Download Century of Turmoil: Division in the Church, the Hundred Years` War

Century of Turmoil:
Division in the Church, the Hundred Years’
War & the Plague
A Church Divided
• 1300 – conflict between Pope
Boniface VII & King Philip IV
• 1305 – Clement V as new pope
• Popes moved from Rome to
Avignon, France – weakens
the Church
Great Schism
• College of Cardinals elects Pope Urban VI but later
regret decision
• Cardinals then elect Clement VII as pope
• Two popes: Clement VII in Avignon, Urban VI in
Rome
• Council of Pisa  3 popes!
Council of Constance
• 1414 – Council of
Constance attempted to
end Great Schism by
choosing single pope
• Holy Roman Emperor &
Council forced all popes to
resign
• 1417 – Council chose new
pope Martin V
Scholars Challenge Church Authority
• John Wycliffe – challenged the
Church
– Church was too worldly & wealthy
– Bible, not pope, was final authority
• Council of Constance declared him a
heretic, ordered his books burned,
body exhumed, burned, & ashes cast
into the river
• Jan Hus – excommunicated, burned
@ stake
Bubonic Plague
• Infectious disease caused by
bacteria
• Began in Asia – spread
through trade routes
• Known as the Black Death –
purplish or blackish spots
on skin
Bubonic Plague
• Flea bites an infected rat  bacteria in flea’s stomach
forms “plug” or blockage  flea becomes very hungry &
aggressive
• Flea attempts to feed on a human, but the plugged
stomach keeps it from keeping down the blood – vomits
the blood back into the body w/plague bacteria mixed in
• Human is now infected
• Flea will eventually starve to death
Bubonic Plague
• Symptoms
- Set in 3-7 days after infection
- Chills, fever, diarrhea,
headache, swelling of lymph
nodes (known as bubo)
- If left untreated, mortality
rate is about 60%
The “Black Death”  plague outbreak, began in 1347
• Pandemic – appeared in other parts of the world,
not just Europe
• 1st broken out in central Asia
• 1/2 to 2/3 of Europe’s population died within
• Disease spread easily in crowded, dirty towns
• People afraid to leave their homes
The “Black Death”
• People were afraid to handle the dead or be
around the sick – bodies piled up in the streets
• In Paris, 800 people died per day
• Responses –
– Doctors wore fanciful costumes to “scare away the evil
spirits”
– People carried flowers & herbs to ward off disease
– Sound was the answer  rang church bells or fired
cannons
“Ring Around the Rosie”
• Ring  rose-colored, puss-filled sores would
develop rings
• Pocket full of posies  carry flowers to keep
away the plague
• Ashes Ashes  Burn the bodies
• We all fall down  plague wiped out 20-35% of
the population in Eurasia
Religious Devotion
• Plague seen as punishment
by God for the people’s sinfulness
• Some people became flagellants  traveled to
towns singing hymns & chants while flagellating
(whipping) themselves, in a sign of physical
penance
• Ironically, they ended up spreading the disease
even more….
Effects of the Plague
• Less population meant better
economic conditions for survivors
• Breakdown of feudalism
• Laborers could start demanding
better wages & more freedom
• Weakening of the Church
• Fall of “Middle Age” society
Hundred Years’ War
• French King Charles IV died w/o
heir
• English King Edward III (Charles’
nephew) claimed right to throne
• French appointed Philip IV
(Charles’ cousin) as King of France
• Victory passed back & forth
• English were driven out of France
in 1453
Longbow Changes Warfare
• English introduced
longbow – Battle of Crécy
in 1346
• Cheap, easy to carry, could
penetrate armor
• Spelled doom for knights
& chivalric warfare
Joan of Arc
• In 1429, French peasant
– Divine revelations that she should
help France
• Joan led French army into battle
– Several victoriers
• England’s allies captured Joan –
condemned as witch & burned at the
stake
• Joan of Arc is symbol of French
resistance
Impact of Hundred Years’ War
• Nationalism emerged in
France & England
• Power & prestige of French
monarch increased
• Some consider it to be the end
of the Middle Ages
Charles VII crowned
French king