CRISIS OF THE LATE MIDDLE AGES

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CRISIS OF THE LATE MIDDLE AGES

• 14th century would witness a terrible series of
  catastrophes that would put an end to the
  progress that had been made during the previous
  300 years
• But at the same time clear the way for even more
  spectacular progress in the future
• Characterized by famine, plague, crisis within
  the Church, war, and peasant revolts
• All hitting Europe at approximately the same time

2
FAMINE

• For a while, improvements in agricultural
  technology and good weather provided sufficient
  food for rapidly growing population of Europe
• But by late 1200s, Europe finally became
  overpopulated in terms of its ability to provide
  sufficient food for all its people
• By 1300, the exploitation of arable land had been
  pushed to the limit
• Peasant agriculture was at the breaking point
• It simply could not produce enough to feed
  growing population

3
RESULTS

• Climatic change added to the problem
• Average temperatures in Europe dropped by 20
  degrees in the 1300s
• Caused all kinds of problems in northern and
  southern Europe
• Result was famine between 1309 and 1315
• Nightmare of misery and death
• Millions of people pushed to the brink of
  starvation, tens of thousands died, and
  population was weakened, with many no longer able
  to survive illness and disease
• Certainly unable to cope with the next
  catastrophethe Black Death

Hanging witch believed to be responsible for a
local famine
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THE BLACK DEATH

• Disease usually carried by fleas living on
  rodents
• Symptoms are high fever, aching in arms and legs,
  and swellings in lymph nodes
• Known as bubonic plague and is not always fatal
• Two other forms of Black Death are usually fatal
• Septicemic plague
• Infects bloodstream
• Pneumonic plague
• Attacks the lungs
• Tremendously contagious
• Accounts of Black Death indicate that both
  bubonic and pneumonic varieties were widespread
  in Europe at the same time

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POOR CONDITIONS

• Primitive conditions of hygiene in urban areas
  encouraged dissemination of germs
• Crowded cities surrounded by heavy walls, with
  sewage flowing in the streets, created perfect
  conditions for epidemics
• Medical care was neither readily available nor
  particularly effective
• Doctors fled when they encountered symptoms of
  infectious disease
• When they did stay, they administered remedies
  that further weakened the victims

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In October 1347, a ship from Genoa arrive in
Messina from the Black Sea Carried hundreds of
black rats infested with fleas Rats entered city
and when they died, the fleas attached themselves
to humans Black Death was off and running
Disease spread northward rapidly Reached northern
France in 1348 England by 1349 and Scandinavia
by the end of same year
1/3 of European population died Most often
children, the elderly, and adults with low
resistance because of malnutrition
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IMPACT

• Accounts by such writers as Jean de Venette in
  France and Giovanni Boccaccio in Italy vividly
  described physical effects of the plague
• Psychological effects were equally devastating
• Some experienced profound depression and lost
  will to live
• Some adopted an eat, drink, and be merry
  attitude
• Some turned to God
• Others abandoned religion
• Many believed God was punishing humanity for its
  sins or saw it as manifestation of struggle
  between God and the Devil
• In which the Devil was winning

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FLAGELLANTS

• New religious sect that appeared in response to
  the plague
• Trudged the roads of Europe, chanting and beating
  themselves and one another with barbed whips
• Begged God for mercy at the same time

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CAUSES

• Many explanations given for the plague
• Faculty of medicine at University of Paris
  claimed it was caused by unusual conjunction of
  Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars
• Caused hot, moist conditions which caused earth
  to exhale poisonous vapors
• Jews were blamed for the crisis
• Accused of poisoning wells, springs and food with
  purpose of exterminating Christians

10
MORE PROBLEMS

• Europe also devastated by economic and social
  chaos, inflation, and a lack of morality that
  caused greedy monetary practices and debauchery
• Also caused shortage of labor
• Led to disintegration of the manor
• Decreased numbers allowed peasants to bargain
  with their lords for better terms
• Many also ran away to towns where similar labor
  shortage offered them relatively good wages
• Increased demands and expectations of peasants
  also let to their increased militancy and often
  led to insurrection

