Mallissa Sirimoungkhons AP European History August 6, 2012 Summer Research The Black Death 1.

What type of disease was the Black Plague (a.k.a. The Bubonic Plague) and what was thought to have been the primary mode of transmission? The bubonic plague is a type of bacterial infection carried and transmitted by fleas and rodents, but it was thought that bad air caused the disease. 2. What role did geography play in the spreading of the disease 1347-1350? What parts of Europe seemed to have avoided at least the worst of the plague? Offer your own analysis of why this may have been the case? The disease spread inwards from the coast, where it was first contracted by sailors. England, surrounded on all sides by the sea, was one of the hardest hit areas. The mountainous regions had the best mortality rates since those areas were fairly isolated and difficult for the disease-carrying animals to reach. 4. Giovanni Boccoccio was one of our most reliable chroniclers of the time period. Find the primary source called The Decameron and discuss what Boccoccio tells us about the peoples reaction to the disease. What did they think caused it and contrast the various reactions? The people thought it was caused by contact with the sick, and differentiating philosophies caused differentiating reactions; some people became chaste and locked themselves in their homes, while others drank and sang and ran around in the streets, living to excess. All, however, avoided the sick, and soon people began to flee the cities. 5. How did medical science (the term science did not even exist) attempt to deal with this terrible sickness? There were plague doctors who were a sort of mix between a witch doctor and a nurse. Wearing grotesque uniforms designed to keep out the bad air, these doctors main methods consisted of bleeding and quarantining the sick. 6. While, unquestionably, many Europeans doubted the existence of God as a result of the plague others reacted differently. In fact, the Catholic Church itself ultimately profited for the period. Explain what this may have been true. The Catholic Church might have profited since plague victims may have viewed the plague as punishment from God and tried to appease this divine wrath with offerings to the church. 1

7. Explain why the plague became a key reason for the development of monarchy and nationstates such as France and England. After the Black Death, the number of workers decreased significantly, thus weakening the population-based feudal system. Wealth became concentrated in the hands of upper-class, and kings quickly gained power. 8. What factors may account for the fact that the Bubonic Plague, while making brief reappearances never again became the scourge that it was between 1347-1350? Aside from raised hygienic awareness, the plague took care of the problem of overpopulation and, as a result, lessened the amount of filth in the cities. Many plague survivors has contracted the disease and then grown immune to it, and some passed that gene down to their children, who were then more protected than their ancestors were against this particular sickness. The Impact of the Hundred Years War 1. What situation precipitated the crisis that came to be known as the Hundred Years War (The war was actually 116 years long and no one called it the 100 Hundred Years War.)? Be certain to be extant in your details here. Many years before the Hundred Years War began, William the Conqueror invaded and took over England. Because he was a Duke of Normandy, however, he had to swear fealty to the French king, which caused him and his successors much vexation. After the Anarchy, the AngloNorman dynasty fell and the new Angevin kings controlled all the lands in England, Normandy, and areas surrounding Aquitaine and Anjou. Yet they still had to pay tribute to the French kind. The French retaliated against Englands continually more threatening actions by gradually taking away their holdings on the continent through many small battles; full-blown war finally came in 1337. 2. What factors probably account for French disunity and thus defeats in the early phases of this series of wars? What military advantages did the English soldiers possess against their French adversaries (This can include weapons and other factors)? The English had better weapons, which gave then rather easy victories at Crecy and Agincourt. The French king and generals also made the mistake of underestimating their opponent at key positions like the English Channel, and sent in troops before they were fully prepared. Later the Black Death struck, nearly halving the French population, and the French nobles began to fight their own peasants. 4. Following the Battle of Crecy (1346) much of the French nobility had died on the battlefield at the hands of skilled English bowmen. What political impact did the result of the battle have upon France? The loss at Crecy certainly destroyed the Frenchmens confidence. The knights who were used to fighting on horseback had never suffered such a brutal defeat before, and the cavalry was 2

