Book Description
The first volume of The New Cambridge Medieval History covers the transitional period between the later Roman world and the early middle ages, c. 500 to c. 700. This was an era of developing consciousness and profound change in Europe, Byzantium and the Arab world, an era in which the foundations of medieval society were laid and to which many of our modern myths of national and religious identity can be traced. This book offers a comprehensive regional survey of the sixth and seventh centuries, from Ireland in the west to the rise of Islam in the Middle East, and from Scandinavia in the north to the Mediterranean south. It explores the key themes pinning together the history of this period, from kingship, trade and the church, to art, architecture and education. It represents both an invaluable conspectus of current scholarship and an expert introduction to the period.
Customer Reviews:
A very fine, accurate, brief review of European History.......2007-08-04
The student above who felt this review book was too LONG completely misses the point. One does not read through a book like this as a substitute for the textbook -- which is what I imagine this poor young student though he could do. One relies on it to clarify areas of confusion. As a good reference and review book to read either before a chapter or as review afterward, this is a genuinely excellent book.
First, it's a nice size. It's smaller (height and width) than most of the enormously giant-sized review books available so it's like a real book. And it's printed on real paper, not cheap newsprint like most of the AP review books are. Small enough that you can easily grab it off the shelf or carry it around with you. And, the page layout makes it easy to find things. Everything is treated in brief paragraphs with clear topic headings. Pages are brief so you move through it page-after-page very quickly. It really couldn't be easier to use.
As a history teacher, I look into this book from time to time to double-check an historical issue or event or to check up on correct chronology of events I can't quite recall. It saves a lot of time compared to paging through much longer, denser books.
As a review book, I imagine this would be very good to refresh a student's memory of lots of important (and, frankly, many less important!) events, people, and ideas. However, students who are looking for a book to replace their textbook will be disappointed as this book assumes you have some idea what is going on historically. You could read it alone and understand the history pretty well, but I doubt you'd be very confident without the analysis of the textbook which this does not have.
The one thing most lacking from books like this is overall themes and ideas. Most review books lack this so this is not so much a criticism as something to be aware of. History has patterns, themes, and MAJOR themes to be aware of (The rise of democracy, the clash of civilizations, the struggle for equality, impact of the Enlightenment, the impact of economic changes . . . and so on). If all you know are facts, events, and dates, you will be lost--but you already knew that!
This book assumes you are aware of these themes (See your textbook or your teacher if you aren't -- believe me, they are very important) and is designed simply to remind you of all that pesky information you might not have understood so well the first time. In that respect, this is a very fine book and clearly worth the money as one of the better European History review books.
Another caveat: It is NOT designed specifically to prepare you to "ace" the AP exam. It doesn't have the usual tips and tricks stuff that most review books have. It is designed for students who want to understand and remember the history, not for students that want quick shortcuts to faking out the exam. Of course, it goes without saying that students who understand the history tend to "ace" the exam -- without shortcuts and so-called "insider" information that isn't really very useful.
4 stars only because of lack of larger themes, but I'm a very tough grader!
Must Have for the AP Euro Exam.......2007-05-14
I had one of the most boring textbooks invented for the AP Euro class. I couldn't stand reading it and as a result, I was not one of the top scorers on the tests in my class. However, I used this book to study for my in-class final and the AP exam and I did well on both. Thanks to this book, I got a 5 on the AP. The book has good information and it helped me learn things that my AP teacher did not teach in our class. I recommend that you buy this book in order to do well on the AP. My only negative comment is that it has no practice exams but since the book is not associated with AP, it is a flaw that is easy to forgive.
Modern European History.......2007-03-12
Very helpful book. It has maps in it and its written in a very good language and nothing fancy.
it's great.......2007-03-01
i just took the ap euro exam last year (got a 5) and this was my favorite prep book out of all prep books (also had barrons and REA). concise, easy to carry around, excellent index, even smells nice (if you're a weirdo like me who likes to sniff bookpaper)- mod euro history condensed my piles of lecture notes to little easy-to-read paragraphs. altho i wouldn't recommend solely studying from this book (read your textbook and notes too. make flashcards till your hand falls off.), I definitely recommend getting it.
