Thomas Gim

Chapter 14 Notes

Ch 14: The Latin West, 1200-1500

In 1454, Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini was trying to boost morale to start a crusade that would
stop the Muslims from conquering southeastern Europe. However, the rulers of Europe didnt
take up arms together to join the cause. He said this lack of unity was due to infatuation of
personal welfare and materialism. Despite these troubles along with diseases and other disasters,
there was progress during this age.
Rural Growth and Crisis
From 1200-1500, there was more land being used for agriculture. This sounds good but for most,
it was a difficult time where hard work was returned with small earnings and disasters like
disease, war, and famine. After the Black Plague (1347-1351) and some peasant revolts, there
was a little improvement.
Peasants and Population: Society had divisions based on class and gender. By 1200, a lot of
people were serfs that worked on a nobles and the churchs lands. A lord would have 15-30
peasant families that lived in cottages and a large house or castle for himself. Serfs worked long
hours and turned over more than half of their crops to their landowner. Although both women
and men worked, women were below men in the peasant household. The reasons behind this
poverty in the rural areas are not only because of inefficient farming methods and inequality but
also massive population growth. The doubling of population between 1100 and 1345 is either
because of a reviving economy or a warmer temperature change. A new technique of farming
popped up called a three-field system. Crops were grown on two of the fields while the third was
planted with oats that stored nitrogen and revitalized the soil. The growth of population also led
to new agricultural settlements in the Baltic States, the eastern Baltic (later Prussia), and more.
Swamp draining along with forest clearing brought new agriculture lands also; however, as
population rose, the lands that were left to cultivate were bad.
The Black Death and Social Change: The Black Death killed one-third of the western Europeans.
It spread from Asia, to Kaffa on the Black Sea, to southern France and Italy. Symptoms included
boils, foul odors, severe pain, and death followed within a few days. Towns closed their gates to
those from infected cities to stop the spread. However, it still spread across Europe. Today, it is
believed that the so-called Black Death was a combination of anthrax and the bubonic plague.
With the sudden population decrease followed an increase in the interest in religion or a mood of
partying. Most people returned to their normal lives soon. The Black Death brought social
changes also. The skilled laborers started demanding higher pay. Authorities tried to keep wages
at where they used to be until some peasants rose up against the noblemen. One such scenario is

the Jacquerie in France of 1358, where castles were looted and nobles were killed. In 1381, Wat
Tyler led the peasants of England to invade London to stop serfdom. Even after a lot of killing,
the rebellion ideas could not be put down. As peasants ran away or bought freedom, serfdom
disappeared. Free farmers used their wages to buy land to farm themselves. English landowners
used their land to pasture sheep due to a lack of workers. The Black Death improved conditions
for the poor. In urban places, wages were raised to attract workers to replace the deaths.
Apprenticeship periods were reduced and competition between areas of expertise became
common.
Mines and Mills: Before 1500, mechanical devices were becoming widespread. Things like mills
and were used to grind grain, make paper, tan leather, and more. In 1086, the rivers in England
had over 5600 mills. The simpler mills were water wheels while more complicated ones involved
water running over the top of the mill. Windmills were also common in dry places like spain and
northern Europe. Although these two mills were seen in the Islamic world, people in the Latin
West used them a lot more. Rich people or monasteries built these mills. But since it was
expensive, it was common to see a group of investors building mills. Waterpower allowed an
expansion of iron due to efficient metalworking. Iron mining also increased to meet the demands
of Europe. Deep mining techniques spread from Central Europe to the farther west in the 15th
century. This industrial growth changed the towns and cities in Europe; towns grew outward,
new towns were built, and dams and canals were changing the rivers flows. However, pollution
also became a problem especially when urban tanneries dumped acidic water into the streams
that had waste and slaughterhouse runoff. Deforestation was also used widely to provide timber
and bark. This led to a decrease in the number of forests in Europe.
Urban Revival
In the tenth century, no western city could compare to the Byzantine and Islamic cities. Later on,
huge centers of trade would be along the Mediterranean, Baltic, and Atlantic. Although these
cities were still not as prominent as those in the east, they were going through radical changes of
progress and growth.
Trading Cities: The growth in urban areas can be attributed to the increase in trade and
manufacturing. Trade between cities and long-distance trade both revived cities, which is seen in
northern Italy where the port cities were benefiting hugely from trade. Another reason for a
benefit was due to the Venetians destroying Constantinople which led to control of Crete, a
strategic trading island. The westward expansion of the Mongols also opened up trade routes to
China. Marco Polo was a young Venetian trader that served Kublai as an ambassador. After the
Mongol decline, the Venetian merchants still continued to trade things like silk and spice. 2000
tons of goods came in three times a year. Genoa was also a prominent trading city. There was
also a Hanseatic League in the north that traded in the Baltic. In the late thirteenth century,
galleys from Genoa started trading in the Flander cities. In the land routes that connected Italy to

