Europe's Transition from the

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Europe's Transition from the Middle Ages to the
Renaissance
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The Black Death
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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 Europes ports.
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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,
Gods punishment of sinful humans, and Jews. And
the people tried many ineffective remedies. The
Black Death killed one third of Europes
population, which amounted to nearly 25 million
people. The Black Death affected Europes
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
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• The Black Death
• What was the Black Death?
• How did the Black Death spread throughout Europe?
• Why couldnt people stop the spread of the Black
  Death?
• How did the Black Death change life in Europe?

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• 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

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• 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

• People were ignorant about its cause they blamed
  the stars, Gods anger and the Jews.
• They tried ineffective cures.

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• 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

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The Hundred Years' War
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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 eras longest and
arguably most influential war.
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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.
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• The Hundred Years War
• How did the war begin?
• Who was Joan of Arc and how did she change the
  course of the war?
• How did the nature of war change?
• How did the war contribute to the end of
  feudalism in France?

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• 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

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• 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.

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Trade and Commerce Change Town Life
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Medieval trade and manufacturing flourished as
Europe renewed contact with the eastern world.
Europes 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.
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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 Europes 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.
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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, ones 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 individuals freedom
over the class he or she was born into.
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• Trade and Commerce Change own Life
• Explain how trade and commerce were the
  foundations of town life.
• What was town life like in the Middle Ages?
• What was town life like during the Renaissance?
• ( Use the following concepts in your comparison
  SOCIETY, POWER and STATUS )

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• 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

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• Towns were small because society was based on
  agriculture and most people lived in the
  countryside.
• Nobles had most of the power.
• . Lords owned the land where most towns were
  located.
• . 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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The Growth of Italian City-States
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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.
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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.
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• The Growth of the Italian City-States
• Why were the Italian city-states so rich and
  powerful?
• What was the Renaissance and why did it begin in
  Italy?
• How did Florence become the most influential
  city-state?

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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 Spirit of the Renaissance
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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 lostto 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.
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The first great humanist was Petrarch, who was
born in Florence in 1304. Petrarchs 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 Florences
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.
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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.
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• The Spirit of the Renaissance
• Why did people become interested in ancient
  culture?
• What was humanitarianism?
• Explain the fascination with classical culture.
• Explain the belief in human potential.

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• Knoeledge of ancient Greece and Rome was
  rediscovered by scholars
• Crusades made Europeans eager to learn about the
  world around them

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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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• 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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• 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

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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