Perfect for Reviewing for Tests.......2007-01-24
So, I just finished my AP Euro class (the class exam was last week). I managed to get an A in what is considered a highly difficult course at my school, and I can proudly say that I only read my textbook the first week of the class. While other students spent hours poring over tedious 5 pt. font pages in our convoluted textbook, I simply read this. Before every M/C test or essay, I would quickly read the chapter[s] that corresponded with whatever subject we were studying. Many times, Modern European History had answers to questions on the test that the textbook didn't even mention. It covers every topic in the textbook in appropriate depth, and makes everything truly easy to understand. I highly recommend this; it saved my life!
Book Description
Marked by C. Warren Hollister's clear historical vision and engaging teaching style, this classic text has been judiciously revised by Judith Bennett; the tenth edition includes greater coverage of Byzantium and Islam, a revised map program, a new essay program on medieval myths, and more. In his preface to the eighth edition, Professor Hollister wrote of his realization, while in college, that our world today "is a product of the medieval past." Medieval Europe introduces today's students to the medieval roots of our own society.
Customer Reviews:
Decent Textbook.......2007-01-22
I am a graduate student who has recently begun teaching first-year undergrads. The Hollister and Bennett book is the main text book for a Medieval Period General course, and the students use it to supplement their core readings. The textbook, a general synthesis of the history of Western Europe, is decent and fairly comprehensive, written and updated by experts in the field. However, it has been a long time since I've read a general textbook, and found the lack of footnote references a bit unnerving. The book does, however, provide lists for further reading at the end of each chapter, but these are very selective.
Fantastic Introduction.......2006-05-16
Professor Hollister managed, again, to convey the thematic importance of major questions in European history in a concise and entertaining fashion. This is one of, if not, the best introductions to medieval European history out there. The only drawback is the price, which is ridiculous. This book ought to be $15 or so. Oh well.
Excellent Survey.......2006-05-14
A succinct and well-balanced survey of the European Middle Ages, this book is an excellent choice for undergraduates and other scholars needing a good overview of the period. Each edition seems to stay true to the current research of the period. I highly recommend world historians keep this on their shelves for reference.
Book Description
This volume of The New Cambridge Medieval History covers most of the period of Frankish and Carolingian dominance in western Europe. It was one of remarkable political and cultural coherence, combined with crucial, very diverse and formative developments in every sphere of life. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the authors examine the interaction between rulers and ruled, how power and authority actually worked, and the society and culture of Europe as a whole. The volume is divided into four parts. Part I encompasses the events and political developments in the whole of the British Isles, the west and east Frankish kingdoms, Scandinavia, the Slavic and Balkan regions, Spain, Italy, and those aspects of Byzantine and Muslim history which impinged on the west between c. 700 and c. 900. Parts II, III and IV cover themes and topics concerning church and society, and cultural and intellectual developments.
Book Description
This epic history compares the empires built by Spain and Britain in the Americas, from Columbus’s arrival in the New World to the end of Spanish colonial rule in the early nineteenth century. J. H. Elliott, one of the most distinguished and versatile historians working today, offers us history on a grand scale, contrasting the worlds built by Britain and by Spain on the ruins of the civilizations they encountered and destroyed in North and South America.
Elliott identifies and explains both the similarities and differences in the two empires’ processes of colonization, the character of their colonial societies, their distinctive styles of imperial government, and the independence movements mounted against them. Based on wide reading in the history of the two great Atlantic civilizations, the book sets the Spanish and British colonial empires in the context of their own times and offers us insights into aspects of this dual history that still influence the Americas.