Flanders, trading fair developed in the Champagne region of Burgundy. In the 14th century it was
cheaper to send the wool to Italy by sea and Champagne fairs lost some trade relations. In the
late 13th century, the wool was turned into cloth and then sent to Flanders. Florences banking
families also turned to wool making for a profit. The growing textile industry used the power of
water, winds, and all types of machines. In the 15th century, Venice had a larger volume of trade
than its rivals in Europe.
Civic Life: Trading cities relatively had more social freedom due to the facts that some were
independent states and that anyone that had lived in a chartered city could claim freedom. Cities
were home to most of the Jews, especially Spain. Individual enterprise had many restrictions.
Guilds trained apprentices and supported their members interests outside the city. They denied
Jews and outsiders to join which gave the members more power. Male dominance was seen, but
women could join guilds independently, as a wife, or a daughter. Women received lower wages
than men but could increase their status through marriage. In the fifteenth century, there as a
class of rich merchant-bankers that operated on a large scale and who handled many jobs. Using
money transactions such as money changing, loans, and investments, they were able to profit and
also support courts with their money. Florence became a center of banking services and in the
fifteenth century, the Medici family had banks in Italy, Flanders, and London. They controlled
the government in Florence. In 1500, it was clear that the Fuggers of Augsburg was the largest
banking family seen with a lending capital ten times larger than that of the Medici. Christian
bankers came up with ways to profit indirectly from loans since the Church condemned usury.
Although money seemed to be flowing, a lot of people normally lived in poverty.
Gothic Cathedrals: The growing cities were in need of master builders. One of the greatest
buildings was a Gothic cathedral. These cathedrals had a pointed arch and external buttresses for
stabilization. This allowed the churches to be tall and have stained glass windows. The men who
built and designed these had not education and limited understanding of engineering principles.
Miscalculations led to collapses. But the builders became more experienced, the buildings
became higher and better.
Learning, Literature, and the Renaissance
Remains of the Roman Empire were seen throughout the Middle Ages in the language, the roads,
and laws. However, early medieval people lost the ability of learning like that in the GrecoRoman ages. A small return of classical learning happened in the court of Charlemagne and a
larger one happened a little later. In the mid-fourteenth century, the Renaissance occurred.
Universities and Learning: When southern Italy was taken from Byzantines and Sicily and
Toledo from the Muslims in the 11th century, Greek and Arabic works were translated for eager
readers. Works of Plato, Aristotle, and Ibn Sina were read. The Dominicans and Franciscans sent
their talented professors to independent colleges after 1200. The Latin West was the first to
create universities. 60 new universities were made between 1300 and 1500. These schools set a

