Download Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The
Latin West
1200-1500
Europe from the
Middle Ages to
the Renaissance
Rural Life & New Farming Technologies
► 1200
AD most were
peasants bound to the
land
► Population doubled
 agricultural techniques
 climate change
► windmills
► waterwheels
► deforestation
Famines & Black Death
►
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Around 1250 crop yields
decreased-possibly
because of population
pressure
decrease in human
resistance to disease by
1348
Bubonic Plague-Black
Death-overwhelmed
Europe in 1348
social , political, economic,
etc. impact
Impact of Plague on Europe
►
►
Europeans had
little resistance
Ravaged Europe
for 2-3 yearsreturned
periodically
devastating the
population
Impact of the Plague
 Fewer workers so
labor more
valuable
 Peasants
demanded higher
wages
 Oversupply of
goods: became
less expensive
 Serfdom ended as
demand for labor
rose
Impact of the Plague
Living standards
improved
 less time to learn a
craft
 Nobles died
► less opposition to
king
 Religion and learning
flourish
 Technology advanced
► mining
► metallurgy
► Water mills
Impact of Black Death: Social Rebellion
rebellions against
wealthy nobles &
churchmen who
tried to freeze
wages
► Large gap between
rich and poor
► Population declined
but per capita
production rose
►
Growth of Trade
►
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Great Urban revival, fueled by
end of the Crusades &
workers leaving manors
Italian cities in north become
rich & powerful through trade;
Genoa, Venice, Milan
Hanseatic League- group of
cities in Northern Europe
united for trade influence &
prices
Urban Revival
►
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Flanders
 commercial center
for wool imports &
cloth manufacturing
England, Florence, and
Italy
 textiles
Trade fairs evolve into
cities
Trade increased under
Mongol expansion
Urban Revival
►
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►
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Venice dominates trade
Some European cities were city-states were independent from nobles& kings
traded more freely than Asian or Middle
Eastern cities
Bringing cities under the control of King
sometimes required force-(Paris)
Guilds- craft specialists who regulated
craft rules and prices to protect their
interests
Urban Revival
Rise of Merchant & Banking Class
►
►
big business
required loans,
money changing,
& investments
Florence
 banking
services
 checking
accounts
 Shareholding
 bookkeeping
European Renaissance
►
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►
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Large banking families
appear
Medici family of Florence
operated banks in Italy,
Flanders, London
handled affairs for nobles,
kings, the Church
Church prohibited usury
Usury
 loaning money at high
interest rates
European Jews
Jews able to escape
poverty by becoming
moneylenders
► Christians worked around
the rules to make money
directly
► Europe’s largest population
of Jews lived in Spain
Persecution existed in
most of Europe except in
the papal city of Rome
►
European Renaissance
► Wealthy
families able
to fund art &
architecture
► Gained
status for
themselves
& city
Universities
►
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Prior to 1200,
monasteries were
primary centers or
learning
After 1200, colleges
& universities were
created & supported
by Church
taught medicine,
law, theology
Theology-study of
nature of God &
religious truth
Scholasticism
►
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Theology was primary
subject-brought together
Greek philosophy, notably
Aristotle, & Christian faith
mixing of these called
Scholasticism
Most notable written work
wasSumma Theologica,
by Thomas Aquinas, a
Dominican priest
Kings Consolidate Power
► Kings
sought to become
stronger & centralize
power
► Kings weak
 Little or no treasury funds
 Powerful nobles
 Independent towns &
cities
 Powerful Church
England
►
1215 AD, King John I
of England forced to
sign Magna Carta
 Trial by jury of peers
 nobles could petition
the king
 became Parliament
 No taxation without
consent of nobles
 exception to the
pattern of strong
monarchs
France
►
►
In France, Philip the Fair
arrests Pope-installs his
own pope at Avignon
In general, Kings sought to
increase power by:
 Marrying into noble families
 Taxing peasants
 Appointing their own bishops
and clergy (lay investiture)
Hundred Years War: 1337-1453
End of feudalistic patterngradual severance of
England from France
► Although England lost,
both monarchies emerged
stronger
► Joan of Arc helped France
► New weapons-longbow,
gunpowder (cannons)
► End of feudalism
►
New Monarchies in France & England
 Stronger central governments
 English language became
dominant in English court
 National boundaries
 New tax system
 Strong connections to middle
class and merchant class
instead of nobles and church
European Renaissance
►
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Strong governments on
Iberian Peninsula too:
Spain and Portugal emerge
as nations after forcing the
Muslims out of Iberia after
700 years
The Reconquista
In 1492, Spain and
Portugal also expelled all
Jews who would not
convert to Christianity
European Renaissance
► By
the 1300’s a new emphasis on learning
began that expanded upon the learning of
universities and scholasticism
► A new emphasis on understanding humans
as well as God became the idea of
“Humanism”
► Humanism is the study of man and his
world. Today it is known as humanities,
such as sociology, psychology, anthropology,
literature (the classics), religion.
European Renaissance
► Early
Humanist writers referred to works
long kept secured by monasteries during
the Dark Ages
► Dante Alighieri-Italy-1265-1321-wrote the
Divine Comedy: journey through 9 layers of
Hell and the entrance to Paradise using
Greco-Roman classical themes, imagery.
► Made accessible through his use of the
vernacular form of Tuscany
European Renaissance
► Geoffrey
Chaucer-England-1340-1400: Wrote
the Canterbury Tales: everyday life in medieval
England, in vernacular.
► Other Humanists writers:
► Machiavelli: wrote The Prince; a political
handbook for political leaders. Premise: the
ends justifies the means
► Thomas More: Utopia; perfect society of the
future
► Erasmus: Dutch writer of religious reform:
wrote In Praise of Folly
European Renaissance
► Petrarch: Italian poet of love poetry
► Castiglione: wrote The Courtier; how
to
succeed at the royal court
► Boccaccio: wrote The Decameron; collection of
short stories about Italian nobles. Produced a
version of the New Testament in Greek
► Humanists sought a return to original Greek
and Roman texts. Pope Nicholas creates the
Vatican library by buying authentic Greek and
Roman translations of classic texts.
► Emphasis on authenticity
European Renaissance
► William
Shakespeare: English playwright
► Christopher Marlowe: English playwright
European Renaissance
► Humanism
helps create a new era after Middle
Ages called the Renaissance
► Renaissance = Rebirth of learning & culture
► Return to classical roots and sources of
literature and art
► Universities developed in Bologne and Paris
which incorporated the works of Aristotle which
were saved by Muslims
► Monarchs, church and merchants all wanted
this rebirth of learning
European Renaissance
► Why
did Europe grow in power & wealth?
► Education
European Renaissance
► Botticelli
► Michelangelo
Buonarroti
► Leonardo Da Vinci
► Raphael
► Titian
► Giotto
► Jan Van Eyck
European Renaissance
► Favorite
themes of artists and patrons
during the Renaissance were religious
► Combined with authenticity of Humanism,
religious subjects were presented in a more
realistic style.
European Renaissance
European Renaissance
European Renaissance
► All
presented a sense of realism and
naturalism to create what modern society
would call “photographic perfect”
► Ideas were transmitted quickly throughout
Europe by means of the printing press of
Johan Gutenberg-it used moveable type
► Craft guilds in various cities competed in
quality and innovation created competitions
though they discouraged
European Renaissance
► The
Renaissance had an economic base as
cities expanded and developed architectural
pride
► Craft guilds in various cities competed in
quality and innovation but stifled
competition within their own cities
► Rural areas offered different opportunities
but could not compete with the economic
and social attractions of the city