements within Sicily to solve their
own internal conflicts. The war saw land battles in Sicily early on,
but focus soon shifted to naval battles around Sicily and Africa.
Before the First Punic War, there was essentially no Roman navy.
The new war in Sicily against Carthage, a great naval power, forced
Rome to quickly build a fleet and train sailors. Though the first
few naval battles of the First Punic War were catastrophic disasters
for Rome, Rome was eventually able to beat the Carthaginians and
leave them without a fleet or sufficient funds to raise another. For a
maritime power, the loss of Carthage’s access to the Mediterranean
stung financially and psychologically, leading the Carthaginians to
sue for peace.
Continuing distrust led to the renewal of hostilities in the Second
Punic War, when, in 218 BCE, Carthaginian commander Hannibal
attacked a Spanish town with diplomatic ties to Rome. Hannibal
then crossed the Italian Alps to invade Italy. Hannibal’s successes in
Italy began immediately, but his brother, Hasdrubal, was defeated
after he crossed the Alps on the Metaurus River. Unable to defeat
Hannibal on Italian soil, the Romans boldly sent an army to Africa
under Scipio Africanus, with the intention of threatening the
Carthaginian capital. As a result, Hannibal was recalled to Africa,
and defeated at the Battle of Zama.
Carthage never managed to recover after the Second Punic War,
and the Third Punic War that followed was, in reality, a simple
punitive mission to raze the city of Carthage to the ground.
Carthage was almost defenseless, and when besieged offered
immediate surrender, conceding to a string of outrageous Roman
demands. The Romans refused the surrender and the city was
stormed and completely destroyed after a short siege. Ultimately, all
of Carthage’s North African and Spanish territories were acquired
by Rome.

484 | Republican Wars and Conquest

Hannibal’s Famous Crossing of the Alps. Depiction of Hannibal and his army
crossing the Alps during the Second Punic War.

Macedon and Greece

Rome’s preoccupation with its war in Carthage provided an

opportunity for Philip V of the kingdom of Macedonia, located in
the northern part of the Greek peninsula, to attempt to extend
his power westward. Over the next several decades, Rome clashed

Republican Wars and Conquest | 485

with Macedon to protect their Greek allies throughout the First,
Second, and Third Macedonian Wars. By 168 BCE, the Macedonians
had been thoroughly defeated, and Rome divided the Macedonian
Kingdom into four client republics. After a Fourth Macedonian War,
and nearly a century of constant crisis management in Greece
(which almost always was a result of internal instability when Rome
pulled out), Rome decided to divide Macedonia into two new Roman
provinces, Achaea and Epirus.

Sources

486 | Republican Wars and Conquest

65. Crises of the Republic

Learning Objective

• Explain how crises in the 1st century BCE further

destabilized the Roman Republic

Key Points

• Though the causes and attributes of individual

crises varied throughout the decades, an underlying
theme of conflict between the aristocracy and
ordinary citizens drove the majority of actions.
• The Gracchi brothers, Tiberius and Gaius,
introduced a number of populist agrarian and land
reforms in the 130s and 120s BCE that were heavily
opposed by the patrician Senate. Both brothers were
murdered by mob violence after political stalemates.
• Political instability continued, as populist Marius
and optimate Sulla engaged in a series of conflicts
that culminated in Sulla seizing power and marching
to Asia Minor against the decrees of the Senate, and
Marius seizing power in a coup back at Rome.
• The Catilinarian Conspiracy discredited the
populist party, in turn repairing the image of the

Crises of the Republic | 487

 Senate, which had come to be seen as weak and not
worthy of such violent attack.
• Under the terms of the First Triumvirate, Pompey’s
arrangements would be ratified and Caesar would be
elected consul in 59 BCE; he subsequently served as
governor of Gaul for five years. Crassus was promised
the consulship later.
• The triumvirate crumbled in the wake of growing
political violence and Crassus and Caesar’s daughter’s
death.
• A resolution was passed by the Senate that
declared that if Caesar did not lay down his arms by
July 49 BCE, he would be considered an enemy of the
Republic. Meanwhile, Pompey was granted dictatorial
powers over the Republic.
• On January 10, 49 BCE, Caesar crossed the Rubicon
and marched towards Rome. Pompey, the consuls,
and the Senate all abandoned Rome for Greece, and
Caesar entered the city unopposed.

Terms

Gracchi Brothers

Brothers Tiberius and Gaius, Roman plebeian nobiles who

both served as tribunes in the late 2nd century BCE. They
attempted to pass land reform legislation that would

488 | Crises of the Republic

 redistribute the major patrician landholdings among the
plebeians.

plebeian

A general body of free Roman citizens who were part of

the lower strata of society.

patrician

A group of ruling class families in ancient Rome.

The Crises of the Roman Republic refers to an extended period of

political instability and social unrest that culminated in the demise
of the Roman Republic, and the advent of the Roman Empire from
about 134 BCE-44 BCE. The exact dates of this period of crisis are
unclear or are in dispute from scholar to scholar. Though the causes
and attributes of individual crises varied throughout the decades,
an underlying theme of conflict between the
aristocracy and ordinary citizens drove the majority of actions.
Optimates were a traditionalist majority of the late Roman
Republic. They wished to limit the power of the popular assemblies
and the Tribune of the Plebeians, and to extend the power of the
Senate, which was viewed as more dedicated to the interests of
the aristocrats. In particular, they were concerned with the rise of
individual generals, who, backed by the tribunate, the assemblies,
and their own soldiers, could shift power from the Senate and
aristocracy. Many members of this faction were so-classified
because they used the backing of the aristocracy and the Senate
to achieve personal goals, not necessarily because they favored the

Crises of the Republic | 489

aristocracy over the lower classes. Similarly, the populists did not
necessarily champion the lower classes, but often used their
support to achieve personal goals.
Following a period of great military successes and economic
failures of the early Republican period, many plebeian calls for
reform among the classes had been quieted. However, many new
slaves were being imported from abroad, causing an unemployment
crisis among the lower classes. A flood of unemployed citizens
entered Rome, giving rise to populist ideas throughout the city.

The Gracchi Brothers

Tiberius Gracchus took office as a tribune of the plebeians in late

134 BCE. At the time, Roman society was a highly stratified class
system with tensions bubbling below the surface. This system
consisted of noble families of the senatorial rank (patricians), the
knight or equestrian class, citizens (grouped into two or three
classes of self-governing allies of Rome: landowners; and plebs, or
tenant freemen, depending on the time period), non-citizens who
lived outside of southwestern Italy, and at the bottom, slaves. The
government owned large tracts of farm land that it had gained
through invasion or escheat. This land was rented out to either large
landowners whose slaves tilled the land, or small tenant farmers
who occupied the property on the basis of a sub-lease. Beginning
in 133 BCE, Tiberius tried to redress the grievances of displaced
small tenant farmers. He bypassed the Roman Senate, and passed
a law limiting the amount of land belonging to the state that any
individual could farm, which resulted in the dissolution of large
plantations maintained by rich landowners on public land.
A political back-and-forth ensued in the Senate as the other
tribune, Octavius, blocked Tiberius’s initiatives, and the Senate
denied funds needed for land reform. When Tiberius sought re-
election to his one-year term (an unprecedented action), the

490 | Crises of the Republic

oligarchic nobles responded by murdering Tiberius, and mass riots
broke out in the city in reaction to the assassination. About nine
years later, Tiberius Gracchus’s younger brother, Gaius, passed
more radical reforms in favor of the poorer plebeians. Once again,
the situation ended in violence and murder as Gaius fled Rome and
was either murdered by oligarchs or committed suicide. The deaths
of the Gracchi brothers marked the beginning of a late Republic
trend in which tensions and conflicts erupted in violence.

Gaius Gracchus Addressing the People. Silvestre David Mirys’ rendition of the
the tribune, Gaius Gracchus, addressing the people of Rome.

Marius and Sulla

The next major reformer of the time was Gaius Marius, who like the
Gracchi, was a populist who championed the lower classes. He was
a general who abolished the property requirement for becoming a
soldier, which allowed the poor to enlist in large numbers. Lucius
Cornelius Sulla was appointed as Marius’s quaestor (supervisor of
the financial affairs of the state) in 107 BCE, and later competed

Crises of the Republic | 491

with Marius for supreme power. Over the next few decades, he
and Marius engaged in a series of conflicts that culminated in Sulla
seizing power and marching to Asia Minor against the decrees of the
Senate. Marius launched a coup in Sulla’s absence, putting to death
some of his enemies and instituting a populist regime, but died soon
after.

492 | Crises of the Republic

Bust of Sulla. The bust of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, an optimate who marched
against Rome and installed himself as dictator in 82-81 BCE.

Crises of the Republic | 493

Pompey, Crassus, and the Catilinarian
Conspiracy

In 77 BCE, two of Sulla’s former lieutenants, Gnaeus Pompeius

Magnus (“Pompey the Great”) and Marcus Licinius Crassus, had left
Rome to put down uprisings and found the populist party, attacking
Sulla’s constitution upon their return. In an attempt to forge an
agreement with the populist party, both lieutenants promised to
dismantle components of Sulla’s constitution that the populists
found disagreeable, in return for being elected consul. The two were
elected in 70 BCE and held true to their word. Four years later, in
66 BCE, a movement to use peaceful means to address the plights of
the various classes arose; however, after several failures in achieving
their goals, the movement, headed by Lucius Sergius Catilina and
based in Faesulae, a hotbed of agrarian agitation, decided to march
to Rome and instigate an uprising. Marcus Tullius Cicero, the consul
at the time, intercepted messages regarding recruitment and plans,
leading the Senate to authorize the assassination of many
Catilinarian conspirators in Rome, an action that was seen as
stemming from dubious authority. This effectively disrupted the
conspiracy and discredited the populist party, in turn repairing the
image of the Senate, which had come to be seen as weak and not
worthy of such violent attack.

First Triumvirate

In 62 BCE, Pompey returned from campaigning in Asia to find that

the Senate, elated by its successes against the Catiline conspirators,
was unwilling to ratify any of Pompey’s arrangements, leaving
Pompey powerless. Julius Caesar returned from his governorship
in Spain a year later and, along with Crassus, established a private

494 | Crises of the Republic

agreement with Pompey known as the First Triumvirate. Under the
terms of this agreement, Pompey’s arrangements would be ratified
and Caesar would be elected consul in 59 BCE, subsequently serving
as governor of Gaul for five years. Crassus was promised the
consulship later.
When Caesar became consul, he saw the passage of Pompey’s
arrangements through the Senate, at times using violent means to
ensure their passage. Caesar also facilitated the election of patrician
Publius Clodius Pulcher to the tribunate in 58 BCE, and Clodius
sidelined Caesar’s senatorial opponents, Cato and Cicero. Clodius
eventually formed armed gangs that terrorized Rome and began to
attack Pompey’s followers, who formed counter-gangs in response,
marking the end of the political alliance between Pompey and
Caeser. Though the triumvirate was briefly renewed in the face of
political opposition for the consulship from Domitius Ahenobarbus,
Crassus’s death during an expedition against the Kingdom of
Parthia, and the death of Pompey’s wife, Julia, who was also Caesar’s
daughter, severed any remaining bonds between Pompey and
Caesar.
Beginning in the summer of 54 BCE, a wave of political corruption
and violence swept Rome, reaching a climax in January 52 BCE,
when Clodius was murdered in a gang war. Caesar presented an
ultimatum to the Senate on January 1, 49 BCE, which was ultimately
rejected. Subsequently, a resolution was passed that declared that if
Caesar did not lay down his arms by July, he would be considered
an enemy of the Republic. The senators adopted Pompey as their
champion, and on January 7, Pompey was granted dictatorial powers
over the Republic by the Senate. Pompey’s army, however, was
composed mainly of untested conscripts, and on January 10, Caesar
crossed the Rubicon with his more experienced forces in defiance of
Roman laws, and marched towards Rome. Pompey, the consuls, and
the Senate all abandoned Rome for Greece, in the face of Caeser’s
rapidly advancing forces, and Caesar entered the city unopposed.

Crises of the Republic | 495

Sources

496 | Crises of the Republic

PART VI
CH. 7 THE BYZANTINE
EMPIRE

Ch. 7 The Byzantine Empire | 497

66. Naming of the Byzantine
Empire

Learning Objective

• Describe identifying characteristics of the

Byzantine Empire

Key Points

• While the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE,

the Eastern Roman Empire, centered on the city of
Constantinople, survived and thrived.
• After the Eastern Roman Empire’s much later fall in
1453 CE, western scholars began calling it the
“Byzantine Empire” to emphasize its distinction from
the earlier, Latin-speaking Roman Empire centered
on Rome.
• The “Byzantine Empire” is now the standard term
used among historians to refer to the Eastern Roman
Empire.
• Although the Byzantine Empire had a multi-ethnic
character during most of its history and preserved
Romano-Hellenistic traditions, it became identified

Naming of the Byzantine

Empire | 499
 with its increasingly predominant Greek element and
its own unique cultural developments.

Terms

Constantinople

Formerly Byzantium, the capital of the Byzantine Empire

as established by its first emperor, Constantine the Great.
(Today the city is known as Istanbul.)

The Byzantine Empire, sometimes referred to as the Eastern Roman

Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the east
during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city
was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, originally founded as
Byzantium). It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western
Roman Empire in the 5th century CE, and continued to exist for an
additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful
economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. Both “Byzantine
Empire” and “Eastern Roman Empire” are historiographical terms
created after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer
to their empire as the Roman Empire, and thought of themselves as
Romans. Although the people living in the Eastern Roman Empire
referred to themselves as Romans, they were distinguished by their
Greek heritage, Orthodox Christianity, and their regional
connections. Over time, the culture of the Eastern Roman Empire

500 | Naming of the Byzantine Empire

transformed. Greek replaced Latin as the language of the empire.
Christianity became more important in daily life, although the
culture’s pagan Roman past still exerted an influence.
Several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the
period of transition during which the Roman Empire’s Greek east
and Latin west divided. Constantine I (r. 324-337) reorganized the
empire, made Constantinople the new capital, and legalized
Christianity. Under Theodosius I (r. 379-395), Christianity became
the empire’s official state religion, and other religious practices
were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius (r. 610-641),
the empire’s military and administration were restructured and
adopted Greek for official use instead of Latin. Thus, although the
Roman state continued and Roman state traditions were
maintained, modern historians distinguish Byzantium from ancient
Rome insofar as it was centered on Constantinople, oriented
towards Greek rather than Latin culture, and characterized by
Orthodox Christianity.
Just as the Byzantine Empire represented the political
continuation of the Roman Empire, Byzantine art and culture
developed directly out of the art of the Roman Empire, which was
itself profoundly influenced by ancient Greek art. Byzantine art
never lost sight of this classical heritage. For example, the Byzantine
capital, Constantinople, was adorned with a large number of
classical sculptures, although they eventually became an object of
some puzzlement for its inhabitants. And indeed, the art produced
during the Byzantine Empire, although marked by periodic revivals
of a classical aesthetic, was above all marked by the development
of a new aesthetic. Thus, although the Byzantine Empire had a
multi-ethnic character during most of its history, and preserved
Romano-Hellenistic traditions, it became identified by its western
and northern contemporaries with its increasingly predominant
Greek element and its own unique cultural developments.

Naming of the Byzantine Empire | 501

A map of Constantinople, the capital and founding city of the Byzantine
Empire, drawn in 1422 CE by Florentine cartographer Cristoforo
Buondelmonti. This is the oldest surviving map of the city and the only one
that predates the Turkish conquest of the city in 1453 CE.

502 | Naming of the Byzantine Empire

Nomenclature

The first use of the term “Byzantine” to label the later years of the
Roman Empire was in 1557, when the German historian Hieronymus
Wolf published his work, Corpus Historiæ Byzantinæ, a collection of
historical sources. The term comes from “Byzantium,” the name of
the city of Constantinople before it became Constantine’s capital.
This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point
onward except in historical or poetic contexts. However, it was not
until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use
in the western world; calling it the “Byzantine Empire” helped to
emphasize its differences from the earlier Latin-speaking Roman
Empire, centered on Rome.
The term “Byzantine” was also useful to the many western
European states that also claimed to be the true successors of the
Roman Empire, as it was used to delegitimize the claims of the
Byzantines as true Romans. In modern times, the term “Byzantine”
has also come to have a pejorative sense, used to describe things
that are overly complex or arcane. “Byzantine diplomacy” has come
to mean excess use of trickery and behind-the-scenes
manipulation. These are all based on medieval stereotypes about
the Byzantine Empire that developed as western Europeans came
into contact with the Byzantines, and were perplexed by their more
structured government.
No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds,
where the empire was more straightforwardly seen as the
continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman
Empire was known primarily as Rûm. The name millet-i Rûm, or
“Roman nation,” was used by the Ottomans through the 20th
century to refer to the former subjects of the Byzantine Empire, that
is, the Orthodox Christian community within Ottoman realms.

Sources

Naming of the Byzantine Empire | 503

67. The Eastern Roman
Empire, Constantine the
Great, and Byzantium

Learning Objective

• Explain the role of Constantine in Byzantine Empire

history

Key Points

• The Byzantine Empire (the Eastern Roman Empire)

was distinct from the Western Roman Empire in
several ways; most importantly, the Byzantines were
Christians and spoke Greek instead of Latin.
• The founder of the Byzantine Empire and its first
emperor, Constantine the Great, moved the capital of
the Roman Empire to the city of Byzantium in 330 CE,
and renamed it Constantinople.
• Constantine the Great also legalized Christianity,
which had previously been persecuted in the Roman
Empire. Christianity would become a major element
of Byzantine culture.

504 | The Eastern Roman Empire,

Constantine the Great, and
 • Constantinople became the largest city in the
empire and a major commercial center, while the
Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE.

Terms

Christianity

An Abrahamic religion based on the teachings of Jesus

Christ and various scholars who wrote the Christian Bible.
It was legalized in the Byzantine Empire by Constantine the
Great, and the religion became a major element of
Byzantine culture.

Germanic barbarians

An uncivilized or uncultured person, originally compared

to the hellenistic Greco-Roman civilization; often
associated with fighting or other such shows of strength.

The Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine the Great, and Byzantium | 505
Constantine the Great and the Beginning of
Byzantium

It is a matter of debate when the Roman Empire officially ended and

transformed into the Byzantine Empire. Most scholars accept that it
did not happen at one time, but that it was a slow process; thus, late
Roman history overlaps with early Byzantine history. Constantine
I (“the Great”) is usually held to be the founder of the Byzantine
Empire. He was responsible for several major changes that would
help create a Byzantine culture distinct from the Roman past.
As emperor, Constantine enacted many administrative, financial,
social, and military reforms to strengthen the empire. The
government was restructured and civil and military authority
separated. A new gold coin, the solidus, was introduced to combat
inflation. It would become the standard for Byzantine and European
currencies for more than a thousand years. As the first Roman
emperor to claim conversion to Christianity, Constantine played an
influential role in the development of Christianity as the religion of
the empire. In military matters, the Roman army was reorganized
to consist of mobile field units and garrison soldiers capable of
countering internal threats and barbarian invasions. Constantine
pursued successful campaigns against the tribes on the Roman
frontiers—the Franks, the Alamanni, the Goths, and the
Sarmatians—, and even resettled territories abandoned by his
predecessors during the turmoil of the previous century.
The age of Constantine marked a distinct epoch in the history of
the Roman Empire. He built a new imperial residence at Byzantium
and renamed the city Constantinople after himself (the laudatory
epithet of “New Rome” came later, and was never an official title). It
would later become the capital of the empire for over one thousand
years; for this reason the later Eastern Empire would come to be
known as the Byzantine Empire. His more immediate political legacy
was that, in leaving the empire to his sons, he replaced Diocletian’s
tetrarchy (government where power is divided among four

506 | The Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine the Great, and Byzantium
individuals) with the principle of dynastic succession. His reputation
flourished during the lifetime of his children, and for centuries after
his reign. The medieval church upheld him as a paragon of virtue,
while secular rulers invoked him as a prototype, a point of reference,
and the symbol of imperial legitimacy and identity.

Constantine the Great. Byzantine Emperor Constantine the Great presents a

representation of the city of Constantinople as tribute to an enthroned Mary
and Christ Child in this church mosaic. St Sophia, c. 1000 CE.

Constantinople and Civil Reform

Constantine moved the seat of the empire, and introduced

The Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine the Great, and Byzantium | 507
important changes into its civil and religious constitution. In 330, he
founded Constantinople as a second Rome on the site of Byzantium,
which was well-positioned astride the trade routes between east
and west; it was a superb base from which to guard the Danube
river, and was reasonably close to the eastern frontiers. Constantine
also began the building of the great fortified walls, which were
expanded and rebuilt in subsequent ages. J. B. Bury asserts that “the
foundation of Constantinople […] inaugurated a permanent division
between the Eastern and Western, the Greek and the Latin, halves
of the empire—a division to which events had already pointed—and
affected decisively the whole subsequent history of Europe.”
Constantine built upon the administrative reforms introduced by
Diocletian. He stabilized the coinage (the gold solidus that he
introduced became a highly prized and stable currency), and made
changes to the structure of the army. Under Constantine, the
empire had recovered much of its military strength and enjoyed a
period of stability and prosperity. He also reconquered southern
parts of Dacia, after defeating the Visigoths in 332, and he was
planning a campaign against Sassanid Persia as well. To divide
administrative responsibilities, Constantine replaced the single
praetorian prefect, who had traditionally exercised both military
and civil functions, with regional prefects enjoying civil authority
alone. In the course of the 4th century, four great sections emerged
from these Constantinian beginnings, and the practice of separating
civil from military authority persisted until the 7th century.

Constantine and Christianity

Constantine was the first emperor to stop Christian persecutions

and to legalize Christianity, as well as all other religions and cults in
the Roman Empire.
In February 313, Constantine met with Licinius in Milan, where
they developed the Edict of Milan. The edict stated that Christians

508 | The Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine the Great, and Byzantium
should be allowed to follow the faith without oppression. This
removed penalties for professing Christianity, under which many
had been martyred previously, and returned confiscated Church
property. The edict protected from religious persecution not only
Christians but all religions, allowing anyone to worship whichever
deity they chose.
Scholars debate whether Constantine adopted Christianity in his
youth from his mother, St. Helena,, or whether he adopted it
gradually over the course of his life. According to Christian writers,
Constantine was over 40 when he finally declared himself a
Christian, writing to Christians to make clear that he believed he
owed his successes to the protection of the Christian High God
alone. Throughout his rule, Constantine supported the Church
financially, built basilicas, granted privileges to clergy (e.g.
exemption from certain taxes), promoted Christians to high office,
and returned property confiscated during the Diocletianic
persecution. His most famous building projects include the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre, and Old Saint Peter’s Basilica.
The reign of Constantine established a precedent for the position
of the emperor as having great influence and ultimate regulatory
authority within the religious discussions involving the early
Christian councils of that time (most notably, the dispute over
Arianism, and the nature of God). Constantine himself disliked the
risks to societal stability that religious disputes and controversies
brought with them, preferring where possible to establish an
orthodoxy. One way in which Constantine used his influence over
the early Church councils was to seek to establish a consensus over
the oft debated and argued issue over the nature of God. In 325, he
summoned the Council of Nicaea, effectively the first Ecumenical
Council. The Council of Nicaea is most known for its dealing with
Arianism and for instituting the Nicene Creed, which is still used
today by Christians.

The Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine the Great, and Byzantium | 509
The Fall of the Western Roman Empire

After Constantine, few emperors ruled the entire Roman Empire.

It was too big and was under attack from too many directions.
Usually, there was an emperor of the Western Roman Empire ruling
from Italy or Gaul, and an emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire
ruling from Constantinople. While the Western Empire was overrun
by Germanic barbarians (its lands in Italy were conquered by the
Ostrogoths, Spain was conquered by the Visigoths, North Africa was
conquered by the Vandals, and Gaul was conquered by the Franks),
the Eastern Empire thrived. Constantinople became the largest city
in the empire and a major commercial center. In 476 CE, the last
Western Roman Emperor was deposed and the Western Roman
Empire was no more. Thus the Eastern Roman Empire was the only
Roman Empire left standing.

Sources

510 | The Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine the Great, and Byzantium
68. Justinian and Theodora

Learning Objective

• Discuss the accomplishments and failures of

Emperor Justinian the Great

Key Points

• Emperor Justinian the Great was responsible for

substantial expansion of the Byzantine Empire, and
for conquering Africa, Spain, Rome, and most of Italy.
• Justinian was responsible for the construction of
the Hagia Sophia, the center of Christianity in
Constantinople. Even today, the Hagia Sophia is
recognized as one of the greatest buildings in the
world.
• Justinian also systematized the Roman legal code
that served as the basis for law in the Byzantine
Empire.
• After a plague reduced the Byzantine population,
they lost Rome and Italy to the Ostrogoths, and
several important cities to the Persians.

Justinian and Theodora | 511

 Terms

Hagia Sophia

A church built by Byzantine Emperor Justinian; the center

of Christianity in Constantinople and one of the greatest
buildings in the world to this day. It is now a mosque in the
Muslim Istanbul.

Nika riots

When angry racing fans, already angry over rising taxes,

became enraged at Emperor Justinian for arresting two
popular charioteers, and tried to depose him in 532 CE.

Byzantine Empire from Constantine to

Justinian

One of Constantine’s successors, Theodosius I (379-395), was the

last emperor to rule both the Eastern and Western halves of the
empire. In 391 and 392, he issued a series of edicts essentially
banning pagan religion. Pagan festivals and sacrifices were banned,
as was access to all pagan temples and places of worship. The state
of the empire in 395 may be described in terms of the outcome
of Constantine’s work. The dynastic principle was established so
firmly that the emperor who died in that year, Theodosius I, could

512 | Justinian and Theodora

bequeath the imperial office jointly to his sons, Arcadius in the East
and Honorius in the West.
The Eastern Empire was largely spared the difficulties faced by
the west in the third and fourth centuries, due in part to a more
firmly established urban culture and greater financial resources,
which allowed it to placate invaders with tribute and pay foreign
mercenaries. Throughout the fifth century, various invading armies
overran the Western Empire but spared the east. Theodosius II
further fortified the walls of Constantinople, leaving the city
impervious to most attacks; the walls were not breached until 1204.
To fend off the Huns, Theodosius had to pay an enormous annual
tribute to Attila. His successor, Marcian, refused to continue to pay
the tribute, but Attila had already diverted his attention to the west.
After his death in 453, the Hunnic Empire collapsed, and many of the
remaining Huns were often hired as mercenaries by Constantinople.
Leo I succeeded Marcian as emperor, and after the fall of Attila,
the true chief in Constantinople was the Alan general, Aspar. Leo I
managed to free himself from the influence of the non-Orthodox
chief by supporting the rise of the Isaurians, a semi-barbarian tribe
living in southern Anatolia. Aspar and his son, Ardabur, were
murdered in a riot in 471, and henceforth, Constantinople restored
Orthodox leadership for centuries.
When Leo died in 474, Zeno and Ariadne’s younger son succeeded
to the throne as Leo II, with Zeno as regent. When Leo II died
later that year, Zeno became emperor. The end of the Western
Empire is sometimes dated to 476, early in Zeno’s reign, when the
Germanic Roman general, Odoacer, deposed the titular Western
Emperor Romulus Augustulus, but declined to replace him with
another puppet.

Emperor Justinian I

In 527 CE, Justinian I came to the throne in Constantinople. He

Justinian and Theodora | 513

dreamed of reconquering the lands of the Western Roman Empire
and ruling a single, united Roman Empire from his seat in
Constantinople.

Emperor Justinian. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I

depicted on one of the famous mosaics of the Basilica of
San Vitale, Ravenna.

The western conquests began in 533, as Justinian sent his general,

Belisarius, to reclaim the former province of Africa from the
Vandals, who had been in control since 429 with their capital at
Carthage. Belisarius successfully defeated the Vandals and claimed
Africa for Constantinople. Next, Justinian sent him to take Italy from
the Ostrogoths in 535 CE. Belisarius defeated the Ostrogoths in a
series of battles and reclaimed Rome. By 540 CE, most of Italy was
in Justinian’s hands. He sent another army to conquer Spain.

514 | Justinian and Theodora

The Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent, in 555 CE under Justinian the
Great.

Accomplishments in Byzantium

Justinian also undertook many important projects at home. Much

of Constantinople was burned down early in Justinian’s reign after
a series of riots called the Nika riots, in 532 CE, when angry racing
fans became enraged at Justinian for arresting two popular
charioteers (though this was really just the last straw for a populace
increasingly angry over rising taxes) and tried to depose him. The
riots were put down, and Justinian set about rebuilding the city on
a grander scale. His greatest accomplishment was the Hagia Sophia,
the most important church of the city. The Hagia Sophia was a
staggering work of Byzantine architecture, intended to awe all who
set foot in the church. It was the largest church in the world for
nearly a thousand years, and for the rest of Byzantine history it was
the center of Christian worship in Constantinople.

Justinian and Theodora | 515

The Hagia Sophia. Byzantine Emperor Justinian built the Greek Orthodox
Church of the Holy Wisdom of God, the Hagia Sophia, which was completed in
only four and a half years (532 CE-537 CE). Even now, it is universally
acknowledged as one of the greatest buildings in the world.

Emperor Justinian’s most important contribution, perhaps, was a

unified Roman legal code. Prior to his reign, Roman laws had
differed from region to region, and many contradicted one another.
The Romans had attempted to systematize the legal code in the
fifth century but had not completed the effort. Justinian set up a
commission of lawyers to put together a single code, listing each
law by subject so that it could be easily referenced. This not only
served as the basis for law in the Byzantine Empire, but it was the
main influence on the Catholic Church’s development of canon law,
and went on to become the basis of law in many European countries.
Justinian’s law code continues to have a major influence on public
international law to this day.
The impact of a more unified legal code and military conflicts was
the increased ability for the Byzantine Empire to establish trade and
improve their economic standing. Byzantine merchants traded not

516 | Justinian and Theodora

only all over the Mediterranean region, but also throughout regions
to the east. These included areas around the Black Sea, the Red Sea,
and the Indian Ocean.

Theodora

Theodora was empress of the Byzantine Empire and the wife of

Emperor Justinian I. She was one of the most influential and
powerful of the Byzantine empresses. Some sources mention her
as empress regnant, with Justinian I as her co-regent. Along with
her husband, she is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church,
commemorated on November 14.
Theodora participated in Justinian’s legal and spiritual reforms,
and her involvement in the increase of the rights of women was
substantial. She had laws passed that prohibited forced prostitution
and closed brothels. She created a convent on the Asian side of
the Dardanelles called the Metanoia (Repentance), where the ex-
prostitutes could support themselves. She also expanded the rights
of women in divorce and property ownership, instituted the death
penalty for rape, forbade exposure of unwanted infants, gave
mothers some guardianship rights over their children, and forbade
the killing of a wife who committed adultery.

Justinian’s Difficulties

A terrible plague swept through the empire, killing Theodora and

almost killing him. The plague wiped out huge numbers of the
empire’s population, leaving villages empty and crops unharvested.
The army was also afflicted, and the Ostrogoths were able to
effectively regain Italy in 546 CE, through guerrilla warfare against
the Byzantine occupiers.

Justinian and Theodora | 517

 With Justinian’s army bogged down fighting in Italy, the empire’s
defenses against the Persians on its eastern frontiers were
weakened. In the Roman-Persian Wars, the Persians invaded and
destroyed a number of important cities. Justinian was forced to
establish a humiliating 50-year peace treaty with them in 561 CE.
Still, Justinian kept the empire from collapse. He sent a new
general, Narses, to Italy with a small force. Narses finally defeated
the Ostrogoths and drove them back out of Italy. By the time the war
was over, Italy, once one of the most prosperous lands in the ancient
world, was wrecked. The city of Rome changed hands multiple
times, and most of the cities of Italy were abandoned or fell into
a long period of decline. The impoverishment of Italy and the
weakened Byzantine military made it impossible for the empire to
hold the peninsula. Soon a new Germanic tribe, the Lombards, came
in and conquered most of Italy, though Rome, Naples, and Ravenna
remained isolated pockets of Byzantine control. At the same time,
another new barbarian enemy, the Slavs, appeared from north of
the Danube. They devastated Greece and the Balkans, and in the
absence of strong Byzantine military might, they settled in small
communities in these lands.

Sources

518 | Justinian and Theodora

69. The Justinian Code

Learning Objective

• Explain the historical significance of Justinian’s

legal reforms

Key Points

• Shortly after Justinian became emperor in 527, he

decided the empire’s legal system needed repair.
• Early in his reign, Justinian appointed an official,
Tribonian, to oversee this task.
• The project as a whole became known as Corpus
juris civilis, or the Justinian Code.
• It consists of the Codex Iustinianus, the Digesta, the
Institutiones, and the Novellae.
• Many of the laws contained in the Codex were
aimed at regulating religious practice.
• The Corpus formed the basis not only of Roman
jurisprudence (including ecclesiastical Canon Law),
but also influenced civil law throughout the Middle
Ages and into modern nation states.

The Justinian Code | 519

 Terms

Corpus juris civilis

The modern name for a collection of fundamental works

in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of
Justinian I, Eastern Roman Emperor.

Justinian I

A Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign,

he sought to revive the empire’s greatness and reconquer
the lost western half of the historical Roman Empire; he
also enacted important legal codes.

Byzantine Emperor Justinian I achieved lasting fame through his

judicial reforms, particularly through the complete revision of all
Roman law, something that had not previously been attempted.
There existed three codices of imperial laws and other individual
laws, many of which conflicted or were out of date. The total of
Justinian’s legislature is known today as the Corpus juris civilis.
The work as planned had three parts:

1. Codex: a compilation, by selection and extraction, of imperial

enactments to date, going back to Hadrian in the 2nd century
CE.
2. Digesta: an encyclopedia composed of mostly brief extracts
from the writings of Roman jurists. Fragments were taken out
of various legal treatises and opinions and inserted in the

520 | The Justinian Code

 Digesta.
3. Institutiones: a student textbook, mainly introducing the Codex,
although it has important conceptual elements that are less
developed in the Codex or the Digesta.

All three parts, even the textbook, were given force of law. They
were intended to be, together, the sole source of law; reference
to any other source, including the original texts from which the
Codex and the Digesta had been taken, was forbidden. Nonetheless,
Justinian found himself having to enact further laws, and today
these are counted as a fourth part of the Corpus, the Novellae
Constitutiones. As opposed to the rest of the Corpus, the Novellae
appeared in Greek, the common language of the Eastern Empire.
The work was directed by Tribonian, an official in Justinian’s
court. His team was authorized to edit what they included. How far
they made amendments is not recorded and, in the main, cannot
be known because most of the originals have not survived. The text
was composed and distributed almost entirely in Latin, which was
still the official language of the government of the Byzantine Empire
in 529-534, whereas the prevalent language of merchants, farmers,
seamen, and other citizens was Greek.
Many of the laws contained in the Codex were aimed at regulating
religious practice, included numerous provisions served to secure
the status of Christianity as the state religion of the empire, uniting
church and state, and making anyone who was not connected to
the Christian church a non-citizen. It also contained laws forbidding
particular pagan practices; for example, all persons present at a
pagan sacrifice may be indicted as if for murder. Other laws, some
influenced by his wife, Theodora, include those to protect
prostitutes from exploitation, and women from being forced into
prostitution. Rapists were treated severely. Further, by his policies,
women charged with major crimes should be guarded by other
women to prevent sexual abuse; if a woman was widowed, her
dowry should be returned; and a husband could not take on a major
debt without his wife giving her consent twice.

The Justinian Code | 521

A later copy of Justinian’s Digesta: Digestorum, seu Pandectarum libri
quinquaginta. Lugduni apud Gulielmum Rouillium, 1581. From Biblioteca
Comunale “Renato Fucini” di Empoli.

522 | The Justinian Code

Legacy

The Corpus forms the basis of Latin jurisprudence (including

ecclesiastical Canon Law) and, for historians, provides a valuable
insight into the concerns and activities of the later Roman Empire.
As a collection, it gathers together the many sources in which the
laws and the other rules were expressed or published (proper laws,
senatorial consults, imperial decrees, case law, and jurists’ opinions
and interpretations). It formed the basis of later Byzantine law, as
expressed in the Basilika of Basil I and Leo VI the Wise. The only
western province where the Justinian Code was introduced was
Italy, from where it was to pass to western Europe in the 12th
century, and become the basis of much European law code. It
eventually passed to eastern Europe, where it appeared in Slavic
editions, and it also passed on to Russia.
It was not in general use during the Early Middle Ages. After
the Early Middle Ages, interest in it revived. It was “received” or
imitated as private law, and its public law content was quarried
for arguments by both secular and ecclesiastical authorities. The
revived Roman law, in turn, became the foundation of law in all
civil law jurisdictions. The provisions of the Corpus Juris Civilis also
influenced the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church; it was said
that ecclesia vivit lege romana—the church lives by Roman law. Its
influence on common law legal systems has been much smaller,
although some basic concepts from the Corpus have survived
through Norman law—such as the contrast, especially in the
Institutes, between “law” (statute) and custom. The Corpus
continues to have a major influence on public international law. Its
four parts thus constitute the foundation documents of the western
legal tradition.

Sources

The Justinian Code | 523

70. Emperor Heracluis

Learning Objective

• Identify the reason for the reduction in size of the

Byzantine Empire

Key Points

• After Justinian, the Byzantine Empire continued to

lose land to the Persians.
• Emperor Heraclius seized the throne in 610 CE, and
beat back the Persians by 628 CE.
• However, after Heraclius’ victory against the
Persians, he had taken such losses that he was unable
to defend the empire against the Arabs, and so they
again lost the lands they had just reconquered by 641
CE.
• Heraclius tried to unite all of the various religious
factions within the empire with a new formula that
was more inclusive and more elastic, called
monothelitism, which was eventually deemed
heretical by all factions.

524 | Emperor Heracluis

 Terms

Muhammad

The central figure of Islam, widely regarded as its

founder.

Monothelitism

The view that Jesus Christ has two natures but only one
will, a doctrine developed during Heraclius’ rule to bring
unity to the Church.

Conflict with the Persians and Chaos in the

Empire

Ever since the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman
Empire had continued to see western Europe as rightfully Imperial
territory. However, only Justinian I attempted to enforce this claim
with military might. Temporary success in the west was achieved
at the cost of Persian dominance in the east, where the Byzantines
were forced to pay tribute to avert war.
However, after Justinian’s death, much of newly recovered Italy
fell to the Lombards, and the Visigoths soon reduced the imperial
holdings in Spain. At the same time, wars with the Persian Empire
brought no conclusive victory. In 591 however, the long war was

Emperor Heracluis | 525

ended with a treaty favorable to Byzantium, which gained Armenia.
Thus, after the death of Justinian’s successor, Tiberius II, Maurice
sought to restore the prestige of the Empire.
Even though the empire had gained smaller successes over the
Slavs and Avars in pitched battles across the Danube, both
enthusiasm for the army and faith in the government had lessened
considerably. Unrest had reared its head in Byzantine cities as social
and religious differences manifested themselves into Blue and
Green factions that fought each other in the streets. The final blow
to the government was a decision to cut the pay of its army in
response to financial strains. The combined effect of an army revolt
led by a junior officer named Phocas and major uprisings by the
Greens and Blues forced Maurice to abdicate. The Senate approved
Phocas as the new emperor, and Maurice, the last emperor of the
Justinian Dynasty, was murdered along with his four sons.
The Persian King Khosrau II responded by launching an assault on
the empire, ostensibly to avenge Maurice, who had earlier helped
him to regain his throne. Phocas was already alienating his
supporters with his repressive rule (introducing torture on a large
scale), and the Persians were able to capture Syria and Mesopotamia
by 607.
While the Persians were making headway in their conquest of the
eastern provinces, Phocas chose to divide his subjects, rather than
unite them against the threat of the Persians. Perhaps seeing his
defeats as divine retribution, Phocas initiated a savage and bloody
campaign to forcibly convert the Jews to Christianity. Persecutions
and alienation of the Jews, a frontline people in the war against
the Persians helped drive them into aiding the Persian conquerors.
As Jews and Christians began tearing each other apart, some fled
the butchery into Persian territory. Meanwhile, it appears that the
disasters befalling the empire led the emperor into a state of
paranoia.

526 | Emperor Heracluis

The Heraclian Dynasty Under Heraclius

Due to the overwhelming crises that had pitched the empire into
chaos, Heraclius the Younger now attempted to seize power from
Phocas in an effort to better Byzantium’s fortunes. As the empire
was led into anarchy, the Exarchate of Carthage remained relatively
out of reach of Persian conquest. Far from the incompetent Imperial
authority of the time, Heraclius, the Exarch of Carthage, with his
brother Gregorius, began building up his forces to assault
Constantinople. In 608, after cutting off the grain supply to the
capital from his territory, Heraclius led a substantial army and a
fleet to restore order in the Empire. The reign of Phocas officially
ended in his execution, and the crowning of Heraclius by the
Patriarch of Constantinople two days later on October 5, 610. After
marrying his wife in an elaborate ceremony and being crowned
by the Patriarch, the 36-year-old Heraclius set out to perform his
work as emperor. The early portion of his reign yielded results
reminiscent of Phocas’ reign, with respect to trouble in the Balkans.
To recover from a seemingly endless string of defeats, Heraclius
drew up a reconstruction plan of the military, financing it by fining
those accused of corruption, increasing taxes, and debasing the
currency to pay more soldiers and forced loans.
Instead of facing the waves of invading Persians, he went around
them, sailing over the Black Sea and regrouping in Armenia, where
he found many Christian allies. From there, he invaded the Persian
Empire. By fighting behind enemy lines, he caused the Persians to
retreat from Byzantine lands. He defeated every Persian army sent
against him and then threatened the Persian capital. In a panic, the
Persians killed their king and replaced him with a new ruler who was
willing to negotiate with the Byzantines. In 628 CE, the war ended
with Heraclius’ defeat of the Persians.

Emperor Heracluis | 527

Emperor Heraclius. A plaque depicting Byzantine Emperor Heraclius
overcoming Persian King Khosrau II, c. 1160-1170 CE.

The Arab Invasion

By this time, it was generally expected by the Byzantine populace

that the emperor would lead Byzantium into a new age of glory.
However, all of Heraclius’ achievements would come to naught,
when, in 633, the Byzantine-Arab Wars began.
On June 8, 632, the Islamic Prophet Muhammad died of a fever.
However, the religion he left behind would transform the Middle
East. In 633, the armies of Islam marched out of Arabia with a goal
to spread the word of the prophet, with force if needed. In 634,
the Arabs defeated a Byzantine force sent into Syria and captured
Damascus. The arrival of another large Byzantine army outside

528 | Emperor Heracluis

Antioch (some 80,000 troops) forced the Arabs to retreat. The
Byzantines advanced in May 636. However, a sandstorm blew in
against the Byzantines on August 20, 636, and when the Arabs
charged against them, they were utterly annihilated.
Jerusalem surrendered to the Arabs in 637, following a stout
resistance; in 638, the Caliph Omar rode into the city. Heraclius
stopped by Jerusalem to recover the True Cross whilst it was under
siege. The Arab invasions are seen by some historians as the start of
the decline of the Byzantine Empire. Only parts of Syria and Cilicia
would be recovered.

Religious Controversy

The recovery of the eastern areas of the Roman Empire from the
Persians during the early phase of Heraclius’ rule raised the
problem of religious unity centering on the understanding of the
true nature of Christ. Most of the inhabitants of these provinces
were Monophysites who rejected the Council of Chalcedon of 451.
The Chalcedonian Definition of Christ as being of two natures,
divine and temporal, maintains that these two states remain distinct
within the person of Christ and yet come together within his one
true substance. This position was opposed by the Monophysites,
who held that Christ possessed one nature only; the human and
divine natures of Christ were fused into one new single (mono)
nature. This internal division was dangerous for the Byzantine
Empire, which was under constant threat from external enemies,
many of whom were in favor of Monophysitism, people on the
periphery of the Empire who also considered the religious hierarchy
at Constantinople to be heretical and only interested in crushing
their faith.
Heraclius tried to unite all of the various factions within the
empire with a new formula that was more inclusive and more

Emperor Heracluis | 529

elastic. With the successful conclusion to the Persian War, Heraclius
would devote more time to promoting his compromise.
The patriarch Sergius came up with a formula, which Heraclius
released as the Ecthesis in 638. It forbade all mention of Christ
possessing one or two energies, that is, one or two wills; instead, it
now proclaimed that Christ, while possessing two natures, had but a
single will. This approach seemed to be an acceptable compromise,
and it secured widespread support throughout the east. The two
remaining patriarchs in the east also gave their approval to the
doctrine, now referred to as Monothelitism, and so it looked as if
Heraclius would finally heal the divisions in the imperial church.
Unfortunately, he had not counted on the popes at Rome. During
that same year of 638, Pope Honorius I had died. His successor,
Pope Severinus (640), condemned the Ecthesis outright, and so was
forbidden his seat until 640. His successor, Pope John IV (640-42),
also rejected the doctrine completely, leading to a major schism
between the eastern and western halves of the Chalcedonian
Church. When news reached Heraclius of the pope’s condemnation,
he was already old and ill, and the news only hastened his death,
declaring with his dying breath that the controversy was all due
to Sergius, and that the patriarch had pressured him to give his
unwilling approval to the Ecthesis.

Sources

530 | Emperor Heracluis

71. The Theme System

Learning Objective

• Diagram the Byzantine military and social structure

under Heraclius

Key Points

• In the Byzantine-Arab wars of the Heraclian

Dynasty, the Arabs nearly destroyed the Byzantine
Empire altogether.
• In order to fight back, the Byzantines created a new
military system, known as the theme system, in which
land was granted to farmers who, in return, would
provide the empire with loyal soldiers. The efficiency
of this system allowed the dynasty to keep hold of
Asia Minor.
• The Arabs were finally repulsed through the use of
Greek fire, but Constantinople had decreased
massively in size, due to relocation.
• The empire was now poorer and society was
dominated by the military, as a result of the many
Arab invasions.

The Theme System | 531

 Terms

theme system

A new military system created during the Heraclian

Dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, in which land was
granted to farmers who, in return, would provide the
empire with loyal soldiers. Similar to the feudal system of
medieval western Europe.

Greek fire

A military weapon invented during the Byzantine

Heraclian Dynasty; flaming projectiles that could burn
while floating on water, and thus could be used for naval
warfare.

cosmopolitan

A city/place or person that embraces multicultural

demographics.

Caliphate

Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political

532 | The Theme System

 leader, known as a caliph (i.e., “successor”) to Muhammad
and the other prophets of Islam.

The themes (themata in Greek) were the main administrative

divisions of the middle Byzantine Empire. They were established
in the mid-7th century in the aftermath of the Slavic invasion of
the Balkans, and Muslim conquests of parts of Byzantine territory.
The themes replaced the earlier provincial system established by
Diocletian and Constantine the Great. In their origin, the first
themes were created from the areas of encampment of the field
armies of the East Roman army, and their names corresponded to
the military units that had existed in those areas. The theme system
reached its apogee in the 9th and 10th centuries, as older themes
were split up and the conquest of territory resulted in the creation
of new ones. The original theme system underwent significant
changes in the 11th and 12th centuries, but the term remained in use
as a provincial and financial circumscription, until the very end of
the empire.

Background

During the late 6th and early 7th centuries, the Eastern Roman
Empire was under frequent attack from all sides. The successors of
Heraclius had to fight a desperate war against the Arabs in order
to keep them from conquering the entire Byzantine Empire; these
conflicts were known as the Byzantine-Arab wars. The Arab
invasions were unlike any other threat the Byzantines ever faced.
Fighting a zealous holy war for Islam, the Arabs defeated army after
army of the Byzantines, and nearly destroyed the empire. Egypt fell
to the Arabs in 642 CE, and Carthage as well in 647 CE, and the

The Theme System | 533

Eastern Mediterranean slightly later. From 674-678 CE the Arabs laid
siege to Constantinople itself.
In order to survive and fight back, the Byzantines created a new
military system, known as the theme system. Abandoning the
professional army inherited from the Roman past, the Byzantines
granted land to farmers who, in return, would provide the empire
with loyal soldiers. This was similar to the feudal system in medieval
western Europe, but it differed in one important way—in the
Byzantine theme system, the state continued to own the land, and
simply leased it in exchange for service, whereas in the feudal
system ownership of the lands was given over entirely to vassals.
This efficiency of the theme system allowed the dynasty to keep
hold of the imperial heartland of Asia Minor.
Thus, by the turning of the 8th century, the themes had become
the dominant feature of imperial administration. Their large size
and power, however, made their generals prone to revolt, as had
been evidenced in the turbulent period 695-715, and would again
during the great revolt of Artabasdos in 741-742.

The Theme System. Map depicting the locations of the themes established
during the Heraclian Dynasty of the Byzantine Empire.

534 | The Theme System

Despite the prominence of the themes, it was some time before
they became the basic unit of the imperial administrative system.
Although they had become associated with specific regions by the
early 8th century, it took until the end of the 8th century for the civil
fiscal administration to begin being organized around them, instead
of following the old provincial system. This process, resulting in
unified control over both military and civil affairs of each theme
by its strategos, was complete by the mid-9th century, and is the
“classical” thematic model.

Structure of the Themes

The term theme was ambiguous, referring both to a form of military

tenure and to an administrative division. A theme was an
arrangement of plots of land given for farming to the soldiers. The
soldiers were still technically a military unit, under the command of
a strategos, and they did not own the land they worked, as it was
still controlled by the state. Therefore, for its use the soldiers’ pay
was reduced. By accepting this proposition, the participants agreed
that their descendants would also serve in the military and work
in a theme, thus simultaneously reducing the need for unpopular
conscription, as well as cheaply maintaining the military. It also
allowed for the settling of conquered lands, as there was always a
substantial addition made to public lands during a conquest.
The commander of a theme, however, did not only command
his soldiers. He united the civil and military jurisdictions in the
territorial area in question. Thus the division set up by Diocletian
between civil governors (praesides) and military commanders
(duces) was abolished, and the empire returned to a system much
more similar to that of the Republic or the Principate, where
provincial governors had also commanded the armies in their area.

The Theme System | 535

Consequences of the Theme System

Early on, Heraclius had proven himself to be an excellent

Emperor—his reorganization of the empire into themes allowed the
Byzantines to extract as much as they possibly could to increase
their military potential. This became essential after 650, when the
Islamic Caliphate was far more resourceful and powerful then the
Byzantines were. As a result, a high level of efficiency was needed to
combat the Arabs, achieved in part due to the theme system.
The Arabs were finally repulsed through the use of Greek fire,
flaming projectiles that could burn while floating on water, and thus,
could be used for naval warfare. Greek fire was a closely guarded
state secret, a secret that has since been lost. The composition
of Greek fire remains a matter of speculation and debate, with
proposals including combinations of pine resin, naphtha, quicklime,
sulfur, or niter. Byzantine use of incendiary mixtures was especially
effective, thanks to the use of pressurized nozzles or siphōn to
project the liquid onto the enemy. The Arab-Muslim navies
eventually adapted to their use. Under constant threat of attack,
Constantinople had dropped substantially in size, due to relocation,
from 500,000 to 40,000-70,000.

536 | The Theme System

Greek Fire. Image from an illuminated manuscript (the Skylitzes manuscript)
showing the Byzantine Navy’s use of Greek fire against the fleet of the rebel
Thomas the Slav, c. 12th century CE. The caption above the left ship reads “the
fleet of the Romans setting ablaze the fleet of the enemies.”

By the end of the Heraclian Dynasty in 711 CE, the empire had
transformed from the Eastern Roman Empire, with its urbanized,
cosmopolitan civilization, to the medieval Byzantine Empire, an
agrarian, military-dominated society in a lengthy struggle with the
Muslims. The loss of the empire’s richest provinces, coupled with
successive invasions, had reduced the imperial economy to a
relatively impoverished state, compared to the resources available
to the Caliphate. The monetary economy persisted, but the barter
economy experienced a revival as well. However, this state was
also far more homogeneous than the Eastern Roman Empire; the
borders had shrunk, such that many of the Latin-speaking
territories were lost and the dynasty was reduced to its mostly
Greek-speaking territories. This enabled it to weather these storms
and enter a period of stability under the next dynasty, the Isaurian
Dynasty.

Sources

The Theme System | 537

72. The Isaurian Dynasty

Learning Objective

• Describe governmental and religious changes that

occured during the Isaurian Dynasty

Key Points

• The Isaurian Dynasty, founded by Leo III, was a

time of relative stability, compared to the constant
warfare against the Arabs that characterized the
preceding Heraclian Dynasty.
• However, the Bulgars, a nomadic tribe, rose up in
Europe and took some Byzantine lands.
• The Isaurian Dynasty is chiefly associated with
Byzantine Iconoclasm, an attempt to restore divine
favor by purifying the Christian faith from excessive
adoration of icons, which resulted in considerable
internal turmoil.
• The Second Arab siege of Constantinople in 717-718
was an unsuccessful offensive by the Muslim Arabs of
the Umayyad Caliphate against the capital city of the
Byzantine Empire, Constantinople.
• The outcome of the siege was of considerable

538 | The Isaurian Dynasty

 macrohistorical importance; the Byzantine capital’s
survival preserved the empire as a bulwark against
Islamic expansion into Europe until the 15th century,
when it fell to the Ottoman Turks.
• By the end of the Isaurian Dynasty in 802 CE, the
Byzantines were continuing to fight the Arabs and the
Bulgars, and the empire had been reduced from a
Mediterranean-wide empire to only Thrace and Asia
Minor.

Terms

iconoclasm

The deliberate destruction within a culture of the

culture’s own religious icons and other symbols or
monuments, usually for religious or political motives. It is a
frequent component of major political or religious changes.

Bulgars

A nomadic tribe related to the Huns; they presented a

threat to the Byzantine Empire.

The Byzantine Empire was ruled by the Isaurian or Syrian Dynasty

The Isaurian Dynasty | 539

from 717-802. The Isaurian emperors were successful in defending
and consolidating the empire against the Caliphate after the
onslaught of the early Muslim conquests, but were less successful
in Europe, where they suffered setbacks against the Bulgars, had to
give up the Exarchate of Ravenna, and lost influence over Italy and
the Papacy to the growing power of the Franks.
The Isaurian Dynasty is chiefly associated with Byzantine
Iconoclasm, an attempt to restore divine favor by purifying the
Christian faith from excessive adoration of icons, which resulted in
considerable internal turmoil.
By the end of the Isaurian Dynasty in 802, the Byzantines were
continuing to fight the Arabs and the Bulgars for their very
existence, with matters made more complicated when Pope Leo
III crowned Charlemagne Imperator Romanorum (“Emperor of the
Romans”), which was seen as making the Carolingian Empire the
successor to the Roman Empire, or at least the western half.
Leo III, who would become the founder of the so-called Isaurian
Dynasty, was actually born in Germanikeia in northern Syria c. 685;
his alleged origin from Isauria derives from a reference in
Theophanes the Confessor, which may be a later addition. After
being raised to spatharios by Justinian II, he fought the Arabs in
Abasgia, and was appointed as strategos of the Anatolics by
Anastasios II. Following the latter’s fall in 716, Leo allied himself
with Artabasdos, the general of the Armeniacs, and was proclaimed
emperor while two Arab armies campaigned in Asia Minor. Leo
averted an attack by Maslamah through clever negotiations, in
which he promised to recognize the Caliph’s suzerainty. However,
on March 25, 717, he entered Constantinople and deposed
Theodosios.

Leo III’s Rule

Having preserved the empire from extinction by the Arabs, Leo

540 | The Isaurian Dynasty

proceeded to consolidate its administration, which in the previous
years of anarchy had become completely disorganized. In 718, he
suppressed a rebellion in Sicily and in 719 did the same on behalf of
the deposed Emperor Anastasios II.
Leo secured the empire’s frontiers by inviting Slavic settlers into
the depopulated districts, and by restoring the army to efficiency;
when the Umayyad Caliphate renewed their invasions in 726 and
739, as part of the campaigns of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, the Arab
forces were decisively beaten, particularly at Akroinon in 740. His
military efforts were supplemented by his alliances with the Khazars
and the Georgians.
Leo undertook a set of civil reforms, including the abolition of
the system of prepaying taxes, which had weighed heavily upon
the wealthier proprietors; the elevation of the serfs into a class
of free tenants; and the remodeling of family, maritime law, and
criminal law, notably substituting mutilation for the death penalty
in many cases. The new measures, which were embodied in a new
code called the Ecloga (Selection), published in 726, met with some
opposition on the part of the nobles and higher clergy. The emperor
also undertook some reorganization of the theme structure by
creating new themata in the Aegean region.

Byzantine Coin. A gold coin, or solidus, engraved with the emperors of the
Byzantine Isaurian Dynasty, from c. 780 CE. Left: Leo IV with his son
Constantine VI; Right: Leo III with his son Constantine V on the reverse.

The Isaurian Dynasty | 541

The Siege of Constantinople

The Second Arab siege of Constantinople in 717-718 was a combined

land and sea offensive by the Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad
Caliphate against the capital city of the Byzantine Empire,
Constantinople. The campaign marked the culmination of twenty
years of attacks and progressive Arab occupation of the Byzantine
borderlands, while Byzantine strength was sapped by prolonged
internal turmoil. In 716, after years of preparations, the Arabs, led by
Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, invaded Byzantine Asia Minor. The Arabs
initially hoped to exploit Byzantine civil strife, and made common
cause with the general Leo III the Isaurian, who had risen up against
Emperor Theodosius III. Leo, however, tricked them and secured
the Byzantine throne for himself.
After wintering in the western coastlands of Asia Minor, the Arab
army crossed into Thrace in early summer 717 and built siege lines to
blockade the city, which was protected by the massive Theodosian
Walls. The Arab fleet, which accompanied the land army and was
meant to complete the city’s blockade by sea, was neutralized soon
after its arrival by the Byzantine navy through the use of Greek
fire. This allowed Constantinople to be resupplied by sea, while the
Arab army was crippled by famine and disease during the unusually
hard winter that followed. In spring 718, two Arab fleets sent as
reinforcements were destroyed by the Byzantines after their
Christian crews defected, and an additional army sent overland
through Asia Minor was ambushed and defeated. Coupled with
attacks by the Bulgars on their rear, the Arabs were forced to lift
the siege on August 15, 718. On its return journey, the Arab fleet
was almost completely destroyed by natural disasters and Byzantine
attacks.
The Arab failure was chiefly logistical, as they were operating too
far from their Syrian bases, but the superiority of the Byzantine
navy through the use of Greek fire, the strength of Constantinople’s

542 | The Isaurian Dynasty

fortifications, and the skill of Leo III in deception and negotiations,
also played important roles.
The siege’s failure had wide-ranging repercussions. The rescue
of Constantinople ensured the continued survival of Byzantium,
while the Caliphate’s strategic outlook was altered: although regular
attacks on Byzantine territories continued, the goal of outright
conquest was abandoned. Historians consider the siege to be one of
history’s most important battles, as its failure postponed the Muslim
advance into Southeastern Europe for centuries. The Byzantine
capital’s survival preserved the empire as a bulwark against Islamic
expansion into Europe until the 15th century, when it fell to the
Ottoman Turks. Along with the Battle of Tours in 732, the successful
defense of Constantinople has been seen as instrumental in
stopping Muslim expansion into Europe.

Sources

The Isaurian Dynasty | 543

73. Iconoclasm in Byzantium

Learning Objective

• Understand the reasoning and events that led to

iconoclasm

Key Points

• Isaurian Emperor Leo III interpreted his many

military failures as a judgment on the empire by God,
and decided that it was being judged for the worship
of religious images. He banned religious images in
about 730 CE, the beginning of the Byzantine
Iconoclasm.
• At the Council of Hieria in 754 CE, the Church
endorsed an iconoclast position and declared image
worship to be blasphemy.
• At the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 CE, the
decrees of the previous iconoclast council were
reversed and image worship was restored, marking
the end of the First Iconoclasm.
• Emperor Leo V instituted a second period of
iconoclasm in 814 CE, again possibly motivated by
military failures seen as indicators of divine

544 | Iconoclasm in Byzantium

 displeasure, but only a few decades later, in 842 CE,
icon worship was again reinstated.

Terms

iconoclasm

The deliberate destruction within a culture of the

culture’s own religious icons and other symbols or
monuments.

Council of Hieria

The first church council concerned with religious

imagery. On behalf of the church, the council endorsed an
iconoclast position and declared image worship to be
blasphemy.

Second Council of Nicaea

This council reversed the decrees of the Council of Hieria

and restored image worship, marking the end of the First
Byzantine Iconoclasm.

Iconoclasm in Byzantium | 545

Iconoclasm, Greek for “image-breaking,” is the deliberate
destruction within a culture of the culture’s own religious icons and
other symbols or monuments. Iconoclasm is generally motivated
by an interpretation of the Ten Commandments that declares the
making and worshipping of images, or icons, of holy figures (such
as Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and saints) to be idolatry and
therefore blasphemy.
Most surviving sources concerning the Byzantine Iconoclasm
were written by the victors, or the iconodules (people who worship
religious images), so it is difficult to obtain an accurate account of
events. However, the Byzantine Iconoclasm refers to two periods
in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious
images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial authorities.
The “First Iconoclasm,” as it is sometimes called, lasted between
about 730 CE and 787 CE, during the Isaurian Dynasty. The “Second
Iconoclasm” was between 814 CE and 842 CE. The movement was
triggered by changes in Orthodox worship that were themselves
generated by the major social and political upheavals of the seventh
century for the Byzantine Empire.

546 | Iconoclasm in Byzantium

Byzantine Iconoclasm. A depiction of the destruction of a religious image
under the Byzantine Iconoclasm, by Chludov Psalter, 9th century CE.

Causes

Traditional explanations for Byzantine Iconoclasm have sometimes

focused on the importance of Islamic prohibitions against images
influencing Byzantine thought. According to Arnold J. Toynbee, for
example, it was the prestige of Islamic military successes in the 7th
and 8th centuries that motivated Byzantine Christians to adopt the
Islamic position of rejecting and destroying idolatrous images. The
role of women and monks in supporting the veneration of images

Iconoclasm in Byzantium | 547

has also been asserted. Social and class-based arguments have been
put forward, such as the assertion that iconoclasm created political
and economic divisions in Byzantine society, and that it was
generally supported by the eastern, poorer, non-Greek peoples of
the empire who had to constantly deal with Arab raids. On the other
hand, the wealthier Greeks of Constantinople, and also the peoples
of the Balkan and Italian provinces, strongly opposed iconoclasm.
In recent decades in Greece, iconoclasm has become a favorite
topic of progressive and Marxist historians and social scientists,
who consider it a form of medieval class struggle and have drawn
inspiration from it. Re-evaluation of the written and material
evidence relating to the period of Byzantine Iconoclasm by scholars,
including John Haldon and Leslie Brubaker, has challenged many
of the basic assumptions and factual assertions of the traditional
account.

The First Iconoclasm: Leo III

The seventh century had been a period of major crisis for the
Byzantine Empire, and believers had begun to lean more heavily on
divine support. The use of images of the holy increased in Orthodox
worship, and these images increasingly came to be regarded as
points of access to the divine. Leo III interpreted his many military
failures as a judgment on the empire by God, and decided that they
were being judged for their worship of religious images.
Emperor Leo III, the founder of the Isaurian Dynasty, and the
iconoclasts of the eastern church, banned religious images in about
730 CE, claiming that worshiping them was heresy; this ban
continued under his successors. He accompanied the ban with
widespread destruction of religious images and persecution of the
people who worshipped them.
The western church remained firmly in support of the use of
images throughout the period, and the whole episode widened the

548 | Iconoclasm in Byzantium

growing divergence between the eastern and western traditions in
what was still a unified church, as well as facilitating the reduction
or removal of Byzantine political control over parts of Italy.
Leo died in 741 CE, and his son and heir, Constantine V, furthered
his views until the end of his own rule in 775 CE. In 754 CE,
Constantine summoned the first ecumenical council concerned
with religious imagery, the Council of Hieria; 340 bishops attended.
On behalf of the church, the council endorsed an iconoclast position
and declared image worship to be blasphemy. John of Damascus,
a Syrian monk living outside Byzantine territory, became a major
opponent of iconoclasm through his theological writings.

The Brief Return of Icon Worship

After the death of Constantine’s son, Leo IV (who ruled from 775
CE-780 CE), his wife, Irene, took power as regent for her son,
Constantine VI (who ruled from 780 CE-97 CE). After Leo IV too
died, Irene called another ecumenical council, the Second Council
of Nicaea, in 787 CE, that reversed the decrees of the previous
iconoclast council and restored image worship, marking the end of
the First Iconoclasm. This may have been an attempt to soothe the
strained relations between Constantinople and Rome.

The Second Iconoclasm (814 CE-842 CE)

Emperor Leo V the Armenian instituted a second period of

Iconoclasm in 814 CE, again possibly motivated by military failures
seen as indicators of divine displeasure. The Byzantines had
suffered a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Bulgarian
Khan Krum. It was made official in 815 CE at a meeting of the clergy

Iconoclasm in Byzantium | 549

in the Hagia Sophia. But only a few decades later, in 842 CE, the
regent Theodora again reinstated icon worship.

Sources

550 | Iconoclasm in Byzantium

74. The Emperor Irene

Learning Objective

• Analyze the significance of Emperor Irene

Key Points

• Irene of Athens was an orphan from a noble family,

and was married to the son of the current emperor,
Leo IV, in 768.
• When Leo died in 780, Irene became regent for
their nine-year-old son, Constantine, who was too
young to rule as emperor, thereby giving her
administrative control over the empire.
• As imperial regent, Irene subdued rebellions and
fought the Arabs with mixed success. She also ended
the First Iconoclasm in the Eastern Church.
• When Constantine became old enough to become
emperor proper, he eventually rebelled against Irene,
although he let her keep the title of empress.
• Soon after, Irene organized her own rebellion and
eventually killed her son, thereby claiming sole
rulership over the empire as empress, the first
woman to have that title in the empire.

The Emperor Irene | 551

 • Although it is often asserted that, as monarch,
Irene called herself “emperor” rather than “empress,”
in fact she used “empress” in most of her documents,
coins, and seals.
• The pope would not recognize a woman as ruler,
and in 800, crowned Charlemagne as imperial ruler
over the entire Roman territory, including Byzantium.
• Charlemagne did not attempt to rule Byzantium,
but relations between the two empires remained
difficult.
• Irene was eventually deposed by her finance
minister.

Terms

regent

A person appointed to administer a state because the

monarch is a minor, is absent, or is incapacitated.

strategos

A military governor in the Byzantine Empire.

552 | The Emperor Irene

 Iconoclasm

The destruction of religious icons, and other images or

monuments, for religious or political motives.

Irene of Athens (c. 752-803 CE) was Byzantine empress from 797 to
802. Before that, Irene was empress consort from 775 to 780, and
empress dowager and regent from 780 to 797. She is best known for
ending iconoclasm.

The Emperor Irene | 553

554 | The Emperor Irene
Empress Irene. Image from “Pala d’Oro,” Venice, c. 10th century.

Early Life

Irene was related to the noble Greek Sarantapechos family of

Athens. Although she was an orphan, her uncle or cousin,
Constantine Sarantapechos, was a patrician and was possibly the
strategos of the theme of Hellas at the end of the 8th century.
She was brought to Constantinople by Emperor Constantine V on
November 1, 768, and was married to his son, Leo IV, on December
17.
On 14 January 771, Irene gave birth to a son, the future Constantine
VI. When Constantine V died in September 775, Leo succeeded to
the throne at the age of twenty-five years. Leo, though an
iconoclast, pursued a policy of moderation towards iconodules, but
his policies became much harsher in August 780, when a number
of courtiers were punished for venerating icons. According to
tradition, he discovered icons concealed among Irene’s possessions
and refused to share the marriage bed with her thereafter.
Nevertheless, when Leo died on September 8, 780, Irene became
regent for their nine-year-old son, Constantine, thereby giving her
administrative control over the empire.

Regency

Irene was almost immediately confronted with a conspiracy that

tried to raise Caesar Nikephoros, a half-brother of Leo IV, to the
throne. To overcome this challenge, she had Nikephoros and his co-
conspirators ordained as priests, a status which disqualified them
from ruling.

The Emperor Irene | 555

 As early as 781, Irene began to seek a closer relationship with
the Carolingian Dynasty and the Papacy in Rome. She negotiated
a marriage between her son, Constantine, and Rotrude, a daughter
of Charlemagne by his third wife, Hildegard. During this time,
Charlemagne was at war with the Saxons, and would later become
the new king of the Franks. Irene went as far as to send an official
to instruct the Frankish princess in Greek; however, Irene herself
broke off the engagement in 787, against her son’s wishes.
Irene next had to subdue a rebellion led by Elpidius, the strategos
of Sicily. Irene sent a fleet, which succeeded in defeating the
Sicilians. Elpidius fled to Africa, where he defected to the Abbasid
Caliphate. After the success of Constantine V’s general, Michael
Lachanodrakon, who foiled an Abbasid attack on the eastern
frontiers, a huge Abbasid army under Harun al-Rashid invaded
Anatolia in summer 782. The strategos of the Bucellarian Theme,
Tatzates, defected to the Abbasids, and Irene, in exchange for a
three-year truce, had to agree to pay an annual tribute of 70,000 or
90,000 dinars to the Abbasids, give them 10,000 silk garments, and
provide them with guides, provisions, and access to markets during
their withdrawal.

Ending Iconoclasm

Irene’s most notable act was the restoration of the veneration of

icons, thereby ending the First Iconoclasm of the Eastern Church.
Having chosen Tarasios, one of her partisans and her former
secretary, as Patriarch of Constantinople in 784, she summoned two
church councils. The first of these, held in 786 at Constantinople,
was frustrated by the opposition of the iconoclast soldiers. The
second, convened at Nicaea in 787, formally revived the veneration
of icons and reunited the Eastern Church with that of Rome.
While this greatly improved relations with the Papacy, it did not
prevent the outbreak of a war with the Franks, who took over Istria

556 | The Emperor Irene

and Benevento in 788. In spite of these reverses, Irene’s military
efforts met with some success: in 782 her favored courtier,
Staurakios, subdued the Slavs of the Balkans and laid the
foundations of Byzantine expansion and re-Hellenization in the
area. Nevertheless, Irene was constantly harried by the Abbasids,
and in 782 and 798, had to accept the terms of the respective Caliphs
Al-Mahdi and Harun al-Rashid.

Rule as Empress

As Constantine approached maturity, he began to grow restless

under her autocratic sway. An attempt to free himself by force was
met and crushed by the empress, who demanded that the oath
of fidelity should thenceforward be taken in her name alone. The
discontent that this occasioned swelled in 790 into open resistance,
and the soldiers, headed by the army of the Armeniacs, formally
proclaimed Constantine VI as the sole ruler.
A hollow semblance of friendship was maintained between
Constantine and Irene, whose title of empress was confirmed in 792;
however, the rival factions remained, and in 797, Irene, by cunning
intrigues with the bishops and courtiers, organized a conspiracy on
her own behalf. Constantine could only flee for aid to the provinces,
but even there participants in the plot surrounded him. Seized by
his attendants on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus, Constantine
was carried back to the palace at Constantinople. His eyes were
gouged out, and according to most contemporary accounts, he died
from his wounds a few days later, leaving Irene to be crowned as
first empress regnant of Constantinople.
As empress, Irene made determined efforts to stamp out
iconoclasm everywhere in the empire, including within the ranks of
the army. During Irene’s reign, the Arabs were continuing to raid
into and despoil the small farms of the Anatolian section of the
empire. These small farmers of Anatolia owed a military obligation

The Emperor Irene | 557

to the Byzantine throne. Indeed, the Byzantine army and the
defense of the empire was largely based on this obligation and the
Anatolian farmers. The iconodule (icon worship) policy drove these
farmers out of the army, and thus off their farms. Thus, the army
was weakened and was unable to protect Anatolia from the Arab
raids. Many of the remaining farmers of Anatolia were driven from
the farm to settle in the city of Byzantium, further reducing the
army’s ability to raise soldiers. Additionally, the abandoned farms
fell from the tax rolls and reduced the amount of income that the
government received. These farms were taken over by the largest
land owner in the Byzantine Empire, the monasteries. To make the
situation even worse, Irene had exempted all monasteries from all
taxation.
Given the financial ruin into which the empire was headed, it was
no wonder, then, that Irene was, eventually, deposed by her own
minister of finance. The leader of this successful revolt against Irene
replaced her on the Byzantine throne under the name Nicephorus I.
Although it is often asserted that, as monarch, Irene called herself
“basileus” (emperor), rather than “basilissa” (empress), in fact there
are only three instances where it is known that she used the title
“basileus“: two legal documents in which she signed herself as
“Emperor of the Romans,” and a gold coin of hers found in Sicily
bearing the title of “basileus.” She used the title “basilissa” in all other
documents, coins, and seals.

Relationship with the Carolingian Empire

Irene’s unprecedented position as an empress ruling in her own

right was emphasized by the coincidental rise of the Carolingian
Empire in western Europe, which rivaled Irene’s Byzantium in size
and power. In 800, Charlemagne was crowned emperor by Pope
Leo III, on Christmas Day. The clergy and nobles attending the
ceremony proclaimed Charlemagne as “Emperor of the Roman

558 | The Emperor Irene

Empire.” In support of Charlemagne’s coronation, some argued that
the imperial position was actually vacant, deeming a woman unfit to
be emperor. However, Charlemagne made no claim to the Byzantine
Empire. Relations between the two empires remained difficult.

Sources

The Emperor Irene | 559

75. The Macedonian Dynasty

Learning Objective

• Discuss hegemony under the Macedonian Dynasty

Key Points

• Shortly after the extended controversy over the

Byzantine Iconoclasm, the Byzantine Empire would
recover under the Macedonian Dynasty, starting in
867 CE.
• The Macedonian Dynasty saw the Byzantine
Renaissance, a time of increased interest in classical
scholarship and the assimilation of classical motifs
into Christian artwork.
• The empire also expanded during this period,
conquering Crete, Cyprus, and most of Syria.
• However, the Macedonian Dynasty also saw
increasing dissatisfaction and competition for land
among nobles in the theme system, which weakened
the authority of the emperors and led to instability.

560 | The Macedonian Dynasty

 Terms

Byzantine Renaissance

The time during the Macedonian Dynasty when art,

literature, science, and philosophy flourished.

Emperor Basil I

Shortly after the extended controversy over iconoclasm, which

more or less ended (at least in the east) with the regent Theodora
reinstating icon worship in 842 CE, Emperor Basil I founded a new
dynasty, the Macedonian Dynasty, in 867 CE. Basil was born a simple
peasant in the Byzantine theme of Macedonia; he rose in the
Imperial Court, and usurped the imperial throne from Emperor
Michael III (r. 842-867). Despite his humble origins, he showed great
ability in running the affairs of state, leading to a revival of imperial
power and a renaissance of Byzantine art. He was perceived by the
Byzantines as one of their greatest emperors, and the Macedonian
Dynasty ruled over what is regarded as the most glorious and
prosperous era of the Byzantine Empire.
It was under this dynasty that the Byzantine Empire would
recover from its previous turmoil, and become the most powerful
state in the medieval world. This was also a period of cultural and
artistic flowering in the Byzantine world. The cities of the empire
expanded, and affluence spread across the provinces because of the
new-found security. The population rose, and production increased,

The Macedonian Dynasty | 561

stimulating new demand, while also helping to encourage trade.
The iconoclast movement experienced a steep decline; the decline
was advantageous to the emperors who had softly suppressed
iconoclasm, and to the reconciliation of the religious strife that had
drained the imperial resources in the previous centuries.

Emperor Basil I. A depiction of Byzantine Emperor Basil I, of the

Macedonian Dynasty, on horseback.

Macedonian Renaissance

The time of the Macedonian Dynasty’s rule over the Byzantine

Empire is sometimes called the Byzantine Renaissance or the
Macedonian Renaissance. A long period of military struggle for
survival had recently dominated the life of the Byzantine Empire,
but the Macedonians ushered in an age when art and literature once
again flourished. The classical Greco-Roman heritage of Byzantium
was central to the writers and artists of the period. Byzantine
scholars, most notably Leo the Mathematician, read the scientific

562 | The Macedonian Dynasty

and philosophical works of the ancient Greeks and expanded upon
them. Artists adopted their naturalistic style and complex
techniques from ancient Greek and Roman art, and mixed them
with Christian themes. Byzantine painting from this period would
have a strong influence on the later painters of the Italian
Renaissance.

Political and Religious Expansion

The Macedonian Dynasty also oversaw the expansion of the

Byzantine Empire, which went on the offensive against its enemies.
For example, Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (who ruled from 912
CE-969 CE) pursued an aggressive policy of expansion. Before rising
to the throne, he had conquered Crete from the Muslims, and as
emperor he led the conquest of Cyprus and most of Syria.
The Macedonian period also included events of momentous
religious significance. The conversion of the Bulgarians, Serbs, and
Rus’ to Orthodox Christianity permanently changed the religious
map of Europe, and still impacts demographics today. Cyril and
Methodius, two Byzantine Greek brothers, contributed significantly
to the Christianization of the Slavs, and in the process devised the
Glagolitic alphabet, ancestor to the Cyrillic script.
Throughout this period there was great competition among
nobles for land in the theme system. Since such governors could
collect taxes and control the military forces of their themes, they
became independent of the emperors and acted independently,
weakening the authority of the emperors. They tended to increase
taxes on small farmers in order to enrich themselves, thereby
causing massive dissatisfaction.

Sources

The Macedonian Dynasty | 563

76. The Great Schism of 1054

Learning Objective

• Identify the consequences of the East-West Schism

Key Points

• By the turn of the millennium, the Eastern and

Western Roman Empires had been gradually
separating along religious fault lines for centuries. A
separation in the Roman world can be marked with
the construction of Constantine The Great’s New
Rome in Byzantium.
• The Byzantine Iconoclasm, in particular, widened
the growing divergence and tension between east and
west—the Western Church remained firmly in
support of the use of religious images—though the
church was still unified at this time.
• In response, the pope in the west declared a new
emperor in Charlemagne, solidifying the rift and
causing outrage in the east. The empire in the west
became known as the Holy Roman Empire.
• Finally, 1054 CE saw the East-West Schism: the
formal declaration of institutional separation between

564 | The Great Schism of 1054

 east, into the Orthodox Church (now Eastern
Orthodox Church), and west, into the Catholic
Church (now Roman Catholic Church).

Terms

East-West Schism

The formal institutional separation in 1054 CE between

the Eastern Church of the Byzantine Empire (into the
Orthodox Church, now called the Eastern Orthodox
Church) and the Western Church of the Holy Roman
Empire (into the Catholic Church, now called the Roman
Catholic Church).

Iconoclasm

The destruction or prohibition of religious icons and

other images or monuments for religious or political
motives.

The East-West Schism, also called the Great Schism and the Schism
of 1054, was the break of communion between what are now the
Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches, which has lasted since the
11th century.

The Great Schism of 1054 | 565

 The ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes between
the Greek east and Latin west pre-existed the formal rupture that
occurred in 1054. Prominent among these were the issues of the
source of the Holy Spirit, whether leavened or unleavened bread
should be used in the Eucharist, the Bishop of Rome’s claim to
universal jurisdiction, and the place of the See of Constantinople in
relation to the Pentarchy.

Tensions Between East and West

By the turn of the millennium, the Eastern and Western Roman

Empires had been gradually separating along religious fault lines
for centuries, beginning with Emperor Leo III’s pioneering of the
Byzantine Iconoclasm in 730 CE, in which he declared the worship
of religious images to be heretical. The Western Church remained
firmly in support of the use of religious images. Leo tried to use
military force to compel Pope Gregory III, but he failed, and the
pope condemned Leo’s actions. In response, Leo confiscated papal
estates and placed them under the governance of Constantinople.
Therefore, the Iconoclasm widened the growing divergence and
tension between east and west, though the church was still unified
at this time. It also decisively ended the so-called Byzantine Papacy,
under which, since the reign of Justinian I a century before, the
popes in Rome had been nominated or confirmed by the emperor
in Constantinople. The deference of the Western Church to
Constantinople dissolved, and Rome would maintain a consistently
iconodule position (meaning it supports or is in favor of religious
images or icons and their veneration).

566 | The Great Schism of 1054

A New Emperor in the West

Regent Irene convened the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 CE,

which temporarily restored image worship, in an attempt to soothe
the strained relations between Constantinople and Rome—but it
was too late. After Charlemagne, the king of the Franks, saved Rome
from a Lombard attack, Pope Leo III (not to be confused with the
Byzantine Leo III) declared him the new Roman emperor in 800 CE,
since a woman (Irene) could not be emperor. It was also a message
that the popes were now loyal to the Franks, who could protect
them, instead of the Byzantines, who had only caused trouble. To
the Byzantines, this was an outrage, attacking their claim to be the
true successors of Rome.
From this point on, the Frankish Empire is usually known as the
Holy Roman Empire. With two Roman empires, the Byzantines and
the Franks, the authority of the Byzantine Empire was weakened.
In the west they were no longer called “Romans,” but “Greeks” (and
eventually “Byzantines”). The Byzantines, however, continued to
consider themselves Romans, and looked to the patriarch of
Constantinople, not the pope, as the most important religious figure
of the church.

Crisis and Permanent Schism

The differences in practice and worship between the Church of

Rome in the west and the Church of Constantinople in the east only
increased over time.
In 1053, the first step was taken in the process that led to formal
schism; the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael I
Cerularius, ordered the closure of all Latin churches in
Constantinople, in response to the Greek churches in southern Italy
having been forced to either close or conform to Latin practices.

The Great Schism of 1054 | 567

According to the historian J. B. Bury, Cerularius’ purpose in closing
the Latin churches was “to cut short any attempt at conciliation.”
Finally, in 1054 CE, relations between the Eastern and Western
traditions within the Christian Church reached a terminal crisis.
The papal legate sent by Leo IX traveled to Constantinople for
purposes that included refusing to Cerularius the title of
“Ecumenical Patriarch,” and insisting that he recognize the Pope’s
claim to be the head of all the churches. The main purpose of the
papal legation was to seek help from the Byzantine emperor in view
of the Norman conquest of southern Italy, and to deal with recent
attacks by Leo of Ohrid against the use of unleavened bread and
other Western customs, attacks that had the support of Cerularius.
Historian Axel Bayer contends that the legation was sent in
response to two letters, one from the emperor seeking assistance in
arranging a common military campaign by the Eastern and Western
Empires against the Normans, and the other from Cerularius. On
the refusal of Cerularius to accept the demand, the leader of the
legation, Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida, excommunicated him,
and in return Cerularius excommunicated Humbert and the other
legates. This was only the first act in a centuries-long process that
eventually became a complete schism.
The gradual separation of the last several centuries culminated in
a formal declaration of institutional separation between east, into
the Orthodox Church (now Eastern Orthodox Church), and west,
into the Catholic Church (now Roman Catholic Church). This was
known as the East-West Schism.

568 | The Great Schism of 1054

The East-West Schism. The religious distribution after the East-West Schism
between the churches of the Byzantine Empire and the Holy Roman Empire in
1054 CE.

The church split along doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political,

and geographical lines, and the fundamental breach has never been
healed, with each side sometimes accusing the other of having fallen
into heresy and of having initiated the division. Conflicts over the
next several centuries (such as the Crusades, the Massacre of the
Latins in 1182 CE, the west’s retaliation in the Sacking of
Thessalonica in 1185 CE, the capture and sack of Constantinople in

The Great Schism of 1054 | 569

1204 CE, and the imposition of Latin patriarchs) would only make
reconciliation more difficult.

Sources

570 | The Great Schism of 1054

77. The Byzantine-Bulgarian
Wars

Learning Objective

• Distinguish between the different threats that the

Byzantines faced around the turn of the millennium

Key Points

• The Bulgarian Empire was founded in the 5th

century and continued to expand and clash with the
Byzantine Empire for centuries.
• During a period of peace, in 864 the Bulgar Empire
converted to Christianity and adopted many
Byzantine cultural practices.
• Ending 80 years of peace between the two states,
the powerful Bulgarian tsar Simeon I invaded in 894,
but was pushed back by the Byzantines.
• In 971, John I Tzimiskes, the Byzantine emperor,
subjugated much of the weakening Bulgarian Empire.
• In 1185, however, Bulgarians Theodore Peter and
Ivan Asen started a revolt, and the weakening
Byzantine Empire, facing internal dynastic troubles of

The Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars | 571

 its own, was unable to prevent the revolt from being
successful.
• In 1396, Bulgaria fell to the Ottoman Turks, and in
1453, Constantinople was captured. Since both
became part of the Ottoman Empire, this was the end
of the long series of Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars.

Terms

lingua franca

A language or dialect systematically used to make

communication possible between people who do not share
a native language or dialect.

Bulgarian

A South Slavic ethnic group who are native to Bulgaria

and neighbouring regions.

The Bulgarian Empire

The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state that

572 | The Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars

existed in southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries
CE. It was founded circa 681, when Bulgar tribes led by Asparukh
moved to the northeastern Balkans. There they secured Byzantine
recognition of their right to settle south of the Danube, by
defeating—possibly with the help of local South Slavic tribes—the
Byzantine army led by Constantine IV. At the height of its power,
Bulgaria spread from the Danube Bend to the Black Sea, and from
the Dnieper River to the Adriatic Sea.
As the state solidified its position in the Balkans, it entered into
a centuries-long interaction, sometimes friendly and sometimes
hostile, with the Byzantine Empire. Bulgaria emerged as Byzantium’s
chief antagonist to its north, resulting in several wars. The two
powers also enjoyed periods of peace and alliance, most notably
during the Second Arab siege of Constantinople, where the
Bulgarian army broke the siege and destroyed the Arab army, thus
preventing an Arab invasion of southeastern Europe. Byzantium had
a strong cultural influence on Bulgaria, which also led to the
eventual adoption of Christianity in 864.
After the adoption of Christianity, Bulgaria became the cultural
center of Slavic Europe. Its leading cultural position was further
consolidated with the invention of the Glagolitic and Early Cyrillic
alphabets shortly after in the capital of Preslav, and literature
produced in Old Bulgarian soon began spreading north. Old
Bulgarian became the lingua franca of much of eastern Europe and
it came to be known as Old Church Slavonic. In 927, the fully
independent Bulgarian Patriarchate was officially recognized.

The Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars

The Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars were a series of conflicts fought

between the Byzantines and Bulgarians, which began when the
Bulgars first settled in the Balkan peninsula in the 5th century,
and intensified with the expansion of the Bulgarian Empire to the

The Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars | 573

southwest after 680 CE. The Byzantines and Bulgarians continued
to clash over the next century with variable success, until the
Bulgarians, led by Krum, inflicted a series of crushing defeats on
the Byzantines. After Krum died in 814, his son, Omurtag, negotiated
a thirty-year peace treaty. The traditional struggle with the See of
Rome continued through the Macedonian period, spurred by the
question of religious supremacy over the newly Christianized state
of Bulgaria. Ending 80 years of peace between the two states, the
powerful Bulgarian tsar, Simeon I, invaded in 894 but was pushed
back by the Byzantines, who used their fleet to sail up the Black Sea
to attack the Bulgarian rear, enlisting the support of the Hungarians.
The Byzantines were defeated at the Battle of Boulgarophygon in
896, however, and agreed to pay annual subsidies to the Bulgarians.
In 971 John I Tzimiskes, the Byzantine emperor, subjugated much
of the weakening Bulgarian Empire, as it faced wars with Russians,
Pechenegs, Magyars and Croatians, and by defeating Boris II and
capturing Preslav, the Bulgarian capital. Byzantine Emperor Basil II
completely conquered Bulgaria in 1018, as a result of the 1014 Battle
of Kleidion. There were rebellions against Byzantine rule from 1040
to 1041, and in the 1070s and the 1080s, but these failed. In 1185,
however, Theodore Peter and Ivan Asen started a revolt, and the
weakening Byzantine Empire, facing internal dynastic troubles of its
own, was unable to prevent the revolt from being successful.
The rebellion failed to immediately capture Bulgaria’s historic
capital, Preslav, but established a new capital city at Tărnovo,
presumably the center of the revolt. In 1186, the rebels suffered a
defeat, but Isaac II Angelos failed to exploit his victory and returned
to Constantinople. With the help of the chiefly Cuman population
north of the Danube, Peter and Asen recovered their positions and
raided into Thrace. When Isaac II Angelos penetrated into Moesia
again in 1187, he failed to capture either Tărnovo or Loveč, and he
signed a treaty effectively recognizing the Second Bulgarian Empire,
but neither side had any intention of keeping the peace.
Fighting continued until 1396, when Bulgaria fell to the Ottoman
Turks, and 1453, when Constantinople was captured. Since both

574 | The Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars

became part of the Ottoman Empire, this was the end of the long
series of Bulgarian-Byzantine Wars.

Bulgarians Fighting the Byzantines. A Byzantine painting depicting

Bulgarians slaughtering Byzantines, who can be seen with halos on their
head.

Sources

The Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars | 575

78. The Double Disasters

Learning Objective

• Identify the Double Disasters and their

consequences

Key Points

• A number of wars between the Normans and the

Byzantine Empire were fought from c. 1040 until 1185.
• In 1071, the Byzantines were defeated by the
Normans during their conquest of Italy, thereby
driving the Byzantines from southern Italy.
• Even more dangerous than the Normans was a new
enemy from the steppe: the Turks.
• The Battle of Manzikert was fought between the
Byzantine Empire and the Seljuq Turks on August 26,
1071, and proved a decisive defeat of the Byzantine
army.
• This defeat and the capture of the emperor
Romanos IV Diogenes played an important role in
undermining Byzantine authority in Anatolia and
Armenia, the heartland of the Byzantine Empire.

576 | The Double Disasters

 Terms

Battle of Manzikert

A major battle between the Byzantines and the Turks that

ended in a Byzantine defeat and ushered in the decline of
the Byzantine Empire.

Normans

The people who in the 10th and 11th centuries gave their
name to Normandy, a region in France. They were
descended from Norse raiders and pirates from Denmark,
Iceland, and Norway who, under their leader Rollo, agreed
to swear fealty to King Charles III of West Francia.

The Normans and the Defeat at Bari

A number of wars between the Normans and the Byzantine Empire

were fought from 1040 until 1185, when the last Norman invasion
of Byzantine territory was defeated. At the end of the conflict,
neither the Normans nor the Byzantines could boast much power.
A Byzantine defeat in 1071 proved decisive for the disintegration and
collapse of the empire.
The Normans had come from the Duchy of Normandy in West
Francia, which in 911 had been granted to the Viking Rollo in the

The Double Disasters | 577

Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte by the French king Charles the
Simple. The Normans and their new land took the name of these
“Northmen.” During the time that the Normans had conquered
southern Italy, and the Byzantine Empire was in a state of internal
decay; the administration of the empire had been wrecked, and
the efficient government institutions that provided Basil II with
a quarter of a million troops and adequate resources by taxation
had collapsed within a period of three decades. Attempts by Isaac
I Komnenos and Romanos IV Diogenes to reverse the situation
proved unfruitful. The premature death of the former, and the
overthrow of the latter, led to further collapse as the Normans
consolidated their conquest of Sicily and Italy.
Reggio Calabria, the capital of the tagma of Calabria, was captured
by Robert Guiscard in 1060. At the time, the Byzantines held a few
coastal towns in Apulia, including the capital of the catepanate of
Italy, Bari. Otranto was besieged and fell in October 1068; in the
same year, the Normans besieged Bari itself, and, after defeating
the Byzantines in a series of battles in Apulia, and after any attempt
of relief had failed, the city surrendered in April 1071, ending the
Byzantine presence in southern Italy.
The Norman adventurer Robert Guiscard allied with the pope
to drive the remaining Byzantines from southern Italy and replace
them with a Roman Catholic Norman Kingdom. Guiscard was
incredibly successful, and he turned his eye to conquering the
entire Byzantine Empire. He crossed over into Greece, pillaged the
countryside, and defeated the Byzantine army at the Battle of
Dyrrhachium in 1081 CE. He died before he could complete his
conquests, but southern Italy would never again be ruled by the
Byzantine Empire.

The Turks and the Defeat at Manzikert

Even more dangerous than the Normans was a new enemy from

578 | The Double Disasters

the steppe, the Turks. These former pastoral nomads converted
to Islam and ushered in a new phase of Islamic conquests. While
the Normans were pillaging Italy, the Turks invaded Asia Minor.
Emperor Romanos Diogenes moved the Byzantine army to meet
them. At the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 CE, the Byzantine army
was totally wiped out by the Turks. It was perhaps the most severe
military disaster in Byzantine history. With this defeat, Anatolia fell
into the hands of the Turks. Anatolia had been the heartland of the
Byzantine Empire, the home of most of its soldiers and farmers.
This defeat at Manzikert meant that the theme system, which had
effectively supplied Byzantium with its army, was destroyed. The
Byzantine Empire was now vulnerable to conquest.

The Double Disasters | 579

Battle of Manzikert. In this 15th-century French miniature depicting the
Battle of Manzikert, the combatants are clad in contemporary western
European armor.

The brunt of the battle was borne by the professional soldiers from
the eastern and western tagmata, as large numbers of mercenaries
and Anatolian levies fled early and survived the battle. The fallout
from Manzikert was disastrous for the Byzantines, resulting in civil
conflicts and an economic crisis that severely weakened the
Byzantine Empire’s ability to adequately defend its borders. This led
to the mass movement of Turks into central Anatolia—by 1080, an
area of 78,000 square kilometers (30,000 sq. miles) had been gained

580 | The Double Disasters

by the Seljuk Turks. It took three decades of internal strife before
Alexius I (1081 to 1118) restored stability to Byzantium. Historian
Thomas Asbridge says, “In 1071, the Seljuqs crushed an imperial
army at the Battle of Manzikert (in eastern Asia Minor), and though
historians no longer consider this to have been an utterly
cataclysmic reversal for the Greeks, it still was a stinging setback.”
It was the first time in history a Byzantine emperor had become the
prisoner of a Muslim commander.
Years and decades later, Manzikert came to be seen as a disaster
for the empire; later sources, therefore, greatly exaggerate the
numbers of troops and the number of casualties. Byzantine
historians would often look back and lament the “disaster” of that
day, pinpointing it as the moment the decline of the empire began.
It was not an immediate disaster, but the defeat showed the Seljuks
that the Byzantines were not invincible—they were not the
unconquerable, millennium-old Roman Empire (as both the
Byzantines and Seljuks still called it). The usurpation of Andronikos
Doukas also politically destabilized the empire, and it was difficult
to organize resistance to the Turkish migrations that followed the
battle.

Sources

The Double Disasters | 581

79. Crisis and Fragmentation

Learning Objective

• Analyze the relationship between the Holy Roman

Empire and the Byzantine Empire

Key Points

• The Komnenian Dynasty saw a restoration of the

empire after the disastrous defeat by the Turks. But,
for the first time, the Byzantines had to look to the
estranged western Europe for help.
• The west came to the aid of the east, but tensions
mounted between them until 1182 CE, when riots
escalated into a massacre of tens of thousands of
Latins.
• Two decades later, western European knights
sacked Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade. This
was a disaster for the Byzantine Empire, which for all
purposes ceased to exist.
• The leaders of several states fought over who
would become the new Byzantine emperor and regain
control; the Empire of Nicaea won.

582 | Crisis and Fragmentation

 Terms

First Crusade

The 1095 CE campaign begun by the pope in the Holy

Roman Empire to win back Jerusalem from the Muslims.

The Komnenian Dynasty: Cooperation with

the Holy Roman Empire

In 1081 CE, with the attacks from the Normans and Turks reaching
their height, a new emperor, Alexios I, came to the throne. His
dynasty, the Komnenian Dynasty, would oversee a restoration of the
empire after these disasters. But for the first time, the Byzantines
would have to look west for help, to their estranged fellow
Christians in western Europe. Although western Europe had a
history of religious disagreements with the Byzantines, they now
realized that the Byzantine Empire was all that was holding back the
Muslims from invading Europe.
Having achieved stability in the west, Alexios could turn his
attention to the severe economic difficulties and the disintegration
of the empire’s traditional defenses. However, he still did not have
enough manpower to recover the lost territories in Asia Minor, and
to advance against the Seljuks. At the Council of Piacenza in 1095,
envoys from Alexios spoke to Pope Urban II about the suffering of
the Christians of the east, and underscored that without help from
the west, they would continue to suffer under Muslim rule.

Crisis and Fragmentation | 583

 Urban saw Alexios’ request as a dual opportunity to cement
western Europe and reunite the Eastern Orthodox Churches with
the Roman Catholic Church under his rule. On November 27, 1095,
Pope Urban II called together the Council of Clermont, and urged
all those present to take up arms under the sign of the cross, and
launch an armed pilgrimage to recover Jerusalem and the east from
the Muslims. The response in western Europe was overwhelming.

Tensions Mount During the First Crusade

Alexios had anticipated help in the form of mercenary forces from

the west, but he was totally unprepared for the immense and
undisciplined force which soon arrived in Byzantine territory. It was
no comfort to Alexios to learn that four of the eight leaders of the
main body of the Crusade were Normans, among them Bohemund.
Relations were rocky from the start. To the Byzantines, the
crusaders were dirty, uneducated brutes. To the crusaders, the
Byzantines were untrustworthy, over-pampered schemers. Still,
they tried to work together. The Byzantines and crusaders agreed
that whatever formerly Byzantine lands the crusaders recaptured
from the Turks would be returned to Byzantine control. The
crusaders went back on this agreement, however, and took the
lands for themselves. The crusaders succeeded in conquering
Jerusalem in 1099 CE, but the Byzantines had come to regard them
as just as big a threat as the Muslims.

584 | Crisis and Fragmentation

The First Crusade. The capture of Jerusalem in 1099 CE marked the success of
western Europe’s First Crusade against the Muslims.

Still, thanks to the Crusades, the Byzantines were able to reassert

control of Anatolia. Emperor Alexios created a new system of leasing
land in exchange for military service, called the Pronoia System,
which was similar to the old theme system. Under his successors,
the Byzantines did not win any major victories, but they were able
to keep the Turks out of Byzantium’s Anatolian heartland.
At the same time, in order to secure military aid from the western
powers, the Byzantine emperors had granted financial and trade
concessions to Italy. Large numbers of Italian merchants settled
in Constantinople and put the local merchants out of business.
Tensions between them and the Byzantines of the city worsened.

Crisis and Fragmentation | 585

In 1182 CE, these tensions spilled over into riots and a massacre of
Latins (the people from western Europe) by an angry mob. Tens of
thousands were killed.
The recent anti-Latin resentment in the empire led to the
Crusader states losing their protection from Byzantium. However,
while the Crusader states did not rely on Byzantium for protection,
the Byzantines certainly did in that it kept the aggressive
expansionism of Islam in check.

Western Europe Sacks Constantinople

In 1198 CE, the pope called a new crusade to permanently secure

western Europe’s hold on Jerusalem. When the western Europeans
arrived at Constantinople in 1204 CE, they found civil war among the
Byzantines. In part sparked by the massacre of the Latins of 1182 CE,
and in part motivated by the tempting wealth of Constantinople, the
western European knights sacked Constantinople, in what is known
as the Fourth Crusade. They pillaged the city, carrying away the vast
wealth amassed over nine centuries in the Byzantine capital. For this
reason, many great examples of Byzantine art can be found today
in Venice, especially at St. Mark’s Cathedral. The sack was a disaster
for the Byzantine Empire, which for all purposes ceased to exist.
The crusaders parceled out Byzantine lands among themselves.
Constantinople became the capital of a new empire, called the Latin
Empire, ruled by western knights.
Constantinople was considered as a bastion of Christianity that
defended Europe from the advancing forces of Islam, and the Fourth
Crusade’s sack of the city dealt an irreparable blow to this eastern
bulwark. Although the Greeks retook Constantinople after 57 years
of Latin rule, the Byzantine Empire had been crippled by the Fourth
Crusade.

586 | Crisis and Fragmentation

The Fourth Crusade. An oil painting by Eugène Delacroix depicting the arrival
of the Fourth Crusade in Constantinople in 1204 CE.

Fragmentation of the Byzantine Empire

The Siege of Constantinople in 1204 CE was a turning point in

Byzantine history, but it was not the end. Several members of the
Komnenian royal family had been away from the capital at the time
of the sack, and they declared their own successor states. Each
emperor of these states declared himself to be the rightful
Byzantine emperor. They fought each other and the Latins for
control of the former lands of the Byzantine Empire. It was the
Empire of Nicaea, closest to Constantinople, that would be most
successful.

Crisis and Fragmentation | 587

Sources

588 | Crisis and Fragmentation

80. The Last Byzantine
Dynasty

Learning Objective

• Identify the role of Michael VIII and the Palaiologos

Dynasty

Key Points

• After Constantinople was sacked by the west, and

the Byzantine Empire was mostly destroyed with it,
Michael VIII of the Empire of Nicaea, a smaller state,
claimed the throne and founded the Palaiologos
Dynasty, the longest and last dynasty of Byzantine
rulers.
• In 1261 CE, Michael’s forces recaptured
Constantinople, though it was a shell of its former
self, marking the restoration of the Byzantine Empire.
• Michael attempted to end the schism between the
Catholic and Orthodox churches, but this outraged
many of his citizens, who now hated the Latins of
western Europe more than even the Muslims, due to
their sacking of Constantinople.

The Last Byzantine Dynasty | 589

 • During the Palaiologan Dynasty, however, the
empire experienced the short but vibrant Palaiologan
Renaissance, when learning, art, and philosophy
flourished.

Terms

Palaiologan Renaissance

The short but vibrant period when emperors attempted

to restore Constantinople from destruction and
encouraged art, philosophy, and education. The attempt at
restoring this cultural foundation occurred during the
Byzantine Empire’s longest-lived dynasty in Byzantine
history. Migration of Byzantine scholars at the end of this
period helped to spark the Renaissance in Italy.

Nicaean Empire

The largest of the three Byzantine Greek successor states

founded by the aristocracy of the Byzantine Empire that
fled after Constantinople was occupied by western
European and Venetian forces during the Fourth Crusade.

590 | The Last Byzantine Dynasty

Background

Following the Fourth Crusade, the Byzantine Empire had fractured

into the Greek successor-states of Nicaea, Epirus and Trebizond,
with a multitude of Frankish and Latin possessions occupying the
remainder, nominally subject to the Latin emperors at
Constantinople. In addition, the disintegration of the Byzantine
Empire allowed the Bulgarians, the Serbs, and the various Turcoman
emirates of Anatolia to make gains. Although Epirus was initially the
strongest of the three Greek states, the Nicaeans were the ones who
succeeded in taking back the city of Constantinople from the Latin
Empire
The Nicaean Empire was successful in holding its own against its
Latin and Seljuk opponents. At the Battle of Meander Valley, a Turkic
force was repelled and an earlier assault on Nicaea led to the death
of the Seljuk Sultan. In the west, the Latins were unable to expand
into Anatolia; consolidating Thrace against Bulgaria was a challenge
that kept the Latins occupied for the duration of the Latin Empire.
In 1261, the Empire of Nicaea was ruled by John IV Laskaris, a
boy of ten years. However, John IV was overshadowed by his co-
emperor, Michael VIII Palaiologos. Palaiologos was a leading noble of
military standing and the main figure of the regency of John IV, who
had used this role to propel himself to the throne, and set the stage
for his becoming sole emperor of the restored Byzantine Empire.

Restoration of the Byzantine Empire

In 1259 CE, Michael VIII came to the throne of the Empire of Nicaea.
He founded the Palaiologos Dynasty, the longest and last dynasty of
Byzantine rulers. In 1261 CE, Michael’s forces succeeded in capturing
Constantinople while the Latin knights were off fighting elsewhere.
They found the city a shell of its former self, sparsely populated

The Last Byzantine Dynasty | 591

and largely ruined. Still, Michael VIII returned to the city and was
proclaimed emperor there, marking the restoration of the Byzantine
Empire.

Byzantine Coin. A gold Byzantine coin, called the hyperpyron (which replaced
the earlier solidus), depicting the first emperor of the Byzantine Palaiologan
Dynasty, Michael VIII.

In order to protect his empire from further attacks by western

knights, he attempted to end the schism between the Catholic and
Orthodox churches. This outraged many of his citizens, who blamed
the Catholics for the sack of Constantinople. A decisive change had
taken place: among the citizens of the restored Byzantine Empire,
the “Latins” of western Europe were more hated than even the
Muslims.
The war-ravaged empire was ill-equipped to deal with the
enemies that now surrounded it. In order to maintain his campaigns
against the Latins, Michael pulled troops from Asia Minor, and levied
crippling taxes on the peasantry, causing much resentment. Massive
construction projects were completed in Constantinople to repair
the damages of the Fourth Crusade, but none of these initiatives was
of any comfort to the farmers in Asia Minor, suffering raids from
fanatical ghazis.
As a result, Anatolia, which had formed the very heart of the
shrinking empire, was systematically lost to numerous Turkic

592 | The Last Byzantine Dynasty

ghazis, whose raids evolved into conquering expeditions inspired
by Islamic zeal. With a decreasing source of food and manpower,
the Palaiologoi were forced to fight on several fronts, most of them
being Christian states: the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Serbian
Empire, the remnants of the Latin Empire, and even the Knights
Hospitaller.
The loss of land in the east to the Turks, and in the west to
the Bulgarians, was complemented by two disastrous civil wars, the
Black Death and the 1354 earthquake at Gallipoli, whose destruction
and evacuation allowed the Turks to occupy it. By 1380, the
Byzantine Empire consisted of the capital Constantinople and a
few other isolated exclaves, which only nominally recognized the
emperor as their lord. Nonetheless, Byzantine diplomacy coupled
with the adroit exploitation of internal divisions and external
threats among their enemies, and above all the invasion of Anatolia
by Timur, allowed Byzantium to survive until 1453.

The Palaiologan Renaissance

During the Palaiologan Dynasty, the empire experienced a short

but vibrant renaissance, known as the Palaiologan Renaissance. As
the Palaiologan emperors attempted to restore the glory of
Constantinople, they sponsored art and encouraged philosophy.
Artists and philosophers looked to the classical past and
rediscovered much ancient learning. Although the Palaiologan
Renaissance came too late to save the struggling Byzantine
civilization, it would be a major catalyst for the Italian Renaissance,
especially as Byzantine artists and scholars traveled to Italy to seek
shelter from the new threats that besieged the empire.
Towards the 14th century, as the empire entered into a phase of
terminal crisis, such achievements became less valued. All was not
lost for these seemingly rejected scholars—many in Italy who had
been opened up to Byzantium by the maritime expansions of Genoa

The Last Byzantine Dynasty | 593

and Venice came to appreciate their achievements, facilitating the
Renaissance. As such, these scholars found themselves in Italian
institutions, expressing their Greco-Roman culture for pay.
Immigration to Italy was made less attractive by the idea of
abandoning the Orthodox faith to practice Catholicism.
Nonetheless, a significant and increasing number of Greeks began
traveling to Italy, first temporarily, to Italian colonies such as Crete
or Cyprus before returning to Byzantium, then, as the Empire began
to fail horribly, in a more permanent manner. The Fall of
Constantinople was marked by large amounts of Greek refugees
escaping Turkic rule into Europe via Italy, and thus accelerating the
Renaissance.

Sources

594 | The Last Byzantine Dynasty

81. The Fall of Constantinople

Learning Objective

• Describe the political situation leading up to the

Turkish conquest of the Byzantine Empire

Key Points

• The restored Byzantine Empire was surrounded by

enemies. The Bulgarian Empire and the Serbian
Empire conquered many Byzantine lands, and the
Turks overran Asia Minor altogether.
• Anatolia gradually transformed from a Byzantine
Christian land into an Islamic land dominated by the
Turks. It would ultimately become the Ottoman
Empire.
• The west would only provide the east with help
against the Turks if the east converted from
Orthodox to Catholic Christianity. This sparked riots
among the eastern Orthodox populace, who hated
the western Catholics for the sack of Constantinople.
• Meanwhile, the Ottomans defeated most of the
empire except for Constantinople.
• The east ultimately capitulated and accepted

The Fall of Constantinople | 595

 Catholicism, but it was too late. On May 29, 1453 CE,
Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks and the
Byzantine Empire came to an end. Constantinople
was transformed into the Islamic city of Istanbul.

Terms

Ottoman Empire

A large empire that began as a Turkish sultanate centered

on modern Turkey; founded in the late 13th century, it
lasted until the end of World War I. This empire also
defeated Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire in 1453
CE.

Mehmed II

An Ottoman sultan who, at the age of 21, conquered

Constantinople and brought an end to the Eastern Roman
Empire.

596 | The Fall of Constantinople

The Rise of the Turks and the Ottoman
Empire

The restored Byzantine Empire was surrounded by enemies. The

Bulgarian Empire, which had rebelled against the Byzantines
centuries earlier, now matched it in strength. A new empire arose
in the western Balkans, the Serbian Empire, who conquered many
Byzantine lands. Even more dangerous to the Byzantines, the Turks
were once again raiding Byzantine lands, and Asia Minor was
overrun. With the theme system a thing of the past, the emperors
had to rely on foreign mercenaries to supply troops, but these
soldiers-for-hire were not always reliable. Anatolia gradually
transformed from a Byzantine Christian land into an Islamic land
dominated by the Turks.
For a long time the Turks in Anatolia were divided up into a
patchwork of small Islamic states. However, one ruler, Osman I,
built up a powerful kingdom that soon absorbed all the others and
formed the Ottoman Empire.
In the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began
to extend over the eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans. Osman’s
son, Orhan, captured the city of Bursa in 1324 and made it the new
capital of the Ottoman state. The fall of Bursa meant the loss of
Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of
Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387. The Ottoman
victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian
power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into
Europe. The Battle of Nicopolis in 1396, widely regarded as the last
large-scale crusade of the Middle Ages, failed to stop the advance
of the victorious Ottoman Turks. With the extension of Turkish
dominion into the Balkans, the strategic conquest of Constantinople
became a crucial objective.
The empire controlled nearly all former Byzantine lands
surrounding the city, but the Byzantines were temporarily relieved
when Timur invaded Anatolia in the Battle of Ankara in 1402. He took

The Fall of Constantinople | 597

Sultan Bayezid I as a prisoner. The capture of Bayezid I threw the
Turks into disorder. The state fell into a civil war that lasted from
1402 to 1413, as Bayezid’s sons fought over succession. It ended when
Mehmed I emerged as the sultan and restored Ottoman power.
When Mehmed I’s grandson, Mehmed II (also known as Mehmed
the Conquerer) ascended to the throne in 1451, he devoted himself
to strengthening the Ottoman navy and made preparations for the
taking of Constantinople.

Byzantium Looks West for Aid

Against all these enemies, the Byzantines could only look west in
search of help. The pope, however, continued to stress that aid
would only come if the Byzantines adopted the Catholicism of the
Latin church. While the Byzantine emperors were willing to do so
in order to save their empire, the populace hated the Catholics for
the sack of Constantinople, and so attempts to reconcile with the
Catholic Church only led to riots. Further theological disagreements
inflamed the bitterness between the Orthodox and the Catholics.
While civil war and religious disputes occupied the Byzantines,
the Ottomans slowly closed in on the empire. They crossed into
Europe and annexed most of the lands around Constantinople. By
1400 CE, the Byzantine Empire was little more than the city-state
of Constantinople. It was clear that the only way they would receive
Europe-wide help in pushing back the Ottomans was if they
reconciled with the Catholic Church.
This was not acceptable for most Byzantines. A popular saying
at the time was “Better the Turkish turban than the Papal tiara.” In
other words, the Orthodox Byzantines considered it better to be
ruled by the Muslim Turks than to go against their religious beliefs
and give in to the Catholic Church. Still, the emperors realized that
Byzantium would soon fall without help from the west.
In 1439 CE, Emperor John VIII Palaiologos and the most important

598 | The Fall of Constantinople

Byzantine bishops reached an agreement with the Catholic Church
at the Council of Florence, in which they accepted Catholic
Christianity. When the bishops returned to the Byzantine Empire,
however, they found themselves under attack by their
congregations. Their agreement to join the Catholic Church was
exceedingly unpopular.

The Rise of the Ottoman Empire. The borders of the Byzantine and Ottoman
Empires in the eastern Mediterranean just before the fall of Constantinople in
1453 CE.

The Fall of Constantinople

By this stage, Constantinople was underpopulated and dilapidated.

The Fall of Constantinople | 599

The population of the city had collapsed so severely that it was now
little more than a cluster of villages separated by fields. On April
2, 1453, the Ottoman army, led by the 21-year-old Sultan Mehmed
II, laid siege to the city with 80,000 men. Despite a desperate last-
ditch defense of the city by the massively outnumbered Christian
forces (7,000 men, 2,000 of whom were sent by Rome),
Constantinople finally fell to the Ottomans after a two-month siege
on May 29, 1453. The last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI
Palaiologos, was last seen casting off his imperial regalia and
throwing himself into hand-to-hand combat after the walls of the
city were taken.
On the third day of the conquest, Mehmed II ordered all looting
to stop and sent his troops back outside the city walls. Byzantine
historian George Sphrantzes, an eyewitness to the fall of
Constantinople, described the Sultan’s actions:

On the third day after the fall of our city, the Sultan
celebrated his victory with a great, joyful triumph. He issued
a proclamation: the citizens of all ages who had managed
to escape detection were to leave their hiding places
throughout the city and come out into the open, as they to
were to remain free and no question would be asked. He
further declared the restoration of houses and property to
those who had abandoned our city before the siege, if they
returned home, they would be treated according to their
rank and religion, as if nothing had changed.

