Welcome to AP Euro with Ms Greenberg! What is on my desk? Unit calendar (more detail tomorrow but see tonight’s assignment) - Syllabus (to discuss tomorrow signature for Monday) Textbook

What are we doing today? We are jumping right in with your first official lecture! What? Wait! What about course information? What about learning our names and who we are? Don’t you care? What about learning what I need for this course? Aaaaaaaaah!!!!!

Have no fear….we will do all of that tomorrow. This lecture helps you understand your HW tonight. You will have many questions about the course and they will be answered. AP Euro is like a “freezing lake” – sometimes it is best to just jump in.

Dark Age to Rebirth The Late Middle Ages (14th Century) have often been called the “Dark Ages” - so coined by those Renaissance scholars (15th and early 16th century) who…for lack of a better word, liked to hate on the Middle Ages and characterize them as worse than their own time. Oppositely, the Renaissance has been called a “rebirth” out of the Dark Ages. We don’t learn much about the Middle Ages in this class, but we do like to compare them to the Renaissance. Because of this we try and understand what was so different about the two time periods.

Assignment #1: What is a Dark Age? Please write in response to the following: What does it mean for society to be in a “Dark Age”? How do you define “Dark Age” Are we in a Dark Age? Or a rebirth? Think about some of the following aspects of our society in your answer? political, social, economic, intellectual, artistic and religious

Acronyms to Know and Love PSE – Political, Social, Economic PERSIA – Political, Economic, Religious Intellectual, Social, Artistic

The Late Middle Ages AKA “The Dark Ages”

Goals of this lecture: To understand why the 14th Century was a time of Crisis To be able to contrast the late Middle Ages with the “rebirth” of society in the Renaissance

The late Middle Ages were once referred to as the “Dark Ages.” This term was coined by Renaissance scholars who prided themselves on their knowledge of Greek and Roman Classics. They thought the Middle Ages had nothing to offer

Was it really so dark? Maybe…. Plague War Religious troubles The MA were undoubtedly a period of chaos & disunity-- especially late MA Temporal power of the church was in decline Secular power was on the rise This led (inevitably) to conflict Medieval countryside plagued not only by war but by disease: Black Death Epidemic with far-reaching social, political & cultural consequences Despite war, famine & disease, medieval population survived. Medieval thought & culture, although disparaged by Ren scholars Contributed greatly to subsequent eras

POLITICAL Feudalism: a rigid social structure. Notes from McKay 12 Kings were small time – they owned relatively little land. Serfs stayed on the land for safety.

Political Crisis: 100 Years’ War 1337-1453 While most kings were small-time, some large states emerged who fought over the balance of power. The 100 Years War: England vs. France The Hundred Years War The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) was crisis that shook Europe. It began because England and France were fighting land claims. England is an island, but had conquered land on the European continent, land that was disputed by France. During the first part of the war England gained ground. However, during the second phase, fortunes reversed and France ousted the English. You may have heard of Joan of Arc, a teenage peasant girl, was largely responsible for the turnaround. She convinced the French that she was sent by God to lead an army against England and fought in the battle of Orleans, which the French won. She, however, was captured in Paris and turned over to England, where she was burned at the stake after being tried as a witch. Joan of Arc’s story shows some important things about the Social History of this time: Religion was all important, women’s roles were complicated – a powerful woman could have enormous influence, but also witchcraft was a label that could be put on women in non-traditional roles. What is the legacy of the Hundred Years War? The HYW signified the end to knights and chivalry. Mostly fought by paid soldiers who plundered and wrecked the areas they went through. They terrorized peasants and made life unpleasant for all. War was not courageous or honorable, just terrible Introduction of gunpowder. Spurred peasant rebellions (they were fed up with bad treatment by soldiers) Showed the rise in state power that would continue into the Renaissance

Joan of Arc The war did, however, spark the growth of nationalism which will eventually aid in the consolidation of power within these two nations.

SOCIAL

Social (Religious) Crisis: The Great Schism Changing views on religion Great Schism caused discord among Catholics and shook people’s confidence in the church. In 1309 a French pope was elected and moved the papacy to Avignon, France, much to the chagrin of many Italians. Determined to choose an Italian as a pope in 1378, the cardinals chose Urban VI, who took away some of the wealth and privilege of the cardinals. After they demanded that he resign and he refused, they chose a French pope (Clement VII) who moved back to Avignon. This split most of Europe, some sided with one pope and some the other, creating the Great Schism. For many years, attempts to end the Schism were unsuccessful - at one point there were even 3 popes! In 1414 the Council of Constance was called to resolve the issue. The council elected a new Pope (Martin V). Why is the Great Schism important? The Great Schism, along with the other crises of the late Middle Ages, shook the faith of many people. The church was the most powerful institution in Europe at the time, and the turmoil of the Great Schism caused much anxiety. In response, some groups sought to change the church. The Lollards in England sought to make religion more accessible to the average person. In Bohemia (the modern day Czech Republic) Jan Hus and his followers sought to change the church as well. However, the church did not take kindly to Hus’ quest for change. Hus was lured to the Council of Constance where he was burned at the stake. However, the seeds of reform had been planted. We will see them grow in Unit 2: the Protestant Reformation.

The Black Plague: Social Crisis brings ECONOMIC change 25-50% of the population wiped out…breakdown of norms and fear of unknown The Black Death was a plague caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis that originated around the Black and Caspian seas. It was carried westward by fleas on rats on trade ships, reaching Europe by 1348. Although the period referred to as the Black Death lasted only from 1346 to 1353, individual plagues continued to occur every decade or so for the rest of the fourteenth century and continued still until the 1700s. Plague also has social/cultural implications: People begin to question their faith Church no help during plague - literally & spiritually Scapegoating of minorities – anti-semitism The consequences of the Black Death were considerably more positive for those who survived. There was a smaller population, meaning that entire populations could be fed with less food and less farmland. This led to the diversifying of crops and a better standard of living. Peasants could get better wages or working conditions and thus had more money to spend for a better diet and other necessities for a better life. The years after the plague also showed higher birthrates and a greater frequency of marriages as well as new places of education.

One Writer of the Day Said… “In one house you might hear them roaring with the pangs of death, and in the next tippling, whoring and belching out blasphemies against God.”

Impact Italy hard hit: 60% of population England: 1.4Million Between 1347 and 1450 Europe’s population declined by 65-70% Demographic phenomena have economic & political consequences

Re-Birth? Many of the key elements of the Renaissance can be traced to the MA: Declining power of feudal arrangements Rising power of urban areas Declining power of the church

Read this quote and discuss the following: How does this historian describe the DIFFERENCE in historical time periods of the Middle Ages and Renaissance? Historical thinking skill of interpretation (secondary source) and periodization (what characterizes the Renaissance) In the Middle Ages both sides of human consciousness lay dreaming or half awake beneath a common veil. The veil was woven of faith, illusion, and childish prepossession…Man was conscious of himself only as a member of a race , people, party, family or corporation-only through some general category. In Italy this veil first melted into air…man became a spiritual individual, and recognized himself as such. In the same way the Greek had once distinguished himself from the barbarians… When this impulse to the highest individual development was combined with a powerful and varied nature…Than arose the “all sided man”… Jacob Burckhardt The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, 1878 (Secondary Source)