Mr. Morris
World History
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Avignon
Great Schism
John Wycliffe
Jan Hus
Bubonic plague
Hundred Years’ War
Joan of Arc
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1300 – After King Philip IV of France became
stronger than bishops, Pope Boniface VIII told
him that kings must always obey the pope
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Philip held him prisoner and planned to bring him
to trial
Pope died soon after but never again was a pope
able to force monarchs to obey him
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After Boniface died, Philip was able to get a
French person elected pope
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Clement V, the new pope, moved Church
headquarters from Rome to Avignon, France
 Church in Avignon for the next 70 years
 Badly weakened the Church
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After the death of Pope Gregory IX, Urban VI, an
Italian, was elected pope
 No one liked him, and they chose another pope a few
months later
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The other pope chosen was Clement VII
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This meant that there were two popes
French pope in Avignon, Italian pope in Rome
Each excommunicated the other and claimed that
they were false
Created the Great Schism
Eventually a third pope was named
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All three forced to resign and a single pope was
finally restored, but the office of pope was weakened
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John Wycliffe, an Englishman, preached that
Jesus was the true head of the church
Made the pope even weaker
 Upset with the wealth and status most clergy had
 Bible was the final authority for Christian life
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Jan Hus also said that the Bible had more
authority than the pope
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Excommunicated, captured, and burned at the stake
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In the mid-1300s Asia, North Africa, and
Europe was stricken by the bubonic plague, a
deadly epidemic
1/3 to 1/2 of Europe dead
 Tore people apart and caused many to abandon
loved ones
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Began in Asia and travelled west on trade
routes
1347 – came to Europe on a ship in Sicily
 Black Death – black spots on the skin
 Up through Italy into the rest of Europe
 All through Europe in four years
 75% of those infected died
 25 million dead in Europe, 25 million more in Asia
 Pg. 400
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The manor system fell apart during the plague
Populations decreased in large amounts
 Trade declined, higher prices
 Serfs left manors in order to get more money
 Nobles resisted calls for higher pay, led to revolts
 Jews took the blame for the plague and were driven
out of towns and/or killed
 Church lost credibility; prayers didn’t stop the
plague
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France and England fought for over a century
during this time as well
Edward III, an Englishman, claimed the French
throne after the death of the last Capetian king
 Invaded and started a war that was on and off from
1337 to 1453
 French were eventually able to push the English out
of France
 Changed how wars were fought; no more chivalry
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Longbow introduced by the English
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1346 – Battle of Crecy longbowmen routed a French
force three times its size using the longbow
 The time of heavily armored knights was ending
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Later proved a successful tactic in the battles of
Poitiers and Agincourt
No more chivalry, heavy armor made escape
impossible
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After France and England reached an
agreement, a teenager in France was moved by
God to save France
Wanted Charles VII to be king of France
 Led an attack on a fort near Orleans and led the
French to victory
 Got Charles crowned king
 Later captured by the English and condemned to
death by the church as a witch and heretic
 Burned at the stake, Charles did nothing to help
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When the war ended in 1453, both sides had
major changes
Nationalism in both countries; king was a national
leader that led the country in a fight for glory
 Power of the French monarch grew
 In England, the War of the Roses had two noble
families fighting one another for the throne
 This was the end of the Middle Ages, as faith in the
church and the code of chivalry were both
abandoned
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