Plague, war, famine and pervading doom lurk beneath the genius and enlightenment of the western Renaissance. The Rosicrucian movement gathers speed. People such as John Dee strive to save humanity from itself. Talk of Apocalypse pervades academic circles.
Plague and More Plague:
The medieval Plague of Justinian in the 6th and 7th centuries is the earliest recorded outbreak of bubonic plague, with historical accounts indicating that up to 40% of Constantinople's population perished. This marks the first well-documented occurrence of the disease.
Estimates suggest that around half of Europe's population succumbs to the initial pandemic before it vanishes in the 700s. Following this, Europe doesn't see another plague outbreak until the Black Death of the 14th century.
The second pandemic emerges in Crimea c. 1347 and causes a global population decrease from an estimated 450 million to 350 - 375 million by 1400. The plague resurfaces intermittently with varying severity and fatality rates until the early 19th century.
For instance, in England, the plague reappears between 1360 and 1363, claiming the lives of 20% of Londoners. It recurs in 1369, causing the death of 10–15% of the population. The plague causes swollen black pus-filled buboes, rotting flesh (gangrene) and spewing blood.
According to reports, the plague is initially brought to Europe by Genoese traders from Kaffa, a port city in Crimea, in 1347. The Mongol Golden Horde army, led by Jani Beg, besieges the city from 1345 to 1346.
Struggling with the disease, the army resorts to catapulting infected corpses over the city walls to spread the infection among the residents. It's during these precarious periods the brightest of minds, as many see themselves, prosper in the spring of a new enlightenment.
Plague strikes San Cristóbal in the Canary Islands 1582 -1583. In the 17th century, a series of major plague outbreaks occur in Europe. These include the Great Plague of Seville (1647 -1652), Great Plague of London (1665-1666) and the Great Plague of Vienna (1679).
Centennial Changes
Strange days arise at the end of centuries and millennia. Doom stalks the streets. Signs of chaos and disorder prevail. The woodcut of the Four Horsemen below by Albrecht Dürer in 1498 captures the mood as superstition intensifies and fears of massive upheaval affect all.
War & Inquisition
Gunpowder is introduced to Europe in the mid 13th century, attributed to Roger Bacon. A series of wars and conflicts accelerate through Europe, from the Hundred Years' War 1337-1453, to the Italian Wars (1494-1559) ending in the dissolution of family monopolies.
The Huguenot wars have a devastating effect in France, where the French monarchy under persecutes Protestants. Meanwhile the Catholic Inquisition spreads paranoia and distrust.
Hundred Years' War (1337-1453)
The conflict known as the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) is a prolonged struggle between England and France, and a civil war in France, in the Late Middle Ages. The Hundred Years' War and previous plague devastation critically weakens the country until the late 15th century.
Originating from feudal disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine, the Hundred Years' War is fueled by Edward III of England's claim to the French throne. The conflict evolves into a larger military, economic and political confrontation driven by the rise of nationalism on both sides.
Traditionally seen as spanning 116 years, the war is actually characterized by intermittent fighting. It's often disrupted by external events like the Black Death, and multiple years of truce.
Wars of the Roses (1455-1485)
The Wars of the Roses are a sequence of civil wars fought between 1455 and 1487 to gain control of the English throne. Supporters of the House of Lancaster battle those of the House of York, two competing branches of the royal House of Plantagenet.
The conflict leads to extinction of Lancaster's male line in 1471, resulting in the Tudor family inheriting the throne claim through the female line. The resolution of the conflict comes with a marriage uniting the two houses and establishment of the dominant Tudor dynasty.
Italian Wars (1494-1559)
Between 1494 and 1559, the Italian Wars are fought predominantly in the Italian Peninsula, later extending to Flanders, the Rhineland, and Mediterranean Sea. The main adversaries are the Valois monarchs of France, and their rivals the Holy Roman Empire and Spain.
Various Italian city-states join the conflict at different times, some aligning with both sides, with minor participation from England, Switzerland and the Ottoman. Characterized by significant brutality, the wars erupt amid religious upheaval. The Reformation is a strong influence.
Regarded as a pivotal moment in the shift from medieval to modern warfare, the Italian Wars witness the widespread adoption of firearms like the arquebus. There are also notable advancements in siege artillery technology.
Eighty Years War (1568-1648)
The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (Dutch: Nederlandse Opstand) (c. 1566/1568–1648) is an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war include the Reformation, centralisation, excessive taxation, and the rights and privileges of the Dutch nobility and cities.
Wars of Religion - Huguenot Wars (1562-1598)
The French Wars of Religion are a series of conflicts between French Catholics and Protestants known as Huguenots. Resulting in the death of millions due to violence, famine, and disease, the wars significantly weakened the French monarchy.
Tensions between Protestants and Catholics escalate from the 1530s. The death of Henry II of France in 1559 sparks a power struggle between his widow Catherine de' Medici and influential nobles.
A notable event is the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572. Up to 25,000 Huguenots and supporters are killed over two months. The conflict resolves through compromise in 1598, with Henry of Navarre becoming King Henry IV of France after converting to Catholicism.
Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
The Thirty Years' War is one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the wars causes an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilian deaths from battle, famine, or disease.
