Late Medieval EuropeLate Medieval Europe

1300-14501300-1450

THE SITUATION IN 1300THE SITUATION IN 1300

• The only strong monarchy in Western Europe was England

• Society was divided into nobility, gentry, merchant class, free peasant and serf; 90% of the population were peasants or serfs

• Population had been steadily growing for centuries and had reached the saturation point for the available farmland

Europe in 1300

THE BLACK DEATH

THE GREAT FAMINETHE GREAT FAMINE

• 1315 – 1322

• Three years of cold weather and rain led to low crop yields and famine

• Negative result: death and disease that affected mostly the very old and the very young

• Positive result: lessens the population and makes more land available for purchase

THE BLACK DEATHTHE BLACK DEATH• The exact origins and nature of disease are still unknown• Probably some combination of bubonic, pneumonic and

septicaemic plague; maybe anthrax too• Thought to be spread by rats• Medieval people did not know the cause• Caused the death of 33% to 50% of Europe’s people

REACTIONS TO THE BLACK REACTIONS TO THE BLACK DEATHDEATH

• pogroms against Jews

• flagellants• fleeing cities for

the countryside• abandonment of

traditional morality – “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die!”

Boccaccio’s Decameron – famous novel which descries the Black Death in Florence

RESULTS OF THE BLACK RESULTS OF THE BLACK DEATHDEATH

• Decline of population leads to:

– More land available

– Wages rise

– Decline of serfdom

• More social mobility, especially for lower classes (upper classes tried to prevent this)

• Living conditions rise for most people; marriages take place at earlier ages

• Availability of land allows younger sons and others who could not buy land before the Plague to do so now

• Large amounts of fallow land lead to beginning of enclosure movement in England

• Lack of clergy leads to ordaining less qualified men to priesthood

• Decline in respect for the Church

• Founding of new universities to train men in theology, law and medicine (to replace those who died in the Plague.) More universities means men do not need to travel as far to attend college so education becomes more localized

THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR

More than you ever wanted to know about the Anglo-French connections:

• Roots in the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 (Battle of Hastings)

• French dukes of Normandy retained lands in France and held title of “King of England”

• French kings were weak feudal lords holding little authority outside of Île de France (Paris and the surrounding countryside)

• French aristocracy often married their daughters to the sons of the kings of England, further complicating dynastic alliances– Eleanor of Aquitaine m. Louis IX of France, then Henry II of England

(large French province became English territory)– Isabella of Angoulême m. John I, mother to Henry III– Eleanor of Provence m. Henry III, mother to Edward I– Isabella of France m. Edward II, mother to Edward III

• Edward III was heir to properties in France which made him a threat to French royal power, in addition to his claim to the throne

100 YEARS’ WAR100 YEARS’ WAR

• Death of Charles IV of France, last Capetian king, no surviving male heirs

• Edward III of England claimed the throne of France through his mother who was Charles’ sister.

• Claim denied by France; Salic Law; rule passes to Philip VI Valois

• Edward III goes to war with Philip VI to claim the throne of France

Edward III of England

100 Year’s War (1337-1453)

• Major Players:– England: Edward III, Edward the Black

Prince, Henry V– France: Philip (Philippe) VI of Valois; John

II, Charles V, Charles VI, Charles VII– Flanders: sought independence from

French rule; early role in the war– Burgundy: rival for control of France; aided

Henry V; eventually a Hapsburg possession

MAJOR TERRITORIAL GAINSMAJOR TERRITORIAL GAINS

• 1328: Pre-war land status

• 1382: English losses reason for overthrow of Richard II

• 1430: Henry V of England allied with Burgundians

• 1470: Post-war situation

MAJOR BATTLES AND MAJOR BATTLES AND HAPPENINGSHAPPENINGS

• Battles:– Sluys: naval battle;

destroys French navy– Crecy: longbow > cavalry – Poitiers: The Black Prince– Agincourt: Heroic win for

Henry V– Orleans: Joan of Arc

Treaty of Troyes – after Agincourt; Henry V to inherit French throne – but both Henry & French king die the same year

Last battle in 1453

RESULTS OF 100 YEARS RESULTS OF 100 YEARS WARWAR

• France was unified with a strong centralized monarchy

• French economy was in a shambles because all battles had taken place in France

• England permanently lost all her possessions on the Continent except Calais

• English monarchs will focus more on building up England than on keeping lands on the Continent

• Eventually will lead to England's investing time and money into building an overseas empire

RESULTS OF 100 YEARS RESULTS OF 100 YEARS WARWAR

• New weapons technology (longbow, cannon) leads to decline of knights and rise of professional army

• Maintaining an army becomes more expensive, so few nobles can afford to do so

• Rise of nationalism in both England and France

ENGLISH PEASANT’S REVOLT, ENGLISH PEASANT’S REVOLT, 13811381

• Spurred by John Ball, Lollard priest

• Led by Wat Tyler, later killed as a rebel

• Protested increased taxes (the Poll tax) to support war in France

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

RELIGIOUS REFORMRELIGIOUS REFORM• John Wycliff

– Called for religious reform in England– Bible in English (first to translate New Testament)– Clergy should not be involved in politics and should not be

wealthy– Denied doctrine of transubstantiation– Convicted of heresy after his death

• Lollards – John Wycliffe’s followers– Bible in English – Called for reform of Church– “Church of the Saved”– Association with the Peasants’ Revolt drove it underground

THE PAPACY IN THE MIDDLE THE PAPACY IN THE MIDDLE AGESAGES

The Pope’s political position:– Ruler of Papal States (aka “Holy

See; in central Italy)– Needed to maintain armies to

hold position– Often threatened by the Holy

Roman Empire, the French, and various Italian city-states

Medieval popes could wield formidable political and religious power

The peak of Church prestige and power occurred during the reign of Pope Innocent III (d. 1216)

MOVE TO AVIGNONMOVE TO AVIGNON

• Roman patrician families battling for influence deposed Pope Boniface VIII

• Influence of French cardinals caused election of Clement V, a Frenchman.

