The Crises of the Late Middle Ages 1300-1450

9/3/13

The Crises of the Late Middle Ages

• Key Terms– Great Famine– Black Death– bubo– flagellants – Agincourt– Joan of Arc– representative

assemblies

– nationalism– Babylonian Captivity– Great Schism– conciliarists– confraternities– The Imitation of Christ– peasant revolts– Jacquerie– Statute of Kilkenny– vernacular

Feudalistic Society

• Decentralized social system dividing people into hierarchical groups

• Hierarchy of Feudalism– Kings– Lords– Vassals– Knights– Serfs

Kings

Lords

Knights

Serfs

Decentralized Government VS Centralized Government

Centralized Government USA• People give power to ONE

government • Private citizens own

resources • People give the government

power to protect them by obeying laws

Decentralized Feudal France • Small rulers control pieces

of land (estates) • Land is owned by lords • Lords provide protection for

labor and goods

Centralized vs Decentralized Government

Central Government Derives Power from People

U•Executive Branch

S •Legislative Branch

A•Judicial Branch

Decentralized Feudal France Fights Itself for Land and Power

King

Lord

Vassal Vassal

Lord

Vassal

King

Lord

Vassal Vassal

Lord

Vassal

King

Lord

Vassal Vassal

Lord

Vassal

What does Feudalism demand?

• Expansion• Agrarian Society (Farming)• Decentralization in states* Church is the ONLY centralizing force in

Europe.

Prelude to Disaster

• What were the demographic and economic consequences of climate change?– Climate Change and Famine

• 1300-1450 “Little Ice Age”• Ruined harvests• Decreased nutrition poor health• Consequences: depopulation, volatile land market, and unstable

international trade – Government Ineptitude

• Ineffective price controls• Starving populace scapegoated and attacked • Jews, lepers, and the wealthy

The Plague Strikes Europe

The Black Plague: Effects on Europe• How did the spread of the plague shape European society?

– Arrival in Europe• Genoese ships brought plague to Italy in 1347

– Pathology• Fleas on (usually) black rats carried plague bacillus• Poor sanitation spread plague• Appearance of one boil, then bleeding under the skin, vomiting of

blood, then death (Approx 3 days) • Medieval doctors could do nothing

– Spread of the Disease• Black rats stayed in cities, plague stayed in cities• England lost approx. 1/3 population, Italian cities lost more than half• Plague eventually spread to Eastern Europe, Balkans, Russia

The Black Plague: Effects on Europe– Care

• Doctors could ease pain• Thought caused by poison air• Fought with strong smelling

substances• Wealthy fled to countryside

– Thousands of Jews killed by people looking for scapegoat• Hospitals acted as refuges for

sick• Belief that plague was G-d’s

anger

The Black Plague: Effects on Europe– Social, Economic, and Cultural Consequences

• Priests suffered high mortality rates from tending to sick• Emergency church measures like laymen administering

extreme unction (sacrament) Medieval agrarian economy highly resilient

• Guilds accepted new members• Caused inflation• Pessimism, religious fanaticism, suspicion of pilgrims &

travelers, and diminished funeral rites• New colleges created due to priest shortage• Ultimately led to the Reformation by devastating populations

and the Church

Simplified Soc-Econ-Cult Consequences

• Social – “Good” priests died– New colleges to produce more priest spread education

• Cultural– Increased participation of laymen– Religious fanaticism and pilgrimages

• Economic– Guilds accepted new members, women– Inflation

The Hundred Years’ War1337-1453

What were the causes of the Hundred Years’ War, and how did the war affect European politics, economics, and cultural life? – Causes

• 1328, French denied English King Edward III to throne, chose Philip VI of French Valois family instead (Plantagenet vs Valois)

• 1337 Philip VI conquered Edward III’s Aquitaine• Split French society into Pro-Valois and Pro-Edward III, barons

benefited from decentralization• Economic tension between wool trade, control of Flemish

towns escalated conflict

Hundred Years’ War Map

The Hundred Years’ War– The Popular Response

• Both English and French kings used priests to spark patriotism

• War was opportunity for poor knights to plunder land

The Hundred Years’ War– The Course of the War to

1419• England ahead early due to

longbow• Crecy (1346), Poitiers (1356)

and Agincourt (1415) examples of longbow victories

– Joan of Arc and France’s Victory• 1429 peasant girl was

instrumental to French victory• 1453, England only

maintained control of the port of Calais in France

Battle of Agincourt

Jeanne d’ Arc

"I was thirteen when I had a Voice from God for my help and guidance. The first time that I heard this Voice, I was very much frightened; it was mid-day, in the summer, in my father's garden. ” - Joan of Arc from her trial transcript.

