Video Transcript: Lesson 18

Unit 12 01 China and Europe Culture and Politics

Hello, welcome back to Christian leaders Institute. This is a course of world history, one on one the beginning. And we are in the period from 1000 to 1500. AD. And we're getting very near the end of the course, just going to look at one more basic topic, for our consideration. And that's the topic of political and social life between 1015 100. And we've looked at a lot of different cultures in the course of this course. But I, for the sake of time had to had to do select a few. So we're going to look first at China. And then we'll look at Western Europe, and conclude with that. Probably one more session after this one. So political, social life in China, between 1015 100 Really, we're talking about three different dynasties, three different Imperial rules, the song, the young, and the Ming. And we'll begin with the Song Dynasty that was born Northern, and then later, they added the southern part of China. And really, virtually all of what we think about as modern day China is incorporated into that. They, they go basically, from the beginning of our time, in the 10th century, all the way to the, almost the end of the 13th century. So the first third or so of our time period is under the Song Dynasty. And I just selected one period during that time. The Song Dynasty, of course, as most of the Imperial times in China, there's very strong leadership. In the top there's an emperor, a vast bureaucracy that is very well trained. China is a way ahead of the rest of the world in terms of technological interventions. They have movable type, centuries before Gutenberg got it in Europe, they are using gunpowder, for both celebrations but also for military, they are way ahead in terms of production of silk and wool and other luxury products. And they have a vast irrigation system. They are master builders. And, of course, they are almost constantly a war either keeping the peace within the borders of China or else fighting foreigners. What are the Emperor's is Shang song, and he reigned from he was Emperor from 1067 to 1085, a relatively short period of time, that's in 20 years. But he was quite innovative, in terms of his social and political understanding of how the imperial power of this state power was there to benefit the people. And we see this ying and yang if you will, throughout Chinese history that there are periods in which the imperial power took advantage of the people. They were quite ruthless, they were avaricious, in how they abused the people, incredible taxation, incredible military levies and the like. But there are other times in which the imperial powers ruled, really on behalf of in benefit of the people. And that's the case here in Shen songs rule. There is no reading assignment on the outside reading assignment. I'm going to basically incorporate into the into the comments this morning. So here is a relatively lengthy quotation from Encyclopedia Britannica, on this period of time. Shen Cong responded vigorously and rather unexpectedly from the standpoint of many bureaucrats and that is a thrill switch in how the previous Empire had ruled the people sang song moved it like, as I mentioned, tour really taking care of the people seeing the government as really benefiting the people to the problems trouble the established order several books were approaching crisis proportions. Keeping above partisan politics he made the scholar poet, Wang unseat his chief counselor, and gave him full backing to make sweeping reforms, known as the new laws or new policies. These reform measures attempted drastic institutional changes.

 

