Late Medieval Life Flashcards
What are the three key aspects to consider in the Landscape of Late Medieval Life?
Demographic Reality
Basic social structure
Political institutions
What were the key demographic realities of medieval life?
Rural and agricultural society
Thinly populated
Highly vulnerable
Medieval life issues
High rates of infant mortality
Lack of effective medical care
Vulnerable to famine, epidemics, war
Social ranks in rural areas
Peasants
Nobility - landlords
Limited social mobility
Tension caused by noblility appropriating land
Taxes increasing
Social ranks in towns and cities
Patricians and Merchants
Urban Professionals - lawyers, university professors, civil servants
Members of craft guilds - legally protected - blacksmiths, bakers, butchers
Domestic Servants - common, unmarried women, lived in houses
Wage Labourers - construction, street cleaners etc
Indigent poor - urban destitute - 10%
Characterisitcs of Medieval towns and cities
Buildings made of wood
Extreme disparities in wealth
Centres of economic exchange, education
Higher social mobility
Culture of deference/Paternalism - sacred collectivity - common good
5 main types of political structures
Local Urban Institutions
Local Rural Areas
Relationship between central and local political authorities
Large Political Bodies
Main International Rivalry
Urban political institutions
Mayor and city council
In the Holy Roman Empire - two councils
Citizenship was key and patricians and merchants ended up dominating both as reps of guilds
Rural Political structures
Peasants had own village councils and courts
Politically under the landowner: secular or clerical
What was the relationship between the central and local authorities
Kings, Dukes, Emperoros and Counts were central authorities that wanted to extend their control
Local communities and councils were in towns and wanted to maintain independence.
There was a balance between tension and cooperation
What large political bodies were in play?
Increasingly centralised beurocratic monarchy (Valois France, Hapsburg Spain, Tudor England)
“Conglomeration of Territories” (Italian Peninsula - Venice, Milan, Florence, Papal States, Naples), Swiss Cantons, Holy Roman Empire
Soverigns decisions affected matters of religion
What was the main international political rivalry during late medieval period?
The Hapsburg Empire ruled by Philip then Charles V, including Holy Rman Empire, Spain, Austria and the Low Countries
Valois France ruled by Louis XII then Francis I
