
The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the
period of
European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500–1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500).
The first early Eu ...
lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...
and preceded the onset of the
early modern period
The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...
(and in much of Europe, the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
).
Around 1350, centuries of prosperity and growth in Europe came to a halt. A series of
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...
s and
plagues, including the
Great Famine of 1315–1317
The Great Famine of 1315–1317 (occasionally dated 1315–1322) was the first of a series of large-scale crises that struck parts of Europe early in the 14th century. Most of Europe (extending east to Poland and south to the Alps) was affected ...
and the
Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
, reduced the population to around half of what it had been before the calamities. Along with depopulation came social unrest and
endemic warfare
__NOTOC__
Ritual warfare (sometimes called endemic warfare) is a state of continual or frequent warfare, such as is found in (but not limited to) some tribe, tribal societies.
Description
Ritual fighting (or ritual battle or ritual warfare) pe ...
.
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
experienced serious peasant uprisings, such as the
Jacquerie and the
Peasants' Revolt
The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...
, as well as over a century of intermittent conflict, the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
. To add to the many problems of the period, the unity of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
was temporarily shattered by the
Western Schism
The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Great Occidental Schism, the Schism of 1378, or the Great Schism (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 20 September 1378 to 11 November 1417, in which bishops residing ...
. Collectively, those events are sometimes called the
crisis of the late Middle Ages.
Despite the crises, the 14th century was also a time of great progress in the arts and sciences. Following a renewed interest in ancient
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and
Roman texts that took root in the High Middle Ages, the
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...
began. The absorption of Latin texts had started before the
Renaissance of the 12th century
The Renaissance of the 12th century was a period of many changes at the outset of the High Middle Ages. It included social, political and economic transformations, and an intellectual revitalization of Western Europe with strong philosophical and ...
through contact with Arabs during the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
, but the availability of important Greek texts accelerated with the
fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...
to the
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...
, when many
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
scholars had to seek refuge in the West, particularly Italy.
Combined with this influx of classical ideas was the invention of printing, which facilitated the dissemination of the printed word and democratized learning. Those two things would later lead to the
Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
. Toward the end of the period, the
Age of Discovery
The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...
began. The expansion of the Ottoman Empire cut off trading possibilities with the East. Europeans were forced to seek new trading routes, leading to the Spanish expedition under
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
to the
Americas
The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...
in 1492 and
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea.
Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...
's voyage to Africa and India in 1498. Their discoveries strengthened the economy and power of European nations.
The changes brought about by these developments have led many scholars to view this period as the end of the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
and the beginning of
modern history
The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500, ...
and of
early modern Europe
Early modern Europe, also referred to as the post-medieval period, is the period of European history between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, roughly the mid 15th century to the late 18th century. Histori ...
. However, the division is somewhat artificial, since ancient learning was never entirely absent from European society. As a result, there was
developmental continuity between the
ancient age (via
classical antiquity
Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...
) and the
modern age
The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500 ...
. Some historians, particularly in Italy, prefer not to speak of the late Middle Ages at all; rather, they see the high period of the Middle Ages transitioning to the Renaissance and the modern era.
Historiography and periodization
The term "late Middle Ages" refers to one of the three periods of the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, along with the early Middle Ages and the High Middle Ages.
Leonardo Bruni
Leonardo Bruni or Leonardo Aretino ( – March 9, 1444) was an Italian humanist, historian and statesman, often recognized as the most important humanist historian of the early Renaissance. He has been called the first modern historian. He was t ...
was the first historian to use tripartite periodization in his ''History of the Florentine People'' (1442).
[Leonardo Bruni, James Hankins, ''History of the Florentine people'', Volume 1, Books 1–4, (2001), p. xvii.] Flavio Biondo used a similar framework in ''Decades of History from the Deterioration of the Roman Empire'' (1439–1453). Tripartite periodization became standard after the German historian
Christoph Cellarius published ''Universal History Divided into an Ancient, Medieval, and New Period'' (1683).
For 18th-century historians studying the 14th and 15th centuries, the central theme was the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
, with its rediscovery of ancient learning and the emergence of an individual spirit. The heart of this rediscovery lies in Italy, where, in the words of
Jacob Burckhardt
Carl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt (; ; 25 May 1818 – 8 August 1897) was a Swiss historian of art and culture and an influential figure in the historiography of both fields. His best known work is '' The Civilization of the Renaissance in ...
, "Man became a spiritual individual and recognized himself as such." This proposition was later challenged, and it was argued that the 12th century was a period of greater cultural achievement.
As economic and demographic methods were applied to the study of history, the trend was increasingly to see the late Middle Ages as a period of recession and crisis.
Belgian historian
Henri Pirenne continued the subdivision of
Early,
High, and late Middle Ages in the years around
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Yet it was his
Dutch colleague,
Johan Huizinga
Johan Huizinga (; 7 December 1872 – 1 February 1945) was a Dutch historian and one of the founders of modern cultural history.
Life
Born in Groningen as the son of Dirk Huizinga, a professor of physiology, and Jacoba Tonkens, who died two ...
, who was primarily responsible for popularising the pessimistic view of the late Middle Ages, with his book ''
The Autumn of the Middle Ages
''The Autumn of the Middle Ages'', ''The Waning of the Middle Ages'', or ''Autumntide of the Middle Ages'' (published in 1919 as ''Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen'' and translated into English in 1924, German in 1924, and French in 1932), is the best ...
'' (1919). To Huizinga, whose research focused on France and the
Low Countries
The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...
rather than Italy, despair and decline were the main themes, not rebirth.
Modern historiography on the period has reached a consensus between the two extremes of innovation and crisis. It is now generally acknowledged that conditions were vastly different north and south of the Alps, and the term "late Middle Ages" is often avoided entirely within Italian historiography. The term "Renaissance" is still considered useful for describing certain intellectual, cultural, or artistic developments but not as the defining feature of an entire European historical epoch.
[Brady ''et al.'', p. xvii.] The period from the early 14th century up until – and sometimes including – the 16th century is rather seen as characterized by other trends: demographic and economic decline followed by recovery, the end of Western religious unity and the subsequent emergence of the
nation-state
A nation state, or nation-state, is a political entity in which the state (a centralized political organization ruling over a population within a territory) and the nation (a community based on a common identity) are (broadly or ideally) con ...
, and the expansion of European influence onto the rest of the world.
History
The limits of
Christian Europe
The terms Christendom or Christian world commonly refer to the global Christian community, Christian states, Christian-majority countries or countries in which Christianity is dominant or prevails.SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christen ...
were still being defined in the 14th and 15th centuries. While the
Grand Duchy of Moscow
The Grand Principality of Moscow, or Muscovy, known as the Principality of Moscow until 1389, was a late medieval Russian monarchy. Its capital was the city of Moscow. Originally established as a minor principality in the 13th century, the gra ...
was beginning to repel the
Mongols
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...