Customer Reviews:
England and Spain in the Western Hemisphere.......2007-09-25
This was an eye-opener for me as I knew very little on Spain's American territories, besides brief descriptions of some of the conquistadors such as Cortes and Pizzarro. What Elliott has done in this book is to show the comparisons and contrasts between England's New World Colonies and Spain's. There are many fascinating facets underlaying the reasons for acquiring these territories, how both sides viewed their mission and goals, and how they governed them. This is without a doubt a remarkable book that revealed a lot for me.
The first colonization was begun by the Spanish in the early 16th Century. The English made their first successful attempt in the early 17th Century. Both South and North America posed different challenges for both governments, i.e. the size of the indigenous populations, the geography and climate, natural resources and so forth. For me, the real fascination was learning more about the Spanish colonies and the establishment of the viceroyalties of New Spain (based in Mexico City) and Peru (based in Lima) with additional ones developing over time. The interaction with the natives, the attempts at Christianization, trade, and many other aspects of Spain's colonization were quite enlightening.
Being more familiar with United States history, I felt more familiar with the material covered on England's planting of settlers in Jamestown and later in New England. However, the real education was in Elliott's efforts to show how each of these two powers (Spain and England) confronted the realities and challenges of establishing their presence in these very different regions. The differences were often quite stark. Some of the points of contrast that most differentiated the two powers included each nation's attitude towards the Indians (including the attempts or lack of evangelization) and the extent of imperial bureaucracy brought over from the mother countries.
Elliott also describes how world events had helped to shape and or guide the developments that occurred in both country's territories. The Reformation, the British Commonwealth under Cromwell, the Restoration, the Glorious Revolution, the French and Indian War, the French Revolution and so forth, all served as factors in shaping the events that transpired in North and South America. The role of various monarchs, religious, military and political leaders, as well as indigenous leaders, are also discussed.
Elliott does try to take an even-handed approach in acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of both government's endeavors. Of course it goes without saying that the notion of empire, with the connotations of exploitation of natives and their cultures, is unpopular in most peoples minds nowadays. Yes, it was and remains a blot on the records of all nations that engaged in replacing the livelihoods and cultures (sometimes more like extermination) of indigenous peoples, or those who engaged in the slave trade, but we must keep in mind that we have to try to keep modern standards in check for historical purposes.
This is such a broad subject that I find it hard to even begin to touch on more specific details found in this book; I'm just trying to outline the broader contours of Elliott's book. Having some introduction to this time period will help you, but you need not be an expert on this particular topic. An illuminating read.
Engaging Comparative History .......2007-01-03
This is comparative history at its very best. Elliott superbly describes and chronicles the history of the British and Spanish exploration and colonization of the Americas, as well as the process whereby both the British American and Spanish American colonial societies brought about their independence from the imperial governments. It is a comprehensive, detailed, and yet highly readable overview of the political, economic, social, military, and religious forces at play in the Americas during the time period. Elliott goes beyond the telling of historical events and facts, to provide analysis and interpretation of why history unfolded as it did. The writing is excellent and clearly reflects a highly learned historian who has the ability to tell history in a an engaging manner. His juxtaposition and comparison of British and Spanish America in a single volume results in a very interesting and stimulating way to learn about the two empires. The book contains very attractive end papers, a number of excellent maps and numerous color plates. Very highly recommended.
A essential addition to a great history.......2006-12-17
Elliott delivers the masterpiece that those who study the Atlantic World have been waiting for. The idea of studying history from the perspective of the Atlantic has been growing in popularity and worth taking a further look at. Britain and Spain established mammoth empires and Elliot looks at their rise and fall. He also considers other powers including the French and Dutch but focuses mainly on the first two mentioned. The age of exploration is put in context and in true Atlantic fashion the slave trade and development in Latin America are very important. The revolutions of the Atlantic world are very clearly explained in this book and Elliott leaves you wondering where else this field can go. Elliott writes very well and this book is a must read for those who want to consider how the Atlantic world impacted Europe and the United States.
