Jotham Kim Crusader Essay 9-3
Word Count:1,452 In ancient Europe, around the 11th century, there were three major kingdoms/empires. The three major kingdoms/empires were the Catholic kingdom, the Byzantine Empire, and the Islamic Caliphates. The Catholic kingdom was located in Western Europe. In the Catholic kingdom, religion was very important and organized. First, their religion was the Catholic Christianity, and in the church hierarchy, there were different classes. The highest class was the pope, the second was the bishops, and lastly was the priests. Basically, the pope was considered to be the ruler of the Christian world (Ellis 193). Just how the Catholic religion was organized, so was the feudal system in Western Europe. The feudal systems contained social hierarchy, and the highest class was the king. After the king, the next powerful class was the lords, knights, and then finally the vassals (peasants and serfs)(Ellis 188). Although the conditions of the king’s and lords’ environments were luxuries, the vassals’ environment was really poor. They had to live in a manor, with less food, and hard labor (Ellis 190). The most beneficial advantage for the vassals was to live near the river (Class notes December 17, 2013). The reason is because they can catch fish at sometimes, and have additional food than others. Most of the vassals were serfs (slaves that were bound to the land, and can be sold and bought). Other vassals were peasants (people with rights that got paid for their work) (Ellis 189). This was basically the overall image of Western Europe, before the Crusades. Like the Catholic Kingdoms, the Byzantine Empire had its own history. In around 330, the Byzantium Empire started when the Roman emperor of Constantine, rebuilt the Greek city of Byzantium, and named the city Constantinople (Ellis 234). As time passed, the Roman Empire became the