AP EURO UNIT ONE - Basics of Medival Europe

Black Death (1348 - 1350)

• Bubonic Plague spread from Asia to Europe (Specifically Sicily) from animals to humans.

  • Believed to have been brought into the Middle East by traveling merchants before reaching Europe

  • Symptoms included swollen lymph nodes and high fevers

  • 60 percent of the affected population died, with half of Europe’s total population dying.

    • Took Europe 200 years to get to pre-black death population rates

• Flagellants were religious extremists who gained popularity in Germany.

• They believed the plague was a punishment for humans sins. They whipped themselves as a form of self punishment / begging for forgiveness from God.

  • Flagellants also targeted Jewish populations in Germany through Pograms, aka planned massacres

Hundred Year War (1337-1453)

• Fought by England v.s. France over who would rule European areas

• Tensions rose in 1259 when Henry III gave up French territories except for the Dutchy of Gascony

  • Dutchy of Gascony led to English land disputes → who actually is heir to the French throne?

    • Capetian Dynasty failed to produce a male heir, and having a female heir (Isabella) wasn’t suitable by French standards → her son, Edward III, replaced her in 1330

    • Led to Phillip, Duke of Valois, being crowned as King Philip VI.

    • Henry III refused to acknowledge Philip as the king, leading to the wars start.

• English Sucess

  • Early Hundred Year’s War, the English gained success at the Battle of Crecy and the Battle of Poitiers

  • Battle of Agincourt (1429)

    • French suffered horrible defeat

    • 1500 French nobles died, 6,000 additional losses

• Joan of Arc (1429)

  • Accompanied the French army to Orleans and led the French to victory.

  • 1430 Joan was captured by English allies, the Burgurdian, and burned at the stake in 1431 on counts of witchcraft