Challenging Theory.......2006-08-27
This is an excellent book for anyone interested in the history of the Americas, colonial history or comparative studies of the American countries. Although it is based largely on secondary sources it reflects the enormous amount of work that the author has carried out in his previous books on Spain. The most interestin feature of the book is how Elliott points out the similarities between the British and Spanish Empires in the Americas; a fact that most historians have previously tended to ignore.
An important contribution.......2006-05-10
Colonialism and Empire are the two most important subjects in history, no other subject exists without them and the discovery of the New World and its repopulation/depopulation is one fo the great episodes of human history. The colonies in America can be easily put into two categories, the Anglo ones and the Catholic ones. Despite small French and Portugues and Dutch intrusions, the overall lesson is one of difference between these two great naval powers and the makeup of their colonial systems.
We are given here, perhaps for the first time in a cogent work, a true understanding of the nature of the two regimes. ON the one hand we see the brutality and discrimination of the Spanish empire. How they lopped of hands for gold, how they were anti-Jewish. How they were Catholic. But we see in them a very different mentality, that of mixing with native peoples to in fact create a whole new ethnic group. In the English colonies we see the opposite, early contacts with Indians dont suceed and the colonies immediatly set to bring over women(because of religious diveristy and rebellion against England) and in this we see the creation of the modern system of North and South America.
A wonderful and very insightful book that should be of interest for any historian of the period or anyone interested.
Seth J. Frantzman
Book Description
The second part of the volume is about the course of events--ecclesiastical and secular--with regard to the papacy, the western empire (mainly Germany), Italy, France, Spain, the British Isles, Scandinavia, Hungary, Poland, the Byzantine empire and the settlements in Palestine and Syria established by the crusades and their Muslim neighbors.
Book Description
The fourth volume of The New Cambridge Medieval History covers the eleventh and twelfth centuries, which comprised the most dynamic period in the European Middle Ages. The first of two parts, this volume deals with ecclesiastical and secular themes, in addition to major developments such as the expansion of population, agriculture, trade, and towns; the radical reform of the Western Church; the appearance of new kingdoms and states, the Crusades, knighthood and law; and the development of literature, art and architecture, heresies and the scholastic movement.
Book Description
The period of the tenth and early eleventh centuries was crucial in the formation of Europe, much of whose political geography and larger-scale divisions began to take shape at that time. It was also an era of great fragmentation, and hence of differences that have been magnified by modern national historiographical traditions. This volume of The New Cambridge Medieval History reflects these varying traditions, and provides an authoritative survey in its own terms. The volume is divided into three sections: general themes, the former Carolingian lands, and areas farther afield.
Book Description
This text, designed for use in one- and two-term medieval history courses, is based on a political framework that includes social and cultural history. It emphasizes both high and popular culture, exploring what life was like in the court, the city, the countryside, and academia.
The narrative emphasizes two underlying themes: the gradual development of ideas of freedom and individuality, and the slow change from an oral culture to a literate society. The text primarily focuses on Europe, but also gives extensive attention to the areas that affected Europe, such as Byzantium and the Islamic world.
- "Medieval Voices" features present excerpts from sources of the period.
- "Medieval People" features include brief biographies of significant historical figures of the period.
- The text features an extensive map and illustration program.
Amazon.com
The early 1300s must have seemed like the end of the world to the unfortunate inhabitants of Europe: brutally severe winters gave way to lightning storms and torrential, crop-destroying rains in spring, followed by cold summers and then bitter winters again. "The whole world was troubled," wrote one Austrian chronicler; yet that was only the beginning. Princeton University historian William Chester Jordan reconstructs the terrible decades when climatological change led to famine, disease, rampant inflation, and social breakdown across the European continent, a time when every prayer for relief was met by even crueler turns of fate.
