Euro Middle Ages Test Flashcards
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What caused the bubonic plague, which ravaged Europe in the mid-1300s
Bubonic plague was a bacteria carried into Europe by fleas that lived on black rats. The Black Death, as the plague was called, killed at least a third of Europe’s population.
Why did the Black Death spread so rapidly and kill so many Europeans?
European cities were ideal centers for the disease. They were filthy, with poor sanitation. Even the wealthy lived in cramped quarters, and hygiene was unknown. Although rural populations suffered as well, the death toll in the cities was catastrophic.
How did workers and peasants benefit from the Black Death?
Millions of workers died from the Black Death, resulting in a labor shortage. Surviving workers were able to demand higher wages. In the countryside, many serfs and free peasants simply left the farms in search of better opportunities, or were able to extract concessions from their superiors.
Practitioners of what religion were targeted as causing the Black Death?
Blame for the Plague fell upon the Jews. Jews suffered a lower mortality rate (aided by Jewish isolation in the ghetto and kosher practices), and were easy targets for those looking to assign blame. Jews were accused of poising wells and sacrificing children. In the period’s worst massacre, some 900 Jews were burned at the stake in Strasbourg, France in 1348.
The Dance Macabre, an artistic genre of the late Medieval period, visually represented the universality of _____.
Death. Life in the Late Middle Ages could be nasty, brutish and short, with famines, plagues and wars emphasizing that death could be sudden and painful. Dance Macabre style features in artworks of the Late Medieval period as well as the earliest printed texts.
What act caused the Hundred Years’ War in 1337?
In addition to being the King of England, Edward III was the Duke of Normandy, and as such was required to pay homage to Philip VI of France. Edward III refused to do so, and the French king confiscated Edward’s lands in Aquitaine.
How did Edward III respond to Philip VI’s confiscation of his lands in Aquitaine?
Edward III declared himself the legal king of France (a claim with some backing in dynastic law), and dispatched an army to France. Initially, the English were successful, with victories at Crecy (1346) Poitiers (1356) and Agincourt (1415). The Hundred Years War is a term by historians coined to describe the conflict that ranged off and on between France and England from 1337 to 1453.
In 1429, the French defeated English forces laying siege to the town of Orleans. Who led the French forces?
Joan of Arc, a French peasant girl who claimed she spoke with God, led the French. The victory strengthened the French cause, and proved the turning point in the Hundred Years’ War.
How did Joan of Arc die?
Burgundy an English ally located in the northeast of modern-day France, captured Joan and turned her over to the English, who burned her at the stake as a witch. After Joan’s death, English fortunes plummeted, and they were steadily driven out of town after town.
Historians date the end of the Hundred Years’ War to 1453, although peace was not formally declared until twenty years later. Who won the war?
Victory in the Hundred Years’ War belonged to the French, who conquered all of the English possessions in modern-day France except for Calais. Some twenty years later the French defeated Burgundy’s forces at the Battle of Nancy, and France emerged as a strong monarchical state with a centralized government.
How did the English kings meet the expense of the Hundred Years War?
In England, the King had to ask Parliament for taxes to fund the conflict. Throughout the War, Parliament reserved to itself the power to debate taxes, and required the King to continually request funds. Parliament’s taxing power proved a check on any absolutist ambitions harbored by English monarchs.
How did the French kings meet the expense of the Hundred Years’ War?
In France, the King convinced France’s legislative assembly, the Estates General to authorize the King to collect a tax on land (taille) and an tax on salt (the gabelle). The French nobility and clergy supported the taxes because they were exempt from it. exempt from the tax. The tax revenue insured that the French Kings were not beholden to the Estates General, and they quickly became absolute monarchs. As Louis XIV expressed it “I am the State.”
Who are generally considered the most powerful political figures in the late Medieval period?
Popes and the Catholic Church dominated Western and Central Europe during the late medieval period. The Church had vast landholdings, extensive revenues, and significant moral power. Henry IV, the Holy Roman Emperor, once stood barefoot in the snow for three days until the Pope responded to his request to have his excommunication lifted.
Define - Simony
Simony took place when individuals paid the Catholic Church to be appointed to holy offices in the Catholic Church during the late Medieval period. The higher the Church office, the higher the purchase price. It proved a significant source of revenue. In his Divinia Comedia, Dante accused simonists of buying and selling the grace of God and placed them in hell, where they are buried headfirst in pits while flames lap endlessly at their feet.