, and the
Iberian kingdoms completed the
Reconquista
The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
of the peninsula and turned their attention outwards, the
Balkans
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
fell under the dominance of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. Meanwhile, the remaining nations of the continent were locked in almost constant international or internal conflict.
The situation gradually led to the consolidation of central authority and the emergence of the
nation state
A nation state, or nation-state, is a political entity in which the State (polity), state (a centralized political organization ruling over a population within a territory) and the nation (a community based on a common identity) are (broadly ...
.
[Brady et al., p. xvii; Jones, p. 21.] The financial demands of war necessitated higher levels of taxation, resulting in the emergence of representative bodies – most notably the
English Parliament
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised th ...
. The growth of secular authority was further aided by the decline of the papacy with the
Western Schism
The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Great Occidental Schism, the Schism of 1378, or the Great Schism (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 20 September 1378 to 11 November 1417, in which bishops residing ...
and the coming of the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...
.
Northern Europe
After the failed union of
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
of 1319–1365, the pan-Scandinavian
Kalmar Union
The Kalmar Union was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden as designed by Queen Margaret I of Denmark, Margaret of Denmark. From 1397 to 1523, it joined under a single monarch the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden (then in ...
was instituted in 1397. The Swedes were reluctant members of the
Danish-dominated union from the start. In an attempt to subdue the Swedes, King
Christian II of Denmark
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
had large numbers of the Swedish aristocracy killed in the
Stockholm Bloodbath of 1520. Yet this measure only led to further hostilities, and Sweden broke away for good in 1523. Norway, on the other hand, became an inferior party of the union and remained united with Denmark until 1814.
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
benefited from its relative isolation and was the last
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
n country to be struck by the
Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
. Meanwhile, the
Norse colony in Greenland died out, probably under extreme weather conditions in the 15th century. These conditions might have been the effect of the
Little Ice Age
The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Mat ...
.
Northwest Europe

The death of
Alexander III of Scotland
Alexander III (; Modern Gaelic: ; 4 September 1241 – 19 March 1286) was King of Alba (Scotland) from 1249 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of Perth, by which Scotland acquired sovereignty over the Western Isles and the Isle of Man. ...
in 1286 threw the country into a
succession crisis A succession crisis is a crisis that arises when an order of succession fails, for example when a monarch dies without an indisputable heir. It may result in a war of succession.
Examples include (see List of wars of succession):
* The Wars of Th ...
, and the English king,
Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
, was brought in to arbitrate. Edward claimed overlordship over Scotland, leading to the
Wars of Scottish Independence
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and 14th centuries.
The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of Scotla ...
. The English were eventually defeated, and the Scots were able to develop a stronger state under the
Stewarts.
From 1337, England's attention was largely directed towards France in the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
.
Henry V's victory at the
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt ( ; ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected victory of the vastly outnumbered English troops agains ...
in 1415 briefly paved the way for a unification of the two kingdoms, but his son
Henry VI soon squandered all previous gains. The loss of France led to discontent at home. Soon after the end of the war in 1453, the dynastic struggles of the
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...
(c. 1455–1485) began, involving the rival dynasties of the
House of Lancaster
The House of Lancaster was a cadet branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancasterfrom which the house was namedfor his second son Edmund Crouchback in 1267 ...
and
House of York
The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York ...
.
The war ended in the accession of
Henry VII of the
House of Tudor
The House of Tudor ( ) was an English and Welsh dynasty that held the throne of Kingdom of England, England from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd, a Welsh noble family, and Catherine of Valois. The Tudor monarchs ruled ...
, who continued the work started by the Yorkist kings of building a strong, centralized monarchy. While England's attention was thus directed elsewhere, the
Hiberno-Norman
Norman Irish or Hiberno-Normans (; ) is a modern term for the descendants of Norman settlers who arrived during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. Most came from England and Wales. They are distinguished from the native ...
lords in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
were becoming gradually more assimilated into Irish society, and the island was allowed to develop virtual independence under English overlordship.
Western Europe

The
French House of Valois
The Capetian House of Valois ( , also , ) was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the List of French monarchs, French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589. ...
, which followed the
House of Capet
The House of Capet () ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328. It was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians and the Karlings.
The direct line of the House of Capet came to an ...
in 1328, was at its outset marginalized in its own country, first by the English invading forces of the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
and later by the powerful
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy (; ; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity in north-western regions of historical Burgundy. It was a duchy, ruled by dukes of Burgundy. The Duchy belonged to the Kingdom of France, and was initially bordering th ...
. The emergence of
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
as a military leader changed the course of war in favour of the French, and the initiative was carried further by King
Louis XI
Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...
.
Meanwhile,
Charles the Bold
Charles Martin (10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), called the Bold, was the last duke of Burgundy from the House of Valois-Burgundy, ruling from 1467 to 1477. He was the only surviving legitimate son of Philip the Good and his third wife, ...
,
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...
, met resistance in his attempts to consolidate his possessions, particularly from the
Swiss Confederation
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerlan ...
formed in 1291. When Charles was killed in the
Burgundian Wars
The Burgundian Wars (1474–1477) were a conflict between the Burgundian State and the Old Swiss Confederacy and its allies. Open war broke out in 1474, and the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was defeated three times on the battlefield in th ...
at the
Battle of Nancy
The Battle of Nancy was the final and decisive battle of the Burgundian Wars, fought outside the walls of Nancy on 5 January 1477 by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, against René II, Duke of Lorraine, and the Swiss Confederacy.
René's ...
in 1477, the
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy (; ; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity in north-western regions of historical Burgundy. It was a duchy, ruled by dukes of Burgundy. The Duchy belonged to the Kingdom of France, and was initially bordering th ...
was reclaimed by France. At the same time, the
County of Burgundy
The Free County of Burgundy (; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity ruled by a count from 982 to 1678. It became known as Franche-Comté (the ''Free County''), and was located in the modern region of Franche-Comté. It belonged to th ...
and the wealthy
Burgundian Netherlands
The Burgundian Netherlands were those parts of the Low Countries ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy during the Burgundian Age between 1384 and 1482. Within their Burgundian State, which itself belonged partly to the Holy Roman Empire and partly t ...
came into the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
under
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
control, setting up conflict for centuries to come.
Central Europe
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
prospered in the 14th century, and the
Golden Bull of 1356
The Golden Bull of 1356 (, , , , ) was a decree issued by the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg and Metz ( Diet of Metz, 1356/57) headed by the Emperor Charles IV which fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the con ...
made the king of Bohemia first among the
imperial electors
The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops.