curriculum for the field of study and had final exams for degrees. The benefits of university led
the spread of universities across Europe. Since all the courses were in Latin, a student could
move anywhere to go to the school of their choice. Although there were a lot of courses in each
school, there were certain specialties that each school had. Theology was popular because of the
interest in ecclesiastical careers and the view that it was the queen of sciences. 13th century
theologists used the works of Aristotle and Avicenna and this effort to combine reason and faith
was scholasticism. This upset many traditional thinkers and over the next two centuries, there
was competition between the Dominicans and Franciscans.
Humanists and Printers: There were talented writers such as Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine
Comedy, which talks a journey through hell. This foreshadows the styles of later writers, who
also used Greco-Roman classical themes. Another great writer was Geoffrey Chaucer who was
famous for the Canterbury Tales. Dante influenced a literary movement of humanists, whose
interests were mainly in the humanities. Some famous humanists were Petrarch and Boccaccio.
The greatest influence of the humanists was the reformation of secondary education. They used a
curriculum of languages and literature. Although the original subjects remained popular in
universities, humanism became influential after 1500. Many humanists tried replicating the traits
of the classic Latin or Greek. After mastering classical Latin or Greek, a lot of scholars (15th
cent) restored the original texts of Greco-roman ages or the Bible. The influence was multiplied
with the introduction of new printing technology after 1450. Although the Chinese were the first
to have a system of printing, there were three improvements to the printing in Europe: movable
type, new ink, and the printing press. Johann Gutenberg contributed to most to perfect printing.
He made the first movable typed Bible. By 1500, there were 100 million printed copies of massproduced paperbacks.
Renaissance Artists: Renaissance artists were well-known for their Greco-Roman styles or
painting, sculpture, and more. The beginnings of Renaissance art can be attributed to earlier
generations such as Giotto who used more natural and human portraits. Jan van Eyck used
linseed oil to be mixed with his pigments which allowed slower drying and better luster. This
technique was important to early Renaissance art. Leonardo da Vinci was used oil paints for
Mona Lisa. Patronage of rich people allowed for art to grow and thrive.
Political and Military Transformations
Stronger and more unified states emerged as the economy revived. Political changes occurred
differently in each state.
Monarchs, Nobles, and Clergy: Thirteenth-century states had many features of earlier states such
as hereditary monarchs, noblemen with estates, and the church. Nobles were meant to be vassals
of the monarch but nobles usually tried to limit the monarchs power. Knights were still the
major source of fighting power in 1200. Their central role was due to the arrow, improved
crossbows, and the firearm. Churches also resisted the royal control. In 1203, Pope Boniface VIII

asserted that the papacy was superior to all humans. King Philip had the pope arrested and after
he died, Philip had an election that led to a new French pope. Papal authority was weakened
more by the Great Western Schism. The papacy returned to Rome and eventually became
independent once more. King Philip had an advantage of a new tax that helped support the
monarchy for a while. King Louis IX was able to do things without his nobles consent by using
the towns support. English monarchs had a more centralized power ever since the Norman
conquest in 1066. But still, power was limited. King John had to say that the pope as his
overlord, lost a bid to the lands of Aquitaine, and signed the Magna Carta. Alliances and conflicts
due to the hereditary traditions of the monarchy also led to troubles. These struggles and shifting
boundaries put politics in Europe in chaos.
The Hundred Years War, 1337-1453: The conflict between Frances king and the vassals was the
Hundred Years War. It put the monarchy against the vassals in a struggle for power. This war
came out of a marriage alliance. Princess Isabella of France wedded King Edward II from
England to ensure loyalty to France. However, none of the princess brothers had male kids so
King Edward II, son of Isabella, laid a claim on the throne. However, the French courts gave the
throne to a distant cousin, leading Edward to start a fight. New technologies such as the English
longbow, heavier armor, and the pike shaped this war. Firearms were also becoming well-used in
the form of cannons. Joan of Arc led the army that defeated English troops that were close to
conquering France. After that victory in 1429, she was burned at the stake in 1431. In 1453, a
truce ended the war and France had true control of its monarchy.
New Monarchies in France and England: New monarchies that emerged were more centralized
and had more fixed boundaries along with more prominent representative institutions. The
English tried to subdue the Scots and the French their vassals. Mobile cannons and powerful
hand-held firearms helped with subduing nobles. Monarchies tried using methods to pay for their
armies. Charles VII of France used a land tax on his vassals that sustained the treasury for 350
years. Taxes on merchants were also profitable. Contributions from the clergy also helped. The
shift in power towards monarchs did not take away the nobles rights; nobles came up with ways
to keep the power in check. By 1500, the Parliament with its House of Lords and House of
Commons was quite permanent and important. In France, there was the Estates General.
Iberian Unification: Spain and Portugals growth into centralized states was due to battles
between kings and vassals. The reconquest of Iberia was also a religious crusade. The knights
their borders to gain spoils like good farmland and nice cities. This reconquest was divided into
waves over centuries. Toledo was taken in 1085. Lisbon fell in 1147. Christians won a huge
battle in 1212. Cordova and Seville were captured and in 1249, the Muslims were driven out
from Algarve. Portugal gained its territory limits by using Algarve. Portuguese knights took
Ceuta in Morocco. This struggle of reconquest of the Iberian kingdoms brought them together
and religious morale was high. Conquest of Granada in 1492 was the final Muslim land for the
new kingdom of Spain, a unification of many kingdoms thanks to Princess Isabella from Castile

and Prince Ferdinand of Aragon. 1492 was also when those two sponsored Columbus journey.
During this year, Jews were forced to leave.