Week 1: Europe in the Late Middle Ages

Course Introduction

I. The Year 2440 

II. Themes in the History of Early Modern Europe
1. The Rise of the State and the Problem of Secular Authority
2. Religion and Order
3. Gender Relations and Social Change
4. Expanding Horizons--Physical and Mental

III. Readings, Requirements, etc.

Illustration from L'An 2440: The narrator discovers that he is seven hundred years old
Illustration from L'An 2440: The Throne Room

Image: Louis-Sébastien Mercier, author of The Year 2440: A Dream If There Ever Was One (1771).

Europe after the Plague

I. The Great Pestilence of 1347-1351
A. Plagues Bubonic and Pneumonic
B. Demography and Commerce
1) Demographic Expansion and Epidemiological Stress 
2) Trade Routes and Disease Vectors 

Graph: The Human Cost of Plague in the Town of Prato, 1288-1427
Graph: Child Mortality and Plague in Siena, 1348-1400
Graph: The Human Cost of Plague in Barcelona, 1348-1653
Graph: The Founding of New Cities in Europe, 1100-present

II. Immediate Consequences: Cultural and Political
A. Searching for Causes: Divine Wrath and Bad Air
B. Finding Culprits: A Rash of Antisemitism
1) Ostracism: The Myth of Ritual Murder 
2) Segregation: Dispersion and the Formation of Ghettos 

Image: The Procession of St. Gregory (Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, c. 1410)
Image: Francisco Ribalta, San Roque (c. 1600-1610)
Map: The Dispersal of Jewish Communities in the Rhineland, 1349
Image: The Martyrdom of Simon of Trent, from Schedel's Weltchronik (1493)

III. Long-Term Effects: Social and Economic
A. Demographic Crisis and Labor Supplies
B. More Urbanization and Greater Social Inequality


Image above: The Spread of Plague Through Europe, 1347-1351.
Map: The Black Death outside Europe -- Arabia, India, China
Identifications: 

Bubonic plague
Pneumonic plague

The Great Famine (1315-1317) 
The Children's Plague (1361-1363)

 Saint Roche / San Roque / Sankt Rochus
“Flagellanti”

Expulsion of Jews from England (1290) 
Expulsion of Jews from France (1306) 

Pogroms
Ghettos

An Era of Church Reform
Image right: a procession of clergymen attending the Council of Constance (1414-1418), from the Chronicle of the Council of Constance by Ulrich Riechental (c1360-1436/1437), the scribe of the city of Constance. Source: UNESCO Memory of the World Program.

I. The Crisis of Papal Monarchy
A. The Great Schism (1378-1417)
B. The Age of Councils (1409-1449)
1) Legal Inhibitions to Reform 
2) Psychological Inhibitions to Reform 

Map: Europe in 1400
Map: The Great Schism (1378-1417)
Image: The Consecration of Pope Martin V, 1417

II. The Vulnerability of the Church
A. A Crisis of Secondary Tasks?
B. A Crisis of Rising Expectations?

Image: The Palace of the Popes in Avignon
Image: Old St. Peter's Basilica (15th C.)
Image: The Execution of Jan Hus (1415)
Image Pilgrim Badges on a Medieval Book of Hours
Image: Mont Saint Michel (Normandy)
Map: The Hussite Revolution (1415-1436)
Image: The Regensburg Pilgrimage (1519)
Image: The Seven Deadly Sins


Image above: Hieronymus Bosch, The Last Judgment Source:Artchive
Identifications: 

Avignon Papacy
Great Schism (1378-1417) 

The “Path of Conciliation” (via consilii)
The Age of Councils (1409-1449) 
Council of Constance (1414-1418) 

via cessionis: both popes resign, and the College of Cardinals elects a single successor 
via compromissi: both popes agree to submit their dispute to the judgment of an independent tribunal 
via consilii: convene a general council of the Church, which would have power to resolve the crisis on its own authority

 Jan Hus

The Hussite Revolution (1415-1436) 

Pope Martin V (1417-1431) 

Tithes
Papal taxes (for example, Annates)
Absenteeism, Pluralism
Excommunication
Interdict
Popes of the “Great Schism” and the Conciliar Era:
The Roman Succession

Urban VI (1378-89) 
Boniface IX (1389-1404) 
Innocent VII (1404-06) 
Gregory XII (1406-15)

 Conciliar Popes

Council of Pisa: 
Alexander V (1409-10) 
John XXIII (1410-15) 

Council of Constance: 
Martin V (1417-31) 

Council of Basel: 
Felix V (1439-49)

 The Avignon Succession

Clement VII (1378-94) 
Benedict XIII (1394-1417/1423) 
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