The Black Death

The Black Death was a catastrophic plague that spread across Europe from 1346 to 1352. The plague occurred in three forms: pneumonic plague attacked the lungs, causing fierce coughing and sneezing fits; septicemia plague traveled in the bloodstream, causing black spots beneath the skin and eventually causing the victim to choke on his or her own blood; and bubonic plague, the most common, first appeared as swellings in the neck, armpits and groin before causing fever and delirium.

The Black Death spread to Europe through trade with the East. The bacteria was carried by fleas, which lived on black rats that accompanied trade caravans across Asia. Ever growing trade facilitated the spread of the disease, as flea-ridden rats jumped ship in each of Europe’s ports.

An important factor in the spread of the Black Death was ignorance surrounding its cause and cure. Frantic Europeans blamed the plague on the alignment of the planets, infected clothing, God’s punishment of sinful humans, and Jews. And the people tried many ineffective remedies.

The Black Death killed one third of Europe’s population, which amounted to nearly 25 million people.

The Black Death affected Europe’s economic and social life. The plague reduced the demand for European goods. Farmers were forced to diversify their crops - producing fruit, meat and dairy products. Fewer workers were available, allowing laborers to demand more freedom and higher wages. Resentment built among the working classes against the nobles. Violent peasant revolts were the result. Working class people improved their situations

The Black Death

1. What was the Black Death?

2. How did the Black Death spread throughout Europe?

3. Why couldn’t people stop the spread of the Black Death?

4. How did the Black Death change life in Europe?

• originated in Mongolia and spread along the Silk Road

• bacteria carried by fleas who lived on black rats

• Italian merchant ships brought rats to Europe along with trade goods.

• first appeared in Sicily and eventually spread

• a deadly plague that spread across Europe from 1346 – 1352

• appeared in three forms:

•Pnuemonic – attacked the lungs

•Septicemic – appeared in the bloodstream

•Bubonic – caused swellings on the body

• People were ignorant about its cause; they blamed the stars, God’s anger and the Jews.

• They tried ineffective cures.

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4• killed one third of the population

• forced farmers to diversify their crops

• peasants revolted and demanded more freedom

• working class moved to the cities to earn better wages

• reduced the power of the feudal lords

Another development that contributed to the decline of feudalism was the Hundred Years’ War. It was the result of a dispute over the French throne between the kings of England and France. When the French monarch, Charles IV, died, he had no sons. His nephew, Philip was handed the throne. The king of England was Edward III. As the grandson of the former French king, he believed he had a more legitimate claim to the throne. He sent a note to Philip renouncing his allegiance as a vassal. This act of claiming the throne began the medieval era’s longest and arguably most influential war.

English armies achieved victories due to innovations and strategy.

The longbow had great range, could be loaded quickly, fired larger arrows that could pierce through armor and its string could be removed or replaced quickly.

They employed cannons which allowed them to blast holes in the heavily fortified walls of a castle.

The English kings took advantage of the fact that a standing army of foot soldiers recruited from the common people and paid to fight was more reliable than an army of semi-independent nobles bound together only by oaths of loyalty.

The Hundred Years War

1. How did the war begin?

2. Who was Joan of Arc and how did she change the course of the war?

3. How did the nature of war change?

4. How did the war contribute to the end of feudalism in France?

• French king Charles IV died with no male heir

• two men attempted to claim the vacant throne

• Edward III of England (son-in-law)

• Philip of Valois (nephew)

• English armies attacked France

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• Young, French peasant woman who was inspired by God

• convinced Charles VII to let her lead an army

• helped push the English armies out of central France

• was captured, accused of heresy and burned at the stake - was sainted in 1922

• Longbows eliminated the advantages of armor.

• Cannons could be used to blast holes in castles.

• Monarchs used armies recruited from the common people.

• People became more patriotic - devoted to king, not feudal lord.

• Kings built huge armies with the taxes they collected, which reduced the power of the nobles.

