The Late Middle Ages 1300-1453
Key Terms
 Black Death
 Boccaccio and Decameron
 Taille
 Jacquiere
 Hundred Years War
 Estates General
 Edward III
Essential Questions
 What were the effects of the bubonic plague on population
and society?
 How did the Hundred Years’ War between England and
France affect the different social, political, and religious
institutions of Europe?
 What was the effect of the growing power of secular rulers
over the papacy and how did schism and heresy lead to
reform of the church?
The Black Death
 Also known as the Bubonic
Plague, the Black Death
attacked in various waves
between 1348 and 1350.
 2/5 of the population in
Europe were dead.
Preconditions of Plague
Causes of Plague
 Europe was dangerously
 Overpopulation
overpopulated as the
population of Europe
doubled between 1000 and
1300
 What are some issues that
come with overpopulation?
 What are some of the effects of
overpopulation?
 Famine
 Bad Health
 Economic Depression
Migration of Black Death
The Black Death followed the trade routes from Asia into
Europe, entering into Europe through trading ports in italy
beginning in 1348.
What regions of Europe do you think would be most affected?What
areas do you think would be least affected?
Migration of Black Death
Social Reactions to the Plague
 Little could be done about the plague due to limited knowledge
about the disease.
 Behavior that went against the social norms of the time was prevalent
in high stricken areas
 Flagellants sought to bring themselves divine intervention by
beating themselves in ritual penance.
 Why could this have been a problem?
Social and Economic Consequences
 What happens to the value of a worker if population goes down?
 As a result of huge population loss in Europe, wages increased for almost
every occupation
 Noble landholders suffered a significant loss of power
 Why is this important?
 Do you think this is going to last?
Noble Pushback and Peasant Revolt
 Landowners sought to reverse their losses by passing new laws that
restricted peasant gains
 Wages were frozen
 Peasant movement was restricted
 Taxes, such as the taille in France, were implemented in order to give
the upper class more money
 As a DIRECT result of these measures, peasants staged protests and
uprisings throughout Europe, with the most famous uprising being
known as the Jacquerie
Nobel Suppression of Jacquerie
 Example of inhumanity going both ways
 Peasants"killed a knight, put him on a spit, and roasted him with his wife and children
looking on. After ten or twelve of them raped the lady, they wished to force feed them the
roasted flesh of their father and husband and made them then die by a miserable death.
The ruling class quickly regrouped from their early losses due to their military
advantages:
“Like every insurrection of the century, it was smashed, as soon as the rulers recovered their nerve,
by weight of steel, and the advantages of the man on horseback, and the psychological
inferiority of the insurgents”
Winners, Losers, and More
 Note:When looking at important historical events we always need to try to
analyze the ways in which each social group was affected.
 Winners: Cities and City Populations: People living in the city were
generally people who were skilled laborers (artisans merchants etc..)
 Why would these people have benefitted from the plague?
 Losers: People from the countryside: less of a population meant that
there were less crops being consumed, driving prices and profits
DOWN
 Undecided: The Church: Lost revenues from their landholdings but
accounted for it with increased revenue coming from the services of
the dying.
Review:
 What social group suffered the greatest decline in power
as a result of the plague?
A. Noble Landholders
B. Urban Elites
C. Clergy
D. Artisans
E. Peasants
Review
 As a result of the Black Death, it is estimated that the
population of western Europe was reduced by ____ percent
A. 40
B. 50
C. 60
D. 70
E. 80
Review
 All of the following contributed to the outbreak of the
Hundred Years’ War EXCEPT
A. The proximity of England and France
B. Edward of Englands control of French Territories
C. Religious differences
D. A quarrel over Flanders
E. A history of prejudice and animosity between the two peoples
Recall:
 Who did people pledge their allegiance to before the
Hundred Years War?
 How did this change during and after the war?
The Hundred Years War and the
Rise of National Sentiment
Main Ideas
 The 100 Years War called for a series of alliances between
kings and nobles that led to the lower peasant class
shouldering the burden for a very costly war
 Joan of Arc gave the French a sense of national identity which
brought with it a rise in nationalism in both France and
England
 Englishmen became Englishmen and Frenchmen became
Frenchmen
Breakdown of the Medieval Church
and Revival
Issues within the Church
 Pope Innocent III’s power grab by extending the plentitude
of power doctrine led to a more centralized church, making
it very similar to a papal monarchy
 Made the church stronger politically but weaker spiritually
 Why?
 This pattern of increased centralization continued throughout
the rest of the century and would continue to be a problem,
eventually leading to the Reformation (REMEMBER THIS!!)
 Fragmentation within the church would continue to be an issue
Conflict with State Governments
 Increased centralization of the church and its increased power
came at a time when state governments were also becoming
more centralized and powerful
 The church and state governments became entangled in conflict
over the authority that the state had over its people, including
clergy
 The Church quickly realized that it was no match for the
increasing power of national states.
The Avignon Papacy aka the Babylonian
Captivity and Movement Toward Schism
 In the early 14th century, Pope Clement V moved the papacy
from Rome to Avignon.
 Why is this significant?
 Why was this done?
 Why could this be a problem for the Church?
 The church fell under the influence of the French crown,
further steering it away from spirituality.
 The distance away from Rome also impacted their finances,
as they were unable to collect funds from Roman Estates
 What happens as a result of this?
Consequences of the Avignon Papacy
 The need for new sources of income
 Indulgences
 Pardons for unrepented sins that could be purchased for the living or dead
to limit the amount of time in purgatory.
 Why could this be a questionable decision?
 Continued conflict with state governments led to states
asserting more dominance over their land
 How would they do this?
 Marsilius of Padua wrote in his Defender of Peace that spiritual laws
proclaimed by the church had no place in the secular world unless a
secular ruler deemed it a secular law
John Wycliffe and John Hus
 Could be described as very early protestants (that will make
more sense in a couple of weeks)
 Argued that the Catholic Church was living in excess and that
the sale of indulgences was immoral and that the pope was not
perfect
 Why does this matter?
 Their followers were called Lollards and Hussites
The Great Schism (1378-1417) and the
Conciliar Movement to 1449
 Pope Gregory XI returned the papacy to Rome in 1377 but
died a year later. (WOMP)
 Upon dying two competing groups of cardinals (not the baseball
team) elected two different popes to serve. One was chosen to
return to Avignon, the other to Rome.
 Eventually a third pope (Alexander V) was elected to be pope
 Why would this be a problem?
 The Great Schism would have a lasting legacy on the
Catholic Church for hundreds of years
Conciliar Movement
 A movement within the church that sought to keep
the power of the pope in check by allowing a
council to look out for the church as a whole.
 Secured initial success by ending the Great Schism but did
not last for long, as the pope eventually secured his authority
over the church within the following decades.
Legacy of the Middle Ages
 The end of the middle ages saw Europe undergo a major change in
the fabric of everyday life. Social, religious, and economic upheaval
saw the lives of people around Europe transform, leaving a long
lasting legacy that would be felt during the Renaissance and into the
Reformation and beyond. Most importantly, the end of the Middle
Ages saw the beginning of the rise of individualism and with it, an
enduring battle between individualism and community that would be
felt for centuries to come.