The Late Middle Ages: Crisis, Plague, and Recovery
The Final Crisis of the Middle Ages
1. What was the final crisis of the Middle Ages?
There were a number of factors during this century that caused a large number of deaths:
- Wars led to economic crises.
- Diseases like the plague and famine caused by major floods that damaged the crops.
The Black Death: Origins and Impact
2. Explain what the Plague was and how it spread.
It is a disease transmitted by fleas from rats. It began in 1348 and ended in 1352, killing nearly 20 million people. It brought a notable decline in population and increased social tensions. It was called the Black Death and began in the steppes of Asia.
Demographic Impact of the Plague
3. Explain the demographic impact of the plague in Europe.
During the fourteenth century, the population was recovering slowly, and the population increased. When the plague started, there were about 70 million people; it killed about 25 million. Years later, the population recovered to 68 million inhabitants.
Population and Economy in the 15th and 16th Centuries
4. What happened to the population and the economy during the 15th and 16th centuries?
The economy experienced a period of prosperity. On the one hand, the population grew and demanded more agricultural products and artisans. Moreover, the geographical discoveries increased trade with the newly discovered lands. To facilitate business transactions, the banking system improved with a strong development of methods of payment and loans. The major economic powers of this era were cities where handicraft production was concentrated and which had important trading ports, such as Venice and Florence in Italy, Antwerp in Flanders, the Hanseatic cities, Lisbon, Seville, and London.
Social Classes in the Late Middle Ages
5. Explain the existing social classes during these centuries.
- The nobility and the clergy were the privileged classes; they did not pay direct taxes and ruled. They were minorities.
- The Bourgeoisie: families of merchants and bankers. They possessed enormous wealth and power. A prominent bourgeois family was the Medici. Other families, like the Fugger and Welser, were directly related to the most powerful kings of their time, to whom they lent money and received great privileges.
- Peasants: Their living conditions were harsh and poor. Still, in Western Europe, their situation improved since, in most countries, they ceased to be serfs and became free persons.
Mechanisms to Strengthen Royal Power
6. What mechanisms did kings establish to strengthen their power?
- They created a bureaucracy and centralized management and professionals reporting directly to the king.
- They strengthened the army; the troops were paid by the king and obeyed his orders.
- They raised taxes to obtain funding. However, the approval of new taxes continued to be subjected to the parliaments.
- They created a diplomatic network to maintain relations with other countries.
Authoritarian Monarchies
7. What do we call this kind of monarchy?
Authoritarian monarchies. The court, or king’s house, left its itinerant character typical of the Middle Ages and settled in a town from which the government was run.
Political Division of Europe
8. How was Europe divided during these centuries, and what were the most important realms?
It was divided into small states, but from the fifteenth century, many of them joined through marriage alliances.
- France: After the Hundred Years’ War, the French kings from Charles VII to Francis I unified the country and consolidated their power.
- England: For much of the fifteenth century, the country experienced a civil war that weakened the nobility, and Henry VIII was able to increase royal power.
- Spain: Ferdinand and Isabella unified all Iberian kingdoms except Portugal.
- Russia: Ivan III the Great unified the country, incorporated new territories, and appointed himself Tsar (emperor) of Russia.