Medieval Europe

1. Calamities in Europe

2. 1. The Great Famine of 1315
• Began with heavy rain in 1315.
• The next summer remained cool and the crops
rotted in the fields
• Salt to preserve food was scarce
• To survive, people killed their farm animals
and ate seed grain
• The rain continued until 1317
• People ate roots, grasses and bark to survive

4. • Those who survived were weak with
pneumonia and other illnesses

5. • Recovery was slow because they had eaten
the farm animals and seed grain
• 25% of people died of starvation or illness
• This calamity lingered for years

6. 2. Hundred Year’s War
• A war between England and France between
1337 and 1453
• Resulted because the last Capetian king died
without leaving an heir
• King Edward III from England claimed the right
to the French throne

9. • Rejected Edward III and selected Phillip VI
• English started the war by crossing the English
Channel

12. • English won most of the battles, but English
people were tired.
– Tired of cost of war
– Plague killed many in England so there weren’t
enough soldiers

13. • Joan of Arc
• A French peasant girl
• She believed that she was being directed by
God to drive out the English
• The French followed her and defeated the
English
• She was captured by the English and burned
at the stake

17. 3. Black Death
• Killed millions of people throughout the world
and engulfed whole countries

21. • May have begun in China and spread by trade
ships to Europe
• Rats and their fleas have been blamed for the
spread of the disease

22. Why did it spread so quickly in Europe
1. Open sewers and improper disposal of trash
made the cities unsanitary
2. Rats and fleas thrived in the city
3. Houses were close together and people lived
in crowded settings

23. • People quickly turned to the Roman Church
for deliverance
• They lost faith, because they saw the priests
and nuns dying along with them
• Many thought the plague was sent by God to
punish the people for their sins

24. • Ended by 1350
• Roman Church lost much of its credibility