Transcript The Calamitous 14th Century - Online

The Calamitous
Century
th
14
A Distant Mirror of Our Own Times
A Distant Mirror
 In A Distant Mirror,
novelist Barbara
Tuchman reveals in
alarming detail a
“tortured century”
with parallels to our
own time.
 People in the 14th
century were subjected
to natural and manmade disasters,
including:
 Climate Change
 Soil Exhaustion
 Agricultural Decline
 Famine
 Black Death
 The Hundred Years' War
 Political Instability
 Peasant Uprisings
 The Babylonian Captivity
 The Great Schism
 Was Western Europe's 14th
century a mirror for our
own time?
 The illustration above depicts
the Battle of Dunkirk in 1383.
It was part of the Hundred
Years War.
 The one below represents a
battle at the same location
that took place in 1940. It
was part of the Second World
War.
Crises
Economic Decline
 The 14th century saw a
series of catastrophes
that caused the
European economy to
weaken.
 A declining population,
shrinking markets, a
decrease in arable land,
and a general mood of
pessimism were
evidence of deteriorating
economic conditions.
Climatic Changes
 Starting about 1250, a Little
Ice Age began weakening
Europe's agricultural
productivity.
 The Baltic Sea froze, Alpine

glaciers advanced, and in
some areas, grain cultivation
ceased.
In other areas, crops failed as
a result of heavy rains.
 Soil exhaustion made the

problem worse.
The results were food shortages and famines.
Famine
 During 1315-1322, famine
devastated most of Europe.
 Agricultural productivity
declined
 Grain prices soared.
 Diseases destroyed much of
Europe's livestock, depriving
people of meat and dairy
products.
 People starved to death or
succumbed to disease.
Disease
 In 1347, the Black Death

struck Europe. Those bitten
by infected fleas died horrible
deaths within a week's time.
Those who inhaled the virus
died even sooner.
The plague decimated the
populations of the densely
populated cities of Northern Italy. The population of
Florence, for instance, fell from 90,000 to 50,000
people. Within a generation, the plague wiped out 40
percent of the English population and nearly 60
percent of the population in northeastern France.
 The governments of


Warfare
France and England
added to these natural
calamities by carrying
out a series of long,
deadly wars, which are
known collectively as the
Hundred Years'
War (1337-1453).
Warfare aggravated the problem of agricultural decline
by disrupting trade throughout northwest Europe.
In the east, war was also disrupting trade routes as the
Ottoman Empire began to expand throughout the region.
Crisis in the Towns
 The huge costs of warfare and the
collapse of agricultural production
and trade took their toll on the
urban economy too.
 In the mid-1300s, France and England
both refused to pay off loans made by
the banking houses of Italy.
 This led to financial crisis and collapse
in Florence and Sienna.
 Banking failures disrupted the flow of capital to other
merchant enterprises, and worsened the depression that
gripped most of Europe's cities in the 1300s
Peasant Uprisings
 The strains of life in the
countryside, of hunger,
disease, war and death,
were made worse by
feudal lords' insistence that
peasants continue paying
high rents and other feudal
dues and by the burden of
royal taxation. This led to
mass uprisings in France
and England.
Urban Rebellions
 The rural population was
not alone. On several
occasions, artisans and
the urban poor
spontaneously rose in
protest against hunger
and against the upper
classes (especially the
aristocrats), who lived in
luxury and used their
political power to keep
wages low.
Popular Religious Responses
 One common response to the
multiple disasters and hardships
of the 1300s was to conclude
that God was passing judgment
on mankind's sins. Remedies for
sinfulness included:
 Engaging in pilgrimages to holy sites
 Punishing the flesh as part of a


flagellant cult
Imitating the life of Christ and seeking mystical union with the divine
through the Eucharist
Participating in the Lollard movement by obeying the teachings of
Christ and rejecting the Church and its sacraments.
Crises of Authority
 The Babylonian Captivity
(when the papacy moved
to Avignon, France) and
the Great Schism (a
period during the 14th
century when three popes
claimed the seat of Peter)
brought a crisis of
authority. The papacy lost
prestige and church
councils attempted to
usurp authority.
Consequences
Economic Consequences


By disrupting existing patterns of life, the
various crises created opportunities for new
development, such as the revival of classic
culture that brought forth new forms of art.
For survivors of the Black Death, there were
new opportunities in the form of improved
agriculture, more diversified economies, and
greater prosperity, including better wages
and living standards.


The new prosperity helped fuel such
developments as the founding of new
universities and the amassing of wealth
among urban elites. The Renaissance
flourished in both environments.
Universities became centers of humanist
learning, and wealthy city dwellers, along
with monarchs and popes, became patrons
of Renaissance art, architecture, and music.
Political Consequences

Although frequent warfare proved
destructive for its victims, it strengthened
the political power of the victors,
contributing to the growth of modern
nation states.


France benefited from its victory in the
Hundred Years’ War, English kings
consolidated their power following the Wars
of the Roses, and the Spanish monarch
emerged as one of the strongest in Europe
following the unification of Castile and
Aragon and the expulsion of the Muslims.
Victory in warfare also benefited many
rulers who became important patrons of
the northern Renaissance. Similarly, contact
between Venice and the Ottomans, who
had defeated the Byzantines, stimulated the
development of the Renaissance.
Religious Consequences

Upheaval in the church, combined with
the horrors of the Black Death and the
dislocation of the Hundred Years’ War,
stimulated important changes in
European religious life.




The devastation caused by the plague
prompted spiritual uncertainty.
Competition among the rival popes
during the Great Schism weakened the
prestige of the papacy.
The diminished authority of the church
stimulated new religious movements –
important precursors of the Reformation.
The Great Schism undermined the
political unity of the Church and
enhanced opportunities for kings to lay
claim to the Church in their own
countries.