CHAPTER 16
Mariya Shkolnaya
Trevor Oldham
William Hockaday
Dain Kasparak
Part I: RURAL
GROWTH AND CRISIS
Rural Growth and Crisis
 1200-1500: Latin West brought more land
under cultivation, adopted new farming
techniques, and made greater use of
machinery.
 9 out of 10 people in Europe were rural.
 Devastation from 1347 to 1351 by the Black
Plague
Peasants, Population, and Plague
 In 1200 most Europeans were serfs
 Serfs worked for a lord on his land
 Neither side was motivated to introduce many improvements in farming
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practices, so it was very inefficient.
Even though they worked hard, the inefficiency yielded little profit.
Both men and women worked in the fields, although this equality in
labor doesn’t necessarily signify an equality of decision making
Poverty wasn’t only due to farming inefficiency, but also to social
inequalities. It also resulted from the ‘boom’ of Europe's population
The three-field system was implemented by farmers. This means that
they grew crops on two thirds of their land, and on the last third they
grew oats which stored nitrogen and nutrients back into the soil. These
oats could be used to feed plow horses. However, this technique was
not widespread?
Peasants, Population, and Plague
 Population growth also led to the foundation of new agricultural
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settlements.
By draining swamps and clearing forests, people brought new land
under cultivation within the existing boundaries of the Latin West.
As population continued to rise, people had to farm lands that were
nutrient-poor. The result was a decrease in crop yields and an increase
number of people going hungry.
However, what eased the population pressure was not famine, but
plague, specifically the Black Death or bubonic plague
Despite official attempts to quarantine the disease, it spread rampantly
throughout the world.
This disease causes a quick and unpleasant death, raising the tensions
as people realized how unexpectedly death could come strolling into
their life
Social Rebellion
 The Black Death set off social changes in western Europe.
 People demanded higher pay for their services, which prompted
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a response from the authorities to freeze wages at low levels.
Enraged, peasants took arms and revolted
The government put down these rebellions ruthlessly, dropping
the population even more.
Employers then had to offer higher wages to attract people to fill
the jobs lost by these uprisings and the plague.
This gradually resulted in the slow economic recovery and the
general rise of the public’s wealth.
Mills and Mines
 The use of mechanical energy, mining, and metallurgy grew so
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much in the centuries before 1500 that some historians have
spoken of an “industrial revolution” in medieval Europe.
While maybe being an exaggeration, technology was used at an
increasing rate
Mills were used to grind grain and flour, saw logs into lumber,
crush olives, tan leather, make paper, and perform many other
useful tasks.
Mills worked by running on water wheels
Windmills were around as well, working on the same concepts
as mills
Metallurgy surged in importance and mills were outfitted with
furnaces that could work the metal better than anything of the
time.
Mills and Mines
 Rapid growth in industry produced significant changes in the
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landscape.
Pollution became a serious problem
First recorded antipollution law was passed by the English
Parliament in 1388, although enforcement of this law was
difficult.
One of the most dramatic changes of this time period was the
deforestation and clearing of trees.
Trees were useful for the emerging industry, and they were in
the way for the farmers seeking new land. The obvious solution
worked win-win for the people, but was lose-lose for the
environment
Part II: Urban Revival
Trading Cities
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After the 1200’s, most of the urban growth in the Latin West was due to the continuing growth of
trade & manufacturing.
Northern Italy cities benefited from ports in the eastern Mediterranean, & through them, the
Indian Ocean & East Asia.
2 Events strengthened Italian trade w/ the Eastern Mediterranean in the 13th century:
Venetian inspired assault in 1204 against Constantinople. Misleadingly called the “Fourth
Crusade, it was prompted by a desire to control the passage between the Mediterranean & Black
Seas (better access to East Asia). They then seized the strategic island of Crete & expanded
trading colonies around the Black Sea.
Westward expansion of Mongol Empire, opening the Mediterranean to trade routes to China.
Marco Polo visited in 1271 & served under Khubilai Khan as an ambassador & governor of a
Chinese province.
The sea trade of Italian city Genoa increased. Genoese merchants began to create colonies in the
Mediterranean & Black Seas.
An association of trading cities known as the Hanseatic League formed in northern Europe that
conducted extensive trade in the Baltic. This area covers conquered coasts of Prussia, as far east
as Novgorod in Russia and westward across the North Sea to London.
By the late 13th century, Genoese galleys (ships powered by 60 oarsmen) were converging on the
Flemish towns of Bruges, Ghent, & Ypres b/c of their skilled artisans that turned raw wool into
a fine cloth dyed in vivid hues.
Trading Cities, contd.
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Along the overland route connecting Flanders &
northern Italy, regional markets developed in the
Champagne region of Burgundy which met once or
twice a year exchanging manufactured goods,
livestock, & produce. When the city became under
control of the king of France, the markets soon
turned into international fairs, where currency
exchange & financial transactions took place.
