Middle+Ages+Artifacts

Cascassonne Castle is notable because castles indicated great wealth in the Middle Ages. The people that lived in them were often lords and nobles, and had many luxuries that were not available in the lives of the middle class people of this time. The Feudal lords who controlled the castles provided protection for those who worked in the castle (often peasants), in exchange for their service and loyalty. This castle was restored sometime in the 19th century. || This is a photo of Pope Urban II Proposing the first crusade to the Council of Clermont in 1095. Pope Urban II wanted the Council of Clermont to become Christian Knights, so they could aid the Byzantine Empire in their fight against the Turks. This first crusade led to an Economic expansion in the culture of the European people at this time. When crusaders invaded the foreign lands,they adopted the customs and ways of their enemies, which they then brought back home and spread to the places that they lived. Some things the Crusaders brought back with them were fabrics, spices and perfumes. Another way that the crusades changed the society of Europe was that they made the church much more powerful. They spread Christianity far and wide, and they helped the Church become the most powerful leader in society, next to the emperors. || Display.aspx?storyid=1185706&entryid=1004224&issublink=true&fromsearch=false>. || //ABC-CLIO: World History: Ancient and// //Midieval Eras//. Web. 18 Feb. 2010. . || Europe's Population in the mid 1300's. The Bubonic Plague, or Black Death as it was often called, was a horrible disease which symptoms included large boils appearing on the skin, painful swelling of lymph nodes, muscle ache, extreme exhaustion, and the horrible smell of the skin literally rotting off of the victims body. A victim of the Bubonic Plague died within five days of first catching the disease. We know now through scientific research that the plague was caused by a disease carried by the fleas on rats that were all around medieval towns.
 * Carcassonne Castle || Pope Urban III & the First Crusade ||
 * [[image:file:///C:/Users/Michelle/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.png]][[image:Middle_Ages_Castle_Image.jpg width="321" height="219" align="center"]] || [[image:Pope_Urban_&_the_First_Crusade_Image.jpg width="343" height="253" align="center"]] ||
 * This is a photo of The Carcassonne Castle in France. It was built sometime in the 12th century, and withstood many attacks from various armies. The one army that was able to conquer Carcassonne Castle was Simon de Montfort IV in 1209.
 * <http://www.ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Eras/
 * The Black Death ||  ||
 * [[image:The_Black_Death_Image.jpg width="290" height="224" align="center"]] ||  ||
 * This is an image of a doctor tending to a victim of the Bubonic Plague. The Bubonic Plague was a massive epidemic that wiped out almost half of

Because the people of the Middle Ages didn't have the medical technology that we have today, they couldn't figure out why the plague was killing so many people. Many thought the Black Death was punishment from god, so they turned away from Christianity and started practicing witchcraft. Others thought that it was a result of the conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.

Although their efforts were fruitless, many people tried to cure themselves and others that had the Bubonic Plague. They tried moving away from areas of infection, taking medicines, or burning substances like herbs that were believed to purify the air. Because some people also thought that infection was caused by smelling infected air, a common attempted cure was putting sweet-smelling rags up to the victim's nose. This is what is happening in this photo, but the cure did not work. The spread of the Black Death across Europe was devastating. Some towns were hit lightly by the Plague, while others were so infected they had to be completely abandoned. Because of their cleaner lifestyles and more exclusion from other people, the richer people of this time suffered much less than the poor did. Also, many monks and priests were infected by the plague because they often came in contact with those that had it. The Black Death caused great economic change in Europe. Because so many people were dying, there was a great lack of workers. This caused production to drop, which made the prices of everything rise. ||  ||