432 lines
28 KiB
Markdown
432 lines
28 KiB
Markdown
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Liam Waldron
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AP Euro
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Chapter 11
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Outline
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1 === PRELUDE TO DISASTER ===
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== CLIMATE CHANGE AND FAMINE ==
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From 1000 to 1300, Europe's climate was warmer than usual
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Around 1300, climate became colder and wetter, referrred to as a "little ice age"
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- Verifiable through tree rings, glaciers, and pollen
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Consequences of colder climate:
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- Freezing rivers
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- Failing crops and poor harvests
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- Collapse of the Viking's Greenland Colony
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- More severe weather
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- Famine (1315-1322)
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- Rising prices of grain, livestock, and dairy
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- People more vulnerable to disease
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== SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES ==
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Many homesteads and even entire villages were abandoned, especially in the Low Countries and along the England-Scotland border
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Poorer farmers were forced to sell property to richer farmers to afford food
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Delayment in marriage due to young people seeking work
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The anger of the population was focused on the rich and Jews
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Many conspired and killed Jews, after rumors spread of Jews poisoning wells to kill off Christians.
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English Sheep were affected by an infection in 1318, causing a massive decline in international exports of wool
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- Flemish woolworkers were laid off
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- Merchants were unable to buy woolen products
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- Rise in crime
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Government responses ineffective
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2 === THE BLACK DEATH ===
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== INTRO ==
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Around 1300s, year round shipping became feasible
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Merchants used these ships to ship cargo
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Consequently, these ships also carried rats which spread disease
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== PATHOLOGY ==
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Bacterium responsible for causing the bubonic plague - Yersinia Pestis
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Transmission:
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1: Fleas living on infected rats drank the blood from the rats
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2: Fleas pass on bacteria to the next rat they bite
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Plague did not infect humans unless there was a shortage of hosts
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When massive die-offs of rats happened, the fleas would transmit the disease to humans
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First known major plague outbreak: sixth century in the Eastern Roman Empire
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Most recent major plague outbreak: nineteenth century in India and China
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19th century and 14th century outbreaks had some differences, leading historians to speculate on whether they were different strains or completely different diseases
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Symptoms:
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Painful black growth (bubo) about the size of an apple, in the armpit, groin area, or neck
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Black spots caused by internal bleeding under the skin (these did not give the plague its name)
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Intense coughing and discharge of blood from mouth
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Death
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== SPREAD OF THE DISEASE ==
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The plague emerged in Western China, then a part of the Mongol Empire
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Infected rats were abled to travel long distances through Mongol armies and traveling merchants
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These rats then hid on ships traveling to the Black Sea
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Black Sea port cities were infected by the 1340s
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Mongol armies besieging Kaffa catapulted infected corpses over the walls of the city, and while residents attempted to dispose of the bodies before they got infected, it was ultimately futile
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October 1347, Genoese ships conducting trade between Kaffa and Messina transmitted the plague, spreading it to Sicily, where it then moved to Venice and Genoa by the beginning of 1348
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By way of the port of Pisa, the disease spread to Central and Southern Italy
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The plague spread to Germany the same year
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Through Marseilles, the plague spread to Southern France and Spain
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June 1348, the Plague spread to England and Scandinavia through 2 ships
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The plague spread eastward by land into Poland and Central Europe
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Conditions in medieval cities were appalling, which gave the plague many additional vectors to spread. Excrement, animal carcasses, and trash were common in streets
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People were left weak by famine, hygiene standards were low, and cities were overcrowded.
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Fleas affected everyone, and thus people were not worried about being bitten. An association between the plague, fleas, and rats had not been made.