Parts of Germany report population declines of over 50%. Related conflicts include the Eighty Years' War, War of the Mantuan Succession, Franco-Spanish War. The war can be seen as a continuation of conflicts initiated by the 16th-century Reformation in the Holy Roman Empire.
Catholic Inquisition
The Inquisition starts back in12th-century France aiming to fight religious deviation. A group of institutions in the Catholic Church, the Inquisition is formed to combat heresy, apostasy, blasphemy, witchcraft, demons and deviant customs.
Violence, torture or threats are a part of its application. The Church publishes books for its inquisitors, explaining how to use these to extract confessions and denunciations from heretics.
Studies of records find the majority of sentences are penances. Convictions of unrepentant heresy are given to secular courts, which typically results in torture, execution or life imprisonment. The Inquisition causes religious confusion and fear among the populace.
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation takes place from 1517 to 1648. A significant religious, cultural, and social movement in 16th-century Europe, the Reformation challenges the authority of the medieval Church.
This period enables individuals to form their own understandings of the Christian faith and contributes to the rise of modern nation-states. Developing concurrently with the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation is the catalyst for a number of conflicts including:
The Knights' War (1522–1523) in the Holy Roman Empire
The First Dalecarlian Rebellion (1524–1525) in Sweden
The German Peasants' War (1524–1526) in the Holy Roman Empire
The Second Dalecarlian Rebellion (1527–1528) in Sweden
Spanish Inquisition 1478 - 1834
The primary purpose of the Spanish Inquisition, a branch of the Catholic Inquisition in Spain and Spanish territories, is to identify heretics. Inquisitors are especially interested in those who convert from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism.
The scrutiny of the faith of newly converted Catholics is more stringent after royal decrees are issued in 1492 and 1502. They state Jews and Muslims must convert to Catholicism, leave Castile, or face death.
This leads to hundreds of thousands of forced conversions, persecution and mass expulsions of Jews and Muslims from Spain. Many Jews of Castile emigrate to Portugal, where the whole community is forcibly converted in 1497.
The Jews of the kingdom of Aragon flee to other Christian areas including Italy. They also relocate to North Africa along with most of the Muslims. Populations swell. The Inquisition is officially abolished in 1834, after a period of diminishing influence in the previous century.
Rosicrucians
The Rosicrucian movement appears with mysterious texts beginning in1610 Germany. Published 1614-15, they tell of a new enlightenment, claiming the Order of the Rose Cross has been guarding mystic secrets until the intellectual climate is favorable to receive them.
The movement takes off like a hurricane as bright minds of the times discuss and dissemble philosophies. Talk generated by the mystic missives infuses society with the thought of a new world order.
This change is to be brought about with sciences like alchemy, astrology and scientific study of ancient wisdom. People like Michael Maier and Robert Fludd incorporate the messages of the Rosicrucian movement into their work.
Famine
In medieval Europe, famines are common. In the Kingdom of France, localized famines occur during the 14th century in 1304, 1305, 1310, 1315–1317 (the Great Famine), 1330–1334, 1349–1351, 1358–1360, 1371, 1374–1375, and 1390.
The Kingdom of England, the most prosperous kingdom during the Great Famine, also has additional famines in 1321, 1351, and 1369. During the 15th and 16th centuries, famines affect Egypt, Italy, Spain, France and Bohemia (Czech Republic).
It's a particularly bad time for Italy, with recurring famine for many years. Weather anomalies, wars and plague all contribute to famine throughout the Renaissance in Europe and other important regions such as Africa and India.
Many people face food scarcity, leading to a harsh struggle for survival and short lifespan. Official records regarding the English royal family, considered the wealthiest in society, show the average life expectancy at birth of 35.28 years in 1276.
During the Great Famine (1301-1325), it drops to 29.84 years, and during the Plague (1348-1375), it plummets to 17.33 years. This causes a population decline of approximately 42% between 1348-1375, about the time the Renaissance comes into being in Italy (c. 1350).
Drought
The transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age brings severe droughts to Europe between 1302 -1307. Temperatures in Continental Europe rise. Regions of Medieval Europe fluctuate wildly between extreme rainfall and extreme drought.
Swiss historian Christian Pfister describes the drought of 1540 in a newspaper interview:
"For eleven months, there was practically no rain, temperatures were five to seven degrees Celsius (9 -13 °F) above the normal values for the 20th century; in many places summer temperatures must have exceeded 40 °C (104 °F).
Many forests in Europe went up in flames, choking smoke darkened the sun. Not a single thunderstorm was reported in the summer of 1540.
Water was already scarce in May, wells and springs dried up, mills stood still, people starved, livestock was slaughtered. Estimates are that in 1540 half a million people died, mostly from dysentery.
Death
After the devastation of the Plague, despite wars and droughts and famine, life expectancies begin to rise again. Those below are for male English aristocrats past the age of 21.
1300 - 1400: 45.44 yrs
1400 - 1500: 69.11 yrs
1500 - 1550: 71.27 yrs
1550 - 1600: 68.25 yrs
1600 - 1650: 63.95 yrs
1650 - 1700: 62.40 yrs
1700 - 1750: 64.13 yrs
Due to high infant and mother mortality rates, these figures are roughly twice the life span of the average person from birth. Factoring in infant, child and mother deaths, the expected life span in 1400 is 23 years. If a person lives to adulthood, life expectancy goes up dramatically.
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