The Late Middle Ages: 1300 - 1527

The AP Exam does not include much in this topic. Yet it is good to know what is happening in Europe right before the Renaissance. So let us begin...

The Hundred Years War was a conflict fought between France and England between the years 1337 and 1453. Now the War did not last 100 years but rather was a series of conflicts that did had truce and peace periods in it. Conflicts had to do with territorial claims, and accessions to the throne of France.

The significance of the War: The French revived the stable coinage, regular taxes, and the standing army that had originated under Charles V but had disappeared during his son’s insanity. France also acquired superiority in the use of firearms, especially field artillery. These large, mobile cannons were capable of inflicting heavy damage, and they gave the French the same sort of military advantage that the longbow had given the English in the previous century. The end of the Hundred Years’ War was also the end of a long period of economic trouble and declining population in both countries, to which the war had contributed. In France, the war encouraged the emergence of centralized governments and helped in the creation of nation-states. In England, the loss of French territory forced the government to focus on domestic issues. By the end of the war both the French and English peoples began to view themselves as separate and distinctive nationalities, and not merely as members of a feudal empire.

Joan of Arc was a peasant who lived between the years 1412 and 1431. She is now the patron saint of France. During the 100 Years War she united the nation and turned the tide against the English. When she was 13 years old she thought that she heard "celestial voices." Early in 1429, during the War, the English were about to capture Orléans, the "voices" told her to help the Dauphin (later r. as Charles VII). Charles because of internal strife and the English claim to the throne, had not been crowned King. The King approved of her and she became one of the Generals of the French Army. She led the French in decisive victories against the English. Joan united France behind Charles. Yet in 1430 she was captured and was turned over to the English. The English then turned her over to the Church in Rouen and tried her for heresy and sorcery. The court condemned her to death. On May 30, 1431, she was burned at the stake. 25 years after she died, the church retried her case, and she was pronounced innocent.

The Black Death was an epidemic plague in Europe that started roughly in the mid - 14th century. It resulted in almost the death of a quarter of the European Population.

Because the plague was transmitted by fleas carried by rodents, it was worst in the cities, where many people lived close together and sanitation was poor. In some cities, the plague killed as many as two-thirds of the population. Every social group suffered, but the rural population and the wealthy, who had less contact with outsiders and who could afford to move to more secluded areas outside the cities, escaped the worst effects. Outbreaks of plague continued throughout the Middle Ages and into the 18th century.

The survivors of the plague had to adjust to new conditions. The death of so many people resulted in a labor shortage. People began to demand better wages and standards. We see the emergence of the Guilds.

In England peasants tried to take advantage of the favorable new conditions for workers after the plague, but landlords refused to lower rents or raise wages. In 1381 various groups of peasants joined together to protest taxes and to argue for more equal treatment. King Richard II met with the rebels and agreed to their demands. As soon as they dispersed, however, he went back on his promise, and many of the peasants were executed, this rebellion is Tyler's Rebellion. Nevertheless, the king was unable to prevent the changes started by the plague from continuing, and serfdom ended in England in the 15th century.

Because the plague destroyed people and not possessions, the drop in population was accompanied by a corresponding increase in per capita wealth. A new type of consumer, who preferred variety and luxury, began to appear in both the towns and the countryside. People who were unsure if they would be alive the next day wanted to spend their money on fine foods and luxuries. Many lords and wealthy merchants built churches and commissioned religious art, partly in thanks for being spared the horrors of the Black Death. Some of the artistic styles that developed in this period were very influential later during the Renaissance.

The Schism traditionally dates to 1054. It is characterized by two parts: The first being the schism between the Western and Eastern Catholic Churches. When the Eastern Church - based in Constantinople - resented the authority that the Western Church had - based in Rome - the Eastern Church wanted to separate. Today it is separated and is the Orthodox Church. The second Schism dated between 1378 and 1417 happened in the Western church were at a time there were as many as three popes claiming the pontificate. The term schism means any formal and willful separation from the unity of the Christian Church.

The Great Schism in the Western church began with the contested election of Pope Urban VI in 1378. The cardinals who elected him, dismayed at his erratic behavior, withdrew their obedience, declared Urban's election invalid because it was made during rioting in Rome, and selected a new pope, Clement VII. Urban retaliated by excommunicating Clement and his followers and by creating a college of cardinals of his own.

Historians today find it impossible to judge between the claims for validity of these two elections. In any case, when Clement moved to Avignon and won the adherence of the French king, the schism began in earnest. Allegiance to either pope was determined by the political preferences of the rulers concerned.

During the half-century the schism lasted, a number of solutions were proposed, including the popes' resignations, but only the convocation of a council offered any real hope. Cardinals and bishops from both sides met at Pisa in 1409, but their efforts only resulted in adding a third pope to the other two. The Council of Constance (1414-18) finally effected the resignation or deposition of the contending popes and the election of Martin V (reigned 1417-31) with universal recognition. The scandal of the schism gave temporary momentum to a Conciliar theory of church government and also intensified the call for reform that eventually erupted in the Protestant Reformation.