And this next paragraph describes those changes. And you'll notice how advanced the society is. They're using currency both coin and paper, they are very ahead of time in terms of how they deal with agriculture in the light of the tax policy. The government squarely face reality of a rapidly spreading money economy no longer was just trading goods for goods now, there is money coming in. And a lot of it has to do with our trade over the silk routes and the sea routes. We trade with Europe. By spreading money economy by increasing the supply of currency, the state became involved in trading buying specific products to one area for resale elsewhere, and thereby facilitating the exchange of goods. So in this global trade worldwide trade, they intervened, stabilizing prices wherever and whenever, wherever necessary and making a profit itself. This did not displace private trading activities. On the contrary, the government extended loans to small urban and regional traders to state pawn shops, pawn shops, I think, a practice somewhere like modern government banking, but unheard of at the time. And so the state began to loan smaller businesses money in order for them to keep going, that's a new practice. Far more important is that controversial, the government made loans at the interest rate, grade low for the period of 20% to the whole peasantry during the sowing season, thus assuring their farming, productivity and undercutting their dependency upon use various loans from the well to do. So the state got involved in helping bank roll farmers so that they could plant their seed and like, and farm your lands at only a 20% rate of interest, which, to us might sound horrible, but for them was actually a good rate. The government also maintained greeneries in various cities to ensure adequate supplies on hand in case of emergency need. The burden on wealthy and poor life was made more equitable by a graduated tax scale, based on a reassessment of the size and productivity of the land holdings. So a graduated tax system in which it is a percentage system rather than just a flat tax where everybody is seen as benefiting particularly those on the lower end. Similarly, compulsory labor was converted to a system of graduated tax payments. So no longer do you did you trade your hours of labor. Now, you could pay a tax, which were used to finance hired labor service programs that at least theoretically controlled unemployment in farming areas. Again, the state intervened, they collected taxes, rather than hourly, people coming in forcing labor, they and then use those taxes in order to pay laborers, so that during this period of time and during these whang reforms or new laws, the state really helped, particularly the lower class of people to rise out of abject poverty. Requisition of various supplies from guilds also replaced by caste assessments, with which the governor was to buy what was needed at a fair price. The magnitude of the reform program was matched only by the bitter opposition to it. So it's not as if this reform program was dearly loved by everyone. And you can imagine the same folks in their culture in their day. In a loving century, the same folks who have difficulty with CIS programs today. Determined criticism came from groups hurt by the reformed measures, large landowners, big merchants and moneylenders. Without directly attacking the emperor, the critics attacked the Reformers for deviating from orthodox Confucianism. So they use a the argument that Confucianism was had established a very set order you remember, the really heart of the Confucian understanding of that The father figure is the absolute ruler of the household and everyone must do exactly what he says. And they really all serve the father. They changed it to a much more equitable system. People said that's not how our government works. That's pure Confucianism, and the Wang reforms are opposed.

 

After this upper passes from the scene, they pretty well also passed from the scene in Imperial China. The Song Dynasty is followed by the long dynasty and these are really the heirs dangus con, it is the Mongols and the WAN dynasty are fundamentally the same. The Mongols, through over a series of years, take control militarily. Everything that we think of of China and also down into Southeast Asia, into parts, particularly Vietnam, and the like. They did so by military conquest. And then once they had established themselves as the rulers, the Mongols are ones tried to govern more or less as Chinese. They did not. And this is true wherever the Mongols went, they usually did not obliterate and replace the kind of social and political life that was there before the areas that they had conquered, they adapted to it, and for the most part, let the local leaders run things. The 1260s, a central bureaucracy, and local administration of the Chinese Empire were remodeled on Chinese lines, with certain alterations introduced by the Jin State, and that was a previous empire from the North. That again, is a quote from Britannica. But in other ways, the wand and Mongols were clearly a foreign system. I thought this was important paragraph, the unwillingness of the Mongols to assimilate with Chinese. And so while they did adapt sort of Chinese ways, they kept themselves aloof. The Mongols did, they did not mix socially with the, the other Chinese. So the unwillingness of the Mongols to assimilate with the Chinese as shown by their attempts to cement the inequalities, inequalities of their rule. After the song Empire had been conquered, the population of China was divided into four classes, really five, the first class was the Mongols themselves, a tiny but privileged minority. And in that way, as I mentioned earlier, they carried on the tradition that everybody really existed to serve them, and to provide for their needs and their luxury. That came the summer people with special status content. These are people who are confederates of the Mongols such as the Turks or the Middle Eastern Muslims. Remember the Mongols love trade and foster trade? I think I made reference to it. In the in the Mongol notion. A woman alone with just a person should be able to travel from one end of their empire to the other and not be bothered or in any way be able to do that safely. And that just a saying that illustrates that they really wanted free trade throughout their empire. And for the most part, it is a turkey and Arabs who are the middleman in this trade system. And here they are the sort of the second layer in one China. Third group was called the Horan. A term generally means Chinese Han and Chinese are virtually synonymous. But that was used to designate the inhabitants of only northern China. This class includes the Chinese and other ethnic groups living in the former Jin State, as well as the Thai chia. There you can the katana Koreans, and during this period of time Korea is is considered a province of China, the Bohai and the tong good, who could be employed in some functions and who also for military units under Mongol leadership. So this third group is a large class numerous class of ethnic Chinese who are trusted to a great degree, many of them are from the north, and they are given ability to have jobs in the government as well as military leadership. The last group was an RN or amante with his pejorative terms in Chinese, and that means the southern barbarians. So the Mongols, the one dynasty definitely favored the people who lived in the northern areas of China

