The tenor of the times: Johan Huizinga, The Waning of the Middle Ages
Events
and Councils
1347–50, The Black Death, Europe-wide invasion of plague
resulting in:
- A
reduction in population that lasted for a century and half.
- Some
shift of wealth from the rich to the laboring classes.
- A
continual drain of population from the countryside to the towns.
- A
change in mentality? Can we connect this development with the rise of voluntarism?
1305–1378, ‘Babylonian captivity’ of the papacy at Avignon
- The creation of the Roman Rota.
- Tighter control over appointments in local
churches.
- The disputed papal election of 1378, which
leads to:
1378–1417,
the Great Schism
1409–1447,
the ‘age of councils’:
Pisa, 1409
Constance,
1414–1417
Pavia, 1423
Basel, 1431–1449
Ferrara-Florence, 1438–1445
(The
last two named began as one and met intermittently.)
Theoreticians of Conciliarism:
John
of Paris (Jean Quidort, O.P.), c.1240–1306 (theologian, proto-concilarist)
Lemoine,
Jean (Johannes Monachus), c.1250–1313 (canonist, proto-conciliarist)
Durantis,
Guilelmus, junior, c.1250–1328 (canonist, proto-conciliarist)
Ailly,
Pierre d’, 1350–1420 (theologian conciliarist)
Zabarella,
Francesco, c.1335–1417 (canonist conciliarist)
Gerson,
Jean, 1363–1429 (theologian conciliarist)
France and England
France
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Burgundy
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1328–50,
Philip VI
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1350–64,
John II the Good
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1364–80,
Charles V the Wise
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1363–1404
Philip
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1380–1422,
Charles VI the Mad
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1404–19,
John the Fearless
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1422–61,
Charles VII the Well-served
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1419–67,
Philip the Good
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1461–83,
Louis XI the Spider
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1467–77,
Charles the Rash
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1483–98,
Charles VIII
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1477–1519,
Mary & Maximilian
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England
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The 100 Years War
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1307–1327,Edward
II
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1346,
Battle of Crécy
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1327–1377,
Edward III
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1356,
Battle of Poitiers
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1377–1399,
Richard II
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1360,
Peace of Bretigny
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1399–1413,
Henry IV
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1415,
Battle of Agincourt
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1413–1422,
Henry V
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1429,
Seige of Orléans
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1422–1471,
Henry VI
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1453,
Effective end of the war
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1485–1509,
Henry VII
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The
Empire and Italy
The
Empire:
1356, Charles IV, the Golden
Bull, 7 electors: abps Mainz, Trier, Köln, king of Bohemia, count Palatine of
the Rhine, margrave of Brandenburg, duke of Saxony; notable for their
absence: the pope, the duke of Bavaria
Italy:
Milan, despotism of the Visconti (14th
c to 1447), rise of the Sforza
Venice, oligarchic republic, defeat of Genoa in 1380
Florence, republic, incresingly under
control of the Medici in 15th c
Papal states, alternation of humanist and
politician popes, the Borgia
Naples, briefly united with Sicily under Alfonso V the Magnanimous, king of Aragon,
1416–1458, divided at his death
Local law in Italy:
1170, Milan: Act of the consuls (regulating
relations between lords and tenants)
1216, Milan: Liber Consutudinum Mediolani
1396, Milan:
Statuta Mediolani (8 bks. promulgated just after Gian Galezzo Visconti
become duke of Milan,
contains much of the now-lost compilations of 1330 and 1342)
1246–1324, Florence: fragments only survive of annual
legislation
1293, Forence: Ordinamenta
Iustitiae (triumph of the merchants over the magnates)
1325, Florence:
Statuto del Capitano del Popolo; Statuto
del Podesta
1414, Florence: Statuta populi et communis
Florentiae
1162,
Pisa: Breve
Consulum Pisanae civitatis
1233,
Pisa: Constituta
legis et usus
1286,
Pisa: Breve
Pisani communis
1303,
Pisa: Breve
Pisani communis
The
Iberian Peninsula
Castile
|
Aragon
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Sancho
IV, 1284–1295
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Alfonso
III, 1285–1291
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Ferdinand
IV, 1295–1312
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James
II, 1291–1327*
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Alfonso
XI, 1312–1350
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Alfonso
IV, 1327–1336
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Peter
the Cruel, 1350–1369
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Peter
IV, 1336–1387
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Henry
II (of Trastamara),
1369–1379
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John
I, 1387–1395
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John
I, 1379–1390
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Marin
I, 1395–1410
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Henry
III, 1390–1406
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Ferdinand
I, 1412–1416*
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John
II, 1406–1454
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Alfonso
V, 1416–1458*
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Henry
IV, 1454–1474
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John
II, 1458–1479*
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Isabella,
1474–1504
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Ferdinand
II, 1479–1516
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In Castile,
a series of disputed successions from Alfonso X to Isabella. During the reign
of Alfonso XI (1348), we get the Ordinamento de Alcala. Ferdinand I of Aragon was the younger brother of Henry III of
Castile.
(Their mother, Eleanor, was the oldest daughter of Peter IV of Aragon.)
This connection made the the union under Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella
of Castile easier. Kings of Aragon with a couple of exceptions noted with an *
were also kings of Sicily.
If they were not, the king of Sicily
was frequently a close relative.
A Way to Think About These
Developments
- A widening to the horizons of ordinary people.
- The rise of phenomenon of lay spirituality.
- The emergence of the vernacular.
- A crisis of legitimacy?
- The ultimate decline of representative
institutions.
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