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CHAPTER ELEVEN
BREAKDOWN AND RENEWAL IN AN AGE OF PLAGUE
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Many historians consider the fourteenth century a calamity. Widespread famine in the early 1400s checked and reversed
the demographic expansion of the previous two centuries. The Black Death of 1348-1351 resulted in demographic crisis
in which from one-third to one-half of Europe's population died, and in some areas, the inhabitants of entire villages died.
The pandemic favored neither rich nor poor, but seemed to most deadly with babies, infants, and young adults–those
whose immune systems had not yet fully developed. In addition to the individual and social psychological trauma
produced by the Black Death, such demographic contraction resulted in serious economic disruption and social
dislocation evidenced in the Peasants' and Jacquerie revolts in the countryside and the urban Ciompi Revolt in Florence.
The century also witnessed the beginning of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Yet this disastrous
period also prompted technological breakthroughs and shifts in the political map of Europe.
The severe demographic contraction caused by the Black Death drastically changed relations between landowners and
their tenants. With a severe shortage of labor, peasants and serfs demanded and obtained new conditions of land tenure:
higher wages, less onerous labor, and an end to serfdom, to name just a few. After the immediate crisis had passed,
however, some landlords attempted to reinstate pre-plague wages and prices as well as conditions of labor, and in
England these efforts were encapsulated in the Statute of Laborers. Generally, the Statute was unsuccessful and serfdom
tended to disappear in England during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Serfdom elsewhere in Europe began to reemerge during the same period especially in France, Italy, and western Germany. Peasants in eastern Europe generally
also began to loose their freedom during the same period.
During the same time, various technological advances increased European production and laid the foundations for
economic recovery. Advances in mining techniques and metallurgy provided abundant silver by the late 1400s for
coinage to spur commercial expansion. The explosive power of gunpowder was harnessed in firearms, and mechanical
clocks brought a new tempo and regulation to work and life in general. Johannes Guttenberg perfected movable type in
the printing press, which allowed for rapid printing and resulted in a more rapid and widespread dissemination in
information. Technological improvements, especially those resulting in a more varied diet, also contributed to the rise in
life expectancy to about 30 years, up from about 18 years for the generation of the plague, but still down about 10 years
from the ca. 1300 level. Better housing and medicine also contributed to the increased life expectancy. Women seem to
have lived longer than men, although why is not exactly known. But their disproportionately larger part of the population
seems to have resulted in increased misogyny in the later middle ages.
The restructuring of labor and social relations, regardless of the overall decline or rise in serfdom, resulted in unrest in
both rural and urban Europe. Unrest originated, however, not among the poorest of the poor, but rather among those
groups who had been able to improve their social and economic status after the Black Death, such as former serfs
resisting reinstatement of onerous labor conditions (an immediate cause of the Peasants' Revolt in England) and peasants,
even gentry, resisting higher price and lower wages. In urban areas, causes of unrest differed. In the Ciompi Revolt in
Florence for example, workers sought guarantees of work after the disruptions in demand for wool cloth following the
Black Death.
The economic problems caused by the Black Death also created new problems for medieval governments. The increase
in wages led to declining incomes for royal coffers. In order to continue their lifestyle and finance government, new
revenue in the form of taxes had to be found. At the same time, changes in warfare, especially the use of firearms and
more effective but more expensive mercenaries, also drove up the cost of royal government. Securing these new sources
of income forced kings to contend with representative assemblies. In England the need for new taxes limited the ability of
the crown to tax without approval of Parliament. During the Hundred Years' War, the House of Commons gained the
right to grant or refuse taxation. On the other hand, the French king bypassed the Estates General and worked directly
with regional assemblies via a system of direct taxation. This reliance on regional assemblies undermined the ability of
the Estates General to interfere with royal policy.
