THE CRISIS OF THE LATER MIDDLE AGES
The Black Death
AKA Bubonic Plague
Precondition and causes
Farming improved increasing the amount of food available
Population increased - doubled between the years 1000-1300 life span 35 yrs.
The Black Death cont
.
.
Brought by rats, fleas, from the Black Sea area.
The disease started in the lungs, sneezing
spread the disease.
Skin would swell, blood vessels broke causing
black color
Tongue would swell cutting off air
By 1400’s Western Europe had lost 2/5’s to 1/3
Popular Remedies and
consequences of the Plague
Some blamed poisonous fumes from earthquakes
Some gave into their passions
Flagellants – people who beat themselves in ritual
penance
Jews were blamed
Whole villages disappeared
Farms declined – serfs left the farm
The Hundred Year’s War: Causes of the War
The English King Edward III claim to the French throne
when Charles IV of France died without a male heir.
The French resented English ownership of their land
French – internal disunity caused by social conflicts
To raise money the king would devaluate the money and
borrow from Italians
English military
Infantry was more disciplined
Progress of the War in 3 stages
During the reign of Edward III
Stage 1
: Edward III embargoed English wool to Flanders.
English defeated the French - Battle of Crecy, Battle of Poitiers and took French King John II captive
May 9, 1360 England forced the French to sign the Peace of Bretigny
Declared and end of Edward’s vassalage to the king of France
Stage 2:Stage 2:
Henry V is now King of England and he invades France through
Normandy. English win at the Battle of Agincourt
Stage 3. Joan of Arc
Declared that the King of Heaven had called her to deliver Orleans
from the English.
She had fresh troops She was able to defeat the English and began
moving them out of France.
She provided the French with inspiration, national identity and self
confidence
Joan was captured in may 1430 placed on trial in England and was
End of the war:
68 years of
nominal peace, 44 years of hot war.
Challenges to The Catholic Church
Secular vs. Temporal
Pope Gregory VII vs. Henry IV Reformation not until 1500
The Height of Church Power
Pope Innocent III
***”The Pope, stands between God and man, lower than God
but higher than man,
Babylonian captivity (background
info)
Fight between Pope Boniface VIII and
Philip the Fair
The royal challenge to papal authority as France
and England began to tax the clergy.
– Pope Boniface forbade lay taxation of the clergy
without prior papal approval unless it was a time of emergency
Pope Boniface VIII sent Philip a message
Church conflict “two Romes”, and “three Popes”: Called The Great Schism
Two Popes: Pope Urban VI and Pope Clement VII
– In Rome the Cardinals elected Urban VI as Pope
– The French Cardinals formed their own collective
and elected Pope Clement VII
– Allegiance to two Popes divided along political
lines.
– Pope Urban VI: England, Holy Roman Empire
Hungary Bohemia and Poland
– Clement VII: France, Naples, Scotland, Castile,
Attempts of the church for
reconciliation
Council of Pisa
– Cardinals representing both popes called a council of their own, deposed both Popes and elected a new Pope, Alexander VI, and later John XXII.
– Now the people had 3 Popes.
Council of Constance
– Emperor Sigmund called for a new council to determine the rightful Pope
– Declaration of Sacrosancta elected a new pope Martin V
John Wycliffe
His followers were called the Lollards of
England
He thought people should be able to read the
Bible themselves.
–
He taught that personal merit not rank and
office was the basis of religious authority
–
Preached in the vernacular, translated Holy
John Hus(s) – Bohemian, Czech
•
Reformers called Hussites. Supported
vernacular translations did not like traditional
ceremonies. Advocated lay communion
–
Huss was excommunicated and died by
burning at the stake.
–
The Hussites continued his teachings and
Confraternities
Lay Christians organized by occupation,
religion, or neighborhood who would do
charity works or pray for people.
They would hold events to raise money for
Council of Basel
–
Giving the laity (people) the Eucharist
(communion) with cup as well as bread.
–
Free itinerant preaching
–
Clergy could not hold public jobs or
private property
Peasant Revolts
First revolt was in Flanders in 1320’s.
Peasants were forced to pay high taxes to the
French gov. and Church’s raised the tithe
French military came in and crushed the rebellion
French peasantry uprising was called the Jacquerie
Peasants blamed the nobility for oppressive taxes
and went on a killing rampage.
Thousands of peasants were murdered when the
English Peasants’ Revolt
Due to the devastation of the Black Death and War
there were fewer workers.
They demanded higher wages and fewer manorial obligations
Government response: Statue of Laborers
Law freezing wages and binding worker to their manor.
Not easily enforced. Fought by followers of John Ball who called for social equality.
Many nobles and clergy were murdered
Urban Conflicts
Common workers and guilds.
Many revolts were the result of a loss of “honor” –
being asked to do work they felt was beneath them.
Women’s rights slowly eroded. They were limited
in the amount of time they could keep operating their husbands shop after his death.
When women did work it was viewed as a
Sex in the City
In northern Europe people believed that you
should be economically independent before
marriage.
Women married later in life -Men were in their
mid-late twenties
Journeymen, apprentices, and college students were
not allowed to marry until they finished their studies.
Increase in Prostitution- municipal authorities set up
Red-Light districts. (under public supervision)
Prostitutes were required to dress certain ways to
Sexuality cont.
Many female servants were raped for forced into sex by
their employers
Women who were raped could file charges – most penalties
were limited to fines or brief imprisonment.
Homosexuality: considered a “crime against nature”
Studies have shown that it involved adult man and young boy. Exchanged for money or gifts
Study of men in Florence Italy showed that in a 70 year period
there were 17,000 men who would be termed homosexual.
Fur-Collar Crime
Nobles who ran out of money started stealing
from both rich and poor.
Racketeers demanded “protection money”.
Ballads of Robin Hood who protected the
common people from the fur-collar criminals.
He symbolized the deep resentment of aristocratic corruption and abuse.
Ethnic Tensions
In most countries groups from various ethnic backgrounds were
able to live side by side.
Ethnic tensions in England and Ireland
According to English law Irish were “unfree”
They were denied access to common-law courts
Murder of an Irishman was not considered a felony
Marriage laws were written to protect blood lines
Statue of Kilkenny:
there is to be no marriage between those of immigrant and
native stock.
English inhabitants of Ireland must employ the English
language and bear English names and ride in the English way
Vernacular Literature
Vernacular – written in the local language
Dante’s Divine Comedy
Epic poem about the various levels Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
Collection of stories in lengthy rhymed narrative. Members taking a pilgrimage to Canterbury to the
shrine of Saint Thomas Becket.
Represents English social life and some of the cultural tensions
