Europe - SAT Subject Test in World History

The Crusades negatively affected European society because they led directly to an increased persecution of the Jewish population of most European countries. The idea that young Christians should be dying in religious wars to liberate the Holy Land while the "enemies of Christ" continued to live among Christian societies was abhorrent to many, and pogroms and other massacres and persecutions of Jewish people increased in regularity.

The Third Crusade was waged from 1189 to 1192 and was an important part of the centuries-long attempt by Christian Europe to retake the Holy Land of Jerusalem from the Islamic Kingdoms. The Third Crusade was somewhat successful, although it failed in its main goal of retaking Jerusalem. It is sometimes called the "King's Crusade" because it was led by various kings of Europe, including Richard the Lionheart of England, Phillip II of France, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, and Leopold V of Austria.

The Crusades led directly to all of these consequences except an increase in religious tolerance in Europe. Rather, the Crusades contributed to a growth of religious intolerance (particularly against Jewish people) in Medieval Europe. The Crusades led to a growth of the European middle class because so many landed nobles and aristocrats perished in the efforts to retake the Holy Land; they left a power vacuum that was filled by the middle class, which had grown wealthy from the increase in trade caused by the same endeavor. The authority of the church also increased as Christendom became somewhat united behind one goal. Finally, technological innovation was encouraged in Europe by the returning knights who brought with them ideas and mathematical theories developed in the Islamic world.

On his return from the Holy Land, Richard the Lionheart was captured by his longtime rival Henry VI, the Holy Roman Emperor, in the city of Vienna. He was held for ransom by the Emperor which was eventually paid by an extreme tax on the English people. Richard returned to England briefly before departing to fight a series of wars against the French during one of which he was killed.

Feudalism arose in Europe during the so-called "Dark Ages" in response to the power vacuum left behind by the Roman Empire. The institution was then strengthened in the ninth and tenth centuries after the fall of the Carolingian Empire. The people of Western and Central Europe were being relentlessly invaded and plundered by the Vikings, the Magyars, the people of the Asiatic Steppe, and Muslim Caliphates. Without a strong king to protect them, the people turned to local landowners, who established a system whereby the lords would provide protection in exchange for the common people working their lands. Labor for protection is the underlying tenet of feudalism.

In the feudal system, there were lords (the owners of land and the offerers of protection); vassals (those who fought for the lords in exchange for tracts of land or payment); and serfs (those who worked the land in exchange for protection).

In the feudal system, the land was worked by the serfs, who essentially entered into a state of voluntary slavery in exchange for protection from invasion. The lords offered protection and the vassals were paid to carry out the protection. Of course, only the first generation of serfs "volunteered" for the slavery; later generations were stuck working as effective slaves even once the threat of invasion was lessened, hence the longevity of feudalism in Europe, which in some places lasted for as long as a thousand years.

Feudalism was the prevailing economic and social system throughout much of Europe during the Middle Ages. Under the Feudal System a landowner would grant a "fief" or "fiefdom" to a vassal who in exchange would pledge "fealty" or allegiance to the landowner and agree to fight to defend his lands.

"Villeins" were peasant farmers, or serfs, in Feudalism. They were tied to the land and many of their rights were directly granted and controlled by the nobleman who owned the land. They were distinct from slaves, who had no political rights of their own, and freemen, who were free to leave the land and seek work elsewhere.

The Feudal System was introduced to England following the Norman Conquest in 1066. The Norman Conquest is the name given to the invasion of William the Conqueror, also called William Duke of Normandy, who invaded from modern-day Northern France and defeated the Anglo-Saxon King of England Harold of Wessex.

A "motte-and-bailey" is a type of early Feudal castle. The Feudal System emerged in response to the chaos of the Dark Ages. It relied upon a landowner giving grants of land to knights - in exchange for loyalty and protection of his land. And rights to work given to serfs - in exchange for the assurance of their safety and the ownership of their labor. The system necessarily relied upon defensive fortifications that could protect small communities. A "motte-and-bailey" castle was a type of early castle, where the "motte" was a raised-earth stone or wood castle and the "bailey" was an accompanying enclosed area surrounded by a palisade.

The British Isles were originally held primarily by the Iceni, Gallic, and Celtic people; however, they were conquered by the Roman Empire in 44 BCE. During and after the fall of the Roman Empire, the British Isles were conquered by various Germanic tribes, most notably the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. English people are often called Anglo-Saxon to this day.

The Frankish Kingdom arose in the sixth century in an area that comprises most of modern-day France and the Low Countries. It was built on the conquest of Clovis, who converted to Christianity having won a major battle; however, in Frankish culture, the territory of a ruler is divided between his sons, so the Frankish Kingdom continued to fracture and be reformed through conquest for the next few hundred years.

Charlemagne is the most famous and most successful (in terms of military conquests) of all the Frankish kings. At the height of his empire in the year 800 CE, he controlled all of modern-day France, and much of modern-day Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, and the Low Countries. Because he was a powerful and devout Christian ruler, he was invited to become the first "Emperor of the Romans" in a few hundred years, an invitation he gleefully accepted.

William the Conqueror, also called William Duke of Normandy, is famous for his conquest of England in 1066. He established feudalism in England and is the last invader to successfully conquer the British Isles.

Joan of Arc is often credited with helping turn the tide of the Hundred Years' War between the English and the French. At the time of Joan's arrival on the scene, the English had seemed poised to overwhelm the French monarchy and conquer much of France, but the piety and belief of Joan is said to have inspired the French troops to victory after victory. She was captured by the English and tried for witchcraft, for which she was condemned to death by being burnt at the stake.

Prince Rurik of Scandinavia is a possible mythical figure who is credited with founding the Russian State in the ninth century C.E. and a ruling dynasty that lasted for several hundred years. The Kingdom he founded, Kievan Rus, eventually evolved into the Duchy of Moscow and later into the Russian state and the empire of the Soviet Union.

Eleanor helped govern England and she took on an active role as queen. Although her contemporaries believed that women were delicate (this was part of what fueled chivalry), Eleanor did not shy away from her state responsibilities.

The Venerable Bede was a monk and historian in England in the seventh and eighth centuries. He is most commonly remembered as the author of The Ecclesiastical History of English People (completed circa 730 C.E.), one of the earliest recorded histories of the English civilization.