Century of Turmoil:Division in the Church, the Hundred

Years’ War & the Plague

A Church Divided

• 1300 – conflict between Pope Boniface VII & King Philip IV

• 1305 – Clement V as new pope

• Popes moved from Rome to Avignon, France – weakens the Church

Great Schism

• College of Cardinals elects Pope Urban VI but later regret decision

• Cardinals then elect Clement VII as pope• Two popes: Clement VII in Avignon, Urban VI

in Rome• Council of Pisa 3 popes!

Council of Constance

• 1414 – Council of Constance attempted to end Great Schism by choosing single pope

• Holy Roman Emperor & Council forced all popes to resign

• 1417 – Council chose new pope Martin V

Scholars Challenge Church Authority

• John Wycliffe – challenged the Church– Church was too worldly & wealthy– Bible, not pope, was final

authority• Council of Constance declared

him a heretic, ordered his books burned, body exhumed, burned, & ashes cast into the river

• Jan Hus – excommunicated, burned @ stake

Bubonic Plague

• Infectious disease caused by bacteria

• Began in Asia – spread through trade routes

• Known as the Black Death – purplish or blackish spots on skin

Bubonic Plague

• Flea bites an infected rat bacteria in flea’s stomach forms “plug” or blockage flea becomes very hungry & aggressive

• Flea attempts to feed on a human, but the plugged stomach keeps it from keeping down the blood – vomits the blood back into the body w/plague bacteria mixed in

• Human is now infected• Flea will eventually starve to death

Bubonic Plague

• Symptoms- Set in 3-7 days after infection- Chills, fever, diarrhea, headache, swelling of lymph nodes (known as bubo)- If left untreated, mortality rate is about 60%

The “Black Death” plague outbreak, began in 1347

• Pandemic – appeared in other parts of the world, not just Europe

• 1st broken out in central Asia• 1/2 to 2/3 of Europe’s population died

within• Disease spread easily in crowded, dirty

towns• People afraid to leave their homes

The “Black Death”

• People were afraid to handle the dead or be around the sick – bodies piled up in the streets

• In Paris, 800 people died per day• Responses –

– Doctors wore fanciful costumes to “scare away the evil spirits”

– People carried flowers & herbs to ward off disease– Sound was the answer rang church bells or

fired cannons

“Ring Around the Rosie”

• Ring rose-colored, puss-filled sores would develop rings

• Pocket full of posies carry flowers to keep away the plague

• Ashes Ashes Burn the bodies• We all fall down plague wiped out 20-

35% of the population in Eurasia

Religious Devotion

• Plague seen as punishment by God for the people’s sinfulness

• Some people became flagellants traveled to towns singing hymns & chants while flagellating (whipping) themselves, in a sign of physical penance

• Ironically, they ended up spreading the disease even more….

Effects of the Plague

• Less population meant better economic conditions for survivors

• Breakdown of feudalism• Laborers could start

demanding better wages & more freedom

• Weakening of the Church• Fall of “Middle Age” society

Hundred Years’ War

• French King Charles IV died w/o heir

• English King Edward III (Charles’ nephew) claimed right to throne

• French appointed Philip IV (Charles’ cousin) as King of France

• Victory passed back & forth

• English were driven out of France in 1453

Longbow Changes Warfare

• English introduced longbow – Battle of Crécy in 1346

• Cheap, easy to carry, could penetrate armor

• Spelled doom for knights & chivalric warfare

Joan of Arc

• In 1429, French peasant– Divine revelations that she should

help France

• Joan led French army into battle– Several victoriers

• England’s allies captured Joan – condemned as witch & burned at the stake

• Joan of Arc is symbol of French resistance

Impact of Hundred Years’ War

• Nationalism emerged in France & England

• Power & prestige of French monarch increased

• Some consider it to be the end of the Middle Ages Charles VII crowned

French king