From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince-e ...
, but the
Hussite revolution threw the country into crisis. The
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
passed to the
House of Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful Dynasty, dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout ...
in 1438, where it remained until its
dissolution in 1806. Yet in spite of the
extensive territories held by the Habsburgs, the Empire itself remained fragmented, and much real power and influence lay with the individual principalities. In addition, financial institutions, such as the
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...
and the
Fugger
The House of Fugger () is a German family that was historically a prominent group of European bankers, members of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mercantile patriciate of Augsburg, international mercantile bankers, and venture capitalists. ...
family, held great power, on both economic and political levels.
The
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...
experienced a golden age during the 14th century. In particular the reigns of the
Angevin kings
Charles Robert (1308–42) and his son
Louis the Great (1342–82) were marked by success. The country grew wealthy as the main European supplier of gold and silver. Louis the Great led successful campaigns from Lithuania to Southern Italy, and from Poland to Northern Greece.
He had the greatest military potential of the 14th century with his enormous armies (often over 100,000 men). Meanwhile,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
's attention was turned eastwards, as the
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...
with
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
created an enormous entity in the region. The union, and the conversion of Lithuania, also marked the end of
paganism
Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
in Europe.

Louis did not leave a son as heir after his death in 1382. Instead, he named as his heir the young prince
Sigismund of Luxemburg. The Hungarian nobility did not accept his claim, and the result was an internal war. Sigismund eventually achieved total control of Hungary and established his court in Buda and Visegrád. Both palaces were rebuilt and improved, and were considered the richest of the time in Europe. Inheriting the throne of Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire, Sigismund continued conducting his politics from Hungary, but he was kept busy fighting the
Hussites
upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century
upright=1.2, The Lands of the Bohemian Crown during the Hussite Wars. The movement began during the Prag ...
and the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
, which was becoming a menace to Europe in the beginning of the 15th century.
King
Matthias Corvinus
Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...
of Hungary led the largest army of mercenaries of the time, the
Black Army of Hungary, which he used to conquer
Moravia
Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The medieval and early ...
and
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
and to fight the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. After Italy, Hungary was the first European country where the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
appeared. However, the glory of the Kingdom ended in the early 16th century, when the King
Louis II of Hungary
Louis II (; ; ; ; 1 July 1506 – 29 August 1526) was King of Hungary, King of Croatia, Croatia and King of Bohemia, Bohemia from 1516 to 1526. He died during the Battle of Mohács fighting the Ottoman Empire, Ottomans, whose victory led to the Ot ...
was killed in the
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács (; , ) took place on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was fought between the forces of Hungary, led by King Louis II of Hungary, Louis II, and the invading Ottoman Empire, commanded by Suleima ...
in 1526 against the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. Hungary then fell into a serious crisis and was invaded, ending its significance in central Europe during the medieval era.
Eastern Europe

The state of
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus,.
* was the first East Slavs, East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical At ...
fell during the 13th century in the
Mongol invasion
The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...
. The
Grand Duchy of Moscow
The Grand Principality of Moscow, or Muscovy, known as the Principality of Moscow until 1389, was a late medieval Russian monarchy. Its capital was the city of Moscow. Originally established as a minor principality in the 13th century, the gra ...
rose in power thereafter, winning a great victory against the
Golden Horde
The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...
at the
Battle of Kulikovo
The Battle of Kulikovo () was fought between the forces of Mamai, a powerful Mongol military commander of the Golden Horde, and Russian forces led by Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, Dmitry of Moscow. The battle took place on 8 September 1380, at Ku ...
in 1380. The victory did not end Tartar rule in the region, however, and its immediate beneficiary was the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
, which extended its influence eastwards.
Under the reign of
Ivan the Great (1462–1505), Moscow became a major regional power, and the annexation of the vast
Republic of Novgorod
The Novgorod Republic () was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries in Russian North, northern Russia, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east. Its capital was the city of ...
in 1478 laid the foundations for a Russian national state. After the
Fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...
in 1453, the Russian princes started to see themselves as the heirs of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
. They eventually took on the imperial title of
Tzar, and Moscow was described as the
Third Rome
The continuation, succession, and revival of the Roman Empire is a running theme of the history of Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. It reflects the lasting memories of power, prestige, and unity associated with the Roman Empire.
Several pol ...
.
Southeast Europe

The Byzantine Empire had for a long time dominated the
eastern Mediterranean
The Eastern Mediterranean is a loosely delimited region comprising the easternmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, and well as the adjoining land—often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea. It includes the southern half of Turkey ...
in politics and culture. By the 14th century, however, it had almost entirely collapsed into a
tributary state of the Ottoman Empire, centered on the city of Constantinople and a few enclaves in
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. With the
Fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...
in 1453, the Byzantine Empire was permanently extinguished.
The
Bulgarian Empire Bulgarian Empire may refer to:
* First Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led b ...
was in decline by the 14th century, and the ascendancy of
Serbia
, image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg
, national_motto =
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg
, national_anthem = ()
, image_map =
, map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...
was marked by the Serbian victory over the Bulgarians in the
Battle of Velbazhd
The Battle of Velbazhd (; ) took place between Bulgarian and Serbian armies on 28 July 1330, near the town of Velbazhd (present day Kyustendil).
The growing power of the Serbian Kingdom from the late 13th century raised serious concerns in the t ...
in 1330. By 1346, the Serbian king
Stefan Dušan
Stephen (honorific), Stefan Uroš IV Dušan ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Урош IV Душан), also known as Dušan the Mighty ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Силни; – 20 December 1355), was the King of Serbia from 8 September 1331 and Emperor of th ...
had been proclaimed emperor. Yet Serbian dominance was short-lived; the Serbian army led by the
Lazar Hrebeljanovic was defeated by the
Ottoman Army
The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922.
Army
The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...
at the
Battle of Kosovo
The Battle of Kosovo took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Murad I. It was one of the largest battles of the Late Middl ...
in 1389, where most of the
Serbian nobility Serbian nobility () refers to the historical privileged order or class (aristocracy) of Serbia, that is, the medieval Serbian states, and after the Ottoman conquests of Serbian lands in the 15th and 16th centuries, Serbian noble families of the Kin ...
was killed and the south of the country came under
Ottoman occupation, as much of
southern Bulgaria had become Ottoman territory in the
Battle of Maritsa
The Battle of Maritsa or Battle of Chernomen (; in tr. ''Second Battle of Maritsa'') took place at the Maritsa River near the village of Chernomen (present-day Ormenio, Greece) on 26 September 1371 between Ottoman forces commanded by Lala S ...
