The Decline of Feudalism

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The Decline of Feudalism
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The Black Death

• A deadly plague that spread across Europe from
  1346-1352
• Caused by a form of bacteria
• Appeared in three forms
• Pneumonic attacked the lungs
• Septicemic appeared in bloodstream
• Bubonic caused buboes on the body

Septicemic
Pneumonic
Bubonic
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• How did the Black Death spread throughout Europe?
• Originated in Mongolia and spread to Black Sea
  along 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
• Why couldnt people stop the spread of the Black
  Death?
• People were ignorant about its cause blamed the
  stars, Gods anger, and the Jews
• Tried ineffective cures such as pomanders,
  flagellation, and repentance of sins

• How did the Black Death change life in Europe?
• Killed 1/2 of the population
• Forced farmers to diversify their crops
• Peasants revolted and demanded more freedom
• working class moved to cities to earn better
  wages
• reduced the power of feudal lords

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The Hundred Years War (1337-1453)

• How did the war begin?
• French king Charles IV died in 1328 with no male
  heir
• 2 men claimed the vacant throne
• Edward III of England, son-in-law of Charles IV
• Philip of Valois, nephew of Charles
• English armies attacked France

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• Joan of Arc
• Young French peasant woman who was inspired by
  God to save France
• Convinced Charles VII to let her lead an army
  against the English in 1429
• Helped push the English armies out of Central
  France
• captured, accused of heresy, burned at the
  stake in 1431 by French cooperating with English
• sainted in 1922

• Warfare Changes
• Longbows eliminated advantages of armor
• cannons could be used to blast holes in castles
• monarchs used armies recruited from common people
• Contribution to the decline of feudalism
• People became more patriotic devoted to the
  monarch instead of feudal lord
• Monarchs built huge armies with taxes they
  collected.
• Armies became paid, professional, permanent

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The Growth of Towns

• Trade and Commerce
• Towns were centers for trade and shipping
• Luxury goods could be bought in towns
• Guilds dominated social and civic life of towns
• Guilds reflected importance of Christianity in
  towns
• contributed to building of cathedrals
• adopted patron saints and sponsored parades in
  their honor

• Town Life in the Middle Ages
• Society
• Towns were small because society was based on
  agriculture and most people lived in the
  countryside
• Power
• Lords owned the land where most towns were
  located
• Towns needed protection from knights that lords
  could provide
• Status
• Status was determined by birthright

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The Development of Monarchies in the Middle Ages

• English Monarchy
• After the Magna Carta
• Lords organized into the Great Council
• Became Parliament House of Lords House of
  Commons
• War of the Roses
• 2 families fought over the English throne
• House of Lancaster (red roses) vs. House of York
  (white roses)
• York won then lost public support Lancaster
  took over
• French Monarchy Louis IX united all of Frances
  feudal lands under his central govt.
• Holy Roman Empire
• German Princes ruled independently elected the
  emperor
• Largest in Europe Germany, Italian , Spanish,
  Slavic lands
• Hapsburgs powerful nobles from Austria ruled
  the HRE

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Church Problems in the High Middle Ages

• As monarchs power grew the Churchs declined
• Babylonian Captivity
• 1300s Italian civil wars cause Pope Clement V to
  move the papacy to Avignon, France
• Clement rumored to have been controlled by the
  French king
• Great Schism of the 14th Century
• A second pope is elected in Italy
• Authority of the pope is weakened by simultaneous
  claim by two popes
• 1414 both forced to resign, new pope is elected
  and the papacy will stay in Rome
• Early Church Reformers
• John Wycliffe
• Jan Huss