The Hundred Years’ War: Conclusion

– Costs and Consequences• Local social

deterioration of England due to Sheriffs serving in military

• King Edward III had to negotiate for money from barons, strengthening Parliament

• Growth of nationalism in both countries

Nationalism

EnglishParliament

English CivilPeace

Challenges to the Church

What challenges faced the Christian Church in the fourteenth century, and how did church leaders, intellectuals, and ordinary people respond?

• The Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism – Philip the Fair (Philip IV or Philip of Navarre I) coerced

Pope Clement V to stay in Avignon– 1309-1376 popes stayed in Avignon, France controlled

by French monarchy– Urban VI returned to Rome with an anti-corruption

agenda

Challenges to the Church

• Some Cardinals returned to France in response to Urban’s agenda and chose a new pope.

• Pope Clement VII resided in Avignon

• Kings supported different popes for political reasons

1. Pope Clement V moves to Avignon, France (1309)

2. Pope Urban VI moves back to Rome (1376)

3. Corrupt Cardinals ditch Urban VI to move back to Avignon, France and select NEW Pope Clement VII

The Great Schism

Relationship Between Power and Legitimacy of Church

State

Church

Challenges to the Church

– The Conciliar Movement• Prior to the schism, Marsiglio (rector of University of

Paris) argued for Pope to be inferior to higher council• English scholar John Wyclif (1330-1384) argued against

scriptural support for pope and advocated that people read Bible for themselves• Cardinals of Avignon and Rome called Council of Pisa

(1409) deposing both Urban VI and Clement VII, electing a third “true” pope• Did that fix the problem?

Challenges to the Church• Third Pope was challenged by

BOTH the Avignon and Roman Pope and there were now THREE popes

• 1414-1418 council at Constance organized by German Emperor Sigismund elected a final new pope and burned Jan Hus at the stake

First Church Reformer

Economic and Social Change

How did economic and social tensions contribute to revolts, crime, violence, and a growing sense of ethnic and national distinctions?– Peasant Revolts • Uprisings in Flanders (1323-1328) first mass • movement of fourteenth century• Caused by heavy indemnities on peasants • Peasants were crushed by French in 1328• Famine, plague, and high taxes during Hundred Years’

War caused Jacquerie rebellion

Peasant Revolts

Torture of gentry by peasants Defeat of the Jacquerie

Economic and Social Change– Urban Conflicts

• Late fourteenth century rebellions in Florence, Spain, and German cities (HRE)

• Caused by changing conditions of work, economic issues, and honor

• Honor was tied to journeymen’s guilds

Economic and Social Change

– Sex in the City• Later marriage for women, especially poor urban and

peasant women• Men of all classes married older• Urban unrest caused by strict marriage rules • Cities hosted brothels• Single women were victims of unwanted sexual contact• Rise in hostility of same-sex relationships (although

women’s same-sex relationships were unnoticed by society)

Economic and Social Change– Ethnic Tensions and

Restrictions• Early colonization saw

colonizers maintain their own laws while natives maintained own laws (except with England and Ireland)

• 14th century saw regulations, laws, and customs discriminate on “blood descent” against Slavs, Irish, and Moors

Economic and Social Change

– Literacy and Vernacular Culture• Beginning in the early 14th century, writers began to

write in own vernacular (language)• Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer of London,

England • Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri of Florence • Literacy rates rose reflecting (1) social complexity, (2)

growth of commerce, and (3) expanding government bureaucracy

Chaucer and Dante

Crises of the Late Middle Ages

Decline of Feudalism

Black Death 100 Years’ War Great Schism

Consequences of the Crises-

-Decreased Population in Europe- Decreased Legitimacy of the Church- Increase of Urban Merchant Class

-Increased Nationalism-Increased French King’s Power

-Decreased English King’s Power

-Decreased Legitimacy of the Church-Increased States’ Power over Church

-Increased Church Reform Ideas

Themes

Church vs State

•Struggle for Power

Kings vs Lords vs Peasants

•Struggle for Power