Study Questions: Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Regarding Maps
1) Consider Map 8.1. Did the Ottomans become territorial heirs of the Byzantine Empire?
Yes: the contours of the Byzantine Empire at its height (Map 4.2, page 142) were nearly identical to those of the Ottoman Empire c. 1500 (with the important exception of southern Italy).
2) Consider Maps 8.2 and 8.3. Who prevailed in the first decades of the Hundred Years’ War? What does Map 8.3 tell us about English power in France in the 1420s? What would a map of this region in 1453 look like?
Map 8.2 reveals that the English prevailed in the first decades of the Hundred Years’ War. Map 8.3 shows that English power in France increased in the 1420s. In 1453, however, all English possessions on the Continent (except for a tiny bit at Calais) would have disappeared.
3) Consider Map 8.4. If you had been alive in 1476, would you have predicted a long life for the duchy of Burgundy?
It would have been hard to predict anything but glory for this duchy, which had gone from victory to victory since the mid-fourteenth century. On the other hand, you might notice that a coalition was building against it and that the duke had no son to succeed him. These might give you pause.
4) What can you say about the rule of the independent city-states of northern Italy from Map 8.5? Does the situation seem stable?
Venice, indicated by stripes, has become a land power extending nearly to Milan; Florence is a Republic that has absorbed nearby cities; Milan is a duchy with considerable territory. The Republic of Genoa includes Corsica. The situation is possibly stable, since the power of these city-states seems fairly equal. And, indeed, the Peace of Lodi of 1454 kept the peace for forty years.
5) Consider Map 8.6. From where did all the ships for these long-distance sea voyages depart? Why?
The ships departed from Portugal and Spain. The Portuguese royal house initiated long-distance sea voyages (for example, the one by Bartholomeu Dias to the Cape of Good Hope in 1487), but soon the Spanish house of Castile competed by supporting voyages that departed from Spain. The most famous of these was Columbus’s voyage to the west.
Regarding Plates
1) What is the theme of the woodcut in Plate 8.1? What events explain its preoccupation?
The theme of this woodcut is death. Events that may help to explain this preoccupation include the Great Famine (1315-1322) and the Black Death, which felled between one-fifth and one-half of the European population. Perhaps contemplation of the details of Christ’s death (as in Plate 8.4) led to rumination on ordinary human mortality as well.
2) Look at Plates 8.2 and 8.3. What new artistic and architectural ideals are visible here? What do art historians call this new style?
Plate 8.2 shows the biblical David as a young and beautiful boy. His graceful body is the focus, just as a young hero was the center of the Pompeiian wall painting of Theseus (see Plate 1.2 on page 34). The sculptor of David, Donatello, consciously harked back to such classical models and values. Plate 8.3 shows a building that owes little to the Gothic style that was still very popular. Its architect, Brunelleschi, strove to present a classical facade (some of his architectural motifs are visible in Plate 1.1 on page 33, another Pompeiian painting). Art historians call this new style, which emphasized the ancient values of fleshiness, grace, and proportion,“Renaissance.”
3) How is Plate 8.4 a work of Renaissance art?
The artist, Raphael, self-consciously draws upon the work of the great masters of his age–Michelangelo, Rogier van der Weyden–and of the classical past–the Meleager sarcophagus. Raphael’s bodies are emotional, fleshy, graceful, and proportional.
4) Consider Plate 8.5. How is it representative of Renaissance art? Does it draw at all on earlier precedents?
The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci takes place in a long hall reminiscent of classical architecture. The figures react emotionally to Christ’s statement that someone will betray him: there is emphasis on Christ’s earthly existence and his fleshy solidity. Although a product of the Renaissance, there were clear medieval precedents—in sculpture, as in Nicola Pisano’s scene of the Magi (Plate 7.8), and in the paintings of Giotto (Plate 7.10).
5) Why did Mehmed II choose to have his portrait (in Plate 8.6) painted by Gentile Bellini?
Mehmed saw himself as the successor of the Roman (and more recently the Byzantine) emperors and a Renaissance prince. In commissioning Bellini, he was acting like any wealthy Renaissance patron.
6) Looking at Plates 8.7, 8.8, and 8.9, discuss the varieties of art produced in the Duchy of Burgundy. Why were the visual arts so important there?
