The Hundred Year War and End of Plague

​The Hundred Year War and End of Plague

​The economic and social effects of the plague were enormous. The old feudal/manorial system (a political, economic, and social system by which the peasants of medieval Europe were rendered dependent on their land and on their lord) began to crumble. Some of the changes that occurred included these:

• Town populations fell.

• Trade declined. Prices rose.

• The serfs left the manor in search of better wages.

• Nobles fiercely resisted peasant demands for higher wages, causing peasant revolts in England, France, Italy, and Belgium.

• Jews were falsely blamed for bringing on the plague. All over Europe, Jews were driven from their homes or, worse, massacred.

• The Church suffered a loss of prestige when its prayers failed to stop the onslaught of the bubonic plague and priests abandoned their duties.

​Not only did the people in Europe during the 1300s have to deal with epidemic disease, but they also had to deal with war. England and France battled with each other on French soil for just over a century. The century of war between England and France marked the end of medieval Europe’s society.

​When the last king of the ruling dynasty died without a successor, England’s Edward III, as grandson of Philip IV, claimed the right to the French throne. The war that Edward III launched for that throne continued on and off from 1337 to 1453. It became known as the Hundred Years’ War. Victory passed back and forth between the two countries. Finally, between 1421 and 1453, the French rallied and drove the English out of France entirely, except for the port city of Calais.

​The Hundred Years’ War brought a change in the style of warfare in Europe. At this time some combatants were still operating under medieval ideals of chivalry. They looked with contempt on the common foot soldiers and archers who fought alongside them. This contempt would change as the longbow changed warfare. With the use of the longbow, the English won major battles at Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt.  By 1420, it appeared the English had won the war.

Multiple Choice

Who launched the 100 year war

• Edward III

• John

• Paul II

• Elizabeth

Multiple Choice

What is a Manorial System?

• Where peasants live and work off their lords land

• Where people live in a Manor

• Where a town is run by a mayor

• I unit of measurement for building castles

​Then, in 1429, a teenage French peasant girl named Joan of Arc felt moved by God to rescue France from its English conquerors. When Joan was just 13 she began to have visions and hear what she believed were voices of the saints. They urged her to drive the English from France and give the French crown to France’s true king, Charles VII, son of Charles VI.

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She led a successful attack on a fortified city near Orleans. This success earned her the nickname “the Maiden of Orleans”.

Multiple Choice

What is England's greatest weapon at the time?

• Longbow

• Catapult

• Longsword

• Crossbow

​After that victory, Joan persuaded Charles to go with her to Reims. There he was crowned king of France on July 17, 1429. However, about a year later, in 1430, the Burgundians, England’s allies, captured Joan in battle. They turned her over to the English, who condemned her as a witch and a heretic because of her claim to hear voices. Joan was burned at the stake on May 30, 1431.

Open Ended

Explain Joan of Arcs life in 3 to 4 sentences?

​The long, exhausting war finally ended in 1453. Each side experienced major changes.

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• A feeling of nationalism emerged in England and France. Now people thought of the king as a national leader, fighting for the glory of the country, not simply a feudal lord.

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• The power and prestige of the French monarch increased.

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• The English suffered a period of internal turmoil known as the War of the Roses, in which two noble houses fought for the throne.