Book Description
The horrors of the Great Famine (1315-1322), one of the severest catastrophes ever to strike northern Europe, lived on for centuries in the minds of Europeans who recalled tales of widespread hunger, class warfare, epidemic disease, frighteningly high mortality, and unspeakable crimes. Until now, no one has offered a perspective of what daily life was actually like throughout the entire region devastated by this crisis, nor has anyone probed far into its causes. Here, the distinguished historian William Jordan provides the first comprehensive inquiry into the Famine from Ireland to western Poland, from Scandinavia to central France and western Germany. He produces a rich cultural history of medieval community life, drawing his evidence from such sources as meteorological and agricultural records, accounts kept by monasteries providing for the needy, and documentation of military campaigns. Whereas there has been a tendency to describe the food shortages as a result of simply bad weather or else poor economic planning, Jordan sets the stage so that we see the complex interplay of social and environmental factors that caused this particular disaster and allowed it to continue for so long.
Jordan begins with a description of medieval northern Europe at its demographic peak around 1300, by which time the region had achieved a sophisticated level of economic integration. He then looks at problems that, when combined with years of inundating rains and brutal winters, gnawed away at economic stability. From animal diseases and harvest failures to volatile prices, class antagonism, and distribution breakdowns brought on by constant war, northern Europeans felt helplessly besieged by acts of an angry God--although a cessation of war and a more equitable distribution of resources might have lessened the severity of the food shortages.
Throughout Jordan interweaves vivid historical detail with a sharp analysis of why certain responses to the famine failed. He ultimately shows that while the northern European economy did recover quickly, the Great Famine ushered in a period of social instability that had serious repercussions for generations to come.
Download Description
The horrors of the Great Famine (1315
1322), one of the severest catastrophes ever to strike northern Europe, lived on for centuries in the minds of Europeans who recalled tales of widespread hunger, class warfare, epidemic disease, frighteningly high mortality, and unspeakable crimes. Until now, no one has offered a perspective of what daily life was actually like throughout the entire region devastated by this crisis, nor has anyone probed far into its causes. Here, the distinguished historian William Jordan provides the first comprehensive inquiry into the Famine from Ireland to western Poland, from Scandinavia to central France and western Germany. He produces a rich cultural history of medieval community life, drawing his evidence from such sources as meteorological and agricultural records, accounts kept by monasteries providing for the needy, and documentation of military campaigns. Whereas there has been a tendency to describe the food shortages as a result of simply bad weather or else poor economic planning, Jordan sets the stage so that we see the complex interplay of social and environmental factors that caused this particular disaster and allowed it to continue for so long. Jordan begins with a description of medieval northern Europe at its demographic peak around 1300, by which time the region had achieved a sophisticated level of economic integration. He then looks at problems that, when combined with years of inundating rains and brutal winters, gnawed away at economic stability. From animal diseases and harvest failures to volatile prices, class antagonism, and distribution breakdowns brought on by constant war, northern Europeans felt helplessly besieged by acts of an angry God--although a cessation of war and a more equitable distribution of resources might have lessened the severity of the food shortages. Throughout Jordan interweaves vivid historical detail with a sharp analysis of why certain responses to the famine failed.
Customer Reviews:
The Great Famine.......2007-04-28
Read this for graduate history course in medieval history.
William Jordan Book is great as a source material book. Excellent scholar. One of the 1st Economic, environmental historicists. A Good multi disciplinary approach. His mortality numbers tend to be on the conservative side. A food shortage is when 1 staple is unavailable or food unavailable for 1 year. Those items people crave are more expensive but are attainable. Great Famine is a catastrophic failure of agriculture. All food groups fail items unavailable for any price. Because of famine, you get weir foods like acorn bread, awful taste. 1315-22, does not affect Spain, Italy, Greece, and Scotland. Bad in Germany N. France, Scandinavia England, Ireland. 400,000sq. miles, 30 million people. Famine follows big population explosion 1100-1300. 1250 agricultural productivity is declining. As population increases technology in food production can't keep up. 3 field crop rotation means 1/3 of field is fallow. Harness technology goes to animal shoulder to increase productivity, better plough blades thus soil gets better aeration. Green manure is bean plants rich in nitrogen get plowed into ground, brown manure is animal and human waste. Cattle graze on land leaving droppings. 14 century animals not producing enough manure as #'s dwindle, Increase in population means more marginal land is being farmed not working out well, also means more calories burned working marginal land than being produced. Also means livestock have less land to graze on.