• Clement V decided to reside in Avignon; which was papal territory but near French borders

• Perception was that the popes made decisions at behest of King of France

CRITICSCRITICS

• England, at war with France, resented papal judgments on behalf of France

• Marsiglio of Padua– Defensor Pacis– 1st to write for a separation

of church and state

• William of Ockham– “Ockham’s Razor”– Accused Pope John XXII of

heresy

GREAT WESTERN SCHISMGREAT WESTERN SCHISM

• Catherine of Siena intervened, pleading for papal return to Rome

• 1378 – contested papal election led to two popes: an Italian in Rome and a Frenchman in Avignon

• Great Western Schism of 1378-1417

• Europe divides along political lines• Council of Pisa – 3 popes!• Council of Constance (1417)

resolves issue. One pope – Martin V

• Rise of Conciliar Movement

GREAT WESTERN SCHISMGREAT WESTERN SCHISM

• Brings an end to the idea of “Christian Europe”

• Lowers prestige and power of papacy in Rome

• Increasing consolidation of power by monarchs and rise of nationalism will continue to decrease the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church

MEDIEVAL SOCIETY

SOCIAL HISTORYSOCIAL HISTORY

• Decline of feudal system, especially in England

• Beginnings of “middle class” as more people move into cities, again, especially in England

• Peasants are still 80% of the population

LATE MEDIEVAL WOMENLATE MEDIEVAL WOMEN

• Throughout their lives, women were under the legal control of their fathers or husbands

• Nobility and gentry – responsible for maintaining family properties; often controlled their own lands; most were literate in the vernacular; often had political influence but rarely ruled on their own

• Working class – women were often equal partners with their husbands; some women owned their own businesses; some guilds allowed women to belong

• Peasants & serfs – Neither women nor men had much control over their lives; lived in poverty; women had more choice in who they married than did upper class women

MARRIAGEMARRIAGE

• Arranged for political, economic or other practical reasons; love rarely a factor

• Women married in early teens; men in early twenties

• Peasants often married later than upper classes

• Marriage a sacrament; usually witnessed by a priest

MARRIAGE AND ADULTERYMARRIAGE AND ADULTERY

• Marriage was not for love, especially among the upper classes

• Divorce was nearly unknown; annulments were possible but not common

• Men frequently had mistresses and this was acceptable

• Illegitimate children were expected to be provided for by their father, but could not inherit his lands or titles

SOCIAL CLASSESSOCIAL CLASSES

• Serfs – were not free. Worked small plots of land for which they paid “rent” either in produce or by doing “service work” on the Lord’s land

• Peasants – mostly small farmers who either owned or rented their plots of land

• Peasants and serfs were 80% of the population by the year 1400

• By 1400 in much of Western Europe serfdom was declining

SOCIAL CLASSESSOCIAL CLASSES

• Merchants and Craftsmen– Numbers were increasing– Lived in cities– Many belonged to guilds which regulated their

training, what they could charge and what their work was

– Guilds were beginning to restrict membership by 1400

• Professional class – lawyers, physicians, bankers; many of whom had been educated in universities

SOCIAL CLASSESSOCIAL CLASSES

• Clergy –– Upper levels often from nobility and professional

classes– Well educated; often with doctorates from universities– Parish clergy less educated. Many rural clergy were

illiterate even in the vernacular

• Nobility – – Gentry – large landowners– Upper nobility – the very wealthy and politically

powerful; often related to the royal family– Less than 5% of population

LEISURE ACTIVITIESLEISURE ACTIVITIES

• Men’s activities were often geared towards preparing for war: archery contests, tournaments

• Sundays, saint’s feast days and other religious festivals were holidays

• Most celebrations involved excessive amounts of alcohol (even by modern standards!)

VERNACULAR LITERATUREVERNACULAR LITERATURE• Most members of nobility, gentry

and merchant classes could read• (Divine) Comedy

– Dante Alighieri– Italian: Il Commedia– Journey through hell to heaven

• Canterbury Tales– Geoffrey Chaucer– English; pilgrimage stories

• The City of Ladies– Christine di Pisan– First “feminist” writings; shows

influence of women in stabilizing court culture

IN CONCLUSIONIN CONCLUSION• The 14th Century was a transition period in

Europe – moving out of the Middle Ages and into the Early Modern Period

• Important movements:– Nationalism– Formation of strong central governments– Decline of Church prestige– Increasing power of middle and merchant classes– Increasing number of people living in cities – increase

in their political power– Increase in literacy and demand for books in the

vernacular