Taxes Of The Hundred Years War example essay topic

When the gap between the ideal and the real in a society becomes too wide, the system breaks down. The validity of this thesis can be shown through the political, economic, social, and intellectual forces which were present at the time of the late 14th and early 15th century. These forces included those such as the powerful Church, the Black Death, and the maltreatment of the peasant class. Economic difficulties were fully manifested by the start of the fourteenth century. Countries of northern Europe experiecned a considerable price inflation.

The cost of grain, livestock, and dairy products rose sharply. "The Little Ice Age", a period of sever weather, also made the situation more frightful, bringing torrential rains, and ruining crops everywhere. Poor harvests led to scarcity and starvation. Almost all of Europe suffered from terrible famines. At the time, the international character of trade meant that a disaster in one country could have serious implications elsewhere. This caused a widespread famine spanking all across Europe.

These terrible famines lead to the malnourishment of the populations, which in turn created a ripe environment for the black death. Lack of personal hygiene lead to temporary ailments such as diarrhea and the common cold, which further weakened the body's resistance to disease. The black death was transmitted both bubonic ally, and pneumonic ally. The primitive level of sanitation at the time provided ideal conditions for the spread of disease. The symptoms of the black death were obvious, beginning with a growth the size of an apple in various places of the body.

If the bub a, or the growth, had gone untreated, black spots appeared all across the body caused by bleeding beneath the skin. Lastly, when the victim began to cough violently and spit blood, this indicated that death was near. Described Georges Chastellain in a poem: "There is not a limb nor a form which does not smell of putrefaction... The face is discolored and pale, and the eyes veiled in the head, speech fails him, for the tongue cleaves to the palate, the pulse trembles and he pants". The black death took the lives of millions in the years of the latter 14th century, as evident in the Estimated European Population from The Agrarian History of Western Europe. Soon enough, many began to believe that the Jewish people had poisoned the wells of Christian communities and thereby infected the drinking water.

This slander led to the massacre of thousands of Jews across Europe. Said one contemporary chronicler in his account about the cremations: "On Saturday... they burnt Jews on a wooden platform in their cemetery. There were about two thousand people of them. Thus the Jews were burnt at Strasbourg, and in the same year in all the cities of the Rhine". Political forces, such as the Church, also played a large role in the breakdown of society in the late 14th and early 15th century. The lay were subject to control by the church, as evident in the decree Haec Santa, issued by the Council of Constance in 1415.

"If anyone, of any rank and condition, who shall contumaciously refuse to obey the orders, decrees, statutes, or instructions, made or to be made by this holy Council... shall, unless he comes to a right frame of mind, be subjected to fitting penance and punished appropriately". The leaders of the church often added to the sorrow and misery of the times. For example, the Great Schism, a break in the unity of the Church, was an event which weakened the religious faith of many Christians, and therefore gave rise to instability. At a time when ordinary Christians needed the consolation of religion and confidence in religious leaders, church officials were fighting among themselves for power.

Another political factor which caused the breakdown of society was the church policy of the giving of tithes, which ment that a tenth of one' annual income was to have been contributed voluntarily or due as a tax, thereby further depleting the already meager wealth of the common people. War among different nations was also a strong political force which caused a breakdown of society. The Hundred Years' War raged on between France and England for little over a century: but was merely a dispute between royalty about the legitimate succession to the French crown. In the end, however, the war proved a disaster for both France and England.

Thousands of soldiers and civilians were slaughtered. One account of the Hundred Years' War stated: "With a battle axe in his hand, he performed wonders, knocking down three or four of the stoutest enemy, insomuch that none dared approach him. All who entered the fort of the Lisbon ers were cut to pieces, for they would nto ransom any. The number slain was immense".

The English had also ruined hundreds of thousands acres of rich farmland, leaving the agrarian economy of France in utter destruction. Many social aspects also led to the breakdown of society in the 14th and 15th centuries. The poor treatment of serfs at the time, many of whom were exploited for their labor, led to a series of peasant revolts. As the taxes of the Hundred Years' War fell heavily upon the poor, the French peasants erupted into a massive uprising. Crowds swept through the countryside, slashing the throats of nobles, burning castles, and killing their livestock. Peasant Revolts occured all over Europe, with many of the most severe cases occuring in England.

An example is Wat Tyler's Rebellion. The first great popular rebellion in English history. Its immediate cause was the demand of the unpopular poll tax of 1381, which brought forth the economic discontent that had been growing since the middle of the century. The rebellion drew support from several places and included artisans and farmers as well as the poor.

The main grievance of the agricultural labourers and urban working classes was the Statute of Labourers, which attempted to fix maximum wages during the labour shortage following the Black Death. The peasants, under Wat Tyler, massacred many merchants and demolished the palace of the king's uncle. Written by a supporter of the king on account of Wat Tyler's Rebellion, "They wrought much damage in Kent because of the hate they bore the said duke. They cast his manors to the ground and all his houses, and sold his beasts -- his horses, his good cows, his sheep, and his pigs -- and all his store of corn, at a cheap price. And they desired one day to have his head". The government was compelled to negotiate.

King Richard met the men outside London, where he promised cheap land, free trade, and the abolition of serfdom and forced labour. During the king's absence, the Kentish rebels in the city forced the surrender of the Tower of London; the chancellor, Archbishop Simon of Sudbury, and the treasurer, Sir Robert Hales, both of whom were held responsible for the poll tax, were beheaded. During this time period, there was also a great collapse in the degree to which the ethical standard of society was upheld. This was evident by the amount of crime which was committed immediately following the end Hundred Years' War, when many were left without money-earning jobs.

After inflation hurt the economy, many nobles turned to crime as a way of earning money. "Fur-collar crime", or so it was called, involved felonies such as extortion of the weak, and corruption of the judicial process. Said Petrarch sometime in the period between 1340 and 1354, "instead of holy solitude we find a criminal host and crowds; instead of sobriety, licentious banquets; instead of pious pilgrimages... foul sloth". In conclusion, in a society, when the gap between the ideal and the real becomes too wide, the system breaks down. There were many forces which contributed to the breakdown of social stability in the 14th and 15th century, whether it be the economic toll of the black death, the aftermath of the Hundred Years' War, or the petty "fur collar crime" which raged on at the time.

These forces built upon one another and as a result, a major collapse in society was experienced.