The capture of Constantinople (and two other Byzantine splinter

territories soon thereafter) marked the end of the Roman Empire,
an imperial state that had lasted for nearly 1,500 years. The Ottoman
conquest of Constantinople also dealt a massive blow to
Christendom, as the Islamic Ottoman armies thereafter were left
unchecked to advance into Europe without an adversary to their
rear. After the conquest, Sultan Mehmed II transferred the capital of
the Ottoman Empire from Edirne to Constantinople. Constantinople

600 | The Fall of Constantinople

was transformed into an Islamic city: the Hagia Sophia became a
mosque, and the city eventually became known as Istanbul.
The conquest of the city of Constantinople, and the end of the
Byzantine Empire, was a key event in the Late Middle Ages, which
also marks, for some historians, the end of the Middle Ages.

The Walls of Constantinople. Sometimes known as “The Great Wall of Europe,”

the walls of Constantinople stood strong for centuries. Yet in 1453, they fell to
the Ottoman Turks.

Sources

The Fall of Constantinople | 601

82. Byzantium's Legacy

Learning Objective

• Give examples of how the Byzantine Empire

continued to have an impact even after its collapse

Key Points

• The Byzantine Empire had lasting legacies on many

subsequent cultures.
• The Byzantine Empire insulated Europe from
enemies and gave it the time it needed to recover
from the chaotic medieval period.
• Byzantium’s role in shaping Orthodoxy was also
hugely influential; the modern-day Eastern Orthodox
Church is the second largest Christian church in the
world.
• Byzantine architecture, particularly in religious
buildings, can be found in diverse regions, from Egypt
and Arabia to Russia and Romania.
• Byzantine painting from this period would have a
strong influence on the later painters of the Italian
Renaissance.

602 | Byzantium's Legacy

 Terms

lingua franca

A common language used by people of diverse

backgrounds to communicate with one another; often a
basic form of speech with simplified grammar.

Byzantium has been often identified with absolutism, orthodox

spirituality, orientalism and exoticism, while the terms “Byzantine”
and “Byzantinism” have been used as metaphors for decadence,
complex bureaucracy, and repression. Both eastern and western
European authors have often perceived Byzantium as a body of
religious, political, and philosophical ideas contrary to those of the
west. Even in 19th-century Greece, the focus was mainly on the
classical past, while Byzantine tradition had been associated with
negative connotations.
This traditional approach towards Byzantium has been partially
or wholly disputed and revised by modern studies, which focus
on the positive aspects of Byzantine culture and legacy. Historian
Averil Cameron, for example, regards the Byzantine contribution to
the formation of medieval Europe undeniable, and both Cameron
and Obolensky recognize the major role of Byzantium in shaping
Orthodoxy. The Byzantines also preserved and copied classical
manuscripts, and they are thus regarded as transmitters of the
classical knowledge, as important contributors to the modern
European civilization, and as precursors of both the Renaissance
humanism and the Slav Orthodox culture.
Following the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks
in 1453, Sultan Mehmed II took the title “Kaysar-i Rûm” (the

Byzantium's Legacy | 603

Ottoman Turkish equivalent of Caesar of Rome), since he was
determined to make the Ottoman Empire the heir of the Eastern
Roman Empire.

Protection of Europe

The Byzantine Empire had kept Greek and Roman culture alive
for nearly a thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire in
the west. It had preserved this cultural heritage until it was taken
up in the west during the Renaissance. The Byzantine Empire had
also acted as a buffer between western Europe and the conquering
armies of Islam. Thus, in many ways the Byzantine Empire had
insulated Europe and given it the time it needed to recover from its
chaotic medieval period.

An artist-restructured photo of what the city of Constantinople looked like

during the Byzantine era.

Religion

Orthodoxy now occupies a central position in the history and

societies of Greece, Bulgaria, Russia, Serbia, and other countries.
Following the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks

604 | Byzantium's Legacy

in 1453 CE, the Ottomans regarded themselves as the “heirs” of
Byzantium and preserved important aspects of its tradition, which
in turn facilitated an “Orthodox revival” during the post-communist
period of the eastern European states. The modern-day Eastern
Orthodox Church is the second largest Christian church in the
world.

Modern-Day Eastern Orthodoxy. Distribution of Eastern Orthodox Christians

in the world by country, as of 2012. Darker blues indicate main religion (over
50%).

Diplomacy and Law

After the fall of Rome, the key challenge to the empire was to
maintain a set of relations between itself and its neighbors. When
these nations set about forging formal political institutions, they
often modeled themselves on Constantinople. Byzantine diplomacy
soon managed to draw its neighbors into a network of international
and inter-state relations. This network revolved around treaty-
making, and included the welcoming of the new ruler into the family
of kings, as well as the assimilation of Byzantine social attitudes,
values and institutions. The preservation of the ancient civilization
in Europe was due to the skill and resourcefulness of Byzantine

Byzantium's Legacy | 605

diplomacy, which remains one of Byzantium’s lasting contributions
to the history of Europe.
In the field of law, Justinian I’s reforms to the legal code would
come to serve as the basis of not only Byzantine law, but law in
many European countries, and continues to have a major influence
on public international law to this day. Leo III’s Ecloga influenced
the formation of legal institutions in the Slavic world. In the 10th
century, Leo VI the Wise achieved the complete codification of the
whole of Byzantine law in Greek, which became the foundation of all
subsequent Byzantine law, which generates interest to the present
day.

Art and Literature

Influences from Byzantine architecture, particularly in religious

buildings, can be found in diverse regions, from Egypt and Arabia to
Russia and Romania.
During the Byzantine Renaissance of the Macedonian Dynasty,
art and literature flourished, and artists adopted a naturalistic style
and complex techniques from ancient Greek and Roman art, mixing
them with Christian themes. Byzantine painting from this period
would have a strong influence on the later painters of the Italian
Renaissance.
The migration waves of Byzantine scholars and émigrés in the
period following the sacking of Constantinople and the fall of
Constantinople in 1453 is considered by many scholars to be key to
the revival of Greek and Roman studies that led to the development
of the Renaissance in humanism and science. These émigrés were
grammarians, humanists, poets, writers, printers, lecturers,
musicians, astronomers, architects, academics, artists, scribes,
philosophers, scientists, politicians and theologians. They brought
to western Europe the far greater preserved and accumulated
knowledge of their own (Greek) civilization.

606 | Byzantium's Legacy

Byzantine Encyclopedia. A page from a 16th-century edition of the vast
Byzantine encyclopedia, the Suda.

Byzantium's Legacy | 607

Sources

608 | Byzantium's Legacy

PART VII
CHAPTER 6 THE ROMAN
EMPIRE

Chapter 6 The Roman Empire | 609

83. Constantine

Learning Objective

• Evaluate Constantine’s rise to power and

relationship with Christianity

Key Points

• The age of Constantine marked a distinct epoch in

the history of the Roman Empire, both for founding
Byzantium in the east, as well as his adoption of
Christianity as a state religion.
• As emperor, Constantine enacted many
administrative, financial, social, and military reforms
to strengthen the empire.
• Constantine experienced a dramatic event in 312 at
the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, after which
Constantine claimed the emperorship in the west and
converted to Christianity.
• According to some sources, on the evening of
October 27, with the armies preparing for battle,
Constantine had a vision of a cross, which led him to
fight under the protection of the Christian god.
• The accession of Constantine was a turning point

Constantine | 611
 for early Christianity; after his victory, Constantine
took over the role of patron of the Christian faith.

Terms

Battle of the Milvian Bridge

A battle that took place between the Roman Emperors,

Constantine I and Maxentius, on October 28, 312, and is
often seen as the beginning of Constantine’s conversion to
Christianity.

Edict of Milan

The February 313 CE agreement to treat Christians

benevolently within the Roman Empire, thereby ending
years of persecution.

Chi-Rho

One of the earliest forms of christogram, which is used

by some Christians, and was used by the Roman emperor,
Constantine I (r. 306-337), as part of a military standard.

612 | Constantine
Constantine the Great was a Roman Emperor from 306-337 CE.
Constantine was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius, a Roman
army officer, and his consort, Helena. His father became Caesar,
the deputy emperor in the west, in 293 CE. Constantine was sent
east, where he rose through the ranks to become a military tribune
under the emperors Diocletian and Galerius. In 305, Constantius
was raised to the rank of Augustus, senior western emperor, and
Constantine was recalled west to campaign under his father in
Britannia (modern Great Britain). Acclaimed as emperor by the army
at Eboracum (modern-day York) after his father’s death in 306 CE,
Constantine emerged victorious in a series of civil wars against the
emperors Maxentius and Licinius, to become sole ruler of both west
and east by 324 CE.
As emperor, Constantine enacted many administrative, financial,
social, and military reforms to strengthen the empire. The
government was restructured and civil and military authority
separated. A new gold coin, the solidus, was introduced to combat
inflation. It would become the standard for Byzantine and European
currencies for more than a thousand years. As the first Roman
emperor to claim conversion to Christianity, Constantine played an
influential role in the proclamation of the Edict of Milan in 313,
which decreed tolerance for Christianity in the empire. He called
the First Council of Nicaea in 325, at which the Nicene Creed was
professed by Christians. In military matters, the Roman army was
reorganized to consist of mobile field units and garrison soldiers
capable of countering internal threats and barbarian invasions.
Constantine pursued successful campaigns against the tribes on
the Roman frontiers—the Franks, the Alamanni, the Goths, and the
Sarmatians—even resettling territories abandoned by his
predecessors during the Crisis of the Third Century.
Constantine’s reputation flourished during the lifetime of his
children and for centuries after his reign. The medieval church
upheld him as a paragon of virtue, while secular rulers invoked him
as a prototype, a point of reference, and the symbol of imperial
legitimacy and identity. One of his major political legacies, aside

Constantine | 613
from moving the capital of the empire to Constantinople, was that,
in leaving the empire to his sons, he replaced Diocletian’s tetrarchy
with the principle of dynastic succession.

The Battle of the Milvian Bridge

Eusebius of Caesarea, and other Christian sources, record that

Constantine experienced a dramatic event in 312 at the Battle of the
Milvian Bridge, after which Constantine claimed the emperorship in
the west, and converted to Christianity. The Battle of the Milvian
Bridge took place between the Roman Emperors, Constantine I and
Maxentius, on October 28, 312. It takes its name from the Milvian
Bridge, an important route over the Tiber. Constantine won the
battle and started on the path that led him to end the tetrarchy and
become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Maxentius drowned in
the Tiber during the battle, and his body was later taken from the
river and decapitated.
According to chroniclers, such as Eusebius of Caesarea and
Lactantius, the battle marked the beginning of Constantine’s
conversion to Christianity. Eusebius of Caesarea recounts that
Constantine looked up to the sun before the battle and saw a cross
of light above it, and with it the Greek words Ἐν Τούτῳ Νίκα (“in
this sign, conquer!”), often rendered in a Latin version, “in hoc signo
vinces.” Constantine commanded his troops to adorn their shields
with a Christian symbol (the Chi-Rho), and thereafter they were
victorious. The Arch of Constantine, erected in celebration of the
victory, certainly attributes Constantine’s success to divine
intervention; however, the monument does not display any overtly
Christian symbolism, so there is no scholarly consensus on the
events’ relation to Constantine’s conversion to Christianity.

614 | Constantine
Missorium depicting Constantine’s son Constantius II, accompanied by a
guardsman with the Chi Rho monogram depicted on his shield.

Following the battle, Constantine ignored the altars to the gods

prepared on the Capitoline, and did not carry out the customary
sacrifices to celebrate a general’s victorious entry into Rome,
instead heading directly to the imperial palace. Most influential
people in the empire, however, especially high military officials,
had not been converted to Christianity, and still participated in the
traditional religions of Rome; Constantine’s rule exhibited at least
a willingness to appease these factions. The Roman coins minted
up to eight years after the battle still bore the images of Roman

Constantine | 615
gods. The monuments he first commissioned, such as the Arch of
Constantine, contained no reference to Christianity.

Constantine and Christianity

While the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great reigned (306-337

CE), Christianity began to transition to the dominant religion of
the Roman Empire. Historians remain uncertain about Constantine’s
reasons for favoring Christianity, and theologians and historians
have argued about which form of Early Christianity he subscribed
to. There is no consensus among scholars as to whether he adopted
his mother Helena’s Christianity in his youth, or (as claimed by
Eusebius of Caesarea) encouraged her to convert to the faith
himself. Some scholars question the extent to which he should be
considered a Christian emperor: “Constantine saw himself as an
’emperor of the Christian people.’ If this made him a Christian is the
subject of debate,” although he allegedly received a baptism shortly
before his death.
Constantine’s decision to cease the persecution of Christians in
the Roman Empire was a turning point for early Christianity,
sometimes referred to as the Triumph of the Church, the Peace
of the Church, or the Constantinian Shift. In 313, Constantine and
Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, decriminalizing Christian
worship. The emperor became a great patron of the Church and
set a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor within
the Church, and the notion of orthodoxy, Christendom, ecumenical
councils, and the state church of the Roman Empire, declared by
edict in 380. He is revered as a saint and isapostolos in the Eastern
Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Church for his example as
a “Christian monarch.”

Sources
616 | Constantine
84. The Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire

Learning Objective

• Analyze, broadly, the causes of the fall of the Roman

Empire

Key Points

• Throughout the 5th century, the empire’s

territories in western Europe and northwestern
Africa, including Italy, fell to various invading or
indigenous peoples, in what is sometimes called the
Migration Period.
• By the late 3rd century, the city of Rome no longer
served as an effective capital for the emperor, and
various cities were used as new administrative
capitals. Successive emperors, starting with
Constantine, privileged the eastern city of Byzantium,
which he had entirely rebuilt after a siege.
• In 476, after being refused lands in Italy, Odacer
and his Germanic mercenaries took Ravenna, the
Western Roman capital at the time, and deposed

The Decline and Fall of the Roman

Empire | 617
 Western Emperor Romulus Augustus. The whole of
Italy was quickly conquered, and Odoacer’s rule
became recognized in the Eastern Empire.
• Four broad schools of thought exist on the decline
and fall of the Roman Empire: decay owing to general
malaise, monocausal decay, catastrophic collapse, and
transformation.

Terms

Migration Period

Also known as the period of the Barbarian Invasions, it

was a period of intensified human migration in Europe from
about 400 to 800 CE, during the transition from Late
Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages.

Odoacer

A soldier, who came to power in the Western Roman

Empire in 476 CE. His reign is commonly seen as marking
the end of the Western Roman Empire.

The Fall of the Western Roman Empire was the process of decline
during which the empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast

618 | The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

territory was divided into several successor polities. The Roman
Empire lost the strengths that had allowed it to exercise effective
control; modern historians mention factors including the
effectiveness and numbers of the army, the health and numbers
of the Roman population, the strength of the economy, the
competence of the emperor, the religious changes of the period,
and the efficiency of the civil administration. Increasing pressure
from barbarians outside Roman culture also contributed greatly to
the collapse. The reasons for the collapse are major subjects of the
historiography of the ancient world, and they inform much modern
discourse on state failure.
By 476 CE, when Odoacer deposed Emperor Romulus, the
Western Roman Empire wielded negligible military, political, or
financial power and had no effective control over the scattered
western domains that could still be described as Roman. Invading
“barbarians” had established their own polities on most of the area
of the Western Empire. While its legitimacy lasted for centuries
longer and its cultural influence remains today, the Western Empire
never had the strength to rise again.
It is important to note, however, that the so-called fall of the
Roman Empire specifically refers to the fall of the Western Roman
Empire, since the Eastern Roman Empire, or what became known as
the Byzantine Empire, whose capital was founded by Constantine,
remained for another 1,000 years. Theodosius was the last emperor
who ruled over the whole empire. After his death in 395, he gave the
two halves of the empire to his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius;
Arcadius became ruler in the east, with his capital in
Constantinople, and Honorius became ruler in the west, with his
capital in Milan, and later Ravenna.

Rome in the 5th Century CE

Throughout the 5th century, the empire’s territories in western

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire | 619

Europe and northwestern Africa, including Italy, fell to various
invading or indigenous peoples in what is sometimes called the
Migration Period, also known as the Barbarian Invasions, from the
Roman and South European perspective. The first migrations of
peoples were made by Germanic tribes, such as the Goths, Vandals,
Angles, Saxons, Lombards, Suebi, Frisii, Jutes and Franks; they were
later pushed westwards by the Huns, Avars, Slavs, and Bulgars.
Although the eastern half still survived with borders essentially
intact for several centuries (until the Muslim conquests), the Empire
as a whole had initiated major cultural and political transformations
since the Crisis of the Third Century, with the shift towards a more
openly autocratic and ritualized form of government, the adoption
of Christianity as the state religion, and a general rejection of the
traditions and values of Classical Antiquity.
The reasons for the decline of the Empire are still debated today,
and are likely multiple. Historians infer that the population appears
to have diminished in many provinces (especially western Europe),
judging from the diminishing size of fortifications built to protect
the cities from barbarian incursions from the 3rd century on. Some
historians even have suggested that parts of the periphery were
no longer inhabited, because these fortifications were restricted
to the center of the city only. By the late 3rd century, the city of
Rome no longer served as an effective capital for the emperor, and
various cities were used as new administrative capitals. Successive
emperors, starting with Constantine, privileged the eastern city
of Byzantium, which he had entirely rebuilt after a siege. Later
renamed Constantinople, and protected by formidable walls in the
late 4th and early 5th centuries, it was to become the largest and
most powerful city of Christian Europe in the Early Middle Ages.
Since the Crisis of the Third Century, the empire was intermittently
ruled by more than one emperor at once (usually two), presiding
over different regions.
The Latin-speaking west, under dreadful demographic crisis, and
the wealthier Greek-speaking east, also began to diverge politically
and culturally. Although this was a gradual process, still incomplete

620 | The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

when Italy came under the rule of barbarian chieftains in the last
quarter of the 5th century, it deepened further afterward, and had
lasting consequences for the medieval history of Europe.
In 476, after being refused lands in Italy, Orestes’ Germanic
mercenaries, under the leadership of the chieftain Odoacer,
captured and executed Orestes and took Ravenna, the Western
Roman capital at the time, deposing Western Emperor Romulus
Augustus. The whole of Italy was quickly conquered, and Odoacer’s
rule became recognized in the Eastern Empire. Meanwhile, much
of the rest of the Western provinces were conquered by waves of
Germanic invasions, most of them being disconnected politically
from the east altogether, and continuing a slow decline. Although
Roman political authority in the west was lost, Roman culture would
last in most parts of the former western provinces into the 6th
century and beyond.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire | 621

 Romulus Augustus Resigns the Crown. Charlotte Mary Yonge’s 1880
artist rendition of Romulus Augustus resigning the crown to Odoacer.

Theories on the Decline and Fall

The various theories and explanations for the fall of the Roman
Empire in the west may be very broadly classified into four schools
of thought (although the classification is not without overlap):

• Decay owing to general malaise

• Monocausal decay
• Catastrophic collapse

622 | The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

 • Transformation

The tradition positing general malaise goes back to the historian,

Edward Gibbon, who argued that the edifice of the Roman Empire
had been built on unsound foundations from the beginning.
According to Gibbon, the fall was—in the final analysis—inevitable.
On the other hand, Gibbon had assigned a major portion of the
responsibility for the decay to the influence of Christianity, and is
often, though perhaps unjustly, seen as the founding father of the
school of monocausal explanation. On the other hand, the school of
catastrophic collapse holds that the fall of the empire had not been
a pre-determined event and need not be taken for granted. Rather,
it was due to the combined effect of a number of adverse processes,
many of them set in motion by the Migration Period, that together
applied too much stress to the empire’s basically sound structure.
Finally, the transformation school challenges the whole notion of
the ‘fall’ of the empire, asking instead to distinguish between the fall
into disuse of a particular political dispensation, anyway unworkable
towards its end; and the fate of the Roman civilization that under-
girded the empire. According to this school, drawing its basic
premise from the Pirenne thesis, the Roman world underwent a
gradual (though often violent) series of transformations, morphing
into the medieval world. The historians belonging to this school
often prefer to speak of Late Antiquity, instead of the Fall of the
Roman Empire.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire | 623

The Ostrogothic Kingdom, which rose from the ruins of the Western Roman
Empire.

Sources

624 | The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

85. Diocletian and the
Tetrarchy

Learning Objective

• Describe the change in attitudes towards

Christians and their statuses within the Roman
Empire

Key Points

• Diocletian secured the empire’s borders and purged

it of all threats to his power. He separated and
enlarged the empire’s civil and military services, and
reorganized the empire’s provincial divisions,
establishing the largest and most bureaucratic
government in the history of the empire.
• Diocletian also restructured the Roman
government by establishing the Tetrarchy, a system of
rule in which four men shared rule over the massive
Roman Empire. The empire was effectively divided in
two, with an Augustus and a subordinate Caesar in
each half.
• Diocletian established administrative capitals for

Diocletian and the Tetrarchy | 625

 each of the Tetrarchs, which were located closer to
the empire’s borders. Though Rome retained its
unique Prefect of the City, it was no longer the
administrative capital.
• By 313, therefore, there remained only two
emperors: Constantine in the west and Licinius in the
east. The tetrarchic system was at an end, although it
took until 324 for Constantine to finally defeat
Licinius, reunite the two halves of the Roman Empire,
and declare himself sole Augustus.

Terms

tetrarchy

A form of government in which power is divided between

four individuals. In ancient Rome, a system of government
instituted by Diocletian that split power between two rulers
in the east, and two rulers in the west.

Diocletian

Roman emperor from 284 to 305 CE. Established the

tetrarchy and instituted economic and tax reforms to
stabilize the Roman Empire.

626 | Diocletian and the Tetrarchy

Diocletian and the Stabilization of the
Roman Empire

Diocletian was Roman emperor from 284 to 305 CE. Born to a family
of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia, Diocletian rose
through the ranks of the military to become cavalry commander to
the Emperor Carus. After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian
on campaign in Persia, Diocletian was proclaimed emperor.
Diocletian’s reign stabilized the empire, and marked the end of the
Crisis of the Third Century. He appointed fellow officer, Maximian,
as Augustus, co-emperor, in 286. Diocletian delegated further in
293, appointing Galerius and Constantius as caesars, junior co-
emperors. Under this “tetrarchy,” or “rule of four,” each emperor
would rule over a quarter-division of the empire. Diocletian further
secured the empire’s borders and purged it of all threats to his
power.
He separated and enlarged the empire’s civil and military services
and reorganized the empire’s provincial divisions, establishing the
largest and most bureaucratic government in the history of the
empire. He established new administrative centers in Nicomedia,
Mediolanum, Antioch, and Trier, closer to the empire’s frontiers
than the traditional capital at Rome had been. Building on third-
century trends towards absolutism, he styled himself an autocrat,
elevating himself above the empire’s masses with imposing forms
of court ceremonies and architecture. Bureaucratic and military
growth, constant campaigning, and construction projects increased
the state’s expenditures and necessitated a comprehensive tax
reform. From at least 297 on, imperial taxation was standardized,
made more equitable, and levied at generally higher rates.

Diocletian and the Tetrarchy | 627

Reconstruction of Diocletian’s Palace in its original appearance, upon
completion in 305 CE (viewed from the south-west).

The Tetrarchy

The first phase of Diocletian’s government restructuring, sometimes

referred to as the diarchy (“rule of two”), involved the designation
of the general Maximian as co-emperor—first as Caesar (junior
emperor) in 285, then Augustus in 286. This reorganization allowed
Diocletian to take care of matters in the eastern regions of the
empire, while Maximian similarly took charge of the western
regions, thereby halving the administrative work required to
oversee an empire as large as Rome’s. In 293, feeling more focus
was needed on both civic and military problems, Diocletian, with
Maximian’s consent, expanded the imperial college by appointing
two Caesars (one responsible to each Augustus)—Galerius and
Constantius Chlorus.
In 305, the senior emperors jointly abdicated and retired, allowing
Constantius and Galerius to be elevated in rank to Augusti. They
in turn appointed two new Caesars—Severus II in the west under

628 | Diocletian and the Tetrarchy

Constantius, and Maximinus in the east under Galerius—thereby
creating the second tetrarchy.
The four tetrarchs based themselves not at Rome but in other
cities closer to the frontiers, mainly intended as headquarters for
the defense of the empire against bordering rivals. Although Rome
ceased to be an operational capital, it continued to be the nominal
capital of the entire Roman Empire, not reduced to the status of a
province, but under its own, unique Prefect of the City (praefectus
urbis).

Zones of Influence in the Roman Tetrarchy. This map shows the four zones of
influence under Diocletian’s tetrarchy.

In terms of regional jurisdiction, there was no precise division

between the four tetrarchs, and this period did not see the Roman
state actually split up into four distinct sub-empires. Each emperor
had his zone of influence within the Roman Empire, but this
influence mainly applied to the theater of war. The tetrarch was
himself often in the field, while delegating most of the

Diocletian and the Tetrarchy | 629

administration to the hierarchic bureaucracy headed by his
respective Praetorian Prefect. The Praetorian Prefect was the title
of a high office in the Roman Empire, originating as the commander
of the Praetorian Guard, the office gradually acquired extensive
legal and administrative functions, with its holders becoming the
emperor’s chief aides.

Demise of the Tetrarchy

When, in 305, the 20-year term of Diocletian and Maximian ended,

both abdicated. Their Caesares, Galerius and Constantius Chlorus,
were both raised to the rank of Augustus, and two new Caesares
were appointed: Maximinus (Caesar to Galerius) and Flavius Valerius
Severus (Caesar to Constantius). These four formed the second
tetrarchy.
However, the system broke down very quickly thereafter. When
Constantius died in 306, Galerius promoted Severus to Augustus
while Constantine, Constantius’ son, was proclaimed Augustus by
his father’s troops. At the same time, Maxentius, the son of
Maximian, who also resented being left out of the new
arrangements, defeated Severus before forcing him to abdicate and
then arranging his murder in 307. Maxentius and Maximian both
then declared themselves Augusti. By 308, there were therefore
no fewer than four claimants to the rank of Augustus (Galerius,
Constantine, Maximian and Maxentius), and only one to that of
Caesar (Maximinus).
In 308, Galerius, together with the retired emperor Diocletian and
the supposedly retired Maximian, called an imperial “conference” at
Carnuntum on the River Danube. The council agreed that Licinius
would become Augustus in the West, with Constantine as his
Caesar. In the East, Galerius remained Augustus, and Maximinus
remained his Caesar. Maximian was to retire, and Maxentius was
declared an usurper. This agreement proved disastrous: by 308

630 | Diocletian and the Tetrarchy

Maxentius had become de facto ruler of Italy and Africa even
without any imperial rank, and neither Constantine nor
Maximinus—who had both been Caesares since 306 and 305,
respectively—were prepared to tolerate the promotion of the
Augustus Licinius as their superior.
After an abortive attempt to placate both Constantine and
Maximinus with the meaningless title filius Augusti (“son of the
Augustus,” essentially an alternative title for Caesar), they both had
to be recognized as Augusti in 309. However, four full Augusti all at
odds with each other did not bode well for the tetrarchic system.
Between 309 and 313, most of the claimants to the imperial office
died or were killed in various civil wars. Constantine forced
Maximian’s suicide in 310. Galerius died naturally in 311. Maxentius
was defeated by Constantine at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge
in 312, and subsequently killed. Maximinus committed suicide at
Tarsus in 313, after being defeated in battle by Licinius.
By 313, therefore, there remained only two emperors: Constantine
in the west and Licinius in the east. The tetrarchic system was at
an end, although it took until 324 for Constantine to finally defeat
Licinius, reunite the two halves of the Roman Empire, and declare
himself sole Augustus.

Sources

Diocletian and the Tetrarchy | 631

86. The Rise of Christianity

Learning Objective

• Describe the challenges Christians faced in the

Roman Empire

Key Points

• Christians suffered from sporadic and localized

persecutions over a period of two and a half
centuries, as their refusal to participate in Imperial
Cult of Rome was considered an act of treason, and
was thus punishable by execution.
• The Diocletianic, or Great Persecution, was the last
and most severe persecution of Christians in the
Roman Empire, which lasted from 302-311 CE.
Galerius issued an edict of toleration in 311, which
granted Christians the right to practice their religion,
but did not restore any taken property back to them.
• The Edict of Milan in 313 made the empire officially
neutral with regard to religious worship; it neither
made the traditional religions illegal nor made
Christianity the state religion.

632 | The Rise of Christianity

 Terms

the Great Persecution

The last and most severe persecution of Christians in the

Roman Empire.

Edict of Milan

An agreement in 313 CE by Constantine and Licinius to

treat Christians benevolently within the Roman Empire.

Persecution of Early Christians

Christianity posed a serious threat to the traditional Romans. The

idea of monotheism was considered offensive against the
polytheistic Roman pantheon, and came into further conflict with
the Imperial Cult, in which emperors and some members of their
families were worshipped as divine. As such, Christianity was
considered criminal and was punished harshly.
The first recorded official persecution of Christians on behalf of
the Roman Empire was in 64 CE, when, as reported by the Roman
historian Tacitus, Emperor Nero blamed Christians for the Great
Fire of Rome. According to Church tradition, it was during the reign
of Nero that Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome. However,
modern historians debate whether the Roman government

The Rise of Christianity | 633

distinguished between Christians and Jews prior to Nerva’s
modification of the Fiscus Judaicus in 96, from which point
practicing Jews paid the tax and Christians did not.
The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most
severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, which lasted
from 302-311 CE. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian,
Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding the
legal rights of Christians and demanding that they comply with
traditional Roman religious practices. Later edicts targeted the
clergy and ordered all inhabitants to sacrifice to the Roman gods
(a policy known as universal sacrifice). The persecution varied in
intensity across the empire—it was weakest in Gaul and Britain,
where only the first edict was applied, and strongest in the Eastern
provinces. Persecutory laws were nullified by different emperors at
different times, but Constantine and Licinius’s Edict of Milan (313)
has traditionally marked the end of the persecution.
During the Great Persecution, Diocletian ordered Christian
buildings and the homes of Christians torn down, and their sacred
books collected and burned during the Great Persecution.
Christians were arrested, tortured, mutilated, burned, starved, and
condemned to gladiatorial contests to amuse spectators. The Great
Persecution officially ended in April of 311, when Galerius, senior
emperor of the Tetrarchy, issued an edict of toleration which
granted Christians the right to practice their religion, though it
did not restore any property to them. Constantine, Caesar in the
western empire, and Licinius, Caesar in the east, also were
signatories to the edict of toleration. It has been speculated that
Galerius’ reversal of his long-standing policy of Christian
persecution has been attributable to one or both of these co-
Caesars.

634 | The Rise of Christianity

The Rise of Christianity

The Diocletianic persecution was ultimately unsuccessful. As one

modern historian has put it, it was simply “too little and too late.”
Christians were never purged systematically in any part of the
empire, and Christian evasion continually undermined the edicts’
enforcement. Although the persecution resulted in death, torture,
imprisonment, or dislocation for many Christians, the majority of
the empire’s Christians avoided punishment. Some bribed their way
to freedom or fled. In the end, the persecution failed to check the
rise of the church. By 324, Constantine was sole ruler of the empire,
and Christianity had become his favored religion.
By 324, Constantine, the Christian convert, ruled the entire
empire alone. Christianity became the greatest beneficiary of
imperial largesse. The persecutors had been routed. As the historian
J. Liebeschuetz has written: “The final result of the Great
Persecution provided a testimonial to the truth of Christianity,
which it could have won in no other way.” After Constantine, the
Christianization of the Roman empire would continue apace. Under
Theodosius I (r. 378-395), Christianity became the state religion. By
the 5th century, Christianity was the empire’s predominant faith,
and filled the same role paganism had at the end of the 3rd century.
Because of the persecution, however, a number of Christian
communities were riven between those who had complied with
imperial authorities (traditores) and those who had refused. In
Africa, the Donatists, who protested the election of the alleged
traditor, Caecilian, to the bishopric of Carthage, continued to resist
the authority of the central church until after 411. The Melitians in
Egypt left the Egyptian Church similarly divided.

The Rise of Christianity | 635

The Edict of Milan

In 313, Constantine and Licinius announced in the Edict of Milan

“that it was proper that the Christians and all others should have
liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them
appeared best,” thereby granting tolerance to all religions, including
Christianity. The Edict of Milan went a step further than the earlier
Edict of Toleration by Galerius in 311, and returned confiscated
Church property. This edict made the empire officially neutral with
regard to religious worship; it neither made the traditional religions
illegal, nor made Christianity the state religion (as did the later Edict
of Thessalonica in 380 CE). The Edict of Milan did, however, raise
the stock of Christianity within the empire, and it reaffirmed the
importance of religious worship to the welfare of the state.

Sources

636 | The Rise of Christianity

87. The Shift East

Learning Objective

• Explain why Constantine moved the capital of the

empire to Constantinople, and the consequences that
had for the empire as a whole

Key Points

• After defeating Maxentius and his rebellion,

Constantine gradually consolidated his military
superiority over his rivals in the crumbling Tetrarchy,
in particular Licinius.
• Eventually, Constantine defeated Licinius, making
him the sole emperor of the empire, thereby ending
the tetrarchy.
• Licinius’ defeat came to represent the defeat of a
rival center of Pagan and Greek-speaking political
activity in the east, and it was proposed that a new
eastern capital should represent the integration of
the east into the Roman Empire as a whole;
Constantine chose Byzantium.
• The city was thus founded in 324, dedicated on May
11, 330, and renamed Constantinople.

The Shift East | 637

 • The Byzantine Empire considered Constantine its
founder, and the Holy Roman Empire reckoned him
among the venerable figures of its tradition.

Terms

Byzantium

An ancient Greek colony on the site that later became

Constantinople, and eventually Istanbul.

Byzantine Empire

Also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the

continuation of the Roman Empire in the east during Late
Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when the empire’s capital
city was Constantinople.

The age of Constantine marked a distinct epoch in the history of

the Roman Empire. He built a new imperial residence at Byzantium,
and renamed the city Constantinople after himself (the laudatory
epithet of “New Rome” came later, and was never an official title). It
would later become the capital of the empire for over one thousand
years; for this reason the later Eastern Empire would come to be
known as the Byzantine Empire.

638 | The Shift East

Background: War With Licinius

After defeating Maxentius, Constantine gradually consolidated his

military superiority over his rivals in the crumbling tetrarchy. In 313,
he met Licinius in Milan to secure their alliance by the marriage
of Licinius and Constantine’s half-sister, Constantia. During this
meeting, the emperors agreed on the so-called Edict of Milan,
officially granting full tolerance to Christianity and all religions in
the Empire. In the year 320, Licinius allegedly reneged on the
religious freedom promised by the Edict of Milan in 313, and began
to oppress Christians anew, generally without bloodshed, but
resorting to confiscations and sacking of Christian office-holders.
This dubious arrangement eventually became a challenge to
Constantine in the west, climaxing in the great civil war of 324.
Licinius, aided by Goth mercenaries, represented the past and the
ancient Pagan faiths. Constantine and his Franks marched under the
standard of the labarum Chi-Rho, and both sides saw the battle in
religious terms. Outnumbered, but fired by their zeal, Constantine’s
army emerged victorious in the Battle of Adrianople. Licinius fled
across the Bosphorus and appointed Martius Martinianus, the
commander of his bodyguard, as Caesar, but Constantine next won
the Battle of the Hellespont, and finally the Battle of Chrysopolis
on September 18, 324. Licinius and Martinianus surrendered to
Constantine at Nicomedia on the promise their lives would be
spared: they were sent to live as private citizens in Thessalonica and
Cappadocia, respectively, but in 325, Constantine accused Licinius
of plotting against him and had them both arrested and hanged.
Licinius’s son (the son of Constantine’s half-sister) was also killed.
Thus, Constantine became the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.

The Shift East | 639

Foundation of Constantinople

Licinius’ defeat came to represent the defeat of a rival center of

Pagan and Greek-speaking political activity in the east, as opposed
to the Christian and Latin-speaking Rome, and it was proposed
that a new eastern capital should represent the integration of the
east into the Roman Empire as a whole, as a center of learning,
prosperity, and cultural preservation for the whole of the eastern
Roman Empire. Among the various locations proposed for this
alternative capital, Constantine appears to have toyed earlier with
Serdica (present-day Sofia), as he was reported saying that “Serdica
is my Rome.” Sirmium and Thessalonica were also considered.
Eventually, however, Constantine decided to work on the Greek
city of Byzantium, which offered the advantage of having already
been extensively rebuilt on Roman patterns of urbanism, during the
preceding century, by Septimius Severus and Caracalla, who had
already acknowledged its strategic importance.
The city was thus founded in 324, dedicated on May 11, 330, and
renamed Constantinopolis (“Constantine’s City” or Constantinople
in English). Special commemorative coins were issued in 330 to
honor the event. The new city was protected by the relics of the
True Cross, the Rod of Moses, and other holy relics, though a cameo
now at the Hermitage Museum also represented Constantine
crowned by the tyche of the new city. The figures of old gods
were either replaced or assimilated into a framework of Christian
symbolism. Constantine built the new Church of the Holy Apostles
on the site of a temple to Aphrodite. Generations later there was
the story that a divine vision led Constantine to this spot, and
an angel no one else could see led him on a circuit of the new
walls. The capital would often be compared to the ‘old’ Rome as
Nova Roma Constantinopolitana, the “New Rome of Constantinople.”
Constantinople was a superb base from which to guard the Danube
River, and it was reasonably close to the eastern frontiers.

640 | The Shift East

Constantine also began the building of the great fortified walls,
which were expanded and rebuilt in subsequent ages.

Constantinopolis Coin. Coin struck by Constantine I to commemorate the

founding of Constantinople.

Legacy

Historian J.B. Bury asserts that “the foundation of Constantinople

[…] inaugurated a permanent division between the Eastern and
Western, the Greek and the Latin, halves of the empire—a division
to which events had already pointed—and affected decisively the
whole subsequent history of Europe.”
The Byzantine Empire considered Constantine its founder, and
the Holy Roman Empire reckoned him among the venerable figures
of its tradition. In the later Byzantine state, it had become a great
honor for an emperor to be hailed as a “new Constantine.” Ten
emperors, including the last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire,
carried the name. Monumental Constantinian forms were used at
the court of Charlemagne to suggest that he was Constantine’s
successor and equal. Constantine acquired a mythic role as a
warrior against “heathens.”

The Shift East | 641

Sources

642 | The Shift East

88. Crises of the Roman
Empire

Learning Objective

• Describe the problems afflicting the Roman Empire

during the third century

Key Points

• The situation of the Roman Empire became dire in

235 CE, when emperor Alexander Severus was
murdered by his own troops after defeat by Germanic
tribes.
• In the years following the emperor’s death, generals
of the Roman army fought each other for control of
the Empire, and neglected their duties of defending
the empire from invasion. As a result, various
provinces became victims of frequent raids.
• By 268, the Empire had split into three competing
states: the Gallic Empire, including the Roman
provinces of Gaul, Britannia, and Hispania; the
Palmyrene Empire, including the eastern provinces of
Syria Palaestina and Aegyptus; and the Italian-

Crises of the Roman Empire | 643

 centered and independent Roman Empire proper.
• One of the most profound and lasting effects of the
Crisis of the Third Century was the disruption of
Rome’s extensive internal trade network under the
Pax Romana.
• The continuing problems of the Empire would be
radically addressed by Diocletian, allowing the
Empire to continue to survive in the West for over a
century, and in the East for over a millennium.

Terms

Pax Romana

The long period of relative peacefulness and minimal

expansion by the Roman military force that was
experienced by the Roman Empire after the end of the Final
War of the Roman Republic, and before the beginning of the
Crisis of the Third Century.

coloni

A tenant farmer from the late Roman Empire and Early

Middle Ages; sharecroppers.

644 | Crises of the Roman Empire

 Crisis of the Third Century

A period in which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed

under the combined pressures of invasion, civil war, plague,
and economic depression.

Overview

The Crisis of the Third Century, also known as Military Anarchy or

the Imperial Crisis, (235-284 CE) was a period in which the Roman
Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressures of invasion,
civil war, plague, and economic depression. The Crisis began with
the assassination of Emperor Severus Alexander by his own troops
in 235, initiating a 50-year period in which there were at least 26
claimants to the title of Emperor, mostly prominent Roman army
generals, who assumed imperial power over all or part of the
Empire. Twenty-six men were officially accepted by the Roman
Senate as emperor during this period, and thus became legitimate
emperors.
By 268, the Empire had split into three competing states: the
Gallic Empire, including the Roman provinces of Gaul, Britannia,
and (briefly) Hispania; the Palmyrene Empire, including the eastern
provinces of Syria Palaestina and Aegyptus; and the Italian-centered
and independent Roman Empire proper, between them. Later,
Aurelian (270-275) reunited the empire; the Crisis ended with the
ascension and reforms of Diocletian in 284.
The Crisis resulted in such profound changes in the Empire’s
institutions, society, economic life, and, eventually, religion, that it

Crises of the Roman Empire | 645

is increasingly seen by most historians as defining the transition
between the historical periods of classical antiquity and late
antiquity.

The Roman Empire in 271 CE. The divided Empire during the Crisis of the
Third Century.

History of the Crisis

The situation of the Roman Empire became dire in 235 CE, when
Emperor Alexander Severus was murdered by his own troops. Many
Roman legions had been defeated during a campaign against
Germanic peoples raiding across the borders, while the emperor
was focused primarily on the dangers from the Sassanid Persian
Empire. Leading his troops personally, Alexander Severus resorted
to diplomacy and paying tribute, in an attempt to pacify the
Germanic chieftains quickly. According to Herodian, this cost him
the respect of his troops, who may have felt they should be
punishing the tribes who were intruding on Rome’s territory.
In the years following the emperor’s death, generals of the Roman
army fought each other for control of the Empire and neglected

646 | Crises of the Roman Empire

their duties of defending the empire from invasion. Provincials
became victims of frequent raids along the length of the Rhine
and Danube rivers, by such foreign tribes as the Carpians, Goths,
Vandals, and Alamanni, and attacks from Sassanids in the east.
Climate changes and a rise in sea levels ruined the agriculture of
what is now the Low Countries, forcing tribes to migrate.
Additionally, in 251, the Plague of Cyprian (possibly smallpox) broke
out, causing large-scale death, and possibly weakened the ability of
the Empire to defend itself.
After the loss of Valerian in 260, the Roman Empire was beset by
usurpers, who broke it up into three competing states. The Roman
provinces of Gaul, Britain, and Hispania broke off to form the Gallic
Empire. After the death of Odaenathus in 267, the eastern provinces
of Syria, Palestine, and Aegyptus became independent as the
Palmyrene Empire, leaving the remaining Italian-centered Roman
Empire proper in the middle.
An invasion by a vast host of Goths was defeated at the Battle of
Naissus in 268 or 269. This victory was significant as the turning
point of the crisis, when a series of tough, energetic soldier-
emperors took power. Victories by Emperor Claudius II Gothicus
over the next two years drove back the Alamanni and recovered
Hispania from the Gallic Empire. When Claudius died in 270 of
the plague, Aurelian, who had commanded the cavalry at Naissus,
succeeded him as the emperor and continued the restoration of the
Empire.
Aurelian reigned (270-275) through the worst of the crisis,
defeating the Vandals, the Visigoths, the Palmyrenes, the Persians,
and then the remainder of the Gallic Empire. By late 274, the Roman
Empire was reunited into a single entity, and the frontier troops
were back in place. More than a century would pass before Rome
again lost military ascendancy over its external enemies. However,
dozens of formerly thriving cities, especially in the Western Empire,
had been ruined, their populations dispersed and, with the
breakdown of the economic system, could not be rebuilt. Major

Crises of the Roman Empire | 647

cities and towns, even Rome itself, had not needed fortifications for
many centuries; many then surrounded themselves with thick walls.
Finally, although Aurelian had played a significant role in restoring
the Empire’s borders from external threat, more fundamental
problems remained. In particular, the right of succession had never
been clearly defined in the Roman Empire, leading to continuous
civil wars as competing factions in the military, Senate, and other
parties put forward their favored candidate for emperor. Another
issue was the sheer size of the Empire, which made it difficult for a
single autocratic ruler to effectively manage multiple threats at the
same time. These continuing problems would be radically addressed
by Diocletian, allowing the Empire to continue to survive in the
West for over a century, and in the East for over a millennium.

Impact

One of the most profound and lasting effects of the Crisis of the
Third Century was the disruption of Rome’s extensive internal trade
network. Ever since the Pax Romana, starting with Augustus, the
Empire’s economy had depended in large part on trade between
Mediterranean ports and across the extensive road systems to the
Empire’s interior. Merchants could travel from one end of the
Empire to the other in relative safety within a few weeks, moving
agricultural goods produced in the provinces to the cities, and
manufactured goods produced by the great cities of the East to the
more rural provinces.
With the onset of the Crisis of the Third Century, however, this
vast internal trade network broke down. The widespread civil unrest
made it no longer safe for merchants to travel as they once had, and
the financial crisis that struck made exchange very difficult with the
debased currency. This produced profound changes that, in many
ways, foreshadowed the very decentralized economic character of
the coming Middle Ages.

648 | Crises of the Roman Empire

 Large landowners, no longer able to successfully export their
crops over long distances, began producing food for subsistence
and local barter. Rather than import manufactured goods from the
Empire’s great urban areas, they began to manufacture many goods
locally, often on their own estates, thus beginning the self-sufficient
“house economy” that would become commonplace in later
centuries, reaching its final form in the Middle Ages’ manorialism.
The common free people of the Roman cities, meanwhile, began
to move out into the countryside in search of food and better
protection.
Made desperate by economic necessity, many of these former city
dwellers, as well as many small farmers, were forced to give up
hard-earned, basic civil rights in order to receive protection from
large land-holders. In doing so, they became a half-free class of
Roman citizen known as coloni. They were tied to the land, and in
later Imperial law their status was made hereditary. This provided
an early model for serfdom, the origins of medieval feudal society
and of the medieval peasantry.

Sources

Crises of the Roman Empire | 649

89. Military Successes of the
Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

Learning Objective

• Examine the military efforts of the Nerva-Antonine

emperors

Key Points

• The second emperor in the dynasty, Trajan, is

remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who
presided over the greatest military expansion in
Roman history, through the Dacian Wars.
• The conclusion of the Dacian Wars marked the
beginning of a period of sustained growth and
relative peace in Rome.
• Despite his own great reputation as a military
administrator, Hadrian’s reign was marked by a
general lack of documented major military conflicts,
apart from the Second Roman–Jewish War, and
instead is marked by pacifist tendencies.
• The peace policy was strengthened by the erection
of permanent fortifications along the empire’s

650 | Military Successes of the

Nerva-Antonine Dynasty
 borders, the most famous of these being the massive
Hadrian’s Wall in Great Britain.

Terms

Dacian Wars

Two military campaigns fought between the Roman

Empire and Dacia during Roman Emperor Trajan’s rule.

Hadrian’s Wall

A defensive fortification in the Roman province of

Britannia, begun in 122 CE during the reign of the emperor
Hadrian.

Several of the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty emperors were known for

their notable military successes.

Trajan and the Dacian Wars

After Nerva’s short rule, his adoptive heir, Trajan, a popular military
leader, ruled as emperor from 98-117 CE. Officially declared by the

Military Successes of the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty | 651

Senate as optimus princeps (“the best ruler”), Trajan is remembered
as a successful soldier-emperor who presided over the greatest
military expansion in Roman history, leading the empire to attain its
maximum territorial extent by the time of his death.
The Dacian Wars (101-102, 105-106) were two military campaigns
fought between the Roman Empire and Dacia during Roman
Emperor Trajan’s rule. The conflicts were triggered by the constant
Dacian threat on the Danubian Roman Province of Moesia, and also
by the increasing need for resources in the economy of the Roman
Empire.
Dacia, an area north of Macedon and Greece, and east of the
Danube, had been on the Roman agenda since before the days of
Caesar, when they defeated a Roman army at the Battle of Histria. In
85 CE, the Dacians swarmed over the Danube and pillaged Moesia,
and initially defeated the army that Emperor Domitian sent against
them. The Romans were defeated in the Battle of Tapae in 88, and a
truce was established.
Emperor Trajan recommenced hostilities against Dacia and,
following an uncertain number of battles, defeated the Dacian King
Decebalus in the Second Battle of Tapae in 101. With Trajan’s troops
pressing towards the Dacian capital, Sarmizegetusa Regia,
Decebalus once more sought truce terms. Decebalus rebuilt his
power over the following years and attacked Roman garrisons again
in 105. In response, Trajan again marched into Dacia, besieging the
Dacian capital in the Siege of Sarmizegetusa, and razing it. With
Dacia quelled, Trajan subsequently invaded the Parthian empire to
the east, his conquests expanding the Roman Empire to its greatest
extent. Rome’s borders in the east were indirectly governed through
a system of client states for some time, leading to less direct
campaigning than in the west in this period.
The conclusion of the Dacian Wars marked a triumph for Rome
and its armies. Trajan announced 123 days of celebrations
throughout the Empire. Dacia’s rich gold mines were secured, and
it is estimated that Dacia then contributed 700 million Denarii per
annum to the Roman economy, providing finance for Rome’s future

652 | Military Successes of the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

campaigns, and assisting with the rapid expansion of Roman towns
throughout Europe.
The two wars were notable victories in Rome’s extensive
expansionist campaigns, gaining Trajan the people’s admiration and
support. The conclusion of the Dacian Wars marked the beginning
of a period of sustained growth and relative peace in Rome. Trajan
began extensive building projects and became an honorable civil
leader, improving Rome’s civic infrastructure, thereby paving the
way for internal growth and reinforcement of the empire as a whole.

Dacian Wars. Fiery battle scene between the Roman and Dacian armies.

Hadrian and Hadrian’s Wall

Despite his own great reputation as a military administrator,

Hadrian’s reign was marked by a general lack of documented major
military conflicts, apart from the Second Roman-Jewish War.
Hadrian had already surrendered Trajan’s conquests in
Mesopotamia, considering them to be indefensible. In the East,
Hadrian contented himself with retaining suzerainty over Osroene,

Military Successes of the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty | 653

which was ruled by the client king, Parthamaspates, once client king
of Parthia under Trajan.
Hadrian’s abandonment of an aggressive policy was something
the Senate and its historians never forgave: the fourth century
historian, Aurelius Victor, charged him with being jealous of Trajan’s
exploits and deliberately trying to downplay their worthiness. It is
more probable that Hadrian simply considered that the financial
strain to be incurred through keeping a policy of conquests was
something the Roman Empire could not afford. Proof of this is
the disappearance during his reigns of two entire legions. Also,
the acknowledgement of the indefensible character of the
Mesopotamian conquests had perhaps already been made by Trajan
himself, who had disengaged from them at the time of his death.
The peace policy was strengthened by the erection of permanent
fortifications along the empire’s borders. The most famous of these
is the massive Hadrian’s Wall in Great Britain, built on stone and
doubled on its rear by a ditch (Vallum Hadriani), which marked
the boundary between a strictly military zone and the province.
The Danube and Rhine borders were strengthened with a series
of mostly wooden fortifications, forts, outposts, and watchtowers,
the latter specifically improving communications and local area
security.
To maintain morale and prevent the troops from becoming
restive, Hadrian established intensive drill routines, and personally
inspected the armies. Although his coins showed military images
almost as often as peaceful ones, Hadrian’s policy was peace
through strength, even threat, with an emphasis on discipline,
which was the subject of two monetary series.

654 | Military Successes of the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

Hadrian’s Wall. Sections of Hadrian’s Wall remain along the route, though
much of it has been dismantled over the years, in order to use the stones for
various nearby construction projects.

Sources

Military Successes of the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty | 655

90. The Nerva-Antonine
Dynasty

Learning Objective

• Describe the characteristics of the Golden Age and

the achievements of the Five Good Emperors

Key Points

• The first five of the six successions within the

Nerva-Antonine Dynasty were notable in that the
reigning emperor adopted the candidate of his choice
to be his successor, rather than choosing a biological
heir.
• Although much of his life remains obscure, Nerva
was considered a wise and moderate emperor by
ancient historians. Nerva’s greatest success was his
ability to ensure a peaceful transition of power after
his death, thus founding the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty.
• Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-
emperor who presided over the greatest military
expansion in Roman history, and led the empire to
attain its maximum territorial extent by the time of

656 | The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

 his death.
• Hadrian was known to be a humanist and a
philhellene, renowned for his building projects and
commitment to his military lifestyle.
• Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-emperor, enjoyed
not only military successes during his reign, but also
authored a defining Stoic tome on equanimity in the
midst of conflict.

Terms

Marcus Aurelius

Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 CE, as well as a notable

Stoic philosopher.

Hadrian

Roman Emperor from 117 to 138 CE. Known for his grand
building projects and his philhellenism.

Trajan

Roman emperor from 98 CE until 117 CE. Officially

The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty | 657

 declared by the Senate as optimus princeps, and known for
his bold expansion of Roman borders.

Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty was a dynasty of seven Roman

Emperors who ruled over the Roman Empire during a period of
prosperity from 96 CE to 192 CE. These emperors are Nerva, Trajan,
Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, and
Commodus.
The first five of the six successions within this dynasty were
notable in that the reigning emperor adopted the candidate of his
choice to be his successor. Under Roman law, an adoption
established a bond legally as strong as that of kinship. As such,
the second through sixth Nerva-Antonine emperors are also called
Adoptive Emperors.
The importance of official adoption in Roman society has often
been considered as a conscious repudiation of the principle of
dynastic inheritance, and has been deemed as one of the factors of
the period’s prosperity. However, this was not a new practice. It was
common for patrician families to adopt, and Roman emperors had
adopted heirs in the past; Emperor Augustus had adopted Tiberius,
and Emperor Claudius had adopted Nero. Julius Caesar, dictator
perpetuo and considered to be instrumental in the transition from
Republic to Empire, adopted Gaius Octavius, who would become
Augustus, Rome’s first emperor. Moreover, there was a family
connection, as Trajan adopted his first cousin once removed and
great-nephew by marriage, Hadrian. Hadrian made his half-nephew
by marriage, and heir Antoninus Pius, adopt both Hadrian’s second
cousin three times removed, and half-great-nephew by marriage,

658 | The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

Marcus Aurelius, also Antoninus’ nephew by marriage, and the son
of his original planned successor, Lucius Verus. The naming by
Marcus Aurelius of his son, Commodus, was considered to be an
unfortunate choice and the beginning of the Empire’s decline.
With Commodus’ murder in 192, the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty
came to an end; it was followed by a period of turbulence, known as
the Year of the Five Emperors.

The Five Good Emperors

The rulers commonly known as the “Five Good Emperors” were

Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. The
term was coined by the political philosopher, Niccolò Machiavelli, in
1503:

From the study of this history we may also learn how a good
government is to be established; for while all the emperors
who succeeded to the throne by birth, except Titus, were
bad, all were good who succeeded by adoption, as in the case
of the five from Nerva to Marcus. But as soon as the empire
fell once more to the heirs by birth, its ruin recommenced.
Titus, Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus, and Marcus had no
need of praetorian cohorts, or of countless legions to guard
them, but were defended by their own good lives, the good-
will of their subjects, and the attachment of the Senate.

An alternative hypothesis posits that adoptive succession is thought

to have arisen because of a lack of biological heirs. All but the last of
the adoptive emperors had no legitimate biological sons to succeed
them. They were thus obliged to pick a successor somewhere else;
as soon as the Emperor could look towards a biological son to
succeed him, adoptive succession was set aside. Nonetheless, this
period was a time of peace and prosperity.

The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty | 659

Nerva

In 96 CE, Domitian was assassinated in a palace conspiracy involving

members of the Praetorian Guard and several of his freedmen. On
the same day, Nerva was declared emperor by the Roman Senate.
This occasion marked the first time the Senate elected a Roman
Emperor.
Nerva’s brief reign was marred by financial difficulties and his
inability to assert his authority over the Roman army. A revolt by
the Praetorian Guard in October 97 essentially forced him to adopt
an heir. After some deliberation, Nerva chose Trajan, a young and
popular general, as his successor. After barely fifteen months in
office, Nerva died of natural causes in 98, and upon his death, he was
succeeded and deified by Trajan. Although much of his life remains
obscure, Nerva was considered a wise and moderate emperor by
ancient historians. Nerva’s greatest success was his ability to ensure
a peaceful transition of power after his death, thus founding the
Nerva-Antonine Dynasty.

Trajan

Trajan was Roman emperor from 98 CE until his death in 117 CE.
Officially declared by the Senate as optimus princeps (“the best
ruler”), Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who
presided over the greatest military expansion in Roman history, and
led the empire to attain its maximum territorial extent by the time
of his death. He is also known for his philanthropic rule, and oversaw
extensive public building programs and implemented social welfare
policies.

660 | The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

Bust of the Emperor Trajan, who ruled from 98-117 CE.

The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty | 661

Hadrian

Hadrian was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138 CE. Known for his
grand building projects, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed
the Temple of Venus and Roma. He is also known for building
Hadrian’s Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain.
During his reign, Hadrian traveled to nearly every province of the
Empire. An ardent admirer of Greece, he sought to make Athens
the cultural capital of the empire, and created a popular cult in the
name of his Greek lover, Antinous. He spent extensive amounts of
his time with the military; he usually wore military attire and even
dined and slept amongst the soldiers.

662 | The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

Bust of the Emperor Hadrian, who ruled from 117-138 CE.

Marcus Aurelius

Hadrian was succeeded by Antoninus Pius, who was subsequently

succeeded by Marcus Aurelius, who was Roman Emperor from 161
to 180 CE. He ruled with Lucius Verus as co-emperor from 161 until

The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty | 663

Verus’ death in 169. He was the last of the Five Good Emperors
and was a practitioner of Stoicism. His untitled writing, commonly
known as the Meditations, is the most significant source of our
modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy.
Marcus Aurelius was an effective military commander, and Rome
enjoyed various military successes against outsiders who were
beginning to threaten the Empire. During his reign, the Empire
defeated a revitalized Parthian Empire in the East: Aurelius’ general,
Avidius Cassius, sacked the capital Ctesiphon in 164. In central
Europe, Aurelius fought the Marcomanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians
with success during the Marcomannic Wars, although the threat of
the Germanic tribes began to represent a troubling reality for the
empire. A revolt in the East led by Avidius Cassius failed to gain
momentum and was suppressed immediately.
His Meditations, written in Greek while he was on a campaign
between 170 and 180, is still revered as a literary monument to a
philosophy of service and duty, which describes how to find and
preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as
a source of guidance and inspiration.

664 | The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty

Bust of Marcus Aurelius, who ruled from 161 to 180 CE.

Sources
The Nerva-Antonine Dynasty | 665
91. Fall of the Flavian
Emperors

Learning Objective

• Analyze the factors that led to the fall of the Flavian

Dynasty

Key Points

• Flavian rule came to an end on September 18, 96,

when Domitian was assassinated and was succeeded
by the longtime Flavian supporter and advisor Marcus
Cocceius Nerva, who founded the long-lived Nerva-
Antonine Dynasty.
• Domitian’s government exhibited totalitarian
characteristics, which caused disapproval of the
Roman Senate, among others.
• He dealt with several revolts during his rule, the
last one being a successful assassination.
• The Senate rejoiced at the death of Domitian, and
immediately following Nerva’s accession as Emperor,
passed damnatio memoriae on his memory: his coins
and statues were melted, his arches were torn down,

666 | Fall of the Flavian Emperors

 and his name was erased from all public records.

Terms

Marcus Cocceius Nerva

Succeeded Domitian as emperor the same day as his

assassination. Founded the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty.

Roman Senate

A political institution in ancient Rome, and one of the

most enduring institutions in Roman history, established in
the first days of the city. By the time of the Roman
Empire,it had lost much of its political power as well as its
prestige.

damnatio memoriae

Latin for “condemnation of memory,” a form of dishonor

that could be passed by the Roman Senate on traitors or
others who brought discredit to the Roman State; the
intent was to erase the malefactor from history, a task

Fall of the Flavian Emperors | 667

 somewhat easier in ancient times, when documentation
was limited.

Flavian rule came to an end on September 18, 96, when Domitian

was assassinated. He was succeeded by the longtime Flavian
supporter and advisor, Marcus Cocceius Nerva, who founded the
long-lived Nerva-Antonine Dynasty.

Opposition to Domitian

Domitian’s government exhibited totalitarian characteristics; he

saw himself as the new Augustus, an enlightened despot destined
to guide the Roman Empire into a new era of brilliance. Religious,
military, and cultural propaganda fostered a cult of personality, and
by nominating himself perpetual censor, he sought to control public
and private morals. As a consequence, Domitian was popular with
the people and army, but considered a tyrant by members of the
Roman Senate.
Since the fall of the Republic, the authority of the Roman Senate
had largely eroded under the quasi-monarchical system of
government established by Augustus, known as the Principate. The
Principate allowed the existence of a de facto dictatorial regime,
while maintaining the formal framework of the Roman Republic.
Most Emperors upheld the public facade of democracy, and in
return the Senate implicitly acknowledged the Emperor’s status as a
de facto monarch.
Some rulers handled this arrangement with less subtlety than
others. Domitian was not so subtle. From the outset of his reign, he
stressed the reality of his autocracy. He disliked aristocrats and had
no fear of showing it, withdrawing every decision-making power

668 | Fall of the Flavian Emperors

from the Senate, and instead relying on a small set of friends and
equestrians to control the important offices of state.
The dislike was mutual. After Domitian’s assassination, the
senators of Rome rushed to the Senate house, where they
immediately passed a motion condemning his memory to oblivion.
Under the rulers of the Nervan-Antonian Dynasty, senatorial
authors published histories that elaborated on the view of Domitian
as a tyrant. Modern revisionists have instead characterized
Domitian as a ruthless but efficient autocrat, whose cultural,
economic, and political program provided the foundation of the
peaceful 2nd century.

Assassination

Domitian dealt with several revolts during his rule, the last of which
was a successful plot to assassinate him. Domitian was assassinated
on September 18, 96, in a palace conspiracy organized by court
officials. A highly detailed account of the plot and the assassination
is provided by Suetonius, who alleges that Domitian’s chamberlain,
Parthenius, was the chief instigator behind the conspiracy, citing
the recent execution of Domitian’s secretary, Epaphroditus, as the
primary motive. The murder itself was carried out by a freedman
of Parthenius, named Maximus, and a steward of Domitian’s niece
Flavia Domitilla, named Stephanus.
The precise involvement of the Praetorian Guard is less clear. At
the time, the Guard was commanded by Titus Flavius Norbanus and
Titus Petronius Secundus, and the latter was almost certainly aware
of the plot. Cassius Dio, writing nearly a hundred years after the
assassination, includes Domitia Longina among the conspirators,
but in light of her attested devotion to Domitian—even years after
her husband had died—her involvement in the plot seems highly
unlikely.
Dio further suggests that the assassination was improvised, while

Fall of the Flavian Emperors | 669

Suetonius implies a well-organized conspiracy. For some days
before the attack took place, Stephanus feigned an injury so as to
be able to conceal a dagger beneath his bandages. On the day of the
assassination, the doors to the servants’ quarters were locked while
Domitian’s personal weapon of last resort, a sword he concealed
beneath his pillow, had been removed in advance.
Domitian and Stephanus wrestled on the ground for some time,
until the Emperor was finally overpowered and fatally stabbed by
the conspirators; Stephanus was stabbed by Domitian during the
struggle and died shortly afterward. Around noon, Domitian, just
one month short of his 45th birthday, was dead. His body was
carried away on a common bier, and unceremoniously cremated by
his nurse Phyllis, who later mingled the ashes with those of his niece
Julia, at the Flavian temple.

The End of the Flavian Dynasty

The same day as Domitian’s death, the Senate proclaimed Marcus

Cocceius Nerva to be emperor. Despite his political experience, this
was a remarkable choice. Nerva was old and childless, and had spent
much of his career out of the public light, prompting both ancient
and modern authors to speculate on his involvement in Domitian’s
assassination.
According to Cassius Dio, the conspirators approached Nerva as
a potential successor prior to the assassination, suggesting that he
was at least aware of the plot. He does not appear in Suetonius’
version of the events, but this may be understandable, since his
works were published under Nerva’s direct descendants, Trajan and
Hadrian. To suggest the dynasty owed its accession to murder
would have been less than sensitive.
On the other hand, Nerva lacked widespread support in the
Empire, and as a known Flavian loyalist, his track record would not
have recommended him to the conspirators. The precise facts have

670 | Fall of the Flavian Emperors

been obscured by history, but modern historians believe Nerva was
proclaimed emperor solely on the initiative of the Senate, within
hours after the news of the assassination broke. The decision may
have been hasty so as to avoid civil war, but neither appears to have
been involved in the conspiracy.
The Senate nonetheless rejoiced at the death of Domitian, and
immediately following Nerva’s accession as Emperor, passed
damnatio memoriae on his memory: his coins and statues were
melted, his arches were torn down, and his name was erased from
all public records. Domitian and, over a century later, Publius
Septimius Geta, were the only emperors known to have officially
received a damnatio memoriae, though others may have received de
facto ones. In many instances, existing portraits of Domitian, such
as those found on the Cancelleria Reliefs, were simply recarved to
fit the likeness of Nerva, which allowed quick production of new
images and recycling of previous material. Yet the order of the
Senate was only partially executed in Rome, and wholly disregarded
in most of the provinces outside Italy.
Although Nerva’s brief reign was marred by financial difficulties
and his inability to assert his authority over the Roman army (who
were still loyal to Domitian), his greatest success was his ability to
ensure a peaceful transition of power after his death, thus founding
the Nerva-Antonine Dynasty.

Fall of the Flavian Emperors | 671

672 | Fall of the Flavian Emperors
Domitian as Emperor (Vatican Museums), possibly recut from a statue of
Nero.

Sources

Fall of the Flavian Emperors | 673

92. Flavian Architecture

Learning Objective

• Identify some of the key structures erected by the

Flavian emperors

Key Points

• Perhaps the most enduring legacy of the Flavian

Dynasty was their massive building program, which
not only erected new buildings to celebrate their
successes, but also renovated buildings, statues, and
monuments throughout Rome.
• The most spectacular of these buildings was the
Flavian Amphitheater, better known as the
Colosseum, built from the spoils of the Siege of
Jerusalem.
• The Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests
and public spectacles, such as mock sea battles,
animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous
battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology.
• The bulk of the Flavian construction projects was
carried out during the reign of Domitian, who spent
lavishly to restore and embellish the city of Rome.

674 | Flavian Architecture

 Terms

Apollo

One of the most important and complex of the Olympian

deities, variously recognized as a god of music, truth and
prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry, and
more.

Flavian Amphitheatre

Better known as the Colosseum, an oval amphitheater in

the center of the city of Rome, Italy; used for gladiatorial
games, among other activities.

Overview

The Flavian Dynasty is perhaps best known for its vast construction
program on the city of Rome, intended to restore the capital from
the damage it had suffered during the Great Fire of 64, and the civil
war of 69. Vespasian added the temple of Peace and the temple to
the deified Claudius. In 75, a colossal statue of Apollo, begun under
Nero as a statue of himself, was finished on Vespasian’s orders, and
he also dedicated a stage of the theater of Marcellus. Construction
of the Flavian Amphitheater, presently better known as the
Colosseum (probably after the nearby statue), was begun in 70 CE

Flavian Architecture | 675

under Vespasian, and finally completed in 80 under Titus. In
addition to providing spectacular entertainments to the Roman
populace, the building was also conceived as a gigantic triumphal
monument to commemorate the military achievements of the
Flavians during the Jewish wars. Adjacent to the amphitheater,
within the precinct of Nero’s Golden House, Titus also ordered the
construction of a new public bath-house, which was to bear his
name. Construction of this building was hastily finished to coincide
with the completion of the Flavian Amphitheater.
The bulk of the Flavian construction projects was carried out
during the reign of Domitian, who spent lavishly to restore and
embellish the city of Rome. Much more than a renovation project
however, Domitian’s building program was intended to be the
crowning achievement of an Empire-wide cultural renaissance.
Around 50 structures were erected, restored, or completed, a
number second only to the amount erected under Augustus. Among
the most important new structures were an odeum, a stadium,
and an expansive palace on the Palatine Hill, known as the Flavian
Palace, which was designed by Domitian’s master architect,
Rabirius. The most important building Domitian restored was the
Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill, which was said to have
been covered with a gilded roof. Among those he completed were
the Temple of Vespasian and Titus, the Arch of Titus, and the
Colosseum, to which he added a fourth level and finished the
interior seating area.

The Colosseum

The Colosseum is an oval amphitheater in the center of the city of

Rome, Italy. Built of concrete and sand, it is the largest amphitheater
ever built. The Colosseum is situated just east of the Roman Forum.
Construction began under the emperor Vespasian in 72 CE, and was

676 | Flavian Architecture

completed in 80 CE under his successor and heir, Titus. Further
modifications were made during the reign of Domitian (81-96).
The Colosseum could hold, it is estimated, between 50,000 and
80,000 spectators, with an average audience of some 65,000; it was
used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles, such as mock
sea battles (for only a short time, as the hypogeum was soon filled
in with mechanisms to support the other activities), animal hunts,
executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on
Classical mythology.
Construction was funded by the opulent spoils taken from the
Jewish Temple after the Great Jewish Revolt in 70 CE led to the
Siege of Jerusalem. According to a reconstructed inscription found
on the site, “the emperor Vespasian ordered this new amphitheater
to be erected from his general’s share of the booty.” Along with the
spoils, estimated 100,000 Jewish prisoners were brought back to
Rome after the war, and many contributed to the massive workforce
needed for construction. The slaves undertook manual labor, such
as working in the quarries at Tivoli where the travertine was
quarried, along with lifting and transporting the quarried stones 20
miles from Tivoli to Rome. Along with this free source of unskilled
labor, teams of professional Roman builders, engineers, artists,
painters and decorators undertook the more specialized tasks
necessary for building the Colosseum.

Flavian Architecture | 677

The Flavian Amphitheater. The most enduring landmark of the Flavian
Dynasty was the Flavian Amphitheater, better known as the Colosseum. Its
construction was begun by Vespasian, and ultimately finished by Titus and
Domitian, financed from the spoils of the destruction of the Second Jerusalem
Temple.

Sources

678 | Flavian Architecture

93. Eruptions of Vesuvius and
Pompeii

Learning Objective

• Describe the events surrounding the Eruption of

Mount Vesuvius

Key Points

• The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, during

the reign of Emperor Titus, was one of the most
catastrophic volcanic eruptions in European history.
• Historians have learned about the eruption from
the eyewitness account of Pliny the Younger, a Roman
administrator and poet.
• Mount Vesuvius spewed a deadly cloud of volcanic
gas, stones, and ash to a height of 21 miles, ejecting
molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 1.5
million tons per second, ultimately releasing a
hundred thousand times the thermal energy of the
Hiroshima bombing.
• Several Roman settlements were obliterated and
buried underneath massive pyroclastic surges and

Eruptions of Vesuvius and

Pompeii | 679
 ashfall deposits, the most well known of which are
Pompeii and Herculaneum.
• The preserved remains of about 1,500 people have
been found at Pompeii and Herculaneum, but the
overall death toll is still unknown.

Terms

Pliny the Younger

A lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome who

witnessed the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

pyroclastic surge

A fluidized mass of turbulent gas and rock fragments,

ejected during some volcanic eruptions.

Pompeii

An ancient Roman town-city near modern Naples, in the

Campania region of Italy, destroyed during the eruption of
Mount Vesuvius.

680 | Eruptions of Vesuvius and Pompeii

Overview

Although his administration was marked by a relative absence of

major military or political conflicts, Titus faced a number of major
disasters during his brief reign. On August 24, 79 CE, barely two
months after his accession, Mount Vesuvius erupted, resulting in
the almost complete destruction of life and property in the cities
and resort communities around the Bay of Naples. The cities of
Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried under meters of stone and
lava, killing thousands of citizens. Titus appointed two ex-consuls to
organize and coordinate the relief effort, while personally donating
large amounts of money from the imperial treasury to aid the
victims of the volcano. Additionally, he visited Pompeii once after
the eruption and again the following year.
The city was lost for nearly 1,700 years before its accidental
rediscovery in 1748. Since then, its excavation has provided an
extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of
the Roman Empire, frozen at the moment it was buried on August
24, 79. The Forum, the baths, many houses, and some out-of-town
villas, like the Villa of the Mysteries, remain surprisingly well
preserved. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist attractions
of Italy and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On-going excavations
reveal new insights into the Roman history and culture.

The Eruption

Reconstructions of the eruption and its effects vary considerably in

the details but have the same overall features. The eruption lasted
for two days. The morning of the first day, August 24, was perceived
as normal by the only eyewitness to leave a surviving document,
Pliny the Younger, who at that point was staying at Misenum, on the
other side of the Bay of Naples, about 19 miles from the volcano,

Eruptions of Vesuvius and Pompeii | 681

which may have prevented him from noticing the early signs of
the eruption. He was not to have any opportunity, during the next
two days, to talk to people who had witnessed the eruption from
Pompeii or Herculaneum (indeed he never mentions Pompeii in his
letter), so he would not have noticed early, smaller fissures and
releases of ash and smoke on the mountain, if such had occurred
earlier in the morning.
Around 1:00 p.m., Mount Vesuvius violently exploded, throwing up
a high-altitude column from which ash began to fall, blanketing the
area. Rescues and escapes occurred during this time. At some time
in the night or early the next day, August 25, pyroclastic flows in
the close vicinity of the volcano began. Lights seen on the mountain
were interpreted as fires. People as far away as Misenum fled for
their lives. The flows were rapid-moving, dense, and very hot,
knocking down wholly or partly all structures in their path,
incinerating or suffocating all population remaining there and
altering the landscape, including the coastline. These were
accompanied by additional light tremors and a mild tsunami in the
Bay of Naples. By evening of the second day the eruption was over,
leaving only haze in the atmosphere, through which the sun shone
weakly.
Pliny the Younger wrote an account of the eruption:

Broad sheets of flame were lighting up many parts of

Vesuvius; their light and brightness were the more vivid for
the darkness of the night… it was daylight now elsewhere
in the world, but there the darkness was darker and thicker
than any night.

Casualties

In Pompeii, the eruption destroyed the city, killing its inhabitants

and burying it under tons of ash. Evidence for the destruction

682 | Eruptions of Vesuvius and Pompeii

originally came from a surviving letter by Pliny the Younger, who
saw the eruption from a distance and described the death of his
uncle, Pliny the Elder, an admiral of the Roman fleet, who tried
to rescue citizens. The site was lost for about 1,500 years until its
initial rediscovery in 1599, and broader rediscovery almost 150 years
later by Spanish engineer Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre in 1748. The
objects that lay beneath the city have been preserved for centuries
because of the lack of air and moisture. These artifacts provide
an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city during the
Pax Romana. During the excavation, plaster was used to fill in the
voids in the ash layers that once held human bodies. This allowed
archaeologists to see the exact position the person was in when he
or she died.

Eruptions of Vesuvius and Pompeii | 683

Pompeii’s “Garden of the Fugitives.” Plaster casts of victims still in situ; many
casts are in the Archaeological Museum of Naples.

By 2003, around 1,044 casts made from impressions of bodies in the

684 | Eruptions of Vesuvius and Pompeii

ash deposits had been recovered in and around Pompeii, with the
scattered bones of another 100. The remains of about 332 bodies
have been found at Herculaneum (300 in arched vaults discovered
in 1980). The percentage these numbers represent of the total dead,
or the percentage of the dead to the total number at risk, remain
completely unknown.
Thirty-eight percent of the 1,044 were found in the ash fall
deposits, the majority inside buildings. These are thought to have
been killed mainly by roof collapses, with the smaller number of
victims found outside buildings probably killed by falling roof slates,
or by larger rocks thrown out by the volcano. This differs from
modern experience, since over the last four hundred years only
around 4% of victims have been killed by ash falls during explosive
eruptions. The remaining 62% of remains found at Pompeii were
in the pyroclastic surge deposits, and thus were probably killed by
them. It was initially believed that due to the state of the bodies
found at Pompeii, and the outline of clothes on the bodies, it was
unlikely that high temperatures were a significant cause. But in
2010, studies indicated that during the fourth pyroclastic surge–the
first surge to reach Pompeii–temperatures reached 572 °F.
Volcanologist Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo, who led the study, noted
that “[The temperature was] enough to kill hundreds of people in a
fraction of a second.” In reference as to why the bodies were frozen
in suspended action, he said, “The contorted postures are not the
effects of a long agony, but of the cadaveric spasm, a consequence
of heat shock on corpses.”

Eruptions of Vesuvius and Pompeii | 685

 Ring Lady. The skeletal remains of a young woman killed by the
eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. The skeleton, unearthed from the
ruins of Herculaneum in 1982, was named the “Ring Lady” because of
the emerald and ruby rings found on the woman’s left hand. Two gold
bracelets and gold earrings were also found by the woman’s side.

Sources

686 | Eruptions of Vesuvius and Pompeii

94. Military Achievements of
the Flavians

Learning Objective

• Describe some of the military achievements and

challenges of the Flavian emperors

Key Points

• The most significant military campaign undertaken

during the Flavian period was the siege and
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE by Titus; it was a
response to a failed Jewish rebellion in 66.
• Contemporary estimates claimed that 1,100,000
people were killed during the siege, of which a
majority were Jewish.
• Substantial conquests were made in Great Britain
under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, between
77 and 83.
• The military campaigns undertaken during
Domitian’s reign were usually defensive in nature, as
the Emperor rejected the idea of expansionist
warfare, and the few battles were mainly fought with

Military Achievements of the

Flavians | 687
 Germanic tribes, especially the Dacians.

Terms

Limes Germanicus

A line of frontier fortifications that bounded the ancient

Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior
and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsubdued
Germanic tribes, from the years 83 to about 260 CE.

Torah

The central text of the religious Judaic tradition, often

referring specifically to the first five books of the twenty-
four books of the Tanakh.

the Forum

A a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of

several important ancient government buildings at the
center of the city of Rome, originally a large marketplace.

688 | Military Achievements of the Flavians

Overview

The Flavian Dynasty’s military witnessed the siege and destruction

of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 CE, following the failed Jewish rebellion
of 66. Substantial conquests were made in Great Britain under
command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola between 77 and 83, while
Domitian was unable to procure a decisive victory against King
Decebalus in the war against the Dacians. In addition, the Empire
strengthened its border defenses by expanding the fortifications
along the Limes Germanicus.

Siege of Jerusalem

The most significant military campaign undertaken during the

Flavian period was the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 70
by Titus. The destruction of the city was the culmination of the
Roman campaign in Judaea following the Jewish uprising of 66.
The Second Temple was completely demolished, after which Titus’s
soldiers proclaimed him imperator, an honorific meaning
“commander,” in honor of the victory. Jerusalem was sacked and
much of the population killed or dispersed. Josephus claims that
1,100,000 people were killed during the siege, of which a majority
were Jewish. 97,000 were captured and enslaved, including Simon
Bar Giora and John of Gischala. Many fled to areas around the
Mediterranean.
Titus reportedly refused to accept a wreath of victory, as there is
“no merit in vanquishing people forsaken by their own God.” Upon
his return to Rome in 71, Titus was awarded a triumph. Accompanied
by Vespasian and Domitian, he rode into the city, enthusiastically
saluted by the Roman populace, and preceded by a lavish parade
containing treasures and captives from the war. Josephus describes
a procession with large amounts of gold and silver carried along

Military Achievements of the Flavians | 689

the route, followed by elaborate re-enactments of the war, Jewish
prisoners, and finally the treasures taken from the Temple of
Jerusalem, including the Menorah and the Torah. Leaders of the
resistance were executed in the Forum, after which the procession
closed with religious sacrifices at the Temple of Jupiter. The
triumphal Arch of Titus, which stands at one entrance to the Forum,
memorializes the victory of Titus.

Siege of Jerusalem. This relief from the Arch of Titus depicts Roman soldiers
carrying treasures from the Temple of Jerusalem, including the Menorah. The
city was besieged and destroyed by Titus in 70 CE.

Conquest of Britain

The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius

Agricola, who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia, or
modern day Scotland, between 77 and 84 AD. In 82, Agricola crossed
an unidentified body of water and defeated peoples unknown to the
Romans until then. He fortified the coast facing Ireland, and Tacitus
recalled that his father-in-law often claimed the island could be
conquered with a single legion and a few auxiliaries. He had given
refuge to an exiled Irish king whom he hoped he might use as

690 | Military Achievements of the Flavians

the excuse for conquest. This conquest never happened, but some
historians believe that the crossing referred to was in fact a small-
scale exploratory or punitive expedition to Ireland. The following
year, Agricola raised a fleet and pushed beyond the Forth into
Caledonia. To aid the advance, an expansive legionary fortress was
constructed at Inchtuthil. In the summer of 84, Agricola faced the
armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons
Graupius. Although the Romans inflicted heavy losses on the
Calidonians, two-thirds of their army managed to escape and hide
in the Scottish marshes and Highlands, ultimately preventing
Agricola from bringing the entire British island under his control.

Other Military Activity

The military campaigns undertaken during Domitian’s reign were

usually defensive in nature, as the Emperor rejected the idea of
expansionist warfare. His most significant military contribution was
the development of the Limes Germanicus, which encompassed a
vast network of roads, forts, and watchtowers constructed along
the Rhine river to defend the Empire from the unsubdued Germanic
tribes. Nevertheless, several important wars were fought in Gaul,
against the Chatti, and across the Danube frontier against the Suebi,
the Sarmatians, and the Dacians. Led by King Decebalus, the
Dacians invaded the province of Moesia around 84 or 85, wreaking
considerable havoc and killing the Moesian governor Oppius
Sabinus. Domitian immediately launched a counteroffensive, which
resulted in the destruction of a legion during an ill-fated expedition
into Dacia. Their commander, Cornelius Fuscus, was killed, and the
battle standard of the Praetorian Guard lost.
In 87, the Romans invaded Dacia once more, this time under
command of Tettius Julianus, and finally managed to defeat
Decebalus late in 88, at the same site where Fuscus had previously
been killed. An attack on Dacia’s capital was cancelled, however,

Military Achievements of the Flavians | 691

when a crisis arose on the German frontier. This forced Domitian
to sign a peace treaty with Decebalus that was severely criticized
by contemporary authors. For the remainder of Domitian’s reign,
Dacia remained a relatively peaceful client kingdom, but Decebalus
used the Roman money to fortify his defenses, and continued to
defy Rome. It was not until the reign of Trajan, in 106, that a decisive
victory against Decebalus was procured. Again, the Roman army
sustained heavy losses, but Trajan succeeded in capturing
Sarmizegetusa and, importantly, annexed the gold and silver mines
of Dacia.

Sources

692 | Military Achievements of the Flavians

95. The Flavian Dynasty

Learning Objective

• Analyze how Vespasian consolidated control over

the empire

Key Points

• Vespasian, a general for the Roman army, founded

the Flavian Dynasty, which ruled the Empire for 27
years.
• While Vespasian besieged Jerusalem during the
Jewish rebellion, emperor Nero committed suicide
and plunged Rome into a year of civil war, known as
the Year of the Four Emperors.
• After Galba and Otho perished in quick succession,
Vitellius became the third emperor in April 69 CE.
• The Roman legions of Roman Egypt and Judaea
reacted by declaring Vespasian, their commander,
emperor on July 1, 69 CE.
• In his bid for imperial power, Vespasian joined
forces with Mucianus, the governor of Syria, and
Primus, a general in Pannonia, leaving his son, Titus,
to command the besieging forces at Jerusalem;

The Flavian Dynasty | 693

 Primus and Mucianus led the Flavian forces against
Vitellius, while Vespasian took control of Egypt.
• On December 20, 69, Vitellius was defeated, and
the following day, Vespasian was declared Emperor by
the Senate.
• Little information survives about the government
during Vespasian’s ten-year rule; he reformed the
financial system at Rome after the campaign against
Judaea ended successfully, and initiated several
ambitious construction projects.

Terms

Colosseum

Also known as the Flavian Amphitheater, an oval

amphitheater in the center of the city of Rome, Italy, built
of concrete and sand. The largest amphitheater ever built,
used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles, such as
mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments
of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical
mythology.

694 | The Flavian Dynasty

 Year of the Four Emperors

A year in the history of the Roman Empire, 69 CE, in

which four emperors ruled in succession: Galba, Otho,
Vitellius, and Vespasian.

Praetorian Guard

A force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors, who

also served as secret police and participated in wars.

Overview

The Flavian Dynasty was a Roman imperial dynasty that ruled the
Roman Empire between 69 CE and 96 CE, encompassing the reigns
of Vespasian (69-79 CE), and his two sons Titus (79-81 CE) and
Domitian (81-96 CE). The Flavians rose to power during the civil
war of 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors. After Galba
and Otho died in quick succession, Vitellius became emperor in mid
69 CE. His claim to the throne was quickly challenged by legions
stationed in the Eastern provinces, who declared their commander,
Vespasian, emperor in his place. The Second Battle of Bedriacum
tilted the balance decisively in favor of the Flavian forces, who
entered Rome on December 20. The following day, the Roman
Senate officially declared Vespasian emperor of the Roman Empire,
thus commencing the Flavian Dynasty. Although the dynasty proved

The Flavian Dynasty | 695

to be short-lived, several significant historic, economic, and military
events took place during their reign.
The Flavians initiated economic and cultural reforms. Under
Vespasian, new taxes were devised to restore the Empire’s finances,
while Domitian revalued the Roman coinage by increasing its silver
content. A massive building program was enacted to celebrate the
ascent of the Flavian Dynasty, leaving multiple enduring landmarks
in the city of Rome, the most spectacular of which was the Flavian
Amphitheater, better known as the Colosseum.

Rise to Power

On June 9, 68 CE, amidst growing opposition of the Senate and

the army, Nero committed suicide, and with him the Julio-Claudian
Dynasty came to an end. Chaos ensued, leading to a year of brutal
civil war, known as the Year of the Four Emperors, during which
the four most influential generals in the Roman Empire—Galba,
Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian—successively vied for imperial power.
News of Nero’s death reached Vespasian as he was preparing to
besiege the city of Jerusalem. Almost simultaneously the Senate had
declared Galba, then governor of Hispania Tarraconensis (modern
Spain), as Emperor of Rome. Rather than continue his campaign,
Vespasian decided to await further orders and send Titus to greet
the new Emperor. Before reaching Italy however, Titus learned that
Galba had been murdered and replaced by Otho, the governor of
Lusitania (modern Portugal). At the same time, Vitellius and his
armies in Germania had risen in revolt, and prepared to march on
Rome, intent on overthrowing Otho. Not wanting to risk being taken
hostage by one side or the other, Titus abandoned the journey to
Rome and rejoined his father in Judaea.

696 | The Flavian Dynasty

Roman Empire in 69 CE. The Roman Empire during the Year of the Four
Emperors (69 CE). Purple areas indicate provinces loyal to Vespasian and
Gaius Licinius Mucianus. Green areas indicate provinces loyal to Vitellius.

Otho and Vitellius realized the potential threat posed by the Flavian
faction. With four legions at his disposal, Vespasian commanded a
strength of nearly 80,000 soldiers. His position in Judaea further
granted him the advantage of being nearest to the vital province
of Egypt, which controlled the grain supply to Rome. His brother,
Titus Flavius Sabinus II, as city prefect, commanded the entire city
garrison of Rome. Tensions among the Flavian troops ran high, but
as long as Galba and Otho remained in power, Vespasian refused
to take action. When Otho was defeated by Vitellius at the First
Battle of Bedriacum however, the armies in Judaea and Egypt took
matters into their own hands, and declared Vespasian emperor on
July 1, 69. Vespasian accepted, and entered an alliance with Gaius
Licinius Mucianus, the governor of Syria, against Vitellius. A strong
force drawn from the Judaean and Syrian legions marched on Rome

The Flavian Dynasty | 697

under the command of Mucianus, while Vespasian himself travelled
to Alexandria, leaving Titus in charge of ending the Jewish rebellion.
Meanwhile in Rome, Domitian was placed under house arrest by
Vitellius, as a safeguard against future Flavian aggression. Support
for the old emperor was waning however, as more legions
throughout the empire pledged their allegiance to Vespasian. On
October 24, 69, the forces of Vitellius and Vespasian clashed at
the Second Battle of Bedriacum, which ended in a crushing defeat
for the armies of Vitellius. In despair, he attempted to negotiate a
surrender. Terms of peace, including a voluntary abdication, were
agreed upon with Titus Flavius Sabinus II, but the soldiers of the
Praetorian Guard—the imperial bodyguard—considered such a
resignation disgraceful, and prevented Vitellius from carrying out
the treaty. After several skirmishes between the factions, eventually
Vitellius was killed and on December 21, the Senate proclaimed
Vespasian emperor of the Roman Empire.
Although the war had officially ended, a state of anarchy and
lawlessness pervaded in the first days following the demise of
Vitellius. In early 70 AD, order was properly restored by Mucianus,
who headed an interim government with Domitian as the
representative of the Flavian family in the Senate. Upon receiving
the tidings of his rival’s defeat and death at Alexandria, the new
Emperor at once forwarded supplies of urgently needed grain to
Rome, along with an edict or a declaration of policy, in which he
gave assurance of an entire reversal of the laws of Nero, especially
those relating to treason. However, in early 70, Vespasian was still in
Egypt, continuing to consolidate support from the Egyptians before
departing. By the end of the year, he finally returned to Rome, and
was properly installed as Emperor.

Vespasian’s Rule

Little factual information survives about Vespasian’s government

698 | The Flavian Dynasty

during the ten years he was Emperor. Vespasian spent his first
year as a ruler in Egypt, during which the administration of the
empire was given to Mucianus, aided by Vespasian’s son, Domitian.
Modern historians believe that Vespasian remained there, in order
to consolidate support from the Egyptians. In mid-70, Vespasian
first came to Rome and immediately embarked on a widespread
propaganda campaign to consolidate his power and promote the
new dynasty. His reign is best known for financial reforms following
the demise of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, such as the institution
of the tax on urinals, and the numerous military campaigns fought
during the 70s. The most significant of these was the First Jewish-
Roman War, which ended in the destruction of the city of Jerusalem
by Titus. In addition, Vespasian faced several uprisings in Egypt,
Gaul, and Germania, and reportedly survived several conspiracies
against him. Vespasian helped rebuild Rome after the civil war,
adding a temple of peace, and beginning construction of the Flavian
Amphitheater, better known as the Colosseum.
Many modern historians note the increased amount of
propaganda that appeared during Vespasian’s reign. Stories of a
supernatural emperor, who was destined to rule, circulated in the
empire. Nearly one-third of all coins minted in Rome under
Vespasian celebrated military victory or peace. The word vindex was
removed from coins so as not to remind the public of rebellious
Vindex. Construction projects bore inscriptions praising Vespasian
and condemning previous emperors. A temple of peace was
constructed in the forum as well. Vespasian approved histories
written under his reign, ensuring biases against him were removed.
Vespasian also gave financial rewards to writers. The ancient
historians who lived through the period, such as Tacitus, Suetonius,
Josephus, and Pliny the Elder, speak suspiciously well of Vespasian,
while condemning the emperors who came before him. Tacitus
admits that his status was elevated by Vespasian, Josephus identifies
Vespasian as a patron and savior, and Pliny dedicated his Natural
Histories to Vespasian’s son, Titus.
Those who spoke against Vespasian were punished. A number

The Flavian Dynasty | 699

of stoic philosophers were accused of corrupting students with
inappropriate teachings and were expelled from Rome. Helvidius
Priscus, a pro-republic philosopher, was executed for his teachings.
Vespasian died of natural causes on June 23, 79, and was
immediately succeeded by his eldest son, Titus.

Bust of Vespasian. Vespasian founded the Flavian Dynasty, which ruled the
Empire for twenty-seven years.

700 | The Flavian Dynasty

Sources

The Flavian Dynasty | 701

96. The Last Julio-Claudian
Emperors

Learning Objective

• Explain how Nero and other factors contributed to

the fall of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty

Key Points

• Nero reigned as Roman Emperor from 54 to 68 CE,

and was the last emperor in the Julio-Claudian
Dynasty.
• Very early in Nero’s rule, problems arose, due to his
mother, Agrippina the Younger’s competition for
influence with Nero’s two main advisers, Seneca and
Burrus.
• Nero minimized the influence of all of his advisers
and effectively eliminating all rivals to his throne. He
also slowly removed power from the Senate, despite
having promised to grant them with powers
equivalent to those they had under republican rule.
• In March 68, Gaius Gulius Vindex, the governor of
Gallia Lugdunensis, rebelled against Nero’s tax

702 | The Last Julio-Claudian

Emperors
 policies and called upon the support of Servius
Sulpicius Galba, the governor of Hispania
Tarraconensis, who not only joined the rebellion, but
also declared himself emperor in opposition to Nero.
Galba would become the first emperor in what was
known as the Year of the Four Emperors.
• Vespasian was the fourth and final emperor to rule
in the year 69 CE, and established the stable Flavian
Dynasty, that was to succeed the Julio-Claudians.

Terms

Praetorian Guard

A force of bodyguards used by the Roman emperors. They

also served as secret police and participated in wars.

Julio-Claudian dynasty

The first five Roman emperors who ruled the Roman

Empire, including Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius,
and Nero.

The Last Julio-Claudian Emperors | 703

 Flavian dynasty

A Roman imperial dynasty that ruled the Roman Empire

from 69 to 96 CE, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian
and his two sons, Titus and Domitian.

Nero

Nero reigned as Roman Emperor from 54 to 68 CE, and was the last
emperor in the Julio-Claudian Dynasty. Nero focused on diplomacy,
trade, and enhancing the cultural life of the Empire during his rule.
He ordered theaters to be built and promoted athletic games.
However, according to Tacitus, a historian writing one generation
after Nero’s rule, Nero was viewed by many Romans as compulsive
and corrupt. Suetonius, another historian writing a generation after
Nero’s rule, claims that Nero began the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE,
in order to clear land for a palatial complex he was planning.

704 | The Last Julio-Claudian Emperors

A marble bust of Nero, at the Antiquarium of the Palatine.

Early Rule

When Claudius died in 54, Nero was established as the new

The Last Julio-Claudian Emperors | 705

emperor. According to some ancient historians, Agrippina the
Younger, Nero’s mother, poisoned Claudius in order to make Nero
the youngest Roman emperor (at the age of 17). Very early in Nero’s
rule, problems arose due to Agrippina’s competition for influence
with Nero’s two main advisers, Seneca and Burrus. For example,
in the year 54, Agrippina caused a scandal by attempting to sit
with Nero while he met with the Armenian envoy, an unheard of
act, since women were not permitted to be in the same room as
men while official business was being conducted. The next year,
Agrippina attempted to intervene on behalf of Nero’s wife, Octavia,
with whom Nero was dissatisfied and cheating on with a former
slave. With the help of his adviser, Seneca, Nero managed to resist
his mother’s interference yet again.
Sensing his resistance to her influence, Agrippina began pushing
for Britannicus, Nero’s stepbrother, to become emperor. Britannicus
was still shy of 14 years old, and legally still a minor, but because he
was the son of the previous emperor, Claudius, by blood, Agrippina
held hope that he would be accepted as the true heir to the throne.
Her efforts were thwarted, however, when Britannicus mysteriously
died one day short of becoming a legal adult. Many ancient
historians claim that Britannicus was poisoned by his stepbrother,
Nero. Shortly thereafter, Agrippina was ordered out of the imperial
residence.

Consolidation of Power

Over time, Nero began minimizing the influence of all advisers and
effectively eliminating all rivals to his throne. Even Seneca and
Burrus were accused of conspiring against, and embezzling from
the emperor; they were eventually acquitted, reducing their roles
from careful management of the government to mere moderation of
Nero’s actions on the throne. In 58 CE, Nero became romantically
involved with Poppaea Sabina, the wife of his friend and future

706 | The Last Julio-Claudian Emperors

emperor, Otho. Because divorcing his current wife and marrying
Poppaea did not seem politically feasible with his mother still alive,
Nero ordered Agrippina’s murder the following year.
Nero’s consolidation of power included a slow usurpation of
authority from the Senate. Although he had promised the Senate
powers equivalent to those it had under republican rule, over the
course of the first decade of Nero’s rule, the Senate was divested
of all its authority, which led directly to the Pisonian Conspiracy
of 65. Gaius Calpurnius Piso, a Roman statesman, organized the
conspiracy against Nero with the help of Subrius Flavus, a tribune,
and Sulpicius Asper, a centurion of the Praetorian Guard, in order to
restore the Republic and wrest power from the emperor. However,
the conspiracy failed when it was discovered by a freedman, who
reported the details to Nero’s secretary. This led to the execution of
all conspirators. Seneca was also ordered to commit suicide after he
admitted to having prior knowledge of the plot.

Vindex and Galba’s Revolt

In March 68, Gaius Gulius Vindex, the governor of Gallia

Lugdunensis, rebelled against Nero’s tax policies and called upon
the support of Servius Sulpicius Galba, the governor of Hispania
Tarraconensis, who not only joined the rebellion, but also declared
himself emperor in opposition to Nero. Two months later, Vindex’s
forces were defeated at the Battle of Vesontio, and Vindex
committed suicide. The legions that defeated Vindex then
attempted to proclaim their own commander, Verginius, as
emperor, but Verginius refused to act against Nero. Meanwhile,
public support for Galba grew despite his being officially declared
a public enemy. In response, Nero began to flee Rome only to turn
back when the army officers that were with him refused to obey
his commands. When Nero returned, he received word that the
Senate had declared him a public enemy and intended to beat him

The Last Julio-Claudian Emperors | 707

to death—although in actuality, the Senate remained open to
mediating an end to the conflict, and many senators felt a sense
of loyalty to Nero, even if only on account of him being the last
of the Julio-Claudian line. However, Nero was unaware of this and
convinced his private secretary to help him take his own life.

Year of the Four Emperors

The suicide of Emperor Nero was followed by a brief period of civil

war. Then, between June 68 and December 69, four emperors ruled
in succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian.
Galba was recognized as emperor following Nero’s suicide, but
he did not remain popular for long. On his march to Rome, he
either destroyed or took enormous fines from towns that did not
accept him immediately. Once in Rome, Galba made many of Nero’s
reforms redundant, including ones that benefited important people
within Roman society. Galba executed many senators and equites
without trial, in a paranoid attempt to consolidate his power, which
unsettled many, including the Praetorian Guard. Finally, the legions
of Germania Inferior refused to swear allegiance and obedience to
Galba, instead proclaiming the governor Vitellius as emperor.
This caused Galba to panic and name Lucius Calpurnius Piso
Licinianus, a young senator, as his successor. This upset many
people, but especially Marcus Salvius Otho, who had coveted after
the title for himself. Otho bribed the Praetorian Guard to support
him and embarked upon a coup d’etat, during which Galba was
killed by the Praetorians. Otho was recognized as emperor by the
Senate the same day and was expected by many to be a fair ruler.
Unfortunately, soon thereafter, Vitellius declared himself Imperator
in Germania, and dispatched half his army to march on Italy.
Otho attempted to broker a peace, but Vitellius was uninterested,
especially because his legions were some of the finest in the empire,
which gave him a great advantage over Otho. Indeed, Otho was

708 | The Last Julio-Claudian Emperors

eventually defeated at the Battle of Bedriacum, and rather than flee
and attempt a counterattack, Otho committed suicide. He had been
emperor for little more than three months. Vitellius was recognized
as emperor by the Senate. Very quickly thereafter, he proceeded
to bankrupt the imperial treasury by throwing a series of feasts,
banquets, and triumphal parades. He tortured and executed money
lenders who demanded payment and killed any citizens who named
him as their heir. He also lured many political rivals to his palace in
order to assassinate them.
Meanwhile, many of the legions in the African province of Egypt,
and the Middle East provinces of Iudaea and Syria, including the
governor of Syria, acclaimed Vespasian as their emperor. A force
marched from the Middle East to Rome, and Vespasian traveled to
Alexandria, where he was officially named Emperor. From there,
Vespasian invaded Italy and won a crushing victory over Vitellius’s
army at the Second Battle of Bedriacum. Vitellius was found by
Vespasian’s men at the imperial palace and put to death. The Senate
acknowledged Vespasian as emperor the next day, marking the
beginning of the Flavian Dynasty, which was to succeed the Julio-
Claudian line. Vespasian remained emperor for the rest of his
natural life.

The Last Julio-Claudian Emperors | 709

A plaster cast of Vespasian in the Pushkin Museum, after an original held in
the Louvre.

Sources

710 | The Last Julio-Claudian Emperors

97. The Julio-Claudian
Emperors

Learning Objective

• Describe the reigns of the emperors who followed

Augustus

Key Points

• Tiberius was the second emperor of the Roman

Empire, and was considered one of Rome’s greatest
generals.
• Tiberius conquered Pannonia, Dalmatia, Raetia, and
temporarily, parts of Germania. His conquests laid the
foundations for the northern frontier.
• When Tiberius died on March 16, 37 CE, his estate
and titles were left to Caligula and Tiberius’s
grandson, Gemellus. However, Caligula’s first act as
Princeps was to to void Tiberius’s will and have
Gemellus executed.
• Although Caligula is described as a noble and
moderate ruler during the first six months of his
reign, sources portray him as a cruel and sadistic

The Julio-Claudian Emperors | 711

 tyrant, immediately thereafter.
• In 38 CE, Caligula focused his attention on political
and public reform; however, by 39 CE, a financial
crisis had emerged as a result of Caligula’s use of
political payments, which had overextended the
state’s treasury. Despite financial difficulties, Caligula
began a number of construction projects during this
time.
• In 41 CE, Caligula was assassinated as part of a
conspiracy by officers of the Paretorian Guard,
senators, and courtiers.
• Claudius, the fourth emperor of the Roman Empire,
was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside of
Italy.
• Despite his lack of experience, Claudius was an able
and efficient administrator, as well as an ambitious
builder. He constructed many roads, aqueducts, and
canals across the Empire.
• Claudius’s appointment as emperor by the
Praetorian Guard damaged his reputation. This was
amplified when Claudius became the first emperor to
resort to bribery as a means to secure army loyalty.
Claudius also rewarded the Praetorian Guard that had
named him emperor with 15,000 sesterces.

712 | The Julio-Claudian Emperors

 Terms

Julio-Claudian dynasty

The first five Roman emperors who ruled the Roman

Empire, including Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius,
and Nero.

Praetorian Guard

A force of bodyguards used by the Roman emperors. They

also served as secret police, and participated in wars.

Tiberius

Tiberius was the second emperor of the Roman Empire and reigned
from 14 to 37 CE. The previous emperor, Augustus, was his
stepfather; this officially made him a Julian. However, his biological
father was Tiberius Claudius Nero, making him a Claudian by birth.
Subsequent emperors would continue the blended dynasty of both
families for the next 30 years, leading historians to name it the Julio-
Claudian Dynasty. Tiberius is also the grand-uncle of Caligula, his
successor, the paternal uncle of Claudius, and the great-grand uncle
of Nero.
Tiberius is considered one of Rome’s greatest generals. During
his reign, he conquered Pannonia, Dalmatia, Raetia, and temporarily,

The Julio-Claudian Emperors | 713

parts of Germania. His conquests laid the foundations for the
northern frontier. However, he was known by contemporaries to
be dark, reclusive, and somber—a ruler who never really wanted to
be emperor. The tone was set early in his reign when the Senate
convened to validate his position as Princeps. During the
proceedings, Tiberius attempted to play the part of the reluctant
public servant, but came across as derisive and obstructive. His
direct orders appeared vague, inspiring more debate than action
and leaving the Senate to act on its own. After the death of Tiberius’s
son in 23 CE, the emperor became even more reclusive, leaving the
administration largely in the hands of his unscrupulous Praetorian
Prefects.

714 | The Julio-Claudian Emperors

Tiberius, Romisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne

Caligula

When Tiberius died on March 16, 37 CE, his estate and titles were

The Julio-Claudian Emperors | 715

left to Caligula and Tiberius’s grandson, Gemellus, with the
intention that they would rule as joint heirs. However, Caligula’s first
act as Princeps was to to void Tiberius’s will and have Gemellus
executed. When Tiberius died, he had not been well liked. Caligula,
on the other hand, was almost universally heralded upon his
assumption of the throne. There are few surviving sources on
Caligula’s reign. Caligula’s first acts as emperor were generous in
spirit, but political in nature. He granted bonuses to the military,
including the Praetorian Guard, city troops, and the army outside
of Italy. He destroyed Tiberius’s treason papers and declared that
treason trials would no longer continue as a practice, even going
so far as to recall those who had already been sent into exile for
treason. He also helped those who had been adversely affected
by the imperial tax system, banished certain sexual deviants, and
put on large public spectacles, such as gladiatorial games, for the
common people.
Although he is described as a noble and moderate ruler during
the first six months of his reign, sources portray him as a cruel and
sadistic tyrant immediately thereafter. The transitional point seems
to center around an illness Caligula experienced in October of 37
CE. It is unclear whether the incident was merely an illness, or if
Caligula had been poisoned. Either way, following the incident, the
young emperor began dealing with what he considered to be serious
threats, by killing or exiling those who were close to him. During
the remainder of his reign, he worked to increase the personal
power of the emperor during his short reign, and devoted much
of his attention to ambitious construction projects and luxurious
dwellings for himself.
In 38 CE, Caligula focused his attention on political and public
reform. He published the accounts of public funds, which had not
been done under Tiberius’s reign, provided aid to those who lost
property in fires, and abolished certain taxes. He also allowed new
members into the equestrian and senatorial orders. Perhaps most
significantly, he restored the practice of democratic elections,

716 | The Julio-Claudian Emperors

which delighted much of the public but was a cause for concern
among the aristocracy.
By 39 CE, a financial crisis had emerged as a result of Caligula’s
use of political payments, which had overextended the state’s
treasury. In order to to restock the treasury, Caligula began falsely
accusing, fining, and even killing individuals in order to seize their
estates. He also asked the public to lend the state money, and raised
taxes on lawsuits, weddings, and prostitution, as well as auctioning
the lives of gladiators at shows. Wills that left items to Tiberius were
also reinterpreted as having left said items to Caligula. Centurions
who had acquired property by plunder were also forced to turn over
their spoils to the state, and highway commissioners were accused
of incompetence and embezzlement and forced to repay money that
they might not have taken in the first place. Around the same time,
a brief famine occurred, possibly as a result of the financial crisis,
though its causes remain unclear.
Despite financial difficulties, Caligula began a number of
construction projects during this time. He initiated the construction
of two aqueducts in Rome, Awua Claudia and Anio Novus, which
were considered contemporary engineering marvels. In 39 CE, he
ordered the construction of a temporary floating bridge between
the resort of Baiae and the port of Puteoli, which rivaled the bridge
Persian king Xerxes had constructed across the Hellespont. Caligula
had two large ships constructed for himself that were among the
largest constructed in the ancient world. The larger of the two
was essentially an elaborate floating palace with marble floors and
plumbing. He also improved the harbors at Rhegium and Sicily,
which allowed for increased grain imports from Egypt, possibly in
response to the famine Rome experienced.
During his reign, the Empire annexed the Kingdom of Mauretania
as a province. Mauretania had previously been a client kingdom
ruled by Ptolemy of Mauretania. Details on how and why Mauretania
was ultimately annexed remain unclear. Ptolemy was had been
invited to Rome by Caligula and suddenly executed in what was
seemingly a personal political move, rather than a calculated

The Julio-Claudian Emperors | 717

response to military of economic needs. However, Roman
possession of Mauretania ultimately proved to be a boon to the
territory, as the subsequent rebellion of Tacfarinas demonstrated
how exposed the African Proconsularis was on its western borders.
There also was a northern campaign to Britannia that was aborted
during Caligula’s reign, though there is not a cohesive narrative of
the event.
In 39 CE, relations between Caligula and the Senate deteriorated.
Caligula ordered a new set of treason investigations and trials,
replacing the consul and putting a number of senators to death.
Many other senators were reportedly treated in a degrading fashion
and humiliated by Caligula. In 41 CE, Caligula was assassinated as
part of a conspiracy by officers of the Praetorian Guard, senators,
and courtiers. The conspirators used the assassination as an
opportunity to re-institute the Republic, but were ultimately
unsuccessful.

718 | The Julio-Claudian Emperors

Caligula. Emperor Caligula, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek.

The Julio-Claudian Emperors | 719

Claudius

Claudius, the fourth emperor of the Roman Empire, was the first
Roman Emperor to be born outside of Italy. He was afflicted with a
limp and slight deafness, which caused his family to ostracize him
and exclude him from public office until he shared the consulship
with his nephew, Caligula, in 37 CE. Due to Claudius’s afflictions, it is
likely he was spared from the many purges of Tiberius and Caligula’s
reigns. As a result, Claudius was declared Emperor by the Praetorian
Guard after Caligula’s assassination, due to his position as the last
man in the Julio-Claudian line.
Despite his lack of experience, Claudius was an able and efficient
administrator, as well as an ambitious builder; he constructed many
roads, aqueducts, and canals across the Empire. His reign also saw
the beginning of the conquest of Britain. Additionally, Claudius
presided over many public trials, and issued up to 20 edicts a day.
However, in spite of his capable rule, Claudius continued to be
viewed as vulnerable by the Roman nobility throughout his reign,
forcing Claudius to constantly defend his position. He did so by
emphasizing his place within the Julio-Claudian family, dropping the
cognomen, Nero, from his name, and replacing it with Caesar.
Nonetheless, his appointment as emperor by the Praetorian
Guard caused damage to his reputation, and this was amplified
when Claudius became the first emperor to resort to bribery as
a means to secure army loyalty. Claudius also rewarded the
Praetorian Guard that had named him emperor with 15,000
sesterces.

720 | The Julio-Claudian Emperors

Bust of Emperor Claudius.

Sources

The Julio-Claudian Emperors | 721

98. The Pax Romana

Learning Objective

• Describe the key reasons for and characteristics of

the Pax Romana

Key Points

• The Pax Romana was established under Augustus,

and for that reason it is sometimes referred to as the
Pax Augusta.
• Augustus closed the Gates of Janus three times to
signify the onset of peace: in 29 BCE, 25 BCE, and 13
BCE, likely in conjunction with the Ara Pacis
ceremony.
• The Romans regarded peace not as an absence of
war, but as the rare situation that existed when all
opponents had been beaten down and lost the ability
to resist. Thus, Augustus had to persuade Romans
that the prosperity they could achieve in the absence
of warfare was better for the Empire than the
potential wealth and honor acquired when fighting a
risky war.
• The Ara Pacis is a prime example of the propaganda

722 | The Pax Romana

 Augustus employed to promote the Pax Romana, and
depicts images of Roman gods and the city of Rome
personified amidst wealth and prosperity.

Terms

Pax Romana

The long period of relative peace and minimal expansion

by military force experienced by the Roman Empire in the
1st and 2nd centuries CE. Also sometimes known as the Pax
Augusta.

Ara Pacis Augustae

The Altar of Augustan Peace, a sacrificial altar that

displays imagery of the peace and prosperity Augustus
achieved during the Pax Romana.

Augustus’s Constitutional Reforms

After the demise of the Second Triumvirate, Augustus restored the

outward facade of the free Republic with governmental power

The Pax Romana | 723

vested in the Roman Senate, the executive magistrates, and the
legislative assemblies. In reality, however, he retained his autocratic
power over the Republic as a military dictator. By law, Augustus held
powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme
military command and those of tribune and censor. It took several
years for Augustus to develop the framework within which a
formally republican state could be led under his sole rule.
Augustus passed a series of laws between the years 30 and 2
BCE that transformed the constitution of the Roman Republic into
the constitution of the Roman Empire. During this time, Augustus
reformed the Roman system of taxation, developed networks of
roads with an official courier system, established a standing army,
established the Praetorian Guard, created official police and fire-
fighting services for Rome, and rebuilt much of the city during his
reign.

First Settlement

During the First Settlement, Augustus modified the Roman political

system to make it more palatable to the senatorial classes,
eschewing the open authoritarianism exhibited by Julius Caesar and
Mark Anthony. In 28 BCE, in a calculated move, Augustus eradicated
the emergency powers he held as dictator and returned all powers
and provinces to the Senate and the Roman people. Members of the
Senate were unhappy with this prospect, and in order to appease
them, Augustus agreed to a ten-year extension of responsibilities
over disorderly provinces. As a result of this, Augustus retained
imperium over the provinces where the majority of Rome’s soldiers
were stationed. Augustus also rejected monarchical titles, instead
calling himself princeps civitatis (“First Citizen”). The resulting
constitutional framework became known as the Principate, the first
phase of the Roman Empire.
At this time, Augustus was given honorifics that made his full

724 | The Pax Romana

name Imperator Caesar divi filius Augustus. Imperator stressed
military power and victory and emphasized his role as commander-
in-chief. Divi filius roughly translates to “son of the divine,”
enhancing his legitimacy as ruler without deifying him completely.
The use of Caesar provided a link between himself and Julius Caesar,
who was still very popular among lower classes. Finally, the name
Augustus raised associations to Rome’s illustrious and majestic
traditions, without creating heavy authoritarian overtones.
By the end of the first settlement, Augustus was in an ideal
political position. Although he no longer held dictatorial powers, he
had created an identity of such influence that authority followed
naturally.

Second Settlement

In the wake of Augustus’s poor health, a second settlement was

announced in 23 BCE. During this time, Augustus outwardly
appeared to rein in his constitutional powers, but really continued
to extend his dominion throughout the Empire. Augustus
renounced his ten-year consulship, but in return, secured the
following concessions for himself.

• A seat on the consuls’s platform at the front of the Curia

• The right to speak first in a Senate meeting, or ius primae
relationis
• The right to summon a meeting of the Senate, which was a
useful tool for policy making
• Care of Rome’s grain supply, or cura annonae, which gave him
sweeping patronage powers over the plebs

Augustus was also granted the role of tribunicia potestas, which

enabled him to act as the guardian of the citizens of Rome. This
position came with a number of benefits, including the right to

The Pax Romana | 725

propose laws to the Senate whenever he wanted, veto power of
laws, and the ability to grant amnesty to any citizen accused of
a crime. Though the role of tribunicia potestas effectively gave
Augustus legislative supremacy, it also had many positive
connotations hearkening back to the Republic, making Augustus’s
position less offensive to the aristocracy. Beyond Rome, Augustus
was granted maius imperium, meaning greater (proconsular) power.
This position enabled him to effectively override the orders of any
other provincial governor in the Roman Empire, in addition to
governing his own provinces and armies.

