Cause & Effect:The Crusades
The Black Death Review of 6-5.3: The effect of the Crusades on
feudalism and the spread of Christianity
6-5.5: The effect of the Bubonic Plague on feudalism
Essential Questions:
Q: What influence did the Catholic Pope have on the Crusades?
Q: What was the overall effect of the Crusades on feudal Europe?
The Crusades
Causes EffectsMuslim Turks take control of the Holy Land (Jerusalem) in 1071
Trade between Europe and Asia increases (medicines, knowledge & thought, spices, silk, ect)
Muslim Turks threaten Constantinople in 1090’s; and other parts of the Byzantine Empire
Kings become more powerful (through control of large numbers of knights fighting in the Crusades)
Byzantine Emperor asks Catholic Pope in Rome for help
Tensions between Christians,Jews, and Muslims grow
Essential Questions:
Q: What influence did the Catholic Pope have on the Crusades?
A: Pope Urban II sent a speech calling for everyone to aid in the Crusades in return for remission of their sins
Q: What was the overall effect of the Crusades on feudal Europe?
A: Cultural diffusion of ideas, medicine, and new trade with Asia
Need to Know Crusade Facts
•The Crusades were many battles fought over the Holy Land that lasted for over 200 years
•The First Crusade was seen as the most successful due to the Christians regaining control of the Holy Land from the Muslim Turks for 50 years
•Nothing really changed throughout the Crusades-it ended the way it began: with the Muslim Turks controlling the Holy Land
The Black Death•Black Death: a deadly plague that swept
through Europe between 1347-1351
•Origins: Central and East Asia
•Traders unknowingly brought diseased rats to Mediterranean ports in 1347 & spread through Europe
•The Black Death was due to several plagues
Music video
Video: Black Death
Bubonic Plague
• Easily identified by symptoms:
• Swelling called buboes on victims bodies
• Deadlier form spread through the air & killed people in less than a day
Effects of The Black Death
•People died so fast that many were burned without priests or ceremonies
• In villages, nearly everyone died or fled when neighbors fell ill- leaving villages abandoned
•1/3 of Europe’s population died due to the plague: approximately 25 million people
Death became part of daily life so much that even their art and writings from the period make
light of the seriousness of the
situation they were in.
Inspired by the Black Death, The Dance of Death or DanseMacabre, an allegory on the universality of death, is a common
painting motif in the late medieval period.
Effects: The Plague Causes Changes
• In most places the manor system fell apart completely
• There were not enough peasants left to work the fields
• Peasants & serfs who survived the plague found their skills in high demand
• They were able to demand high wages for their labor
• Once they made enough money, the fled the manors completely and moved to the growing cities
Video: Horrible Histories Peasant Plagues
Predictions Activity
•What if a mixture of plague were to hit America today just as it had during the Middle Ages? What would happen to our society? Government? Trade? What would be the outcome of a modern Black Death?
•Write a summary of your predictions using connections to the Middle Ages’ Black Death.
•Compare your predictions with a partner
•Were your predictions similar? Different? Why?