The Later Middle Ages, 1300-1485

The Later Middle Ages, 1300-1485

historical periodisation: -term "middle ages" invented much later: to pinpoint a time "in the middle" between Antiquity and modern times "modernity"
-periods are constructions by later generations to facilitate understanding

What was the Hundred Years War and how did it influence the British Isles?

-age of war & political turmoil:
-14th and 15th cent: period of violence and revolution => balance shift gtom military to merchant society
-examples: 1327: Edward II deposed

-1399: first time since 1190s English king had ended his reign without leaving a son
-1399: worst crisis of the monarchy since Magna Carta

the Hundred Years War:
-decision of 'England' to seek imperial future in France ("English Claim"), a venture which led to Hundred Years War (1337-1453), required resources and manpower on the grandest scale

-1328 French Obermufti died without heir, Edward II had claim (through French mother)
-French nobles: Who gives more power & freedom?
-one part nobles: crowned French cousin, attacked England

-second part nobles: pro Edward, allied with England (restored England's and nobles' power)
-Edward III started war in 1337 for his claim => huge gamble in Europe at that time

-batlle of Crécy near Calais (1346), much fighting over Gascony
-French army crushed, war made England rich
-military revolutions: war against France saw first use of English cannon, first use of artillery in European battle

-Henry V (1413-1422) entered Paris 1420
-chances were good for him to become king of France (even though he was entirely English), but he died in 1422
-1453: English territories in the south-west were entirely lost => end of war

Joan of Arc: most important woman in the 100-years-war was French, Jeanne d'Arc, Saint Joan (1412-1431), then accused of witchcraft and burned at stake
-raised national movement which united France against the English

-border between England & Scotland: area of continual war (such as the batlle of Bannockburn, 1314 as key event in the establishment of the independence of Scotland as a nation)

glorification of warfare in the 14th cent.:
-Edward III cultivated the notion of war as romantic enterprise
-cult of chivalry etc., founded the Order of the Garter (Hosenbandorden) in 1348 as a community of knights and being bonded in chivalry

-motto of the Order of the Garter: "Shame on thee who thinks evil of it"
-super-prestigious, still high honour (celebrated at St. Patrick's Day)
-no more than 24 (reference to Arthur) including Prince of Wales and monarch

English Politics, Society & Culture:
1349: the Black Death (known to contemporaries as the 'great mortality') arrived in rat-infested ships, reduced the population of England by one third

=>Jews were thought of being responsible
-plague had far-reaching social consequences
=> seen as punishment by God for the sinful human beings

role of Church: -only transnational, European organisation which was supported by a European infrastructure:
-clerics spoke same language (Latin), could read & write
-easy communication & safehouses, seldomly robbed or killed

-the most important rites of passage were organised and controlled by the church: birth & baptising, marriage, death
-the Pope was sort of a European supreme authority :organizing crusades, collecting taxes, monarchs eager to have Pope on their side

-political power: barons, viscounts, earls, marquesses, and dukes (ascending order)
-link between deifferent sections of English seciety provided in parliament, but exercise of political power in favour of the landed aristocracy

-little sign of the political rise of a middle class during the period
-top King, only Emperor above
-prince from Latin pricept => monarch
-Royal dukes/duchesses: family of king
-commoners: labourer, husbandmen, yeomen, gentlemen, esquires, knights, baronets (ascending order)

the peasants revolt: -tax imposed (to finance the war) in 1381 was the immediate cause
-much fewer peasants through black death
=>realized own importance, wanted more rights

-leaders: Wat Tyler, John Ball, Jack Straw
=> managed to kill archbishop of Canterbury and some nobles
-however, revolt pooly planned, more a spontaneous outburst, could not be sustained

The Lollards:
-another movement that demanded crucial changes, this time religious background
-Lollardy (name probably from 'lollaer'- a mumbler of prayers)

-significant religious movement
-harsh criticism of English church as institution and its wealth
=>unworthiness of English clerics
-Why middleman betw. believers & God?
-bible translated to English

How did the status of the English language change during the later Middle Ages?

-spread of literacy and increased use of English language as twin developments of the late 14th and 15th centuries
-English became common for formal business
-problem of regional dialects
-1362: English became national language

-literature: -dominance of English verse in all its forms: lyric & romance, comedy & tragedy, allegory
-'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight', 'Piers Plowman' as outstanding works

-also miracle & mystery plays: organized/performed by town guilds, particularly popular in northern towns of England
-literature: Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' (1386-1400, bu never completed)

Age of decadence?
-one popular poet, writing in 1389, thought of it as decadent age with its stuffed shoulders, waisted dresses and long, pointing shoes

the various Regions: Scotland
-beginning of the 'invention of tradition', providing Scotland with a monarchy which streched back to 330 BC and ultimately to the marriage of a certain princess Scota who gave her name to Scotland

-used by Scottish as justification of their land, kingdom, etc. =>gave national identity
-Norman Scots declared for a kingdom of Scotland, autonomy
=>long-standing influence on future events

Wales: -1282 Edward I successful conquest of Wales after 200 years of intermittent warfare
-brutal military occupation, erection of mighty castles, names his son Prince of Wales, no native Princes of Wales since (still firstborn named as Prince of Wales)

Ireland: -area under direct rule contracted to the 'pale' around Dublin
-real autonomy of the Normans in Ireland, possible through England's decision to fight for power in France
=> England hat no power beyond the Pale

the South of England: -though rise of cloth industry: development of towns and villages in those (rural) areas
-partial industrialization of the southern counties led to differentiation of this area of England from the rest of British Isles
=> dominance

London in 15th cent:
-merchant & craft guilds
-center of every important institution (except Church => Canterbury)
-18.000 people, but lost half to black death, so 9.000 remaining

What were the 'Wars of the Roses' and what was their result?

-name was Romantic invention
-series of civil wars between supporters of the rival houses Lancaster and York for the throne of England
-family symbols were the red rose (Lancaster) and the white rose (York)

-7. August 1485, Henry Tudor (VII), Earl of Richmond, landed in Wales, coming from Britanny
-claimed the English crown in the name of Lancaster dynasty
-defeated York

-legitimate heir Richard III seen as evil villain, who murdered rightful heirs and took throne, defeated by Henry (sceleton found in parking lot, ancestor of Benedict Cumberbatch)

-Henry VII married Elisabeth of York
=> united roses
- Tudor rose both, white & red
=> ended Wars of the Roses

consequences:
-the North gained greater political prominence
-towns grew in importance and organised their economy in guilds - trade associations that controlled access to work and markets

-yet the Wars of the Roses also brought great economic hardship
-victory of Henry can be seen as end of Middle ages and the beginning of a new age: Renaissance

-WotR made people distrust in monarchs & politicy
=> "regent sent by God", then why so much wars and discussions?
-many influential families were killed off (from ~50 to 8 remaining)