320 likes | 427 Views
The Crises of the 14 th Century 1300-1450. Age of sorrow and temptation, of tears, jealousy and torment, Time of exhaustion and damnation, declining to extinction, Era filled with horror and deception, lying, pride and envy,
E N D
The Crises of the 14th Century1300-1450 Age of sorrow and temptation, of tears, jealousy and torment, Time of exhaustion and damnation, declining to extinction, Era filled with horror and deception, lying, pride and envy, Time without honor and meaning, full of life-shortening sadness.- Eustache Deschamps
Legacy of the Crusades 1096 – ca. 1272 1. “Re-acquaintance” with Western past2. Exposure to Eastern goods3. Accentuated political and religious rivalries4. Decline of the Byzantine Empire5. “Jihad”
Hey, lil’ fella Xenopsylla cheopis
I. The Black Death 1347-1353 - bubonic, pneumonic, septicemic
A. Disaster in the making 1. Nearly all arable land taken 2. “Little” Ice Ageca. 1300 – 1700+
B. Legacy of the plague 6, 14, 18th centuries 137M (1/4 - 1/3 of Europe in 1300s - 34M)
2. The Great Leveler Hans Holbein The Dance of Death the King the Queen the Pope
2. Europe subject to invasion Mongols - 1400s Ottoman Turks - 1500 & 1600s
3. Plagues of insurrection- weakening of social bonds - persecution- peasant revolt Jacquerie1358 Wat Tyler’s Revolt1381
Crises of moral authority paves the way for Renaissance, Reformation. The Triumph of Death 1562- Bruegel
A. Causes • Angevin Empire- Henry & Eleanor 1152 Vassalage v. Nation-state 2. Edward III 1329
B. Conduct of the War • English occupation- soldiers fend for themselves End of Chivalry
C. Assault on authority 1. Yeomen archers - Crécy 1346 / Agincourt 1415 2. Battle of Formingy 1450- gunpowder Men in armor losing significance
3. Joan of Arc - Battle of Orleans1429
III. Division in Christendom Religious controversy and challenges for the Church
1. Urban social orders - merchants, craftsmen - “class,” not hereditary obligations 2. Alternative to feudal orders- tweaking of theology
A. Limits of reason AristotelianismScholasticism
B. Avignon Papacy 1. Clement V & Philip IV 1305 - suppression of Knights Templar - moved papacy to Avignon “Whore of Babylon”
2. Gregory XI1378 - Rome, most of Europe wants Italian Pope - Charles (V) Valois 3. Great (Western) Schism 1378- 1417 - Popes a’plenty - Council of Constance 1414-17 antiPope John XXIII
C. Legacy of division 1. Worsened by contemporary problems - papacy in the eyes of both clergy and lay people 2. Opened door for theological and literary challenges to Church hegemony
A. Theological challenges 1. John Wycliffe 1320-1384 - quality of sacrament - Church authority
2. Jan Hus 1369-1415 - religion and nationalism - language č š ž
3. Increased threat of Heresy - Waldensians no authority but the Bible - Albigensians extreme ascetism “Heretics” often preached austerity not found in Church, popular w/ peasants The Inquisition “what a show”
4. William of Ockham 1285-1349 - Argued against Aristotelian theory - must argue from specific to general Ockham’s razor scientific method
B. Vernacular literature 1. Reliance on Latin declines - expression of cultural, national, religious independence (Gutenberg press)
2. Dante Alighieri The Divine Comedy 1308-1321 allegory – historical figures, contemporary critique Redemption of Man – in Italian! “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here”
3. Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales 1342-1400 - middle English - ribald, low brow comedy, social satire Wife of Bath
4. Christine de Pizan City of Ladies 1364-1430 a. status of aristocratic women improving b. all levels of patriarchy challenged
Giovanni Boccaccio The Decameron Juan Ruiz The Book of Good Love - “Mr. Melon of the Vegetable Garden”