Chapter 16 Notes

CHAPTER 16 The Latin West, 1200–1500

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Rura Rurall Gro Growt wth h and and Cris Crisis is A0. Peasan Peasants ts and Popula Populatio tion n 10. In 1200 C.E. most Europeans were peasants, bound to the land in serfdom and using inefficient agricultural practices. Fifteen to thirty such heavily taxed farming families supported each noble household. 20. Women labored labored in the the fields fields with with men but but were subordina subordinate te to them. them. 30. Europe’ Europe’ss populati population on more than than doubled doubled between between 1000 and and 1445. 1445. Population Population growth was accompanied by new agricultural technologies in northern Europe, including the vthree-field system and the cultivation of oats. 40. As populatio population n grew, grew, people people opened new new land for cultiv cultivation ation,, including including land land with  poor soil and poor growing conditions. This caused a decline in average crop yields beginning around 1250. B0. The The Black Black Deat Death h and Social Social Change Change 10. The popula population tion pressu pressure re was eased eased by the Black Black Death Death (buboni (bubonicc plague), plague), which which was brought from Kaffa to Italy and southern France in 1346. The plague ravaged Europe for two years and returned periodically in the late 1300s and 1400s, causing substantial decreases in population. 20. As a result result of the plagu plague, e, labor labor became more more expensiv expensivee in Wester Western n Europe. Europe. This This gave rise to a series of peasant and worker uprisings, higher wages, and the end of serfdom. Serfdom in Eastern Europe grew extensively in the centuries after  the Black Death. 30. Rural livin living g standards standards improved improved,, the period period of apprent apprenticesh iceship ip for artisan artisanss was reduced, and per capita income rose. C0. C0. Mine Miness and and Mil Mills ls 10. Between Between 1200 1200 and 1500 1500 Europeans Europeans inven invented ted and used used a variety variety of mechan mechanical ical devices including water wheels and windmills. Mills were expensive to build,  but over time they brought great profits to their owners. 20. Industria Industriall enterprise enterprises, s, including including minin mining, g, ironworkin ironworking, g, stone quarryin quarrying, g, and tanning, grew during these centuries. The results included both greater   productivity and environmental damage including water pollution and deforestation. II0. II0. Urba Urban n Revi Reviva vall A0. A0. Tradi rading ng Cit Citie iess 10. Increases Increases in trade trade and and in manufact manufacturing uring contr contribut ibuted ed to the growt growth h of cities cities after  1200. The relationship between trade, manufacturing, and urbanization is demonstrated in the growth of the cities of northern Italy and in the urban areas of Champagne and Flanders. 20. The Veneti Venetian an capture capture of Constantino Constantinople ple (1204), (1204), the opening opening of the Central Central Asian Asian caravan trade under the Mongol Empire, and the post-Mongol development of  the Mediterranean galley trade with Constantinople, Beirut, and Alexandria  brought profits and growth to Venice. The increase in sea trade also brought  profits to Genoa in the Mediterranean and to the cities of the Hanseatic League in the Baltic and the North Sea.