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JACQUERIE

• Erupted in France in 1358
• For a number of months, peasants controlled
  region of Beauvoisin and murdered every noble
  they could get their hands on
• Nobles ultimately put together army and
  retaliated
• Poorly equipped and untrained peasants were no
  match for skilled knights
• Although it is not clear if anything would have
  changed that much if peasants had won, their
  uprising illustrates growing peasant resentment
  with the medieval status quo and their
  unwillingness to passively submit to traditional
  exploitation

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ENGLISH REASANT REVOLT OF 1381

• English peasants actually had an agenda of social
  reform
• Triggered by grievances against status quo and
  provisions of the Statute of Laborers
• Which tried to keep peasants tied to land, to
  freeze wages and prices, and impose new taxes on
  commoners (1380)
• Enforced by commissioners who engaged in gross
  abuse and misconduct

13
JOHN BALL AND WAT TYLER

• Peasants incited to action by a priest named John
  Ball
• Pointed out differences between the nobility and
  the common people
• Advocated leveling of social classes
• Ball inspired urban workers in London to revolt
• Gathered peasants and marched on London in June
  1381
• Led by Wat Tyler

14
BETRAYAL

• Rebels professed loyalty to King Richard II
• But wanted to protest the unpopular regency
  government which was run by kings uncle, John of
  Gaunt, duke of Lancaster
• Rebels frightened government to repeal Statute of
  Laborers
• But once the situation stabilized, Wat Tyler was
  murdered, his followers scattered, and the king
  revoked all previous concessions

15
IMPACT

• Peasant uprisings were associated with rising
  level of expectations
• Reduced population had placed peasants in good
  bargaining position
• But were impatient with the rate of improvement
  of their status
• Urban growth and the relative freedom of artisans
  may have also raise peasant expectations
• Revolts had little impact on economic trends
• Serfdom was doomed by forces that had a life of
  their own
• Manorial system was less productive than a freer
  system where tenants paid rent and participated
  in the benefits of increased production
• Serfdom would therefore gradually end for this
  reason, not because of the peasant revolts

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WAR

• Almost constant warfare occurred during 14th
  century
• Kingdom of Naples struggled with Sicily while
  Sicilians attacked Greece
• Christian rulers from northern Spain launched
  reconquista against Moslems in the south
• French fought the Flemish and Burgundians
• English struggled against Scots, Welsh, and Irish

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HUNDRED YEARS WAR

• Worst conflict of all
• Caused by conflict over French throne
• Capetian dynasty had died out and king of
  England, Edward III, claimed throne
• French instead gave throne to Philip IV, founder
  of Valois Dynasty
• Competition for control of international wine
  trade and bad blood between the two kingdoms also
  played roles in causing it
• Began in 1337

Edward III
Philip IV
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NEW STUFF

• English turned to new weapons and techniques
  because English knights were outnumbered by the
  French
• Learned from fighting Scots, Welsh, and Irish
• Longbow, crossbow, and the pike

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THE LONGBOW

• Enormously powerful
• Arrows could penetrate suit of armor from 600
  feet
• Continuous volleys of arrows, shot by many bowmen
  at the same time, could repulse charges by a
  large number of mounted knights

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CROSSBOWS AND PIKES

• Crossbow shot metal bolts, which could penetrate
  thickest armor and shatter bones
• First weapons to be officially condemned by the
  Church because of their destructive capabilities
• Pike was a long spear
• Groups of men armed with this weapon formed a
  dense formation that was effective both
  offensively and defensively

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ENGLISH HAVE UPPER HAND

• English had upper hand in initial phase of war
• Employed guerilla tactics
• Plundered villages and vineyards, burned bridges,
  and disrupted trade
• Retreating before French could amass an army to
  retaliate
• Also won the few pitched battles that took place
• Due to effectiveness of the longbow in killing
  huge numbers of knights before they got close
  enough to do any damage

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FRANCE ON THE ROPES

• English armies led by Edward, the Black Prince
• Won major victory in 1365 at Battle of Poitiers
• Captured French king and held him ransom in
  London
• New king of England, Henry V, launched major
  invasion of France in 1415
• Won major battle of Agincourt which opened the
  way for the conquest of all of northern France

