Unit 1 – Later Middle Ages, Renaissance, and New Monarchs and Expansion
AP European HistoryLater Middle AgesThe Black Death (1347)
Causes:
Bubonic plague was carried by fleas on Asian black rats and brought to Europe on ships returning from Asia
Overcrowding in cities and homes facilitated the spread of the disease
Many aristocratic families slept in one room and many prosperous peasant families slept in one bed for warmth; less prosperous peasants were even worse off
Poor sanitation in cities: garbage-filled streets, human excrement, and dead animals
Widespread malnutrition prior to the plague led to poor health (e.g. lower immune systems) that made people more susceptible to the disease
25% harvests in early 14th century were poor as torrential rains destroyed wheat, oats, and hay crops; some instances of cannibalism occurred
Poor hygiene also played a significant role
Many people believed (correctly) that their water was contaminated and feared taking baths
Plague doctors often wore attire, such as seen above, with the beak stuffed with spices or herbs to protect the doctor from the disease.
Results: Loss of 1/3 of European population (mostly in cities)
In some cities, such as Florence, nearly ½ the population died
Economy in towns suffered significantly (while the countryside was less affected by the plague
The plague accelerated an economic decline that had been in effect since the early 14th century
In some areas workers enjoyed higher wages as the supply of workers was depleted
Impact on the peasantry
Serfdom ended in many areas in western Europe
Peasant revolts in England and France increased (had originally been in response to taxation during the Hundred Years’ War)
First enclosure of fields in Britain occurred as landowners needed better agricultural production with fewer farm hands; largely done for sheep herding
Best of the clergy died (staying behind to help the sick)
Jews were often blamed for the plague and thus persecuted
Continued the age-old phenomenon of anti-Semitism in Europe
Literature and art reflected pessimism
Dance of Death (Danse Macabre): dancing skeletons danced among the living, reminding viewers of the prevalence of death.
Northern Europe developed a morbid fascination with death that was later reflected in the art of the Northern Renaissance.
Population did not reach pre-plague level until the mid-16th century.
Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453)
Cause: English crown lay claim to the duchy of Aquitaine in France
French king confiscated that territory from English control
The War
Most of the war was fought intermittently in France and in the Low Countries
By 1415, the major battles had been won by England and Paris itself was now threatened
Aside from loss of territory, France was threatened by the rise of a new state in its eastern territory, Burgundy, that allied with England
Joan of Arc
French peasant girl claimed she heard voices of saints and persuaded the king to allow her to be with the troops.
In 1429 led the French army to victory at Orléans during a crucial stage of the war
The French heir to the throne was crowned as a result, and the government was thus strengthened
Joan was later captured by the English and burned at the stake in 1431
Results:
France permanently removed England from France (except for tiny region of Calais)
The struggles of war began the modernization of state building in France and England (“New Monarchs”)
Peasant Revolts
Causes: taxation during Hundred Years’ War, desire for higher wages, hostility toward aristocracy, and higher expectations among the peasantry.
Revolts increased in frequency after the Black Death
English Peasant Revolt (1381)
Largest revolt, as many as 100,000 involved
Jacquerie in France (late 14th-early 15th c.)
Peasants not as successful as English peasants in gaining some changes
Results: Revolts crushed
End of serfdom in England c. 1550
Crisis in the Catholic Church
Background
Western and central European society was dominated by the Catholic Church since the fall of the Roman Empire.
Religious authorities in many regions were more powerful than secular authorities
Popes, at times, were the most powerful political figures in all of Europe
The Middle Ages were characterized by religious unity under the Catholic Church
Meanwhile, the Greek Orthodox Church (Eastern Orthodox Church) was dominant in the Byzantine Empire in the modern-day Balkans and parts of eastern Europe, including Russia.
There was little cooperation between the Catholic and Orthodox churches
Early Critics of the church
Marsiglio de Padua: Defender of Peace
Claimed the church should be subordinate to the state
Believed the church should be governed by a council of laity and priests superior to the pope.
John Wyclif (c.1330-1384)
Believed the church should only follow Scripture
This view foreshadowed Martin Luther’s reformation in the early 16th century
Wrote an English translation of Bible
His later followers were called Lollards
John Hus (c.1369-1415): ideas very similar to Wyclif
Led a nationalist movement in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic)
Captured by authorities and burned at the stake for his heretical and political views
Hussites: followers of Hus, staged large rebellions in the 14th century.
Babylonian Captivity (1309-1377)
1305, a struggle between the pope and the French king led to the election of a French pope who set up his leadership in Avignon, France
7 successive popes resided at Avignon, France
This situation damaged papal prestige (esp. in England & Germany) since popes were believed to be unduly influenced by French kings
Rome’s economy, meanwhile, was damaged significantly
Great Schism (c. 1377-1417)
Further conflict occurred in 1377 with election of two popes—one in Rome, one in France—neither of whom recognized the other.
Further hurt prestige of church
Conciliar Movement (1409-1418): Ended the Great Schism
Sought to reform the Church by creating a council of cardinals that would be more powerful than the pope
Failed as a movement; the newly elected Pope Martin V ensured that papal power still remained supreme
Fall of the Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire had been the dominant power in southeastern Europe for nearly a thousand years.