In the late 13th century, English monarchy raised
taxes on exports of raw wool, making it more
profitable to produce cloth in England than in
Flanders. Flemish textile specialists also introduced
the spinning wheel & other devices to England,
which resulted in a decrease in raw wool exports
and increase in cloth exports
Growing textile industries began using windmills &
water wheels. In Flanders, for example, mills were
used to clean and thicken woven cloth by beating it
w/ water (fulling).
Another example is applying mill power to
papermaking, making Westerners the first to use
machines to do heavy work in manufacturing.
In the 15th century, Venice surpassed all European
rivals in volume of trade, partly do to its
manufactured luxury goods.
Trade Routes in Later Medieval
Europe
Civic Life
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More social freedom in trading cities than in rural
areas.
Italian and German cities were independent states.
Others had royal charters exempting them from
noble rule, which gave them quicker adaptability to
changes in market.
Most Europe’s Jews lived in these cities; majority
lived in Spain. However, they were often violently
persecuted during times of crisis & were expelled
from Spain in 1492.
Civic life was dominated by powerful associations of
craft specialists called guilds. They regulated their
members’ business practices & prices they charged.
Although they perpetuated male dominance, in a
few places women were able to join.
Large numbers of poor women also labored in
nonguild jobs, receiving smaller wages than their
male counterparts. Marriage to wealthy men is a
means of social advancement for women.
A new class of wealthy merchant-bankers rose in
the 15th century that operated on a vast scale and
specialized in money changing, loans, &
investments.
Most money lenders were Jews b/c Latin Christians
considered charging interest sinful.
Gothic Cathedrals
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Master builders & associated craftsmen
were in greatest demand in thriving cities
for constructing Gothic cathedrals.
One distinctive features of the new
cathedrals was the pointed, or gothic, arch,
which replaced the round, or Roman, arch.
Another was external flying buttresses that
stabilized the high thin stone columns
below the arches.
These two features allowed master builders
push the cathedrals to great heights and fill
walls with stained glass windows depicting
religious scenes.
Although master builders sometimes
miscalculated & their overly ambitious
structures collapsed, they learned from
their mistakes and the heights of their
cathedrals were unsurpassed until the 20th
century.
Part III: Learning, Literature,
and the Renaissance
Latin West and Medieval
European Learning
 People in the Latin West lived amid reminders of the achievements of
the Roman Empire. They wrote and worshiped in a version of the
language, traveled its roads, and obeyed some of its laws. The
clothing of the popes, kings, and emperors were modeled on the
regalia of Roman officials.
 Early medieval Europeans lost touch with much of the learning of
Greco-Roman antiquity. That left an opening for religion to influences
of Christian and Hebrew scriptures.
 Intellectuals in Latin West struggled to recover the learning and
values of the Greco-Roman classical past. Small arrivals of learning
such as with the court of Charlemagne in the ninth century followed
by the Renaissance occurred, enabling remembrance of the GrecoRoman classical past.
Manuscripts
 When southern Italy was wrested from the Byzantines and Sicily
and Toledo from the Muslims in the eleventh century, many
manuscripts of Greek and Arabic works came into Western hands
and were translated into Latin for readers eager for new ideas.
 A manuscript is any document written by hand, as opposed to
being printed or reproduced in some other way.
 The manuscripts included works of ancient philosophy by Plato
and Aristotle and Greek treatises on medicine, mathematic, and
geography that were previously unknown to medieval Latin
Christians.
 The works of the Iranian philosopher Ibn Sina known in the West
as Avicenna, were particularly influential. The Jewish scholarly
community contributed significantly.
Foundation of Universities
 Christian monasteries were important centers of learning, and the
church was an important advocate of scholarship.
 In 1200 new institutions of higher education were created:
independent colleges.
 The Dominicans and Franciscans were two religious orders
established in the thirteenth century. The most talented members
of the two orders would have distinguished careers as university
professors.
 Universities established in Paris and Oxford may have been
modeled after similarly endowed places of study in the Islamic
world, madrasas.
 Madrasas provided subsidized housing for poor students and paid
the salaries of their teachers.
Universities
 Universities in Latin West were degree-granting corporations specializing
in multidisciplinary research and advanced teaching.
 Some of the first universities were started by students; others were
founded as guilds to which all the professors of a city belonged.
 These teaching guilds set the standards for membership in their
profession, trained apprentices and masters, and defended their
professional interests.
 Universities set the curriculum of study each discipline and instituted
comprehensive final examinations for degrees. After passing the exam
the students were given a diploma known as a license to teach.
 Universally recognized degrees, well-trained professors, and exciting
new texts promoted the rapid spread of universities in late medieval
Europe.
 All universities courses were taught in Latin.
 Universities offered a variety of programs of study but generally were
identified with a particular specialty.
Humanists
 Italian writers made use of Greco-Roman classical themes
and mythology and sometimes chose to write not in Latin
but in vernacular languages to reach a broader audience.
