AP Euro - Medieval Era (CH 1)

Black Death, Hundred Years' War, Late Medieval Church, Medieval Russia

Hundred Years' War

Definition: 

• Between France and England, with French victory.

• War over national identity and territory alongside dynastic tensions 

Significance: 

• Helped centralized France’s gov't

• Awakened new nationalism

• Pushed most of English out of France

Joan of Arc

Definition: 

• French peasant who divinely came to Charles VII

• Tried and executed by the English

Significance:

• Turned tide of the Hundred Years’ War by driving English troops from Orléans

• Gave troops a sense of national identity

Black Death

Definition:

• European pandemic spread by fleas and rats

Significance:

• Killed ⅓ of Euro. population

• Led to decline of feudalism

• Power shift to high demand peasantry

• New focus on urban cities & artisan skills

Unam Sanctam Papal Bull

Definition: 

• Boniface VIII’s most extreme papal bull

• Stated that royal authority was inferior to the church

Significance:

• Led to Philip IV denouncing Boniface

• Army beat Boniface up

• Showed State authority over Church

Avignon Papacy

Definition:

• New papacy under French influence

• Got funds by increasing annates (papal tax) and selling indulgences
  

Significance

• Reputation for materialism and political scheming

English Peasant Revolt of 1381

Definition

• Causes: Opposed lower classes' resentment of nobility (class conciousness); peasants’ new power; wanting higher wages

• Led by John Ball, responding to repressive Statute of Labors legislation

Significance

• Led to view of Lollards being subversive

• Marked decline of serfdom

John Hus/Hussites (Followers)

Definition

• Bohemian priest, leader of religious reform movement

• Followed Wycliffe’s teachings

• Executed for heresy

Significance

• Questioned priests’ validity & traditional practices

• Called for vernacular Bible translations

• Execution → Hussite revolt → religious reforms

John Wycliffe/Lollards (Followers)

Definition

• Philosopher who supported Eng. gov’t

• Beliefs by Bible, not church

• Believed authority on personal merit and morality, not rank

Significance

• Challenged church practices (indulgences)

• Translated Bible to English

• Lollards seen as subversive movement

“Babylonian Captivity”

• Definition

  • Period where papacy was moved to Avignon by Pope Clement V to escape Roman tension & Philip’s pressure

  • 7 consecutive popes in Avignon

  Significance

  • Church viewed as overly concerned about French kings → Decreased rep.

  • Church practices (indulgences…) → Decreased rep.

Great Schism

Definition

• Period of two/three popes who claimed legitimacy

• Ended when new Constance council put the Sacrosancta declaration

Significance

• Sacrosancta declaration stated council superiority, deposed popes, and scheduled future council meetings (Decree Frequens)

Conciliar Movement

Definition

• Idea that representative council of cardinals had greater authority over pope

• Goal of ensuring unity

• Negotiated with Hussites

• Ended Great Schism

Significance

• Led to Pope asserting his authority → secular gov’t & laity gaining religious authority

Scholasticism

Definition

• Medieval philosophical system 

• Reasoning & faith to defend Church teachings

• Used classical philosophy (Aristotle…)

Significance

• Framework for understanding Church practices

• Refined universal theories by bringing them into Church

What were the causes of the Hundred Years' War?

• Edward III (Eng) claim to French throne.

• Rising national identities

• Control over Flanders over wool trade

Why did the plague spread quickly and widely throughout Western Europe?

• Tade routes: Spread by fleas/rats along trade routes

• Weak population: Large, weak Euro. population (famine, malnutrition)

• No remedies

• Direct contact

Effects of Black Death in Europe:

• Social:

  • ⅓ Euro. population died

  • Jews scapegoated

  • Clergy dies, inability to stop the plague → Church loses authority

• Economic: 

  • Labor shortage → increased wages

  • Wealth shifts rural → urban (cities) w/ new artisan jobs

• Political: 

  • Noble power → peasants/serfs 

  • Repressive Statute of Laborers →revolt; class conciousness

How is the tension between nobles and monarchies connected with the decline of feudalism by the end of the 14th century?

• Monarchs wanted to centralize power & be independent/autonomous

• Rise of national identity: Allowed monarchs to centralize power and form paid armies.

• New armies made feudalistic noble cavalry obsolete → feudalism declines

How did the relationship between kings and popes change in the late 13th and early 14th centuries?

• King authority > Church

• Examples:

  • Pope Boniface VIII's failure with the Unam Sanctam

  • Boniface's successor, Clement V, became subservient to French king

  • French control over Avignon Papacy

Characteristics of Late Medieval art and architecture?

• Art:

  • Symbolic & stylized

  • Religious themes (stories…)

  • Detailed

  • Valuable materials (gold…)

• Architecture:

  • Mostly Gothic style.

  • Key features: pointed arches and ribbed vaults.

Fuedalism

• Main social and political system of medieval Europe, based on a hierarchy of classes.

• Kings > nobles > knights > peasants.

• Nobles held high power, sometimes capable of overpowering kings w/ their own military strength.

English advantages & disadvantages in Hundred Years’ War:

• Centralized gov’t

• Disciplined military & strong navy

• Longbows

• Fighting in French lands (transportation)

French advantages & disadvantages in Hundred Years’ War:

• Joan of Arc (national identity)

• Fighting in own lands

• Feudalistic systems; still transitioning to centralized gov

• Economic problems: borrowing $ & resorting to Estates General

Catholic Church

• Centralized political institution

• Secular matters (Rome) > spiritual (locals)→ discontent among classes

Pope Boniface VIII

• Held old Papal views

• Clericis Iaicos bull → forbid taxation of clergy from non-clergy → opp. from kings (esp. Philip IV; France)

• Ausculta fili bull → God set popes over kings & kingdoms

• Final extreme bull Unam Santam → Church Superior to royalty

How was Russia divided after Yaroslav’s death?

• Gov't: Prince, aristocracy, freemen council.

• freemen & slaves (prisoners)

How was Russia under the Mongols (Tartar)?

• Cities become dependent, tribute-paying principalities

• Oversaw taxation

• Moscow princes collected tributes for Mongols & expanded territories → grew in power & wealth

• Polticial and religious institutions intact

How was Russia after the Mongols’ defeat?

Unified under Moscow (Third Rome)