Download Chapter 12 The Crisis of the Later Middle Ages

Chapter 12
The Crisis of the Later Middle Ages
1300 - 1450
Setting the Stage for the
Renaissance
Later Middle Ages—A Period of
Change
• Profound change in
three principal areas:
• 1. Economics
• 2. Society
• 3. Politics
• What was the
existing
socioeconomic
system of the late
middle ages?
Feudalism
A political, economic, and social system
based on loyalty and military service.
Economic Change
 Characterized by price
inflation in the 1300s.
• What is “price inflation?”
• An increase in the
prices of goods.
• Grain, livestock, and
dairy products prices
rose during the 1300s.
• Why?
Inflation Due To:
• Severe weather patterns—rains– and a
lack of workable transportation networks.
– Result was repeated poor harvests culminating in
famine from 1315-22.
• Consequence of famine?
– Reduced caloric intake → leading to susceptibility to
disease→leading to reduced productivity→leading to
higher prices.
• What diseases?
• Typhoid epidemics and…??
• The Black Death!! (More to come).
Social Change
• Homes were
abandoned.
• The homeless were known
as “vagabonds.”
• Why were they
homeless?
• People mortgaged their
holdings to buy food.
• Who held the
mortgages?
• Rich farmers.
• Thus the rich got richer
while the poor got poorer.
Social Change
• Where did these homeless go?
• Sought work in towns—migration (a social
change).
• What other types of changes occurred?
• Marriages were postponed.
• What’s the effect?
• Birth rates declined.
• Meaning?
• The population declined--another social change.
Social Change
• Poor harvests and
epidemics affected
livestock as well as
people.
• Led to trade disasters.
• Domino effect.
• Diseased livestock = fewer
products to export.
• Whom does this
affect?
• Both the exporter and the
importer.
Political Change
• These crises led to
discontent and paranoia.
• Certain groups were
targeted for discrimination
and persecution.
• What group in
particular?
• Jews.
• Why?
• They were the creditors of
the poor via pawnbroking.
Political Change
• Governors (princes, lords,
etc...) instituted price
controls in order to curb
inflation.
• Created more problems
than it solved.
• Why?
• Price controls kill
incentive.
• Price controls also lead to
growth in black market
transactions.
• Why is this a problem?
• Not taxable!
The Crisis of the Later Middle
Ages
• These broad economic, social, and
political changes were brought about
by 3 specific events.
• 1. The Black Death
• 2. The Hundred Years’ War
• 3. Troubles in the Church
The Black Death
• Origin?
• Transmitted by fleas from
rats transported by trading
ships.
• The disease:
• Highly infectious.
• Comes in 2 forms.
•
•
•
•
Bubonic
Fleas as transmitters.
Pneumonic
Humans as transmitters.
The Culprits
The Famine of 1315-1317
 By 1300 Europeans were farming almost all
the land they could cultivate.
 A population crisis developed.
 Climate changes in Europe produced three
years of crop failures between 1315-17
because of excessive rain.
 As many as 15% of the peasants in some
English villages died.
 One consequence of
starvation & poverty
was susceptibility to
disease.
Contributing Factors
• Lousy sanitation
practices.
• Overcrowding.
• Poor personal
hygiene
standards.
The Disease Cycle
Flea drinks rat blood
that carries the
bacteria.
Bacteria
multiply in
flea’s gut.
Human is infected!
Flea bites human and
regurgitates blood
into human wound.
Flea’s gut clogged
with bacteria.
The Symptoms
Bulbous
Septicemia Form:
almost 100%
mortality rate.
Outlook of the people?
• No rational
explanation for the
disease.
• “Bad air?”
• Cities were hit much
harder than the
countryside.
• Outlook depicted in
art and literature.
From the Toggenburg Bible, 1411
Lancing a Buboe
Medieval Art & the Plague
Medieval Art & the Plague
Bring out your dead!
Medieval Art & the Plague
An obsession
with death.
Boccaccio in The Decameron
The victims ate lunch with their
friends and dinner with their
ancestors.
The Danse Macabre
The Spread of the Plague
Attempts to Stop the Plague
A Doctor’s
Robe
“Leeching”
Attempts to Stop the Plague
Flagellanti:
Self-inflicted “penance” for our sins!
Attempts to Stop the Plague
Pograms against the Jews
“Jew” hat
“Golden Circle”
obligatory badge
Death Triumphant !:
A Major Artistic Theme
A Little Macabre Ditty
“A sickly season,” the merchant said,
“The town I left was filled with dead,
and everywhere these queer red flies
crawled upon the corpses’ eyes,
eating them away.”
“Fair make you sick,” the merchant said,
“They crawled upon the wine and bread.
Pale priests with oil and books,
bulging eyes and crazy looks,
dropping like the flies.”
A Little Macabre Ditty (2)
“I had to laugh,” the merchant said,
“The doctors purged, and dosed, and bled;
“And proved through solemn disputation
“The cause lay in some constellation.
