1. West European Middle Ages
Religion and Society
BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Hyderabad

2. • 14th century – end of prosperity; Great Famine; Black death
• Depopulation – Social unrest – endemic warfare
• England and France – Peasant uprisings – 100 years war
• Papal Schism 1378 to 1418
• CRISIS
• Progress in Arts and Sciences
• Italian Renaissance
• Printing
• Protestant Reformation
• AGE of DISCOVERY
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Crisis of Late Middle Ages
Hyderabad Campus

3. • Little Ice Age – colder climate; agrarian crisis
• Great Famine 1315 to 1317 – scarcity of food
• Black Death – Bubonic plague – 1346 to 53
• Severe strain on population – renewed religious fanaticism
• Persecutions – Jews, beggars, foreigners – unknown cause
• Population reduced to a third
• Plentiful land – labour scarcity – expensive
• Peasant revolts in England, France – 1358, 1371
• End of serfdom – long term effect
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Society
Hyderabad Campus

4. Society
• Expulsion of Jews by Monarchs
• England 1290, France 1306, Spain and Portugal
• Empowerment of Women – greater opportunities in
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Commerce, Religion and Art
• Persecutions on the rise in the name of Witchcraft
• Urbanization
Hyderabad Campus

5. Society
• 1337-1453 – House of Plantagenet, House of Valois and
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus
Kingdom of France
• Result of Dynastic Disagreements dating back to 1066
• Papal Schism – Avignon and Rome; Council of Constance
• William of Ockham – distinction between World of Faith and
World of Reason
• Art and Literature
• Vernacular Languages
Hyderabad Campus