Starting in the 12 th Century, Europe began to change The Crusades brought new goods from the East to Europe stimulating trade The Crusades also weakened the Byzantine Empire and led to its eventual collapse Trade lead to the growth of towns and the development of a middle class and a greater use of money Many people used to money to pay their feudal lord rather than performing services for him
Unusually heavy rains led to flooding Eventually floods crops spoiled and livestock drowned in waterlogged fields Farm animals needed for labor were killed for food and seed grain was eaten Shortages increased grain prices and millions of people died Many questioned the Church for reasons of the problems
Only 25 years after the Great Famine rats with fleas entered Europe from Asia on trading ships Approx 25 million people died, approx 1/3 of Europe s population People were buried in mass graves The Jewish were blamed for poisoning the wells Others claimed it was God s punishment for sinful behavior As a result there were labor shortages, large numbers of serfs escaped serfdom when they were offered freedom for work
The war between France and England began when the king of France died without an heir and the King of England claimed the French throne Instead of relying on feudal armies belonging to nobles, each king developed a standing army of foot soldiers New weapons such as the English longbow, gunpowder and cannons were introduced from China Both England and France developed a great sense of national pride and loyalty to their kings Joan of Arc, a young French maiden, rallied French troops around the heir to the throne She turn the tide of the war when she successfully drove the English out of the city of Orleans and crowned the new French King at Rheims Cathedral Later Joan was captured and burned at the stake by the British for being a witch Within 20 years after her death the war was over
In 1378, the Pope was based in Rome and an Italian was elected pope as Pope Urban VI. The cardinals in the France refused to accept him, declared his election void, and named Clement VII as pope. Clement withdrew to Avignon, and Urban remained in Rome. Western Christendom could not decide which one to obey. Some countries declared for Urban, while other countries accepted Clement. The spectacle of two rival popes, each holding himself out as the only true successor of St. Peter, continued for about forty years and injured the Papacy more than anything else that had happened to it.
A new interest in learning about the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome developed in the citystates of Italy in the 1400s This led to a period of great intellectual and artistic creativity, a rebirth The Renaissance The Renaissance is considered one of the great turning points in the history of western civilization
As trade between Asia and Europe increased, Genoa, Pisa, and Venice emerged as centers of Mediterranean trade, banking, commerce, and handicrafts The city-states of Florence, Milan, Siena grew wealthy from banking Italian city-states were very independent because they had no single ruler to prevent it
During the Renaissance wealthy Italian merchants acted as patrons supporting artists, writers, and scholars As people began to show more interest in this new world than of the life hereafter People used observation and experience to explain the world rather than simply relying on Church teachings
Italian scholars were surrounded by the remains of ancient civilizations, they were impressed by the achievements of pre- Christian artists and thinkers Like ancient Greeks, Renaissance thinkers believed in the power of human reason to explain the world They looked on man as the focus of all things The placed great emphasis on the dignity, worth, and uniqueness of each person
Before the Renaissance, art in Italy was greatly influenced by Byzantine styles Religious paintings were highly decorative with gold and jewels, but were flat and lifeless Giotto (1267-1337) painter who painted in a new style, he used scenes with figures in lifelike space showing emotions and gestures Masaccio (1401-1428) developed perspective, using guidelines to calculate how things recede in the distance until they reached a vanishing point DaVinci (1452-1519) painter, sculptor, and inventor Michelangelo (1475-1564) artist from Florence his sculptures and frescos in the Sistine Chapel were very realistic and glorified the human form
Masaccio Da Vinci Michelangelo Giotto
Renaissance architects studied ruins of ancient Roman buildings to develop a new style They abandoned the pointed arches and ornamentation of the Middle Ages They used the columns and circular arches for a simpler classic style Filippo Brunelleschi - developed a dome with immense interior space
Renaissance humanists studied classical Roman and Greek literature, poetry, and philosophy Petrarch, the father of humanism, collected and studied ancient texts New methods of criticizing texts led some like Erasmus, to question the Church Boccaccio wrote in vernacular, local language rather than Latin As the Renaissance spread, other writers such as Rabelais in France, Shakespeare in England, and Cervantes in Spain completed works in their own native languages
Niccolo Machiavelli was a courtier and politician in Florence He wrote The Prince as a guidebook in how to secure and maintain political power He argued that the most successful rulers did not act according to laws or conscience, but those who were willing to do whatever was necessary to hold power the end justifies the means People strove to improve their material conditions, while the wealthy accumulated more luxury goods, this encouraged trade and the growth of cities
The Church taught that the Earth was the center of the Universe, Nicholas Copernicus, a polish scientist, took measurements that led him to conclude that the Earth orbited the sun, as a result, his work was banned by the Church Galileo was a famous Italian scientist who laid the foundations of modern physics His observations strengthened Copernicus theory and Galileo was put on trial, found guilty, and confined to his home.
