The End of the Middle Ages

14th Century

14th Century

• The “worst” century in history– Plague– War– Taxes– Bad government– Insurrection– Schism in the

church• Led to innovations and

cultural changes

Changes in Society

• Society disintegrated in 14th and 15th C• Great Chain of Being

– All people linked back to God through king or pope

– Birth fixed one's place in society– Social movements destroyed linkages

• Three estates all changed radically– 1st = clergy (those who prayed)– 2nd = nobility (those who ruled and fought)– 3rd = peasants/serfs (those who work)

Changing Nature of the Catholic Church – 1st Estate• Status – 1300 AD

– Catholicism in all aspects of everyone's life

– Beautiful cathedrals and other works of art

– Corruption but that was assumed to be minor and purely individual (that is, not institutional)

• Why did the Church resist change?

Changing Nature of the Catholic Church – 1st Estate

"The church is not susceptible of being reformed in her doctrines…The church is the work of God and, like all of God's works, it is perfect…The church is independent of any earthly power, not merely in regard to her lawful end and purpose, but also in regard to whatever means she may deem suitable and necessary to attain them."

–Stated by a 14th Century pope

Changes in the Clergy

• Corrupt Popes– Money-making as a focus

• Simony• Indulgences• Dispensations (for a fee)

– Political power, military power– Generally ignored rules of celibacy

Changes in the Clergy

• Bishops– Distant from people

• confirmations on horseback

– Multiple benefices• Priests

– Distant from people • philosophical lectures

– Benedictines isolated in their abbeys– Dominicans in universities– Ignored celibacy rules

Symbols and Saints

• People adopted symbols – Sign of the cross– Priests asked to bless things– Priest’s vestments– Relics

• Virgin Mary• Saints

– Intermediaries between God and mankind

The Babylonian Captivity

• Philip IV, the Fair (France)– Wanted to tax the clergy

• Pope Boniface VIII– Boniface originally not

elected but he forced hermit pope to resign and was then elected (and resented)

– Argued against Phillip's taxes

– Issued the Bull Unan Sanctum

“That there is one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church we are impelled by our faith to believe and to hold – this we do firmly believe and openly confess – and outside of this there is neither salvation or remission of sins,… We moreover, proclaim, declare, and pronounce that it is altogether necessary to salvation for every human being to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.”

– The Bull Unam Sanctum of Boniface VIII

The Babylonian Captivity

• Council (French-backed) assembled to judge Pope Boniface– Accused of simony, heresy, blasphemy,

murder, sodomy, sorcery, failure to fast– Dante puts Boniface in depths of Hell

• Boniface threatened to excommunicate Philip

• Philip had Boniface arrested– Boniface was 86 years old– Public outcry forced Boniface's release– Boniface died shortly thereafter

The Babylonian Captivity

• Philip forced the election of Clement V (Frenchman) as Pope

• The Avignon Papacy– 7 popes– Corruption (money)

• Positions purchased• Fee excused sins and

age requirements

• City of Rome fell into ruin

France

Avignon

The Great Schism• Catherine of Siena

– Recognized as a Saint– Supported Papacy moving back to Rome– Told the pope that if he died outside of Rome

his soul would go to hell

• Pope Gregory XI moved back to Rome – New pope elected where the old pope died

• New pope elected in Rome– Italian pope elected– Promised to go back to Avignon but didn’t– French cardinals elected another Pope

• Two popes excommunicated each other• Europe was divided

The Great Schism• Council held in Pisa

– Two Popes agreed to resign and support a new Pope

– After the new pope was elected, the two refused to resign

– Three papal claimants– The pope named in

Pisa died• New pope elected

and all supported him

After the Great Schism

• Continued Papal decline and corruption– Borgia family – Model for Machiavelli’s Prince

• Results of papal corruption– Lost faith in religious leaders– Lost faith in church – Church became less important

in people’s lives– People and kings became open

to change– Financially devastated

Changing Nature of the Noble Class – 2nd Estate

• Who were the nobles– Rulers– Warriors (knights)– Land holders– No need to work since

land or mercenary gave income

– Lavish living

• Rules of Chivalry– To regulate behavior of

the noble class

The Hundred Year's War• Between England

and France– English claims to

France through heredity

– Wool trade of Flanders (Burgundians)

• Early battles won by England– Crécy– Poitiers– Agincourt

Changes in the Nature of Warfare

• Tactics– French: One-on-

one fighting– English: Foot

soldiers and archers

• Weapons– Swords– Crossbows– Multi-arrow

machines– Long bows

Hundred Years’ War

The Hundred Year's War

• Last phases of the war– English troubled with War

of the Roses– Joan of Arc

• Purpose for the war• Legend to save France

coupled with mysticism• Rallying point

– King of France assumes leadership (reluctantly) and French triumph

Changing Nature of the Noble Class

• Consequences of the War– People lost respect for knights– Knights became outmoded method of

fighting– Knights were a suppressed class– Commoners were important in war– Barons lost power to the king– Nationalism was promoted – Parliament gained control over money

Question – Take out paper and pencil/pen

• Why do you think Joan of Arc made such a difference in the outcome of the Hundred Years War?

• What did she do that was creative?

