Monthly Archives: April 2025

Church Struggles and the Fourteenth Century Crisis 

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Pope Boniface VIII and the cardinals.

After a two year interregnum, Pope Celestine V was elected to the head of the Vatican in 1294 but decided to resign after he was dominated by the King of Naples. Pope Boniface VIII (r. 1294-1303) was elected after Celestine V relinquished power and he soon faced numerous problems. Many people in the Church didn’t like the idea of the Pope with some Kings even refusing to obey him. When King of France Phillip the Fair taxed clergy in France, the Pope declared that any bishop who paid would be excommunicated. 

In response, King Phillip declared that no resources in France would go to Rome, so Pope Boniface VIII backed down. By 1297, Pope Boniface and King Phillip tried to reconcile, but in 1301, Phillip imprisoned the Bishop of Pamiers without a trial. After a council was held in France in 1302, the Pope issued “Unam Sanctun” which was a document separating the Catholic Church and the power of kings. 

King Phillip the Fair of France.

Enraged by this, Phillip claimed that Pope Boniface VIII wasn’t legitimate, so Phillip was excommunicated. After French soldiers confronted Boniface, they were driven off, but Boniface died a month later. Following the brief reign of Pope Benedict XI (r. 1304-1305), Pope Clement V was elected. Clement was eager to please King Phillip and gave into all of his demands, even putting Pope Boniface VIII’s body on trial.

Marsilius of Padua (d. 1342) helped the emperor with the upcoming marriage of his son and stated that the Holy Roman Emperor could dissolve marriages. In 1324, Pope John XXII and Louis of Bavaria proposed an autonomous state that would not be subject to ecclesiastical oversight, since many Catholics wanted to end the practice of the Pope having all power over the Church’s decisions. 

During the reign of Pope Clement V, the papacy was moved from Rome to Avignon, France from Rome. All the top Church officials were French and all of the next seven Popes were from France. These Popes imposed extremely high taxation rates among clergy, which caused sees to be left without bishops. Simultaneously, the cardinals also grew in power and in number, increasing from a dozen to 26 and often controlled the Pope’s decisions. Pope Leo X appointed 31 cardinals who were loyal to him, and they lived luxuriously. Because of their bad influence and rich lifestyle, the cardinals were hated by everyone in the Church

The former Papal Palace in Avignon, France.

Pope Benedict XII (r. 1334-1342) was a great reformer, promising to avoid war on behalf of the Church and to cut back on the cardinal’s influence. Pope Clement VI (r. 1342-1352) undid Benedict’s reforms but became a great leader during the Black Death. In 1377, Gregory VII became the first Pope back in Rome after he moved the papacy back to the Vatican.

 The 14th century was a time of disaster in Europe. There was widespread harvest failure, the Hundred Years War, the Black Death, and intense corruption in the Church. Moreover, Europe experienced a long period of extremely cold winters, which caused crop failure and rampant starvation from 1315-1317. In England there was a cattle disease from 1319-1321 which caused even more famine. 

People burying plague victims in a mass grave in Florence, Italy.

As a consequence of the Black Death (1346-1353), between one-third and one-half of Europe’s population perished, making it one of the worst plagues in human history. The disease was brought by rats on Italian ships coming across the Mediterranean from central Asia. There was a substantial rise in marriage and childbirth after 1350, which shows an attempt to rebuild the population. However more outbreaks of the plague occurred in following centuries, even as late as the 17th century, yet none were as bad as the first wave. 

Since there were so few people left to work the land after the plague, people were forcibly taken from cities and made to work as serfs. In 1351, England unsuccessfully attempted to rebuild its economy by putting in fixed prices. After years of corruption, high taxes, and an English defeat in 1369 against the French, they issued the poll tax in 1380, which made everyone pay unfair taxes. 

Revolt leader John Ball meeting with English soldiers.

There was an uprising in 1381 known as the Peasant’s Revolt, which resulted in the massacre of royal officials and the storming of the tower of London by rioters. The rebellion was put down after King Richard II executed hundreds of revolutionaries. The peasants’ leader, John Ball, was drawn and quartered and had his head placed on a spike atop London bridge. 

