CHAPTER 9
THE LATE MIDDLE AGES:
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL BREAKDOWN (1300 – 1453)
I.
The Black Death a.
Preconditions and Causes of the Plague i.
The growth and changing forms of nationalism (p292-296) ii.
The influence of sanitation and health care practices on society; food supply, diet, famine, disease, and their impact (p 286-292) b.
Popular Remedies c.
Social and Economic Consequences d.
New Conflicts and Opportunities
II.
The Hundred Years’ War and the Rise of National Sentiment a.
The Causes of the War i.
War and civil conflict: origins, developments, technology, and their consequences b.
Progress of the War i.
Changes in religious thought and culture ii.
Intellectual and cultural developments and their relationship to social values and political events iii.
Changes in elite and popular culture, such as the development of new attitudes toward religion, the family, work, and ritual
III.
Ecclesiastical Breakdown and Revival: The Late Medieval Church a.
The Thirteenth-Century Papacy b.
Boniface VIII and Philip the Fair c.
The Avignon Papacy (1309 – 1377) d.
John Wycliffe and John Huss e.
The Great Schism (1378 – 1417) and the Conciliar Movement to 1449
Changes in religious thought and culture (p 296-306)
Changes in elite and popular culture, such as the development of new attitudes toward religion, the family, work, and ritual (p 296-306)
IV.
Medieval Russia a.
Politics and Society b.
Mongol Rule (1243 – 1480) i.
The rise and functioning of the modern state in its various forms (p 312-314)
V.
In Perspective

RELATED VIDEOS
The Black Death
History’s Turning Points (25:07) http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9213528526753799697#
Joan of Arc
Recanting her beliefs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5EIsrZuczk
LECTURE TOPICS
1.
The Black Death: One of the great determinants of change in history is disease. The social and economic results of the plague were wide-ranging and included fluctuation of agricultural prices and city income, and a decline in trade and the quality of goods produced. Politically, it is important to note that the powers of the two great containers of monarchy in the Middle Ages, the church and the nobility, suffered greatly in numbers and prestige from the effects of the plague. Monarchs were able to progress toward the centralization of their governments and economics.
2.
Relations Between Church and State: The late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were a period of chaos for the church. The victim of attacks by local political factions, the papacy lost respect because of its transfer to Avignon, the Schism that followed, the impact of the conciliar movement, the corruption of Alexander VI and others, and the French involvement in Italy. In the long run, the sword of the secular arm proved more than a match for the medieval church.
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
1.
What were the underlying and precipitating causes of the Hundred Years’ War? What advantages did each side have? Why were the French finally able to drive the English almost entirely out of France?
2.
What were the causes of the Black Death, and why did it spread so quickly throughout
Western Europe? Where was it most virulent? How did it affect European society? How important do you think disease is in changing the course of history?

3.
Why did Pope Boniface VIII quarrel with King Philip the Fair? Why was Boniface so impotent in the conflict? How had political conditions changed since the reign of Pope Innocent III in the late twelfth century, and what did that mean for the papacy?
4.
How did the church change from 1200 to 1450? What was its response to the growing power of monarchs? How great an influence did the church have on secular events?
5.
What was the Avignon papacy, and why did it occur? How did it affect the papacy? What relationship did it have to the Great Schism? How did the church become divided and how was it reunited? Why was the conciliar movement a setback for the papacy?
6.
Why were kings in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries able to control the church more than the church could control the kings? How did kings attack the church during this period?

CAUSES
EVENTS
Infected rats and fleas from Asia transported on trading vessels
The spread of the disease wherever the ships went into port
The spread occurred regardless of destination or circumstance eventually spreading across all of Europe and killing about 20 million people about 1/3 of the population
RESULTS
1.
Families torn apart
2.
Villages deserted
3.
States collapsed and bankrupted
4.
Increased belief in God but a decline of faith in the Church
5.
Shortage of labor especially on farms. Authority and tradition no longer accepted without question.
6.
Pogroms against Jews
7.
Price of labor rose but rents declined
8.
Many farms were converted into pasture land since wool was more profitable
9.
New laws limited peasants freedom to leave his master’s farm or to demand higher wages.
10.
France passed the “Taille” – a direct tax on peasants as well as inciting the
“Jacquerie” a peasant revolt