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Erin Hsi AP European History, Period 4 Mrs. Henehan 03 September 2010 Chapter 12 Review Questions 1. The causes of the population decline that began in the early 14th century were climate change, famine, and disease. Cold and wet weather resulted in crops not ripening, and even the most hardy crops dying. Harsh storms ruined the crops, and the transportation of foods was too expensive, so the people began to starve. Many of the harvests were bad ones, which lead to scarcity of food and starvation. The Great Famine (1315-1322), which was later referred to as the 7 lean years from the Bible, caused lack of nutrition in farmers. The reduced diets caused disease, and the workers also had less energy to till the fields, which resulted in lower productivity and high grain prices. In addition to poor harvests, different diseases also contributed to population decline. Typhoid struck in 1316, and in 1318, a significant amount of livestock died off due to disease. Peasants went into debt and abandoned their homes, and the debtors desire to get land back resulted in an extremely unstable land market. Since many people were poor and starving, marriages were postponed, which meant less births. Government intervention was not effective. In the mid-14th century, the Black Death arrived in Europe, killing millions. 2. Because the climate change in Europe caused famine, food had to be shipped longdistance from other countries. This lead to the bubonic plague reaching Europe. The bubonic plague was brought to Europe on trade ships, and it spread extremely quickly. In 1347, rats and other vermin carrying bacteria came on Genoese trading ships. It was also said that armies

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attacking the city of Kaffa launched disease-infected corpses over the city walls. The plague spread so quickly because the ships travelling to and from each city quickly infected those living there. It was also helped to spread due to narrow, dirty streets, the abundance of dead animals, and infected beggars wandering the streets. The houses with upper stories blocked out light and caused overcrowding. Most civilians did not bathe, and there no concept of personal hygiene. It continued to spread because no one knew what caused the disease. They did not understand the concept of germs; instead, they believed that smelling the bad air would infect them. In addition, physicians had no cure for the plague, and their attempts to cure the victims, such as bloodletting, often just resulted in further spread of the bacteria. 3. The plague had a great impact on wages and labor demands, as well as the value of land. Since a great part of the European population had died, less was produced, which meant less goods and a rise in prices, or inflation. Due to the significant reduction in population, there were not enough laborers to do work necessary. This caused the surviving workers to demand pay raises. Although government tried to freeze the wages to pre-plague rates with the Statue of Laborers in 1351, they were not able to enforce this, and the wages rose. As a result, most everyone had much better living conditions and lives than they had before the plague. Since there was a much greater demand for workers, they were able to move around more. The value of land decreased because there was less people, and therefore less people to fight or compete for land and property. 4. Many people interpreted the plague differently, and there were many psychological consequences. Since those who contracted the disease almost always died, everyone was scared and turned to different ways to escape the horrible reality. The Black Death caused misery and pessimism all across Europe; many people were felt that they were being punished by God.

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Groups called flagellants appeared, and they believed that the plague was punishment from God for their sins, so they whipped and beat themselves in the hopes that they would be spared from the Black Death. They moved from town to town, and often inspired violence against Jews and mobs, so many town officials banned them or forced them to separate. Survivors of the plague were to scared of contracting the disease from dead bodies that many corpses were buried hastily and in mass graves. Their last rites were often left out. Many cities began quarantining arriving travellers for 40 days, and the colleges and institutions that were formed after the Black Death were more national instead of international, and the lack of inter-country communication laid the path for the split in the Catholic Church. 5. There were many causes of the Hundred Years War, both direct and indirect. France and England signed the treaty of Paris in 1259, which meant the English king became a vassal of the French crown in exchange for the duchy of Aquitane. This was the beginning of conflict, because England viewed Aquitane as an inheritance rightfully theirs, but the French wanted to make the duchy part of France. Edward III in England was proclaimed king by Queen Isabella, who was Charles IVs sister, in 1327, but after Charles IV died without an heir, French barons would not let her take the throne, claiming that no woman or her son could succeed the French monarchy. The direct cause of the war was when French king Philip VI seized Aquitane, which Edward saw as a violation of the treaty of Paris, and also as a reason for war. Edward III also claimed that he should be the rightful heir to the throne of France since he was related directly to the previous king. Many sided with England because French vassals wanted to increase their own power, French barons wanted to avoid the centralization of the French crown, and merchants of Flemish depended on England for their wealth.