Page 12-13 Looks at David Arnolds 4 scenarios for the inset of famine. 1. Population numbers are higher than productive means. 2. Sustained failure of appropriate weather. 3. Problems of food distribution, from transportation and war. 4. Peasants not changing their growing methods to meet the problem. Jordan thinks the most troubling scenario is the last one.
We have good skeletal remains to show that their was a lot of bone problems from people working hard in the fields. Biggest cost for medieval people is food, 70% of income; housing is only 10% of income. When food in Paris increases 800% you know you will have food riots. No good social systems to deal with the problem. They ate their seed corn, grains, and rye susceptible to molds, and fungi poisoning people. Can't store grain for long periods of time, rats eat allot of grain in storage. There is no fallback for people agriculturally. Seeds produce 4 or 5 to 1. You get 4 seeds for 1 planted. Less animals means less manure. Chicken eggs are used to pay rent, chickens are the size of today's game hen's chickens get eaten fast.
Jordan says this won't happen today because we have global agriculture and world wide distribution system. Only happen in regions as political tool, like Darfur, or what Stalin did using food as a weapon. Long term suffering and starvation was more routine to these people's lives, did not affect them psychologically as the Black Death when you look at manuscript records. City people even send pirates out to take grain ships. Women survive better than men because they have more body fat.
Food hoarders, Jews as money lenders do not fair well with starving people going after them. Government starts to control food production like standardizing weight and size of bread loafs, some still do this today. Bread is important to people because of Eucharist. High prices cause a slow down of consumption, but it doesn't solve the problem. People will eat what you put in front of them. Stomachs will shrink.
Pigs survive best, they eat anything, rain doesn't bother them, they don't get rinderpest hooves don't rot. Cattle sheep get disease, sheep susceptible to cold. Horses stolen by the army. Short term 50% in herds, 75% drop long term. Wool income in England goes down. Who profits? Salt producers, need salt to make dairy products like cheese and to salt meat to preserve it. They use a lot of forest wood to make salt because they steam seawater. Some Lords and Abbots make profits. Many church lands are sold off, peasants are able to buy it cheap for those that have money, and some do, this makes them landed gentry in next century. Charity fails. Church can't run soup kitchens any more, but they do make money running a form of nursing home. Beggars increase, people turn to strange diets, roots, dirt, bark, shoes, etc.
Grains are known as cereals, British historians call grains corn not the same as Maze which we call corn. Corn is New World crop.
Primary cereal grain is wheat, high in gluttons, protein 13% in white bread, very desirable, for aristocracy. Easier to chew, 35-50% grain milled out of it. Average monastic person gets 2500-3000 calories, one of the better diets of the time. Rich eat no fruits because of sin of fruit from Tree of Knowledge. Peasant 2000-2200 calories, subsistence living. They are living on the margins. Livestock of the time smaller by 40%, people are smaller average height 5' 6". Protein intake is reason for this. Rickets, scurvy all problems. Cabbage only source of vitamin C for most Europeans. Pigs last longest since they eat anything.
1320-1330 2nd worst cold period in middle ages, 1310-1320 2nd worst time for excessive rains. 1314 bad rains in Summer in Germany. 1315 Baltic salt sea freezes over. All Rivers in Europe freeze over. This persists until 1322 in Baltic of that year snow stays on the ground all year round. Wars make things worse for people. People psychologically spooked by increase in meteor and comet activity.
