War and Plague

Two of the biggest killers during the Late Middle Ages.

World History

The CulpritsThe Culprits

The Famine of 1315-The Famine of 1315-13171317

By 1300 Europeans were farming almost all the land they could cultivate.

A population crisis developed. Climate changes in Europe produced

three years of crop failures between 1315-17 because of excessive rain.

As many as 15% of the peasants in some English villages died.

One consequence ofstarvation & povertywas susceptibility todisease.

1347: Plague 1347: Plague Reaches Reaches

Constantinople!Constantinople!

The The SymptomsSymptoms

Bulbous

Septicemic Form:

almost 100% mortality rate.

The Disease The Disease CycleCycle

Flea drinks rat blood that carries the

bacteria.

Flea drinks rat blood that carries the

bacteria.

Flea’s gut cloggedwith bacteria.

Flea’s gut cloggedwith bacteria.

Bacteriamultiply inflea’s gut.

Bacteriamultiply inflea’s gut.

Flea bites human and regurgitates blood into human wound.

Flea bites human and regurgitates blood into human wound.

Human is infected!Human is infected!

Medieval Art & the Medieval Art & the PlaguePlague

An obsession with death.

Medieval Art & the Medieval Art & the PlaguePlague

Medieval Art & the Medieval Art & the PlaguePlague

Bring out your dead!

Boccaccio in Boccaccio in The The DecameronDecameron

Boccaccio in Boccaccio in The The DecameronDecameron

The victims ate lunch with their friends and

dinner with their ancestors.

The The Danse Danse MacabreMacabre

Attempts to Stop the Attempts to Stop the PlaguePlague

Plague Doctor

“Leeching”

Lancing a BuboeLancing a Buboe

Attempts to Stop the Attempts to Stop the PlaguePlague

Flagellanti:Self-inflicted “penance” for our

sins!

Attempts to Stop the Attempts to Stop the PlaguePlaguePogroms against the

Jews

“Jew” hat

“Golden Circle” obligatory badge

Death Triumphant !:Death Triumphant !:A Major Artistic A Major Artistic

ThemeTheme

Death Toll• 1 out of every 3 people

died in Europe. (This was about 20-25 Million People)

• Almost 75 Million are estimated to have died world wide.

Population in Europe

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1000AD 1340AD 1450AD

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There were so many dead bodies in the cities, that many people threw their dead bodies out in the street

"The Black Death"

Effects of the Plague• Merchants died causing trade to

significantly decline and in turn raised prices

• Workers and employers also die, production declines, prices continue to rise.

• This all led to peasant revolts because their wages are no longer sufficient to live off of.

• The Jewish population was blamed for the plague and in some cases they were slaughtered because of it.

• Church’s power was significantly weakened.

Emergence of National States and National Monarchies

• Emerged in the late Middle Ages as populations in certain regions became fully aware of their common traditions, language, and religion.

• National Monarchies developed (etc. King of England, King of Spain) – As royal power increased feudal power decreased,

particularly among Lords and the Nobility.

• By 1500, the major European states (Spain, France, Portugal) were established. The medieval age was coming to a close.

The Hundred Years’ War• Yes it lasted for about 100

years. (Approximately 1337-1453)

• It begun when the French king died without a successor and the English king claimed it for himself. (Due to his Norman Heritage)

• This war was fought on French soil and significantly changed medieval society and the style of European warfare.

The Hundred Years’ War

Changing Warfare• The English Longbow (6 ft. tall) was

introduced during the Hundred Years War and could fire 3 arrows in the time a French crossbowman could fire one arrow.

• It allowed archers to pierce medieval armor reducing the impact of mounted cavalry and custom plate armor.

• The Cannon was also and allowed the armies to lay siege to and capture most of the opponents strongholds

Battle of Crecy• France vs. England (1346)

– 25,000 vs. 15,000• English took positions on a

sloping ridge, their knights dismounted and prepared to fight alongside the infantry.

• English archers used the longbow and stood in a “V Formation” at the top of the hill.

• At the base of the hill, the English dug a system of pits, caltrops, and ditches to slow the enemy down.

