5.5.1 Text资料文件与下载

5.5. Late Middle Ages 2.  1250-1500

Hi, this is the last part of the chapter 5: Late Middle Ages 2.

1. Hundred Year’s War 1346-1452

Now we talk about Hundred Year’s War. Let’s look at the family trees of the two kingdoms. Charles IV or Charles the Fair was the last direct Capetian King of France. He died in 1328 without an heir. A succession dispute followed. 

You see the French King Philip III got two sons. The first one became the Count of Valois, and the second one Philp IV became the new king. When Philp IV died his sons Louis, Philip V and Charles IV became the king one by one. In the year 1328, Charles IV died without a son. So the problem is who will be the new French King. Philp IV had a daughter Isabella. She married English king Edward II. Their son Edward III was the new English king. Isabella deposed Edward II and made her fourteen years old son the king called Edward III.So Isabella and Edward III thought of course they should be the king of France. But the French didn't agree. They chose this one—Philip VI, the nephew of Charles IV to be the new king of France-Philip VI of France. So that’s the problem. And actually Edward from the family of the Plantagenet—originally they are from France. They once owned half of the France, but lost nearly all of them. But this time they still have a territory called Gascony. So at the beginning, Edward III thought, “OK, Philip VI already became the king. It’s OK. It’s fine for me.” But Philip ordered to confiscate Gascony and this made Edward III very angry, so the war decided. And this time Edward III not only want to take back Gascony, but also wanted to take back the king of France. So that’s the problem.

2. Philip VI of France 1293 – 1350

Now let’s look at the new French king Philip VI. When Philip VI was chosen to be king he was 35 years. He reigned for 23 years from 1328 to 1350 until his death. He was the first king of the House of Valois, a cadet line of the House of Capet. This family ruled France from 1328 to 1589. Philip’s father Charles Count of Valois was the brother of Philp IV, the father of king Charles IV who just dead. Valois was a region in northern France.

3. During the Hundred Year’s War France had 5 kings: Philip VI, John II, Charles V, Charles VI and CharlesⅫ.

4. Edward III of England 1312 – 1377

He became King in 1327 at the age of 14 and ruled for 50 years. His main interest was warfare, famous for his military success and for restoring the royal authority. He transformed England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe.

Edward III was from the House of Plantagenet. Started from Henry II this house had ruled England since 1154. This royal family originated from France. They once owned half of France but most of them lost during the reign of King John. When Edward III became King of England, he still owned Gascony, an area in southern France. You can see the Gascony. At first, Edward seemed to accept the fact that Philip was already the new king of France. But when Philip ordered to confiscate Gascony, Edward lost his patience and launched the war. His goal now was not only take back Gascony but also the crown of France. No one expected this war was so horrible and so long, it lasted for more than 100 years.

5. During the Hundred Year’s War England had 5 kings: Edward III, and also he got a son, Edward the black prince; the second son Duke of Lancaster John; and Edmund, Duke of York. And his grandson Richard II became the new king. After that was Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI.

6. Chivalry

Both kings belong to the age of Chivalry; they were brave warriors, obsessed with Knightly glory, inspired by the legend of King Arthur and the Song of Roland.

Chivalry also called knighthood, the term chivalry means "horsemanship" in Old French. During the High Middle Ages Knighthood gradually became a certain status and lifestyle. The center of the knighthood was northern France and from there spread out across Europe. At the beginning many knights were from the noble families in the past but knights belonged to a class of lower nobility. Knights were elite fighters, skilled in battle on horseback. They served a powerful lord as fighter or bodyguard. Knights have to follow the rules called the code of chivalry, a moral system including loyalty to God, fatherland and the lord they served, bravery, never lie, be generals, and courtly manners, courtly means very polite. We can see the code of chivalry from Don Quixote, a novel by Spanish writer Cervantes (1547-1616), although it satirizes chivalry.

7. Courtly love

Courtly love is a tradition represented in Western European literature between the 12th and the 14th centuries, idealizing love between a knight and a revered usually married lady. This paining shows a knight being armed by his lady.

Song of Roland and the legend of King Arthur

The Song of Roland is an epic poem told the heroic story of Roland, a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne. Roland became a model for knights and also greatly influenced the Code of Chivalry in the Middle Ages.

King Arthur is a legendary British leader led the defense against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. Arthur's story is mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, his historical existence is debated by historians.

8. English victories

At the Battle of Crécy in 1356 English army led by Edward III defeated a much larger army of French led by Philip VI of France. 3,000 French were killed while England lost only 100. At the Battle of Poitiers in 1360 Edward again defeated the French army led by King John II, the successor of Philp, the French king, his son, and much of the French nobility were captured. Two sides signed the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360, John was released, and Edward agreed to renounce his claim to the French throne, in exchange for the territories over an expanded Aquitaine and Calais, thus restoring the former Angevin Empire. 1415 at The Battle of Agincourt the English army led by Henry V won another victory. Henry V ordered the killing of 4,500 captives including 1,500 French nobles and 3,000 soldiers. This battle is the centerpiece of Shakespeare’s play Henry V.

