Crisis and Recovery of Late Medieval Europe
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.
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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
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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 14t
h
and 15
th
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
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Noble, T (2010), Western Civilization: Beyond Boundaries, Vol. 1, 6th Ed, Wadsworth Publishing
Company, U.S.A
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