 

that designated the former subjects of southern China, about three fourths of the Chinese Empire. And then, as I said, there really is five, the lowest stratum in long China was occupied by slaves, whose numbers were quite considerable. And slave status was hereditary and only under certain conditions, could a slave be free. So during the one time, which is basically the 13th century and early 14th century, during the one dynasty, China is divided very much into social classes, quite rigid. The Mongols are on top, there are other classes underneath, and everyone was understood to serve the Mongol overlords. More than four fifths of the taxpayers came from the Naryn group, which was generally barred from holding higher office. Only rarely would one of them rise to some sort of prominence. The Mongols in the summer in the second group, were the tax exempt and enjoy the protection of the law to a higher degree than did the high Ren and Nara and again that is a quote from Britannica article under Kubla Khan and his successors. As mentioned, Mongols rulers favorite trade and all their dominions. In China, too, they eliminated state trade controls that had existed under the song and the gin, so that internal and external trade reached on precedented proportions. So the commerce between the Eastern West between Britain and China, and all parts line in between really flourished during this period of time during the late 13th and early 14th centuries of our time. It seems, however, that China's intercontinental trade with the Middle East and Europe was in the hands of the non Chinese that is measured mainly the Persians Arabs in a series. So the local Chinese people did not profit all that much. It was really the middlemen who profited the most. So the Chinese export commodity parks a lot reached the Middle East and even Europe via the caravan route routes across Asia. Chinese ceramics were also exported chiefly into the Islamic countries. The Asian the Asian countries concentrated the European Trade largely with the Italian republics mentioned before that Genoa and Venice at this time are extraordinarily wealthy places and powerful places in Europe. Certainly the most powerful cities in Europe, because of that trade between China and Europe. To the Italians trade with ease was so important that the Prophet Godello near a Kata handbook, mirror top Ciara handbook on foreign trade, including the description of trade routes to China, this is during the one decline, or during the one dynasty, they of course do decline. They fractured into numerous states. And one are historically in Chinese history, really not considered Chinese. They're remembered as being the Mongols, who ruled China for a while. This happens to be by the way, the era of Marco Polo, famous name particularly in the West. He was a trader from Venice, I believe, or at least Italy, who took a journey and traveled according to his record, traveled all through China became an official in one state that Coober Khan. And travel was gone for 20 years or something like that, gone for a long time, and came back to Europe and published his his travels, the travels of Marco Polo polo which became in its own way a best seller in Europe. And this really fired the imagination. The Europeans in particular of what could be accomplished and and how one could

 

gain and learn particularly from the east. This is a rendering of Marco Polo. You can see his dress You're really sort of Chinese, but mostly Mongolian looks, he has a Mongolian bowl with him. And as I said, he became an official in the court of Kubla Khan, who was, I believe, a grandson of Ganga SCON and is likely the most famous one emperor. By 1368, and really lasting 300 years, almost until 1644, the Ming dynasty took over, they ousted the one. They take a war and they are quintessentially Chinese when we think of Chinese culture, it is very much living dynasty. Here's another quote from Britannica, the Ming dynasty which encompasses the reigns of 16 emperors proved to be one of the stablest and longest ruling periods in Chinese history. Rulers of Korea Mongolia, East Turkistan, my MAR Siam and Vietnam that regularly acknowledged Ming overshare overlordship. So another is really all, almost all what we call Asia today. Southeast Asia's mainland China, Korea, Japan, came under Ming rulers, times tribute was received from as far away as Japan, Java, Sumatra, Sri Lanka and South India. These in African coast, the Persian Gulf region and some archives. Mr. Khan is one of those famous cities on a caravan routes. The silk routes which SAVVIS important place, very wealthy city, but which has since pretty much been overcome by the desert. Modern Chinese honor the Ming emperors especially for having restored China's international power and procedure, which had been in decline since the eighth century. The Ming Emperor is probably exercise more far reaching influence in East Asia than any other native rulers of China. And their attitude to other representatives of Portugal, Spain, Russia, Britain and Holland who appeared in China before the end of their dynasty was a condescending one. The Ming Dynasty thought of themselves really as the greatest culturally, militarily the most advanced people in the world and everyone else was basically barbarians. This is a map of the Ming Dynasty what they control their main empire and you can see that it's it is very much all modern China and much of Southeast Asia as well. Huge dynasty the main the main did reinstate the notion or continue the notion that the people serve the Emperor and they are not particularly well known for helping out the peasant class or the lower class, but they are well known for great bringing are very, very high degree of culture and art. This is this is just one image of a Ming vase. One hears about such things tremendously important and tremendously valuable. Their work in ceramics and in China. flatware and, and other porcelain products, other ceramic products that make their way to the east, and to the west, is still legendary today. So that's Ming Dynasty. So what we see in the social and political life of China, during this period of time, is basically those three different dynasties and they had take different attitudes toward the life of the regular people. In some regards. There's a period of time in which the