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6. People supported their kings in the Hundred Years War because both governments manipulated the public. In England, Edward III had the public believing that the war was to secure him for the French crown that he rightly deserved. He wrote letters to officials describing in detail the evil acts of the French and listed royal necessities. Both kings of France and England ordered the clergy to deliver patriotic sermons to inspire the public. They also both exaggerated how cruel the other side was and emphasized how much fortune they would gain from the war. King Edward III gained public support from the 1340s-1350s. The English had developed an incredible hatred of the French and believed that the king of France had wanted to take control over all of England. In addition, when either side won a battle in the war, it inspired the public and national pride in their military increased. Many also supported the war because the war created many opportunities to gain wealth. Previously poor or unemployed knights received regular wages, and criminals who enlisted in the army were granted pardons, and the nobles were awarded estates. The military was also told that if they won the battle, they could take whatever they wanted. 7. In the end, France won the Hundred Years War, despite earlier English victories. Joan of Arc basically saved the French monarchy. She claimed to hear the voices of saints and convinced Charles VII to reject rumors circling about him and be crowned king, and to expel the English from France. She went to Orleans in 1429 and inspired the army as well as rallied resources, and eventually the English withdrew and Charles VII was crowned king. This was the turning point in the war. Though France won the war, it had resulted in millions dead, and in addition to the recent period of plague, they had a huge reduction in population. Since most of the battles of the war had been fought on French land, a majority of the farmland was ruined. The excessive death in France disrupted trade, and France could not participate in international

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commerce as much. The people who were affected the most were the peasants, because the cost of the war resulted in taxation, which they could not afford. In England, there was not as much destruction, and in fact, the death restored the balance between the land and labor forces that was previously unbalanced due to overpopulation. However, they had spent 5 million on the war, which resulted in heavy taxation. Those who usually handled local government and law were in France fighting, so there was a lack of order in towns and cities, due to no law enforcement. The export of wool dropped because increased taxes on wool caused the cost to rise, and merchants could not afford it anymore. However, the war resulted in improved artillery technology, and the development of the English Parliament. The war promoted nationalism in both countries, which brought the citizens together. 8. The Babylonian Captivity weakened the power and prestige of the church. It was a period from 1309-1376 when the popes lived in Avignon because Philip the Fair of France told Pope Clement V to live in France, since he wanted to control the church and its policies. It damaged the churchs reputation because many lived lives of luxury, and the leadership of the church was cut off Rome, where its source of authority was. Since there was no pope in Italy, the states lacked stability and a good government. Its economy also suffered because the economy of Rome had previously been based on the papacy and the tourists it brought in. In 1409, there were three popes. At first, it was just Pope Urban VII, but he wanted reform and went about getting in harsh and alienating ways; he attacked the luxury of the clergy, and even used the names of certain individuals and threatened cardinals with excommunication. In response, the cardinals met and elected a new pope, Clement VII, so there were 2 popes, one in Rome and one in Avignon. This was known as the Great Schism, which caused confusion and the weakening of

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religious faith of many Christians. Neither pope would back down, so at a great council at Constance (1414-1418), a new pope was elected (Martin V), creating a total of three popes. 9. The conciliar movement was a movement involving the belief that reform could be reached by occasional assemblies that represented all the Christian people. This was not a revolutionary idea, but the idea was solidified during the Great Schism. They believed that a popes authority came from the whole Christian community, and that the church had a pope because he was responsible for promoting the well being of those involved in the church. The did not support the monarch-like church government; they worked towards a balanced and constitutional form of church government where the popes authority was shared with a council, or representative assembly. Marsiglio was one of the conciliar movements advocates. He wrote that the church was subordinate to the state, and that the church should not own any property. John Wyclif believed that Scripture was the only authority in church, and that the system with a pope did not come from the Bible. He also said that everyone should be able to read the Bible for themselves, which resulted in the first translation of the Bible. Jan Hus was also a supporter of the conciliar movement, and he based his teachings off of Wyclif. 10. John Wyclif was a threat to the institutional church because he believed that papacy was not written in Scripture, and therefore they had no power. Instead, people should view the Bible as the only source of authority in the Catholic church. He also wanted the church stripped of its property. He attacked the churchs structure and gained popularity with the clergy in the early 15th century. He had many followers, and they were called Lollards. They even allowed women to preach. As a result, women were a significant part of the movement, and were great supporters of Wyclifs ideas. Wyclif was criticizing the whole idea of an institutional church, and the popularity of his beliefs were threatening the church due to his large amount of followers.

