The crisis of the medieval period

The crisis of the medieval period

The crisis of the medieval period was a series of occasions in the 14th and 15th century, which brought European growth and prosperity to a collapse. Three major crisis that resulted in this collapse includes political, demographic collapse, and religious disruptions. A series of plagues and famines, starting with the great famine, particularly the Black Death lessened the European population by more than half as the medieval warm period ended and the Little Ice Age began. In the Feudal society, every person had a specific role and place, where the power rested in the hands of the nobles, instead of the central government. As a result, the middle class and the poor were paying more taxes, and in 1380, the government imposed a poll tax requiring everybody to pay tax to fund the hundred years of War, which caused a great burden to the poor than the rich.

Among the major factors that resulted in this decline is the Hundred Years of War where many people, including soldiers and nobles, were killed. Another major factor that resulted in this decline is the reduction of the church powers over the state-nations. Battles between the monarchy and the papacy over the political matters led people into losing faith about Christianity (McKay et al. pg 418). While some people thought that religion had all the solutions, others had already started to put trust in their own payers. The unpredictability of the existence of God made individuals question the church. All these reasons led to the collapse of Medieval Europe, which gave rise to a new period full of beautiful and new things in society and art. However, the medieval era continues to engross up to date through medieval fairs, arts, as well as videos.