 

the rulers and the government exists in order to help the people and but for most of the time, it's the other way around that people exist. The commoners exists or to make the Emperor's more wealthy wealth and those Emperor Emperor's is legendary.

 

We're gonna move down to Western Europe. And there's so many themes that one can pick up during this period of time from 1000 to 1500. The theme that I'm going to stress or at least kind of hold it all together is that this is a period of time in which we, Western Europe moves from minor principalities ruled by local leaders, barons, princes in the light of the local areas, often that's a continuation of the old tribal relationships more towards the nation states so that by the end of our period, by the 16th century, the whole notion of nationhood that you belong to an entity that's much greater than just where you can travel in a day or two is pretty firmly established, particularly in France and England, to Tunisia, and Spain, the nations that have become the major players in the 17th and 18th centuries. We'll get to that in the next course. But we're laying the foundation now. So it's that move during this period of time toward that understanding of becoming a national identity. This is just a series of maps to illustrate a little bit what that might look like. So this is in the eighth 14, so this is in the ninth century, what we basically see are a couple of different kingdoms. Charles the great here, this area is controlled by Muslims. Here is still Byzantium. Just basically tribal areas with tribal kings in the night and early 10th century if we move along a few 100 years. So now we've moved almost to 1200. So let's say the beginning of the 13th century, we began to see that there are national identities that begin to start to build Hungary in particular, is important. Germany is under the control of the Holy Roman Empire, which basically means it's under control of the Pope, kingdom of Sicily, divides the Italian boot between the woods, governed by the Pope, and was governed by the kingdom of Sicily, France, Spain is still divided into a number of different countries. France is just a small area with Normandy and zoo and aqua Tang, all as independent local political entities, England is very much divided into Ireland and Wales and Scotland and they are constantly fighting each other during this period of time. We move ahead another 100 years or so, and now we began to get the sense of some larger national powers growing, we have the empire of Germany, France has taken over most of those other countries, England, still is divided into various principalities, Scotland, Ireland, but Wales now is firmly a part of an English identity. Poland begins to have an identity Hungary does. Russia does Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the like. Until we move into this area, this I believe, is the, oh, this is a 14th century. There. There's some disintegration again, during this period of time they break apart and sort of revert back to their old identities. Here we are, the Holy Roman Empire. Okay, the 1470. So now we're getting almost to our 1500s. And in the 15th century, here, we see some very clear identities coming out of England, which is now fully in control of Ireland. Soon, they'll be joined with Scotland, through in the tutors, you have France was pretty well is in control. The Holy Roman Empire still controls much with the including the Netherlands. Castiel and Aragon are soon to unite and create the nation of Spain. Portugal retain a clear identity to separate that very powerful identity, and Hungary, Poland. So what I would really like you to observe and come along with me is a story of how these Europe becomes gained a national identity for the various countries, particularly for France and for England, the two nations and Spain. Those three nations in the next few centuries are going to dominate

