Calamities in Europe

1. The Great Famine of 1315

• Began with heavy rain in 1315.

• The next summer remained cool and the crops rotted in the fields

• Salt to preserve food was scarce

• To survive, people killed their farm animals and ate seed grain

• The rain continued until 1317

• People ate roots, grasses and bark to survive

• Those who survived were weak with pneumonia and other illnesses

• Recovery was slow because they had eaten the farm animals and seed grain

• 25% of people died of starvation or illness

• This calamity lingered for years

2. Hundred Year’s War

• A war between England and France between 1337 and 1453

• Resulted because the last Capetian king died without leaving an heir

• King Edward III from England claimed the right to the French throne

• Rejected Edward III and selected Phillip VI

• English started the war by crossing the English Channel

• English won most of the battles, but English people were tired.

– Tired of cost of war

– Plague killed many in England so there weren’t enough soldiers

• Joan of Arc

• A French peasant girl

• She believed that she was being directed by God to drive out the English

• The French followed her and defeated the English

• She was captured by the English and burned at the stake

3. Black Death

• Killed millions of people throughout the world and engulfed whole countries

• May have begun in China and spread by trade ships to Europe

• Rats and their fleas have been blamed for the spread of the disease

Why did it spread so quickly in Europe

1. Open sewers and improper disposal of trash made the cities unsanitary

2. Rats and fleas thrived in the city

3. Houses were close together and people lived in crowded settings

• People quickly turned to the Roman Church for deliverance

• They lost faith, because they saw the priests and nuns dying along with them

• Many thought the plague was sent by God to punish the people for their sins

• Ended by 1350

• Roman Church lost much of its credibility