Dynastic instability also contributed to the breakdown of the feudal system of government, as evidenced by the Hundred
Years' War between England and France and in the aftermath in both countries. The last heir to Philip IV died in 1328
without a direct male heir; the closest male heir being Edward III of England, son of Philip's daughter Isabella. Salian
law, however, precluded descent of kingship through the female line. Although Edward at first accepted this, two factors
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swayed his mind: one, conflicting English and French interests in Flanders and Gascony; and, most significantly, two, the
new French king's (Philip VI) insistence that Edward pay liege homage to him for Edward's holdings of Aquitaine and
Ponthieu. As a king himself, however, Edward refused to pay homage to another. The war itself was never continuous
and can be divided into three periods: one, 1338-1360, a period of English victories; two, 1367-1415, a period of French
resurgence and then stalemate; and three, 1415-1453, a time during which fortune initially smiled on the English, and
then on Joan of Arc and the French, eventually leading to England's defeat. Even after the end of the war, dynastic
instability in England led to the War of the Roses between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians which lead to the triumph of
Henry Tudor. In France, the royal house was split between the Armagnacs and the Burgundians. The factionalism ended
suddenly, however, with the death of Charles the Bold whose Burgundian heirs were unable to keep most of Burgundy to
passing under the control of the French kings. With the conclusion of these wars, England had developed a strong sense
of cultural and national identity. On the continent, the French kings could claim legitimacy via their roles as patrons and
protectors of the French people.
In Italy, decentralization continued to characterize the political map. Regional states, sometimes with strong almost
despotic governments, however, tended to replace the smaller free communes of earlier centuries. The most illustrative
examples can be seen in Milan, Florence, and Venice. Milan under Gian Galeazzo Visconti enlarged Milan's territory
through negotiations and conquest. Following a more traditional style of government, Galeazzo secured the imperial
office of vicar in 1380, then hereditary duke in 1395, but died before he was able to obtain a royal title. Although
powerful, Florence rarely enjoyed political stability through much of the fourteenth century. Cosimo de Medici, however,
stabilized Florentine government by establishing a form of boss rule government disguised as republicanism. Venice, on
the other hand, enjoyed stability through a well-established oligarchy of 150 families. Part of this stability lay in
commercial enterprises such as the Arsenal–a large ship-building and arms manufacturing facility–that ensured
employment and contributed to social stability. The emergence of these and other regional states like the Papal States
contributed to instability of the Italian peninsula as a whole during this period. The Peace of Lodi in 1454 established
some equilibrium through diplomacy.
The fifteenth century also witnessed the re-emergence of a unified and powerful Moslem state in the east. Since the lateeleventh century the Ottoman Turks had been expanding and consolidating their hold in Asia Minor and by ca. 1350 they
had surrounded Constantinople on both the European and Asian mainland. Capturing Constantinople in 1453, the
Ottomans, aided by Christian internal rivalries, quickly expanded into the Balkans. Under Suleiman II, the Magnificent,
the Ottomans unsuccessfully besieged Vienna, then turned and conquered Mesopotamia, southeastern Europe, and the
Middle East. The fall of Constantinople had little military or economic impact on western Europe. Psychologically,
however, the fall of Constantinople broke western Europe's link with the Christian Roman (Byzantine) empire. Its fall
marks the passing of an era.
LECTURE AND DISCUSSION TOPICS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Discuss the causes of population decline in the fourteenth century. How did the confluence of certain factors
contribute to the severity of the decline?
Explore the economic consequences of the drop in population in the fourteenth century.
How were peasants’ lives transformed during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries?
Compare urban and rural revolts during this period. What motivated the participants? How successful were
the revolts?
Investigate the Hundred Years’ War. Ask students to weigh and debate the importance of the various causes
of the conflict.
Assign Christine de Pisan’s The Book of the City of Ladies. How does the author situate herself within the
debate on women?
Compare and contrast the social, political, and economic features of Florence and Venice in the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries.
Research the Ottoman Turks under the rule of Mehmet II and Suleiman II. How did long-standing
animosities and divisions among the various groups of Christians contribute to the success of these leaders?
Compare and contrast the governments of France and England at the end of the fifteenth century.
In what ways did developments in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries pave the way for the explorations
and dynamism of Europe in the following centuries?
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SUPPLEMENTAL FILMS
The Black Death (1347-1351). 19 min. Color. Examines the causes of the plague, its
the consequences of the plague.
demographic impact, and
Byzantium: From Splendor to Ruin. 43 min. Color. Films for the Humanities and Sciences. Good survey of the
history of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Byzantium: The Lost Empire. 209 min. 2 cassettes. Learning Channel.
