Before We Start Did you know The many wars of the Middle Ages were mainly fought by knights on horseback Knights tried to live by the ideals of chivalry rules of behavior based on fairness courage and honor TIMES OF CHANGE The first knights appeared in Europe in the 700s Knights dominated battlefields from the until 1100s the 1300s By the 1400s the age of the knight was ending Defining the Middle Ages The Middle Ages is the name given to a period that lasted about 1 000 years beginning around the end of the Roman Empire in 476 The early Middle Ages lasted until about 1000 The later Middle Ages which lasted until about 1500 was a time of great migration and nation building Kings built larger kingdoms by taking land from their neighbors forcing defeated peoples to find new land of their own Knights took a leading role in the kings wars of conquest THE SHAPE OF EUROPE Competing empires In medieval times Christians ruled much of Europe The Pope led the Roman Catholic Church He supported the Holy Roman Empire which dominated central and western Europe The Byzantine Empire of present day Turkey and Greece followed Eastern Orthodox Christianity Meanwhile Islamic empires rose in North Africa the Middle East and Spain Christians and Muslims fought over their religions right but also over land and power DESTINATION MIDDLE AGES
THE FEUDAL SYSTEM Structure of society In the 900s and 1000s the feudal system shaped society The king shared land among his lords in return for their support Each lord granted land to vassals In return a vassal agreed to be loyal to the lord and supply him with soldiers By the 1200s many vassals had become knights Peasants or farmers worked the land left for knights in return for being housed supported and protected TOP OF THE PILE Nobles and nights have the power A strict hierarchy existed in the Middle Ages The king and other nobles such as dukes were the most powerful people Peasants had no wealth or power The first knights right did not own land or have high social standing However after the Crusades began at the end of the 1000s knights became more important By the middle of the 1200s only men of noble birth could become knights Knights fought for their lord and king They fought in the Crusades the battles of the Hundred Years War and many other sieges and conflicts CENTERS OF 1 POWER Medieval kings and lords built fortified homes called castles Castles allowed lords to control the land and people around them The lord his family servants and knights lived in the castle Few knights owned castles but many owned and lived in manor houses These knights had land and had peasants who worked for them My home is my castle YOUR GUIDE TO KNIGHTS AND THE AGE OF CHIVALRY
here in the World During the Middle Ages societies around the world had a special group of elite warriors In Europe these warriors were called knights and a code of behavior emerged based on their service to their lords ENGLAND England Some of the most famous medieval knights and rulers came from England They were important in the Hundred Years War with France from 1337 until 1453 EUROPE Bruges FRANCE Tours Poitiers SPAIN Poitiers Eleanor of Aquitaine was born and died in Poitiers She was queen of France and England at different times Eleanor's court was a center of European culture where ideas such as courtly love were popular Courtly love described the way in which a knight fell love in with a lady and performed great deeds in her honor Tours The Knights of the Frankish ruler Charles Martel defeated Islamic invaders at Tours in 732 Charles created the feudal system that later became the basis of society in many parts of Europe G DESTINATION MIDDLE AGES
Baltic States The states of the Baltic were the last part of Europe to become Christian The Teutonic Knights from Germany went to fight there to force the Baltic peoples to convert to Christianity Bruges The last medieval tournament took place at Bruges in 1379 Knights at these gathered meetings to display their fighting skills Tournaments gradually died out as knights on horseback became less effective on the battlefield than new weapons such as guns ISRAEL Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem is holy to Muslims Christians I and Jews Muslim armies seized the city from the Byzantine Empire in 637 In the Crusades that began in 1095 European Christians fought a series of campaigns to try to win the city back New Names This map shows the modern names of countries Most of these States did not exist in the Middle Ages YOUR GUIDE TO KNIGHTS AND THE AGE OF CHIVALRY