Augustus and the Pax Romana

The Pax Romana (Latin for “Roman peace”) was a long period of
relative peace and minimal expansion by military forces
st nd
experienced by the Roman Empire in the 1 and 2 centuries CE.
Since this period was initiated during Augustus’s reign, it is
sometimes called Pax Augusta. Its span was approximately 206 years
(27 BCE to 180 CE).
The Pax Romana started after Augustus, then Octavian, met and
defeated Mark Antony in the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE. Augustus
created a junta of the greatest military magnates and gave himself
the titular honor. By binding together these leading magnates into a
single title, he eliminated the prospect of civil war. The Pax Romana
was not immediate, despite the end of the civil war, because fighting
continued in Hispania and in the Alps. Despite continuous wars of
imperial expansion on the Empire’s frontiers and one year-long civil
war over the imperial succession, the Roman world was largely free
from large-scale conflict for more than two centuries. Augustus
dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia,
Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanded possessions in Africa as
well as into Germania, and completed the conquest of Hispania.
Beyond Rome’s frontiers, he secured the Empire with a buffer region

726 | The Pax Romana

of client states, and made peace with the troublesome Parthian
Empire through diplomacy.
Augustus closed the Gates of Janus (the set of gates to the Temple
of Janus, which was closed in times of peace and opened in times
of war) three times. The first time was in 29 BCE and the second
in 25 BCE. The third closure is undocumented, but scholars have
persuasively dated the event to 13 BCE during the Ara Pacis
ceremony, which was held after Augustus and Agrippa jointly
returned from pacifying the provinces.
Augustus faced some trouble making peace an acceptable mode
of life for the Romans, who had been at war with one power or
another continuously for 200 years prior to this period. The Romans
regarded peace not as an absence of war, but the rare situation
that existed when all opponents had been beaten down and lost
the ability to resist. Augustus’s challenge was to persuade Romans
that the prosperity they could achieve in the absence of war was
better for the Empire than the potential wealth and honor acquired
from fighting. Augustus succeeded by means of skillful propaganda.
Subsequent emperors followed his lead, sometimes producing lavish
ceremonies to close the Gates of Janus, issuing coins with Pax on
the reverse, and patronizing literature extolling the benefits of the
Pax Romana.

The Ara Pacis Augustae

The Ara Pacis Augustae, or Altar of Augustan Peace, is one of the

best examples of Augustan artistic propaganda and the prime
symbol of the new Pax Romana. It was commissioned by the Senate
in 13 BCE to honor the peace and bounty established by Augustus
following his return from Spain and Gaul. The theme of peace is
seen most notably in the east and west walls of the Ara Pacis, each
of which had two panels, although only small fragments remain
for one panel on each side. On the east side sits an unidentified

The Pax Romana | 727

goddess presumed by scholars to be Tellus, Venus, or Peace within
an allegorical scene of prosperity and fertility. Twins sit on her lap
along with a cornucopia of fruits. Personifications of the wind and
sea surround her, each riding on a bird or a sea monster. Beneath
the women rests a bull and lamb, both sacrificial animals, and
flowering plants fill the empty space. The nearly incomplete second
eastern panel appears to depict a female warrior, possibly Roma,
amid the spoils of conquest.

The Tellus Mater Panel of the Ara Pacis. The eastern wall of the Ara Pacis,
which depicts the Tellus Mater surrounded by symbols of fertility and
prosperity.

Augustus died in 14 CE at the age of 75. He may have died from

natural causes, although unconfirmed rumors swirled that his wife
Livia poisoned him. His adopted son (also stepson and former son-
in-law), Tiberius, succeeded him to the throne.

728 | The Pax Romana

Sources

The Pax Romana | 729

99. Founding of the Roman
Empire

Learning Objective

• Explain the key features of Augustus’s reign and the

reasons for its successes

Key Points

• Following the assassination of his maternal great-

uncle Julius Caesar in 44 BCE, Caesar’s will named
Octavian as his adopted son and heir when Octavian
was only 19 years old.
• By ingratiating himself with his father’s legions,
Octavian was able to fulfill the military demands of
the Roman Senate. He quickly gained both power and
prestige and formed the Second Triumvirate with
Antony and Lepidus in 43 BCE.
• By 31 BCE, Octavian had emerged as the sole ruler
of Rome, upon the political and military defeat of the
two other triumvirs.

730 | Founding of the Roman Empire

 Terms

Mark Antony

Julius Caesar’s right hand man, and a member of the

Second Triumvirate. He was eventually defeated by
Octavian at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE.

Augustus

The founder of the Roman Empire, known as Octavian

during his early years and during his rise to power.

Augustus is regarded by many scholars as the founder and first

emperor of the Roman Empire. He ruled from 27 BCE until his death
in 14 CE.

Rise to Power

Augustus was born Gaius Octavius, and in his early years was known
as Octavian. He was from an old and wealthy equestrian branch
of the plebeian Octavii family. Following the assassination of his
maternal great-uncle, Julius Caesar, in 44 BCE, Caesar’s will named
Octavian as his adopted son and heir when Octavian was only 19
years old. The young Octavian quickly took advantage of the
situation and ingratiated himself with both the Roman people and

Founding of the Roman Empire | 731

his adoptive father’s legions, thereby elevating his status and
importance within Rome. Octavian found Mark Antony, Julius
Caesar’s former colleague and the current consul of Rome, in an
uneasy truce with Caesar’s assassins, who had been granted general
amnesty for their part in the plot. Nonetheless, Antony eventually
succeeded in driving most of them out of Rome, using Caesar’s
eulogy as an opportunity to mount public opinion against the
assassins.
Mark Antony began amassing political support, and Octavian set
about rivaling it. Eventually, many Caesarian sympathizers began to
view Octavian as the lesser evil of the two. Octavian allied himself
with optimate factions, despite their opposition to Caesar when
he was alive. The optimate orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero, began
attacking Antony in a series of speeches, portraying him as a threat
to the republican order of Rome. As public opinion against him
mounted, Antony fled to Cisalpine Gaul at the end of his consular
year.
Octavian further established himself both politically and militarily
in the following months. He was declared a senator and granted the
power of military command, imperium, in 43 BCE, and was further
able to leverage his successes to obtain the vacant consulships left
by the two defeated consuls of that year.
Octavian eventually reached an uneasy truce with Mark Antony
and Marcus Lepidus in October 43 BCE, and together, the three
formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat the assassins of Caesar.
Following their victory against Brutus at Phillipi, the Triumvirate
divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military
dictators. Relations within the Triumvirate were strained as the
various members sought greater political power. Civil war between
Antony and Octavian was averted in 40 BCE, when Antony married
Octavian’s sister, Octavia Minor. Despite his marriage, Antony
continued a love affair with Cleopatra, the former lover of Caesar
and queen of Egypt, further straining political ties to
Rome. Octavian used Antony’s relationship with Cleopatra to his
own advantage, portraying Antony as less committed to Rome. With

732 | Founding of the Roman Empire

Lepidus expelled in 36 BCE, the Triumvirate finally disintegrated in
the year 33. Finally, disagreements between Octavian and Antony
erupted into civil war in the year 31 BCE.
The Roman Senate, at Octavian’s direction, declared war on
Cleopatra’s regime in Egypt and proclaimed Antony a traitor.
Antony was defeated by Octavian at the naval Battle of Actium the
same year. Defeated, Antony fled with Cleopatra to Alexandria
where they both committed suicide. With Antony dead, Octavian
was left as the undisputed master of the Roman world. Octavian
would assume the title Augustus, and reign as the first Roman
Emperor.

Founding of the Roman Empire | 733

Augustus of Prima Porta. The statue of Augustus of Prima Porta is perhaps
one of the best known images of the Emperor Augustus. It portrays the
emperor as perpetually youthful, and depicts many of the key propaganda
messages that Augustus put forth during his time as emperor.

734 | Founding of the Roman Empire

Sources

Founding of the Roman Empire | 735

100. Julius Caesar

Learning Objective

• Explain the rise of Julius Caesar and his various

successes

Key Points

• In 60 BCE, Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus,

and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great)
formed a political alliance, known as the First
Triumvirate, that was to dominate Roman politics for
several years, though their populist tactics were
opposed by the conservative Senate.
• Caesar enjoyed great success as commander in the
Gallic Wars. Upon conclusion of the wars, he refused
to return to Rome as ordered by the Senate, and
instead, crossed the Rubicon in 49 BCE with a legion,
entering Roman territory under arms.
• Caesar fought in a civil war against his old
colleague, Pompey, who had aligned himself with
conservative interests in the Senate. Caesar quickly
defeated his rival and many other Senate
conservatives who had previously opposed him.

736 | Julius Caesar

 • With most of his enemies gone, Caesar installed
himself as dictator in perpetuity. As dictator, he
instituted a series of reforms and, most notably,
created the Julian calendar.
• Caesar was assassinated in 44 BCE by his remaining
enemies in the Senate, throwing Rome into another
period of chaos and civil war.

Terms

dictator

During Caesar’s time, in the late Roman Republic, ruler

for life. In the early Republic, by contrast, a dictator was a
general appointed by the Senate, who served temporarily
during a national emergency.

Julius Caesar

A Roman general, statesman, consul, and author, who

played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of
the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.

Julius Caesar | 737

 Pompey

A military and political leader of the late Roman Republic,

who represented the Roman Senate in a civil war against
Julius Caesar.

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general, statesman, consul, and

notable author of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the events
that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the
Roman Empire. In 60 BCE, Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) formed a political
alliance, known as the First Triumvirate, that was to dominate
Roman politics for several years. Caesar made the initial overtures
that led to the informal alliance. An acclaimed military commander
who had also served in a variety of political offices, Caesar sought
election as consul in 59 BCE, along with two other candidates. The
election was particularly contentious, with corruption occurring on
all sides. Caesar won, as well as conservative Marcus Bibulus, but
saw that he could further his political influence with Crassus and
Pompey. Their attempts to amass power through populist tactics
were opposed by the conservative ruling class within the Roman
Senate, among them Cato the Younger and Cicero. Meanwhile,
Caesar’s victories in the Gallic Wars, completed by 51 BCE, extended
Rome’s territory to the English Channel and the Rhine River. Caesar
became the first Roman general to cross both when he built a bridge
across the Rhine and conducted the first invasion of Britain.
These achievements granted Caesar unmatched military power
and threatened to eclipse the standing of his colleague, Pompey,
who had realigned himself with the Senate after the death of
Crassus in 53 BCE. With the Gallic Wars concluded, the Senate

738 | Julius Caesar

ordered Caesar to step down from his military command and return
to Rome. Caesar refused and marked his defiance in 49 BCE by
crossing the Rubicon (shallow river in northern Italy) with a legion.
In doing so, he deliberately broke the law on imperium and engaged
in an open act of insurrection and treason. Civil War ensued, with
Pompey representing the Roman Senate forces against Caesar, but
Caesar quickly defeated Pompey in 48 BCE, and dispatched
Pompey’s supporters in the following year. During this time, many
staunch Senate conservatives, such as Cato the Younger, were
either killed or committed suicide, thereby greatly decreasing the
number of optimates in Rome.

Julius Caesar | 739

Caesar as Dictator

740 | Julius Caesar

Bust of Julius Caesar. Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general, statesman,
consul, and notable author of Latin prose.

Julius Caesar | 741

After assuming control of the government upon the defeat of his
enemies in 45 BCE, Caesar began a program of social and
governmental reforms that included the creation of the Julian
calendar. He centralized the bureaucracy of the Republic and
eventually proclaimed himself “dictator in perpetuity.” It is
important to note that Caesar did not declare himself rex (king),
but instead, claimed the title of dictator. Contrary to the negative
connotations that the modern use of the word evokes, the Roman
dictator was appointed by the Senate during times of emergency
as a unilateral decision-maker who could act more quickly than
the usual bureaucratic processes that the Republican government
would allow. Upon bringing the Roman state out of trouble, the
dictator would then resign and restore power back to the Senate.
Thus, Caesar’s declaration ostensibly remained within the
Republican framework of power, though the huge amounts of power
he had gathered for himself in practice set him up similar to a
monarch.
Caesar used his powers to fill the Senate with his own partisans.
He also increased the number of magistrates who were elected each
year, which created a large pool of experienced magistrates and
allowed Caesar to reward his supporters. He used his powers to
appoint many new senators, which eventually raised the Senate’s
membership to 900. All the appointments were of his own partisans,
which robbed the senatorial aristocracy of its prestige and made the
Senate increasingly subservient to him. To minimize the risk that
another general might attempt to challenge him, Caesar passed a
law that subjected governors to term limits. All of these changes
watered down the power of the Senate, which infuriated those used
to aristocratic privilege. Such anger proved to be fuel for Caesar’s
eventual assassination.
Despite the defeat of most of his conservative enemies, however,
underlying political conflicts had not been resolved. On the Ides
of March (March 15) 44 BCE, Caesar was scheduled to appear at
a session of the Senate, and a group of senators led by Marcus
Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus conspired to assassinate

742 | Julius Caesar

him. Though some of his assassins may have had ulterior personal
vendettas against Caesar, Brutus is said to have acted out of concern
for the Republic in the face of what he considered to be a
monarchical tyrant. Mark Antony, one of Caesar’s generals and
administrator of Italy during Caesar’s campaigns abroad, learned
such a plan existed the night before, and attempted to intercept
Caesar, but the plotters anticipated this and arranged to meet him
outside the site of the session and detain him him there. Caesar was
stabbed 23 times and lay dead on the ground for some time before
officials removed his body.
A new series of civil wars broke out following Caesar’s
assassination, and the constitutional government of the Republic
was never restored. Caesar’s adopted heir, Octavian, later known
as Augustus, rose to sole power, and the era of the Roman Empire
began.

Sources

Julius Caesar | 743

101. Art and Culture Under
the Nerva-Antonines

Learning Objective

• Describe trends in art and culture under the

Nerva-Antonines

Key Points

• Trajan was known for his philanthropic rule,

overseeing extensive public building programs and
implementing social welfare policies, as well as
hosting major public festivals in the Colosseum.
• Emperor Hadrian had a major influence on Roman
culture through his love of Greek culture.
• He patronized the arts, building and rebuilding
important and influential structures, such as
Hadrian’s Villa. He also introduced Greek styles into
public use, such as wearing a beard instead of being
clean-shaven.
• As a cultural Hellenophile, Hadrian was familiar
with the work of the philosophers Epictetus,
Heliodorus, and Favorinus, and used their ideas to

744 | Art and Culture Under the

Nerva-Antonines
 improve social welfare in Rome.

Terms

philhellenism

Used to describe both non-Greeks, such as Romans, who

were fond of Greek culture, and Greeks who patriotically
upheld their culture.

Hadrian’s Villa

A large Roman archaeological complex at Tivoli, Italy,

built by Emperor Hadrian and based on Greek architectural
styles.

Several of the Nerva-Antonine emperors are known for their

support of the arts and culture of Rome.

Trajan

Trajan was known for his philanthropic rule, overseeing extensive

public building programs and implementing social welfare policies,

Art and Culture Under the Nerva-Antonines | 745

which earned him his enduring reputation as the second of the Five
Good Emperors who presided over an era of peace and prosperity
in the Mediterranean world. During a period of peace after the
Dacian wars, he initiated a three-month gladiatorial festival in the
great Colosseum in Rome (the precise date is unknown). Combining
chariot racing, beast fights, and close-quarters gladiatorial
bloodshed, this gory spectacle reputedly left 11,000 dead (mostly
slaves and criminals, not to mention the thousands of wild animals
killed alongside them), and attracted a total of five million
spectators over the course of the festival. The care bestowed by
Trajan on the managing of such public spectacles led the orator
Fronto to state approvingly that Trajan had paid equal attention to
entertainments as well as to serious issues. Fronto concluded that
“neglect of serious matters can cause greater damage, but neglect
of amusements greater discontent.”

Hadrian

Hadrian has been described—first in an ancient anonymous source

and later echoed by Ronald Syme, among others—as the most
versatile of all the Roman emperors. He also liked to demonstrate
knowledge of all intellectual and artistic fields. Above all, Hadrian
patronized the arts. Hadrian’s Villa at Tibur was the greatest Roman
example of an Alexandrian garden, recreating a sacred landscape,
albeit lost in large part to the despoliation of the ruins by the
Cardinal d’Este, who had much of the marble removed to build
Villa d’Este. In Rome, the Pantheon, originally built by Agrippa but
destroyed by fire in 80, was rebuilt under Hadrian in the domed
form it retains to this day. It is among the best-preserved of Rome’s
ancient buildings, and was highly influential to many of the great
architects of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque periods.

746 | Art and Culture Under the Nerva-Antonines

The ruins of Hadrian’s Villa in their present state.

Another of Hadrian’s contributions to popular Roman culture was

the beard, which symbolised his philhellenism; Dio of Prusa had
equated the generalized using of the beard with Hellenic ethos.
Since the time of Scipio Africanus, it had been fashionable among

Art and Culture Under the Nerva-Antonines | 747

the Romans to be clean-shaven. Also, all Roman emperors before
Hadrian, except for Nero (also a great admirer of Greek culture),
were clean shaven. Most of the emperors after Hadrian would be
portrayed with beards. Their beards, however, were not worn out
of an appreciation for Greek culture, but because the beard had,
thanks to Hadrian, become fashionable. This new fashion lasted
until the reign of Constantine the Great and was revived again
by Phocas at the start of the 7th century. Notwithstanding his
philhellenism, however, in all other everyday life matters, Hadrian
behaved as a Roman civic traditionalist, who demanded the use of
the toga by senators and knights in public, and strict separation
between the sexes in the public baths and theaters.
Hadrian wrote poetry in both Latin and Greek; one of the few
surviving examples is a Latin poem he reportedly composed on his
deathbed . Some of his Greek productions found their way into the
Palatine Anthology.
As a cultural Hellenophile, Hadrian was familiar with the work
of the philosophers Epictetus, Heliodorus, and Favorinus. At home
he attended to social needs. Hadrian mitigated slavery; masters
were forbidden from killing their slaves unless allowed by a court
to punish them for a grave offense. Masters were forbidden to sell
slaves to a gladiator trainer or to a procurer, except as justified
punishment. Hadrian also had the legal code humanized and
forbade torture of free defendants and witnesses, legislating against
the common practice of condemning free persons in order to have
them tortured as a means of gathering information on their
supposed activities and accomplices. He also abolished
ergastula—private prisons for slaves in which kidnapped free men
could also be kept.

Sources

748 | Art and Culture Under the Nerva-Antonines

PART VIII
CH. 8 THE MIDDLE AGES IN
EUROPE

Ch. 8 The Middle Ages in

Europe | 749
102. The Germanic Tribes

Learning Objective

• Explain the importance of battle and military

strength to the Germanic tribes

Key Points

• The Germanic people were a diverse group of

migratory tribes with common linguistic and cultural
roots who dominated much of Europe during the Iron
Age. When the Roman Empire lost strength during
the 5th century, Germanic peoples migrated into
Great Britain and Western Europe, and their
settlements became fixed territories.
• Various Germanic tribes migrated into Italy, Gaul,
Spain, and North Africa. Many Germanic tribes
merged, including the Jutes with the Danes in
Denmark, the Geats and Gutes with the Swedes in
Sweden, and the Angles with the Saxons in England.
• Germanic peoples had a strong military, and
warriors were fiercely devoted to their military
leaders, or chieftains.
• Political leaders Odoacer and Theoderic the Great

The Germanic Tribes | 751

 shaped later European civilizations.

Terms

nomadic

Leading a wandering life with no fixed abode; peripatetic,

itinerant.

retinues

Bodies of persons “retained” in the service of a noble or

royal personage.

Origins

The Germanic peoples (also called Teutonic, Suebian, or Gothic

in older literature) are an ethno-linguistic Indo-European group
of northern European origin. They are identified by their use of
Germanic languages, which diversified out of Proto-Germanic
during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.
The term “Germanic” originated in classical times when groups of
tribes living in Lower, Upper, and Greater Germania were referred

752 | The Germanic Tribes

to using this label by Roman scribes. These tribes generally lived to
the north and east of the Gauls. They were chronicled by Rome’s
historians as having had a critical impact on the course of European
history during the Roman-Germanic wars, particularly at the
historic Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, where the vanquishment
of three Roman legions at the hands of Germanic tribal warriors
precipitated the Roman Empire’s strategic withdrawal from Magna
Germania.
As a linguistic group, modern Germanic peoples include the
Afrikaners, Austrians, Danes, Dutch, English, Flemish, Frisians,
Germans, Icelanders, Lowland Scots, Norwegians, Swedes, and
others (including diaspora populations, such as some groups of
European Americans).
Northernmost Europe, in what now constitutes the European
plains of Denmark and southern Scandinavia, is where the Germanic
peoples most likely originated. This is a region that was “remarkably
stable” as far back as the Neolithic Age, when humans first began
controlling their environment through the use of agriculture and
the domestication of animals. Archeological evidence gives the
impression that the Germanic people were becoming more uniform
in their culture as early as 750 BCE. As their population grew, the
Germanic people migrated westwards into coastal floodplains due
to the exhaustion of the soil in their original settlements.

Germanic Tribes

By approximately 250 BCE, additional expansion further southwards

into central Europe took place, and five general groups of Germanic
people emerged, each employing distinct linguistic dialects but
sharing similar language innovations. These five dialects are
distinguished as North Germanic in southern Scandinavia; North
Sea Germanic in the regions along the North Sea and in the Jutland
peninsula, which forms the mainland of Denmark together with the

The Germanic Tribes | 753

north German state of Schleswig-Holstein; Rhine-Weser Germanic
along the middle Rhine and Weser river, which empties into the
North Sea near Bremerhaven; Elbe Germanic directly along the
middle Elbe river; and East Germanic between the middle of the
Oder and Vistula rivers.
Some recognizable trends in the archaeological records exist,
as it is known that, generally speaking, western Germanic people,
while still migratory, were more geographically settled, whereas
the eastern Germanics remained transitory for a longer period.
Three settlement patterns and solutions come to the fore; the first
being the establishment of an agricultural base in a region that
allowed them to support larger populations; the second being that
the Germanic peoples periodically cleared forests to extend the
range of their pasturage; and the third (and the most frequent
occurrence) being that they often emigrated to other areas as they
exhausted the immediately available resources.
War and conquest followed as the Germanic people migrated,
bringing them into direct conflict with the Celts who were forced to
either Germanize or migrate elsewhere as a result. West Germanic
people eventually settled in central Europe and became more
accustomed to agriculture, and it is the various western Germanic
people that are described by Caesar and Tacitus. Meanwhile, the
eastern Germanic people continued their migratory habits. Roman
writers characteristically organized and classified people, and it
may very well have been deliberate on their part to recognize the
tribal distinctions of the various Germanic people so as to pick
out known leaders and exploit these differences for their benefit.
For the most part however, these early Germanic people shared a
basic culture, operated similarly from an economic perspective, and
were not nearly as differentiated as the Romans implied. In fact,
the Germanic tribes are hard to distinguish from the Celts on many
accounts simply based on archaeological records.

754 | The Germanic Tribes

Migration Period

During the 5th century, as the Western Roman Empire lost military
strength and political cohesion, numerous nomadic Germanic
peoples, under pressure from population growth and invading Asian
groups, began migrating en masse in various directions, taking them
to Great Britain and far south through present-day Continental
Europe to the Mediterranean and Northern Africa.
Over time this wandering meant intrusions into other tribal
territories, and the ensuing wars for land escalated with the
dwindling amount of unoccupied territory. Wandering tribes then
began staking out permanent homes as a means of protection. This
resulted in fixed settlements from which many tribes, under a
powerful leader, expanded outwards.
Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Lombards made their way into Italy;
Vandals, Burgundians, Franks, and Visigoths conquered much of
Gaul; Vandals and Visigoths also pushed into Spain, with the Vandals
additionally making it into North Africa; and the Alamanni
established a strong presence in the middle Rhine and Alps. In
Denmark, the Jutes merged with the Danes; and in Sweden, the
Geats and Gutes merged with the Swedes. In England, the Angles
merged with the Saxons and other groups (notably the Jutes), and
absorbed some natives, to form the Anglo-Saxons (later known as
the English). Essentially, Roman civilization was overrun by these
variants of Germanic peoples during the 5th century.

The Germanic Tribes | 755

 The
Germanic
Kingdoms
and the
Eastern
Roman
Empire in
526 CE

Military

Germanic people were fierce in battle, creating a strong military.

Their love of battle was linked to their religious practices and two of
their most important gods, Wodan and his son, Thor, both believed
to be gods of war. The Germanic idea of warfare was quite different
from the pitched battles fought by Rome and Greece, and the
Germanic tribes focused on raids to capture resources and secure
prestige.
Warriors were strong in battle and had great fighting abilities,
making the tribes almost unbeatable. Men began battle training at
a young age and were given a shield and a spear upon manhood,
illustrating the importance of combat in Germanic life. The loss of
the shield or spear meant a loss of honor. The Germanic warrior’s
intense devotion to his tribe and his chieftain led to many important
military victories.
Chieftains were the leaders of clans, and clans were divided into
groups by family ties. The earlier Germans elected chieftains, but as

756 | The Germanic Tribes

time went on it became hereditary. One of the chieftain’s jobs was
to keep peace in the clans, and he did this by keeping the warriors
together and united.
Military chieftains relied upon retinues, a body of followers
“retained” by the chieftain. A chieftain’s retinue might include, but
was not limited to, close relatives. The followers depended on the
retinue for military and other services, and in return provided for
the retinue’s needs and divided with them the spoils of battle. This
relationship between a chieftain and his followers became the basis
for the more complicated feudal system that developed in medieval
Europe.

Major Historical Figures

Political and diplomatic leaders, such as Odoacer and Theoderic the

Great, changed the course of history in the late 400s CE and paved
the way for later kings and conquerors. Odoacer, a German general,
took over the Western Roman Empire in his own name, becoming
the first barbarian king of Italy. Theoderic the Great became a
barbarian king of Italy after he killed Odoacer. He initiated three
decades of peace between the Ostrogoths and the Romans and
united the two Germanic tribes.
Theoderic the Great lived as a hostage at the court of
Constantinople for many years and learned a great deal about
Roman government and military tactics, which served him well
when he became the Gothic ruler of a mixed but largely Romanized
“barbarian people.”

The Germanic Tribes | 757

 Theoderic
the Great
Bronze
statue of
Theoderic
the Great,
king of the
Ostrogoths,
by Peter
Vischer the
Elder
(1512-13) at
the tomb of
Emperor
Maximilian I
in the Court
Church in
Innsbruck,
Austria.

Sources

758 | The Germanic Tribes

103. Odoacer and the Fall of
Rome

Learning Objective

• Describe Odoacer’s rise to power

Key Points

• Odoacer was a Germanic soldier in the Roman

army who in 476 became the first King of Italy.
• At the time, Rome used many mercenary armies
from other nations, called foederati, who with the rise
of Emperor Augustulus became frustrated by their
treatment and status. These armies, led by Odoacer,
revolted against Emperor Augustulus and deposed
him in 476, and granted Odoacer kingship.
• Odoacer cooperated with the existing Roman
Senate and elevated them to prestige, thereby
stabilizing his power in Italy.
• As Odoacer’s position improved, Zeno, the Eastern
Emperor, increasingly saw him as a rival, and in
response pitted the Ostrogoth Theoderic the Great
against him; Theoderic proved victor against Odoacer

Odoacer and the Fall of Rome | 759

 repeatedly and eventually killed him in 493.

Terms

foederati

Any one of several outlying nations to which ancient

Rome provided benefits in exchange for military assistance.
The term was also used, especially under the Roman
Empire, for groups of “barbarian” mercenaries of various
sizes, who were typically allowed to settle within the
Empire.

Western Roman Empire

The western provinces of the Roman Empire at any one

time during which they were administered by a separate
independent imperial court, coequal with (or only
nominally subordinate to) that administering the eastern
provinces.

Romulus Augustulus

An emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 475–476

760 | Odoacer and the Fall of Rome

 AD; his deposition by Odoacer traditionally marks the end
of the Western Roman Empire, the fall of ancient Rome, and
the beginning of the Middle Ages in Western Europe.

Arian Christian

A Christian sect that asserts that Jesus Christ is the Son

of God who was created by God the Father at a point in
time, is distinct from the Father, and is therefore
subordinate to the Father.

Overview

Flavius Odoacer (433–493) was a soldier, probably of Scirian

descent, who in 476 became the first King of Italy (476–493). His
reign is commonly seen as marking the end of the Western Roman
Empire. Though the real power in Italy was in his hands, he
represented himself as the client of Julius Nepos and, after Nepos’s
death in 480, of the Emperor in Constantinople. Odoacer generally
used the Roman honorific patrician, granted by the Emperor Zeno,
but is referred to as a king (Latin rex) in many documents. He used
the term “rex” himself at least once, and on another occasion it
was used by the consul Basilius. Odoacer introduced few important
changes into the administrative system of Italy. He had the support
of the Roman Senate and was able to distribute land to his followers
without much opposition. Unrest among his warriors led to violence
in 477–478, but no such disturbances occurred during the later
period of his reign. Although Odoacer was an Arian Christian, he

Odoacer and the Fall of Rome | 761

rarely intervened in the affairs of the orthodox and trinitarian state
church of the Roman Empire.

Coin of Odoacer
Coin of Odoacer, Ravenna, 477, with Odoacer in profile,
depicted with a “barbarian” moustache.

Rise to Power

Odoacer was a military leader in Italy who led the revolt of Herulian,
Rugian, and Scirian soldiers that deposed Romulus Augustulus on
September 4, 476. Augustulus had been declared Western Roman
Emperor by his father, the rebellious general of the army in Italy,
less than a year before, but had been unable to gain allegiance or
recognition beyond central Italy.
In 475 a Roman general named Orestes was appointed Magister
militum and patrician by the Western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos

762 | Odoacer and the Fall of Rome

and became head of the Germanic foederati (barbarian mercenary
armies for Rome). However, Orestes proved to be ambitious, and
before the end of that year drove Nepos from Italy. Orestes then
proclaimed his young son Romulus the new emperor, Romulus
Augustulus. However, Nepos reorganized his court in Salona,
Dalmatia, and received homage and affirmation from the remaining
fragments of the Western Empire beyond Italy and, most
importantly, from Constantinople, which refused to accept
Augustulus and branded him and his father traitors and usurpers.
At around this time, the foederati, who had been quartered on the
Italians all of these years, had grown weary of this arrangement. In
the words of J. B. Bury, “They desired to have roof-trees and lands
of their own, and they petitioned Orestes to reward them for their
services, by granting them lands and settling them permanently in
Italy.” Orestes refused their petition, and they turned to Odoacer to
lead a revolt against Orestes. Orestes was killed at Placentia, and
his brother Paulus killed outside Ravenna. The Germanic foederati,
the Scirians, and the Heruli, as well as a large segment of the Italic
Roman army, then proclaimed Odoacer rex Italiae (“king of Italy”). In
476 Odoacer advanced to Ravenna and captured the city, compelling
the young emperor Romulus to abdicate on September 4. According
to the Anonymus Valesianus, Odoacer was moved by Romulus’s
youth and beauty to not only spare his life, but also to give him a
pension of 6,000 solidii and send him to Campania to live with his
relatives.

Odoacer and the Fall of Rome | 763

Romulus Augustulus and Odoacer
Romulus Augustulus resigns the crown ( from a 19th-century illustration)

King of Italy

In 476, Odoacer became the first barbarian King of Italy, initiating

a new era. With the backing of the Roman Senate, Odoacer
thenceforth ruled Italy autonomously, paying lip service to the
authority of Julius Nepos, the last Western emperor, and Zeno, the
emperor of the East. Upon Nepos’s murder in 480, Odoacer invaded
Dalmatia to punish the murderers. He did so, executing the

764 | Odoacer and the Fall of Rome

conspirators, but within two years also conquered the region and
incorporated it into his domain.
As J.B. Bury points out, “It is highly important to observe that
Odovacar established his political power with the co-operation of
the Roman Senate, and this body seems to have given him their
loyal support throughout his reign, so far as our meagre sources
permit us to draw inferences.” He regularly nominated members of
the Senate to the Consulate and other prestigious offices: “Basilius,
Decius, Venantius, and Manlius Boethius held the consulship and
were either Prefects of Rome or Praetorian Prefects; Symmachus
and Sividius were consuls and Prefects of Rome; another senator
of old family, Cassiodorus, was appointed a minister of finance.” A.
H. M. Jones also notes that under Odoacer the Senate acquired
“enhanced prestige and influence” in order to counter any desires
for restoration of Imperial rule. As the most tangible example of
this renewed prestige, for the first time since the mid-3rd century
copper coins were issued with the legend S(enatus) C(onsulto).

Fall and Death

As Odoacer’s position improved, Zeno, the Eastern Emperor,

increasingly saw him as a rival. When Illus, master of soldiers of
the Eastern Empire, asked for Odoacer’s help in 484 in his struggle
to depose Zeno, Odoacer invaded Zeno’s westernmost provinces.
Zeno responded first by inciting the Rugi of present-day Austria
to attack Italy. During the winter of 487–488 Odoacer crossed the
Danube and defeated the Rugi in their own territory. In his quest
to destroy Odoacer, Zeno promised Theoderic the Great and his
Ostrogoths the Italian peninsula if they were to defeat and remove
Odoacer from power. In 489, Theoderic led the Ostrogoths across
the Julian Alps and into Italy. On August 28, Odoacer met him at
the Isonzo, only to be defeated. He withdrew to Verona, reaching its
outskirts on September 27, where he immediately set up a fortified

Odoacer and the Fall of Rome | 765

camp. Theoderic followed him and three days later defeated him
again. While Odoacer took refuge in Ravenna, Theoderic continued
across Italy to Mediolanum, where the majority of Odoacer’s army,
including his chief general, Tufa, surrendered to the Ostrogothic
king.
The following summer, the Visigothic king Alaric II demonstrated
what Wolfram calls “one of the rare displays of Gothic solidarity”
and sent military aid to help his kinsman, forcing Odoacer to raise
his siege. On August 11, 490, the armies of the two kings clashed
on the Adda River. Odoacer was again defeated and forced back
into Ravenna, where Theoderic besieged him. Ravenna proved to
be invulnerable, surrounded by marshes and estuaries and easily
supplied by small boats from its hinterlands, as Procopius later
pointed out in his History.
By this time, Odoacer had to have lost all hope of victory. A large-
scale sortie out of Ravenna on the night of the 9/10 of July, 491,
ended in failure with the death of his commander-in-chief, Livilia,
along with the best of his Herulian soldiers. On August 29, 492,
the Goths were about to assemble enough ships at Rimini to set
up an effective blockade of Ravenna. Despite these decisive losses,
the war dragged on until February 25, 493, when John, bishop of
Ravenna, was able to negotiate a treaty between Theoderic and
Odoacer that provided for them to occupy Ravenna together and
rule jointly. After a three-year siege, Theoderic entered the city on
March 5. Odoacer was dead ten days later, slain by Theoderic while
they shared a meal. Theoderic had plotted to have a group of his
followers kill Odoacer while the two kings were feasting together
in the imperial palace of Honorius “Ad Laurentum” (“At the Laurel
Grove”); when this plan went astray, Theoderic drew his sword and
struck Odoacer on the collarbone. In response to Odoacer’s dying
question, “Where is God?” Theoderic cried, “This is what you did
to my friends.” Theoderic was said to have stood over the body of
his dead rival and exclaim, “There certainly wasn’t a bone in this
wretched fellow.”

766 | Odoacer and the Fall of Rome

Sources

Odoacer and the Fall of Rome | 767

104. Theoderic the Great

Learning Objective

• Analyze the political and military considerations

that led to Theoderic’s rise to power

Key Points

• Theoderic the Great was King of the Ostrogoths, a

tribe of Germanic peoples in close relation to the
Eastern Roman Empire.
• Zeno, the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire,
enlisted Theoderic to defeat the current King of Italy,
Odoacer.
• Theoderic defeated and killed Odoacer and took
over as ruler of Italy, where he reigned successfully
for 33 years.
• Under Theoderic, a considerable degree of Roman
and Germanic cultural and political fusion was
achieved; slowly but surely, the distinction between
Germanic rulers and Roman subjects faded, followed
by varying degrees of “cultural assimilation,” which
included the adoption of the Gothic language by
some of the indigenous people of the former Roman

768 | Theoderic the Great

 Empire.
• Theoderic died in 526 while planning an expedition
to restore his power over the Vandal kingdom; his
death soon led to the collapse of the Ostrogothic
reign.

Terms

Ostrogoths

The eastern branch of the Germanic tribes; they traced

their origins to the Greutungi, a branch of the Goths who
had migrated southward from the Baltic Sea and
established a kingdom north of the Black Sea during the 3rd
and 4th centuries.

Visigoths

The western branches of the nomadic tribes of Germanic

peoples referred to collectively as the Goths.

Zeno

Eastern Roman Emperor from 474–475 and again from

Theoderic the Great | 769

 476–491, whose reign saw the end of the Western Roman
Empire under Romulus Augustus.

Overview

Theoderic the Great (454–526) was king of the Ostrogoths (475–526),

ruler of Italy (493–526), regent of the Visigoths (511–526), and a
patricius of the Roman Empire. His Gothic name translates into
“people-king” or “ruler of the people.”
Theoderic was born in Pannonia in 454, after his people had
defeated the Huns at the Battle of Nedao. His father was King
Theodemir, a Germanic Amali nobleman, and his mother was
Ereleuva. Theoderic grew up as a hostage in Constantinople,
received a privileged education, and succeeded his father as leader
of the Pannonian Ostrogoths in 473. Settling his people in lower
Moesia, Theoderic came into conflict with Thracian Ostrogoths led
by Theodoric Strabo, whom he eventually supplanted, uniting their
peoples in 484.
Emperor Zeno subsequently gave Theoderic the title of Patrician
and the office of Magister militum (master of the soldiers), and even
appointed him Roman Consul. Seeking further gains, Theoderic
frequently ravaged the provinces of the Eastern Roman Empire,
eventually threatening Constantinople itself. In 488, Emperor Zeno
ordered Theoderic to overthrow the German Foederatus Odoacer,
who had likewise been made Patrician and even King of Italy, but
who had since betrayed Zeno, supporting the rebellious Leontius.
After a victorious three-year war, Theoderic killed Odoacer with
his own hands, settled his 200,000 to 250,000 people in Italy, and
founded an Ostrogothic Kingdom based in Ravenna. While he
promoted separation between the Arian Ostrogoths and the Roman

770 | Theoderic the Great

population, Theoderic stressed the importance of racial harmony,
though intermarriage was outlawed. Seeking to restore the glory of
Ancient Rome, he ruled Italy in its most peaceful and prosperous
period since Valentinian until his death in 526. Memories of his reign
made him a hero of German legend as Dietrich von Bern.

Theoderic the Great | 771

Theoderic the Great
Bronze statue of Theoderic the Great (by Peter Vischer, 1512–13), from the
monument of Emperor Maximilian I in the Court Church at Innsbruck.

772 | Theoderic the Great

Relationship with Byzantium and
Overthrow of Odoacer

At the time, the Ostrogoths were settled in Byzantine territory as

foederati (allies) of the Romans, but were becoming restless and
increasingly difficult for Zeno to manage. Not long after Theoderic
became king, he and Zeno worked out an arrangement beneficial
to both sides. The Ostrogoths needed a place to live, and Zeno
was having serious problems with Odoacer, the King of Italy who
had come to power in 476. Ostensibly a viceroy for Zeno, Odoacer
was menacing Byzantine territory and not respecting the rights
of Roman citizens in Italy. At Zeno’s encouragement, Theoderic
invaded Odoacer’s kingdom.
Theoderic came with his army to Italy in 488, where he won the
battles of Isonzo and Verona in 489 and the battle at the Adda in 490.
In 493 he took Ravenna. On February 2, 493, Theoderic and Odoacer
signed a treaty that assured both parties would rule over Italy. A
banquet was organized in order to celebrate this treaty. It was at this
banquet that Theoderic, after making a toast, drew his sword and
struck Odoacer on the collarbone, killing him.

Ruler of Italy

Like Odoacer, Theoderic was ostensibly only a viceroy for the

emperor in Constantinople. In reality, he was able to avoid imperial
supervision, and dealings between the emperor and Theoderic were
as relations between equals. Unlike Odoacer, however, Theoderic
respected the agreement he had made and allowed Roman citizens
within his kingdom to be subject to Roman law and the Roman
judicial system. The Goths, meanwhile, lived under their own laws
and customs. In 519, when a mob burned down the synagogues of

Theoderic the Great | 773

Ravenna, Theoderic ordered the town to rebuild them at its own
expense.
Theoderic the Great sought alliances with, or hegemony over, the
other Germanic kingdoms in the West. He allied with the Franks by
his marriage to Audofleda, sister of Clovis I, and married his own
female relatives to princes or kings of the Visigoths, Vandals, and
Burgundians. He stopped the Vandals from raiding his territories by
threatening the weak Vandal king Thrasamund with invasion, and
sent a guard of 5,000 troops with his sister Amalafrida when she
married Thrasamund in 500.
For much of his reign, Theoderic was the de facto king of the
Visigoths as well, becoming regent for the infant Visigothic king, his
grandson Amalaric, following the defeat of Alaric II by the Franks
under Clovis in 507. The Franks were able to wrest control of
Aquitaine from the Visigoths, but otherwise Theoderic was able
to defeat their incursions. The term “Visigoth” was actually an
invention of this period. Cassiodorus, a Roman in the service of
Theoderic the Great, invented the term “Visigothi” to match that
of “Ostrogothi;” he thought of these terms as signifying “western
Goths” and “eastern Goths” respectively. The western–eastern
division was a simplification (and a literary device) of 6th-century
historians; political realities were more complex. Both tribes had
variable relations with Rome throughout their history, ranging from
direct conflict to treaties and mutual support.

Decline and Death

Theoderic’s achievements began to unravel even before his death.

He had married off his daughter Amalasuntha to the Visigoth
Eutharic, but Eutharic died in August 522 or 523, so no lasting
dynastic connection of Ostrogoths and Visigoths was established.
In 522, the Catholic Burgundian king Sigismund killed his own son,
Theoderic’s grandson, Sergeric. Theoderic retaliated by invading the

774 | Theoderic the Great

Burgundian kingdom and then annexing its southern part, probably
in 523. The rest was ruled by Sigismund’s Arian brother Godomar,
under Gothic protection against the Franks who had captured
Sigismund. This brought the territory ruled by Theoderic to its
height (see map below), but in 523 or 524 the new Catholic Vandal
king Hilderic imprisoned Theoderic’s sister Amalafrida and killed
her Gothic guard. Theoderic was planning an expedition to restore
his power over the Vandal kingdom when he died in 526.
After his death in Ravenna in 526, Theoderic was succeeded by
his grandson Athalaric. Athalaric was at first represented by his
mother Amalasuntha, who was a regent queen from 526 until 534.
The kingdom of the Ostrogoths, however, began to wane and was
conquered by Justinian I starting after the rebellion of 535 and
finally ending in 553 with the Battle of Mons Lactarius. Theoderic
may have tried too hard to accommodate the various people under
his dominion; indulging “Romans and Goths, Catholics and Arians,
Latin and barbarian culture” resulted in the eventual failure of the
Ostrogothic reign and the subsequent “end of Italy as the heartland
of late antiquity.”

Theoderic the Great | 775

Europe in 526
The Ostrogothic Kingdom (in yellow) at the death of Theoderic the Great in
526 AD.

Sources

776 | Theoderic the Great

105. The Vikings

Learning Objective

• Illustrate how Viking ships were an integral part of

Viking culture, influencing trade and warfare

Key Points

• The late 8th to the mid-11th centuries is commonly

known as the Viking Age of Scandinavian history.
• Vikings were renowned for their ships, which were
an integral part of their culture, facilitating, trade,
exploration, and warfare.
• Weapons indicated the social status of a Viking, and
warfare and violence were heavily influenced by
pagan religious beliefs.
• The Vikings established and engaged in extensive
trading networks throughout the known world and
had a profound influence on the economic
development of Europe and Scandinavia.
• Vikings are often thought of as brutal warriors due
to the manner in which they settled in the northeast
of England, though in recent years they have been
recognized for their technological skills and

The Vikings | 777

 seamanship.
• Viking culture and stories were written about in the
Sagas, stories compiled almost one to three hundred
years after Viking raids had mostly ceased.
• When settling land in Greenland and Iceland,
Vikings established their form of democratic
government which included discussion of rules of law
and other issues during Things, assemblies open to all
free people.

Terms

Charlemagne

A ruler of the Carolingian Dynasty renowned for his

thirty-year military campaign to spread Christianity in
Europe and for his interests in education and religion.

longship

A Viking ship intended for warfare and exploration and

designed for speed and agility. Longships were equipped
with a sail as well as oars, making navigation independent
of the wind possible.

778 | The Vikings

 Obotrites

A confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the

territory of modern northern Germany.

Scandinavia

A historical and cultural-linguistic region in northern

Europe characterized by a common Germanic heritage and
related languages. It includes the three kingdoms of
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Constantinople

The capital city of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and

Ottoman empires. During the 12th century, it was the
largest and wealthiest city in Europe.

Vikings were Norse seafarers who originated in Scandinavia and

raided, traded, explored, and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia,
and the North Atlantic islands. The period from the earliest
recorded raids in the 790s until the Norman conquest of England in
1066 is commonly known as the Viking Age of Scandinavian history.
Vikings used the Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea for sea routes to the
south.

The Vikings | 779

Viking Ships

There have been several archaeological finds of Viking ships of all

sizes, providing knowledge of the craftsmanship that went into
building them. There were many types of Viking ships, built
according to their intended uses, though the most iconic type is
probably the longship. Longships were intended for warfare and
exploration, designed for speed and agility, and equipped with oars
to complement the sail, making navigation independent of the wind
possible. It was the longship that allowed the Norse to “go Viking”
(on an expedition), which might explain why this type of ship has
become almost synonymous with the concept of Vikings. Longships
were the epitome of Scandinavian naval power at the time, and were
highly valued possessions.

Model of a Viking longship

Model of the Gokstad ship. The Gokstad ship is a Viking ship found in a burial
mound at Gokstad farm in Sandar, Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway.
Dendrochronological dating suggests that the ship was built around 890 AD.

780 | The Vikings

Ships were an integral part of Viking culture. They facilitated
everyday transportation across seas and waterways, exploration of
new lands, raids, conquests, and trade with neighboring cultures.
They also held a major religious importance; magnates and people
with a high status were sometimes buried in a ship along with
animal sacrifices, weapons, provisions, and other items.

Weapons and Warfare

Our knowledge about the arms and armor of the Viking age is
based on archaeological finds, pictorial representation, and to some
extent on the accounts in the Norse sagas and Norse laws recorded
in the 13th century. According to custom, all free Norse men were
required to own weapons and were permitted to carry them all the
time. Weapons were indicative of a Viking’s social status; a wealthy
Viking would have a complete ensemble of a helmet, shield, mail
shirt, and sword. A typical bóndi (freeman) was more likely to fight
with a spear and shield, and most also carried a knife and side-arm.
Bows were used in the opening stages of land battles and at sea, but
they tended to be considered less “honorable” than a weapon that
could be used in close combat. Vikings were relatively unusual for
the time in their use of axes as a main battle weapon.
The warfare and violence of the Vikings were often motivated and
fueled by their belief in Norse religion, focusing on Thor and Odin,
the gods of war and death. Apart from two or three representations
of (ritual) helmets with protrusions that may be either stylized
ravens, snakes, or horns, no depiction of the helmets of Viking
warriors, and no preserved helmet, has horns. The stereotypical
Viking helmet was thus mainly a fiction of a later romanticized
image of the Viking. The formal, close-quarters style of Viking
combat (either in shield walls or aboard “ship islands”) would have
made horned helmets cumbersome and hazardous to the warrior’s
own side.

The Vikings | 781

 The Vikings are believed to have engaged in a disordered style
of frenetic, furious fighting, although the brutal perception of the
Vikings is largely a misconception, likely attributed to Christian
misunderstandings regarding paganism at the time.

Viking Expansion

Facilitated by advanced seafaring skills, Viking activities at times

also extended into the Mediterranean littoral, North Africa, the
Middle East, and Central Asia. Following extended phases of
exploration on seas and rivers, expansion, and settlement, Viking
communities and polities were established in diverse areas of
northwestern Europe, European Russia, and the North Atlantic
islands, and as far as the northeastern coast of North America.
During their explorations, Vikings raided and pillaged, but also
engaged in trade, settled wide-ranging colonies, and acted as
mercenaries. This period of expansion witnessed the wider
dissemination of Norse culture while simultaneously introducing
strong foreign cultural influences into Scandinavia itself, with
profound developmental implications in both directions.
Vikings under Leif Ericsson, the heir to Erik the Red, reached
North America and set up a short-lived settlement in present-day
L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Longer
and more-established settlements were formed in Greenland,
Iceland, Great Britain, and Normandy.
Viking expansion into continental Europe was limited. Their realm
was bordered by powerful cultures to the south. Early on it was the
Saxons, who occupied Old Saxony, located in what is now northern
Germany. The Saxons were a fierce and powerful people and were
often in conflict with the Vikings. To counter the Saxon aggression
and solidify their own presence, the Danes constructed the huge
defense fortification of Danevirke in and around Hedeby. The
Vikings soon witnessed the violent subduing of the Saxons by

782 | The Vikings

Charlemagne in the thirty-year Saxon Wars from 772–804. The
Saxon defeat resulted in their forced christening and the absorption
of Old Saxony into the Carolingian Empire.
Fear of the Franks led the Vikings to further expand Danevirke,
and the defense constructions remained in use throughout the
Viking Age and even up until 1864. The south coast of the Baltic Sea
was ruled by the Obotrites, a federation of Slavic tribes loyal to the
Carolingians and later the Frankish empire. The Vikings, led by King
Gudfred, destroyed the Obotrite city of Reric on the southern Baltic
coast in 808 and transferred the merchants and traders to Hedeby.
This secured their supremacy in the Baltic Sea, which endured
throughout the Viking Age.

Viking expeditions (blue line)

Light blue: Itineraries of the Vikings, depicting the immense breadth of their
voyages through most of Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Northern Africa,
Asia Minor, the Arctic, and North America. Light green: main settlement
areas, in the first millennium

The Vikings | 783

Legacy

The 200-year Viking influence on European history is filled with

tales of plunder and colonization, and the majority of these
chronicles came from western witnesses and their descendants.
Medieval Christians in Europe were totally unprepared for the
Viking incursions and could find no explanation for their arrival and
the accompanying suffering they experienced at their hands, save
the “Wrath of God.” More than any other single event, the attack on
Lindisfarne demonized perception of the Vikings for the next twelve
centuries. Not until the 1890s did scholars outside Scandinavia
begin to seriously reassess the achievements of the Vikings,
recognizing their artistry, technological skills, and seamanship.
Studies of genetic diversity have provided scientific confirmation
to accompany archaeological evidence of Viking expansion. They
additionally indicate patterns of ancestry, imply new migrations,
and show the actual flow of individuals between disparate regions.
Genetic evidence contradicts the common perception that Vikings
were primarily pillagers and raiders. An article by Roger Highfield
summarizes recent research and concludes that, as both male and
female genetic markers are present, the evidence is indicative of
colonization instead of raiding and occupying. However, this is also
disputed by unequal ratios of male and female haplotypes, which
indicate that more men settled than women, an element of a raiding
or occupying population.

Sources

784 | The Vikings

106. The Catholic Church

Learning Objective

• Outline the role of the Catholic Church in Medieval

Europe

Key Points

• Christianity spread throughout the early Roman

Empire despite persecutions due to conflicts with the
pagan state religion.
• When the Western Roman Empire fell in 476, the
Catholic Church competed with Arian Christians for
the conversion of the barbarian tribes and quickly
became the dominant form of Christianity.
• Monastic communities were centers for learning
and preservation of classical culture.
• Once the cultural and political boundaries of Rome
were weakened, Catholicism spread throughout
Europe to the Irish, English, Franks, and Goths.

The Catholic Church | 785

 Terms

missionaries

Members of a religious group sent into an area to

evangelize or offer ministries of service, such as education,
literacy, social justice, health care, and economic
development.

Pope

The Bishop of Rome and the leader of the worldwide

Catholic Church, and the traditional successor to Saint
Peter, to whom Jesus is supposed to have given the keys of
Heaven, naming him as the “rock” upon which the church
would be built.

Orthodoxy

Conforming to the Christian faith as represented in the

creeds of the early church.

Byzantine Empire

Sometimes referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was

the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East during

786 | The Catholic Church

 Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city
was Constantinople.

Early History and the Fall of Rome

The history of the Catholic Church begins with the teachings of

Jesus Christ, who lived in the 1st century CE in the province of Judea
of the Roman Empire. The contemporary Catholic Church says that
it is the continuation of the early Christian community established
by Jesus.
Christianity spread throughout the early Roman Empire despite
persecutions due to conflicts with the pagan state religion. In 313,
the struggles of the early church were lessened by the legalization
of Christianity by the Emperor Constantine I. In 380, under Emperor
Theodosius I, Christianity became the state religion of the Roman
Empire by the decree of the emperor, which would persist until
the fall of the Western Empire, and later with the Eastern Roman
Empire until the fall of Constantinople.
After the destruction of the Western Roman Empire, the church
in the West was a major factor in preserving classical civilization,
establishing monasteries, and sending missionaries to convert the
peoples of northern Europe as far north as Ireland. In the East,
the Byzantine Empire preserved Orthodoxy well after the massive
invasions of Islam in the mid-7th century.

The Catholic Church | 787

The Catholic Church in the Middle Ages

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, the Catholic faith
competed with Arianism for the conversion of the barbarian tribes.
The 496 conversion of Clovis I, pagan king of the Franks, saw the
beginning of a steady rise of the Catholic faith in the West.

788 | The Catholic Church

Saint Remigius baptizes Clovis

In 530, Saint Benedict wrote his Rule of Saint Benedict as a practical

guide for monastic community life, and its message spread to
monasteries throughout Europe. Monasteries became major
conduits of civilization, preserving craft and artistic skills while

The Catholic Church | 789

maintaining intellectual culture within their schools, scriptoria, and
libraries. They functioned as centers for spiritual life as well as for
agriculture, economy, and production.
During this period the Visigoths and Lombards moved away from
Arianism toward Catholicism. Pope Gregory the Great played a
notable role in these conversions and dramatically reformed the
ecclesiastical structures and administration, which then launched
renewed missionary efforts. Missionaries such as Augustine of
Canterbury, who was sent from Rome to begin the conversion of the
Anglo-Saxons, and, coming the other way in the Hiberno-Scottish
mission, Saints Colombanus, Boniface, Willibrord, and Ansgar,
among many others, took Christianity into northern Europe and
spread Catholicism among the Germanic and Slavic peoples. Such
missions reached the Vikings and other Scandinavians in later
centuries. The Synod of Whitby of 664, though not as decisive as
sometimes claimed, was an important moment in the reintegration
of the Celtic Church of the British Isles into the Roman hierarchy,
after having been effectively cut off from contact with Rome by the
pagan invaders.
In the early 8th century, Byzantine iconoclasm became a major
source of conflict between the eastern and western parts of the
church. Byzantine emperors forbade the creation and veneration of
religious images as violations of the Ten Commandments. Sometime
between 726 and 730 the Byzantine Emperor Leo III the Isaurian
ordered that an image of Jesus prominently placed over the Chalke
gate, the ceremonial entrance to the Great Palace of
Constantinople, be removed, and replaced with a cross. This was
followed by orders banning the pictorial representation of the
family of Christ, subsequent Christian saints, and biblical scenes.
Other major religions in the East, such as Judaism and Islam, had
similar prohibitions, but Pope Gregory III vehemently disagreed.
Empress Irene, siding with the pope, called for an Ecumenical
Council. In 787, the fathers of the Second Council of Nicaea “warmly
received the papal delegates and his message.” At the conclusion,

790 | The Catholic Church

300 bishops, who were led by the representatives of Pope Hadrian I
“adopted the Pope’s teaching,” in favor of icons.

Spread of Catholicism Beyond Rome

As the political boundaries of the Roman Empire diminished and

then collapsed in the West, Christianity spread beyond the old
borders of the Empire and into lands that had never been under
Rome.
Beginning in the 5th century, a unique culture developed around
the Irish Sea, consisting of what today would be called Wales and
Ireland. In this environment, Christianity spread from Roman Britain
to Ireland, especially aided by the missionary activity of Saint
Patrick. Patrick had been captured into slavery in Ireland and,
following his escape and later consecration as bishop, he returned
to the isle that had enslaved him so that he could bring them the
Gospel. Soon, Irish missionaries such as Saints Columba and
Columbanus spread this Christianity, with its distinctively Irish
features, to Scotland and the Continent. One such feature was the
system of private penitence, which replaced the former practice of
penance as a public rite.
Although southern Britain had been a Roman province, in 407
the imperial legions left the isle, and the Roman elite followed.
Some time later that century, various barbarian tribes went from
raiding and pillaging the island to settling and invading. These tribes
are referred to as the “Anglo-Saxons,” predecessors of the English.
They were entirely pagan, having never been part of the Empire,
and although they experienced Christian influence from the
surrounding peoples, they were converted by the mission of Saint
Augustine sent by Pope Gregory the Great. Later, under Archbishop
Theodore, the Anglo-Saxons enjoyed a golden age of culture and
scholarship. Soon, important English missionaries such as Saints

The Catholic Church | 791

Wilfrid, Willibrord, Lullus, and Boniface would begin evangelizing
their Saxon relatives in Germany.

Sources

792 | The Catholic Church

107. The Development of
Papal Supremacy

Learning Objective

• Explain the development of papal supremacy

Key Points

• During the early history of Christianity, Rome

became an increasingly important center of the faith,
which gave the bishop of Rome (the pope) more
power over the entire church, thereby ushering in the
era of papal supremacy.
• When Catholicism became the official religion of
the Roman Empire in 380, the power of the pope
increased, although he was still subordinate to the
emperor.
• After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the
pope served as a source of authority and continuity;
however, for several centuries afterward the Eastern
Roman Emperor still maintained authority over the

The Development of Papal

Supremacy | 793
 church.
• From the late-6th to the late-8th century there was
a turning of the papacy to the West and an escape
from subordination to the authority of the Byzantine
emperors of Constantinople.
• When Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as Roman
Emperor in 800, he established the precedent that, in
Western Europe, no man would be emperor without
being crowned by a pope.
• After a conflict known as the Investiture
Controversy, as well as from the launching of the
Crusades, the papacy increased its power in relation
to the secular rulers of Europe.
• Throughout the Middle Ages, popes struggled with
monarchs over power.

Terms

Papal supremacy

The doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that the

pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ and as pastor
of the entire Christian Church, has full, supreme, and
universal power over the whole church.

794 | The Development of Papal Supremacy

 Investiture Controversy

The most significant conflict between church and state in

medieval Europe, in which a series of popes challenged the
authority of European monarchies.

Arianism

A Christian sect in late antiquity that asserts that Jesus

Christ is the Son of God who was created by God the Father
at a point in time, is distinct from the Father, and is
therefore subordinate to the Father.

Byzantine Papacy

A period of Byzantine domination of the papacy from 537

to 752, when popes required the approval of the Byzantine
Emperor for episcopal consecration.

Overview

Papal supremacy is the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that

the pope, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ and as pastor
of the entire Christian Church, has full, supreme, and universal
power over the whole church, a power which he can always exercise

The Development of Papal Supremacy | 795

unhindered—that, in brief, “the Pope enjoys, by divine institution,
supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls.”
The doctrine had the most significance in the relationship
between the church and the temporal state, in matters such as
ecclesiastic privileges, the actions of monarchs, and even
successions. The creation of the term “papal supremacy” dates back
to the 6th century, at the time of the fall of the Western Roman
Empire, which was the beginning of the rise of the bishops of Rome
to not just the position religious authority, but the power to be
the ultimate ruler of the kingdoms within the Christian community
(Christendom), which it has since retained.

The Church and the Roman Empire

In the early Christian era, Rome and a few other cities had claims
on the leadership of the worldwide church. During the 1st century
of the church (c. 30–130), the Roman capital became recognized as a
Christian center of exceptional importance. In the late 2nd century
CE, there were more manifestations of Roman authority over other
churches. In 189, assertion of the primacy of the Church of Rome
may be indicated in Irenaeus’s Against Heresies: “With [the Church
of Rome], because of its superior origin, all the churches must agree
… and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the
apostolic tradition.” In 195 CE, Pope Victor I, in what is seen as an
exercise of Roman authority over other churches, excommunicated
the Quartodecimans for observing Easter on the 14th of Nisan, the
date of the Jewish Passover. Celebration of Easter on a Sunday, as
insisted on by the pope, is the system that has prevailed.
When Constantine became emperor of the Western Roman
Empire in 312, he attributed his victory to the Christian God. Many
soldiers in his army were Christians, and his army was his base of
power. With Licinius (Eastern Roman emperor), he issued the Edict
of Milan, which mandated toleration of all religions in the empire.

796 | The Development of Papal Supremacy

Decisions made at the Council of Nicea (325) about the divinity of
Christ led to a schism; the new religion, Arianism, flourished outside
the Roman Empire. Partially to distinguish themselves from Arians,
Catholic devotion to Mary became more prominent. This led to
further schisms.
In 380, the Edict of Thessalonica declared Nicene Christianity, as
opposed to Arianism, to be the state religion of the empire, with the
name “Catholic Christians” reserved for those who accepted that
faith. While the civil power in the Eastern Roman Empire controlled
the church, and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the
capital, wielded much power, in the Western Roman Empire the
Bishops of Rome were able to consolidate the influence and power
they already possessed. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire,
barbarian tribes were converted to Arian Christianity or
Catholicism; Clovis I, king of the Franks, was the first important
barbarian ruler to convert to Catholicism rather than Arianism,
allying himself with the papacy. Other tribes, such as the Visigoths,
later abandoned Arianism in favor of Catholicism.

The Middle Ages

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the pope served as
a source of authority and continuity. Pope Gregory I (c. 540–604)
administered the church with strict reform. Gregory was from an
ancient senatorial family, and worked with the stern judgement
and discipline typical of ancient Roman rule. Theologically, he
represents the shift from the classical to the medieval outlook; his
popular writings are full of dramatic miracles, potent relics, demons,
angels, ghosts, and the approaching end of the world.

The Development of Papal Supremacy | 797

Gregory the Great
Pope Gregory I (c. 540–604) who established medieval themes in the church, in
a painting by Carlo Saraceni, c. 1610, Rome.

The Byzantine Papacy was a period of Byzantine domination of

798 | The Development of Papal Supremacy

the papacy from 537 to 752, when popes required the approval of
the Byzantine Emperor for episcopal consecration, and many popes
were chosen from the apocrisiarii (liaisons from the pope to the
emperor) or the inhabitants of Byzantine Greece, Byzantine Syria,
or Byzantine Sicily. Justinian I conquered the Italian peninsula in
the Gothic War (535–554) and appointed the next three popes, a
practice that would be continued by his successors and later be
delegated to the Exarchate of Ravenna. With the exception of Pope
Martin I, no pope during this period questioned the authority of the
Byzantine monarch to confirm the election of the bishop of Rome
before consecration could occur.
From the late-6th to the late-8th century there was a turning
of the papacy to the West and an escape from subordination to
the authority of the Byzantine emperors of Constantinople. This
phase has sometimes incorrectly been credited to Pope Gregory
I (who reigned from 590 to 604 CE), who, like his predecessors,
represented to the people of the Roman world a church that was
still identified with the empire. Unlike some of those predecessors,
Gregory was compelled to face the collapse of imperial authority in
northern Italy. As the leading civil official of the empire in Rome,
he was compelled to take over the civil administration of the cities
and negotiate for the protection of Rome itself with the Lombard
invaders threatening it. Another part of this phase occurred in the
8th century, after the rise of the new religion of Islam had weakened
the Byzantine Empire and the Lombards had renewed their pressure
in Italy. The popes finally sought support from the Frankish rulers
of the West and received from the Frankish king Pepin The Short
the first part of the Italian territories later known as the Papal
States. With Pope Leo III’s coronation of Charlemagne, first of the
Carolingian emperors, the papacy also gained the emperor’s
protection; this action established the precedent that, in Western
Europe, no man would be emperor without being crowned by a
pope.

The Development of Papal Supremacy | 799

Second Phase of Papal Supremacy

The second great phase in the process of papal supremacy’s rise to

prominence extended from the mid-11th to the mid-13th century.
It was distinguished, first, by Gregory VII’s bold attack after 1075
on the traditional practices whereby the emperor had controlled
appointments to the higher church offices. This attack spawned
the protracted civil and ecclesiastical strife in Germany and Italy
known as the Investiture Controversy. At issue was who, the pope
or the monarchs, had the authority to appoint (invest) local church
officials such as bishops of cities and abbots of monasteries. The
conflict ended in 1122, when Emperor Henry V and Pope Calixtus II
agreed on the Concordat of Worms, which differentiated between
the royal and spiritual powers and gave the emperors a limited role
in selecting bishops. The outcome seemed mostly a victory for the
pope and his claim that he was God’s chief representative in the
world. However, the emperor did retain considerable power over
the Church.
Papal supremacy was also increased by Urban II’s launching in
1095 of the Crusades, which, in an attempt to liberate the Holy
Land from Muslim domination, marshaled under papal leadership
the aggressive energies of the European nobility. Both these efforts,
although ultimately unsuccessful, greatly enhanced papal prestige
in the 12th and 13th centuries. Such powerful popes as Alexander
III (r. 1159–81), Innocent III (r. 1198–1216), Gregory IX (r. 1227–41), and
Innocent IV (r. 1243–54) wielded a primacy over the church that
attempted to vindicate a jurisdictional supremacy over emperors
and kings in temporal and spiritual affairs. Throughout the rest of
the Middle Ages, popes struggled with monarchs over power.

Sources

800 | The Development of Papal Supremacy

108. The Rise of the
Monasteries

Learning Objective

• Compare and contrast some of the monastic orders

that were formed during the Middle Ages

Key Points

• Because of the ubiquitous power of religion, and

especially Christianity, monasticism flourished in
medieval Europe.
• Medieval monastic life consisted of prayer, reading,
and manual labor.
• From the 6th century onward, most of the
monasteries in the West were of the Benedictine
Order, founded by Benedict of Nursia, who wrote
influential rules for monastic life.
• By the 11th century, the Cistercians reformed the
Benedictine way of life, adhering more strictly to
Benedict’s original rules and focusing on manual
labour and self-sufficiency.
• During the rule of Pope Innocent III (1198–1216), two

The Rise of the Monasteries | 801

 mendicant orders, the Franciscan and the Dominican,
were founded.
• Francis of Assisi founded the order of the
Franciscans, who were known for their charitable
work.
• The Dominicans, founded by Saint Dominic,
focused on teaching, preaching, and suppressing
heresy.

Terms

Benedict’s Rule

A book of precepts written by Benedict of Nursia (c.

480–550) for monks living communally under the authority
of an abbot.

mendicant

Certain Christian religious orders that have adopted a

lifestyle of poverty, traveling, and living in urban areas for
purposes of preaching, evangelization, and ministry,
especially to the poor; more generally an ascetic lifestyle
that includes poverty and begging.

802 | The Rise of the Monasteries

 Christian monasticism

The devotional practice of individuals who live ascetic

and typically cloistered lives that are dedicated to Christian
worship.

Monasticism in the Middle Ages

Christian monasticism is the devotional practice of individuals who

live ascetic and typically cloistered lives that are dedicated to
Christian worship. Monasticism became quite popular in the Middle
Ages, with religion being the most important force in Europe. Monks
and nuns were to live isolated from the world to become closer to
God. Monks provided service to the church by copying manuscripts,
creating art, educating people, and working as missionaries.
Convents were especially appealing to women. It was the only place
they would receive any sort of education or power. It also let them
escape unwanted marriages.

The Benedictines

From the 6th century onward most of the monasteries in the West
were of the Benedictine Order. The Benedictines were founded by
Benedict of Nursia, the most influential of western monks and called
“the father of western monasticism.” He was educated in Rome
but soon sought the life of a hermit in a cave at Subiaco, outside

The Rise of the Monasteries | 803

the city. He then attracted followers with whom he founded the
monastery of Monte Cassino, between Rome and Naples, around
520. He established the Rule, adapting in part the earlier anonymous
Rule of the Master (Regula magistri), which was written somewhere
south of Rome around 500, and defined the activities of the
monastery, its officers, and their responsibilities.
By the 9th century, largely under the inspiration of Emperor
Charlemagne, Benedict’s Rule became the basic guide for Western
monasticism. Early Benedictine monasteries were relatively small
and consisted of an oratory, a refectory, a dormitory, a scriptorium,
guest accommodation, and out-buildings, a group of often quite
separate rooms more reminiscent of a decent-sized Roman villa
than a large medieval abbey. A monastery of about a dozen monks
would have been normal during this period.
Medieval monastic life consisted of prayer, reading, and manual
labor. Prayer was a monk’s first priority. Apart from prayer, monks
performed a variety of tasks, such as preparing medicine, lettering,
and reading. These monks would also work in the gardens and on
the land. They might also spend time in the Cloister, a covered
colonnade around a courtyard, where they would pray or read.
Some monasteries held a scriptorium where monks would write
or copy books. When the monks wrote, they used very neat
handwriting and would draw illustrations in the books. As a part of
their unique writing style, they decorated the first letter of each
paragraph.
The efficiency of Benedict’s cenobitic Rule, in addition to the
stability of the monasteries, made them very productive. The
monasteries were the central storehouses and producers of
knowledge.

804 | The Rise of the Monasteries

 Saint
Benedict
Saint
Benedict, the
founder of
the
Benedictine
Monastic
Rule, by
Herman
Nieg,
Heiligenkreu
z Abbey,
Austria.

Cistercian Movement

The next wave of monastic reform after the Benedictines came with
the Cistercian movement. The first Cistercian abbey was founded
in 1098, at Cîteaux Abbey. The keynote of Cistercian life was a

The Rise of the Monasteries | 805

return to a literal observance of the Benedictine Rule, rejecting the
developments of the Benedictines. The most striking feature in the
reform was the return to manual labour, and especially to field
work. Inspired by Bernard of Clairvaux, the primary builder of the
Cistercians, the Cistercians became the main force of technological
diffusion in medieval Europe. By the end of the 12th century the
Cistercian houses numbered 500, and at its height in the 15th
century the order claimed to have close to 750 houses. Most of
these were built in wilderness areas, and played a major part in
bringing such isolated parts of Europe into economic cultivation.

Mendicant Orders

During the rule of Pope Innocent III (1198–1216), two of the most
famous monastic orders were founded. They were called the
mendicant, or begging, orders because their members begged for
the food and clothes. At their foundation these orders rejected the
previously established monastic model of living in one stable,
isolated community where members worked at a trade and owned
property in common, including land, buildings, and other wealth.
By contrast, the mendicants avoided owning property, did not work
at a trade, and embraced a poor, often itinerant lifestyle. They
depended for their survival on the goodwill of the people to whom
they preached. They would usually travel in pairs, preaching, healing
the sick, and helping the poor. Francis of Assisi founded the order
of the Franciscans, who were known for their charitable work. The
Dominicans, founded by Saint Dominic, focused on teaching,
preaching, and suppressing heresy.
The Dominican Order came into being in the Middle Ages at
a time when religion was starting to be contemplated in a new
way. Men of God were no longer expected to stay behind the walls
of a cloister. Instead, they traveled among the people, taking as
their examples the apostles of the primitive Church. Like his

806 | The Rise of the Monasteries

contemporary, Francis, Dominic saw the need for a new type of
organization, and the quick growth of the Dominicans and
Franciscans during their first century of existence confirms that the
orders of mendicant friars met a need.
The inspiration for the Franciscan Order came in 1209 when
Francis heard a sermon on Matthew 10:9 that made such an
impression on him that he decided to devote himself wholly to a life
of apostolic poverty. Clad in a rough garment, barefoot, and, after
the Evangelical precept, without staff or scrip, he began to preach
repentance.
Francis was soon joined by a prominent fellow townsman, Bernard
of Quintavalle, who contributed all that he had to the work, and by
other companions, who are said to have reached eleven within a
year. The brothers lived in the deserted leper colony of Rivo Torto
near Assisi, but they spent much of their time traveling through the
mountainous districts of Umbria, always cheerful and full of songs,
yet making a deep impression on their hearers by their earnest
exhortations. Their life was extremely ascetic, though such
practices were apparently not prescribed by the first rule that
Francis gave them (probably as early as 1209), which seems to have
been nothing more than a collection of Scriptural passages
emphasizing the duty of poverty.
Similar to Francis, Dominic sought to establish a new kind of
order, one that would bring the dedication and systematic
education of the older monastic orders like the Benedictines to bear
on the religious problems of the burgeoning population of cities, but
with more organizational flexibility than either monastic orders or
the secular clergy. Dominic’s new order was to be a preaching order,
with its members trained to preach in the vernacular languages.
Rather than earning their living on vast farms as the monasteries
had done, the new friars would survive by begging— “selling”
themselves through persuasive preaching.
Dominic inspired his followers with loyalty to learning and virtue,
a deep recognition of the spiritual power of worldly deprivation and
the religious state, and a highly developed governmental structure.

The Rise of the Monasteries | 807

At the same time, Dominic encouraged the members of his order to
develop a “mixed” spirituality. They were both active in preaching
and contemplative in study, prayer, and meditation. The brethren
of the Dominican Order were urban and learned, as well as
contemplative and mystical in their spirituality. While these traits
had an impact on the women of the order, the nuns especially
absorbed the latter characteristics and made them their own. In
England, the Dominican nuns blended these elements with their
own defining characteristics and created a spirituality and
collective personality that set them apart.

Saint Francis
Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Order of Friars
Minor.

808 | The Rise of the Monasteries

Sources

The Rise of the Monasteries | 809

109. The Western Schism

Learning Objective

• Explain the events that led to the Western Schism,

as well as its eventual resolution

Key Points

• From 1309 to 1377, the seat of the papacy resided in

Avignon, France, rather than Rome.
• Gregory XI returned to Rome in 1377, thus ending
the Avignon Papacy, at which point Romans rioted to
ensure the election of a Roman for pope.
• Urban VI, born Bartolomeo Prignano, the
Archbishop of Bari, was elected in 1378.
• As pope, Urban VI proved suspicious, reformist, and
prone to violent outbursts of temper, and thus many
of the cardinals who had elected him soon regretted
their decision and moved to Anagni, where they
elected Robert of Geneva as a rival pope on
September 20 of the same year.
• The second election threw the church into turmoil,
and it quickly escalated from a church problem to a
diplomatic crisis that divided Europe.

810 | The Western Schism

 • The conflict was finally resolved by a council was
convened by a third Pisan pope, John XXIII, in 1414,
which resulted in the excommunication of some of
the claimants to the papacy.

Terms

Avignon Papacy

The period from 1309 to 1377, during which seven

successive popes resided in Avignon, France, rather than in
Rome.

Antipope

A person who, in opposition to the one who is generally

seen as the legitimately elected pope, makes a significantly
accepted competing claim to be the pope.

The Western Schism, or Papal Schism, was a split within the Roman
Catholic Church that lasted from 1378 to 1417. During that time, three
men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope. Driven by politics
rather than any theological disagreement, the schism was ended by
the Council of Constance (1414–1418). For a time these rival claims to
the papal throne damaged the reputation of the office.

The Western Schism | 811

Origin

The schism in the Western Roman Church resulted from the return
of the papacy to Rome under Gregory XI on January 17, 1377, ending
the Avignon Papacy, which had developed a reputation for
corruption that estranged major parts of western Christendom. This
reputation can be attributed to perceptions of predominant French
influence and to the papal curia’s efforts to extend its powers of
patronage and increase its revenues.
After Pope Gregory XI died in 1378, the Romans rioted to ensure
the election of a Roman for pope. On April 8, 1378 the cardinals
elected a Neapolitan when no viable Roman candidates presented
themselves. Urban VI, born Bartolomeo Prignano, the Archbishop
of Bari, was elected. Urban had been a respected administrator in
the papal chancery at Avignon, but as pope he proved suspicious,
reformist, and prone to violent outbursts of temper. Many of the
cardinals who had elected him soon regretted their decision; the
majority removed themselves from Rome to Anagni, where, even
though Urban was still reigning, they elected Robert of Geneva as
a rival pope on September 20, 1378. Robert took the name Clement
VII and reestablished a papal court in Avignon. This second election
threw the church into turmoil. There had been antipopes—rival
claimants to the papacy—before, but most of them had been
appointed by various rival factions; in this case, a single group of
church leaders had created both the pope and the antipope.
The conflict quickly escalated from a church problem to a
diplomatic crisis that divided Europe. Secular leaders had to choose
which claimant they would recognize. France, Aragon, Castile and
León, Cyprus, Burgundy, Savoy, Naples, Scotland, and Owain
Glyndwr’s rebellion in Wales recognized the Avignon claimant.
Denmark, England, Flanders, the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary,
Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Poland, Sweden, Republic of Venice, and
other city states of northern Italy recognized the Roman claimant.
In the Iberian Peninsula there were the Ferdinand Wars and the

812 | The Western Schism

1383–1385 Crisis in Portugal, during which dynastic opponents
supported rival claimants to the papal office.

Consequences

Sustained by such national and factional rivalries throughout

Catholic Christianity, the schism continued after the deaths of both
initial claimants; Boniface IX, crowned at Rome in 1389, and
Benedict XIII, who reigned in Avignon from 1394, maintained their
rival courts. When Boniface died in 1404, the eight cardinals of
the Roman conclave offered to refrain from electing a new pope if
Benedict would resign, but when his legates refused on his behalf,
the Roman party then proceeded to elect Innocent VII. In the
intense partisanship characteristic of the Middle Ages, the schism
engendered a fanatical hatred between factions.
Efforts were made to end the schism through force or diplomacy.
The French crown even tried to coerce Benedict XIII, whom it
nominally supported, into resigning. None of these remedies
worked. The suggestion to have a church council resolve the schism
was first made in 1378, but was not initially adopted because canon
law required that a pope call a council. Eventually, theologians like
Pierre d’Ailly and Jean Gerson, as well as canon lawyers like
Francesco Zabarella, adopted arguments that equity permitted the
Church to act for its own welfare in defiance of the letter of the law.
Eventually the cardinals of both factions secured an agreement
that Benedict and Pope Gregory XII would meet at Savona. They
balked at the last moment, and both colleges of cardinals abandoned
their popes. A church council was held at Pisa in 1409 under the
auspices of the cardinals to try solving the dispute. At the fifteenth
session, on June 5, 1409, the Council of Pisa deposed the two
pontiffs as schismatical, heretical, perjured, and scandalous. But
it then added to the problem by electing another incumbent,
Alexander V. He reigned briefly from June 26, 1409, until his death in

The Western Schism | 813

1410, when he was succeeded by John XXIII, who won some, but not
universal, support.

Resolution

Finally, a council was convened at Constance by Pisan pope John

XXIII in 1414 to resolve the issue. This was endorsed by Gregory XII,
Innocent VII’s successor in Rome, thus ensuring the legitimacy of
any election. The council, advised by the theologian Jean Gerson,
secured the resignations of John XXIII and Gregory XII in 1415, while
excommunicating the claimant who refused to step down, Benedict
XIII. The council elected Pope Martin V in 1417, essentially ending
the schism. Nonetheless, the Crown of Aragon did not recognize
Martin V and continued to recognize Benedict XIII. Archbishops
loyal to Benedict XIII subsequently elected Antipope Benedict XIV
(Bernard Garnier), and three followers simultaneously elected
Antipope Clement VIII, but the Western Schism was by then
practically over. Clement VIII resigned in 1429 and apparently
recognized Martin V.

814 | The Western Schism

Habemus Papam 1415
Habemus Papam (the announcement of a new pope) at the Council of
Constance, 1415.

Sources

The Western Schism | 815

110. The Coronation of 800
CE

Learning Objective

• Describe the reasons for Charlemagne receiving

the title of Emperor

Key Points

• In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne the

Emperor of the Romans, thereby extending
Charlemagne’s power and authority.
• Some historians believe that Charlemagne was
surprised by the coronation and would not have gone
into the church that day had he known the pope’s
plan.
• Nonetheless, Charlemagne used these
circumstances to claim that he was the renewer of
the Roman Empire, which would remain in
continuous existence for nearly a millennium, as the
Holy Roman Empire.
• Although one of the aims was ostensibly to reunite
the entire Roman Empire, given that many at the time

816 | The Coronation of 800 CE

 (including the pope) did not recognize Empress Irene
of the Byzantine Empire as a legitimate ruler, the two
empires remained independent and continued to
fight for sovereignty throughout the Middle Ages.
• The Pope’s motivation for crowning Charlemagne
was to give the papacy and the church implicit
authority over the empire, since with this act Leo set
a precedent for crowning emperors, which
subsequent popes would do throughout the reign of
the Holy Roman Empire.

Terms

Holy Roman Empire

A multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe

that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued
until its dissolution in 1806; founded by the coronation of
Charlemagne by Pope Leo III.

Empress Irene

A Byzantine empress who ruled from 797–802, during the

time of Charlemagne’s coronation.

The Coronation of 800 CE | 817

 Byzantine Empire

Sometimes referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire, was

the continuation of the Roman Empire in the East during
Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city
was Constantinople.

Coronation

In 799, after Pope Leo III was abused by Romans who tried to put
out his eyes and tear out his tongue, he escaped and fled to
Charlemagne at Paderborn. Charlemagne, advised by scholar Alcuin
of York, travelled to Rome in November 800 and held a council on
December 1. On December 23, Leo swore an oath of innocence. At
Mass, on Christmas Day (December 25), when Charlemagne knelt
at the altar to pray, the pope crowned him Imperator Romanorum
(“Emperor of the Romans”) in Saint Peter’s Basilica. In so doing,
the pope effectively nullified the legitimacy of Empress Irene of
Constantinople. As historian James Bryce writes:

When Odoacer compelled the abdication of Romulus

Augustulus, he did not abolish the Western Empire as a
separate power, but caused it to be reunited with or sink
into the Eastern, so that from that time there was a single
undivided Roman Empire … [Pope Leo III and Charlemagne],
like their predecessors, held the Roman Empire to be one
and indivisible, and proposed by the coronation of
[Charlemagne] not to proclaim a severance of the East and

818 | The Coronation of 800 CE

 West.

Charlemagne’s coronation as emperor, though intended to

represent the continuation of the unbroken line of emperors from
Augustus to Constantine VI, had the effect of setting up two
separate (and often opposing) empires and two separate claims to
imperial authority. For centuries to come, the emperors of both
West and East would make competing claims of sovereignty over the
whole.
In support of Charlemagne’s coronation, some argued that the
imperial position had actually been vacant, deeming a woman
(Irene) unfit to be emperor. However, Charlemagne made no claim
to the Byzantine Empire. Whether he actually desired a coronation
at all remains controversial—his biographer Einhard related that
Charlemagne had been surprised by the pope. Regardless,
Byzantium felt its role as the sole heir of the Roman Empire
threatened and began to emphasize its superiority and its Roman
identity. Relations between the two empires remained difficult.
Irene is said to have sought a marriage alliance between herself
and Charlemagne, but according to Theophanes the Confessor, who
alone mentions it, the scheme was frustrated by Aetios, one of her
favorite advisors.

The Coronation of 800 CE | 819

Coronation of Charlemagne
The Coronation of Charlemagne, by assistants of Raphael, c. 1516–1517.

Motivation

For both the pope and Charlemagne, the Roman Empire remained a
significant power in European politics at this time, and continued to
hold a substantial portion of Italy, with borders not far south of the
city of Rome itself. This is the empire that historiography has been
labelled the Byzantine Empire, for its capital was Constantinople
(ancient Byzantium) and its people and rulers were Greek; it was a
thoroughly Hellenic state. Indeed, Charlemagne was usurping the
prerogatives of the Roman emperor in Constantinople simply by
sitting in judgement over the pope in the first place. Historian John
Julius Norwich writes of their motivation:

820 | The Coronation of 800 CE

 By whom, however, could he [the Pope] be tried? In normal
circumstances the only conceivable answer to that question
would have been the Emperor at Constantinople; but the
imperial throne was at this moment occupied by Irene. That
the Empress was notorious for having blinded and murdered
her own son was, in the minds of both Leo and Charles,
almost immaterial: it was enough that she was a woman.
The female sex was known to be incapable of governing,
and by the old Salic tradition was debarred from doing so.
As far as Western Europe was concerned, the Throne of
the Emperors was vacant: Irene’s claim to it was merely an
additional proof, if any were needed, of the degradation into
which the so-called Roman Empire had fallen.

For the pope, then, there was “no living Emperor at the that time.”
Furthermore, the papacy had since 727 been in conflict with Irene’s
predecessors in Constantinople over a number of issues, chiefly the
continued Byzantine adherence to the doctrine of iconoclasm, the
destruction of Christian images. From 750, the secular power of the
Byzantine Empire in central Italy had been nullified.
Norwich explains that by bestowing the imperial crown upon
Charlemagne, the pope arrogated to himself “the right to appoint
the Emperor of the Romans, establishing the imperial crown as
his own personal gift but simultaneously granting himself implicit
superiority over the Emperor whom he had created.” And “because
the Byzantines had proved so unsatisfactory from every point of
view—political, military and doctrinal—he would select a westerner:
the one man who by his wisdom and statesmanship and the vastness
of his dominions stood out head and shoulders above his
contemporaries.”
How realistic either Charlemagne or the pope felt it to be that the
people of Constantinople would ever accept the king of the Franks
as their emperor, we cannot know; Alcuin speaks hopefully in his
letters of an Imperium Christianum (“Christian Empire”), wherein,
“just as the inhabitants of the [Roman Empire] had been united by a

The Coronation of 800 CE | 821

common Roman citizenship,” presumably this new empire would be
united by a common Christian faith.

Roman Emperor

In any event, Charlemagne used these circumstances to claim that

he was the renewer of the Roman Empire, which was perceived
to have fallen into degradation under the Byzantines. The title of
Emperor remained in the Carolingian family for years to come, but
divisions of territory and in-fighting over supremacy of the Frankish
state weakened its power and ability to lead. The papacy itself never
forgot the title nor abandoned the right to bestow it. When the
family of Charlemagne ceased to produce worthy heirs, the pope
gladly crowned whichever Italian magnate could best protect him
from his local enemies. This devolution led to the dormancy of
the title from 924 to 962. The title was revived when Otto I was
crowned emperor in 962, fashioning himself as the successor of
Charlemagne. The empire would remain in continuous existence
for nearly a millennium, as the Holy Roman Empire, a true imperial
successor to Charlemagne.

Sources

822 | The Coronation of 800 CE

111. The Rise of Charlemagne

Learning Objective

• Discuss the political and territorial achievements of

Charlemagne

Key Points

• Charlemagne was determined to improve education

and religion and bring Europe out of turmoil; to do
this he launched a thirty-year military campaign of
conquests that united Europe and spread
Christianity.
• First he conquered the Lombards in Italy,
supporting Pope Adrian I.
• In the Saxon Wars, spanning thirty years and
eighteen battles, he conquered Saxony and
proceeded to convert the conquered to Christianity.
• By 800 he was the ruler of Western Europe and had
control of present-day France, Switzerland, Belgium,
the Netherlands, Germany, and parts of Austria and
Spain.

The Rise of Charlemagne | 823

 Terms

Carolingian Dynasty

An empire during the late medieval realm of the Franks,

ruled by the Carolingian family, a Frankish noble family to
which Charlemagne belonged.

Frankish state

Territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks, a

confederation of Germanic tribes, from the 400s to 800s
CE.

Saxons

A group of Germanic tribes first mentioned as living near

the North Sea coast of what is now Germany (Old Saxony)
in late Roman times.

Lombards

A Germanic people who ruled large parts of the Italian

Peninsula from 568 to 774.

824 | The Rise of Charlemagne

Charlemagne’s Rise to Power

Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great or Charles I, was the

king of the Franks from 768 and the king of Italy from 774, and from
800 was the first emperor in western Europe since the collapse of
the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier. The expanded
Frankish state he founded is called the Carolingian Empire.
Charlemagne is considered to be the greatest ruler of the
Carolingian Dynasty because of the achievements he made during
what seemed like the very middle of the Dark Ages.
Charlemagne was the oldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada
of Laon. He became king in 768 following the death of his father,
and initially was a co-ruler with his brother, Carloman I. Charles
received Pepin’s original share as Mayor—the outer parts of the
kingdom bordering on the sea, namely Neustria, western Aquitaine,
and the northern parts of Austrasia—while Carloman was awarded
his uncle’s former share, the inner parts—southern Austrasia,
Septimania, eastern Aquitaine, Burgundy, Provence, and Swabia,
lands bordering Italy. Carloman’s sudden death in 771 under
unexplained circumstances left Charlemagne as the undisputed
ruler of the Frankish Kingdom.

Territorial Expansion

Charlemagne was determined to improve education and religion

and bring Europe out of turmoil. To do this he launched a thirty-
year military campaign from 772–804 of conquests that united
Europe and spread Christianity. Charlemagne was engaged in
almost constant battle throughout his reign, often at the head of his
elite scara bodyguard squadrons, with his legendary sword Joyeuse
in hand. The first step that Charlemagne took in building his empire
was to conquer new territories.

The Rise of Charlemagne | 825

 The first of these conquering campaigns was against the
Lombards; Charlemagne came out victorious and won the Lombard
lands to the north of Italy. At his succession in 772, Pope Adrian
I demanded the return of certain cities in the former exarchate
of Ravenna in accordance with a promise at the succession of
Desiderius. Instead, Desiderius took over certain papal cities and
invaded the Pentapolis, heading for Rome. Adrian sent ambassadors
to Charlemagne in the autumn, requesting he enforce the policies
of his father, Pepin. Desiderius sent his own ambassadors denying
the pope’s charges. The ambassadors met at Thionville, and
Charlemagne upheld the pope’s side. Charlemagne demanded that
Desiderius comply with the pope, but Desiderius promptly swore he
never would.
Charlemagne and his uncle Bernard crossed the Alps in 773 and
chased the Lombards back to Pavia, which they then besieged. The
siege lasted until the spring of 774, when Charlemagne visited the
pope in Rome. There he confirmed his father’s grants of land. Some
later chronicles falsely claimed that he also expanded them,
granting Tuscany, Emilia, Venice, and Corsica. After the pope
granted Charlemagne the title of patrician, he returned to Pavia,
where the Lombards were on the verge of surrendering. In return
for their lives, the Lombards conceded and opened the gates in early
summer.

826 | The Rise of Charlemagne

Charlemagne and Pope Adrian I
The Frankish king Charlemagne was a devout Catholic who maintained a
close relationship with the papacy throughout his life. In 772, when Pope
Adrian I was threatened by invaders, the king rushed to Rome to provide
assistance. Shown here, the pope asks Charlemagne for help at a meeting near
Rome.

The Saxon Wars and Beyond

In the Saxon Wars, spanning thirty years and eighteen battles,

Charlemagne overthrew Saxony and proceeded to convert the
conquered to Christianity.
The Germanic Saxons were divided into four subgroups in four
regions. Nearest to Austrasia was Westphalia, and furthest away
was Eastphalia. Engria was between these two kingdoms, and to
the north, at the base of the Jutland peninsula, was Nordalbingia.
In his first campaign against the Saxons, in 773, Charlemagne cut
down an Irminsul pillar near Paderborn and forced the Engrians
to submit. The campaign was cut short by his first expedition to

The Rise of Charlemagne | 827

Italy. He returned to Saxony in 775, marching through Westphalia
and conquering the Saxon fort at Sigiburg. He then crossed Engria,
where he defeated the Saxons again. Finally, in Eastphalia, he
defeated a Saxon force and converted its leader, Hessi, to
Christianity. Charlemagne returned through Westphalia, leaving
encampments at Sigiburg and Eresburg, which had been important
Saxon bastions. With the exception of Nordalbingia, Saxony was
under his control, but Saxon resistance had not ended.
Following his campaign in Italy to subjugate the dukes of Friuli
and Spoleto, Charlemagne returned rapidly to Saxony in 776, where
a rebellion had destroyed his fortress at Eresburg. The Saxons were
once again brought to heel, but their main leader, Widukind,
managed to escape to Denmark, home of his wife. Charlemagne
built a new camp at Karlstadt. In 777, he called a national assembly
at Paderborn to integrate Saxony fully into the Frankish kingdom.
Many Saxons were baptized as Christians.
Outside Charlemagne’s Saxon campaigns, he expanded his empire
towards southern Germany, southern France, and the island of
Corsica. He fought the Avars, adding modern-day Hungary to his
empire, and also fought against the Moors of Spain, gaining the
northern part of Spain. Through these conquests Charlemagne
united Europe and spread Christianity.
By 800 he was the ruler of Western Europe and had control
of present-day France, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Germany, and parts of Austria and Spain. Charlemagne’s successful
military campaigns were due to his abilities as a military
commander and planner, and to the training of his warriors. He
controlled his vast empire by sending agents to supervise its
different areas. Charlemagne’s accomplishments restored much of
the unity of the old Roman Empire and paved the way for the
development of modern Europe.

Sources

828 | The Rise of Charlemagne

112. Charlemagne's Reforms

Learning Objective

• Describe the significance of Charlemagne’s reforms

Key Points

• Charlemagne is known for his many reforms,

including the economy, education, and government
administration.
• Charlemagne’s rule spurred the Carolingian
Renaissance, a period of energetic cultural and
intellectual activity within the Western church.
• Charlemagne took a serious interest in scholarship,
promoting the liberal arts at the court, ordering that
his children and grandchildren be well educated, and
even studying himself.
• Charlemagne established a new monetary standard,
the livre carolinienne, which was based upon a pound
of silver, as well as a universal accounting system.
• Charlemagne expanded the reform program of the
church, including strengthening the church’s power
structure, advancing the skill and moral quality of the
clergy, standardizing liturgical practices, improving

Charlemagne's Reforms | 829

 on the basic tenets of the faith and moral, and rooting
out paganism.
• Charlemagne’s improvements on governance have
been lauded by historians for instigating increased
central control, efficient bureaucracy, accountability,
and cultural renaissance.

Terms

Carolingian Renaissance

The first of three medieval renaissances; was a period of

cultural activity in the Carolingian Empire occurring from
the late-8th century to the 9th century.

livre carolinienne

Charlemagne’s monetary standard, based upon a pound

of silver, equivalent to the modern pound.

literati

Well-educated, scholarly people; intellectuals who are

interested in written works.

830 | Charlemagne's Reforms

The Carolingian Renaissance

As emperor, Charlemagne stood out for his many

reforms—monetary, governmental, military, cultural, and
ecclesiastical. He was the main initiator and proponent of the
“Carolingian Renaissance,” the first of three medieval renaissances.
It was a period of cultural activity in the Carolingian Empire
occurring from the late-8th century to the 9th century, taking
inspiration from the Christian Roman Empire of the 4th century.
During this period there was an expansion of literature, writing, the
arts, architecture, jurisprudence, liturgical reforms, and scriptural
studies.
The effects of this cultural revival were largely limited to a small
group of court literati; according to John Contreni, “it had a
spectacular effect on education and culture in Francia, a debatable
effect on artistic endeavors, and an unmeasurable effect on what
mattered most to the Carolingians, the moral regeneration of
society.” Beyond their efforts to write better Latin, to copy and
preserve patristic and classical texts, and to develop a more legible,
classicizing script, the secular and ecclesiastical leaders of the
Carolingian Renaissance applied rational ideas to social issues for
the first time in centuries, providing a common language and
writing style that allowed for communication across most of
Europe.

Education Reform

Part of Charlemagne’s success as a warrior, an administrator, and

a ruler can be traced to his admiration for learning and education.
The era ushered in by his reign, the Carolingian Renaissance, was
so called because of the flowering of scholarship, literature, art, and
architecture that characterized it. Charlemagne’s vast conquests

Charlemagne's Reforms | 831

brought him into contact with the cultures and learnings of other
countries, especially Moorish Spain, Anglo-Saxon England, and
Lombard Italy, and greatly increased the provision of monastic
schools and scriptoria (centers for book copying) in Francia.
Most of the presently surviving works of classical Latin were
copied and preserved by Carolingian scholars. Indeed, the earliest
manuscripts available for many ancient texts are Carolingian. It
is almost certain that a text that survived to the Carolingian age
endures still.

832 | Charlemagne's Reforms

Carolingian Minuscule
Carolingian minuscule, one of the products of the Carolingian Renaissance.

The pan-European nature of Charlemagne’s influence is indicated

by the origins of many of the men who worked for him: Alcuin,
an Anglo-Saxon from York; Theodulf, a Visigoth, probably from
Septimania; Paul the Deacon, a Lombard; Peter of Pisa and Paulinus

Charlemagne's Reforms | 833

of Aquileia, both Italians; and Angilbert, Angilram, Einhard, and
Waldo of Reichenau, Franks. Charlemagne took a serious interest in
scholarship, promoting the liberal arts at the court, ordering that
his children and grandchildren be well-educated, and even studying
himself (in a time when many leaders who promoted education did
not take time to learn themselves). He studied grammar with Peter
of Pisa; rhetoric, dialectic (logic), and astronomy (he was particularly
interested in the movement of the stars) with Alcuin; and arithmetic
with Einhard.
Charlemagne’s great scholarly failure, as Einhard related, was his
inability to write. When in his old age he attempted to
learn—practicing the formation of letters in his bed during his free
time on books and wax tablets he hid under his pillow—”his effort
came too late in life and achieved little success.” His ability to
read—which Einhard is silent about, and which no contemporary
source supports—has also been called into question.

Economic Reform

Charlemagne had an important role in determining the immediate

economic future of Europe. Pursuing his father’s reforms,
Charlemagne abolished the monetary system based on the gold sou,
and he and the Anglo-Saxon King Offa of Mercia took up the system
set in place by Pepin. There were strong pragmatic reasons for this
abandonment of a gold standard, notably a shortage of gold itself.
The gold shortage was a direct consequence of the conclusion of
peace with Byzantium, which resulted in ceding Venice and Sicily
to the East and losing their trade routes to Africa. The resulting
standardization economically harmonized and unified the complex
array of currencies that had been in use at the commencement of
Charlemagne’s reign, thus simplifying trade and commerce.
Charlemagne established a new standard, the livre carolinienne
(from the Latin libra, the modern pound), which was based upon a

834 | Charlemagne's Reforms

pound of silver—a unit of both money and weight—and was worth
20 sous (from the Latin solidus, the modern shilling) or 240 deniers
(from the Latin denarius, the modern penny). During this period, the
livre and the sou were counting units; only the denier was a coin of
the realm.

Coinage from Charlemagne’s empire

Denier from the era of Charlemagne, Tours, 793–812

Charlemagne instituted principles for accounting practice by means

of the Capitulare de villis of 802, which laid down strict rules for the
way in which incomes and expenses were to be recorded.
Early in Charlemagne’s rule he tacitly allowed the Jews to
monopolize money lending. When lending money for interest was
proscribed in 814, being against Church law at the time,
Charlemagne introduced the Capitulary for the Jews, a prohibition

Charlemagne's Reforms | 835

on Jews engaging in money lending due to the religious convictions
of the majority of his constituents, in essence banning it across the
board, a reversal of his earlier recorded general policy. In addition
to this macro-oriented reform of the economy, Charlemagne also
performed a significant number of microeconomic reforms, such
as direct control of prices and levies on certain goods and
commodities.
His Capitulary for the Jews, however, was not representative of
his overall economic relationship or attitude toward the Frankish
Jews, and certainly not his earlier relationship with them, which had
evolved over his lifespan. His paid personal physician, for example,
was Jewish, and he employed at least one Jew for his diplomatic
missions, a personal representative to the Muslim caliphate of
Baghdad. Letters have been credited to him inviting Jews to settle
in his kingdom for economic purposes, generally welcoming them
through his overall progressive policies.

Church Reform

Unlike his father, Pepin, and uncle Carloman, Charlemagne

expanded the reform program of the church. The deepening of
the spiritual life was later to be seen as central to public policy
and royal governance. His reform focused on the strengthening of
the church’s power structure, advancing the skill and moral quality
of the clergy, standardizing liturgical practices, improving on the
basic tenets of the faith and moral, and rooting out paganism. His
authority was now extended over church and state; he could
discipline clerics, control ecclesiastical property, and define
orthodox doctrine. Despite the harsh legislation and sudden
change, he had grown a well-developed support from the clergy
who approved his desire to deepen the piety and morals of his
Christian subjects.

836 | Charlemagne's Reforms

Political and Administrative Reform

In 800, Charlemagne was crowned emperor and adapted his

existing royal administration to live up to the expectations of his
new title. The political reforms wrought in his capital, Aachen, were
to have an immense impact on the political definition of Western
Europe for the rest of the Middle Ages. Charlemagne’s
improvements on the old Merovingian mechanisms of governance
have been lauded by historians for the increased central control,
efficient bureaucracy, accountability, and cultural renaissance.
The Carolingian Empire was the largest western territory since
the fall of Rome, and historians have come to suspect the depth
of the emperor’s influence and control. Legally, Charlemagne
exercised the bannum, the right to rule and command, over all of
his territories. Also, he had supreme jurisdiction in judicial matters,
made legislation, led the army, and protected both the church and
the poor. His administration attempted to organize the kingdom,
church, and nobility around him; however, its efficacy was directly
dependent upon the efficiency, loyalty, and support of his subjects.
Around 780 Charlemagne reformed the local system of
administering justice and created the scabini, professional experts
on law. Every count had the help of seven of these scabini, who were
supposed to know every national law so that all men could be judged
according to it. Judges were also banned from taking bribes and
were supposed to use sworn inquests to establish facts. In 802, all
law was written down and amended.
The Frankish kingdom was subdivided by Charlemagne into three
separate areas to make administration easier. These areas,
Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgandy, were the inner “core” of the
kingdom and were supervised directly by the missatica system and
the itinerant household. Outside this was the regna, where Frankish
administration rested upon the counts, and beyond regna were the
marcher areas, ruled by powerful governors. These marcher
lordships were present in Brittany, Spain, and Avaria. Charlemagne

Charlemagne's Reforms | 837

also created two sub-kingdoms in Aquitaine and Italy, ruled by his
sons Louis and Pepin respectively. Bavaria was also under the
command of an autonomous governor, Gerold, until his death in
796. While Charlemagne still had overall authority in these areas,
they were fairly autonomous, with their own chancery and minting
facilities.
The annual meeting, the Placitum Generalis or Marchfield, was
held every year (between March and May) at a place appointed by
the king. It was called for three reasons: to gather the Frankish host
to go on campaign, to discuss political and ecclesiastical matters
affecting the kingdom and legislate for them, and to make
judgements. All important men had to go the meeting, and so it
was an important way for Charlemagne to make his will known.
Originally the meeting worked effectively, but later it became
merely a forum for discussion and for nobles to express their
dissatisfaction.

Kloster Lorsch
Lorsch Abbey gatehouse, c. 800, an example of the Carolingian architectural
style, a first, albeit isolated classical movement in architecture.

838 | Charlemagne's Reforms

Sources

Charlemagne's Reforms | 839

113. Charles Martel and Pepin
the Short

Learning Objective

• Explain the significance of Charles Martel’s victory

at the Battle of Tours

Key Points

• Charles Martel was the de facto ruler of Francia

(France) who defeated the Umayyad Caliphate in the
Battle of Tours.
• The Battle of Tours was historically significant
because it stopped the advance of the Muslim empire,
which had successfully conquered much of Europe;
many historians believe that had Charles failed, no
power in Europe would have been able to halt Islamic
expansion.
• Charles divided his land between his sons Carloman
and Pepin.
• After Carloman retired to religious life, Pepin
became the sole ruler of the Franks and continued to
consolidate and expand his power to become one of

840 | Charles Martel and Pepin the

Short
 the most powerful and successful rulers of his time.

Terms

Donation of Pepin

Donations bestowed by Pepin the Short that provided a

legal basis for the formal organizing of the “Papal States,”
which inaugurated papal temporal rule over civil
authorities.

Battle of Tours

A battle that pitted Frankish and Burgundian forces

under Charles Martel against an army of the Umayyad
Caliphate led by ‘Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Governor-
General of al-Andalus. The latter was defeated, thus ending
the expansion of the Muslim empire into Europe.

Umayyad Caliphate

The second of the four major Arab caliphates established

after the death of Muhammad; continued the Muslim
conquests, incorporating the Caucasus, Transoxiana, Sindh,

Charles Martel and Pepin the Short | 841

 the Maghreb, and the Iberian Peninsula into the Muslim
world, making it the fifth largest empire in history in both
area and proportion of the world’s population.

Franks

Historically known first as a group of Germanic tribes

that inhabited the land between the Lower and Middle
Rhine in the 3rd century CE, and second as the people of
Gaul who merged with the Gallo-Roman populations during
succeeding centuries, passing on their name to modern-
day France and becoming part of the heritage of the
modern French people.

Charles Martel

Charles Martel (688-741) was a Frankish statesman and military

leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the
Palace, was de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. The
son of the Frankish statesman Pepin of Herstal and a noblewoman
named Alpaida, Charles successfully asserted his claims to
dominance as successor to his father, who was the power behind
the throne in Frankish politics. Continuing and building on his
father’s work, he restored centralized government in Francia and
began the series of military campaigns that re-established the
Franks as the undisputed masters of all Gaul.
Apart from his military endeavors, Charles is considered to be
a founding figure of the European Middle Ages. Skilled as an
administrator as well as a warrior, he is credited with a seminal

842 | Charles Martel and Pepin the Short

role in the emerging responsibilities of the knights of courts, and so
in the development of the Frankish system of feudalism. Moreover,
Charles—a great patron of Saint Boniface—made the first attempt at
reconciliation between the Franks and the papacy. Pope Gregory III,
whose realm was being menaced by the Lombards, offered Charles
the Roman consulship in exchange for becoming the defender of the
Holy See, but Charles declined.
Although Charles never assumed the title of king, he divided
Francia, as a king would have, between his sons Carloman and Pepin.
The latter became the first of the Carolingians, the family of Charles
Martel, to become king. Charles’s grandson, Charlemagne, extended
the Frankish realms to include much of the West, and became the
first emperor in the West since the fall of Rome. Therefore, on the
basis of his achievements, Charles is seen as laying the groundwork
for the Carolingian Empire. In summing up the man, Gibbon wrote
that Charles was “the hero of the age,” whereas Guerard described
him as being the “champion of the Cross against the Crescent.”

Battles of Tours

After working to establish a unity in Gaul, Charles’s attention was

called to foreign conflicts; dealing with the Islamic advance into
Western Europe was a foremost concern. Arab and Berber Islamic
forces had conquered Spain (711), crossed the Pyrenees (720), seized
a major dependency of the Visigoths (721–725), and after
intermittent challenges, under Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Governor-
General of al-Andalus, advanced toward Gaul and on Tours, “the
holy town of Gaul.” In October 732, the army of the Umayyad
Caliphate, led by Al Ghafiqi, met Frankish and Burgundian forces
under Charles in an area between the cities of Tours and Poitiers
(modern north-central France), leading to a decisive, historically
important Frankish victory known as the Battle of Tours.
Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi was killed, and Charles subsequently

Charles Martel and Pepin the Short | 843

extended his authority in the south. Charles further took the
offensive after Tours, destroying fortresses at Agde, Béziers, and
Maguelonne, and engaging Islamic forces at Nimes, though
ultimately failing to recover Narbonne (737) or to fully reclaim the
Visigoth’s Narbonensis. He thereafter made significant external
gains against fellow Christian realms, establishing Frankish control
over Bavaria, Alemannia, and Frisia, and compelling some of the
Saxon tribes to offer tribute (738). Details of the Battle of Tours,
including its exact location and the number of combatants, cannot
be determined from accounts that have survived. Notably, the
Frankish troops won the battle without cavalry.
Charles’s victory is widely believed to have stopped the northward
advance of Umayyad forces from the Iberian Peninsula, and to have
preserved Christianity in Europe during a period when Muslim rule
was overrunning the remains of the old Roman and Persian empires.
Ninth-century chroniclers, who interpreted the outcome of the
battle as divine judgment in Charles’s favor, gave him the nickname
Martellus (“The Hammer”). Later Christian chroniclers and
pre-20th-century historians praised Charles Martel as the
champion of Christianity, characterizing the battle as the decisive
turning point in the struggle against Islam, a struggle which
preserved Christianity as the religion of Europe. According to
modern military historian Victor Davis Hanson, “most of the 18th
and 19th century historians, like Gibbon, saw Poitiers (Tours), as a
landmark battle that marked the high tide of the Muslim advance
into Europe.” Leopold von Ranke felt that “Poitiers (Tours) was the
turning point of one of the most important epochs in the history of
the world.”
There is little dispute that the battle helped lay the foundations
of the Carolingian Empire and Frankish domination of Europe for
the next century. Most historians agree that “the establishment of
Frankish power in western Europe shaped that continent’s destiny
and the Battle of Tours confirmed that power.”

844 | Charles Martel and Pepin the Short

Steuben’s Bataille de Poitiers. A painting of the Battle of Tours by Charles de
Steuben, 1834–1837.

Pepin the Short

Charles Martel divided his realm between his sons Pepin, called
Pepin the Short, and Carloman. Succeeding his father as the Mayor
of the Palace in 741, Pepin reigned over Francia jointly with his elder
brother Carloman. Pepin ruled in Neustria, Burgundy, and Provence,
while Carloman established himself in Austrasia, Alemannia, and
Thuringia. The brothers were active in subjugating revolts led by
the Bavarians, Aquitanians, Saxons, and Alemanni in the early years
of their reign. In 743, they ended the Frankish interregnum by
choosing Childeric III, who was to be the last Merovingian monarch,
as figurehead king of the Franks.
Being well disposed towards the church and papacy on account of

Charles Martel and Pepin the Short | 845

their ecclesiastical upbringing, Pepin and Carloman continued their
father’s work supporting Saint Boniface in reforming the Frankish
church and evangelizing the Saxons. After Carloman, who was an
intensely pious man, retired to religious life in 747, Pepin became
the sole ruler of the Franks. He suppressed a revolt led by his half-
brother Grifo, and succeeded in becoming the undisputed master of
all Francia. Giving up pretense, Pepin then forced Childeric into a
monastery and had himself proclaimed king of the Franks with the
support of Pope Zachary in 751. The decision was not supported by
all members of the Carolingian family, and Pepin had to put down
another revolt led by Grifo and by Carloman’s son, Drogo.
As king, Pepin embarked on an ambitious program to expand his
power. He reformed the legislation of the Franks and continued the
ecclesiastical reforms of Boniface. Pepin also intervened in favor
of the papacy of Stephen II against the Lombards in Italy. He was
able to secure several cities, which he then gave to the pope as
part of the Donation of Pepin. This formed the legal basis for the
Papal States in the Middle Ages. The Byzantines, keen to make
good relations with the growing power of the Frankish empire, gave
Pepin the title of Patricius. In wars of expansion, Pepin conquered
Septimania from the Islamic Umayyads, and subjugated the
southern realms by repeatedly defeating Waifer of Aquitaine and
his Basque troops, after which the Basque and Aquitanian lords saw
no option but to pledge loyalty to the Franks. Pepin was, however,
troubled by the relentless revolts of the Saxons and the Bavarians.
He campaigned tirelessly in Germany, but the final subjugation of
these tribes was left to his successors.
Pepin died in 768 and was succeeded by his sons Charlemagne
and Carloman. Although unquestionably one of the most powerful
and successful rulers of his time, Pepin’s reign is largely
overshadowed by that of his more famous son.

Sources

846 | Charles Martel and Pepin the Short

114. The End of the
Carolingians

Learning Objective

• Identify the reasons for the fall of the Carolingian

Dynasty

Key Points

• The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble

family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans
of the 7th century, which saw its reached its peak
with the crowning of Charlemagne as the Roman
emperor in 800.
• Charlemagne’s death in 814 began an extended
period of fragmentation and decline of the dynasty
that would eventually lead to the evolution of the
territories of France and Germany.
• Following the death of Louis the Pious
(Charlemagne’s son), the surviving adult Carolingians
fought a three-year civil war ending only in the
Treaty of Verdun, which divided the territory into
three separate regions and began the breakup of the

The End of the Carolingians | 847

 empire.
• The Carolingians were displaced in most of the
regna of the empire in 888, but ruled in East Francia
until 911 and held the throne of West Francia
intermittently until 987.
• One chronicler dates the end of Carolingian rule
with the coronation of Robert II of France as junior
co-ruler with his father, Hugh Capet, thus beginning
the Capetian dynasty, descendants of which unified
France.
• The Carolingian dynasty became extinct in the
male line with the death of Eudes, Count of
Vermandois. His sister Adelaide, the last Carolingian,
died in 1122.

Terms

regna

Territorial regions of independent rule.

Carolingian

Refers to topics concerning or in the time of

Charlemagne and his heirs.

848 | The End of the Carolingians

 Francia

The territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks, a

confederation of West Germanic tribes, during Late
Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages.

Charlemagne’s Death

The Carolingian dynasty began with Charlemagne’s grandfather

Charles Martel, but began its official reign with Charlemagne’s
father, Pepin the Short, displacing the Merovingian dynasty. The
dynasty reached its peak with the crowning of Charlemagne as the
first emperor in the west in over three centuries. Charlemagne’s
death in 814 began an extended period of fragmentation and decline
that would eventually lead to the evolution of the territories of
France and Germany.
In 813, Charlemagne called Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine and
his only surviving legitimate son, to his court. There Charlemagne
crowned his son with his own hands as co-emperor and sent him
back to Aquitaine. He then spent the autumn hunting before
returning to Aachen on November 1. In January, he fell ill with
pleurisy. He took to his bed on January 21 and as Einhard tells it:

He died January twenty-eighth, the seventh day from the

time that he took to his bed, at nine o’clock in the morning,
after partaking of the Holy Communion, in the seventy-
second year of his age and the forty-seventh of his reign.