Joan of Arc. 11 min. Color. A brief biography of Joan and the historical forces that not only created and shaped her
life but also caused her death.
Jeanne la pucelle. 1993. Directed by Jacques Rivette, with Sandrine Bonnaire. A box office bust, but considered
by some historians to be the best modern dramatization of Joan and her age.
The Siege of Constantinople. 30 min. Color. 1995. Ambrose Video. Focuses on the battle that ended the 1000 year
Empire.
The Wars of the Roses. 50 min. Color. History of Warfare Series.
The Power of the Past: Florence with Bill Moyers (PBS). This documentary includes excellent footage of Florence
and interviews with members of the Capponi, an important Florentine family that traces its roots back to the
late Middle Ages.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
The page numbers listed below indicate the correct answers and their locations in the text.
1.
Even before the demographic crisis caused by the Black Death, the population in Europe had declined
because of
a. the Hundred Years' War
b. a smallpox pandemic
c. famine (p.363)
d. the War of the Roses
2.
Which section of the population was most struck by the Black Death?
a. Mostly elderly men and pregnant women
b. All segments were affected by the pandemic (p.363)
c. Elderly men and women
d. Urban dwellers
e. Serfs and peasants
3.
By the best estimates, the population of Europe fell by how much due to the Black Death and subsequent
plagues?
a. 10-20 %
b. Less than 20%
c. About one-quarter
d. One-third to half (p.362)
e. Almost two-thirds
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4.
After the Black Death and a short-lived period of peasant rebellions, landlords re-imposed serfdom
throughout Europe except in
a. Catalonia
b. England (pp.366-367)
c. France
d. Western Germany
e. Prussia
5.
The Statute of Laborers of 1351 attempted to
a. Fix prices and wages at pre-plague levels (pp.366-367)
b. Remove serfs from enclosed lands
c. Allow landlords to reimpose serfdom on their peasants
d. Establish a correlation between prices and wages
e. Abolish serfdom
6.
The Hanseatic League monopolized trade in the
a. Mediterranean Sea
b. Hanse Sea
c. Adriatic and Black Seas
d. English Channel
e. Baltic and North Seas (p.368)
7.
What best describes labor relations immediately following the Black Death?
a. Landlords imposed serfdom on more peasants to ensure a work force
b. Most landlords sold off their demesne to peasants
c. The Statute of Laborers ensured that little change occurred
d. Peasants demanded, and received, higher wages (p.366)
e. With so many deaths, a high labor supply decreased wages
8.
The most effective means of increasing productivity and overcoming economic crisis in the late middle ages
came from
a. Guild supervision and standards
b. Higher wages
c. Technological advances (p.368)
d. the Hanseatic League and similar trade associations
e. the decline in guilds
9.
Which of the following men invented movable metal type?
a. Henry De Vick
b. Konrad Kyeser
c. Iascopo Mariano of Sienna
d. Johannes Gutenberg (p.371)
e. William Paston
10.
Why did the average life expectancy fall to only eighteen years during the Black Death?
a. The plague affected mostly the elderly, especially women
b. Principle victims were infants and young adults (p.373)
c. High infant and elderly mortality
d. Higher resistance among women to the plague
e. Better immunity to the plague of young adults
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11.
The Romance of the Rose by Jean de Meun is a good example of
a. The worship of the Virgin Mary
b. The self-sacrificing role of women during the plague
c. Late medieval courtly Romance
d. Late medieval misogyny (p.374)
e. Ockham's razor
12.
Which best describes patterns of living a generation after the Black Death?
a. More fertile soil allowed a greater diversity of diet including more meat, fruit, and cheese (p.375)
b. Economic collapse led to a decline in housing
c. Rural settlement patterns became more dispersed
d. Decline in sumptuary legislation as class distinctions became blurred
e. Decline in disposable wealth
13.
One of the demands of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 was
a. Reinstatement of the Statute of Laborers
b. The execution of Wat Tyler and other ministers of the king
c. A wool guild
d. Participation in communal government
e. Abolition of poll taxes (p.377)
14.
