HUM 212

The Crisis of the Fourteenth Century and the Black Death

1/15

I. The Agricultural Crisis

a. Population Growth 1. three centuries of population growth -around 1300, it started to reach the moment where they couldnt grow anymore because resources, like land, was limited -overpopulation problem 2. partible inheritance and <- -> population pressure -partible inheritance is a term to describe a cultural practice among peasants -peasants like to divide their land among their children, or sons, evenly, and give a dowry to the daughters -however, the land keeps getting further subdivided as populations grow and generations continue 3. famine, malnutrition, and disease -around 1300, it started to reach the moment where they couldnt grow anymore because resources, like land, was limited -overpopulation problem -from 1314-1321 there was a huge famine across the Rhine, todays Belgium and Netherlands -partible inheritance is a term to describe a cultural practice among peasants -peasants like to divide their land among their children, or sons, evenly, and give a dowry to the daughters -however, the land keeps getting further subdivided as populations grow and generations continue b. The Little Ice Age* - c. 1300-1800 -medieval warm period -> little ice age -there were longer winters, meant shorter growing seasons -it was wetter, snowier; so many fields would lay stagnant

II. The Struggle Between England and France

a. Edward I of England 1. the Conquest of Wales (1277-1295) -he was his determined goal to unite the island of Great Britain to a single crown -he brought Wales under the English Crown 2. the invasion of Scotland (1296) and Wallaces Rebellion (1297-1305) -he then conquered Scotland -William Wallace spearheaded a national rebellion against English rule -he eventually defeated the northern English army at Sterling Bridge -he skinned the treasurer and used it as a belt -he came back in 1298 and crushed Wallaces army -Wallace then led a guerilla campaign for five more years before he was betrayed by nobles; his head was later put on a spear 3. The War with France (1294-1303) 4. Robert the Bruces Rebellion (1307) b. Philip IV of France 1. the War with England (1294-1303) -he needed money for the war; and he looked to the French clergy to pay 2. Conflict with Boniface VIII -the pope said no laymen can tax the clergy -then Philip ordered his agents to kidnap the pope -the pope died a month later -Clericos Laicos (1927) -the papal rule that any secular laymen cannot impose taxes on the clergy -The Election of Clement V -he absolved Philips of all his debts; Philip and Clement got along -Clement then left Rome, because it was so dangerous and he goes to a town in Southern France called Avignon -Philips Campaign vs. the Templars (1307-1314) c. The Babylonian Captivity of the Church* The Avignon Papacy, sometimes derisively referred to as the Babylonian Captivity, was the period from 1309 to 1378 during which seven Popes resided in Avignon (modern-day France). The period was one of conflict and controversy during which French Kings held considerable sway over the Papacy and rulers across Europe felt sidelined by the new French-centric Papal Court. d. Outbreak of The Hundred Years War (1337-1453) -the king of England is also a vassal of France

HUM 212

The Crisis of the Fourteenth Century and the Black Death

1/15

1. Edward III of England (r. 1327-1377) -the French didnt want him cause he was over at England -they also used the salic law -the salic law; no one can rule from the female line 2. The death of Charles IV (1328) vs. Philip, Count of Valois? -instead of Edward III they those Philip, Count of Valois -France aligned with Scotland; England aligned with some cities in Belgium 3. Philip VI crowned 4. Philip annexes Guyenne (1337) -> war -He takes Edwards property, because he hasnt filled his duty -he was treating Edward second class, confiscated his fief 5. Two battles; Crecy and Poitiers -in Crecy the English army beat the French, though outnumbered -the Welsh longbow was extremely effective, shooting down the French calvary -this is the emergence of firepower over shotpower (bowmen > knights) -by 1360 the English controlled most of the south west of France

III. The Plague (1347-1351)

a. The Spread of the Plague -Kaffa was a major trading colony and major slave trade center -they were being drawn from southern Russian -in 1346 there was a little war by throwing plague-ridden bodies into Kaffa -a slave ship with infected bodies landed in Sicily, and the plague started breaking out -the plague, largely spread by rats, travels in a large clockwise fashion, and ends in Kiev in 1351 b. Responses to the Plague -one of the interesting consequences of the plague is that the priests and clergy rallied to help the people -a lot of clergy members died, but the most selfish ones were the ones that survived -some people just said to be merry, eat drink and die -some people also said this was the wrath of God, so many people did their last confessions and rites -one cult would whip themselves as penance for their sins; popular in Italy where it hit hardest c. The Aftermath -by 1351 the first devastating wave ended -new lands and consolidation -the overpopulation problem was solved; those who survived materially are in a much better situation than before -labor shortage -when lots of the workers are dead, those workers are now a lot more valuable and have a lot leverage then they used to -technological development? -some people argue that technological developed; technically not true except it spread the use of some agricultural tools; it didnt create anything -recurring plages D. Dear Labor: Dear Labor means expensive 1. The Jacquerie (1358) -huge rebellion by French peasants; they were mad because they didnt think the nobles didnt care that their king was in captivity after Poitier, and they were making deals with the English -they killed nobles as much as they can, but the nobles crush them 2. The Revolt of the Ciompi -the Ciompi are the most unskilled urban laborers you could imagine; they combed out the crud in wool -The Ciompi, unhappy about their wages, rose up for a brief months with a radical government in Florence like wealth distribution etc. -after a while the major guilds took over the minor guilds again and ran over the Ciompis 3. The English Peasants War (1381) -there was a nasty law in England passed in 1351 that froze all the wages of laborers of their prepaid levels -wages did not change according to the market -the peasants had enough, over 100,000 in south eastern England, led by Watt Tyler and John Bull -aristocracy is not an institution, its a sin -King Richard was only 15, but the mayor of England killed Watt Tyler and the nobles crushed the peasants

HUM 212

The Crisis of the Fourteenth Century and the Black Death

1/15

4. Conflict and Compromise -as a whole peasants; ate better, had more income, more land; materially they were better off E. The Danse Macabre* -but mentally it was an uneasy world -the suddenness of the plague and the unpredictability of the plague really made Europes collective psychology uneasy -reinforced the inevitability of death -how do you deal with losing everything in an instant? -even wealth was not a protection -the images of the Danse Macabre, the dance of death (images of dancing skeletons), appeared again and again in European thinking -idea that everyone would all be equal in death