Medieval trade and manufacturing flourished as Europe renewed contact with the eastern world. Europe’s cities and towns bounced back and resumed steady growth. Luxury goods such as silk, spices, ivory and porcelain were imported from Asia and Africa.

Towns became important centers for shipping and banking. Many developed their own industries so as to have goods to sell to business people who passed through their region, and to sell abroad. The demand for luxury goods in Europe created a need for coined money, because European merchants needed precious metals such as gold and silver to trade with the East.

This gave rise to the most lucrative of all business activities: banking. Bankers exchanged coins from one region for the currency of another. The standard against which all currencies were based was the florin from the city of Florence, Italy. It weighed “72 grains of gold.”

Merchants made up a new class, called the middle class, because they were more important than the commoners but still considered less powerful than the nobles.

The new middle class established itself in northern Europe’s thriving urban centers. Most towns were originally ruled by a feudal lord. Townspeople took measures to limit the power of the feudal lord by forcing him to grant them a charter. A charter outlined the rights of the townspeople - govern the town, pay one yearly tax and the right to form guilds.

Guilds were associations of merchants, and later artisans, that governed towns by establishing wages and prices, maintaining standards of quality on goods they produced, and settling conflicts within a town. They reflected the importance of Christianity in Europe by adopting a patron saint for protection and contributing money toward the building of cathedrals and city walls.

In feudal times power was based birthright and land ownership. Towns gave many people the opportunity to earn a new place in society. In the hierarchy of the middle class, one’s place in society was determined by ability and wealth. The worth of an individual was stressed -leading to a new age that would stress an individual’s freedom over the class he or she was born into.

Trade and Commerce Change own Life

1. Explain how trade and commerce were the foundations of town life.

2. What was town life like in the Middle Ages?

3. What was town life like during the Renaissance?

( Use the following concepts in your comparison: SOCIETY, POWER and STATUS )

• Towns were centers for trade and shipping.

• Luxury goods such as silk, spices, ivory and porcelain could be bought in towns.

• Guilds dominated social and civic life.

• Guilds reflected importance of Christianity in towns:

•contributed to building of cathedrals

•adopted patron saints and sponsored parades in their honor

• Towns were small because society was based on agriculture and most people lived in the countryside.

• Nobles had most of the power.

a . Lords owned the land where most towns were located.

b . Towns needed protection from knights that the lords could provide.

• Status was determined by birth.

• Towns grew because society began to be based on commerce and more people started to live in cities.

• Middle class had most of the power.

•It limited the power of feudal lords by forcing them to grant charters.

•It gained control of great sums of money by organizing banks.

• Status was determined by wealth and ability.

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Changing ideals brought Europe to the brink of a new era, called the Renaissance, a French word meaning “rebirth” that referred to the revival of arts and letters that took place in the cities of northern Italy in the 1300s. Cities in this area ruled their surrounding region and became known as city-states.

City-states were governed by guild members. They made decisions about security, trade, foreign policy and city planning.

Some cities manufactured a product that was sought after in Europe and the East. Milan concentrated on metal goods and armor. Florence raised capital through the cloth industry and became an important banking center. Venice established itself as a trade center by attracting merchants from around Europe to their markets and warehouses, which stocked Asian goods.

Florence was the most influential of all Italian city-states. Merchants created a thriving industry in the wool and textile trade by importing wool from England and Flanders. Artisans dyed and worked the fabric into beautiful woolen cloth. Merchants used profits to purchase luxury items like silk, spices, ivory and porcelain, which in turn were sold across Europe for high profits. Many used their profits to begin banks, and the florin became the most respected currency in Europe.

The most famous Florentine merchant family was the Medici. They grew wealthy selling cloth and other goods, but rose to prominence through banking. The Medici ruled Florence during the Italian Renaissance. Each of the Medici leaders encouraged the development of the arts, becoming important patrons of painters, sculptors, (Michelangelo), architects and scholars.

The Renaissance became a time of renewed interest in the scholarship, art and architecture of classical Greece and Rome.