 

the world in many ways. So let's turn now to Western Europe between 1000 and 1500s, of political and social life. The Middle Ages are often described in Europe as a time of feudalism. That term is not very helpfully used anymore. modern historians have all sorts of difficulty with that term. And mostly the critique is that it implies that there's really only one system that's going on in Europe. And that is not the case. Europe is a mishmash of local customs and systems, of how arrangements are made between particularly those who are in charge those who are ruling and those who are ruled. So we won't talk much about feudalism in that way, but it is the case that, particularly in Christian lands, that the notion of being bound to someone else by an oath, what's called fealty, and homage, where someone voluntarily, mostly will pledge their service, and will pledge their life to another the that local leader or the local leaders to the king, and there are gradations and steps to that. But that is a very common practice. So I think medieval Europe is really a time of being or taking a vow to serve the next person up the ladder, as central to how medieval Europe work. So they make these oath bound obligations. That really starts around the year 800, with Charlemagne and the like. But by the end of our period, 1500, that pretty well has declined that oath bound relationship, there's still a little bit of it, in some countries, France, keeps it a little bit longer than other places. But for the most part, that sort of relationship between those who are ruled and the rulers is not the fundamental way their life is organized. In instead, it is really the rise of national identities, where the particularly the king, or and the Parliament, the ruling body, in England, people give their allegiance to, to that identity, where the king becomes really the embodiment of the nation. But it isn't an oath bound thing. It is a thing of pride. And it is a matter of, as I said, identity, we are all Englishmen, for instance, together. Middle Ages, are a time in which the power of the church is unparalleled. The Christian churches unparalleled is equally as powerful, if not more so in every one of these countries. In Western Europe, it is in a lot of ways, the medieval church is the super organization that binds all Western Europe together. There's when the Pope speaks, He speaks to the French and he speaks to the English he speaks to the Danish and he speaks to the Italians and the Spanish. When the pope speaks, everyone, presumably listens. And during this period of time, the church claims to have exclusive power over granting salvation. And I think I've illustrated before talked to before how this is a time period in Western Europe, in which a sense of how how tenuous how, how scary life is, because of many factors, living and dying was a matter of each moment. And whether that was for yourself or for your children. And so people's spiritual life, very much focused on the afterlife. And it was through their exclusive claim to have power in the sacraments, that the church either granted salvation to people or was held. And the same was true with prayers. They had control over the prayers. A priest or someone from an organization that you would pay. They said prayers for you. Your own prayers were not very significant.

 

That's an innovation of Martin Luther. It's also the beginning of the middle class, sometimes called the bourgeois but these are really the merchant, the merchant class, as well as the trades people, people who didn't farm the land that often made equipment by which the lands are farmed, or people who built the cities built the great cathedral system at the time of building great cathedrals and castles. And so there's lots of employment for masons and lots of employment, for stone cutters. And for people who make wheels. Those are called the The Cooper's. This is a time in which those occupations began to build their own guilds. And also to be able to begin to negotiate for wages. With the powers that be so it wasn't just the case that I pledged my time to buy Overlord, and he was throwing me some food down that it was a case that I had a trade to sell, I had a skill to sell, and would you be willing to pay for that. And the gills were very important than that.

 

The merchant, it is a period of time in which there's not a surplus, but there is a lively trade in day to day goods, that the merchant people

 

