 How did climate change affect early fourteenth-century Europe?
The lives of all medieval Europeans were tied to the fortunes of agriculture. In the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries a gradually warming climate lengthened the growing season in northern
Europe, making it possible to grow more grain even on less arable land. This trend was reversed
at the end of the thirteenth century and in the fourteenth century the European mainland became
progressively colder. This caused changes in rainfall patterns, shortened the growing seasons and
lessened the productivity of cereal agriculture. Europe’s vulnerability to climatic change came in
1315 during the great famine in northern Europe. (pp. 2-4)
 What were the economic consequences of the Black Death upon Europe?
The Black Death emerged on the island of Sicily in late 1347 and by 1348 almost 50% of
Europe's population had vanished in a gruesome death that defied explanation. Harvests lay
rotting in the fields, manufacturing ceased and trade was disrupted. Basic necessities were scarce
and prices were high. By 1400, life had returned to some normalcy and although plague and
famine intensified Europe's economic crisis, there were positive changes. Prices began to
stabilize and for a time workers were obtaining higher wages. People began to spend some of
their income on luxury items. Specialized regional economies also resulted. Most areas of
Europe turned to what they could do best and the trade of basic commodities over long distances
created a new commercial equilibrium. (pp. 9-15)
 To what extent were the social changes of the Late Middle Ages a consequence of the plague?
The major immediate social change was that by 1400 Europe had lost almost half its population.
Whole villages disappeared: in Germany alone, 40,000 villages that were extant in 1348 were
gone by 1500. For workers, wages rose and work became easier to find. Ordinary people could
not only afford bread, but dairy, meat, fish and fruits and on a more regular basis. A more
balanced diet was the result. Though slow to respond, the great landlords demanded unpaid
obligations from the peasants. In eastern Europe, peasants were forced into serfdom. The
situation in towns and cities was one of overcrowding and poor sanitation. The scarcity of
workers meant that artisans were earning higher wages and after 1500, more specialized and
efficient regional economies emerged. These changes can be said to have been caused by the
Black Death. (pp. 15-22)
 Why was warfare such a constant feature of late medieval life?
The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were a period of almost constant warfare at all levels of
European society. To fight these wars governments became skilled at levying new taxes upon
their subjects. Armies became much larger and military technology became deadlier as time
passed. One result is that the largest and most successful European states–the national
monarchies of Portugal, Spain, and France–were stronger and more aggressively expansionist in
1500 than they had been two centuries earlier. One other result was the protracted affair known
as the Hundred Years’ War that managed to affect all of Europe between 1337 and 1543. (pp.
22-32)
 Why did Russia develop differently from other late medieval states?
Russia clearly developed along the lines of an Eastern-style empire, despite the fact that
diplomatic and trade relations were maintained with Western Europe and Byzantium. After 1200,
there were four developments that separated Russia from Western Europe. (1) The conquest of
most of the eastern Slavic states by the Mongols, who then created their own sate, the khanate of
the Golden Horde. (2) The rise of Moscow as a tribute-collecting center for the Mongol khanate.
Eventually Moscow became the dominant political power in northeastern Russia. (3) By 1386,
Poland had become an expansionist state and also embraced Roman Catholicism, thus acting as a
buffer between Russia and the West. (4) Eastern Orthodox Russians sympathized with their
Byzantine mentors and shunned the "Roman infection" of Christianity following the fall of
Constantinople in 1453. The Muscovite state became the center of a zealous anti-Roman
ideology. (pp. 39-40)
 Why did late medieval efforts to reform the institutions of the Catholic Church fail?
By 1300 the church had been in existence for thirteen centuries. And while no institution can last
that long without some sort of reform, it was in the fourteenth century and after that reform came
from pressures both inside and outside the church. Thanks in large part to the Conciliarist
controversy and the Great Schism, papal authority over local parishes diminished as the spiritual
prestige of the papacy declined. Kings and princes now became the primary figures toward
whom the clergy looked to reform the religious lives of European people. Popes may have been
able to rule like princes–leading armies and creating alliances–and in these secular terms they
were far from failures. But in terms of spiritual guidance, most Europeans had become
disillusioned with the popes’ reputation for piety or for religious reform within the church. (pp.
45-50)
 Were late medieval people disillusioned with their church?
By 1500 most Europeans had become disillusioned with their church. The buying and selling of
offices, the immorality and corruption of church officials, and the laxity of the clergy led people
to look elsewhere for spiritual guidance. While some looked for guidance from their kings and
princes, others embraced heresies like the Lollards and Hussites, just as they had earlier with the
Waldensians and Albigensians. And then there was Meister Eckhart or Thomas à Kempis who
stressed the divine spark that lay within the soul of the individual. This “personalization” of the
faith gave people more of what they wanted–spiritual guidance–than the papacy, which was
mired in immorality and corruption. (pp. 55-59)
 What accounts for the remarkable creativity of late medieval cultural life?
Despite the bleak picture painted by famine, plague, and war, late medieval life was a creative
period. What characterizes this medieval creativity can be identified as the continuing drive to
understand, control, and recreate the workings of the natural world. Medieval thinkers began to
see that the natural world operated according to its own laws, which were verifiable by
observation, which is a step toward a scientific worldview. At the same time, economic and
political factors encouraged technological innovation. Increasing per capita wealth produced the
capital necessary to invest in mills, factories, clocks, books and compasses and also increased the
educational level of the European population. It should seem ironic that dislocation produced
innovation but those Europeans who remained after famine, plague and war were resilient as
they stood on the verge of a new period of expansion. (pp. 60-61, tear sheets 399-401)
 How did technological advances affect everyday life?
Correct Answer:
Advances in artillery, gunpowder, and firearms changed the outcomes of war. For instance,
cannons made it difficult for rebellious aristocrats to remain in stone castles and thus aided in the
consolidation of national monarchies. Eyeglasses allowed older people to continue reading, and
the magnetic compass and new navigational devices allowed ships to travel farther away. As a
result, the world became much smaller. Mechanical clocks stimulated European interest in
complex machinery of all kinds and also began to rationalize the daily round of life. Printing by
movable type and the replacement of parchment by paper were momentous developments. Books
became less expensive to produce and own, which was important since the reading public had
increased in size. (pp. 402-404)