Crisis and Recovery of Late Medieval Europe
The period between the 14th and 15th centuries marked a very difficult period for Europe. During this period, Europe experienced series of military, political, social, religious and economic crisis. However this period was immediately followed by a recovery in the early 1500 century. Noble (Noble, 2010)in his book “Western Civilization: Beyond Boundaries” has divided events that unfolded during the period into three major brackets. These are: (1) The crisis of the Western Christian church, (2) War and struggle over political power (1300- 1450), (4) Crisis in economy and society and (4) the consolidation of political power (1450-1500).
The Crisis of the Western Christian Church
In the period between 1300 and late 1400 centuries the Christian church in Europe was characterized by problems associated with heresy and schisms (Noble, 2010). The popes were accused of being corrupt and of having conducts that are against Christian teachings hence the term heresy. In early 14th century. King Philip IV of France attempted to kidnap Pope Boniface VIII and charge him with heresy. At this time questions arose about the power exercised by the church and the clergy. Due to tension with the North a Frenchman, Clement was appointed as pope Clement V.
In 1309 Clement moved the papal court outside Italy to Avigon marking the onset of the 70 years pope captivity that was referred to as the “Babylonian Captivity”. Urban VI was elected as pope in 1378, in Rome but did not stay there. The French in response to this appointed their own Clement VIII as pope (Noble, 2010). For the first time there existed two popes and this marked the beginning of the schism period. From 1378 to 1409 there were two popes at the same time. In 1409 the two popes were deposed by the council of Constance and Alexander V was appointed as the new pope. This decision was not respected and the two popes stayed on raising the number of pope existing at the same time to three.
In 1417 one pope resigned and the remaining two were deposed by the same council of Constance and Pope Martin V was elected as pope. This marked the reunion and the beginning of reform of the papacy. Major reforms wee instituted by the council of Constance to prevent future abuse of the papacy.
War and Struggle over Political Power
The medieval period in Europe was also marked by series of wars and struggle for power. The most significant war during this period was the war between the English and the French (Noble, 2010). This took place between 1337 and 1453 and was termed the “Hundred Years War. The English and the French fought over English dynasty claim over French kingdom. The war was divided into four phases. The first phase of the war saw several English victories. In the second phase of the war the French responded tactfully and regained much of the territory lost. The hundred years war ended with the English losing all the territory in France except Calais.
The loss by the English gave rise to another war referred to as the war of roses fought between the house of Lancaster and the house of York. This war resulted in the ascension of Henry Tudor to the English throne. Another war fought during this period was the Italian wars (Noble, 2010). These wars erupted when King Charles of France invaded Italy in 1494. This invasion gave raise to serious wars that were referred to as the Habsburg-Valois wars. These wars ended with a treaty. The wars in Europe placed huge burden on the European societies as they touched every aspect of life.
Crisis in Economy and Society
The medieval period in Europe experience major economic and societal crises brought about by epidemics, famine, wars and reduced population. The wars that characterized this period caused major burden in European economy affecting food production, trade and manufacturing among others. The most significant crisis experienced during this period was the Black Death which occurred between 1348 and 1350. The Black Death is believed to have been caused by an outbreak of bubonic plague which killed a third of European population (Noble, 2010).
England was worst hit by the plague than any other country in Europe. The Black Death origin was believed to be the Far East and as a result the European became hostile to outsiders. The Black Death was linked to religious beliefs where it was said that the plague was a form of punishment for people sins. The scourge affected production, availability of labor and destroyed markets as it took many years for Europe to recover the lost population. Other development included economic decline in Italy where the traders were faced with stiff competition form North European merchants.
The consolidation of Power
The 1500 century marked the beginning of recovery period for Europe. Most European governments recovered from the effects of war and civil unrest that filled the most part of the 14th and 15th centuries. The French, English and Italy learned from their experiences in century long wars and consolidated their military and political systems to form strong powers which were in the form of monarchies (Noble, 2010). The rise of Moscow in the East marked the decline of the Tatar or Mongol influence on the region. The Castile and Aragon kingdoms unified to form the Great Spanish dynasty. Within Germany power shifted towards the East with Germany unraveling into a collection of territories.
Reference
Noble, T (2010), Western Civilization: Beyond Boundaries, Vol. 1, 6th Ed, Wadsworth Publishing Company, U.S.A
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