The Growth of the Italian City-States

1. Why were the Italian city-states so rich and powerful?

2. What was the Renaissance and why did it begin in Italy?

3. How did Florence become the most influential city-state?

• Had strong ties with Byzantine and Muslim merchants

• Each city state specialized in one commercial activity:

•Milan: metal goods and armor

•Florence: banking and textiles

•Venice: goods from Asia

• European monarchs sought loans from merchants

• Maintained a thriving industry in wool and silk trade

• Purchased luxury items from the East and sold them for a large profit

• Sold insurance to sea traders to protect their overseas investments

• Created many banks that made loans or exchanged currencies

• Medici family promoted trade, banking, the arts, scholarship and civic pride

• Renaissance is a French word meaning “rebirth”; refers to a revival in arts and learning

• Period when scholars became interested in ancient Greek and Roman culture

• Italian city-states displayed their wealth by giving financial support to artists who created works with classical themes

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The inspiration that fueled the Renaissance came from the rediscovery of the classical world of ancient Rome and Greece. Scholars visited Italy to maintain ties that had been established after crusading Europeans made contact with the Mediterranean world. They studied Greek to access information that had been “lost”to western perspective for centuries. The most important was a work on education by a Roman scholar named Quintilian. He argued that the goal of education was not simply learning, but the creation of a well-rounded, moral citizen who would use education to make society a just and better place.

Knowledge of the ancients combined to produce a new type of scholar called a humanist.

The first great humanist was Petrarch, who was born in Florence in 1304. Petrarch’s great love was the discovery of ancient texts, works forgotten during the Middle Ages. He copied their style in his writings. These became masterpieces of the new spirit of the renaissance.

In the early 1400s, the Florentine sculptor Donatello began creating statues that copied the Roman ideal of the human body. Likewise, the architect Brunelleschi designed buildings, like Florence’s cathedral, after studying ruins in Rome.

Artists, scholars and architects challenged traditional thought and style. This led to innovations that spread across Europe in the following centuries.

The people of the Renaissance gained an intense appreciation of the individual, believing that each person could achieve great things. Renaissance Italians valued public service and believed that a liberal arts education allowed human beings to lead rewarding lives.

Becoming wealthy, famous or knowledgeable gained new appeal. This was the “Age of Gold” for Florence, with the belief in the importance of individual achievement and ability and an emphasis on human beings in the world in which they lived, rather than the medieval focus on the afterlife.

The Spirit of the Renaissance

1. Why did people become interested in ancient culture?

2. What was humanitarianism?

3. Explain the fascination with classical culture.

4. Explain the belief in human potential.

• Knoeledge of ancient Greece and Rome was rediscovered by scholars

• Crusades made Europeans eager to learn about the world around them1

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• Humanists devoted themselves to studying ancient writings

• They tried to learn about many subjects such as Latin, Greek, history and mathematics

• Petrarch, from Florence, was the first great humanist

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• Artists used ancients art as models

• Donatello created statues that copied the Roman ideal of the human body

• Brunelleschi designed buildings after studying ruins in Rome

• revolutionary innovations were made

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• Believed each person could achieve great things

• Claimed that people educated in the classics could create a better world

• Emphasized human achieve,ment on earth, rather than the afterlife

EVALUATION

After reviewing your notes, and re-reading the the information presented on the slideshow, complete any 3 of the following tasks:

1. Read the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin. Do you think he was justified in his actions?

2. To represent English and French perspectives on Joan of Arc, create a WANTED POSTER and COMMEMORATIVE PLAQUE for this personality. State reasons for each of your perspectives.

3. Create a VENN DIAGRAM that compares towns in the Middle Ages with towns during the Renaissance. (You should focus on size, who had power, how status was determined, the purpose of towns, and architecture.)

4. Create an ACROSTIC using the word Renaissance that describes the reasons for the transition from the Middle Ages to the spirit of the Renaissance.

5. List 5 reasons for the decline of feudalism and 5 reasons that aided in the development of the Renaissance