preview

The Hundred Years War Essays

Decent Essays

The Hundred Years War

After the Crusades, trade began to revive in Italy, largely because neither trade nor towns had declined as much there as elsewhere. As trade grew in other countries, fairs were set up as places where merchants could exchange large amounts of goods. In 1346 the bubonic plague, a fatal disease, swept through Europe killing one third of the population. The Hundred Years’ War, which began in 1337 and was between England and France, brought important developments to European culture. In 1346 the bubonic plague, which Europeans called the Black Death, swept into Europe. It was brought to Genoa, Italy, by infected rats on board a merchant ship from a port on the Black Sea. The plague was transmitted to humans …show more content…

Europe was left in a decline from which it did not recover for 100 years. England did not attempt to enhance it’s reputation by military and economic means, but rather focused it’s attention on improving the deteriorating health of the general public caused by disease. Many people died of the Black Death, making it impossible for England, in this state, to conquer surrounding nations or to increase wealth for power. Wars could not be fought because many men were sick and dying with this disease. In poor health, these men were unable to fight in battles, let alone win them. The wealth of the country was also unable to increase because many of the victims of the Black Death were merchants. Those merchants with this disease could not sell their goods and therefore could not make any profit in order to pay taxes for their country. Europeans learned about auxiliary means of performing different actions. The Hundred Years’ War brought important developments. The use of two new weapons—the longbow and the cannon—weakened feudalism. The English longbow was 5 or 6 feet (1.5 or 1.8 meters) long, with a range up to 400 yards (360 meters). English foot soldiers armed with longbows completely defeated a French feudal cavalry at Agincourt in 1415. Knights on horseback were no match for foot soldiers with longbows. Europeans may have learned the use of gunpowder from the Muslims during the Crusades. To this knowledge they added the use of the gun. At

Get Access