1371.
[Hollister, p. 360; Koenigsberger, p. 339.] Northern remnants of Bulgaria were finally conquered by 1396, Serbia fell in 1459, Bosnia in 1463, and Albania was finally subordinated in 1479 only a few years after the death of
Skanderbeg
Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...
.
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, a Hungarian domain at the time, was the last large Balkan city to fall under Ottoman rule, in the
siege of Belgrade of 1521. By the end of the medieval period, the entire
Balkan
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
peninsula was annexed by, or became
vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
to, the Ottomans.
Southwest Europe
Avignon
Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...
was the seat of the
papacy
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
from 1309 to 1376. With the return of the Pope to Rome in 1378, the Papal State developed into a major secular power, culminating in the morally corrupt papacy of Pope Alexander VI, Alexander VI. Florence grew to prominence amongst the Italian city-states through financial business, and the dominant Medici family became important promoters of the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
through their patronage of the arts. Other city-states in northern Italy also expanded their territories and consolidated their power, primarily Milan, Venice, and Genoa. The War of the Sicilian Vespers had by the early 14th century divided southern Italy into an House of Trastámara, Aragon Kingdom of Sicily and an House of Valois-Anjou, Anjou Kingdom of Naples. In 1442, the two kingdoms were effectively united under Aragonese control.
The 1469 marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon and the 1479 death of John II of Aragon led to the creation of modern-day Spain. In 1492, Granada was captured from the Moors, thereby completing the
Reconquista
The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
. Portugal had during the 15th century – particularly under Henry the Navigator – gradually explored the coast of Africa, and in 1498,
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea.
Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...
found the sea route to India. The Spanish monarchs met the Portuguese challenge by financing the expedition of
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
to find a western sea route to India, leading to the discovery of the
Americas
The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...
in 1492.
Late medieval European society
Around 1300–1350, the Medieval Warm Period gave way to the
Little Ice Age
The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Mat ...
. The colder climate resulted in agricultural crises, the first of which is known as the
Great Famine of 1315–1317
The Great Famine of 1315–1317 (occasionally dated 1315–1322) was the first of a series of large-scale crises that struck parts of Europe early in the 14th century. Most of Europe (extending east to Poland and south to the Alps) was affected ...
. The demographic consequences of this
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...
, however, were not as severe as the pandemic, plagues that occurred later in the century, particularly the
Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
. Estimates of the death rate caused by this epidemic range from one third to as much as sixty percent. By around 1420, the accumulated effect of recurring plagues and famines had reduced the population of Europe to perhaps no more than a third of what it was a century earlier. The effects of natural disasters were exacerbated by armed conflicts; this was particularly the case in France during the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
. It took 150 years for the European population to regain similar levels of 1300.
As the European population was severely reduced, land became more plentiful for the survivors, and labour was consequently more expensive. Attempts by landowners to forcibly reduce wages, such as the English 1351 Statute of Laborers, were doomed to fail. These efforts resulted in nothing more than fostering resentment among the peasantry, leading to rebellions such as the French
Jacquerie in 1358 and the English English peasants' revolt of 1381, Peasants' Revolt in 1381. The long-term effect was the virtual end of serfdom in Western Europe. In Eastern Europe, on the other hand, landowners were able to exploit the situation to force the peasantry into even more repressive bondage.
The upheavals caused by the Black Death left certain minority groups particularly vulnerable, especially the Jews, who were often blamed for the calamities. Antisemitism, Anti-Jewish pogroms were carried out all over Europe; in February 1349, 2,000 Jews were murdered in Strasbourg. States were also guilty of discrimination against the Jews. Monarchs gave in to the demands of the people, and the Jews were expelled from England in 1290, from France in 1306, from Spain in 1492, and from Portugal in 1497.
While the Jews were suffering persecution, one group that probably experienced increased empowerment in the late Middle Ages was women. The great social changes of the period opened up new possibilities for women in the fields of commerce, learning, and religion.
[Klapisch-Zuber, p. 268.] Yet at the same time, women were also vulnerable to incrimination and persecution, as belief in witchcraft increased.
The accumulation of social, environmental, and health-related problems also led to an increase in interpersonal violence in most parts of Europe. Population increase, religious intolerance, famine, and disease led to an increase in violent acts in vast parts of medieval society. One exception to this was North-Eastern Europe, whose population managed to maintain low levels of violence due to a more organized society resulting from extensive and successful trade.
Up until the mid-14th century, Europe had experienced steadily increasing urbanization. Cities were also decimated by the Black Death, but the role of urban areas as centres of learning, commerce, and government ensured continued growth. By 1500, Venice, Milan, Naples, Paris, and Constantinople each probably had more than 100,000 inhabitants.
[Allmand (1998), p. 125] Twenty-two other cities were larger than 40,000; most of these were in Italy and the Iberian peninsula, but there were also some in France, the Empire, and the Low Countries, as well as London in England.
Military history
Through battles such as Battle of the Golden Spurs, Courtrai (1302), Battle of Bannockburn, Bannockburn (1314), and Battle of Morgarten, Morgarten (1315), it became clear to the great territorial princes of Europe that the military advantage of the feudal cavalry was lost and that a well equipped Infantry in the Middle Ages, infantry was preferable. Through the Wales in the Late Middle Ages, Welsh Wars, the English became acquainted with, and adopted, the highly efficient English longbow, longbow. Once properly managed, this weapon gave them a great advantage over the French in the Hundred Years' War.
The introduction of Black powder, gunpowder affected the conduct of war significantly. Though employed by the English as early as the Battle of Crécy in 1346, firearms initially had little effect in the field of battle. It was through the use of cannons as Siege engine, siege weapons that major change was brought about; the new methods would eventually change the architectural structure of fortifications.
Changes also took place within the recruitment and composition of armies. The use of the Conscription, national or feudal levy was gradually replaced by paid troops of domestic retinues or foreign Mercenary, mercenaries. The practice was associated with Edward III of England and the condottieri of the Italian city-states. All over Europe, Swiss mercenaries were in particularly high demand. At the same time, the period also saw the emergence of the first permanent armies. It was in House of Valois, Valois France, under the heavy demands of the Hundred Years' War, that the armed forces gradually assumed a permanent nature.
Parallel to the military developments emerged also a constantly more elaborate Chivalry, chivalric code of conduct for the warrior class. This newfound ethos can be seen as a response to the diminishing military role of the aristocracy, and it gradually became almost entirely detached from its military origin. The spirit of chivalry was given expression through the new (secular) type of chivalric orders; the first of these was the Order of Saint George (Kingdom of Hungary), Order of St. George, founded by Charles I of Hungary in 1325, while the best known was probably the English Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III in 1348.