“Then they began to die.”
“First they sneezed,” the merchant said,
“And then they turned the brightest red,
Begged for water, then fell back.
With bulging eyes and face turned black,
they waited for the flies.”
A Little Macabre Ditty (3)
“I came away,” the merchant said,
“You can’t do business with the dead.
“So I’ve come here to ply my trade.
“You’ll find this to be a fine brocade…”
And then he sneezed……….!
The Mortality Rate
35% - 70%
25,000,000 dead !!!
Attempted Solutions
• 1. Hospitals were
established.
•
•
•
•
•
•
– Principally through
merchant endowments.
Why would a merchant
endow a hospital?
Good works = remission of
sins.
Problems?
Too few.
More shelter than medical
care. Why?
No known cure!
Attempted Solutions
• 2. Quarantine
• 3. Vaccination
– Streptomycin was
finally discovered in
1947!
• Key to prevention?
• Sanitation systems.
What were the
political,
economic,
and social effects
of the Black Death??
Economic impact
• Hit at the peak of feudalism.
• Depopulation brought about an increased
demand for labor. Consequences?
• A. Greater mobility for laborers.
• B. Increased wages for laborers.
• C. Better distribution of income.
• Resulting in a sharp increase in per capita
wealth.
Economic impact
• Landlords put on the
defensive.
• Response: English
Statute of Laborers
(1351) freezing
salaries and wages at
1347 levels.
• Unenforceable.
• This depopulation and the
changes it wrought led to
the ultimate decline of
feudalism.
Psychological Impact
• Pessimism from the
prospect of certain
death.
• Responses?
• A. Orgies, etc...
• B. Severe asceticism
(extreme self-denial and
austerity).
• C. Religious fervor.
• Example?
• Flagellants.
Psychological Impact
• Mass funerals.
• Urban flight.
• Shortages of priests
and educators led to
endowments of new
education centers.
• Literature and art
focused on the
macabre. Examples?
• “Dance of Death”
• “Ring Around The Rosy”
Psychological Impact
• Loss of confidence in leaders, both secular and
clerical.
• Consequence?
• Sets up an individualist mindset. A sense of selfreliance.
• People felt abandoned by God.
• If they couldn’t depend on God, who could they
rely on?
• Themselves.
• This self-reliant mindset is the key to the
Renaissance.
The Hundred Years’ War
(1337-1453)
• A prolonged
“period of
troubles.”
• Players?
• England & France.
The Hundred Years’ War
• Causes?
• 1. Land Conflict
• 1066, William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy
(France), became King of England.
• Heirs saw themselves as rulers of Normandy and
England.
• 1152, Henry II of England married Eleanor of
Aquitaine (heir to lands in SW France).
• Result?
• Henry II controlled more French land than the
French king!
1. Land Conflict (cont’d.)
• Philip II of France got
some lands back, but
wanted all the land claimed
by England.
– 1328, Philip died without a
direct heir.
• Philip VI of Valois, cousin
of Philip II was named the
successor by the French
nobility.
• King Edward III of
England, grandson of
Philip II, declared himself
King of France.
2. Conflict Over
Flanders
Wool industry.
• Flanders wants its
independence from
French control.
• Asks England for
help.
3. A Struggle for National
Identity
• France was
NOT a united
country before
the war began.
• As stated
earlier, the
French king
only controlled
about half of
the country.
The Hundred Years’ War
• Who’s the favorite?
• French advantages:
• Wealthier.
• More populous.
Who’s the favorite?
• English
advantages:
• Dominance of the sea.
• Financial support from
Parliament.
• Technical superiority. New
weaponry?
• Longbow and Cannon.
• Other factors.
• Virtually all fighting took
place on French soil.
• The Black Death affected
the fighting.
Major Battles
• 1. Crecy (1346)
• French held a 2 to 1
numerical superiority.
• English win!
• Longbow and cannon over
crossbow.
• Poor accuracy, but rapid
reload and long distance
firing result in a 3:1 firing
ratio.
• Pound the French with
artillery, then charge and
slaughter them.
• Not very chivalrous.
Major Battles
• 2. Poitiers (1356)
• The English captured the French
king, John II [r.1350-1364].
– France was now ruled by the Estates
General
- A representative council of townspeople
and nobles.
- Created in 1355.
- Purpose  to secure funds for the war.
– In theory, the French king could
not levy taxes on his own!!
The Jacquerie, 1358
• In the confusion and
unrest following the
French disaster at Poitiers,
this rural uprising began.
• It was a response to the
longstanding economic
and political grievances in
the countryside worsened
by warfare.
• The rebels were defeated
by aristocratic armies.
Trouble in England
• Peasant Revolt in 1381 was put
down by King Richard II
[r. 1377-1399].
• After charges of tyranny, Richard II
was forced to abdicate in 1300.
• Parliament elected Henry IV
[r. 1399-1413], the first ruler from the
House of Lancaster (Wars of the
Roses.)