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TURNAROUND

• Henry V died in 1422
• Removed the most powerful English ruler of the
  war from the scene
• Illiterate peasant girl named Joan of Arc heard a
  mysterious voice telling her to go to French king
  Charles VII and ask him to head his army
• Charles agreed and Joan won a number of important
  victories
• French finally began to believe they could defeat
  the English

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END OF JOAN

• Joan of Arc was captured by Burgundians and
  handed over to the English
• Charged her with witchcraft and ultimately burnt
  her at the stake
• Died before war was over but was nonetheless
  critical in bolstering French confidence and
  achieving final success

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THE END

• Burgundians broke their alliance with the English
  and supported Charles VII
• French could now concentrate all their energy on
  defeating the English
• English were also exhausted by this time and
  willing to make peace
• War officially ended in 1453
• English kept northern port of Calais but gave up
  all other French territory they had occupied

Charles VII
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MOST IMPORTANT RESULT

• Most important result was the demise of feudalism
• New military tactics made the knight obsolete
• And with him the notion of an ordered hierarchy
  in society
• Now kings could hire and equip an army with
  inexpensive and uncomplicated weapons and any
  infantryman could kill a knight with one good
  shot
• Infantry of commoner backgrounds was now the key
  to victory
• Moreover, peasants no longer viewed themselves as
  powerless
• Began to ask why they should work to support a
  wealthy elite
• Old justification that this elite defended
  society no longer was valid with the rise of
  commoner infantry

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START OF THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY

• Pope Boniface VIII died in 1303
• French cardinal Clement V replaced him
• Election may have been influenced by French King
  Philip IV
• This raised protests among Romans
• Forced Clement to flee along with cardinals who
  had voted for him
• Philip IV granted them residence in Avignon

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AVIGNON POPES

• 8 popes in a row resided in Avignon
• Caused suspision among many who thought they were
  puppets of French king
• Huge papal palace built in Avignon
• But even the best popes would have had trouble
  solving huge problems caused by plague, 100 Years
  War, peasant revolts, and declining economy
• Avignon popes seemed more obsessed with money and
  were perceived as indifferent to severe social
  problems that devastated Europe

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GREAT SCHISM

• Pope Gregory XIX moved back to Rome in 1377 but
  died shortly thereafter
• Roman mob forced the election of an Italian as
  new pope
• Urban VI
• But majority of the cardinals declared the
  election invalid and returned to Avignon
• Where they elected a Frenchman as Pope Clement
  VII
• Began Great Schism
• Two papacies between 1378 and 1417
• One in Rome and one in Avignon

Urban VI
Clement VII
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CRISIS FINALLY RESOLVED

• Council of Pisa in 1409 deposed both popes and
  selected Alexander V as new pope
• But Urban and Clement refused to step down
• Now Church had 3 popes
• Another council at Constance (1414) deposed all 3
  popes and elected as new one, Martin V
• Now only one pope, headquartered in Rome as usual

Martin V
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LONG-RANGE TROUBLE

• Babylonian Captivity and Great Schism had
  increased general disgust and dissatisfaction
  with many Church practices
• Heresy reappeared as the result of radical ideas
  put forward by Jan Hus of Bohemia and John
  Wycliffe of England
• Stage was being set for the Reformation as
  criticism of the Church, its institutional
  practices, and its values emerged everywhere

Jan Hus
John Wycliffe
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SUMMARY

• Crisis of the Late Middle Ages changed the face
  of European society forever
• The results of population loss, economic
  disruption, and a loss of confidence in the
  Church to deal with the problems of humanity
  caused a radical shift in religious, political,
  and cultural life
• The feudal system was destroyed by the loss of
  population during the plague and war
• Which freed many serfs from bondage by creating a
  labor shortage that allowed them to bargain with
  their lords from a position of strength
• Technological advances in warfare made feudal
  aristocracy obsolete and, with them, the system
  that had supported them at the top of society
• Church also was in a weakened position due to
  Babylonian Captivity and Great Schism
• Old world was drawing to an end but the traumatic
  death of the Middle Ages was a necessary
  prerequisite for the creation of a new world made
  possible by the Renaissance and Reformation