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Some cities were spared by the plague, because they stockpiled food and locked the gates to outsiders. Ex: Milan, Liege, Nuremberg
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As many as 500 and 600 died per day in Vienna, according to a Chronicler
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Emigrants escaping the plague in the Holy Roman Empire spread the plague eastward towards Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary
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The plague killed the youngest son of the Byzantine emperor John VI Kantakouzenous
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The Black Death recurred intermittenly from 1360 to 1400
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Many cities experienced outbreaks centuries later, with the last European outbreak being Marseilles
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== CARE OF THE SICK ==
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People understood person to person transmission
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Physicians believed that the air was "corrupted" or "poisoned", and that this air was the primary cause of infection
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Treatments included:
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Ringing church bells or firing cannons to clear poisons from the air
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Plant based treatments, such as from plants that oozed, were believed to keep the dangerous oozing of the plague away
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Cryptograms helped people pray and gave a sense of order
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Although people were critical of the clergy at the time, they regularly cared for the sick, and buried the dead
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Due to this, the death rate of the clergy was extremely high
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To avoid sickness, the wealthy fled the cities, which spread the plague even more
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Many cities attempted to lock down before the plague reached them, this worked in a few areas
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According to Giovanni Boccaccio, "Almost no one cared for his neighbor...brother abandoned brother...and - even worse, almost unbelievable - fathers and mothers neglected to tend and care for their children"
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== ECONOMIC, RELIGIOUS, AND CULTURAL EFFECTS ==
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The high death toll allowed less fertile farmland to be abandoned
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People moved to more specialized forms of agriculture, which proved to be a better use of the land in the long run
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THe plague brought about inflation in Europe
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Fall in production
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Prices on goods such as meat, sausage, and cheese increased
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Labor shortages, which allowed workers to demand better wafes
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Higher standard of living for survivors
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Greater mobility for peasants and artisans
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People who sought release from affliction became more pious
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Many people believed the plague was a punishment from God for their sins, the best remedies were prayer, asking for forgiveness, and living better lives
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In Constantinople, many of the sick avoided vice, and pursued virtue
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Many people divided their land among the poor
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Muslims encouraged people to give to the poor, make amends with your enemies, free slaves, and say goodbye to loved ones
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Many Christians joined flagellant groups, who scourged themselves as penance for sins
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They were barred from entering cities due to concerns from authorities
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Thousands of Jews were murdered across Europe because people believed they were spreading the plague to their towns
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Literature reveals that people were afraid of death
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Many new universities were established
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International character of the medieval culture weakened, creating conditions for schism
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3 === THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR ===
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== CAUSES ==
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- Disagreements over land rights
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- DIspute over succession to the French throne
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- Economic conflict
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Many of these conflicts revolved around Aquitaine
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Aquitaine became an English holding after Elanor of Aquitaine married King Henry II
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Henry III signed the Treaty of Paris with Louis IX, affirming English claims over the duchy, while allowing it to become a vassal of France
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France wanted to absorb the province into their kingdom, therefore it became disputed territory
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Immediate cause of the war was conflict over who would inherit the French throne after Charles IV died with no heir
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Charles IV had a sister named Isabella, whose son was Edward III of England
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An assembly of French Nobles forbade Isabella and Edward from taking the throne, saying "no woman nor her son could succeed to the monarchy"
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They claimed this was foundational to French Law
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Edward was barred from the French throne
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The ban on female successipn was in place until the French Revolution
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The crown was passed onto Philip VI
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1329 - Edward III formally recognized the lordship of Philip VI over Aquitaine
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1337 - Philip VI revoked the duchy, Edward III saw this as a violation of the 1259 treaty and cause for war
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Edward claimed that as the eldest descendent of Philip the Fair, he deserved the French throne
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This upset feudal order in France and caused many nobles to abandon Philip VI
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One of the reasons the war was so long was that it became a civil war within France, between the ENglish-loyal dukes of Burgundy
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Scotland often allied with France because they both hated England
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Both governments manipulated their populations in order to support the war
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The English population believed:
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The war was waged to secure the throne for Edward III
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That Edward had been wrongfully denied the throne