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Flanders Flanders prospere prospered d from its its woolen woolen textile textile industri industries, es, while while the towns towns of  Champagne benefited from their position on the major land route through France and the series of trade fairs sponsored by their nobles. 40. Textile extile industri industries es also began began to develop develop in England England and in in Florence. Florence. Europeans Europeans made extensive use of water wheels and windmills in the textile, paper, and other  industries. B0. B0. Civic Li Life 10. Some Europe European an cities cities were city-s city-state tates, s, while while others others enjoyed enjoyed autonomy autonomy from from local nobles: they were thus better able to respond to changing market conditions than Chinese or Islamic cities. European cities also offered their citizens more freedom and social mobility. 20. Most of of Europe’ Europe’ss Jews lived lived in the the cities. cities. Jews were subject subject to persec persecution ution everywhere but Rome; they were blamed for disasters like the Black Death and expelled from Spain. 30. Guilds Guilds regulated regulated the the practice practice of and access access to trades. trades. Women Women were were rarely allowe allowed d to join guilds, but they did work in unskilled non-guild jobs in the textile industry and in the food and beverage t rades. 40. The growth growth in commerce commerce gave gave rise rise to banke bankers rs like like the Medicis Medicis of Florence Florence and and the Fuggers of Augsburg who handled financial transactions for merchants, the church, and the kings and princes of Europe. Because the Church prohibited usury, usury, many moneylenders were Jews; Christian bankers got around the  prohibition through such devices as asking for “gifts” in lieu of interest. C0. C0. Goth Gothic ic Cath Cathed edra rals ls 10. Gothic Gothic cathedra cathedrals ls are the the masterpi masterpieces eces of late late medieval medieval architectu architecture re and craftsmanship. Their distinctive features include the pointed Gothic arch, flying  buttresses, high towers and spires, and large interiors lit by huge windows. 20. The men who who designed designed and and built built the Gothi Gothicc cathedrals cathedrals had had no formal formal trainin training g in design and engineering; they learned through their mistakes. III0. Learning, Learning, Literatur Literature, e, and the Renaissan Renaissance ce A0. Univer Universi sitie tiess and and Lear Learnin ning g 10. After 1100 1100 Weste Western rn Europeans Europeans got access access to Greek Greek and Arabic Arabic works on scienc science, e,  philosophy,  philosophy, and medicine. These manuscripts were translated and explicated by Jewish scholars and studied at Christian monasteries, which remained the  primary centers of learning. 20. After 1200, 1200, college collegess and univers universities ities emerg emerged ed as new center centerss of learning learning.. Some were established by students; most were teaching guilds established by  professors in order to oversee the training, control the membership, and fight for  the interests of the profession. 30. Universit Universities ies generally generally special specialized ized in a particul particular ar branch branch of learning; learning; Bologna Bologna was famous for its law faculty, others for medicine or theology. theology. Theology was the most prominent discipline of the period as theologians sought to synthesize the rational philosophy of the Greeks with the Christian faith of the Latin West West in an intellectual movement known as scholasticism. B0. B0. Huma Humani nist stss and and Prin Printe ters rs 10. Dante Dante Alighi Alighieri eri (1265–1 (1265–1321) 321) and and Geoffrey Geoffrey Chaucer Chaucer (1340– (1340–1400 1400)) were among among the great writers of the later Middle Ages. Dante’s Dante’s  Divine Comedy tells the story of the author’s journey through the nine layers of Hell and his entry into Paradise, while Chaucer’s Chaucer ’s Canterbury Tales is a rich portrayal of the lives of  everyday people in late medieval England. 20. Dante Dante influenced influenced the the intellectu intellectual al movement movement of the the humanists humanists—men —men such such as Petrarch and Boccaccio, who were interested in the humanities and in the

