Late Middle Ages

1300 – 1453

What do we need to know about the late

Middle Ages?

What were the major characteristics of life in the Middle Ages?

Overview of

Medieval Society

Political and Social System

FEUDALISM Arises in times of chaos and

disorder Form of gov’t based on

landholding Strict social hierarchy; little

mobility Land exchanged for loyalty and

military service b/t lords and vassals

Decentralized political structure weak central gov’t

Economic SystemMANORIALISM

MANOR = agricultural estate owned by a lord

Peasants provided labor in exchange for security

Manors were self-sufficient Little trade, few towns Subsistence agriculture 3 field crop rotation and strip

farming

Belief SystemROMAN

CATHOLIC CHURCH

Unified medieval Europe – “Christendom”

Permeated daily life for all social classes

Held great wealth and lands + political power

Frequent conflict b/t church and secular rulers

Suffered from corruption and division in the 1300s and 1400s

“Christendom”

Code of BehaviorCHIVALRY

Aristocratic/knightly code of honor

Mandated just and honorable conduct

Called for displays of valor and loyalty in battle

Contributed to a highly militaristic society

Respectful of women “courtly love”

FEUDALISM

What is feudalism

and how does it

work?

What is Feudalism

? Emerged after the fall of

the Roman Empire and the collapse of Charlemagne’s empire in the 800s

Slowly declined in use across Western Europe after the year 1000 CE; by 1450 serfdom had largely disappeared

After the Black Death, feudalism and serfdom expanded in Eastern Europe

How did this system work?Kings (or lords) gave fiefs (lands and titles) to their supporters in lieu of monetary payment

These supporters then became vassals of the lord owing him military service

Fiefs included agricultural estates, called manors, worked by peasants

Vassals got the right to use the labor of the peasants as part of their fief

Kings also gave charters granting autonomy to towns in exchange for taxes/troops

Many peasants were bound to the estates making them “serfs”

FEUDALISM

Feudal Obligations and

HierarchyKING

Great Lords

Lesser Lords & Knights

Free Peasants and Serfs

THE LATE MEDIEVAL

MAP

Important States, Regions,

and Cities in Medieval Europe

Holy Roman Empire? Originally est. by Charlemagne

in 800 CE At first, Holy Roman Emperors

were relatively powerful Slowly, local lords and princes

gained firmer control over their territories and made their positions hereditary

By the 1300s, emperors were very WEAK and princes had gained autonomy

Charlemagne’s Empire

Treaty of Verdun

843 CE

Constitution of the HRE Confederation of German lands

Empire divided into 300 autonomous princely and ecclesiastical states and self-governing cities

Emperors had little power over princes and free cities Taxes were approved by the Reichstag (assembly of

princes, bishops, and cities) Golden Bull of 1356 = emperors chosen by 7

“electors” Habsburg dynasty continuously elected from 1437 to

1806, but only had direct control of their “hereditary lands” (Austria)

Holy Roman Empire in 1350

One ‘Empire’, Many States

MAJOR EVENTS OF THE LATE MIDDLE

AGES

HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR On & off dynastic

conflict between the ruling family of England and the Valois dynasty ruling France

England (led by kings Edward III & Henry V) won major victories in several battles due to the longbow

Joan of Arc and a strengthened monarchy turned things around after 1429, eventually forcing the English out of France

ENGLISH LONGBOW

King Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt

HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR

MAJOR EFFECTS

French monarchy (Valois dynasty) grew in power permanent standing army and regularized taxes

Birth of French nationalism England forced off the

continent of Europe (except for Calais)

FRENCH NATIONALISM

FRENCH VICTORY

THE BLACK DEATH Bubonic Plague

spread by fleas on rats + poor sanitation & hygiene

VICTIMS OF THE PLAGUE

The symptoms were the following: a bubo in the groin, where the thigh meets the trunk; or a small swelling under the armpit; sudden fever; spitting blood and saliva (and no one who spit blood survived it). It was such a frightful thing that when it got into a house, as was said, no one remained.“

PLAGUE DOCTORS?

THE BLACK DEATH Bubonic Plague

spread by fleas on rats + poor sanitation & hygiene

Came to Europe on the Silk Road and spread throughout Europe on Mediterranean trade routes

BLACK DEATH SPREADS

BLACK DEATH SPREADS

BLACK DEATH SPREADS

THE BLACK DEATH Bubonic Plague

spread by fleas on rats + poor sanitation & hygiene

Came to Europe on the Silk Road and spread throughout Europe on Mediterranean trade routes

Effected most of Europe; killed 1/3 of the European population

Towns and cities were hit hardest, losing 50%+ of their population

THE BLACK DEATH IN

FLORENCE1338

1351

1380

1526

110K

45K

70K

70K

THE BLACK DEATHMAJOR EFFECTS

Depopulated countryside Rural labor shortage

weakened feudalism Religious extremism, priest

shortages, and widespread loss of faith weakened church

Pessimism in art and literature Anti-Semitism and attacks on

Jewish minorities

RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM

ANTI-SEMITISM

PLAGUE ART

PLAGUE ART

Trouble in the Church

1309 – 1417

Description and Effects of the Babylonian Captivity and Great

Schism

Trouble in the Church1309 – 1417

BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY

Popes relocated from Rome to the French city of Avignon

Papacy fell under the influence of the French monarchy

Led to a loss of credibility for the Papacy and a decline in the pope’s power

Trouble in the Church1309 – 1417

GREAT SCHISM (1378 – 1415)

Pope Urban VI returned to Rome, French cardinals elected their own pope, Clement VII

Two rival popes controlled the church in different parts of Europe

Great Schism (1378 – 1417)

Great Schism (1378 – 1417)

Trouble in the Church1309 – 1417

GREAT SCHISM (1378 – 1415)

Pope Urban VI returned to Rome, French cardinals elected their own pope, Clement VII

Two rival popes controlled the church in different parts of Europe

Resolved by the Council of Constance in 1415 Meeting of church leaders Deposed the rival popes and elected a new

pope Established conciliar theory

Council of Constance

What is “Conciliar Theory”?

Reform movement in 14th, 15th, and 16th century Catholicism that held supreme

religious authority in the church resided with church councils over and above the

pope

Rise of the Ottoman Empire

Turk vs. Byzantine

Fall of Constantinopl

e Ottoman Turks besieged Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire

The Turks used around 120 warships, about 100,000 soldiers, and dozens of cannons in the siege

Constantinople fell in May 1453; became the capital of Ottoman Turkish empire

Siege of Constantinopl

e

Effects of the Fall of

Constantinople Strengthened the

Ottomans Turkish expansion in Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean

Severed overland trade routes with Asia contributing to a desire for voyages of exploration

Greek scholars fled to Italy bringing Greco-Roman texts and knowledge which helped fuel the Renaissance

Redirection of Trade

Growth of Ottoman

Power Rapid conquest of Muslim Syria, Palestine, Egypt by 1520

Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent destroyed the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohács in 1526

Hungary conquered; Vienna besieged in 1529

Turks put constant pressure on the Habsburg and the HRE

Poland and Russia also faced raids and invasions

Ottoman Expansion

Ottoman Expansion

Suleiman the Magnificent

The Turks in Europe