The End of the Carolingians | 849

He had a testament of 811, not updated prior to his death, that
allocated his assets. He was succeeded by his son, Louis, but his
empire lasted only another generation in its entirety; its division,
according to custom, between Louis’s own sons after their father’s
death laid the foundation for the modern states of Germany and
France.

The Carolingian Dynasty and Its Decline

Charlemagne, who was crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III at Rome in

800, was the greatest Carolingian monarch. His empire, ostensibly a
continuation of the Roman Empire, is referred to historiographically
as the Carolingian Empire. The traditional Frankish (and
Merovingian) practice of dividing inheritances among heirs was not
given up by the Carolingian emperors, though the concept of the
indivisibility of the Empire was also accepted. The Carolingians had
the practice of making their sons minor kings in the various regions
(regna) of the Empire, which they would inherit on the death of their
father.
Following the death of Louis the Pious (Charlemagne’s son), the
surviving adult Carolingians fought a three-year civil war ending
only in the Treaty of Verdun, which divided the empire into three
regna while according imperial status and a nominal lordship to
Lothair I. By this treaty, Lothair received northern Italy and a long
stretch of territory from the North Sea to the Mediterranean,
essentially along the valleys of the Rhine and the Rhône; this
territory includes the regions of Lorraine, Alsace, Burgundy, and
Provence. He soon ceded Italy to his eldest son, Louis, and remained
in his new kingdom, engaging in alternate quarrels and
reconciliations with his brothers and in futile efforts to defend his
lands from the attacks of the Northmen (as Vikings were known in
Frankish writings) and the Saracens.
The Carolingians differed markedly from the Merovingians in that

850 | The End of the Carolingians

they disallowed inheritance to illegitimate offspring, possibly in an
effort to prevent infighting among heirs and assure a limit to the
division of the realm. In the late 9th century, however, the lack
of suitable adults among the Carolingians necessitated the rise of
Arnulf of Carinthia, an illegitimate child of a legitimate Carolingian
king.
The Carolingians were displaced in most of the regna of the
Empire in 888. They ruled on in East Francia until 911 and held
the throne of West Francia intermittently until 987. Carolingian
cadet branches continued to rule in Vermandois and Lower Lorraine
after the last king died in 987, but they never sought thrones of
principalities, and they made peace with the new ruling families.
One chronicler dates the end of Carolingian rule with the
coronation of Robert II of France as junior co-ruler with his father,
Hugh Capet, thus beginning the Capetian dynasty. Capet’s
descendants—the Capetians, the House of Valois, and the House
of Bourbon—progressively unified the country through wars and
dynastic inheritance into the Kingdom of France, which was fully
declared in 1190 by Philip II Augustus. Thus West Francia of the
Carolingian dynasty became France.
Following the breakup of the Frankish Realm, the history of
Germany was for 900 years intertwined with the history of the
Holy Roman Empire, which subsequently emerged from the eastern
portion of Charlemagne’s original empire. The territory initially
known as East Francia stretched from the Rhine in the west to
the Elbe River in the east, and from the North Sea to the Alps.
Germany as we know it today did not come into existence until after
WWI when the various principalities of the region were united as a
modern nation-state.
The Carolingian dynasty became extinct in the male line with the
death of Eudes, Count of Vermandois. His sister Adelaide, the last
Carolingian, died in 1122.

The End of the Carolingians | 851

Carolingian dynasty. Carolingian family tree, from the Chronicon Universale
of Ekkehard of Aura, 12th century

852 | The End of the Carolingians

Sources

The End of the Carolingians | 853

115. Rise of the Holy Roman
Empire

Learning Objective

• Describe the rise of the Holy Roman Empire

Key Points

• In 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne

Emperor of the Romans, reviving the title in Western
Europe after more than three centuries, thus creating
the Carolingian Empire, whose territory came to be
known as the Holy Roman Empire.
• After the dissolution of the Carolingian Dynasty
and the breakup of the empire into conflicting
territories, Otto I became king of Francia and worked
to unify all the German tribes into a single kingdom
and greatly expand his powers.
• The title of Emperor was again revived in 962 when
Otto I was crowned by Pope John XII, fashioning
himself as the successor of Charlemagne and thus
establishing the Holy Roman Empire.

854 | Rise of the Holy Roman Empire

 Terms

Charlemagne

The first recognized emperor in Western Europe since

the fall of the Western Roman Empire three centuries
earlier, known for unifying Francia and ushering in a period
of cultural renaissance and reform.

Otto I

German king from 936 and emperor of the Holy Roman

Empire from 962 until his death in 973; his reign began a
continuous existence of the Holy Roman Empire for over
eight centuries.

Overview

The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories

in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and
continued until its dissolution in 1806. The largest territory of the
empire after 962 was Eastern Francia, though it also came to include
the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Burgundy, the Kingdom of
Italy, and numerous other territories.
In 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne
Emperor of the Romans, reviving the title in Western Europe after

Rise of the Holy Roman Empire | 855

more than three centuries. The title continued in the Carolingian
family until 888, and from 896 to 899, after which it was contested
by the rulers of Italy in a series of civil wars until the death of the
last Italian claimant, Berengar, in 924. The title was revived again in
962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the
successor of Charlemagne and beginning a continuous existence of
the empire for over eight centuries. Some historians refer to the
coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others
prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally
concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and
principles constituting the empire, describing a gradual assumption
of the imperial title and role.

The Rise of the Empire

After Charlemagne died in 814, the imperial crown was disputed

among the Carolingian rulers of Western Francia and Eastern
Francia, with first the western king (Charles the Bald) and then
the eastern (Charles the Fat) attaining the prize. After the death
of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke
apart, and was never restored. According to Regino of Prüm, the
parts of the realm “spewed forth kinglets,” and each part elected a
kinglet “from its own bowels.” After the death of Charles the Fat,
those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in
Italy. The last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924.
A few decade earlier, around 900, autonomous stem duchies
(Franconia, Bavaria, Swabia, Saxony, and Lotharingia) reemerged in
East Francia. After the Carolingian king Louis the Child died without
issue in 911, East Francia did not turn to the Carolingian ruler of
West Francia to take over the realm, but instead elected one of the
dukes, Conrad of Franconia, as Rex Francorum Orientalium. On his
deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the
Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919.

856 | Rise of the Holy Roman Empire

Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won
a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade.

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry the Fowler died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing
(or Ottonian) dynasty, would continue to rule the eastern kingdom
for roughly a century. Upon Henry’s death, Otto I, his son and
designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936. Otto
continued his father’s work of unifying all German tribes into a
single kingdom and greatly expanded the king’s powers at the
expense of the aristocracy. Through strategic marriages and
personal appointments, Otto installed members of his family in the
kingdom’s most important duchies. This reduced the various dukes,
who had previously been co-equals with the king, to royal subjects
under his authority. Otto transformed the Roman Catholic Church
in Germany to strengthen the royal office and subjected its clergy
to his personal control.
After putting down a brief civil war among the rebellious duchies,
Otto defeated the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955, thus
ending the Hungarian invasions of Western Europe. The victory
against the pagan Magyars earned Otto a reputation as a savior of
Christendom and secured his hold over the kingdom. In 951, Otto
came to the aid of Adelaide, the widowed queen of Italy, defeating
her enemies, marrying her, and taking control of Italy. By 961, Otto
had conquered the Kingdom of Italy and extended his realm’s
borders to the north, east, and south. Following the example of
Charlemagne’s coronation as “Emperor of the Romans” in 800, Otto
was crowned emperor in 962 by Pope John XII in Rome, thus
intertwining the affairs of the German kingdom with those of Italy
and the papacy. Otto’s coronation as emperor marked the German
kings as successors to the empire of Charlemagne, which through

Rise of the Holy Roman Empire | 857

the concept of translatio imperii also made them consider
themselves successors to Ancient Rome.
Otto’s later years were marked by conflicts with the papacy and
struggles to stabilize his rule over Italy. Reigning from Rome, Otto
sought to improve relations with the Byzantine Empire, which
opposed his claim to emperorship and his realm’s further expansion
to the south. To resolve this conflict, the Byzantine princess
Theophanu married Otto’s son, Otto II, in April 972. Otto finally
returned to Germany in August 972 and died at Memleben in 973.
Otto II succeeded him as Holy Roman Emperor.

858 | Rise of the Holy Roman Empire

Otto I. Replica of the Magdeburger Reiter, equestrian monument traditionally
regarded as portrait of Otto I (Magdeburg, original c. 1240)

Sources

Rise of the Holy Roman Empire | 859

116. Administration of the
Empire

Learning Objective

• Explain the relationship between the Holy Roman

Emperor and the other German nobles

Key Points

• The Holy Roman Empire was made up of many

small principalities that were governed by local rulers
who had authority over their land that mostly
superseded the power of the emperor.
• The emperor could not simply issue decrees and
govern autonomously over the empire; his power was
severely restricted by the various local leaders.
• The power of the emperor declined over time until
the individual territories operated almost like de facto
sovereign states.
• The Imperial Diet was the legislative body of the
Holy Roman Empire and theoretically superior to the
emperor himself; it included positions called prince-
electors who elected the prospective emperor.

860 | Administration of the Empire

 • After being elected, the King of the Romans could
claim the title of “Emperor” only after being crowned
by the Pope.

Terms

Reichsstand

An imperial estate in the Holy Roman Empire.

Peace of Westphalia

A series of peace treaties signed between May and

October 1648 that ended the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648)
in the Holy Roman Empire.

Imperial Diet

The general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy

Roman Empire that emerged from the earlier informal
assemblies, and the legislative body of the empire.

Administration of the Empire | 861

Overview

The Holy Roman Empire was not a highly centralized state like most
countries today. Instead, it was divided into dozens—eventually
hundreds—of individual entities governed by kings, dukes, counts,
bishops, abbots, and other rulers, collectively known as princes.
There were also some areas ruled directly by the emperor. At no
time could the emperor simply issue decrees and govern
autonomously over the empire. His power was severely restricted
by the various local leaders.
From the High Middle Ages onwards, the Holy Roman Empire
was marked by an uneasy coexistence with the princes of the local
territories who were struggling to take power away from it. To a
greater extent than in other medieval kingdoms such as France and
England, the Roman emperors were unable to gain much control
over the lands that they formally owned. Instead, to secure their
own position from the threat of being deposed, emperors were
forced to grant more and more autonomy to local rulers, both
nobles and bishops. This process began in the 11th century with the
Investiture Controversy and was more or less concluded with the
1648 Peace of Westphalia. Several emperors attempted to reverse
this steady dissemination of their authority, but were thwarted both
by the papacy and by the princes of the empire.

The Emperor’s Loss of Centralized

Authority

After the reign of Otto I, the centralized power of the emperor

began to fade and local rulers, as well as the Catholic Church, gained
more and more power in relation to the emperor. Eventually, the
emperor held little authority over the empire and the territories

862 | Administration of the Empire

began to function more like modern nation-states. The
Hohenstaufen dynasty, which started in 1125, and especially
Emperor Frederick I, represented both a final attempt at unified
power and the beginning of the dissolution of that power.
Despite his imperial claims, Frederick’s rule was a major turning
point towards the disintegration of central rule in the Holy Roman
Empire. While concentrated on establishing a modern, centralized
state in Sicily, he was mostly absent from Germany and issued far-
reaching privileges to Germany’s secular and ecclesiastical princes.
In the 1220 Confoederatio cum principibus ecclesiasticis, Frederick
gave up a number of regalia in favor of the bishops, among them
tariffs, coining, and fortification. The 1232 Statutum in favorem
principum mostly extended these privileges to secular territories.
Although many of these privileges had existed earlier, they were
now granted globally, and once and for all, to allow the German
princes to maintain order north of the Alps while Frederick
concentrated on Italy. The 1232 document marked the first time that
the German dukes were called domini terræ, owners of their lands,
a remarkable change in terminology as well.

Administration of the Empire | 863

The Holy Roman Empire, 12th century. The Hohenstaufen-ruled Holy Roman
Empire and Kingdom of Sicily. Imperial and directly held Hohenstaufen land
in the empire is shown in bright yellow. This map shows the patchwork of
relatively autonomous principalities that made up the Holy Roman Empire.

The shift in power away from the emperor is revealed in the way the
post-Hohenstaufen kings attempted to sustain their power. Earlier,
the empire’s strength (and finances) greatly relied on the empire’s

864 | Administration of the Empire

own lands, the so-called Reichsgut, which always belonged to the
king of the day and included many imperial cities. After the 13th
century, the relevance of the Reichsgut faded, even though some
parts of it did remain until the empire’s end in 1806. The Reichsgut
was increasingly pawned to local dukes, sometimes to raise money
for the empire, but more frequently to reward faithful duty or as an
attempt to establish control over the dukes. The direct governance
of the Reichsgut no longer matched the needs of either the king or
the dukes.
The “constitution” of the empire still remained largely unsettled
at the beginning of the 15th century. Although some procedures
and institutions had been fixed, for example by the Golden Bull of
1356, the rules of how the king, the electors, and the other dukes
should cooperate in the empire much depended on the personality
of the respective king. It therefore proved somewhat damaging that
Sigismund of Luxemburg (king 1410, emperor 1433–1437) and
Frederick III of Habsburg (king 1440, emperor 1452–1493) neglected
the old core lands of the empire and mostly resided in their own
lands. Without the presence of the king, the old institution of the
Hoftag, the assembly of the realm’s leading men, deteriorated. The
Imperial Diet as a legislative organ of the empire did not exist at that
time. The dukes often conducted feuds against each other—feuds
that, more often than not, escalated into local wars. The medieval
idea of unifying all Christendom into a single political entity, with
the church and the empire as its leading institutions, began to
decline.

Imperial Diet

The Imperial Diet (Reichstag) was the legislative body of the Holy
Roman Empire and theoretically superior to the emperor himself.
It was divided into three classes. The first class, the Council of
Electors, consisted of the electors, or the princes who could vote

Administration of the Empire | 865

for King of the Romans. The second class, the Council of Princes,
consisted of the other princes, and was divided into two “benches,”
one for secular rulers and one for ecclesiastical ones. Higher-
ranking princes had individual votes, while lower-ranking princes
were grouped into “colleges” by geography. Each college had one
vote. The precise role and function of the Imperial Diet changed
over the centuries, as did the empire itself, in that the estates and
separate territories gained more and more control of their own
affairs at the expense of imperial power.

King of the Romans

Another check on the emperor’s power was the fact that he was
elected. A prospective emperor first had to be elected King of the
Romans by the prince-electors, the highest office of the Imperial
Diet. German kings had been elected since the 9th century; at that
point they were chosen by the leaders of the five most important
tribes (the Salian Franks of Lorraine, Ripuarian Franks of Franconia,
Saxons, Bavarians, and Swabians). In the Holy Roman Empire, the
main dukes and bishops of the kingdom elected the King of the
Romans. In 1356, Emperor Charles IV issued the Golden Bull, which
limited the electors to seven: the King of Bohemia, the Count
Palatine of the Rhine, the Duke of Saxony, the Margrave of
Brandenburg, and the archbishops of Cologne, Mainz, and Trier.
During the Thirty Years’ War, the Duke of Bavaria and the Duke
of Brunswick-Lüneburg were given the right to vote as the eighth
and ninth electors, respectively. Additionally, the Napoleonic Wars
resulted in several electorates being reallocated, but these new
electors never voted before the empire’s dissolution. A candidate for
election would be expected to offer concessions of land or money
to the electors in order to secure their vote.
After being elected, the King of the Romans could theoretically
claim the title of “Emperor” only after being crowned by the pope.

866 | Administration of the Empire

In many cases, this took several years while the king was held up by
other tasks; frequently he first had to resolve conflicts in rebellious
northern Italy, or was quarreling with the pope himself.

Pen-and-ink miniature of the seven prince-electors. The prince-electors, the

highest-ranking noblemen of the empire, usually elected one of their peers as
“King of the Romans,” and he would later be crowned emperor by the pope.

Imperial Estates

The number of territories in the empire was considerable, rising to

about 300 at the time of the Peace of Westphalia. Many of these
Kleinstaaten (“little states”) covered no more than a few square
miles, and/or included several non-contiguous pieces, so the
empire was often called a Flickenteppich (“patchwork carpet”).
An entity was considered a Reichsstand (imperial estate) if,
according to feudal law, it had no authority above it except the Holy
Roman Emperor himself. The imperial estates comprised:

Administration of the Empire | 867

 • Territories ruled by a hereditary nobleman, such as a prince,
archduke, duke, or count.
• Territories in which secular authority was held by a clerical
dignitary, such as an archbishop, bishop, or abbot. Such a
cleric was a prince of the church. In the common case of a
prince-bishop, this temporal territory (called a prince-
bishopric) frequently overlapped with his often-larger
ecclesiastical diocese, giving the bishop both civil and clerical
powers. Examples are the prince-archbishoprics of Cologne,
Trier, and Mainz.
• Free imperial cities, which were subject only to the jurisdiction
of the emperor.

Sources

868 | Administration of the Empire

117. The Investiture
Controversy

Learning Objective

• Analyze the events of the Investiture Controversy

Key Points

• When the Holy Roman Empire developed as a force

during the 10th century, it was the first real non-
barbarian challenge to the authority of the church.
• A dispute between the secular and ecclesiastical
powers known as the Investiture Controversy
emerged beginning in the mid-11th century.
• The Investiture Controversy was resolved with the
Concordat of Worms in 1122, which gave the church
power over investiture, along with other reforms.
• By undercutting the imperial power established by
previous emperors, the controversy led to nearly fifty
years of civil war in Germany, and the triumph of the
great dukes and abbots.
• The papacy grew stronger in its power and
authority from the controversy.

The Investiture Controversy | 869

 Terms

simony

The sale of church offices to a successor.

investiture

The authority to appoint local church officials such as

bishops of cities and abbots of monasteries.

Concordat of Worms

An agreement between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman

Emperor Henry V on September 23, 1122, that found a
resolution to the Investiture Controversy.

Overview

The Investiture Controversy was the most significant conflict

between church and state in medieval Europe, specifically the Holy
Roman Empire.
In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of popes challenged the
authority of European monarchies. At issue was who, the pope or
monarchs, had the authority to appoint (invest) local church

870 | The Investiture Controversy

officials such as bishops of cities and abbots of monasteries. The
conflict ended in 1122, when Emperor Henry V and Pope Calixtus II
agreed on the Concordat of Worms. It differentiated between the
royal and spiritual powers and gave the emperors a limited role in
selecting bishops. The outcome seemed mostly a victory for the
pope and his claim that he was God’s chief representative in the
world. However, the emperor did retain considerable power over
the church.
The Investiture Controversy began as a power struggle between
Pope Gregory VII (1072–1085) and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V
(1056–1106). A brief but significant struggle over investiture also
occurred between Henry I of England and Pope Paschal II in the
years 1103–1107, and the issue also played a minor role in the
struggles between church and state in France.
By undercutting the imperial power established by previous
emperors, the controversy led to nearly fifty years of civil war in
Germany, and the triumph of the great dukes and abbots. Imperial
power was finally re-established under the Hohenstaufen dynasty.
Historian Norman Cantor writes of its significance:

The age of the investiture controversy may rightly be

regarded as the turning-point in medieval civilization. It was
the fulfillment of the early Middle Ages because in it the
acceptance of the Christian religion by the Germanic
peoples reached its final and decisive stage…The greater
part of the religious and political system of the high Middle
Ages emerged out of the events and ideas of the investiture
controversy.

The Investiture Controversy | 871

Investiture. A woodcut by Philip Van Ness (1905), A medieval king investing a
bishop with the symbols of office.

Origins

After the decline of the Roman Empire and prior to the Investiture
Controversy, investiture, while theoretically a task of the church,
was in practice performed by members of the religious nobility.
Many bishops and abbots were themselves part of the ruling

872 | The Investiture Controversy

nobility. Since an eldest son would inherit the title of the father,
siblings often found careers in the church. This was particularly
true where the family may have established a proprietary church
or abbey on their estate. Since Otto I (936-972) the bishops had
been princes of the empire, had secured many privileges, and had
become to a great extent feudal lords over great districts of the
imperial territory. The control of these great units of economic and
military power was for the king a question of primary importance,
as it affected the imperial authority. It was essential for a ruler
or nobleman to appoint (or sell the office to) someone who would
remain loyal.
Since a substantial amount of wealth and land was usually
associated with the office of a bishop or abbot, the sale of church
offices (a practice known as simony) was an important source of
income for leaders among the nobility, who themselves owned the
land and by charity allowed the building of churches.
The crisis began when a group within the church, members of
the Gregorian Reform, decided to rebel against the rule of simony
by forcefully taking the power of investiture from the ruling secular
power, i.e., the Holy Roman Emperor, and placing that power wholly
within control of the church. The Gregorian reformers knew this
would not be possible so long as the emperor maintained the ability
to appoint the pope, so their first step was to forcibly gain the
papacy from the control of the emperor. An opportunity came in
1056 when six-year-old Henry IV became the German king; the
reformers took advantage of his young age and inability to react
by seizing the papacy by force. In 1059 a church council in Rome
declared, with In Nomine Domini, that leaders of the nobility would
have no part in the selection of popes, and created the College of
Cardinals as a body of electors made up entirely of church officials.
Once Rome regained control of the election of the pope, it was
ready to attack the practice of investiture and simony on a broad
front.
In 1075, Pope Gregory VII composed the Dictatus Papae. One
clause asserted that the deposal of an emperor was under the sole

The Investiture Controversy | 873

power of the pope. It declared that the Roman church was founded
by God alone—that the papal power was the sole universal power.
By this time, Henry IV was no longer a child, and he continued to
appoint his own bishops. He reacted to this declaration by sending
Gregory VII a letter in which he withdrew his imperial support of
Gregory as pope in no uncertain terms.
The situation was made even more dire when Henry IV installed
his chaplain, Tedald, a Milanese priest, as Bishop of Milan when
another priest of Milan, Atto, had already been chosen by the pope
for candidacy. In 1076 the pope responded by excommunicating
Henry and deposing him as German king, releasing all Christians
from their oath of allegiance to him.
Enforcing these declarations was a different matter, but the
advantage gradually came to the side of the pope. German princes
and the aristocracy were happy to hear of the king’s deposition.
They used religious reasons to continue the rebellion started at
the First Battle of Langensalza in 1075, and to seize royal holdings.
Aristocrats claimed local lordships over peasants and property, built
forts, which had previously been outlawed, and built up localized
fiefdoms to secure their autonomy from the empire.
The Investiture Controversy continued for several decades as
each succeeding pope tried to diminish imperial power by stirring
up revolt in Germany. These revolts were gradually successful.
Henry IV was succeeded upon his death in 1106 by his son Henry V,
who had rebelled against his father in favor of the papacy, and who
had made his father renounce the legality of his antipopes before
he died. Nevertheless, Henry V chose one more antipope, Gregory
VIII. Later, he renounced some of the rights of investiture with the
Concordat of Worms, abandoned Gregory, and was received back
into communion and recognized as legitimate emperor as a result.

874 | The Investiture Controversy

Henry IV. This illustration shows Henry IV requesting mediation from Matilda
of Tuscany and abbot Hugh of Cluny.

The Concordat of Worms and Its

Significance

After fifty years of fighting, the Concordat of Worms provided a

lasting compromise when it was signed on September 23, 1122. It

The Investiture Controversy | 875

eliminated lay investiture while leaving secular leaders some room
for unofficial but significant influence in the appointment process.
The emperor renounced the right to invest ecclesiastics with ring
and crosier, the symbols of their spiritual power, and guaranteed
election by the canons of cathedral or abbey and free consecration.
The Concordat of Worms brought an end to the first phase of the
power struggle between the papacy and the Holy Roman emperors,
and has been interpreted as containing within itself the germ of
nation-based sovereignty that would one day be confirmed in the
Treaty of Westphalia (1648). In part this was an unforeseen result
of strategic maneuvering between the church and the European
sovereigns over political control within their domains.
While the monarchy was embroiled in the dispute with the
church, it declined in power and broke apart. Localized rights of
lordship over peasants grew. This resulted in multiple effects:

1. Increased serfdom that reduced human rights for the majority;

2. Increased taxes and levies that royal coffers declined;
3. Localized rights of justice where courts did not have to answer
to royal authority.

In the long term, the decline of imperial power would divide

Germany until the 19th century. Similarly, in Italy, the Investiture
Controversy weakened the emperor’s authority and strengthened
local separatist forces. However, the papacy grew stronger from the
controversy. Assembling for public opinion engaged lay people in
religious affairs that increased lay piety, setting the stage for the
Crusades and the great religious vitality of the 12th century.
The conflict did not end with the Concordat of Worms. Future
disputes between popes and Holy Roman emperors continued until
northern Italy was lost to the empire entirely. The church would
crusade against the Holy Roman Empire under Frederick II.

Sources

876 | The Investiture Controversy

118. The Anglo-Saxons

Learning Objective

• Describe what Anglo-Saxon life was like before

1066

Key Points

• The Anglo-Saxons were comprised of people from

Germanic tribes who migrated to Great Britain from
continental Europe; they inhabited the island from
450-1066.
• In the 5th century, Britain fell from Roman rule and
established an independent culture and society.
• In the 6th century, Christianity was re-established
and Britain began to flourish as a center for learning
and cultural production.
• By the 7th century, smaller territories began
coalescing into kingdoms, with the kingdom of
Mercia one of the most dominant.
• The 9th century saw the rise of the Wessex
kingdom, especially with King Alfred the Great, who
fashioned himself “King of the Anglo-Saxons” and
oversaw an increasing unity of the English people and

The Anglo-Saxons | 877

 improved the kingdom’s legal system and military
structure and his people’s quality of life.
• During the course of the 10th century, the West
Saxon kings extended their power first over Mercia,
then over the southern Danelaw, and finally over
Northumbria, thereby imposing a semblance of
political unity.
• This society continued to develop and thrive until
the Norman Conquest in 1066.
• The Anglo-Saxon culture was centered around
three classes of men: the working man, the
churchman, and the warrior.

Terms

Hadrian’s Wall

A defensive fortification that ran from the banks of the

River Tyne near the North Sea to the Solway Firth on the
Irish Sea, and was the northern limit of the Roman Empire.

Norman Conquest

The 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by

878 | The Anglo-Saxons

 an army of Norman, Breton, and French soldiers led by
Duke William II of Normandy.

King Alfred the Great

King of Wessex from 871 to 899, known as a learned and

merciful man who encouraged education and improved his
kingdom’s legal system and military structure and his
people’s quality of life.

Overview

The Anglo-Saxons were a people who inhabited Great Britain from

the 5th century. They comprised people from Germanic tribes who
migrated to the island from continental Europe, their descendants,
and indigenous British groups who adopted some aspects of Anglo-
Saxon culture and language. The Anglo-Saxon period denotes the
period of British history between about 450 and 1066, after their
initial settlement and up until the Norman Conquest.
The Anglo-Saxon period includes the creation of an English
nation, with many of the aspects that survive today, including
regional government of shires and hundreds. During this period,
Christianity was re-established and there was a flowering of
literature and language. Charters and law were also instituted.
The history of the Anglo-Saxons is the history of a cultural
identity. It developed from divergent groups in association with
the people’s adoption of Christianity, and was integral to the
establishment of various kingdoms. Threatened by extended Danish

The Anglo-Saxons | 879

invasions and occupation of eastern England, this identity
persevered; it dominated until after the Norman Conquest.

Anglo-Saxon History

The early Anglo-Saxon period covers the period of medieval Britain

that starts from the end of Roman rule. By the year 400, southern
Britain—Britain below Hadrian’s Wall—was a peripheral part of the
Western Roman Empire, occasionally lost to rebellion or invasion,
but until then always eventually recovered. Around 410, Britain
slipped beyond direct imperial control into a phase which has
generally been termed “sub-Roman.”
In the second half of the 6th century, four structures contributed
to the development of Anglo-Saxon society: the position and
freedoms of the ceorl (peasants), the smaller tribal areas coalescing
into larger kingdoms, the elite developing from warriors to kings,
and Irish monasticism developing under Finnian.
In 565, Columba, a monk from Ireland who studied at the
monastic school of Moville under Saint Finnian, reached Iona as a
self-imposed exile. The influence of the monastery of Iona would
grow into what Peter Brown has described as an “unusually
extensive spiritual empire,” which “stretched from western Scotland
deep to the southwest into the heart of Ireland and, to the
southeast, it reached down throughout northern Britain, through
the influence of its sister monastery Lindisfarne.” Michael Drout
calls this period the “Golden Age,” when learning flourished with a
renaissance in classical knowledge.
By 660 the political map of Lowland Britain had developed, with
smaller territories coalescing into kingdoms; from this time larger
kingdoms started dominating the smaller kingdoms. The
establishment of kingdoms, with a particular king being recognized
as an overlord, developed out of an early loose structure. Simon
Keynes suggests that the 8th century–9th century was period of

880 | The Anglo-Saxons

economic and social flourishing that created stability both below
the Thames and above the Humber. However, between the Humber
and Thames, one political entity, the kingdom of Mercia, grew in
influence and power and attracted attention in the East.

England, 650. A political map of Britain c. 650 (the names are in modern
English); the black text denotes kingdoms ruled by Anglo-Saxons.

The 9th century saw the rise of Wessex, from the foundations laid by

The Anglo-Saxons | 881

King Egbert in the first quarter of the century to the achievements
of King Alfred the Great in its closing decades. Alfred successfully
defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest and
became the dominant ruler in England. He was the first king of
the West Saxons to style himself “King of the Anglo-Saxons.” Alfred
had a reputation as a learned and merciful man with a gracious
and level-headed nature who encouraged education and improved
his kingdom’s legal system and military structure and his people’s
quality of life.
During the course of the 10th century, the West Saxon kings
extended their power first over Mercia, then over the southern
Danelaw, and finally over Northumbria, thereby imposing a
semblance of political unity on peoples who nonetheless would
remain conscious of their respective customs and their separate
pasts. The prestige and pretensions of the monarchy increased, the
institutions of government strengthened, and kings and their agents
sought in various ways to establish social order. This was the society
that would see three invasions in the 11th century, the third of which
was led successfully by William of Normandy in 1066 and transferred
political rule to the Normans.

Anglo-Saxon Culture and Society

The visible Anglo-Saxon culture can be seen in the material culture

of buildings, dress styles, illuminated texts, and grave goods. Behind
the symbolic nature of these cultural emblems, there are strong
elements of tribal and lordship ties. The elite declared themselves
kings who developed burhs (fortifications or fortified settlements),
and identified their roles and peoples in Biblical terms. Above all,
as Helena Hamerow has observed, “local and extended kin groups
remained…the essential unit of production throughout the Anglo-
Saxon period.” The effects persist in the 21st century as, according
to a study published in March 2015, the genetic makeup of British

882 | The Anglo-Saxons

populations today shows divisions of the tribal political units of the
early Anglo-Saxon period.
The ties of loyalty to a lord were to his person, not to his station;
there was no real concept of patriotism or loyalty to a cause. This
explains why dynasties waxed and waned so quickly; a kingdom
was only as strong as its leader-king. There was no underlying
administration or bureaucracy to maintain any gains beyond the
lifetime of a leader.
The culture of the Anglo-Saxons was especially solidified and
cultivated by King Alfred. The major kingdoms had grown by
absorbing smaller principalities, and the means by which they did
it and the character their kingdoms acquired as a result represent
one of the major themes of the Middle Saxon period. A “good” king
was a generous king who won the support that would ensure his
supremacy over other kingdoms through his wealth. King Alfred’s
digressions in his translation of Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy
provided these observations about the resources that every king
needed:

In the case of the king, the resources and tools with which
to rule are that he have his land fully manned: he must have
praying men, fighting men and working men. You know also
that without these tools no king may make his ability known.
Another aspect of his resources is that he must have the
means of support for his tools, the three classes of men.
These, then, are their means of support: land to live on, gifts,
weapons, food, ale, clothing and whatever else is necessary
for each of the three classes of men.

The first group of King Alfred’s three-fold Anglo-Saxon society are

praying men—people who work at prayer. Although Christianity
dominates the religious history of the Anglo-Saxons, life in the 5th
and 6th centuries was dominated by “pagan” religious beliefs with
a Scando-Germanic heritage. Almost every poem from before the
Norman Conquest, no matter how Christian its theme, is steeped
in pagan symbolism, but the integration of pagan beliefs into the

The Anglo-Saxons | 883

new faith goes beyond the literary sources. Anglo-Saxon England
found ways to synthesize the religion of the church with the existing
“northern” customs and practices. Thus the conversion of the
Anglo-Saxons was not just their switching from one practice to
another, but making something fresh out of their old inheritance
and their new beliefs and learning. Monasticism, and not just the
church, was at the center of Anglo-Saxon Christian life. The role
of churchmen was analogous with that of the warriors waging
heavenly warfare.
The second element of Alfred’s society is fighting men. The
subject of war and the Anglo-Saxons is a curiously neglected one;
however, it is an important element of their society.
The third aspect of Alfred’s society is working men. Helena
Hamerow suggested that the prevailing model of working life and
settlement, particularly for the early period, was one of shifting
settlement and building tribal kinship. The mid-Saxon period saw
diversification, the development of enclosures, the beginning of the
toft system, closer management of livestock, the gradual spread of
the mould-board plough, “informally regular plots,” and a greater
permanence, with further settlement consolidation thereafter
foreshadowing post-Conquest villages. The later periods saw a
proliferation of “service features,” including barns, mills, and
latrines, most markedly on high-status sites. Throughout the Anglo-
Saxon period, Helena Hamerow suggested: “local and extended kin
groups remained…the essential unit of production.”

884 | The Anglo-Saxons

West Stow Anglo-Saxon village. Panorama of the reconstructed 7th-century
village, characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon peasant villages.

Sources

The Anglo-Saxons | 885

119. The Norman Invasion of
1066 CE

Learning Objective

• Evaluate the extent to which Harold’s loss at the

Battle of Hastings was due to the fact that he was ill-
prepared for battle and whether it might have been
possible to mitigate the circumstances that led to
that fact

Key Points

• Harold was crowned king after the death of Edward

the Confessor in January 1066. Shortly after he was
crowned king, Harold faced invasions by his brother
Tostig, the Norwegian King Harald III of Norway, and
Duke William II of Normandy.
• Harold defeated Tostig and Harald III at the battle
of Stamford Bridge on September 25, 1066.
• Harold’s army marched south to confront William
at the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066. Harold
was defeated by the strength of William’s attack and
because his army was still recovering from Stamford.

886 | The Norman Invasion of 1066

CE
 Terms

Normans

The Normans, a people descended from Norse Vikings

who settled in the territory of Normandy in France after
being given land by the French king, conquered other lands
and protected the French coast from foreign attacks.

Battle of Hastings

The decisive battle in the Norman Conquest of England

fought on October 14, 1066, between the Norman-Fench
army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army
under Anglo-Saxon King Harold II.

Background

The Norman conquest of England was the 11th-century invasion and

occupation of England by an army of Norman, Breton, and French
soldiers led by Duke William II of Normandy, later styled William the
Conqueror.
William’s claim to the English throne derived from his familial
relationship with the childless Anglo-Saxon King Edward the
Confessor, who may have encouraged William’s hopes for the
throne. Edward died in January 1066 and was succeeded by his

The Norman Invasion of 1066 CE | 887

brother-in-law Harold Godwinson. Harold faced invasions by
William, his own brother Tostig, and the Norwegian King Harald
Hardrada (Harold III of Norway).

Preparations and Early Battles

The English army was organized along regional lines, with the fyrd,
or local levy, serving under a local magnate—an earl, bishop, or
sheriff. The fyrd was composed of men who owned their own land
and were equipped by their community to fulfill the king’s demands
for military forces. As a whole, England could furnish about 14,000
men for the fyrd when it was called out. The fyrd usually served
for two months, except in emergencies. It was rare for the whole
national fyrd to be called out; between 1046 and 1065 it was done
only three times—in 1051, 1052, and 1065. The king also had a group
of personal armsmen known as housecarls, who formed the
backbone of the royal forces. The composition, structure, and size
of Harold’s army contributed to his defeat against William.
Harold had spent mid-1066 on the south coast with a large army
and fleet, waiting for William to invade. The bulk of his forces were
militia who needed to harvest their crops, so on September 8 Harold
dismissed the militia and the fleet. Learning of the Norwegian
invasion, he rushed north, gathering forces as he went, and took the
Norwegians by surprise, defeating them at the Battle of Stamford
Bridge on September 25. Harald of Norway and Tostig were killed,
and the Norwegians suffered such great losses that only 24 of the
original 300 ships were required to carry away the survivors. The
English victory came at great cost, as Harold’s army was left in a
battered and weakened state.
Meanwhile, William had assembled a large invasion fleet and
gathered an army from Normandy and the rest of France, including
large contingents from Brittany and Flanders. William spent almost
nine months on his preparations, as he had to construct a fleet from

888 | The Norman Invasion of 1066 CE

nothing. The Normans crossed to England a few days after Harold’s
victory over the Norwegians, following the dispersal of Harold’s
naval force, and landed at Pevensey in Sussex on September 28. A
few ships were blown off course and landed at Romney, where the
Normans fought the local fyrd. After landing, William’s forces built a
wooden castle at Hastings, from which they raided the surrounding
area. More fortifications were erected at Pevensey.

Battle of Hastings

The deaths of Tostig and Hardrada at Stamford left William as

Harold’s only serious opponent. While Harold and his forces were
recovering from Stamford, William landed his invasion forces at
Pevensey and established a beachhead for his conquest of the
kingdom. Harold was forced to march south swiftly, gathering forces
as he went.
Harold’s army confronted William’s invaders on October 14 at the
Battle of Hastings. The battle began at about 9 a.m. and lasted
all day, but while a broad outline is known, the exact events are
obscured by contradictory accounts in the sources. Although the
numbers on each side were probably about equal, William had both
cavalry and infantry, including many archers, while Harold had only
foot soldiers and few archers. In the morning, the English soldiers
formed up as a shield wall along the ridge, and were at first so
effective that William’s army was thrown back with heavy casualties.
Some of William’s Breton troops panicked and fled, and some of the
English troops appear to have pursued them. Norman cavalry then
attacked and killed the pursuing troops. While the Bretons were
fleeing, rumors swept the Norman forces that the duke had been
killed, but William rallied his troops. Twice more the Normans made
feigned withdrawals, tempting the English into pursuit, and allowing
the Norman cavalry to attack them repeatedly.
The available sources are more confused about events in the

The Norman Invasion of 1066 CE | 889

afternoon, but it appears that the decisive event was the death of
Harold, about which differing stories are told. William of Jumieges
claimed that Harold was killed by William. It has also been claimed
that the Bayeux Tapestry shows Harold’s death by an arrow to the
eye, but this may be a later reworking of the tapestry to conform
to 12th-century stories. Other sources stated that no one knew how
Harold died because the press of battle was so tight around the king
that the soldiers could not see who struck the fatal blow.

The Bayeux Tapestry: The controversial panel depicting Harold II’s death. The
tapestry depicts the loss of the Anglo-Saxon troops to the Norman forces.
Here, a figure some think to be Harold Godwinson is shown falling at the
Battle of Hastings. Harold is shown with an arrow to the eye.

Sources

890 | The Norman Invasion of 1066 CE

120. William the Conqueror's
Rule

Learning Objective

• Analyze the reasons behind the creation of the

Domesday Book and why it is such an important
historical document

Key Points

• After he launched the Norman conquest of England

in 1066, William was crowned king and set about
consolidating his power and authority.
• Several unsuccessful rebellions followed, but by
1075 William’s hold on England was mostly secure,
allowing him to spend the majority of the rest of his
reign on the continent.
• After the political upheaval of the Norman
conquest, and the confiscation of lands that followed,
William’s interest was to determine property holdings
across the land and understand the financial
resources of his kingdom, which was carried out in
the Domesday Book.

William the Conqueror's Rule | 891

 • The aim of the Domesday Book was to determine
what each landholder had in worth (land, livestock
etc. ) to determine what taxes had been owed under
Edward the Confessor.
• The Domesday Book is considered the oldest public
record in England; no survey approaching the scope
and extent of the Domesday Book was attempted
again until 1873.

Terms

William the Conqueror

The first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066

until his death in 1087.

Edward the Confessor

One of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and usually

regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling
from 1042 to 1066.

892 | William the Conqueror's Rule

William the Conqueror’s Rule

Although William’s main rivals were gone after the Battle of

Hastings, he still faced rebellions over the following years and was
not secure on his throne until after 1072. After further military
efforts, William was crowned king on Christmas Day 1066 in London.
He made arrangements for the governance of England in early 1067
before returning to Normandy. Several unsuccessful rebellions
followed, but by 1075 William’s hold on England was mostly secure,
allowing him to spend the majority of the rest of his reign on the
continent. The lands of the resisting English elite were confiscated;
some of the elite fled into exile.
To control his new kingdom, William gave lands to his followers
and built castles commanding military strongpoints throughout the
land. Other effects of the conquest included the introduction of
Norman French as the language of the elites and changes in the
composition of the upper classes, as William reclaimed territory
to be held directly by the king and settled new Norman nobility
on the land. More gradual changes affected the agricultural classes
and village life; the main change appears to have been the formal
elimination of slavery, which may or may not have been linked to the
invasion. There was little alteration in the structure of government,
as the new Norman administrators took over many of the forms of
Anglo-Saxon government.
William did not try to integrate his various domains into one
empire, but instead continued to administer each part separately.
William took over an English government that was more complex
than the Norman system. England was divided into shires or
counties, which were further divided into either hundreds or
wapentakes. To oversee his expanded domain, William was forced
to travel even more than he had as duke. He crossed back and forth
between the continent and England at least nineteen times between
1067 and his death.
William’s lands were divided after his death; Normandy went to

William the Conqueror's Rule | 893

his eldest son, Robert, and England to his second surviving son,
William.

Domesday Book

The Domesday Book is a manuscript record of the great survey,

completed in 1086 on orders of William the Conqueror, of much
of England and parts of Wales. The aim of the great survey was
to determine what or how much each landholder had in land and
livestock, and how much it was worth. The survey’s ultimate
purpose was to determine what taxes had been owed under Edward
the Confessor.
The assessors’ reckoning of a man’s holdings and their value, as
given in the book, was dispositive and without appeal, and thus the
name Domesday Book came into use in the 12th century.

894 | William the Conqueror's Rule

Kent, page 1 of the Domesday Book. Domesday Book images from the Open
Domesday Book project, which created the first free online copy of the
Domesday Book. Image credit: Professor J.J.N. Palmer and George Slater.

William the Conqueror's Rule | 895

Purpose of the Domesday Book

After a great political convulsion like the Norman Conquest, and

the wholesale confiscation of landed estates that followed, it was
in William’s interest to make sure that the rights of the crown,
which he claimed to have inherited, had not suffered in the process.
In particular, his Norman followers were more likely to evade the
liabilities of their English predecessors, and there was growing
discontent at the Norman land-grab that had occurred in the years
following the invasion. William required certainty and definitive
reference points as to property holdings across the nation so that
they might be used as evidence in disputes and purported authority
for crown ownership.
The Domesday survey therefore recorded the names of the new
landholders and the assessments on which their taxes were to be
paid. But it did more than this; by the king’s instructions, it
endeavored to make a national valuation list, estimating the annual
value of all the land in the country at three points in time:

1. At the time of Edward the Confessor’s death;

2. When the new owners received it;
3. At the time of the survey.

Further, it reckoned, by command, the potential value as well.It

is evident that William desired to know the financial resources of
his kingdom, and it is probable that he wished to compare them
with the existing assessment. The great bulk of the Domesday Book
is devoted to the somewhat arid details of the assessment and
valuation of rural estates, which were as yet the only important
sources of national wealth. After stating the assessment of a manor,
the record sets forth the amount of arable land, and the number of
plough teams (each reckoned at eight oxen) available for working it,
with the additional number (if any) that might be employed; then
the river-meadows, woodland, pasture, fisheries (i.e. fishing weirs),
water-mills, salt-pans (if by the sea), and other subsidiary sources of

896 | William the Conqueror's Rule

revenue; then the number of peasants in their several classes; and
finally a rough estimate of the annual value of the whole, past and
present.

Importance

The importance of the Domesday Book for understanding the

period in which it was written is difficult to overstate. It is
considered the oldest public record in England and is probably the
most remarkable statistical document in the history of Europe.
No survey approaching the scope and extent of the Domesday
Book was attempted until the 1873 Return of Owners of Land
(sometimes termed the Modern Domesday), which presented the
first complete, post-Domesday picture of the distribution of landed
property in the British Isles.

Sources

William the Conqueror's Rule | 897

121. The Magna Carta

Learning Objective

• Explain why the Magna Carta was created and why

it is considered a failure of democracy

Key Points

• The Magna Carta was signed by King John in June

1215 and was the first document to impose legal limits
on the king’s personal powers.
• Clause 61 stated that a committee of twenty five
barons could meet and overrule the will of the king—a
serious challenge to John’s authority as ruling
monarch.
• The charter was renounced as soon as the barons
left London; the pope annulled the document, saying
it impaired the church’s authority over the “papal
territories” of England and Ireland.
• England moved to civil war, with the barons trying
to replace the monarch they disliked with an
alternative. They offered the crown to Prince Louis of
France, who was declared king in London in May 1216.
• The Magna Carta survived to become a “sacred

898 | The Magna Carta

 text,” but in practice did not limit the power of kings
in the medieval period. Instead, it paved the way for
later constitutional documents, including the
Constitution of the United States.

Terms

clause 61

Section of the Magna Carta that stated a committee of

twenty-five barons could at any time meet and overrule the
will of the king if he defied the provisions of the charter,
and could seize his castles and possessions if it was
considered necessary.

English Civil War

A series of armed conflicts and political machinations in

the period 1642-1651 between Parliamentarians
(Roundheads) and Royalists (Cavaliers) in the Kingdom of
England, principally over the manner of its government.

The Magna Carta | 899

Norman Kings after the Conquest

At the death of William the Conqueror in 1087, his lands were divided
into two parts. His Norman lands went to his eldest son, Robert
Curthose and his English lands to his second son, William Rufus.
This presented a dilemma for those nobles who held land on both
sides of the English Channel, who decided to unite England and
Normandy once more under one ruler. The pursuit of this aim led
them to revolt against William in favor of Robert in the Rebellion of
1088. As Robert failed to appear in England to rally his supporters,
William won the support of the English lords with silver and
promises of better government, and defeated the rebellion. William
died while hunting in 1100.
Despite Robert’s rival claims to William’s land, his younger brother
Henry immediately seized power in England. Robert, who invaded
in 1101, disputed Henry’s control of England. This military campaign
ended in a negotiated settlement that confirmed Henry as king. The
peace was short lived, and Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy
in 1105 and 1106, finally defeating Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray.
Henry I of England named his daughter Matilda his heir, but when
he died in 1135 Matilda was far from England in Anjou or Maine,
while her cousin Stephen was closer in Boulogne, giving him the
advantage he needed to race to England and have himself crowned
and anointed king of England. After Stephen’s death in 1154, Henry II
succeeded as the first Angevin king of England, so-called because he
was also the Count of Anjou in northern France. He therefore added
England to his extensive holdings in Normandy and Aquitaine.
England became a key part of a loose-knit assemblage of lands
spread across Western Europe, later termed the Angevin Empire.
Henry was succeeded by his third son, Richard, whose reputation
for martial prowess won him the epithet “Lionheart.” When Richard
died, his brother John—Henry’s fifth and only surviving son—took
the throne

900 | The Magna Carta

Magna Carta

Over the course of King John’s reign (1199-1216), a combination of

higher taxes, unsuccessful wars, and conflict with the pope had
made him unpopular with his barons. In 1215 some of the most
important barons engaged in open rebellion against their king. King
John met with the leaders of the barons, along with their French and
Scot allies, to seal the Great Charter (Magna Carta in Latin), which
imposed legal limits on the king’s personal powers. It was sealed
under oath by King John at Runnymede, on the bank of the River
Thames near Windsor, England, on June 15, 1215. It promised the
protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal
imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal
payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of
twenty-five barons.

Magna Carta. One of four known surviving original copies of the Magna
Carta of 1215, written in iron gall ink on parchment in medieval Latin,
authenticated with the Great Seal of King John. This document is held at the
British Library.

The Magna Carta | 901

Background

Although the kingdom had a robust administrative system, the

nature of government under the Angevin monarchs was ill-defined
and uncertain. John and his predecessors had ruled using the
principle of vis et voluntas, or “force and will,” making executive and
sometimes arbitrary decisions, often justified on the basis that a
king was above the law. Many contemporary writers believed that
monarchs should rule in accordance with the custom and the law,
with the counsel of the leading members of the realm, but there was
no model for what should happen if a king refused to do so.
John had lost most of his ancestral lands in France to King Philip
II in 1204 and had struggled to regain them for many years, raising
extensive taxes on the barons to accumulate money to fight a war
that ultimately ended in expensive failure in 1214. Following the
defeat of his allies at the Battle of Bouvines, John had to sue for
peace and pay compensation. John was already personally
unpopular with a number of the barons, many of whom owed money
to the Crown, and little trust existed between the two sides. A
triumph would have strengthened his position, but within a few
months after his unsuccessful return from France, John found that
rebel barons in the north and east of England were organizing
resistance to his rule.
John met the rebel leaders at Runnymede, a water-meadow on
the south bank of the River Thames, on June 10, 1215. Here the rebels
presented John with their draft demands for reform, the “Articles of
the Barons.” Stephen Langton’s pragmatic efforts at mediation over
the next ten days turned these incomplete demands into a charter
capturing the proposed peace agreement; a few years later, this
agreement was renamed Magna Carta, meaning “Great Charter.”

902 | The Magna Carta

Clause 61

The 1215 document contained a large section that is now called

clause 61 (the clauses were not originally numbered). This section
established a committee of twenty-five barons who could at any
time meet and overrule the will of the king if he defied the
provisions of the charter, and could seize his castles and
possessions if it was considered necessary. It contained a
commitment from John that he would “seek to obtain nothing from
anyone, in our own person or through someone else, whereby any
of these grants or liberties may be revoked or diminished.”
Clause 61 was a serious challenge to John’s authority as a ruling
monarch. He renounced it as soon as the barons left London; Pope
Innocent III also annulled the “shameful and demeaning agreement,
forced upon the King by violence and fear.” The pope rejected any
call for restraints on the king, saying it impaired John’s dignity. He
saw the charter as an affront to the church’s authority over the king
and the “papal territories” of England and Ireland, and he released
John from his oath to obey it. The rebels knew that King John could
never be restrained by Magna Carta, and so they sought a new King.

The Magna Carta | 903

 A YouTube element has been excluded from this
version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://library.achievingthedream.org/
herkimerwesterncivilization/?p=144

The Magna Carta – Failed Diplomacy That Changed

the World. A National History Day group documentary.
The theme that year (2011) was Debate and Diplomacy in
History: Successes, Failures, and Consequences. As a
result, you will notice a great emphasis on these ideas
throughout the course of the video.

The First Barons’ War

With the failure of the Magna Carta to achieve peace or restrain

904 | The Magna Carta

John, the barons reverted to the more traditional type of rebellion
by trying to replace the monarch they disliked with an alternative.
In a measure of some desperation, despite the tenuousness of his
claim and despite the fact that he was French, they offered the
crown of England to Prince Louis of France, who was proclaimed
king in London in May 1216. John travelled around the country to
oppose the rebel forces, directing, among other operations, a two-
month siege of the rebel-held Rochester Castle. He died of
dysentery contracted whilst on campaign in eastern England during
late 1216; supporters of his son Henry III went on to achieve victory
over Louis and the rebel barons the following year.

John of England vs Louis VIII of France. Created in the 14th Century; the
image King John of England in battle with the Francs (left), Prince Louis VIII
of France on the march (right).

Legacy

As a means of preventing war, the Magna Carta was a failure,

rejected by most of the barons, and was legally valid for no more
than three months. In practice, the Magna Carta did not generally
limit the power of kings in the medieval period, but by the time
of the English Civil War it had become an important symbol for
those who wished to show that the king was bound by the law. The

The Magna Carta | 905

charter is widely known throughout the English-speaking world
as having influenced common and constitutional law, as well as
political representation and the development of parliament. The
text’s association with ideals of democracy, limitation of power,
equality, and freedom under law led to the rule of constitutional
law in England and beyond. It influenced the early settlers in New
England and inspired later constitutional documents, including the
Constitution of the United States.

906 | The Magna Carta

John of England signs the Magna Carta. John of England signs the Magna
Carta. Image from Cassell’s History of England, Century Edition, published c.
1902. This image depicts the stress under the king and all those in England
struggling for power.

Sources

The Magna Carta | 907

122. The Hundred Years' War

Learning Objective

• Discuss the three phases of conflict in the Hundred

Years’ War and Joan of Arc’s role in it

Key Points

• The root causes of the conflict can be found in the

demographic, economic, and social crises of 14th-
century Europe. The outbreak of war was motivated
by a gradual rise in tension between the kings of
France and England about Guyenne, Flanders, and
Scotland. The Hundred Years’ War is commonly
divided into three phases separated by truces: the
Edwardian Era War (1337–1360); the Caroline War
(1369–1389); and the Lancastrian War (1415–1453).
• The Edwardian War was driven by Edward III’s
ambition to maintain sovereignty in Aquitaine and
assert his claim as the rightful king of France by
unseating his rival, Philip VI of France.
• The Caroline War was named after Charles V of
France, who resumed the war after the Treaty of
Brétigny.

908 | The Hundred Years' War

 • The Lancastrian War was the third phase of the
Anglo-French Hundred Years’ War. It lasted from 1415,
when Henry V of England invaded Normandy, to 1453,
when the English failed to recover Bordeaux.
• Joan of Arc was a French peasant woman who had
visions commanding her to drive out the invaders.
She inspired the French troops, and they retook many
French cities held by the English. Joan was burned at
the stake and, 25 years after her death, declared a
martyr.

Terms

the Black Death

One of the most devastating pandemics in human history,

resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million
people and peaking in Europe in the years 1348–1350.

Treaty of Brétigny

A treaty signed on May 25, 1360, between King Edward III

of England and King John II (the Good) of France. It is seen
as having marked the end of the first phase of the Hundred
Years’ War.

The Hundred Years' War | 909

 the Black Prince

A name used to refer to Edward of Woodstock, used

chiefly since the 16th century, and not during Edward’s
lifetime. The name is thought to stem from his black armor
or brutal attitude in battle.

duchy

A territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.

Joan of Arc

Considered a heroine of France for her role during the

Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years’ War; canonized as
a Roman Catholic saint.

Background

In the 13th century, after the Magna Carta failed to prevent the
Baron Wars, King John and his son King Henry III’s reigns were
characterized by numerous rebellions and civil wars, often
provoked by incompetence and mismanagement in government.
The reign of Henry III’s son Edward I (1272–1307), was rather more
successful. Edward enacted numerous laws strengthening the

910 | The Hundred Years' War

powers of his government, and he summoned the first officially
sanctioned Parliaments of England. He conquered Wales and
attempted to use a succession dispute to gain control of the
Kingdom of Scotland, though this developed into a costly and
drawn-out military campaign.
After the disastrous reign of Edward II, which saw military losses
and the Great Famine, Edward III reigned from 1327–1377, restoring
royal authority and transforming the Kingdom of England into the
most efficient military power in Europe. His reign saw vital
developments in legislature and government—in particular the
evolution of the English parliament—as well as the ravages of the
Black Death. After defeating, but not subjugating, the Kingdom of
Scotland, he declared himself rightful heir to the French throne in
1338, but his claim was denied. This started what would become
known as the Hundred Years’ War.

The Hundred Years’ War

The Hundred Years’ War is the term used to describe a series of

conflicts from 1337 to 1453, between the rulers of the Kingdom of
England and the House of Valois for control of the French throne.
These 116 years saw a great deal of battle on the continent, most
of it over disputes as to which family line should rightfully be upon
the throne of France. By the end of the Hundred Years’ War, the
population of France was about half what it had been before the era
began.
The root causes of the conflict can be found in the demographic,
economic, and social crises of 14th-century Europe. The outbreak of
war was motivated by a gradual rise in tension between the kings
of France and England about Guyenne, Flanders, and Scotland. The
dynastic question, which arose due to an interruption of the direct
male line of the Capetians, was the official pretext.
The dispute over Guyenne is even more important than the

The Hundred Years' War | 911

dynastic question in explaining the outbreak of the war. Guyenne
posed a significant problem to the kings of France and England;
Edward III was a vassal of Philip VI of France and was required
to recognize the sovereignty of the king of France over Guyenne.
In practical terms, a judgment in Guyenne might be subject to an
appeal to the French royal court. The king of France had the power
to revoke all legal decisions made by the king of England in
Aquitaine, which was unacceptable to the English. Therefore,
sovereignty over Guyenne was a latent conflict between the two
monarchies for several generations.
The war owes its historical significance to multiple factors.
Although primarily a dynastic conflict, the war gave impetus to
ideas of French and English nationalism. By its end, feudal armies
had been largely replaced by professional troops, and aristocratic
dominance had yielded to a democratization of the manpower and
weapons of armies. The wider introduction of weapons and tactics
supplanted the feudal armies where heavy cavalry had dominated.
The war precipitated the creation of the first standing armies in
Western Europe since the time of the Western Roman Empire,
composed largely of commoners and thus helping to change their
role in warfare. With respect to the belligerents, English political
forces over time came to oppose the costly venture. The
dissatisfaction of English nobles, resulting from the loss of their
continental landholdings, became a factor leading to the civil wars
known as the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487). In France, civil wars,
deadly epidemics, famines, and bandit free-companies of
mercenaries reduced the population drastically. Deprived of its
continental possessions, England was left with the sense of being
an island nation, which profoundly affected its outlook and
development for more than 500 years.
Historians commonly divide the war into three phases separated
by truces: 1) the Edwardian Era War (1337–1360); 2) the Caroline War
(1369–1389); and 3) the Lancastrian War (1415–1453), which saw the
slow decline of English fortunes after the appearance of Joan of Arc
in 1429.

912 | The Hundred Years' War

The Edwardian Era War

The Edwardian War was the first series of hostilities of the Hundred
Years’ War. It was a series of punctuated, separate conflicts waged
between the kingdoms of England and France and their various
allies for control of the French throne. The Edwardian War was
driven by Edward III’s ambition to maintain sovereignty in Aquitaine
and assert his claim as the rightful king of France by unseating his
rival, Philip VI of France.
Edward had inherited the duchy of Aquitaine, and as duke of
Aquitaine he was a vassal to Philip VI of France. He refused, however,
to acknowledge his fealty to Philip, who responded by confiscating
the duchy of Aquitaine in 1337; this precipitated war, and soon,
in 1340, Edward declared himself king of France. Edward III and
his son the Black Prince led their armies on a largely successful
campaign across France. Hostilities were paused in the mid-1350s
for the deprivations of the Black Death. Then war continued, and
the English were victorious at the Battle of Poitiers (1356), where the
French king, John II, was captured and held for ransom. The Truce
of Bordeaux was signed in 1357 and was followed by two treaties in
London in 1358 and 1359.
After the treaties of London failed, Edward launched the Rheims
campaign. Though largely unsuccessful, this campaign led to the
Treaty of Brétigny (signed 1360), which settled certain lands in
France on Edward for renouncing his claim to the French throne.
This peace lasted nine years, until a second phase of hostilities
known as the Caroline War began.

The Caroline War

The Caroline War was named after Charles V of France, who

resumed the war after the Treaty of Brétigny. In May 1369, the Black

The Hundred Years' War | 913

Prince, son of Edward III of England, refused an illegal summons
from the French king demanding he come to Paris, and Charles
responded by declaring war. He immediately set out to reverse the
territorial losses imposed at Brétigny, but was largely successful. His
successor, Charles VI, made peace with Richard II, son of the Black
Prince, in 1389. This truce was extended many times until the war
was resumed in 1415.

The Lancastrian War

The Lancastrian War was the third phase of the Anglo-French

Hundred Years’ War. It lasted from 1415, when Henry V of England
invaded Normandy, to 1453, when the English failed to recover
Bordeaux. It followed a long period of peace from 1389, at end of the
Caroline War. This phase was named after the House of Lancaster,
the ruling house of the Kingdom of England, to which Henry V
belonged. After the invasion of 1419, Henry V and, after his death, his
brother John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford, brought the English to
the height of their power in France, with an English king crowned in
Paris.
However, by that time, with charismatic leaders such as Joan
of Arc, strong French counterattacks had started to win back all
English continental territories, except the Pale of Calais, which was
finally captured in 1558. Charles VII of France was crowned in
Notre-Dame de Reims in 1429. The Battle of Castillon (1453) was
the last battle of the Hundred Years’ War, but France and England
remained formally at war until the Treaty of Picquigny in 1475.
English, and later British, monarchs would continue to claim the
French throne until 1800.

914 | The Hundred Years' War

Attacks on England by the Franco-Castilian Navy, 1374-1380. The
Franco-Castilian Navy, led by Admirals de Vienne and Tovar, managed to raid
the English coasts for the first time since the beginning of the Hundred Years’
War.

Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc is considered a heroine of France for her role during the
Lancastrian phase of the Hundred Years’ War, and was canonized
as a Roman Catholic saint. Joan of Arc was born to Jacques d’Arc
and Isabelle Romée, a peasant family, at Domrémy, in northeast
France. Joan said she received visions of the Archangel Michael,
Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria instructing her
to support Charles VII and recover France from English domination
late in the Hundred Years’ War. The uncrowned King Charles VII
sent Joan to the siege of Orléans as part of a relief mission. She
gained prominence after the siege was lifted only nine days later.
Several additional swift victories led to Charles VII’s coronation at
Reims. This long-awaited event boosted French morale and paved
the way for the final French victory.

The Hundred Years' War | 915

 On May 23, 1430, Joan was captured at Compiègne by the English-
allied Burgundian faction. She was later handed over to the English
and then put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais Pierre
Cauchon on a variety of charges. She was convicted on May 30, 1431,
and burned at the stake when she was about nineteen years old.

916 | The Hundred Years' War

Joan of Arc. Painting, c. 1485. An artist’s interpretation, since the only known
direct portrait has not survived.

The Hundred Years' War | 917

Twenty-five years after her execution, an inquisitorial court
authorized by Pope Callixtus III examined the trial, pronounced her
innocent, and declared her a martyr. Joan of Arc was beatified in
1909 and canonized in 1920. She is one of the nine secondary patron
saints of France, along with St. Denis, St. Martin of Tours, St. Louis,
St. Michael, St. Remi, St. Petronilla, St. Radegund, and St. Thérèse of
Lisieux.

A YouTube element has been excluded from this

version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://library.achievingthedream.org/
herkimerwesterncivilization/?p=145

Joan of Arc biography. Joan of Arc (1412–1431) was

born a peasant and became a heroine of France.

918 | The Hundred Years' War

Sources

The Hundred Years' War | 919

123. The Crusades

Learning Objective

• Describe the origins of the Crusades

Key Points

• The Crusades were a series of military conflicts

conducted by Christian knights to defend Christians
and the Christian empire against Muslim forces.
• The Holy Land was part of the Roman Empire until
the Islamic conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries.
Thereafter, Christians were permitted to visit parts of
the Holy Land until 1071, when Christian pilgrimages
were stopped by the Seljuq Turks.
• The Seljuq Turks had taken over much of
Byzantium after the Byzantine defeat at the Battle of
Manzikert in 1071.
• In 1095 at the Council of Piacenza, Byzantine
Emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military aid
from Urban II to fight the Turks.
• In July 1095, Urban turned to his homeland of
France to recruit men for the expedition. His travels
there culminated in the Council of Clermont in

920 | The Crusades

 November, where he gave speeches combining the
idea of pilgrimage to the Holy Land with that of
waging a holy war against infidels, which received an
enthusiastic response.

Terms

Seljuq Empire

A medieval Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire that

controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to
eastern Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf.
The Seljuq Turk attack on Byzantium helped spur the
crusades.

heretical

Relating to departure from established beliefs or

customs.

Byzantine Empire

The predominantly Greek-speaking continuation of the

The Crusades | 921

 eastern half of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and
the Middle Ages.

schism

A division or a split, usually between groups belonging to

a religious denomination.

The Crusades were a series of military conflicts conducted by

Christian knights for the defense of Christians and for the expansion
of Christian domains between the 11th and 15th centuries. Generally,
the Crusades refer to the campaigns in the Holy Land sponsored
by the papacy against Muslim forces. There were other crusades
against Islamic forces in southern Spain, southern Italy, and Sicily, as
well as campaigns of Teutonic knights against pagan strongholds in
Eastern Europe. A few crusades, such as the Fourth Crusade, were
waged within Christendom against groups that were considered
heretical and schismatic. Crusades were fought for many
reasons—to capture Jerusalem, recapture Christian territory, or
defend Christians in non-Christian lands; as a means of conflict
resolution among Roman Catholics; for political or territorial
advantage; and to combat paganism and heresy.

Origin of the Crusades

The origin of the Crusades in general, and particularly of the First

Crusade, is widely debated among historians. The confusion is
partially due to the numerous armies in the First Crusade, and
their lack of direct unity. The similar ideologies held the armies

922 | The Crusades

to similar goals, but the connections were rarely strong, and unity
broke down often. The Crusades are most commonly linked to the
political and social situation in 11th-century Europe, the rise of a
reform movement within the papacy, and the political and religious
confrontation of Christianity and Islam in Europe and the Middle
East. Christianity had spread throughout Europe, Africa, and the
Middle East in Late Antiquity, but by the early 8th century Christian
rule had become limited to Europe and Anatolia after the Muslim
conquests.

Background in Europe

The Holy Land had been part of the Roman Empire, and thus the
Byzantine Empire, until the Islamic conquests. In the 7th and 8th
centuries, Islam was introduced in the Arabian Peninsula by the
Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers. This formed a unified
Muslim polity, which led to a rapid expansion of Arab power, the
influence of which stretched from the northwest Indian
subcontinent, across Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa,
southern Italy, and the Iberian Peninsula, to the Pyrenees.
Tolerance, trade, and political relationships between the Arabs and
the Christian states of Europe waxed and waned. For example, the
Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah destroyed the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre, but his successor allowed the Byzantine Empire to
rebuild it. Pilgrimages by Catholics to sacred sites were permitted,
resident Christians were given certain legal rights and protections
under Dhimmi status, and interfaith marriages were not
uncommon. Cultures and creeds coexisted and competed, but the
frontier conditions became increasingly inhospitable to Catholic
pilgrims and merchants.
At the western edge of Europe and of Islamic expansion, the
Reconquista (recapture of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims)
was well underway by the 11th century, reaching its turning point

The Crusades | 923

in 1085 when Alfonso VI of León and Castile retook Toledo from
Muslim rule. Increasingly in the 11th century, foreign knights, mostly
from France, visited Iberia to assist the Christians in their efforts.
The heart of Western Europe had been stabilized after the
Christianization of the Saxon, Viking, and Hungarian peoples by the
end of the 10th century. However, the breakdown of the Carolingian
Empire gave rise to an entire class of warriors who now had little to
do but fight among themselves. The random violence of the knightly
class was regularly condemned by the church, and so it established
the Peace and Truce of God to prohibit fighting on certain days of
the year.
At the same time, the reform-minded papacy came into conflict
with the Holy Roman Emperors, resulting in the Investiture
Controversy. The papacy began to assert its independence from
secular rulers, marshaling arguments for the proper use of armed
force by Catholics. Popes such as Gregory VII justified the
subsequent warfare against the emperor’s partisans in theological
terms. It became acceptable for the pope to utilize knights in the
name of Christendom, not only against political enemies of the
papacy, but also against Al-Andalus, or, theoretically, against the
Seljuq dynasty in the east. The result was intense piety, an interest
in religious affairs, and religious propaganda advocating a just war
to reclaim Palestine from the Muslims. Participation in such a war
was seen as a form of penance that could counterbalance sin.

Aid to Byzantium

To the east of Europe lay the Byzantine Empire, composed of

Christians who had long followed a separate Orthodox rite; the
Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches had been in schism
since 1054. Historians have argued that the desire to impose Roman
church authority in the east may have been one of the goals of
the Crusades, although Urban II, who launched the First Crusade,

924 | The Crusades

never refers to such a goal in his letters on crusading. The Seljuq
Empire had taken over almost all of Anatolia after the Byzantine
defeat at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071; however, their conquests
were piecemeal and led by semi-independent warlords, rather than
by the sultan. A dramatic collapse of the empire’s position on the
eve of the Council of Clermont brought Byzantium to the brink
of disaster. By the mid-1090s, the Byzantine Empire was largely
confined to Balkan Europe and the northwestern fringe of Anatolia,
and faced Norman enemies in the west as well as Turks in the east.
In response to the defeat at Manzikert and subsequent Byzantine
losses in Anatolia in 1074, Pope Gregory VII had called for the milites
Christi (“soldiers of Christ”) to go to Byzantium’s aid.

Seljuq Empire. The Great Seljuq Empire at its greatest extent (1092).

While the Crusades had causes deeply rooted in the social and
political situations of 11th-century Europe, the event actually
triggering the First Crusade was a request for assistance from
Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Alexios was worried about
the advances of the Seljuqs, who had reached as far west as Nicaea,
not far from Constantinople. In March 1095, Alexios sent envoys to

The Crusades | 925

the Council of Piacenza to ask Pope Urban II for aid against the
Turks.
Urban responded favorably, perhaps hoping to heal the Great
Schism of forty years earlier, and to reunite the Church under papal
primacy by helping the eastern churches in their time of need.
Alexios and Urban had previously been in close contact in 1089 and
later, and had openly discussed the prospect of the (re)union of the
Christian church. There were signs of considerable co-operation
between Rome and Constantinople in the years immediately before
the Crusade.
In July 1095, Urban turned to his homeland of France to recruit
men for the expedition. His travels there culminated in the Council
of Clermont in November, where, according to the various speeches
attributed to him, he gave an impassioned sermon to a large
audience of French nobles and clergy, graphically detailing the
fantastical atrocities being committed against pilgrims and eastern
Christians. Urban talked about the violence of European society
and the necessity of maintaining the Peace of God; about helping
the Greeks, who had asked for assistance; about the crimes being
committed against Christians in the east; and about a new kind
of war, an armed pilgrimage, and of rewards in heaven, where
remission of sins was offered to any who might die in the
undertaking. Combining the idea of pilgrimage to the Holy Land
with that of waging a holy war against infidels, Urban received
an enthusiastic response to his speeches and soon after began
collecting military forces to begin the First Crusade.

926 | The Crusades

 Council of Clermont. Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont, where
he gave speeches in favor of a Crusade.

Sources

The Crusades | 927

124. The First Crusade

Learning Objective

• Evaluate the events of the First Crusade

Key Points

• The First Crusade (1095–1099), called for by Pope

Urban II, was the first of a number of crusades that
attempted to recapture the Holy Lands.
• It was launched on November 27, 1095, by Pope
Urban II with the primary goal of responding to an
appeal from Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos,
who had been defeated by Turkish forces.
• An additional goal soon became the principal
objective—the Christian reconquest of the sacred city
of Jerusalem and the Holy Land and the freeing of the
Eastern Christians from Muslim rule.
• The first object of the campaign was Nicaea,
previously a city under Byzantine rule, which the
Crusaders captured on June 18, 1097, by defeating the
troops of Kilij Arslan.
• After marching through the Mediterranean region,
the Crusaders arrived at Jerusalem, launched an

928 | The First Crusade

 assault on the city, and captured it in July 1099,
massacring many of the city’s Muslim and Jewish
inhabitants.
• In the end, they established the crusader states of
the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, the
Principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa.

Terms

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

A church within the Christian Quarter of the Old City of

Jerusalem that contains, according to traditions dating back
to at least the 4th century, the two holiest sites in
Christendom—the site where Jesus of Nazareth was
crucified and Jesus’s empty tomb, where he is said to have
been buried and resurrected.

Alexios I Komnenos

Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118, whose appeals to

Western Europe for help against the Turks were also the
catalyst that likely contributed to the convoking of the
Crusades.

The First Crusade | 929

 Pope Urban II

Pope from March 12, 1088, to his death in 1099, he is best

known for initiating the First Crusade.

People’s Crusade

An expedition seen as the prelude to the First Crusade

that lasted roughly six months, from April to October 1096,
and was led mostly by peasants.

Overview

The First Crusade (1095–1099), called for by Pope Urban II, was the
first of a number of crusades intended to recapture the Holy Lands.
It started as a widespread pilgrimage in western Christendom and
ended as a military expedition by Roman Catholic Europe to regain
the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquests of the Mediterranean
(632–661), ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem in 1099.
It was launched on November 27, 1095, by Pope Urban II with the
primary goal of responding to an appeal from Byzantine Emperor
Alexios I Komnenos, who requested that western volunteers come
to his aid and help to repel the invading Seljuq Turks from Anatolia
(modern-day Turkey). An additional goal soon became the principal
objective—the Christian reconquest of the sacred city of Jerusalem

930 | The First Crusade

and the Holy Land and the freeing of the Eastern Christians from
Muslim rule.
During the crusade, knights, peasants, and serfs from many
regions of Western Europe travelled over land and by sea, first
to Constantinople and then on toward Jerusalem. The Crusaders
arrived at Jerusalem, launched an assault on the city, and captured
it in July 1099, massacring many of the city’s Muslim and Jewish
inhabitants. They also established the crusader states of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, the Principality of
Antioch, and the County of Edessa.

People’s Crusade

Pope Urban II planned the departure of the crusade for August 15,
1096; before this, a number of unexpected bands of peasants and
low-ranking knights organized and set off for Jerusalem on their
own, on an expedition known as the People’s Crusade, led by a monk
named Peter the Hermit. The peasant population had been afflicted
by drought, famine, and disease for many years before 1096, and
some of them seem to have envisioned the crusade as an escape
from these hardships. Spurring them on had been a number of
meteorological occurrences beginning in 1095 that seemed to be
a divine blessing for the movement—a meteor shower, an aurorae,
a lunar eclipse, and a comet, among other events. An outbreak of
ergotism had also occurred just before the Council of Clermont.
Millenarianism, the belief that the end of the world was imminent,
widespread in the early 11th century, experienced a resurgence in
popularity. The response was beyond expectations; while Urban
might have expected a few thousand knights, he ended up with a
migration numbering up to 40,000 Crusaders of mostly unskilled
fighters, including women and children.
Lacking military discipline in what likely seemed a strange land
(Eastern Europe), Peter’s fledgling army quickly found itself in

The First Crusade | 931

trouble despite the fact that they were still in Christian territory.
This unruly mob began to attack and pillage outside Constantinople
in search of supplies and food, prompting Alexios to hurriedly ferry
the gathering across the Bosporus one week later. After crossing
into Asia Minor, the crusaders split up and began to plunder the
countryside, wandering into Seljuq territory around Nicaea, where
they were massacred by an overwhelming group of Turks.

932 | The First Crusade

People’s Crusade massacre. An illustration showing the defeat of the People’s
Crusade by the Turks.

The First Crusade | 933

The First Crusade

The four main Crusader armies left Europe around the appointed
time in August 1096. They took different paths to Constantinople
and gathered outside the city walls between November 1096 and
April 1097; Hugh of Vermandois arrived first, followed by Godfrey,
Raymond, and Bohemond. This time, Emperor Alexios was more
prepared for the Crusaders; there were fewer incidents of violence
along the way.
The Crusaders may have expected Alexios to become their leader,
but he had no interest in joining them, and was mainly concerned
with transporting them into Asia Minor as quickly as possible. In
return for food and supplies, Alexios requested that the leaders to
swear fealty to him and promise to return to the Byzantine Empire
any land recovered from the Turks. Before ensuring that the various
armies were shuttled across the Bosporus, Alexios advised the
leaders on how best to deal with the Seljuq armies they would soon
encounter.

Siege of Nicaea and March to Jerusalem

The Crusader armies crossed over into Asia Minor during the first
half of 1097, where they were joined by Peter the Hermit and the
remainder of his little army. Alexios also sent two of his own
generals, Manuel Boutoumites and Tatikios, to assist the Crusaders.
The first object of their campaign was Nicaea, previously a city
under Byzantine rule, but which had become the capital of the
Seljuq Sultanate of Rum under Kilij Arslan I. Arslan was away
campaigning against the Danishmends in central Anatolia at the
time, and had left behind his treasury and his family,
underestimating the strength of these new Crusaders.
Subsequently, upon the Crusaders’ arrival, the city was subjected

934 | The First Crusade

to a lengthy siege, and when Arslan had word of it he rushed back
to Nicaea and attacked the Crusader army on May 16. He was driven
back by the unexpectedly large Crusader force, with heavy losses
suffered on both sides in the ensuing battle. The siege continued,
but the Crusaders had little success as they found they could not
blockade Lake Iznik, which the city was situated on, and from which
it could be provisioned. To break the city, Alexios had the Crusaders’
ships rolled over land on logs, and at the sight of them the Turkish
garrison finally surrendered, 18 June 18. The city was handed over to
the Byzantine troops.
At the end of June, the Crusaders marched on through Anatolia.
They were accompanied by some Byzantine troops under Tatikios,
and still harbored the hope that Alexios would send a full Byzantine
army after them. After a battle with Kilij Arslan, the Crusaders
marched through Anatolia unopposed, but the journey was
unpleasant, as Arslan had burned and destroyed everything he left
behind in his army’s flight. It was the middle of summer, and the
Crusaders had very little food and water; many men and horses
died. Fellow Christians sometimes gave them gifts of food and
money, but more often than not the Crusaders simply looted and
pillaged whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Proceeding down the Mediterranean coast, the crusaders
encountered little resistance, as local rulers preferred to make
peace with them and furnish them with supplies rather than fight.

Capture of Jerusalem

On June 7, the Crusaders reached Jerusalem, which had been

recaptured from the Seljuqs by the Fatimids only the year before.
Many Crusaders wept upon seeing the city they had journeyed so
long to reach. The arrival at Jerusalem revealed an arid countryside,
lacking in water or food supplies. Here there was no prospect of
relief, even as they feared an imminent attack by the local Fatimid

The First Crusade | 935

rulers. The Crusaders resolved to take the city by assault. They
might have been left with little choice, as it has been estimated
that only about 12,000 men, including 1,500 cavalry, remained by the
time the army reached Jerusalem.
After the failure of the initial assault, a meeting between the
various leaders was organized in which it was agreed upon that a
more concerted attack would be required in the future. On June
17, a party of Genoese mariners under Guglielmo Embriaco arrived
at Jaffa and provided the Crusaders with skilled engineers, and
perhaps more critically, supplies of timber (cannibalized from the
ships) with which to build siege engines. The Crusaders’ morale
was raised when a priest, Peter Desiderius, claimed to have had a
divine vision of Bishop Adhemar instructing them to fast and then
march in a barefoot procession around the city walls, after which
the city would fall, following the Biblical story of Joshua at the siege
of Jericho.
The final assault on Jerusalem began on July 13; Raymond’s troops
attacked the south gate while the other contingents attacked the
northern wall. Initially the Provençals at the southern gate made
little headway, but the contingents at the northern wall fared better,
with a slow but steady attrition of the defense. On July 15, a final
push was launched at both ends of the city, and eventually the inner
rampart of the northern wall was captured. In the ensuing panic, the
defenders abandoned the walls of the city at both ends, allowing the
Crusaders to finally enter.

936 | The First Crusade

Capture of Jerusalem. A depiction of the capture of Jerusalem in 1099 from a
medieval manuscript. The burning buildings of Jerusalem are centered in the
image. The various Crusaders are surrounding and besieging the village
armed for an attack.

The massacre that followed the capture of Jerusalem has attained

particular notoriety, as a “juxtaposition of extreme violence and
anguished faith.” The eyewitness accounts from the Crusaders
themselves leave little doubt that there was a great slaughter in
the aftermath of the siege. Nevertheless, some historians propose
that the scale of the massacre was exaggerated in later medieval
sources. The slaughter lasted a day; Muslims were indiscriminately
killed, and Jews who had taken refuge in their synagogue died when
it was burnt down by the Crusaders. The following day, Tancred’s
prisoners in the mosque were slaughtered. Still, it is clear that some

The First Crusade | 937

Muslims and Jews of the city survived the massacre, either escaping
or being taken prisoner to be ransomed. The Eastern Christian
population of the city had been expelled before the siege by the
governor, and thus escaped the massacre.
On July 22, a council was held in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
to establish a king for the newly created Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Raymond IV of Toulouse and Godfrey of Bouillon were recognized
as the leaders of the crusade and the siege of Jerusalem. Raymond
was the wealthier and more powerful of the two, but at first he
refused to become king, perhaps attempting to show his piety and
probably hoping that the other nobles would insist upon his election
anyway. The more popular Godfrey did not hesitate like Raymond,
and accepted a position as secular leader.
Having captured Jerusalem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
the Crusaders had fulfilled their vow.

Sources

938 | The First Crusade

125. The Second Crusade

Learning Objective

• Explain the successes and failures of the Second

Crusade

Key Points

• The Second Crusade was started in 1147 in response

to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year
to the forces of Zengi; Edessa was founded during the
First Crusade.
• The Second Crusade was led by two European
kings—Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany.
• The German and French armies took separate
routes to Anatolia, fighting skirmishes along the way,
and both were defeated separately by the Seljuq
Turks.
• Louis and Conrad and the remnants of their armies
eventually reached Jerusalem and participated in an
ill-advised attack on Damascus in 1148.
• The Second Crusade was a failure for the Crusaders
and a great victory for the Muslims.

The Second Crusade | 939

 Terms

Louis VII

A Capetian king of the Franks from 1137 until his death

who led troops in the Second Crusade.

Manuel I Komneno

A Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned

over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and
the Mediterranean, including the Second Crusade.

Conrad III

First German king of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, who led

troops in the Second Crusade.

Moors

The Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, North Africa and

the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, and Malta during the Middle
Ages, who initially were Berber and Arab peoples of North
African descent.

940 | The Second Crusade

The Second Crusade

The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade

launched from Europe as a Catholic holy war against Islam. The
Second Crusade was started in 1147 in response to the fall of the
County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi. The
county had been founded during the First Crusade by King Baldwin
of Boulogne in 1098. While it was the first Crusader state to be
founded, it was also the first to fall.
The Second Crusade was announced by Pope Eugene III, and
was the first of the crusades to be led by European kings, namely
Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, who had help from
a number of other European nobles. The armies of the two kings
marched separately across Europe. After crossing Byzantine
territory into Anatolia, both armies were separately defeated by the
Seljuq Turks. The main Western Christian source, Odo of Deuil, and
Syriac Christian sources claim that the Byzantine Emperor Manuel
I Komnenos secretly hindered the Crusaders’ progress, particularly
in Anatolia, where he is alleged to have deliberately ordered Turks
to attack them. Louis and Conrad and the remnants of their armies
reached Jerusalem and participated in an ill-advised attack on
Damascus in 1148. The Crusade in the east was a failure for the
Crusaders and a great victory for the Muslims. It would ultimately
have a key influence on the fall of Jerusalem and give rise to the
Third Crusade at the end of the 12th century.
The only Christian success of the Second Crusade came to a
combined force of 13,000 Flemish, Frisian, Norman, English,
Scottish, and German Crusaders in 1147. Traveling by ship from
England to the Holy Land, the army stopped and helped the smaller
(7,000) Portuguese army capture Lisbon, expelling its Moorish
occupants.

The Second Crusade | 941

Crusade in the East

Joscelin II had tried to take back Edessa, but Nur ad-Din defeated
him in November 1146. On February 16, 1147, the French Crusaders
met to discuss their route. The Germans had already decided to
travel overland through Hungary, as the sea route was politically
impractical because Roger II, king of Sicily, was an enemy of Conrad.
Many of the French nobles distrusted the land route, which would
take them through the Byzantine Empire, the reputation of which
still suffered from the accounts of the First Crusaders. Nevertheless,
it was decided to follow Conrad, and to set out on June 15.

German Route

The German crusaders, accompanied by the papal legate and

Cardinal Theodwin, intended to meet the French in Constantinople.
Ottokar III of Styria joined Conrad at Vienna, and Conrad’s enemy
Géza II of Hungary allowed them to pass through unharmed. When
the German army of 20,000 men arrived in Byzantine territory,
Emperor Manuel I Komnenos feared they were going to attack him,
and Byzantine troops were posted to ensure that there was no
trouble. On September 10, the Germans arrived at Constantinople,
where relations with Manuel were poor. There was a battle, after
which the Germans were convinced that they should cross into Asia
Minor as quickly as possible.
In Asia Minor, Conrad decided not to wait for the French, and
marched towards Iconium, capital of the Seljuq Sultanate of Rûm.
Conrad split his army into two divisions. The authority of the
Byzantine Empire in the western provinces of Asia Minor was more
nominal than real, with much of the provinces being a no-man’s land
controlled by Turkish nomads. Conrad underestimated the length of
the march against Anatolia, and anyhow assumed that the authority

942 | The Second Crusade

of Emperor Manuel was greater in Anatolia than was in fact the
case. Conrad took the knights and the best troops with him to
march overland and sent the camp followers with Otto of Freising
to follow the coastal road. The king’s contingent was almost totally
destroyed by the Seljuqs on October 25, 1147, at the second Battle of
Dorylaeum.

French Route

The French crusaders departed from Metz in June 1147, led by Louis,
Thierry of Alsace, Renaut I of Bar, Amadeus III, Count of Savoy and
his half-brother William V of Montferrat, William VII of Auvergne,
and others, along with armies from Lorraine, Brittany, Burgundy,
and Aquitaine. A force from Provence, led by Alphonse of Toulouse,
chose to wait until August and cross by sea. At Worms, Louis joined
with crusaders from Normandy and England.
They followed Conrad’s route fairly peacefully, although Louis
came into conflict with King Geza of Hungary when Geza
discovered Louis had allowed an attempted Hungarian usurper to
join his army. Relations within Byzantine territory were grim, and
the Lorrainers, who had marched ahead of the rest of the French,
also came into conflict with the slower Germans whom they met on
the way.
The French met the remnants of Conrad’s army at Lopadion, and
Conrad joined Louis’s force. They followed Otto of Freising’s route,
moving closer to the Mediterranean coast, and they arrived at
Ephesus in December, where they learned that the Turks were
preparing to attack them. Manuel had sent ambassadors
complaining about the pillaging and plundering that Louis had done
along the way, and there was no guarantee that the Byzantines
would assist them against the Turks. Meanwhile, Conrad fell sick
and returned to Constantinople, where Manuel attended to him
personally, and Louis, paying no attention to the warnings of a

The Second Crusade | 943

Turkish attack, marched out from Ephesus with the French and
German survivors. The Turks were indeed waiting to attack, but
in a small battle outside Ephesus, the French and Germans were
victorious.
They reached Laodicea on the Lycus early in January 1148, around
the same time Otto of Freising’s army had been destroyed in the
same area. After resuming the march, the vanguard under Amadeus
of Savoy was separated from the rest of the army at Mount Cadmus,
and Louis’s troops suffered heavy losses from the Turks. After being
delayed for a month by storms, most of the promised ships from
Provence did not arrive at all. Louis and his associates claimed the
ships that did make it for themselves, while the rest of the army had
to resume the long march to Antioch. The army was almost entirely
destroyed, either by the Turks or by sickness.

Siege of Damascus

The remains of the German and French armies eventually continued

on to Jerusalem, where they planned an attack on the Muslim forces
in Damascus. The Crusaders decided to attack Damascus from the
west, where orchards would provide them with a constant food
supply. They arrived at Daraiya on July 23. The following day, the
well-prepared Muslims constantly attacked the army advancing
through the orchards outside Damascus. The defenders had sought
help from Saif ad-Din Ghazi I of Mosul and Nur ad-Din of Aleppo,
who personally led an attack on the Crusader camp. The Crusaders
were pushed back from the walls into the orchards, where they were
prone to ambushes and guerrilla attacks.
According to William of Tyre, on July 27 the Crusaders decided
to move to the plain on the eastern side of the city, which was
less heavily fortified, but also had much less food and water. Some
records indicate that Unur had bribed the leaders to move to a less
defensible position, and that Unur had promised to break off his

944 | The Second Crusade

alliance with Nur ad-Din if the Crusaders went home. Meanwhile,
Nur ad-Din and Saif ad-Din had by now arrived. With Nur ad-Din
in the field it was impossible for the Crusaders to return to their
better position. The local Crusader lords refused to carry on with
the siege, and the three kings had no choice but to abandon the
city. First Conrad, then the rest of the army, decided to retreat to
Jerusalem on July 28, and they were followed the whole way by
Turkish archers, who constantly harassed them.

Siege of Damascus. A print of the Siege of Damascus.

Aftermath

Each of the Christian forces felt betrayed by the other. In Germany,

the Crusade was seen as a huge debacle, with many monks writing
that it could only have been the work of the Devil. Despite the
distaste for the memory of the Second Crusade, the experience
had notable impact on German literature, with many epic poems of
the late 12th century featuring battle scenes clearly inspired by the
fighting in the crusade. The cultural impact of the Second Crusade
was even greater in France. Unlike Conrad, the Louis’s image was

The Second Crusade | 945

improved by the crusade, with many of the French seeing him as a
suffering pilgrim king who quietly bore God’s punishments.
Relations between the Eastern Roman Empire and the French
were badly damaged by the Second Crusade. Louis and other French
leaders openly accused Emperor Manuel I of colluding with Turkish
attackers during the march across Asia Minor. The memory of the
Second Crusade was to color French views of the Byzantines for the
rest of the 12th and 13th centuries.

Sources

946 | The Second Crusade

126. The Third Crusade

Learning Objective

• Compare and contrast the Third Crusade with the

first two

Key Points

• After the failure of the Second Crusade, the Zengid

dynasty controlled a unified Syria and engaged in a
successful conflict with the Fatimid rulers of Egypt;
the Egyptian and Syrian forces were ultimately
unified under Saladin, who employed them to reduce
the Christian states and recapture Jerusalem in 1187.
• The Crusaders, mainly under the leadership of King
Richard of England, captured Acre and Jaffa on their
way to Jerusalem.
• Because of conflict with King Richard and to settle
succession disputes, the German and French armies
left the crusade early, weakening the Christian forces.
• After trying to overtake Jerusalem and having Jaffa
change hands several times, Richard and Saladin
finalized a treaty granting Muslim control over
Jerusalem but allowing unarmed Christian pilgrims

The Third Crusade | 947

 and merchants to visit the city.
• The Third Crusade differed from the First Crusade
in several ways: kings led the armies into battle, it was
in response to European losses, and it resulted in a
treaty.

Terms

Richard the Lionheart

King of England from July 6, 1189, until his death; famous

for his reputation as a great military leader and warrior.

Saladin

The first sultan of Egypt and Syria and the founder of the
Ayyubid dynasty; he led the Muslim military campaign
against the Crusader states in the Levant.

Overview

The Third Crusade (1189–1192), also known as The Kings’ Crusade,

was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land

948 | The Third Crusade

from Saladin. The campaign was largely successful, capturing the
important cities of Acre and Jaffa, and reversing most of Saladin’s
conquests, but it failed to capture Jerusalem, the emotional and
spiritual motivation of the crusade.
After the failure of the Second Crusade, the Zengid dynasty
controlled a unified Syria and engaged in a conflict with the Fatimid
rulers of Egypt. The Egyptian and Syrian forces were ultimately
unified under Saladin, who employed them to reduce the Christian
states and recapture Jerusalem in 1187. Spurred by religious zeal,
King Henry II of England and King Philip II of France (known as
Philip Augustus) ended their conflict with each other to lead a new
crusade. The death of Henry in 1189, however, meant the English
contingent came under the command of his successor, King Richard
I of England (known as Richard the Lionheart). The elderly Holy
Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa also responded to the call to
arms, leading a massive army across Anatolia, but he drowned in a
river in Asia Minor on June 10, 1190, before reaching the Holy Land.
His death caused tremendous grief among the German Crusaders,
and most of his troops returned home.
After the Crusaders had driven the Muslims from Acre, Philip and
Frederick’s successor, Leopold V, Duke of Austria (known as Leopold
the Virtuous), left the Holy Land in August 1191. On September 2,
1192, Richard and Saladin finalized a treaty granting Muslim control
over Jerusalem but allowing unarmed Christian pilgrims and
merchants to visit the city. Richard departed the Holy Land on
October 2. The successes of the Third Crusade allowed the
Crusaders to maintain considerable states in Cyprus and on the
Syrian coast. However, the failure to recapture Jerusalem would lead
to the Fourth Crusade.

Background

One of the major differences between the First and Third Crusades

The Third Crusade | 949

is that by the time of the Third Crusade, and to a certain degree
during the Second, the Muslim opponents had unified under a single
powerful leader. At the time of the First Crusade, the Middle East
was severely divided by warring rulers. Without a unified front
opposing them, the Christian troops were able to conquer
Jerusalem, as well as the other Crusader states. But under the
powerful force of the Seljuq Turks during the Second Crusade and
the even more unified power of Saladin during the Third, the
Europeans were unable to achieve their ultimate aim of holding
Jerusalem.
After the failure of the Second Crusade, Nur ad-Din Zangi had
control of Damascus and a unified Syria. Nur ad-Din also took over
Egypt through an alliance, and appointed Saladin the sultan of these
territories. After Nur ad-Din’s death, Saladin also took over Acre
and Jerusalem, thereby wresting control of Palestine from the
Crusaders, who had conquered the area 88 years earlier. Pope
Urban III is said to have collapsed and died upon hearing this news,
but it is not actually feasible that tidings of the fall of Jerusalem
could have reached him by the time he died, although he did know
of the battle of Hattin and the fall of Acre.

950 | The Third Crusade

Saladin’s Conquest (1174-1189). Map of Saladin’s Conquest into the Levant,
including invasions routes, major conflicts, strongholds, and occupations.

Siege of Acre

The Siege of Acre was one of the first confrontations of the Third
Crusade, and a key victory for the Crusaders but a serious defeat
for Saladin, who had hoped to destroy the whole of the Crusader
kingdom.
Richard arrived at Acre on June 8, 1191, and immediately began

The Third Crusade | 951

supervising the construction of siege weapons to assault the city,
which was captured on July 12. Richard, Philip, and Leopold
quarreled over the spoils of the victory. Richard cast down the
German flag from the city, slighting Leopold. The rest of the
German army returned home.
On July 31, Philip also returned home, to settle the succession
in Vermandois and Flanders, and Richard was left in sole charge of
the Christian expeditionary forces. As in the Second Crusade, these
disagreements and divisions within the European armies led to a
weakening of the Christian forces.

Siege of Acre. The Siege of Acre was the first major confrontation of the Third
Crusade.

952 | The Third Crusade

Battle of Arsuf

After the capture of Acre, Richard decided to march to the city of

Jaffa. Control of Jaffa was necessary before an attack on Jerusalem
could be attempted. On September 7, 1191, however, Saladin attacked
Richard’s army at Arsuf, thirty miles north of Jaffa. Richard then
ordered a general counterattack, which won the battle. Arsuf was
an important victory. The Muslim army was not destroyed, despite
the considerable casualties it suffered, but it was scattered; this
was considered shameful by the Muslims and boosted the morale
of the Crusaders. Richard was able to take, defend, and hold Jaffa, a
strategically crucial move toward securing Jerusalem. By depriving
Saladin of the coast, Richard seriously threatened his hold on
Jerusalem.

Advances on Jerusalem and Negotiations

Following his victory at Arsuf, Richard took Jaffa and established

his new headquarters there. In November 1191 the Crusader army
advanced inland toward Jerusalem. On December 12 Saladin was
forced by pressure from his emirs to disband the greater part of
his army. Learning this, Richard pushed his army forward, spending
Christmas at Latrun. The army then marched to Beit Nuba, only
twelve miles from Jerusalem. Muslim morale in Jerusalem was so
low that the arrival of the Crusaders would probably have caused
the city to fall quickly. Appallingly bad weather—cold with heavy
rain and hailstorms—combined with fear that if the Crusader army
besieged Jerusalem it might be trapped by a relieving force, led to
the decision to retreat back to the coast. In July 1192, Saladin’s army
suddenly attacked and captured Jaffa with thousands of men.
Richard was intending to return to England when he heard the
news that Saladin and his army had captured Jaffa. Richard and

The Third Crusade | 953

a small force of little more than 2,000 men went to Jaffa by sea
in a surprise attack. They stormed Jaffa from their ships and the
Ayyubids, who had been unprepared for a naval attack, were driven
from the city.
On September 2, 1192, following his defeat at Jaffa, Saladin was
forced to finalize a treaty with Richard providing that Jerusalem
would remain under Muslim control, but allowing unarmed
Christian pilgrims and traders to visit the city. The city of Ascalon
was a contentious issue, as it threatened communication between
Saladin’s dominions in Egypt and Syria; it was eventually agreed
that Ascalon, with its defenses demolished, be returned to Saladin’s
control. Richard departed the Holy Land on October 9, 1192.

Aftermath and Comparisons

Neither side was entirely satisfied with the results of the war.
Though Richard’s victories had deprived the Muslims of important
coastal territories and re-established a viable Frankish state in
Palestine, many Christians in the Latin West felt disappointed that
Richard had elected not to pursue the recapture of Jerusalem.
Likewise, many in the Islamic world felt disturbed that Saladin had
failed to drive the Christians out of Syria and Palestine. However,
trade flourished throughout the Middle East and in port cities along
the Mediterranean coastline.
The motivations and results of the Third Crusade differed from
those of the First in several ways. Many historians contend that
the motivations for the Third Crusade were more political than
religious, thereby giving rise to the disagreements between the
German, French, and English armies throughout the crusade. By the
end, only Richard of England was left, and his small force was unable
to finally overtake Saladin, despite successes at Acre and Jaffa. This
infighting severely weakened the power of the European forces.
In addition, unlike the First Crusade, in the Second and Third

954 | The Third Crusade

Crusades kings led Crusaders into battle. The presence of European
kings in battle set the armies up for instability, for the monarchs
had to ensure their own territories were not threatened during their
absence. During the Third Crusade, both the German and French
armies were forced to return home to settle succession disputes
and stabilize their kingdoms.
Furthermore, both the Second and Third Crusades were in
response to European losses, first the fall of the Kingdom of Edessa
and then the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin. These defensive
expeditions could be seen as lacking the religious fervor and
initiative of the First Crusade, which was entirely on the terms of
the Christian armies.
Finally, the Third Crusade resulted in a treaty that left Jerusalem
under Muslim dominion but allowed Christians access for trading
and pilgrimage. In the past two crusades, the result had been to
conquer and massacre or retreat, with no compromise or middle
ground achieved. Despite the agreement in the Third Crusade, the
failure to overtake Jerusalem led to still another crusade soon after.

Sources

The Third Crusade | 955

127. The Fourth Crusade

Learning Objective

• Describe the failures of the Fourth Crusade

Terms

Crusader states

A number of mostly 12th- and 13th-century feudal states

created by Western European crusaders in Asia Minor,
Greece, and the Holy Land, and in the eastern Baltic area
during the Northern Crusades.

heretics

People who holds beliefs or theories that are strongly at

variance with established beliefs or customs, especially
those held by the Roman Catholic Church.

956 | The Fourth Crusade

 Knights Templar

Among the wealthiest and most powerful of the Western

Christian military orders; prominent actors in the Crusades.

Great Schism

The break of communion between what are now the

Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches, which has lasted
since the 11th century.

Evolution of the Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious wars undertaken by the

Latin church between the 11th and 15th centuries. Crusades were
fought for many reasons: to capture Jerusalem, recapture Christian
territory, or defend Christians in non-Christian lands; as a means
of conflict resolution among Roman Catholics; for political or
territorial advantage; and to combat paganism and heresy.
The First Crusade arose after a call to arms in 1095 sermons
by Pope Urban II. Urban urged military support for the Byzantine
Empire and its Emperor, Alexios I, who needed reinforcements for
his conflict with westward-migrating Turks in Anatolia. One of
Urban’s main aims was to guarantee pilgrims access to the holy sites
in the Holy Land that were under Muslim control. Urban’s wider
strategy may have been to unite the eastern and western branches

The Fourth Crusade | 957

of Christendom, which had been divided since their split in 1054,
and establish himself as head of the unified church. Regardless
of the motivation, the response to Urban’s preaching by people
of many different classes across Western Europe established the
precedent for later crusades.
As a result of the First Crusade, four primary Crusader states
were created: the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Edessa, the
Principality of Antioch, and the County of Tripoli. On a popular
level, the First Crusade unleashed a wave of impassioned, pious
Catholic fury, which was expressed in the massacres of Jews that
accompanied the Crusades and the violent treatment of the
“schismatic” Orthodox Christians of the east.
Under the papacies of Calixtus II, Honorius II, Eugenius III, and
Innocent II, smaller-scale crusading continued around the Crusader
states in the early 12th century. The Knights Templar were
recognized, and grants of crusading indulgences to those who
opposed papal enemies are seen by some historians as the
beginning of politically motivated crusades. The loss of Edessa in
1144 to Imad ad-Din Zengi led to preaching for what subsequently
became known as the Second Crusade. King Louis VII and Conrad
III led armies from France and Germany to Jerusalem and Damascus
without winning any major victories. Bernard of Clairvaux, who had
encouraged the Second Crusade in his preachings, was upset with
the violence and slaughter directed toward the Jewish population of
the Rhineland.
In 1187 Saladin united the enemies of the Crusader states, was
victorious at the Battle of Hattin, and retook Jerusalem. According
to Benedict of Peterborough, Pope Urban III died of deep sadness
on October 19, 1187, upon hearing news of the defeat. His successor,
Pope Gregory VIII, issued a papal bull that proposed a third crusade
to recapture Jerusalem. This crusade failed to win control of
Jerusalem from the Muslims, but did result in a treaty that allowed
trading and pilgrimage there for Europeans.
Crusading became increasingly widespread in terms of geography
and objectives during the 13th century; crusades were aimed at

958 | The Fourth Crusade

maintaining political and religious control over Europe and beyond
and were not exclusively focused on the Holy Land. In Northern
Europe the Catholic church continued to battle peoples whom they
considered pagans; Popes such as Celestine III, Innocent III,
Honorius III, and Gregory IX preached crusade against the
Livonians, Prussians, and Russians. In the early 13th century, Albert
of Riga established Riga as the seat of the Bishopric of Riga and
formed the Livonian Brothers of the Sword to convert the pagans to
Catholicism and protect German commerce.

Fourth Crusade

Innocent III began preaching what became the Fourth Crusade in

1200 in France, England, and Germany, but primarily in France.
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Western European armed
expedition originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled
Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, a
sequence of events culminated in the Crusaders sacking the city
of Constantinople, the capital of the Christian-controlled Byzantine
Empire. The Fourth Crusade never came to within 1,000 miles of its
objective of Jerusalem, instead conquering Byzantium twice before
being routed by the Bulgars at Adrianople.
In January 1203, en route to Jerusalem, the majority of the
Crusader leadership entered into an agreement with the Byzantine
prince Alexios Angelos to divert to Constantinople and restore his
deposed father as emperor. The intention of the Crusaders was then
to continue to the Holy Land with promised Byzantine financial
and military assistance. On June 23, 1203, the main Crusader fleet
reached Constantinople. Smaller contingents continued to Acre.
In August 1203, following clashes outside Constantinople, Alexios
Angelos was crowned co-emperor (as Alexios IV Angelos) with
Crusader support. However, in January 1204, he was deposed by a
popular uprising in Constantinople. The Western Crusaders were no

The Fourth Crusade | 959

longer able to receive their promised payments, and when Alexios
was murdered on February 8, 1204, the Crusaders and Venetians
decided on the outright conquest of Constantinople. In April 1204,
they captured and brutally sacked the city and set up a new Latin
Empire, as well as partitioned other Byzantine territories among
themselves.
Byzantine resistance based in unconquered sections of the
empire such as Nicaea, Trebizond, and Epirus ultimately recovered
Constantinople in 1261.
The Fourth Crusade is considered to be one of the final acts
in the Great Schism between the Eastern Orthodox Church and
Roman Catholic Church, and a key turning point in the decline of
the Byzantine Empire and Christianity in the Near East.

Conquest of Constantinople. A Medieval painting of the Conquest of

Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204.

Later Crusades

After the failure of the Fourth Crusade to hold Constantinople or

reach Jerusalem, Innocent III launched the first crusade against

960 | The Fourth Crusade

heretics, the Albigensian Crusade, against the Cathars in France
and the County of Toulouse. Over the early decades of the century
the Cathars were driven underground while the French monarchy
asserted control over the region. Andrew II of Hungary waged the
Bosnian Crusade against the Bosnian church, which was
theologically Catholic but in long-term schism with the Roman
Catholic Church. The conflict only ended with the Mongol invasion
of Hungary in 1241. In the Iberian peninsula, Crusader privileges
were given to those aiding the Templars, the Hospitallers, and the
Iberian orders that merged with the Order of Calatrava and the
Order of Santiago. The papacy declared frequent Iberian crusades,
and from 1212 to 1265 the Christian kingdoms drove the Muslims
back to the Emirate of Granada, which held out until 1492, when the
Muslims and Jews were expelled from the peninsula.
Around this time, popularity and energy for the Crusades
declined. One factor in the decline was the disunity and conflict
among Latin Christian interests in the eastern Mediterranean. Pope
Martin IV compromised the papacy by supporting Charles of Anjou,
and tarnished its spiritual luster with botched secular “crusades”
against Sicily and Aragon. The collapse of the papacy’s moral
authority and the rise of nationalism rang the death knell for
crusading, ultimately leading to the Avignon Papacy and the
Western Schism. The mainland Crusader states were extinguished
with the fall of Tripoli in 1289 and the fall of Acre in 1291.
Centuries later, during the middle of the 15th century, the Latin
church tried to organize a new crusade aimed at restoring the
Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, which was gradually being
torn down by the advancing Ottoman Turks. The attempt failed,
however, as the vast majority of Greek civilians and a growing part
of their clergy refused to recognize and accept the short-lived near-
union of the churches of East and West signed at the Council of
Florence and Ferrara by the Ecumenical patriarch Joseph II of
Constantinople. The Greek population, reacting to the Latin
conquest, believed that the Byzantine civilization that revolved
around the Orthodox faith would be more secure under Ottoman

The Fourth Crusade | 961

Islamic rule. Overall, religious-observant Greeks preferred to
sacrifice their political freedom and political independence in order
to preserve their faith’s traditions and rituals in separation from the
Roman See.
In the late-14th and early-15th centuries, “crusades” on a limited
scale were organized by the kingdoms of Hungary, Poland,
Wallachia, and Serbia. These were not the traditional expeditions
aimed at the recovery of Jerusalem but rather defensive campaigns
intended to prevent further expansion to the west by the Ottoman
Empire.

Sources

962 | The Fourth Crusade

128. Feudalism

Learning Objective

• Recall the structure of the feudal state and the

responsibilities and obligations of each level of
society

Key Points

• Feudalism flourished in Europe between the 9th

and 15th centuries.
• Feudalism in England determined the structure of
society around relationships derived from the holding
and leasing of land, or fiefs.
• In England, the feudal pyramid was made up of the
king at the top with the nobles, knights, and vassals
below him.
• Before a lord could grant land to a tenant he would
have to make him a vassal at a formal ceremony. This
ceremony bound the lord and vassal in a contract.
• While modern writers such as Marx point out the
negative qualities of feudalism, such as the
exploitation and lack of social mobility for the
peasants, the French historian Marc Bloch contends

Feudalism | 963
 that peasants were part of the feudal relationship;
while the vassals performed military service in
exchange for the fief, the peasants performed
physical labour in return for protection, thereby
gaining some benefit despite their limited freedom.
• The 11th century in France saw what has been
called by historians a “feudal revolution” or
“mutation” and a “fragmentation of powers” that
increased localized power and autonomy.

Terms

homage

In the Middle Ages this was the ceremony in which a

feudal tenant or vassal pledged reverence and submission
to his feudal lord, receiving in exchange the symbolic title
to his new position.

fealty

An oath, from the Latin fidelitas (faithfulness); a pledge of

allegiance of one person to another.

964 | Feudalism
 vassals

Persons who entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or

monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval
Europe.

fiefs

Heritable property or rights granted by an overlord to a

vassal.

mesne tenant

A lord in the feudal system who had vassals who held land
from him, but who was himself the vassal of a higher lord.

Overview

Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval

Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries. It can
be broadly defined as a system for structuring society around
relationships derived from the holding of land, known as a fiefdom
or fief, in exchange for service or labour.
The classic version of feudalism describes a set of reciprocal legal
and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving

Feudalism | 965
around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs. A lord
was in broad terms a noble who held land, a vassal was a person
who was granted possession of the land by the lord, and a fief was
what the land was known as. In exchange for the use of the fief and
the protection of the lord, the vassal would provide some sort of
service to the lord. There were many varieties of feudal land tenure,
consisting of military and non-military service. The obligations and
corresponding rights between lord and vassal concerning the fief
formed the basis of the feudal relationship.
Feudalism, in its various forms, usually emerged as a result of the
decentralization of an empire, especially in the Carolingian empires,
which lacked the bureaucratic infrastructure necessary to support
cavalry without the ability to allocate land to these mounted troops.
Mounted soldiers began to secure a system of hereditary rule over
their allocated land, and their power over the territory came to
encompass the social, political, judicial, and economic spheres.
Many societies in the Middle Ages were characterized by feudal
organizations, including England, which was the most structured
feudal society, France, Italy, Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, and
Portugal. Each of these territories developed feudalism in unique
ways, and the way we understand feudalism as a unified concept
today is in large part due to critiques after its dissolution. Karl
Marx theorized feudalism as a pre-capitalist society, characterized
by the power of the ruling class (the aristocracy) in their control of
arable land, leading to a class society based upon the exploitation
of the peasants who farm these lands, typically under serfdom and
principally by means of labour, produce, and money rents.
While modern writers such as Marx point out the negative
qualities of feudalism, the French historian Marc Bloch contends
that peasants were an integral part of the feudal relationship: while
the vassals performed military service in exchange for the fief, the
peasants performed physical labour in return for protection,
thereby gaining some benefit despite their limited freedom.
Feudalism was thus a complex social and economic system defined
by inherited ranks, each of which possessed inherent social and

966 | Feudalism
economic privileges and obligations. Feudalism allowed societies
in the Middle Ages to retain a relatively stable political structure
even as the centralized power of empires and kingdoms began to
dissolve.

Structure of the Feudal State in England

Feudalism in 12th-century England was among the better

structured and established systems in Europe at the time. The king
was the absolute “owner” of land in the feudal system, and all nobles,
knights, and other tenants, termed vassals, merely “held” land from
the king, who was thus at the top of the feudal pyramid.
Below the king in the feudal pyramid was a tenant-in-chief
(generally in the form of a baron or knight), who was a vassal of
the king. Holding from the tenant-in-chief was a mesne
tenant—generally a knight or baron who was sometimes a tenant-
in-chief in their capacity as holder of other fiefs. Below the mesne
tenant, further mesne tenants could hold from each other in series.

Vassalage

Before a lord could grant land (a fief) to someone, he had to make

that person a vassal. This was done at a formal and symbolic
ceremony called a commendation ceremony, which was composed
of the two-part act of homage and oath of fealty. During homage,
the lord and vassal entered into a contract in which the vassal
promised to fight for the lord at his command, while the lord agreed
to protect the vassal from external forces.

Feudalism | 967
 Roland pledges his fealty to Charlemagne. Roland (right)
receives the sword, Durandal, from the hands of Charlemagne
(left). From a manuscript of a chanson de geste, c. 14th
Century.

Once the commendation ceremony was complete, the lord and

vassal were in a feudal relationship with agreed obligations to one
another. The vassal’s principal obligation to the lord was “aid,” or
military service. Using whatever equipment the vassal could obtain
by virtue of the revenues from the fief, he was responsible for
answering calls to military service on behalf of the lord. This

968 | Feudalism
security of military help was the primary reason the lord entered
into the feudal relationship. In addition, the vassal could have other
obligations to his lord, such as attendance at his court, whether
manorial or baronial, or at the king’s court.
The vassal’s obligations could also involve providing “counsel,” so
that if the lord faced a major decision he would summon all his
vassals and hold a council. At the level of the manor this might be a
fairly mundane matter of agricultural policy, but could also include
sentencing by the lord for criminal offenses, including capital
punishment in some cases. In the king’s feudal court, such
deliberation could include the question of declaring war. These are
only examples; depending on the period of time and location in
Europe, feudal customs and practices varied.

Feudalism in France

In its origin, the feudal grant of land had been seen in terms of
a personal bond between lord and vassal, but with time and the
transformation of fiefs into hereditary holdings, the nature of the
system came to be seen as a form of “politics of land.” The 11th
century in France saw what has been called by historians a “feudal
revolution” or “mutation” and a “fragmentation of powers” that was
unlike the development of feudalism in England, Italy, or Germany
in the same period or later. In France, counties and duchies began to
break down into smaller holdings as castellans and lesser seigneurs
took control of local lands, and (as comital families had done before
them) lesser lords usurped/privatized a wide range of prerogatives
and rights of the state—most importantly the highly profitable
rights of justice, but also travel dues, market dues, fees for using
woodlands, obligations to use the lord’s mill, etc. Power in this
period became more personal and decentralized.

Feudalism | 969
Sources

970 | Feudalism
129. The Manor System

Learning Objective

• Illustrate the hierarchy of the manor system by

describing the roles of lords, villeins, and serfs

Key Points

• The lord of a manor was supported by his land

holdings and contributions from the peasant
population. Serfs who occupied land belonging to the
lord were required to work the land, and in return
received certain entitlements.
• Serfdom was the status of peasants in the manor
system, and villeins were the most common type of
serf in the Middle Ages.
• Villeins rented small homes with or without land; as
part of their contract with the lord they were
expected to spend some time working the land.
• Villeins could not move away without the lord’s
consent and the acceptance of the new lord whose
manor they were to move to. Because of the
protection villeins received from the lord’s manor, it
was generally not favorable to move away unless the

The Manor System | 971

 landlord proved to be especially tyrannical.
• The manor system was made up of three types of
land: demesne, dependent, and free peasant land.
• Manorial structures could be found throughout
medieval Western and Eastern Europe: in Italy,
Poland, Lithuania, Baltic nations, Holland, Prussia,
England, France, and the Germanic kingdoms.

