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The Crisis of the Late Middle Ages (1300-1450)

The Crisis of the Late Middle Ages (1300-1450). Or “The Calamitous 14 th c.”. Introduction. Why the “calamitous 14 th c.”?. From historian Barbara Tuchman’s The Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th c.

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The Crisis of the Late Middle Ages (1300-1450)

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  1. The Crisis of the Late Middle Ages (1300-1450) Or “The Calamitous 14th c.”

  2. Introduction

  3. Why the “calamitous 14th c.”? From historian Barbara Tuchman’s The Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th c. Her thesis: when the gap between the ideal and the real [in society] becomes too wide, the system breaks down.

  4. Essential Questions & Objectives Questions: • In what ways was the 14th c. “calamitous”? • To what extent is Tuchman’s thesis accurate? Objectives: • Recognize the geography of Europe in the later Middle Ages. • Identify events that have resulted in the use of the term “calamitous” to describe the 14th c. • Describe the social characteristics of the 14th c.

  5. Geography

  6. Europe in 1300

  7. Geography of Europe in 1300 Europe = many small states!! Major states at this time: England Scotland Norway Sweden Portugal Denmark France Bohemia (= Czech Republic today) Austria Teutonic Order (= Baltic states today) Do not yet exist as we know them today: Spain = Castile, Aragon, Granada, Navarre; not united Italy = Sicily, Papal States, + others; not united Germany = not united; part of Holy Roman Empire Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg = the Low Countries Russia = group of principalities; Mongol Yoke (1237-1480) Nations of SE Europe = part of Byzantine Empire

  8. Europe in 1328

  9. Europe in 1400

  10. Geography of Europe in 1400 From 1300-1400 states consolidated their holdings = fewer small states Major states at this time: England Union of Kalmar = Norway, Sweden, Denmark Scotland Poland-Lithuania Portugal Bohemia France Hungary Austria Wallachia (= Romania today) Ottoman Empire Do not yet exist as we know them today: Spain, Italy, Germay = still not united Russia = still under Mongol Yoke (1237-1480)

  11. Events In what ways was the 14th c. “calamitous”?

  12. (1) Great Famine (1315-1322) From the Apocalypse in a Biblia Pauperum illuminated at Erfurt around the time of the Great Famine. Death sits astride a lion whose long tail ends in a ball of flame (Hell). Famine points to her hungry mouth.

  13. price inflation In 1315 the price of wheat rose 800% 3 SFHS cookies cost $1.25. With 800% inflation  $10! In 1303 and 1306-1307, the Baltic Sea froze! Causes • terrible weather

  14.  susceptibility to disease later marriage  population  homeless rich farmers buy out poor farmers volatile land market unemployment migration of young males to towns  crime Int’l trade = consequences spread far Gov’t. responses ineffective Dürer’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1497-98) Consequences Pestilence War Famine Death

  15. (2) Black Death (1348) Boccaccio in The Decameron: The victims ate lunch with their friends and dinner with their ancestors.

  16. Causes • famine  susceptibility to disease • advances in shipbuilding • Genoese traders carry black rats from the Crimea • urban overcrowding & poor sanitation

  17. The Culprits

  18. The Disease Cycle Flea drinks rat blood that carries the bacteria. Bacteria multiply in flea’s gut. bubonic = spread by flea pneumonic = spread human-human Human is infected! Flea bites human and regurgitates blood into human wound. Flea’s gut cloggedwith bacteria.

