Chapter 14: The
Latin West
1200-1500
Europe from the
Middle Ages to
the Renaissance
Rural Life & New Farming
Technologies
► 1200
AD most were
peasants bound to the
land
► Population doubled
 agricultural techniques
 climate change
► windmills
► waterwheels
► deforestation
Famines and Black Death
►
►
►
►
Around 1250 crop yields
decreased-possibly
because of population
pressure
decrease in human
resistance to disease by
1348
Bubonic Plague-Black
Death-overwhelmed
Europe in 1348
social , political, economic,
etc. impact
Impact of the Plague on Europe?
►
►
Europeans
had little
resistance
End of the
Middle Ages
Ravaged
Europe for
two years
and returned
periodically
devastating
the
population
Impact of the Plague
 Fewer workers
so labor more
valuable
 Peasants
demanded
higher wages
 Oversupply of
goods: became
less expensive
 Serfdom ended
as demand for
labor rose
Impact of the Plague
Living standards
improved
 less time to learn a
craft
 Nobles died
► less opposition
to king
 Religion and
learning flourish
 Technology
advanced
► mining
► metallurgy
► Water mills
Impact of Black Death: Social Rebellion
►
►
►
rebellions against
wealthy nobles
and churchmen
who tried to
freeze wages
Large gap
between rich and
poor
Population
declined but per
capita production
rose
Growth of Trade
►
►
►
Great Urban revival, fueled by the end of the Crusades &
workers leaving manors
Italian cities in north become rich & powerful through
trade; Genoa, Venice, Milan
Hanseatic League- group of cities in Northern Europe
united for trade influence and prices
Urban Revival
►
►
►
►
Flanders
 commercial
center for wool
imports & cloth
manufacturing
England, Florence,
and Italy
 textiles
Trade fairs evolve
into cities
Trade increased
under Mongol
expansion
Urban Revival
►
►
►
►
►
Venice dominates trade
Some European cities were city-states and were independent from
nobles and kings
traded more freely than Asian or Middle Eastern cities
Bringing cities under the control of King sometimes required force(Paris)
Guilds- craft specialists who regulated craft rules and prices to protect
their interests
Urban Revival
Rise of Merchant & Banking Class
►
►
big business
required loans,
money changing,
& investments
Florence
 banking
services
 checking
accounts
 Shareholding
 bookkeeping
European Renaissance
►
►
►
►
►
Large banking families
appear
Medici family of Florence
operated banks in Italy,
Flanders, London
handled affairs for nobles,
kings, the Church
Church prohibited usury
Usury
 loaning money at high
interest rates
European Jews
►
►
►
Jews able to escape
poverty by becoming
moneylenders
Christians worked around
the rules to make money
directly
Europe’s largest population
of Jews lived in Spain
Persecution existed in
most of Europe except in
the papal city of Rome
European Renaissance
► Wealthy
families were
able to fund
art &
architecture
Universities
Prior to 1200,
monasteries were
primary centers or
learning
► After 1200, colleges
and universities were
created and
supported by the
Church
► taught medicine,
law, theology
► Theology-the study
of the nature of God
and religious truth
►
Scholasticism
►
►
►
Theology was the primary
subject and it brought
together Greek philosophy,
notably Aristotle, and
Christian faith
mixing of these was called
Scholasticism
Most notable written work
was the Summa
Theologica, by Thomas
Aquinas, a Dominican
priest
Kings Consolidate Power
► Kings
sought to become stronger and centralize
power
► Kings were weak




Little or no treasury funds
Powerful nobles
Independent towns and cities
Powerful Church
England
►
1215 AD, King John I
of England is forced to
sign the Magna Carta
 Trial by jury of peers
 nobles could petition
the king
 became Parliament
 No taxation without
consent of nobles
 exception to the
pattern of strong
monarchs
France
►
►
In France, Philip the Fair
arrests the Pope and
installs his own pope at
Avignon
In general, Kings sought to
increase power by:
 Marrying into noble families
 Taxing peasants
 Appointing their own bishops
and clergy (lay investiture)
European Renaissance
►
►
►
►
►
Kings fought each other to
gain more power through
land:
France and England fought
each other-Hundred Years
War 1337-1453
Although England lost,
both monarchies emerged
stronger
Joan of Arc helped France
New weapons-longbow
New Monarchies in France & England




Stronger central governments
National boundaries
New tax system
Strong connections to middle class and merchant class
instead of nobles and church
European Renaissance
►
►
►
►
Strong governments on
the Iberian Peninsula too:
Spain and Portugal emerge
as nations after forcing the
Muslims out of Iberia after
700 years
The Reconquista
In 1492, Spain and
Portugal also expelled all
Jews who would not
convert to Christianity
European Renaissance
► By
the 1300’s a new emphasis on learning
began that expanded upon the learning of
universities and scholasticism
► A new emphasis on understanding humans
as well as God became the idea of
“Humanism”
► Humanism is the study of man and his
world. Today it is known as humanities,
such as sociology, psychology, anthropology,
literature (the classics), religion.
European Renaissance
► Early
Humanist writers referred to works
long kept secured by monasteries during
the Dark Ages
► Dante Alighieri-Italy-1265-1321-wrote the
Divine Comedy: journey through 9 layers of
Hell and the entrance to Paradise using
Greco-Roman classical themes, imagery.
► Made accessible through his use of the
vernacular form of Tuscany
European Renaissance
► Geoffrey
Chaucer-England-1340-1400: Wrote
the Canterbury Tales: everyday life in medieval
England, in vernacular.
► Other Humanists writers:
► Machiavelli: wrote The Prince; a political
handbook for political leaders. Premise: the
ends justifies the means
► Thomas More: Utopia; perfect society of the
future
► Erasmus: Dutch writer of religious reform:
wrote In Praise of Folly
European Renaissance
► Petrarch:
Italian poet of love poetry
► Castiglione: wrote The Courtier; how to
succeed at the royal court
► Boccaccio: wrote The Decameron; collection of
short stories about Italian nobles. Produced a
version of the New Testament in Greek
► Humanists sought a return to original Greek
and Roman texts. Pope Nicholas creates the
Vatican library by buying authentic Greek and
Roman translations of classic texts.
► Emphasis on authenticity
European Renaissance
► William
Shakespeare: English playwright
► Christopher Marlowe: English playwright
European Renaissance
► Humanism
helps create a new era after Middle
Ages called the Renaissance
► Renaissance = Rebirth of learning & culture
► Return to classical roots and sources of
literature and art
► Universities developed in Bologne and Paris
which incorporated the works of Aristotle which
were saved by Muslims
► Monarchs, church and merchants all wanted
this rebirth of learning
European Renaissance
► Why
did Europe grow in power & wealth?
► Education
European Renaissance
► Botticelli
► Michelangelo
Buonarroti
► Leonardo Da Vinci
► Raphael
► Titian
► Giotto
► Jan Van Eyck
European Renaissance
► Favorite
themes of artists and patrons
during the Renaissance were religious
► Combined with authenticity of Humanism,
religious subjects were presented in a more
realistic style.
European Renaissance
European
Renaissance
European Renaissance
► All
presented a sense of realism and
naturalism to create what modern society
would call “photographic perfect”
► Ideas were transmitted quickly throughout
Europe by means of the printing press of
Johan Gutenberg-it used moveable type
► Craft guilds in various cities competed in
quality and innovation created competitions
though they discouraged
European Renaissance
► The
Renaissance had an economic base as
cities expanded and developed architectural
pride
► Craft guilds in various cities competed in
quality and innovation but stifled
competition within their own cities
► Rural areas offered different opportunities
but could not compete with the economic
and social attractions of the city