1. A period of crisis?
Growth in population of Europe,
leading to overpopulation
c Weather in Europe gets colder and
wetter
Famine and epidemics in Europe

2. Bubonic plague - buboes
Septicaemic plague
Pneumonic plague

3. 1347 Plague in Italy
1348 Plague in France
1349 Plague in England
1350 Plague throughout Europe. Further
outbreaks follow

4. 1400 Population of Europe has halved
1665 Last outbreak of plague in England
1720 Last outbreak of plague in France
Replacement of black rats by brown
rats

5. Map Link: Spread of the Black Death, 1346-53 (Animated):
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Map Link: Spread of the Black Death,
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thumb/d/dc/Bubonic_plague_map.PNG/
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6. 1345 Faculty of Medicine at the University of
Paris blames the plague on a planetary
conjunction
1348 and 1349 massacres of Jews in Germany
Oct 1349 Pope orders suppression of flagellants

7. Treatises on the “Art of Dying”
Transitio/cadaver tombs
Dance of Death/Danse Macabre

8. 1370s Wages rising due to reduced workforce
Sumptuary laws
Attempts to limit wage increases
Rebellion by peasants and urban
workers in Flanders

9. French peasant revolt (Jacquerie), 1358:
Additional causes: lack of protection of
peasants from looters, taxes
Origins at St Leu north of Paris, but spreads
widely
Bloodily suppressed

10. English peasants’ rebellion, 1381:
Causes: Controls on wages and peasant
mobility, poll tax
Begins in Essex, spreads to Kent
Peasants take Rochester Castle,
Canterbury, march on London

11. King Richard II (r. 1377-99) decides to negotiate
and agrees to end serfdom
Rebels continue attacking royal officials
Peasants demand that church property be divided
among laity, abolition of feudal/manorial
system, but in a scuffle Mayor Walworth
kills Wat Tyler
Rebels dispersed peacefully, but king revokes
charters

12. Nationalist sentiment/formation of more clearly-
defined states:
England and France in wake of Hundred Years’
War - Henry V (r )
Late 15th c. Formation of Russia based at
Moscow - Ivan III the Great (r )
Union of Aragon and Castile in Spain in 1469,
with destruction of Granada in 1492
Discussions of nature of states at Council of
Constance (1415)

13. Early 14th c. Cannon first used in Europe
End 15th c. Start of shift to units armed with
handguns. Also move to use of lighter
armour
Mid-16th c. Longbows still in use in England

14. Alternate sources of troops:
From c Free companies
(mercenaries), employed either
temporarily or as permanent
standing armies
Attempts in France to employ peasants
as archers, generally unsuccessful

15. Changes in court culture:
Emphasis on lineage, landed wealth,
service to king, education, instead
of military prowess

16. Christine de Pizan (c. 1363-c. 1429)
Italian, at court of Charles V of France
(r )
Managed to retain property after death of
husband
Made living by writing, incl. ballads, lyrics and
on politics and morality

17. Taxation:
Move to more regular taxes incl. sales
taxes, poll taxes
Issues of consent: cortes in Spain,
Magna Carta in England

18. By reign of Edward III of England (r. 1327-77):
Great Council of (theoretically) senior
land-holders of realm
Hereditary peerage
Fewer clergy in parliament (eventually 21
bishops, 27 abbots/priors)
Representatives from shires and towns

19. By reign of Edward III of England (r. 1327-77):
House of Lords: Great Council, other
land-holders, clergy
House of Commons: representatives of
shires and towns
Commons as originator of legislation,
within limits
Power of parliament

20. Starting 1304: Meetings of Estates General
(Nobles, clergy, townsfolk) in France
Main (unsuccessful) efforts to build power of
Estates General from townsfolk
Problems of representation, lack of unity of
purpose
End 15th c. Estates General no longer meeting,
kings of France becoming absolute
monarchs

21. Johannes de Trokelowe
Monk at Abbey of St Albans, England
Contributor to Annales Monasterii Sancti
Albani, abbey chronicle

22. Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-75)
Son of wealthy merchant from
Certaldo or Florence
Studied canon law but became
writer
Lived in Naples and Florence,
then served as diplomat
from 1350

23. Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-75)
Various works, incl. Decameron, completed
1358
Eventually retired, then mostly in Certaldo,
where died

24. Jean Froissart (1330s-after 1404)
Clergyman from Valenciennes in France
Devoted to writing of literature, attracted
patronage of nobility and royalty
Chroniques

25. Anonimalle Chronicle
Chronicle written at Abbey of St Mary, York
French, covers in various
manuscripts

26. Christine de Pizan (c. 1363-c. 1429)
Book of the City of Ladies

27. Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc, 1412-31)
Peasant girl from Domrémy, France
Believes was instructed by saints to raise
siege of Orleans, gains ear of dauphin
Charles in 1429
Charles sends Joan to join garrison of Orleans.
They defeat English, who are also driven
from wider region

28. Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc, 1412-31)
July 17th, 1429 Coronation of Charles (VII,
r )
1430 Joan captured
1431 Joan is tried by English, found guilty
of witchcraft and burned at the stake