– Henry avoided war taxes.
– He was careful not to alienate the
nobility.
• Therefore, a truce was signed
ending French and British hostilities
(temporarily).
Major Battles
• King Henry V renewed his
family’s claim to the
French throne.
• 2. At Agincourt in 1415, the
English, led by Henry
himself, goaded a larger
French army into attacking
a fortified English position.
– With the aid of the
dukes of Burgundy,
Henry gained control
over Normandy, Paris,
and much of northern
France!
A Burgundian Presence
Major Battles
• 3. Seige of Orleans
(1428-29)
• Joan of Arc.
• Illiterate 17 year old
hearing messages from
God to leave home and
join the fighting.
• Persuaded the Dauphin
(heir) Charles to give her
troops to command.
• Broke the siege and
continued into Reims
where Charles was
crowned King Charles VII.
Joan of Arc
• Captured by rivals of Charles and handed over to
the English.
• Died in 1431, tied to an English stake in the
market square at Rouen.
• Credited with turning the tide of battle.
• At war’s end in 1453, only Calais remained in
English hands.
Effects of the Hundred
Years’ War
• For France?
•
•
•
•
•
Approximately 50% population loss.
Economy in a shambles.
Trade disrupted.
War taxes resented by peasants, who bore the burden.
France had to regenerate from the lowest possible point,
but the effort brought a sense of unity -- Nationalism.
• Monarchy emerged more powerful and with greater
prestige.
• Established a standing national army.
• Resisted the establishment of a national assembly.
Effects of the Hundred
Years’ War
• For England?
• War was crucial to the formation of a national community.
– At the beginning of the war, Plantagenet England was little
more than a cultural and political outpost of French
civilization.
– At the end of the war, England was an island kingdom, secure
and confident.
• The role of Parliament was solidified.
– Taxation to pay for the war led to the development of the
House of Commons.
• Shortly, however, England would be ripped apart by civil
war.
Effects of the Hundred
Years’ War
• For Europe in general?
• Hastened the decline of feudalism.
– The longbow made the feudal fighting style obsolete.
– Led to the establishment of national armies of hired soldiers.
The Troubled Church
• Temporal authority declined in the late
Middle Ages.
• Why?
• A. Influence of strong monarchs and
national governments.
• B. Growing middle class.
• More educated.
The Troubled Church
• C. Popes were seen as
intent on enriching their
families.
• Pope Boniface VIII (12941303) issued the papal bull
Unam Sanctam (1302)
containing an extreme
statement of papal
supremacy:
– Claimed that no creature
could attain salvation
without acceptance of
pope’s position.
• Condemned by Dante as
“the prince of the new
The Troubled Church
• D. The Babylonian
Captivity
• Popes moved in selfimposed exile to Avignon,
France.
• Led to a succession of
French popes, elected by a
French-dominated College
of Cardinals.
• Their authority was not
accepted in several
countries, thus leading to
divisions in Latin
Christendom.
The Troubled Church
• E. The Great Schism (1378-1417)
• Papacy had returned to Italy from self-imposed
exile in France.
• People demanded the election of an Italian pope.
• College of Cardinals eventually declared the
election invalid on the premise that they had
voted under pressure.
• They elected another pope who promptly moved
back to Avignon.
• First pope refused to resign.
• Result was 2 popes!
The Troubled Church
• How could the pope be regarded as the infallible leader of
Christianity when there was more than one?
• A reform council met in Pisa, Italy in 1409.
– Goal was to unite under 1 pope.
– Result was the election of a third pope!!
– Neither of the previously-elected popes would resign.
• A second reform council met at Constance, Germany in
1414.
– Forced the resignation of all 3 popes.
– Elected Pope Martin V, ending the schism.
– Result?
• Severely weakened the influence of the Church and
strengthened the position of the monarchs.
The Troubled Church
• F. Reform Movements
• Many abuses of Church power were
evident.
– Fees for services.
– Simony.
– Out of touch lifestyles.
• Strong reactions to ecclesiastical abuses
were common.
– Retreat into mysticism, with emphasis on religious
ecstacy and direct communion with God.
– The proliferation of popular sects, with accompanying
unconventional theologies.
The Troubled Church
• Early reformers:
• John Wycliffe
– Scholar at Oxford
University
– Critical of Church wealth,
rejected papal supremacy,
and denied the doctrine of
transubstantiation of the
Eucharist.
– Claimed the Bible was the
sole authority for religious
truth.
– Followers were known as
the Lollards.
The Troubled Church
• Jan Hus
– Preacher and professor at
the Univ. Of Prague.
– Stressed the idea of
predestination.
– Supporters were known
as Hussites.
– Czechs resented German
control.
– Backed reforms of the
Bohemian Catholic
Church which had many
German clergy.
– Excommunicated and
burned.
The Troubled Church
• Wycliffe and Hus, though lacking the
name, were the pioneer “Protestants.”