Christian conflict and reform
The Papal Schism
The French crown's increasing dominance over the Papacy culminated in the transference of the Holy See to
Avignon
Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...
in 1309. When the Pope returned to Rome in 1377, this led to the election of different popes in Avignon and Rome, resulting in the
Western Schism
The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Great Occidental Schism, the Schism of 1378, or the Great Schism (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 20 September 1378 to 11 November 1417, in which bishops residing ...
(1378–1417). The Schism divided Europe along political lines; while France, her ally Scotland, and the Spanish kingdoms supported the Avignon Papacy, France's enemy England stood behind the pope in Rome, together with Portugal, Scandinavia, and most of the German princes.
At the Council of Constance (1414–1418), the Papacy was once more united in Rome. Even though the unity of the Western Church was to last for another hundred years, and though the Papacy was to experience greater material prosperity than ever before, the Great Schism had done irreparable damage. The internal struggles within the Church had impaired her claim to universal rule and promoted anti-clericalism among the people and their rulers, paving the way for reform movements.
Protestant Reformation

Though many of the events were outside the traditional time period of the Middle Ages, the end of the unity of the Western Church (the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...
) was one of the distinguishing characteristics of the medieval period.
The
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
had long fought against heretic movements, but during the late Middle Ages, it started to experience demands for reform from within. The first of these came from University of Oxford, Oxford professor John Wycliffe in England. Wycliffe held that the Bible should be the only authority in religious questions, and he spoke out against transubstantiation, celibacy, and indulgences. In spite of influential supporters among the English language, English aristocracy, such as John of Gaunt, the movement was not allowed to survive. Though Wycliffe himself was left unmolested, his supporters, the Lollards, were eventually suppressed in England.
The marriage of Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia established contacts between the two nations and brought Lollard ideas to her homeland. The teachings of the Czech lands, Czech priest Jan Hus were based on those of John Wycliffe, yet his followers, the
Hussites
upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century
upright=1.2, The Lands of the Bohemian Crown during the Hussite Wars. The movement began during the Prag ...
, were to have a much greater political impact than the Lollards. Hus gained a great following in
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
, and in 1414, he was requested to appear at the Council of Constance to defend his cause. When he was burned as a heretic in 1415, it caused a popular uprising in the Czech lands. The subsequent Hussite Wars fell apart due to internal quarrels and did not result in religious or national independence for the Czechs, but both the Catholic Church and the German element within the country were weakened.
Martin Luther, a German monk, started the German Reformation by posting 95 theses on the castle church of Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. The immediate provocation spurring this act was Pope Leo X's renewal of the indulgence for the building of the new St. Peter's Basilica in 1514. Luther was challenged to recant his heresy at the Diet of Worms in 1521. When he refused, he was placed under the ban of the Empire by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. Receiving the protection of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, Frederick the Wise, he was then able to translate the Bible into German language, German.
To many secular rulers, the Protestant Reformation was a welcome opportunity to expand their wealth and influence. The Catholic Church met the challenges of the reforming movements with what has been called the Catholic Reformation, or Counter-Reformation. Europe became split into northern Protestant and southern Catholic parts, resulting in the Religious Wars of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Trade and commerce
The increasingly dominant position of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean presented an impediment to trade for the Christian nations of the west, who in turn started looking for alternatives. Portuguese and Spanish explorers found new trade routes – south of Africa to India, as well as across the Atlantic Ocean to Americas, America. As Genoa, Genoese and Venice, Venetian merchants opened up direct sea routes with Flanders, the Champagne fairs lost much of their importance.
At the same time, English wool export shifted from raw wool to processed cloth, resulting in losses for the cloth manufacturers of the Low Countries. In the Baltic Sea, Baltic and North Sea, the
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...
reached the peak of their power in the 14th century but started going into decline in the fifteenth.
In the late 13th and early 14th centuries, a process took place – primarily in Italy but partly also in the Empire – that historians have termed a "commercial revolution". Among the innovations of the period were new forms of Corporation, partnership and the issuing of insurance, both of which contributed to reducing the risk of commercial ventures; the Negotiable instrument#Bill of exchange, bill of exchange and other forms of credit that circumvented the Canon law, canonical laws for gentiles against usury and eliminated the dangers of carrying Precious metal, bullion; and new forms of accounting, in particular Double-entry bookkeeping system, double-entry bookkeeping, which allowed for better oversight and accuracy.
With the financial expansion, trading rights became more jealously guarded by the commercial elite. Towns saw the growing power of guilds, while on a national level, special companies would be granted monopolies on particular trades, like the English wool The staple, Staple. The beneficiaries of these developments would accumulate immense wealth. Families like the Fugger family, Fuggers in Germany, the House of Medici, Medicis in Italy, and the Duke of Suffolk, de la Poles in England and individuals like Jacques Cœur in France would help finance the wars of kings, achieving great political influence in the process.
Though there is no doubt that the demographic crisis of the 14th century caused a dramatic fall in production and commerce in ''absolute'' terms, there has been a vigorous historical debate over whether the decline was greater than the fall in population. While the older orthodoxy held that the artistic output of the Renaissance was a result of greater opulence, more recent studies have suggested that there might have been a so-called "depression of the Renaissance". In spite of convincing arguments for the case, the statistical evidence is simply too incomplete for a definite conclusion to be made.
Arts and sciences
In the 14th century, the predominant academic trend of scholasticism was challenged by the Renaissance humanism, humanist movement. Though primarily an attempt to revitalise the classical languages, the movement also led to innovations within the fields of science, art, and literature, helped by impulses from
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
scholars who had to seek refuge in the west after the
Fall of Constantinople
The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city was captured on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 55-da ...
in 1453.
In science, classical authorities like Aristotle were challenged for the first time since antiquity. Within the arts, humanism took the form of the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
. Though the 15th-century Renaissance was a highly localised phenomenon – limited mostly to the city-states of northern Italy – artistic developments were taking place also further north, particularly in the Netherlands.
Philosophy, science and technology
The predominant school of thought in the 13th century was the Thomism, Thomistic reconciliation of the teachings of Aristotle with Christian theology. The Condemnations (University of Paris)#Condemnation of 1277, Condemnation of 1277, enacted at the University of Paris, placed restrictions on ideas that could be interpreted as heretical, restrictions that had implication for Aristotelianism, Aristotelian thought.
