Middle ages

European Christianity's three-and-a-half centuries-long LANGUAGE Parliament EDWARD III

series of holy wars against Muslims would begin after the
Norman Conquest and end after Chaucer's death (1400).

At John's death his son Henry III became king. In 1265 he

The effects of the Crusades :
1. Europeans brang back new forms of knowledge
2. A major source of urban growth was TRADE
3. This contact with Middle East also exposed Europeans
to advances in science, mathematics
For about two centuries after the Norman Conquest
the aristocracy used Norman French, while the
conquered continued to talk in Anglo-Saxon; Latin
was mainly used by the Church.
called a special GREAT COUNCIL to which the barons came
but also 2 knights from every shire, and 2 merchants from the
big towns. These meetings became to be known as
"parliaments".
Edward III initiated the HUNDRED YEARS' WAR (1337-1453) against France
in order to defend his French territories. Factors provoking the war were:
1. the help that France gave to Scotland against England
2. the necessity of recovering English markets in Flanders
War went from the glory of the battle of Agincourt in 1415 led by Henry V, to
the loss of all French territories.
king Edward III introduced the idea of CHIVALRY. a set of values (BRAVERY,
LOYALTY, HONESTY, GLORY) which the knight had to respect.

TRADE
Soldiers and traders returned from eastern lands with new goods and a new
group of people emerged: the merchant class. Its economic and social
power grows becoming influential members of society during the Middle
Ages. Large groups of merchants formed GUILDS (association of people of
similar occupation who share a common goal).
The various origins of the English language give it
many synonyms with slight differences in meaning.
For example:
ask (Saxon) is what ordinary people do
interrogate (Latin) or question (French) is done by
officials or superiors
Edward I called the Model Parliament of 1295 in order to get
taxes for his wars. This parliament included representatives
of BARONS, CLERGY, 2 KNIGHTS from each shire and 2
CITIZENS from each city.
WAR OF THE TWO ROSES: Fighting in England continued even after
the French wars, between branches of the royal house of Plantagenet
for the throne of England: Lancaster and York (because the symbol of
the House of York was the white rose and the symbol of the House of
Lancaster was a red rose).

Black death

The reign of Edward III also saw the terrible bubonic plague which spread in 1348, known
as Black Death.
It wiped out more than a third of the population and changed the economy of England.
Food prices doubled in a single year, causing demand for higher wages by the labourers.
Paying money for agricultural labour was a complete change from feudalism.

The old relationships of loyalty began to change

1. the peasants could even discuss conditions or be free and move to the towns
2. lords began to use their lands for sheep farming
By the 14th century a new middle class = YEOMAN, a peasant smallholder with 100
acres of land
3. the plague seemed a punishment from God (different relationship with the Church)

The end of Edward III' s reign was marked by the rise of
religious reformism.The greatest opponent of Church
organization was John Wycliffe, leader of LOLLARDY
movement. They condemned the doctrine of the
TRANSUBSTANTIATION of the bread and wine o Eucharist,
worship of elics, veneration of images, anticipating the
Reformation of the 16th century.
Commoners had become more confident in demanding
their rights --> Peasant's Revolt in 1381, against the
decision to levy the poll-tax
All problems of the time came together
1. the results of Black Death for peasants and farmers
2. the new population in the towns
3. feelings against the Church and clergy