The Calamitous 14th Century A Distant Mirror of Our Own Times

A Distant Mirror In A Distant Mirror, novelist Barbara Tuchman reveals in alarming detail a “tortured century” with parallels to our own time.

People in the 14th century were subjected to natural and man-made disasters, including: Climate Change Soil Exhaustion Agricultural Decline Famine Black Death The Hundred Years' War Political Instability Peasant Uprisings The Babylonian Captivity The Great Schism

Was Western Europe's 14th century a mirror for our own time? The illustration above depicts the Battle of Dunkirk in 1383. It was part of the Hundred Years War. The one below represents a battle at the same location that took place in 1940. It was part of the Second World War.

Crises

Economic Decline The 14th century saw a series of catastrophes that caused the European economy to weaken. A declining population, shrinking markets, a decrease in arable land, and a general mood of pessimism were evidence of deteriorating economic conditions.

Climatic Changes Starting about 1250, a Little Ice Age began weakening Europe's agricultural productivity. The Baltic Sea froze, Alpine glaciers advanced, and in some areas, grain cultivation ceased. In other areas, crops failed as a result of heavy rains. Soil exhaustion made the problem worse. The results were food shortages and famines.

Famine During 1315-1322, famine devastated most of Europe. Agricultural productivity declined Grain prices soared. Diseases destroyed much of Europe's livestock, depriving people of meat and dairy products.  People starved to death or succumbed to disease.

Disease In 1347, the Black Death struck Europe. Those bitten by infected fleas died horrible deaths within a week's time. Those who inhaled the virus died even sooner. The plague decimated the populations of the densely populated cities of Northern Italy. The population of Florence, for instance, fell from 90,000 to 50,000 people. Within a generation, the plague wiped out 40 percent of the English population and nearly 60 percent of the population in northeastern France. 

Warfare The governments of France and England added to these natural calamities by carrying out a series of long, deadly wars, which are known collectively as the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). Warfare aggravated the problem of agricultural decline by disrupting trade throughout northwest Europe. In the east, war was also disrupting trade routes as the Ottoman Empire began to expand throughout the region.

Crisis in the Towns The huge costs of warfare and the collapse of agricultural production and trade took their toll on the urban economy too.  In the mid-1300s, France and England both refused to pay off loans made by the banking houses of Italy. This led to financial crisis and collapse in Florence and Sienna.  Banking failures disrupted the flow of capital to other merchant enterprises, and worsened the depression that gripped most of Europe's cities in the 1300s

Peasant Uprisings The strains of life in the countryside, of hunger, disease, war and death, were made worse by feudal lords' insistence that peasants continue paying high rents and other feudal dues and by the burden of royal taxation.  This led to mass uprisings in France and England.

Urban Rebellions The rural population was not alone.  On several occasions, artisans and the urban poor spontaneously rose in protest against hunger and against the upper classes (especially the aristocrats), who lived in luxury and used their political power to keep wages low. 

Popular Religious Responses One common response to the multiple disasters and hardships of the 1300s was to conclude that God was passing judgment on mankind's sins. Remedies for sinfulness included: Engaging in pilgrimages to holy sites Punishing the flesh as part of a flagellant cult Imitating the life of Christ and seeking mystical union with the divine through the Eucharist Participating in the Lollard movement by obeying the teachings of Christ and rejecting the Church and its sacraments.

Crisis of Authority The Babylonian Captivity (when the papacy moved to Avignon, France) and the Great (Western) Schism (a period during the 14th century when three popes claimed the seat of Peter) brought a crisis of authority. The papacy lost prestige and church councils attempted to usurp authority.

Consequences

Economic Consequences By disrupting existing patterns of life, the various crises created opportunities for new development, such as the revival of classic culture that brought forth new forms of art. For survivors of the Black Death, there were new opportunities in the form of improved agriculture, more diversified economies, and greater prosperity, including better wages and living standards. The new prosperity helped fuel such developments as the founding of new universities and the amassing of wealth among urban elites. The Renaissance flourished in both environments. Universities became centers of humanist learning, and wealthy city dwellers, along with monarchs and popes, became patrons of Renaissance art, architecture, and music.

Political Consequences Although frequent warfare proved destructive for its victims, it strengthened the political power of the victors, contributing to the growth of modern nation states. France benefited from its victory in the Hundred Years’ War, English kings consolidated their power following the Wars of the Roses, and the Spanish monarch emerged as one of the strongest in Europe following the unification of Castile and Aragon and the expulsion of the Muslims. Victory in warfare also benefited many rulers who became important patrons of the northern Renaissance. Similarly, contact between Venice and the Ottomans, who had defeated the Byzantines, stimulated the development of the Renaissance.

Religious Consequences Upheaval in the church, combined with the horrors of the Black Death and the dislocation of the Hundred Years’ War, stimulated important changes in European religious life. The devastation caused by the plague prompted spiritual uncertainty. Competition among the rival popes during the Great Schism weakened the prestige of the papacy. The diminished authority of the church stimulated new religious movements –important precursors of the Reformation. The Great Schism undermined the political unity of the Church and enhanced opportunities for kings to lay claim to the Church in their own countries.