Europeans copied all of their books and scrolls by hand, most of these works were found in monasteries and Church libraries Block printing was invented in China and introduced to Europe in the 1300s In 1450, Johann Gutenberg developed a printing press with moveable type, this allowed for mass production of printed books This encouraged the spread of new ideas and people also began to learn to read
Wide spread corruption within the Church led to challenges to the Pope s authority Many entered the clergy to gain power and wealth rather than faith The church experienced a growing loss of spiritual influence Men like Erasmus and Sir Thomas Moore sought reform within the Catholic Church, but the Church was slow to respond
In the early 16 th century, the Catholic Church fell into the practice of selling Indulgences - pardon from punishment for committing a sin, which allowed the sinner to enter Heaven Indulgences brought in great revenue for the Church, which they used to build St. Peter s Basilica in Rome Martin Luther (1483-1546), an Augustinian Monk, posted Ninety- Five Theses (statements) on a church door in Germany These statements challenged the Pope s right to sell indulgences
Luther believed that neither priests nor the Pope had the power to provide salvation to individuals Luther said only through faith in God can a person be saved and go to Heaven He also believed that people must read and understand the Bible for themselves Because of his writings he was excommunicated (expelled) from the Church
In defiance of the Pope, Martin Luther burned the Pope s decrees Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, held a diet (assembly) at Worms, Luther refused to recant and Charles V banned him as an outlaw. The reformers became known as Protestants
Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms (1521) "Unless I am convinced by the evidence of Scripture or by plain reason-- for I do not accept the authority of the Pope or the councils alone, since it is established that they have often erred and contradicted themselves-- I am bound by the Scriptures I have cited and my conscience is captive to the World of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. God help me. Amen"
Gutenburg s invention of the printing press helped to spread their ideas throughout Europe John Calvin (1509-1564) started a Protestant Church in Geneva Calvin believed God was all-knowing and it was predestined who would be saved Calvinists encouraged hard work and followed a strict moral code They saw worldly success as a sign of God s favor
The Catholic Church responded to the reformers by making limited reforms and curbing earlier abuses At the Council of Trent the Church redefined Catholic beliefs and ended the sale of indulgences Banned Protestant books and established the Inquisition, a court whose purpose was to punish heretics (those that denied the Church s teachings) The Jesuits began by Ignatius Loyola were dedicated to defending and spreading the Catholic faith
Under the leadership of the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor the spread of Protestantism was checked from further spread At first, England was Catholic, but when the Pope refused Henry VIII s demand for a divorce from his Spanish wife he broke from the church and became protestant Henry closed monasteries, seized church lands, and declared himself the head of the English Church in the Act of Supremacy (1534)
Wars between the Catholics and Protestants began in the1520s and continued for more than a century During the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) as many as 1/3 of the German population was killed The Reformation strengthened the power of secular rulers Queen Elizabeth I was a good example of a strong secular ruler
The Reformation even affected art Catholics glorified Jesus, Mary, and the Saints Protestants believed it was wrong to depict God, they specialized in landscapes still life scenes that they believed glorified God s creations The weakening of the Papacy may have stimulated economic growth in northern Europe, where the Church no longer collected taxes Wars resulted in widespread destruction, but also stimulated economics by creating a need for new goods
Following the discovery of the Heliocentric theory by Copernicus and Galileo confirming the theory with a telescope Johannes Kepler discovered the elliptical pattern of planetary motion Isaac Newton established the basic principles of motion and described the described the forces of gravity Andres Vesalius of Belgium studied human anatomy William Harvey explained the circulatory system
The Enlightenment involved the application of human reason to improve society Humans were believed to be basically good and education and reason could improve their condition Childhood was recognized as a separate state of growth and development, children s toys and books appeared for the first time Marriage based on love help raise the status of women
French philosophers discussed their ideas at Parisian meetinghouses called salons Some Enlightenment thinkers followed a scientific philosophy called Deism, which held that there was a god who created the earth, then left it to operate by natural law Mary Wollstonecraft spoke out for political rights for Women Thoughts on the Education of Daughters: With Reflections on Female Conduct, in the More Important Duties of Life (1787). Denis Diderot complied an Encyclopedie, which included the scientific and social scientific knowledge of the Enlightenment
John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote of a social contract in which governments ruled by consent of the governed to ensure the preservation of the natural rights of humankind Scottish economist Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations (1776) in which he established the principles of laissez-faire (hands off) economics, government regulation of the economy should be minimal in order to allow the free operations of the laws of supply and demand