Cause & Effect:The Crusades

The Black Death Review of 6-5.3: The effect of the Crusades on

feudalism and the spread of Christianity

6-5.5: The effect of the Bubonic Plague on feudalism

Essential Questions:

Q: What influence did the Catholic Pope have on the Crusades?

Q: What was the overall effect of the Crusades on feudal Europe?

The Crusades

Causes EffectsMuslim Turks take control of the Holy Land (Jerusalem) in 1071

Trade between Europe and Asia increases (medicines, knowledge & thought, spices, silk, ect)

Muslim Turks threaten Constantinople in 1090’s; and other parts of the Byzantine Empire

Kings become more powerful (through control of large numbers of knights fighting in the Crusades)

Byzantine Emperor asks Catholic Pope in Rome for help

Tensions between Christians,Jews, and Muslims grow

Essential Questions:

Q: What influence did the Catholic Pope have on the Crusades?

A: Pope Urban II sent a speech calling for everyone to aid in the Crusades in return for remission of their sins

Q: What was the overall effect of the Crusades on feudal Europe?

A: Cultural diffusion of ideas, medicine, and new trade with Asia

Need to Know Crusade Facts

•The Crusades were many battles fought over the Holy Land that lasted for over 200 years

•The First Crusade was seen as the most successful due to the Christians regaining control of the Holy Land from the Muslim Turks for 50 years

•Nothing really changed throughout the Crusades-it ended the way it began: with the Muslim Turks controlling the Holy Land

The Black Death•Black Death: a deadly plague that swept

through Europe between 1347-1351

•Origins: Central and East Asia

•Traders unknowingly brought diseased rats to Mediterranean ports in 1347 & spread through Europe

•The Black Death was due to several plagues

Music video

Video: Black Death

Bubonic Plague

• Easily identified by symptoms:

• Swelling called buboes on victims bodies

• Deadlier form spread through the air & killed people in less than a day

Effects of The Black Death

•People died so fast that many were burned without priests or ceremonies

• In villages, nearly everyone died or fled when neighbors fell ill- leaving villages abandoned

•1/3 of Europe’s population died due to the plague: approximately 25 million people

Death became part of daily life so much that even their art and writings from the period make

light of the seriousness of the

situation they were in.

Inspired by the Black Death, The Dance of Death or DanseMacabre, an allegory on the universality of death, is a common

painting motif in the late medieval period.

Effects: The Plague Causes Changes

• In most places the manor system fell apart completely

• There were not enough peasants left to work the fields

• Peasants & serfs who survived the plague found their skills in high demand

• They were able to demand high wages for their labor

• Once they made enough money, the fled the manors completely and moved to the growing cities

Video: Horrible Histories Peasant Plagues

Predictions Activity

•What if a mixture of plague were to hit America today just as it had during the Middle Ages? What would happen to our society? Government? Trade? What would be the outcome of a modern Black Death?

•Write a summary of your predictions using connections to the Middle Ages’ Black Death.

•Compare your predictions with a partner

•Were your predictions similar? Different? Why?