and begin to become important, particularly England trades wool to the continent, in the Netherlands and France, they produce wool and products. And wool, in many respects, is the commodity Pyrex alive, that that runs medieval Europe. So as I mentioned, this is both a time in which those oath bound relationships govern all of life. But they also, by the end of the period of time, we see that these relationships have declined. The primary thing that one did when you pledge loyalty, took an oath is that you said that you would supply military power military might either in terms of weapons or arms, or funds or soldiers to the next person up the line. And the next person to whom you pledged would say, okay, then I will protect you, particularly from foreign invaders, as well as govern the land with laws. So it was in return for control of the land and the population. As I said, this is primarily a Western European function and seems to be the main way society is organized from about 800 to 1400. So why did it decline? What are some of the factors? Well, I'm going to mention just four. And previously, in the course, we talked about how great changes often happen on a number of different levels. At the same time, there's almost always an environmental change. Historians are very interested in that technological change that happens to that there's a change in perception of identity, and also an economic change. And so I've selected these four topics, in order to illustrate those kinds of changes. They all contributed in their own way to the decline of this oath bound system. Here's a reading assignment for you. It is on Wikipedia, the Wikipedia article on the black death. So the Black Death is the 14th century. First half of the 14th century, Pan Adamic. That means it is a disease, killing disease that is widespread all over the world. And that is certainly true likely carried by fleas on rats. Although there's still some debates a lot of people think that people's immune systems are already weakened by bad water or inadequate nutrition or overwork or climate, whatever the like. But it is the case that the bacteria that causes bubonic plague, enters Europe is likely spread from Central Asia, goes in all directions. It goes to the east to Asia and enters India a little bit later, but still India is greatly affected. China, millions die in China of Black Death, particularly in the southern regions. Vietnam in particular is remembered as having lost great parts of his population. In the Middle East. There's one reporter in Baghdad For instance, that there was no one left to live in Baghdad to bury the dead, once the Black Death hit there, and of course in Europe, so it isn't just a European phenomenon. It is a entire phenomenon everywhere where the silk routes everywhere there was commerce and trade from Central Asia, that's where Black Death travels. And it certainly did travel along with the trade routes. In Europe within a decade. Well, worldwide, about 30% of the world's population dies. Those kinds of figures are hard to get a hold on. But if you just you just look around, you're where you are. Or if you're in a store, and you just start counting every third person, one to see they're gone 123, they're gone, 123 They're gone. And that is that it doesn't count those whose lives have been because of the disease. They've been very much crippled or handicapped. By the disease, if it doesn't kill you, is certainly leaves you very weak and vulnerable, you might catch other diseases,

 

you certainly won't be able to work. One of the huge things that come as a result of the Black Plague is that they there just aren't enough people around to carry on society, there are people left not only just to bury the dead, but also to tend to the living. There aren't enough people to farm the lands, agriculture changes, there becomes a great food shortage after the Black Death, because there just aren't enough people to to raise the cops. Estimates ranged widely Some think that maybe 50% of the population, Western Europe dies. So that's every other person. It is an unbelievable kind of a plague that has well, in its aftermath, and basically it's a it's a 13 1320s or 30s, that this happens in Europe. There becomes an intense persecution, those who are suspected to somehow be spreading. Jews were thought to have been poisoning the water, for instance, because are they in a Jewish populations didn't die at the same rates as Gentile populations. And people thought, well, the Jews are causing this. The reason they didn't die as a Jewish family homes often were cleaner, they didn't have as many rats, they weren't infected as much. And so they didn't get the bubonic plague nearly at the same rate. The people blame the Jews and there was widespread Jewish persecution in Europe, lepers, and others who had clear diseases were thought to be causing this somehow, other minor minority groups are thought to be be the cause of this. And people believe that, that they, their existence, their being in society was bringing on God's wrath. And so what we had to do in order to get God on our side, always the question of religion, religious practice, is to exterminate these people. We just get rid of them, then God will come back and save us from this horrible plague. Many of the Jews at this time escaped and they go east with the plague isn't so bad. They, they go east into Poland and Russia. And that's one reason why there was a very large population in Eastern, eastern Russia of Jewish people. I mentioned that very much during this period of time, there's a real fixation on death, and the afterlife. With its religious practices that come involved repentance becomes a very important part of public religious practices. There are people who go through the streets with whips whipping themselves, to show that they are repentant, hoping again, somehow to get God to relieve them of this horrible plague. There is a abandoned interface to some degree. Some they'll fire one way in their religious practice and some will fire the other say, Well, let us eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow we might die and so they simply abandon their faith abandon all Christian morality and common ethics. In this period of time, there's a tremendous shortage of clergy, the clergy, there are all different levels of clergy, you know, the Pope and the Cardinals in the archbishops and the bishops, the Abbott's of the monasteries, and the monks and nuns, the friars, the priests. As I said, the church is about half of the society. They, many of them take it upon themselves to be the primary caregivers, of people who have the plague. And so they of course, catch it themselves and so many, many priests and monks and nuns, and Abbott's friars die in this time. And this leads to the closing of many monasteries. Now, the monasteries are not only where the monks and the nunneries are where the nuns lives, but they are also significant landholders happened, for instance, in England, in the Middle Ages tastic nation, half the countryside is actually owned by the church.

