What Is Bartletts definition of Latin Europe and Frankish Europe - Assignment Example

Robert Bartlett is a British historian of medieval Europe who teaches at the of St. Andrews in Scotland. His book, The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization, and Cultural Change, 950-1350, won the prestigious Wolfson Prize for history in 1993. One of Bartlett’s enduring intellectual achievements in the field of history has been his definition and explanation of ‘medieval colonialism’, the theme for this week’s lectures. In the particular excerpt from Bartlett’s book that I have assigned to you, Bartlett argues for the importance of colonization as a key theme in the High Middle Ages and provides an outline sketch of the expansion of the Roman Catholic Church.

Likely trained as a Priest himself, Fulcher of Chartres (c. 1059 - ?) was one of the earliest historians of the First Crusade (1095-1099), a military expedition undertaken by European Christians to regain the ‘Holy Lands’ and recapture Jerusalem. In the particular excerpt from Fulcher’s chronicle that I have assigned to you, Fulcher recounts Pope Urban II’s (1088-1099) speech at the Council of Clermont. This speech is thought to have launched the First Crusade.Vocabulary helps: incumbent (someone currently holding an official position); diocese (bishopric or area under the authority of a particular bishop); patriarch (a leading bishop in the Orthodox Church of the Byzantine Empire); ecclesiastical (of or referring to the church); patriarchate (area under the authority of a particular patriarch); cathedral chapter (body of clergymen formed to advise a bishop or, in his absence, govern the particular area under his authority); cultic (of or pertaining to worshipQuestions:The ‘Latins’ were also referred to as ‘Franks’.

In the initial half of the ninth century, the Christian West and the Frankish Empire shared the same boundary. Frankish Europe as per Bartlett’s definition is the land of Carolingians. This was the center of the West. Some parts of England, Northern Italy, France, and West Germany were also included. During the High Middle Ages, this part of the Empire may be regarded as central. The religion was Christianity and the Frankish Christians developed technologies and social communities to help them expand.

(Bartlett, 20)First Crusade (1095-1099) was a military voyage commenced by European Christians to recuperate the ‘Holy Lands’ and bring back Jerusalem. Pope Urban II told the followers who were prepared to die that they need to be faithful and honest in order to be duly rewarded by God. They were the salt of the earth and if God found any sins in them they would dump them among the dirty things and condemn them. An individual needs to be pure, wise and modest with an inclination towards peace in order to teach the same to others.

In order to be God’s friends, they need to act in order to please Him. The Turks and Arabs occupied the lands of the Christians and hence he pleaded with people of all status to recover the land from their grip. He presented this as the command of Christ. (Fulcher of Chartres)