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Those with power within the church did not want to lose property or influence, and were desperate to counter Wyclifs attacks on the churchs overall structure. 11. Fur-collar crimes were the crimes committed by the nobles in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was called fur-collar because of the strip of fur only nobles were allowed to wear around their necks. Fur-collar crimes were not severe crimes such as homicide and arson. Usually, nobles used their high position to rob and extort from those weaker than them and then cheat the judicial system. Nobles resorted to crime because after the Hundred Years War, there was little for them to do, and inflation was harsh as well. They did not have enough income to support their luxurious lifestyle, which they had to have to keep their reputation. Crime was another way for them to earn money. They often kidnapped travellers and demanded a ransom and robbed. They usually got away with their crime because in court, they would threaten the jurors, intimidated witnesses, and bribed the judges. 12. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the lives of peasants were both improved and

worsened. Since many had died during the Black Death, the insufficient number of laborers resulted in higher wages, and in turn, a higher standard of living. Peasants and workers were paid more money, so they were able to afford land, especially since the cost of land had went down. However, during and after the Hundred Years War, new taxes were imposed and already existing taxes were raised in order to pay for the expensive war. They were also extremely frustrated with the unsuccessful government and the rising amount of crime. This led to various peasant revolts, which were usually stopped with violence and resulted in excessive death of those involved. Many people were also not allowed to join guilds, which added to their anger. 13. The Jacquerie of 1358 in France was a massive peasant revolt. It was caused when France heavily taxed the poor to pay for the Hundred Years War. The fact that two years before,

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the peasants had to pay the ransom of their king and several nobles also contributed to their resentment. They were also suffering from the plague, famine, and harassment from nobles. Many of the peasants pinned the blame on the nobles for the heavy taxes, crimes in rural areas, and the misery of the poor in general. They travelled the countryside, killing nobles and abusing family members, as well as burning their living places and killing their livestock. In the end, the nobles united and stopped the revolution by killing many peasants, including the innocent, which only drove the peasants protests to develop in secret. The English Peasants Revolt in 1381 had many causes. Due to not enough laborers, there was a general increase of wages for peasants, but the increasing good fortune resulted in higher expectations of the upper class. They had many demands that the aristocracy was unwilling to grant, and the poor were still unable to reach a higher social status. In addition, the south of England had been raided by the French, but the English government had done close to nothing to help, and many of the upper class had committed crimes against the peasants. These events created tension in the peasants, and when the head tax was imposed on them in 1380, they ended up revolting. 14. There was a great amount of conflict and frustration among guild members in the 14th century because some people wanted to produce more than guilds could allow, so they hired different families to produce only one step of a product. Some protested, while others took advantage of this and followed suit, which created a bigger gap between the wealthy guild members and the poorer members and journeymen that worked under them, since some prospered from creating an assembly line. For many, this is only caused a reduced income and lower social status. In order to counter competition, guilds usually only allowed families already in the guild to be members. Therefore, unless one was related to a master or found a guild members wife or daughter to marry could not join to guild and become a master, which resulted

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in resentment of guilds. Many of them started riots, strikes, and boycotts, causing many cities to ban guilds of journeymen, but many created guilds anyway. 15. In the late Middle Ages, the general policy regarding migration was that the native people had to obey their traditional laws, while those who were newcomers had to follow their laws of the country they came from. This was the policy in most countries, except England with the Irish. The English discriminated greatly against the Irish, stating that those of Irish descent were automatically unfree. The Irish were not allowed to make wills, and English laws were established in Ireland. There was a great emphasis on blood, which created resentment and frustration. Racial tensions increased in the 14th century when economic situations became dire, and many immigrants were protested against. For example, those not native to a country becoming church officials was looked down upon. Many Germans migrated to Baltic and Slavic lands, where many Slavs looked down upon them. In the Dalimil Chronicle, Czechs wrote with hostility about the Germans. In response, the Germans forbid Slavs to join their guilds. Intermarriage between races was banned in many areas, and many wanted to keep their races pure. The Statute of Kilkenny in 1366 was one of the most extreme attempts to preserve ethnic purity; the English stated that English peoples in Ireland had to distinguish themselves as English and that the Irish were not to be granted any benefits. Many used blood to describe the purity of their generation, and most were very serious about keeping bloodlines pure. Nobles also began to use blood as a way to separate themselves from the commoners. Not only were they not allowed to marry outside of their race, they were not allowed to marry commoners. Racism and discrimination became widespread throughout Europe.

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