Crises of the 14th Century

Moving pieces, shifting powers

Europe, early 14th century

Setting the Stage

• Feudal society• Little Ice Age: 1300-

1450• Social and

economic effects• Physical effects

Quotes on the Black Death

• Boccacio: The victims “ate lunch with their friend and dinner with their ancestors in paradise”

• Samuel Pepys: “Realizing what a deadly disaster had come to them the people quickly drove the Italians from their city… Fathers abandoned their sick sons. Lawyers refused to come and make out wills for the dying. Friars and nuns were left to care for the sick…Bodies were left in empty houses, and there was no one to give them a Christian burial.”

The Bubonic Plague

A plague victim reveals

the telltale buboe (a boil)

On his leg. From a 14th

Century illumination.

The Black Death• Epidemic Disease

Illustration

From the

Toggenburg

Bible, 1411

The Path of the Plague

Consequences for Population

• Urban areas• Rural regions• monasteries• Overall population loss: 1/3 of Europe’s

population in the first wave

Economic Consequences

• The great equalizer

• Lack of sufficient law enforcement personnel

• Promoted lawlessness

• People tried their luck

Economic Consequences

• Peasants and artisans• Artisan skills• Price drop• Standard of living• Landlords and serfs• Response of the oppressed poor

Music and Art

• Danse Macabre = the dance of death: skeletons mingling with the living (here: Hans Holbein the Younger)

• Shocking juxtapositions

• Written language almost lost

• Coffins had pictures of corpses on the lid

• New creativity in motives

The Flagellants• Christians - and

an angry Deity.• Bands wandering

through towns and countryside

• Public penance. Inflicted all kinds of punishment upon themselves

• Sacrifice for the sins of the world – like Jesus

Religious Consequences• Church loses prestige: why>?

• Revolt against the church

• Severe shortage of clergy – functioned as nurses and consequently died.

• Pogroms: The church targeted the Jews for persecution – had killed Jesus and brought sin to the world

A FAMILY SQUABBLE that led to a 100 year war?

Philip IV = elder brother of Charles of ValoisCharles IV=sister of IsabellaIsabella=married to King Edward IIIf only males can rule (salic law (agnatic succession), then who gets the crown after Charles IV dies?

116 years, 68 years relative peace, 44 fighting

5 English monarchs, 5 French monarchs

. A Struggle for National Identity

• France was NOT a united country before the war began.

• The French king only controlled about half of the country.

Belligerents

• House of Valois• France

ScotlandWalesCastileGenoaMajorcaBohemiaCrown of Aragon

• House of Plantagenet

• EnglandBurgundyAquitaineBrittany PortugalNavarreFlandersHainautLuxembourgHoly Roman Empire

Why do you think some areas in, close to, and around France supported England?

Height of English Dominance

Height of English Dominance

The French “Reconquest”– Even though in 1428 the

military and political power seemed firmly in British hands, the French reversed the situation.

• In 1429, with the aid of the mysterious Joan of Arc, the French king, Charles VII, was able to raise the English siege of Orleans.

– This began the reconquest of the north of France.

Joan of Arc (1412-1432)• She brought inspiration and a sense of national

identity and self-confidence.• With her aid, the king was crowned at Reims

[ending the “disinheritance”].• She was captured during an attack on Paris and

fell into English hands.– Because of her “unnatural dress” and claim to

divine guidance, she was condemned and burned as a heretic in 1432.

– She instantly became a symbol of French resistance.

EFFECTS OF THE WAR

• GROWTH OF NATIONALISM: PEOPLESTARTED SEEING THEMSELVES AS ENGLISHMEN OR FRENCHMEN

• THE GOVERNMENTS TOOK ADVANTAGE AND RAISED TAXES…ENCOURAGES CENTRALIZED STATES—EASIER FOR ENGLAND THAN FRANCE

• REPRESENTATIVE CONSENT-ENGLAND PARLIAMENT VS. FRANCE (MULIPLE ASSEMBLIES) (England’s nobles become somewhat of an exception)

• NOBILITY INFLUENCE DECLINES

The Great Schism, 1378–1417

New Criticism of the Papacy

The Great Schism

The Conciliar Movement

Unam Sanctum

• Boniface VIII issued a new bull: Unam Sanctum (1302)

– Two powers on earth: temporal (earthly) & spiritual (heavenly)

– Spiritual Power is ALWAYS higher than temporal

– The Pope is ALWAYS higher than kings

• Phillip proved this was not true, by kidnapping the pope and applying a medieval beat down

• Boniface VIII died less than a year later from the stress

ROME OR AVIGNON?• Pope Boniface VIII

– Issued a papal bull (official statement) saying kings may not tax church property (1296 CE)

– French King, Philip IV, had been taxing the church to pay for war with England (back to the war, again!) Philip ignored the papal bull

Papacy is pressured to move to Avignon by Phillip (1309-1376—Babylonian Capitivity

1377 Pope Gregory XI dies: Urban VI or Clement VII?A Group of 13 French Cardinals sneak away to select a new

Pope: Clement VII (Robert of GenevaTA DA!!: 2 Popes! Countries line up behind their popeA great schism indeed: 1378-1417

Pisa, 1409—fed up religious leaders elect a 3rd pope!

Great Schism (1378 – 1417 CE)

• Each pope @ ½ power—religious leaders are angry• Conciliar Movement:

Popes must bow to councils of clergy leaders

Checking the power of the Pope

Declining prestige of papacy and authority

William of Occam—all governments should be accountable to the governed + church and state should be separate

Marsiglio of Padua: the church is

now subordinate to the state

Schism: social protest

New Heresies: The Lollards and the Hussites

John Wycliffe

Jan Hus-BohemiaFrustrated Catholics come up with new ideas:“Christ was meek, but the pope sits on his throne and makes lords to kiss his feet” –John WycliffeDangerous ideasChrist is head of the church, not a popeClergy should live as Christ, in povertyBible is final arbiter of how to live as a ChristianChristianity should be taught in the vernacularHus: agreed with Wycliffe + congregations should receive wine

Council of Constance (1417 CE): Reduces 3 popes down to one (Martin V)Hus, tricked, then burned.

Effects of the Great Schism:Temporal

• Kings showed they had more practical power

• Catholics grow frustrated with unclear message

• New ideas emerge– Christianity moving into

the hands of ordinary Christians

Spiritual• Popes lose power over

kings: excommunication not effective

• Popes lose spiritual authority

• Local clergy left without authority

• Lords and bishops lose powerCriticism and Confusion over

Church power will lead to: THE REFORMATION