The visual arts were highly valued throughout the Middle Ages; in the Renaissance they became even more important as a way for rulers and other influential people and institutions to advertise themselves. The dukes of Burgundy, whose state was patched together only by their personal rule, were particularly keen to surround themselves with pageantry and works of art that would telegraph their prestige and glory. The Alexander tapestry illustrated in Plate 8.7 was one of many that accompanied the duke on his travels, associating him with an ancient heroic ruler. The altarpiece of Plate 8.8 typifies the new expressivity that Netherlandish painters brought to religious art. Finally Plate 8.9 shows how the same immediacy and expressivity were employed in secular art.
Defining Terms
What do the following terms mean?
1) Statute of Laborers
This Statute was issued in 1351 by King Edward III as a response to the social and economic effects of the plague in England. It forbade workers to take wages higher than those of pre-plague England, and it fined employers who offered more. The idea was to legislate against wage inflation, but the ploy did not work (see page 306).
2) Council of Constance
This council met in 1414-1418 to end the Great Schism (1378-1417). It deposed the three rival popes and elected a new one, Martin V. It was also infamous for burning Jan Hus, the leader of the Czech church reform movement, as a heretic (see pages 325-327).
3) conversos
The conversos were the “New Christians,” or converts, of Jewish heritage in late medieval Spain. Most came from families that had converted in the wake of the pogroms of 1391. Their worldly success and assimilation led to hostility from the Old Christians, and the Inquisition, set up in 1478, tortured and killed many (see page 327).
4) devotio moderna
Literally “new devotion,” this religious movement developed in the Low Countries, the Rhineland, and northern Germany. Attracting both men and women, who lived in separate houses, it emphasized private reading and contemplation rather than public or communal religious devotion (see page 342).
5) Jacquerie
The Jacquerie refers to the French peasant movement of 1358. It began in order to resist the “Free Companies”—mercenary soldiers hired during the Hundred Years’ War—which wreaked havoc on the countryside. But it soon turned into a revolt against the nobility, whom the peasants blamed for allowing the capture of the French king at Poitiers (1356) and, more generally, for leaving the countryside unprotected (see page 322).
Short-Answer Questions
1) Consider Genealogy 8.1. What does it tell us about the origins of the Hundred Years’ War?
Isabella, the daughter of Capetian King Philip IV, married King of England Edward II (1307-1327). Their son, Edward III, was in line for the French throne when Isabella’s brother Charles IV died in 1328. The French nobles awarded it instead to Philip VI, nephew of Philip IV, who became the first Valois king of France. Edward’s claims on the French throne were in large measure responsible for the outbreak of the Hundred Years’ War.
2) What were the social and economic effects of the Black Death?
The Black Death (1346-1353) killed between one fifth and one half of the European population. This led to acute labor shortages. Survivors of the plague took advantage of the situation, throwing off old servile obligations and striking favorable bargains with landlords, or joining guilds newly in need of workers. With their newfound wealth, men and women married at an earlier age than before, and, because of their sense of no tomorrow, they spent what they could on luxuries.
3) Explain why and how the Ottomans were successful in conquering Constantinople.
Long before they conquered Constantinople in 1453, the Ottomans had chipped away at most of the Byzantine Empire. Even though the Byzantines had reconstituted their state in 1261 after the devastation of the Fourth Crusade in 1204, it was fragile and divided. Byzantine factions gave the Ottomans an excuse to expand further on Byzantine soil. But even without this encouragement the Ottomans would very likely have conquered the capital. They were excellent warriors, with their Janissaries (crack armies made up of slaves), cannons, and muskets. Under Mehmed II, they had a leader who saw himself in the line of Roman emperors. When he conquered Constantinople, he considered himself its savior.
4) Why did the dukes of Burgundy, who were related to the French kings, support the English?
Philip the Bold, the first duke of Burgundy, was the brother of Valois King Charles V, but his grandson and later successors allied themselves with the English because England was the major trading partner of Flanders, an important territory and a major source of revenue for the Burgundian dukes.
5) In what ways was the Renaissance a new court style? In what ways was it a new urban movement?
Many fifteenth-century Italian cities were led by powerful lords, the signori; at their courts, they cultivated Renaissance art to express their power and piety. For example, the signore of Milan Duke Ludovico il Moro was the patron of Leonardo da Vinci. But lords were not the only patrons who wanted their identities to be proclaimed by the new style. Urban institutions of all sorts were involved as well. For example, the Florentine Silk Guild sponsored the building of the Foundling Hospital by Brunelleschi.
6) How did the Great Schism (1378-1417) come about, and how was it resolved?
