Transcript The Black Death

Warm-up: Compare & Contrast
Use a table like the one below to compare and contrast the Romanesque style of
architecture to the Gothic style of architecture. How did the churches in these
two styles differ? (Refer to pg.332 in your textbook.)
Romanesque
Gothic
Warm-up: The Spanish Inquisition
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain were extremely devout
Catholics. They were referred to as “Their Catholic Majesties.” In
their desire to seek out people who were secretly practicing Judaism or
Islam, the monarchs received a license from the pope to operate the
Spanish Inquisition as an arm of the state. Under the dreaded chief
inquisitor Torquemada, the court was ruthless. Victims were often
chosen for their political views as well as religious heresy. Although
the inquisition operated as a court of law and some people were
released because the charges were not proven, hundreds were tortured
and burned at the stake, usually in a public display.
What was the result of this for Spain?
Warm-up: The Black Death
It started with aching joints, a fever, and swollen lymph
nodes, which might turn black. Sometimes the lungs were
affected and the victim coughed and sneezed. Whatever the
symptoms, the disease progressed quickly, death was almost
always swift, and it spread rapidly from person to person.
This was the bubonic plague, or Black Death. It swept
through Europe in the mid-fourteenth century, killing onethird to one-half of the population. In many cases, bodies
lay in the streets, with no one to perform burials. Since
medical and scientific knowledge was too primitive to
explain the disease rationally, people sought strange
remedies. They often took revenge on the innocent in their
quest to get rid of the plague. People known as flagellants
whipped themse3lves to appease God. Others persecuted the
Jews to find a scapegoat for their misery.
What were the economic results of the number of people
killed by the plague?
Education, Architecture,
& The Black Death
10.3 – Culture of the High Middle Ages
10.4 – The Late Middle Ages
The Development of Scholasticism
• Scholasticism – wanted to
harmonize Christian
teachings with Greek
philosophy (Aristotle)
• Saint Thomas Aquinas
attempted to reconcile
Aristotle’s works with the
Scripture
– Summa Theologica: proposed
questions and answers that
reconciled philosophy and
An excerpt from Summa Theologica about
theology
heretics: “They deserve not only to be
separated from the Church by
excommunication, but also to be severed
from the world by death.”
Literature & Architecture
• Latin was the universal language
of medieval civilization
• 12th c., new literature was written
in the vernacular – every day
language of particular regions
• Romanesque Churches: dark and
resembled a fortress
• Gothic Churches: light and artistic
– Barrel vault
– Flying Buttress
– Gothic cathedrals testified to an
age when most people believed in
a spiritual world
The Black Death
• Bubonic plague: black rats
infested w/fleas carrying
deadly bacterium
– Italian merchants brought it
from the Black Sea; Followed
trade routes
• 1347-1351: 38 million died
out of 75 million
– Italian cities lost 50-60% of its
population
• Many believed it was a
punishment from God
Effects of the Black Death
• Led to an outbreak of
anti-Semitism:
hostility towards Jews
• Economic
Consequences
– Trade declined
– Shortage of workers
made price of labor
rise – end of serfdom
– Lowered demand for
food resulted in falling
prices
Decline of Church Power
Pope Boniface VIII vs. King Philip IV of France
European kings grew unwilling to accept the
papal claims of supremacy over both religious and secular matters
1.
3.
5.
6.
Philip claimed right to tax
clergy
Philip refused this and sent
troops to bring Boniface to
trial
Philip engineered to have a
Frenchman, Clement V,
elected pope
Moves pope to Avignon, in
France not, Rome
2.
Pope says clergy would need
Pope’s consent to pay taxes
4.
Pope is held captive for 3
days, escapes and one month
later commits suicide
The Great Schism
• Two popes called each other
the AntiChrist
• Lasted from 1378 to 1417
• Divided Europe politically
• Damaged the church
• Finally agreed to a new
pope in 1417
• Crisis called for an end to
papacy’s corruption and
excessive power
– Protesters were accused of
heresy and burned at the stake
(John Hus)
The Eastern Schism
• Excommunication: being
deprived or suspended
membership in a religious
community
• Eastern Church could not
accept the pope as the head of
the Christian faith
• 1054 Pope Leo IX and
Patriarch Michael Cerularius
excommunicated each other
• The Great Schism: separation
between the two branches of
the Christianity
The Hundred Years’ War, 1337-1453
• Start: King Philip IV of France
tried to take a piece a land back
from England; King Edward II of
England declared war on France
– Began with an explosion of
enthusiasm
– New weapon: longbow – long range,
rapid fire and great striking power
• New king, Henry V, was eager to
conquer all of France – did not
have the resources
• Battle of Agincourt (Oct. 25th,1415):
1,500 French nobles died; English
were masters of northern France
Shakespeare’s Take
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be rememberedWe few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
- Shakespeare, Henry V
Joan of Arc
• French peasant woman, deeply
religious and experienced visions
• Believed her favorite saints
commanded her to free France
• Convinced weak King Charles to
allow her to accompany the troops
to Orléans
• Inspired by her faith, the French
troops capture the city
• She was captured in 1430, tried for
witchcraft and executed
• French win war
Political Recovery
• After the Hundred Years’ War there is a
resurgence of nationalism and the power of the
monarchy in England, France, and Spain
– France: King Louis XI strengthened the use of the
taille (a direct tax on property) which gave him the
money to create a strong monarchy
– England: War of the Roses; two noble factions fought
to control the monarchy
– Spain: United the two
strongest kingdoms of
Aragon and Castile with
the marriage of Isabella
and Ferdinand
– They expelled all the
Jews and “encouraged”
the Muslims to convert
to Catholicism
– Within a few years, all
professed Muslims were
also expelled from Spain
– To be Spanish was to be
Catholic
Their Catholic Majesties…
Ferdinand & Isabella