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Plague, war & the end of feudalism Crusades, trade & the rise of cities
Series of Crusades over a period of twohundred years • Ultimately, Muslims maintained control of the holyland
Effects of the Crusades included: • Stimulating the trade of goods and ideas between Europe and the MiddleEast • Trade led to a growth in the number of European towns
The return of coined money Italian city-states gained power from trade along the Mediterranean Sea Europeans were exposed to Muslim advances in math, science and medicine
The High Middle Ages • The development of towns led to the establishment of an influential middle-class including merchants and artisans • The growth of towns and cities shifted power from local lords to kings
This period saw a revival of learning, including works by Dante and Chaucer The guild system was established as a way to protect the interests of tradesmen
Circles of Hell & Heavenly Realms from Dante’s Divine Comedy
Anti-Semitism in Western Europe • Many European kingdoms had laws forbiddingJews to own land • This forced European Jews to seek employment in urban centers • Jews were denied membership in guilds
Because of the restrictions Christianity & Islam placed on usury, Jews assumed control of moneylending in Europe This circumstance increased anti-Semitism, which is prejudice against Jews
The Hundred Years War The English claim to the French throne led to the Hundred Years War from 1337 to 1453
The Black Death 1347-1351 The bubonicplague, known as the Black Death, was brought to Europe from Asia
During the Hundred Years' War • people began to catch a terrible sickness that was spreading along Mongol trade routes through Central Asia to both China and Western Europe beginning in 1328 CE • The first recorded appearance of the plague in Europe was at Messina, Sicily, in October of 1347. It arrived on trading ships that likely came from the Black Sea, past Constantinople and through the Mediterranean.
The plague resulted in the death of one-third of Europe’s population Members of the lowerclasses experienced the highest rate of death. The drastic drop in population destroyed the foundations of feudalism
Crecy, Poitiers & Agincourt The arms race and the end of feudal knighthood
Along with the battle of Crécy in 1346 and the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 • the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 was one of three legendary victories for the English against the French during The Hundred Years’ War. This long-running war was a series of conflicts waged from 1337 to 1453 by England against France as the English Kings tried to win French territory and the French throne for themselves
The longbow • was vital in the victory of the English over the French in the Hundred Years' War. The ability of the archers to shoot more arrows per minute than crossbowmen and the long range of the weapon gave the outnumbered English an advantage in the Battles of Crecy and Agincourt.
Battle of Crecy August 26, 1346 • King Edward III's English army annihilated a French force under King Philip VI at the Battle of Crecy in Normandy. The battle, which saw an early use of the deadly longbow by the English, is regarded as one of the most decisive in history. For close quarter fighting the archers used hammers or daggers • The battle at Crécy shocked European leaders because a small but disciplined English force fighting on foot had overwhelmed the finest cavalry of mounted knights in Europe.
Poitiers 1356 • Attacked by a larger French force led by the French King that included allied Scottish forces, the English and Gascons decisively won the battle on 19 September 1356 in Nouaillé, near the city of Poitiers in Aquitaine, western France • The Battle of Poitiers was the second major victory for the English forces during the Hundred Years' War. A devastating loss for the French, King John II was captured, and many leading noblemen fell on the battlefield leaving the Dauphin Charles to rule the country.
The battle of Agincourt • is synonymous with the longbow which was used to great effect by the English army. A variety of weapons were used by both armies, however, including longbows, lances, swords and poleaxes.
Battle of Agincourt, (October 25, 1415) • was a decisive battle in the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) that resulted in the victory of the English over the French. The English army, led by King Henry V, famously achieved victory in spite of the numerical superiority of its opponent. • Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, Henry V won the battle because of the humble longbow. • The English stood their ground as French knights, weighed down by their heavy armor, began a slow advance across the muddy battlefield. Almost 6,000 Frenchmen lost their lives during the Battle of Agincourt, while English deaths amounted to just over 400.
Jean D’Arc -the maid of Orleans • Joan of Arc • (1412-31)
Joan of Arc • a teenage French peasant, successfully led a French force to break the siege. In 1920, she was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.
Siege of OrleansOct 12, 1428 – May 8, 1429 • The Siege of Orléans was the watershed of the Hundred Years' War between France and England. It was the French royal army's first major military victory to follow the crushing defeat at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and also the first while Joan of Arc was with the army.
The English dominated early in the war, but Joan of Arc helped turn the tide in favor of the French The end of the Hundred Years War is considered by some to be the end of the Middle Ages
End of the Hundred Years War. • The succession of conflicts known as the Hundred Years War ended on October 19th, 1453, when Bordeaux surrendered, leaving Calais as the last English possession in France. • The death of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury at the battle of Castillon from Vigilles de Charles VII by Martial d'Auvergne
The Impact of the Hundred Years' War • The Hundred Years' War contributed to the decline of feudalism by helping to shift power from feudal lords to monarchs and to common people. ... As a result, kings no longer relied as much on nobles to supply knights for the army.
The Economic Impact of the Bubonic Plague • Workers' wages skyrocketed as arable land lay fallow; landlords, desperate for people to work their land, were forced to renegotiate farmers' wages. Famine followed. Widespread death eroded the strict hereditary class divisions that had, for centuries, bound peasants to land owned by local lords.
The Black Death contributed to the decline of medieval feudalism • by reducing the wealth of minor lords and in effect turning the economy upside down. ... The massive number of deaths fractured the heredity social hierarchy and rigid class system that divided society into peasant serfs or noble landowners
Questions • What major changes occurred as a result of the Crusades that reduced the need for the protection originally supplied by the first knights? • What impact did the Bubonic Plague have the institutions and structures of the feudal economy and social order? • Discuss the 100 Years’ War in relation to the decline of feudalism, royal authority and the practical value of knights in battle. • Discuss the role played by Joan of Arc in ending the 100 Years’ War and the idea that it was also the end of the middle ages.
