Important Events of the Middle Ages

The Crusades

Many battles and wars were fought during the middle ages that were referred to as the "Crusades", and these were fought by most of Christian Europe against many of the races and religions in the surrounding areas that had been excommunicated from the Christian Community because of all the religious controversy. The original plan for the Crusades was to take back their Holy Land and Jerusalem that had been taken over by Muslims. It was supported highly by a excess of soldiers that had been recently used to Christianize their new areas in Europe that needed an outlet for their skills. The church encouraged people to fight for their war by telling them things like their sins would be forgotten and after Jerusalem is taken by soldiers who participated would go to heaven after death.



The Murder of Thomas a Becket

Becket was archbishop of Canterbury who gained a bad name with King Henry II. Becket was incorporable with the King and didn't sign a document that would have stopped a war. Becket fled to France where Louis VII offered him protection. Becket began to overuse his powers excommunicating any of his opponents, three of which fled to Normandy where Henry heard of these problems. So when ranting one day Henry gave an apparent order to murder Becket, which was carried out by four knights who first, went into inside the cathedral and talked to Becket first, and when he refused to comply, they slaughtered him in front of a room full of monks reciting vespers.



The Magna Carta

The Magna Carta is a charter that basically told the King that his position does not give him any benefits that are above the law. This was created to protect the subjects of the kings and give them rights to acts like Habeas corpus. During the time it was introduced it didn't prove very helpful but as it has built up over time it has become the basis of many ideas that our Constitution rules today.



The Black Death

The black death was a deadly plague that was around the world during the middle ages and wiped out communities and forced horrible sacrifices and decisions to try to control the spreading epidemic. People who caught the black death, shown by signs of sickness and rashes, would be immediately quarantined and banished or boarded up in their homes which were sometimes burned down to the ground to make sure the disease wouldn't spread anymore. The plague caused a dramatic drop in world population from about 450 million to about 350 million during the times of the plague.