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England sent letters to sherrifs describing the evil deeds of France
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Philip VI warned villages of invasion
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Both countries ordered clergy to give patriotic sermons
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An early form of nationalism developed during this time
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Political issues were tied to economic factors, especially the wool trade between Flanders and England
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Both countries relied heavily on this trade
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Flanders was technically a French holding, and the aristocracy was sympathetic towards France
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Flemish Burghers were sympathetic towards England, as their livelihood depended on the wool trade
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The war was an opportunity for economic success for some people
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Poor knights were promised normal wages, criminals were given pardons if they enlisted, and soldiers were told that if they won, they could seize anything they wished
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== ENGLISH SUCCESSES ==
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The war opened with French raids on English coastal towns in 1337, but the French fleet was decisively defeated when they attempted to land troops
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The war from this point on was fought mostly in France and the Low Countries
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These battles were mainly random sieges and cavalry raids
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Many treaties were signed along the way to halt hostilities
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England was very successful in the early years of the war
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In 1346, at Crecy in Northern France, English longbowmen defeated French Knights and crossbowmen
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Longbowmen held the advantage of speed, while not being very accurate, they could reload very rapidly
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This rain of arrows confused and threw French knights off their horses
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The cannon caused panic among French troops, and is likely the first use of artillery in the Western world
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This war did not follow Edward III's chivalric rules
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Edward's son, the Black Prince, used these same tactics nevertheless to destroy the French at Poitiers
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England could not capture all of France, but held large swaths of territory, including Aquitaine, and allied with French nobility
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At this time, there was a brief peace, with France reconquering some of its territory afterwards
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Both sides signed a treaty in the 1380s to deal with problems back home
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The war kicked off again in 1415 when King Henry V of England invaded France
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Henry's more skilled army defeated a larger French army at Agincourt, primary with the help of English longbowmen
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Henry then reconquered Normandy
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By 1419, the English army had reached Paris, where Henry married the daughter of the French King
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A treaty made Henry and his descendents the automatic heirs to the French throne
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Henry died abruptly, leaving his infant son as heir
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The English continued to win the war and besieged Orleans, the last remaining major city
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== JOAN OF ARC ==
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The French success relied on a French peasant girl, Joan of Arc
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Born in 1412, she grew up in a devoutly religious household
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She began to hear voices which she claimed belonged to Saint Michael, Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret
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These voices told her in 1428 that Charles VII must be crowned king of France and the English must be kicked out
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She travelled to a French court wearing male clothing, where she was questioned on her visions
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She then secured support to travel with the French Army to Orleans, she then sent a letter to the English ordering their surrender
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When the English did not heed this warning, Joan lead the French Army through multiple victories, which led to tne English abandoning Orleans
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Joan became co-commander of the French Army, which she led into even more victories
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Some cities surrendered without a fight
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Charles VII was crowned King of France at Reims
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Joan was captured in 1430 by the Burgundians, Charles refused to ransom her, therefore she was sold to the English
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A pro-English bishop tried Joan for heresy, and she was burned at the stake
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Nevertheless, France continued to pursue victory without her
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Burgundy switched loyalty to France after sensing a shift in the tides of war
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They then reconquered Normandy and Aquitaine
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Both sides demanded the war's end due to massive loss of life and money
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Joan of Arc was cleared of heresy charges and declared a martyr after a new trial was requested by Charles VII
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== AFTERMATH ==
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Thousands, both soldiers and civilians had died, and hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland had been ruined
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Trade was severely disrupted and the French international economy suffered
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Peasants were unhappy with high rates of taxation
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England spent 5 Million Pounds on the war, which was a huge financial loss
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Wool was priced out of the export market due to taxes
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Many on both sides had sought to become rich through serving in the war, but this wealth was quickly squandered
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Social order at home was disrupted because many knights who had served as sherrifs were serving overseas
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The war brought about technological advancements, such as the use of the cannon, which:
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- Made castles no longer impregnable
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- Strenghened nation states because only governments could afford cannons
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The war saw the development of the English parliament
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While many countries had representative assemblies, they all died down in the 15th century, unlike the English parliament