Terms

demesne

All the land, not necessarily all physically connected to

the manor house, that was retained by the lord of a manor
for his own use and support, under his own management.

serfs

Peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to

manorialism. It was a condition of bondage that developed
primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe.

972 | The Manor System

 villein

The most common type of serf in the Middle Ages. They

had more rights and a higher status than the lowest serf,
but existed under a number of legal restrictions that
differentiated them from freemen.

freemen

Men who were not serfs in the feudal system.

Manorialism was an essential element of feudal society and was

the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the
villa system of the Late Roman Empire. Manorialism was widely
practiced in medieval Western Europe and parts of central Europe,
and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market
economy and new forms of agrarian contract.
Manorialism was characterized by the vesting of legal and
economic power in the lord of a manor. The lord was supported
economically from his own direct landholding in a manor
(sometimes called a fief), and from the obligatory contributions of
the peasant population who fell under the jurisdiction of the lord
and his court. These obligations could be payable in several ways:
in labor, in kind, or, on rare occasions, in coin. Manorial structures
could be found throughout medieval Western and Eastern Europe:
in Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Baltic nations, Holland, Prussia, England,
France, and the Germanic kingdoms.
The main reason for the development of the system was perhaps
also its greatest strength: the stabilization of society during the

The Manor System | 973

destruction of Roman imperial order. With a declining birthrate
and population, labor was the key factor of production. Successive
administrations tried to stabilize the imperial economy by freezing
the social structure into place: sons were to succeed their fathers
in their trade, councilors were forbidden to resign, and coloni, the
cultivators of land, were not to move from the land they were
attached to. The workers of the land were on their way to becoming
serfs. As the Germanic kingdoms succeeded Roman authority in
the West in the 5th century, Roman landlords were often simply
replaced by Gothic or Germanic ones, with little change to the
underlying situation or displacement of populations. Thus the
system of manorialism became ingrained into medieval societies.

The Manor System

Manors each consisted of three classes of land:

• Demesne, the part directly controlled by the lord and used for
the benefit of his household and dependents;
• Dependent (serf or villein) holdings carrying the obligation that
the peasant household supply the lord with specified labor
services or a part of its output; and
• Free peasant land, without such obligation but otherwise
subject to manorial jurisdiction and custom, and owing money
rent fixed at the time of the lease.

Additional sources of income for the lord included charges for use
of his mill, bakery, or wine-press, or for the right to hunt or to
let pigs feed in his woodland, as well as court revenues and single
payments on each change of tenant. On the other side of the
account, manorial administration involved significant expenses,
perhaps a reason why smaller manors tended to rely less on villein
tenure.

974 | The Manor System

Serfdom

Serfdom was the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically

relating to manorialism. It was a condition of bondage that
developed primarily during the Middle Ages in Europe.
Serfs who occupied a plot of land were required to work for
the lord of the manor who owned that land, and in return were
entitled to protection, justice, and the right to exploit certain fields
within the manor to maintain their own subsistence. Serfs were
often required to work on not only the lord’s fields, but also his
mines, forests, and roads. The manor formed the basic unit of feudal
society, and the lord of a manor and his serfs were bound legally,
economically, and socially. Serfs formed the lowest class of feudal
society.

The Manor System | 975

 A serf digging the land, c. 1170 CE. “Digging,” detail from the
Hunterian Psalter, Glasgow University Library MS Hunter.

976 | The Manor System

Many of the negative components of manorialism, and feudalism in
general, revolve around the bondage of the serf, his lack of social
mobility, and his low position on the social hierarchy. However, a
serf had some freedoms within his constraints. Though the common
wisdom is that a serf owned “only his belly”—even his clothes were
the property, in law, of his lord—he might still accumulate personal
property and wealth, and some serfs became wealthier than their
free neighbors, although this happened rarely. A well-to-do serf
might even be able to buy his freedom. A serf could grow what crops
he saw fit on his lands, although a serf’s taxes often had to be paid
in wheat. The surplus crops he would sell at market.
The landlord could not dispossess his serfs without legal cause,
was supposed to protect them from the depredations of robbers or
other lords, and was expected to support them by charity in times
of famine. Many such rights were enforceable by the serf in the
manorial court.

Villeins

A villein (or villain) was the most common type of serf in the Middle
Ages. Villeins had more rights and a higher status than the lowest
serf, but existed under a number of legal restrictions that
differentiated them from freemen. Villeins generally rented small
homes with or without land. As part of the contract with the
landlord, the lord of the manor, they were expected to spend some
of their time working on the lord’s fields. Contrary to popular belief,
the requirement was not often greatly onerous, and was often only
seasonal, as was the duty to help at harvest-time, for example. The
rest of villeins’ time was spent farming their own land for their own
profit.
Like other types of serfs, villeins were required to provide other
services, possibly in addition to paying rent of money or produce.
Villeins were tied to the land and could not move away without their

The Manor System | 977

lord’s consent and the acceptance of the lord to whose manor they
proposed to migrate to. Villeins were generally able to hold their
own property, unlike slaves.
Villeinage was not a purely uni-directional exploitative
relationship. In the Middle Ages, land within a lord’s manor provided
sustenance and survival, and being a villein guaranteed access to
land and kept crops secure from theft by marauding robbers.
Landlords, even where legally entitled to do so, rarely evicted
villeins, because of the value of their labour. Villeinage was
preferable to being a vagabond, a slave, or an un-landed laborer.
In many medieval countries, a villein could gain freedom by
escaping from a manor to a city or borough and living there for
more than a year, but this action involved the loss of land rights
and agricultural livelihood, a prohibitive price unless the landlord
was especially tyrannical or conditions in the village were unusually
difficult.

978 | The Manor System

Plowing a French field (French ducal manor in March Les Très Riches Heures
du Duc de Berry, c.1410). In the foreground, a farmer plowing a field with a
plow pulled by two oxen; man the leader with a long pole. Winemakers prune

The Manor System | 979

the vine in a pen and till the soil with a hoe to aerate the soil. On the right, a
man leans on a bag, presumably to draw seeds that he will then sow. Finally,
in the background, a shepherd takes the dog that keeps his flock. In the
background is the castle of Lusignan (Poitou), property of the Duke of Berry.
Seen on the right of the picture, above the tower Poitiers, is a winged dragon
representing the fairy Melusine.

Sources

980 | The Manor System

130. Trade and Commerce

Learning Objective

• List the factors that led to a change in commerce

and trade in the Late Middle Ages

Key Points

• Explorers opened up new trade routes to the south

of Africa, India, and America due to the dominant
position of the Ottoman Empire impeding trade
routes to the west.
• The Commercial Revolution began in the late-13th
and early-14th centuries with the rise of insurance
issuing, forms of credit, and new forms of accounting
allowing for better financial oversight and accuracy.
• In England, the crises caused by the Great Famine
and the Black Death from 1290–1348, as well as
subsequent epidemics, produced many challenges for
the economy, culminating in the Peasant’s Revolt.
• The English agricultural economy remained
depressed throughout the 15th century, with growth
coming from the greatly increased English cloth trade
and manufacturing.

Trade and Commerce | 981

 • Fairs grew in popularity, reaching their heyday in
the 13th century, as the international wool trade
increased. Despite an overall decline after the 14th
century, the great fairs continued to play an
important role in exchanging money and regional
commerce.
• In cities linked to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea,
the Hanseatic League developed as a trade monopoly.

Terms

guild

Association of artisans or merchants who controlled the

practice of their craft in a particular town. They were
organized in a manner similar to something between a
professional association and a trade union.

Ottoman Empire

Empire founded by Oghuz Turks under Osman Bey in

northwestern Anatolia in 1299 and dissolved in 1923 in the
aftermath of World War I, forming the new state of Turkey.

982 | Trade and Commerce

 usury

The practice of making unethical or immoral monetary

loans intended to unfairly enrich the lender.

bullion

Gold bars, silver bars, and other precious metals bars or

ingots.

During the Late Middle Ages, the increasingly dominant position

of the Ottoman Empire in the eastern Mediterranean presented
an impediment to trade for the Christian nations of the west, who
started looking for alternatives. Portuguese and Spanish explorers
found new trade routes south of Africa to India, and across the
Atlantic Ocean to America.

Start of the Commercial Revolution

In the late-13th and early-14th centuries, a process took

place—primarily in Italy but partly also in the Holy Roman
Empire—that historians have termed a “commercial revolution.”
Among the innovations of the period were new forms of partnership
and the issuing of insurance, both of which contributed to reducing
the risk of commercial ventures; the bill of exchange and other
forms of credit that circumvented the canonical laws for gentiles

Trade and Commerce | 983

against usury and eliminated the dangers of carrying bullion; and
new forms of accounting, in particular double-entry bookkeeping,
which allowed for better oversight and accuracy.

Guilds

With the financial expansion, trading rights were more jealously

guarded by the commercial elite. Towns saw the growing power of
guilds that arose in the 14th century as craftsmen uniting to protect
their common interest. The appearance of the European guilds was
tied to the emergent money economy and to urbanization. Before
this time it was not possible to run a money-driven organization, as
commodity money was the normal way of doing business.
In medieval cities, craftsmen started to form associations based
on their trades. Confraternities of textile workers, masons,
carpenters, carvers, and glass workers, all controlled secrets of
traditionally imparted technology—the “arts” or “mysteries” of their
crafts. Usually the founders were free independent master
craftsmen who hired apprentices. These guilds were organized in
a manner similar to something between a professional association,
a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society. They often depended
on grants of letters patented by a monarch or other authority to
enforce the flow of trade to their self-employed members, and to
retain ownership of tools and the supply of materials. A lasting
legacy of traditional guilds are the guildhalls constructed and used
as meeting places.
Where guilds were in control, they shaped labor, production, and
trade; they had strong controls over instructional capital, and the
modern concepts of a lifetime progression of apprentice to
craftsman, and then from journeyman eventually to widely
recognized master and grandmaster, began to emerge. European
guilds imposed long standardized periods of apprenticeship and
made it difficult for those lacking the capital to set up for

984 | Trade and Commerce

themselves or without the approval of their peers to gain access
to materials or knowledge, or to sell into certain markets, an area
that equally dominated the guilds’ concerns. These are defining
characteristics of mercantilism in economics, which dominated
most European thinking about political economy until the rise of
classical economics.

Hanseatic League

In cities linked to the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, the Hanseatic
League developed as a trade monopoly. This facilitated the growth
of trade among cities in close proximity to these two seas. Long-
distance trade in the Baltic intensified as the major trading towns
came together in the Hanseatic League under the leadership of
Lübeck.
The Hanseatic League was a business alliance of trading cities
and their guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern
Europe and flourished from 1200–1500, and continued with lesser
importance after that. The chief cities were Cologne on the Rhine
River, Hamburg and Bremen on the North Sea, and Lübeck on the
Baltic Sea. The Hanseatic cities each had their own legal system and
a degree of political autonomy.
The league was founded for the purpose of joining forces for
promoting mercantile interests, defensive strength, and political
influence. By the 14th century, the Hanseatic League held a near-
monopoly on trade in the Baltic, especially with Novgorod and
Scandinavia.

Trade and Commerce | 985

English Economy

The crises caused by the Great Famine and the Black Death between
1290 and 1348, as well as subsequent epidemics, produced many
challenges for the English economy. The Peasant’s Revolt of 1381 had
various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions
generated by the Black Death in the 1340s, the high taxes resulting
from the conflict with France during the Hundred Years’ War, and
instability within the local leadership of London.
Although the revolt was suppressed, it undermined many of the
vestiges of the feudal economic order and the countryside became
dominated by estates organized as farms, frequently owned or
rented by the new economic class of the gentry. The English
agricultural economy remained depressed throughout the 15th
century, with growth coming from the greatly increased English
cloth trade and manufacturing.

Fairs

From the 12th century onwards, many English towns acquired a

charter from the Crown allowing them to hold an annual fair, usually
serving a regional or local customer base and lasting for two or
three days. Fairs grew in popularity, reaching their heyday in the
13th century, as the international wool trade increased. The fairs
allowed English wool producers and ports on the east coast to
engage with visiting foreign merchants, circumnavigating those
English merchants in London keen to make a profit as middlemen.
At the same time, wealthy magnate consumers in England began to
use the new fairs as a way to buy goods like spices, wax, preserved
fish, and foreign cloth in bulk from the international merchants at
the fairs, again bypassing the usual London merchants.

986 | Trade and Commerce

Bridgnorth marketplace. The market place at Bridgnorth, one of many
medieval English towns to be granted the right to hold fairs, in this case
annually on the feast of the Translation of St. Leonard. Photo taken by Pam
Brophy.

Trade and Commerce | 987

Towards the end of the 14th century, the position of fairs started to
decline. The larger merchants, particularly in London, had begun to
establish direct links with the larger landowners such as the nobility
and the church; rather than the landowner buying from a chartered
fair, they would buy directly from the merchant. Nonetheless, the
great fairs remained important well into the 15th century, as
illustrated by their role in exchanging money, regional commerce,
and providing choice for individual consumers.

Sources

988 | Trade and Commerce

131. Daily Medieval Life

Learning Objective

• Compare and contrast the lives of different groups

of the population during the Middle Ages

Key Points

• During the High Middle Ages, the population of

Europe grew from 35 to 80 million between 1000 and
1347, probably due to improved agricultural
techniques and a more mild climate.
• 90% of the European population remained rural
peasants gathered into small communities of manors
or villages.
• Towns grew up around castles and were often
fortified by walls in response to disorder and raids.
• Daily life for peasants consisted of working the
land. Life was harsh, with a limited diet and little
comfort.
• Women were subordinate to men, in both the
peasant and noble classes, and were expected to
ensure the smooth running of the household.
• Children had a 50% survival rate beyond age one,

Daily Medieval Life | 989

 and began to contribute to family life around age
twelve.

Terms

agrarian

Based around producing and maintaining crops and

farmland.

sickle

Hand-held agricultural tool with a variously curved blade

typically used for harvesting grain crops or cutting
succulent forage (either freshly cut or dried as hay) used
chiefly to feed livestock.

kinsman

A male relative.

990 | Daily Medieval Life

 husbandry

Farming or agriculture.

The High Middle Ages was a period of tremendous expansion of

population. The estimated population of Europe grew from 35 to 80
million between 1000 and 1347, but the exact causes remain unclear;
improved agricultural techniques, the decline of slaveholding, a
warmer climate, and the lack of invasion have all been suggested. As
much as 90% of the European population remained rural peasants.
Many were no longer settled in isolated farms but had gathered
into small communities, usually known as manors or villages. These
peasants were often subject to noble overlords and owed them
rents and other services, in a system known as manorialism. There
remained a few free peasants throughout this period and beyond,
with more of them in the regions of southern Europe than in the
north. The practice of assarting, or bringing new lands into
production by offering incentives to the peasants who settled them,
also contributed to the expansion of population.

Development of Towns

Castles began to be constructed in the 9th and 10th centuries in

response to the disorder of the time, and provided protection from
invaders and rival lords. They were initially built of wood, then of
stone. Once castles were built, towns built up around them.
A major factor in the development of towns included Viking
invasions during the early Middle Ages, which led to villages

Daily Medieval Life | 991

erecting walls and fortifying their positions. Following this, great
medieval walled cities were constructed with homes, shops, and
churches contained within the walls. York, England, which
prospered during much of the later medieval era, is famed for its
medieval walls and bars (gates), and has the most extensive medieval
city walls remaining in England today.
The practice of sending children away to act as servants was
more common in towns than in the countryside. The inhabitants of
towns largely made their livelihoods as merchants or artisans, and
this activity was strictly controlled by guilds. The members of these
guilds would employ young people—primarily boys—as apprentices,
to learn the craft and later take position as guild members
themselves. These apprentices made up part of the household, or
“family,” as much as the children of the master.

York city and walls. View of the city looking northeast from the city wall. The
spires of York Minster are visible in the background.

992 | Daily Medieval Life

Peasant Life

Medieval villages consisted mostly of peasant farmers, with the

structure comprised of houses, barns, sheds, and animal pens
clustered around the center of the village. Beyond this, the village
was surrounded by plowed fields and pastures.
For peasants, daily medieval life revolved around an agrarian
calendar, with the majority of time spent working the land and
trying to grow enough food to survive another year. Church feasts
marked sowing and reaping days and occasions when peasant and
lord could rest from their labors.
Peasants that lived on a manor by the castle were assigned strips
of land to plant and harvest. They typically planted rye, oats, peas,
and barley, and harvested crops with a scythe, sickle, or reaper.
Each peasant family had its own strips of land; however, the
peasants worked cooperatively on tasks such as plowing and haying.
They were also expected to build roads, clear forests, and work on
other tasks as determined by the lord.
The houses of medieval peasants were of poor quality compared
to modern houses. The floor was normally earthen, and there was
very little ventilation and few sources of light in the form of
windows. In addition to the human inhabitants, a number of
livestock animals would also reside in the house. Towards the end
of the medieval period, however, conditions generally improved.
Peasant houses became larger in size, and it became more common
to have two rooms, and even a second floor.
Comfort was not always found even in the rich houses. Heating
was always a problem with stone floors, ceilings, and walls. Not
much light came in from small windows, and oil- and fat-based
candles often produced a pungent aroma. Furniture consisted of
wooden benches, long tables, cupboards, and pantries. Linen, when
affordable, could be glued or nailed to benches to provide some
comfort. Beds, though made of the softest materials, were often full
of bedbugs, lice, and other biting insects.

Daily Medieval Life | 993

 Peasants usually ate warm porridges made of wheat, oats, and
barley. Broths, stews, vegetables, and bread were also part of a
peasant’s diet. Peasants rarely ate meat, and when they did, it was
their own animals that were saved for the winter. Peasants drank
wine and ale, never water.
Even though peasant households were significantly smaller than
aristocratic ones, the wealthiest peasants would also employ
servants. Service was a natural part of the cycle of life, and it was
common for young people to spend some years away from home
in the service of another household. This way they would learn the
skills needed later in life, and at the same time earn a wage. This
was particularly useful for girls, who could put the earnings towards
their dowries.

Nobility

Nobles, both the titled nobility and simple knights, exploited the
manors and the peasants, although they did not own land outright
but were granted rights to the income from a manor or other lands
by an overlord through the system of feudalism. During the 11th
and 12th centuries, these lands, or fiefs, came to be considered
hereditary, and in most areas they were no longer divisible between
all the heirs as had been the case in the early medieval period.
Instead, most fiefs and lands went to the eldest son. The dominance
of the nobility was built upon its control of the land, its military
service as heavy cavalry, its control of castles, and various
immunities from taxes or other impositions.
Nobles were stratified; kings and the highest-ranking nobility
controlled large numbers of commoners and large tracts of land, as
well as other nobles. Beneath them, lesser nobles had authority over
smaller areas of land and fewer people. Knights were the lowest
level of nobility; they controlled but did not own land, and had to
serve other nobles.

994 | Daily Medieval Life

 The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important
nobleman, was the extended household and all those who regularly
attended on the ruler or central figure. These courtiers included the
monarch or noble’s camarilla and retinue, the household, nobility,
those with court appointments, and bodyguards, and may also have
included emissaries from other kingdoms or visitors to the court.
Foreign princes and foreign nobility in exile could also seek refuge
at a court.
Etiquette and hierarchy flourished in highly structured court
settings. Most courts featured a strict order of precedence, often
involving royal and noble ranks, orders of chivalry, and nobility.
Some courts even featured court uniforms. One of the major
markers of a court was ceremony. Most monarchal courts included
ceremonies concerning the investiture or coronation of the
monarch and audiences with the monarch. Some courts had
ceremonies around the waking and the sleeping of the monarch,
called a levée.
Court officials or office-bearers (one type of courtier) derived
their positions and retained their titles from their original duties
within the courtly household. With time, such duties often became
archaic. However, titles survived involving the ghosts of arcane
duties. These styles generally dated back to the days when a noble
household had practical and mundane concerns as well as high
politics and culture. These positions include butler, confessor,
falconer, royal fool, gentleman usher, master of the hunt, page,
and secretary. Elaborate noble households included many roles and
responsibilities, held by these various courtiers, and these tasks
characterized their daily lives.
Daily life of nobility also included playing games, including chess,
which echoed the hierarchy of the nobles, and playing music, such
as the music of the troubadours and trouvères. This involved a
vernacular tradition of monophonic secular song, probably
accompanied by instruments, sung by professional, occasionally
itinerant, musicians who were skilled poets as well as singers and
instrumentalists.

Daily Medieval Life | 995

Women in the Middle Ages

Women in the Middle Ages were officially required to be

subordinate to some male, whether their father, husband, or other
kinsman. Widows, who were often allowed some control over their
own lives, were still restricted legally. Three main activities
performed by peasant men and women were planting food, keeping
livestock, and making textiles, as depicted in Psalters from southern
Germany and England. Women of different classes performed
different activities. Rich urban women could be merchants like their
husbands or even became money lenders, and middle-class women
worked in the textile, inn-keeping, shop-keeping, and brewing
industries. Townswomen, like peasant women, were responsible for
the household and could also engage in trade. Poorer women often
peddled and huckstered food and other merchandise in the market
places or worked in richer households as domestic servants, day
laborers, or laundresses.
There is evidence that women performed not only housekeeping
responsibilities like cooking and cleaning, but even other household
activities like grinding, brewing, butchering, and spinning produced
items like flour, ale, meat, cheese, and textiles for direct
consumption and for sale. An anonymous 15th-century English
ballad described activities performed by English peasant women,
like housekeeping, making foodstuffs and textiles, and childcare.

996 | Daily Medieval Life

Peasant household. An image of a peasant household, including a woman
preparing cheese.

Noblewomen were responsible for running a household and could

occasionally be expected to handle estates in the absence of male
relatives, but they were usually restricted from participation in
military or government affairs. The only role open to women in the
church was that of a nun, as they were unable to become priests.

Daily Medieval Life | 997

Children

For most children growing up in medieval England, the first year

of life was one of the most dangerous, with as many as 50% of
children succumbing to fatal illness during that year. Moreover, 20%
of women died in childbirth. During the first year of life children
were cared for and nursed, either by parents if the family belonged
to the peasant class, or perhaps by a wet nurse if the family
belonged to a noble class.
By age twelve, a child began to take on a more serious role in
family duties. Although according to canon law girls could marry at
the age of twelve, this was relatively uncommon unless a child was
an heiress or belonged to a family of noble birth. Peasant children
at this age stayed at home and continued to learn and develop
domestic skills and husbandry. Urban children moved out of their
homes and into the homes of their employer or master (depending
on their future roles as servants or apprentices). Noble boys learned
skills in arms, and noble girls learned basic domestic skills. The end
of childhood and entrance into adolescence was marked by leaving
home and moving to the house of the employer or master, entering
a university, or entering church service.

Sources

998 | Daily Medieval Life

132. Intellectual Life

Learning Objective

• Describe intellectual life in the Middle Ages

Key Points

• Increased contact with Byzantium and with the

Islamic world in Muslim-dominated Spain and Sicily,
the Crusades, and the Reconquista allowed
Europeans to seek and translate the works of Hellenic
and Islamic philosophers and scientists, especially
Aristotle.
• The groundwork for the rebirth of learning was also
laid by the process of political consolidation and
centralization of the monarchies of Europe, especially
of Charlemagne and Otto I.
• Cathedral schools and universities started to
develop, with young men proceeding to university to
study the trivium and quadrivium.
• Scholasticism was a fusing of philosophy and
theology by 12th- and 13th-century scholars that
tried to employ a systematic approach to truth and
reason.

Intellectual Life | 999

 • Royal and noble courts saw the development of
poems and songs spread by traveling minstrels.
• Legal studies advanced in Western Europe.
• Algebra was invented, allowing more developed
mathematics, and astronomy and medicine advanced.

Terms

Thomas Aquinas

Italian Dominican friar and priest (c. 1225 CE–1274 CE)

and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in
the tradition of scholasticism.

trivium

In medieval universities, the trivium comprised the three

subjects that were taught first: grammar, logic, and
rhetoric.

Corpus Juris Civilis

The modern name for a collection of fundamental works

1000 | Intellectual Life

in jurisprudence, issued from 529–534 CE by order of
Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I.

quadrivium

The four subjects, or arts, taught after the trivium. It

consisted of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy
and was considered preparatory work for the serious study
of philosophy and theology.

Ptolemy

Greco-Roman writer of Alexandria (c. CE 90–c. 168 CE)

known as a mathematician, astronomer, geographer,
astrologer, and poet. Ptolemy was the author of several
scientific treatises, three of which were of continuing
importance to later Islamic and European science.

Aristotle

Greek philosopher and scientist born in Stagirus,

northern Greece, in 384 BCE. His writings covered many
subjects and constitute the first comprehensive system of
Western philosophy.

Intellectual Life | 1001

 scholasticism

Method of critical thought that dominated teaching by

the academics (scholastics, or schoolmen) of medieval
universities in Europe from about 1100–1700 CE.

During the 11th century, developments in philosophy and theology

led to increased intellectual activity, sometimes called the
renaissance of 12th century. The intellectual problems discussed
throughout this period were the relation of faith to reason, the
existence and simplicity of God, the purpose of theology and
metaphysics, and the issues of knowledge, of universals, and of
individuation. Philosophical discourse was stimulated by the
rediscovery of Aristotle—more than 3,000 pages of his works would
eventually be translated—and his emphasis on empiricism and
rationalism. Scholars such as Peter Abelard (d. 1142) and Peter
Lombard (d. 1164) introduced Aristotelian logic into theology.

Historical Conditions

The groundwork for the rebirth of learning was also laid by the
process of political consolidation and centralization of the
monarchies of Europe. This process of centralization began with
Charlemagne, King of the Franks (768–814) and later Holy Roman
Emperor (800–814). Charlemagne’s inclination towards education,
which led to the creation of many new churches and schools where
students were required to learn Latin and Greek, has been called the
“Carolingian Renaissance.” A second “renaissance” occurred during

1002 | Intellectual Life

the reign of Otto I, King of the Saxons from 936–973 and Holy
Roman Emperor from 952. Otto was successful in unifying his
kingdom and asserting his right to appoint bishops and archbishops
throughout the kingdom. Otto’s assumption of this ecclesiastical
power brought him into close contact with the best-educated and
ablest class of men in his kingdom. From this close contact, many
new reforms were introduced in the Saxon kingdom and in the
Holy Roman Empire. Thus, Otto’s reign has also been called a
“renaissance.” The renaissance of the twelfth century has been
identified as the third and final of the medieval renaissances. Yet the
renaissance of the 12th century was far more thoroughgoing than
those renaissances that preceded in the Carolingian and Ottonian
periods.
Conquest of and contact with the Muslim world through the
Crusades and the reconquest of Spain also yielded new texts and
knowledge. Most notably, contact with Muslims led to the the
European rediscovery and translation of Aristotle, whose wide-
ranging works influenced medieval philosophy, theology, science,
and medicine.

Schools and Universities

The late-11th and early-12th centuries also saw the rise of cathedral
schools throughout Western Europe, signaling the shift of learning
from monasteries to cathedrals and towns. Cathedral schools were
in turn replaced by the universities established in major European
cities.
The first universities in Europe included the University of Bologna
(1088), the University of Paris (c. 1150, later associated with the
Sorbonne), and the University of Oxford (1167). In Europe, young
men proceeded to university when they had completed their study
of the trivium—the preparatory arts of grammar, rhetoric, and

Intellectual Life | 1003

dialectic or logic—and the quadrivium—arithmetic, geometry,
music, and astronomy.

Mob Quad at Merton College, University of Oxford. Aerial view of Merton

College’s Mob Quad, the oldest quadrangle of the university, constructed from
1288-1378.

Philosophy and theology fused in scholasticism, an attempt by 12th-

and 13th-century scholars to reconcile authoritative texts, most
notably Aristotle and the Bible. This movement tried to employ
a systemic approach to truth and reason and culminated in the
thought of Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274), who wrote the Summa
Theologica, or Summary of Theology.
The development of medieval universities allowed them to aid
materially in the translation and propagation of these texts and
started a new infrastructure, which was needed for scientific
communities. In fact, the European university put many of these
texts at the center of its curriculum, with the result that the

1004 | Intellectual Life

“medieval university laid far greater emphasis on science than does
its modern counterpart and descendent.”

Poems and Stories

Royal and noble courts saw the development of chivalry and the
ethos of courtly love. This culture was expressed in the vernacular
languages rather than Latin, and comprised poems, stories, legends,
and popular songs spread by troubadours, or wandering minstrels.
Often the stories were written down in the chansons de geste, or
“songs of great deeds,” such as “The Song of Roland” or “The Song
of Hildebrand.” Secular and religious histories were also produced.
Geoffrey of Monmouth (d. c. 1155) composed his Historia Regum
Britanniae, a collection of stories and legends about Arthur. Other
works were more clearly pure history, such as Otto von Freising’s
(d. 1158) Gesta Friderici Imperatoris, detailing the deeds of Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa, or William of Malmesbury’s (d. c. 1143) Gesta
Regum, on the kings of England.

Legal Studies

Legal studies advanced during the 12th century. Both secular law
and canon law, or ecclesiastical law, were studied in the High Middle
Ages. Secular law, or Roman law, was advanced greatly by the
discovery of the Corpus Juris Civilis in the 11th century, and by 1100
Roman law was being taught at Bologna. This led to the recording
and standardization of legal codes throughout Western Europe.
Canon law was also studied, and around 1140 a monk named Gratian,
a teacher at Bologna, wrote what became the standard text of canon
law—the Decretum.

Intellectual Life | 1005

Algebra and Astronomy

Among the results of the Greek and Islamic influence on this period
in European history were the replacement of Roman numerals with
the decimal positional number system and the invention of algebra,
which allowed more advanced mathematics. Astronomy advanced
following the translation of Ptolemy’s Almagest from Greek into
Latin in the late 12th century. Medicine was also studied, especially
in southern Italy, where Islamic medicine influenced the school at
Salerno.

A YouTube element has been excluded from this

version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://library.achievingthedream.org/
herkimerwesterncivilization/?p=155

1006 | Intellectual Life

 The Weird Truth about Arabic Numerals. How the
world came to use so-called Arabic numerals—from the
scholarship of ancient Hindu mathematicians, to Muslim
scientist Al-Khwarizmi, to the merchants of medieval
Italy.

Sources

Intellectual Life | 1007

133. Arts and Sciences

Learning Objective

• Write about the scientific and artistic

advancements of the High Middle Ages and how these
advancements were influenced by certain
technological advancements and changes in thinking

Key Points

• After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages

was a time of little scientific and artistic advancement
until the renaissance of the 12th century, when
increased contact with the Islamic world and
Byzantium revived the arts.
• William of Ockham insisted that the world of
reason and the world of faith had to be kept apart,
and this new approach liberated scientific
speculation from the dogmatic restraints of
Aristotelian science, paving the way for new
approaches.
• After the renaissance of the 12th century, medieval
Europe saw a radical change in the rate of new
inventions, innovations in the ways of managing

1008 | Arts and Sciences

 traditional means of production, and economic
growth.
• The period saw major technological advances,
including the adoption of gunpowder, the invention of
vertical windmills, spectacles, and mechanical clocks,
and greatly improved water mills, building techniques
(Gothic architecture, medieval castles), and
agriculture in general (three-field crop rotation).
• In northern European countries, Gothic
architecture remained the norm, and the Gothic
cathedral was further embellished. In Italy,
architecture took on a new form, inspired by classical
ideals.
• The most important development of late medieval
literature was the ascendancy of the vernacular
languages.

Terms

Euclid

A Greek mathematician (~300 BCE), often referred to as

the “Father of Geometry.” His Elements is one of the most
influential works in the history of mathematics.

Arts and Sciences | 1009

 Gutenberg

German blacksmith, goldsmith, printer, and publisher

who introduced printing to Europe. His invention of
mechanical movable type printing started the Printing
Revolution and is widely regarded as the most important
event of the modern period.

Nicolaus Copernicus

A Renaissance mathematician and astronomer (1473–1543)

who formulated a heliocentric model of the universe that
placed the Sun, rather than Earth, at the center.

the Reconquista

Period of approximately 781 years in the history of the

Iberian Peninsula, from after the Islamic conquest in 711-718
to the fall of Granada, the last Islamic state on the
peninsula, in 1492.

Thomistic

The philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the

work and thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274),
philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church.

1010 | Arts and Sciences

 Hellenic

From Ancient Greek; Hellenikos, “of or relating to Greece

or Greeks.”

vernacular

The native language or native dialect of a specific

population, especially as distinguished from a literary,
national, or standard variety of the language, such as Latin.

Overview

The renaissance of the 12th century was a period of many changes

at the outset of the High Middle Ages. It included social, political,
and economic transformations, and an intellectual revitalization of
Western Europe with strong philosophical and scientific roots. For
some historians these changes paved the way for later achievements
such as the literary and artistic movement of the Italian Renaissance
in the 15th century and the scientific developments of the 17th
century.
After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, Western Europe
had entered the Middle Ages with great difficulties. Apart from
depopulation and other factors, most classical scientific treatises
of classical antiquity, written in Greek, had become unavailable.
Philosophical and scientific teaching of the Early Middle Ages was

Arts and Sciences | 1011

based upon the few Latin translations and commentaries on ancient
Greek scientific and philosophical texts that remained in the Latin
West.
This scenario changed during the renaissance of the 12th century.
The increased contact with Byzantium and with the Islamic world
in Spain and Sicily, the Crusades, and the Reconquista allowed
Europeans to seek and translate the works of Hellenic and Islamic
philosophers and scientists, especially Aristotle.

Scientific Advancement

The rediscovery of the works of Aristotle allowed the full

development of the new Christian philosophy and the method of
scholasticism. By 1200 there were reasonably accurate Latin
translations of the main works of Aristotle, Euclid, Ptolemy,
Archimedes, and Galen—that is, all the intellectually crucial ancient
authors except Plato. Also, many of the medieval Arabic and Jewish
key texts, such as the main works of Avicenna, Averroes, and
Maimonides became available in Latin. During the 13th century,
scholastics expanded the natural philosophy of these texts by
commentaries (associated with teaching in the universities) and
independent treatises. Notable among these were the works of
Robert Grosseteste, Roger Bacon, John of Sacrobosco, Albertus
Magnus, and Duns Scotus.
Scholastics believed in empiricism and supporting Roman
Catholic doctrines through secular study, reason, and logic. The
most famous scholastic was Thomas Aquinas (later declared a
“Doctor of the Church”), who led the move away from the Platonic
and Augustinian and towards Aristotelianism.
Meanwhile, precursors of the modern scientific method can be
seen in Grosseteste’s emphasis on mathematics as a way to
understand nature and in the empirical approach admired by Roger
Bacon. Grosseteste was the founder of the famous Oxford

1012 | Arts and Sciences

Franciscan school. He built his work on Aristotle’s vision of the
dual path of scientific reasoning. He concluded from particular
observations into a universal law, and then back again—from
universal laws to prediction of particulars. Grosseteste called this
“resolution and composition.” Further, Grosseteste said that both
paths should be verified through experimentation in order to verify
the principals. These ideas established a tradition that carried
forward to Padua and Galileo Galilei in the 17th century.
Under the tuition of Grosseteste and inspired by the writings
of Arab alchemists who had preserved and built upon Aristotle’s
portrait of induction, Bacon described a repeating cycle of
observation, hypothesis, and experimentation, and the need for
independent verification. He recorded the manner in which he
conducted his experiments in precise detail so that others could
reproduce and independently test his results—a cornerstone of the
scientific method, and a continuation of the work of researchers like
Al Battani.
The first half of the 14th century saw the scientific work of great
thinkers. The logic studies by William of Ockham led him to
postulate a specific formulation of the principle of parsimony,
known today as Ockham’s Razor. This principle is one of the main
heuristics used by modern science to select between two or more
underdetermined theories.

Arts and Sciences | 1013

 William of Ockham. William of Ockham, from stained
glass window at a church in Surrey. He is considered
one of the major figures of medieval thought and was at
the center of the major intellectual and political
controversies of the 14th century.

Thomas Bradwardine and his partners, the Oxford Calculators of

Merton College, Oxford, distinguished kinematics from dynamics,
emphasizing kinematics, and investigating instantaneous velocity.
They formulated the mean speed theorem: a body moving with
constant velocity travels distance and time equal to an accelerated
body whose velocity is half the final speed of the accelerated body.
They also demonstrated this theorem—the essence of “The Law of
Falling Bodies”—long before Galileo, who has gotten the credit.
In his turn, Nicole Oresme showed that the reasons proposed by

1014 | Arts and Sciences

the physics of Aristotle against the movement of Earth were not
valid, and adduced the argument of simplicity for the theory that
Earth moves, and not the heavens. Despite this argument in favor of
Earth’s motion, Oresme fell back on the commonly held opinion that
“everyone maintains, and I think myself, that the heavens do move
and not the Earth.”
The historian of science Ronald Numbers notes that the modern
scientific assumption of methodological naturalism can be also
traced back to the work of these medieval thinkers

Technological Developments

After the renaissance of the 12th century, medieval Europe saw a

radical change in the rate of new inventions, innovations in the
ways of managing traditional means of production, and economic
growth. The period saw major technological advances, including
the adoption of gunpowder, the invention of vertical windmills,
spectacles, mechanical clocks, and greatly improved water mills,
building techniques (Gothic architecture, medieval castles), and
agriculture in general (three-field crop rotation).
The development of water mills from their ancient origins was
impressive, and extended from agriculture to sawmills both for
timber and stone. By the time of the Domesday Book, most large
villages had turnable mills; there were around 6,500 in England
alone. Water power was also widely used in mining for raising ore
from shafts, crushing ore, and even powering bellows.
European technical advancements from the 12th to 14th centuries
were either built on long-established techniques in medieval
Europe, originating from Roman and Byzantine antecedents, or
adapted from cross-cultural exchanges through trading networks
with the Islamic world, China, and India. Often, the revolutionary
aspect lay not in the act of invention itself, but in its technological
refinement and application to political and economic power.

Arts and Sciences | 1015

Though gunpowder and other weapons had been started by the
Chinese, it was the Europeans who developed and perfected its
military potential, precipitating European expansion and eventual
imperialism in the Modern Era.
Also significant in this respect were advances in maritime
technology. Advances in shipbuilding included the multi-masted
ships with lateen sails, the sternpost-mounted rudder, and the
skeleton-first hull construction. Along with new navigational
techniques such as the dry compass, the Jacob’s staff, and the
astrolabe, these allowed economic and military control of the seas
adjacent to Europe and enabled the global navigational
achievements of the dawning Age of Exploration.
At the turn to the Renaissance, Gutenberg’s invention of
mechanical printing made possible a dissemination of knowledge to
a wider population that would lead to not only a gradually more
egalitarian society, but one more able to dominate other cultures,
drawing from a vast reserve of knowledge and experience. The
technical drawings of late-medieval artist-engineers Guido da
Vigevano and Villard de Honnecourt can be viewed as forerunners
of later Renaissance works by people like Taccola or da Vinci.

1016 | Arts and Sciences

European output of printed books c. 1450-1800. Estimated output of printed
books in Europe from c. 1450 to 1800. A book is defined as printed matter
containing more than 49 pages.

Visual Arts and Architecture

A precursor to Renaissance art can be seen in the early 14th century

works of Giotto. Giotto was the first painter since antiquity to
attempt the representation of a three-dimensional reality, and to
endow his characters with true human emotions. The most
important developments, however, came in 15th-century Florence.
The affluence of the merchant class allowed extensive patronage of
the arts, and foremost among the patrons were the Medici.
There were several important technical innovations in visual arts,
like the principle of linear perspective found in the work of

Arts and Sciences | 1017

Masaccio and later described by Brunelleschi. Greater realism was
also achieved through the scientific study of anatomy, championed
by artists like Donatello. This can be seen particularly well in his
sculptures, inspired by the study of classical models.
In northern European countries, Gothic architecture remained
the norm, and the Gothic cathedral was further embellished. In
Italy, on the other hand, architecture took a different direction, also
inspired by classical ideals. The crowning work of the period was
the Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, with Giotto’s clock tower,
Ghiberti’s baptistery gates, and Brunelleschi’s cathedral dome of
unprecedented proportions.

Duomo in Florence, Italy, seen at night from Michelangelo’s Piazza. Giotto’s

clock tower on the right and Brunelleschi’s cathedral dome on the left. In one
structure, two of the most influential architectural designs in the world.

Literature

The most important development of late medieval literature was the

ascendancy of the vernacular languages. The vernacular had been

1018 | Arts and Sciences

in use in England since the 8th century and in France since the
11th century. The most popular genres of written works had been
the chanson de geste, troubadour lyrics, and romantic epics, or
the romance. Though Italy was later in evolving a native literature
in the vernacular language, it was here that the most important
developments of the period were to come.
Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, written in the early 14th century,
merged a medieval world view with classical ideals. Another
promoter of the Italian language was Boccaccio with his Decameron.
The application of the vernacular did not entail a rejection of Latin,
and both Dante and Boccaccio wrote prolifically in Latin as well as
Italian, as would Petrarch later (whose Canzoniere also promoted
the vernacular and is considered the first modern lyric poetry
collection). Together these three poets established the Tuscan
dialect as the norm for the modern Italian language.

Sources

Arts and Sciences | 1019

134. The Black Death

Learning Objective

• Evaluate the impact of the Black Death on

European society in the Middle Ages

Key Points

• The Black Death resulted in the deaths of an

estimated 75-200 million people—approximately 30%
of Europe’s population.
• It spread from central Asia on rat fleas living on the
black rats that were regular passengers on merchant
ships, and traveled towards Europe as people fled
from one area to another.
• The Great Famine of 1315-1317 and subsequent
malnutrition in the population likely caused
weakened immunity and susceptibility to disease.
• Medieval doctors thought the plague was created
by air corrupted by humid weather, decaying
unburied bodies, and fumes produced by poor
sanitation.
• The aftermath of the plague created a series of
religious, social, and economic upheavals, which had

1020 | The Black Death

 profound effects on the course of European history.
• As people struggled to understand the causes of
the Black Death, renewed religious fervor and
fanaticism bloomed in its wake, leading to the
widespread persecution of minorities.
• Flagellantism, the practice of self-inflicted pain,
especially with a whip, became popular as a radical
movement during the time of the Black Death, and
was eventually deemed heretical by the church.
• The great population loss wrought by the plague
brought favorable results to the surviving peasants in
England and Western Europe, such as wage increases
and more access to land, and was one of the factors
in the ending of the feudal system.

Terms

bubonic plague

Disease circulating mainly in fleas on small rodents.

Without treatment, the bacterial infection kills about two
thirds of infected humans within four days.

The Black Death | 1021

 the Silk Road

Series of trade and cultural routes that were central to

cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent,
connecting the West and East from China to the
Mediterranean Sea.

Flagellant

Practitioners of an extreme form of mortification of their

own flesh by whipping it with various instruments.

In the Late Middle Ages (1340–1400) Europe experienced the most

deadly disease outbreak in history when the Black Death, the
infamous pandemic of bubonic plague, hit in 1347. The Black Death
was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history,
resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75–200 million people and
peaking in Europe in the years 1348–1350.

Path of the Black Death to Europe

The Black Death is thought to have originated in the arid plains of

Central Asia, where it then travelled along the Silk Road, reaching
the Crimea by 1346. It was most likely carried by Oriental rat fleas
living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant
ships.

1022 | The Black Death

 Mongol dominance of Eurasian trade routes enabled safe passage
through more secured trade routes. Goods were not the only thing
being traded; disease also was passed between cultures. From
Central Asia the Black Death was carried east and west along the Silk
Road by Mongol armies and traders making use of the opportunities
of free passage within the Mongol Empire offered by the Pax
Mongolica. The epidemic began in Europe with an attack that
Mongols launched on the Italian merchants’ last trading station
in the region, Caffa in the Crimea. In the autumn of 1346, plague
broke out among the besiegers and then penetrated into the town.
When spring arrived, the Italian merchants fled on their ships,
unknowingly carrying the Black Death. The plague initially spread to
humans near the Black Sea and then outwards to the rest of Europe
as a result of people fleeing from one area to another.

The spread of the Black Death. Animation showing the spread of The Black
Death from Central Asia to East Asia and Europe from 1346 to 1351.

Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black

Death is estimated to have killed 30–60% of Europe’s total
population. While Europe was devastated by the disease, the rest
of the world fared much better. In India, populations rose from 91

The Black Death | 1023

million in 1300, to 97 million in 1400, to 105 million in 1500. Sub-
Saharan Africa also remained largely unaffected by the plagues.

Symptoms and Treatment

The most infamous symptom of bubonic plague is an infection of

the lymph glands, which become swollen and painful and are known
as buboes. Buboes associated with the bubonic plague are commonly
found in the armpits, groin, and neck region. Gangrene of the
fingers, toes, lips, and nose is another common symptom.
Medieval doctors thought the plague was created by air corrupted
by humid weather, decaying unburied bodies, and fumes produced
by poor sanitation. The recommended treatment for the plague was
a good diet, rest, and relocating to a non-infected environment so
the individual could get access to clean air. This did help, but not for
the reasons the doctors of the time thought. In actuality, because
they recommended moving away from unsanitary conditions,
people were, in effect, getting away from the rodents that harbored
the fleas carrying the infection.
Plague doctors advised walking around with flowers in or around
the nose to “ward off the stench and perhaps the evil that afflicted
them.” Some doctors wore a beak-like mask filled with aromatic
items. The masks were designed to protect them from putrid air,
which was seen as the cause of infection.

1024 | The Black Death

A plague doctor. Drawing illustrating the clothes and “beak”
of a plague doctor.

The Black Death | 1025

Since people didn’t have the knowledge to understand the plague,
people believed it was a punishment from God. The thought the only
way to be rid of the plague was to be forgiven by God. One method
was to carve the symbol of the cross onto the front door of a house
with the words “Lord have mercy on us” near it.

Impact of the Black Death on Society and

Culture

The aftermath of the plague created a series of religious, social,

and economic upheavals, which had profound effects on the course
of European history. It took 150 years for Europe’s population to
recover, and the effects of the plague irrevocably changed the social
structure, resulting in widespread persecution of minorities such
as Jews, foreigners, beggars, and lepers. The uncertainty of daily
survival has been seen as creating a general mood of morbidity,
influencing people to “live for the moment.”
Because 14th-century healers were at a loss to explain the cause
of the plague, Europeans turned to astrological forces, earthquakes,
and the poisoning of wells by Jews as possible reasons for the
plague’s emergence. No one in the 14th century considered rat
control a way to ward off the plague, and people began to believe
only God’s anger could produce such horrific displays. Giovanni
Boccaccio, an Italian writer and poet of the 14th century, questioned
whether plague was sent by God for human’s correction, or if it
came through the influence of the heavenly bodies. Christians
accused Jews of poisoning public water supplies in an effort to ruin
European civilization. The spreading of this rumor led to complete
destruction of entire Jewish towns, but it was caused simply by
suspicion on the part of the Christians, who noticed that the Jews
had lost fewer lives in the Plague due to their hygienic practices. In
February 1349, 2,000 Jews were murdered in Strasbourg. In August

1026 | The Black Death

of the same year, the Jewish communities of Mainz and Cologne
were exterminated.
There was a significant impact on religion, as many believed the
plague was God’s punishment for sinful ways. Church lands and
buildings were unaffected, but there were too few priests left to
maintain the old schedule of services. Over half the parish priests,
who gave the final sacraments to the dying, died themselves. The
church moved to recruit replacements, but the process took time.
New colleges were opened at established universities, and the
training process sped up. The shortage of priests opened new
opportunities for lay women to assume more extensive and
important service roles in local parishes.
Flagellantism was a 13th and 14th centuries movement involving
radicals in the Catholic Church. It began as a militant pilgrimage
and was later condemned by the Catholic Church as heretical. The
peak of the activity was during the Black Death. Flagellant groups
spontaneously arose across Northern and Central Europe in 1349,
except in England. The German and Low Countries movement, the
Brothers of the Cross, is particularly well documented. They
established their camps in fields near towns and held their rituals
twice a day. The followers would fall to their knees and scourge
themselves, gesturing with their free hands to indicate their sin and
striking themselves rhythmically to songs, known as Geisslerlieder,
until blood flowed. Sometimes the blood was soaked up by rags and
treated as a holy relic. Some towns began to notice that sometimes
Flagellants brought plague to towns where it had not yet surfaced.
Therefore, later they were denied entry. The flagellants responded
with increased physical penance.
The Black Death had a profound impact on art and literature.
After 1350, European culture in general turned very morbid. The
common mood was one of pessimism, and contemporary art turned
dark with representations of death. La Danse Macabre, or the dance
of death, was a contemporary allegory, expressed as art, drama, and
printed work. Its theme was the universality of death, expressing
the common wisdom of the time that no matter one’s station in

The Black Death | 1027

life, the dance of death united all. It consisted of the personified
Death leading a row of dancing figures from all walks of life to the
grave—typically with an emperor, king, pope, monk, youngster, and
beautiful girl, all in skeleton-state. Such works of art were produced
under the impact of the Black Death, reminding people of how
fragile their lives and how vain the glories of earthly life were.

Danse Macabre. The Dance of Death (1493) by Michael Wolgemut, from the
Liber chronicarum by Hartmann Schedel.

Economic Impact of the Plague

The great population loss wrought by the plague brought favorable

results to the surviving peasants in England and Western Europe.
There was increased social mobility, as depopulation further eroded
the peasants’ already weakened obligations to remain on their

1028 | The Black Death

traditional holdings. Feudalism never recovered. Land was plentiful,
wages high, and serfdom had all but disappeared. It was possible to
move about and rise higher in life.
The Black Death encouraged innovation of labor-saving
technologies, leading to higher productivity. There was a shift from
grain farming to animal husbandry. Grain farming was very labor-
intensive, but animal husbandry needed only a shepherd, a few
dogs, and pastureland.
Since the plague left vast areas of farmland untended, they were
made available for pasture and thus put more meat on the market;
the consumption of meat and dairy products went up, as did the
export of beef and butter from the Low Countries, Scandinavia, and
northern Germany. However, the upper classes often attempted to
stop these changes, initially in Western Europe, and more forcefully
and successfully in Eastern Europe, by instituting sumptuary laws.
These regulated what people (particularly of the peasant class)
could wear so that nobles could ensure that peasants did not begin
to dress and act as higher class members with their increased
wealth. Another tactic was to fix prices and wages so that peasants
could not demand more with increasing value. In England, the
Statute of Labourers of 1351 was enforced, meaning no peasant
could ask for more wages than they had in 1346. This was met with
varying success depending on the amount of rebellion it inspired;
such a law was one of the causes of the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt in
England.
Plague brought an eventual end of serfdom in Western Europe.
The manorial system was already in trouble, but the Black Death
assured its demise throughout much of Western and Central Europe
by 1500. Severe depopulation and migration of people from village to
cities caused an acute shortage of agricultural laborers. In England,
more than 1300 villages were deserted between 1350 and 1500.

The Black Death | 1029

 A YouTube element has been excluded from this
version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://library.achievingthedream.org/
herkimerwesterncivilization/?p=157

Black Death (“Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani). It’s

hard to find a song to parody for such a gruesome
subject. Our apologies to Gwen’s fans, but it’s for the
cause of education!

Sources

1030 | The Black Death

PART IX
CH. 9 THE DEVELOPMENT
OF RUSSIA

Ch. 9 The Development of

Russia | 1031
135. Rurik and the Foundation
of Rus'

Learning Objective

• Understand the key aspects of Rurik’s rise to power

and the establishment of Kievan Rus’

Key Points

• Rurik and his followers likely originated in

Scandinavia and were related to Norse Vikings.
• The Primary Chronicle is one of the few written
documents available that tells us how Rurik came to
power.
• Local leaders most likely invited Rurik to establish
order in the Ladoga region around 862, beginning a
powerful legacy of Varangian leaders.
• The capital of Kievan Rus’ moved from Novgorod to
Kiev after Rurik’s successor, Oleg, captured this
southern city.

Rurik and the Foundation of

Rus' | 1033
 Terms

Primary Chronicle

A text written in the 12th century that relates a detailed

history of Rurik’s rise to power.

Varangians

Norse Vikings who established trade routes throughout

Eurasia and eventually established a powerful dynasty in
Russia.

Rurik Dynasty

The founders of Kievan Rus’ who stayed in power until

1598 and established the first incarnation of a unified
Russia.

Rurik

Rurik (also spelled Riurik) was a Varangian chieftain who arrived

in the Ladoga region in modern-day Russia in 862. He built the
Holmgard settlement near Novgorod in the 860s and founded the
first significant dynasty in Russian history called the Rurik Dynasty.

1034 | Rurik and the Foundation of Rus'

Rurik and his heirs also established a significant geographical and
political formation known as Kievan Rus’, the first incarnation of
modern Russia. The Rurik rulers continued to rule Russia into the
16th century and the mythology surrounding the man Rurik is often
referred to as the official beginning of Russian history.

Primary Chronicle

The identity of the mythic leader Rurik remains obscure and

unknown. His original birthplace, family history, and titles are
shrouded in mystery with very few historical clues. Some 19th-
century scholars attempted to identify him as Rorik of Dorestad
(a Viking-Age trading outpost situated in the northern part of
modern-day Germany). However, no concrete evidence exists to
confirm this particular origin story.

Rurik and the Foundation of Rus' | 1035

A page from the Primary Chronicle or The Tale of Bygone Years. This rare
written document was created in the 12th century and provides the most
promising clues as to the arrival of Rurik in Ladoga.

1036 | Rurik and the Foundation of Rus'

The debate also continues as to how Rurik came to control the
Novgorod region. However, some clues are available from the
Primary Chronicle. This document is also known as The Tale of
Bygone Years and was compiled in Kiev around 1113 by the monk
Nestor. It relates the history of Kievan Rus’ from 850 to 1110 with
various updates and edits made throughout the 12th century by
scholarly monks. It is difficult to untangle legend from fact, but this
document provides the most promising clues regarding Rurik. The
Primary Chronicle contends the Varangians were a Viking group,
most likely from Sweden or northern Germany, who controlled
trade routes across northern Russia and tied together various
cultures across Eurasia.

Rurik and the Foundation of Rus' | 1037

A monument celebrating the millennial anniversary of the arrival of Rurik in
Russia. This modern interpretation of Rurik illustrates his powerful place in
Russian history and lore.

The various tribal groups, including Chuds, Eastern Slavs, Merias,

Veses, and Krivichs, along the northern trade routes near Novgorod
often cooperated with the Varangian Rus’ leaders. But in the late

1038 | Rurik and the Foundation of Rus'

850s they rose up in rebellion, according to the Primary Chronicle.
However, soon after this rebellion, the local tribes near the
Novgorod region began to experience internal disorder and conflict.
These events prompted local tribal leaders to invite Rurik and his
Varangian leaders back to the region in 862 to reinstate peace and
order. This moment in history is known as the Invitation of the
Varangians and is commonly regarded as the starting point of
official Russian history.

Development of Kievan Rus’

According to legend, at the call of the local tribal leaders Rurik,

along with his brothers Truvor and Sineus, founded the Holmgard
settlement in Ladoga. This settlement is supposed to be at the site
of modern-day Novgorod. However, newer archeological evidence
suggests that Novgorod was not regularly settled until the 10th
century, leading some to speculate that Holmgard refers to a smaller
settlement just southeast of the city. The founding of Holmgard
signaled a new era in Russian history and the three brothers became
the famous founders of the first Rus’ ruling dynasty.

Rurik and the Foundation of Rus' | 1039

Kievan Rus’ in 1015. The expansion and shifting borders of Kievan Rus’ become
apparent when looking at this map, which includes the two centers of power
in Novgorod and Kiev.

Rurik died in 879 and his successor, Oleg, continued the Varangian
Rus’ expansion in 882 by taking the southern city of Kiev from
the Khasars and establishing the medieval state of Kievan Rus’. The
capital officially moved to Kiev at this point. With this shift in power,
there were two distinct capitals in Kievan Rus’, the northern seat of

1040 | Rurik and the Foundation of Rus'

Novgorod and the southern center in Kiev. In Kievan Rus’ tradition,
the heir apparent would oversee the northern site of Novgorod
while the ruling Rus’ king stayed in Kiev. Over the next 100 years
local tribes consolidated and unified under the Rurik Dynasty,
although local fractures and cultural differences continued to play
a significant role in the attempt to maintain order under Varangian
rule.

Sources

Rurik and the Foundation of Rus' | 1041

136. Vladimir I and
Christianization

Learning Objective

• Outline the shift from pagan culture to Orthodox

Christianity under the rule of Vladimir I

Key Points

• Vladimir I became the ruler of Kievan Rus’ after

overthrowing his brother Yaropolk in 978.
• Vladimir I formed an alliance with Basil II of the
Byzantine Empire and married his sister Anna in 988.
• After his marriage Vladimir I officially changed the
state religion to Orthodox Christianity and destroyed
pagan temples and icons.
• He built the first stone church in Kiev in 989, called
the Church of the Tithes.

1042 | Vladimir I and Christianization

 Terms

Constantinople

The capital of the Byzantine Empire.

Perun

The pagan thunder god that many locals, and possibly

Vladimir I, worshipped before Christianization.

Basil II

The Byzantine emperor who encouraged Vladimir to

convert to Christianity and offered a political marriage
alliance with his sister, Anna.

Vladimir I

Vladimir I, also known as Vladimir the Great or Vladimir

Sviatoslavich the Great, ruled Kievan Rus’ from 980 to 1015 and is
famous for Christianizing this territory during his reign. Before he
gained the throne in 980, he had been the Prince of Novgorod while
his father, Sviatoslav of the Rurik Dynasty, ruled over Kiev. During
his rule as the Prince of Novgorod in the 970s, and by the time

Vladimir I and Christianization | 1043

Vladimir claimed power after his father’s death, he had consolidated
power between modern-day Ukraine and the Baltic Sea. He also
successfully bolstered his frontiers against incursions from
Bulgarian, Baltic, and Eastern nomads during his reign.

Early Myths of Christianization

The original Rus’ territory was comprised of hundreds of small

towns and regions, each with its own beliefs and religious practices.
Many of these practices were based on pagan and localized
traditions. The first mention of any attempts to bring Christianity to
Rus’ appears around 860. The Byzantine Patriarch Photius penned a
letter in the year 867 that described the Rus’ region right after the
Rus’-Byzantine War of 860. According to Photius, the people of the
region appeared enthusiastic about the new religion and he claims
to have sent a bishop to convert the population. However, this low-
ranking official did not successfully convert the population of Rus’
and it would take another twenty years before a significant change
in religious practices would come about.
The stories regarding these first Byzantine missions to Rus’ during
the 860s vary greatly and there is no official record to substantiate
the claims of the Byzantine patriarchs. Any local people in small
villages who embraced Christian practices would have had to
contend with fears of change from their neighbors.

Vladimir I and His Rise to Power

The major player in the Christianization of the Rus’ world is

traditionally considered Vladimir I. He was born in 958, the
youngest of three sons, to the Rus’ king Sviatoslav. He ascended
to the position of Prince of Novgorod around 969 while his oldest

1044 | Vladimir I and Christianization

brother, Yaropolk, became the designated heir to the throne in
Kiev. Sviatoslav died in 972, leaving behind a fragile political scene
among his three sons. Vladimir was forced to flee to Scandinavia in
976 after Yaropolk murdered their brother Oleg and violently took
control of Rus’.

Vladimir I. A Christian representation of Vladimir I, who was the first Rus’

leader to officially bring Christianity to the region.

Vladimir I and Christianization | 1045

Vladimir fled to his kinsman Haakon Sigurdsson, who ruled Norway
at the time. Together they gathered an army with the intent to
regain control of Rus’ and establish Vladimir as the ruler. In 978,
Vladimir returned to Kievan Rus’ and successfully recaptured the
territory. He also slew his brother Yaropolk in Kiev in the name of
treason and, in turn, became the ruler of all of Kievan Rus’.

Constantinople and Conversion

Vladimir spent the next decade expanding his holdings, bolstering

his military might, and establishing stronger borders against outside
invasions. He also remained a practicing pagan during these first
years of his rule. He continued to build shrines to pagan gods,
traveled with multiple wives and concubines, and most likely
continued to promote the worship of the thunder god Perun.
However, the Primary Chronicle (one of the few written documents
about this time) states that in 987 Vladimir decided to send envoys
to investigate the various religions neighboring Kievan Rus’.
According to the limited documentation from the time, the
envoys that came back from Constantinople reported that the
festivities and the presence of God in the Christian Orthodox faith
were more beautiful than anything they had ever seen, convincing
Vladimir of his future religion.
Another version of events claims that Basil II of Byzantine needed
a military and political ally in the face of a local uprising near
Constantinople. In this version of the story, Vladimir demanded a
royal marriage in return for his military help. He also announced
he would Christianize Kievan Rus’ if he was offered a desirable
marriage tie. In either version of events, Vladimir vied for the hand
of Anna, the sister of the ruling Byzantine emperor, Basil II. In order
to marry her he was baptized in the Orthodox faith with the name
Basil, a nod to his future brother-in-law.

1046 | Vladimir I and Christianization

17th-century Church of the Tithes. The original stone Church of the Tithes
collapsed from fire and sacking in the 12th century. However, two later
versions were erected and destroyed in the 17th and 19th centuries.

He returned to Kiev with his bride in 988 and proceeded to destroy

all pagan temples and monuments. He also built the first stone
church in Kiev named the Church of the Tithes starting in 989.
These moves confirmed a deep political alliance between the
Byzantine Empire and Rus’ for years to come.

Baptism of Kiev

On his return in 988, Vladimir baptized his twelve sons and many
boyars in official recognition of the new faith. He also sent out a
message to all residents of Kiev, both rich and poor, to appear at the
Dnieper River the following day. The next day the residents of Kiev
who appeared were baptized in the river while Orthodox priests
prayed. This event became known as the Baptism of Kiev.

Vladimir I and Christianization | 1047

Monument of Saint Vladimir in Kiev. This statue sits close to the site of the
original Baptism of Kiev.

1048 | Vladimir I and Christianization

Pagan uprisings continued throughout Kievan Rus’ for at least
another century. Many local populations violently rejected the new
religion and a particularly brutal uprising occurred in Novgorod in
1071. However, Vladimir became a symbol of the Russian Orthodox
religion, and when he died in 1015 his body parts were distributed
throughout the country to serve as holy relics.

Sources

Vladimir I and Christianization | 1049

137. Yaroslav the Wise

Learning Objective

• Outline the key elements of Yaroslav the Wise’s

reign and cultural influence

Key Points

• Yaroslav I came to power after a bloody civil war

between brothers.
• He captured the Kievan throne because of the
devotion of the Novgorodian and Varangian troops to
his cause.
• Grand Prince Yaroslav was the first Kievan ruler to
codify legal customs into the Pravda Yaroslava.
• He bolstered borders and encouraged political
alliances with other major European powers during
his reign.

1050 | Yaroslav the Wise

 TERMS

primogeniture

A policy that designates the oldest son as the heir to the

throne upon the death of the father.

Novgorod Republic

The northern stronghold of Kievan Rus’ where Yaroslav

gained early support for his cause.

Yaroslav the Wise

Yaroslav the Wise was the Grand Prince of Kiev from 1016 until his
death in 1954. He was also vice-regent of Novgorod from 1010 to 1015
before his father, Vladimir the Great, died. During his reign he was
known for spreading Christianity to the people of Rus’, founding the
first monasteries in the country, encouraging foreign alliances, and
translating Greek texts in Church Slavonic. He also created some of
the first legal codes in Kievan Rus’. These accomplishments during
his lengthy rule granted him the title of Yaroslav the Wise in early
chronicles of his life, and his legacy endures in both political and
religious Russian history.

Yaroslav the Wise | 1051

Youth and Rise to Power

Yaroslav was the son of the Varangian Grand Prince Vladimir the
Great and most likely his second son with Rogneda of Polotsk. His
youth remains shrouded in mystery. Evidence from the Primary
Chronicle and examination of his skeleton suggests he is one of
the youngest sons of Vladimir, and possibly a son from a different
mother. He was most likely born around the year 978.

1052 | Yaroslav the Wise

Facial reconstruction of Yaroslav I by Mikhail Gerasimov.

He was set as vice-regent of Novgorod in 1010, as befitted a senior

heir to the throne. In this same time period Vladimir the Great
granted the Kievan throne to his younger son, Boris. Relations were
strained in this family. Yaroslav refused to pay Novgorodian tribute

Yaroslav the Wise | 1053

to Kiev in 1014, and only Vladimir’s death in 1015 prevented a severe
war between these two regions. However, the next few years were
spent in a bitter civil war between the brothers. Yarsolav was vying
for the seat in Kiev against his brother Sviatopolk I, who was
supported by Duke Boleslaw I of Chrobry. In the ensuing years
of carnage, three of his brothers were murdered (Boris, Gleb, and
Svyatoslav). Yaroslav won the first battle at Kiev against Sviatopolk
in 1016 and Sviatopolk was forced to flee to Poland.
After this significant triumph Yaroslav’s ascent to greatness
began, and he granted freedoms and privileges to the Novgorod
Republic, who had helped him gain the Kievan throne. These first
steps also most likely led to the first legal code in Kievan Rus’ under
Yaroslav. He was chronicled as Yaroslav the Wise in retellings of
these events because of his even-handed dealing with the wars, but
it is highly possible he was involved in the murder of his brothers
and other gruesome acts of war.

Wise Reign

The civil war did not completely end in 1016. Sviatopolk returned in
1018 and retook Kiev. However, Varangian and Novgorodian troops
recaptured the capital and Sviatopolk fled to the West never to
return. Another fraternal conflict arose in 1024 when another
brother of Yaroslav’s, Mstislav of Chernigov, attempted to capture
Kiev. After this conflict, the brothers split the Kievan Rus’ holdings,
with Mstislav ruling over the region left of the Dnieper River.
Yaroslav the Wise was instrumental in defending borders and
expanding the holdings of Kievan Rus’. He protected the southern
borders from nomadic tribes, such as the Pechenegs, by
constructing a line of military forts. He also successfully laid claim
to Chersonesus in the Crimea and came to a peaceful agreement
with the Byzantine Empire after many years of conflict and
disagreements over land holdings.

1054 | Yaroslav the Wise

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev. This iconic cathedral fell into disrepair and
was almost destroyed during the Soviet era, but it was saved and restored to
its former glory.

Yaroslav the Wise garnered his thoughtful reputation due to his

prolific years in power. He was a ruler that loved literature, religion,
and the written language. His many accomplishments included:

• Building the Saint Sophia Cathedral and the first monasteries

in Russia, named Saint George and Saint Irene.
• Founding a library and a school at the Saint Sophia Cathedral
and encouraging the translation of Greek texts into Church
Slavonic.
• Developing a more established hierarchy within the Russian
Orthodox Church, including a statute outlining the rights of
the clergy and establishing the sobor of bishops.
• Beautifying Kiev with elements of design taken from the
Byzantine Empire, including the Golden Gate of Kiev.
• Compiling the first book of laws in Kievan Rus’, called the
Pravda Yaroslava. This first compilation set down clear laws
that reflected the feudal landscape of the 11th century. This
initial legal code would live on and be refined into the Russkaya
Pravda in the 12th century.

Yaroslav the Wise | 1055

 • Establishing primogeniture, which meant that his eldest son
would succeed him as Grand Prince over Novgorod and Kiev,
hoping that future conflict between his children would be
avoided.

Golden Gate of Kiev in 2016. This important monument was one of the great
architectural accomplishments created under Yaroslav the Wise, and now
features a monument to the ruler, seen in the foreground.

Family and Death

Yaroslav married Ingegerd Olofsdotter, the daughter of the king of

Sweden, in 1019. He had many sons and encouraged them to remain
on good terms, after all the years of warfare and bloodshed with his
own brothers. He also married three of his daughters to European
royalty. Elizabeth, Anna, and Anastasia married Harald III of Norway,
Henry I of France, and Andrew I of Hungary respectively. These
marriages forged powerful alliances with European states.

1056 | Yaroslav the Wise

Daughters of Yaroslav the Wise. This 11th-century fresco in Saint Sophia’s
Cathedral shows four of Yaroslav’s daughter, probably Anne, Anastasia,
Elizabeth, and Agatha.

The Grand Prince Yaroslav I died in 1054 and was buried in Saint
Sophia’s Cathedral. His expansion of culture and military might,
along with his unification of Kievan Rus’, left a powerful impression
on Russian history. Many towns and monuments remain dedicated
to this leader.

Sources

Yaroslav the Wise | 1057

138. The Mongol Threat

Learning Objective

• Describe the attacks by th Mongols on the Russian

principality

Key Points

• The major principalities of Kievan Rus’ became

increasingly fractured and independent after the
death of Yaroslav the Wise in 1054.
• The first Mongol attempt to capture Kievan
territories occurred in 1223 at the Battle of the Kalka
River.
• The Mongol forces began a heavy military
campaign on Kievan Rus’ in 1237 under the rule of
Batu Khan.
• Kiev was sacked and taken in 1240, starting a long
era of Mongol rule in the region.

1058 | The Mongol Threat

 Terms

Tatar yoke

The name given to the years of Mongol rule in Kievan

Rus’, which meant heavy taxation and the possibility of local
invasions at any time.

Golden Horde

The western section of the Mongol Empire that included

Kievan Rus’ and parts of Eastern Europe.

Sarai

The new capital of the Mongol Empire in the southern

part of Kievan Rus’.

Mongol Invasion

The Mongol invasion of the Kievan Rus’ principalities began in 1223

at the Battle of the Kalka River. However, the Mongol armies ended
up focusing their military might on other regions after this bloody
meeting, only to return in 1237. For the next three years the Mongol
forces took over the major princely cities of Kievan Rus’ and finally

The Mongol Threat | 1059

forced most principalities to submit to foreign rule and taxation.
Rus’ became part of what is known as the Golden Horde, the
western extension of the Mongol Empire located in the eastern
Slavic region. Some of the new taxes and rules of law lasted until
1480 and had a lasting impact on the shape and character of modern
Russia.

Fragmented Kievan Rus’

After the end of the unifying reign of Yaroslav the Wise, Kievan Rus’
became fragmented and power was focused on smaller polities. The
great ruler’s death in 1054 brought about major power struggles
between his sons and princes in outlying provinces. By the 12th
century, after years of fighting amongst the princes, power was
centered around smaller principalities. This unsettled trend left
Kievan Rus’ much more fragmented. Power was passed down to the
eldest in the local ruling dynasty and cities were responsible for
their own defenses. The Byzantine Empire was also facing major
upheaval, which meant a central Russian ally and trading partner
was weakened, which, in turn, weakened the strength and wealth of
Kievan Rus’.

1060 | The Mongol Threat

The principalities of Kievan Rus’ at its height, 1054-1132. The princely regions
were relatively unified into the 12th century but slowly separated and became
more localized as fights over regions and power among the nobility continued.

The Mongol Threat | 1061

Mongol Invasion

The already fragile alliances between the smaller Rus’ principalities

faced further tension when the nomadic invaders, the Mongols,
arrived on the scene during this fractured era. These invaders
originated on the steppes of central Asia and were unified under the
infamous warrior and leader Genghis Khan. The Mongols began to
expand their power across the continent. The Battle of the Kalka
River in 1223 initiated the first attempt of the Mongol forces to
capture Kievan Rus’. It was a bloody battle that ended with the
execution of Mstislav of Kiev executed the Kievan forces greatly
weakened. The Mongols were superior in their military tactics and
stretched the Rus’ forces considerably, however after executing the
Kievan prince, the forces went back to Asia to rejoin Genghis Khan.
However, the Mongol threat was far from over, and they returned in
1237.

1062 | The Mongol Threat

The Sacking of Suzdal in 1238 by Batu Khan. This 16th-century depiction of
the Mongol invasion highlights the bloodshed and military might of the
invaders.

Over the course of the years 1237 and 1238, the Mongol leader, Batu
Khan, led his 35,000 mounted archers to burn down Moscow and
Kolomna. Then he split his army into smaller units that tackled

The Mongol Threat | 1063

the princely polities one at a time. Only Novgorod and Pskov were
spared major destruction during this time. Refugees from the
southern principalities, where destruction was widespread and
devastating, were forced to flee to the harsh northern forests,
where good soil and resources were scarce. The final victory for
Batu Khan came in December 1240 when he stormed the great
capital of Kiev and prevailed.

Tatar Rule and the Golden Horde

The Mongols, also known as the Tatars, built their new capital, Sarai,
in the south along the Volga River. All the major principalities, such
as Novgorod, Smolensk, and Pskov, submitted to Mongol rule. The
age of this economic and cultural rule is often called the Tatar yoke,
but over the course of 200 years, it was a relatively peaceful rule.
The Tatars followed in the footsteps of Genghis Khan and refrained
from settling the entire region or forcing local populations to adopt
specific religious or cultural traditions. However, Rus’ principalities
paid tribute and taxes to the Mongol rulers regularly, under the
umbrella of the Golden Horde (the western portion of the Mongol
Empire). Around 1259 this tribute was organized into a census that
was enforced by the locals Rus’ princes on a regular schedule,
collected, and taken to the capital of Sarai for the Mongol leaders.

1064 | The Mongol Threat

A map of the Mongol Empire as it expanded. This illustration shows the rapid
expansion of the Mongol Empire as it traveled west into what became known
as the Golden Horde.

Effects of Mongol Rule

Despite the fact that the established Tatar rule was relatively
peaceful, demanding taxation and the devastation from years of
invasion left many major cities in disrepair for decades. It took years
to rebuild Kiev and Pskov. However, Novgorod continued to flourish
and the relatively new city centers of the Moscow and Tver began to
prosper. Another downside to the Tatar presence was the continued
threat of invasion and destruction, which happened sporadically
during their presence. Each new military invasion meant heavy tolls
on the local population and years of reconstruction.
Culturally, the Mongol rule brought about major shifts during
the first century of their presence. Extensive postal road systems,
military organization, and powerful dynasties were established by
Tatar alliances. Capital punishment and torture also became more
widespread during the years of Tatar rule. Some noblemen also

The Mongol Threat | 1065

changed their names and adopted the Tatar language, bringing
about a shift in the aesthetic, linguistic, and cultural ties of Russia
life. Many scholars also note that the Mongol rule was a major cause
of the division of East Slavic people in Rus’ into three distinctive
modern-day nations, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

Sources

1066 | The Mongol Threat

139. Ivan I and the Rise of
Moscow

Learning Objective

• Outline the key points that helped Moscow become

so powerful and how Ivan I accomplished these major
victories

Key Points

• Moscow was considered a small trading outpost

under the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal into the
13th century.
• Power struggles and constant raids under the
Mongol Empire’s Golden Horde caused once powerful
cities, such as Kiev, to struggle financially and
culturally.
• Ivan I utilized the relative calm and safety of the
northern city of Moscow to entice a larger population
and wealth to move there.
• Alliances between Golden Horde leaders and Ivan I
saved Moscow from many of the raids and
destruction of other centers, like Tver.

Ivan I and the Rise of Moscow | 1067

 Terms

Tver

A rival city to Moscow that eventually lost favor under the

Golden Horde.

Grand Prince of Vladimir

The title given to the ruler of this northern province,

where Moscow was situated.

The Rise of Moscow

Moscow was only a small trading outpost in the principality of

Vladimir-Suzdal in Kievan Rus’ before the invasion of Mongol forces
during the 13th century. However, due to the unstable environment
of the Golden Horde, and the deft leadership of Ivan I at a critical
time during the 13th century, Moscow became a safe haven of
prosperity during his reign. It also became the new seat of power of
the Russian Orthodox Church.

1068 | Ivan I and the Rise of Moscow

Ivan I

Ivan I (also known as Ivan Kalita) was born around 1288 to the Prince
of Moscow, Daniil Aleksandrovich. He was born during a time of
devastation and upheaval in Rus’. Kiev had been overtaken by the
invading Mongol forces in 1240, and most of the Rus’ principalities
had been absorbed into the Golden Horde of the Mongol Empire
by the time Ivan was born. He ascended to the seat of Prince of
Moscow after the death of his father, and then the death of his older
brother Yury.

Ivan I. He was born around 1288 and died in either 1340 or

1341, still holding the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir.

Ivan I and the Rise of Moscow | 1069

Ivan I stepped into a role that had already been expanded by his
predecessors. Both his older brother and his father had captured
nearby lands, including Kolomna and Mozhaisk. Yury had also made
a successful alliance with the Mongol leader Uzbeg Khan and
married his sister, securing more power and advantages within the
hierarchy of the Golden Horde.
Ivan I continued the family tradition and petitioned the leaders of
the Golden Horde to gain the seat of Grand Prince of Vladimir. His
other three rivals, all princes of Tver, had previously been granted
the title in prior years. However they were all subsequently deprived
of the title and all three aspiring princes also eventually ended up
murdered. Ivan I, on the other hand, garnered the title from Khan
Muhammad Ozbeg in 1328. This new title, which he kept until his
death around 1340, meant he could collect taxes from the Russian
lands as a ruling prince and position his tiny city as a major player in
the Vladimir region.

Moscow’s Rise

During this time of upheaval, the tiny outpost of Moscow had

multiple advantages that repositioned this town and set it up for
future prosperity under Ivan I. Three major contributing factors
helped Ivan I relocate power to this area:

• It was situated in between other major principalities on the

east and west so it was often protected from the more
devastating invasions.
• This relative safety, compared to Tver and Ryazan, for example,
started to bring in tax-paying citizens who wanted a safe place
to build a home and earn a livelihood.
• Finally, Moscow was set up perfectly along the trade route
from Novgorod to the Volga River, giving it an economic
advantage from the start.

1070 | Ivan I and the Rise of Moscow

Ivan I also spurred on the growth of Moscow by actively recruiting
people to move to the region. In addition, he bought the freedom of
people who had been captured by the extensive Mongol raids. These
recruits further bolstered the population of Moscow. Finally, he
focused his attention on establishing peace and routing out thieves
and raiding parties in the region, making for a safe and calm
metaphorical island in a storm of unsettled political and military
upsets.

Ivan I and the Rise of Moscow | 1071

Kievan Rus’ 1220-1240. This map illustrates the power dynamics at play
during the 13th century shortly before Ivan I was born. Sarai, the capital of the
Golden Horde, sat to the southeast, while Moscow (not visible on this map)
was tucked up in the northern forests of Vladimir-Suzdal.

Ivan I knew that the peace of his region depended upon keeping up
an alliance with the Golden Horde, which he did faithfully. Moscow’s
increased wealth during this era also allowed him to loan money to

1072 | Ivan I and the Rise of Moscow

neighboring principalities. These regions then became indebted to
Moscow, bolstering its political and financial position.
In addition, a few neighboring cities and villages were subsumed
into Moscow during the 1320s and 1330s, including Uglich, Belozero,
and Galich. These shifts slowly transformed the tiny trading outpost
into a bustling city center in the northern forests of what was once
Kievan Rus’.

Russian Orthodox Church and The Center of

Moscow

Ivan I committed some of Moscow’s new wealth to building a

splendid city center and creating an iconic religious setting. He
built stone churches in the center of Moscow with his newly gained
wealth. Ivan I also tempted one of the most important religious
leaders in Rus’, the Orthodox Metropolitan Peter, to the city of
Moscow. Before the rule of the Golden Horde the original Russian
Orthodox Church was based in Kiev. After years of devastation,
Metropolitan Peter transferred the seat of power to Moscow where
a new Renaissance of culture was blossoming. This perfectly timed
transformation of Moscow coincided with the decades of
devastation in Kiev, effectively transferring power to the north once
again.

Ivan I and the Rise of Moscow | 1073

Peter of Moscow and scenes from his life as depicted in a 15th-century icon.
This religious leader helped bring cultural power to Moscow by moving the
seat of the Russian Orthodox Church there during Ivan I’s reign.

1074 | Ivan I and the Rise of Moscow

One of the most lasting accomplishments of Ivan I was to petition
the Khan based in Sarai to designate his son, who would become
Simeon the Proud, as the heir to the title of Grand Prince of
Vladimir. This agreement a line of succession that meant the ruling
head of Moscow would almost always hold power over the
principality of Vladimir, ensuring Moscow held a powerful position
for decades to come.

Sources

Ivan I and the Rise of Moscow | 1075

140. The Formation of Russia

Learning Objective

• Outline the key points that led to a consolidated

northern region under Ivan III and Vasili III in
Moscow

Key Points

• Moscow had risen to a powerful position in the

north due to its location and relative wealth and
stability during the height of the Golden Horde.
• Ivan III overtook Novgorod, along with his four
brothers’ landholdings, which began a process
consolidating power under the Grand Prince of
Moscow.
• Ivan III was the first prince of Rus’ to style himself
as the Tsar in the grand tradition of the Orthodox
Byzantine Empire.
• Vasili III followed in his father’s footsteps and
continued a regime of consolidating land and
practicing domestic intolerance that suppressed any
attempts to disobey the seat of Moscow.

1076 | The Formation of Russia

 Terms

Muscovite Sudebnik

The legal code crafted by Ivan III that further

consolidated his power and outlined harsh punishments for
disobedience.

Novgorod

Moscow’s most prominent rival in the northern region.

boyars

Members of the highest ruling class in feudal Rus’, second

only to the princes.

Gathering of the Russian Lands

Ivan III was the first Muscovite prince to consolidate Moscow’s

position of power and successfully incorporate the rival cities of
Tver and Novgorod under the umbrella of Moscow’s rule. These
shifts in power in the Northern provinces created the first
semblance of a “Russian” state (though that name would not be
utilized for another century). Ivan the Great was also the first Rus’

The Formation of Russia | 1077

prince to style himself a Tsar, thereby setting up a strong start for
his successor son, Vasili III. Between the two leaders, what would
become known as the “Gathering of the Russian Lands” would occur
and begin a new era of Russian history after the Mongol Empire’s
Golden Horde.

Ivan III and the End of the Golden Horde

Ivan III Vasilyevich, also known as Ivan the Great, was born in
Moscow in 1440 and became Grand Prince of Moscow in 1462. He
ruled from this seat of power until his death in 1505. He came into
power when Moscow had many economic and cultural advantages
in the norther provinces. His predecessors had expanded Moscow’s
holdings from a mere 600 miles to 15,000. The seat of the Russian
Orthodox Church was also centered in Moscow starting in the 14th
century. In addition, Moscow had long been a loyal ally to the ruling
Mongol Empire and had an optimal position along major trade
routes between Novgorod and the Volga River.

1078 | The Formation of Russia

Ivan III. He held the title of Grand Prince of Moscow between 1462 and 1505.

However, one of Ivan the Great’s most substantial accomplishments

was refusing the Tatar yoke (as the Mongol Empire’s stranglehold
on Rus’ lands has been called) in 1476. Moscow refused to pay its
normal Golden Horde taxes starting in that year, which spurred

The Formation of Russia | 1079

Khan Ahmed to wage war against the city in 1480. It took a number
of months before the Khan retreated back to the steppe. During the
following year, internal fractures within the Mongol Empire greatly
weakened the hold of Mongol rulers on the northeastern Rus’ lands
, which effectively freed Moscow from its old duties.

Moscow’s Land Grab

The other major political change that Ivan III instigated was a major
consolidation of power in the northern principalities, often called
the “Gathering of the Russian Lands.” Moscow’s primary rival,
Novgorod, became Ivan the Great’s first order of business. The two
grand cities had been locked in dispute for over a century, but
Ivan III waged a harsh war that forced Novgorod to cede its land
to Moscow after many uprisings and attempted alliances between
Novgorod and Lithuania. The official state document accepting
Moscow’s rule was signed by Archbishop Feofil of Novgorod in 1478.
Any revolts that arose out of Novgorod over the next decade were
swiftly put down and any disobedient Novgorodian royal family
members were removed to Moscow or other outposts to discourage
further outbursts.
In addition to capturing his greatest rival city, Ivan III also
collected his four brothers’ local lands over the course of his rule,
further expanding and consolidating the land under the power of
the Grand Prince of Moscow. Ivan III also levied his political,
economic, and military might over the course of his reign to gain
control of Yaroslavl, Rostov, Tver, and Vyatka, forming one of the
most unified political formations in the region since Vladimir the
Great. This new political formation was in contrast to centuries of
local princes ruling over their regions relatively autonomously.

1080 | The Formation of Russia

Palace of Facets pillar. This decadent pillar resides in the Palace of Facets built
by Italian architects in stone in the mostly wooden Moscow Kremlin. This
banquet hall was only one of many major architectural feats Ivan III built
during his reign in Moscow.

Ivan the Great also greatly shaped the future of the Rus’ lands. These
major shifts included:

The Formation of Russia | 1081

 • Styling himself the “Tsar and Autocrat” in Byzantine style,
essentially stepping into the new leadership position in
Orthodoxy after the fall of the Byzantine Empire. These
changes also occurred after he married Sophia Paleologue of
Constantinople, who had brought court and religious rituals
from the Byzantine Empire.
• He stripped the boyars of their localized and state power and
essentially created a sovereign state that paid homage to
Moscow.
• He oversaw the creation of a new legal code, called Muscovite
Sudebnik in 1497, which further consolidated his place as the
highest ruler of the northern Rus’ lands and instated harsh
penalties for disobedience, sacrilege, or attempts to
undermine the crown.
• The princes of formerly powerful principalities now under
Moscow’s rule were placed in the role of service nobility, rather
than sovereign rulers as they once were.
• Ivan III’s power was partly due to his alliance with Russian
Orthodoxy, which created an atmosphere of anti-Catholicism
and stifled the chance to build more powerful western
alliances.

Vasili III

Vasili III was the son of Sophia Paleologue and Ivan the Great and
the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1505 to 1533. He followed in his
father’s footsteps and continued to expand Moscow’s landholdings
and political clout. He annexed, Pskov, Volokolamsk, Ryazan, and
Novgorod-Seversky during his reign. His most spectacular grab for
power was his capture of Smolensk, the great stronghold of
Lithuania. He utilized a rebellious ally in the form of the Lithuanian
prince Mikhail Glinski to gain this major victory.

1082 | The Formation of Russia

Vasili II. This piece was created by a contemporary artist and depicts Vasili III
as a scholar and leader.

Vasili III also followed in his father’s oppressive footsteps. He

utilized alliances with the Orthodox Church to put down any
rebellions or feudal disputes. He limited the power of the boyars and
the once-powerful Rurikid dynasties in newly conquered provinces.
He also increased the gentry’s landholdings, once more
consolidating power around Moscow. In general, Vasili III’s reign
was marked by an oppressive atmosphere; he carried out harsh

The Formation of Russia | 1083

penalties for speaking out against the power structure or showing
the slightest disobedience to the crown.

Sources

1084 | The Formation of Russia

141. Ivan the Terrible

Learning Objective

• Outline the key points of Ivan IV’s policies and

examine the positive and negative aspects of his rule

Key Points

• Ivan IV is often known as Ivan the Terrible, even

though the more correct translation is akin to Ivan
the Fearsome or Ivan the Awesome.
• Ivan IV was the first Rus’ prince to title himself
“Tsar of All the Russias” beginning the long tradition
of rule under the tsars.
• Lands in the Crimea, Siberia, and modern-day
Tatarstan were all subsumed into Russian lands under
Ivan IV.
• The persecution of the boyars during Ivan IV’s reign
began under the harsh regulations of the oprichnina.

Ivan the Terrible | 1085

 Terms

oprichnina

A state policy enacted by Ivan IV that made him absolute

monarch of much of the north and hailed in an era of boyar
persecution. Ivan IV successfully grabbed large chunks of
land from the nobility and created his own personal guard,
the oprichniki, during this era.

Moscow Print Yard

The first publishing house in Russia, which was opened in

1553.

boyar

A member of the feudal ruling elite who was second only

to the princes in Russian territories.

Ivan IV

Ivan IV Vasileyevich is widely known as Ivan the Terrible or Ivan

the Fearsome. He was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to
1547 and reigned as the “Tsar of all the Russias” from 1547 until

1086 | Ivan the Terrible

he died in 1584. His complex years in power precipitated military
conquests, including Kazan and Astrakhan, that changed the shape
and demographic character of Russia forever. He also reshaped the
political formation of the Russian state, oversaw a cultural
Renaissance in Russia, and shifted power to the head of state, the
tsar, a title that had never before been given to a prince in the Rus’
lands.

Rise to Power

Ivan IV was born in 1530 to Vasili III and Elena Glinskaya. He was
three when he was named the Grand Prince of Moscow after his
father’s death. Some say his years as the child vice-regent of
Moscow under manipulative boyar powers shaped his views for
life. In 1547, at the age of sixteen, he was crowned “Tsar of All
the Russias” and was the first person to be coronated with that
title. This title claimed the heritage of Kievan Rus’ while firmly
establishing a new unified Russian state. He also married Anastasia
Romanovna, which tied him to the powerful Romanov family.

Ivan the Terrible | 1087

18th-century portrait of Ivan IV. Images of Ivan IV often display a prominent
brow and a frowning mouth.

Domestic Innovations and Changes

Despite Ivan IV’s reputation as a paranoid and moody ruler, he also

contributed to the cultural and political shifts that would shape
Russia for centuries. Among these initial changes in relatively
peaceful times he:

1088 | Ivan the Terrible

 • Revised the law code, the Sudebnik of 1550, which initiated a
standing army, known as the streltsy. This army would help
him in future military conquests.
• Developed the Zemsky Sobor, a Russian parliament, along with
the council of the nobles, known as the Chosen Council.
• Regulated the Church more effectively with the Council of the
Hundred Chapters, which regulated Church traditions and the
hierarchy.
• Established the Moscow Print Yard in 1553 and brought the
first printing press to Russia.
• Oversaw the construction of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow.

St. Basil’s Cathedral. This iconic structure was one cultural accomplishment
created under Ivan IV’s rule.

Ivan the Terrible | 1089

Oprichnina and Absolute Monarchy

The 1560s were difficult with Russia facing drought and famine,
along with a number of Tatar invasions, and a sea-trading blockade
from the Swedes and Poles. Ivan IV’s wife, Anastasia, was also likely
poisoned and died in 1560, leaving Ivan shaken and, some sources
say, mentally unstable. Ivan IV threatened to abdicate and fled from
Moscow in 1564. However, a group of boyars went to beg Ivan to
return in order to keep the peace. Ivan agreed to return with the
understanding he would be granted absolute power and then
instituted what is known as the oprichnina.

1911 painting by Apollinary Vasnetsov. This painting represents people fleeing

from the Oprichniki, the secret service and military oppressors of Ivan IV’s
reign.

This agreement changed the way the Russian state worked and
began an era of oppression, executions, and state surveillance. It
split the Russian lands into two distinct spheres, with the northern
region around the former Novgorod Republic placed under the
absolute power of Ivan IV. The boyar council oversaw the rest of

1090 | Ivan the Terrible

the Russian lands. This new proclamation also started a wave of
persecution and against the boyars. Ivan IV executed, exiled, or
forcibly removed hundreds of boyars from power, solidifying his
legacy as a paranoid and unstable ruler.

Military Conquests and Foreign Relations

Ivan IV established a powerful trade agreement with England and

even asked for asylum, should he need it in his fights with the
boyars, from Elizabeth I. However, Ivan IV’s greatest legacy remains
his conquests, which reshaped Russia and pushed back Tatar
powers who had been dominating and invading the region for
centuries.
His first conquest was the Kazan Khanate, which had been raiding
the northeast region of Russia for decades. This territory sits in
modern-day Tatarstan. A faction of Russian supporters were already
rising up in the region but Ivan IV led his army of 150,000 to battle
in June of 1552. After months of siege and blocking Kazan’s water
supply, the city fell in October. The conquest of the entire Kazan
Khanate reshaped relations between the nomadic people and the
Russian state. It also created a more diverse population under the
fold of the Russian state and the Church.
Ivan IV also embarked on the Livonian War, which lasted 24 years.
The war pitted Russia against the Swedish Empire, the Polish-
Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Poland. The Polish leader, Stefan
Batory, was an ally of the Ottoman Empire in the south, which was
also in a tug-of-war with Russia over territory. These two powerful
entities on each edge of Russian lands, and the prolonged wars, left
the economy in Moscow strained and Russian resources scarce in
the 1570s.
Ivan IV also oversaw two decisive territorial victories during his
reign. The first was the defeat of the Crimean horde, which meant
the southern lands were once again under Russian leadership. The

Ivan the Terrible | 1091

second expansion of Russian territory was headed by Cossack
leader Yermak Timofeyevich. He led expeditions into Siberian
territories that had never been under Russian rule. Between 1577
and 1580 many new Siberian regions had reached agreements with
Russian leaders, allowing Ivan IV to style himself “Tsar of Siberia” in
his last years.

Ivan IV’s throne. This decadent throne mirrors Ivan the Terrible’s love of
power and opulence.

1092 | Ivan the Terrible

Madness and Legacy

Ivan IV left behind a compelling and contradictory legacy. Even

his nickname “terrible” is a source for confusion. In Russian the
word grozny means “awesome,” “powerful” or “thundering,” rather
than “terrible” or “mad.” However, Ivan IV often behaved in ruthless
and paranoid ways that favors the less flattering interpretation.
He persecuted the long-ruling boyars and often accused people of
attempting to murder him (which makes some sense when you look
at his family’s history). His often reckless foreign policies, such as
the drawn out Livonian War, left the economy unstable and fertile
lands a wreck. Legend also suggests he murdered his son Ivan
Ivanovich, whom he had groomed for the throne, in 1581, leaving
the throne to his childless son Feodor Ivanovich. However, his
dedication to culture and innovation reshaped Russia and solidified
its place in the East.

Sources

Ivan the Terrible | 1093

142. The Time of Troubles

Learning Objective

• Outline the distinctive features of the Time of

Troubles and how they eventually ended

Key Points

• The Time of Troubles started with the death of the

childless Tsar Feodor Ivanovich, which spurred an
ongoing dynastic dispute.
• Famine between 1601 and 1603 caused massive
starvation and further strained Russia.
• Two false heirs to the throne, known as False
Dmitris, were backed by the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth that wanted to grab power in
Moscow.
• Rurikid Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Novgorod
merchant Kuzma Minin led the final resistance
against Polish invasion that ended the dynastic
dispute and reclaimed Moscow in 1613.

1094 | The Time of Troubles

 Terms

Feodor Ivanovich

The last tsar of the Rurik Dynasty, whose death spurred

on a major dynastic dispute.

Dmitry Pozharsky

The Rurikid prince that successfully ousted Polish forces

from Moscow.

Zemsky Sobor

A form of Russian parliament that met to vote on major

state decisions, and was comprised of nobility, Orthodox
clergy, and merchant representatives.

The Time of Troubles was an era of Russian history dominated

by a dynastic crisis and exacerbated by ongoing wars with Poland
and Sweden, as well as a devastating famine. It began with the
death of the childless last Russian Tsar of the Rurik Dynasty, Feodor
Ivanovich, in 1598 and continued until the establishment of the
Romanov Dynasty in 1613. It took another six years to end two of
the wars that had started during the Time of Troubles, including the
Dymitriads against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The Time of Troubles | 1095

Famine and Unrest

At the death of Feodor Ivanovich, the last Rurikid Tsar, in 1598, his
brother-in-law and trusted advisor, Boris Godunov, was elected his
successor by the Zemsky Sobor (Great National Assembly). Godunov
was a leading boyar and had accomplished a great deal under the
reign of the mentally-challenged and childless Feodor. However, his
position as a boyar caused unrest among the Romanov clan who saw
it as an affront to follow a lowly boyar. Due to the political unrest,
strained resources, and factions against his rule, he was not able
to accomplish much during his short reign, which only lasted until
1605.

1096 | The Time of Troubles

Tsar Boris Godunov. His short-lived reign was beset by famine and resistance
from the boyars.

While Godunov was attempting to keep the country stitched

together, a devastating famine swept across Russian from 1601 to
1603. Most likely caused by a volcanic eruption in Peru in 1600, the
temperatures stayed well below normal during the summer months
and often went below freezing at night. Crops failed and about

The Time of Troubles | 1097

two million Russians, a third of the population, perished during this
famine. This famine also caused people to flock to Moscow for food
supplies, straining the capital both socially and financially.

Dynastic Uncertainty and False Dmitris

The troubles did not cease after the famine subsided. In fact, 1603
brought about new political and dynastic struggles. Feodor
Ivanovich’s younger brother was reportedly stabbed to death before
the Tsar’s death, but some people still believed he had fled and
was alive. The first of the nicknamed False Dmitris appeared in the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1603 claiming he was the lost
young brother of Ivan the Terrible. Polish forces saw this pretender’s
appearance as an opportunity to regain land and influence in Russia
and the some 4,000 troops comprised of Russian exiles, Lithuanians,
and Cossacks crossed the border and began what is known as the
Dymitriad wars.

1098 | The Time of Troubles

Vasili IV of Russia. He was the last member of the Rurikid Dynasty to rule in
Moscow between 1606 and 1610.

False Dmitri was supported by enough Polish and Russian rebels

hoping for a rich reward that he was married to Marina Mniszech
and ascended to the throne in Moscow at Boris Godunov’s death
in 1605. Within a year Vasily Shuisky (a Rurikid prince) staged an
uprising against False Dmitri, murdered him, and seized control of
power in Moscow for himself. He ruled between 1606 and 1610 and

The Time of Troubles | 1099

was known as Vasili IV. However, the boyars and mercenaries were
still displeased with this new ruler. At the same time as Shuisky’s
ascent, a new False Dmitri appeared on the scene with the backing
of the Polish-Lithuanian magnates.

An Empty Throne and Wars

Shuisky retained power long enough to make a treaty with Sweden,

which spurred a worried Poland into officially beginning the Polish-
Muscovite War that lasted from 1605 to 1618. The struggle over
who would gain control of Moscow became entangled and complex
once Poland became an acting participant. Shuisky was still on the
throne, both the second False Dmitri and the son of the Polish king,
Władysław, were attempting to take control.
None of the three pretenders succeeded, however, when the
Polish king himself, Sigismund III, decided he would take the seat in
Moscow.
Russia was stretched to its limit by 1611. Within the five years after
Boris Godunov’s death powers had shifted considerably:

• The boyars quarreled amongst themselves over who should

rule Moscow while the throne remained empty.
• Russian Orthodoxy was imperiled and many Orthodox
religious leaders were imprisoned.
• Catholic Polish forces occupied the Kremlin in Moscow and
Smolensk.
• Swedish forces had taken over Novgorod in retaliation to
Polish forces attempting to ally with Russia.
• Tatar raids continued in the south leaving many people dead
and stretched for resources.

1100 | The Time of Troubles

The End of Troubles

Two strong leaders arose out of the chaos of the first decade of the
17th century to combat the Polish invasion and settle the dynastic
dispute. The powerful Novgordian merchant Kuzma Minin along
with the Rurikid Prince Dmitry Pozharsky rallied enough forces to
push back the Polish forces in Russia. The new Russian rebellion
first pushed Polish forces back to the Kremlin, and between
November 3rd and 6th (New Style) Prince Pozharsky had forced the
garrison to surrender in Moscow. November 4 is known as National
Unity Day, however it fell out of favor during Communism, only to
be reinstated in 2005.
The dynastic wars finally came to an end when the Grand National
Assembly elected Michael Romanov, the son of the metropolitan
Philaret, to the throne in 1613. The new Romanov Tsar, Michael I,
quickly had the second False Dmitri’s son and wife killed, to stifle
further uprisings.

The Time of Troubles | 1101

Michael I. The first Romanov Tsar to be crowned in 1613.

Despite the end to internal unrest, the wars with Sweden and
Poland would last until 1618 and 1619 respectively, when peace

1102 | The Time of Troubles

treaties were finally enacted. These treaties forced Russia to cede
some lands, but the dynastic resolution and the ousting of foreign
powers unified most people in Russia behind the new Romanov Tsar
and started a new era.

Sources

The Time of Troubles | 1103

143. The Romanovs

Learning Objective

• Explain the rise of power of the House of Romanov

and the first major Russian Tsars of this dynasty

Key Points

• The Romanovs were exiled during the Time of

Troubles but brought back when Romanovs Patriarch
Philaret and his son Michael were politically
advantageous.
• Michael I was the first Romanov Tsar and began a
long line of powerful rulers.
• Alexis I successfully navigated Russia through
multiple uprisings and wars and created long-lasting
political bureaus.
• After a long dynastic dispute, Peter the Great rose
to power and changed Russia with the new capital of
St. Petersburg and western influences.

1104 | The Romanovs

 Terms

Old Believers

Followers of the Orthodox faith the way it was practiced

before Alexis I convened the Great Moscow Synod and
changed the traditions.

Duma chancellory

The first provincial administrative bureau created under

Alexis I. In Russian it is called Razryadny Prikaz.

Rurikid

A descendent of the Rurik Dynasty, which dominated

seats of power throughout Russian lands for over six
centuries before the Romanov Dynasty began.

The House of Romanov

The House of Romanov was the second major royal dynasty in

Russia, and arose after the Rurikid Dynasty. It was founded in 1613
with the coronation of Michael I and ended in 1917 with the
abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. However, the direct male blood line of

The Romanovs | 1105

the Romanov Dynasty ended when Elizabeth of Russia died in 1762,
and Peter III, followed by Catherine the Great, were placed in power,
both German-born royalty.

Roots of the Romanovs

The earliest common ancestor for the Romanov clan goes back to
Andrei Kobyla. Sources say he was a boyar under the leadership of
the Rurikid prince Semyon I of Moscow in 1347. This figure remains
somewhat mysterious with some sources claiming he was the high-
born son of a Rus’ prince. Others point to the name Kobyla, which
means horse, suggesting he was descended from the Master of
Horse in the royal household.
Whatever the real origins of this patriarch-like figure, his
descendants split into about a dozen different branches over the
next couple of centuries. One such descendent, Roman Yurievich
Zakharyin-Yuriev, gave the Romanov Dynasty its name.
Grandchildren of this patriarch changed their name to Romanov
and it remained there until they rose to power.

Michael I

The Romanov Dynasty proper was founded after the Time of

Troubles, an era between 1598 and 1613, which included a dynastic
struggle, wars with Sweden and Poland, and severe famine. Tsar
Boris Godunov’s rule, which lasted until 1605, saw the Romanov
families exiled to the Urals and other remote areas. Michael I’s
father was forced to take monastic vows and adopt the name
Philaret. Two impostors attempting to gain the throne in Moscow
attempted to leverage Romanov power after Godunov died in 1605.

1106 | The Romanovs

And by 1613, the Romanov family had again become a popular name
in the running for power.
Patriarch Philaret’s son, Michael I, was voted into power by the
zemsky sober in July 1613, ending a long dynastic dispute. He unified
the boyars and satisfied the Moscow royalty as the son of Feodor
Nikitich Romanov (now Patriarch Philaret) and the nephew of the
Rurikid Tsar Feodor I. He was only sixteen at his coronation, and
both he and his mother were afraid of his future in such a difficult
political position.

The Romanovs | 1107

Representation of a young Michael I. He rose to power in Moscow when he
was just sixteen and went on to become an influential leader in Russian
history.

Michael I reinstated order in Moscow over his first years in power

1108 | The Romanovs

and also developed two major government offices, the Posolsky
Prikaz (Foreign Office) and the Razryadny Prikaz (Duma chancellory,
or provincial administration office). These two offices remained
essential to Russian order for a many decades.

Alexis I

Michael I ruled until his death in 1645 and his son, Alexis, took
over the throne at the age of sixteen, just like his father. His reign
would last over 30 years and ended at his death in 1676. His reign
was marked by riots in cities such Pskov and Novgorod, as well as
continued wars with Sweden and Poland.

The Romanovs | 1109

Alexis I of Russian in the 1670s. His policies toward the Church and peasant
uprisings created new legal codes and traditions that lasted well into the 19th
century.

However, Alexis I established a new legal code called Subornoye

Ulozheniye, which created a serf class, made hereditary class

1110 | The Romanovs

unchangeable, and required official state documentation to travel
between towns. These codes stayed in effect well into the 19th
century. Under Alexis I’s rule, the Orthodox Church also convened
the Great Moscow Synod, which created new customs and
traditions. This historic moment created a schism between what
are termed Old Believers (those attached to the previous hierarchy
and traditions of the Church) and the new Church traditions. Alexis
I’s legacy paints him as a peaceful and reflective ruler, with a
propensity for progressive ideas.

Dynastic Dispute and Peter the Great

At the death of Alexis I in 1676, a dynastic dispute erupted between

the children of his first wife, namely Fyodor III, Sofia Alexeyevna,
Ivan V, and the son of his second wife, Peter Alexeyevich (later
Peter the Great). The crown was quickly passed down through the
children of his first wife. Fyodor III died from illness after ruling for
only six years. Between 1682 and 1689 power was contested between
Sofia Alexeyevna, Ivan V, and Peter. Sofia served as regent from 1682
to 1689. She actively opposed Peter’s claim to the throne in favor of
her own brother, Ivan. However, Ivan V and Peter shared the throne
until Ivan’s death in 1696.

The Romanovs | 1111

Peter the Great as a young ruler in 1698. This portrait was a gift to the King of
England and displays a western style that was rarely scene in royal portraits

1112 | The Romanovs

before this time. He is not wearing a beard or the traditional caps and robes
that marked Russian nobility before his rule.

Peter went on to rule over Russia, and even style himself Emperor
of all Russia in 1721, and ruled until his death in 1725. He built a new
capital in St. Petersburg, where he built a navy and attempted to
wrest control of the Baltic Sea. He is also remembered for bringing
western culture and Enlightenment ideas to Russia, as well as
limiting the control of the Church.

Sources

The Romanovs | 1113

PART X
CH. 10 THE RENAISSANCE

Ch. 10 The Renaissance | 1115

144. Introduction to the
Renaissance

Learning Objective

• Describe the influences of the Renaissance and

historical perspectives by modern-day writers

Key Points

• There is a consensus that the Renaissance began in

Florence, Italy, in the 14th century, most likely due to
the political structure and the civil and social nature
of the city. The Renaissance encompassed the
flowering of Latin languages, a change in artistic
style, and gradual, widespread educational reform.
• The development of conventions of diplomacy and
an increased reliance on observation in science were
also markers of the Renaissance.
• The Renaissance is probably best known for its
artistic developments and for the development of
“Humanism,” a movement that emphasized the
importance of creating citizens who were able to
engage in the civil life of their community.

Introduction to the
Renaissance | 1117
 • Some historians debate the 19th-century
glorification of the Renaissance and individual culture
heroes as “Renaissance men.”
• Some have called into question whether the
Renaissance was a cultural “advance” from the Middle
Ages, instead seeing it as a period of pessimism and
nostalgia for classical antiquity.

Terms

1118 | Introduction to the Renaissance

145. Italian Trade Cities

Learning Objective

• Show how Northern Italy and the wealthy city-

states within it became such huge European powers

Key Points

• While Northern Italy was not richer in resources

than many other parts of Europe, the level of
development, stimulated by trade, allowed it to
prosper. In particular, Florence became one of the
wealthiest cities in Northern Italy.
• Florence became the center of this financial
industry, and the gold florin became the main
currency of international trade.
• Luxury goods bought in the Levant, such as spices,
dyes, and silks, were imported to Italy and then resold
throughout Europe.
• The Italian trade routes that covered the
Mediterranean and beyond were also major conduits
of culture and knowledge.

Italian Trade Cities | 1119

Terms

• A rise in population―the population doubled in this period (the

demographic explosion)
• An emergence of huge cities (Venice, Florence, and Milan had
over 100,000 inhabitants by the 13th century, and many others,
such as Genoa, Bologna, and Verona, had over 50,000)
• Rebuilding of the great cathedrals
• Substantial migration from country to city (in Italy the rate of
urbanization reached 20%, making it the most urbanized
society in the world at that time)
• An agrarian revolution
• Development of commerce

The decline of feudalism and the rise of cities influenced each other;
for example, the demand for luxury goods led to an increase in
trade, which led to greater numbers of tradesmen becoming
wealthy, who, in turn, demanded more luxury goods.

1120 | Italian Trade Cities

Palazzo della Signoria e Uffizzi, FlorenceFlorence was one of the
most important city-states in Italy.

The Transfer of Culture and Knowledge

The Italian trade routes that covered the Mediterranean and beyond
were also major conduits of culture and knowledge. The recovery
of lost Greek texts, which had been preserved by Arab scholars,
following the Crusader conquest of the Byzantine heartlands
revitalized medieval philosophy in the Renaissance of the 12th
century. Additionally, Byzantine scholars migrated to Italy during
and following the Ottoman conquest of the Byzantines between the
12th and 15th centuries, and were important in sparking the new
linguistic studies of the Renaissance, in newly created academies in
Florence and Venice. Humanist scholars searched monastic libraries
for ancient manuscripts and recovered Tacitus and other Latin
authors. The rediscovery of Vitruvius meant that the architectural
principles of Antiquity could be observed once more, and
Renaissance artists were encouraged, in the atmosphere of
humanist optimism, to excel the achievements of the Ancients, like
Apelles, of whom they read.
Venice and the Ottoman Empire: Crash Course World History
#19John Green discusses the strange and mutually beneficial
relationship between a republic, the city-state of Venice, and an
Empire, the Ottomans—and how studying history can help you to
be a better boyfriend and/or girlfriend. Together, the Ottoman
Empire and Venice grew wealthy by facilitating trade: The
Venetians had ships and nautical expertise; the Ottomans had
access to many of the most valuable goods in the world, especially
pepper and grain. Working together across cultural and religious
divides, they both become very rich, and the Ottomans became one
of the most powerful political entities in the world.

Italian Trade Cities | 1121

Sources

1122 | Italian Trade Cities

146. Italian Politics

Learning Objective

• Describe the intricacies of Italian politics during

this time

Key Points

• Northern and Central Italy became prosperous in

the late Middle Ages through the growth of
international trade and the rise of the merchant class,
who eventually gained almost complete control of the
governments of the Italian city-states.
• A popular explanation for the Italian Renaissance is
the thesis that the primary impetus of the early
Renaissance was the long-running series of wars
between Florence and Milan, whereby the leading
figures of Florence rallied the people by presenting
the war as one between the free republic and a
despotic monarchy.
• The House of Medici was an Italian banking family,
political dynasty, and later royal house in Florence
who were the major sponsors of art and architecture
in the early and High Renaissance.

Italian Politics | 1123

Terms

1124 | Italian Politics

147. The Church During the
Italian Renaissance

Learning Objective

• Analyze the church’s role in Italy at the time of the

Renaissance

Key Points

• The Renaissance began in times of religious

turmoil, especially surrounding the papacy, which
culminated in the Western Schism, in which three
men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope.
• The new engagement with Greek Christian works
during the Renaissance, and particularly the return to
the original Greek of the New Testament promoted
by Humanists Lorenzo Valla and Erasmus, helped
pave the way for the Protestant Reformation.
• In addition to being the head of the church, the
pope became one of Italy’s most important secular
rulers, and pontiffs such as Julius II often waged
campaigns to protect and expand their temporal
domains.

The Church During the Italian

Renaissance | 1125
 • The Counter-Reformation was a period of Catholic
resurgence initiated in response to the Protestant
Reformation.

Terms

1126 | The Church During the Italian Renaissance

148. Petrarch

Learning Objective

• Explain Petrarch’s contributions to the Renaissance

Key Points

• Petrarch is traditionally called the “Father of

Humanism,” both for his influential philosophical
attitudes, found in his numerous personal letters, and
his discovery and compilation of classical texts.
• Petrarch was born in the Tuscan city of Arezzo in
1304, and spent his early childhood near Florence, but
his family moved to Avignon to follow Pope Clement
V, who moved there in 1309 to begin the Avignon
Papacy.
• He traveled widely in Europe and, during his
travels, collected crumbling Latin manuscripts, whose
discovery, especially Cicero’s letters, helped spark the
Renaissance.
• A highly introspective man, he shaped the nascent
Humanist movement a great deal because many of
the internal conflicts and musings expressed in his
writings were seized upon by Renaissance Humanist

Petrarch | 1127
 philosophers and argued continually for the next 200
years.

Terms

1128 | Petrarch
149. Humanism

Learning Objective

• Assess how Humanism gave rise to the art of the

Renasissance

Key Points

• Humanists reacted against the utilitarian approach

to education, seeking to create a citizenry who were
able to speak and write with eloquence and thus able
to engage the civic life of their communities.
• The movement was largely founded on the ideals of
Italian scholar and poet Francesco Petrarca, which
were often centered around humanity’s potential for
achievement.
• While Humanism initially began as a predominantly
literary movement, its influence quickly pervaded the
general culture of the time, reintroducing classical
Greek and Roman art forms and leading to the
Renaissance.
• Donatello became renowned as the greatest
sculptor of the Early Renaissance, known especially
for his Humanist, and unusually erotic, statue of

Humanism | 1129
 David.
• While medieval society viewed artists as servants
and craftspeople, Renaissance artists were trained
intellectuals, and their art reflected this newfound
point of view.
• In humanist painting, the treatment of the elements
of perspective and depiction of light became of
particular concern.

Term

1130 | Humanism
150. Education and
Humanism

Learning Objective

• Define Humanism and its goals as a movement in

education

Key Points

• The Humanists of the Renaissance created schools

to teach their ideas and wrote books all about
education.
• One of the most profound and important schools
was established and created by Vittorino da Feltre in
1423 in Mantua to provide the children of the ruler of
Mantua with a Humanist education.
• Humanists sought to create a citizenry able to
speak and write with eloquence and clarity, thus
capable of engaging in the civic life of their
communities and persuading others to virtuous and
prudent actions.
• Humanist schools combined Christianity and
classical texts to produce a model of education for all

Education and Humanism | 1131

 of Europe.

