Transcript The Late Middle Ages - Faculty Server Contact

The Late Middle Ages
(ca. 1300-1500)
The Late Middle Ages
Why should we consider this phase of
European history as one of disasters?
 Any parallels to events and crises of 20th
and 21st centuries?

The Church and Christianity

Philip IV of France (r. 1285-1314)
Limits of Papal Power
– King Philip IV vs. Pope
Boniface VIII
– Boniface protested Philip’s
taxation of French clergy,
but had to back down
– Philip arrested bishop for
treason  Boniface
outraged, but humiliated by
king
– Papacy now weaker than
monarchs
The Church and Christianity

The “Babylonian
Captivity” (1309-1377)
– French pope elected to
papacy
– Moved to Avignon (1309)
 French popes
 Corruption?
– Many unhappy Christians in
Western Europe
– Papacy returned to Rome
(1377)
Tomb of Pope Gregory XI,
Church of S. Francesca Romana, Rome
The Church and Christianity

The Great Western Schism (1378-1417)
– Returning pope died (1378)
– Turbulent election  new, Italian pope
– Dissatisfaction  schism
 2 popes!
 Scandal, spiritual crisis
– Council of Pisa (1409)
 Deposed both popes, elected new one
 Unsuccessful  3 popes!
The Church and Christianity

Late Medieval Heresy
– JOHN WYCLIF
(ca. 1330-84)
 Advocated state role in
church matters
 Bible!
 Criticized
transubstantiation
– JAN HUS
(ca. 1370-1415)
 Influenced by Wyclif
 Preacher in Prague
 Critical of church
hierarchy and “abuses”
John Wyclif
The Church and Christianity

The Council of Constance
(1414-17)
– Summoned by emperor
– Response to Heresy
 Hus tried, condemned
(1415)
 Wyclif’s remains destroyed
– Schism resolved
 Three rival popes deposed
 Martin V elected
Execution of Hus
The Church and Christianity

Late Medieval Mysticism
– Mysticism: spirituality
seeking intimacy with God
– Common among women
– Increased devotional
literature
– Focus on Passion of Christ,
devotion to Virgin Mary
Roettgen Pietá
Early 14th cent.
The Church and Christianity

Questions?
Society and Economy

Population growth  overpopulation
(14th cent.)
– Less land to cultivate
– Wages decreased
– Famines
Society and Economy

The Black Death
(1347-1350)
– Epidemic
– Spread rapidly,
contagious
– Noticeable, painful
symptoms
– Very quick death
Society and Economy

The Plague’s Origins
– Began in Far East,
traveled westward
along trade routes
– Carried by fleas on
infected rats
– Arrived in Europe at
Mediterranean ports
Society and Economy

The Black Death
– Cause debated
– Why???
– Aftermath
 Death of up to 1/2 of
Europe’s population
 Obsession with death
 Recurred until 18th
century
Society and Economy

Economics in Italy
– Trade
 Location  focal point
 Contact between
Europe and East
– Banking
Medici Bank
 Lots of bankers
 MEDICI bank founded
in Florence (1397)
Society and Economy

Northern Economics
– Numerous financial
centers
– Hanseatic League
 Competition for Italians
 Conglomeration of
100+ northern
mercantile cities
– Wool industry
The Hanseatic League
Society and Economy

Questions?
Political Issues

Siege of Constantinople
Fall of Constantinople
– Byzantine Empire
threatened by Turks
– Constantinople
besieged, conquered
(May 1453) 
Istanbul
– Ottoman Empire:
threat to Western
Europe
Political Issues

The Hundred Years War (1337-1453):
Causes
– Last Capetian monarch died (1328) – who
succeeds?
 English king was a relation
 Philip VI elected by French nobility
 Neither candidate conceded claims  war!
– English claims to French lands
Political Issues

The War: Initial
English Success
– Strategy: raids
– New technology
 Longbows
 Cannons
– Territorial gains!
– English king: new heir
to throne (1420)
Battle of Créçy (1346)
Political Issues
Political Issues

France Strikes Back
– JOAN OF ARC
(1412-1431)
 Teenage peasant,
mystic
 Claimed mission from
God (1428)
 Promised French heir
– France rebounded
– Joan captured, sold to
English  burned at
stake (May 1431)
Siege of Orléans
Political Issues
Political Issues
Political Issues

Ultimate French
Victory
– Northern
France
reconquered
– English driven
out by 1453
Political Issues

Spain: Ferdinand and
Isabella
– Unified Spanish crown
(1469)
 Ferdinand: heir of
Aragon, Catalonia
 Isabella: heir of Castile
Ferdinand and Isabella
– Completed
Reconquista (1492)
Political Issues
Political Issues

Religion in Spain
– Fervent Catholicism
– Expelled Jews (1492),
Muslims (1504)
– SPANISH
INQUISITION (1478)
Ferdinand and Isabella
 Tool of State
 Principal goal: attack
“judaizing” traditions
among conversos
Political Issues

Questions?
The Late Middle Ages
Why should we consider this phase of
European history as one of disasters?
 Any parallels to events and crises of 20th
and 21st centuries?