The Ciompi is an example of
a. Peasant revolts in Italy and Spain
b. Urban unrest in Flanders
c. The Jacquerie Revolt in France
d. Urban class tensions (p.378)
e. Attempts by the nobility to reinstate serfdom
15.
Which of the following is a common factor contributing to social unrest during the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries?
a. The poor attempting to improve their economic status
b. The nobility safeguarding their feudal rights
c. The propertied classes retaining their traditional advantages (p.379)
d. Economic hardship among the gentry
e. Restrictive guild regulations
16.
Companies of adventure were
a. The Hanseatic League
b. Guilds of overseas (long-distance) merchants
c. Mercenary armies (p.380)
d. Business partnerships involving trade to China and India
e. The participants in England's War of the Roses
17.
All of the following contributed to the increased cost of warfare in the late Middle Ages except
a. Use of mercenary soldiers
b. Firearms
c. Increased frequency and length of military campaigns
d. More feudal obligations of military service (p.380)
e. Use of cannon
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18.
Kings increasingly had to consult representative assemblies to grant new taxes because
a. Of the breakdown of feudal mechanisms to collect taxes
b. They needed approval to reinstate or increase traditional revenues
c. A decline in population after the Black Death required an expansion of the tax base
d. Income from ordinary revenues, particularly rents, had declined (p.380)
e. Absolute kinship characteristic of High Middle Ages had declined in the late Middle Ages
19.
Which of the following factors contributed to the instability of the nobility?
a. Dynastic instability
b. Livery
c. Divisions within the nobility (p.381)
d. Loss of feudal privileges
e. Expansion of papal authority
20.
The Hundred Years' War between England and France broke out because of which of the following causes?
a. Liege homage and the end of the Capetian dynasty
b. A dispute over the French royal succession (p. 382)
c. Conflicts over French and English interests in Flanders
d. The status of Aquitaine and Ponthieu
e. All of the above
21.
In France the need for new taxes to support the Hundred Years' War against the English led to
a. Parliament's increased role in government
b. A decline in Parliament's ability to impose new taxes
c. The monarchy's right to impose national taxes without consent of the Estates General (p.386)
d. The right of the House of Commons to initiate all tax legislation
e. The levying of an annual poll tax
22.
Which conflict decimated the ranks of the English nobility and established Henry Tudor as King of
England?
a. The Hundred Years' War
b. The Peasants' Revolt
c. The War of the Roses (p.387)
d. The Yorkists' War
e. The Henrican Revolt
23.
Which of the following resulted from the Hundred Years' War?
a. France became a unified kingdom
b. The French king had become the indisputable protector of the French people (p.388)
c. Both England and France had become modern states
d. England’s wool industry suffered a recessions
e. The French king faced a number of rivals to the throne
24.
Which city was ruled by a comparatively cohesive oligarchy that had inherited its authority over
generations?
a. Milan
b. Rome
c. Florence
d. Bruges
e. Venice (p.390)
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25.
For economic and defensive reasons, Venice built an industrial complex known as
a. The Sorbonne
b. The Ducat
c. The Arsenal (p.390)
d. The Visconti
e. Il Cosimo
26.
Which best describes the political map of Italy north of Rome after the fourteenth century?
a. The Lombard League ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor
b. Small free communes
c. Small republics replacing the communes
d. Regional states dominated by a single city (p.388)
e. Loose confederation of Papal States
27.
The Peace of Lodi in 1454 established an alliance system that
a. Employed diplomacy as the primary method to maintain peace (p.392)
b. Counterbalanced the Lombard League to keep the peace in Italy
c. Attempted to ensure a balance of power against the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily
d. Assisted the King of Austria against the Turks
e. Fought against the growing strength of the Papal States in central Italy
28.
Which of the following best describes the consequence of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks
in 1453?
a. Economic contraction for the Italian city-states because of the disruption of Mediterranean trade
b. Increased warfare between the Latin West and the Ottoman Turks because the military barrier
Byzantium had provided now disappeared
c. Exodus of Byzantine scholars to the West
d. Symbolic and psychological (p.394)
e. Significant interruption of east-west trade
29.