Terms

1132 | Education and Humanism

151. The Italian Renaissance

Learning Objective

• Describe the art and periodization of the Italian

Renaissance

Key Points

• The Florence school of painting became the

dominant style during the Renaissance. Renaissance
artworks depicted more secular subject matter than
previous artistic movements.
• Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Rafael are among the
best known painters of the High Renaissance.
• The High Renaissance was followed by the
Mannerist movement, known for elongated figures.

Terms

The Italian Renaissance | 1133

152. Art and Patronage

Learning Objective

• Discuss the relationship between art, patronage,

and politics during the Renaissance

Key Points

• Although the Renaissance was underway before the

Medici family came to power in Florence, their
patronage and political support of the arts helped
catalyze the Renaissance into a fully fledged cultural
movement.
• The Medici wealth and influence initially derived
from the textile trade guided by the guild of the Arte
della Lana; through financial superiority, the Medici
dominated their city’s government.
• Medici patronage was responsible for the majority
of Florentine art during their reign, as artists
generally only made their works when they received
commissions in advance.
• Although none of the Medici themselves were
scientists, the family is well known to have been the
patrons of the famous Galileo Galilei, who tutored

1134 | Art and Patronage

 multiple generations of Medici children.

Terms

Art and Patronage | 1135

153. Leonardo da Vinci

Learning Objective

• Describe the works of Leonardo da Vinci that

demonstrate his most innovative techniques as an
artist

Key Points

• Among the qualities that make da Vinci’s work

unique are the innovative techniques that he used in
laying on the paint, his detailed knowledge of
anatomy, his innovative use of the human form in
figurative composition, and his use of sfumato.
• Among the most famous works created by da Vinci
is the small portrait titled the Mona Lisa, known for
the elusive smile on the woman’s face, brought about
by the fact that da Vinci subtly shadowed the corners
of the mouth and eyes so that the exact nature of the
smile cannot be determined.
• Despite his famous paintings, da Vinci was not a
prolific painter; he was a prolific draftsman, keeping
journals full of small sketches and detailed drawings
recording all manner of things that interested him.

1136 | Leonardo da Vinci

Term

Leonardo da Vinci | 1137

154. Michelangelo

Learning Objective

• Discuss Michelangelo’s achievements in sculpture,

painting, and architecture

Key Points

• Michelangelo created his colossal marble statue,

the David, out of a single block of marble, which
established his prominence as a sculptor of
extraordinary technical skill and strength of symbolic
imagination.
• In painting, Michelangelo is renowned for the
ceiling and The Last Judgement of the Sistine Chapel,
where he depicted a complex scheme representing
Creation, the Downfall of Man, the Salvation of Man,
and the Genealogy of Christ.
• Michelangelo’s chief contribution to Saint Peter’s
Basilica was the use of a Greek Cross form and an
external masonry of massive proportions, with every
corner filled in by a stairwell or small vestry. The
effect is a continuous wall-surface that appears
fractured or folded at different angles.

1138 | Michelangelo
Terms

Michelangelo | 1139
155. Mannerism

Learning Objective

• Describe the Mannerist style, how it differs from

the Renaissance, and reasons why it emerged.

Key Points

• Mannerism came after the High Renaissance and

before the Baroque.
• The artists who came a generation after Raphael
and Michelangelo had a dilemma. They could not
surpass the great works that had already been
created by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and
Michelangelo. This is when we start to see
Mannerism emerge.
• Jacopo da Pontormo (1494–1557) represents the
shift from the Renaissance to the Mannerist style.

Term

1140 | Mannerism
156. The Rise of the
Vernacular

Learning Objective

• Evaluate the influence of the different people,

styles, and ideas that influenced Renaissance
literature

Key Points

• In the 13th century, Italian authors began writing in

their native vernacular language rather than in Latin,
French, or Provençal. The earliest Renaissance
literature appeared in 14th century Italy; Dante,
Petrarch, and Machiavelli are notable examples of
Italian Renaissance writers.
• From Italy the influence of the Renaissance spread
across Europe; the scholarly writings of Erasmus and
the plays of Shakespeare can be considered
Renaissance in character.
• Renaissance literature is characterized by the
adoption of a Humanist philosophy and the recovery
of the classical literature of Antiquity, and benefited

The Rise of the Vernacular | 1141

 from the spread of printing in the latter part of the
15th century.

Terms

1142 | The Rise of the Vernacular

157. Renaissance Writers

Learning Objective

• Identify the key contributions made by Dante,

Boccaccio, and Bruni

Key Points

• The ideas characterizing the Renaissance had their

origin in late 13th century Florence, in particular in
the writings of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) and
Petrarch (1304–1374).
• The literature and poetry of the Renaissance was
largely influenced by the developing science and
philosophy.
• The Humanist Francesco Petrarch, a key figure in
the renewed sense of scholarship, was also an
accomplished poet, publishing several important
works of poetry in Italian as well as Latin.
• Petrarch’s disciple, Giovanni Boccaccio, became a
major author in his own right, whose major work, The
Decameron, was a source of inspiration and plots for
many English authors in the Renaissance.
• A generation before Petrarch and Boccaccio, Dante

Renaissance Writers | 1143

 Alighieri set the stage for Renaissance literature with
his Divine Comedy, widely considered the greatest
literary work composed in the Italian language and a
masterpiece of world literature.
• Leonardo Bruni was an Italian humanist, historian,
and statesman, often recognized as the first modern
historian.

Terms

1144 | Renaissance Writers

158. Christine de Pizan

Learning Objective

• Discuss the significance of Christine de Pizan’s

work

Key Points

• Christine de Pizan was an Italian-French late

medieval author, primarily a court writer, who wrote
commissioned works for aristocratic families and
addressed literary debates of the era.
• Her work is characterized by a prominent and
positive depiction of women who encouraged ethical
and judicious conduct in courtly life.
• Much of the impetus for her writing came from her
need to earn a living to support her mother, a niece,
and her two surviving children after being widowed
at the age of 25.
• Christine’s participation in a literary debate about
Jean de Meun’s Romance of the Rose allowed her to
move beyond the courtly circles, and ultimately to
establish her status as a writer concerned with the
position of women in society.

Christine de Pizan | 1145

Terms

1146 | Christine de Pizan

159. Machiavelli

Learning Objective

• Analyze Machiavelli’s impact during his own

lifetime and in the modern day

Key Points

• Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian Renaissance

historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, Humanist,
and writer, often called the founder of modern
political science.
• His writings were innovative because of his
emphasis on practical and pragmatic strategies over
philosophical ideals, exemplified by such phrases as
“He who neglects what is done for what ought to be
done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation.”
• His most famous text, The Prince, has been
profoundly influential, from the time of his life up to
the present day, both on politicians and philosophers.
• The Prince describes strategies to be an effective
statesman and infamously includes justifications for
treachery and violence to retain power.

Machiavelli | 1147
Terms

1148 | Machiavelli
160. Erasmus

Learning Objective

• Describe Erasmus and his connection to the

Renaissance

Key Points

• Erasmus was a Dutch Renaissance Humanist,

Catholic priest, social critic, teacher, and theologian
known as the “Prince of the Humanists” for his
influential scholarship and writings.
• Erasmus lived against the backdrop of the growing
European religious Reformation, but while he was
critical of the abuses within the Catholic church and
called for reform, he kept his distance from Luther
and continued to recognize the authority of the pope.
• In The Handbook of the Christian Soldier, Erasmus
outlines the views of the normal Christian life and
critiques formalism—going through the motions of
tradition without understanding their basis in the
teachings of Christ.
• One of Erasmus’s best-known works is In Praise of
Folly, a satirical attack on superstitions and other

Erasmus | 1149
 traditions of European society in general and the
western church in particular.

Terms

1150 | Erasmus
161. The Printing Revolution

Learning Objective

• Synthesize the impacts of the printing press on

distribution of ideas and mass communication

Key Points

• In 1436 Johannes Gutenberg began work on the

invention of a new printing press that allowed precise
molding of new type blocks from a uniform template
and allowed for the creation of high-quality printed
books.
• Gutenberg is also credited with the introduction of
an oil-based ink that was more durable than the
previously used water-based inks. He tested colored
inks in his Gutenberg Bible.
• The printing press was a factor in the
establishment of a community of scientists who could
easily communicate their discoveries through widely
disseminated scholarly journals, helping to bring on
the scientific revolution.
• Because the printing process ensured that the
same information fell on the same pages, page

The Printing Revolution | 1151

 numbering, tables of contents, and indices became
common.
• The arrival of mechanical movable type printing
introduced the era of mass communication, which
permanently altered the structure of society. The
relatively unrestricted circulation of information and
revolutionary ideas transcended borders.

Terms

1152 | The Printing Revolution

162. Flemish Painting in the
Northern Renaissance

Learning Objective

• Compare the artistic advances seen in the works of

Robern Campin, Jan van Eyck, and Rogier van der
Weyden

Key Points

• The three most prominent painters during this

period, Jan van Eyck, Robert Campin, and Rogier van
der Weyden, were known for making significant
advances in illusionism, or the realistic and precise
representation of people, space, and objects.
• The preferred subject matter of the Flemish School
was typically religious in nature, and the majority of
the work was presented as panels, usually in the form
of diptychs or polyptychs.
• While the Italian Renaissance was based on
rediscoveries of classical Greece and Rome, the
Flemish school drew influence from the region’s
Gothic past.

Flemish Painting in the Northern

Renaissance | 1153
 • Van Eyck is known for signing and dating his work
“ALS IK KAN” (“AS I CAN”).
• Robert Campin has been identified with the
signature “Master of Flemalle.”
• Because the Flemish masters used a workshop
system, they were able to mass produce high-end
panels for sale and export throughout Europe.

Terms

1154 | Flemish Painting in the Northern Renaissance

PART XI
CHAPTER 11: THE
PROTESTANT
REFORMATION

Chapter 11: The Protestant

Reformation | 1155
163. Discontent with the
Roman Catholic Church
The Protestant Reformation was the schism within Western
Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other early
Protestants.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• Explain the main motivating factors behind the Protestant

Reformation

KEY POINTS

◦ The Reformation began as an attempt to reform the

Roman Catholic Church, by priests who opposed what
they perceived as false doctrines and ecclesiastic
malpractice.
◦ Following the breakdown of monastic institutions and
scholasticism in late medieval Europe, accentuated by the
Avignon Papacy, the Papal Schism, and the failure of the
Conciliar movement, the 16th century saw a great cultural
debate about religious reforms and later fundamental
religious values. John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were early
opponents of papal authority, and their work and views
paved the way for the Reformation.
◦ Martin Luther was a seminal figure of the Protestant
Reformation who strongly disputed the sale of

Discontent with the Roman Catholic

Church | 1157
 indulgences. His Ninety-Five Theses criticized many of the
doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church.
◦ The Roman Catholic Church responded with a Counter-
Reformation spearheaded by the new order of the Society
of Jesus (Jesuits), specifically organized to counter the
Protestant movement.

TERMS

• the Western SchismA split within the Catholic Church from

1378 to 1418, when several men simultaneously claimed to be
the true pope.
• Conciliar movementA reform movement in the 14th-, 15th-,
and 16th-century Catholic Church that held that supreme
authority in the church resided with an Ecumenical council,
apart from, or even against, the pope. The movement emerged
in response to the Western Schism between rival popes in
Rome and Avignon.
• indulgencesIn Catholic theology, a remission of the
punishment that would otherwise be inflicted for a previously
forgiven sin as a natural consequence of having sinned. They
are granted for specific good works and prayers in proportion
to the devotion with which those good works are performed or
prayers recited.
• Council of TrentCouncil of the Roman Catholic Church set up
in Trento, Italy, in direct response to the Reformation.
• ecclesiasticOne who adheres to a church-based philosophy.
• doctrineList of beliefs and teachings by the church.

1158 | Discontent with the Roman Catholic Church

FULL TEXT

The Protestant Reformation, often referred to simply as the

Reformation, was a schism from the Roman Catholic Church
initiated by Martin Luther and continued by other early Protestant
reformers in Europe in the 16th century.
Although there had been significant earlier attempts to reform
the Roman Catholic Church before Luther—such as those of Jan
Hus, Geert Groote, Thomas A Kempis, Peter Waldo, and John
Wycliffe—Martin Luther is widely acknowledged to have started the
Reformation with his 1517 work The Ninety-Five Theses.
Luther began by criticizing the selling of indulgences, insisting
that the pope had no authority over purgatory and that the Catholic
doctrine of the merits of the saints had no foundation in the gospel.
The Protestant position, however, would come to incorporate
doctrinal changes such as sola scriptura (by the scripture alone) and
sola fide (by faith alone). The core motivation behind these changes
was theological, though many other factors played a part, including
the rise of nationalism, the Western Schism that eroded faith in the
papacy, the perceived corruption of the Roman Curia, the impact of
humanism, and the new learning of the Renaissance that questioned
much traditional thought.

Roots of Unrest

Following the breakdown of monastic institutions and scholasticism

in late medieval Europe, accentuated by the Avignon Papacy, the
Papal Schism, and the failure of the Conciliar movement, the 16th
century saw a great cultural debate about religious reforms and
later fundamental religious values. These issues initiated wars
between princes, uprisings among peasants, and widespread

Discontent with the Roman Catholic Church | 1159

concern over corruption in the Church, which sparked many reform
movement within the church.
These reformist movements occurred in conjunction with
economic, political, and demographic forces that contributed to a
growing disaffection with the wealth and power of the elite clergy,
sensitizing the population to the financial and moral corruption of
the secular Renaissance church.
The major individualistic reform movements that revolted against
medieval scholasticism and the institutions that underpinned it
were humanism, devotionalism, and the observantine tradition. In
Germany, “the modern way,” or devotionalism, caught on in the
universities, requiring a redefinition of God, who was no longer a
rational governing principle but an arbitrary, unknowable will that
could not be limited. God was now a ruler, and religion would
be more fervent and emotional. Thus, the ensuing revival of
Augustinian theology, stating that man cannot be saved by his own
efforts but only by the grace of God, would erode the legitimacy of
the rigid institutions of the church meant to provide a channel for
man to do good works and get into heaven.
Humanism, however, was more of an educational reform
movement with origins in the Renaissance’s revival of classical
learning and thought. A revolt against Aristotelian logic, it placed
great emphasis on reforming individuals through eloquence as
opposed to reason. The European Renaissance laid the foundation
for the Northern humanistsin its reinforcement of the traditional
use of Latin as the great unifying language of European culture.
Since the breakdown of the philosophical foundations of
scholasticism, the new nominalism did not bode well for an
institutional church legitimized as an intermediary between man
and God. New thinking favored the notion that no religious doctrine
can be supported by philosophical arguments, eroding the old
alliance between reason and faith of the medieval period laid out by
Thomas Aquinas.
The great rise of the burghers (merchant class) and their desire to
run their new businesses free of institutional barriers or outmoded

1160 | Discontent with the Roman Catholic Church

cultural practices contributed to the appeal of humanist
individualism. To many, papal institutions were rigid, especially
regarding their views on just price and usury. In the north, burghers
and monarchs were united in their frustration for not paying any
taxes to the nation, but collecting taxes from subjects and sending
the revenues disproportionately to the pope in Italy.

Early Attempts at Reform

The first of a series of disruptive and new perspectives came from

John Wycliffe at Oxford University, one of the earliest opponents
of papal authority influencing secular power and an early advocate
for translation of the Bible into the common language. Jan Hus at
the University of Prague was a follower of Wycliffe and similarly
objected to some of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church.
Hus wanted liturgy in the language of the people (i.e. Czech),
married priests, and to eliminate indulgences and the idea of
purgatory.
Hus spoke out against indulgences in 1412 when he delivered
an address entitled Quaestio magistri Johannis Hus de indulgentiis.
It was taken literally from the last chapter of Wycliffe’s book, De
ecclesia, and his treatise, De absolutione a pena et culpa. Hus
asserted that no pope or bishop had the right to take up the sword
in the name of the Church; he should pray for his enemies and
bless those that curse him; man obtains forgiveness of sins by true
repentance, not money. The doctors of the theological faculty
replied, but without success. A few days afterward, some of Hus’s
followers burnt the papal bulls. Hus, they said, should be obeyed
rather than the Church, which they considered a fraudulent mob of
adulterers and Simonists.
In response, three men from the lower classes who openly called
the indulgences a fraud were beheaded. They were later considered
the first martyrs of the Hussite Church. In the meantime, the faculty

Discontent with the Roman Catholic Church | 1161

had condemned the forty-five articles and added several other
theses, deemed heretical, that had originated with Hus. The king
forbade the teaching of these articles, but neither Hus nor the
university complied with the ruling, requesting that the articles
should first be proven to be un-scriptural. The tumults at Prague
had stirred up a sensation; papal legates and Archbishop Albik tried
to persuade Hus to give up his opposition to the papal bulls, and the
king made an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the two parties.
Hus was later condemned and burned at the stake despite
promise of safe-conduct when he voiced his views to church leaders
at the Council of Constance (1414–1418). Wycliffe, who died in 1384,
was also declared a heretic by the Council of Constance, and his
corpse was exhumed and burned.
image

Jan Hus burned at the stake

Execution of Jan Hus at the Council of Constance in 1415. His death

led to a radicalization of the Bohemian Reformation and to the
Hussite Wars in the Crown of Bohemia.
An image of John Hus being burned at the stake, surrounded by
both clergy and lay people.

The Creation of New Protestant Churches

The Reformation led to the creation of new national Protestant

churches. The largest of the new church’s groupings were the
Lutherans (mostly in Germany, the Baltics, and Scandinavia) and the
Reformed churches (mostly in Germany, France, Switzerland, the
Netherlands, and Scotland).

1162 | Discontent with the Roman Catholic Church

Response from the Catholic Church to the
Reformation

The Roman Catholic Church responded with a Counter-

Reformation initiated by the Council of Trent and spearheaded by
the new order of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), specifically organized
to counter the Protestant movement. In general, Northern Europe,
with the exception of most of Ireland, turned Protestant. Southern
Europe remained Roman Catholic, while Central Europe was a site
of fierce conflict escalating to full-scale war.
image

Council of Trent by Pasquale Cati

Painting representing the artist’s depiction of The Council of Trent.

It met for twenty-five sessions between December 13, 1545, and
December 4, 1563, in Trento (then the capital of the Prince-
Bishopric of Trent in the Holy Roman Empire), apart from the ninth
to eleventh sessions held in Bologna during 1547.

Discontent with the Roman Catholic Church | 1163

164. Luther and Protestantism
Martin Luther was a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation;
he strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God’s punishment
for sin could be purchased with money, famously argued in his
Ninety-five Theses of 1517.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• Describe Luther’s criticisms of the Catholic Church

KEY POINTS

◦ Martin Luther was a German professor of theology,

composer, priest, monk and seminal figure in the
Protestant Reformation.
◦ Luther strongly disputed the claim that freedom from
God’s punishment for sin could be purchased with money,
called indulgences, which he argued in his Ninety-five
Theses of 1517.
◦ When confronted by the church for his critiques, he
refused to renounce his writings and was
excommunicated by the pope and deemed an outlaw by
the emperor.
◦ Luther’s translation of the Bible into the vernacular made
it more accessible to the laity, an event that had a
tremendous impact on both the church and German
culture.

1164 | Luther and Protestantism

TERMS

• Ninety-five ThesesA list of propositions for an academic

disputation written by Martin Luther in 1517. They advanced
Luther’s positions against what he saw as abusive practices by
preachers selling plenary indulgences, which were certificates
that would reduce the temporal punishment for sins
committed by the purchaser or their loved ones in purgatory.
• excommunicationAn institutional act of religious censure used
to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious
community or to restrict certain rights within it.
• indulgencesA way to reduce the amount of punishment one
has to undergo for sins, usually through the saying of prayers
or good works, which during the middle ages included paying
for church buildings or other projects.

FULL TEXT

Overview

Martin Luther (November 10, 1483–February 18, 1546) was a German

professor of theology, composer, priest, monk and seminal figure in
the Protestant Reformation. Luther came to reject several teachings
and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. He strongly disputed
the claim that freedom from God’s punishment for sin could be
purchased with money, proposing an academic discussion of the
practice and efficacy of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517.
His refusal to renounce all of his writings at the demand of Pope
Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet
of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and
condemnation as an outlaw by the emperor.

Luther and Protestantism | 1165

 Luther taught that salvation and, subsequently, eternal life are not
earned by good deeds but are received only as the free gift of God’s
grace through the believer’s faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from
sin. His theology challenged the authority and office of the pope
by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed
knowledge from God, and opposed priestly intervention for the
forgiveness of sins by considering all baptized Christians to be a
holy priesthood. Those who identify with these, and all of Luther’s
wider teachings, are called Lutherans, though Luther insisted on
Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals
who professed Christ.
His translation of the Bible into the vernacular (instead of Latin)
made it more accessible to the laity, an event that had a tremendous
impact on both the church and German culture. It fostered the
development of a standard version of the German language, added
several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the
writing of an English translation, the Tyndale Bible. His hymns
influenced the development of singing in Protestant churches. His
marriage to Katharina von Bora, a former nun, set a model for the
practice of clerical marriage, allowing Protestant clergy to marry.
In two of his later works, Luther expressed antagonistic views
toward Jews, writing that Jewish homes and synagogues should
be destroyed, their money confiscated, and their liberty curtailed.
Condemned by virtually every Lutheran denomination, these
statements and their influence on antisemitism have contributed to
his controversial status.
image

Portrait of Martin Luther

Martin Luther (1528) by Lucas Cranach the Elder.

Portrait of Martin Luther’s face.

1166 | Luther and Protestantism

Personal Life

Martin Luther was born to Hans Luther and his wife Margarethe on
November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, Saxony, then part of the Holy Roman
Empire. Hans Luther was ambitious for himself and his family, and
he was determined to see Martin, his eldest son, become a lawyer.
In 1501, at the age of nineteen, Martin entered the University of
Erfurt. In accordance with his father’s wishes, he enrolled in law
school at the same university that year, but dropped out almost
immediately, believing that law represented uncertainty. Luther
sought assurances about life and was drawn to theology and
philosophy, expressing particular interest in Aristotle, William of
Ockham, and Gabriel Biel.
He was deeply influenced by two tutors, Bartholomaeus Arnoldi
von Usingen and Jodocus Trutfetter, who taught him to be
suspicious of even the greatest thinkers and to test everything
himself by experience. Philosophy proved to be unsatisfying,
offering assurance about the use of reason but no assurance about
loving God, which to Luther was more important. Reason could not
lead men to God, he felt, and he thereafter developed a love-hate
relationship with Aristotle over the latter’s emphasis on reason. For
Luther, reason could be used to question men and institutions, but
not God. Human beings could learn about God only through divine
revelation, he believed, and scripture therefore became increasingly
important to him.
Luther dedicated himself to the Augustinian order, devoting
himself to fasting, long hours in prayer, pilgrimage, and frequent
confession. In 1507, he was ordained to the priesthood, and in 1508,
von Staupitz, first dean of the newly founded University of
Wittenberg, sent for Luther to teach theology. He was made
provincial vicar of Saxony and Thuringia by his religious order in
1515. This meant he was to visit and oversee eleven monasteries in
his province.

Luther and Protestantism | 1167

Start of the Reformation

In 1516, Johann Tetzel, a Dominican friar and papal commissioner for

indulgences, was sent to Germany by the Roman Catholic Church
to sell indulgences to raise money to rebuild St. Peter’s Basilica in
Rome. Roman Catholic theology stated that faith alone, whether
fiduciary or dogmatic, cannot justify man; justification rather
depends only on such faith as is active in charity and good works.
The benefits of good works could be obtained by donating money to
the church.
On October 31, 1517, Luther wrote to his bishop, Albert of Mainz,
protesting the sale of indulgences. He enclosed in his letter a copy
of his “Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of
Indulgences,” which came to be known as the Ninety-five Theses.
Historian Hans Hillerbrand writes that Luther had no intention of
confronting the church, but saw his disputation as a scholarly
objection to church practices, and the tone of the writing is
accordingly “searching, rather than doctrinaire.” Hillerbrand writes
that there is nevertheless an undercurrent of challenge in several
of the theses, particularly in Thesis 86, which asks, “Why does the
pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest
Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor
believers rather than with his own money?”
The first thesis has become famous: “When our Lord and Master
Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent,’ he willed the entire life of believers to be
one of repentance.” In the first few theses Luther develops the idea
of repentance as the Christian’s inner struggle with sin rather than
the external system of sacramental confession.
In theses 41–47 Luther begins to criticize indulgences on the basis
that they discourage works of mercy by those who purchase them.
Here he begins to use the phrase, “Christians are to be taught…”
to state how he thinks people should be instructed on the value
of indulgences. They should be taught that giving to the poor is
incomparably more important than buying indulgences, that buying

1168 | Luther and Protestantism

an indulgence rather than giving to the poor invites God’s wrath,
and that doing good works makes a person better while buying
indulgences does not.
Luther objected to a saying attributed to Johann Tetzel that “As
soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”
He insisted that, since forgiveness was God’s alone to grant, those
who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments
and granted them salvation were in error. Luther closes the Theses
by exhorting Christians to imitate Christ even if it brings pain and
suffering, because enduring punishment and entering heaven is
preferable to false security.
It was not until January 1518 that friends of Luther translated the
Ninety-five Theses from Latin into German and printed and widely
copied it, making the controversy one of the first to be aided by
the printing press. Within two weeks, copies of the theses had
spread throughout Germany; within two months, they had spread
throughout Europe.
image

Ninety-five Theses

1517 Nuremberg printing of the Ninety-five Theses as a placard, now

in the Berlin State Library.
A photo of a 1517 manuscript of the Luther’s Ninety-five Thesis.

Excommunication and Later Life

On June 15, 1520, the pope warned Luther, with the papal bull
Exsurge Domine, that he risked excommunication unless he
recanted forty-one sentences drawn from his writings, including
the Ninety-five Theses, within sixty days. That autumn, Johann Eck

Luther and Protestantism | 1169

proclaimed the bull in Meissen and other towns. Karl von Miltitz, a
papal nuncio, attempted to broker a solution, but Luther, who had
sent the pope a copy of On the Freedom of a Christian in October,
publicly set fire to the bull and decretals at Wittenberg on
December 10, 1520, an act he defended in Why the Pope and his
Recent Book are Burned and Assertions Concerning All Articles. As
a consequence, Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X on
January 3, 1521, in the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
The enforcement of the ban on the Ninety-five Theses fell to the
secular authorities. On April 18, 1521, Luther appeared as ordered
before the Diet of Worms. This was a general assembly of the estates
of the Holy Roman Empire that took place in Worms, a town on
the Rhine. It was conducted from January 28 to May 25, 1521, with
Emperor Charles V presiding. Prince Frederick III, Elector of Saxony,
obtained a safe conduct for Luther to and from the meeting.
Johann Eck, speaking on behalf of the empire as assistant of the
Archbishop of Trier, presented Luther with copies of his writings
laid out on a table and asked him if the books were his, and whether
he stood by their contents. Luther confirmed he was their author,
but requested time to think about the answer to the second
question. He prayed, consulted friends, and gave his response the
next day:

Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures

or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope
or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have
often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the
Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the
Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it
is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God
help me. Amen.

Over the next five days, private conferences were held to determine
Luther’s fate. The emperor presented the final draft of the Edict of
Worms on May 25, 1521, which declared Luther an outlaw, banned
his literature, and required his arrest: “We want him to be

1170 | Luther and Protestantism

apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic.” It also made it
a crime for anyone in Germany to give Luther food or shelter, and
permitted anyone to kill Luther without legal consequence.
By 1526, Luther found himself increasingly occupied in organizing
a new church, later called the Lutheran Church, and for the rest of
his life would continue building the Protestant movement.
An apoplectic stroke on February 18, 1546, deprived him of his
speech, and he died shortly afterwards, at 2:45 a.m., aged sixty-two,
in Eisleben, the city of his birth. He was buried in the Castle Church
in Wittenberg, beneath the pulpit.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from

this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://library.achievingthedream.org/
herkimerwesterncivilization/?p=190

Reluctant Revolutionary

PBS Documentary about Martin Luther the “Reluctant

Revolutionary.” Luther opposed the Catholic Church’s practices and
in 1517 he wrote his Ninety-five Theses, which detailed the church’s
failings. His actions led to the start of the Protestant Revolution.

Luther and Protestantism | 1171

165. Calvinism
Calvinism is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the
theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of John Calvin
and is characterized by the doctrine of predestination in the
salvation of souls.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• Compare and contrast Calvinism with Lutheranism

KEY POINTS

◦ Calvinism is a major branch of Protestantism that follows

the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of
John Calvin and other Reformation-era theologians.
◦ Calvin’s theological critiques mostly broke with the Roman
Catholic Church, but he differed from Luther on certain
theological points, such as the idea that Christ died only
for the elect instead of all humanity, like Luther believed.
◦ Calvin’s “Ordinances” of 1541 involved a collaboration of
church affairs with the Geneva city council and consistory
to bring morality to all areas of life. Geneva became the
center of Protestantism.
◦ Protestantism also spread into France, where the
Protestants were derisively nicknamed “Huguenots,” and
this touched off decades of warfare in France.
◦ Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536–1559) was
one of the most influential theologies of the era and was

1172 | Calvinism
 written as an introductory textbook on the Protestant
faith.

TERMS

• predestinationThe doctrine that all events have been willed by

God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the
individual soul.
• Five Points of CalvinismThe basic theological tenets of
Calvinism.
• HuguenotsA name for French Protestants, originally a derisive
term.

FULL TEXT

Overview

Calvinism is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the

theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of John Calvin
and other Reformation-era theologians.
Calvinists broke with the Roman Catholic Church but differed
from Lutherans on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist,
theories of worship, and the use of God’s law for believers, among
other things. Calvinism can be a misleading term because the
religious tradition it denotes is and has always been diverse, with
a wide range of influences rather than a single founder. The
movement was first called Calvinism by Lutherans who opposed
it, and many within the tradition would prefer to use the word
Reformed. While the Reformed theological tradition addresses all of

Calvinism | 1173
the traditional topics of Christian theology, the word Calvinism is
sometimes used to refer to particular Calvinist views on soteriology
(the saving of the soul from sin and death) and predestination, which
are summarized in part by the Five Points of Calvinism. Some have
also argued that Calvinism as a whole stresses the sovereignty or
rule of God in all things, including salvation. An important tenet of
Calvinism, which differs from Lutheranism, is that God only saves
the “elect,” a predestined group of individuals, and that these elect
are essentially guaranteed salvation, but everyone else is damned.
image

John Calvin

A portrait of John Calvin, one of the major figures in the Protestant

Reformation, by Holbein.
Portait of John Calvin

Origins and Rise of Calvinism

First-generation Reformed theologians include Huldrych Zwingli

(1484–1531), Martin Bucer (1491–1551), Wolfgang Capito (1478–1541),
John Oecolampadius (1482–1531), and Guillaume Farel (1489–1565).
These reformers came from diverse academic backgrounds, but
later distinctions within Reformed theology can already be detected
in their thought, especially the priority of scripture as a source
of authority. Scripture was also viewed as a unified whole, which
led to a covenantal theology of the sacraments of baptism and the
Lord’s Supper as visible signs of the covenant of grace. Another
Reformed distinctive present in these theologians was their denial
of the bodily presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. Each of these
theologians also understood salvation to be by grace alone, and

1174 | Calvinism
affirmed a doctrine of particular election (the teaching that some
people are chosen by God for salvation). Martin Luther and his
successor Philipp Melanchthon were undoubtedly significant
influences on these theologians, and to a larger extent later
Reformed theologians. The doctrine of justification by faith alone
was a direct inheritance from Luther.
Following the excommunication of Luther and condemnation of
the Reformation by the pope, the work and writings of John Calvin
were influential in establishing a loose consensus among various
groups in Switzerland, Scotland, Hungary, Germany, and elsewhere.
After the expulsion of Geneva’s bishop in 1526, and the unsuccessful
attempts of the Berne reformer Guillaume (William) Farel, Calvin
was asked to use the organizational skill he had gathered as a
student of law to discipline the “fallen city.” His “Ordinances” of
1541 involved a collaboration of church affairs with the city council
and consistory to bring morality to all areas of life. After the
establishment of the Geneva academy in 1559, Geneva became the
unofficial capital of the Protestant movement, providing refuge for
Protestant exiles from all over Europe and educating them as
Calvinist missionaries. These missionaries dispersed Calvinism
widely, and formed the French Huguenots in Calvin’s own lifetime,
as well as caused the conversion of Scotland under the leadership of
the cantankerous John Knox in 1560. The faith continued to spread
after Calvin’s death in 1563, and had reached as far as
Constantinople by the start of the 17th century.
Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536–1559) was one of
the most influential theologies of the era. The book was written
as an introductory textbook on the Protestant faith for those with
some previous knowledge of theology, and covered a broad range
of theological topics, from the doctrines of church and sacraments
to justification by faith alone and Christian liberty. It vigorously
attacked the teachings Calvin considered unorthodox, particularly
Roman Catholicism, to which Calvin says he had been “strongly
devoted” before his conversion to Protestantism.

Calvinism | 1175
Controversies in France

Protestantism spread into France, where the Protestants were

derisively nicknamed “Huguenots,” and this touched off decades of
warfare in France, after initial support by Henry of Navarre was lost
due to the “Night of the Placards” affair. Many French Huguenots,
however, still contributed to the Protestant movement, including
many who emigrated to the English colonies.
Though he was not personally interested in religious reform,
Francis I (1515–1547) initially maintained an attitude of tolerance
arising from his interest in the humanist movement. This changed
in 1534 with the Affair of the Placards. In this act, Protestants
denounced the mass in placards that appeared across France, even
reaching the royal apartments. The issue of religious faith having
been thrown into the arena of politics, Francis was prompted to
view the movement as a threat to the kingdom’s stability. This led
to the first major phase of anti-Protestant persecution in France,
in which the Chambre Ardente (“Burning Chamber”) was established
within the Parliament of Paris to handle the rise in prosecutions
for heresy. Several thousand French Protestants fled the country
during this time, most notably John Calvin, who settled in Geneva.
Calvin continued to take an interest in the religious affairs of
his native land and, from his base in Geneva, beyond the reach
of the French king, regularly trained pastors to lead congregations
in France. Despite heavy persecution by Henry II, the Reformed
Church of France, largely Calvinist in direction, made steady
progress across large sections of the nation, in the urban
bourgeoisie and parts of the aristocracy, appealing to people
alienated by the obduracy and the complacency of the Catholic
establishment.
image

1176 | Calvinism
Interior of a Calvinist Church

Calvinism has been known at times for its simple, unadorned

churches and lifestyles, as depicted in this painting by Emanuel de
Witte c.1661.
Painting of the interior of a Calvinist church, which is characterized
by large, arching windows and the lack of religious objects or
symbols.

Calvinist Theology

The “Five Points of Calvinism” summarize the faith’s basic tenets,

although some historians contend that it distorts the nuance of
Calvin’s own theological positions.
The Five Points:

1. “Total depravity” asserts that as a consequence of the fall of

man into sin, every person is enslaved to sin. People are not by
nature inclined to love God, but rather to serve their own
interests and to reject the rule of God. Thus, all people by their
own faculties are morally unable to choose to follow God and
be saved because they are unwilling to do so out of the
necessity of their own natures.
2. “Unconditional election” asserts that God has chosen from
eternity those whom he will bring to himself not based on
foreseen virtue, merit, or faith in those people; rather, his
choice is unconditionally grounded in his mercy alone. God has
chosen from eternity to extend mercy to those he has chosen
and to withhold mercy from those not chosen. Those chosen
receive salvation through Christ alone. Those not chosen
receive the just wrath that is warranted for their sins against
God.

Calvinism | 1177
3. “Limited atonement” asserts that Jesus’s substitutionary
atonement was definite and certain in its purpose and in what
it accomplished. This implies that only the sins of the elect
were atoned for by Jesus’s death. Calvinists do not believe,
however, that the atonement is limited in its value or power,
but rather that the atonement is limited in the sense that it is
intended for some and not all. All Calvinists would affirm that
the blood of Christ was sufficient to pay for every single
human being IF it were God’s intention to save every single
human being.
4. “Irresistible grace” asserts that the saving grace of God is
effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save
(that is, the elect) and overcomes their resistance to obeying
the call of the gospel, bringing them to a saving faith. This
means that when God sovereignly purposes to save someone,
that individual certainly will be saved. The doctrine holds that
this purposeful influence of God’s Holy Spirit cannot be
resisted.
5. “Perseverance of the saints” asserts that since God is sovereign
and his will cannot be frustrated by humans or anything else,
those whom God has called into communion with himself will
continue in faith until the end.

SOURCES

Source: Boundless. “Calvinism.” Boundless World History Boundless,

3 Nov. 2016. Retrieved 23 Jun. 2017 from
https://www.boundless.com/world-history/textbooks/
boundless-world-history-textbook/the-protestant-
reformation-12/protestantism-56/calvinism-1035-17636/

1178 | Calvinism
166. The Anabaptists
The Anabaptists were a group of radical religious reformists formed
in Switzerland who suffered violent persecution by both Roman
Catholics and Protestants.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• Explain why the Anabaptists were ostracized by much of

Europe

KEY POINTS

◦ Anabaptists are Christians who believe in delaying baptism

until the candidate confesses his or her faith in Christ, as
opposed to being baptized as an infant.
◦ Anabaptists were heavily persecuted during the 16th
century and into the 17th century by both Protestants and
Roman Catholics, including being drowned and burned at
the stake.
◦ Anabaptists were often in conflict with civil society
because part of their belief was to follow scripture at all
costs, no matter the wishes of secular authority.
◦ Continuing persecution in Europe was largely responsible
for the mass emigrations to North America by Amish,
Hutterites, and Mennonites, some of the major branches
of Anabaptists.

The Anabaptists | 1179

TERMS

• Magisterial ProtestantsA phrase that names the manner in

which the Lutheran and Calvinist reformers related to secular
authorities, such as princes, magistrates, or city councils;
opposed to the Radical Protestants.
• infant baptismThe practice of baptizing infants or young
children, sometimes contrasted with what is called “believer’s
baptism,” which is the religious practice of baptizing only
individuals who personally confess faith in Jesus.
• Ulrich ZwingliA leader of the Reformation in Switzerland who
clashed with the Anabaptists.

FULL TEXT

Overview

Anabaptism is a Christian movement that traces its origins to the

Radical Reformation in Europe. Some consider this movement to
be an offshoot of European Protestantism, while others see it as
distinct.
Anabaptists are Christians who believe in delaying baptism until
the candidate confesses his or her faith in Christ, as opposed to
being baptized as an infant. The Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites
are direct descendants of the movement. Schwarzenau Brethren,
Bruderhof, and the Apostolic Christian Church are considered later
developments among the Anabaptists.
The name Anabaptist means “one who baptizes again.” Their
persecutors named them this, referring to the practice of baptizing
persons when they converted or declared their faith in Christ, even
if they had been “baptized” as infants. Anabaptists required that

1180 | The Anabaptists

baptismal candidates be able to make a confession of faith that
was freely chosen, and so rejected baptism of infants. The early
members of this movement did not accept the name Anabaptist,
claiming that infant baptism was not part of scripture and was
therefore null and void. They said that baptizing self-confessed
believers was their first true baptism. Balthasar Hubmaier wrote:

I have never taught Anabaptism…But the right baptism of

Christ, which is preceded by teaching and oral confession of
faith, I teach, and say that infant baptism is a robbery of the
right baptism of Christ.

Anabaptists were heavily persecuted during the 16th century and

into the 17th century because of their views on the nature of baptism
and other issues, by both Magisterial Protestants and Roman
Catholics.
Anabaptists were persecuted largely because of their
interpretation of scripture that put them at odds with official state
church interpretations and government. Most Anabaptists adhered
to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount, which
precluded taking oaths, participating in military actions, and
participating in civil government. Some who practiced re-baptism,
however, felt otherwise, and complied with these requirements of
civil society. They were thus technically Anabaptists, even though
conservative Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites, and some
historians, tend to consider them as outside of true Anabaptism.
image

Spread of the Anabaptists 1525–1550 in Central

Europe

After starting in Switzerland, Anabaptism spread to Tyrol (modern-

day Austria), South Germany, Moravia, the Netherlands, and
Belgium.

The Anabaptists | 1181

A map showing the spread of Anabaptists from 1525-1550, mostly
within the Holy Roman Empire.

Origins

Anabaptism in Switzerland began as an offshoot of the church

reforms instigated by Ulrich Zwingli. As early as 1522 it became
evident that Zwingli was on a path of reform preaching when he
began to question or criticize such Catholic practices as tithes, the
mass, and even infant baptism. Zwingli had gathered a group of
reform-minded men around him, with whom he studied classical
literature and the scriptures. However, some of these young men
began to feel that Zwingli was not moving fast enough in his reform.
The division between Zwingli and his more radical disciples became
apparent in an October 1523 disputation held in Zurich. When the
discussion of the mass was about to be ended without making any
actual change in practice, Conrad Grebel stood up and asked “what
should be done about the mass?” Zwingli responded by saying the
council would make that decision. At this point, Simon Stumpf,
a radical priest from Hongg, answered, saying, “The decision has
already been made by the Spirit of God.”
This incident illustrated clearly that Zwingli and his more radical
disciples had different expectations. To Zwingli, the reforms would
only go as fast as the city council allowed them. To the radicals,
the council had no right to make that decision, but rather the Bible
was the final authority on church reform. Feeling frustrated, some
of them began to meet on their own for Bible study. As early as
1523, William Reublin began to preach against infant baptism in
villages surrounding Zurich, encouraging parents to not baptize
their children.
The council ruled in this meeting that all who refused to baptize
their infants within one week should be expelled from Zurich. Since
Conrad Grebel had refused to baptize his daughter Rachel, born

1182 | The Anabaptists

on January 5, 1525, the council decision was extremely personal to
him and others who had not baptized their children. Thus, when
sixteen of the radicals met on Saturday evening, January 21, 1525, the
situation seemed particularly dark.
At that meeting Grebel baptized George Blaurock, and Blaurock
in turn baptized several others immediately. These baptisms were
the first “re-baptisms” known in the movement. This continues to
be the most widely accepted date posited for the establishment of
Anabaptism.
Anabaptism then spread to Tyrol (modern-day Austria), South
Germany, Moravia, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

Persecutions

Roman Catholics and Protestants alike persecuted the Anabaptists,

resorting to torture and execution in attempts to curb the growth
of the movement. The Protestants under Zwingli were the first
to persecute the Anabaptists, with Felix Manz becoming the first
martyr in 1527. On May 20, 1527, Roman Catholic authorities
executed Michael Sattler. King Ferdinand declared drowning (called
the third baptism) “the best antidote to Anabaptism.” The Tudor
regime, even the Protestant monarchs (Edward VI of England and
Elizabeth I of England), persecuted Anabaptists, as they were
deemed too radical and therefore a danger to religious stability.
The persecution of Anabaptists was condoned by ancient laws of
Theodosius I and Justinian I that were passed against the Donatists,
which decreed the death penalty for any who practiced re-baptism.
Martyrs Mirror, by Thieleman J. van Braght, describes the
persecution and execution of thousands of Anabaptists in various
parts of Europe between 1525 and 1660. Continuing persecution in
Europe was largely responsible for the mass emigrations to North
America by Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites.
image

The Anabaptists | 1183

Burning of an Anabaptist

The burning of a 16th-century Dutch Anabaptist, Anneken Hendriks,

who was charged by the Spanish Inquisition with heresy.

1184 | The Anabaptists

167. The Anglican Church
Beginning with Henry VIII in the 16th century, the Church of
England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic
Church.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• Describe the key developments of the English Reformation,

distinguishing it from the wider reformation movement in
Europe.

KEY POINTS

◦ The English Reformation was associated with the wider

process of the European Protestant Reformation, though
based on Henry VIII’s desire for an annulment of his
marriage, it was at the outset more of a political affair than
a theological dispute.
◦ Having been refused an annulment by the pope, Henry
summoned parliament to deal with annulment, and the
breaking with Rome proceeded.
◦ After Henry’s death his son Edward VI was crowned, and
the reformation continued with the destruction and
removal of decor and religious features, which changed
the church forever.
◦ From 1553, under the reign of Henry’s Roman Catholic
daughter, Mary I, the Reformation legislation was
repealed, and Mary sought to achieve reunion with Rome.

The Anglican Church | 1185

 ◦ During Elizabeth I’s reign, support for her father’s idea of
reforming the church continued with some minor
adjustments. In this way, Elizabeth and her advisors aimed
at a church that found a middle ground.

TERMS

• PuritansGroup of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th

centuries founded by some exiles from the clergy shortly after
the accession of Elizabeth I of England.
• annulmentLegal term for declaring a marriage null and void.
Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that this kind
of marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning,
almost as if it had never taken place. They are closely
associated with the Catholic Church, which does not permit
divorce, teaching that marriage is a lifelong commitment that
cannot be dissolved through divorce.
• nationalismA belief, creed, or political ideology that involves an
individual identifying with, or becoming attached to, one’s
nation. In Europe, people were generally loyal to the church or
to a local king or leader.
• Canon LawThe body of laws and regulations made by
ecclesiastical authority (church leadership), for the
government of a Christian organization or church and its
members.

1186 | The Anglican Church

FULL TEXT

Overview

The English Reformation was a series of events in 16th-century

England by which the Church of England broke away from the
authority of the pope and the Roman Catholic Church. The English
Reformation was, in part, associated with the wider process of the
European Protestant Reformation, a religious and political
movement that affected the practice of Christianity across most
of Europe during this period. Many factors contributed to the
process—the decline of feudalism and the rise of nationalism, the
rise of the common law, the invention of the printing press and
increased circulation of the Bible, and the transmission of new
knowledge and ideas among scholars, the upper and middle classes,
and readers in general. However, the various phases of the English
Reformation, which also covered Wales and Ireland, were largely
driven by changes in government policy, to which public opinion
gradually accommodated itself.

Role of Henry VIII and Royal Marriages

Henry VIII ascended the English throne in 1509 at the age of

seventeen. He made a dynastic marriage with Catherine of Aragon,
widow of his brother, Arthur, in June 1509, just before his coronation
on Midsummer’s Day. Unlike his father, who was secretive and
conservative, the young Henry appeared the epitome of chivalry
and sociability. An observant Roman Catholic, he heard up to five
masses a day (except during the hunting season). Of “powerful but
unoriginal mind,” he let himself be influenced by his advisors from

The Anglican Church | 1187

whom he was never apart, by night or day. He was thus susceptible
to whoever had his ear.
This contributed to a state of hostility between his young
contemporaries and the Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.
As long as Wolsey had his ear, Henry’s Roman Catholicism was
secure; in 1521, he defended the Roman Catholic Church from
Martin Luther’s accusations of heresy in a book he wrote—probably
with considerable help from the conservative Bishop of Rochester,
John Fisher—entitled The Defence of the Seven Sacraments, for which
he was awarded the title “Defender of the Faith” by Pope Leo X.
Wolsey’s enemies at court included those who had been influenced
by Lutheran ideas, among whom was the attractive, charismatic
Anne Boleyn.
Anne arrived at court in 1522 from years in France, where she had
been educated by Queen Claude of France. Anne served as maid of
honor to Queen Catherine. She was a woman of “charm, style and
wit, with will and savagery which made her a match for Henry.” By
the late 1520s, Henry wanted his marriage to Catherine annulled.
She had not produced a male heir who survived into adulthood, and
Henry wanted a son to secure the Tudor dynasty.
Henry claimed that this lack of a male heir was because his
marriage was “blighted in the eyes of God”; Catherine had been his
late brother’s wife, and it was therefore against biblical teachings for
Henry to have married her—a special dispensation from Pope Julius
II had been needed to allow the wedding to take place. Henry argued
that this had been wrong and that his marriage had never been
valid. In 1527 Henry asked Pope Clement VII to annul the marriage,
but the pope refused. According to Canon Law the pope cannot
annul a marriage on the basis of a canonical impediment previously
dispensed. Clement also feared the wrath of Catherine’s nephew,
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, whose troops earlier that year had
sacked Rome and briefly taken the pope prisoner.
image

1188 | The Anglican Church

Portrait of Henry VIII (1491–1547)

Portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1539–1540.

In 1529 the king summoned parliament to deal with annulment,

thus bringing together those who wanted reform but disagreed
what form it should take; it became known as the Reformation
Parliament. There were common lawyers who resented the
privileges of the clergy to summon laity to their courts, and there
were those who had been influenced by Lutheran evangelicalism
and were hostile to the theology of Rome; Thomas Cromwell was
both.
Cromwell was a lawyer and a member of Parliament—a Protestant
who saw how Parliament could be used to advance the Royal
Supremacy, which Henry wanted, and to further Protestant beliefs
and practices Cromwell and his friends wanted.
The breaking of the power of Rome proceeded little by little
starting in 1531. The Act in Restraint of Appeals, drafted by
Cromwell, declared that clergy recognized Henry as the “sole
protector and Supreme Head of the Church and clergy of England.”
This declared England an independent country in every respect.
Meanwhile, having taken Anne to France on a pre-nuptial
honeymoon, Henry married her in Westminster Abbey in January
1533.
Henry maintained a strong preference for traditional Catholic
practices and, during his reign, Protestant reformers were unable
to make many changes to the practices of the Church of England.
Indeed, this part of Henry’s reign saw trials for heresy of Protestants
as well as Roman Catholics.

The Anglican Church | 1189

The Reformation during Edward VI

When Henry died in 1547, his nine-year-old son, Edward VI,

inherited the throne. Under King Edward VI, more Protestant-
influenced forms of worship were adopted. Under the leadership
of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, a more radical
reformation proceeded. Cranmer introduced a series of religious
reforms that revolutionized the English church from one
that—while rejecting papal supremacy—remained essentially
Catholic to one that was institutionally Protestant. All images in
churches were to be dismantled. Stained glass, shrines, and statues
were defaced or destroyed. Roods, and often their lofts and screens,
were cut down and bells were taken down. Vestments were
prohibited and either burned or sold. Chalices were melted down
or sold. The requirement of the clergy to be celibate was lifted.
Processions were banned and ashes and palms were prohibited.
A new pattern of worship was set out in the Book of Common
Prayer (1549 and 1552). These were based on the older liturgy but
influenced by Protestant principles. Cranmer’s formulation of the
reformed religion, finally divesting the communion service of any
notion of the real presence of God in the bread and the wine,
effectively abolished the mass. The publication of Cranmer’s revised
prayer book in 1552, supported by a second Act of Uniformity,
“marked the arrival of the English Church at protestantism.” The
prayer book of 1552 remains the foundation of the Church of
England’s services. However, Cranmer was unable to implement all
these reforms once it became clear in the spring of 1553 that King
Edward, upon whom the whole Reformation in England depended,
was dying.

1190 | The Anglican Church

Catholic Restoration

From 1553, under the reign of Henry’s Roman Catholic daughter,

Mary I, the Reformation legislation was repealed, and Mary sought
to achieve reunion with Rome. Her first Act of Parliament was to
retroactively validate Henry’s marriage to her mother and so
legitimize her claim to the throne.
After 1555, the initial reconciling tone of the regime began to
harden. The medieval heresy laws were restored and 283
Protestants were burned at the stake for heresy. Full restoration
of the Catholic faith in England to its pre-Reformation state would
take time. Consequently, Protestants secretly ministering to
underground congregations were planning for a long haul, a
ministry of survival. However, Mary died in November 1558, childless
and without having made provision for a Catholic to succeed her,
undoing her work to restore the Catholic Church in England.

Elizabeth I

Following Mary’s death, her half-sister Elizabeth inherited the

throne. One of the most important concerns during Elizabeth’s early
reign was religion. Elizabeth could not be Catholic, as that church
considered her illegitimate, being born of Anne Boleyn. At the same
time, she had observed the turmoil brought about by Edward’s
introduction of radical Protestant reforms. Communion with the
Catholic Church was again severed by Elizabeth. Chiefly she
supported her father’s idea of reforming the church, but she made
some minor adjustments. In this way, Elizabeth and her advisors
aimed at a church that included most opinions.

The Anglican Church | 1191

 An interactive or media element has been excluded from
this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://library.achievingthedream.org/
herkimerwesterncivilization/?p=193

Elizabeth I and the Church of England

Dr. Tarnya Cooper, the National Portrait Gallery’s Chief Curator

and Curator of Sixteenth Century Portraits, discusses Elizabeth I’s
solution to religious turmoil in England.

Two groups were excluded in Elizabeth’s Church of England. Roman

Catholics who remained loyal to the pope were not tolerated. They
were, in fact, regarded as traitors because the pope had refused
to accept Elizabeth as Queen of England. Roman Catholics were
given the hard choice of being loyal either to their church or their
country. For some priests it meant life on the run, and in some cases
death for treason.
The other group not tolerated were people who wanted reform to
go much further, and who finally gave up on the Church of England.
They could no longer see it as a true church. They believed it had
refused to obey the Bible, so they formed small groups of convinced
believers outside the church. One of the main groups that formed
during this time was the Puritans. The government responded with
imprisonment and exile to try to crush these “separatists.”

1192 | The Anglican Church

 An interactive or media element has been excluded from
this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://library.achievingthedream.org/
herkimerwesterncivilization/?p=193

Reformation and Division, 1530–1558

Professor Wrightson examines the various stages of the reformation

in England, beginning with the legislative, as opposed to doctrinal,
reformation begun by Henry VIII in a quest to settle the Tudor
succession. Wrightson shows how the jurisdictional transformation
of the royal supremacy over the church resulted, gradually, in the
introduction of true religious change. The role played by various
personalities at Henry’s court, and the manner in which the king’s
own preferences shaped the doctrines of the Church of England, are
considered. Doctrinal change, in line with continental Protestant
developments, accelerated under Edward VI, but was reversed by
Mary I. However, Wrightson suggests that, by this time, many
aspects of Protestantism had been internalized by part of the
English population, especially the young, and so the reformation
could not wholly be undone by Mary’s short reign. The lecture ends
with the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, an event which presaged
further religious change.

The Anglican Church | 1193

168. The French Wars of
Religion
The French Wars of Religion (1562–98) is the name of a period of
fighting between French Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots).

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• Discuss how the patterns of warfare that took place in France

affected the Huguenots

KEY POINTS

◦ Protestant ideas were first introduced to France during

the reign of Francis I, who firmly opposed Protestantism,
but continued to try and seek a middle course until the
later stages of his regime.
◦ As the Huguenots gained influence and displayed their
faith more openly, Roman Catholic hostility to them grew,
spurning eight civil wars from 1562 to 1598.
◦ The wars were interrupted by breaks in peace that only
lasted temporarily as the Huguenots’ trust in the Catholic
throne diminished, and the violence became more severe
and Protestant demands became grander.
◦ One of the most infamous events of the wars was the St.
Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572, when thousands of
Huguenots were killed by Catholics.
◦ The pattern of warfare followed by brief periods of peace

1194 | The French Wars of Religion

 continued for nearly another quarter-century. The
proclamation of the Edict of Nantes, and the subsequent
protection of Huguenot rights, finally quelled the
uprisings.

TERMS

• Edict of NantesIssued on April 13, 1598, by Henry IV of France;

granted the Huguenots substantial rights in a nation still
considered essentially Catholic.
• HuguenotsMembers of the Protestant Reformed Church of
France during the 16th and 17th centuries; inspired by the
writings of John Calvin.
• Real PresenceA term used in various Christian traditions to
express belief that in the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is really
present in what was previously just bread and wine, and not
merely present in symbol.

FULL TEXT

Overview

The French Wars of Religion (1562–1598) is the name of a period

of civil infighting and military operations primarily between French
Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots). The conflict involved the
factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such
as the House of Bourbon and the House of Guise, and both sides
received assistance from foreign sources.
The exact number of wars and their respective dates are the

The French Wars of Religion | 1195

subject of continued debate by historians; some assert that the Edict
of Nantes in 1598 concluded the wars, although a resurgence of
rebellious activity following this leads some to believe the Peace
of Alais in 1629 is the actual conclusion. However, the Massacre
of Vassy in 1562 is agreed to have begun the Wars of Religion; up
to a hundred Huguenots were killed in this massacre. During the
wars, complex diplomatic negotiations and agreements of peace
were followed by renewed conflict and power struggles.
Between 2,000,000 and 4,000,000 people were killed as a result
of war, famine, and disease, and at the conclusion of the conflict
in 1598, Huguenots were granted substantial rights and freedoms
by the Edict of Nantes, though it did not end hostility towards
them. The wars weakened the authority of the monarchy, already
fragile under the rule of Francis II and then Charles IX, though the
monarchy later reaffirmed its role under Henry IV.

Introduction of Protestantism

Protestant ideas were first introduced to France during the reign

of Francis I (1515–1547) in the form of Lutheranism, the teachings
of Martin Luther, and circulated unimpeded for more than a year
around Paris. Although Francis firmly opposed heresy, the difficulty
was initially in recognizing what constituted it; Catholic doctrine
and definition of orthodox belief was unclear. Francis I tried to steer
a middle course in the developing religious schism in France.
Calvinism, a form of Protestant religion, was introduced by John
Calvin, who was born in Noyon, Picardy, in 1509, and fled France in
1536 after the Affair of the Placards. Calvinism in particular appears
to have developed with large support from the nobility. It is believed
to have started with Louis Bourbon, Prince of Condé, who, while
returning home to France from a military campaign, passed through
Geneva, Switzerland, and heard a sermon by a Calvinist preacher.
Later, Louis Bourbon would become a major figure among the

1196 | The French Wars of Religion

Huguenots of France. In 1560, Jeanne d’Albret, Queen regnant of
Navarre, converted to Calvinism possibly due to the influence of
Theodore de Beze. She later married Antoine de Bourbon, and their
son Henry of Navarre would be a leader among the Huguenots.

Affair of the Placards

Francis I continued his policy of seeking a middle course in the

religious rift in France until an incident called the Affair of the
Placards. The Affair of the Placards began in 1534 when Protestants
started putting up anti-Catholic posters. The posters were extreme
in their anti-Catholic content—specifically, the absolute rejection
of the Catholic doctrine of “Real Presence.” Protestantism became
identified as “a religion of rebels,” helping the Catholic Church to
more easily define Protestantism as heresy. In the wake of the
posters, the French monarchy took a harder stand against the
protesters. Francis I had been severely criticized for his initial
tolerance towards Protestants, and now was encouraged to repress
them.

Tensions Mount

King Francis I died on March 31, 1547, and was succeeded to the
throne by his son Henry II. Henry II continued the harsh religious
policy that his father had followed during the last years of his reign.
In 1551, Henry issued the Edict of Châteaubriant, which sharply
curtailed Protestant rights to worship, assemble, or even discuss
religion at work, in the fields, or over a meal.
An organized influx of Calvinist preachers from Geneva and
elsewhere during the 1550s succeeded in setting up hundreds of

The French Wars of Religion | 1197

underground Calvinist congregations in France. This underground
Calvinist preaching (which was also seen in the Netherlands and
Scotland) allowed for the formation of covert alliances with
members of the nobility and quickly led to more direct action to
gain political and religious control.
As the Huguenots gained influence and displayed their faith more
openly, Roman Catholic hostility to them grew, even though the
French crown offered increasingly liberal political concessions and
edicts of toleration. However, these measures disguised the growing
tensions between Protestants and Catholics.

The Eight Wars of Religion

These tensions spurred eight civil wars, interrupted by periods of

relative calm, between 1562 and 1598. With each break in peace,
the Huguenots’ trust in the Catholic throne diminished, and the
violence became more severe and Protestant demands became
grander, until a lasting cessation of open hostility finally occurred in
1598.
The wars gradually took on a dynastic character, developing into
an extended feud between the Houses of Bourbon and Guise, both
of which—in addition to holding rival religious views—staked a claim
to the French throne. The crown, occupied by the House of Valois,
generally supported the Catholic side, but on occasion switched
over to the Protestant cause when it was politically expedient.

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

One of the most infamous events of the Wars of Religion was the
St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572, when Catholics killed

1198 | The French Wars of Religion

thousands of Huguenots in Paris. The massacre began on the night
of August 23, 1572 (the eve of the feast of Bartholomew the Apostle),
two days after the attempted assassination of Admiral Gaspard de
Coligny, the military and political leader of the Huguenots. The
king ordered the killing of a group of Huguenot leaders, including
Coligny, and the slaughter spread throughout Paris and beyond. The
exact number of fatalities throughout the country is not known,
but estimates are that between about 2,000 and 3,000 Protestants
were killed in Paris, and between 3,000 and 7,000 more in the
French provinces. Similar massacres took place in other towns in
the weeks following. By September 17, almost 25,000 Protestants
had been massacred in Paris alone. Outside of Paris, the killings
continued until October 3. An amnesty granted in 1573 pardoned the
perpetrators.
The massacre also marked a turning point in the French Wars
of Religion. The Huguenot political movement was crippled by the
loss of many of its prominent aristocratic leaders, as well as many
re-conversions by the rank and file, and those who remained were
increasingly radicalized.
image

St. Bartholomew Massacre painting by François

Dubois, a Huguenot painter

Born circa 1529 in Amiens, Dubois settled in Switzerland. Although

Dubois did not witness the massacre, he depicts Admiral Coligny’s
body hanging out of a window at the rear to the right. To the left
rear, Catherine de’ Medici is shown emerging from the Château du
Louvre to inspect a heap of bodies.

The French Wars of Religion | 1199

War of the Three Henrys

The War of the Three Henrys (1587–1589) was the eighth and final
conflict in the series of civil wars in France known as the Wars of
Religion. It was a three-way war fought between:

• King Henry III of France, supported by the royalists and the

politiques;
• King Henry of Navarre, leader of the Huguenots and heir-
presumptive to the French throne, supported by Elizabeth I of
England and the Protestant princes of Germany; and
• Henry of Lorraine, Duke of Guise, leader of the Catholic
League, funded and supported by Philip II of Spain.

The war began when the Catholic League convinced King Henry
III to issue an edict outlawing Protestantism and annulling Henry
of Navarre’s right to the throne. For the first part of the war, the
royalists and the Catholic League were uneasy allies against their
common enemy, the Huguenots. Henry of Navarre sought foreign
aid from the German princes and Elizabeth I of England.
Henry III successfully prevented the junction of the German and
Swiss armies. The Swiss were his allies, and had come to invade
France to free him from subjection, but Henry III insisted that their
invasion was not in his favor, but against him, forcing them to return
home.
In Paris, the glory of repelling the German and Swiss Protestants
all fell to the Duke of Guise. The king’s actions were viewed with
contempt. People thought that the king had invited the Swiss to
invade, paid them for coming, and sent them back again. The king,
who had really performed the decisive part in the campaign, and
expected to be honored for it, was astounded that public voice
should thus declare against him. The Catholic League had put its
preachers to good use.
Open war erupted between the royalists and the Catholic League.

1200 | The French Wars of Religion

Charles, Duke of Mayenne, Guise’s younger brother, took over the
leadership of the league. At the moment it seemed that he could
not possibly resist his enemies. His power was effectively limited
to Blois, Tours, and the surrounding districts. In these dark times
the King of France finally reached out to his cousin and heir, the
King of Navarre. Henry III declared that he would no longer allow
Protestants to be called heretics, while the Protestants revived the
strict principles of royalty and divine right. As on the other side
ultra-Catholic and anti-royalist doctrines were closely associated,
so on the side of the two kings the principles of tolerance and
royalism were united.
In July 1589, in the royal camp at Saint-Cloud, a Dominican monk
named Jacques Clément gained an audience with the King and drove
a long knife into his spleen. Clément was killed on the spot, taking
with him the information of who, if anyone, had hired him. On his
deathbed, Henri III called for Henry of Navarre, and begged him,
in the name of statecraft, to become a Catholic, citing the brutal
warfare that would ensue if he refused. He named Henry Navarre as
his heir, who became Henry IV.

Edict of Nantes

Fighting continued between Henry IV and the Catholic League for

almost a decade. The warfare was finally quelled in 1598 when Henry
IV recanted Protestantism in favor of Roman Catholicism, issued
as the Edict of Nantes. The edict established Catholicism as the
state religion of France, but granted the Protestants equality with
Catholics under the throne and a degree of religious and political
freedom within their domains. The edict simultaneously protected
Catholic interests by discouraging the founding of new Protestant
churches in Catholic-controlled regions. With the proclamation of
the Edict of Nantes, and the subsequent protection of Huguenot
rights, pressures to leave France abated.

The French Wars of Religion | 1201

 In offering general freedom of conscience to individuals, the edict
gave many specific concessions to the Protestants, such as amnesty
and the reinstatement of their civil rights, including the right to
work in any field or for the state and to bring grievances directly to
the king. This marked the end of the religious wars that had afflicted
France during the second half of the 16th century.

1202 | The French Wars of Religion

169. The Witch Trials
Between the 15th and 18th centuries in Europe, many people were
accused of and put on trial for practicing witchcraft.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• Demonstrate how natural events and pandemics contributed

to the hysteria surrounding the witch trials of the 16th through
18th centuries

KEY POINTS

◦ In early modern Europe, there was widespread hysteria

that malevolent Satanic witches were operating as an
organized threat to Christianity. Those who were accused
of witchcraft were portrayed as being Devil worshipers.
◦ In medieval Europe, the Black Death was a turning point in
peoples’ views of witches. The death of a large percentage
of the European population was believed by many
Christians to have been caused by their enemies.
◦ The peak of the witch hunt was during the European wars
of religion, peaking between about 1580 and 1630.
◦ Over the entire duration of the trials, which spanned three
centuries, an estimated total of 40,000–100,000 people
were executed.
◦ The Witch Trials of Trier in Germany was perhaps the
biggest witch trial in European history. It led to the death
of about 386 people, and was perhaps the biggest mass

The Witch Trials | 1203

 execution in Europe during peacetime.
◦ While the witch trials had begun to fade out across much
of Europe by the mid-17th century, they became more
prominent in the American colonies.
◦ An estimated 75% to 85% of those accused in the early
modern witch trials were women, and there is certainly
evidence of misogyny on the part of those persecuting
witches.

TERM

• Johannes KeplerA German mathematician, astronomer,

astrologer, and key figure in the 17th century scientific
revolution.

FULL TEXT

The witch trials in the early modern period were a series of witch
hunts between the 15th and 18th centuries, when across early
modern Europe, and to some extent in the European colonies in
North America, there was a widespread hysteria that malevolent
Satanic witches were operating as an organized threat to
Christendom. Those accused of witchcraft were portrayed as being
worshippers of the Devil, who engaged in sorcery at meetings
known as Witches’ Sabbaths. Many people were subsequently
accused of being witches and were put on trial for the crime, with
varying punishments being applicable in different regions and at
different times.
In early modern European tradition, witches were stereotypically,
though not exclusively, women. European pagan belief in witchcraft

1204 | The Witch Trials

was associated with the goddess Diana and dismissed as “diabolical
fantasies” by medieval Christian authors.

Background to the Witch Trials

During the medieval period, there was widespread belief in magic

across Christian Europe. The medieval Roman Catholic Church,
which then dominated a large swath of the continent, divided magic
into two forms—natural magic, which was acceptable because it was
viewed as merely taking note of the powers in nature that were
created by God, and demonic magic, which was frowned upon and
associated with demonology.
It was also during the medieval period that the concept of Satan,
the Biblical Devil, began to develop into a more threatening form.
Around the year 1000, when there were increasing fears that the
end of the world would soon come in Christendom, the idea of the
Devil had become prominent.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, the concept of the witch in
Christendom underwent a relatively radical change. No longer were
witches viewed as sorcerers who had been deceived by the Devil
into practicing magic that went against the powers of God. Instead
they became all-out malevolent Devil-worshippers, who had made
pacts with him in which they had to renounce Christianity and
devote themselves to Satanism. As a part of this, it was believed that
they gained new, supernatural powers that enabled them to work
magic, which they would use against Christians.
image

A Witch feeding her familiars

An image of a witch and her familiar spirits taken from a publication

The Witch Trials | 1205

that dealt with the witch trials of Elizabeth Stile, Mother Dutten,
Mother Devell, and Mother Margaret in Windsor, 1579.
While the witch trials only really began in the 15th century, with
the start of the early modern period, many of their causes had been
developing during the previous centuries, with the persecution of
heresy by the medieval Inquisition during the late 12th and the 13th
centuries, and during the late medieval period, during which the
idea of witchcraft or sorcery gradually changed and adapted. An
important turning point was the Black Death of 1348–1350, which
killed a large percentage of the European population, and which
many Christians believed had been caused by evil forces.

Beginnings of the Witch Trials

While the idea of witchcraft began to mingle with the persecution

of heretics even in the 14th century, the beginning of the witch
hunts as a phenomenon in its own right became apparent during
the first half of the 15th century in southeastern France and western
Switzerland, in communities of the Western Alps, in what was at the
time Burgundy and Savoy.
Here, the cause of eliminating the supposed Satanic witches from
society was taken up by a number of individuals; Claude Tholosan
for instance had tried over two hundred people, accusing them of
witchcraft in Briançon, Dauphiné, by 1420.
While early trials fall still within the late medieval period, the peak
of the witch hunt was during the period of the European wars of
religion, between about 1580 and 1630. Over the entire duration
of the phenomenon of some three centuries, an estimated total of
40,000 to 100,000 people were executed.

1206 | The Witch Trials

The Trials of 1580–1630

The height of the European witch trials was between 1560 and 1630,
with the large hunts first beginning in 1609. During this period, the
biggest witch trials were held in Europe, notably the Trier witch
trials (1581–1593), the Fulda witch trials (1603–1606), the Basque
witch trials (1609–1611), the Würzburg witch trial (1626–1631), and
the Bamberg witch trials (1626–1631).
The Witch Trials of Trier in Germany was perhaps the biggest
witch trial in European history. The persecutions started in the
diocese of Trier in 1581 and reached the city itself in 1587, where they
were to lead to the deaths of about 368 people, and as such it was
perhaps the biggest mass execution in Europe during peacetime.
image

The Examination of a Witch by Matteson

1853 painting by Thompkins H. Matteson, American painter.

In Denmark, the burning of witches increased following the

reformation of 1536. Christian IV of Denmark, in particular,
encouraged this practice, and hundreds of people were convicted
of witchcraft and burned. In England, the Witchcraft Act of 1542
regulated the penalties for witchcraft. In the North Berwick witch
trials in Scotland, over seventy people were accused of witchcraft
on account of bad weather when James VI of Scotland, who shared
the Danish king’s interest in witch trials, sailed to Denmark in 1590
to meet his betrothed, Anne of Denmark.
The sentence for an individual found guilty of witchcraft or
sorcery during this time, and in previous centuries, typically
included either burning at the stake or being tested with the “ordeal
of cold water” or judicium aquae frigidae. Accused persons who
drowned were considered innocent, and ecclesiastical authorities

The Witch Trials | 1207

would proclaim them “brought back,” but those who floated were
considered guilty of practicing witchcraft, and burned at the stake
or executed in an unholy fashion.

Decline of the Trials

While the witch trials had begun to fade out across much of Europe
by the mid-17th century, they continued to a greater extent on the
fringes of Europe and in the American colonies. The clergy and
intellectuals began to speak out against the trials from the late 16th
century. Johannes Kepler in 1615 could only by the weight of his
prestige keep his mother from being burned as a witch. The 1692
Salem witch trials were a brief outburst of witch hysteria in the New
World at a time when the practice was already waning in Europe.

Witch Trials and Women

An estimated 75% to 85% of those accused in the early modern

witch trials were women, and there is certainly evidence of
misogyny on the part of those persecuting witches, evident from
quotes such as “[It is] not unreasonable that this scum of humanity,
[witches], should be drawn chiefly from the feminine sex” (Nicholas
Rémy, c. 1595) or “The Devil uses them so, because he knows that
women love carnal pleasures, and he means to bind them to his
allegiance by such agreeable provocations.” In early modern Europe,
it was widely believed that women were less intelligent than men
and more susceptible to sin.
Nevertheless, it has been argued that the supposedly misogynistic
agenda of works on witchcraft has been greatly exaggerated, based
on the selective repetition of a few relevant passages of the Malleus

1208 | The Witch Trials

Maleficarum. Many modern scholars argue that the witch hunts
cannot be explained simplistically as an expression of male
misogyny, as indeed women were frequently accused by other
women, to the point that witch hunts, at least at the local level of
villages, have been described as having been driven primarily by
“women’s quarrels.” Especially at the margins of Europe, in Iceland,
Finland, Estonia, and Russia, the majority of those accused were
male.
Barstow (1994) claimed that a combination of factors, including
the greater value placed on men as workers in the increasingly
wage-oriented economy, and a greater fear of women as inherently
evil, loaded the scales against women, even when the charges
against them were identical to those against men. Thurston (2001)
saw this as a part of the general misogyny of the late medieval
and early modern periods, which had increased during what he
described as “the persecuting culture” from what it had been in the
early medieval period. Gunnar Heinsohn and Otto Steiger in a 1982
publication speculated that witch hunts targeted women skilled in
midwifery specifically in an attempt to extinguish knowledge about
birth control and “repopulate Europe” after the population
catastrophe of the Black Death.

An interactive or media element has been excluded from

this version of the text. You can view it online here:
https://library.achievingthedream.org/
herkimerwesterncivilization/?p=195

The Witch Trials | 1209

The Terror of History: The Witch Hunt in Early
Modern Europe, UCLA

Professor Ruiz, UCLA department chair and Premio del Rey prize
for best book in Spanish history before 1580 for his Crisis and
Continuity: Land and Town in Late Medieval Castile, was speaker for
the UCLA History Alumni Faculty Lecture, cohosted by the UCLA
Alumni Association and UCLA Department of History. Ruiz spoke
to an audience of more than eighty history department alumni and
guests. Watch his lively and engaging presentation.

1210 | The Witch Trials

170. Religious Divide in the
Holy Roman Empire
The Thirty Years’ War was a series of wars between various
Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman
Empire between 1618 and 1648.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• Understand the origins of the Thirty Years’ War

KEY POINTS

◦ The Holy Roman Empire was a fragmented collection of

largely independent states, which, after the Protestant
Reformation in the 16th century, was divided between
Catholic and Protestant rulership.
◦ The Peace of Augsburg ended early conflict between
German Lutherans and Catholics and established a
principle in which princes were guaranteed the right to
select either Lutheranism or Catholicism within the
domains they controlled.
◦ Although the Peace of Augsburg created a temporary end
to hostilities, it did not resolve the underlying religious
conflict, which was made yet more complex by the spread
of Calvinism throughout Germany in the years that
followed.
◦ The war began when the newly elected Holy Roman

Religious Divide in the Holy Roman

Empire | 1211
 Emperor, Ferdinand II, tried to impose religious uniformity
on his domains, forcing Roman Catholicism on its peoples,
and the Protestant states banded together to revolt
against him.

TERMS

• Ferdinand IIHis rule coincided with the Thirty Years’ War and
his aim, as a zealous Catholic, was to restore Catholicism as the
only religion in the empire and suppress Protestantism.
• Peace of AugsburgA treaty between Charles V and the forces of
Lutheran princes on September 25, 1555, which officially ended
the religious struggle between the two groups and allowed
princes in the Holy Roman Empire to choose which religion
would reign in their principality.

FULL TEXT

Overview

The Thirty Years’ War was a series of wars in Central Europe

between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the longest and most
destructive conflicts in European history, resulting in millions of
casualties.
Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in
the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it gradually developed into a
more general conflict involving most of the great powers. These
states employed relatively large mercenary armies, and the war
became less about religion and more of a continuation of the

1212 | Religious Divide in the Holy Roman Empire

France-Habsburg rivalry for European political pre-eminence. In
the 17th century, religious beliefs and practices were a much larger
influence on an average European. In that era, almost everyone was
vested on one side of the dispute or another.
The war began when the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor,
Ferdinand II, tried to impose religious uniformity on his domains,
forcing Roman Catholicism on its peoples. The northern Protestant
states, angered by the violation of their rights to choose granted
in the Peace of Augsburg, banded together to form the Protestant
Union. Ferdinand II was a devout Roman Catholic and relatively
intolerant when compared to his predecessor, Rudolf II. His policies
were considered heavily pro-Catholic.

The Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a fragmented collection of largely

independent states. The position of the Holy Roman Emperor was
mainly titular, but the emperors, from the House of Habsburg, also
directly ruled a large portion of imperial territory (lands of the
Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Bohemia), as well as the
Kingdom of Hungary. The Austrian domain was thus a major
European power in its own right, ruling over some eight million
subjects. Another branch of the House of Habsburg ruled over Spain
and its empire, which included the Spanish Netherlands, southern
Italy, the Philippines, and most of the Americas. In addition to
Habsburg lands, the Holy Roman Empire contained several regional
powers, such as the Duchy of Bavaria, the Electorate of Saxony,
the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the Electorate of the Palatinate,
Landgraviate of Hesse, the Archbishopric of Trier, and the Free
Imperial City of Nuremberg.

Religious Divide in the Holy Roman Empire | 1213

Peace of Augsburg

After the Protestant Reformation, these independent states became

divided between Catholic and Protestant rulership, giving rise to
conflict. The Peace of Augsburg (1555), signed by Charles V, Holy
Roman Emperor, ended the war between German Lutherans and
Catholics. The Peace established the principle Cuius regio, eius
religio (“Whose realm, his religion”), which allowed Holy Roman
Empire state princes to select either Lutheranism or Catholicism
within the domains they controlled, ultimately reaffirming the
independence they had over their states. Subjects, citizens, or
residents who did not wish to conform to a prince’s choice were
given a period in which they were free to emigrate to different
regions in which their desired religion had been accepted.
Although the Peace of Augsburg created a temporary end to
hostilities, it did not resolve the underlying religious conflict, which
was made yet more complex by the spread of Calvinism throughout
Germany in the years that followed. This added a third major faith
to the region, but its position was not recognized in any way by the
Augsburg terms, to which only Catholicism and Lutheranism were
parties.
image

Religion in the Holy Roman Empire, 1618

Religion in the Holy Roman Empire on the eve of the Thirty Years’
War. Blues indicate Catholic regions and red/orange indicate
Protestant (including Lutheran, Calvinist, Hussite, and Reform).
German map of religious demographics in the Holy Roman Empire
before the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War.

1214 | Religious Divide in the Holy Roman Empire

Tension Mount

Religious tensions remained strong throughout the second half of

the 16th century. The Peace of Augsburg began to unravel—some
converted bishops refused to give up their bishoprics, and certain
Habsburg and other Catholic rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and
Spain sought to restore the power of Catholicism in the region.
This was evident from the Cologne War (1583–1588), in which a
conflict ensued when the prince-archbishop of the city, Gebhard
Truchsess von Waldburg, converted to Calvinism. As he was an
imperial elector, this could have produced a Protestant majority in
the college that elected the Holy Roman Emperor, a position that
Catholics had always held.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Rhine lands and those
south to the Danube were largely Catholic, while the north was
dominated by Lutherans, and certain other areas, such as west-
central Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, were
dominated by Calvins. Minorities of each creed existed almost
everywhere, however. In some lordships and cities, the numbers of
Calvinists, Catholics, and Lutherans were approximately equal.
Much to the consternation of their Spanish ruling cousins, the
Habsburg emperors who followed Charles V (especially Ferdinand
I and Maximilian II, but also Rudolf II and his successor, Matthias)
were content to allow the princes of the empire to choose their own
religious policies. These rulers avoided religious wars within the
empire by allowing the different Christian faiths to spread without
coercion. This angered those who sought religious uniformity.
Meanwhile, Sweden and Denmark, both Lutheran kingdoms, sought
to assist the Protestant cause in the Empire, and wanted to gain
political and economic influence there as well.
By 1617, it was apparent that Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor and
King of Bohemia, would die without an heir, with his lands going
to his nearest male relative, his cousin Archduke Ferdinand II of
Austria, heir-apparent and Crown Prince of Bohemia.

Religious Divide in the Holy Roman Empire | 1215

War Breaks Out

Ferdinand II, educated by the Jesuits, was a staunch Catholic who

wanted to impose religious uniformity on his lands. This made him
highly unpopular in Protestant Bohemia. The population’s
sentiments notwithstanding, the added insult of the nobility’s
rejection of Ferdinand, who had been elected Bohemian Crown
Prince in 1617, triggered the Thirty Years’ War in 1618, when his
representatives were thrown out of a window and seriously injured.
The so-called Defenestration of Prague provoked open revolt in
Bohemia, which had powerful foreign allies. Ferdinand was upset by
this calculated insult, but his intolerant policies in his own lands had
left him in a weak position. The Habsburg cause in the next few
years would seem to suffer unrecoverable reverses. The Protestant
cause seemed to wax toward a quick overall victory.
The war can be divided into four major phases: The Bohemian
Revolt, the Danish intervention, the Swedish intervention, and the
French intervention.
image

Ferdinand II

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, whose aim,
as a zealous Catholic, was to restore Catholicism as the only religion
in the empire and suppress Protestantism, and whose actions
helped precipitate the Thirty Years’ War.

1216 | Religious Divide in the Holy Roman Empire

171. Bohemian Period
The Bohemian Revolt (1618–1620) was an uprising of the Bohemian
estates against the rule of the Habsburg dynasty, in particular
Emperor Ferdinand II, which triggered the Thirty Years’ War.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• Describe the events surrounding the Defenestration of Prague

KEY POINTS

◦ Since 1526, the Kingdom of Bohemia had been governed by

Catholic Habsburg kings who were tolerant of their largely
Protestant subjects.
◦ Toward the end his reign, Emperor Matthias, realizing he
would die without an heir, arranged for his lands to go to
his nearest male relative, the staunchly Catholic Archduke
Ferdinand II of Austria.
◦ Protestants in Bohemia were wary of Ferdinand reversing
the religious tolerance and freedom formerly established
by the Peace of Augsburg.
◦ In 1618, Ferdinand’s royal representatives were thrown out
of a window and seriously injured in the so-called
Defenestration of Prague, which provoked open Protestant
revolt in Bohemia.
◦ The dispute culminated after several battles in the final
Battle of White Mountain, where the Protestants suffered
a decisive defeat. This started re-Catholicization of the

Bohemian Period | 1217

 Czech lands, but also triggered the Thirty Years’ War,
which spread to the rest of Europe and devastated vast
areas of central Europe, including the Czech lands.

TERMS

• defenestrationThe act of throwing someone out of a window.

• Bohemian RevoltAn uprising of the Bohemian estates against
the rule of the Habsburg dynasty.

FULL TEXT

Background

In 1555, the Peace of Augsburg had settled religious disputes in the

Holy Roman Empire by enshrining the principle of Cuius regio, eius
religio, allowing a prince to determine the religion of his subjects.
Since 1526, the Kingdom of Bohemia had been governed by
Habsburg kings who did not force their Catholic religion on their
largely Protestant subjects. In 1609, Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
and King of Bohemia (1576–1612), increased Protestant rights. He
was increasingly viewed as unfit to govern, and other members of
the Habsburg dynasty declared his younger brother, Matthias, to be
family head in 1606. Upon Rudolf’s death, Matthias succeeded in the
rule of Bohemia.
Without heirs, Emperor Matthias sought to assure an orderly
transition during his lifetime by having his dynastic heir (the fiercely
Catholic Ferdinand of Styria, later Ferdinand II, Holy Roman
Emperor) elected to the separate royal thrones of Bohemia and

1218 | Bohemian Period

Hungary. Ferdinand was a proponent of the Catholic Counter-
Reformation, and not well-disposed to Protestantism or Bohemian
freedoms. Some of the Protestant leaders of Bohemia feared they
would be losing the religious rights granted to them by Emperor
Rudolf II in his Letter of Majesty (1609). They preferred the
Protestant Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate (successor of
Frederick IV, the creator of the Protestant Union). However, other
Protestants supported the stance taken by the Catholics, and in 1617
Ferdinand was duly elected by the Bohemian Estates to become the
Crown Prince and, automatically upon the death of Matthias, the
next King of Bohemia.

The Defenestration of Prague

The king-elect then sent two Catholic councillors (Vilem Slavata

of Chlum and Jaroslav Borzita of Martinice) as his representatives
to Hradčany castle in Prague in May 1618. Ferdinand had wanted
them to administer the government in his absence. On May 23,
1618, an assembly of Protestants seized them and threw them (and
also secretary Philip Fabricius) out of the palace window, which was
some sixty-nine feet off the ground. Remarkably, though injured,
they survived. This event, known as the Defenestration of Prague,
started the Bohemian Revolt. Soon afterward, the Bohemian conflict
spread through all of the Bohemian Crown, including Bohemia,
Silesia, Upper and Lower Lusatia, and Moravia. Moravia was already
embroiled in a conflict between Catholics and Protestants. The
religious conflict eventually spread across the whole continent of
Europe, involving France, Sweden, and a number of other countries.
image

Bohemian Period | 1219

Defenestration of Prague

A later woodcut of the Defenestration of Prague in 1618, which

triggered the Thirty Years’ War.
A woodcut of the Defenestrations of Prague, depicting several men
tossing another man out of a window to the right and other men
around the room pushing others toward the windows.

Aftermath

Immediately after the defenestration, the Protestant estates and

Catholic Habsburgs started gathering allies for war. After the death
of Matthias in 1619, Ferdinand II was elected Holy Roman Emperor.
At the same time, the Bohemian estates deposed Ferdinand as King
of Bohemia (Ferdinand remained emperor, since the titles are
separate) and replaced him with Frederick V, Elector Palatine, a
leading Calvinist and son-in-law of the Protestant James VI and I,
King of Scotland, England, and Ireland.
Because they deposed a properly chosen king, the Protestants
could not gather the international support they needed for war.
Just two years after the Defenestration of Prague, Ferdinand and
the Catholics regained power in the Battle of White Mountain on
November 8, 1620. This became known as the first battle in the
Thirty Years’ War.
This was a serious blow to Protestant ambitions in the region. As
the rebellion collapsed, the widespread confiscation of property and
suppression of the Bohemian nobility ensured the country would
return to the Catholic side after more than two centuries of
Protestant dissent.
There was plundering and pillaging in Prague for weeks following
the battle. Several months later, twenty-seven nobles and citizens
were tortured and executed in the Old Town Square. Twelve of their

1220 | Bohemian Period

heads were impaled on iron hooks and hung from the Bridge Tower
as a warning. This also contributed to catalyzing the Thirty Years’
War.

Bohemian Period | 1221

172. Danish Intervention
After the Bohemian Revolt was suppressed by Ferdinand II, the
Danish king, Christian IV, fearing that recent Catholic successes
threatened his sovereignty as a Protestant nation, led troops against
Ferdinand.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• Analyze the reasons for Denmark getting involved in the war

KEY POINTS

◦ After the Defenestration of Prague and the ensuing

Bohemian Revolt, the Protestants warred with the Catholic
League until the former were firmly defeated at the Battle
of Stadtlohn in 1623.
◦ With news of the outcome reaching Frederick V of the
Palatinate, the king was forced to sign an armistice with
Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, thus ending the
“Palatine Phase” of the Thirty Years’ War.
◦ Peace was short lived; the Danish duchy, under the rule of
Christian IV, rallied troops to support the Protestants
against Ferdinand.
◦ Ferdinand received support from Albrecht von
Wallenstein, who led troops to defeat Christian IV’s army.
◦ With another military success for the Catholics, Ferdinand
II took back several Protestant holdings and declared the
Edict of Restitution in an attempt to restore the religious

1222 | Danish Intervention

 and territorial situations reached in the Peace of
Augsburg.

TERM

• Edict of RestitutionOassed eleven years into the Thirty Years’

War, this edict was a belated attempt by Ferdinand II to impose
and restore the religious and territorial situations reached in
the Peace of Augsburg (1555).

FULL TEXT

Background

After the Defenestration of Prague and the ensuing Bohemian

Revolt, the Protestants warred with the Catholic League until the
former were firmly defeated at the Battle of Stadtlohn in 1623. After
this catastrophe, Frederick V, already in exile in The Hague, and
under growing pressure from his father-in-law, James I, to end
his involvement in the war, was forced to abandon any hope of
launching further campaigns. The Protestant rebellion had been
crushed. Frederick was forced to sign an armistice with Holy Roman
Emperor Ferdinand II, thus ending the “Palatine Phase” of the Thirty
Years’ War.

Danish Intervention | 1223

Dutch Intervention

Peace following the imperial victory at Stadtlohn proved short lived,

with conflict resuming at the initiation of Denmark. Danish
involvement, referred to as the Low Saxon War, began when
Christian IV of Denmark, a Lutheran who also ruled as Duke of
Holstein, a duchy within the Holy Roman Empire, helped the
Lutheran rulers of neighboring Lower Saxony by leading an army
against Ferdinand II’s imperial forces in 1625. Denmark had feared
that the recent Catholic successes threatened its sovereignty as a
Protestant nation.
Christian IV had profited greatly from his policies in northern
Germany. For instance, in 1621, Hamburg had been forced to accept
Danish sovereignty. Denmark’s King Christian IV had obtained for
his kingdom a level of stability and wealth that was virtually
unmatched elsewhere in Europe. Denmark was funded by tolls on
the Oresund and also by extensive war reparations from Sweden.
Denmark’s cause was aided by France, which together with
Charles I had agreed to help subsidize the war, not the least because
Christian was a blood uncle to both the Stuart king and his sister
Elizabeth of Bohemia through their mother, Anne of Denmark. Some
13,700 Scottish soldiers under the command of General Robert
Maxwell, 1st Earl of Nithsdale, were sent as allies to help Christian
IV. Moreover, some 6,000 English troops under Charles Morgan also
eventually arrived to bolster the defense of Denmark, though it took
longer for them to arrive than Christian had hoped, due partially
to the ongoing British campaigns against France and Spain. Thus,
Christian, as war-leader of the Lower Saxon Circle, entered the war
with an army of only 20,000 mercenaries, some of his allies from
England and Scotland, and a national army 15,000 strong, leading
them as Duke of Holstein rather than as King of Denmark.

1224 | Danish Intervention

War Ensues

To fight Christian, Ferdinand II employed the military help of

Albrecht von Wallenstein, a Bohemian nobleman who had made
himself rich from the confiscated estates of his Protestant
countrymen. Wallenstein pledged his army, which numbered
between 30,000 and 100,000 soldiers, to Ferdinand II in return
for the right to plunder the captured territories. Christian, who
knew nothing of Wallenstein’s forces when he invaded, was forced
to retire before the combined forces of Wallenstein and Tilly.
Christian’s mishaps continued when all of the allies he thought he
had were forced aside: France was in the midst of a civil war, Sweden
was at war with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and neither
Brandenburg nor Saxony was interested in changes to the tenuous
peace in eastern Germany. Moreover, neither of the substantial
British contingents arrived in time to prevent Wallenstein’s defeat
of Mansfeld’s army at the Battle of Dessau Bridge (1626) or Tilly’s
victory at the Battle of Lutter (1626). Mansfeld died some months
later of illness, apparently tuberculosis, in Dalmatia.
Wallenstein’s army marched north, occupying Mecklenburg,
Pomerania, and Jutland itself, but proved unable to take the Danish
capital, Copenhagen, on the island of Zealand. Wallenstein lacked a
fleet, and neither the Hanseatic ports nor the Poles would allow the
building of an imperial fleet on the Baltic coast. He then laid siege
to Stralsund, the only belligerent Baltic port with sufficient facilities
to build a large fleet; it soon became clear, however, that the cost of
continuing the war would far outweigh any gains from conquering
the rest of Denmark. Wallenstein feared losing his northern German
gains to a Danish-Swedish alliance, while Christian IV had suffered
another defeat in the Battle of Wolgast (1628); both were ready to
negotiate.

Danish Intervention | 1225

Negotiations and the Edict of Restitution

Negotiations concluded with the Treaty of Lübeck in 1629, which

stated that Christian IV could retain control over Denmark
(including the duchies of Sleswick and Holstein) if he would abandon
his support for the Protestant German states. Thus, in the following
two years, the Catholic powers subjugated more land. At this point,
the Catholic League persuaded Ferdinand II to take back the
Lutheran holdings that were, according to the Peace of Augsburg,
rightfully the possession of the Catholic Church. Enumerated in
the Edict of Restitution (1629), these possessions included two
archbishoprics, sixteen bishoprics, and hundreds of monasteries. In
the same year, Gabriel Bethlen, the Calvinist prince of Transylvania,
died. Only the port of Stralsund continued to hold out against
Wallenstein and the emperor, having been bolstered by Scottish
“volunteers” who arrived from the Swedish army to support their
countrymen already there in the service of Denmark.
image

Christian IV of Denmark

Christian IV receives homage from the countries of Europe as

mediator in the Thirty Years’ War. Painting by Grisaille by Adrian van
de Venne, 1643.

1226 | Danish Intervention

173. Swedish Intervention
The Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War, when King
Gustav II Adolf of Sweden ordered a full-scale invasion of the
Catholic states, was a major turning point of the war.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• Discuss why the Swedish were inclined to join in the war

KEY POINTS

◦ The Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War, which

took place between 1630 and 1635, was a major turning
point of the war, often considered to be an independent
conflict.
◦ The king of Sweden, Gustav Adolph, had been well
informed of the war between the Catholics and
Protestants in the Holy Roman Empire for some time, but
did not get involved because of an ongoing conflict with
Poland.
◦ While Sweden was under a truce with Poland, Gustav
reformed the Swedish military, leading to an army that
became the model for all of Europe.
◦ From 1630 to 1634, Swedish-led armies drove the Catholic
forces back, regaining much of the lost Protestant
territory, especially at the key Battle of Breitenfeld.
◦ By the spring of 1635, the Catholic and the Protestant sides
met for negotiations, producing the Peace of Prague (1635),

Swedish Intervention | 1227

 which entailed a delay in the enforcement of the Edict of
Restitution for forty years.

TERMS

• Gustavus AdolphusThe king of Sweden from 1611 to 1632,

credited with founding the Swedish Empire, who led Sweden
to military supremacy during the Thirty Years’ War.
• PomeraniaA region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in
Central Europe, split between Germany and Poland.

FULL TEXT

Overview

The Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years’ War, which took place
between 1630 and 1635, was a major turning point of the war, often
considered to be an independent conflict. After several attempts by
the Holy Roman Empire to prevent the spread of Protestantism in
Europe, King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden ordered a full-scale invasion
of the Catholic states. Although he was killed in action, his armies
successfully defeated their enemies and gave birth to the Swedish
Empire after proving their ability in combat. The new European
power would last for a hundred years before being overwhelmed by
numerous enemies in the Great Northern War.

1228 | Swedish Intervention

Background

The king of Sweden, Gustav II Adolph, had been well informed of

the war between the Catholics and Protestants in the Holy Roman
Empire for some time, but his hands were tied because of the
constant enmity of Poland. The Polish royal family, the primary
branch of the House of Vasa, had once claimed the throne of
Sweden.
Lutheranism was the primary religion of Sweden, and had by then
established a firm grip on the country, but it was not solely the
result of religious sentiment that Sweden converted. Notably, one
of the reasons that Sweden had so readily embraced it was because
converting to Lutheranism allowed the crown to seize all the lands
in Sweden that were possessed by the Roman Catholic Church. As
a result of this seizure and the money that the crown gained, the
crown was greatly empowered.
Gustav was concerned about the growing power of the Holy
Roman Empire, and like Christian IV before him, was heavily
subsidized by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister of Louis XIII of
France, and by the Dutch.

Sweden’s Army

During this time, and while Sweden was under a truce with Poland,
Gustav established a military system that was to become the envy
of Europe. He drew up a new military code. The new improvements
to Sweden’s military order even pervaded the state by fueling
fundamental changes in the economy. The military reforms—among
which tight discipline was one of the prevailing principles—brought
the Swedish military to the highest levels of military readiness and
were to become the standard that European states would strive for.
The severity of discipline was not the only change that took place

Swedish Intervention | 1229

in the army. Soldiers were to be rewarded for meritorious service.
Soldiers who had displayed courage and distinguished themselves
in the line of duty were paid generously, in addition to being given
pensions. The corp of engineers were the most modern of their
age, and in the campaigns in Germany the population repeatedly
expressed surprise at the extensive nature of the entrenchment and
the elaborate nature of the equipment.

Swedish Intervention

From 1630 to 1634, Swedish-led armies drove the Catholic forces

back, regaining much of the lost Protestant territory. During the
campaign, Sweden managed to conquer half of the imperial
kingdoms, making it the continental leader of Protestantism until
the Swedish Empire ended in 1721.
Swedish forces entered the Holy Roman Empire via the Duchy of
Pomerania, which had served as the Swedish bridgehead since the
Treaty of Stettin (1630). After dismissing Wallenstein in 1630, from
fear he was planning a revolt, Ferdinand II became dependent on the
Catholic League. Gustavus Adolphus allied with France and Bavaria.
At the Battle of Breitenfeld (1631), Gustavus Adolphus’s forces
defeated the Catholic League led by Tilly. A year later, they met
again in another Protestant victory, this time accompanied by the
death of Tilly. The upper hand had now switched from the Catholic
League to the Protestant Union, led by Sweden.
image

King Gustav of Sweden

The victory of Gustavus Adolphus at the Battle of Breitenfeld (1631).

A painting of Gustav of Sweden riding a horse on a hill overlooking

1230 | Swedish Intervention

a battlefield and countryside.

With Tilly dead, Ferdinand II returned to the aid of Wallenstein

and his large army. Wallenstein marched to the south, threatening
Gustavus Adolphus’s supply chain. Gustavus Adolphus knew that
Wallenstein was waiting for the attack and was prepared, but found
no other option. Wallenstein and Gustavus Adolphus clashed in the
Battle of Lützen (1632), where the Swedes prevailed, but Gustavus
Adolphus was killed.
Ferdinand II’s suspicion of Wallenstein resumed in 1633, when
Wallenstein attempted to arbitrate the differences between the
Catholic and Protestant sides. Ferdinand II may have feared that
Wallenstein would switch sides, and arranged for his arrest after
removing him from command. One of Wallenstein’s soldiers,
Captain Devereux, killed him when he attempted to contact the
Swedes in the town hall of Eger (Cheb) on February 25, 1634. The
same year, the Protestant forces, lacking Gustav’s leadership, were
smashed at the First Battle of Nördlingen by the Spanish-Imperial
forces commanded by Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand.

Peace of Prague

By the spring of 1635, all Swedish resistance in the south of Germany

had ended. After that, the imperialist and the Protestant German
sides met for negotiations, producing the Peace of Prague (1635),
which entailed a delay in the enforcement of the Edict of Restitution
for forty years and allowed Protestant rulers to retain secularized
bishoprics held by them in 1627. This protected the Lutheran rulers
of northeastern Germany, but not those of the south and west.
Initially after the Peace of Prague, the Swedish armies were pushed
back by the reinforced imperial army north into Germany.
The treaty also provided for the union of the army of the emperor
and the armies of the German states into a single army of the

Swedish Intervention | 1231

Holy Roman Empire. Finally, German princes were forbidden from
establishing alliances amongst themselves or with foreign powers,
and amnesty was granted to any ruler who had taken up arms
against the emperor after the arrival of the Swedes in 1630.
This treaty failed to satisfy France, however, because of the
renewed strength it granted the Habsburgs. France then entered
the conflict, beginning the final period of the Thirty Years’ War.
Sweden did not take part in the Peace of Prague, and it joined with
France in continuing the war.

1232 | Swedish Intervention

174. Swedish-French
Intervention
No longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg
powers on its borders, Catholic France entered the Thirty Years’
War on the side of the Protestants to counter the Habsburgs and
bring the war to an end.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• Identify the reasons why France was invested in the events of

the Thirty Years’ War

KEY POINTS

◦ France, though Roman Catholic, was a rival of the Holy

Roman Empire and Spain because they considered the
Habsburgs too powerful since they held a number of
territories on France’s eastern border.
◦ Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister of King Louis XIII of
France, made the decision to enter into direct war against
the Habsburgs in 1634, but France suffered military defeats
early on, losing territory to the Holy Roman Empire.
◦ The tide of the war turned clearly toward France and
against Spain in 1640, starting with the siege and capture
of the fort at Arras.
◦ After the Peace of Prague, the Swedes reorganized the
Royal Army and reentered the war, winning important

Swedish-French Intervention | 1233

 battles against the imperial army.
◦ In 1648, the Swedes and the French defeated the imperial
army at the Battle of Zusmarshausen, and the Spanish at
Lens, and later won the Battle of Prague, which became
the last action of the Thirty Years’ War.

TERMS

• Vulgate BibleA late 4th century Latin translation of the Bible

that became, during the 16th century, the Catholic church’s
officially promulgated Latin version of the Bible.
• Gustavus AdolphusThe king of Sweden from 1611 to 1632, who
led Sweden to military supremacy during the Thirty Years’ War,
helping to determine the political as well as the religious
balance of power in Europe.

FULL TEXT

France’s Opposition to the Holy Roman

Empire

France, though Roman Catholic, was a rival of the Holy Roman

Empire and Spain. Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister of King
Louis XIII of France, considered the Habsburgs too powerful
because they held a number of territories on France’s eastern
border, including portions of the Netherlands. Richelieu had already
begun intervening indirectly in the war in January 1631, when the
French diplomat Hercule de Charnacé signed the Treaty of Bärwalde

1234 | Swedish-French Intervention

with Gustavus Adolphus, by which France agreed to support the
Swedes with 1,000,000 livres each year in return for a Swedish
promise to maintain an army in Germany against the Habsburgs.
The treaty also stipulated that Sweden would not conclude a peace
with the Holy Roman Emperor without first receiving France’s
approval.

France Enters the War

After the Swedish rout at Nördlingen in September 1634 and the

Peace of Prague in 1635, in which the Protestant German princes
sued for peace with the German emperor, Sweden’s ability to
continue the war alone appeared doubtful, and Richelieu made the
decision to enter into direct war against the Habsburgs. France
declared war on Spain in May 1635, and on the Holy Roman Empire
in August 1636, opening offensives against the Habsburgs in
Germany and the Low Countries. France aligned its strategy with
the allied Swedes in Wismar (1636) and Hamburg (1638).
Early French military efforts were met with disaster, and the
Spanish counter-attacked, invading French territory. The imperial
general Johann von Werth and Spanish commander Cardinal-
Infante Ferdinand ravaged the French provinces of Champagne,
Burgundy, and Picardy, and even threatened Paris in 1636. Then, the
tide began to turn for the French. The Spanish army was repulsed
by Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar. Bernhard’s victory in the Battle of
Compiègne pushed the Habsburg armies back towards the borders
of France. Then widespread fighting ensued until 1640, with neither
side gaining an advantage.
However, the war reached a climax and the tide of the war turned
clearly toward France and against Spain in 1640, starting with the
siege and capture of the fort at Arras. The French conquered Arras
from the Spanish following a siege that lasted from June 16 to August
9, 1640. When Arras fell, the way was opened for the French to take

Swedish-French Intervention | 1235

all of Flanders. The ensuing French campaign against the Spanish
forces in Flanders culminated with a decisive French victory at
Rocroi in May 1643.

Continued Swedish War Efforts

After the Peace of Prague, the Swedes reorganized the Royal Army
under Johan Banér and created a new one, the Army of the Weser,
under the command of Alexander Leslie. The two army groups
moved south in the spring of 1636, re-establishing alliances on the
way, including a revitalized one with Wilhelm of Hesse-Kassel. The
two Swedish armies combined and confronted the imperialists at
the Battle of Wittstock. Despite the odds being stacked against
them, the Swedish army won. This success largely reversed many of
the effects of their defeat at Nördlingen, albeit not without creating
some tensions between Banér and Leslie.
After the battle of Wittstock, the Swedish army regained the
initiative in the German campaign. In the Second Battle of
Breitenfeld, in 1642, outside Leipzig, the Swedish Field Marshal
Lennart Torstenson defeated an army of the Holy Roman Empire
led by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria and his deputy, Prince-
General Ottavio Piccolomini, Duke of Amalfi. The imperial army
suffered 20,000 casualties. In addition, the Swedish army took 5,000
prisoners and seized forty-six guns, at a cost to themselves of 4,000
killed or wounded. The battle enabled Sweden to occupy Saxony
and impressed on Ferdinand III the need to include Sweden, and not
only France, in any peace negotiations.

1236 | Swedish-French Intervention

Final Battles

Over the next four years, fighting continued, but all sides began to
prepare for ending the war. In 1648, the Swedes (commanded by
Marshal Carl Gustaf Wrangel) and the French (led by Turenne and
Condé) defeated the imperial army at the Battle of Zusmarshausen,
and the Spanish at Lens. However, an imperial army led by Octavio
Piccolomini managed to check the Franco-Swedish army in Bavaria,
though their position remained fragile. The Battle of Prague in 1648
became the last action of the Thirty Years’ War. The general Hans
Christoff von Königsmarck, commanding Sweden’s flying column,
entered the city and captured Prague Castle (where the event that
triggered the war—the Defenestration of Prague—had taken place
thirty years before). There, they captured many valuable treasures,
including the Codex Gigas, which contains the Vulgate Bible as well
as many historical documents all written in Latin, and is still today
preserved in Stockholm as the largest extant medieval manuscript
in the world. However, they failed to conquer the right-bank part
of Prague and the old city, which resisted until the end of the war.
These results left only the imperial territories of Austria safely in
Habsburg hands.
image

The Swedish siege of Prague in 1648

In 1648, the Swedish army entered Prague and captured Prague

Castle, where the catalyst of the war, the Defenestration of Prague,
had taken place thirty years before.

Swedish-French Intervention | 1237

175. The Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed
between May and October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of
Osnabrück and Münster that ended the Thirty Years’ War.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

• Describe the terms of the Peace of Westphalia

KEY POINTS

◦ The end of the Thirty Years’ War was not brought about by
one treaty, but instead by a group of treaties, collectively
named the Peace of Westphalia.
◦ The treaties did not restore peace throughout Europe, but
they did create a basis for national self-determination.
◦ Along with several territorial adjustments, the terms of the
Peace of Westphalia included a return to the principles in
the Peace of Augsburg of 1555, in which each prince would
have the right to determine the religion of his own state.
◦ The treaty also extended that tolerance to allow the
minority religion of the territory to practice freely.
◦ The Peace of Westphalia established important political
precedents for state sovereignty, inter-state diplomacy,
and balance of power in Europe.

1238 | The Peace of Westphalia

TERMS

• fiefAn estate of land, especially one held on condition of feudal

service.
• letters of marqueA government license authorizing a person
(known as a privateer) to attack and capture enemy vessels and
bring them before admiralty courts for condemnation and sale.
• Imperial DietThe legislative body of the Holy Roman Empire,
theoretically superior to the emperor himself.

FULL TEXT

Overview

Over a four-year period, the warring parties of the Thirty Years’

War (the Holy Roman Empire, France, and Sweden) were actively
negotiating at Osnabrück and Münster in Westphalia. The end of the
war was not brought about by one treaty, but instead by a group
of treaties, collectively named the Peace of Westphalia. The three
treaties involved were the Peace of Münster (between the Dutch
Republic and the Kingdom of Spain), the Treaty of Münster (between
the Holy Roman Emperor and France and their respective allies),
and the Treaty of Osnabrück (between the Holy Roman Empire and
Sweden and their respective allies).
image

The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, 1648

The Treaty of Münster between the Holy Roman Emperor and

The Peace of Westphalia | 1239

France was one of three treaties that made up the Peace of
Westphalia.
Painting of a large group of men overlooking a table containing the
Treaty of Münster.

These treaties ended both the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) in the
Holy Roman Empire and the Eighty Years’ War (1568–1648) between
Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the
independence of the Dutch Republic.
The peace negotiations involved a total of 109 delegations
representing European powers, including Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand III, Philip IV of Spain, the Kingdom of France, the Swedish
Empire, the Dutch Republic, the princes of the Holy Roman Empire,
and sovereigns of the free imperial cities.

The Terms of the Peace Settlement

Along with ending open warfare between the belligerents, the Peace
of Westphalia established several important tenets and agreements:

• The power taken by Ferdinand III in contravention of the Holy

Roman Empire’s constitution was stripped and returned to the
rulers of the Imperial States.
• All parties would recognize the Peace of Augsburg of 1555, in
which each prince would have the right to determine the
religion of his own state, the options being Catholicism,
Lutheranism, and now Calvinism. This affirmed the principle of
cuius regio, eius religio (Whose realm, his religion).
• Christians living in principalities where their denomination
was not the established church were guaranteed the right to
practice their faith in public during allotted hours and in
private at their will.
• General recognition of the exclusive sovereignty of each party

1240 | The Peace of Westphalia

 over its lands, people, and agents abroad, and responsibility for
the warlike acts of any of its citizens or agents. Issuance of
unrestricted letters of marque and reprisal to privateers was
forbidden.

There were also several territorial adjustments brought about by the

peace settlements. For example, the independence of Switzerland
from the empire was formally recognized. France came out of the
war in a far better position than any of the other participants.
France retained the control of the Bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and
Verdun near Lorraine, received the cities of the Décapole in Alsace
and the city of Pignerol near the Spanish Duchy of Milan. Sweden
received Western Pomerania, Wismar, and the Prince-Bishoprics of
Bremen and Verden as hereditary fiefs, thus gaining a seat and vote
in the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. Barriers to trade and
commerce erected during the war were also abolished, and a degree
of free navigation was guaranteed on the Rhine.
image

The Holy Roman Empire in 1648

After the Peace of Westphalia, each prince of a given Imperial State

would have the right to determine the religion of his own state, the
options being Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism.
A map of the Holy Roman Empire in 1648, including all of the
Imperial States.

Impact and Legacy

The treaty did not entirely end conflicts arising out of the Thirty
Years’ War. Fighting continued between France and Spain until the

The Peace of Westphalia | 1241

Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659. Nevertheless, it did settle many
outstanding European issues of the time. Some of the principles
developed at Westphalia, especially those relating to respecting the
boundaries of sovereign states and non-interference in their
domestic affairs, became central to the world order that developed
over the following centuries, and remain in effect today. Many of
the imperial territories established in the Peace of Westphalia later
became the sovereign nation-states of modern Europe.
The Peace of Westphalia established the precedent of peaces
established by diplomatic congress, and a new system of political
order in central Europe, later called Westphalian sovereignty, based
upon the concept of co-existing sovereign states. Inter-state
aggression was to be held in check by a balance of power. A norm
was established against interference in another state’s domestic
affairs. As European influence spread across the globe, these
Westphalian principles, especially the concept of sovereign states,
became central to international law and to the prevailing world
order.
image

Europe in 1648

A simplified map of Europe in 1648, showing the new borders

established after the Peace of Westphalia.

1242 | The Peace of Westphalia

PART XII
CH. 12 THE RISE OF
NATION-STATES

Ch. 12 The Rise of

Nation-States | 1243
176. Introduction to
Nation-States

Learning Objective

• Define a nation-state

Key Points

• The concept of a nation-state is notoriously

difficult to define. A working and imprecise definition
is: a type of state that conjoins the political entity of a
state to the cultural entity of a nation, from which it
aims to derive its political legitimacy to rule and
potentially its status as a sovereign state.
• The origins and early history of nation-states are
disputed. Two major theoretical questions have been
debated. First, “Which came first, the nation or the
nation-state?” Second, “Is nation-state a modern or
an ancient idea?” Scholars continue to debate a
number of possible hypotheses.
• Most commonly, the idea of a nation-state was and
is associated with the rise of the modern system of
states, often called the “Westphalian system” in

Introduction to Nation-States | 1245

 reference to the Treaty of Westphalia (1648).
• Nation-states have their own characteristics that
today may be taken-for-granted factors shaping a
modern state, but that all developed in contrast to
pre-national states.
• The most obvious impact of the nation-state is the
creation of a uniform national culture through state
policy. Its most demonstrative examples are national
systems of compulsory primary education that
usually popularize a common language and historical
narratives.

Terms

declarative theory of statehood

A theory that defines a state as a person in international

law if it meets the following criteria: 1) a defined territory;
2) a permanent population; 3) a government; and 4) a
capacity to enter into relations with other states. According
to it, an entity’s statehood is independent of its recognition
by other states.

1246 | Introduction to Nation-States

 constitutive theory of statehood

A theory that defines a state as a person in international

law if, and only if, it is recognized as sovereign by other
states. This theory of recognition was developed in the 19th
century. Under it, a state was sovereign if another
sovereign state recognized it as such.

Westphalian system

A global system based on the principle of international

law that each state has sovereignty over its territory and
domestic affairs, to the exclusion of all external powers, on
the principle of non-interference in another country’s
domestic affairs, and that each state (no matter how large
or small) is equal in international law. The doctrine is
named after the Peace of Westphalia, signed in 1648, which
ended the Thirty Years’ War.

Nation-Station: Challenges of Definition

The concept of a nation-state is notoriously difficult to define.

Anthony Smith, one of the most influential scholars of nation-states
and nationalism, argued that a state is a nation-state only if and
when a single ethnic and cultural population inhabits the
boundaries of a state, and the boundaries of that state are

Introduction to Nation-States | 1247

coextensive with the boundaries of that ethnic and cultural
population. This is a very narrow definition that presumes the
existence of the “one nation, one state” model. Consequently, less
than 10% of states in the world meet its criteria. The most obvious
deviation from this largely ideal model is the presence of minorities,
especially ethnic minorities, which ethnic and cultural nationalists
exclude from the majority nation. The most illustrative historical
examples of groups that have been specifically singled out as
outsiders are the Roma and Jews in Europe. In legal terms, many
nation-states today accept specific minorities as being part of the
nation, which generally implies that members of minorities are
citizens of a given nation-state and enjoy the same rights and
liberties as members of the majority nation. However, nationalists
and, consequently, symbolic narratives of the origins and history of
nation-states often continue to exclude minorities from the nation-
state and the nation.
According to a wider working definition, a nation-state is a type of
state that conjoins the political entity of a state to the cultural entity
of a nation, from which it aims to derive its political legitimacy to
rule and potentially its status as a sovereign state if one accepts
the declarative theory of statehood as opposed to the constitutive
theory. A state is specifically a political and geopolitical entity, while
a nation is a cultural and ethnic one. The term “nation-state” implies
that the two coincide, in that a state has chosen to adopt and
endorse a specific cultural group as associated with it. The concept
of a nation-state can be compared and contrasted with that of
the multinational state, city-state, empire, confederation, and other
state formations with which it may overlap. The key distinction is
the identification of a people with a polity in the nation-state.

