1. The Late Middle Ages

2. Black Death, 1348–1350 Precursor: overpopulation & malnutrition
agricultural improvements increase food supply; European population doubles, 1000–1300, thereafter outstripping food production
1315–1317: crop failures produce worst famine of Middle Ages
Bubonic plague (“Black Death”)
Followed trade routes from Asia into Europe, probably via fleas on rats from Black Sea area
Popular remedies: relevant medical knowledge absent
aromatic amulets
temperance & moderation
promiscuity & abandon
flight & seclusion
self-flagellation

3. Black Death (cont.) Economic consequences:
dramatic labor shortage, climbing wages for laborers & artisans
falling agricultural, climbing luxury prices—noble landowners hardest hit
attempts to freeze wages & force peasants to stay on land  peasant revolts
cities (artisans) benefit from demand for luxury goods
Political/social consequences:
artisan guilds win some political power
kings take advantage of weakened nobility & church

4. Map 9–1 SPREAD OF THE BLACK DEATH Apparently introduced by seaborne rats from Black Sea areas where plague-infested rodents had long been known, the Black Death brought huge human, social, and economic consequences. One of the lower estimates of Europeans dying is 25 million. The map charts the plague’s spread in the mid-fourteenth century. Generally following trade routes, the plague reached Scandinavia by 1350, and some believe it then went on to Iceland and even Greenland. Areas off the main trade routes were largely spared.

5. Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453)
Nominal cause: English king Edward III’s claim on French throne, thwarted by accession of first Valois king, Philip VI (r. 1328–1350)
Larger cause: English-French territorial, commercial, & cultural rivalry
French weakness: larger & wealthier, but more internal discord

6. Hundred Years’ War (cont.)
First phase (under Edward III)
Flanders allies with England, recognizing Edward as king of France, 1340
English seize Calais, 1346
English rout near Poitiers, 1356; French king John II taken captive
1360 treaty: John II ransomed, English claims in France recognized, Edward renounces claim to French throne
Second phase (Treaty of Troyes)
English war effort flags due to peasant revolts
recommences with English victory at Agincourt, 1415
Duchy of Burgundy joins English
Treaty of Troyes, 1420: named English Henry V successor to French Charles VI, but both soon die

7. Hundred Years’ War (cont.)
Third phase (Joan of Arc)
French teenage peasant Joan of Arc declares call from God to deliver besieged Orléans from English
tired English repulsed, followed by string of French victories
Joan captured 1430, tried & burned as heretic at English-held Rouen
English forced back, conclude war with Calais as only French possession (1453)
Summary: 68 years of peace, 44 of war; France devastated, but national feeling awakened; English & French peasants suffer most from taxes & services

8. Late Medieval Church
Papal monarchy established by Pope Innocent III (strengthened the church politically, but weakened it spiritually)- undermined popular support
Innocent’s successor’s: tightened & centralized church legal proceedings; elaborated clerical taxation; broadened papal powers of appointment
College of cardinals eventually became marginalized, corrupted

9. Boniface VIII (r. 1294–1303) vs. Philip the Fair (r. 1285–1314)
French & English kings raised taxes on clergy; Boniface decreed that “all new taxes need papal consent”
French king Philip the Fair cuts off flow of money to Rome; Boniface concedes
Boniface issues Unam Sanctam (1302), as confrontation with Philip ramps up, asserting subordination of temporal to spiritual power
French army assault & molest Boniface, who later dies
Result: popes never again seriously threaten European rulers

10. Avignon Papacy (1309–1377)
Pope Clement V moves papal court here to escape strife of Rome
to get needed revenue, papal taxes go up, and sale of indulgences begins
Pope John XXII (r. 1316–1334)—most powerful Avignon pope

11. John Wycliffe (d. 1384) and John Huss (d. 1415)
Lollards: followers of Wycliffe, English spokesman for rights of royalty against popes; challenged indulgences, papal infallibility, transubstantiation—anticipates Protestantism
Hussites: followers of Huss, rector of University of Prague—similar to Lollards

12. Great Schism (1378–1417)
Urban VI and Clement VII—rival popes; England & allies support Urban, France & allies support Clement
Conciliar Theory: idea that a representative council could regulate actions of pope
Council of Pisa (1409–1410): deposed Urban & Clement (who refused to step down), elected Alexander V—three contending popes
Council of Constance (1414–1417): provides for regular councils every few years
Council of Basel (1431–1449): height of conciliar government of church; negotiated directly with heretics (Hussites)
results of conciliar movement: greater religious responsibility to laity & secular governments

13. Mongol Rule in Russia (1243–1480)
Mongols, or Tatars, sweep through China, Islamic world, & Russia, 13th c.
Ghengis Khan (1155–1227) invades Russia, 1223
Russian cities become tribute-paying principalities of part of Mongol Empire known as the Golden Horde
Russians impressed into Mongol military service, women taken as wives/concubines, some sold into slavery
partial Islamization of Russian society
1380: beginning of Mongol decline in Russia; ends 1480 under Ivan the Great