 

And they tax the people, they raise armies, they, they function, basically as an alternative government, in England, and but so many other clergy die at this time, and then monks and the nuns, that the monasteries have to be abandoned. There's no one left to live there. And sometimes the land goes fallow, they're just abandoned. But other times people begin to swallow that up. And this is a movement toward the left knee of the church's authority and power and wealth. Because of the Black Death. As I mentioned, this is loss of the workforce. And also the relationship between the Lord and labor now becomes more of that contract base. The laborers have a skill, there are very few of them. And so they have some clout to begin to bargain with the Lord. Large land and estates. Various Baronies and estates begin to shrink very much in size. There aren't enough farmers or of workers to take care of them. Wages, while still fixed by the government are begin to increase some. And there's actually a movement away from the countryside, and into the towns and the cities. And the countryside returns to a much more wild, less cultivated area. This is the time that the forest grows. This is a time very much when the land instead of being used as they're being plowed up and selling recede, now goes to pasture, because they're able to have a flock of sheep takes much less labor than trying to kill acres of farmland.

 

This is a fun kind of map that shows the spread the black death during this period of time, and during, really these years. So we're only really talking about five or six years here, and how fast the Black Death spreads. And you see it by the end of the period of time. By 1350 More or less, it is from one ocean to the next. A third of the population of that area dies at this time. So that is an environmental change. And the way that works for coming more to a national identity is number one, the power of the church becomes loosened. And number two, there just are many fewer of these small principalities. They can go on there just aren't enough people to live there. And also the rise middle class during the technological changes one of the main reasons that there's a movement away from the Earthbound society in which I pledged to you by loyalty and I'll supply you with two knights on shining was shining armor and they'll fight you there'll be mercenaries for you. The Knights really are the elite warriors and in Europe during this period of time, but they take a tremendous amount of money to fund and armor and delight to keep up battles were often fundamentally between these knights, they might be small, they might only be might have to bear nice fighting, but there might only be 2020 knights fighting each other, it's relatively small, small scale. Well, in this period of time in from the Welsh, the English learn about this thing called a long bow. It's about the stall made out of stout English oak. And it fires, arrows at about a third farther than the old crossbow that was in use, and inspired with such potency, that it could pierce the armor that was on the horses, as well as for the most part that knights wore. And this began to really change things. So in the, in the 14th century, the English began to use the longbow in their battles with the French. We haven't, we haven't paused to talk about what is called the 100 Years War. Basically, as a it's about 100 year period, during which England and France were almost in constant battle with each other, or portions thereof. And near the end of it, the English bring over this new invention, the longbow. So, the Battle of Agincourt is often sort of highlighted, it's one of the more famous battles between the French and the English, English when and the reason they win is because they use the long bows, and pretty well decimate the good French armies. It really spells the end of the age of the Knights. And the Knights are totally wrapped up in this in this middle ages. Idea of oath bound allegiance. They are the gladiators that I will supply to you. In order to protect you, I'm bound to fears like night, you will take care of your military needs, you'll be a mercenary. Well, once the power of the lights begins to fade, then very much it becomes larger scale troops, larger armies, men equipped with different kinds of weapons, so that by the end of our period, the English long bow has made that virtually obsolete. And the English continue to use this throughout our period of time. However, they are Longo is also soon to be replaced.

 

Beginning to be replaced by 1500. With our artillery, fired by that invention they got from China called gunpowder. So by that, by the time our the 16th century begins, gunpowder becomes more much more significant even then the longbow. And again, now you have larger armies, larger groups going against each other. They are they begin to become a professionally trained army. And that contributes greatly to the notion of growth of nations. So now it is an army in service to France, and service to Spain, in service to England, rather than just you know, a couple of people that I'm supplying to the person up the line. Here's a here's an image of an Englishman with a longbow. Fire to great effect and they would rain down hundreds and 1000s of arrows on the Knights thing and this is an economic development, we're gonna just call it the rise of the middle class. In that all found relationship, there's basically just a few at the top, who and they're bound to each other. And I grant you all these other people to work for you. used to call them serfs, but we'll just call it peasants. All the people who work your lands, his tenure animals, take care of your household, run your castle. All those people are really they they're my possessions. They belong to me and I give you freedom to use them however you want. Well, a lot of those people begin to have these specialized skills that they can borrow Before I talked about the gills coming up, and then others become the merchants who deal. As I said, wool is one of the significant commodities that's traded. It's much more a contractual based society. And with contracts, of course, comes law and law comes courts and people to adjudicate on that some written documents that you have to have scribes and you have to have attorneys and barristers and the like, much more contractual society, and less that oath bound one of the Middle Ages. This leads to a real loosening of control of the barons, and the landowner Clock class, that goes all the way up to the king.

