The Late Middle Ages: Crisis and Transformation

Posted on Aug 6, 2024 in History

INVESTITURE CONTROVERSY

Dispute between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope to choose, confirm, or remove bishops. The Concordat of Worms resolved that the Church would retain the right to appoint bishops, but in the emperor’s presence.

Consequences:

  1. The power of the empire and the papacy was weakened.
  2. Italian cities became strong republics.
  3. The Hanseatic League or Hansa emerged in Northern Germany: a federation of trading cities along the North Sea and the Baltic.

BOURGEOISIE

French term used in the Middle Ages to describe the group of craftsmen, artisans, and merchants, whose wealth accumulation came from their businesses in the city and that allowed them to remove the nobles from power.

GUILDS

Economic associations of European origin, that grouped the craftsmen of the same office, which appeared in the medieval cities and extended until the end of the Modern Age, when they were abolished.

THE WESTERN SCHISM

It was a period of the Roman Catholic Church history between the 14th and the 15th centuries, when several Popes disputed their religious authority and Clement V transferred the pontifical headquarters from Rome to Avignon (France).

CRISIS – SUBSISTENCE

Cycle of expansion (11th century); peak of growth (12-13th centuries); start of the crisis (14th century): decrease in production. Bad harvests suggest the existence of a period of climate change. A lot of land was utilized for more profitable products or pasture.

CONSEQUENCES:

  • Political tensions: This was a period of serious political tensions.
  • Famine and epidemics: Malnutrition weakened the population and enabled epidemics to emerge. As sanitary conditions were worse, the most terrible epidemic was the Bubonic plague: Black Death spread through Europe between 1348 and 1350.
  • Social unrest: Social differences increased, a climate of insecurity and violence. Lack of labor caused a decrease in agricultural production, this caused peasant revolts, anti-Jewish riots (these riots and uprisings were violently repressed by the monarchs, feudal lords, and bourgeoisie).

THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR

Between England and France, which lasted from 1337 to 1453.

Causes:

  • Territorial conflict: Kings of England possessed fiefs under French sovereignty.
  • Succession conflict: The last French Capetian died without a male heir:
    1. If the female line of succession were followed, the throne would belong to the king of England.
    2. If the male line, the Valois family.
  • Commercial rivalry: The English and the French. For many years, the English and their allies occupied the majority of France and seemed close to victory. But the situation changed, in 1429, thanks to Joan of Arc. The Valois crown prince gave her command of an army to free the city of Orléans, and Joan succeeded. The French, over the next two years, recovered almost all of their territory.

THE WESTERN SCHISM

  1. In 1309, the seat of the papacy was transferred to Avignon (France). Many believed that the Pope’s obligation was to return to Italy.
  2. In 1377, they returned to Rome, but the pontiff died the next year, and the Roman people attacked the palace where the conclave was being held.

THE BEGINNING OF THE WESTERN SCHISM:

  1. The Pope of Rome.
  2. The Pope of Avignon.
  3. A third pope in Pisa.

The conflict ended in 1417 at the Council of Constance.

GOTHIC ART

Between the 13th and 15th centuries. Linked to the growth of cities and the bourgeoisie.

Cathedrals:

  1. They were built as a symbol of the prosperity of cities and the important role of the Church in Europe.
  2. Building a cathedral was a difficult and expensive construction, so the work might have taken many years, even centuries. They include different architectural or artistic styles.

Main Gothic architectural elements:

  1. Pointed arches: ogival arches.
  2. Ribbed vaults: two pointed arches.
  3. Flying buttresses: crowned with pinnacles.
  4. Stained glass windows: rose windows.

GOTHIC CATHEDRALS:

Slender and vertical, trying to touch the sky, closer to God. Parts: Tower, Main facade, Rose window, Portico, Buttress, Ogival arch, Pinnacle, Flying buttress, Roof, Spire, Ribbed vaults.

Sculpture and Paintings:

Religious subjects. Figures became more appealing and natural. Some sculptors became famous. This affected the evolution of painting:

  1. Carved or painted altarpieces or panels.
  2. The portrait emerged.

THE EVOLUTION OF GOTHIC PAINTING

Two main areas: Italy and Flanders.

The Italian School: Giotto.

  1. Naturalness and volume of the figures.
  2. Natural landscapes.

The Flemish School: Van Eyck brothers.

  1. Oil paint and panels.
  2. Detail.
  3. Perspective.
  4. Portraying people and daily life.

THE RISE OF THE MONARCHIES

  1. The rich and powerful bourgeoisie from the cities supported the king so that he would defend them against the feudal lords.
  2. Economic prosperity allowed kings to levy taxes and pay armies and officials.
  3. Their domains increased in size as a result of war and marriage to nobles.

THE EMERGENCE OF PARLIAMENTS

Cortes on the Iberian Peninsula, Estates-General in France, Parliament in England, Diet in the Holy Roman Empire.

Characteristics:

  1. They were advisory.
  2. They only met when convened by the king.

Functions:

  1. To swear loyalty.
  2. To approve new taxes.
  3. To finance the monarchy.
  4. To support the king.