What impact did the adversities of the 14th century have on Christian practices

Question

I need to learn about European history and the Black Death in the fourteenth century

Answer 1

Here is a general overview. You will need to look up the popes of Avignon, great famine of 1315, little ice age, black death of 1347, papal schism of 1378, hundred years war and 1381 peasant's revolt. So, at the beginning of 1300 (start of 14th century) the globe was moving from the medieval warm period of climate to the Little ice Age which lasted several hundred years. The overall power of the church was always in education, wealth and power of the church versus the people. The church relied heavily on the kings and nobles of each country to keep the country under control and to make sure that the church collected fees from the people. People believed that if they sinned or fell from the church they would end up in the fires of hell, and the priests would administer sacraments and listen to prayers and people would have hope in the church's ability to answer their prayers. The entire system relied on the power and education of the church and royals and the weakness and illiteracy of the public. This all worked when crops were good, livestock were doing well, and people could survive and pay their taxes and church tithes. Also, people believed in the power of the Pope. However in 1309 the church split with a separate Pope in Avignon, France. Popes were constantly infighting for power - even a peasant would wonder how infallible these Popes are when there are two of them and they are fighting. As the climate went cold, by 1315 crops began to fail, animals became ill and there was a great famine. Now, peasants were starving but were supposed to still financially support the church. Many priests told the people this was their fault because they were sinners. Then in 1347 the Black Death came with massive numbers of deaths. Workers and priests were in short supply. Workers could begin to move around and not support the local churches. The church could obviously not cure the dying, so the church lost more control over the people and as people died off the churches lost money. The fighting between Popes became worse with a Papal schism in 1378 and decline of the Holy Roman empire in Germany. People wanted to believe that they would have their sins forgiven and the church increased the sale of indulgences (i.e. like a free pass to heaven) basically for profit. It became totally corrupt. As all the power struggles went on, local nobles began to have more power. In 1381 the Peasant's revolt occurred in England. This is another example of the loss of control by the government - it did not directly involve the church, but when peasants are marching they are not going to church and putting coins into the basket. Christians often scapegoated the Jews who they would blame for the famine and deaths. The idea of witchcraft also increased, as people wanted to blame someone for the deaths, famine and disease. Many women were labeled as witches and were tortured and executed by the churches and local authorities. The churches had to educate more priests and during population shortages more women would help out with the church services. Whenever there is uncertainty, people start questioning religion. Educated people became interested in humanism and science outside of the church. There were a variety of heresies that challenged the church. Also, groups like the Franciscan Friars became more popular and other groups began to form, to bring faith and healing to the simple people and avoiding a life of wealth.  Think of the themes of educating more priests and lay people to help with the Mass, loss of trust, greed and selling of indulgences, loss of political control especially in Germany (remember, Germany is where Martin Luther fights the church 100 years later), rise of the orders of nuns and friars, heresies, persecutions of Jews, rise of witch hunts, rise of humanism (which challenged the church), and general disorder.