The Crusades and the Black Death both significantly impacted medieval Europe. The Crusades were a series of military expeditions called by the Pope in the 11th-13th centuries in response to Muslim control of the Holy Land. This led to increased trade and cultural diffusion between Europe and Asia, as well as more centralized power for European kings. The Black Death was the deadly bubonic plague pandemic that arrived in Europe in 1347, killing around half the population. This caused widespread societal changes like the collapse of the feudal system as fewer peasants were left to work the land. Peasants also gained more bargaining power and independence.

1. Cause & Effect:
The Crusades
The Black Death
Review of 6-5.3:The effect of the Crusades on
feudalism and the spread of Christianity
6-5.5:The effect of the Bubonic Plague on
feudalism

2. Essential Questions:
Q:What influence did the Catholic Pope have
on the Crusades?
Q: What was the
overall effect of the
Crusades on feudal
Europe?

3. The Crusades
Causes Effects
MuslimTurks take control of the
Holy Land (Jerusalem) in 1071
Trade between Europe and Asia
increases (medicines, knowledge
& thought, spices, silk, ect)
MuslimTurks threaten
Constantinople in 1090’s; and
other parts of the Byzantine
Empire
Kings become more powerful
(through control of large
numbers of knights fighting in
the Crusades)
Byzantine Emperor asks Catholic
Pope in Rome for help
Tensions between Christians,
Jews, and Muslims grow

4. Essential Questions:
Q:What influence did the Catholic Pope have on the
Crusades?
A: Pope Urban II sent a speech calling for everyone to aid
in the Crusades in return for remission of their sins
Q:What was the overall effect of the Crusades on feudal
Europe?
A: Cultural diffusion of ideas, medicine, and new trade
with Asia

5. Need to Know Crusade Facts
•The Crusades were many battles fought over the
Holy Land that lasted for over 200 years
•The First Crusade was seen as the most successful
due to the Christians regaining control of the Holy
Land from the MuslimTurks for 50 years
•Nothing really changed throughout the Crusades-
it ended the way it began: with the MuslimTurks
controlling the Holy Land

6. The Black Death
•Black Death: a deadly plague that swept
through Europe between 1347-1351
•Origins: Central and East Asia
•Traders unknowingly brought
diseased rats to Mediterranean
ports in 1347 & spread through
Europe
•The Black Death was due to several plagues
Music video

7. Video: Black Death

8. Bubonic
Plague
• Easily identified by
symptoms:
• Swelling called buboes
on victims bodies
• Deadlier form spread
through the air & killed
people in less than a
day

9. Effects ofThe Black Death
•People died so fast that many were burned
without priests or ceremonies
•In villages, nearly everyone died or fled when
neighbors fell ill- leaving villages abandoned
•1/3 of Europe’s population died due to the
plague: approximately 25 million people

10. Death became part
of daily life so much
that even their art
and writings from
the period make
light of the
seriousness of the
situation they were
in.
Inspired by the Black Death,The Dance of Death or Danse
Macabre, an allegory on the universality of death, is a common
painting motif in the late medieval period.

12. Effects:The Plague Causes Changes
• In most places the manor system fell apart completely
• There were not enough peasants left to work the fields
• Peasants & serfs who survived the plague found their
skills in high demand
• They were able to demand high wages for their labor
• Once they made enough money, the fled the manors
completely and moved to the growing cities
Video: Horrible Histories Peasant Plagues

13. Predictions Activity
•What if a mixture of plague were to hit America
today just as it had during the Middle Ages? What
would happen to our society? Government?Trade?
What would be the outcome of a modern Black
Death?
•Write a summary of your predictions using
connections to the Middle Ages’ Black Death.
•Compare your predictions with a partner
•Were your predictions similar? Different? Why?