classical literature of Greece and Rome. The humanists had a tremendous influence on the reform of secondary education. 30. Some of the the humanist humanistss wrote wrote in the vernacu vernacular lar.. Most of them them wrote wrote in Latin; Latin; many worked to restore the original texts of Latin and Greek authors and of the Bible through exhaustive comparative analysis of the many various versions that had been produced over the centuries. As a part of this enterprise, Pope Nicholas V established the Vatican Vatican Library and the Dutch humanist Erasmus produced a critical edition of the New Testament. 40. The influen influence ce of the humani humanist st writers writers was increased increased by the the developmen developmentt of the the  printing press. Johann Gutenberg perfected the art of printing in 1454; Gutenberg’s Gutenberg’s press and more than two hundred others had produced at least 10 million printed works by 1500. C0. C0. Rena Renais issa sanc ncee Art Artis ists ts 10. Fourteenth Fourteenth and and fifteenth fifteenth century century artists artists built built on the the more natural natural painti paintings ngs of  Giotto as they developed a style of painting that concentrated on the depiction of  Greek and Roman gods and of scenes from daily life. The realistic style was also influenced by Jan van Eyck’s Eyck’s development of oil paints. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were two of the famous fa mous artists of this period. 20. Wealthy merchant merchant and cleric clerical al patrons patrons like like the Medicis Medicis of of Florence Florence and the the church contributed to the development of Renaissance art. The artistic and intellectual developments developments of the Renaissance did not stop in Europe; the university, university, printing, and oil painting were later adopted all over the world. IV0. Political Political and Military Military Transformat Transformations ions A0. Monarc Monarchs, hs, Nobl Nobles, es, and and the the Clerg Clergy y 10. Thirteent Thirteenth h century century European European states states were were ruled ruled by weak monarch monarchss whose whose power  was limited by their modest treasuries, the regional nobility, nobility, the independent towns, and the church. 20. Two changes changes in weapon weaponry ry began began to undermin underminee the utility— utility—and and therefor thereforee the economic position—of the noble knights. These two innovations were the armor piercing crossbow and the development of firearms. 30. King Phili Philip p the Fair Fair of France France reduced reduced the power power of the the church church when he arrest arrested ed the pope and had a new (French) one installed at Avignon, Avignon, but monarchs still faced resistance, particularly from their stronger vassals. In England, the Norman conquest of 1066 had consolidated and centralized royal power, but the kings continued to find their power limited by the pope and by the English nobles, who force the king to recognize their hereditary rights as defined in the Magna Carta. 40. Monarchs Monarchs and nobles nobles often often entered entered into into marriage marriage alliances alliances.. One effect effect of these these alliances was to produce wars over the inheritance of far-flung territories. In the long term, these wars strengthened the authority of monarchs and led to the establishment of territorial boundaries. B0. The Hundre Hundred d Years Years War, ar, 1337–145 1337–1453 3 10. The Hundred Hundred Years War War pitted pitted France against against Englan England, d, whose whose King Edward Edward III claimed the French throne in 1337. The war was fought with the new military technology: crossbows, longbows, pikes (for pulling knights off their horses) and firearms, including an improved cannon. 20. The French, French, whose whose superio superiorr cannon cannon destroyed destroyed the the castles castles of the Engli English sh and their  their  allies, finally defeated the English. The war left the French monarchy in a stronger position than before. C0. New Mona Monarch rchies ies in in France France and and Engla England nd 10. The new monarch monarchies ies that emerge emerged d after the Hundred Hundred Years War War had stronger  stronger  central governments, more stable national boundaries, and stronger 

representative institutions. institutions. Both the English and the French monarchs consolidated their control over their nobles. 20. The advent advent of new new military military techno technology logy—cann —cannon on and hand-he hand-held ld firearms—mea firearms—meant nt that the castle and the knight were outdated. The new monarchs depended on  professional standing armies of bowmen, pikemen, musketeers, and artillery units. 30. The new new monarchs monarchs had to to find new new sources sources of revenu revenuee to pay for for these stand standing ing armies. In order to raise money, money, the new monarchs taxed land, merchants, and the church. 40. By the end end of the fifteen fifteenth th century century,, there had had been a shift shift in power power away from the the nobility and the church and toward the monarchs. This process was not complete, however, and monarchs were still hemmed in by the nobles, the church, and by new parliamentary institutions: the Parliament in England and the Estates General in France. D0. D0. Iber Iberia ian n Unif Unific icat atio ion n 10. Spain Spain and Portugal Portugal emerge emerged d as strong strong centrali centralized zed states states through through a proces processs of  marriage alliances, mergers, warfare, and the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims. Reconquest offered the nobility large landed estates upon which they could grow rich without having to work. 20. The reconqu reconquest est took took place place over a period period of of several several centuries, centuries, but but picked picked up after  after  the Christians put the Muslims on the defensive with a victory in 1212. 30. Portugal Portugal became became completely completely establishe established d in 1249. 1249. In 1415, 1415, the Portugues Portuguesee captured the Moroccan port of Ceuta, which gave them access to the transSaharan trade. 40. On the Iberia Iberian n Peninsula Peninsula,, Castile Castile and Aragon Aragon were united united in 1469 1469 and the Muslims driven out of their last Iberian stronghold (Granada) in 1492. Spain then expelled all Jews and Muslims from its territory; Portugal also expelled its Jewish population.