The Hundred Years war

The Hundred Years war was a conflict that took place between England and France from 1337 to 1453. The causes of the conflict were the English claims over the French throne and the dispute over the succession of the English crown. The origin of the conflict was the duchy of Guyenne which originally belonged to the English kings but remained a fief of the French crown and the closest relatives of the Capetian king Charles IV who belonged to the English crown and hence the kings of England claimed the kingdom of France.

In the first half of the 14^th century England and France were the most powerful monarchies in Western Europe and France was the largest and richest country in Western Europe. England was also organized and it rivaled France. Technically the English kings were the vassals of the kings of France and the English kings which were Normans and the Angevin was also French. Thus, the French monarchs wanted to keep a check on the growth of English power. England too possessed holdings in France but by 1337 only the province of Gascony was in English hands. In 1328 Charles IV of France died without an heir to the throne and hence the crown passed directly to his closest relative his nephew Edward III of England. But the French rejected Edward III claims to the French throne and instead wanted a Frenchman for the crown of France. Thus, the French Crown went to Charles IV’s cousin Philip VI.

Thus, eventually, war broke out between England and France in which the English led by their king Edward III and his son defeated the French. However, by 1378 the French under King Charles the wise had taken back the lands ceded to King Edward in the treaty of Bretigny signed in 1360. The dispute over Guyenne and Gascony which belonged to England was also the high point of the conflict. Joan of Arc provided a decisive moment in the war and considerably boosted the French morale. The major battles of the war were fought at Crecy, Poitiers, Agincourt, and the siege of Orleans in 1429. The emergence of Joan of Arc in the siege of Orleans turned the tide of war against the English. However, she was eventually executed by the English. At the Battle of Castillon fought on 17 July 1453 the English were decisively defeated by the French. Finally, in the treaty of Picquigny signed in 1475 the war came to an end with Edward III renouncing his claim to the French throne.

The victory of France in the Hundred Years War brought to an end the English dreams of a joint monarchy and the rise of national feeling in England and France. The war led to the transformation of France from a feudal monarchy to a centralized state. With the war’s end, England lost all its continental possessions leaving it with only the province of Calais

The Black Death in Europe

The Black death or the Bubonic plague was the greatest epidemic which hit Europe in the Middle Ages. It was a pandemic that killed up to 30% to 60% of the population of Europe. It started in 1347 and continued till 1351 in the 14^th century. The Black death originated in Central or East Asia. It travelled along the Silk Road from China to the Middle East, West Asia and the rest of Europe via the Italian peninsula.

The cause of the disease was most likely fleas which lived on the black rats and which got transmitted through merchant ships eventually spreading the disease throughout Europe. It affected the demographics of Europe and estimates place the population of Europe declined from 475 million to 350-375 million in the 14^th century.

The 13^th century Mongol conquest of China led to a decline in farming and combined with natural disasters and epidemics contributed to widespread famine in 1331 in Europe. In the Middle East the Muslim religious scholars believed that the disease was a martyrdom and mercy for believers, and it was a punishment for non-believers.

The main cause for the transmission of Bubonic plague was rodents which carried a strain of the bacterium Yersinia pestis.Plague was carried to Europe by the Genoese merchants of Italy in 1347.The Mongol army catapulted the infected corpses during the siege of Genoa in 1345-46.From Genoa the disease was carried by merchants to Sicily in Italy in 1347.From Italy the disease spread to France,Spain.In 1348 the disease was carried to Portugal,England,Germany,Scotland,Denmark and Netherlands. Eventually it spread to Russia.The disease also spread to West Asia and North Africa which led to population decline and a change in the economic and social structures. It spread by sea to Constantinople (Istanbul). By the summer of 1348 it reached Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. It also spread to Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Morocco.

The symptoms of the disease were a fever of 38-41-degree Celsius, aching joints, headaches, nausea and vomiting. Left untreated, the persons who contracted the bubonic plague died with in a span of 8 days. In acute conditions the fever became severe accompanied by vomiting of blood. Spots and rashes caused by flea bites were the other symptoms of plague.

The death toll caused by plague varied greatly. In cities with greater population there was a greater mortality rate and it killed 75 to 200 million people in Europe and Asia. There was also an economic and religious impact of the disease. The population decline caused by the disease led to a shortage of labour and an increase in wages. For example, due to the Black death in England labourers, craftsmen and artisans suffered a reduction in their real incomes due to rampant inflation.

The plague also had a religious impact as various groups were persecuted such as Jews, foreigners, beggars, lepers and pilgrims. Europeans also came to believe astrological forces and the poisoning of wells by Jews as the causes for the outbreak of the disease. There were attacks against the Jewish communities and in 1349 the Jewish communities in Mainz and Cologne cities of Germany were killed. Because of this many Jews fled to Poland. Many Europeans also believed that the epidemic was a punishment from God for their sins and could be eradicated by asking for God’s forgiveness. The demographic change caused by the disease 

The Church in Medieval Europe

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 Medieval Europe refers to the period in European history beginning with the fall of Western Roman Empire (476 AD) in the 5th century till the end of the 15th century. In the middle ages the Catholic Church had a profound influence over the lives of the people. The Pope held the supreme authority in the middle ages. The Church was the dominant institution in medieval Europe. Its influence was both in matters religious and political. It was the church who upholded the Christian values and propagated the Christian doctrine. Its power also extended to the appointment of kings and monarchs.

 After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century successor and independent kingdoms arose in Europe. The Germanic peoples had swept through Britain, France and Germany which led to a breakdown in the central authority of the Roman Empire. The last Roman emperor was Romulus Augustulus who was deposed in 476 AD.The Huns, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Anglo Saxons, Goths and the Slavs occupied the eastern, western and central parts of Europe. This led to profound social, political and cultural changes in Europe. A characteristic feature of this period was the increase in urbanization in the cities of Europe. 

By the year 800 AD, The Frankish Empire was ruling over France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. The Anglo Saxons ruled over Britain and various city states existed in Europe. Each of these kingdoms converted to Christianity and as such the Church played a dominant role in Medieval Europe. The Catholic Church claimed to represent all European Christians and had a say in the day to day affairs of the state. Even a poorest peasant had to pay 1/10th of his earnings as tithe to the church. The Church did not pay any taxes and had a right to depose the Catholic kings of Western Europe. Over a period of time the church became an institution which accumulated wealth through sale of indulgences which led to corruption in the Church. 

Efforts were made to curb the growing power of the Catholic Church. In England, the Magna Carta signed in the year 1215 advocated the separation of the Church and state. It was signed by King John of England though it was annulled later by his barons. It was not till the beginning of the 16th century that the authority of the Roman Catholic Church came to be seriously challenged. 

The Protestant Reformation initiated by Martin Luther began to attack the church for its corruption and traditional dogma. He advocated that people read the Bible themselves and that it was the sole source of all spiritual authority. Martin Luther published his 95 theses. For this the Pope excommunicated Martin Luther. The Reformation subsequently spread to other parts of Europe. Kings and rulers broke away from the authority of the Catholic Church in Europe. 

The Church was the supreme religious and political authority in medieval Europe. But this began to change with the advent of early modern period. With the secularization of Europe in Early modern period people began to view reason and science over religion which led to a decline in the power and authority of the church.