Cathedrals, the Rise of Towns, and Economic Growth in the High Middle Ages

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The Early Middle Ages, also known as the “Dark Ages,” was a period from the 5th to 10th centuries. This era had little economic growth, few large metropolitan areas, and minimal great literature and arts. However, in the High Middle Ages, which roughly spanned from the 11th to the 14th centuries, all of that changed. One of the key factors for this economic and cultural boom was the lifting of restrictions on internal trade (trade inside of Europe), as well as external trade (trade between different countries and continents). 

Early Medieval: Architecture | English Heritage
Example of an early medieval church.

Another area of society benefiting greatly from this fiscal growth was architecture, mainly the building of cathedrals. There were two main common of architecture used in the construction of cathedrals: Romanesque and Gothic. Gothic cathedrals flourished in the 1200s, but were preceded by the Romanesque style. While Gothic architecture is easily identifiable, Romanesque architecture varies widely, taking inspiration from Rome, Byzantium, and even Islam. Gothic cathedrals also have theologically significant features, such as the interior building shaped like a cross and how the altar always faces east. Because of innovations in the High Middle Ages, Gothic cathedrals didn’t have to include extremely thick walls as did Romanesque ones. Instead, they had support beams in the ceiling, leading to many more windows and the invention of stained glass. Notre Dame in Paris is a prime example of a Gothic cathedral from the High Middle Ages. These profoundly beautiful and prominent spiritual edifices are considered by many to be one of the greatest achievements of Western Civilization.

Due to the expansion of the commercial class, merchants, and non-feudal workers, there was a large rise in towns and cities in the 11th century. Towns in the Early Middle Ages were usually established behind fortifications to protect from Viking invasions. Numerous peasants and feudal workers would seek protection behind these walls, attracting merchants to settle in a populated place to sell their goods more efficiently. Then, cathedrals, monasteries, and cathedral schools were built, which led to more people settling. Towns were also a haven for serfs and peasants when a law was decreed that stated if a serf lived in a town undetected by his lord for at least a year, he was free from his feudal obligations. Some of the liberties towns and cities enjoyed included: people choosing their own officials, representative assemblies, remnants of barbarian law and feudal law giving way to a more rational judicial system, and much less regulation of economic activity. The rise of towns and cities is one of the prime reasons for the ending of the feudal system in Western Europe.

Song of Roland, Part 2

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Charlemagne mourns after finding Roland’s body.

After repeated Muslims strikes, only 1,000 Christians defenders were left standing. Despite having 40,000 people, the Muslims were afraid to attack the last of the Crusaders. The Muslims did advance eventually, and Roland claimed that a wounded archbishop single-handedly killed 400 Muslims before dying. Roland too is killed after fending off 400 Muslims himself. Charlemagne then sent an army of Christians commanded by Marsilie to defeat the Muslims force.

Marsilie’s soldiers were defeated, and they lost 20,000 men. Consequently, Marsilie handed Spain over to the Muslim commander, who vowed to defeat Charlemagne. Charlemagne returned to the battlefield, where he found Roland’s body and lamented his death. Embittered by the loss, Charlemagne buries the 20,000 slain Christians, and promises that his kingdom will enact revenge. 

Charlemagne had an army of 335,000 men against the massive Arab force of 3.5 million. The Arriving Muslims come on 4,000 ships with thousands of people on each ship. It seemed impossible to defeat the waves of attackers, but God intervened to save Charlemagne and France. The Arabs fled and Charlemagne gained control of all of Spain. 100,000 Muslims in Spain converted and Marsilie died. 

Furthermore, the trial of Ganelon began and he and 29 of his relatives were executed. An angel told Charlemagne that he had another battle to win against the infidels. 

The poem “Song of Roland” was a call to war against Islam, and was used during the Crusades in the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries. The poem was supposed to be about pride, death, and sacrifice.