Europe in the 15th Century

Europe - 15th Century

The Black Death

The Astrolabe

Renaissance Art

• Came out of the East and reached the shores of Italy in 1348.

• Unleashed a rampage of death across Europe unprecedented in recorded history.

• Played itself out 3 years later and between 25% to 50% of Europe's population had fallen victim to the devastating plague.

• The plagued presented itself in 3 interrelated forms:
• Bubonic variant (most common)
• Infected fleas attached to rats, and then humans, spread the bubonic plague.
• Name comes from the swellings or buboes that appeared on a victim's neck, armpits or groin.
• These tumors ranged in size from an egg to an apple.
• Manifestation on the buboes usually signalled a life expectancy of a week for the victim.

• Pneumatic Plague
• Attacked the respiratory system.
• Spread merely by breathing the exhaled air of a victim.
• Much more virulent than the Bubonic variant.
• Life expectancy: 1-2 days

• Septacemia
• Attacked the blood.

• No defence and no understanding of the cause of the plague left the people of Europe unguarded and bewildered, panicked, and finally devastated.

Feudal System

The Renaissance

• It was believed that the land was owned by God. The Pope served as God's vicar, and had the right to intervene and impose sanctions above the king. The king would also have to answer to the Pope. Europe was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church.

• The King would manage it and be allowed to do as he pleases with the land.

• The King would grant land to nobles. The land would become known as fiefs. In return for the land, the nobles swore allegiance to the royal family and swear to serve and protect the king.

• The agreement was called a fealty and a ceremony called a Commendation Ceremony.

• The nobles divided the fiefs and gave them to vassals, who, in turn, swore allegiance to the nobles.

• The vassals divided the land and granted land to peasants in the form of farms. The peasants in turn, swore their allegiance to the vassals.

• The peasants would also give payment to the vassals in the form of labour or produce.

• Literature moved away from religious work and moved towards classical writing as scholars of the Renaissance studied the work of ancient Greeks and Romans instead of religious texts.

• Many families commissioned artists to create artworks which could be shown off.

• Many inventions aided the Renaissance Period, most notably though are:
• The Printing Press
• The Astrolabe and Magnetic Compass

• Many improvements to previous inventions also aided in furthering Europe's exploration as well as knowledge, such as improvements to:
• Ship building
• Map making
• Navigational devices

Printing Press

• The printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450.

• It made books cheaper as books were now easier to produce, and paper was used instead of parchment.

• This aided in the spread of knowledge and ideas.

Art, Science & Technology

• From 1350 to 1600, Europe was in a period called the Renaissance.

• Renaissance is a French word meaning 'rebirth'.

• Beginning in Italy, the Renaissance was a movement of new ideas and experiments in thought, literature, the arts, science and Italy.

• This movement spread through to Northern Europe.

• Art moved away from religion based works and focused more on the people and their emotions.

Feudal System:

Way of structuring society. Relationships were formed around he holding of land in exchange for service of labour.

New Technologies

Women of Europe

Horse Collar

Horseshoe

New Monarchs

• A European women's life varied according to the class that the women belonged to.

• One thing was common:

Women were expected to marry and have children.

• Marriages for women in the upper class were usually arranged - for business reasons, and not for romantic reasons

• An upper class women would generally have a large dowry which would belong to the husband post marriage.

• Once married, a women would be at the mercy of her husband's support
• She would not be permitted to work and would therefore be incapable of supporting herself

• A women in working class would also be expected to marry
• She would most likely not work and remain home to maintain the household through chores such as:
• Cooking and cleaning
• Mending clothes
• Taking care of children

• Women would generally work as a servant, in the fields, or would spin wool to earn additional income to support their family.

Travel & Trade

• From the second half of the 1400s, many European countries began to move away from the idea of feudalism.

• They instead, implemented a system of a monarchy that consisted of strong political entities under an absolute ruler - the King.

• The Kings developed up their countries through trade and efficient taxing.

• These Kings united their nations and this resulted in their citizens becoming very loyal to the rulers.

• Trade greatly increased in the 15th century which lead to much prosperity and development in Europe.

• During the 14th and 15th century, the temperature in Europe increased slightly, which lead to a surplus of crops, as well as better quality crops.

• Merchants sought to earn profits off the extra yield which lead to trade increasing in Europe.

Trade by Sea

Monarchs

• Trade by sea was much cheaper than by land.

• By trading by sea, prices were kept low which increased the demand for goods.

• New commodities as well as resources were introduced to Europe as trade occurred between India, China and the Americas.
• The Portuguese brought porcelain and silk back from China.
• The Spanish brought back gold from South America.

Women of Europe

Examples of such Monarchs include:

• King Henry VII of England

• King Louis XI of France

• Isabella I of Castille and Ferdinand II of Aragon

Travel & Trade

Roman Catholic Church

• Women were often accused of being witches and being involved in witchcraft.

• A women would be forced to attend a local court hearing and be interrogated if she was accused of being involved in witchcraft.

• Women who lived alone, or kept pets such as cats, were under the suspicion of being a witch.

• After being tortured for a length of time, women found guilty of being a witch would be executed publicly by being burnt at the stake.

Other factors that contributed to the increase in trade included:

• Technological advancements such as the horse collar and horse shoe.
• This allowed horses to work quicker as well as longer, therefore producing a higher surplus of crops.

• Merchants beginning to use inland canals.
• Road were poorly developed and so, were only dirt paths after rains which made for passing impossible.
• Inland canals were reliable and relatively inexpensive.

Marriages

• It began as a small band of supporters who followed the teachings of a preacher in an outpost of the Roman Empire.

• The church expanded in size and importance in Western European history.

• The Catholic Church was considered to have:
• Steered Western civilization through historical events such as
• The Dark Ages
• The Crusades
• The Reformation
• Influenced political ideas and actions of religious philosophers in a variety of European nations.
• Made deep contributions to Western philosophical tradition through works of religious philosophers such as St. Augustine.
• Funded and inspired the creation of fantastic works of religious art:
• European Gothic Cathedrals
• Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel
• Dante's Divine Comedy

• Its is the oldest continuously active organization on Earth and one of the most influential in the world - capable of moving armies, inspiring saints and shaping billions of lives.

• In order for countries to be united and for allied relationships to form between countries, marriages were arranged.

• One famous marriage was that of Isabella I and Ferdinand II, whose arranged marriage was a large contributor to European colonialism and the expansion of the Spanish kingdom.

• Through their marriage they became joint-rulers of Spain and due to the fact that they were fanatical Roman Catholics, they:
• Expelled the Jews and Arabs from Spain, who the settled in West Africa
• Conquered Granada through defeating the Moors - the inhabitants of the last Muslim kingdom in Europe.

The Spanish rulers also provided funds for Christopher Columbus's voyages, which provided much success for the Spanish kingdom.

• This was an example of how, during the 15th Century, arranged marriages were often wise decisions that benefited and united countries.

The Hanseatic League

• It was an economic association between member cities and guilds of merchants.

• Drove trade across Europe, from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea.

• Began in Germany but spread to the rest of Europe with 100 - 200 member cities at it's peak, from Iceland, to London, to Novgorod of Russia.

The Hanseatic League

• Member cities and guilds paid a fee to the Hanseatic League.

• Facilitated trade across Europe.

• Protected ships that carried goods from attacks by pirates.

• Grew wealthy as trade all over Europe increased