Changing Nature of the Common Class – 3rd Estate

• Growth of cities– Paris– Italian city states

• Emergence of artisans and merchants– Money– Ownership of property

• Rural peasant status– Slaves/serfs numbers were decreasing– Supplemented income (millers, tailors, etc.)

Changing Nature of the Common Class

• Violence– Peasant revolts– The Jacquerie revolt (1358)– Violence was accepted and

prevalent– "Villain" from villager

• Changing role of women– Women serfs added to family

income (gardens, home crafts)

– Child bearing was frequent– High infant mortality

The Black Death• Famine in N. Europe• Plague of 1347

– Sailors on ship from Crimea– Disease spread through Europe

• Fleas harbored on black rats– Symptoms (type 1)

• Black swellings (buboes)• Buboes broke and oozed• Intense pain and death in 5 days

– Symptoms (type 2)• Continuous fever• Spitting of blood• Coughing and sweating• Death in 1-3 days

• Results– Affected the 3rd estate most– Reduced labor force– Stronger bargaining position – Excess materials (cloth, tools, etc)

The Black Death

Technology

• Imported technologies from China and Islamic lands– Magnetic compasses– Paper– Eye glasses

• Mechanical clocks– Put on civic buildings rather than churches

• Machine tools• Spinning wheels• Calendar reform

"[T]he calendar of the time contained two errors. Its year (365.25 days) was 11 minutes and 8 seconds too long, which over 1,000 years amounted to seven days; and the calculations that predicted the lunar cycle were way out as well...[The proposal was] to adopt a new lunar cycle, leave out a week in the calendar...and omit leap year every 304 years... Reform [came] when Pope Gregory XIII introduced the 'Gregorian' calendar."

– Man, John, Gutenberg, John Wiley and Sons, 2002, p.95-96.

Technology

• Printing– Gutenberg’s invention– Why Asians didn’t invent

moveable type– Paper– Stamping mold and patrix-

matrix type casting– Die alloy– Printing press– Printing ink

Why the Asians didn't invent moveable type printing

• Asian writing systems were too complex: printing needs an alphabetical base

• Established writing systems are intrinsically conservative: on one [in Asia] was interested in change...

• The paper was the wrong sort: Chinese paper was [soft and therefore] suitable only for calligraphy or block-printing

• There were no screw-based presses in the East, because they were not wine-drinkers and didn't have olives...

• Printing is expensive and in [Asia] there was no system to release capital for research and development"

– John Man, Gutenberg, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 2002, pp. 115

The Gutenberg Press

"Problems must have accumulated with every trial, as type, ink, paper and pressure all inter-reacted... Then, after printing, every sheet had to be dried; not only the ink, but the paper itself... How could pressure be applied evenly? How much pressure applied ink best? How soft or hard should the paper be? What happened when different inks reacted with different papers? How to apply the inks so that there was enough to create strong images, without filling up the little holes in letters like e's and a's?"

– Man, John, Gutenberg, John Wiley and Sons, 2002, p.135-136.

Technology

• Printing – Products

• Indulgences• The Bible

– Public more literate

– Paved the way for Martin Luther

"Printing with movable type was both inspiration and perspiration, an idea and an invention. The birth of the idea sounds as if it ought to have been a sudden revelation, a Eureka! moment like the one that inspired Archimedes to leap from his bath with his famous yell. But ideas seldom jump into the mind from nowhere. If they do, like Leonardo da Vinci's sketch for a helicopter, they remain science fictions until technological advance makes them seem prescient. Ideas are seeded in frameworks of previous growths and need those same frameworks – in this case, punch-making, casting, metallurgical skills, wine- and oil-pressing, paper-making – to flourish."

–John Man, Gutenberg, John Wiley and Sons, 2002, p.122.

End of Middle Ages – Creativity

• Changes in the church – negative• Changes in the nobility – kings

gained power at expense of church and minor nobles

• Changes in the commoners – much gain in power and development of technology helped

Thank You

The Hundred Years’ War, 1337-1453

First Phase, 1337-1364: English Ascendancy1337 English King Edward III claimed French throne1340 Flemish cities recognized Edward III as king of France

English victory in sea battle of Sluys1346 English victory at Crécy. English control of

northeastern coast of France1356 English victory at Poitiers and capture of French king1360 Truce, French recognized English sovereignty over

southwest France and Calais

Second Phase, 1364-1380: French Revival1364-1380 Campaigns by French general Bertrand du Guesclin.

English driven back to a few coastal enclaves

The Hundred Years’ War, 1337-1453

Third Phase, 1380-1429: Renewed English Invasion1396-1413 Truce1407 Beginning of civil war among French noble factions1415 English victory (Henry V) at Agincourt. Henry V named

heir of French throne and marries French princess.1422 English and Burgundians proclaim Henry VI king of

France and England.1422 On death of Charles VI, his youngest son becomes

dauphine (not crowned)

Fourth Phase, 1429-1453: French Victory14xx Charles, youngest son, becomes dauphine (not

crowned)1429 Victory of Joan of Arc at Orléans, against English1430 Capture of Joan of Arc by Burgundians1431 Burning of Joan of Arc as relapsed heretic1435 Burgundians make peace with French1435-1453 English driven from all of France except Calais