It began as the Eastern Roman Empire and lasted long after the Roman Empire in the west disappeared.
The Greek Orthodox Church (or Eastern Orthodox Church) was dominant in the Byzantine Empire.
1453, the Ottoman Empire took Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire and its last major stronghold.
Many scholars fled Byzantium to western Europe to escape Turkish rule.
Constantinople was renamed Istanbul
The Ottoman Empire spread northeastward into Europe, taking control of the Balkans and eventually threatening the central European regions of Hungary and Austria.
Nationalist literature of the Later Middle Ages
Rise in the use of the vernacular (national languages)
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), The Divine Comedy (1321) (also considered an early Renaissance figure)
Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400): Canterbury Tales – portrayed English life
Francois Villon (1431-1463): Grand Testament (1461) – greatest poet of Medieval France
Portrayed ordinary French life with humor and emotion.
Life in Later Middle Ages
Marriage: avg. age for men = mid-20s; women = 16-18
Divorce was unheard of in Catholic countries
Economic reasons were most important for marriage (love not paramount until the 18th-19th centuries)
Prostitution existed in cities (customers were often young middle-class men who didn’t marry until later)
Work:
Agricultural cycles and church ritual closely linked
Small % of men were artisans in towns; protected by guilds
Serfdom reduced in many areas
Recreation
Aristocracy – jousting tournaments
Common people—archery, wrestling, bull-baiting, bear-baiting; alcoholism rampant
Laity increasingly managed parish lands
Scholasticism: Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274)
Scholasticism became the cornerstone of late-medieval philosophy
Aquinas attempted to reconcile faith and reason by using logic to support Christian doctrine
Sought to reconcile Aristotle’s scientific ideas with Christianity
Scholasticism dominated Catholic philosophy for centuries
Challenged severely by Renaissance humanists in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries
Renaissance
Background
The Renaissance is considered the beginning of modern European History.
Renaissance (c. 1300-1600)
Occurred first in Italy c. 1300 and lasted until the mid-16th century
Renaissance spread to Northern Europe around 1450
In England, the Renaissance did not begin until the 16th century and lasted until the early 17th century. (e.g. Shakespeare)
Origins of Renaissance: 19th-century historian Jacob Burckhardt claimed the Renaissance period stood in distinct contrast to the Middle Ages.
Renaissance culture applied almost exclusively to the upper classes.
Upper classes had the luxury of time to spend learning the classics.
Peasantry was largely illiterate and Renaissance ideas had little impact on common people.
Working classes and small merchants were far too preoccupied with the concerns of daily life.
Rise of the Italian City-States
Northern Italian cities developed international trade: Genoa, Venice, Milan
Signori (despots) or oligarchies (rule of merchant aristocracies) controlled much of Italy by 1300
Commenda: Contract between merchant and “merchant-adventurer” who agreed to take goods to distant locations and return with the proceeds (for 1/3 of profits)
As a result, Italy became more urban: more towns and cities with significant populations than anywhere else in Europe at this time
Politics among the Italian City-States
Competition among city-states meant that Italy did not unify politically.
In effect, an early balance-of-power pattern emerged where weaker states would ally with other states to prevent a single state from dominating the peninsula
Political disunity of the Italian city-states led to their downfall in late-15th and early16th centuries when French & Spanish armies invaded Italy.
Condottieri: mercenary generals of private armies who were hired by cities for military purposes
Major city-states and figures
Republic of Florence (included Republic of Genoa)
Center of the Renaissance during the 14th and 15th centuries.
Dominated by the Medici family
Cosimo de’ Medici (1389-1464): allied with other powerful families of Florence and became unofficial ruler of the republic
Most powerful of the Medici rulers
Lorenzo de’ Medici (the “Magnificent”) (1449-92): significant patron of the arts (son of Cosimo)
Duchy of Milan – ruled by Sforza family after 1450
Milan was a major enemy of Venice and Florence until the Peace of Lodi (1454) created a relative 40-year period of peace in northern Italy
The peace was, in part, a response to concerns over the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople a year earlier.
Created a stable balance of power for a time
Rome, the Papal States: popes served both as religious and political leaders; controlled much of central Italy
Venice, Venetian Republic
Longest lasting of the Italian states (did not succumb to foreign powers until Napoleon conquered it in the early 1800s)
Greatest maritime power in Italy and one of the world’s great naval and trading powers during the 14th and 15th centuries.
Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Included southern Italian region of Naples and the island of Sicily
Only Italian city-state to officially have a “king”
Controlled by France between 1266-1435
Controlled by Spain after 1435
Decline of the Italian city-states
French invasions began in 1494 (“First Italian War”)
Milan’s despot, Ludovico “the Moor,” encouraged French King Charles VIII to invade Naples, the traditional enemy of Milan.
This was the beginning of foreign invasions throughout the Italian peninsula.
Florence
When Florence attempted to appease France during its invasion in 1494, it led to the overthrow of the Medici family.
Although the Medici family returned to power several years later, Florence by then was severely weakened.
