Download The Late Middle Ages

Unit 3 Conclusion:
Leaving The Middle Ages
Goals and Objectives
WH.H.3
Understand how conflict and innovation influenced political,
religious, economic and social changes in medieval civilizations.
WH.H.4
Analyze the political, economic, social and cultural factors that lead
to the development of the first age of global interaction.
WH.H.4.3
Explain the political, social and economic reasons for the rise of
powerful centralized nation-states and empires
Students will know…
The importance of the rise of nation-states of Europe.
That with the rise of national monarchies, two themes
dominate the political life of the High Middle Ages:
1) the successful development of national monarchies
in England and France, with medieval England laying
the foundations for a parliamentary monarchy and
France establishing the basis for absolutism;
2) the failure to develop national monarchies in
Germany and Italy.
Effects of the Crusades
Negatives:
Weakened the Byzantine Empire, the Pope
and nobles
Kings become stronger
Leaves a legacy of bitterness between the
Christians, Jews and the Muslims
Positives:
Stimulated trade throughout the
Mediterranean and Middle East
Europe learns much from the Muslims
Causes of the Hundred Years’ War:
The Plague
Between 1347 and 1351, 38 million out of a
population of 75 million died of the plague.
Reactions to the plague
anti-Semitism
the shortage of workers led to a rise in the cost
of labor - many peasants became free from
serfdom.
Causes of the Hundred Years’ War:
The Decline of Church Power
To get more revenue, French king Phillip IV began to tax
the clergy.
Pope Boniface VIII said the clergy did not have to pay
taxes without the consent of the pope.
King Phillip sent the French army to bring Pope
Boniface to France for trial.
Pope Boniface died and a Frenchman, Clement V
became pope.
The papacy moved to Avignon, France from 1305 to
1337.
This caused a split in the church (The Great Schism)
until 1417.
Popes no longer could tell kings what to do.
Causes of the Hundred Years’ War:
Political Instability
English kings were technically the vassals of French
kings.
William the conqueror of England came from
Normandy, a territory of France.
Eleanor of Aquitaine was been married to
King Louis VII of France at 15. When he
divorced her, she married Henry
Plantagenet, the Duke of Normandy.
He later became king of England, Henry II,
and two of her sons were kings of England,
Richard (the Lionhearted) and John.
Causes of the Hundred Years’ War:
Annexation of Gascony
At one time, English kings owned more land in
France than the French kings.
But, by 1337, the only English owned land was
the Duchy of Gascony and as Duke of
Gascony, the English king Edward III pledges
loyalty to King Phillip IV of France.
In 1337, Phillip seized Gascony. Edward
declared war on Phillip. This war lasted until
1453 and is known as the Hundred Years’ War.
The Hundred Years’ War
The French relied on their knights to lead the
army. These heavily armored cavalry looked
down on the peasant foot soldiers.
The English also had knights, but paid large
numbers of foot soldiers, especially archers
who were armed with the longbow.
The long bow had greater striking power, firing
range, and faster speed of fire then the French
crossbow.
Early Battles - Crecy
By 1347, English king Edward had died and
Henry V became king. Henry was
determined to take over France.
Crecy (1347) - The French army was much
larger than the English.
The French attacked, but English archers
decimated the French knights.
The English won the battle, but were not
strong enough to defeat France conquer
France.
Battle of Crecy
Some highlights of the battle of Crécy - referenced from
the works of Jean Froissant, The Longbow by Robert
Hardy and The Medieval Archer by Jim Bradbury:
 French forces numbered approximately 36,000, English forces
numbered 12,000 of which approximately 7,000 were archers.
 Each English archer carried 2 sheaves of arrows (48) into battle.
 The bow draw weights were normally from 80 to 120 lbs,
shooting arrows, 250 to 300 yards at a rate of 10 arrows per
minute.
 The total number of arrows shot during the battle is estimated at
a half million.
 There were 14 to 16 charges made against the English lines
from the start of the battle at 4:00 PM until the completion at
midnight.
 Casualties were estimated from 5,000 (low) to 10,000 or more
(high) for the French Knights and Genoese crossbowmen.
English casualties were several hundred.
Early Battles - Agincourt
October 25, 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day).
In the play Henry V by William
Shakespeare, Henry says,
"We few, we happy few, we
band of brothers."
 The French outnumbered the English by
around 3 to 1.
 Heavily armored French Knights try to
attack through the mud as Henry’s archers
slaughter the knights.
It was a one-sided English victory.
France after Agincourt
The English controlled
the northern and
western coasts of
France.
The Burgundians,
English allies controlled
much of northeastern
france.
France was divided
over who should be
king.
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc,
1412-1431) was the daughter
of peasants. She was deeply
religious and had visions of
saints that commanded her to
free France.
She made her way to dauphin
(prince) Charles’ court and
persuaded him to let her
accompany the army to
Orleans to fight the English.
Joan of Arc (continued)
When Joan joined the army at
Orleans, she became the
standard bearer and sat in on
councils with the officer.
Inspired by Joan’s faith, the
French were able to take
Orleans from the English.
Joan was captured by the
Burgundians the next year
(1430) and turned over to the
British.
Joan of Arc (continued)
The English turned Joan over to church officials to
be tried by the Inquisition on heresy and witchcraft
charges.
Joan was found guilty and burned at the stake in
1431.
Joan was considered a martyr by the France.
Her death united the French more than any king
ever had.
Video
Effects of the Hundred Years War:
The End of the War
Gunpowder, firearms and
cannons developed during
the war. (Thanks China!)
1435 - Burgundy switches
sides from the English to
the French.
1453 - at the last battle of
the war, Castillon, the
French use of the cannon
was a decisive factor.
Effects of the War - France
Many of the vestiges of feudalism were
destroyed by the war.
The ideal of nationalism grew above loyalty to
lords and manors.
Kings were using taxes to raise armies and no
longer relied on nobles to supply them with
knights.
The king’s power grew to the point of an
absolute monarchy with the belief in Divine
Right.
Effects of the War - England
After the defeat, England broke out into a
civil war, The War of the Roses, over who
should be the king of England.
Henry Tutor won in 1485 becoming Henry VII
and establishing the Tutor dynasty.
Henry abolished the private armies of the
nobility and cut taxes on the nobility and
middle class.
Effects of the War - Spain
Muslims, called Moors, from North Africa had
conquered much of Spain by 725. Several
Christian kingdoms arose and fought to regain
their lands from the Moors.
The two strongest kingdoms were Castille and
Aragon. Fearing the strength of a united France,
they combined with the marriage of Isabella of
Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469.
This united kingdom of Spain was able to drive
out the Moors in 1492. The same year they
financed a Genoese sailor named Christopher
Columbus.
Conclusion
The Hundred Years’ War marks the end
of the Middle Ages in Europe. At the
end of the war, a new interest in ancient
cultures called the Renaissance
develops ushering in the Modern Era.