 Dante influenced a literary movement and people became
humanists: their interest in grammar, rhetoric, poetry,
history, and moral philosophy subjects known as
humanities.
 The humanists’ greatest influence was in reforming
secondary education.
 The humanists introduced a curriculum centered on the
languages and literature of Greco-Roman antiquity.
 Humanists gained language skills and used them to restore
original texts of Greco-Roman writers and of the Bible.
Printers
 Influence of humanists was enhanced after 1450 because printing
technology increased the availability of their critical editions of
literature.
 Chinese were the first to use carved wood blocks for printing.
 Three technological improvements around 1450: Movable pieces
of type consisting of individual letters; new ink suitable for printing
on paper; the printing press.
 Johann Gutenberg did most to perfect printing.
 Humanists and printers were becoming great influences on
students and literate peoples.
The Renaissance
 Although artists continued to depict biblical subjects, the spread of Greco-
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Roman learning led many artists, especially in Italy, to portray Greco-Roman
deities and mythical tales.
Artist Giotto influenced many major Italian painters and was credited for
reviving the “lost art of painting”.
New painting technology from the Alps where pigments were mixed with
linseed oil instead of diluted egg yolk.
Oil paints were slower drying and more versatile.
Many famous artists contributing to this Renaissance: Jan van Eyck,
Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo.
The patronage of wealthy and educated merchants and prelates did much
to foster an artistic blossoming.
Part IV: Political and
Military Transformations
Monarchs, Nobles, and the Church
 Thirteenth-century city states showed traits of the medieval era, like hereditary
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monarchs, although the power of these monarchs was more limited.
The kings and nobles still shared a Vassal relationship, although nobles tried to protect
their own rights and limit the king’s power.
Crossbows with metal-tipped arrows that could shoot with enough force to puncture
armor and firearms borrowed from the Chinese changed the military roles of knights,
as they brought the role of knights into question and raised the number of hired
crossbowmen (mercenaries) in European warfare.
The church was enraged because of the extent of royal control, and in 1302 Pope
Boniface said that divine law declared the papacy superior to every living creature,
including royalty. King Philip of France responded by sending an army to arrest the
pope, and after Pope Boniface’s death, a new papacy was established in Avignon,
backed by the French monarchy.
The Great Western Schism (not to be confused with the East-West Schism), from
1378 to 1415, caused the papacy of Rome and France to compete for Latin Christians.
The schism was resolved by moving the papal residence back to Rome.
Meanwhile, in England, the monarchy was forced to acknowledge the pope as his
overlord and the Magna Carta was signed, in which the king agreed to acknowledge
and follow the law. Also, the church’s independence was established and the
hereditary rights of nobles.
Marriage was used to establish alliances and to gain land, yet led to conflicts over
inheritance.
The Hundred Years War
 The Hundred Years War lasted from 1337 to 1453, and was fought between the
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king of France and his vassals, including England, Brittany, Burgundy, and
Flanders.
The Hundred Years War started from a marriage alliance. Princess Isabella of
France married King Edward II of England (“Braveheart”) to strengthen the
vassal relationship between France and the vassal England. Their son, King
Edward III of England, laid claim to the throne of France when none of Isabella’s
brothers produced a male heir, but royal courts decided to award the throne to a
distant relative of Edward. Hilarity ensues.
The French crossbowmen were no match for the English longbowmen, for the
distance and speed of the longbow outmatched the piercing crossbow.
Artillery was used more frequently in this war as the cannon grew and blasting
holes became more effective in sieges.
Joan of Arc, a French peasant woman, rallied French troops and defeated the
English during a critical point in the war when France seemed to have nearly
been conquered by England. She was later captured by the English and burned
at the stake.
The French ended the war in 1453, establishing firm control of the English.
New Monarchies in France & England
 New monarchies resulted from the Hundred Years War, as power
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became more centralized, borders became more defined, and
stronger representative institutions.
Innovations in firearms led to armor becoming more useless and
a dependence on bowmen, pikemen, musketeers, and artillery.
The new armies required more money and monarchs financed
the army by taxing and payments from vassals.
Power shifted from nobles and the church to monarchs, only
slightly.
Representative bodies became checks one the monarchs and
the executive powers.
Iberian Unification
 Spain and Portugal took back Iberia from Muslim rule
as a crusade to expand Latin Christianity and to gain
back the economic advantages that came with the
Iberian Peninsula, like the ports of the Mediterranean
and the Atlantic.
 The conquest of the Iberian Peninsula was halted and
came in waves to consolidate control of territories.
 After the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, attempts
to conquer and Christianize North Africa ensued.
 The conquering of Muslim Africa ended in 1492. In
1492, Spain conquered Granada, too.
 Columbus was also sponsored by the monarchs of
Spain in 1492.
 Spain and Portugal eventually expelled all Jews from
their territories.