Girolamo Savonarola became the unofficial leader of Florence between 1494 and 1498.
Pledged to rid Florence of its decadence and corruption
In effect, oversaw a theocracy in Florence
He had earlier predicted the French invasions due to paganism and moral decay in the Italian city-states); became a puppet of the French
When France was removed from Italy in 1498, Savonarola was imprisoned and then burned at the stake.
Italy became a battleground in a series of power struggles between Spain and France
Spanish fears of a French-Italian alliance resulted in Spain’s alliance with Venice, the Papal States, and the Holy Roman Empire
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) The Prince (1513)
The quintessential political treatise of the 16th century
Observed the political leadership of Cesare Borgia (son of Pope Alexander VI) who had ambitions of uniting Italy under his control
Stated that politically, “the ends justifies the means”
Stated that for rulers, “it was better to be feared than to be loved”
Rulers had to be practical and cunning, in addition to being aggressive and ruthless
At times rulers should behave like a lion (aggressive and powerful) and at other times like a fox (cunning and practical)
The Prince continued to influence European rulers for centuries.
Sack of Rome in 1527 by armies of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (who was also king of Spain) symbolized the end of the Renaissance in Italy
Humanism:
Characteristics
Revival of antiquity (Greece and Rome) in philosophy, literature and art
Sought to reconcile pagan writings with Christian thought
Strong belief in individualism and the great potential of human beings (in contrast to the Middle Ages where humans were seen as small, wicked and inconsequential and should focus solely on earning salvation)
Virtú: “the quality of being a man”; idea of excelling in all of one’s pursuits
Believed the key to a good life was Reason and Nature
Focused first on studying ancient languages:
Initially, Latin of ancient Rome was the main focus.
After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, Greek came to be studied rigorously as well
By 1500, virtually all of the significant ancient Roman and Greek texts that have been rediscovered, were translated and printed
Largely rejected Aristotelian views and medieval scholasticism in favor of:
Roman authors such as Cicero, Livy, Virgil, and Quintilian
Greek writings, especially those of Plato
early Christian writers, especially the New Testament
This occurred predominantly in northern Europe and became a cornerstone of the Northern Renaissance
Believed in a liberal arts educational program that included grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, politics and moral philosophy
Civic Humanism: idea that education should prepare leaders who would be active in civic affairs
Some of the most important humanists also were important political leaders.
Often, humanism was more secular and lay dominated; however, most humanists remained deeply Christian, both in Italy and in Northern Europe
Petrarch (1304-1374)—the “father of humanism”
Considered the first modern writer
In his writings, literature was no longer subordinate to religion
Claimed that the Middle Ages (the period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of the Renaissance) were the “Dark Ages”
He was perhaps the first to use critical textual analysis to ancient texts.
Especially influenced by Cicero
Wrote his famous poetry in the Italian vernacular (as did Dante earlier in his Divine Comedy).
Boccaccio (1313-1375)
Compiled an encyclopedia of Greek and Roman mythology
Decameron is his most famous work
Consisted of 100 earthy tales that comprise a social commentary of 14th century Italy
Aimed to impart wisdom of human character and behavior (especially sexual and economic misbehavior).
Leonardo Bruni (1370-1444)
First to use the term “humanism”
Among the most important of the civic humanists
Served as a chancellor in Florence
Wrote a history of Florence, perhaps the first modern history, and wrote a narrative using primary source documents and the division of historical periods
Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457)
Foremost expert on the Latin language: Elegances of the Latin Language (1444)
On the False Donation of Constantine (1444)
Exposed the Donation of Constantine as an 8th century fraud, using textual criticism
The Church had claimed it was granted vast territories by the 4th-century Roman emperor Constantine.
Valla also pointed out errors in the Latin Vulgate (the authorized version of the Bible for the Catholic Church)
Ironically, Valla’s work gave challengers of Church authority ammunition, even though he remained a devoted Catholic and even served as a secretary under Pope Nicholas V.
MarsilioFicino (1433-1499)
One of the most influential humanist philosophers of the 15th century
Founded the Platonic Academy at the behest of Cosimo de’ Medici in the 1460s
This served to spread the works and philosophy of Plato throughout much of Europe
Translated Plato’s works into Latin, giving modern Europeans access to these works for the first time.
Pico dellaMirandola (1463-1494)
Member of the Platonic Academy
Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486)
Perhaps the most famous Renaissance work on the nature of humankind.
Humans were created by God and therefore given tremendous potential for greatness, and even union with God if they desired it.
However, humans could, through neglect, also choose a negative course.
Thus, humans had free will to be great or fail
Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529) – The Book of the Courtier (1528)
Perhaps most important work on Renaissance education
Specified qualities necessary to be a true gentleman including physical and intellectual abilities and leading an active life
Rejected crude contemporary social habits (e.g. spitting on the floor, eating without utensils, wiping one’s nose with one’s sleeve, etc.)
Described the ideal of a “Renaissance man” who was well-versed in the Greek and Roman classics, an accomplished warrior, could play music, dance, and had a modest but confident personal demeanor.
This contrasted with the medieval view of being a master in only one area.