An alternative was presented by William of Ockham, following the manner of the earlier Franciscan John Duns Scotus, who insisted that the world of reason and the world of faith had to be kept apart. Ockham introduced the principle of parsimony – or Occam's razor – whereby a simple theory is preferred to a more complex one and speculation on unobservable phenomena is avoided. This maxim is, however, often misquoted. Occam was referring to his nominalism in this quotation. Essentially saying the theory of absolutes, or metaphysical realism, was unnecessary to make sense of the world.
This new approach liberated scientific speculation from the dogmatic restraints of Aristotelian science and paved the way for new approaches. Particularly within the field of theories of Motion (physics), motion, great advances were made, when such scholars as Jean Buridan, Nicole Oresme, and the Oxford Calculators challenged the work of Aristotle. Buridan developed the theory of ''impetus'' as the cause of the motion of projectiles, which was an important step towards the modern concept of inertia. The works of these scholars anticipated the Heliocentrism, heliocentric worldview of Nicolaus Copernicus.
Certain technological inventions of the period – whether of Arab or China, Chinese origin or unique European innovations – were to have great influence on political and social developments, in particular gunpowder, the printing press, and the compass. The introduction of gunpowder to the field of battle not only affected military organisation but also helped advance the nation-state. Johann Gutenberg, Gutenberg's movable type printing press made possible not only the Protestant Reformation, Reformation but also a dissemination of knowledge that would lead to a gradually more egalitarian society. The compass, along with other innovations such as the cross-staff, the mariner's astrolabe, and advances in shipbuilding, enabled the navigation of the World Oceans and the early phases of colonialism. Other inventions had a greater impact on everyday life, such as Glasses, eyeglasses and the weight-driven clock.
Visual arts and architecture

A precursor to
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
art can be seen already in the early 14th-century works of Giotto di Bondone, Giotto. Giotto was the first painter since antiquity to attempt the representation of three-dimensional reality and endow his characters with true human emotions. The most important developments, however, came in 15th-century Florence. The affluence of the merchant class allowed extensive patronage of the arts, and foremost among the patrons were the Medici.
The period saw several important technical innovations, like the principle of Perspective (graphical), linear perspective found in the work of Masaccio and later described by Filippo Brunelleschi, Brunelleschi. Greater realism was also achieved through the scientific study of anatomy, championed by artists like Donatello. This can be seen particularly well in his sculptures, inspired by the study of classical models. As the centre of the movement shifted to Rome, the period culminated in the High Renaissance masters Leonardo da Vinci, da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.
The ideas of the
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...
were slow to cross the Alps into northern Europe, but important artistic innovations were made also in the Low Countries. Though not – as previously believed – the inventor of oil painting, Jan van Eyck was a champion of the new medium and used it to create works of great realism and minute detail. The two cultures influenced each other and learned from each other, but painting in the Netherlands remained more focused on textures and surfaces than the idealized compositions of Italy.
In northern European countries, Gothic architecture remained the norm, and the Gothic cathedral was further elaborated. In Italy, on the other hand, architecture took a different direction, also here inspired by classical ideals. The crowning work of the period was the Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, with Giotto's clock tower, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Ghiberti's baptistery gates, and Filippo Brunelleschi, Brunelleschi's cathedral dome of unprecedented proportions.
Literature

The most important development of late medieval literature was the ascendancy of the vernacular languages. The vernacular had been in use in England since the 8th century and France since the 11th century, where the most popular genres had been the chanson de geste, Troubadour, troubadour lyrics, and romantic epics, or the Romance (heroic literature), romance. Though Italy was later in evolving a native literature in the vernacular language, it was here that the most important developments of the period were to come.
Dante Alighieri's ''The Divine Comedy, Divine Comedy'', written in the early 14th century, merged a medieval worldview with classical ideals. Another promoter of the Italian language was Giovanni Boccaccio, Boccaccio with his ''The Decameron, Decameron''. The application of the vernacular did not entail a rejection of Latin, and both Dante and Boccaccio wrote prolifically in Latin as well as Italian, as would Petrarch later (whose ''Il Canzoniere, Canzoniere'' also promoted the vernacular and whose contents are considered the first modern lyric poems). Together, the three poets established the Tuscan dialect as the norm for the modern Italian language.
The new literary style spread rapidly and in France, influenced such writers as Eustache Deschamps and Guillaume de Machaut. In England, Geoffrey Chaucer helped establish Middle English as a literary language with his ''The Canterbury Tales, Canterbury Tales'', which contained a wide variety of narrators and stories (including some translated from Boccaccio). The spread of vernacular literature eventually reached as far as Bohemia and the Baltic, Slavic, and Byzantine worlds.
Music

Music was an important part of both secular and spiritual culture, and in the universities, it made up part of the ''quadrivium'' of the liberal arts. From the early 13th century, the dominant sacred musical form had been the motet, a composition with text in several parts. From the 1330s and onwards emerged the Polyphony, polyphonic style, which was a more complex fusion of independent voices. Polyphony had been common in the secular music of the Provence, Provençal troubadours. Many of these had fallen victim to the 13th-century Albigensian Crusade, but their influence reached the papal court at Avignon.
The main representatives of the new style, often referred to as ''ars nova'' as opposed to ''ars antiqua'', were the composers Philippe de Vitry and Guillaume de Machaut. In Italy, where the Provençal troubadours had also found refuge, the corresponding period goes under the name of Music of the Trecento, trecento, and the leading composers were Giovanni da Cascia, Jacopo da Bologna, and Francesco Landini. A prominent reformer of Eastern Orthodox music, Orthodox Church music from the first half of the 14th century was John Kukuzelis; he also introduced a system of notation widely used in the
Balkans
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
in the following centuries.
Theatre
In the British Isles, plays were produced in some 127 different towns during the Middle Ages. These vernacular Mystery plays were written in cycles of a large number of plays: York Mystery Plays, York (48 plays), Chester Mystery Plays, Chester (24), Wakefield Mystery Plays, Wakefield (32), and N-Town Plays, Unknown (42). A larger number of plays survive from France and Germany in this period, and some type of religious drama was performed in nearly every European country in the late Middle Ages. Many of these plays contained comedy, devils, villains, and clowns.
[Brockett and Hildy (2003, 86)]
Morality plays emerged as a distinct dramatic form around 1400 and flourished until 1550, an example being ''The Castle of Perseverance'', which depicts Human, mankind's progress from birth to death. Another famous morality play is ''Everyman (15th-century play), Everyman''. Everyman receives Death's summons, struggles to escape, and finally resigns himself to necessity. Along the way, he is deserted by Kinship, Kindred, Good (economics), Goods, and Fellowship – only Good works, Good Deeds goes with him to the grave.
