THE MIDDLE AGES – THE LATER MIDDLE AGES (MAIN EVENTS)

Edward III’s reign (1327-1377) is associated with two important events – the Hundred Years’
War and the Black Death.

The Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453)

From the 11th up to the 15th centuries, wars on the Continent were numerous and local, instead of
few and large as in the modern times. This characteristic of the Middle Ages in point of wars is
due to the lack of money and possibility to wage extended wars. Perhaps the first European war
that can be called both national and continental was the Hundred Years’ War. The war was
waged between England and France as a result of Edward III’s claims over the French throne.
The benefits brought by this war were of intellectual order – this benefit was represented by a
strong national self-consciousness. There was a new patriotic feeling, this time in the form of a
national hatred against the French. The feeling against France outlasted this war and helped to
put an end to that subordination of English to French culture which the Norman Conquest had
established.
Six years after the battle of Poitiers, a statue was passed through the Parliament, declaring that
since French language was much unknown in the kingdom, all pleadings and judgments in the
Law Courts should be spoken in English.
A still more fundamental revolution was taking place in regard to the language used in schools;
English was becoming once more the language of the educated and of the upper classes. Since
English became an educated language, it was ready to become the language of Chaucer and
Shakespeare. The way to religious Reformation and the Renaissance was thus definitively paved.

The Black Death haunted the late 14th century. To people of that time it was seen as the
judgement of God on their sins. When it arrived in 1348 no one knew what it was. It spread very
quickly, black spots appeared on the skin, people would spit blood and die in three days. Today
we know without a doubt that this was bubonic plague, a contagious disease found in remote
parts of the world, like Arabia or India. The plague was not carried by mysterious clouds, but by
black rats. The plague spared no one, rich or poor. Probably somewhere between a third and a
half of Britain’s population perished in the plague.
The economic and social consequences of this plague were very important. As the population
decreased significantly as a result of the plague, labour became expensive and villains became
prosperous and sometimes they could pay their freedom. On the other hand, landlords and
merchants had to pay higher wages to the workers -> all social strata benefited from the
increasing purchasing power; thus, tenants were able to buy land at small prices.
The Statute of Labourers (Statutul Lucrătorilor) in 1351, claimed that wages had to be kept at
the same level as before the plague. Any villain caught leaving his lord’s manor to be treated
better elsewhere was punished by fine or imprisonment; they had no rights; the landlords also
imposed higher fees -> the Peasants’ Revolt (1381), which was directed against the increasing of
the taxes (the poll-tax raised the anger of the population – all inhabitants over 15 years had to ay
this tax, irrespective of the income they had – the main reason for this poll-tax was to gather
money to finance the war with France), but also against the authority of the Church. The English
who had become literate and had started to read religious writing, started to challenge the
authority of the church. Such a person was an Oxford professor, John Wycliffei, who condemned
the opulent life led by the clergy. He considered that it was not the Church, but the Bible, to be
considered the most important authority. He said that everyone should be able to read the Bible
in English, therefore he started to translate it from Latin. Wycliffe’s ideas and beliefs represent
the beginning of the spirit of Reformation which will begin during the Renaissance, when the
Church of England becomes independent of the Church of Rome (> Henry VIII). Wycliffe was
not directly involved in the Peasants’ Revolt, but his conceptions, which he had been teaching at
the University of Oxford, and which paved the way to the Reformation in England, were
preached among the people by his disciples, the so-called ‘poor preachers’, who proclaimed
social and economic equality among people (because God had created men and woman as
equals, starting with Adam and Eve) and said that all domains belonging to the church should be
confiscated and divided among the poor.
But for the time being, Wycliffe’s ideas were suppressed by the king at the time, Henry IV, who
strongly opposed them. Even though the Revolt did not represent a total success for the peasants,
the poll tax was however abolished and Lollardy continued up to the 15th century.

On Henry IV’s death, his son Henry V succeeded to the throne of England in 1413 – he
maintained peace in his kingdom and managed to get hold of most of Normandy; he married the
French king’s daughter and on his death he passed the thrones of both England and France to his
son, Henry VI (1422-1461 and 1470-1471ii), the youngest king to have ruled over two countries
(England and Normandy) – he became king when he was 11 months old (his realm was governed
by regents until he was 16).
During his reign, the Wars of the Rosesiii (1455-1485) started, fought between the two rival
and most powerful houses at that time, the House of Lancaster and the House of York. The wars
ended when Henry Tudor (from the House of Lancaster) married Elizabeth (House of York) –>
he became Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty. As a result of the wars, the power of the
Crown was strengthened because the old nobility was destroyed and the feudal power of the
nobles was considerably weakened; the crown became powerful by confiscating the estates of
the nobles. The wars are associated with the end of the medieval period in England and the
beginning of the Renaissance.
i
John Wycliffe was supported by a group called the Lollards, a political and religious movement
whose main interest resided in the reformation of the Church. The Lollards were against the use of
images in worship; they believed that the clergy should live a simple life and they opposed the doctrine
of transubstantiation (= the belief, especially by Roman Catholics, that during Mass(= a religious
ceremony) bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ)
ii
Due to a mental breakdown, Henry VI was not able to rule between 1461-1470 and was replaced by
Edward IV, who was declared King of England by the supporters of the House of York. Henry VI was
briefly restored to the throne in 1470, but one year later he died, and it is widely suspected that Edward
ordered Henry’s murder in order to remove the Lancastrian opposition completely.
iii
The name ‘The Wars of the Roses’ came into common use in the 19th century in one of Sir Walter
Scott’s novels -> from the heraldic signs used by the two houses: the House of Lancaster – the red rose,
the House of York – the white rose.