Origins

The origins and early history of nation-states are disputed. Two

1248 | Introduction to Nation-States

major theoretical questions have been debated. First, “Which came
first, the nation or the nation-state?” Second, “Is nation-state a
modern or an ancient idea?” Some scholars have advanced the
hypothesis that the nation-state was an inadvertent byproduct of
15th century intellectual discoveries in political economy,
capitalism, mercantilism, political geography, and
geography combined together with cartography and advances in
map-making technologies. For others, the nation existed first, then
nationalist movements arose for sovereignty, and the nation-state
was created to meet that demand. Some “modernization theories” of
nationalism see it as a product of government policies to unify and
modernize an already existing state. Most theories see the nation-
state as a modern European phenomenon, facilitated by
developments such as state-mandated education, mass literacy, and
mass media (including print). However, others look for the roots of
nation-states in ancient times.
Most commonly, the idea of a nation-state was and is associated
with the rise of the modern system of states, often called the
“Westphalian system” in reference to the Treaty of Westphalia
(1648). The balance of power that characterized that system
depended on its effectiveness upon clearly defined, centrally
controlled, independent entities, whether empires or nation-states,
that recognized each other’s sovereignty and territory. The
Westphalian system did not create the nation-state, but the nation-
state meets the criteria for its component states.

Introduction to Nation-States | 1249

European boundaries set by the Congress of Vienna, 1815. This map of Europe,
outlining borders in 1815, demonstrates that still at the beginning of the 19th
century, Europe was divided mostly into empires, kingdoms, and
confederations. Hardly any of the entities on the map would meet the criteria
of the nation-state.

Characteristics

Nation-states have their own characteristics that today may be

taken-for-granted factors shaping a modern state, but that all
developed in contrast to pre-national states. Their territory is
considered semi-sacred and nontransferable. Nation-states use the
state as an instrument of national unity, in economic, social, and
cultural life. Nation-states typically have a more centralized and
uniform public administration than their imperial predecessors
because they are smaller and less diverse. After the 19th-century
triumph of the nation-state in Europe, regional identity was usually
subordinate to national identity. In many cases, the regional

1250 | Introduction to Nation-States

administration was also subordinate to central (national)
government. This process has been partially reversed from the 1970s
onward, with the introduction of various forms of regional
autonomy in formerly centralized states (e.g., France).
The most obvious impact of the nation-state, as compared to its
non-national predecessors, is the creation of a uniform national
culture through state policy. The model of the nation-state implies
that its population constitutes a nation, united by a common
descent, a common language, and many forms of shared culture.
When the implied unity was absent, the nation-state often tried to
create it. The creation of national systems of compulsory primary
education is usually linked with the popularization of nationalist
narratives. Even today, primary and secondary schools around the
world often teach a mythologized version of national history.

Bacon’s standard map of Europe, 1923. While some European nation-states

emerged throughout the 19th century, the end of World War I meant the end of
empires on the continent. They all broke down into a number of smaller
states. However, not until the tragedy of World War II and the post-war shifts
of borders and population resettlement did many European states become
more ethnically and culturally homogeneous and thus closer to the ideal
nation-state.

Introduction to Nation-States | 1251

Sources

1252 | Introduction to Nation-States

177. The Peace of Westphalia
and Sovereignty

Learning Objective

• Explain the significance of the Peace of Westphalia

on European politics and diplomacy.

Key Points

• The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace

treaties signed between May and October 1648 in the
Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. The
treaties ended the Thirty Years’ War and the Eighty
Years’ War.
• The Thirty Years’ War was a series of wars in
Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. Initially a war
between various Protestant and Catholic states in the
fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it developed into a
conflict involving most of the great powers.
• The Eighty Years’ War, or Dutch War of
Independence (1568–1648), was a revolt of the
Seventeen Provinces against the political and
religious hegemony of Philip II of Spain, the sovereign

The Peace of Westphalia and

Sovereignty | 1253
 of the Habsburg Netherlands.
• According to the Peace of Westphalia, all parties
would recognize the Peace of Augsburg of
1555; Christians of non-dominant denominations
were guaranteed the right to practice their faith; and
the exclusive sovereignty of each party over its lands,
people, and agents abroad was recognized.
Multiple territorial adjustments were also decided.
• The Peace of Westphalia established the precedent
of peace reached by diplomatic congress and a new
system of political order in Europe based upon the
concept of co-existing sovereign states. The
Westphalian principle of the recognition of another
state’s sovereignty and right to decide its own fate
rests at the foundations of international law today.
• The European colonization of Asia and Africa in the
19th century and two global wars in the 20th century
dramatically undermined the principles established in
Westphalia.

Terms

cuius regio, eius religio

A Latin phrase that literally means “Whose realm, his

religion,” meaning that the religion of the ruler was to
dictate the religion of those ruled. At the Peace of

1254 | The Peace of Westphalia and Sovereignty

Augsburg of 1555 the rulers of the German-speaking states
and Charles V, the emperor, agreed to accept this principle.

The Eighty Years’ War

A revolt, known also as the Dutch War of Independence

(1568–1648), of the Seventeen Provinces against the political
and religious hegemony of Philip II of Spain, the sovereign
of the Habsburg Netherlands.

The Thirty Years’ War

A series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648.

Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic
states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it gradually
developed into a more general conflict involving most of
the great powers.

The Peace of Westphalia

A series of peace treaties signed between May and

October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and
Münster. The treaties ended the Thirty Years’ War
(1618–1648) in the Holy Roman Empire and the Eighty Years’
War (1568–1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic,
with Spain formally recognizing the independence of the
Dutch Republic.

The Peace of Westphalia and Sovereignty | 1255

 Westphalian sovereignty

The principle of international law that each nation-

state has sovereignty over its territory and domestic affairs,
to the exclusion of all external powers, on the principle of
non-interference in another country’s domestic affairs, and
that each state (no matter how large or small) is equal in
international law. The doctrine is named after the Peace of
Westphalia, signed in 1648.

Peace of Augsburg of 1555

A treaty between Charles V and the forces of the

Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Lutheran princes, on
September 25, 1555, at the imperial city of Augsburg, in
present-day Bavaria, Germany. It officially ended the
religious struggle between the two groups and made the
legal division of Christendom permanent within the Holy
Roman Empire.

Introduction

The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed

between May and October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of
Osnabrück and Münster. The treaties ended the Thirty Years’ War
(1618–1648) in the Holy Roman Empire and the Eighty Years’ War

1256 | The Peace of Westphalia and Sovereignty

(1568–1648) between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain
formally recognizing the independence of the Dutch Republic. The
peace negotiations involved a total of 109 delegations representing
European powers. The treaties did not restore peace throughout
Europe, but they did create a basis for national self-determination.

Background: Wars in Europe

Two destructive wars were the major triggers behind signing the
eventual Peace of Westphalia: the Thirty Years’ War in the Holy
Roman Empire and the Eighty Years’ War between Spain and the
Dutch Republic.
The Thirty Years’ War was a series of wars in Central Europe
between 1618 and 1648. Initially a war between various Protestant
and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it
gradually developed into a more general conflict involving most
of the great powers. The war began when the newly elected Holy
Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, tried to impose religious uniformity
on his domains, forcing Roman Catholicism on its peoples. The
northern Protestant states, angered by the violation of their rights
to choose granted in the Peace of Augsburg, banded together to
form the Protestant Union. These events caused widespread fears
throughout northern and Central Europe, and triggered the
Protestant Bohemians living in the dominion of Habsburg Austria
to revolt against their nominal ruler, Ferdinand II. They ousted the
Habsburgs and instead elected Frederick V, Elector of Palatinate, as
their monarch. Frederick took the offer without the support of the
union. The southern states, mainly Roman Catholic, were angered
by this. Led by Bavaria, these states formed the Catholic League to
expel Frederick in support of the emperor.
The war became less about religion and more of a continuation
of the France–Habsburg rivalry for European political preeminence.
Sweden, a major military power in the day, intervened in 1630 under

The Peace of Westphalia and Sovereignty | 1257

the great general Gustavus Adolphus and started the full-scale great
war on the continent. Spain, wishing to finally crush the Dutch
rebels in the Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, intervened under
the pretext of helping their dynastic Habsburg ally, Austria. No
longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg
powers on its borders, Catholic France entered the coalition on the
side of the Protestants to counter the Habsburgs.
The Thirty Years’ War devastated entire regions, with famine and
disease significantly decreasing the populations of the German and
Italian states, the Crown of Bohemia, and the Southern Netherlands.
The war altered the previous political order of European powers.
The rise of Bourbon France, the curtailing of Habsburg ambition,
and the ascendancy of Sweden as a great power created a new
balance of power on the continent, with France emerging from the
war strengthened and increasingly dominant in the latter part of the
17th century.
The Eighty Years’ War or Dutch War of
Independence (1568–1648) was a revolt of the Seventeen
Provinces against the political and religious hegemony of Philip II of
Spain, the sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands. After the initial
stages, Philip II deployed his armies and regained control over most
of the rebelling provinces. However, under the leadership of the
exiled William the Silent, the northern provinces continued their
resistance. They were eventually able to oust the Habsburg armies,
and in 1581 they established the Republic of the Seven United
Netherlands. The war continued in other areas, although the
heartland of the republic was no longer threatened. After a twelve-
year truce, hostilities broke out again around 1619, which coincided
with the Thirty Years’ War.

The Peace of Westphalia

Since Lutheran Sweden preferred Osnabrück as a conference

1258 | The Peace of Westphalia and Sovereignty

venue, its peace negotiations with the Holy Roman Empire,
including the allies of both sides, took place in Osnabrück. The
empire and its opponent France, including the allies of each, as well
as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and its opponent
Spain (and their respective allies), negotiated in Münster. The peace
negotiations had no exact beginning and ending, because the
participating total of 109 delegations never met in a plenary session,
but arrived between 1643 and 1646 and left between 1647 and 1649.
According to the Peace of Westphalia, all parties would recognize
the Peace of Augsburg of 1555, in which each prince would have
the right to determine the religion of his own state (the principle
of cuius regio, eius religio). Christians living in principalities where
their denomination was not the established church were guaranteed
the right to practice their faith in public during allotted hours and
in private at their will. The delegates also recognized the exclusive
sovereignty of each party over its lands, people, and agents abroad,
and responsibility for the warlike acts of any of its citizens or agents.
Multiple territorial adjustments were also decided. Among the
most important ones was the recognition of the independence of
Switzerland from the Holy Roman Empire and the expansion of
the territories of France, Sweden, and Brandenburg-Prussia (later
Prussia). The independence of the city of Bremen was clarified.
Also, barriers to trade and commerce erected during the war were
abolished, and “a degree” of free navigation was guaranteed on the
Rhine.

The Peace of Westphalia and Sovereignty | 1259

Historical map of Europe after the Peace of Westphalia. From “An Historical
Atlas Containing a Chronological Series of One Hundred and Four Maps, at
Successive Periods, from the Dawn of History to the Present Day” by Robert H.
Labberton, 1884. The map shows the possessions of the two branches of the
house of Habsburg [purple]; the possessions of the house of Hohenzollern
(union of Prussia with Brandenburg) [blue]; the Swedish empire on both
shores of the Baltic and in northern Germany; the Danish monarchy,
Denmark, Norway, and Scania; the British isles, with the battlefields of the
civil wars; France, with the battlefields of the civil wars [red]; Germany with
the battlefields of the Thirty Years’ War; the republic of Poland at its greatest
extent; the western boundary of Russia.

Legacy

The Peace of Westphalia established the precedent of peace

reached by diplomatic congress and a new system of political order
in Europe based upon the concept of co-existing sovereign states.
Inter-state aggression was to be held in check by a balance of
power. A norm was established against interference in another
state’s domestic affairs, known as the principle of Westphalian
sovereignty. This principle of international law presumes that each

1260 | The Peace of Westphalia and Sovereignty

state has sovereignty over its territory and domestic affairs, to the
exclusion of all external powers, on the principle of non-
interference in another country’s domestic affairs, and that each
state (no matter how large or small) is equal in international law.
As European influence spread across the globe, these Westphalian
principles, especially the concept of sovereign states, became
central to international law and to the prevailing world order.
However, the European colonization of Asia and Africa in the 19th
century and two global wars in the 20th century dramatically
undermined the principles established in Westphalia.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, power was seen as unipolar with
the United States in absolute control, though nuclear proliferation
and the rise of Japan, the European Union, the Middle East, China,
and a resurgent Russia have begun to recreate a multipolar political
environment. Instead of a traditional balance of power, inter-state
aggression may now be checked by the preponderance of power, a
sharp contrast to the Westphalian principle.

The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster, 15 May 1648 (1648) by Gerard ter
Borch. Two cities, Osnabrück and Münster, were chosen to host the peace
talks based on religious divisions between the participating delegations.

The Peace of Westphalia and Sovereignty | 1261

Sources

1262 | The Peace of Westphalia and Sovereignty

178. The Reconquista

Learning Objective

• Explain how the Reconquista led to Spain’s

increasing commitment to Catholicism

Key Points

• The Reconquista is a period in the history of the

Iberian Peninsula, spanning approximately 770 years,
between the initial Umayyad conquest of Hispania in
the 710s and the fall of the Emirate of Granada, the
last Islamic state on the peninsula, to expanding
Christian kingdoms in 1492.
• By 718 the Muslims were in control of nearly the
whole Iberian Peninsula. The advance into Western
Europe was only stopped in what is now north-
central France by the West Germanic Franks at the
Battle of Tours in 732.
• The Kingdom of Asturias became the main base for
Christian resistance to Islamic rule in the Iberian
Peninsula for several centuries. Medieval Spain was
the scene of almost constant warfare between
Muslims and Christians.

The Reconquista | 1263

 • By 1250, nearly all of Iberia was back under
Christian rule, with the exception of the Muslim
kingdom of Granada—the only independent Muslim
realm in Spain that would last until 1492.
• Around 1480, Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of
Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (known as the
Catholic Monarchs) established what would be known
as the Spanish Inquisition. It was intended to
maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms.
• In the aftermath of the Reconquista and the
Inquisition, Catholicism dominated the politics, social
relations, and culture of Spain, shaping Spain as a
state and the Spanish as a nation.

Terms

Alhambra Decree

An edict issued on March 31, 1492, by the joint Catholic

Monarchs of Spain (Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of
Aragon) ordering the expulsion of practicing Jews from the
Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon and its territories and
possessions by July 31 of that year.

1264 | The Reconquista

 Battle of Covadonga

The first victory by a Christian military force in

Iberia following the Islamic conquest of Visigothic
Hispania in 711–718. It was fought most likely in 722. The
battle was followed by the creation of an independent
Christian principality in the mountains of Asturias that
became a bastion of Christian resistance to the expansion
of Muslim rule. It was from there that the return of
Christian rule to the entire Iberian peninsula began.

Visigothic Kingdom

A kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern

France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th century to
the 8th century. One of the Germanic successor states to
the Western Roman Empire, the kingdom maintained
independence from the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine,
Empire. During its existence, Catholicism coalesced in
Spain.

Kingdom of Asturias

A kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula founded in 718 by the

nobleman Pelagius of Asturias. In 718 or 722, Pelagius
defeated an Umayyad patrol at the Battle of Covadonga, in
what is usually regarded as the beginning of the

The Reconquista | 1265

 Reconquista. It transitioned to the Kingdom of León in 924
and
became the main base for Christian resistance to Islamic
rule in the Iberian Peninsula for several centuries.

the Catholic Monarchs

The joint title used in history for Queen Isabella I of

Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were both
from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins,
both descended from John I of Castile; on marriage they
were given a papal dispensation to deal with consanguinity
by Sixtus IV. They established the Spanish Inquisition
around 1480.

Arianism

A Christian belief that asserts that Jesus Christ is the Son

of God who was created by God the Father at a point in
time, is distinct from the Father, and is therefore
subordinate to the Father. Arian teachings were first
attributed to Arius (c. 250–336 CE), a Christian presbyter in
Alexandria, Egypt. They gained popularity in the Iberian
Peninsula before Catholicism became the predominant
religion of the region.

1266 | The Reconquista

Background

The Reconquista (“reconquest”) is a period in the history of the

Iberian Peninsula, spanning approximately 770 years, between the
initial Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the 710s and the fall of
the Emirate of Granada, the last Islamic state on the peninsula,
to expanding Christian kingdoms in 1492. Historians traditionally
mark the beginning of the Reconquista with the Battle of Covadonga
(most likely in 722), and its end is associated with Portuguese and
Spanish colonization of the Americas.
The Arab Islamic conquest had dominated most of North Africa
by 710 CE. In 711 an Islamic Berber raiding party, led by Tariq ibn
Ziyad, was sent to Iberia to intervene in a civil war in the Visigothic
Kingdom. Tariq’s army crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and won a
decisive victory in the summer of 711 when the Visigothic King
Roderic was defeated and killed at the Battle of Guadalete. Tariq’s
commander, Musa, quickly crossed with Arab reinforcements, and
by 718 the Muslims were in control of nearly the whole Iberian
Peninsula. The advance into Western Europe was only stopped in
what is now north-central France by the West Germanic Franks at
the Battle of Tours in 732.
A decisive victory for the Christians took place at Covadonga,
in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, in the summer of 722. In a
minor battle known as the Battle of Covadonga, a Muslim force sent
to put down the Christian rebels in the northern mountains was
defeated by Pelagius of Asturias, who established the monarchy of
the Christian Kingdom of Asturias. In 739, a rebellion in Galicia,
assisted by the Asturians, drove out Muslim forces, and it joined the
Asturian kingdom. The Kingdom of Asturias became the main base
for Christian resistance to Islamic rule in the Iberian Peninsula for
several centuries.

The Reconquista | 1267

Warfare between Muslims and Christians

Muslim interest in the peninsula returned in force around when

Al-Mansur sacked Barcelona in 985. Under his son, other Christian
cities were subjected to numerous raids. After his son’s death, the
caliphate plunged into a civil war and splintered into the so-called
“Taifa Kingdoms.” Medieval Spain was the scene of almost constant
warfare between Muslims and Christians. The Almohads, who had
taken control of the Almoravids’ Maghribi and al-Andalus territories
by 1147, surpassed the Almoravides in fundamentalist Islamic
outlook, and they treated the non-believer dhimmis harshly. Faced
with the choice of death, conversion, or emigration, many Jews and
Christians left.
The Taifa kingdoms lost ground to the Christian realms in the
north. After the loss of Toledo in 1085, the Muslim rulers reluctantly
invited the Almoravides, who invaded Al-Andalus from North Africa
and established an empire. In the 12th century the Almoravid empire
broke up again, only to be taken over by the invasion of the
Almohads, who were defeated by an alliance of the Christian
kingdoms in the decisive battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. By
1250, nearly all of Iberia was back under Christian rule, with the
exception of the Muslim kingdom of Granada—the only independent
Muslim realm in Spain that would last until 1492.

1268 | The Reconquista

Francisco Pradilla Ortiz, The Capitulation of Granada (1882). The
Capitulation of Granada shows Muhammad XII confronting Ferdinand and
Isabella.

Despite the decline in Muslim-controlled kingdoms, it is important

to note the lasting effects exerted on the peninsula by Muslims in
technology, culture, and society.

Spanish Inquisition

Around 1480, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, known

as the Catholic Monarchs, established what would be known as the
Spanish Inquisition. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy
in their kingdoms and to replace the Medieval Inquisition, which
was under Papal control. It covered Spain and all the Spanish
colonies and territories, which included the Canary Islands, the
Spanish Netherlands, the Kingdom of Naples, and all Spanish
possessions in North, Central, and South America.

The Reconquista | 1269

 People who converted to Catholicism were not subject to
expulsion, but between 1480 and 1492 hundreds of those who had
converted (conversos and moriscos) were accused of secretly
practicing their original religion (crypto-Judaism or crypto-Islam)
and arrested, imprisoned, interrogated under torture, and in some
cases burned to death, in both Castile and Aragon. In 1492 Ferdinand
and Isabella ordered segregation of communities to create closed
quarters that became what were later called “ghettos.” They also
furthered economic pressures upon Jews and other non-Christians
by increasing taxes and social restrictions. In 1492 the monarchs
issued a decree of expulsion of Jews, known formally as the
Alhambra Decree, which gave Jews in Spain four months to either
convert to Catholicism or leave Spain. Tens of thousands of Jews
emigrated to other lands such as Portugal, North Africa, the Low
Countries, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire. Later in 1492, Ferdinand
issued a letter addressed to the Jews who had left Castile and
Aragon, inviting them back to Spain if they had become Christians.
The Inquisition was not definitively abolished until 1834, during
the reign of Isabella II, after a period of declining influence in the
preceding century.
Most of the descendants of the Muslims who submitted to
conversion to Christianity rather than exile during the early periods
of the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition, the Moriscos, were later
expelled from Spain after serious social upheaval, when the
Inquisition was at its height. The expulsions were carried out more
severely in eastern Spain (Valencia and Aragon) due to local
animosity towards Muslims and Moriscos perceived as economic
rivals; local workers saw them as cheap labor undermining their
bargaining position with the landlords. Those that the Spanish
Inquisition found to be secretly practicing Islam or Judaism were
executed, imprisoned, or expelled. Nevertheless, all those deemed
to be “New Christians” were perpetually suspected of various crimes
against the Spanish state, including continued practice of Islam or
Judaism.

1270 | The Reconquista

The Inquisition Tribunal as illustrated by Francisco de Goya (1808/1812).

Catholicism

Although the period of rule by the Visigothic Kingdom (c. 5th–8th

centuries) saw the brief spread of Arianism, Catholic religion
coalesced in Spain at the time. The Councils of Toledo debated
creed and liturgy in orthodox Catholicism, and the Council of Lerida
in 546 constrained the clergy and extended the power of law over
them under the blessings of Rome. In 587, the Visigothic king at
Toledo, Reccared, converted to Catholicism and launched a
movement in Spain to unify the various religious doctrines that
existed in the land. This put an end to dissension on the question
of Arianism. The period of Reconquista and the Spanish Inquisition
that followed turned Catholicism into the dominant religion of
Spain, which has shaped the development of the Spanish state and
national identity.

Sources
The Reconquista | 1271
179. The Spanish Habsburgs

Learning Objective

• Explain why the Spanish Habsburgs grew

increasingly feeble as a family

Key Points

• Spain was ruled by the major branch of the

Habsburg dynasty over the 16th and 17th centuries. In
this period, it dominated Europe politically and
militarily, but experienced a gradual decline of
influence in the second half of the 17th century under
the later Habsburg kings.
• When Spain’s first Habsburg ruler, Charles I,
became king of Spain in 1516, Spain became central to
the dynastic struggles of Europe. Under Charles I,
Spain colonized big parts of the Americas and
established itself as the first modern global empire.
• Under Philip II, the Spanish empire included
territories on every continent then known to
Europeans. During his reign, Spain reached the height
of its influence and power.
• Under Philip III, a ten-year truce with the Dutch

1272 | The Spanish Habsburgs

 was overshadowed in 1618 by Spain’s involvement in
the European-wide Thirty Years’ War. Additionally,
paying for the budget deficits by the mass minting of
currency caused an enormous economic crisis.
• Under Philip IV, much of the policy was conducted
by the minister Gaspar de Guzmán. Portugal was lost
to the crown for good; in Italy and most of Catalonia,
French forces were expelled and Catalonia’s
independence was suppressed.
• Charles’ II mental and physical disabilities, caused
most likely by the generations of inbreeding among
the Spanish Habsburgs, enabled power games on the
court and meant that Spain was essentially left
leaderless and gradually reduced to a second-rank
power.

Terms

Spanish Armada

A Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from A Coruña in

August 1588 with the purpose of escorting an army from
Flanders to invade England. The strategic aim was to
overthrow Queen Elizabeth I of England and the Tudor
establishment of Protestantism in England.

The Spanish Habsburgs | 1273

 consanguinity

The property of being from the same kinship as another

person. In that aspect, consanguinity is the quality of being
descended from the same ancestor as another person. The
laws of many jurisdictions set out degrees of consanguinity
in relation to prohibited sexual relations and marriage
parties.

Spanish Golden Age

A period of flourishing in arts and literature in Spain,

coinciding with the political rise and decline of the Spanish
Habsburg dynasty. It does not imply precise dates and is
usually considered to have lasted longer than an actual
century.

Spain under the Habsburgs

Spain was ruled by the major branch of the Habsburg dynasty over
the 16th and 17th centuries. In this period, “Spain” or “the Spains”
covered the entire peninsula, politically a confederacy comprising
several nominally independent kingdoms in personal union: Aragon,
Castile, León, Navarre and, from 1580, Portugal. At the time, the
term “Monarchia Catholica” (Catholic Monarchy) remained in use
for the monarchy under the Spanish Habsburgs. However, Spain as a

1274 | The Spanish Habsburgs

unified state came into being by right only after the death of Charles
II in 1700, the last ruler of Spain of the Habsburg dynasty.
Under the Habsburgs, Spain dominated Europe politically and
militarily, but experienced a gradual decline of influence in the
second half of the 17th century under the later Habsburg kings.
The Habsburg years were also a Spanish Golden Age of cultural
efflorescence.

The Global Power

When Spain’s first Habsburg ruler, Charles I, became king of Spain

in 1516, Spain became central to the dynastic struggles of Europe.
After becoming king of Spain, Charles also became Charles V, Holy
Roman Emperor, and because of his widely scattered domains was
not often in Spain. As he approached the end of his life he made
provision for the division of the Habsburg inheritance into two
parts. On the one hand was Spain, its possessions in Europe, North
Africa, the Americas, and the Netherlands. On the other hand there
was the Holy Roman Empire. This was to create enormous
difficulties for his son Philip II of Spain.
The Aztec and Inca Empires were conquered during Charles’s
reign, from 1519 to 1521 and 1540 to 1558, respectively. Spanish
settlements were established in the New World: Mexico City, the
most important colonial city established in 1524 to be the primary
center of administration in the New World; Florida, colonized in the
1560s; Buenos Aires, established in 1536; and New Granada (modern
Colombia), colonized in the 1530s. The Spanish Empire abroad
became the source of Spanish wealth and power in Europe. But as
precious metal shipments rapidly expanded late in the century this
contributed to the general inflation that was affecting the whole
of Europe. Instead of fueling the Spanish economy, American silver
made the country increasingly dependent on foreign sources of raw
materials and manufactured goods.

The Spanish Habsburgs | 1275

 Philip II became king on Charles I’s abdication in 1556. During his
reign, there were several separate state bankruptcies, which were
partly the cause for the declaration of independence that created
the Dutch Republic in 1581. A devout Catholic, Philip organized a
huge naval expedition against Protestant England in 1588, known
usually as the Spanish Armada, which was unsuccessful, mostly due
to storms and grave logistical problems. Despite these problems,
the growing inflow of New World silver from the mid-16th century,
the justified military reputation of the Spanish infantry, and even the
quick recovery of the navy from its Armada disaster made Spain the
leading European power, a novel situation of which its citizens were
only just becoming aware. The Iberian Union with Portugal in 1580
not only unified the peninsula, but added that country’s worldwide
resources to the Spanish crown.

1276 | The Spanish Habsburgs

Europa Regina, associated with a Habsburg-dominated Europe under Holy
Roman Emperor Charles V of Habsburg (Charles I of Spain). Map of Europe as
a queen, printed by Sebastian Munster in Basel in 1570. Europe is shown
standing upright with the Iberian Peninsula forming her crowned head.

The Spanish Habsburgs | 1277

The Gradual Decline

However, economic and administrative problems multiplied in

Castile, and the weakness of the native economy became evident
in the following century. Rising inflation, financially draining wars
in Europe, the ongoing aftermath of the expulsion of the Jews and
Moors from Spain, and Spain’s growing dependency on the gold and
silver imports combined to cause several bankruptcies that caused
an economic crisis in the country, especially in heavily burdened
Castile.
Faced with wars against England, France, and the Netherlands,
the Spanish government found that neither the New World silver
nor steadily increasing taxes were enough to cover their expenses,
and went bankrupt again in 1596. Furthermore, the great plague of
1596–1602 killed 600,000 to 700,000 people, or about 10% of the
population. Altogether more than 1,250,000 deaths resulted from
the extreme incidence of plague in 17th century Spain.
Economically, the plague destroyed the labor force, and created a
psychological blow to an already problematic Spain.
Philip II died in 1598, and was succeeded by his son Philip III.
In his reign (1598–1621) a ten-year truce with the Dutch was
overshadowed in 1618 by Spain’s involvement in the European-wide
Thirty Years’ War. Philip III had no interest in politics or
government, preferring to engage in lavish court festivities,
religious indulgences, and the theater. His government resorted to
a tactic that had been resolutely resisted by Philip II, paying for
the budget deficits by the mass minting of increasingly worthless
vellones (the currency), causing inflation. In 1607, the government
faced another bankruptcy.
Philip III was succeeded in 1621 by his son Philip IV of Spain
(reigned 1621–1665). Much of the policy was conducted by the
minister Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares. In 1640, with
the war in Central Europe having no clear winner except the French,
both Portugal and Catalonia rebelled. Portugal was lost to the crown

1278 | The Spanish Habsburgs

for good; in Italy and most of Catalonia, French forces were expelled
and Catalonia’s independence was suppressed.
Charles II (1665–1700), the last of the Habsburgs in Spain, was
three years old when his father, Philip IV, died in 1665. The Council
of Castile appointed Philip’s second wife and Charles’s mother,
Mariana of Austria, regent for the minor king. As regent, Mariana
managed the country’s affairs through a series of
favorites (“validos”), whose merits usually amounted to no more
than meeting her fancy. Spain was essentially left leaderless and was
gradually being reduced to a second-rank power.

Inbreeding

The Spanish branch of the Habsburg royal family was noted for
extreme consanguinity. Well aware that they owed their power to
fortunate marriages, they married between themselves to protect
their gains. Charles’s father and his mother, Mariana, were actually
uncle and niece. Charles was physically and mentally disabled and
infertile, possibly in consequence of this massive inbreeding. Due to
the deaths of his half brothers, he was the last member of the male
Spanish Habsburg line. He did not learn to speak until the age of
four nor to walk until the age of eight, and was treated as virtually
an infant until he was ten years old. His jaw was so badly deformed
(an extreme example of the so-called Habsburg jaw) that he could
barely speak or chew. Fearing the frail child would be overtaxed, his
caretakers did not force Charles to attend school.
The Habsburg dynasty became extinct in Spain with Charles II’s
death in 1700, and the War of the Spanish Succession ensued, in
which the other European powers tried to assume power over the
Spanish monarchy. The control of Spain was allowed to pass to the
Bourbon dynasty.

The Spanish Habsburgs | 1279

Sources

1280 | The Spanish Habsburgs

180. Philip II and the Spanish
Armada

Learning Objective

• Describe Philip II’s convictions and how he

attempted to carry them out

Key Points

• During the reign of Philip II, Spain reached the

height of its influence and power, and remained
firmly Roman Catholic. Philip saw himself as a
champion of Catholicism, both against the Muslim
Ottoman Empire and the Protestants.
• As the Spanish Empire was not a single monarchy
with one legal system but a federation of separate
realms, Philip often found his authority overruled by
local assemblies, and his word less effective than that
of local lords.
• When Philip’s health began failing, he worked from
his quarters in the Palace-Monastery-Pantheon of El
Escorial, which he built with Juan Batista de Toledo
and which was another expression of Philip’s

Philip II and the Spanish

Armada | 1281
 commitments to protect Catholics against the raising
influence of Protestantism across Europe.
• Philip’s foreign policies were determined by a
combination of Catholic fervor and dynastic
objectives. He considered himself the chief defender
of Catholic Europe, both against the Ottoman Turks
and against the forces of the Protestant Reformation.
• Wars with Dutch Provinces, England, France, and
the Ottoman Empire all had the undermining
religious aspects of protecting Catholicism in
increasingly Protestant Europe or protecting
Christianity against Islam.
• Because Philip II was the most powerful European
monarch in an era of war and religious conflict,
evaluating both his reign and the man himself has
become a controversial historical subject.

Terms

Morisco

A term used to refer to former Muslims who converted,

or were coerced into converting, to Christianity after Spain
outlawed the open practice of Islam by its Mudejar
population in the early 16th century. The group was subject
to systematic expulsions from Spain’s various kingdoms

1282 | Philip II and the Spanish Armada

between 1609 and 1614, the most severe of which occurred
in the eastern Kingdom of Valencia.

Eighty Years’ War

A revolt, known also as the Dutch War of

Independence (1568–1648), of the Seventeen
Provinces against the political and religious hegemony of
Philip II of Spain, the sovereign of the Habsburg
Netherlands.

Spanish Armada

A Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from A Coruña in

August 1588 with the purpose of escorting an army from
Flanders to invade England. The strategic aim was to
overthrow Queen Elizabeth I of England and the Tudor
establishment of Protestantism in England.

Catholic League

A major participant in the French Wars of Religion,

formed by Henry I, Duke of Guise, in 1576. It intended the
eradication of Protestants—also known as Calvinists or
Huguenots—out of Catholic France during the Protestant
Reformation, as well as the replacement of King Henry III.
Pope Sixtus V, Philip II of Spain, and the Jesuits were all
supporters of this Catholic party.

Philip II and the Spanish Armada | 1283

 jure uxoris

A Latin term that means “by right of (his) wife.” It is most

commonly used to refer to a title of nobility held by a man
because his wife holds it suo jure (“in her own right”).
Similarly, the husband of an heiress could become the legal
possessor of her lands jure uxoris, “by right of [his] wife.”
Jure uxoris monarchs are not to be confused with kings
consort, who were merely consorts of their wives, not co-
rulers.

Philip II of Spain

The son of Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire and his wife, Infanta
Isabella of Portugal, Philip II of Spain was born in 1527. Known in
Spain as “Philip the Prudent,” his empire included territories on
every continent then known to Europeans, including his namesake
the Philippine Islands. During his reign, Spain reached the height of
its influence and power, and remained firmly Roman Catholic. Philip
saw himself as a champion of Catholicism, both against the Muslim
Ottoman Empire and the Protestants. He was the king of Spain from
1556 to 1598.
Philip was married four times and had children with three of his
wives. All the marriages had important political implications, as they
connected Philip, and thus Spain, with powerful European courts.
Philip’s first wife was his first cousin Maria Manuela, Princess of
Portugal. She was a daughter of Philip’s maternal uncle, John III of
Portugal, and paternal aunt, Catherine of Austria. Philip’s second

1284 | Philip II and the Spanish Armada

wife was his first cousin once removed Queen Mary I of England.
By this marriage, Philip became jure uxoris king of England and
Ireland, although the couple was apart more than together as they
ruled their respective countries. The marriage produced no children
and Mary died in 1558, ending Philip’s reign in England and Ireland.
Philip’s third wife was Elisabeth of Valois, the eldest daughter of
Henry II of France and Catherine de’ Medici. Philip’s fourth and final
wife was his niece Anna of Austria.

Domestic Affairs

The Spanish Empire was not a single monarchy with one legal
system but a federation of separate realms, each jealously guarding
its own rights against those of the House of Habsburg. In practice,
Philip often found his authority overruled by local assemblies and
his word less effective than that of local lords. He also grappled
with the problem of the large Morisco population in Spain, who
were forcibly converted to Christianity by his predecessors. In 1569,
the Morisco Revolt broke out in the southern province of Granada
in defiance of attempts to suppress Moorish customs, and Philip
ordered the expulsion of the Moriscos from Granada and their
dispersal to other provinces.
Despite its immense dominions, Spain was a country with a
sparse population that yielded a limited income to the crown (in
contrast to France, for example, which was much more heavily
populated). Philip faced major difficulties in raising taxes, the
collection of which was largely farmed out to local lords. He was
able to finance his military campaigns only by taxing and exploiting
the local resources of his empire. The flow of income from the New
World proved vital to his militant foreign policy, but nonetheless his
exchequer faced bankruptcy several times.
During Philip’s reign there were five separate state bankruptcies.
Whereas his father had been forced to an itinerant rule as a

Philip II and the Spanish Armada | 1285

medieval king, Philip ruled at a critical turning point toward
modernity in European history. He mainly directed state affairs,
even when not at court. Indeed, when his health began failing he
worked from his quarters in the Palace-Monastery-Pantheon of El
Escorial he had built. El Escariol was another expression of Philip’s
commitment to protect Catholics against the raising influence of
Protestantism across Europe. He engaged the Spanish architect
Juan Bautista de Toledo to be his collaborator. Together they
designed El Escorial as a monument to Spain’s role as a center of the
Christian world.

Turismo Madrid Consorcio Turístico, Madrid, Spain. A distant view of the

Royal Seat of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. In 1984, UNESCO declared The Royal
Seat of San Lorenzo of El Escorial a World Heritage Site. It is a popular tourist
attraction—more than 500,000 visitors come to El Escorial every year.

Foreign Affairs

Philip’s foreign policies were determined by a combination of

Catholic fervor and dynastic objectives. He considered himself the
chief defender of Catholic Europe, both against the Ottoman Turks

1286 | Philip II and the Spanish Armada

and against the forces of the Protestant Reformation. He never
relented from his fight against what he saw as heresy, defending the
Catholic faith and limiting freedom of worship within his territories.
These territories included his patrimony in the Netherlands, where
Protestantism had taken deep root. Following the Revolt of the
Netherlands in 1568, Philip waged a campaign against Dutch
secession. The plans to consolidate control of the Netherlands led to
unrest, which gradually led to the Calvinist leadership of the revolt
and the Eighty Years’ War. This conflict consumed much Spanish
expenditure during the later 16th century.
Philip’s commitment to restoring Catholicism in the Protestant
regions of Europe resulted also in the Anglo-Spanish War
(1585–1604). This was an intermittent conflict between the
kingdoms of Spain and England that was never formally declared.
The war was punctuated by widely separated battles. In 1588, the
English defeated Philip’s Spanish Armada, thwarting his planned
invasion of the country to reinstate Catholicism. But the war
continued for the next sixteen years, in a complex series of
struggles that included France, Ireland, and the main battle zone,
the Low Countries.
Two further Spanish armadas were sent in 1596 and 1597, but were
frustrated in their objectives mainly because of adverse weather
and poor planning. The war would not end until all the leading
protagonists, including Philip, had died.
Philip financed the Catholic League during the French Wars of
Religion (primarily fought between French Catholics and French
Protestants, known as Huguenots). He directly intervened in the
final phases of the wars (1589–1598). His interventions in the
fighting—sending the Duke of Parma to end Henry IV’s siege of Paris
in 1590—and the siege of Rouen in 1592 contributed to saving the
French Catholic Leagues’s cause against a Protestant monarchy. In
1593, Henry agreed to convert to Catholicism. Weary of war, most
French Catholics switched to his side against the hardline core of
the Catholic League, who were portrayed by Henry’s propagandists
as puppets of a foreign monarch, Philip. By the end of 1594 certain

Philip II and the Spanish Armada | 1287

league members were still working against Henry across the
country, but all relied on the support of Spain. In 1595, therefore,
Henry officially declared war on Spain, to show Catholics that Philip
was using religion as a cover for an attack on the French state
and Protestants that he had not become a puppet of Spain through
his conversion, while hoping to take the war to Spain and make
territorial gain.
The war was only drawn to an official close with the Peace of
Vervins in May 1598; Spanish forces and subsidies were withdrawn.
Meanwhile, Henry issued the Edict of Nantes, which offered a high
degree of religious toleration for French Protestants. The military
interventions in France thus ended in an ironic fashion for Philip:
they had failed to oust Henry from the throne or suppress
Protestantism in France and yet they had played a decisive part in
helping the French Catholic cause gain the conversion of Henry,
ensuring that Catholicism would remain France’s official and
majority faith—matters of paramount importance for the devoutly
Catholic Spanish king.
Earlier, after several setbacks in his reign and especially that of
his father, Philip had achieved a decisive victory against the Turks at
the Lepanto in 1571, with the allied fleet of the Holy League, which
he had put under the command of his illegitimate brother, John of
Austria. He also successfully secured his succession to the throne of
Portugal.

1288 | Philip II and the Spanish Armada

Legacy

Because Philip II was the most powerful European monarch in an

era of war and religious conflict, evaluating both his reign and the
man himself has become a controversial historical subject. Even in
countries that remained Catholic, primarily France and the Italian
states, fear and envy of Spanish success and domination created
a wide receptiveness for the worst possible descriptions of Philip
II. Although some efforts have been made to separate legend from
reality, that task has been proven extremely difficult, since many
prejudices are rooted in the cultural heritage of European countries.
Spanish-speaking historians tend to assess his political and military

Philip II and the Spanish Armada | 1289

achievements, sometimes deliberately avoiding issues such as the
king’s lukewarm attitude (or even support) toward Catholic
fanaticism. English-speaking historians tend to show Philip II as
a fanatical, despotic, criminal, imperialist monster, minimizing his
military victories.

Sources

1290 | Philip II and the Spanish Armada

181. The Siglo de Oro

Learning Objective

• Identify some works of art from the Spanish Siglo

de Oro

Key Points

• The Spanish Golden Age (Spanish: Siglo de Oro,

“Golden Century”) was a period of flourishing in arts
and literature in Spain, coinciding with the political
rise and decline of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty. El
Siglo de Oro does not imply precise dates and is
usually considered to have lasted longer than an
actual century.
• Spanish art of the era contained a strong mark of
mysticism and religion that was encouraged by the
counter-reformation and the patronage of Spain’s
strongly Catholic monarchs and aristocracy. Spanish
rule of Naples was important for making connections
between Italian and Spanish art.
• The most influential Spanish painters of the era
include El Greco, Diego Velázquez, Francisco de
Zurbarán, and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.

The Siglo de Oro | 1291

 • The same period produced some of the most
important works of Spanish architecture. These
include the Palace of Charles V, El Escorial, the Plaza
Mayor in Madrid, Granada Cathedral, and the
Cathedral of Valladolid.
• Spanish literature of the period flourished,
producing the first European novel, Don Quixote, and
revolutionizing Spanish drama and thus theater.
• Music of the era revolved largely around religious
forms and themes.

Terms

The Spanish Golden Age

(Spanish: Siglo de Oro, “Golden Century”) A period of

flourishing in arts and literature in Spain, coinciding with
the political rise and decline of the Spanish
Habsburg dynasty. It does not imply precise dates and is
usually considered to have lasted longer than an actual
century.

Herrerian

An architectural style developed in Spain during the last

1292 | The Siglo de Oro

 third of the 16th century, under the reign of Philip
II (1556–1598), and continued in force in the 17th century,
but transformed by the Baroque current of the time. It
corresponds to the third and final stage of Spanish
Renaissance architecture.

Mannerism

A style in European art that emerged in the later years of

the Italian High Renaissance, around 1520, lasting until
about 1580 in Italy, when the Baroque style began to replace
it. Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th
century. Where High Renaissance art emphasized
proportion, balance, and ideal beauty, it exaggerated such
qualities, often resulting in compositions that are
asymmetrical or unnaturally elegant.

Siglo de Oro

The Spanish Golden Age (Spanish: Siglo de Oro, “Golden Century”)

was a period of flourishing in arts and literature in Spain, coinciding
with the political rise and decline of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty.
El Siglo de Oro does not imply precise dates and is usually
considered to have lasted longer than an actual century. It began no
earlier than 1492, with the end of the Reconquista, the sea voyages
of Christopher Columbus to the New World, and the publication of
Antonio de Nebrija’s Grammar of the Castilian Language. Politically,
it ended no later than 1659, with the Treaty of the Pyrenees, ratified
between France and Habsburg Spain. The last great writer of the

The Siglo de Oro | 1293

period, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, died in 1681, and his death
is usually considered the end of El Siglo de Oro in the arts and
literature.

Painting

The Italian holdings and relationships made by Queen Isabella’s

husband, and later Spain’s sole monarch, Ferdinand of Aragon,
launched a steady traffic of intellectuals across the Mediterranean
between Valencia, Seville, and Florence. Luis de Morales, one of
the leading exponents of Spanish mannerist painting, retained a
distinctly Spanish style in his work, reminiscent of medieval art.
Spanish art, particularly that of Morales, contained a strong mark
of mysticism and religion that was encouraged by the counter-
reformation and the patronage of Spain’s strongly
Catholic monarchs and aristocracy. Spanish rule of Naples was
important for making connections between Italian and Spanish art,
with many Spanish administrators bringing Italian works back to
Spain.
Some of the greatest artists of the era:

• Known for his great impact in bringing the Italian Renaissance

to Spain, El Greco (“The Greek”) was influential in creating a
style based on impressions and emotion, featuring elongated
fingers and vibrant color and brushwork. His paintings of the
city of Toledo became models for a new European tradition in
landscapes, and influenced the work of later Dutch masters.
• Diego Velázquez is widely regarded as one of Spain’s most
important and influential artists. His portraits of the king and
other prominent figures demonstrated a belief in artistic
realism and a style comparable to many of the Dutch masters.
Velázquez’s most famous painting is the celebrated Las
Meninas, in which the artist included himself as one of the

1294 | The Siglo de Oro

 subjects.
• The religious element in Spanish art grew in importance with
the counter-reformation. The austere, ascetic, and severe
work of Francisco de Zurbarán exemplified this thread. The
mysticism of Zurbarán’s work—influenced by Saint Theresa of
Avila—became a hallmark of Spanish art in later generations.
• Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s works were influenced by realism.
His more important works evolved towards the polished style
that suited the bourgeois and aristocratic tastes of the time,
demonstrated especially in his Roman Catholic religious works.

The Siglo de Oro | 1295

Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez (1656), Galería online, Museo del Prado. The
painting’s complex and enigmatic composition raises questions about reality
and illusion and creates an uncertain relationship between the viewer and
the figures depicted. Because of these complexities, Las Meninas has been one
of the most widely analyzed works in Western painting.

Architecture

The same period produced some of the most important works of

Spanish architecture. These include:

1296 | The Siglo de Oro

• The Palace of Charles V located on the top of the hill of the
Assabica, inside the Nasrid fortification of the Alhambra. The
project was given to Pedro Machuca, who built a palace
corresponding stylistically to Mannerism, a mode still in its
infancy in Italy.
• El Escorial: a historical residence of the king of Spain. It is one
of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal
palace, museum, and school. Located in the town of San
Lorenzo de El Escorial, it comprises two architectural
complexes of great historical and cultural significance: El Real
Monasterio de El Escorial itself and La Granjilla de La
Fresneda, a royal hunting lodge and monastic retreat. During
the 16th and 17th centuries, they were places in which the
temporal power of the Spanish monarchy and the ecclesiastical
predominance of the Roman Catholic religion in Spain found a
common architectural manifestation. Philip II engaged the
Spanish architect Juan Bautista de Toledo to be his
collaborator in the design of El Escorial.
• The Plaza Mayor in Madrid: A central plaza in Madrid, Spain.
Juan de Herrera was the architect who designed the first
project in 1581 to remodel the old Plaza del Arrabal, but
construction didn’t start until 1617, during Philip III’s reign.
Nevertheless, the Plaza Mayor as we know it today is the work
of the architect Juan de Villanueva, who was entrusted with its
reconstruction in 1790 after a spate of big fires.
• Granada Cathedral: Foundations for the church were laid by
the architect Egas starting from 1518 to 1523 atop the site of
the city’s main mosque. By 1529, Egas was replaced by Diego de
Siloé, who labored for nearly four decades on the structure.
• The Cathedral of Valladolid: Like all the buildings of the late
Spanish Renaissance built by Herrera and his followers, it is
known for its purist and sober decoration, its style being the
typical Spanish clasicismo, also called “Herrerian.”

The Siglo de Oro | 1297

Literature

The Spanish Golden Age was also a time of great flourishing in

poetry, prose, and drama. Regarded by many as one of the finest
literary works in any language, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
was the first novel published in Europe. It gave Cervantes a stature
in the Spanish-speaking world comparable to his contemporary
William Shakespeare in English. Don Quixote resembled both the
medieval, chivalric romances of an earlier time and the novels of the
early modern world. It has endured to the present day as a landmark
in world literary history, and it was an immediate international hit
in its own time.

1298 | The Siglo de Oro

Cervantes’s Don Quixote (1605), original title page. Don Quixote, the first
European novel, has endured to the present day as a landmark in world
literary history, and it was an immediate international hit in its own time.

The Siglo de Oro | 1299

A contemporary of Cervantes, Lope de Vega consolidated the
essential genres and structures that would characterize the Spanish
commercial drama, also known as the “Comedia,” throughout the
17th century. While Lope de Vega wrote prose and poetry as well,
he is best remembered for his plays, particularly those grounded in
Spanish history. In bringing morality, comedy, drama, and popular
wit together, Lope de Vega is also often compared to his English
contemporary Shakespeare. Some have argued that as a social critic,
Lope de Vega, like Cervantes, attacked many of the ancient
institutions of his country—aristocracy, chivalry, and rigid morality,
among others. The other great dramatist of the 17th century was
Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600–1681). His most famous work is
Life Is a Dream (1635). Born when the Spanish Golden Age
theater was being defined by Lope de Vega, Pedro Calderón de
la Barca developed it further, and his work is regarded as the
culmination of the Spanish Baroque theater. As such, he remains
one of Spain’s foremost dramatists and one of the finest playwrights
of world literature. Other well-known playwrights of the period
include Tirso de Molina, Agustín Moreto, Juan Pérez de Montalbán,
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Guillén de Castro, and Antonio Mira de
Amescua.
This period also produced some of the most important Spanish
works of poetry. The introduction and influence of Italian
Renaissance verse is apparent perhaps most vividly in the works of
Garcilaso de la Vega, and illustrate a profound influence on later
poets. Mystical literature in Spanish reached its summit with the
works of San Juan de la Cruz and Teresa of Ávila. Baroque poetry
was dominated by the contrasting styles of Francisco de Quevedo
and Luis de Góngora; both had a lasting influence on subsequent
writers, and even on the Spanish language itself.

1300 | The Siglo de Oro

Music

Tomás Luis de Victoria, a Spanish composer of the 16th century,

mainly of choral music, is widely regarded as one of the greatest
Spanish classical composers. Like Zurbarán, Victoria mixed the
technical qualities of Italian art with the religion and culture of
his native Spain. Francisco Guerrero’s music was both sacred and
secular, unlike that of de Victoria and Morales, the two other
Spanish 16th-century composers of the first rank. He wrote
numerous secular songs and instrumental pieces, in addition to
masses, motets, and Passions. De Victoria’s work was also
complemented by Alonso Lobo, whose work stressed the austere,
minimalist nature of religious music.

Sources

The Siglo de Oro | 1301

182. Elizabeth I and English
Patriotism

Learning Objective

• Identify some of the highlights from Queen

Elizabeth I’s reign

Key Points

• Elizabeth I (1533–1603) was Queen of England and

Ireland from 1558 until her
death in 1603. She succeeded her Roman Catholic
half-sister, Mary to the throne. Elizabeth never
married nor had
children and thus was the last monarch of the Tudor
dynasty.
• Mary’s marriage to Philip II of Spain contributed to
the complex relations between England and Spain
that after Mary’s death dominated Elizabeth’s reign in
the realm of international relations.
• Elizabeth’s efforts led to the Religious Settlement, a
legal process by which the Protestant Church of
England was restored and the queen took the title of

1302 | Elizabeth I and English

Patriotism
 Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
• Elizabeth’s foreign policy was largely defensive.
While she managed to establish diplomatic relations
with some of the most powerful contemporary
empires and supported Protestant struggles across
Europe, her greatest foreign policy challenge was
Catholic Spain and its Armada, over which England
eventually triumphed.
• Establishing the Roanoke Colony and chartering
the East India Company during Elizabeth’s reign was
an onset of what would turn into the powerful British
Empire.
• The Elizabethan age inspired national pride
through classical ideals, international expansion, and
naval triumph over the Spanish.

Terms

Spanish Armada

A Spanish fleet of 130 ships that sailed from A Coruña in

August 1588 with the purpose of escorting an army from
Flanders to invade England. The strategic aim was to
overthrow Queen Elizabeth I of England and the Tudor
establishment of Protestantism in England.

Elizabeth I and English Patriotism | 1303

 Religious Settlement

A legal process by which the Protestant Church of

England was restored. It was made during the reign of
Elizabeth I in response to the religious divisions in England.
Described as “The Revolution of 1559,” it was set out in two
acts of the Parliament of England. The Act of Supremacy of
1558 re-established the Church of England’s independence
from Rome, while the Act of Uniformity of 1559 outlined
what form the English Church should take.

French Catholic League

A major participant in the French Wars of Religion,

formed by Henry I, Duke of Guise, in 1576. It intended the
eradication of Protestants—also known as Calvinists or
Huguenots—out of Catholic France during the Protestant
Reformation, as well as the replacement of King Henry III.
Pope Sixtus V, Philip II of Spain, and the Jesuits were all
supporters of this Catholic party.

Anglo-Spanish War

An intermittent conflict (1585–1604) between the

kingdoms of Spain and England that was never formally
declared. The war was punctuated by widely separated
battles, and began with England’s military expedition in

1304 | Elizabeth I and English Patriotism

 1585 to the Netherlands in support of the resistance of the
States General to Spanish Habsburg rule.

Roanoke Colony

A colony established on Roanoke Island, in what is today’s

Dare County, North Carolina, United States. It was a late
16th-century attempt by Queen Elizabeth I to establish a
permanent English settlement. The colony was founded by
Sir Walter Raleigh. The colonists disappeared during the
Anglo-Spanish War, three years after the last shipment of
supplies from England.

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I (1533–1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 1558

until her death in 1603. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne
Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed two and a half years after
Elizabeth’s birth. Anne’s marriage to Henry VIII was annulled and
Elizabeth was declared illegitimate. In 1558, Elizabeth succeeded
her Roman Catholic half-sister, Mary. She never married nor had
children and thus was the last monarch of the Tudor dynasty.

Elizabeth I and English Patriotism | 1305

The “Darnley Portrait” of Elizabeth I of England, National Portrait Gallery (c.
1575). The portrait was named after a previous owner. Probably painted from
life, it is the source of the face pattern called “The Mask of Youth,” which
would be used for authorized portraits of Elizabeth for decades to come.
Recent research has shown the colors have faded. The oranges and browns
would have been crimson red in Elizabeth’s time.

1306 | Elizabeth I and English Patriotism

Mary I and Philip II of Spain

In 1554, Queen Mary of England married Philip, who only two years
later began to rule Spain as Philip II. Under the terms of the Act for
the Marriage, Philip was to enjoy Mary I’s titles and honors for as
long as their marriage should last, and was to co-reign with his wife.
Although Elizabeth initially demonstrated solidarity with her sister,
the two were sharply divided along religious lines. Mary, a devout
Catholic, was determined to crush the Protestant faith, in which
Elizabeth had been educated. After Mary married Philip, who saw
the protection of Catholicism in Europe as his life’s mission, Mary’s
popularity ebbed away, and many looked to Elizabeth as a focus
for their opposition to Mary’s religious policies. In 1555, Elizabeth
was recalled to court to attend the final stages of Mary’s apparent
pregnancy. When it became clear that Mary was not pregnant, no
one believed any longer that she could have a child. Elizabeth’s
succession seemed assured.
King Philip acknowledged the new political reality and cultivated
his sister-in-law. She was a better ally than the chief alternative,
Mary, Queen of Scots, who had grown up in France and was
betrothed to the Dauphin of France. When his wife fell ill in 1558,
Philip consulted with Elizabeth. By October 1558, Elizabeth was
making plans for her government. On November 6, Mary recognized
Elizabeth as her heir. On November 17, Mary died and Elizabeth
succeeded to the throne.

Religious Settlement

In terms of religious matters, Elizabeth was pragmatic. She and

her advisers recognized the threat of a Catholic crusade against
England. Elizabeth therefore sought a Protestant solution that
would not offend Catholics too greatly while addressing the desires

Elizabeth I and English Patriotism | 1307

of English Protestants, but she would not tolerate the more radical
Puritans, who were pushing for far-reaching reforms. As a result,
the parliament of 1559 started to legislate for a church based on
the Protestant settlement of Edward VI, with the monarch as its
head, but with many Catholic elements. Eventually, Elizabeth was
forced to accept the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of
England rather than the more contentious title of Supreme Head,
which many thought unacceptable for a woman to bear. The new
Act of Supremacy became law in 1559. All public officials were to
swear an oath of loyalty to the monarch as the supreme governor or
risk disqualification from office. The heresy laws were repealed to
avoid a repeat of the persecution of dissenters practiced by Mary.
At the same time, a new Act of Uniformity was passed, which made
attendance at church and the use of an adapted version of the 1552
Book of Common Prayer compulsory, though penalties for those
who failed to conform were not extreme.

Foreign Policy

Elizabeth’s foreign policy was largely defensive. The exception was

the English occupation of Le Havre from October 1562 to June 1563,
which ended in failure when Elizabeth’s Huguenot (Protestant) allies
joined with the Catholics to retake the port. After the occupation
and loss of Le Havre, Elizabeth avoided military expeditions on
the continent until 1585, when she sent an English army to aid
the Protestant Dutch rebels against Philip II. In December 1584,
an alliance between Philip II and the French Catholic League
undermined the ability of Henry III of France to counter Spanish
domination of the Netherlands. It also extended Spanish influence
along the channel coast of France, where the Catholic League was
strong, and exposed England to invasion. The siege of Antwerp
in the summer of 1585 by the Duke of Parma necessitated some
reaction on the part of the English and the Dutch. The outcome was

1308 | Elizabeth I and English Patriotism

the Treaty of Nonsuch of August 1585, in which Elizabeth promised
military support to the Dutch. The treaty marked the beginning of
the Anglo-Spanish War, which lasted until the Treaty of London in
1604.
After Mary’s death, Philip II of Spain had no wish to sever his
ties with England, and sent a proposal of marriage to Elizabeth, but
was denied. For many years, Philip maintained peace with England
and even defended Elizabeth from the pope’s threat of
excommunication. This was a measure taken to preserve a
European balance of power. Ultimately, Elizabeth allied England
with the Protestant rebels in the Netherlands (which at the time
fought for independence from Spain). Further, English ships began a
policy of piracy against Spanish trade and threatened to plunder the
great Spanish treasure ships coming from the new world. However,
the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587 ended Philip’s hopes
of placing a Catholic on the English throne. He turned instead to
more direct plans to invade England, with vague plans to return the
country to Catholicism. In 1588 he sent a fleet, the Spanish Armada,
across the English Channel. The Spanish were forced into a retreat,
and the overwhelming majority of the Armada was destroyed by the
harsh weather.
Elizabeth also continued to maintain the diplomatic relations with
the Tsardom of Russia originally established by her deceased
brother. During her rule, trade and diplomatic relations developed
between England and the Barbary states as well. England
established a trading relationship with Morocco in opposition to
Spain, selling armor, ammunition, timber, and metal in exchange for
Moroccan sugar, in spite of a papal ban. Diplomatic relations were
also established with the Ottoman Empire with the chartering of the
Levant Company and the dispatch of the first English ambassador to
the Porte, William Harborne, in 1578.

Elizabeth I and English Patriotism | 1309

The Onset of the British Empire

After the travels of Christopher Columbus electrified all of western

Europe, England joined in the colonization of the New World. In
1562, Elizabeth sent privateers Hawkins and Drake to seize booty
from Spanish and Portuguese ships off the coast of West Africa.
Spain was well established in the Americas, while Portugal, in union
with Spain from 1580, had an ambitious global empire in Africa, Asia,
and South America; France was exploring North America. England
was stimulated to create its own colonies, with an emphasis on the
West Indies rather than in North America. From 1577 to 1580, Sir
Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe. Combined with his daring
raids against the Spanish and his great victory over them at Cadiz in
1587, he became a famous hero, but England did not follow up on his
claims. In 1583, Humphrey Gilbert sailed to Newfoundland, taking
possession of the harbor of St. John’s together with all land within
two hundred leagues to the north and south of it. In 1584, the queen
granted Sir Walter Raleigh a charter for the colonization of Virginia;
it was named in her honor. Raleigh sent others to found the Roanoke
Colony (it remains a mystery why the settlers there all disappeared).
In 1600, the queen chartered the East India Company. It established
trading posts that in later centuries evolved into British India, on
the coasts of what is now India and Bangladesh. Larger-scale
colonization began shortly after Elizabeth’s death.

Nationalism

Elizabeth established an English church that helped shape a national

identity and remains in place today. Though she followed a largely
defensive foreign policy, her reign raised England’s status abroad.
Under Elizabeth, the nation gained a new self-confidence and sense
of sovereignty, as Christendom fragmented. She was the first Tudor

1310 | Elizabeth I and English Patriotism

to recognize that a monarch ruled by popular consent. She
therefore always worked with parliament and advisers she could
trust to tell her the truth—a style of government that her Stuart
successors failed to follow.
The symbol of Britannia was first used in 1572, and often
thereafter, to mark the Elizabethan age as a renaissance that
inspired national pride through classical ideals, international
expansion, and naval triumph over the Spanish.

Elizabeth I and English Patriotism | 1311

Britannia depicted on a half penny of 1936. Britannia was the Greek and
Roman term for the geographical region of Great Britain that was inhabited
by the Britons and is the name given to the female personification of the
island. It was during the reign of Elizabeth I that “Britannia” came to be
viewed as a personification of Britain.

1312 | Elizabeth I and English Patriotism

Sources

Elizabeth I and English Patriotism | 1313

183. The First Stuarts and
Catholicism

Learning Objective

• Describe the tensions between the Stuart kings and

Parliament over religion

Key Points

• James I and his son and successor, Charles I of

England, reigned England in the atmosphere of
repeated escalating conflicts with the English
Parliament.
• James I believed that he owed his superior
authority to God-given right, while Parliament
believed the king ruled by contract (an unwritten one,
yet fully binding) and that its own rights were equal
to those of the king.
• A failed assassination attempt in 1605 against King
James I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of
provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby
fueled anti-Catholic sentiments in England. By the
1620s, events on the continent had stirred up anti-

1314 | The First Stuarts and

Catholicism
 Catholic feeling to a new pitch, and James was forced
to declare war on Catholic Spain.
• Charles I, married to a Catholic and reluctant to
collaborate with or listen to Parliament, reigned in
the atmosphere of constant, escalating conflicts with
a consistently anti-Catholic Parliament.
• After an eleven-year period of ruling without
Parliament, the Long Parliament assembled in 1640
and quickly began proceedings to impeach the king’s
leading counselors for high treason.
• The escalating conflict between the king and the
Parliament resulted in what is known as the English
Civil War (1642–1651). A series of armed conflicts and
political machinations between Parliamentarians
(“Roundheads”) and Royalists (“Cavaliers”) ended in,
among other things, the prosecution of Charles I.

Terms

Thirty Years’ War

A series of wars in Central Europe

between 1618 and 1648. Initially a war between various
Protestant and Catholic
states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it gradually
developed into a more
general conflict involving most of the great powers.

The First Stuarts and Catholicism | 1315

 Gunpowder Plot

A failed assassination attempt in 1605 against King James

I of England and VI of Scotland by a group of provincial
English Catholics led by Robert Catesby. The plan was to
blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of
England’s Parliament on November 5, 1605, as the prelude
to a popular revolt in the Midlands during which James’s
nine-year-old daughter, Princess Elizabeth, was to be
installed as the Catholic head of state.

eleven years’ tyranny

The period from 1629 to 1640, when King Charles I of

England, Scotland, and Ireland ruled without recourse to
Parliament. The king was entitled to do this under the Royal
Prerogative. His actions caused discontent among the
ruling classes, but the effects were more popular with the
common people.

English Civil War

A series of armed conflicts and political machinations

between English Parliamentarians (“Roundheads”) and
Royalists (“Cavaliers”) over, principally, the manner of its
government. The first (1642–1646) and second (1648–1649)
wars pitted the supporters of Charles I against the

1316 | The First Stuarts and Catholicism

 supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third
(1649–1651) saw fighting between supporters of King
Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament.

Long Parliament

An English Parliament that lasted from 1640 until 1660. It

followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had been
held for three weeks during the spring of 1640, and which in
its turn had followed a parliamentary absence of eleven
years.

Background: Reformation in England in

Scotland

The separation of the Church of England (or Anglican Church) from

Rome under Henry VIII brought England alongside a broad
Reformation movement, but the English Reformation differed from
its European counterparts. Based on Henry VIII’s desire for an
annulment of his marriage, it was at the outset more of a political
affair than a theological dispute. The break with Rome was effected
by a series of acts of Parliament, but Catholic Mary I restored papal
jurisdiction in 1553. However, Mary’s successor, Elizabeth I, restored
the Church of England and reasserted the royal supremacy in 1559.
After she died without an heir,
James VI, her cousin and King of Scots, succeeded to the throne
of England as James I in 1603, thus uniting Scotland and England
under one monarch (the Union of the Crowns). He was the first of

The First Stuarts and Catholicism | 1317

the Stuart dynasty to rule Scotland and England. He and his son and
successor, Charles I of England, reigned England in the atmosphere
of repeated escalating conflicts with the English Parliament.

James I and the English Parliament

James developed his political philosophy of the relationship

between monarch and parliament in Scotland, and never reconciled
himself to the independent stance of the English Parliament and its
unwillingness to bow readily to his policies.
The crucial source of concern was that the king and Parliament
adhered to two mutually exclusive views about the nature of their
relationship. James I believed that he owed his superior authority
to God-given right, while Parliament believed the king ruled by
contract (an unwritten one, yet fully binding) and that its own rights
were equal to those of the king.
On the eve of the state opening of the parliamentary session
on November 5, 1605, a soldier called Guy Fawkes was discovered
in the cellars of the parliament buildings guarding about twenty
barrels of gunpowder with which he intended to blow up Parliament
House the following day. A Catholic conspiracy led by a disaffected
gentleman called Robert Catesby, the Gunpowder Plot, as it quickly
became known, had in fact been discovered in advance of Fawkes’s
arrest and deliberately allowed to mature in order to catch the
culprits red-handed and the plotters unawares.
By the 1620s, events on the continent had stirred up anti-Catholic
feeling to a new pitch. A conflict had broken out between the
Catholic Holy Roman Empire and the Protestant Bohemians, who
had deposed the emperor as their king and elected James’s son-in-
law, Frederick V, Elector Palatine, in his place, triggering the Thirty
Years’ War. James reluctantly summoned Parliament as the only
means to raise the funds necessary to assist his daughter Elizabeth
and Frederick, who had been ousted from Prague by Emperor

1318 | The First Stuarts and Catholicism

Ferdinand II in 1620. The Commons on the one hand granted
subsidies inadequate to finance serious military operations in aid of
Frederick, and on the other called for a war directly against Spain.
In November 1621, led by Sir Edward Coke, they framed a petition
asking not only for a war with Spain but also for Prince Charles
to marry a Protestant, and for enforcement of the anti-Catholic
laws. James flatly told them not to interfere in matters of royal
prerogative and dissolved Parliament.
The failed attempt to marry Prince Charles with the Catholic
Spanish Infanta Maria (known as the Spanish match), which both
the Parliament and the public strongly opposed, was followed by
even stronger anti-Catholic sentiment in the Commons that was
finally echoed in court. The outcome of the Parliament of 1624 was
ambiguous; James still refused to declare war, but Charles believed
the Commons had committed themselves to financing a war against
Spain, a stance which was to contribute to his problems with
Parliament in his own reign.

The First Stuarts and Catholicism | 1319

James I of England, Portrait attributed to John de Critz, c. 1605. King of

1320 | The First Stuarts and Catholicism

Scotland as James VI from 1567 and King of England and Ireland as
James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns in 1603 until his
death.

Charles I and the English Parliament

With the failure of the Spanish match, Charles married French

princess Henrietta Maria. Many members of the Commons were
opposed to the king’s marriage to a Roman Catholic. Although he
told Parliament that he would not relax religious restrictions,
Charles promised to do exactly that in a secret marriage treaty
with Louis XIII of France. Moreover, the treaty placed under French
command an English naval force that would be used to suppress
the Protestant Huguenots at La Rochelle. Charles was crowned in
1626 at Westminster Abbey without his wife at his side because she
refused to participate in a Protestant religious ceremony.
Domestic quarrels between Charles and Henrietta Maria were
souring the early years of their marriage. Despite Charles’s
agreement to provide the French with English ships, in 1627 he
launched an attack on the French coast to defend the Huguenots
at La Rochelle. The action, led by Buckingham (James and Charles’
close collaborator; hated by Parliament), was ultimately
unsuccessful. After
Buckingham was assassinated in 1628, Charles’s relationship with his
Catholic wife dramatically improved.
Although the death of Buckingham effectively ended the war with
Spain and eliminated his leadership as an issue, it did not end the
conflicts between Charles and Parliament. In January 1629, Charles
opened the second session of the English Parliament. Members of
the House of Commons began to voice opposition to Charles’s
policies. Many MPs viewed the imposition of taxes as a breach of
the Petition of Right. When Charles ordered a parliamentary
adjournment on March 2, members held the Speaker down in his

The First Stuarts and Catholicism | 1321

chair so that the ending of the session could be delayed long enough
for various resolutions, including Anti-Catholic and tax-regulating
laws. The provocation was too much for Charles, who dissolved
Parliament. Shortly after the prorogation, without the means in the
foreseeable future to raise funds from Parliament for a European
war, Charles made peace with France and Spain. The following
eleven years, during which Charles ruled England without a
Parliament, are referred to as the “personal rule” or the “eleven
years’ tyranny.”
The Long Parliament, which assembled in the aftermath of the
personal rule, started in 1640 and quickly began proceedings to
impeach the king’s leading counselors for high treason. To prevent
the king from dissolving it at will, Parliament passed the Triennial
Act, which required Parliament to be summoned at least once every
three years, and permitted the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and
twelve peers to summon Parliament if the king failed to do so.

1322 | The First Stuarts and Catholicism

The First Stuarts and Catholicism | 1323
Charles I of England, portrait from the studio of Anthony van Dyck, 1636.
Studio version of much copied original in the Royal Collection, Windsor
Castle. After his succession, Charles quarreled with the Parliament of
England, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. Charles believed in the
divine right of kings and thought he could govern according to his own
conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying
of taxes without parliamentary consent, and perceived his actions as those of
a tyrannical absolute monarch.

The English Civil War

The escalating conflict between the king and Parliament resulted

in what is known as the English Civil War (1642–1651). It was a
series of armed conflicts and political machinations between
Parliamentarians (“Roundheads”) and Royalists (“Cavaliers”) over,
principally, the manner of its government. The first (1642–1646) and
second (1648–1649) wars pitted the supporters of Charles against
the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third (1649–1651)
saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters
of the Rump Parliament. The war ended with the Parliamentarian
victory at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651.
The overall outcome of the war was threefold: the trial and
execution of Charles I; the exile of his son, Charles II; and the
replacement of English monarchy with, at first, the Commonwealth
of England (1649–1653), and then the Protectorate (1653–1659) under
Oliver Cromwell’s personal rule. The monopoly of the Church of
England on Christian worship in England ended with the victors
consolidating the established Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland.
Constitutionally, the wars established the precedent that an English
monarch cannot govern without Parliament’s consent, although the
idea of Parliament as the ruling power of England was legally
established as part of the Glorious Revolution in 1688.

1324 | The First Stuarts and Catholicism

Sources

The First Stuarts and Catholicism | 1325

184. Charles I and the Power
to Tax

Learning Objective

• Analyze why the power to determine taxation was

so important

Key Points

• Charles I of England continued his father’s policy

and decided to support Christian IV of Denmark and
Frederick V, Elector Palatine, during the Thirty Years’
War, which caused major tensions with a Parliament
that refused to finance the war.
• After the Commons continued to refuse to provide
money and began investigating the Duke of
Buckingham, Charles I dissolved Parliament. By 1627,
with England still at war, Charles decided to raise
“forced loans,” or taxes not authorized by Parliament.
• To cope with the ongoing war situation, Charles
had introduced martial law, which, as then
understood, was not a form of substantive law, but
instead a suspension of the rule of law.

1326 | Charles I and the Power to Tax

 • Charles decided that the only way to prosecute the
war was to again ask Parliament for money, and
Parliament assembled in 1628. As a result, a series of
parliamentary declarations establishing a series of
personal liberties known as the Resolutions were
prepared after tense debates.
• In the end, a suggestion to pass the Resolutions as a
petition of right won. A committee produced a
petition covering discretionary imprisonment, non-
Parliamentary taxation, martial law, and forced
billeting.
• The 1628 Petition of Right marks the founding of
the United Kingdom’s modern constitutional
monarchy.

Terms

Petition of Right

A major English constitutional document that sets out

specific liberties of the subjects that the king is prohibited
from infringing. Passed in 1628, it contains restrictions on
non-Parliamentary taxation, forced billeting of soldiers,
imprisonment without cause, and the use of martial law.

Charles I and the Power to Tax | 1327

 habeas corpus

In medieval Latin it means literally “You may have the

body,” a recourse in law whereby a person can report an
unlawful detention or imprisonment before a court, usually
through a prison official.

Thirty Years’ War

A series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648.

Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic
states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it gradually
developed into a more general conflict involving most of
the great powers.

Tonnage and Poundage

Certain duties and taxes first levied in Edward II’s reign

on every tun (cask) of imported wine, which came mostly
from Spain and Portugal, and on every pound weight of
merchandise exported or imported. Traditionally it was
granted by Parliament to the king for life until the reign of
Charles I.

Charles I of England and the English

1328 | Charles I and the Power to Tax

Parliament

In 1625, King James I of England died and was succeeded by his son,
who became Charles I. Along with the throne, Charles inherited the
Thirty Years’ War, in which Christian IV of Denmark and Frederick
V, Elector Palatine, who was married to Charles’s sister Elizabeth,
were attempting to take back their hereditary lands and titles from
the Habsburg Monarchy. James had caused significant financial
problems with his attempts to support Christian and Frederick,
and it was expected that Charles would be more amenable to
prosecuting the war responsibly. After he summoned a new
Parliament to meet in April 1625, it became clear that he was not.
He demanded over £700,000 to assist in prosecuting the war. The
House of Commons refused and instead passed two bills granting
him only £112,000. In addition, rather than renewing the customs
due from Tonnage and Poundage for the entire life of the monarch,
which was traditional, the Commons only voted them in for one
year. Because of this, the House of Lords rejected the bill, leaving
Charles without any money to provide to the war effort.
After the Commons continued to refuse to provide money and
began investigating the Duke of Buckingham, Charles’s favorite,
Charles dissolved Parliament. By 1627, with England still at war,
Charles decided to raise “forced loans,” or taxes not authorized
by Parliament. Anyone who refused to pay would be imprisoned
without trial, and if they resisted, would be sent before the Privy
Council. Although the judiciary initially refused to endorse these
loans, they succumbed to pressure. While Charles continued to
demand the loans, more and more wealthy landowners refused to
pay, reducing the income from the loans and necessitating a new
Parliament being called in 1627.

Charles I and the Power to Tax | 1329

Martial Law

To cope with the ongoing war situation, Charles had introduced

martial law to large swathes of the country, and in 1627 to the entire
nation. Crucially, martial law as then understood was not a form
of substantive law, but instead a suspension of the rule of law. It
was the replacement of normal statutes with a law based on the
whims of the local military commander. However, Charles decided
that the only way to prosecute the war was to again ask Parliament
for money, and Parliament assembled in 1628. As a result, a series of
Parliamentary declarations known as the Resolutions were prepared
after tense debates. They held that imprisonment was illegal, except
under law; habeas corpus should be granted to anyone, whether they
are imprisoned by the king or the Privy Council; defendants could
not be remanded in custody until the crime they were charged
with was shown; and non-Parliamentary taxation such as the forced
loans was illegal (the first three later became the foundations of
the Habeas Corpus Act 1679). The Resolutions were unanimously
accepted by the Commons in April, but they met a mixed reception
at the House of Lords, and Charles refused to accept them.

The Petition of Right

The conflict between the king and Parliament escalated. A number

of possible alternatives to the Resolutions were debated, but
finally Sir Edward Coke made a speech suggesting that the
Commons join with the House of Lords and pass their four
resolutions as a petition of right (although he was not the first to
do so). The idea of a petition of right was an established element of
Parliamentary procedure, and in addition, had not been expressly
prohibited by Charles. A committee produced a petition containing
the same elements as the Resolutions, covering discretionary

1330 | Charles I and the Power to Tax

imprisonment, non-Parliamentary taxation, martial law, and forced
billeting.
The Commons accepted the recommendations on May 8, and
after a long debate that attempted to accommodate the hostile king,
the House of Lords unanimously voted to join with the Commons on
the Petition of Right, while passing their own resolution, assuring
the king of their loyalty.
Following the acceptance of the Petition by the House of Lords,
Charles sent a message to the Commons “forbidding them to
meddle with affairs of state,” which produced a furious debate. On
June 7, Charles capitulated and accepted the Petition. After setting
out a list of individual grievances and statutes that had been broken,
the 1628 Petition of Right declares that Englishmen have various
“rights and liberties,” and provides that no person should be forced
to provide a gift, loan, or tax without an Act of Parliament, that no
free individual should be imprisoned or detained unless a cause has
been shown, and that soldiers or members of the Royal Navy should
not be billeted in private houses without the free consent of the
owner. It also restricts the use of martial law except in war or direct
rebellion and prohibited the formation of commissions.

Charles I and the Power to Tax | 1331

The Petition of Right, 1628, Parliament of England. The Petition of Right, a
major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the
subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. Drafted by a committee
headed by Sir Edward Coke, it was passed and ratified in 1628.

Significance

Some historians have argued that the passage of the Petition of

Right marks the founding of the United Kingdom’s modern
constitutional monarchy. The Petition of Right also marked a
substantial cooperative work between individual parliamentarians
and between the Commons and Lords, something that had
previously been lacking and that in the end led to the formation of
political parties.
Within what is now the Commonwealth of Nations, the Petition was
also heavily influential. It remains in force in both New Zealand and
Australia, as well as the United Kingdom itself. The Petition also
profoundly influenced the rights contained by the Constitution of
the United States.

1332 | Charles I and the Power to Tax

Sources

Charles I and the Power to Tax | 1333

185. Cromwell and the
Roundheads

Learning Objective

• Explain how Cromwell rose to power.

Key Points

• Charles I’s belief, inherited from his father, that the

power of the crown is God-given and that the king
does not have to respect the position of the English
Parliament, shaped his reign and led to a political
crisis that in the end would cost him his own life.
• After the 1628 Parliament drew up the Petition of
Right, Charles I avoided calling a Parliament for the
next decade, a period known as the “personal rule” or
the “eleven years’ tyranny.” During this period,
Charles’s lack of money determined policies.
• Charles finally bowed to pressure and summoned
another English Parliament in November 1640. Known
as the Long Parliament, it passed laws that
strengthened the position of and protected
Parliament.

1334 | Cromwell and the Roundheads

 • Charles and his supporters continued to resent
Parliament’s demands, while Parliamentarians
continued to suspect Charles of wanting to impose
episcopalianism and unfettered royal rule by military
force. After Ireland first descended into chaos, cities
and towns declared their sympathies for one faction
or the other.
• The English Civil War (1642–1651) pitted the
supporters of King Charles I and later his son and
successor, Charles II, against the supporters of
Parliament. Its outcome was threefold: the trial and
execution of Charles I, the exile of Charles II, and the
replacement of English monarchy with, at first, the
Commonwealth of England (1649–53), and then the
Protectorate (1653–59) under Oliver Cromwell’s
personal rule.
• In 1653, Cromwell was invited by his fellow leaders
to rule as Lord Protector of England (which included
Wales at the time), Scotland, and Ireland. As a ruler,
he executed an aggressive and effective foreign
policy.

Terms

New Model Army

An army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil

War and disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration. It differed from
other armies in the series of civil wars referred to as the Wars of the

Cromwell and the Roundheads | 1335

Three Kingdoms in that it was intended as an army liable for service
anywhere in the country (including in Scotland and Ireland) rather
than being tied to a single area or garrison. Its soldiers became full-
time professionals rather than part-time militia.

Roundheads

The name given to the supporters of the Parliament of

England during the English Civil War. Also known as
Parliamentarians, they fought against Charles I of England and his
supporters, the Cavaliers or Royalists, who claimed rule by absolute
monarchy and the divine right of kings. Their goal was to give the
Parliament supreme control over executive administration.

Long Parliament

An English Parliament that lasted from 1640 until 1660. It followed

the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had been held for three
weeks during the spring of 1640, and which in its turn had followed
eleven years of parliamentary absence.

eleven years’ tyranny

The period from 1629 to 1640, when King Charles I of England,

Scotland, and Ireland ruled without recourse to Parliament. The
King was entitled to do this under the Royal Prerogative. His actions
caused discontent among the ruling classes, but the effects were
more popular with the common people.

1336 | Cromwell and the Roundheads

Cavaliers

A name first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the

wealthier male Royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son
Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum,
and the Restoration (1642–c. 1679). It was later adopted by the
Royalists themselves.

Rump Parliament

The English Parliament after Colonel Thomas Pride purged the Long
Parliament on December 6, 1648, of those members hostile to the
Grandees’ intention to try King Charles I for high treason.

Thirty Years’ War

A series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. Initially

a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the
fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it gradually developed into a more
general conflict involving most of the great powers.

tonnage and poundage

Certain duties and taxes first levied in Edward II’s reign on every
tun (cask) of imported wine, which came mostly from Spain and
Portugal, and on every pound weight of merchandise exported or
imported. Traditionally it was granted by Parliament to the king for
life until the reign of Charles I.

Cromwell and the Roundheads | 1337

Petition of Right

A major English constitutional document that sets out specific

liberties of the subjects that the king is prohibited from infringing.
Passed in 1628, it contains restrictions on non-Parliamentary
taxation, forced billeting of soldiers, imprisonment without cause,
and the use of martial law.

Background: The Stuarts and the English

Parliament

Elizabeth I’s death in 1603 resulted in the accession of her first

cousin twice-removed King James VI of Scotland to the English
throne as James I of England, creating the first personal union of the
Scottish and English kingdoms. As King of Scots, James had become
accustomed to Scotland’s weak parliamentary tradition, and the
new King of England was genuinely affronted by the constraints
the English Parliament attempted to place on him. Despite tensions
between the King and Parliament, James’s peaceful disposition
contributed to relative peace in both England and Scotland.
However, his son and successor, Charles I of England, did not share
his father’s personality, and engaged in even more tense conflicts
with Parliament. Charles’s belief, inherited from his father, that the
power of the crown is God-given and that the king does not have to
respect the position of the English Parliament, shaped his reign and
led to a political crisis that in the end would cost him his own life.
Having dissolved Parliament in 1627 after it did not meet the king’s
requirements and threatened his political allies, but unable to raise
money without it, Charles assembled a new one in 1628. The new
Parliament drew up the Petition of Right, and Charles accepted it
as a concession in order to obtain his subsidy. The Petition did
not grant him the right of tonnage and poundage, which Charles

1338 | Cromwell and the Roundheads

had been collecting without parliamentary authorization since 1625.
Charles I avoided calling a Parliament for the next decade, a period
known as the “personal rule” or the “eleven years’ tyranny.” During
this period, Charles’s lack of money determined policies. First and
foremost, to avoid Parliament, the king needed to avoid war. Charles
made peace with France and Spain, effectively ending England’s
involvement in the Thirty Years’ War.
Charles finally bowed to pressure and summoned another English
Parliament in November 1640. Known as the Long Parliament, it
proved even more hostile to Charles than its predecessor,
and passed a law that stated that a new Parliament should convene
at least once every three years—without the king’s summons, if
necessary. Other laws passed by the Parliament made it illegal for
the king to impose taxes without parliamentary consent and later
gave Parliament control over the king’s ministers. Finally, the
Parliament passed a law forbidding the king to dissolve it without its
consent, even if the three years were up.
Charles and his supporters continued to resent Parliament’s
demands, while Parliamentarians continued to suspect Charles of
wanting to impose episcopalianism and unfettered royal rule by
military force. Within months, the Irish Catholics, fearing a
resurgence of Protestant power, struck first, and all of Ireland soon
descended into chaos. In early January 1642, accompanied by 400
soldiers, Charles attempted to arrest five members of the House of
Commons on a charge of treason, but failed to do so.
A few days after this failure, fearing for the safety of his family
and retinue, Charles left the London area for the north of the
country. Further negotiations by frequent correspondence between
the king and the Long Parliament proved fruitless. As the summer
progressed, cities and towns declared their sympathies for one
faction or the other.

Cromwell and the Roundheads | 1339

The English Civil War

What followed is know as the English Civil War (1642–1651), which

developed into a series of armed conflicts and political
machinations between Parliamentarians (“Roundheads”) and
Royalists (“Cavaliers”). The first (1642–1646) and second (1648–1649)
wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters
of the Long Parliament, while the third (1649–1651) saw fighting
between supporters of King Charles II (Charles I’s son) and
supporters of the Rump Parliament. The war ended with the
Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Worcester on September 3,
1651.
The overall outcome of the war was threefold: the trial and
execution of Charles I, the exile of Charles II, and the replacement
of English monarchy with, at first, the Commonwealth of England
(1649–1653), and then the Protectorate (1653–1659) under Oliver
Cromwell’s personal rule. The monopoly of the Church of England
on Christian worship in England ended with the victors
consolidating the established Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland.
Constitutionally, the wars established the precedent that an English
monarch cannot govern without Parliament’s consent, although the
idea of Parliament as the ruling power of England was legally
established as part of the Glorious Revolution in 1688.

1340 | Cromwell and the Roundheads

Battle of Naseby, artist unknown. The victory of the Parliamentarian New
Model Army over the Royalist Army at the Battle of Naseby on June 14, 1645,
marked the decisive turning point in the English Civil War.

Oliver Cromwell’s Rise

Oliver Cromwell was relatively obscure for the first forty years of
his life. He was an intensely religious man (an Independent Puritan)
who entered the English Civil War on the side of the “Roundheads,”
or Parliamentarians. Nicknamed “Old Ironsides,” he was quickly
promoted from leading a single cavalry troop to being one of the
principal commanders of the New Model Army, playing an
important role in the defeat of the royalist forces. Cromwell was
one of the signatories of King Charles I’s death warrant in 1649,
and he dominated the short-lived Commonwealth of England as a
member of the Rump Parliament (1649–1653). He was selected to
take command of the English campaign in Ireland in 1649–1650. His

Cromwell and the Roundheads | 1341

forces defeated the Confederate and Royalist coalition in Ireland
and occupied the country, bringing an end to the Irish Confederate
Wars. During this period, a series of Penal Laws were passed against
Roman Catholics (a significant minority in England and Scotland but
the vast majority in Ireland), and a substantial amount of their land
was confiscated. Cromwell also led a campaign against the Scottish
army between 1650 and 1651.
In April 1653, he dismissed the Rump Parliament by force, setting
up a short-lived nominated assembly known as Barebone’s
Parliament, before being invited by his fellow leaders to rule as Lord
Protector of England (which included Wales at the time), Scotland,
and Ireland from December 1653. As a ruler, he executed an
aggressive and effective foreign policy. He died from natural causes
in 1658 and the Royalists returned to power in 1660, and they had
his corpse dug up, hung in chains, and beheaded.

1342 | Cromwell and the Roundheads

Oliver Cromwell by Samuel Cooper (died 1672), the National Portrait Gallery,
London. Cromwell is one of the most controversial figures in the history of the
British Isles, considered a regicidal dictator, a military dictator, and a hero of
liberty. However, his measures against Catholics in Scotland and Ireland have
been characterized as genocidal or near-genocidal, and in Ireland his record
is harshly criticized.

Cromwell and the Roundheads | 1343

Sources

1344 | Cromwell and the Roundheads

186. The English Protectorate

Learning Objective

• Describe the English Protectorate, along with its

successes and failures

Key Points

• In 1653 Oliver Cromwell was declared Lord

Protector of a united Commonwealth of England,
Scotland, and Ireland under the terms of the
Instrument of Government, inaugurating the period
now usually known as the Protectorate.
• Cromwell had two key objectives as Lord Protector:
“healing and settling” the nation after the chaos of
the civil wars and the regicide, and spiritual and
moral reform. While his domestic policies presumed
no radical reforms and many focused on protecting
public morality through religion, Cromwell followed
an aggressive foreign policy.
• Cromwell’s over-reliance on the military reopened
the wounds of the 1640s and deepened antipathies to
the regime.
• Being aware of the contribution the Jewish

The English Protectorate | 1345

 community made to the economic success of
Holland, then England’s leading commercial rival,
Cromwell encouraged Jews to return to England, 350
years after their banishment by Edward I.
• After Cromwell’s death in 1658, his son Richard
succeeded as Lord Protector but was unable to
manage the Parliament and control the army. In 1660,
monarchy was restored.
• Cromwell is one of the most controversial figures in
the history of the British Isles, considered a
regicidal dictator or a military dictator by some and a
hero of liberty by others. His measures against
Catholics in Scotland and Ireland, however, have been
characterized as genocidal or near-genocidal.

Terms

Rump Parliament

The English Parliament after Colonel Thomas

Pride purged the Long Parliament on December 6, 1648, of
those members hostile to the Grandees’ intention to try
King Charles I for high treason.

1346 | The English Protectorate

 Interregnum

The period between the execution of Charles I on January

30, 1649, and the arrival of his son Charles II in London on
May 29, 1660, which marked the start of the Restoration.
During the Interregnum England was under various forms
of republican government as the Commonwealth of
England.

Barebone’s Parliament

Also known as the Little Parliament, the Nominated

Assembly, and the Parliament of Saints, was the last attempt
of the English Commonwealth (1653) to find a stable
political form before the installation of Oliver Cromwell as
Lord Protector. It was an assembly nominated entirely by
Oliver Cromwell and the Army’s Council of Officers.

Third English Civil War

The last of the English Civil Wars (1649–1651), which were

a series of armed conflicts and political machinations
between Parliamentarians and Royalists. As the Royal army
was mostly Scottish, and as the invasion was not
accompanied by any major rising or support in England, the
war can also be viewed as primarily an Anglo-Scottish War
rather than a continuation of the English Civil War.

The English Protectorate | 1347

 Instrument of Government

A constitution of the Commonwealth of England,

Scotland, and Ireland. Drafted by Major-General John
Lambert in 1653, it was the first sovereign codified and
written constitution in England.

The Commonwealth of England

The Commonwealth was the period when England, later along with
Ireland and Scotland, was ruled as a republic following the end of
the Second English Civil War and the trial and execution of Charles
I (1649). The republic’s existence was declared by the Rump
Parliament on May 19, 1649. Power in the early Commonwealth was
vested primarily in the Parliament and a Council of State. During
this period, fighting continued, particularly in Ireland and Scotland,
between the parliamentary forces and those opposed to them, as
part of what is now referred to as the Third English Civil War.
In 1653, after the forcible dissolution of the Rump Parliament,
Oliver Cromwell was declared Lord Protector of a united
Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland under the terms
of the Instrument of Government, inaugurating the period now
usually known as the Protectorate. The term “Commonwealth” is
sometimes used for the whole of 1649 to 1660—a period referred to
by monarchists as the Interregnum—although for other historians,
the use of the term is limited to the years prior to Cromwell’s formal
assumption of power in 1653.

1348 | The English Protectorate

Coat of arms of the Commonwealth of England from 1653 to 1659 during the
Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell.

The Protectorate

The Protectorate was the period during the Commonwealth when

England (which at that time included Wales), Ireland, and Scotland
were governed by a Lord Protector. The Protectorate began in 1653
when, following the dissolution of the Rump Parliament and then
Barebone’s Parliament, Oliver Cromwell was appointed Lord
Protector of the Commonwealth under the terms of the Instrument
of Government.

The English Protectorate | 1349

 Cromwell had two key objectives as Lord Protector. The first
was “healing and settling” the nation after the chaos of the civil
wars and the regicide. The social priorities did not, despite the
revolutionary nature of the government, include any meaningful
attempt to reform the social order. He was also careful in the way he
approached overseas colonies. England’s American colonies in this
period consisted of the New England Confederation, the Providence
Plantation, the Virginia Colony, and the Maryland Colony. Cromwell
soon secured the submission of these, but largely left them to their
own affairs. His second objective was spiritual and moral reform.
As a very religious man (Independent Puritan), he aimed to restore
liberty of conscience and promote both outward and inward
godliness throughout England. The latter translated into rigid
religious laws (e.g., compulsory church attendance).
The first Protectorate parliament met in September 1654, and
after some initial gestures approving appointments previously made
by Cromwell, began to work on a moderate program of
constitutional reform. Rather than opposing Parliament’s bill,
Cromwell dissolved them in January 1655. After a royalist uprising
led by Sir John Penruddock, Cromwell divided England into military
districts ruled by Army Major-Generals who answered only to him.
The fifteen major generals and deputy major generals—called “godly
governors”—were central not only to national security, but also to
Cromwell’s moral crusade. However, the major-generals lasted less
than a year. Cromwell’s failure to support his men, by sacrificing
them to his opponents, caused their demise. Their activities
between November 1655 and September 1656 had, nonetheless,
reopened the wounds of the 1640s and deepened antipathies to the
regime.
During this period Cromwell also faced challenges in foreign
policy. The First Anglo-Dutch War, which had broken out in 1652,
against the Dutch Republic, was eventually won in 1654. Having
negotiated peace with the Dutch, Cromwell proceeded to engage
the Spanish in warfare. This involved secret preparations for an
attack on the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean and resulted in

1350 | The English Protectorate

the invasion of Jamaica, which then became an English colony. The
Lord Protector also became aware of the contribution the Jewish
community made to the economic success of Holland, then
England’s leading commercial rival. This led to his encouraging Jews
to return to England, 350 years after their banishment by Edward
I, in the hope that they would help speed up the recovery of the
country after the disruption of the English Civil War.
In 1657, Oliver Cromwell rejected the offer of the Crown presented
to him by Parliament and was ceremonially re-installed as Lord
Protector, this time with greater powers than had previously been
granted him under this title. Most notably, however, the office of
Lord Protector was still not to become hereditary, though Cromwell
was now able to nominate his own successor. Cromwell’s new rights
and powers were laid out in the Humble Petition and Advice, a
legislative instrument that replaced the Instrument of Government.
Despite failing to restore the Crown, this new constitution did set
up many of the vestiges of the ancient constitution, including a
house of life peers (in place of the House of Lords). In the Humble
Petition it was called the “Other House,” as the Commons could
not agree on a suitable name. Furthermore, Oliver Cromwell
increasingly took on more of the trappings of monarchy.

The English Protectorate | 1351

Cromwell’s signature before becoming Lord Protector in 1653, and afterwards.
“Oliver P,” stands for Oliver Protector, similar in style to English monarchs
who signed their names as, for example, “Elizabeth R,” standing for Elizabeth
Regina.

After Cromwell’s Death

Cromwell died of natural causes in 1658, and his son Richard

succeeded as Lord Protector. Richard sought to expand the basis
for the Protectorate beyond the army to civilians. He summoned a
Parliament in 1659. However, the republicans assessed his father’s
rule as “a period of tyranny and economic depression” and attacked
the increasingly monarchy-like character of the Protectorate.
Richard was unable to manage the Parliament and control the army.
In May, a Committee of Safety was formed on the authority of

1352 | The English Protectorate

the Rump Parliament, displacing the Protector’s Council of State,
and was in turn replaced by a new Council of State. A year later
monarchy was restored.
Cromwell is one of the most controversial figures in the history
of the British Isles, considered a regicidal dictator or a military
dictator by some and a hero of liberty by others. His measures
against Catholics in Scotland and Ireland have been characterized
as genocidal or near-genocidal, and in Ireland his record is harshly
criticized.
Following the Irish Rebellion of 1641, most of Ireland came under
the control of the Irish Catholic Confederation. In early 1649, the
Confederates allied with the English Royalists, who had been
defeated by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War. By May
1652, Cromwell’s Parliamentarian army had defeated the
Confederate and Royalist coalition in Ireland and occupied the
country—bringing an end to the Irish Confederate Wars (or Eleven
Years’ War). However, guerrilla warfare continued for another year.
Cromwell passed a series of Penal Laws against Roman
Catholics (the vast majority of the population) and confiscated large
amounts of their land. The extent to which Cromwell, who was in
direct command for the first year of the campaign, was responsible
for brutal atrocities in Ireland is debated to this day.

Sources

The English Protectorate | 1353

187. Restoration of the
Stuarts

Learning Objective

• Evaluate why the Stuarts were brought back and

restored to the English throne

Key Points

• Richard Cromwell was Lord Protector of England,

Scotland, and Ireland after Oliver Cromwell’s death in
1658, but he lacked his father’s authority. He proved
unable to manage the Parliament and control the
army and was removed from his office after several
months.
• In the aftermath of Richard’s removal, power
struggles ensued, with George Monck emerging as a
key figure in the restoration of monarchy and
bringing Charles II back to England.
• On April 4, 1660, Charles II issued the Declaration
of Breda, in which he made several promises in
relation to the reclamation of the crown of England.
Charles entered London on May 29 and was crowned

1354 | Restoration of the Stuarts

 in 1661.
• The Cavalier Parliament convened for the first time
in May 1661, and it would endure for over seventeen
years. Like its predecessor, it was overwhelmingly
Royalist. It is also known as the Pensionary
Parliament for the many pensions it granted to
adherents of the king.
• Many Royalist exiles returned and were rewarded.
The Indemnity and Oblivion Act, which became law in
August 1660, pardoned all past treason against the
Crown, but specifically excluded those involved in the
trial and execution of Charles I.

Terms

Pride’s Purge of 1648

An event that took place in December 1648, during the

Second English Civil War, when troops of the New Model
Army under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly
removed from the Long Parliament all those who were not
supporters of the Grandees in the New Model Army and the
Independents. It is arguably the only military coup d’état in
English history.

Restoration of the Stuarts | 1355

 Convention Parliament

A parliament in English history which, owing to an

abeyance of the Crown, assembled without formal
summons by the sovereign.
Its 1660 assembly followed the Long Parliament that had
finally voted for its own dissolution in March of that
year. Elected as a “free parliament,” i.e., with no oath of
allegiance to the Commonwealth or to the monarchy, it was
predominantly Royalist in its membership.

Indemnity and Oblivion Act

A 1660 act of the Parliament of England that was a

general pardon for everyone who had committed crimes
during the English Civil War and Interregnum, with the
exception of certain crimes such as murder, piracy,
buggery, rape, and witchcraft, and people named in the act,
such as those involved in the regicide of Charles I.

Declaration of Breda

A proclamation by Charles II of England in which he

promised a general pardon for crimes committed during
the English Civil War and the Interregnum for all those who
recognized Charles as the lawful king; the retention by the
current owners of property purchased during the same

1356 | Restoration of the Stuarts

period; religious toleration; and the payment of pay arrears
to members of the army and the recommission of the army
into service under the crown. The first three pledges were
all subject to amendment by acts of parliament.

Rump Parliament

The English Parliament after Colonel Thomas

Pride purged the Long Parliament on December 6, 1648, of
those members hostile to the Grandees’ intention to try
King Charles I for high treason.

Long Parliament

An English Parliament that lasted from 1640 until 1660. It

followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had been
held for three weeks during the spring of 1640, and which in
its turn had followed an eleven-year parliamentary
absence.

Committee of Safety

A committee established by the Parliamentarians in July

1642. It was the first of a number of successive committees
set up to oversee the English Civil War against King Charles
I and the Interregnum. Its last installment was set up in
1659, just before the Restoration, in response to the Rump
Parliament, which the day before tried to place the

Restoration of the Stuarts | 1357

 commander of the army Charles Fleetwood as chief of a
military council under the authority of the speaker.

Richard Cromwell and the Protectorate

Richard Cromwell (1626–1712) was Lord Protector of England,

Scotland, and Ireland after Oliver Cromwell’s death in 1658. Richard
lacked his father’s authority. He attempted to mediate between the
army and civil society and allowed a Parliament that contained a
large number of disaffected Presbyterians and Royalists. His main
weakness was that he did not have the confidence of the army.
He summoned a Parliament in 1659, but the republicans assessed
Oliver’s rule to be “a period of tyranny and economic depression”
and attacked the increasingly monarchy-like nature of the
Protectorate. Richard proved unable to manage the Parliament and
control the army. On May 7, a Committee of Safety was formed on
the authority of the Rump Parliament, displacing the Protector’s
Council of State, and was in turn replaced by a new Council of State
on May 19.

1358 | Restoration of the Stuarts

Proclamation announcing the death of Oliver Cromwell and the succession of
Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector. Printed in Scotland, 1658. Courtesy of the
General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale
University, New Haven, Connecticut. In 1660, Richard Cromwell left for
France and later traveled around Europe, visiting various European courts. In
1680 or 1681, he returned to England and lodged with the merchant Thomas
Pengelly in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, living off the income from his estate in
Hursley. He died in 1712 at the age of 85.

Restoration of the Stuarts | 1359

Power Struggles

Charles Fleetwood was appointed a member of the Committee of

Safety and of the Council of State, and one of the seven
commissioners for the army. On June 9, 1659, he was nominated
lord-general (commander-in-chief) of the army. However, his
leadership was undermined in Parliament. A royalist uprising was
planned for August 1, 1659, and although it never happened, Sir
George Booth gained control of Cheshire. Booth held Cheshire until
the end of August, when he was defeated by General John Lambert.
On October 26, a Committee of Safety was appointed, of which
Fleetwood and Lambert were members. Lambert was appointed
major-general of all the forces in England and Scotland, with
Fleetwood being general. The Committee of Safety sent Lambert
with a large force to meet George Monck, who was in command
of the English forces in Scotland, and either negotiate with him or
force him to come to terms.
It was into this atmosphere that Monck, the governor of Scotland
under the Cromwells, marched south with his army from Scotland.
Lambert’s army began to desert him, and he returned to London
almost alone, though he marched unopposed. The Presbyterian
members, excluded in Pride’s Purge of 1648, were recalled, and on
December 24 the army restored the Long Parliament. Fleetwood
was deprived of his command and ordered to appear before
Parliament to answer for his conduct. In March 1660, Lambert was
sent to the Tower of London, from which he escaped a month later.
He tried to rekindle the civil war in favor of the Commonwealth,
but he was recaptured by Colonel Richard Ingoldsby, a participant
in the regicide of Charles I, who hoped to win a pardon by handing
Lambert over to the new regime. Lambert was incarcerated and
died in custody in 1684; Ingoldsby was, indeed, pardoned.

1360 | Restoration of the Stuarts

Restoration of Charles II

On April 4, 1660, Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda, in which

he made several promises in relation to the reclamation of the
crown of England. Monck organized the Convention Parliament;
on May 8, it proclaimed that King Charles II had been the lawful
monarch since the execution of Charles I on January 30, 1649.
Charles entered London on May 29, his birthday. To celebrate his
Majesty’s Return to his Parliament, May 29 was made a public
holiday, popularly known as Oak Apple Day. He was crowned at
Westminster Abbey on April 23, 1661. The Cavalier Parliament
convened for the first time in May 1661, and it would endure for
over seventeen years. Like its predecessor, it was overwhelmingly
Royalist. It is also known as the Pensionary Parliament for the many
pensions it granted to adherents of the king.
Many Royalist exiles returned and were rewarded. The Indemnity
and Oblivion Act, which became law in August 1660, pardoned all
past treason against the crown, but specifically excluded those
involved in the trial and execution of Charles I. Thirty-one of the
fifty-nine commissioners (judges) who had signed the death
warrant in 1649 were living. In the ensuing trials, twelve were
condemned to death. In October 1660, ten were publicly hanged,
drawn, and quartered. Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, Judge
Thomas Pride, and Judge John Bradshaw were posthumously
attained for high treason. In January 1661, the corpses of Cromwell,
Ireton, and Bradshaw were exhumed and hanged in chains at
Tyburn.

Restoration of the Stuarts | 1361

Charles II of England by Peter Lely, 1675, Collection of Euston Hall, Suffolk.
King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration.

1362 | Restoration of the Stuarts

Sources

Restoration of the Stuarts | 1363

188. The Glorious Revolution

Learning Objective

• Analyze the significant changes the Glorious

Revolution made to English government

Key Points

• James II ascended the throne upon the death of his

brother, Charles II, in 1685. During his short reign, he
became directly involved in the political battles
between Catholicism and Protestantism and between
the Divine Right of Kings and the political rights of
the Parliament of England.
• James’s greatest political problem was his
Catholicism, which left him alienated from both
parties in England. Amidst continuous tensions
between the king and Parliament, matters came to a
head in June 1688, when James had a son, James. Until
then, the throne would have passed to his daughter
Mary, a Protestant.
• Mary and her husband, William Henry of Orange,
both Protestants, appeared as potential rulers who
could lead an anti-James revolution and replace the

1364 | The Glorious Revolution

 Catholic king. It is still a matter of controversy
whether the initiative for the conspiracy to take over
the throne was taken by the English or by William and
his wife.
• On June 30, 1688, a group of seven Protestant
nobles invited the Prince of Orange to come to
England with an army. By September, it became clear
that William would invade England. William arrived
on November 5.
• In December, James fled the country, and in 1689
William and Mary were appointed monarchs.
• In order to regulate the relationship between the
monarch and Parliament, the Bill of Rights was passed
in 1689. It lays down limits on the powers of the
monarch and sets out the rights of Parliament,
including the requirement for regular parliaments,
free elections, and freedom of speech in Parliament.

Terms

Divine Right of Kings

A political and religious doctrine of royal and political

legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly
authority, and derives the right to rule directly from the will
of God. The king is thus not subject to the will of his people,

The Glorious Revolution | 1365

 the aristocracy, or any other estate of the realm, including
the Catholic Church.

Penal Laws

A specific series of laws that sought to uphold the

establishment of the Church of England against Protestant
Nonconformists and Catholicism by imposing various
forfeitures, civil penalties, and civil disabilities upon these
dissenters. They were repealed in the 19th century during
the process of Catholic Emancipation.

Test Act

A series of English penal laws that served as a religious

test for public office and imposed various civil
disabilities on Roman Catholics and Nonconformists. The
principle was that none but people taking communion in
the established Church of England were eligible for public
employment.

Declaration of Indulgence

A pair of proclamations made by James II of England and

VII of Scotland in 1687. It granted broad religious freedom in
England by suspending penal laws enforcing conformity to
the Church of England and allowing persons to worship in
their homes or chapels as they saw fit, and it ended the

1366 | The Glorious Revolution

 requirement of affirming religious oaths before gaining
employment in government office.

stadtholder

In the Low Countries, a medieval function that during the

16th, 17th, and 18th centuries developed into a rare type of
de facto hereditary head of state of the thus crowned
republic of the Netherlands. Additionally, this position was
tasked with maintaining peace and provincial order in the
early Dutch Republic.

James II of England

James II of England (VII of Scotland) was the second surviving son

of Charles I; he ascended the throne upon the death of his brother,
Charles II, in 1685. During his short reign, James became directly
involved in the political battles between Catholicism and
Protestantism and between the Divine Right of Kings and the
political rights of the Parliament of England. James’s greatest
political problem was his Catholicism, which left him alienated from
both parties in England. However, the facts that he had no son
and his daughters were Protestants were a “saving grace.” James’s
attempt to relax the Penal Laws alienated Tories, his natural
supporters, because they viewed this as tantamount to
disestablishment of the Church of England. Abandoning the Tories,
James looked to form a “King’s party” as a counterweight to the
Anglican Tories, so in 1687 he supported the policy of religious
toleration and issued the Declaration of Indulgence. By allying

The Glorious Revolution | 1367

himself with the Catholics, Dissenters, and Nonconformists, James
hoped to build a coalition that would advance Catholic
emancipation. Matters came to a head in June 1688, when the king
had a son, James. Until then, the throne would have passed to his
daughter Mary, a Protestant. The prospect of a Catholic dynasty in
the kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland was now likely.

James II King of England and VII King of Scots, King of

Ireland and Duke of Normandy, painting by Sir Godfrey
Kneller, 1683.

1368 | The Glorious Revolution

Conspiracy: William and Mary

Mary and her husband, her cousin William Henry of Orange, were
both Protestants and grandchildren of Charles I of England. William
was also stadtholder of the main provinces of the Dutch Republic.
He had already acquired the reputation of being the main champion
of the Protestant cause against Catholicism and French absolutism.
In the developing English crisis, he saw an opportunity to prevent
an Anglo-French alliance and bring England to the anti-French side
by carrying out a military intervention directed against James. This
suited the desires of several English politicians who intended to
depose James. It is still a matter of controversy whether the
initiative for the conspiracy was taken by the English or by the
stadtholder and his wife.

Invasion

On June 30, 1688, a group of seven Protestant nobles invited the

Prince of Orange to come to England with an army. By September, it
became clear that William would invade England. William arrived on
November 5. James refused a French offer to send an expeditionary
force, fearing that it would cost him domestic support. He tried
to bring the Tories to his side by making concessions, but failed
because he still refused to endorse the Test Act. His forward forces
had gathered at Salisbury, and James went to join them on
November 19 with his main force, having a total strength of about
19,000. Amid anti-Catholic rioting in London, it rapidly became
apparent that the troops were not eager to fight, and the loyalty of
many of James’s commanders was doubtful.
Meanwhile, on November 18, Plymouth had surrendered to
William, and on November 21, William began to advance. In
December, William’s forces met with the king’s commissioners to

The Glorious Revolution | 1369

negotiate. James offered free elections and a general amnesty for
the rebels. In reality, by that point he was simply playing for time,
having already decided to flee the country. James was received in
France by his cousin and ally, Louis XIV, who offered him a palace
and a pension.

The Bill of Rights

The status of William and Mary in England was unclear while James,
though now in France, still had many supporters in the country. In
order to avoid James’s return to the throne, and facing opposition
in Parliament, William let it be known that he was happy for Mary
to be queen in name and for preference in the succession given to
Princess Anne’s (Mary’s sister) children over any of William’s. Anne
declared that she would temporarily waive her right to the crown
should Mary die before William, and Mary refused to be made queen
without William as king. The Lords accepted the words “abdication”
and “vacancy” and Lord Winchester’s motion to appoint William and
Mary monarchs. The decision was made in light of a great fear that
the situation might deteriorate into a civil war.
Although their succession to the English throne was relatively
peaceful, much blood would be shed before William’s authority was
accepted in Ireland and Scotland.

1370 | The Glorious Revolution

Detail of William and Mary as portrayed on the ceiling of the Painted Hall of
the Greenwich Hospital. Painting: Sir James Thornhill; Photo: James Brittain.
William and Mary were co-regents over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland,
and Ireland. Parliament offered William and Mary a co-regency, at the
couple’s behest. After Mary died in 1694, William ruled alone until his death in
1702. William and Mary were childless and were ultimately succeeded by
Mary’s younger sister, Anne.

The proposal to draw up a statement of rights and liberties and

The Glorious Revolution | 1371

James’s invasion of them was first made in January in the Commons,
but what would become the Bill of Rights did not pass until
December 1689. The Bill was a restatement in statutory form of
The Declaration of Rights presented by the Convention Parliament
to William and Mary in February 1689, inviting them to become
joint sovereigns of England. The Bill of Rights lay down limits on
the powers of the monarch and set out the rights of Parliament,
including the requirement for regular parliaments, free elections,
and freedom of speech in Parliament. It set out certain rights of
individuals, including the prohibition of cruel and unusual
punishment, and reestablished the liberty of Protestants to have
arms for their defense within the rule of law. Furthermore, the
Bill of Rights described and condemned several misdeeds of James
II of England. These ideas reflected those of the political thinker
John Locke, and they quickly became popular in England. It also set
out—or, in the view of its drafters, restated—certain constitutional
requirements of the Crown to seek the consent of the people, as
represented in Parliament.

Significance

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 is considered by some as one of

the most important events in the long evolution of the respective
powers of Parliament and the Crown in England. The passage of
the Bill of Rights stamped out once and for all any possibility of a
Catholic monarchy and ended moves towards absolute monarchy in
the British kingdoms by circumscribing the monarch’s powers.
These powers were greatly restricted. He or she could no longer
suspend laws, levy taxes, make royal appointments, or maintain
a standing army during peacetime without Parliament’s
permission. Since 1689, government under a system of
constitutional monarchy in England, and later the United Kingdom,

1372 | The Glorious Revolution

has been uninterrupted. Also since then, Parliament’s power has
steadily increased while the Crown’s has steadily declined.

Sources

The Glorious Revolution | 1373

189. France and Cardinal
Richelieu

Learning Objective

• Identify Cardinal Richelieu’s main goals and his

successes and failures in achieving them

Key Points

• Cardinal Richelieu was a French clergyman,

nobleman, and statesman, serving as King Louis XIII’s
Chief Minister (sometimes also called First Minister)
from 1624. He sought to consolidate royal power and
strengthen France’s international position.
• Although initially Richelieu was closely affiliated
with Marie de Médicis, Louis XIII’s mother, and did
not enjoy the king’s trust, his role as a successful
mediator in the power struggle between Louis and
Marie helped him reach the position of the king’s
principal minister.
• Cardinal Richelieu’s policy involved two primary
goals: centralization of power in France and
opposition to the Habsburg dynasty.

1374 | France and Cardinal Richelieu

 • Richelieu’s decisions to suppress the influence of
the feudal nobility and levy taxes targeted mostly at
the commoners made him a hated figure among both
the nobility and the peasantry.
• Richelieu was instrumental in redirecting the Thirty
Years’ War from the conflict of Protestantism versus
Catholicism to that of nationalism versus Habsburg
hegemony, which allowed France to emerge from it as
the most powerful state in continental Europe.
• Richelieu’s tenure was a crucial period of reform for
France. At home, local and even religious interests
were subordinated to those of the whole nation and
the king. Internationally, France triumphed over
declining Spain and the Holy Roman Empire.
Richelieu’s successes were extremely important to
King Louis XIV’s absolute monarchy.

Terms

Thirty Years’ War

A series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648.

Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic
states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it gradually
developed into a more general conflict involving most of
the great powers.