The scandal of the Avignon papacy was temporarily resolved when, in 1377, Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome. But a new scandal arose immediately upon his death in 1378 when two popes claimed power, one of whom remained in Rome, the other of whom went back to Avignon. This situation lasted until 1409, when the two popes were joined by a third. The crisis was resolved by the Council of Constance (1414-1418), which in 1417 deposed all the current popes and elected a new one, Martin V, who established himself in Rome.
Long-Answer Questions
1) Between 1350 and 1500, Europe was struck and bloodied by several disasters (wars, disease, famine). Yet, your textbook states, “By 1500, Europe was poised to conquer the globe.” What factors made this possible?
Some factors include:
• The economic upheaval that took place after the Black Death, while decimating the European population, allowed those who survived to amass new wealth. With it they sponsored major undertakings, such as artistic commissions and navigational experiments.
• In the aftermath of the wars super-princes came to the fore, ready to engage in high-stakes competition. Thus Portugal’s success in navigation inspired Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to find a rival seaman: Christopher Columbus.
• Technological advances (for example, the heavy galleon), the promise of great profits, and the hope of gaining glory and honor inspired rulers and adventurers to explore new horizons.
• The revival of interest in the ancient world at a cultural level encouraged people to explore new possibilities in their own world.
2) According to your textbook, “Everywhere … kings were intervening in church affairs.” What impact did this have on religion? On the papacy? On the church hierarchy in general?
Your answer might include these points:
• Royal intervention in church affairs enabled some popular religious movements to thrive, as happened at first with Wyclif and his followers.
• National churches began to form. For example, Charles VII declared himself the guarantor of church reform in France in the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438). The church hierarchy in France came to see itself more dependent on the king than on the pope.
• The papacy lost its unifying force. Theories of conciliarism—which held the church to be a corporate body—undermined the pope’s position as the source of spiritual authority.
3) What happened to turn Europeans’ passion for new goods and missionary opportunities away from the eastern trade routes fostered by the Mongols and toward the Atlantic?
Some points to consider:
• As the Mongol Empire disintegrated and the Ottomans took over the East, Europeans began to turn away from the trade routes fostered by the Mongols toward newly discovered routes.
• Even though Europeans traded with the Ottoman Empire, they saw it as an obstacle blocking the old routes to the Orient. Because they could do so, they changed their orientation to the West.
• New inventions in navigation and shipbuilding made it possible to travel faster and farther, more accurately and safely.
• The profits from cane sugar and the use of black African slave labor changed the goods for which Europeans were passionate.
4) Compare the causes and results of the various revolts in late medieval Flanders, France, and England.
Responses might include these points:
• In Flanders, the peasants were accustomed to a measure of self-government and refused to pay new taxes when they were imposed in the first quarter of the fourteenth century. They managed to remain independent of outside authority for a few years. But in 1328, they were defeated by a coalition of royal and papal forces. A few years later the weavers of Ghent revolted against their French-leaning overlords and took up the English cause. Tensions continued until Duke Philip the Good (1419-1467) allied himself with the English.
• In France, the peasant movement of 1358 resisted the Free Companies that wreaked havoc on the countryside and revolted against the nobility because they couldn’t properly secure the peace. The movement was brutally and quickly silenced.
• In England, the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 began as a rebellion against a new poll tax and ended by demanding an end to serfdom. Although the revolt was quickly put down, the peasants gained their point, and serfdom gradually disappeared in England.
• Thus, everywhere global tensions allowed popular feeling to come to the fore.
5) Compare the causes and effects of popular religious movements in England and Bohemia.
Some considerations include:
• In England, theologian John Wyclif (c.1330-1384) argued that churchmen should have limited importance and that the laity should have more say in spiritual matters. For example, he wanted laypeople to have the right to read and interpret the Bible. At first Wyclif and his followers, later called Lollards, were embraced by the king, but soon the Lollards were declared heretics and largely suppressed during the fifteenth century.
• In Bohemia, Wyclif’s writings found an adherent in Jan Hus, who shaped Wyclif’s arguments to local needs. Arguing against the power of churchmen in Bohemia, Hus called for a reformed church based on the community of believers rather than the church hierarchy. Hus was burned as a heretic and the Hussites were persecuted. Nevertheless, many were protected by the Bohemian nobility. The movement ended with the creation of a Bohemian church, with its own special liturgy for the Mass.
• Thus, in both places, initial support from powerful elites helped give both Lollards and Hussites considerable importance.