At the end of the late Middle Ages, professional actors began to appear in England and Europe. Richard III of England, Richard III and
Henry VII both maintained small companies of professional actors. Their plays were performed in the Great Hall of a nobleman's residence, often with a raised platform at one end for the audience and a "screen" at the other for the actors. Also important were Mummers Play, Mummers' plays, performed during the Christmas season, and court masques. These masques were especially popular during the reign of Henry VIII who had a House of Revels built and an Master of the Revels, Office of Revels established in 1545.
[Brockett and Hildy (2003, 101-103)]
The end of medieval drama came about due to a number of factors, including the weakening power of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
, the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...
, and the banning of religious plays in many countries. Elizabeth I forbid all religious plays in 1558, and the great cycle plays had been silenced by the 1580s. Similarly, religious plays were banned in the Netherlands in 1539, the Papal States in 1547, and Paris in 1548. The abandonment of these plays destroyed the international theatre that had thereto existed and forced each country to develop its own form of drama. It also allowed dramatists to turn to secular subjects and the reviving interest in ancient Greece, Greek and
Roman theatre provided them with the perfect opportunity.
After the Middle Ages
After the end of the late Middle Ages period, the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
spread unevenly over continental Europe from the southern European region. The intellectual transformation of the Renaissance is viewed as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the Modern era. Europeans would later begin an Age of Discovery, era of world discovery. Combined with the influx of classical ideas was the invention of printing which facilitated dissemination of the printed word and democratized learning. These two things would lead to the
Protestant Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...
. Europeans also discovered new trading routes, as was the case with Christopher Columbus, Columbus' travel to the
Americas
The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...
in 1492, and
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea.
Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...
's circumnavigation of Africa and Indian subcontinent, India in 1498. Their discoveries strengthened the economy and power of European nations.
Ottomans and Europe
By the end of the 15th century, the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
had advanced all over Southeast Europe, eventually conquering the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
and extending control over the Balkan states. Hungary was the last bastion of the Latin Christian world in the East, and fought to keep its rule over a period of two centuries. After the death of the young king Vladislaus I of Hungary during the Battle of Varna in 1444 against the Ottomans, the Kingdom was placed in the hands of Count John Hunyadi, who became Hungary's regent-governor (1446–1453). Hunyadi was considered one of the most relevant military figures of the 15th century: Pope Pius II awarded him the title of ''Athleta Christi'', or Champion of Christ, for being the only hope of resisting the Ottomans from advancing to Central and Western Europe.
Hunyadi succeeded during the Siege of Belgrade (1456), siege of Belgrade in 1456 against the Ottomans, the biggest victory against that empire in decades. This battle became a real crusade against the Muslims, as the peasants were motivated by the Franciscans, Franciscan friar Saint John of Capistrano, who came from Italy predicating him holy war. The effect that it created in that time was one of the main factors that helped in achieving the victory. However the premature death of the Hungarian lord left Pannonia defenseless and in chaos. In an extremely unusual event for the Middle Ages, Hunyadi's son, Matthias, was elected as king of Hungary by the Hungarian nobility. For the first time, a member of an aristocratic family (and not from a royal family) was crowned.
King
Matthias Corvinus
Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...
of Hungary (1458–1490) was one of the most prominent figures of the period, directing campaigns to the West, conquering Bohemia in answer to the pope's call for help against the Hussite Protestants. Also, in resolving political hostilities with the German emperor Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick III of Habsburg, he invaded his western domains. Matthew organized the Black Army of Hungary, Black Army of mercenary soldiers; it was considered as the biggest army of its time. Using this powerful tool, the Hungarian king led wars against the Turkish armies and stopped the Ottomans during his reign. After the death of Matthew, and with end of the Black Army, the Ottoman Empire grew in strength and Central Europe was defenseless. At the
Battle of Mohács
The Battle of Mohács (; , ) took place on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was fought between the forces of Hungary, led by King Louis II of Hungary, Louis II, and the invading Ottoman Empire, commanded by Suleima ...
, the forces of the Ottoman Empire annihilated the Hungarian army and
Louis II of Hungary
Louis II (; ; ; ; 1 July 1506 – 29 August 1526) was King of Hungary, King of Croatia, Croatia and King of Bohemia, Bohemia from 1516 to 1526. He died during the Battle of Mohács fighting the Ottoman Empire, Ottomans, whose victory led to the Ot ...
drowned in the Csele Creek while trying to escape. The leader of the Hungarian army, Pál Tomori, also died in the battle. This is considered to be one of the final battles of medieval times.
Timeline
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bar:General color:era
from: 1300 till: 1350 text:Crisis of the Late Middle Ages, Middle Ages Crisis
from: 1350 till: 1450 text:Late Middle Ages
bar:General color:filler
from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,4) text:Modern
from: 1450 till: 1500 shift:(2,-7) text:Early modern, (Early period)
bar:N.Europe color:age
from: 1300 till: 1400 text:Christianization of Scandinavia, Christianization
from: 1400 till: 1500 text:Kalmar Union
The Kalmar Union was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden as designed by Queen Margaret I of Denmark, Margaret of Denmark. From 1397 to 1523, it joined under a single monarch the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden (then in ...
bar:British.Isles color:age
from: 1300 till: 1500 text:Kingdom of England
bar:Iberia color:age
from: 1300 till: 1492 text:Reconquista
The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
bar:Iberia color:filler
from: 1492 till: 1500 text:Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
bar:E.Europe color:age
from: 1300 till: 1400 text:Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
from: 1400 till: 1487 text:Grand Duchy of Moscow, Moscow
bar:E.Europe color:filler
from: 1487 till: 1500 text:Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
bar:C.Europe color:age
from: 1300 till: 1494 text:Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
bar:C.Europe color:filler
from: 1494 till: 1500 text:German Renaissance
bar:Apennines color:age
from: 1300 shift:(0,-7) till: 1500 text:(Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...
