Download The Crisis of the Later Middle Ages, 1300-1450

WESTERN EUROPE DURING
THE LATE MIDDLE AGES
THE RISE OF REGIONAL STATES

Holy Roman Empire
 Loose
confederation of states
 Tense relationships with the papacy prevents
creation of powerful state
Capetian Dynasty in France
 Regional states form in Italy and Spain

 Powerful
Italian city-states: Florence, Genoa,
Milan, Venice
 Lays foundation for the Renaissance
Europe 1000-1300 C.E.
RISE OF FEUDAL ENGLAND

William of Normandy conquers England in
1066
 Feudalism
with centralized approach
 Monarchy limited by church & aristocracy

Magna Carta signed by King John in 1215
 Creates
parliamentary system
 Parliament must approve changes in taxation
 Does NOT create democratic system
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC REVIVAL

Growth of Agricultural Economy
 Population
pressure causes increase in land
devoted to agriculture
 Crop rotation and three-field system
 New technology: horse collar and horseshoe
 Population growth
 800
CE—29 Million
 1100 CE—44 Million
 1300 CE—79 Million
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC REVIVAL

Revival of Towns and Trade
 Food
surplus & population growth led to
urbanization
 Urbanization brought increase in specialization of
labor
 Guilds
 Specialization
of labor caused increase in
manufacturing
 Manufacturing
 Manufacturing
 Brings
focused on wool textiles
led to increase in trade
Western Europe back into Afro-Eurasian trade
network
Venetian and Genoese
merchants established
colonies in major trade
ports of Alexandria,
Constantinople, Cairo,
Damascus, etc.
CHRISTIANITY IN THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES
Cathedral schools become universities
 Rediscovery of works of Aristotle

 Increased
commerce with Byzantine Empire
provided the West with access to Greek works

Scholasticism and Thomas Aquinas
 Combining
Aristotle’s logic with Christianity to
create the most truthful system of thought
possible
CHRISTIANITY IN THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES

Increased devotion to
the saints


Virgin Mary was ideal of
womanhood, love, and
sympathy
Built magnificent
cathedrals to honor
Virgin Mary

Gothic architecture

Notre Dame “Our Lady”
MEDIEVAL EXPANSION OF EUROPE
 Viking
Conquests
 Spanish Reconquista
 The Crusades
VIKING EXPANSION AND CONVERSION

Feudalism forced
Vikings to turn
attention to Iceland,
Greenland, and
Vinland (Canada)


Leif Ericsson
Vikings convert to
Christianity in 9th-10th
centuries
Viking Expansion
SPANISH RECONQUISTA 1060S-1492




Began in small Christian
states in northern Spain
By 1150 Christians had
recaptured over half of
Muslim Spain
Ended in 1492 with
conquest of Granada
Successful due to
organization and wealth
of Christian Church
THE CRUSADES
CAUSES OF THE CRUSADES
Byzantine emperor asked Pope for help in
regaining territory lost to Seljuk Turks
 Religious zeal

 Pope
Urban II calls for 1st Crusade in 1095
 Forgiveness of sin for those who die in battle

Knights’ willingness to engage in churchsanctioned warfare
 Feudal
wars in Europe were coming to an end
ECONOMIC MOTIVES?
Attraction of gaining spoils from rich Arab
lands
 Italian merchants desired to gain control of
trade routes in the Mediterranean from
Muslims
 Italian merchants provide needed supplies
to Crusaders

IMPACT OF THE CRUSADES

The impact of the Crusades on the West is a
source of debate among historians


The Crusades “helped expose the West to new cultural
and economic influences from the Middle East, a major
spur to further change and to [increase] the West’s
interaction with the larger world” –Peter Stearns
“Italian merchants had begun to travel well beyond Egypt,
Palestine, and Syria to avoid Muslim middlemen and deal
directly with the ultimate producers of silks and spices in
India, southeast Asia, and China” –Jerry Bentley, et. al.
IMPACT OF THE CRUSADES

Brian Tierney presents an opposing view to
causes and impact of the Crusades

“But one cannot claim that without the crusades the
Italian cities would not have not sought the markets of
the East or that they could not have taught the peoples of
Europe to like sugar and spices…
Although some individuals undoubtedly went crusading
in search of fiefs and plunder…it seems clear that the
majority were moved by genuine religious enthusiasm
and complete confidence that the crusade was the path
to salvation”
THE CALAMITOUS 14TH CENTURY
The Burning of Joan of Arc
BUBONIC PLAGUE “THE BLACK DEATH”





In October 1347 a ship from the Crimea sailed into
Messina. The crew had a "sickness clinging to their
very bones.“
Rats carrying fleas got on shore spreading disease
25 million people died in the next several years, 1/4
to 1/3 of the population of Europe
Ports cities were hit first
Close proximity, unsanitary conditions facilitated the
spread into cities
Bubonic Plague
“…and soon death was everywhere. Fathers
abandoned their sick sons. Lawyers refused to come
and make out wills for the dying. Friars and nuns were
left to care for the sick, and monasteries and convents
were soon deserted, as they were stricken, too.
Bodies were left in empty houses, and there was no
one to give them a Christian burial."
Spread of the Black Death
Victims “ate lunch with their
friends and dinner with their
ancestors in paradise”
-Geovanni Boccaccio
REACTIONS TO THE BLACK DEATH

Did it lead to a decline in moral standards?
 Rampant
Hysteria—Plague “God's Punishment”
 Fear—People locked themselves away; some fled
their homes
 Probably
carried fleas from town to town
 Scapegoats—Any
kind of "ungodly" behavior could
result in swift and harsh punishment
 Widows
or strange old men might be singled out and
stoned to death
 Foreigners, especially Jews, were persecuted, in some
places burned at the stake in mass executions
IMPACT OF THE BLACK DEATH

Profound impact on manorial economy
 Labor
became scarce in some places
 Tenants, rent payers, made gains as feudal
obligations were lowered
 Some serfs were freed to keep them from running
away to better opportunities
 Wages rose in towns to keep workers happy

Landlords and some towns continued to
prosper
HUNDRED YEARS WAR (1337-1453)


From 1337 to 1453
England and France
periodically engaged in
a series of military
campaigns
Fought with new military
technology

Crossbows, longbows,
pikes, firearms, and
cannons
Joan of Arc, martyred in 1431
IMPACT OF HUNDRED YEARS WAR

End of Feudalism?
 Monarchs
centralized authority
 More
stable permanent boundaries
 Kings began to levy direct taxes
 Weakened the authority of feudal lords
 Firearms
led to the knight and castle being
outdated
 Monarchs
maintained permanent armies
BIBLIOGRAPHY




Bentley, Jerry and Herbert Ziegler. Traditions and Encounters.
Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2000.
Bulliet, Richard, et al. The Earth and Its Peoples. 2nd ed. Boston:
Houghton-Mifflin Co., 2001.
Stearns, Peter, et al. World Civilizations. 3rd Ed. New York:
Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, 2001.
Tierney, Brian and Sidney Painter. Western Europe in the Middle
Ages. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1992.