9. Charles VI was King of France from 1380 to 1422. He suffered from insanity, refused to be touched by people because he believed he was made of glass, likely to shatter into pieces. 2 years before his death he signed the Treaty of Troyes claimed King Henry V of England his successor as king of France. We can imagine how angry his son, the future CharlesⅦ.

Joan of Arc c. 1412- 1431

Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" is a national heroine who saved France during the Hundred Years’ War. Arc was his father’s surname.

When Charles VI died in 1422, the allied army of English king and Duke of Burgundy of France held all of northern France including Paris. They were besieging Orleans, a city held strategic significance. Charles Ⅶ was not crowned yet, he was a dauphin, the eldest son of the King and direct heir to the throne. At this moment an illiterate girl from a peasant family came to Charles claiming she heard the voices of saint ordering her to save Orleans and crown the dauphin. Inspired and led by Joan the French army defeated the enemy and saved Orleans. This was a turning point. After that Charles was crowned in 1429. The French army finally became the winner.

In 1431 Joan was captured by Burgundians and sold to the English. She was burned at the stake. She saved the France and the king but the French king didn’t try to save her. Charles VII was a terrible king.

10. This is Joan of Arc and her death.

11. End of war                                                        

The French victory marked the end of the war. From these maps we can see the war from the English victory to the French victory. So we can see the English territory started from here and getting bigger and bigger including northern France and at the finish, nothing. The war marked both the height of chivalry and its decline, feudal armies had been largely replaced by professional troops. The war also strengthened national identities in both countries. France suffered tremendously because the fighting was in its land. But the war also transformed France from a feudal monarchy to a centralized state. To England, the dream of uniting the two kingdoms broken. It lost all territories except Calais on the continent. Since the Norman Conquest in 1066 the French language had served as the language of the ruling classes but from 1362 English became the official language. After losing the War, the disappointed English nobles soon started a civil war called the War of the Roses

12. Feudalism

In the 18th century, Adam Smith first coined the term "feudal system" in his book Wealth of Nations (1776). Feudalism was a combination of legal and military customs developed in Europe from 9th to 15th centuries. It was a system in which people were given land and protection by people of higher ranks, and worked and fought for them in return. In the feudal system a lord is a man who has a high rank in the nobility whose land was given by king. A vassal was a man who gave military service to a lord, in return he was protected by the lord and received land. A fief was a piece of land given to vassals by their lord.

13. Black Death 1347-1352

The Black Death or the Great Plague was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history. A pandemic is an occurrence of a disease that affects many people over a wide area. A pandemic is an occurrence of a disease that affects many people over a very wide area. The Black Death took at least one third of lives in Europe. It originated in Central Asia, travelled along the Silk Road, reached Crimea. From there, it was carried by fleas of the infected rats, traveled on ships along the trade routes, spreading the disease everywhere of Mediterranean and Europe. Some people saw the Black Death as the divine punishment of sins, some people blamed Jews poisoned the drinking water. The Black Death also inspired a popular image in art called Dance of Death.

From this map we can see the disease originated from the Central Asia and go to Crimea. From there going through the Mediterranean and also the whole Europe. This is the image of Dance of Death.

14. Papal schism

From 1378 to 1417 the papacy saw another schism called the Papal Schism or Western Schism. In 1305 Clement V was elected Pope. He was a Frenchman, he moved the Papacy from Rome to Avignon, a town within the Holy Roman Empire, bordering France just cross the river. Since then for 70 years the Popes were under French control. In 1377 Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome and died the next year. The cardinals elected an Italian Pope Urban VI. He tried to end the French control. Most of the cardinals regretted, they left Rome and elected a new pope Clement VII who took up residence in Avignon. Now there were two Popes, they excommunicated each other. In 1408 the cardinals from both sides met in Pisa, Italy. They deposed the two Popes and elected a new Pope. But this only made matters worse. Now there were three Popes. In 1417 the Council of Constance deposed the first two and accepted the resignation of the third. The crises ended but it seriously damaged the reputation of the Catholic Church.

15. Dante, Divine Comedy

Dante Alighieri (c. 1265 – 1321) was an Italian poet, his epic poem Divine Comedy is the most important poem of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language. It describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise or Heaven, represents the soul's journey towards God. The Roman poet Virgil guided him through Hell and Purgatory; Dante's ideal woman Beatrice guided him through Heaven. Beatrice was an Italian woman; Dante met her only twice but carried his love for her throughout his life. This painting is Dante and Virgil in Hell.

16. Key words:

Now let’s look at the key words: Hundred Year’s War, Philip VI of France, Edward III of England, Joan of Arc, Divine Comedy.

17. Questions:

Let’s look at the questions from this chapter.

1. Give a brief introduction of the history of the Holy Roman Empire from Charlemagne, to Otto and to Charles VI.

2. When did the House of Plantagenet and House of Capet start and end to rule England and France? Who are the most important kings from these two houses?

3. What caused the Hundred Year’s War? What is the role Joan of Arc played during the war?

This is the end of the last part of chapter 5: The Late Middle Ages 2.