Europe’s revival was made better because of farming. From about 800 to 1200 a warmer climate helped farmers to expand food supply. For many of years oxen were used to plow the land. They were easy to keep, but they moved to slow. Horse would need more, but they could plow twice as much as a team of oxen. The harness use during the early Middle Ages strangled the horse because it was placed around the neck. Later, farmers made a harness to go around the horse’s chest. During this period the two-field system was used to plow. Later on the three-field system was used. This system caused an increase population because there was enough food.

Trade and finance increased as a result of a great increase in population growth. By the1000’s, artisans and craftsmen were manufacturing goods for local and long- distance trade. The routes spread across Europe from Flanders to Italy. Italian merchant ships traveled the Mediterranean to ports in Byzantium such as Constantinople. Most trade took place in towns. Cloth was the most common trade item. The medieval world of fairs and guilds created a need for large amounts of cash. Before a merchant could make a profit selling his goods at a fair, he had to purchase goods from a distant place, which usually meant that he had to borrow money. Problem was the Church forbade Christians from lending money at interest, a sin usually called usury. Many of Europe’s Jews lived in the g rowing towns and were moneylenders. In this largely Christian world, Jews were kept on the fringes of society. They had to live in segregated parts of towns named ghettos. Over time, the Church relaxed its rule on usury. Banking became an important business, especially in Italy.

Many Englishman came to Europe and gradually changed English culture. Alfred the Great turned back the Vikings in the 800s. The successors and him united the kingdom and called it England—" land of the Angles". In 1016, King Canute conquered England. He brought Anglo-Saxons and Vikings into one. In 1042, King Edward the Confessor took the throne. After

Edward died a struggle for the throne erupted. The invader was known as William the Conquer. The Norman was descended from the Vikings, but they had French language and culture. The Battle of Hastings changed a course of English history. After Harold was killed the Norman won a decisive victory. William laid the foundation for centralization government.

Henry was succeeded first by his son Richard the Lion- Hearted, hero of the Third Crusade. When Richard died, his younger brother John took the throne. Some of John’s problems stemmed form his own character. He was mean to his subjects and tried to squeeze money out of them. He raised taxes to an all- time high to finance wars. On June 15, 1215, they forced John to agree to most celebrated document in English history, the Magna Carta (Great Charter). This document, drawn up by English nobles and reluctantly approved by King John, guaranteed certain basic political rights. The Magna Carta guaranteed what are now considered basic legal rights both in England and in the United States.

#11 The Bubonic Plague Plague Strikes

One-third of the population of Europe died of the Bubonic plague.

The plague began in Asia and was passed on by the trade lanes. Then it reached Europe. In 1347 a fleet of Genoese carried a disease called Black Death. The disease spread to Italy, France, Germany, England, and other parts of Europe by trade routes. The bubonic plague took four years to spread all over Europe. Population declined, trades decline and prices rose. It caused peasants revolt in England, France, Italy, and Belgium. The society of the Middle ages was collapsing.

12. The Hundred Years War

When the last Capetian king died without a successor, England’s Edward III claimed the right to the French throne as grandson Philip IV. The war that Edward III launched for that throne continued on off from 1337 to 1453. It became known as the Hundred Year’s War and added to the century’s miseries. The war was a seesaw affair, fought on French soil. Victory passed back and forth between the two countries. Finally, between 1421 and 1453, the French rallied and drove the English out of France entirely, except for the port city of Calais.