The Great Famine of 1315-1317 (or to 1322) was the first of a series of large-scale crises that struck Europe early in the 14th century, causing millions of deaths over an extended number of years and marking a clear end to an earlier period of growth and prosperity during the 11th through 13th centuries. Starting with bad weather in the spring of 1315, universal crop failures lasted through 1316 until the summer of 1317; Europe did not fully recover until 1322. It was a period marked by extreme levels of criminal activity, disease and mass death, infanticide, and cannibalism. It had consequences for Church, State, European society and future calamities to follow in the 14th century.
Famine in the Medieval European context meant that people died of starvation on a massive scale. As brutal as they were, famines were familiar occurrences in Medieval Europe. As an example, localized famines occurred in France during the 14th century in 1304, 1305, 1310, 1315-1317 (the Great Famine), 1330-1334, 1349-1351, 1358-1360, 1371, 1374-1375 and 1390. In England, the most prosperous kingdom affected by the Great Famine, there were famines in 1315-1317, 1321, 1351, 1369, and more. For most people there was usually never enough to eat and life was a relatively short and brutal struggle to survive to old age, which might mean as young as 30 years old. According to official records of the British Royal family, the best off in society, the average life expectancy in 1276 was 35.28 years. Between 1301 and 1325 during the Great Famine, it was 29.84 while between 1348-1375 during the Plague it went to 17.33.
The Great Famine was restricted to Northern Europe, from Russia in the east to Ireland in the west, from Scandinavia in the north and bounded in the south by the Alps and the Pyrenees. During the Medieval Warm Period (the period prior to 1350) the population of Europe had exploded, reaching levels that were not matched again in some places until the 19th century (parts of France today are less populous than at the beginning of the 14th century). However, the yield ratios of wheat (the number of seeds one could eat per seed planted) had been dropping since 1280 and food prices had been climbing. In good weather the ratio could be as high as 7:1, while during bad years as low as 2:1--that is, for every seed planted, two seeds were harvested, one for next year's seed, and one for food. By comparison, modern farming has ratios of 200:1 or more.
However, there was one catastrophic dip in the weather during the Medieval Warm Period that coincided with the onset of the Great Famine. Between 1310 and 1330 northern Europe saw some of the worst and most sustained periods of bad weather in the entire Middle Ages, characterized by severe winters and rainy and cold summers. Changing weather patterns, the ineffectiveness of medieval governments in dealing with crises and a population level at a historical high water mark made it a time when there was little margin for error.
Great Famine
In the spring of 1315, unusually heavy rain began in much of Europe. Throughout the spring and summer, it continued to rain and the temperature remained cool. Under these conditions grain could not ripen. Grain was brought indoors in urns and pots. The straw and hay for the animals could not be cured and there was no fodder for the livestock. The price of food began to rise. In England, food that had sold for 20 shillings in the spring sold for 40 shillings by June, doubling in price. Salt, the only way to cure and preserve meat, was difficult to obtain because it could not be evaporated in the wet weather; it went from 30 shillings to 40 shillings. In Lorraine, wheat prices grew by 320 percent, making bread unaffordable to peasants. Stores of grain for long-term emergencies were limited to the lords and nobles. Because of the general increased population pressures, even lower-than-average harvests meant some people would go hungry; there was little margin for failure. People began to harvest wild edible roots, plants, grasses, nuts, and bark in the forests.
There are a number of documented incidents that show the extent of the famine. Edward II, King of England, stopped at Saint Albans on August 10, 1315 and no bread could be found for him or his entourage; it was a rare occasion in which the King of England, the most prosperous nation in Europe, was unable to eat. The French, under Louis X, tried to invade Flanders, but being in the low country of the Netherlands, the fields were soaked and the army became so bogged down they were forced to retreat, burning their provisions where they left them, unable to carry them out.