switched almost entirely to foot soldiers for the next half-century. With the death of many members of the nobility, peasants rushed in the army as well. 5. What impact did Wat Tylers Revolt have upon England in 1381? Aside from Richard IIs bad credibility after the revolt, the English government also lost the ability to heavily tax the people for their overseas military movements. They would not use the name poll tax again for nearly 600 years. 6. Joan of Arc played a pivotal role in the eventual and somewhat surprising French victory in the last phase of the Hundred Years War. What did she do to secure this victory and, explain why instead of showing gratitude French King Charles VII had her executed in 1431? Joan of Arc inspired the French soldiers with her seemingly divine military powers, and they were able to succeed with boosted morale and faith that God was on their side. Later, the French king gave her to the English probably because he feared that her influence among the people was too great and that she might attempt to usurp his throne. 7. In the long run Englands defeat had far-reaching positive economic and social results. Find evidence supporting this assertion. Shortly after the wars conclusion, a civil war erupted in England as the result of two families fighting over the feeble crown. Also, Englands bad history of failed tax laws drew a new mark here with the Peasants Revolt; socially, French traditions and languages were shunned in England for almost a century afterwards. Knights in heavy battle armor had not fared well on the battlefield, and they were eliminated and replaced by dragoons, lightweight cavalry who dismounted to fight. This weakened the power of the nobility in politics and gave more power to other groups that survived the war. The Fracturing of the Catholic Church 1. What was/is the Petrine Doctrine? Why was this a tremendous source of political power for the Catholic Papacy? In the bible, verse Matthew 16: 18-19 states that: And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven. This gave Peter and his elected successors (the popes of the Catholic Church) supreme power over Christian faith on earth. 2. Define the following terms: benefices, the Rota Romana, and Unam Sanctam (1302). Benefice: a permanent church appointment. Rota Romana: an ecclesiastical court in Rome. Unam Sanctam: a statement written by Pope Boniface VIII, claiming supremacy over the mundane authorities of the kings. 3

3. By the late 13th century many Catholics began to protest the apparent materialism of the Catholic Church. Who were the Waldensians and Albignesians? How did the Church react to the groups? The Waldensians were a sect that was declared heretical by the Catholic Church; the Waldensians celebrated poverty and self-denial as a way to revert to the life of God, and later fused with the Calvinists to become their Italian arm. The Albigenses, on the other hand, were a part of the Catharist movement which held the belief that absolute evil and absolute good coexist at all times, thus denying the possibility of the existence of a hell beyond the everyday earthly torments, and denying the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth. The church persecuted them. 4. Describe the showdown that occurred between Papacy and both the French and English kings (late 13th and early 14th Centuries). How was the Papacy weakened by this power struggle? In the turbulent days of the 12-and-1300s, the Catholic Church reached a record-setting level of corruption. The Great Schism occurred in that time, separating the Church into two locations, one at Avignon, France, and the other in Rome. The pope at Avignon feuded bitterly with the French kings, each trying to outdo the other in feats of animosity such as unreasonable taxes, excommunication, and even kidnapping. Pope Boniface VIII in particular did not want the French and English kings to impose taxes on clerics, and was upset by the idea of secular court trying church officials. 5. What was the Avignon Papacy (1377) and the so-called Great Schism (1378-1417)? How or why did these events lead to a serious weakening of papal power? The Great Schism was a split within the Catholic Church that lasted for several decades. It was the result of two men both claiming to be the true popes, and each man had his defenders, although the Roman papacy had greater support. Seven popes in total resided at the Avignon papacy, the papal palace in Avignon, France. The Avignon popes were known for their corruption and materialism; this materialism lead to skepticism and, much later, the English Reformation. At the time, however, the impact was great as well, and the church was pulled into many political feuds that eroded away its power. 6. The Conciliar Movement was a series of Church councils culminating with the Council of Basel in 1449. These meetings were aimed at reforming and standardizing Church doctrine. What were some of the results of the Conciliar Movement? In your estimation did the movement strengthen or weaken papal power? The Conciliar Movement ended the Great Schism and restored the wholeness of the Catholic Church. It weakened papal power since the conciliarists believe that true spiritual power lay in the hands of an organization and not the pope alone; this was in contrast to the idea of papal supremacy, which gave the Pope unlimited power over all of the church.