 

So it's not that personal relationship, so more so much. Once the middle class becomes in, in some places, the guild replaced the church as the communal locus of prayer and faith.

 

The guilds are actually places where you can have other people there pray for you and care for you, they become your community of faith. The Guild is where my identity lies in many significant ways. And lastly, there becomes a centralization of royal power. So the identity of allegiance to Milo is less. Now just focused on that Baron who lives in a castle, where that Prince who lives there now is very much in the king or the queen who embody the nation and the national level, the royal family becomes extremely important, and who they are, and they're loved and admired, or hated, as the case may be. And as I mentioned, along with these changes, there are huge changes in royal administrations, particularly in England, where practices of law developed were practices of adjudication, contracts, and all of those various things come during this period of time. And that leads more to a national identity where there is a unified system that will protect people no matter where they live, under whose reign they are. So there's a growing awareness of belonging to more than just a local lord, rather, you belong to the local power. And as I mentioned, this also is a time of the church's decline in secular power. And especially well. We talked previously about the Western schism, when there were the pope moved from Rome to Avignon. And where the the French king really becomes the ruler has control over the Pope. And then there are those anti Pope's, there's really two Pope's going on at the same time, and nobody knows it's confusing. All of that contributed to people's lessening of trust and allegiance to the church as the unifying power was in Europe. And now that vacuum is replaced by a beginning, sense of a unifying power as a nation as a people. I am part of a greater whole than just what goes on locally. For convenience sake historians and others talk about, you know, the nation of France, and then they, we might talk about that in the third century for centuries this century. But that really is not the case. There is no sense of nation until really the, let's say the 15th 16th 17th century, that's much more recent development, this notion of the nation state. Prior to that, did that function, people lived basically just on their local level and didn't have a broader national understanding.

 

Okay, the church is, as I mentioned, equal in power during the middle evil time, from 1000 to 1500, equal or greater in power than any other institution. You In Western Europe, it is no major landowner. Yeah, no major landowner in Europe is extraordinarily wealthy. And that wealth is really controlled by the clergy. The clergy are the clergy allowed to tax. They're the people who live in their domains. And particularly the the bishop said, the Archbishop's and the Abbott's. There's no vowel poverty in these parts. These people become fabulously wealthy. Just to illustrate Cardinal Wolsey, at the end of our period of time is the head of the church in England. The Catholic churches during Henry the eighth time to before Henry the Eighth splits with the Pope. And Carl no Cardinal Wolsey is the wealthiest person in that period of time more wealthy than the king is the wealthiest person in England because of all the estates and lands that he holds, they also of course, bishops and priests and monks and nuns and dryers, they also do spread the face and they do take care of people, they man the churches and the like, and to to the church's calling and mission. Throughout our history, education is very central part of what they do, as well as care for the sick. The whole notion of hospitals. And for the most part, the universities and various academies for training are all under the jurisdiction of the church. It is really through the use of sacraments and the understanding of sacraments, as the means by which salvation is granted by the means of grace. That the church controls the daily lives of people that controls their salvation, their hope, their notion of eternal life. Without the church, there is no, there is no afterlife, there's no more. And as I mentioned, this is the fundamental yearning of people in the Middle Ages. So the church is a extraordinarily powerful thing. The person that I There are many important leaders in the church during this period of time, but I just selected to say something about Thomas Aquinas because he is such a central figure to medieval and in many ways illustrates the social life in the Middle Ages. But I think that what we'll do is come to Thomas next time in our final lecture in this course, and save that, save that discussion until then, when we talk about Thomas Aquinas and the Renaissance. Thank you for your time. Do your reading assignments, and may God bless you in this day. Thank you