Transcript The Calamitous 14th Century

The Crisis of the
Century
th
14
A Distant Mirror of Our Own Times?
Adapted by Dianne Siasoco
A Distant Mirror
 In A Distant Mirror,
novelist Barbara
Tuchman reveals in
alarming detail a
“tortured century”
with parallels to our
own time.
 People in the 14th
century were subjected
to natural and manmade disasters,
including:
 Climate Change
 Soil Exhaustion
 Agricultural Decline
 Famine
 Black Death
 The Hundred Years' War
 Political Instability
 Peasant Uprisings
 The Babylonian Captivity
 The Great Schism
 Was Western Europe's 14th
century a mirror for our
own time?
 The illustration above depicts
the Battle of Dunkirk in 1383.
It was part of the Hundred
Years War.
 The one below represents a
battle at the same location
that took place in 1940. It
was part of the Second World
War.
7.1 Crisis of the
century
th
14
Wars
The Hundred Years’ War
(1337-1453)
 What was it? A series of
long, deadly wars,
between England and
France.
HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR (1337-1453)
check your book for the years
Causes:
 The French and
English fought over
territory: Guyenne in
SW France, Flanders
and the English
Channel.
 The succession of
kings (5 English, 5
French) fought for
power.
Consequences:
 Destroyed harvests
and fields
 disrupted trade
 POPULATION DECRESED
Famine
What was it? People starved to
death or became weak against
disease. During 1315-1322,
famine devastated most of
Europe.
FAMINE
Causes:


CLIMATE CHANGE (SEE NEXT
SLIDE)
A LITTLE ICE AGE! SAY
WHAAA??@#$@?!?
CONSEQUENCES:
 Agricultural
productivity declined
 Grain prices increased
greatly.
 Diseases destroyed
much of Europe's
livestock, depriving
people of meat and
dairy products.
 POPULATION
DECREASED
Climatic Changes
 What was it?
Starting
about 1250, a Little Ice Age
began weakening Europe's
agricultural productivity.
 The Baltic Sea (locate it
on the map) froze,
Alpine glaciers
advanced, and in some
areas, grain cultivation
stopped.
 In other areas, crops
failed as a result of
heavy rains.
Question for thought:
 Are we having a climate change now?
The Black Death
What was it?
 In 1347, the Black Death
hit Europe. Those bitten
by infected fleas died horrible
deaths within a week's time.
Those who inhaled the virus
died even sooner.
THE BLACK DEATH
Causes:
 Came from Asia and
spread along the
trade routes
Consequences:
POPULATION
DECREASE
 Killed 40% of the English

population and nearly
60% of the population in
northeastern France.
Spiritual disillusion
HOMEWORK: READ THE BOXES AND MAP ON
PAGE 90 AND 91. ANSWER NUMBER 4.
7.2 Consequences of
the crisis
1. POPULATION DECREASE
 FROM 80 TO 45 MILLION BETWEEN 13001400
2. Economic Decline or
recession
3. Social Conflicts
Countryside:
Cities:
Peasant Uprisings in the
countryside
 The strains of life in the
countryside, of hunger,
disease, war and death,
were made worse by
feudal lords' demands that
peasants continue paying
high rents and other feudal
dues and by the burden of
royal taxation. This led to
mass uprisings in France
and England.
Urban Rebellions
 The rural population was
not alone.
 Artisans and the urban
poor spontaneously rose
in protest against hunger
and against the upper
classes (especially the
aristocrats), who lived in
luxury and used their
political power to keep
wages low.
 Are you seeing this
today?
The Black Death and its
Consequences
 One common response to the
multiple disasters and hardships
of the 1300s was to conclude
that God was passing judgment
on mankind's sins. Remedies for
sinfulness included:
 Engaging in pilgrimages to holy sites
 Punishing the flesh as part of a
flagellant cult (see page 90 and
91 in the box called “The Black
Death and its consequences)
 Stop here. Review.
 Read page 7.3 and do number 2 on page
91