IB1.

Assignm.3
Text: A History of World Societies (To 1715)

Chapter: Crises of the later Middle Ages

1. What were the challenges to religious authorities around 1300? The challenges were
many but, the biggest challenges became from the kings of both England and France
because they were in a war with each other which means they need money for it,
thus they demaned taxes from clergy which was refused by the church. This led to
kings stopping to protect the church and arrests happened as well. Also many secular
rulers made their subjects loyal to them which is considered against the church. In
short, The religious authorties started to decline.
2. Why is it hard to determine the loss of lives caused by the bubonic plague? It is
difficult to measure the exact human cost of the plague due to limited records from
the historical period.
3. What were its economic effects? Despite the fact that the plague killed so many
people, its effects on the economy were positive because, at that time europe was
suffering from over population which meant they had more people than resources
after the plague the european economy was at its peak because at that time
products were produced more effiecntly and there was a labour shortage which
forced the landlords to pay higher wages. Overall, the economy benefited greatly
from the plague.
4. What impact did the 100 years war have on the political and cultural lives of England
and France? Besides the obvious death and destruction, the war made England
virtually bankrupt and left the victorious French Crown in total control of all of France
except Calais. Also the war presented unusual opportunities for wealth and
advancement. Poor and unemployed knights were promised regular wages, criminals
were givin pardons, the great nobles expected to be rewarded, etc... Finally, the
trade was disrupted.
5. In times of crisis and disaster in the 14th century, the Church offered very little
solace. How so? Explain. The official christian church offered very little solace. In fact,
the leaders of the church added to the sorrow and misery of the times. The reason
for that is, the church itself was in trouble in terms of people losing faith in it and the
popes problem which is unfitting popes ruled and this cause people to loose faith in
the church.
6. What was John Wyclif critizicing and how did he lay the foundation for later reforms?
Wycliffe criticized abuses and false teachings in the Church. His teaching were almost
identical to Luther, Calvin and other reformores. So basically he was more than two
years before them and laid their ideas but the circumstances prevented him from
being as popular as Luther and the others.
7. What were some of the developments that contributed to the emergence of national
consciousness, mentioned in the „Vernacular Literature in the later Middle Ages“?
Across europe people spoke the language and dialect of their particular locality and
class. In England, for example, the common people spoke regional English dialects,
and the upper classes conversed in French. Official documents and works were
writtin in Latin of French. Dante‘s divine comedy and chaucer‘s canterbury tales,
brilliantly manifest this new national pride.
8. How can we interpret the last 6 lines in: „Vernacular Literature in the later Middle
Ages“? („Late medieval culture remained an oral culture… a literary culture is already
perceptible:“) We can say that this means for people at that time people it was a
turning point as they started to read more and take a liking towards reading not just
talking. This meant people will gain more knowledge because of reading and kind of
made the basis for the invention of the prenting press.