Upheaval of the Fourteenth Century
Europe's population was already pushing against the natural boundaries at 75 million in 1300. The Great Famine of 1315-1317 and the Black Death of 1348-1351. Europe lost almost 40 percent of it;s population to these tragic events. Flagellants took the calamity to be God's wrath and whipped or self inflicted harm upon themselves in atonement. Many blamed the Jews for poisoning the well, which led to the infamous persecution of that minority in Nuremberg. The Catholic church could offer little help, as much as 60 percent of the top clergy were killed off. The Black Death also caused large amounts of labor shortages for the feudal structure, peasants bargained for improved labor conditions and received lifetime tenures and other cash benefits. The improved conditions did not last long as the nobles reasserted their power though out the century, which led to the jacquerie rebellion in 1358 in France and Wat Tyler's revolt in 1381. The revolts were violently over turned with little lasting affects. National monarchies were young creations and therefore unstable which would lead to the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453). The Catholic Church also stood midst the crisis. The papacy's prestige declined in proportion to its administrative power and material wealth. The Great Schism (1378-1417) between Urban VI, Clement Vll, and later Benedict XII was a time of confusion. Advocates of conciliarism attempted to use church councils to solve the issue and check the papacy's power although widely unsuccessful. Reformers such as John Wycliff and John Huss attacked the institutional power and wealth of the church and called for a simpler Christianity. Although Huss was burned at the steak at the Council of Constance his ideas set stage for the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century.