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Parliament in 37 of the 50 years Edward was king
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Meetings were becoming more frequent
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New taxes required parliamentary approval
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A national assembly failed to develop in France due to strong differences, including (but not limited to) linguistic, and geographic, within the nation
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Provincial assemblies wamted to stay independent and thus did not want a national assembly
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Some monarchs did not have the power to call assemblies, and in the case of Charles VI, he thoroughly disliked them
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The war promoted a growth of nationalism
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4 === CHALLENGES TO THE CHURCH ===
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In times of need, many turned to religion, however many clergy were more concerned with worldly matters
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Many members of the clergy challanged the power of the papacy and many laypeople challenged the authority of the church itself
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People directly approached God rather than relying on the church
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== THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY AND GREAT SCHISM ==
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During the middle ages, conflicts between secular leaders and the popes were normal
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Philip the Fair and Boniface VIII developed a rivalry
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After Boniface's death, Philip pressured Clement V, the new pope, to move papal authority to Avignon in Souther France, in order to control church policy
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The pope lived in Avignon from 1309 to 1376, a period known as the Babylonian Captivity
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Papal reputation was severely damaged by the Captivity
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Church leadership was cut off from its source of authority and roots
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Pope Gregory XI returned the Papacy to Rome, but died shortly after
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There was pressure to elect an Italian pope, and Bartolomeo Prignano, archbishop of Bari, was chosen, where he took the name Urban VI
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Urban wanted to reform the church, but executed it poorly
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He denounced clerical luxury, individual cardinals, and threatened excommunication
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These cardinals met and declared Urban's election invalid and excommunicated him
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Cardinal Robert of Geneva, Pope Clement VII was elected
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There were two popes at this point, Urban in Rome and Clement in Avignon
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This began the Great Schism, which divided Western Christianity until 1417
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The nations of Europe aligned with either Rome or Avignon, along political lines. For example, England supported Urban because France, their rivalsm supported Clement
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John of Spoleto said that the longer the schism lasts, the more harm it does
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The schism severely harmed the reputation of church leadership
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== CRITIQUES, DIVISIONS, AND COUNCILS ==
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Criticism of the church during this time came from highly intellectual clergy and professional laypeople
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One of these laypeople, William of Occamm was highly critical of the papacy, disconnected faith and reason, argued for limited government power and separation of church and state.
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Marsiglio of Padua claimed the state was the great unifying power and the church should submit to it, church leadership should lie in a council
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Marsiglio was excommunicated and deemed a heretic
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Despite this, many agreed with him, these people were called conciliarists
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John Wyclif, an English theologian, argued for Scripture alone, and claimed that the papacy had no basis in Scripture
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Wyclif completed the first English translation of the Bible
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His followers, called Lollards, spread his ideas and made copies of his translation of the Bible
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Lollards were persecuted, executed, and forced into hiding
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Bohemian Students brought the ideas of Wyclif to Prauge after studying at Oxford University
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The theologian Jan Hus expanded these ideas, he demanded translations of the Bible into Czech, and declared indulgences useless
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This was linked with growing Czech nationalism against the Pope
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Hus' followers, Hussites, were successful in repelling the Pope's armies, and the Holy Roman Empire finally recognized the Church's legitimacy
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The Hussite Church survived the reformation and merged into other churches
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The Schism still threatened the church, and a council was called at Pisa in 1409
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The theologians at the council deposed both popes, but neither resigned, thus a three-sided schism was created
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German Emperor Sigismund called a council at Constance, which aimed to do the following:
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- End schism
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- Wipe out heresy
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- Reform the church
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This council included cardinals, bishops, abbots, and theologians
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Results:
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- Jan Hus was condemned a heretic and burned at the stake
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- Both popes were finally deposed, and Martin V was chosen
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The council was dissolved before reform could take place, which laid the foundations for the protestant reformation
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== LAY PIETY AND MYSTICISM ==
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The Avignon Papacy and the Schism weakened the spiritual mystique of the clergy, and many laypeople had found their own ways to become pious
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Laypeople had formed confraternities, some of which had specified in praying for souls in purgatory, hosting church festivals, and raised money for the upkeep of churches
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Separate womens confraternities oversaw production of fabric items for churches
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A group in Holland called the Bretheren and Sisters of the Common Life lived simple lives while feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick.