• The “English Gun” (Cannon) was also unveiled as a new weapon in warfare.

Battle of Crecy

• The French army was tired from the journey and the previous days’ fighting, but once they arrived, their commander Phillip VI urged to fight.– This did not allow them to regain their strength.

• Phillip hired mercenaries who had crossbows and placed them in the front line and his Calvary in the back.

• Phillip ordered their big wooden shields to be placed in carts which were left with the infantry in the rear.

• Both actions, would prove to be fatal mistakes.

Battle of Crecy

• The crossbowmen attacked first sending a volley of arrows to disorganize and frighten the English troops. – Musical instruments were playing along with the arrows,

as a scare tactic.• The crossbowmen were useless, as they could only

shoot 1-2 bolts per minute, while the English archers with their longbows could easily shoot 5-6 arrows per minute.– The English also had the advantage of range and height

which the crossbowmen did not have.

Battle of Crecy• Without their shields, the

crossbowmen were easy targets, and took heavy losses.

• They retreated back to the infantry, when the nobles and knights dismounted and cut them up into pieces.

• The French cavalry, out of anger, began to charge up the hill, but got entangled in the system of ditches and pits.

• Arrows rained down on them from above, and a new weapon was blasted right into their ranks, the “English Gun” or cannon.

Battle of Crecy

• Wave after wave, the French attempted to scale the hill, and each wave was struck down.– One French eyewitness wrote, “The English guns cast iron

balls by means of fire...They made a noise like thunder and caused much loss in men and horses... We were continually hit by the archers and the gunners... [by the end of the battle], the whole plain was covered by men struck down by arrows and cannon balls.”

• After heavy losses, the French were finally forced to retreat.

Battle of Crecy Results

• English casualties– 300 knights

• French casualties– 2,000 knights– Unknown number of common

soldiers/mercenaries. (4000-6000)?

Impact of the Hundred Years’ War• A feeling of nationalism

emerged in England and France. People saw the king as a national leader and fought for their country not simply their feudal lord.

• Power and prestige of the French monarch increased.

• England suffered internal turmoil and wars over the English crown.

• Introduction of new weapons changes the history of warfare. The Medieval knight was dead.

Joan Of Arc Born: 1412 Died: 1431

The room Joan was born in

Joan of Arc

Born in 1412 to Jacques and Isabelle d’Arc in Domremy, France.

Joan was the youngest of five children.

Her real name was Jehanne d’Arc. She was never called Joan of Arc while she was alive.

Joan of Arc

When Joan was twelve she first heard a Voice from God.

The Voices were St. Michael the Archangel, St. Catherine and St. Margaret.

Joan of Arc

Her voices told her she must deliver her country from the invading English.

Joan left home at sixteen to answer her calling.

In May of 1428, she went to see Sir Robert de Baudricourt and asked to be sent to the King.

Joan of Arc

Joan lived during the time period of the Hundred Years War.

The Hundred Years War was a series of wars and truces between the Kings of France and England.

In 1429 she disclosed a vision that the French would suffer a major defeat outside the city of Orleans.

Baudricourt finally led her to Charles VII, King of France.

Joan of Arc

King Charles VII sent her to be examined by the doctors of the Church to see whether her visions were authentic or not.

She was found to be authentic!

Joan of Arc

After being examined, Charles officially gave Joan command of the armies of France.

Joan is the youngest person in history to command the armies of a nation.

She was 17.

Joan of Arc

In April of 1429, she led the French against the English in the Battle of Orleans.

Joan broke the seige of Orleans in only three days of fighting in May 1429.

Joan of Arc

Joan predicted she would be wounded in the exact manner that it occurred.

She was wounded by an arrow above her breast during the attack. Her prediction happened 15 days before the event and is documented.

Joan of Arc

Joan was rewarded by Charles with a coat of arms.

Charles himself drew the design for her coat of arms featuring a sword holding a crown with a fleur-de-lis on each side.

Joan of Arc

Joan attempted to liberate Paris on September 1492.

Joan was wounded and the attempt to liberate Paris failed. She was hit by a bolt from a crossbow.

