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The Black Death

European population growth of the High Middle Ages came to an abrupt end in 1348 with the outbreak of the “Black Death.” The causes of this plague are debated, but the resulting demographic changes had significant economic consequences that produced both changes in social relations and social conflicts such as peasant revolts.

  • I. Demographic Impact and Immediate Responses
  • II. The Causes of the Black Death
  • III. The Economic and Social Consequences of the Demographic Collapse

I. Demographic Impact and Immediate Responses

  • 1. The Death Toll
  • Regional variation: between one quarter and one third of the population (20 to 30 million?)
  • 2. Viewed as Divine Punishment
  • Inspired Popular Penitential Movements (Flagellants)
  • Attacks on Jewish Communities

II. The Causes of the Black Death

  • 1. Bubonic Plague?
  • (the bacillus Yersina/Pasteurella Pestis)
  • 2. A Malthusian Crisis?
  • Did European population exceed resources available to support it?
  • All arable land under cultivation circa 1300
  • 3. “The Little Ice Age” 1306 and the Great Famine (1314-1316)
  • 4. Repeat Cyclical Outbreaks of Disease

III. The Economic and Social Consequences of Demographic Collapse

  • 1. Labor and Wages in the Urban Context
  • 2. Crop Prices and Rents for Peasants
  • 3. Servitude and Demographics
  • 4. Late Medieval Social Revolts
  • Jacquerie 1358 (Overlapped with Hundred-years war)
  • English Peasant Revolt 1381

Late Medieval Monarchies and Representative Assemblies

The Development of the English Parliament

1215 Barons force King John to accept Magna Carta (recognized traditional liberties; consultation with barons)

1264-65 rebellion against Henry III; Simon de Montefort calls knights and townsmen to Parliament

1295 Edward I calls representatives of the kingdom

2. France and the Estates General (1302)

Philip IV calls all provincial estates to general meeting

3. The Cortes of Castile (1188) and Aragon

Representatives of the the towns

4. The Diet of the German Empire/“Holy Roman Empire”

The Papacy in the Late Middle Ages

  • 1. The Avignese Papacy or “Babylonian Captivity” (1305-1378)
  • Boniface VIII (1294-1303)
  • 2. The Great Western Schism (1378-1417)
  • Election of multiple popes and divided obediences
  • Concilar Movement (Church Council superior to Pope)