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"The Imitation of Christ" urged people to make Christ a model for their lives
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For all people, clergy included, mystical experiences were part of religious devotion
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Bridget of Sweden was a noble woman who made a pilgrimage to Rome after her husband's death, had visions and gave advice to laypeople and clergy
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She made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at the end of her life, when she had visions of Mary describing what it was like giving birth to Jesus
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Conraternities were not considered heretical unless they challenged church authority like Hus, Wyclif, and the conciliarists
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5 == SOCIAL UNREST IN A CHANGING SOCIETY ==
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MAIN POINT: Peasants were frusturated with lack of work, high taxes, and crime, and turned to revolt as a solution
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== PEASANT REVOLTS ==
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Nobles had lived off of peasant labor while not thinking twice of adding taxes to the burden
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Peasants endured severe exploitation for centuries, but the difficult conditions of the 14th and 15th centuries sparked revolt
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The first major rebellion was in Flanders, because:
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- Flemish peasants were forced to pay high taxes to the French after the Hundred Years' War, because France claimed fiscal rights over the nation
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- Monasteries demanded money from peasants
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The peasants sacked castles and countryside mansions, but were stopped by the French Army, and a brutal retaliation followed
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More riots broke out elsewhere, such as the Jacqueire in France, led by Jacques Bonhomme
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Peasants blamed nobles for high taxes, crime, death toll from the war, and poor conditions in general
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Revolts were extremely violent, they killed nobles, assaulted their wives and daughters, burned their castles and killed their livestock and horses
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Artisans and merchants joined the peasants
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The upper class then suppressed the rebellion with full force, driving it undergrounc
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English peasants demanded more wages and less manorial obligations, due to a cut in labor supply after the Black Death
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The King froze wages and bound workers to their manors, this was unenforcable, however
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Main factors in England that contributed to rebellion:
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- French raids during the Hundred Years' War
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- Lack of protection from the government
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- Aristocratic violence against peasants
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- Social and religious agitation
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Main cause of rebellion in England: A tax on all adult males to pay for the war
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This tax was very unpopular. Despite this, the royal council ordered sheriffs to collect these taxes forcefully
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People involved:
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Peasants
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Urban artisans
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Rural residents
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The rebellion began with attacks on the tax collectors, then followed the course of the Jacqueire
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Many nobles were murdered, including the Archbishop of Canterbury
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Rebellion was primary in the south and east, although conflict did occur in the north
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King Richard II met the leaders of the rebellion, made false promises, then suppressed the rebellion with full force
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The nobility attempted to restore serfdom, but failed, and serfdom eventually disappeared in England by 1550
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== URBAN CONFLICTS ==
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In Flanders, France, and England, peasant revolts mixed with workers conflicts in cities
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These urban revolts had their roots in changing nature and conditions of labor
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13th century:
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Craft guilds organized production
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14th century:
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A new system, capitalism, was designed to support mass production
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Overview of capitalism:
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Investors hired households to perform one step of the process
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(Investors initially wealthy bankers and merchants, but eventually became shop keepers)
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This new system promoted division within the guilds, their wealthy masters, and poor masters and journeymen hired by the richer masters
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Some masters did not need to work in shops anymore because they became so wealthy
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Capitalism, while it provided many opportunities, it also led to a decrease in income for some
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Guilds sometimes opened membership, but they more likely limited membership to existing families
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This meant that journeymen who were not the sons of masters, or who could not find a master's daughter or widow to marry, could not become masters
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Remaining journeymen lost solidarity with the masters of their craft, this resentment led to rebellion
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Uprisings in cities were also caused by honor-related issues, such as ordering workers to do tasks regarded as beneath them
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Guilds tied honor as tied to an all male workplace
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When the economies of cities were expanding in the High Middle Ages, the master's wife and daughters worked alongside him, as well as female servants
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A master's widow would run his shop after his death
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However, in the 14th century, women's participation in guilds dropped, even after the labor shortage caused by the plague
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== SEX IN THE CITY ==
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Marital patterns may have had correlations to peasant and urban revolts
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In Northwestern Europe, people believed a couple should be financially independent before marriage, not only in times of crisis, but in general
