1. Economic Expansion
   Europe sustained great economic and demographic expansion in the High Middle Ages.
   1. The Growing Population
      To support a dramatically larger population, Europeans varied their crops and brought more land under cultivation.
   2. Technological Gains
      Innovations in farming techniques, transportation, and mining technology supported great economic growth.
   3. Forms of Enterprise
      Local trade allowed farmers and workers to specialize, then buy and sell a variety of goods. Long distance trade in commodities such as wool, French wines, citrus fruits, and warhorses expanded.
   4. The Roles of Cities and Towns
      Growing in size and importance, cities and towns became centers for governmental, educational, ecclesiastical, and economic activities, the latter dominated by the guilds.
   5. Commercial Growth and Innovation
      Nautical improvements allowed more direct seaborne trade to supplant traditional overland trade routes and trade fairs.
   6. Changing Economic Attitudes
      Ethics and economics collided in debates over a "just price" and prohibitions against charging interest on loans.
2. The Heirs of the Carolingian Empire: Germany, Italy, and France
   The states that evolved out of the Carolingian empire faced common challenges of territorial integrity, complicated political relations, and new ideas about the state.
   1. Germany and the Empire, 911-1272
      Short-lived dynasties, independent, powerful dukes, and popes committed to freeing clergy from secular control frustrated kings trying to consolidate power in Germany.
   2. The Varying Fortunes of Italy
      Independent communes came to dominate northern Italy; the papacy dominated central Italy; southern Italy, from Normans in the 1040s on, was dominated by outsiders.
   3. Capetian France, 987-1314
      Building on dynastic longevity, the Capetian monarchs patiently consolidated their power, at the expense of English kings, Albigensian heretics, and French territorial princes.
3. The British Isles
   Norman conquerors built on the legacy of Anglo-Saxon kings to produce an English kingship that was effective, powerful, and threatening to the Celtic realms.
   1. England: Wars and Families, 871-1307
      Anglo-Saxon kings survived Viking invasions before falling to William of Normandy, whose descendants ruled both England and vast territories in France until the reign of King John.
   2. The Government of England
      Anglo-Saxon institutions, feudalism, and Henry II's legal reforms combined to produce a very powerful kingship that led to clashes with the barons and the church.
   3. The Celtic Realms
      The Celtic regions that evolved into the kingdoms of Wales, Ireland, and Scotland had their development disrupted by conflict with the English.
4. The Growth of New States
   Around the frontiers of the old Carolingian Empire, new states emerged, seeking ties with their established Christian neighbors.
   1. Reconquista and Kingdom Building in Spain
      Spanish Christians launched a crusade against the Muslim-held Iberian Peninsula, resulting in the new kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, and Portugal.
   2. Scandinavia
      Both Christianity and the creation of central governments came rather late to Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.
   3. The Slavic World
      Surrounded by powerful rivals, Slavic states struggled to gain and maintain independence as they accepted Christianity, both Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy.
5. The Crusades, 1095-1291
   Faith, energy, and optimism fueled European Christendom in a campaign to conquer the Holy Land.
   1. The Background: East and West
      A weakened Byzantium appealed for help against the Seljuk Turks to a papacy eager to demonstrate its Christian leadership and advance the ideal of Christian knighthood.
   2. The "Pilgrimage" to Jerusalem
      Pope Urban II's preaching inspired a massive Crusade that climaxed in the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099.
   3. The Later Crusades
      Costly rivalries among Europeans helped Muslims turn the tide against the Crusaders.