One of the primary reasons for the Ottoman's military and political success in southeastern Europe was
a. Weakness of the kings of Bulgaria and Hungary
b. Internal division between the Sunni and Shiite Moslems
c. Intense rivalries among the Christian faiths (p.396)
d. The janissary armies of the eastern Christian kingdoms proved ineffective against the Turks
e. The inefficiency of the feudal armies sent by the west to fight the Ottomans
30.
Similar to western medieval kings, the sultan ruled with the advice of a council. The sultan's council of
chosen advisors was the
a. Vizier
b. Golden Horde
c. Divan (p.397)
d. Visconti
e. Mehmetan
ESSAY QUESTIONS
31.
32.
How did the Black Death contribute to the socioeconomic causes that motivated peasants to revolt in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries?
How would you evaluate the status of women in the aftermath of the Black Death? How influential was
misogyny in limiting women’s activities and achievements?
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33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
In what ways did efficiency lie at the heart of many of the technological innovations that came into use in
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries? Use specific examples.
Did the Black Death cause or merely accelerate political unrest in the late-fourteenth and early-fifteenth
centuries?
What are the problems encountered by the historian in understanding the status of women in the latemedieval period?
In what ways did standards of living improve after the famines, plagues, and wars?
How did urban revolts differ from rural ones?
Why did the nobility experience instability in the Late Middle Ages? In what ways did that instability lead
to the Hundred Years’ War?
How did the role of representative institutions differ in France and England during and after the Hundred
Years’ War? Why?
What kinds of obstacles to consolidation did the leaders of the Italian states confront in the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries?
How did the Ottomans’ vision of imperial authority compare to western European visions of royal power?
Why were the Ottomans able to quickly consolidate and expand their empire?
CRITICAL THINKING
Evaluating Evidence
43.
Consider Map 11.1. What does the course of the plague reveal about trade routes and the flow of goods
from the east to Europe?
44.
Examine Maps 11.2 and 11.3. Why did technology and trade spread along waterways during the medieval
period?
45.
In light of the debate over the status of women during the Middle Ages, how would you interpret the
painting on page 374?
46.
How does the painting on page 378 of the English Peasants’ Revolt portray peasants in contrast to the
king’s soldiers?
47.
How do the depictions of architecture on pages 370, 381, 382 reflect the realities of urban living in the Late
Middle Ages?
48.
Explore the symbolism of the investiture of Gian Galeazzo Visconti on page 389. What do the different
spectators represent? How is Visconti situated in the painting?
Critical Analysis
Boccaccio on the Black Death
49.
How accurately does Boccaccio evaluate the causes, spread, and treatment of the plague?
50.
In what ways does Boccaccio’s account of the plague reveal the despair that accompanied the disease?
The Trial of Joan of Arc
51.
Why do you think the Burgundians considered Joan a witch and a heretic?
52.
On the basis of this passage, do you think that misogyny played in role in the trial and execution of Joan of
Arc?
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53.
What inspired Joan of Arc more? Her faith or her loyalty to the French king? How were those factors
related?
IDENTIFICATIONS
54. Black Death
78. pneumonic plague
55. bubonic plague
79. Hanseatic League
56. Konrad Kyeser
80. Henry De Vick
57. Johannes Gutenberg
81. movable metal type
58. Christine de Pisan
82. misogyny
59. Jean de Meun
83. English Peasants’ Revolt
60. Wat Tyler
84. Ciompi
61. The Pastons
85. Hundred Years’ War
62. Edward III
86. Philip VI
63. Aquitaine
87. Gascony
64. Crécy
88. Poitiers
65. John II
89. Charles V
66. the Black Prince
90. Treaty of Troyes
67. Joan of Arc
91. Henry V
68. Burgundy
92. Rouen
69. Calais
93. gabelle
70. taille
94. War of the Roses
71. Henry VI
95. Lanaster
72. York
96. Richard III
73. Gian Galeazzo Visconti
97. Lorenzo the Magnificent
74. Arsenal
98. Alfonso V
75. Peace of Lodi
99. Ottomans
76. Mehmet II
100. Suleiman II
77. sultan
101. Janissaries
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