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During this time period, women married older than they had historically, as a result:
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She was not dependent on her husband as much as a younger woman would be
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She had less pregnancies (not necessarily fewer surviving children"
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Men always tended to be older than the women they married, usually in their mid to late twenties, with wealthier men much older
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Journeymen, apprentices, and university students were prohibited from marrying
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These prohibitions meant cities and villages were full of unmarried men, who had no responsibilities, and often caused riots and unrest
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This contributed to sexual services outside of marriage - prostitution
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Many cities in France set up legal houses of prostitution, which were regulated
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Visiting brothels was associated among young men with achieving manhood
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Poor women often went into sex work as a way to make money
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While prostitution was legal, there were many regulations on prostitutes themselves, being required to wear certain clothing, restrictions on movement, etc
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A few women were able to buy property, but most were poor
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Men frequently took sex by force, where unmarried women found it hard to avoid sexual contact
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There were little protections in place for female servants or day laborers
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Same-sex relationshipss were another component of medieval life
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Homosexuality was of little concern to the church or state in the early middle ages, but this changed around 1300, with defined laws such as "crimes against nature"
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Same-sex relationships were termed sodomy, and it became a capital crime in most of the continent, with execution by fire threatened
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A couple cities created special courts to deal with sodomy
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Between 1432 and 1502, 17,000 men came to the attention of the court in Florence
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Almost all cases involved an adult male and an adolescent boy
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Many of these relationships developed in all male environments
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== FUR COLLAR CRIME ==
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Due to inflation, many nobles turned to crime to raise money
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These crimes involved violence and fraud
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Examples:
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- Knightly gangs demanded peasants pay protection money or else their property would be burned down
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- They heald wealthy travelers for ransom
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- Corrupt landowners pushed for higher taxes
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- Intimidation of witnesses
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- Threatening of jurors
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- Persuasion
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- Bribes
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Fur collar crimes led to revolt, but also inspired popular culture
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Robin Hood is a prime example of this
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== ETHNIC TENSIONS AND RESTRICTIONS ==
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People from all across Europe migrated to different countries in search of work, land, and food
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People of all different ethnic backgrounds lived alongside each other
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In most places, native people were subject to their traditional laws, wheread foreigners were subject to the laws of wherever they had come from
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The great exception to this was Ireland, where the English discriminated against the native Irish from the start
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Irish people:
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- Were deemed "unfree" from birth
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- Were denied access to the common law courts
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- Could be murdered and no felony charges would be brought against the killer
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In other places, people prospered from the growing economies of the 14th century, ethnic tensions also rose
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The legal dualism system was done away with in the late Middle Ages, and homogeneity was put in place, with blood descent emplasized.
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The dominant ethnic group of an area barred foreigners from opportunities
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The Statute of Kilkenny forbade the marriage between an Irish and British person, forbade use of the Irish language, forced name changes, among other things
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People began referring to nation of origin as "blood", this emerged after the Hundred Years' war
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This expanded into religion ("Christian blood") and nobility ("Noble blood")
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== LITERACY AND VERNACULAR LITERATURE ==
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Ethnic tensions encouraged the use of vernacular, rather than Latin
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The use of vernacular encouraged the writing of Dante's Divine Comedy and Chaucer's Canterbury Takles
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The Divine Comedy is a poem describing the narrator's journey through hell, purgatory, and eventually into heaven, containing criticism of church authority
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Canterbury Tales is a collection of short stories where a group of pilgrims journey to Canterbury to pay homage to Thomas Becket
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Both of these works show cultural tensions
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The beginning of the 14th century saw increasing literacy for laypeople
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Schools quadrupled within the Diocese of York in England between 1350 and 1500
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Children in Flanders and Germany learned basic reading, writing, and math at school
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Laymen more often served as clerks and managers
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Laymen also adopted government positions more frequently, a clear sign of increasing literacy
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The upper class sent their daughters to convent schools, where they learned the basics of religious and home life
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Society was shifting from an oral culture to a written culture
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