Late-Medieval Crisis & Transformation Lecture

A comprehensive set of question-and-answer flashcards covering key points from the lecture on the 14th- and early 15th-century crises and transformations in Europe.

What were the years of the Great Famine that struck northern Europe and spread to much of the continent?

1315-1317

What climatic change triggered the Great Famine of 1315-1317?

A shift to colder, wetter weather that shortened growing seasons and ruined harvests

Roughly what percentage of Europe’s population died during the Great Famine?

About 10 percent

Which later catastrophe’s high mortality was probably worsened by the Great Famine?

The Black Death

From which continent did the Black Death originate before reaching Europe?

Asia

Which nomadic empire’s troop movements and trade helped carry plague-infected rats across Asia?

The Mongol Empire

Which major Eurasian trade network facilitated the plague’s movement westward?

The Silk Road

Through which Mediterranean island did the Black Death first enter Europe in 1347?

Sicily

Roughly between which years did it take Europe about two centuries to regain its pre-plague population?

From 1347 to the early 1500s

Name two classic symptoms of the bubonic form of plague.

High fever and enlarged lymph nodes (buboes), plus aching joints and dark skin blotches

What form of plague attacked the lungs and could spread by coughing?

Pneumonic plague

Which social practice responded to the plague by encouraging people to 'live in the moment'?

A carpe-diem attitude toward life and pleasure

Who were the Flagellants?

Bands of penitents who publicly whipped themselves, believing the plague was God’s punishment

Which pope formally condemned the Flagellant movement in 1349?

Pope Clement VI

What false accusation led to pogroms against Jews during the Black Death?

That Jews poisoned town wells to cause the plague

Approximately what fraction of Europe’s population died in the initial 1347-1351 plague wave?

About one-quarter to one-half

Which English law of 1351 tried to freeze wages at pre-plague levels and restrict peasant mobility?

The Statute of Laborers

What was the French peasant uprising of 1358 called?

The Jacquerie

Which 1381 uprising was the most famous English peasant revolt?

The Peasants’ Revolt

Which two leaders are associated with the English Peasants’ Revolt of 1381?

Wat Tyler and John Ball

What new urban worker revolt in Florence (1378) saw wool workers demand better pay?

The Ciompi Revolt

Name one broad social consequence of the 14th-century demographic collapse.

Labor shortages and rising wages OR breakdown of the three-estate order

Which duchy was the main territorial flashpoint that triggered the Hundred Years’ War?

Gascony

What succession dispute helped start the Hundred Years’ War?

The French throne lacked a direct male Capetian heir

In what year did Edward III formally declare war on Philip VI, beginning the Hundred Years’ War?

1337

Which social class of soldiers became increasingly important during the Hundred Years’ War?

Peasant foot soldiers / infantry

At which 1346 battle did English longbowmen defeat French cavalry?

Crécy

Which battle of 1356 resulted in the capture of the French king and ended the war’s first phase?

The Battle of Poitiers

Which 1415 English victory reopened the war’s second phase?

The Battle of Agincourt

What 1420 treaty made Henry V heir to the French throne?

The Treaty of Troyes

Which French peasant woman revitalized French fortunes in 1429?

Joan of Arc

Where was Joan of Arc born?

Domrémy in Champagne, 1412

Which city’s siege did Joan help lift, turning the tide of war?

Orléans

How and at what age did Joan of Arc die?

Burned at the stake for heresy at age 19 (1431)

Which new weapon helped the French finally expel the English (except Calais) by 1453?

The cannon (gunpowder artillery)

What English representative body gained leverage because kings needed war taxes?

Parliament

Which French representative institution tried to condition taxation in the 14th century?

The Estates-General

What was a major political weakness of the Holy Roman Empire in this era?

Fragmentation into hundreds of semi-independent states

Which three major city-states dominated northern Italy by the late 14th century?

Milan, Florence, and Venice

Which 1302 papal bull asserted papal supremacy over temporal rulers? (implied in struggle)

Unam Sanctam (issued by Boniface VIII)

Which French king’s agents captured and humiliated Pope Boniface VIII?

Philip IV (Philip the Fair)

Where did the popes reside from 1305-1377, diminishing papal prestige?

Avignon

What was the Great Schism (1378-1417)?

Period when rival popes reigned from Rome and Avignon, dividing Europe

Which 1409 council tried to end the Schism but instead produced three popes?

The Council of Pisa

Which later council (1414-1418) finally ended the Great Schism?

The Council of Constance

What theory held that a general church council had final authority over the pope?

Conciliarism

Which German theologian founded the 'Modern Devotion' movement for practical piety?

Gerard Groote

Name the brethren who lived communally to practice Modern Devotion.

The Brothers of the Common Life

Which 14th-century philosopher attacked scholasticism with the principle of nominalism?

William of Ockham

What literary masterpiece by Dante describes a soul’s journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven?

The Divine Comedy

Which Italian poet’s sonnets idealized his love for Laura?

Petrarch

Who wrote the prose collection Decameron in the Tuscan dialect?

Giovanni Boccaccio

Which English author elevated vernacular literature with The Canterbury Tales?

Geoffrey Chaucer

Which female author penned The Book of the City of Ladies in defense of women?

Christine de Pizan

Which painter is viewed as the forerunner of the Italian Renaissance for his new realism?

Giotto

What device, perfected in the 14th century, revolutionized Europeans’ concept of time?

The mechanical clock

Which invention, improved with cheaper paper from cotton rags, aided reading small scripts?

Eyeglasses

What Chinese-origin technology transformed European warfare during the late Middle Ages?

Gunpowder and cannons

Which medieval medical theory balanced blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile?

The four humors

Why did surgeons begin attending universities after the Black Death?

To gain formal medical knowledge and improve treatments

How did the Black Death indirectly create more job opportunities for women?

Labor shortages opened guild and urban positions previously closed to women

What age trend characterized marriages before the Black Death?

Relatively late marriages for both men and women

Which social institution tolerated and even regulated prostitution in late-medieval towns?

Town governments / municipal authorities

What new municipal measure followed plague outbreaks to improve public health?

Urban sanitary laws and quarantines

Which architectural form of burial became common because of mass plague deaths?

Mass graves / plague pits

What broad historical pattern did the 14th-century rural and urban revolts inaugurate?

An age of recurring social conflict in European history