Europe in Transition:
This section explains how Europe moved from the Middle Ages (a time when it had high levels
of ignorance, extremism and old traditions) ….
….into the modern era (it started depending more on science, the government, education and
freedom of expression)
Modern Era: Began from the 12th century to the 14th century
What were its features? How did it look like?
Longer trade routes
Higher levels of urbanization
Renewed interest in learning
A rising middle class
Stronger and more advanced militaries
What changes happened in the Modern Era?
Economy: more spread of capitalism and the rise of the middle class
Politics: The government and nation states replaced the feudal hierarchy (the ruling by kings)
Arts: More freedom of expression and self-consciousness, more attachment to nature, more
attention to gender and social issues
End result of the transition: a modern world-system dominated by the West.
It was shaped by these events:
- A 100-year war between England and France,
- Avignon Papacy
- Great Schism (division)
- Decline of the Roman Catholic Church
- The great plague.
TRANSITION STAGES:
I- Hundred Years’ War:
- War Between France and England
- Why? There was an English claim to continental lands held by the Norman rulers of
England, whose ancestors were vassals of the French king.
- Immediate cause of the war: the English claim to the French throne after the death of
Charles IV (1294–1328)
- Although the French had more soldiers than the English, the English were stronger, because
they started using new weapons: the foot soldier, the longbow, and gunpowder, which gave
them great power
- End Of war: England finally withdrew from France in 1450.
So, the transition period of Europe was strongly supported by the rise of gunpowder armies:
Cannons and handguns ended the military superiority of heavily armored knights and the
castles. This war put an end to feudalism.
How the war changed England and France:
France England
French noble rulers became outdated England parliament became more powerful
New state systems replaced feudal rulers England established a constitutional monarchy,
which helped in reaching modern democracy
After the war: England and France moved in separate directions, politically and culturally.
II- The Decline of the Church
- The growth of the European nation-states church became weak
How?
- The Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) and the Great Schism (1378–1417).
- “Avignon Papacy” : the relocation of the papacy from Rome to the city of Avignon in
southern France
- But, the Avignon popes were corrupt and wanted more and more power and money This
damaged the reputation of the Church Papacy returned to Rome in 1377
- Result: The great schism (division): rift between French and Italian religious authorities
election of two popes: one ruled from Avignon, the other from Rome.
- The schism violated the holiness of the Holy Office and Christian followers were losing
trust and confidence of their church.
III- Anticlericalism and the Rise of Devotional Piety
- The division in the Catholic church was healed by the ruling of Pope Martin V from Rome
- But: 15th century popes refused to acknowledge limits to papal power, thus hampering the
efforts of church councils to exercise authority over the papacy.
- The Avignon Papacy and the Great Schism drew criticism from uneducated Christians and
intellectuals alike.
- The wealth of the papal power was attacked: calls for the abolition of pilgrimages and relic
worship. People insisted that Christian belief and practice must only depend on the
Scriptures
- Losing trust with their institutional Church, many Christians started going to experience
their faith privately: knowing their God directly
- One example was through mysticism: connecting with God through thought and meditation
- Mysticism challenged the authority of the institutional Church and threatened its corporate
hold over Catholicism
- Mysticism expressed itself through writings, paintings and a personal experience of God.
This expression of individual relationship with God, marked an important shift from the Scholastic
reliance on religious authority to modern types of faith based on inner conviction.
IV- The Black Death
- A devastating natural catastrophe: the bubonic plague struck Europe in 1347, destroying
50 percent of its population within less than a century.
- The disease also devastated China and the Middle East, interrupting long-distance trade
and cross-cultural encounters that had flourished for two centuries.
- The symptoms of the sickness: they turned the body a deathly black (and this is why it was
labeled “the Black Death.”)
- Death usually followed within two to three days after infection.
- Traditional treatments for this disease were useless
- Four waves of bubonic plague spread throughout Europe between 1347 and 1375
- In Florence, Italy, people fled their cities, homes, and even their families.
According to the Florentine writer Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375): widespread death had
forced Florentine citizens to decide not to bury and grieve for the death of their loved ones and
focus on trying to survive