France and Cardinal Richelieu | 1375

 Battle of Lens

A 1648 French victory against the Spanish army in the

Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648). It was the last major battle of
the war and was critical to the eventual triumph of the
French over the Spanish Habsburgs.

Council of Trent

Council held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent and

Bologna, northern Italy. It was one of the Roman Catholic
Church’s most important ecumenical councils. Prompted by
the Protestant Reformation, it has been described as the
embodiment of the Counter-Reformation.
It issued condemnations of what it defined to be
heresies committed by Protestantism and, in response to
them, key statements and clarifications of the church’s
doctrine and teachings.

Peace of Alais

A treaty negotiated by Cardinal Richelieu with

Huguenot leaders and signed by King Louis XIII of France in
1629. It confirmed the basic principles of the Edict of
Nantes, but differed in that it contained additional clauses,
stating that the Huguenots no longer had political rights
and further demanding that they relinquish all cities and

1376 | France and Cardinal Richelieu

 fortresses immediately. It ended the religious warring while
granting the Huguenots amnesty and guaranteeing them
tolerance.

Huguenots

Members of a French Protestant denomination with

origins in the 16th or 17th centuries. Historically, they were
French Protestants inspired by the writings of John
Calvin in the 1530s. The majority endorsed the Reformed
tradition of Protestantism.

Cardinal Richelieu

Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642), was a French clergyman, nobleman,

and statesman, serving as King Louis XIII’s Chief Minister
(sometimes also called First Minister) from 1624. He sought to
consolidate royal power and crush domestic factions. By restraining
the power of the nobility, he transformed France into a strong,
centralized state. His chief foreign policy objective was to check the
power of the Austro-Spanish Habsburg dynasty and ensure French
dominance in the Thirty Years’ War that engulfed Europe. Although
he was a cardinal, he did not hesitate to make alliances with
Protestant rulers in attempting to achieve his goals.

France and Cardinal Richelieu | 1377

Engraved portrait of Cardinal Richelieu by Robert Nanteuil
(1657), Bibliothèque nationale de France. Richelieu was also famous for his
patronage of the arts. Most notably, he founded the Académie Française, the
learned society responsible for matters pertaining to the French language.

Rise to Power

Richelieu was consecrated bishop in April 1607. Soon after he

1378 | France and Cardinal Richelieu

returned to his diocese in 1608, he was heralded as a reformer. He
became the first bishop in France to implement the institutional
reforms prescribed by the Council of Trent. Richelieu advanced
politically by faithfully serving the Queen-Mother’s favorite,
Concino Concini, the most powerful minister in the kingdom. In
1616, he was made Secretary of State responsible for foreign affairs.
Like Concini, the bishop was one of the closest advisers of Louis
XIII’s mother, Marie de Médicis. The queen had become Regent of
France when nine-year-old Louis ascended the throne. However,
her policies, and those of Concini, proved unpopular with many
in France. In 1617, in a plot arranged by Charles deLuynes, King
Louis XIII ordered that Concini be arrested, and killed should he
resist. Concini was consequently assassinated and Marie de Médicis
overthrown. With the death of his patron, Richelieu also lost power.
He was dismissed as Secretary of State, removed from the court,
and banished to Avignon.
In 1619, Marie de Médicis escaped from her confinement. The king
and de Luynes recalled Richelieu, believing that he would be able to
reason with the queen. Richelieu succeeded in mediating between
the king and his mother, and after de Luynes’ death in 1621, he began
to rise to power quickly. Crises in France, including a rebellion of the
Huguenots, rendered Richelieu a nearly indispensable adviser to the
king. In 1624, as a result of court intrigues, Cardinal Richelieu took
the place of the king’s principal minister.

Goals and Policies

Cardinal Richelieu’s policy involved two primary goals:

centralization of power in France and opposition to the Habsburg
dynasty (which ruled in both Austria and Spain). Shortly after he
became Louis’s principal minister, he was faced with a crisis in
Valtellina, a valley in northern Italy. To counter Spanish designs on
the territory, Richelieu supported the Protestant Swiss canton of

France and Cardinal Richelieu | 1379

Grisons. This early decision to support a Protestant canton against
the pope was a foretaste of the purely diplomatic power politics he
would espouse in his foreign policy.
To further consolidate power in France, Richelieu sought to
suppress the influence of the feudal nobility. In 1626, he abolished
the position of Constable of France and ordered all fortified castles
razed, excepting only those needed to defend against invaders.
Thus, he stripped the princes, dukes, and lesser aristocrats of
important defenses that could have been used against the king’s
armies during rebellions. As a result, most of the nobility hated
Richelieu.
Another obstacle to the centralization of power was religious
division in France. The Huguenots, one of the largest political and
religious factions in the country, controlled a significant military
force, and were in rebellion. Moreover, the king of England, Charles
I, declared war on France in an attempt to aid the Huguenot faction.
The conflict ended with the 1629
Peace of Alais, which permitted religious toleration for Protestants
to continue, but the cardinal abolished their political rights and
protections.
Before Richelieu’s ascent to power, most of Europe had become
enmeshed in the Thirty Years’ War. France was not openly at war
with the Habsburgs, who ruled Spain and the Holy Roman Empire,
so subsidies and aid were provided secretly to their adversaries.
In 1629, Emperor Ferdinand II subjugated many of his Protestant
opponents in Germany. Richelieu, alarmed by Ferdinand’s growing
influence, incited Sweden to intervene, providing money. In the
meantime, France and Spain remained hostile due to Spain’s
ambitions in northern Italy—a major strategic item in Europe’s
balance of powers. Military expenses placed a considerable strain
on the King’s revenues. In response, Richelieu raised the salt tax
and the land tax. The former was enforced to provide funds to raise
armies and wage war. The clergy, nobility, and high bourgeoisie
were either exempt or could easily avoid payment, so the burden

1380 | France and Cardinal Richelieu

fell on the poorest segment of the nation. This resulted in several
peasant uprisings that Richelieu crushed violently.
Richelieu was instrumental in redirecting the Thirty Years’ War
from the conflict of Protestantism versus Catholicism to that of
nationalism versus Habsburg hegemony. Through the war, France
effectively drained the already overstretched resources of the
Habsburg empire and drove it inexorably towards bankruptcy. The
defeat of Habsburg forces at the Battle of Lens, and their failure to
prevent French invasion of Catalonia, effectively spelled the end for
Habsburg domination of the continent. Indeed, in the subsequent
years it would be France, under the leadership of Louis XIV, who
would attempt to fill the vacuum left by the Habsburgs in the
Spanish Netherlands and supplant Spain as the dominant European
power.

Legacy

Richelieu died of natural causes in 1642. His tenure was a crucial

period of reform for France. Earlier, the nation’s political structure
was largely feudal, with powerful nobles and a wide variety of laws
in different regions. Local and even religious interests were
subordinated to those of the whole nation and of the embodiment
of the nation—the king. Equally critical for France was Richelieu’s
foreign policy, which helped restrain Habsburg influence in Europe.
Richelieu did not survive to the end of the Thirty Years’ War.
However, the conflict ended in 1648, with France emerging in a far
better position than any other power, and the Holy Roman Empire
entering a period of decline.
Richelieu’s successes were extremely important to Louis XIII’s
successor, King Louis XIV. He continued Richelieu’s work of creating
an absolute monarchy. In the same vein as the cardinal, he enacted
policies that further suppressed the once-mighty aristocracy and
utterly destroyed all remnants of Huguenot political power.

France and Cardinal Richelieu | 1381

Moreover, Louis took advantage of his nation’s success during the
Thirty Years’ War to establish French hegemony in continental
Europe. Thus, Richelieu’s policies were the requisite prelude to
Louis XIV becoming the most powerful monarch, and France the
most powerful nation, in all of Europe during the late 17th century.

Sources

1382 | France and Cardinal Richelieu

190. Cardinal Mazarin and the
Fronde

Learning Objective

• Discuss Cardinal Mazarin’s goals during his tenure

as regent

Key Points

• Cardinal Jules Mazarin was an Italian cardinal,

diplomat, and politician who served as the Chief
Minister to the King of France from 1642 until his
death in 1661. He functioned essentially as the co-
ruler of France alongside the queen during the
regency of Anne, and until his death effectively
directed French policy alongside the monarch, Louis
XIV.
• Mazarin continued Richelieu’s anti-Habsburg policy
and laid the foundation for Louis XIV’s expansionist
policies. He was critical to the negotiations of the
Peace of Westphalia, which left France the most
powerful state in continental Europe.
• Towards Protestantism at home, Mazarin pursued a

Cardinal Mazarin and the

Fronde | 1383
 policy of promises and calculated delay to defuse
armed insurrections and keep the Huguenots
disarmed. However, the Huguenots never achieved
any protection.
• As the Crown needed to recover from its
expenditures in the recent wars, the increase of taxes
contributed to already growing social unrest. The
attempt to curb existing liberties resulted in a series
of civil wars known as the Fronde.
• Although Mazarin and the king confronted the
combined opposition of the princes, the nobility, the
law courts (parlements), and most of the French
people, they won out in the end. The Fronde was
divided into two campaigns, that of the parlements
and that of the nobles, and its collapse only
strengthened the absolute monarchy.
• Mazarin, as the de facto ruler of France, played a
crucial role establishing the Westphalian
principles that would guide European states’ foreign
policy and the prevailing world order.

Terms

Edict of Nantes

An edict signed probably in 1598 by King Henry IV of

France that granted the Calvinist Protestants of France (also

1384 | Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde

known as Huguenots) substantial rights in the nation, which
was, at the time, still considered essentially Catholic.
It separated civil from religious unity, treated some
Protestants for the first time as more than mere
schismatics and heretics, and opened a path for
secularism and tolerance. In offering general freedom of
conscience to individuals, the Edict offered many specific
concessions to the Protestants.

Jansenism

A Catholic theological movement, primarily in France,

that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the
necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The
movement originated from the posthumously published
work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Jansen, who died in
1638. It was opposed by many in the Catholic hierarchy,
especially the Jesuits.

Thirty Years’ War

A series of wars in Central

Europe between 1618 and 1648. Initially a war between
various Protestant and
Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it
gradually developed
into a more general conflict involving most of the great
powers.

Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde | 1385

 Peace of Westphalia

A series of peace treaties signed between May and

October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and
Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years’
War (1618–1648) in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty
Years’ War (1568–1648) between Spain and the Dutch
Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the
independence of the Dutch Republic.

League of the Rhine

A defensive union of more than fifty German princes and

their cities along the River Rhine, formed in August 1658 by
Louis XIV of France and negotiated by Cardinal
Mazarin (then de facto prime minister of France), Hugues de
Lionne, and Johann Philipp von Schönborn (Elector of
Mainz and Chancellor of the Empire).

The Fronde

A series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653,

occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War, which
had begun in 1635. The king confronted the combined
opposition of the princes, the nobility, the law courts
(parlements), and most of the French people, yet won out in

1386 | Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde

 the end. It was divided into two campaigns, that of the
parlements and that of the nobles.

Cardinal Mazarin

Cardinal Jules Mazarin was an Italian cardinal, diplomat, and

politician who served as the Chief Minister to the King of France
from 1642 until his death in 1661. After serving in the papal army
and diplomatic service and at the French court, he entered the
service of France and made himself valuable to King Louis XIII’s
chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu, who brought him into the council
of state. After Richelieu’s death, Mazarin succeeded him as Chief
Minister of France. At the time of King Louis XIII’s death in 1643,
his successor, Louis XIV, was only five years old, and his mother,
Anne of Austria, ruled in his place until he came of age. Mazarin
helped Anne expand the limited power her husband had left her. He
functioned essentially as the co-ruler of France alongside the queen
during the regency of Anne, and until his death Mazarin effectively
directed French policy alongside the monarch.

Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde | 1387

Cardinal Mazarin by Pierre Mignard, 1658-1660. Mazarin succeeded his
mentor, Cardinal Richelieu. He was a noted collector of art and jewels,
particularly diamonds, and he bequeathed the “Mazarin diamonds” to Louis
XIV in 1661, some of which remain in the collection of the Louvre museum in
Paris. His personal library was the origin of the Bibliothèque Mazarine in
Paris.

Policies

Mazarin continued Richelieu’s anti-Habsburg policy and laid the

1388 | Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde

foundation for Louis XIV’s expansionist policies. During the
negotiations of the Peace of Westphalia, which concluded the Thirty
Years’ War, Mazarin (together with the queen) represented France
with policies that were French rather than Catholic. The terms
of the peace treaties ensured Dutch independence from Spain,
awarded some autonomy to the various German princes of the Holy
Roman Empire, and granted Sweden seats on the Imperial Diet and
territories to control the mouths of the Oder, Elbe, and
Weser rivers. France, however, profited most from the settlement.
Austria, ruled by the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand III, ceded all
Habsburg lands and claims in Alsace to France and acknowledged
her de facto sovereignty over the Three Bishoprics of Metz, Verdun,
and Toul. Moreover, eager to emancipate themselves from Habsburg
domination, petty German states sought French protection. This
anticipated the formation of the 1658 League of the Rhine, leading
to the further diminution of Imperial power.
The League was designed to check the House of Austria in central
Germany. In 1659, Mazarin made peace with Habsburg Spain in
the Peace of the Pyrenees, which added Roussillon and northern
Cerdanya—as French Cerdagne—in the far south, as well as part of
the Low Countries, to French territory.
Towards Protestantism at home, Mazarin pursued a policy of
promises and calculated delay to defuse armed insurrections and
keep the Huguenots disarmed. For six years they believed
themselves to be on the eve of recovering the protections of the
Edict of Nantes, but in the end they obtained nothing. Mazarin was
also more consistently an enemy of Jansenism, more for its political
implications than out of theology.

The Fronde

As the Crown needed to recover from its expenditures in the recent

wars, the increase of taxes contributed to already growing social

Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde | 1389

unrest. The nobility refused to be taxed, based on their old liberties
or privileges, and the brunt fell upon the bourgeoisie.The
Fronde began in January 1648, when the Paris mob used children’s
slings (frondes) to hurl stones at the windows of Mazarin’s
associates. The insurrection did not start with revolutionary goals
but aimed to protect the ancient liberties from royal encroachments
and to defend the established rights of the parlements—courts of
appeal rather than legislative bodies like the English parliaments.
The movement soon degenerated into factions, some of which
attempted to overthrow Mazarin and reverse the policies of his
predecessor, Cardinal Richelieu, who had taken power for the
Crown from great territorial nobles, some of whom became leaders
of the Fronde.
In May 1648, a tax levied on judicial officers of the Parlement of
Paris provoked not merely a refusal to pay but also a condemnation
of earlier financial edicts and a demand for the acceptance of a
scheme of constitutional reforms framed by a united committee of
the parlement (the Chambre Saint-Louis), composed of members of
all the sovereign courts of Paris. The military record of what would
be known as the First Fronde (the Fronde Parlementaire) is almost
blank. In August 1648, Mazarin suddenly arrested the leaders of the
parlement, whereupon Paris broke into insurrection and barricaded
the streets. The royal faction, having no army at its immediate
disposal, had to release the prisoners and promise reforms, and on
the night of October 22 it fled from Paris. However, France’s signing
of the Peace of Westphalia allowed the French army to return from
the frontiers and put Paris under siege. The two warring parties
signed the Peace of Rueil (1649) after little blood had been shed.
The peace lasted until the end of 1649. In January 1650, an armed
rebellion (the onset of what would know known known as the
Second Fronde or the Fronde des nobles) followed the arrests of
several nobles by Mazarin. By April 1651, after a series of battles,
the rebellion collapsed everywhere. A few months of hollow peace
followed and the court returned to Paris. Mazarin, an object of
hatred to all the princes, had already retired into exile. His absence

1390 | Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde

left the field free for mutual jealousies, and for the remainder of the
year anarchy reigned in France.
In December 1651, Mazarin returned to France with a small army.
The war began again, but this time some leaders of the rebellion
were pitted against one another. After this campaign the civil war
ceased, but in the several other campaigns of the Franco-Spanish
War that followed, two great soldiers leading the Fronde were
opposed to one another: Henri, Viscount of Turenne, as the
defender of France and
Louis II, and Prince de Condé as a Spanish invader. In 1652, an
insurrectionist government appeared in Paris. Mazarin, feeling that
public opinion was solidly against him, left France again. Although
in exile, he was not idle, and reached an agreement with Turenne.
Turenne’s forces pursued Condé’s, who in 1653 fled to the Spanish
Netherlands. Louis XIV, now of age to claim his throne, re-entered
Paris in October 1652 and recalled Mazarin in February 1653. The
last vestiges of resistance in Bordeaux fizzled out in the late summer
of 1653.

Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde | 1391

 “Louis XIV Crushes the Fronde” by Gilles Guérin,
1654. The Fronde represented the final attempt of the
French nobility to battle the king, and they were
humiliated. The Fronde facilitated the emergence of
absolute monarchy.

Legacy

Following the end of the Thirty Years’ War, Mazarin, as the de facto
ruler of France, played a crucial role establishing the Westphalian
principles that would guide European states’ foreign policy and the
prevailing world order. Some of these principles, such as nation-
state sovereignty over its territory and domestic affairs and the

1392 | Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde

legal equality among states, remain the basis of international law to
this day.
The French people suffered terribly in the Fronde, but the wars
achieved no constitutional reform. The liberties under attack were
feudal, not of individuals, and the Fronde in the end provided an
incentive for the establishment of royalist absolutism, since the
disorders eventually discredited the feudal concept of liberty. Royal
absolutism was reinstalled without any effective limitation. On the
death of Mazarin in 1661, Louis XIV assumed personal control of the
reins of government and astonished his court by declaring that he
would rule without a chief minister.

Sources

Cardinal Mazarin and the Fronde | 1393

191. The Sun-King and
Authoritarianism

Learning Objective

• Describe Louis XIV’s views on royal power and how

he expanded his own authority

Key Points

• At the time of King Louis XIII’s death in 1643, Louis

XIV was only five years old. His mother, Anne of
Austria, was named regent, but she entrusted the
government to the chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin.
Mazarin’s policies paved the way for the authoritarian
reign of Louis XIV.
• Louis began his personal reign with administrative
and fiscal reforms. National debt was quickly
reduced through more efficient taxation, although
reforms imposing taxes on the aristocracy were late
and of limited outcome.
• Louis and his administration also bolstered French
commerce and trade by establishing new industries
in France and instituted reforms in military

1394 | The Sun-King and

Authoritarianism
 administration that curbed the independent spirit of
the nobility by imposing order at court and in the
army.
• Louis also attempted uniform regulation of civil
procedure throughout legally irregular France by
issuing a comprehensive legal code, the “Grande
Ordonnance de Procédure Civile” of 1667, also known
as the Code Louis. One of his most infamous decrees
was the Code Noir, which sanctioned slavery in
French colonies.
• Louis also attached nobles to his court at Versailles
and thus achieved increased control over the French
aristocracy. An elaborate court ritual by which the
king observed the aristocracy and distributed his
favors was created to ensure the aristocracy
remained under his scrutiny.
• Following consistent efforts to limit religious
tolerance, Louis XIV issued the Edict of
Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes and
repealed all the privileges that arose therefrom.

Terms

cuius regio, eius religio

A Latin phrase that literally means “Whose realm, his

religion,” meaning that the religion of the ruler was to

The Sun-King and Authoritarianism | 1395

 dictate the religion of those ruled. At the Peace of
Augsburg of 1555, which ended a period of armed conflict
between Roman Catholic and Protestant forces within the
Holy Roman Empire, the rulers of the German-speaking
states and Charles V, the emperor, agreed to accept this
principle.

Declaration of the Clergy of France

A four-article document of the 1681 Assembly of the

French clergy promulgated in 1682, which codified the
principles of Gallicanism into a system for the first time in
an official and definitive formula.

Gallicanism

The belief that popular civil authority—often represented

by the monarchs’ authority or the state’s authority—over
the Catholic Church is comparable to the pope’s.

Edict of Fontainebleau

A 1685 edict issued by Louis XIV of France, also known as

the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of
Nantes (1598) had granted the Huguenots the right to
practice their religion without persecution from the state.

1396 | The Sun-King and Authoritarianism

 Code Noir

A decree originally passed by France’s King Louis XIV in

1685 that defined the conditions of slavery in the French
colonial empire, restricted the activities of free black
persons, forbade the exercise of any religion other than
Roman Catholicism, and ordered all Jews out of France’s
colonies.

The Sun King

At the time of King Louis XIII’s death in 1643, Louis XIV was only
five years old. His mother, Anne of Austria, was named regent in
spite of her late husband’s wishes. Anne assumed the regency but
entrusted the government to the chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin,
who helped her expand the limited power her husband had left her.
He functioned essentially as the co-ruler of France alongside Queen
Anne during her regency, and until his death effectively directed
French policy alongside the monarch. In 1651, when Louis XIV
officially came of age, Anne’s regency legally ended. However, she
kept much power and influence over her son until the death of
Mazarin. On the death of Mazarin in 1661, Louis assumed personal
control of the reins of government and astonished his court by
declaring that he would rule without a chief minister.

The Sun-King and Authoritarianism | 1397

Louis XIV, King of France, in 1661 by Charles Le Brun. After Mazarin’s death in
1661, Louis assumed personal control of the reins of government and
astonished his court by declaring that he would rule without a chief minister:
“Up to this moment I have been pleased to entrust the government of my
affairs to the late Cardinal. It is now time that I govern them myself. You [he
was talking to the secretaries and ministers of state] will assist me with your
counsels when I ask for them. I request and order you to seal no orders except
by my command … I order you not to sign anything, not even a passport
… without my command; to render account to me personally each day and to
favor no one.”

1398 | The Sun-King and Authoritarianism

Reforms

Louis began his personal reign with administrative and fiscal

reforms. In 1661, the treasury verged on bankruptcy. To rectify the
situation, Louis chose Jean-Baptiste Colbert as Controller-General
of Finances in 1665. Colbert reduced the national debt through
more efficient taxation. Excellent results were achieved, and the
deficit of 1661 turned into a surplus in 1666. However, to support
the reorganized and enlarged army, the panoply of Versailles, and
the growing civil administration, the king needed a good deal of
money, but methods of collecting taxes were costly and inefficient.
The main weakness of the existing system arose from an old bargain
between the French crown and nobility: the king might raise
without consent if only he refrained from taxing the nobles. Only
towards the close of his reign, under extreme stress of war, was
Louis able, for the first time in French history, to impose direct
taxes on the aristocracy. This was a step toward equality before the
law and toward sound public finance, but so many concessions and
exemptions were won by nobles and bourgeois that the reform lost
much of its value.
Louis and Colbert also had wide-ranging plans to bolster French
commerce and trade. Colbert’s administration established new
industries, encouraged domestic manufacturers and inventors, and
invited manufacturers and artisans from all over Europe to France.
This aimed to decrease foreign imports while increasing French
exports, hence reducing the net outflow of precious metals from
France.
Louis also instituted reforms in military administration and, with
the help of his trusted experts, curbed the independent spirit of the
nobility by imposing order at court and in the army. Gone were the
days when generals protracted war at the frontiers while bickering
over precedence and ignoring orders from the capital and the larger
politico-diplomatic picture. The old military aristocracy ceased to
have a monopoly over senior military positions and rank.

The Sun-King and Authoritarianism | 1399

 Louis also attempted uniform regulation of civil procedure
throughout legally irregular France by issuing a comprehensive legal
code, the “Grande Ordonnance de Procédure Civile” of 1667, also
known as the Code Louis. Among other things, it prescribed
baptismal, marriage, and death records in the state’s registers, not
the church’s, and also strictly regulated the right of the Parlements
to remonstrate. The Code Louis played an important part in French
legal history as the basis for the Napoleonic code, itself the origin
of many modern legal codes.One of Louis’s most infamous decrees
was the Grande Ordonnance sur les Colonies of 1685, also known as
the Code Noir (“black code”). It sanctioned slavery and limited the
ownership of slaves in the colonies to Roman Catholics only. It also
required slaves to be baptized.

Centralization of Power

Louis initially supported traditional Gallicanism, which limited papal

authority in France, and convened an Assembly of the French clergy
in November 1681. Before its dissolution eight months later, the
assembly had accepted the Declaration of the Clergy of France,
which increased royal authority at the expense of papal power.
Without royal approval, bishops could not leave France and appeals
could not be made to the pope. Additionally, government officials
could not be excommunicated for acts committed in pursuance of
their duties. Although the king could not make ecclesiastical law,
all papal regulations without royal assent were invalid in France.
Unsurprisingly, the pope repudiated the declaration.
Louis also attached nobles to his court at Versailles and thus
achieved increased control over the French aristocracy. Apartments
were built to house those willing to pay court to the king. However,
the pensions and privileges necessary to live in a style appropriate
to their rank were only possible by waiting constantly on Louis.
For this purpose, an elaborate court ritual was created where the

1400 | The Sun-King and Authoritarianism

king became the center of attention and was observed throughout
the day by the public. With his excellent memory, Louis could see
who attended him at court and who was absent, facilitating the
subsequent distribution of favors and positions. Another tool Louis
used to control his nobility was censorship, which often involved
opening letters to discern their author’s opinion of the government
and king. Moreover, by entertaining, impressing, and domesticating
nobles with extravagant luxury and other distractions, Louis not
only cultivated public opinion of himself, but also ensured the
aristocracy remained under his scrutiny.
This, along with the prohibition of private armies, prevented the
aristocracy from passing time on their own estates and in their
regional power-bases, from which they historically had waged local
wars and plotted resistance to royal authority. Louis thus compelled
and seduced the old military aristocracy (the “nobility of the sword”)
into becoming his ceremonial courtiers, further weakening their
power. In their place, he raised commoners or the more recently
ennobled bureaucratic aristocracy as presumably easier to control.

Religion

Finally, Louis dramatically limited religious tolerance in France, as

he saw the persistence of Protestantism as a disgraceful reminder
of royal powerlessness. Responding to petitions, Louis initially
excluded Protestants from office, constrained the meeting of
synods, closed churches outside Edict of Nantes-stipulated areas,
banned Protestant outdoor preachers, and prohibited domestic
Protestant migration. He also disallowed Protestant-Catholic
intermarriages where third parties objected, encouraged missions
to the Protestants, and rewarded converts to Catholicism.
In 1681, Louis dramatically increased his persecution of
Protestants. The principle of cuius regio, eius religio generally had
also meant that subjects who refused to convert could emigrate, but

The Sun-King and Authoritarianism | 1401

Louis banned emigration and effectively insisted that all Protestants
must be converted. In 1685, he issued the Edict of Fontainebleau,
which cited the redundancy of privileges for Protestants given their
scarcity after the extensive conversions. It revoked the Edict of
Nantes and repealed all the privileges that arose therefrom. By his
edict, Louis no longer tolerated Protestant groups, pastors, or
churches to exist in France. No further churches were to be
constructed, and those already existing were to be demolished.
Pastors could choose either exile or a secular life. Those Protestants
who had resisted conversion were now to be baptized forcibly into
the established church.

Sources

1402 | The Sun-King and Authoritarianism

192. Louis XIV and the
Huguenots

Learning Objective

• Analyze Louis XIV’s persecution of the Huguenots

and the consequences that had for France

Key Points

• The Edict of Nantes was issued in 1598 by Henry IV

of France. It granted the Calvinist Protestants of
France substantial rights in a predominately
Catholic nation. The Edict gained a new significance
when Louis XIV broke the post-Nantes tradition of
relative religious tolerance in France and, in his
efforts to fully centralize the royal power, began to
persecute the Protestants.
• Louis initially supported traditional Gallicanism,
which limited papal authority in France. However, his
conflict with the pope did not prevent him from
making Catholicism the only legally tolerated religion
in France.
• Louis saw the persistence of Protestantism as a

Louis XIV and the Huguenots | 1403

 disgraceful reminder of royal powerlessness.
Responding to petitions, he initially excluded
Protestants from office, constrained the meeting of
synods, closed churches outside Edict-stipulated
areas, banned Protestant outdoor preachers, and
prohibited domestic Protestant migration.
• In 1681, Louis dramatically increased the
persecution of Protestants. He banned emigration
and effectively insisted that all Protestants must be
converted. He also began quartering dragoons in
Protestant homes.
• In 1685, Louis issued the Edict of Fontainebleau,
which cited the redundancy of privileges for
Protestants given their scarcity after the extensive
conversions. The Edict of Fontainebleau revoked the
Edict of Nantes.
• The revocation caused France to suffer a kind of
early brain drain, as it lost a large number of skilled
craftsmen. Protestants across Europe were horrified
at the treatment of their fellow believers, and Louis’s
public image in most of Europe, especially in
Protestant regions, suffered greatly.

1404 | Louis XIV and the Huguenots

 Terms

Declaration of the Clergy of France

A four-article document of the 1681 Assembly of the

French clergy promulgated in 1682, which codified the
principles of Gallicanism into a system for the first time in
an official and definitive formula.

Edict of Fontainebleau

A 1685 edict, also known as the Revocation of the Edict of

Nantes, issued by Louis XIV of France. The Edict of
Nantes (1598) had granted the Huguenots the right to
practice their religion without persecution from the state.

cuius regio, eius religio

A Latin phrase that literally means “Whose realm, his

religion,” meaning that the religion of the ruler was to
dictate the religion of those ruled. At the Peace of
Augsburg of 1555, which ended a period of armed conflict
between Roman Catholic and Protestant forces within the
Holy Roman Empire, the rulers of the German-speaking
states and Emperor Charles V agreed to accept this
principle.

Louis XIV and the Huguenots | 1405

 Gallicanism

The belief that popular civil authority—often represented

by the monarchs’ authority or the State’s authority—over
the Catholic Church is comparable to the authority of the
pope.

Edict of Nantes

An edict signed in 1598 by King Henry IV of France that

granted the Calvinist Protestants of France (also known as
Huguenots) substantial rights in the nation, which was, at
the time, still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict,
Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity. The
document separated civil from religious unity, treated some
Protestants for the first time as more than mere
schismatics and heretics, and opened a path for
secularism and tolerance.

Background: Edict of Nantes

The Edict of Nantes was issued in 1598 by Henry IV of France. It

granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, known as Huguenots,
substantial rights in a predominately Catholic nation. Through the
Edict, Henry aimed to promote civil unity. The Edict treated some,
although not all, Protestants with tolerance and opened a path for

1406 | Louis XIV and the Huguenots

secularism. It offered general freedom of conscience to individuals
and many specific concessions to the Protestants, such as amnesty
and the reinstatement of their civil rights, including the right to
work in any field or for the state and to bring grievances directly to
the king. It marked the end of the religious wars that had afflicted
France during the second half of the 16th century. The Edict gained
a new significance when Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, broke
the post-Nantes tradition of relative religious tolerance in France
and, in his efforts to fully centralize the royal power, began to
persecute the Protestants.

Louis XIV and the Huguenots | 1407

Louis XIV by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701). Louis XIV (1638–1715), known as Louis
the Great or the Sun King, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled
as King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of seventy-two
years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch of a major country in
European history. In this age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIV’s France was
a leader in the growing centralization of power.

1408 | Louis XIV and the Huguenots

Religious Persecution

Louis initially supported traditional Gallicanism, which limited

papal authority in France, and convened an Assembly of the French
clergy in November 1681. Before its dissolution eight months later,
the assembly had accepted the Declaration of the Clergy of France,
which increased royal authority at the expense of papal power.
Without royal approval, bishops could not leave France and appeals
could not be made to the pope. Additionally, government officials
could not be excommunicated for acts committed in pursuance of
their duties. Although the king could not make ecclesiastical law,
all papal regulations without royal assent were invalid in France.
Unsurprisingly, the pope repudiated the declaration.
Louis saw the persistence of Protestantism as a disgraceful
reminder of royal powerlessness. After all, the Edict of Nantes was
the pragmatic concession of his grandfather Henry IV to end the
longstanding French Wars of Religion. An additional factor in Louis’s
thinking was the prevailing contemporary European principle to
assure socio-political stability, cuius regio, eius religio (“whose
realm, his religion”), the idea that the religion of the ruler should
be the religion of the realm (the principle originally confirmed in
central Europe in the Peace of Augsburg of 1555).
Responding to petitions, Louis initially excluded Protestants from
office, constrained the meeting of synods, closed churches outside
Edict-stipulated areas, banned Protestant outdoor preachers, and
prohibited domestic Protestant migration. He also disallowed
Protestant-Catholic intermarriages where third parties objected,
encouraged missions to the Protestants, and rewarded converts
to Catholicism. An enforced yet steady conversion of Protestants
followed, especially among the noble elites.
In 1681, Louis dramatically increased the persecution of
Protestants. The principle of cuius regio, eius religio had usually
meant that subjects who refused to convert could emigrate, but
Louis banned emigration and effectively insisted that all Protestants

Louis XIV and the Huguenots | 1409

must be converted. Secondly, following the proposal of René de
Marillac and the Marquis of Louvois, he began quartering dragoons
(mounted infantry) in Protestant homes. Although this was within
his legal rights, the policy (known as dragonnades) inflicted severe
financial strain and atrocious abuse on Protestants. Between
300,000 and 400,000 Huguenots converted, as this entailed
financial rewards and exemption from the dragonnades.

Edict of Fontainebleau

In 1685, Louis issued the Edict of Fontainebleau, which cited the

redundancy of privileges for Protestants given their scarcity after
the extensive conversions. The Edict of Fontainebleau revoked the
Edict of Nantes, and repealed all the privileges that arose therefrom.
By this edict, Louis no longer tolerated Protestant groups, pastors,
or churches to exist in France. No further Protestant churches were
to be constructed, and those already existing were to be
demolished. Pastors could choose either exile or a secular life.
Those Protestants who had resisted conversion were to be baptized
forcibly into the established church.
The Edict of Fontainebleau is compared by historians with the
1492 Alhambra Decree, ordering the Expulsion of the Jews from
Spain, and with Expulsion of the Moriscos during 1609–1614. The
three are similar both as outbursts of religious intolerance ending
periods of relative tolerance and in their social and economic
effects. In practice, the revocation caused France to suffer a kind of
early brain drain, as it lost a large number of skilled craftsmen. Some
rulers, such as Frederick Wilhelm, Duke of Prussia and Elector of
Brandenburg, encouraged the Protestants to seek refuge in their
nations. Historians cite the emigration of about 200,000 Huguenots
(roughly one-fourth of the Protestant population, or 1% of the
French population) who defied royal decrees. However, others view
this as an exaggeration. They argue that most of France’s

1410 | Louis XIV and the Huguenots

preeminent Protestant businessmen and industrialists converted
to Catholicism and remained. Protestants across Europe were
horrified at the treatment of their fellow believers, and Louis’s
public image in most of Europe, especially in Protestant regions,
suffered greatly. Most Catholics in France, however, applauded the
move.
The revocation of the Edict of Nantes created a state of affairs in
France similar to that of nearly every other European country of the
period (with the brief exception of Great Britain and possibly the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), where only the majority state
religion was legally tolerated. The experiment of religious toleration
in Europe was effectively ended for the time being. However, French
society would sufficiently change by the time of Louis’s descendant
Louis XVI to welcome toleration in the form of the 1787 Edict of
Versailles, also known as the Edict of Tolerance. This restored to
non-Catholics their civil rights and the freedom to worship openly.

Sources

Louis XIV and the Huguenots | 1411

193. Louis XIV's Wars

Learning Objective

• Identify the consequences of Louis XIV’s wars

Key Points

• In addition to sweeping domestic reforms, Louis

XIV aspired to make France the leading European
power. His ambitions pushed other leading European
states to form alliances against an increasingly
aggressive France.
• The War of Devolution (1667–1668) saw the French
forces overrun the Habsburg-controlled Spanish
Netherlands and the Franche-Comté. However, a
Triple Alliance of England, Sweden, and the Dutch
Republic forced France to give most of it back in the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.
• The Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678) pitted France,
Sweden, Münster, Cologne, and England against the
Dutch Republic, which was later joined by the
Austrian Habsburg lands, Brandenburg-Prussia, and
Spain to form a Quadruple Alliance. After years of
fighting and a series of exhausting battles, the

1412 | Louis XIV's Wars

 1678-1679 Treaties of Nijmegen declared the Franche-
Comté and the Spanish Netherlands French
territories, making France Europe’s strongest power.
• The Nine Years’ War (1688–1697) once again pitted
Louis XIV against a European-wide coalition, the
Grand Alliance. By the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick
(1697) Louis XIV retained the whole of Alsace but was
forced to return Lorraine to its ruler and give up any
gains on the right bank of the Rhine. Louis also
accepted William III as the rightful King of England.
• All these wars exhausted France financially but
turned it into the most powerful state in Europe.
• Louis’s expansionist ambitions culminated in the
final decisive war of his reign: the War of the Spanish
Succession.

Terms

Treaties of Nijmegen

A series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of

Nijmegen between August 1678 and December 1679. The
treaties ended various interconnected wars among France,
the Dutch Republic, Spain, Brandenburg, Sweden, Denmark,
the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, and the Holy Roman
Empire. The most significant of the treaties was the first,
which established peace between France and the Dutch

Louis XIV's Wars | 1413

 Republic and placed the northern border of France in very
nearly its modern position.

Grand Alliance

A European coalition, consisting (at various times) of

Austria, Bavaria, Brandenburg, the Dutch Republic, England,
the Holy Roman Empire, Ireland, the Palatinate of the
Rhine, Portugal, Savoy, Saxony, Scotland, Spain, and
Sweden. The organization was founded in 1686 as the
League of Augsburg and was originally formed in an
attempt to halt Louis XIV of France’s expansionist policies.

revocation of the Edict of Nantes

A 1685 edict, also known as the Edict of

Fontainebleau, issued by Louis XIV of France, that revoked
the right to practice the tolerated forms of Protestantism
without persecution from the state granted by the Edict of
Nantes (1598).

Truce of Ratisbon

A truce that concluded the War of the Reunions between

Spain and France. It was signed in 1684 at the Dominican
convent at Ratisbon in Bavaria between Louis XIV of France
on the one side and the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I,
and the Spanish King, Charles II, on the other. The final

1414 | Louis XIV's Wars

agreements allowed King Louis to retain Strasbourg,
Luxembourg, and other Reunion gains, and returned
Kortrijk and Diksmuide, both now in Belgium, to Spain. It
was not, however, a definitive peace but only a truce for
twenty years.

War of the Reunions

A short conflict (1683–1684) between France and

Spain and its allies. It was fueled by the long-running desire
of Louis XIV to conquer new lands, many of them
comprising part of the Spanish Netherlands, along France’s
northern and eastern borders. The war was, in some sense,
a continuation of the territorial and dynastic aims of Louis
XIV as manifested in the War of Devolution and the
Franco–Dutch War.

Triple Alliance

A 1668 alliance of England, Sweden, and the Dutch

Republic formed to halt the expansion of Louis XIV’s France
in the War of Devolution. The alliance never engaged in
combat against France, but it was enough of a threat to
force Louis to halt his offensive and sign the Treaty of Aix-
la-Chapelle with Spain.

Louis XIV's Wars | 1415

Introduction

In addition to making sweeping domestic reforms, which completed

the process of turning France into the absolute monarchy under
the sole authority of the king, Louis XIV aspired to make France
the leading European power. His ambitions pushed other leading
European states to form alliances against an increasingly aggressive
France. Three major wars, the Franco-Dutch War, the Nine Years’
War, and the War of the Spanish Succession, as well as two lesser
conflicts, the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions,
enabled France to become the most powerful state in Europe.
However, this success, which came with the price of massive foreign
and military spending, kept France on the continuous verge of
bankruptcy. While Louis’s detractors argued that the war-related
expenditure impoverished France to an extreme extent, his
supporters pointed out that while the state was impoverished,
France, with all its territorial and political gains, was not.

1416 | Louis XIV's Wars

Louis XIV in 1670, engraved portrait by Robert Nanteuil, Yale University Art
Gallery. During Louis’s reign, France was the leading European power and
fought three major wars: the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of
Augsburg, and the War of the Spanish Succession. There were also two lesser
conflicts: the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions.

The War of Devolution

In 1665, Louis believed that he had a pretext to go to war with

Spain and allow him to claim the Spanish Netherlands (present-

Louis XIV's Wars | 1417

day Belgium). However, his claims to the Spanish Netherlands were
tenuous; in 1659, France and Spain had concluded the Treaty of
the Pyrenees, which ended twenty-four years of war between the
two states. With the treaty, King Philip IV of Spain had to cede
certain territories and consent to the marriage of his daughter
Maria Theresa of Spain to young Louis XIV. With this marriage,
Maria Theresa explicitly renounced all rights to her father’s
inheritance. When Philip IV died in 1665, the French king
immediately laid claim to parts of the Spanish Netherlands. He
justified this with the fact that the dowry promised at the time of his
marriage to Maria Theresa had not been paid and that the French
queen’s renunciation of her Spanish inheritance was therefore
invalid.
The conflict that followed is known as the War of
Devolution (1667–1668). It saw the French forces overrun the
Habsburg-controlled Spanish Netherlands and the Franche-Comté.
However, a Triple Alliance of England, Sweden, and the Dutch
Republic forced France to give most of it back in the Treaty of Aix-
la-Chapelle. During the negotiations, the Triple Alliance managed
to enforce their demands: France abandoned the Franche-Comté
and French troops had to withdraw from the Spanish Netherlands. A
total of twelve conquered cities remained in the hands of the French
king. The most important consequence of the war, however, was
the changed attitude of Louis XIV towards the Dutch Republic. The
king blamed it, his former close ally, for the creation of the Triple
Alliance, whose pressure had put a halt to his conquests. The French
foreign policy of the following years was therefore completely
geared towards the Dutch Republic’s isolation.

The Franco-Dutch War

The Franco-Dutch War (1672–78), called also the Dutch War, was
a war that pitted France, Sweden, Münster, Cologne, and

1418 | Louis XIV's Wars

England against the Dutch Republic, which was later joined by the
Austrian Habsburg lands, Brandenburg-Prussia, and Spain to form
a Quadruple Alliance. Continuing his mission to isolate and attack
the Dutch Republic, which Louis considered to be a trading rival
consisting of seditious republicans and Protestant heretics, the
French king made another move on the Spanish Netherlands. His
first and primary objective was to gain the support of England.
England felt threatened by the Dutch naval power and did not need
much encouragement to leave the Triple Alliance. Sweden agreed
to indirectly support the invasion of the Republic by threatening
Brandenburg-Prussia if that state should intervene.
After years of fighting and a series of exhausting battles, the
1678-1679 Treaties of Nijmegen were signed between France, the
Dutch Republic, the Holy Roman Empire, the Spanish Empire, the
Prince-Bishopric of Münster, and the Swedish Empire, ending the
Franco-Dutch War with the Franche-Comté and the Spanish
Netherlands belonging to France, making France Europe’s strongest
power. The war sparked the rivalry between William III, who later
conquered England as part of the Glorious Revolution, and Louis
XIV. It also resulted in the decline of the Dutch Republic’s
dominance in overseas trade.

The Nine Years’ War

The Nine Years’ War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand
Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, once again pitted
Louis XIV against a European-wide coalition, the Grand Alliance, led
by the Anglo-Dutch King William III, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold
I, King Charles II of Spain, Victor Amadeus II of Savoy, and several
princes of the Holy Roman Empire. It was fought primarily on
mainland Europe and its surrounding waters, but it also
encompassed a theater in Ireland and in Scotland, where William
III and James II struggled for control of Britain and Ireland, and a

Louis XIV's Wars | 1419

campaign in colonial North America between French and English
settlers and their respective Indian allies (known as King William’s
War).
Although Louis XIV had emerged from the Franco-Dutch War as
the most powerful monarch in Europe, he immediately set about
extending his gains to stabilize and strengthen France’s frontiers,
culminating in the brief War of the Reunions (1683–1684). The
resulting Truce of Ratisbon guaranteed France’s new borders for
twenty years, but Louis’ subsequent actions—notably his revocation
of the Edict of Nantes in 1685—led to the deterioration of his military
and political dominance. His decision to cross the Rhine in
September 1688 aimed to extend his influence and pressure the
Holy Roman Empire into accepting his territorial and dynastic
claims. But when Leopold I and the German princes resolved to
resist, and when the States General and William III brought the
Dutch and the English into the war against France, the French king
at last faced a powerful coalition aimed at curtailing his ambitions.
The main fighting took place around France’s borders: in the
Spanish Netherlands, the Rhineland, the Duchy of Savoy, and
Catalonia. The fighting generally favored Louis XIV’s armies, but by
1696 his country was in the grip of an economic crisis. The Maritime
Powers (England and the Dutch Republic) were also financially
exhausted, and when Savoy defected from the Alliance, all parties
were keen for a negotiated settlement. By the terms of the Treaty of
Ryswick (1697) Louis XIV retained the whole of Alsace but was forced
to return Lorraine to its ruler and give up any gains on the right
bank of the Rhine. Louis also accepted William III as the rightful King
of England, while the Dutch acquired their barrier fortress system in
the Spanish Netherlands to help secure their own borders. However,
with the ailing and childless Charles II of Spain approaching his end,
a new conflict over the inheritance of the Spanish Empire would
soon embroil Louis XIV and the Grand Alliance in a final war—the
War of the Spanish Succession.

1420 | Louis XIV's Wars

Territorial expansion of France under Louis XIV (1643–1715) is depicted in
orange. While Louis’s detractors argued that the war-related expenditure
impoverished France to an extreme extent, his supporters pointed out that
while the state was impoverished, France, with all its territorial and political
gains, was not.

Sources

Louis XIV's Wars | 1421

194. The Question of Spanish
Succession

Learning Objective

• Describe the reasons why there was conflict over

who should take the Spanish throne

Key Points

• In the late 1690s, the declining health of childless

King Charles II of Spain deepened the ongoing
dispute over his succession. The main rivals for the
Spanish inheritance were the descendants of Louis
XIV of France and the Austrian Habsburg Holy Roman
Emperor, Leopold I, but the matter was of the utmost
importance to Europe as a whole.
• In 1698 and 1700, Louis XIV and William III of
England attempted to partition Spain in the effort to
avoid a war. Charles II of Spain opposed partition and
on his deathbed offered the empire to Philip, Duke of
Anjou and Louis’s grandson, who became King Philip
V Spain.
• Although most European rulers accepted Philip as

1422 | The Question of Spanish

Succession
 king, tensions mounted, mostly because of a series of
Louis’s decisions. Britain, the Dutch Republic, the
Holy Roman Emperor, and the petty German states
formed another Grand Alliance and declared war on
France in 1702.
• With losses, victories, and significant financial
costs on both sides, as well as a fragile Grand
Alliance, French and British ministers prepared the
groundwork for a peace conference, and in 1712
Britain ceased combat operations.
• By the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) and the
Treaty of Rastatt (1714), the Spanish empire was
partitioned between the major and minor powers.
The Austrians received most of Spain’s former
European realms, but the Duke of Anjou retained
peninsular Spain and Spanish America, where, after
renouncing his claim to the French succession, he
reigned as King Philip V.
• The partition of the Spanish Monarchy had secured
the balance of power and the conditions imposed at
Utrecht helped to regulate the relations between the
major European powers over the coming century.

The Question of Spanish Succession | 1423

 Terms

Treaties of Rastatt and Baden

Two peace treaties that in 1714 ended ongoing European

conflicts following the War of the Spanish Succession. The
first treaty,
signed between France and Austria in the city of Rastatt,
followed the earlier Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, which ended
hostilities between France and Spain on the one hand, and
Britain and the Dutch Republic on the other hand. The
second treaty, signed in Baden, was required to end the
hostilities between France and the Holy Roman Empire.

Treaty of the Hague

A 1698 treaty, known also as the First Partition Treaty,

between England and France. The accord attempted to
resolve who would inherit the Spanish throne, proposing
that Duke Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria be the heir.
Moreover, the agreement proposed that Louis, le Grand
Dauphin, would get Naples, Sicily, and Tuscany, and
Archduke Charles, the younger son of Emperor Leopold I,
would get the Spanish Netherlands. Leopold, Duke of
Lorraine, would take Milan, which in turn ceded
Lorraine and Bar to the Dauphin.

1424 | The Question of Spanish Succession

 Treaty of Utrecht

A series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single

document, signed by the belligerents in the War of the
Spanish Succession in the Dutch city of Utrecht in 1713. The
treaties between several European states, including Spain,
Great Britain, France, Portugal, Savoy, and the Dutch
Republic, helped end the war.

Treaty of London

A 1700 treaty, known also as the Second Partition Treaty,

attempting to restore the Pragmatic Sanction following the
death of Duke Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria. The Pragmatic
Sanction had undermined the First Partition Treaty (the
Treaty of Hague). Under the new treaty, Archduke Charles
(later Charles VI), the second son of Emperor Leopold I, was
to become king of Spain when Charles II died, and acquire
her oversees colonies.

Grand Alliance

A European coalition consisting (at various times) of

Austria, Bavaria, Brandenburg, the Dutch Republic, England,
the Holy Roman Empire, Ireland, the Palatinate of the
Rhine, Portugal, Savoy, Saxony, Scotland, Spain, and
Sweden. The organization was founded in 1686 as the

The Question of Spanish Succession | 1425

 League of Augsburg in an attempt to halt Louis XIV of
France’s expansionist policies. After the Treaty of Hague
was signed in 1701, it went into a second phase as the
Alliance of the War of Spanish Succession.

Background

In the late 1690s, the declining health of childless King Charles II of

Spain deepened the ongoing dispute over his succession. Spain was
no longer a hegemonic power in Europe but the Spanish Empire—a
vast confederation that covered the globe and was still
the largest of the European overseas empires—remained resilient.
Ultimately, the main rivals for the Spanish inheritance were the
heirs and descendants of the Bourbon King Louis XIV of France and
the Austrian Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I. However,
the inheritance was so vast that its transference would dramatically
increase either French or Austrian power which, due to the implied
threat of European hegemony, was of the utmost importance to
Europe as a whole.

Rival Claims and Partitions

The French claim derived from Louis XIV’s mother, Anne of Austria
(the older sister of Philip IV of Spain), and his wife, Maria Theresa
(Philip IV’s eldest daughter). France had the stronger claim, as it
originated from the eldest daughters in two generations. However,
their renunciation of succession rights complicated matters,

1426 | The Question of Spanish Succession

although in the case of Maria Theresa, the renunciation was
considered null and void owing to Spain’s breach of her marriage
contract with Louis. In contrast, no renunciations tainted the claims
of the Emperor Leopold I’s son Charles, Archduke of Austria, who
was a grandson of Philip III’s youngest daughter, Maria Anna. The
English and Dutch feared that a French or Austrian-born Spanish
king would threaten the balance of power, and thus preferred the
Bavarian Prince Joseph Ferdinand, a grandson of Leopold I through
his first wife, Margaret Theresa of Spain (the younger daughter of
Philip IV).
In an attempt to avoid war, Louis signed the Treaty of the Hague
with William III of England in 1698. This agreement divided Spain’s
Italian territories between Louis’s son le Grand Dauphin and the
Archduke Charles, with the rest of the empire awarded to Joseph
Ferdinand. The signatories, however, omitted to consult Charles II,
who was passionately opposed to the dismemberment of his empire.
In 1699, he re-confirmed his 1693 will that named Joseph Ferdinand
as his sole successor, but the latter died six months later. In 1700,
Louis and William III concluded a fresh partitioning agreement, the
Treaty of London. It allocated Spain, the Low Countries, and the
Spanish colonies to Archduke Charles. The Dauphin would receive
all of Spain’s Italian territories. On his deathbed in 1700, Charles
II unexpectedly offered the entire empire to the Dauphin’s second
son, Philip, Duke of Anjou, provided it remained undivided. Anjou
was not in the direct line of French succession, thus his accession
would not cause a Franco-Spanish union. Louis eventually decided
to accept Charles II’s will, and Philip, Duke of Anjou, became King
Philip V of Spain.
Although most European rulers accepted Philip as king, tensions
mounted, mostly because of a series of Louis’s decisions. Louis’s
actions enraged Britain and the Dutch Republic. With the Holy
Roman Emperor and the petty German states, they formed another
Grand Alliance. French diplomacy, however, secured Bavaria,
Portugal, and Savoy as Franco-Spanish allies. Around the same time,
Louis decided to acknowledge James Stuart, the son of James II, as

The Question of Spanish Succession | 1427

king of England on the latter’s death, infuriating William III. While
William died in March 1702, the Austrians, the Dutch, and English
allies formally declared war in May 1702.

War of the Spanish Succession

By 1708, the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy had

secured victory in the Spanish Netherlands and in Italy and defeated
Louis XIV’s ally Bavaria. The Allies suffered a Pyrrhic victory at the
1709 Battle of Malplaquet, with 21,000 casualties, twice that of the
French. French forces elsewhere continued to fight despite their
defeats. The Allies were definitively expelled from central Spain
by the Franco-Spanish victories at the Battles of Villaviciosa and
Brihuega in 1710. France faced invasion, but the unity of the allies
broke first. With the Grand Alliance defeated in Spain and its
casualties and costs mounting and aims diverging, the Tories came
to power in Great Britain in 1710 and resolved to end the war.
Eventually, France recovered its military pride with the decisive
victory at Denain in 1712. Yet French and British ministers prepared
the groundwork for a peace conference, and in 1712 Britain ceased
combat operations. The Dutch, Austrians, and German states fought
on to strengthen their own negotiating position, but, defeated by
Marshal Villars, they were soon compelled to accept Anglo-French
mediation.

1428 | The Question of Spanish Succession

Battle of Villaviciosa by Jean Alaux, 1836. Philip V of Spain and the Duke of
Vendôme pictured after the victory at the 1710.

Peace Treaties

The 1713 Treaty of Utrecht recognized Louis XIV’s grandson Philip,

Duke of Anjou, as King of Spain (as Philip V), thus confirming the
succession stipulated in the will of Charles II. However, Philip was
compelled to renounce for himself and his descendants any right
to the French throne. The Spanish territories in Europe were
apportioned: Savoy received Sicily and parts of the Duchy of Milan,
while Charles VI (the Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria)
received the Spanish Netherlands, the Kingdom of Naples, Sardinia,
and the bulk of the Duchy of Milan. Portugal had its sovereignty
recognized over the lands between the Amazon and Oyapock rivers,

The Question of Spanish Succession | 1429

in Brazil. In addition, Spain ceded Gibraltar and Minorca to Great
Britain and agreed to give to the British the Asiento, a monopoly on
the oceanic slave trade to the Spanish colonies in America. In North
America, France ceded to Great Britain its claims to Newfoundland,
the Hudson’s Bay Company, the Acadian colony of Nova Scotia, and
the formerly partitioned island of Saint Kitts.
After the signing of the Utrecht treaties, the French continued
to be at war with Emperor Charles VI and with the Holy Roman
Empire until 1714, when hostilities were ended with the Treaties of
Rastatt and Baden. Spain and Portugal remained formally at war
with each other until the Treaty of Madrid of February 1715, while
peace between Spain and Emperor Charles VI, unsuccessful
claimant to the Spanish crown, came only in 1720 with the signing of
the Treaty of The Hague.
The War of the Spanish Succession brought to an end a long
period of major conflict in Western Europe. The partition of the
Spanish Monarchy had secured the balance of power, and the
conditions imposed at Utrecht helped to regulate the relations
between the major European powers over the coming century.

Sources

1430 | The Question of Spanish Succession

195. William of Orange and
the Grand Alliance

Learning Objective

• Explain William’s stake in the War of the Spanish

Succession and the goals of the Grand Alliance

Key Points

• As William III’s life drew towards its conclusion, he,

like many other European rulers, was concerned with
the question of succession to the throne of Spain. He
sought to prevent the Spanish inheritance from going
to the descendants of either Louis XIV or Leopold I,
as he feared this would upset the European balance of
power.
• Fearing the growing strength of the Holy Roman
Empire, Louis XIV turned to William. The two signed
two treaties partitioning Spain, but Charles II of
Spain’s decision to choose Louis’s grandson as his
successor made Louis ignore his treaty with England.
• While the Tory-dominated House of Commons was
keen to prevent further conflict, to William III,

William of Orange and the Grand

Alliance | 1431
 France’s growing strength made war inevitable. From
his perspective, losing the hard-won securities
overturned the work of the last twenty years.
• As tensions mounted, Britain and the Dutch
Republic grew enraged by Louis’s actions and
decisions. With the Holy Roman Emperor and the
petty German states, they formed another Grand
Alliance. Securing the Protestant succession and
curbing Louis’s ambitions was recognized by the
Grand Alliance as one of England’s main war aims.
• Before the War of the Spanish Succession was even
declared, William died. His successor, Anne,
continued William’s policies to assure the Protestant
succession in England and curb the French
hegemony.
• The War of the Spanish Succession resulted in the
partition of the Spanish Monarchy, which secured the
balance of power and helped to regulate the relations
between the major European powers over the coming
century.

Terms

Treaty of Utrecht

A series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single

document, signed by the belligerents in the War of the

1432 | William of Orange and the Grand Alliance

Spanish Succession in the Dutch city of Utrecht in 1713. The
treaties between several European states, including Spain,
Great Britain, France, Portugal, Savoy, and the Dutch
Republic, helped to end the war.

Treaty of Rastatt

A peace treaty between France and Austria, concluded in

March 1714 in the Baden city of Rastatt, that put an end to
the state of war between them following the War of the
Spanish Succession. The treaty followed the earlier Treaty
of Utrecht of April 1713, which ended hostilities between
France and Spain on the one hand, and Britain and the
Dutch Republic on the other hand. A third treaty at Baden
was required to end the hostilities between France and the
Holy Roman Empire.

Treaty of London

A 1700 treaty, known also as the Second Partition Treaty,

attempting to restore the Pragmatic Sanction following the
death of Duke Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria. The Pragmatic
Sanction had undermined the First Partition Treaty (the
Treaty of Hague). Under the new Treaty, Archduke Charles
(later Charles VI), the second son of the Emperor Leopold I,
was to become king of Spain when Charles II died, and
acquire her oversees colonies.

William of Orange and the Grand Alliance | 1433

 Grand Alliance

A European coalition, consisting (at various times) of

Austria, Bavaria, Brandenburg, the Dutch Republic, England,
the Holy Roman Empire, Ireland, the Palatinate of the
Rhine, Portugal, Savoy, Saxony, Scotland, Spain, and
Sweden. The organization was founded in 1686 as the
League of Augsburg in an attempt to halt Louis XIV of
France’s expansionist policies. After the Treaty of Hague
was signed in 1701, it went into a second phase as the
Alliance of the War of Spanish Succession.

Treaty of Hague

A 1698 treaty, known also as the First Partition Treaty,

between England and France. The accord attempted to
resolve who would inherit the Spanish throne, proposing
that Duke Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria be the heir.
Moreover, the agreement proposed that Louis, le Grand
Dauphin, would get Naples, Sicily, and Tuscany, and
Archduke Charles, the younger son of Emperor Leopold I,
would get the Spanish Netherlands. Leopold, Duke of
Lorraine, would take Milan, which in turn ceded Lorraine
and Bar to the Dauphin.

1434 | William of Orange and the Grand Alliance

William III of England and the Spanish
Succession

William III (1650–1702) was sovereign Prince of Orange from birth,

Dutch Stadtholder (de facto hereditary head of state) from 1672, and
King of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1689 until his death.
As his life drew towards its conclusion, William, like many other
European rulers, was concerned with the question of succession to
the throne of Spain, which brought with it vast territories in Italy,
the Low Countries, and the New World. The king of Spain, Charles II,
had no prospect of having children, and among his closest relatives
were Louis XIV and Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. William sought
to prevent the Spanish inheritance from going to either monarch, as
he feared it would upset the balance of power.

William of Orange and the Grand Alliance | 1435

King William III of England, portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1680s, National
Galleries, Scotland. A Protestant, William participated in several wars against
the powerful Catholic king of France, Louis XIV, in coalition with Protestant
and Catholic powers in Europe. Many Protestants heralded him as a
champion of their faith.

1436 | William of Orange and the Grand Alliance

Partitions

Fearing the growing strength of the Holy Roman Empire, Louis

XIV turned to William, his long-standing Protestant rival. England
and the Dutch Republic had their own commercial, strategic, and
political interests within the Spanish empire, and they were eager
to return to peaceful commerce. Louis and William sought to solve
the problem of the Spanish inheritance through negotiation based
on the principle of partition (at first without prior reference to the
Spanish or Austrian courts), to take effect after the death of Charles
II.
William and Louis agreed to the First Partition Treaty (Treaty of
Hague), which provided for the division of the Spanish Empire: Duke
Joseph Ferdinand of Bavaria would obtain Spain, while France and
the Holy Roman Emperor would divide the remaining territories
between them. However, when Joseph Ferdinand died of smallpox,
the issue re-opened. In 1700, the two rulers agreed to the Second
Partition Treaty (Treaty of London), under which the territories
in Italy would pass to a son of the king of France and the other
Spanish territories would be inherited by a son of the Holy Roman
Emperor. This arrangement infuriated both the Spanish, who still
sought to prevent the dissolution of their empire, and the Holy
Roman Emperor, to whom the Italian territories were much more
useful than the other lands. Unexpectedly, Charles II willed all
Spanish territories to Philip, a grandson of Louis XIV. The French
conveniently ignored the Second Partition Treaty and claimed the
entire Spanish inheritance.

William III’s Stand

The news that Louis XIV had accepted Charles II’s will and that the
Second Partition Treaty was dead was a personal blow to William

William of Orange and the Grand Alliance | 1437

III. However, after the exertions of the Nine Years’ War, the Tory-
dominated House of Commons was keen to prevent further conflict
and restore normal commercial activity. Yet to William III, France’s
growing strength made war inevitable. England also had its own
interests in the Spanish Netherlands, and ministers recognized the
potential danger posed by an enemy established to the east of the
Strait of Dover who, taking advantage of favorable wind and tide,
could threaten the British Isles. From William III’s perspective,
losing the hard-won securities overturned the work of the last
twenty years.
Although the French king’s ambitions and motives were not fully
known, English ministers worked on the assumption that Louis XIV
would seek to expand his territory and direct and dominate Spanish
affairs. With the threat of a single power dominating Europe and
overseas trade, London now undertook to support William III’s
efforts to reduce the power of France. As tensions mounted, Britain
and the Dutch Republic grew enraged by Louis’s actions and
decisions. With the Holy Roman Emperor and the petty German
states, they formed another Grand Alliance. This
European coalition, consisting at various times of various European
states, was originally founded in 1686 as the League of Augsburg. It
was formed in an attempt to halt Louis XIV’s expansionist policies.
In 1701, it went into a second phase.
Even after the formation of the Grand Alliance, the French king
continued to antagonize his European rivals. Around the same time
as the Alliance was formed, the Catholic James II of England (VII
of Scotland)—exiled in Saint-Germain since the Glorious
Revolution—died, and Louis XIV recognized James II’s Catholic son,
James, as King James III of England. The French court insisted that
granting James the title of King was a mere formality, but William
and English ministers were indignant. Securing the Protestant
succession was soon recognized by the Grand Alliance as one of
England’s main war aims.

1438 | William of Orange and the Grand Alliance

The War of the Spanish Succession

However, before the War of the Spanish Succession was even

declared, William died. Anne, Mary II’s younger sister and William’s
sister-in-law through his marriage to Mary, ascended to the British
throne and at once assured the Privy Council of her two main aims:
the maintenance of the Protestant succession and the reduction of
the power of France. By the same token, Anne continued William’s
policies, and many leading statesmen of William’s later years
remained in office, which turned out fundamental to the success of
the Grand Alliance in the early stages of the war.
The Austrians, the Dutch, and English allies formally declared war
in May 1702. By 1708 the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of
Savoy had secured victory in the Spanish Netherlands and in Italy,
and had defeated Louis XIV’s ally Bavaria. France faced invasion, but
the unity of the allies broke first. With the Grand Alliance defeated
in Spain and its casualties and costs mounting and aims diverging,
the Tories came to power in Great Britain in 1710 and resolved to
end the war. French and British ministers prepared the groundwork
for a peace conference, and in 1712 Britain ceased combat
operations. The Dutch, Austrians, and German states fought on to
strengthen their own negotiating position, but, defeated by Marshal
Villars, they were soon compelled to accept Anglo-French
mediation. By the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) and the
Treaty of Rastatt (1714), the Spanish empire was partitioned between
the major and minor powers. The Austrians received most of Spain’s
former European realms, but the Duke of Anjou retained peninsular
Spain and Spanish America, where, after renouncing his claim to
the French succession, he reigned as King Philip V. The European
balance of power was assured.

Sources

William of Orange and the Grand Alliance | 1439

196. The Peace of Utrecht

Learning Objective

• Describe the terms of the Peace of Utrecht and

their significance across Europe

Key Points

• The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) was a

European conflict triggered by the death of the last
Habsburg king of Spain, Charles II, in 1700. As he had
reigned over a vast global empire, the question of
who would succeed him had long troubled ministers
in capitals throughout Europe.
• The balance of victories and losses shifted regularly
over the course of the war, with both sides exhausted
militarily and financially. As early as 1710, the Tories
initiated secret talks with the French, seeking mutual
ground whereon Great Britain and France could
dictate peace to the rest of Europe.
• The Congress of Utrecht opened in 1712, but it was
not accompanied by an armistice. One of the first
questions discussed was the nature of the guarantees
to be given by France and Spain that their crowns

1440 | The Peace of Utrecht

 would be kept separate.
• The treaty, which was in fact a series of separate
treaties, secured Britain’s main war aims: Louis XIV’s
acknowledgement of the Protestant succession in
England, and safeguards to ensure that the French
and Spanish thrones remained separate.
• A series of separate treaties signed between 1714
and 1720 ended conflicts that continued in the
aftermath of Utrecht between states involved in the
War of the Spanish Succession.
• Utrecht marked the rise of Great Britain under
Anne and later the House of Hanover and the end of
the hegemonic ambitions of France. It also secured
the balance of power and helped to regulate the
relations between the major European powers over
the coming century.

Terms

treaties of Rastatt and Baden

Two peace treaties that in 1714 ended ongoing European

conflicts following the War of the Spanish Succession. The
first treaty, signed between France and Austria in the city of
Rastatt, followed the earlier Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, which
ended hostilities between France and Spain on the one
hand, and Britain and the Dutch Republic on the other

The Peace of Utrecht | 1441

 hand. The second treaty, signed in Baden, was required to
end the hostilities between France and the Holy Roman
Empire.

Grand Alliance

A European coalition consisting (at various times) of

Austria, Bavaria, Brandenburg, the Dutch Republic, England,
the Holy Roman Empire, Ireland, the Palatinate of the
Rhine, Portugal, Savoy, Saxony, Scotland, Spain, and
Sweden. The coalition was founded in 1686 as the League of
Augsburg in an attempt to halt Louis XIV of France’s
expansionist policies. After the Treaty of Hague was signed
in 1701, it went into a second phase as the Alliance of the
War of Spanish Succession.

War of the Spanish Succession

A major European conflict of the early 18th century (1701/

2–1714) triggered by the death in 1700 of the last Habsburg
king of Spain, Charles II. The Austrians, the Dutch, and
English allies formally declared war against France and its
allies in May 1702.

Asiento

The permission given by the Spanish government to

other countries to sell people as slaves to the Spanish

1442 | The Peace of Utrecht

 colonies, between 1543 and 1834. In British history, it
usually refers to the contract between Spain and Great
Britain created in 1713 that dealt with the supply of African
slaves for the Spanish territories in the Americas.

Background: The War of the Spanish

Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) was a European

conflict triggered by the death of the last Habsburg King of Spain,
Charles II, in 1700. He had reigned over a vast global empire and
the question of who would succeed him had long troubled ministers
in capitals throughout Europe. Attempts to solve the problem by
partitioning the empire between the eligible candidates from the
royal Houses of France (Bourbon), Austria (Habsburg), and Bavaria
(Wittelsbach) ultimately failed, and on his deathbed Charles II fixed
the entire Spanish inheritance on Philip, Duke of Anjou, the
grandson of King Louis XIV of France. With Philip ruling in Spain,
Louis XIV would secure great advantages for his dynasty, but some
statesmen regarded a dominant House of Bourbon as a threat to
European stability, jeopardizing the balance of power.
To counter Louis XIV’s growing dominance, England, the Dutch
Republic, and Austria—together with their allies in the Holy Roman
Empire—re-formed the Grand Alliance (1701) and supported
Emperor Leopold I’s claim to the Spanish inheritance for his second
son, Archduke Charles. By backing the Habsburg candidate (known
to his supporters as King Charles III of Spain) each member of the
coalition sought to reduce the power of France, ensure their own
territorial and dynastic security, and restore and improve the trade
opportunities they had enjoyed under Charles II.

The Peace of Utrecht | 1443

Peace Talks

The balance of victories and losses shifted regularly over the course
of the war, with both sides exhausted militarily and financially, also
as a result of a series of earlier wars waged in Europe. As early
as August 1710, the Tories initiated secret talks with the French,
seeking mutual ground whereon Great Britain and France could
dictate peace to the rest of Europe.
France and Great Britain had come to terms in October 1711, when
the preliminaries of peace had been signed in London. The
preliminaries were based on a tacit acceptance of the partition of
Spain’s European possessions.
The Congress of Utrecht, opened in January 1712, followed, but it
was not accompanied by an armistice (only in August did Britain,
Savoy, France, and Spain agree to a general suspension of arms).
One of the first questions discussed was the nature of the
guarantees to be given by France and Spain that their crowns would
be kept separate, but matters did not make much progress until July,
when Philip signed a renunciation. With Great Britain and France
having agreed upon a truce, the pace of negotiation quickened and
the main treaties were finally signed in April 1713.

Treaty of Utrecht

The treaty, which was in fact a series of separate treaties, secured

Britain’s main war aims: Louis XIV’s acknowledgement of the
Protestant succession in England and safeguards to ensure that the
French and Spanish thrones remained separate. In North America,
where the War of the Spanish Succession turned into a war over
colonial gains, Louis XIV ceded to Britain the territories of Saint
Kitts and Acadia and recognized Britain’s sovereignty over Rupert’s
Land and Newfoundland. In return, Louis XIV kept the major city

1444 | The Peace of Utrecht

of Lille on his northern border, but he ceded Furnes, Ypres, Menin,
and Tournai to the Spanish Netherlands. He also agreed to the
permanent demilitarization of the naval base at Dunkirk. The Dutch
received their restricted barrier in the Spanish Netherlands and a
share of the trade in the region with Britain. Prussia gained some
disputed lands and Portugal won minor concessions in Brazil
against encroachments on the Amazon from French Guiana.
In addition, Spain ceded Gibraltar and Minorca to Great Britain and
agreed to give to the British the Asiento, a monopoly on the oceanic
slave trade to the Spanish colonies in America.Above all, though,
Louis XIV had secured for the House of Bourbon the throne of Spain,
with his grandson, Philip V, recognized as the rightful king by all
signatories.

First edition of the the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht between Great Britain and Spain
in Spanish (left), and a later edition in Latin and English. The treaties, signed
in the Dutch city of Utrecht, were concluded between the representatives of
Louis XIV of France and his grandson Philip V of Spain on one hand, and
representatives of Anne of Great Britain, Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia, John
V of Portugal, and the United Provinces of the Netherlands on the other.

The Peace of Utrecht | 1445

Aftermath

Utrecht marked the rise of Great Britain under Anne and later the
House of Hanover and the end of the hegemonic ambitions of
France. The lucrative trading opportunities afforded to the British
were gained at the expense of Anne’s allies, with the Dutch forgoing
a share in the Asiento and the Holy Roman Empire ceding Spain to
Philip V and being forced to reinstate the Elector of Bavaria.
After the signing of the Utrecht treaties, the French continued to
be at war with the Holy Roman Empire until 1714, when hostilities
ended with the treaties of Rastatt and Baden. Spain and Portugal
remained formally at war with each other until the Treaty of Madrid
of February 1715, while peace between Spain and Emperor Charles
VI, unsuccessful claimant to the Spanish crown, came only in 1720
with the signing of the Treaty of The Hague.
Weakened Spain eventually grew in strength under Philip V, and
the country would return to the forefront of European politics. With
neither Charles VI nor Philip V willing to accept the Spanish
partition, and with no treaty existing between Spain and Austria,
the two powers would soon clash in order to gain control of Italy,
starting with a brief war in 1718. However, the War of the Spanish
Succession brought to an end a long period of major conflict in
western Europe; the partition of the Spanish Monarchy had secured
the balance of power, and the conditions imposed at Utrecht helped
to regulate the relations between the major European powers over
the coming century.

Sources

1446 | The Peace of Utrecht

197. Peter the Great

Learning Objective

• Describe Peter the Great’s early life

Key Points

• Peter the Great of the House of Romanov ruled the

Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from
1682 until his death. The Romanovs took over Russia
in 1613, and the first decades of their reign were
marked by attempts to restore peace, both internally
and with Russia’s rivals.
• After Alexis I’s (Peter’s father) death, a power
struggle between the Miloslavsky family (of Alexis’s
first wife) and the Naryshkin family (of Alexis’s second
wife) ensued. Eventually, Peter’s half-brother, Ivan V,
and ten-year-old Peter became co-tsars, with Sophia
Alekseyevna, one of Alexis’s daughters from his first
marriage, acting as regent.
• Sophia was eventually overthrown, with Peter I and
Ivan V continuing to act as co-tsars, yet power was
exercised mostly by Peter’s mother. It was only when
Nataliya died in 1694 that Peter became an

Peter the Great | 1447

 independent sovereign, and the sole ruler after Ivan’s
death in 1696.
• Peter implemented sweeping reforms aimed at
modernizing Russia. Heavily influenced by his
advisers from Western Europe, he reorganized the
Russian army along modern lines and dreamed of
making Russia a maritime power.
• Knowing that Russia could not face the Ottoman
Empire alone, in 1697 Peter traveled incognito to
Europe with the so-called Grand Embassy to seek the
aid of the European monarchs. The mission failed, as
Europe was at the time preoccupied with the
question of the Spanish succession.
• The European trip, although politically a failure,
exposed Peter to Western European artists,
scientists, craftsmen, and noble families. This
broadened his intellectual horizons and convinced
him that Russia should follow Western Europe in
certain respects.

Terms

boyars

Members of the highest rank of the feudal Bulgarian,

Moscovian, Ruthenian (Ukraine and Belarus), Wallachian,
and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling

1448 | Peter the Great

 princes (or tsars), from the 10th century to the 17th century.

Grand Embassy

A Russian diplomatic mission sent to Western Europe in

1697–1698 by Peter the Great. The goal of this mission was
to strengthen and broaden the Holy League, Russia’s
alliance with a number of European countries against the
Ottoman Empire in its struggle for the northern coastline
of the Black Sea.

serfdom

The status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically

relating to manorialism. It was a condition of bondage that
developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe
and lasted in some countries until the mid-19th century.

Political Background

Peter the Great of the House of Romanov (1672–1725) ruled the

Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from 1682 until his
death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his elder half-brother, Ivan
V. The Romanovs took over Russia in 1613, and the first decades
of their reign were marked by attempts to restore peace, both
internally and with Russia’s rivals, most notably Poland and Sweden.
In order to avoid more civil war, the great nobles, or boyars,

Peter the Great | 1449

cooperated with the first Romanovs, enabling them to finish the
work of bureaucratic centralization. Thus, the state required service
from both the old and the new nobility, primarily in the military.
In return, the tsars allowed the boyars to complete the process
of enserfing the peasants. With the state now fully sanctioning
serfdom, peasant rebellions were endemic.

Peter the Great: Early Years

From an early age, Peter’s education (commissioned by his father,

Tsar Alexis I) was put in the hands of several tutors. In 1676, Tsar
Alexis died, leaving the sovereignty to Peter’s elder half-brother,
Feodor III. Throughout this period, the government was largely run
by Artamon Matveev, an enlightened friend of Alexis, the political
head of the Naryshkin family (Natalya Naryshkina was Alexis’s
second wife and Peter’s mother) and one of Peter’s greatest
childhood benefactors. This changed when Feodor died in 1682.
As he did not leave any children, a dispute arose between the
Miloslavsky family (Maria Miloslavskaya was the first wife of Alexis
I) and the Naryshkin family over who should inherit the throne.
Peter’s other half-brother, Ivan V, was next in line for the throne,
but he was chronically ill. Consequently, the Boyar Duma (a council
of Russian nobles) chose 10-year-old Peter to become tsar, with
his mother as regent. However, Sophia Alekseyevna, one of Alexis’s
daughters from his first marriage, led a rebellion of the Streltsy
(Russia’s elite military corps), which made it possible for her, the
Miloslavskys (the clan of Ivan), and their allies to insist that Peter
and Ivan be proclaimed joint tsars, with Ivan being acclaimed as the
senior. Sophia acted as regent during the minority of the sovereigns
and exercised all power. For seven years, she ruled as an autocrat.

1450 | Peter the Great

Peter the Great as a child, artist unknown. Peter’s childhood was marked by
power struggles between the families of Alexis I’s first and second wives.
Although he was named a co-tsar in 1682, at the age of ten, he did not become
an independent and sole ruler until 1696.

Taking Over the Power

While Peter was not particularly concerned that others ruled in his
name, his mother sought to force him to adopt a more conventional

Peter the Great | 1451

approach. She arranged his marriage to Eudoxia Lopukhina in 1689,
but the marriage was a failure. Ten years later Peter forced his wife
to become a nun and thus freed himself from the union.
By the summer of 1689, Peter planned to take power from his
half-sister Sophia, whose position had been weakened by two
unsuccessful Crimean campaigns. After a power struggle, in which
the Streltsy was forced to shift its loyalty, Sophia was eventually
overthrown, with Peter I and Ivan V continuing to act as co-tsars.
Yet Peter could not acquire actual control over Russian affairs.
Power was instead exercised by his mother, Natalya Naryshkina.
It was only when Nataliya died in 1694 that Peter became an
independent sovereign, and the sole ruler after Ivan’s death in 1696.

Early Reign

Peter implemented sweeping reforms aimed at modernizing Russia.

Heavily influenced by his advisers from Western Europe, he
reorganized the Russian army along modern lines and dreamed
of making Russia a maritime power. He also implemented social
modernization in an absolute manner by introducing French and
western dress to his court and requiring courtiers, state officials,
and the military to shave their beards and adopt modern clothing
styles. One means of achieving this end was the introduction of
taxes for long beards and robes in September 1698. The move
provoked opposition from the boyars.
To improve his nation’s position on the seas, Peter sought to
gain more maritime outlets and attempted to acquire control of the
Black Sea, at the time controlled by the Ottoman Empire. To do
so, he would have to expel the Tatars from the surrounding areas,
but the initial attempts ended in failure. However, after the 1695
initiative to build a large navy, he officially founded the first Russian
Navy base, Taganrog (Sea of Azov).
Peter knew that Russia could not face the Ottoman Empire alone.

1452 | Peter the Great

In 1697 he traveled incognito to Europe on an eighteen-month
journey with a large Russian delegatio—the so-called Grand
Embassy—to seek the aid of the European monarchs.
The mission failed, as Europe was at the time preoccupied with
the question of the Spanish succession. Peter’s visit was cut short
in 1698, when he was forced to rush home by a rebellion of the
Streltsy. The rebellion was easily crushed, but Peter acted ruthlessly
towards the mutineers. Over 1,200 of the rebels were tortured and
executed, and Peter ordered that their bodies be publicly exhibited
as a warning to future conspirators. The Streltsy were disbanded.

Peter’s European Education

Although the Grand Embassy failed to complete its political mission

of creating an anti-Ottoman alliance, Peter continued the European
trip, learning about life in Western Europe. While visiting the
Netherlands, he studied shipbuilding and visited with families of
art and coin collectors. From Dutch experts, craftsmen, and artists,
Peter learned how to draw teeth, catch butterflies, and paint
seascapes. In England, he also engaged in painting and navy-related
activities, as well as visited Manchester in order to learn the
techniques of city building that he would later use to great effect
at Saint Petersburg. Furthermore, in 1698 Peter sent a delegation to
Malta to observe the training and abilities of the Knights of Malta
and their fleet.
Peter’s visits to the West impressed upon him the notion that
European customs were in several respects superior to Russian
traditions. Unlike most of his predecessors and successors, he
attempted to follow Western European traditions, fashions, and
tastes. He also sought to end arranged marriages, which were the
norm among the Russian nobility, because he thought such a
practice was barbaric and led to domestic violence, since the
partners usually resented each other.

Peter the Great | 1453

A statue of Peter I working incognito at a Dutch wharf, St. Petersburg. Peter
the Great learned the shipbuilding craft in Holland in 1697. It was one of many
skills that he acquired during his Western European trip.

1454 | Peter the Great

Sources

Peter the Great | 1455

198. The Westernization of
Russia

Learning Objective

• Discuss the reasons why Peter worked so hard to

forcibly westernize Russia

Key Points

• In his effort to modernize Russia, the largest state

in the world, but one that was economically and
socially lagging, Peter introduced autocracy and
played a major role in introducing his country to the
European state system. His visits to the West
impressed upon him the notion that European
customs were in several respects superior to Russian
traditions.
• Heavily influenced by his advisers from Western
Europe, he reorganized the Russian army along
modern lines and dreamed of making Russia a
maritime power.
• His social reforms included the requirement of
Western fashion in his court (including facial hair for

1456 | The Westernization of Russia

 men), attempts to end arranged marriages, and the
introduction of the Julian Calendar in 1700.
• One of Peter’s most audacious goals was reducing
the influence of the boyars, or the feudal elite class.
He did this by imposing taxes and services on them as
well as introducing comprehensive administrative
reforms that opened civil service to commoners.
However, sharp class divisions, including the already
tragic fate of serfs, only deepened.
• Tax and trade reforms enabled the Russian state to
expand its treasury almost sixfold between 1680 and
1724.
• Legislation under Peter’s rule covered every aspect
of life in Russia, and his reform contributed greatly to
Russia’s military successes and the increase in
revenue and productivity. Overall, Peter created a
state that further legitimized and strengthened
authoritarian rule in Russia.

Terms

boyars

Members of the highest rank of the feudal Bulgarian,

Moscovian, Ruthenian, (Ukraine and Belarus), Wallachian,
and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling
princes (or tsars), from the 10th century to the 17th century.

The Westernization of Russia | 1457

 Collegia

Government departments in Imperial Russia established

in 1717 by Peter the Great. The departments were housed in
Saint Petersburg.

serfdom

The status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically

relating to manorialism. It was a condition of bondage that
developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe
and lasted in some countries until the mid-19th century.

kholops

Feudally dependent persons in Russia between the 10th

and early 18th centuries. Their legal status was close to that
of serfs but in reality closest to that of slaves.

Table of Ranks

A formal list of positions and ranks in the military,

government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter the
Great introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a
struggle with the existing hereditary nobility, or boyars.

1458 | The Westernization of Russia

 It was formally abolished in 1917 by the newly established
Bolshevik government.

Russia at the Turn of the 18th Century

By the time Peter the Great became tsar, Russia was the largest
country in the world, stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific
Ocean. Much of Russia’s expansion had taken place in the 17th
century, culminating in the first Russian settlement of the Pacific in
the mid-17th century, the reconquest of Kiev, and the pacification of
the Siberian tribes. However,
the vast majority of the land was unoccupied, travel was slow, and
the majority of the population of 14 million depended on farming.
While only a small percentage lived in towns, Russian agriculture,
with its short growing season, was ineffective and lagged behind
that of Western Europe. The class of kholops, or feudally dependent
persons similar to serfs, but whose status was closest to slavery,
remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter
converted household kholops into house serfs, thus including them
in poll taxation (Russian agricultural kholops were formally
converted into serfs in 1679). Russia also remained isolated from
the sea trade and its internal trade communications and many
manufactures were dependent on the seasonal changes.

Peter and Western Europe

Peter I the Great introduced autocracy in Russia and played a major

The Westernization of Russia | 1459

role in introducing his country to the European state system. His
visits to the West impressed upon him the notion that European
customs were in several respects superior to Russian traditions.
Heavily influenced by his advisers from Western Europe, he
reorganized the Russian army along modern lines and dreamed of
making Russia a maritime power. He also commanded all of his
courtiers and officials to wear European clothing and cut off their
long beards, causing great upset among boyars, or the feudal
elites. Those who sought to retain their beards were required to pay
an annual beard tax of one hundred rubles.
Peter also introduced critical social reform. He sought to end
arranged marriages, which were the norm among the Russian
nobility, seeing the practice as barbaric and leading to domestic
violence. In 1699, he changed the date of the celebration of the new
year from September 1 to January 1. Traditionally, the years were
reckoned from the purported creation of the world, but after Peter’s
reforms, they were to be counted from the birth of Christ. Thus, in
the year 7207 of the old Russian calendar, Peter proclaimed that the
Julian Calendar was in effect and the year was 1700.

1460 | The Westernization of Russia

Peter the Great by Jean-Marc Nattier, 1717.

The Westernization of Russia | 1461

Administrative Reforms

One of Peter’s major goals was reducing the influence of the boyars,
who stressed Slavic supremacy and opposed European influence.
While their clout had declined since the reign of Ivan the Terrible,
the Boyar Duma, an advisory council to the tsar, still wielded
considerable political power. Peter saw them as backwards and as
obstacles standing in the way of Europeanization and reform. He
specifically targeted boyars with numerous taxes and obligatory
services.
Prior to Peter’s rule, Russia’s administrative system was relatively
antiquated compared to that of many Western European nations.
The state was divided into uyezds, which mostly consisted of cities
and their immediate surrounding areas. In 1708, Peter abolished
these old national subdivisions and established in their place eight
governorates. In 1711, a new state body was established: the
Governing Senate. All its members were appointed by the tsar from
among his own associates, and it originally consisted of ten people.
All appointments and resignations of senators occurred by personal
imperial decrees. The senate did not interrupt the activity and was
the permanent operating state body.Another decree in 1713
established Landrats (from the German word for “national council”)
in each of the governorates, staffed by between eight and twelve
professional civil servants, who assisted a royally-appointed
governor. In 1719, after the establishment of government
departments known as the Collegia, Peter remade Russia’s
administrative divisions once more. The new provinces were
modeled on the Swedish system, in which larger, more politically
important areas received more political autonomy, while smaller,
more rural areas were controlled more directly by the state.
Peter’s distrust of the elitist and anti-reformist boyars culminated
in 1722 with the creation of the Table of Ranks—a formal list of
ranks in the Russian military, government, and royal court. The
Table of Ranks established a complex system of titles and honorifics,

1462 | The Westernization of Russia

each classed with a number denoting a specific level of service or
loyalty to the tsar; this was among the most audacious of Peter’s
reforms. Previously, high-ranking state positions were hereditary,
but with the establishment of the Table of Ranks, anyone, including
a commoner, could work their way up the bureaucratic hierarchy
with sufficient hard work and skill. A new generation of technocrats
soon supplanted the old boyar class and dominated the civil service
in Russia. With minimal modifications, the Table of Ranks remained
in effect until the Russian Revolution of 1917.

A manuscript copy of the 1722 Table of Ranks.

Finance

Peter’s government was constantly in dire need of money, and at

first it responded by monopolizing certain strategic industries, such
as salt, vodka, oak, and tar. Peter also taxed many Russian cultural

The Westernization of Russia | 1463

customs (such as bathing, fishing, beekeeping, or wearing beards)
and issued tax stamps for paper goods. However, with each new tax
came new loopholes and new ways to avoid them, and so it became
clear that tax reform was simply not enough.
The solution was a sweeping new poll tax, which replaced a
household tax on cultivated land. Previously, peasants had skirted
the tax by combining several households into one estate. Now, each
peasant was assessed individually for a tax paid in cash. This new tax
was significantly heavier than the taxes it replaced, and it enabled
the Russian state to expand its treasury almost sixfold between
1680 and 1724. Peter also pursued proto-protectionist trade policies,
placing heavy tariffs on imports and trade to maintain a favorable
environment for Russian-made goods.

Subjugation of the Working Masses

Peter’s reign deepened the subjugation of serfs to the will of

landowners. He firmly enforced class divisions and his tax code
significantly expanded the number of taxable workers, shifting an
even heavier burden onto the shoulders of the working class. A
handful of Peter’s reforms reflected a limited understanding of
certain Enlightenment ideals. For example, he created a new class
of serfs, known as state peasants, who had broader rights than
ordinary serfs but still paid dues to the state. He also created state-
sanctioned handicraft shops in large cities, inspired by similar shops
he had observed in the Netherlands, to provide products for the
army. Evidence suggests that Peter’s advisers recommended the
abolition of serfdom and the creation of a form of “limited freedom,”
but the gap between slaves and serfs shrank considerably under
Peter. By the end of his reign the two were basically
indistinguishable.

1464 | The Westernization of Russia

Outcomes

Peter’s reforms set him apart from the tsars that preceded him.
In Muscovite Russia, the state’s functions were limited mostly to
military defense, collection of taxes, and enforcement of class
divisions. In contrast, legislation under Peter’s rule covered every
aspect of life in Russia with exhaustive detail, and it significantly
affected the everyday lives of nearly every Russian citizen. The
success of reform contributed greatly to Russia’s military successes
and the increase in revenue and productivity. More importantly,
Peter created a state that further legitimized and strengthened
authoritarian rule in Russia. Testaments to this lasting influence are
the many public institutions in the Soviet Union and the Russian
Federation, which trace their origins back to Peter’s rule.

Sources

The Westernization of Russia | 1465

199. Peter's Foreign Policy

Learning Objective

• Analyze Peter’s foreign policy goals and the extent

to which he achieved them

Key Points

• To improve his nation’s position on the seas, Peter

the Great sought to gain more maritime outlets. The
goal of making Russia a maritime power shaped
Peter’s foreign policy.
• Peter’s first military efforts were directed against
the Ottoman Turks. While his efforts to gain access to
the Azov Sea eventually failed, his alliance with the
Ottoman Empire against Persia allowed him to access
the Caspian Sea.
• Peter’s rule was dominated by the Great Northern
War, in which he and his allies successfully challenged
the dominance of Sweden in the Baltic region. As a
result of this war, Russia gained vast Baltic territories
and became one of the greatest powers in Europe.
• While during Peter’s reign Russia did not formally
wage wars with Poland-Lithuania, Peter made the

1466 | Peter's Foreign Policy

 most of the internal chaos and power struggles in the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He secured
formerly Polish-Lithuanian territories in Ukraine and
had an impact on internal politics in the
Commonwealth.
• Peter’s foreign policy turned the Tsardom into the
Russian Empire and left Russia one of the most
powerful states in Europe and a major player in global
politics.

Terms

Treaty of Thorn

A treaty concluded in 1709 between Augustus the

Strong of Poland–Lithuania and Peter the Great of Russia
during the Great Northern War. The parties revived their
alliance, which Charles XII of Sweden had destroyed in the
Treaty of Altranstädt (1706), and agreed on restoring the
Polish crown to Augustus.

Great Northern War

A 1700–1721 conflict in which a coalition led by the

Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of

Peter's Foreign Policy | 1467

 the Swedish Empire in Central, Northern, and Eastern
Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance
were Peter the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of
Denmark–Norway, and Augustus II the Strong of
Saxony–Poland.

Treaty of Nystad

The last peace treaty of the Great Northern War of

1700–1721. It was concluded between the Tsardom of
Russia and the Swedish Empire in 1721 in the then-Swedish
town of Nystad. It shifted the balance of power in the Baltic
region from Sweden to Russia.

Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686

A treaty between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish-

Lithuanian Commonwealth signed in 1686 in Moscow. The
treaty secured Russia’s possession of left-bank Ukraine plus
the right-bank city of Kiev. The region of Zaporizhian Sich,
Siverian lands, cities of Chernihiv, Starodub, Smolensk, and
its outskirts were also ceded to Russia, while Poland
retained right-bank Ukraine.

Introduction

Peter the Great became tsar in 1682 upon the death of his elder

1468 | Peter's Foreign Policy

brother Feodor, but did not become the actual ruler until 1689. He
commenced reforming the country, attempting to turn the Russian
Tsardom into a modernized empire relying on trade and on a strong,
professional army and navy. Heavily influenced by his advisers from
Western Europe, he reorganized the Russian army along modern
lines and dreamed of making Russia a maritime power. To improve
his nation’s position on the seas, Peter sought to gain more maritime
outlets. His only outlet at the time was the White Sea at
Arkhangelsk. The Baltic Sea was controlled by Sweden in the north,
while the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea were controlled by the
Ottoman Empire and Safavid Empire respectively in the south.

Peter the Great and the Ottoman Empire

Peter’s first military efforts were directed against the Ottoman

Turks. After the Turkish failure to take Vienna in 1683, Russia joined
Austria, Poland, and Venice in the Holy League (1684) to drive the
Turks southward. Russia and Poland signed the Eternal Peace Treaty
of 1686, in which Poland–Lithuania agreed to recognize the Russian
incorporation of Kiev and the left-bank of the Ukraine. The
Russo–Turkish War of 1686–1700 followed as part of the joint
European effort to confront the Ottoman Empire (the larger
European conflict was known as the Great Turkish War). During the
war, the Russian army organized the Crimean campaigns of 1687 and
1689, which ended in Russian defeats. Despite these setbacks, Russia
launched the Azov campaigns in 1695 and 1696 and successfully
occupied Azov (northern extension of the Black Sea) in 1696.
However, the gains did not last long. The Russo–Ottoman War of
1710–1711, also known as the Pruth River Campaign, erupted as a
consequence of the defeat of Sweden by the Russian Empire in the
Battle of Poltava (1709) during the ongoing Great Northern War. The
conflict was ended by the 1711 Treaty of the Pruth, which stipulated

Peter's Foreign Policy | 1469

that Russia return Azov to the Ottomans, and the Russian Azov fleet
was destroyed.

Capture of Azov by Russian emperor Peter the Great (on horseback) by

Adriaan van Schoonebeek, (1699). While Peter successfully occupied Azov in
1696, the gains did not last long. The Russo-Ottoman War of 1710–1711 was
ended by the 1711 Treaty of the Pruth, which stipulated that Russia return Azov
to the Ottomans.

However, Peter managed to gain access to the Caspian Sea. In the

Russo–Persian War (1722–1723), Russia had managed to conquer
swaths of Safavid Irans territories in the North Caucasus,
Transcaucasia, and northern mainland Iran, while the Ottoman
Turks had invaded and conquered all Iranian territories in the west.
The two governments eventually signed a 1724 treaty in
Constantinople, dividing a large portion of Iran between them. The
annexed Iranian lands located on the east of the conjunction of the
rivers Kurosh (Kur) and Aras were given to the Russians, while the
lands on the west went to the Ottomans.

1470 | Peter's Foreign Policy

Great Northern War

Between the years of 1560 and 1658, Sweden created a Baltic empire
centered on the Gulf of Finland. Peter the Great wanted to re-
establish a Baltic presence by regaining access to the territories
that Russia had lost to Sweden in the first decades of the 17th
century. In the late 1690s, the adventurer Johann Patkul managed
to ally Russia with Denmark and Saxony by the secret Treaty of
Preobrazhenskoye. As Augustus II the Strong, elector of
Saxony, gained the Polish crown in 1696, the Polish–Lithuanian
Commonwealth, at conflict with Sweden since the mid-17th century,
automatically became a member of the alliance.
In 1700, Peter, supported by his allies, declared war on Sweden,
which was at the time led by eighteen-year-old King Charles XII.
A threefold attack at Swedish Holstein-Gottorp, Swedish Livonia,
and Swedish Ingria did not overwhelm the inexperienced Charles
XII. Sweden parried the Danish and Russian attacks at Travendal
and Narva, and in a counter-offensive pushed Augustus II’s forces
through the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to Saxony,
dethroning Augustus on the way and forcing him to acknowledge
defeat in the Treaty of Altranstädt (Augustus was restored in 1709).
The treaty also secured the extradition and execution of Patkul,
the architect of the anti-Swedish alliance. Peter I had meanwhile
recovered and gained ground in Sweden’s Baltic provinces. Charles
XII moved from Saxony into Russia to confront Peter, but the
campaign ended with the destruction of the main Swedish army
at the decisive 1709 Battle of Poltava (in present-day Ukraine), and
Charles’s exile in Ottoman Bender. After Poltava, the anti-Swedish
coalition, which by that time had fallen apart twice, was re-
established and subsequently joined by Hanover and Prussia. The
remaining Swedish forces in plague-stricken areas south and east
of the Baltic Sea were evicted, with the last city, Riga, falling in 1710.
Sweden proper was invaded from the west by Denmark–Norway and
from the east by Russia, which had occupied Finland by 1714. The

Peter's Foreign Policy | 1471

Danish forces were defeated. Charles XII opened up a Norwegian
front, but was killed in Fredriksten in 1718.
The war ended with Sweden’s defeat, leaving Russia as the new
dominant power in the Baltic region and a major force in European
politics. The formal conclusion of the war was marked by the
Swedish–Hanoverian and Swedish–Prussian Treaties of
Stockholm (1719), the Dano-Swedish Treaty of Frederiksborg (1720),
and the Russo–Swedish Treaty of Nystad (1721). In all of them,
Sweden ceded some territories to its opponents. In Nystad, King
Frederick I of Sweden formally recognized the transfer of Estonia,
Livonia, Ingria, and Southeast Finland to Russia, while Russia
returned the bulk of Finland to Sweden. As a result, Russia gained
vast Baltic territories and became one of the greatest powers in
Europe.

Signing of the Treaty of Nystad (1721) by Pieter Schenk (II). Nystad manifested
the decisive shift in the European balance of power that the Great Northern
War had brought about: the Swedish imperial era ended and Sweden entered
the Age of Liberty, while Russia emerged as a new empire.

1472 | Peter's Foreign Policy

Polish/Lithuanian–Russian Relations

While during Peter’s reign Russia did not formally wage wars with
Poland–Lithuania, Peter made the most of the internal chaos and
power struggles in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. After
Poltava, the rule of Augustus II was restored thanks to the support
of Peter (Treaty of Thorn) and largely against the will of the
Polish–Lithuanian nobility. Soon Augustus unsuccessfully wanted
to terminate his participation in the Great Northern War and free
himself from his dependence on Peter. Attempts at peace with
Sweden, which would strengthen Augustus’s hand in dealing with
Peter, turned elusive. In the end, Saxony-Commonwealth ended up
as the only power in the victorious coalition with no territorial
gains.
The Polish–Lithuania nobility resisted the Saxon rule and troops
in Poland, which led to military resistance. However, the spreading
movement, unable to fulfill its mission alone, requested mediation
by Peter I. Augustus agreed, and several months of negotiations
facilitated by the Russian ambassador followed, with the fighting
still intermittently taking place. Eventually Augustus asked for an
intervention by Russian forces, the Polish–Lithuanian nobles were
defeated by the Saxons in 1716, and a treaty between the king and
the Polish–Lithuanian nobility was signed in Warsaw. The Tsardom’s
mediation and supervision marked a turning point in the Polish/
Lithuanian–Russian relations.
Augustus was still able to largely free himself from Peter’s
protectorate, but in return was excluded from the Treaty of Nystad
negotiations. Russia took Livonia, a territory that had been
historically contested by Sweden, Russian, and Poland–Lithuania,
and the Commonwealth no longer shared a border with Sweden.
In real terms, Poland, besides Sweden, was the main victim of the
war, because of the damage inflicted on its population, economy,
degree of independence, ability to function politically, and potential
for self-defense.

Peter's Foreign Policy | 1473

Sources

1474 | Peter's Foreign Policy

200. Peter's Domestic Reforms

Learning Objective

• Explain Peter’s domestic reforms and what he

hoped to accomplish with each of them

Key Points

• Peter the Great recognized the weaknesses of the

Russian state and aspired to reform it following
Western European models. Seeing the class of boyars
as obstacles standing in the way of Europeanization
and reform, he introduced comprehensive changes
into a relatively antiquated system of Russian
administration.
• All the administrative reforms, and particularly the
introduction of the Table of Ranks, aimed to weaken
the position of the old boyar class, but they also
moved Russia towards the authoritarian rule, where
power was largely concentrated in the hand of the
head of the state.
• The Orthodox church did not accept Peter’s
reforms, and Peter refused to accept the power of the
patriarch. While the tsar did not abandon Orthodoxy

Peter's Domestic Reforms | 1475

 as the main ideological core of the state, he started a
process of westernization of the clergy and secular
control of the church.
• Peter established Saint Petersburg in 1703. The city
was built on the presumption that it would be the
most westernized city of Russia. He moved the capital
from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712, and the city
became the political and cultural center of Russia.
• While Peter died without naming a successor, his
manipulations led to the death of his only male heir
and the crowning of his second wife, Catherine, the
Empress. Catherine was the first woman to rule
Imperial Russia, opening the legal path for a century
almost entirely dominated by women.

Terms

boyars

Members of the highest rank of the feudal Bulgarian,

Moscovian, Ruthenian (Ukraine and Belarus), Wallachian,
and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling
princes (or tsars), from the 10th century to the 17th century.

1476 | Peter's Domestic Reforms

 Table of Ranks

A formal list of positions and ranks in the military,

government, and court of Imperial Russia. Peter the Great
introduced the system in 1722 while engaged in a struggle
with the existing hereditary nobility, or boyars. It was
formally abolished in 1917 by the newly established
Bolshevik government.

Collegia

Government departments in Imperial Russia established

in 1717 by Peter the Great. The departments were housed in
Saint Petersburg.

Saint Petersburg

Russia’s second-largest city after Moscow and an

important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. Established by
Peter the Great, between 1713–1728 and 1732–1918 it was the
imperial capital of Russia. It remains the most westernized
city of Russia as well as its cultural capital.

Holy Synod

A congregation of Orthodox church leaders in Russia. It

Peter's Domestic Reforms | 1477

 was established by Peter the Great, Stefan Yavorsky, and
Feofan Prokopovich in January 1721 to replace the
Patriarchate of Moscow. It was abolished following the
February Revolution of 1917 and replaced with a restored
patriarchate under Tikhon of Moscow.

Peter’s Reforms of the Russia State

Unlike most of his predecessors, not only did Peter the Great
recognize the weaknesses of the Russian state, which at the time
was greatly influenced by the class of boyars (feudal elites), but also
aspired to reform it following Western European models. Seeing
boyars as obstacles standing in the way of Europeanization and
reform, Peter introduced changes into a relatively antiquated
system of Russian administration. In 1708, he established eight
governorates and in 1711 the Governing Senate. All its members,
originally ten individuals, were appointed by the tsar. The senate
did not interrupt the activity and was the permanent operating
state body. In 1713, Landrats (from the German word for “national
council”) were created in each of the governorates. They were
staffed by professional civil servants, who assisted a royally-
appointed governor. In 1719, after the establishment of government
departments known as the Collegia, Peter remade Russia’s
administrative divisions once more. The new provinces were
modeled on the Swedish system, in which larger, more politically
important areas received more political autonomy, while smaller,
more rural areas were controlled more directly by the state.
Peter’s distrust of the elitist and anti-reformist boyars culminated
in 1722 with the creation of the Table of Ranks, a formal list of ranks
in the Russian military, government, and royal court. The Table of

1478 | Peter's Domestic Reforms

Ranks established a complex system of titles and honorifics, each
classed with a number denoting a specific level of service or loyalty
to the tsar. Previously, high-ranking state positions were hereditary,
but with the establishment of the Table of Ranks, anyone, including
a commoner, could work their way up the bureaucratic hierarchy
with sufficient hard work and skill. While all these administrative
reforms aimed to weaken the position of the old boyar class, they
also moved Russia towards authoritarian rule, where power was
largely concentrated in the hand of the head of the state.

Church Reforms

The Russian tsars traditionally exerted some influence on church

operations. However, until Peter’s reforms, the church had been
relatively free in its internal governance. Peter lost the support of
the Russian clergy over his modernizing reforms as local hierarchs
became very suspicious of his friendship with foreigners and his
alleged Protestant propensities. The tsar did not abandon
Orthodoxy as the main ideological core of the state, but attempted
to start a process of westernization of the clergy, relying on those
with a Western theological education. Simultaneously, Peter
remained faithful to the canons of the Eastern Orthodox church.
Inviting Ukrainian and Belorussian clergymen, mostly graduates of
the highly acclaimed westernized Kiev-Mohyla Academy,
unintentionally led to the “Ukrainization” of the Russian church,
and by the middle of the 18th century the majority of the Russian
Orthodox church was headed by people from Ukraine.
The traditional leader of the church was the Patriarch of Moscow.
In 1700, when the office fell vacant, Peter refused to name a
replacement and created the position of the custodian of the
patriarchal throne, which he controlled by appointing his own
candidates. He could not tolerate the thought that a patriarch could
have power superior to the tsar, as indeed had happened in the case

Peter's Domestic Reforms | 1479

of Philaret (1619–1633) and Nikon (1652–1666). In 1721, he established
the Holy Synod (originally the Ecclesiastical College), which
replaced patriarchy altogether. It was administered by a lay director,
or Ober-Procurator. The Synod changed in composition over time,
but basically it remained a committee of churchmen headed by
a lay appointee of the emperor. Furthermore, a new ecclesiastic
educational system was begun under Peter. It aimed to improve the
usually very poor education of local priests and monks. However,
the curriculum was so westernized (emphasis on Latin language and
subjects for the price of limited exposure to Greek, the Eastern
Church Fathers, and Russian and Slavonic church languages) that
monks and priests, while being formally educated, received poor
training in preparation for a ministry to a Russian-speaking
population steeped in the traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy.

Saint Petersburg

In 1703, during the Great Northern War, Peter the Great established
the Peter and Paul fortress on small Hare Island, by the north bank
of the Neva River. The fortress was the first brick and stone building
of the new projected capital city of Russia and the original citadel of
what would eventually be Saint Petersburg. The city was built by
conscripted peasants from all over Russia, and tens of thousands of
serfs died building it. Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint
Petersburg in 1712, but referred to Saint Petersburg as the capital (or
seat of government) as early as 1704. Western European architects,
most notably Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini and French Jean-
Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond, shaped the city in the initial stages
of its construction. Such buildings as the Menshikov Palace,
Kunstkamera, Peter and Paul Cathedral, and Twelve Collegia
became prominent architectural landmarks. In 1724, Peter also
established the Academy of Sciences, the University, and the

1480 | Peter's Domestic Reforms

Academic Gymnasium. Saint Petersburg is still the most
Westernized city in and the cultural capital of Russia.

Collage of pictures from Saint Petersburg. Clockwise from top left: Peter and
Paul Fortress on Zayachy Island, Smolny Cathedral, Bronze Horseman on
Senate Square, the Winter Palace, Trinity Cathedral, and the Moyka river
with the General Staff Building.

Peter's Domestic Reforms | 1481

Succession

Peter had two wives, with whom he had fourteen children, but only
three survived to adulthood. Upon his return from his European
tour in 1698, he sought to end his unhappy arranged marriage to
Eudoxia Lopukhina. He divorced the tsaritsa and forced her into
joining a convent. Only one child from the marriage, Tsarevich
Alexei, survived past his childhood. In 1712, Peter formally married
his long-time mistress, Martha Skavronskaya, who upon her
conversion to the Russian Orthodox church took the name
Catherine.
Peter suspected his eldest child and heir, Alexei, of being involved
in a plot to overthrow the emperor. Alexei was tried and confessed
under torture during questioning conducted by a secular court. He
was convicted and sentenced to be executed. The sentence could be
carried out only with Peter’s signed authorization, but Alexei died in
prison, as Peter hesitated before making the decision. In 1724, Peter
had his second wife, Catherine, crowned as empress, although he
remained Russia’s actual ruler. He died a year later without naming a
successor. As Catherine represented the interests of the “new men,”
commoners who had been brought to positions of great power by
Peter based on competence, a successful coup was arranged by her
supporters in order to prevent the old elites from controlling the
laws of succession.
Catherine was the first woman to rule Imperial Russia (as empress),
opening the legal path for a century almost entirely dominated by
women, including her daughter Elizabeth and granddaughter-in-
law Catherine the Great, all of whom continued Peter the Great’s
policies in modernizing Russia.

1482 | Peter's Domestic Reforms

Catherine I of Russia by Jean-Marc Nattier (1716). Catherine, Peter’s second
wife, was the first woman to rule Imperial Russia (as empress), opening the
legal path for a century almost entirely dominated by women.

Sources

Peter's Domestic Reforms | 1483

PART XIII
COURSE INFORMATION
Click on this folder to find all the information you need for the class.
You will find the syllabus as well as detailed instructions on how to
do Short Essays, Discussion Forums, and Quizzes.
All the information listed under Short Essays, Discussion Forums,
and Quizzes is also found in the printable syllabus.
This is a fully online course and should be fully accessible on any
web browser

Course Information | 1485

201. Welcome
Hello, and welcome to the History of Western Civ I online for the
Fall semster 2017! I am Dr. John McLean, and I am the instructor for
this course. Here, in the Course Information section, you will find
all the information you need to know about the class. Please read
through all the links.
In the Learning Modules menu, below Course Information, you
will see the learning Modules listed. There are 11 modules in total
and each one is about 10 days long. Pay attention to the deadlines
for each module! For each module you will have to read one chapter
of the online textbook. All the readings for this class are free and
available online in each module. You do not need to buy a textbook
or any other books for the class!
For each module you will have a number of assignments to do.
First, you will have a discussion forum. This discussion forum will
be based sometimes on the textbook readings for that module and
sometimes on a separate reading also posted in the module. The
instructions for each discussion forum will make it clear what
reading you should base your discussion posts on. Then, you will
have to write a 500 word essay based on the textbook reading for
the module. Finally, you have to complete a 20 question multiple-
choice quiz based on the textbook reading for the module. Please
note that there is a lot more information and detailed instructions
for these assignments in the syllabus, so make sure you read that
through.
All the work for each module is due by 11:55pm on the due date. So, all the
work for Module #1 (which you can start immediately) will be due by 11:55pm on
Wed. Sept. 6th. At this time the Module will close. I will accept late essays with a
25 point (out of 100) deduction, but I will not accept late discussion responses or
quizzes. However, note that all the learning modules are open right away and you
can complete the work as early as you want.
This is a just quick overview of the assignments you will be doing in every

Welcome | 1487
module- for more detailed instructions on these assignments, please download
and read the syllabus thoroughly. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to
contact me using the communicate tab in angel. Thanks, and good luck!

1488 | Welcome
PART XXIII
MODULE #10: THE
RENAISSANCE

Module #10: The Renaissance | 1489

202. Module Overview
Module 10 contains the following content – all original by author or
contained in the Lumen textbook.
Textbook Reading – Chapter 10
Discussion Forum:
This discussion will be based on the textbook reading for the
chapter. For your initial post in this discussion please answer the
following questions: “Of all the Renaissance writers discussed in
the textbook reading for this module, who do you think had the
greatest impact on history up to the present day? Are the works
of any of the writers discussed still relevant today? If so which
works, and in what way?”
Initial posts must be at least 200 words in length and have at least
one quote from the textbook.
After posting your initial post you are required to reply to at least
one other student. Replies must be at least 100 words in length and
have at least one new quote from the textbook (not a quote you
used in your initial post and not a quote that is in the post you are
replying to).
All posts must be made by the deadline for the discussion forum
to receive full credit.
Short Essay:
Submit your short essay for Module #10 here. The question for
this essay is: “What were the main causes of the Renaissance, and
what facets of the Renaissance (art, literature, science, etc) do you
think were most influential for the development of Europe?”
This essay must be at least 500 words in length and have at least
one quote from the textbook to receive full credit.
Quiz: Some questions are from the Boundless text, some are
original. The course Map links to the quiz.

Module Overview | 1491

PART XXVI
RESEARCH PAPER
ASSIGNMENT

Research paper assignment | 1493

203. Research Paper
instructions
For History of Early Western Civilizations, you will be required to
do a 1500 word research paper. For this paper you will choose one
of the civilizations we discuss in class and write about the defining
features of that civilization. You can choose from the following
civilizations:

1. Ancient Mesopotamia (5500 BC – 1000 BC)

2. Ancient Egypt (3100 BC – 672 BC)
3. The Assyrian Empire (Neo-Assyrian Empire- 911-612 BC)
4. Classical Athens (480-323 BC)
5. Classical Sparta (480-323 BC)
6. The Roman Republic (509 BC – 49 BC)

You must cover at least three of the following topics for the
Civilization you choose:
–Social Structure (class system, gap between the rich and poor,
are there slaves?)
–Government system (Monarchy, Oligarchy, Democracy? How
does the government work?)
–Resources and environment (How does the civilization produce
its food, and what other major resources do they have? How does
the geographic location in which they are located affect the
civilization?)
–Role of women in the society. (How are women treated and how
are they looked upon in the civilization?)
–Religion (What are the religious beliefs of the Civilization?)
–Military (Does the civilization participate in lots of warfare?
What kind of armies do they have?)

Research Paper instructions | 1495

 –Arts and literature (How would you characterize the art and
creative literature produced by the civilization?)
You must cover at least 3 of these topics but you can cover more
if you wish.
Sources
For the civilization you choose, your textbook readings can be
background information for your paper, but since this is a research
paper, you must find and use at least 3 sources from an academic
library. These can be books or e-books from the library, or articles
from online library databases. Please use these databases to find at
least 3 sources. If you want to use more sources than this, that’s fine,
but you have to have at least these three.
In the final paper I will be looking for lots of quotes from your
sources that illustrate the three topics you are writing on. A good
rule of thumb is you should have at least 3 quotes from 3 separate
sources (so at least 9 in total) if you want to get an A on this paper.
The final paper must be at least 1500 words long. The paper
can be longer, but shorter papers will be penalized. I will read and
briefly comment on rough drafts if you email them to me.
Papers will be graded based on the following criteria: First, there
should be an introductory paragraph where you briefly talk about
the civilization you picked and the topics you plan to cover. Second,
in the body of the paper, you should have at least a paragraph
on each topic you picked, ie. Military, Resources, etc. In these
paragraphs you should have a lot of quotes from your sources with
citations showing where the quotes came from. Finally, you should
have a conclusion were you sum everything up. I will take off if
there are many grammar and spelling errors; you also need to have
a works cited page at the end where you list all the sources you
used.

1496 | Research Paper instructions