She refused to leave the battlefield and was forcible carried to the rear.

She wanted to renew the attack the next day but was overruled by King Charles VII.

Joan of Arc

Joan spends most of the winter of 1429 as a frustrated guest in the King’s count.

In the Spring of 1430, Joan takes the field with a small army.

Joan was captured by Burgundian soldiers on May 23, 1430.

Joan of Arc

Joan was put on trial for heresy in the Spring of 1431.

The English paid for the trial that was run by Church officials loyal to them.

She was held in a prison cell shackled to her bed.

Joan of Arc

Joan was threatened with torture unless she denied her Voices.

Joan was threatened with burning on May 24, 1431.

Even Joan had a breaking point and facing fire and death, agreed to abjure.

Joan of Arc

Joan was then pronounced a relapsed heretic and sentenced to death on May 30, 1431.

Joan was burned to death.

Her last words were:

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus”

Joan of Arc

Joan was officially beatified by Pope Pius X on April 18, 1909.

Joan was officially canonized by Pope Benedict XV on May 16, 1920.

Saint Joan of Arc Feast day is celebrated on May 30th.

Joan of Arc’s impact• Joan of Arc helped end the war by

leading French forces to victory at a fort city near Orleans. This then allowed Charles VII to solidify his position as king of France.

• Joan of Arc was later captured by the English and burnt at the stake for being a ‘witch’.

• Her death helped to further motivate the French for she was seen as a martyr.

After the Hundred Years’ War

• England entered Civil War called “Wars of the Roses”.– Between noble families of York and Lancaster– 30 years of war until Henry Tudor defeated

Richard III.• Henry Tudor was called Henry VII and founded

the powerful Tudor Dynasty.– The power of the English monarchy was

established and they built England into a powerful European power.

Decline of the Roman Church

• The Catholic Church began to lose its power and prestige over the people for these reasons:– 1) Many priests were corrupt.– 2) Loyalties shifted from the church to the nation.– 3) Kings no longer tolerated the Pope’s

interference in their lands.– 4) Enlightenment/Renaissance ideals began

critically challenging the traditions of the church and its teachings.

Decline of the Papacy

• Began under Pope Boniface VIII.– French King decided to levy a tax on the French clergy.– Pope denounced this tax, but the King didn’t listen– French King had a bishop arrested and asked him to be

brought for trial, and the Pope refused to release him to the King.

– The King ordered the Pope to release him, and the Pope in turn issued a famous papal bull, the Unam Sanctum.

– Said that submission to the Pope is a requirement for salvation.

Decline of the Papacy

• French King defied the Pope and accused him of heresy and ordered him to trial.

• The king traveled to the Pope’s residence, and took the Pope captive.

• The town’s people freed the Pope, but the shock of it all actually killed the Pope a month later.

Papal Exile

• A Frenchman was elected to be the next pope.– He moved the papacy to Avignon, France.– From 1309-1377, the popes, all Frenchman,

resided at Avignon.– This period is called the “Babylonian Captivity of

the Church”• The English, Germans, and Italians resented a

“French-controlled” papacy, and calls for change echoed across Europe

“Great Schism”• In 1377, the papacy returned to Rome, but the Pope died

soon after moving back to Rome.• The French dominated College of Cardinals, threatened by a

Roman mob, elected an Italian as pope.• Several months later, the cardinals declared the election

invalid and put a new French pope back in office, and moved the papacy back to Avignon.

• The Italians refused to acknowledge this “new” papacy and the Roman Church had two popes: one in Rome and one in Avignon.

• Both men claimed to be the rightful pope, and each pope excommunicated each other! This lasted for 40 years.

Attempts to Resolve• 1409 – church leaders met at Pisa to resolve the

schism. The council deposed both popes and appointed a new one.

• The two original Popes refused to leave office, and now the Roman Catholic Church had three Popes.

• Finally, at the Council of Constance, the election of Martin V as the sole pope was upheld and the schism was finished.

• However, the damage to the church could not be repaired, and the power of the papacy and the Roman Catholic Church would never regain its strength again.