  19. The Symptoms Buba Septicemic Form:almost 100% mortality rate.

  20. The Mortality Rate 35-70% 25,000,000 dead!!!

  21. Consequences – Social • pogroms against Jews • merchants endow hospitals • migration • clergy care for sick The burning of Jews in 1349

  22.  unemployment craft guilds take new members inflation  productivity, wages, & standard of living Wage Increase PLabor S1 S P2 P1 D Q2 Q1 QLabor Consequences – Economic

  23. Consequences – Psychological/Cultural • pessimism • art & lit – theme of death • flagellants • new colleges & universities – more localized • culturally Europe becomes more divided Dance Macabre (Hans Holbein)

  24. (3) Hundred Years’ War (ca 1337-1453) Battle of Sluys (1340). Illustration from a manuscript of Froissart’s Chronicles. ENGLAND VS. FRANCE

  25. Causes 1: Controversy over succession to French throne • Charles IV of France dies heirless • French nobility selects Philip VI of Valois • Chosen over Edward III of England • “no woman or her son could succeed to the [French] monarchy” • 1340 – proclaims himself King of France

  26. Causes 2: French land belonging to British monarchy • English claim Aquitaine as ancient inheritance & occupy it as vassal to French crown • Philip VI confiscates Aquitaine in 1337 Pointhieu Aquitaine

  27. Causes 3: Struggle for French national identity • France disunited • French vassals of Philip VI side with Edward III to assert independence from French crown

  28. Causes 4: Wool trade & control of Flanders • Wool trade b/t England & Flanders • Flanders = French fief • Flanders wants independence from French rule & asks English for help Flanders

  29. Course 1: English Winning at 1st • Crécy, Calais, Poitiers, Agincourt • English longbow • vs. French crossbow • Cannon

  30. Height of English Dominance, 1429

  31. Course 2: French Victory • Joan of Arc to the rescue! • Orléans = turning point

  32. Consequences • Both • economic problems • social discontent • nationalism

  33. France becomes unified! France in 1453 France in 1337

  34. (4) Church in Decline

  35. Pope in Avignon Popes live extravagantly Rome left in poverty Clement V Babylonian Captivity (1309-1376) Avignon

  36. 2 popes!! (Rome & Avignon) Gregory XI brings papacy back to Rome Urban VI (Rome) – aggressive reform causes anger & second election Clement VII (Avignon) – “antipope” Great Schism (1376-1417)

  37. Great Schism divides Europe politically

  38. Reform movement Pope derives power from entire Christian community Constitutional structure: pope + general council Conciliarism: Theory Marsiglio of Padua John Wyclif & Lollards

  39. Conciliarism: Practice • Council of Pisa (1409)  3 popes!! • Council of Constance (1414-1418) – 3 goals: • end Great Schism • end heresy • reform church Jan Hus

  40. (5) Fur collar crime • Nobles attack rich and poor to raise money

  41. Jacquerie (1358) Causes: Long-term socioeconomic grievances 100 Years War – taxation Result: Crushed by nobility English Peasants’ Revolt (1381) Causes: Long-term socioeconomic grievances (Statute of Laborers freezes wages) Urging by preachers 100 Years War – French raids Head tax on adult males Result: Crushed by Richard II but serfdom disappeared by 1550 (6) Peasant Revolts

  42. Society Life went on even in the face of calamity. What did 14th c. society look like?

  43. Marriage & Family Arranged Based on economics (vs. ♥) Age: men in mid-late 20s, women <20 Children = objects of affection No divorce (annulments in rare cases) Prostitution Legal & regulated Not respected Urban

  44. Work Rural: farming Urban: craft guilds – hard to enter (more open post-plague) Women “inferior”  limited opportunities Religion Central to life  lay control over parish affairs Recreation Aristocracy: tournaments Commoners: archery, wrestling, alcohol Both: “blood sports,” executions Life in the Parish

  45. Race & Ethnicity on the Frontiers • Migration of peoples to frontier regions • “race”/“ethnicity” = used to mean language, customs, laws (vs. blood) • Legal dualism: natives subject to local laws & newcomers subject to laws of former homeland • Ireland as exception – Statute of Kilkenny (1366) • As time passed, moved away from legal dualism toward homogeneity & emphasis on blood descent • Dalimil Chronicle

  46. Vernacular Literature • Dante, Divine Commedy (Italy) • Chaucer, Canterbury Tales (England) • Villon, Lais & Grand Testament (France) • Christine de Pisan, The City of Ladies, etc. (France) •  lay literacy – due to needs of commerce & gov’t. Dante Christine de Pisan presenting her book to the Queen of France

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