In the spring of 1316, it continued to rain on a European population deprived of energy and reserve to sustain itself. All segments of society from nobles to peasants were affected, most of all the peasants, who represented 95% of the population and who had no safety nets. To provide some measure of relief, the future was mortgaged by slaughtering the draft animals; eating the seed grain; abandoning children to fend for themselves (see "Hansel and Gretel"); and, among old people, voluntarily refusing food in hopes of the younger generation surviving. The chroniclers of the time wrote of many incidents of cannibalism. The height of the famine was reached in 1317 as the wet weather hung on. Finally, in the summer the weather returned to its normal patterns. By now, however, people were so weakened by diseases such as pneumonia, bronchitis, tuberculosis, and other sicknesses, and much of the seed stock had been eaten, that it was not until 1325 that the food supply returned to relatively normal conditions and the population began to increase again. Historians debate the toll but it is estimated that between 10%-25% of the population of many cities and towns died. While the Black Death (1338-1375) would kill more, for many the Great Famine was worse. While the plague swept through an area in a matter of months, the Great Famine lingered for years, drawing out the suffering of those who would slowly starve to death, face cannibalism, child-murder, and rampant crime.
Consequences
The famine is called the Great Famine not only because of the number of people who died, or the vast geographic area that was affected, or the length of time it lasted, but also because of the lasting consequences. The first consequence was for the Church. No amount of prayer seemed effective against the causes of the famine. In a society where the final recourse to all problems had been religion, no amount of prayer was helping and the famine undermined the institutional authority of the Catholic Church. This helped lay the foundations for later movements that were deemed heretical by the Church because they opposed the Papacy. Second was the increase in criminal activity. Medieval Europe in the 13th century had already been a violent culture where rape and murder were demonstrably more common than in modern times. With the famine even those who were not normally inclined to criminal activity would resort to any means to feed themselves or their family. After the famine, Europe took on a tougher and more violent edge; it had become an even less amicable place than during the 12th and 13th centuries. The effects of this could be seen across all segments of society, perhaps the most striking in the way warfare was conducted in the 14th century during the bloody 100 Years War, versus the 12th and 13th centuries when nobles were more likely to die by accident in tournament games than on the field of battle. Third was the failure of the medieval governments to deal with the crisis. Just as God seemed unable or unwilling to answer prayers, the earthly powers were equally ineffective, eroding and undermining their power and authority. Fourthly, the Great Famine marked a clear end to an unprecedented period of population growth that had started around 1050; although some believe this had been slowing down for a few decades already, there is no doubt the Great Famine was a clear end of high population growth. Finally, the Great Famine would have consequences for future events in the 14th century such as the Black Death when an already weakened population would be struck again.
Recommended reading for those interested in medieval history.
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- The Templar Pirates: The Secret Alliance to Build the New Jerusalem
- The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy
- The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
- This Terrible War: The Civil War and its Aftermath
- Thomas ap Catesby Jones: Commodore of Manifest Destiny (Library of Naval Biography Series)
- Too Far From Home: A Story of Life and Death in Space
- Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs: Official Companion Book to the Exhibition sponsored by National Geographic
- Walk a Mile in My Shoes: A Book About Biological Parents for Foster Parents and Social Workers
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- Friendly Fire: The Accidental Shootdown of U.S. Black Hawks over Northern Iraq
- Advanced Planning and Scheduling Solutions in Process Industry
- Accounting Principles, with PepsiCo Annual Report, General Ledger Software for Windows
- Critical Issues in Ecotourism: understanding a complex tourism phenomenon
- Circle of Stones: Woman's Journey to Herself
- Buying Books Online: Finding Bargains and Saving Money with Booksense Stores, Amazon Marketplace, an
- Kent/Bentley Journal of Accounting and Computers
- Case Studies in Contracting and Organization
- Blues Lessons: A Novel
General
| Europe
| History
| Subjects
| Books
The New Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. 2: c. 700-c. 900
The New Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. 4: c. 1024-c. 1198 (Part 2)
The New Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. 4: c. 1024-c. 1198 (Part 1)
The Cambridge Ancient History Volume 13: The Late Empire, AD 337-425
The New Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. 3: c. 900-c. 1024