)
from: 1300 shift:(0,4) till: 1500 text:Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
bar:Balkans color:age
from: 1300 till: 1345 text:Second Bulgarian Empire, 2nd Bulgarian Empire
from: 1345 till: 1389 text:Serbian Empire
from: 1389 till: 1500 text:Ottoman Empire, Ottomans
bar:Caucasus color:age
from: 1300 till: 1490 text:Kingdom of Georgia
bar:M.East color:age
from: 1300 till: 1500 text:Mamluk Sultanate, Mamluks
bar:C.Asia color:age
from: 1300 till: 1500 shift:(-120,-7) text:Chagatai Khanate
from: 1300 till: 1500 shift:(-120,4) text:Golden Horde
The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...
bar:China color:age
from: 1300 till: 1368 text:Yuan Dynasty, Yuan
from: 1368 till: 1500 text:Ming Dynasty, Ming
bar:Japan color:age
from: 1300 till: 1333 text:Kamakura period, Kamakura
from: 1333 till: 1336 text:Kenmu restoration, Kenmu
from: 1336 till: 1500 text:Muromachi period, Muromachi
bar:Korea color:age
from: 1300 till: 1392 text:Goryeo
from: 1392 till: 1500 text:Joseon Dynasty, Joseon
bar:India color:age
from: 1300 till: 1500 text:Islamic empires in India, Islamic empires
bar:N.Americas color:age
from: 1300 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:Mississippian culture
bar:C.Americas color:age
from: 1300 till: 1500 shift:(0,-4) text:Late Postclassic
bar:S.Americas color:age
from: 1300 till: 1500 text:Classic
''Dates are approximate, consult particular articles for details''
Middle Ages themes Other themes
14th century
* 1305: William Wallace was executed
* 1307: The Knights Templar were destroyed
* 1309: Beginning of Avignon papacy
* 1310: Dante Alighieri, Dante began the ''Divine Comedy''
* 1314: Battle of Bannockburn
* 1315–1317 Great Famine of 1315–1317, Great Famine
* 1321–1328 Byzantine civil war of 1321–28, Byzantine civil war
* 1328: First War of Scottish Independence ends
* 1337: The
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
begins
* 1346: Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia, Stephen Dušan established a short-lived Serbian Empire
* 1347: The
Black Death
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...
begins
* 1347: Charles University in Prague, University of Prague was founded
* 1348: Giovanni Villani finishes work on ''Nuova Cronica''
* 1348–1349: Byzantine–Genoese War (1348–49), Byzantine–Genoese War
* 1362: Battle of Blue Waters
Lithuania defeats Golden Horde. Principality of Kiev becomes part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
* 1364: Jagiellonian University was founded
* 1371:
Battle of Maritsa
The Battle of Maritsa or Battle of Chernomen (; in tr. ''Second Battle of Maritsa'') took place at the Maritsa River near the village of Chernomen (present-day Ormenio, Greece) on 26 September 1371 between Ottoman forces commanded by Lala S ...
—first substantial Ottoman victory in Europe; partition of Second Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria
* 1376: Avignon Papacy ended
* 1380:
Battle of Kulikovo
The Battle of Kulikovo () was fought between the forces of Mamai, a powerful Mongol military commander of the Golden Horde, and Russian forces led by Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, Dmitry of Moscow. The battle took place on 8 September 1380, at Ku ...
* 1380: The ''Canterbury Tales''
* 1381:
Peasants' Revolt
The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...
(England)
* 1381: John Wycliffe translated the Bible
* 1385: Union of Krewo, initiation of the Polish–Lithuanian union
* 1385: Battle of Aljubarrota
* 1386: University of Heidelberg was founded
* 1389:
Battle of Kosovo
The Battle of Kosovo took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Murad I. It was one of the largest battles of the Late Middl ...
—Serbian and Bosnian forces defeated by the Ottomans
* 1342–1392: Partitioning of the Kingdom of Rus (Galicia) between Poland and Lithuania (Galicia–Volhynia Wars)
* 1396: Battle of Nicopolis and first Ottoman conquest in Europe
* 1397:
Kalmar Union
The Kalmar Union was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden as designed by Queen Margaret I of Denmark, Margaret of Denmark. From 1397 to 1523, it joined under a single monarch the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden (then in ...
15th century
* 1402: Battle of Ankara
* 1409: Venetian Dalmatia
* 1410: Battle of Grunwald
* 1415: Conquest of Ceuta
* 1415:
Battle of Agincourt
The Battle of Agincourt ( ; ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected victory of the vastly outnumbered English troops agains ...
* 1415: Jan Hus was burned at the stake
* 1417: The Council of Constance
* 1419–1434: Hussite Wars in
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
* 1429: Siege of Orléans, Battle of Orléans
* 1431:
Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
was burned at the stake
* 1434: The Medici family in Florence
* 1439: Johannes Gutenberg first used movable type printing in Europe
* 1444: Battle of Varna
* 1445: Battle of Suzdal
* 1453: Fall of Constantinople, Constantinople falls to Ottoman conquest
* 1455: Gutenberg Bible printed in Mainz
* 1456: Siege of Belgrade (1456), Siege of Belgrade
* 1461: The Empire of Trebizond fell to the Turks
* 1469: Catholic Monarchs
* 1470: Battle of Lipnic
* 1474–1477:
Burgundian Wars
The Burgundian Wars (1474–1477) were a conflict between the Burgundian State and the Old Swiss Confederacy and its allies. Open war broke out in 1474, and the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was defeated three times on the battlefield in th ...
* 1478: Grand Duchy of Moscow, Muscovy conquered Novgorod
* 1478: The Catholic Monarchs established the Spanish Inquisition
* 1479: Battle of Breadfield
* 1480: Great Stand on the Ugra River. The end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke over the Russian principalities.
* 1485: Thomas Malory (''Le Morte d'Arthur'')
* 1492: Alhambra Decree
* 1492:
Reconquista
The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
ended with the Battle of Granada, fall of Granada
* 1492:
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
reached the "New World"
* 1494: Treaty of Tordesillas
* 1497–1498: Portuguese explorer
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea.
Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...
's first voyage reached India after circumnavigating Africa
* 1499: Battle of Zonchio
Gallery
File:Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry juin.jpg, Peasants in fields
''Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, Très Riches Heures''.
File:Joan of Arc miniature graded.jpg, Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...
(Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
)
File:Chronicon Pictum I Karoly Robert.jpg, Charles I of Hungary, Charles I
(Kingdom of Hungary)
File:Jan Hus at the Stake.jpg, Jan Hus
(Bohemian Reformation)
Lucas Cranach d.Ä. - Martin Luther, 1528 (Veste Coburg).jpg, Martin Luther
(Protestantism)
See also
* List of basic medieval history topics
* Timeline of the Middle Ages
* Church and state in medieval Europe
* Jews in the Middle Ages
* Gothic book illustration
Notes
References
Further reading
Surveys
*
*
*
*
* Ferguson, Wallace K. ''Europe in transition, 1300-1520'' (1962
online
*
*
*
*
* Koenigsberger, H.G. ''Medieval Europe 400 - 1500'' (1987
excerpt*
*
Specific regions
*
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Society
*
*
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The Black Death
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Warfare
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Economy
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Religion
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Arts and sciences
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External links
The Medieval and Classical Literature Library: Original sources on the Late Middle Ages
{{Authority control
Late Middle Ages,
Middle Ages, .03
14th century in Europe, .
15th century in Europe, .
16th century in Europe, .
14th-century establishments in Europe, .
1520 disestablishments in Europe, .
Articles which contain graphical timelines