Week 2 Flashcards
What are the three estates of medieval society?
- Nobility: originally mounted warriors, men with horses, received lands from king in return for military service (feudal system).
- Clergy: regular and secular
- Peasantry
(One missing > rise of the middle class later on)
Nobility (task and lifestyle)
Originally: mounted warriors, received lands from the king in return for military service.
Task: protect the weak and the poor.
Lifestyle: medieval tournaments, chivalry, courtly love.
Regular clergy: Monks
Monks and Friars
Monks follow rule of St. Benedict (= enclosed orders) and made 4 vows:
1. Poverty (no possessions)
2. Chastity
3. Obedience (respect for rules)
4. Stability of place (don’t leave monastery)
They were strictly isolated from society. They lived off land given by the Church or nobility.
Regular clergy: Friars
Friars follow the Mendicant orders (= begging orders):
1. Franciscans
2. Dominicans
3. Carmelites
4. Augustinians
Friars make 3 vows:
1. Poverty
2. Chastity
3. Obedience
No stability of place!
Urban movement.
Lives off charity.
Secular clergy
They had actual jobs in the church, such as popes, bishops, parishes and priests. They were allowed to go outside of church, went out to spread religion (live off charity = begging).
The Calamitous Fourteenth Century
The age of constant change and happenings.
• Wars of Scottish independence
• Hundred Year’s War (1339-1453); multiple wars and lasts somewhat longer than a hundred years.
Religious upheaval and its consequences
The Great Schism (1378-1418) or sometimes called the Western Schism.
There were 2 popes at the same time; in Rome and France. The consequence of this: reformed movements (Rise of four moons).
Lollardy
Religious movement led by John Wycliffe (1320s-1384). He wanted the Bible available in the English language instead of strictly Latin, which leads people to no longer require the church anymore to read the Bible.
What did John Wycliffe achieve?
He wanted the Bible available in English instead of strictly Latin (translation of the Bible). People no longer required the church anymore to read the Bible.
Social upheaval: Black Death
Black Death (1348)
- Successive outbreaks from 1348 onwards
- Population of England reduced by 20 to 50%
- Important socioeconomic consequences
- Social unrest
- Statute of Labourers (1351)• Pardoner’s Tale II
What were the important socioeconomic consequences that came from the Black Death?
People could ask for more money for their work, because there were are less people alive to work due to the reduced population.
Statute of Labourers
The Statute of Labourers (1351) was a law created by the English Parliament under King Edward III because of labour shortage.
Wages became higher than pre-Plague standards.
Peasants Revolt
A social upheaval in 1381. One of the first major uprisings of the lower class in the Western world. There were many people killed, especially Flemish merchants.
The king tricked the peasants, convincing them to talk, but instead had them all gathered in a field and killed.
• Nun’s Priest’s Tale II
Outcomes of the Peasants Revolt (1381)
- Socioeconomic and political tensions caused by the Black Death
- High taxes because of conflict with France during the Hundred Year’s War
- Instability within the local leadership of London
John Ball
English priest associated with the Lollard movement and Wycliffe. He was imprisoned during the peasant’s revolt for expounding Wycliffe’s ideas.
