APE

 

I.             Marriage

A.    Teens were rather naughty and promiscuous

B.    Marriage norms – arrangement, vicinity was local, merchet or “fine” paid to bride’s lord, banns announcement, ceremony was “normal”

C.    Age of marriage—male average was ___ and female average was ____

D.    The oldest “profession”

E.    Church’s input—said it ran marriage and stressed monogamy, no divorces; still, some couples did their own marriage

II.            Common life

A.    Life centered around 2 things: church and the land

B.    craft guilds—“unions,” #1 goal was to maintain monopoly (how was this done? à regulating steps of apprentice, journeyman, master)

C.    recreation and “sports” centered on war and brutality, and drinking

D.    growing duties of laity in church administration

III.        “fur collar crimes”

A.    who and why? (knights and nobles, to support lavish lifestyles)

B.    No-no crimes, okay crimes

                                          i.    No-no crimes—homicide, robbery, rape, arson

                                         ii.    Okay crimes—extortion and pressure tactics on lower class

C.    Organized crime—racketeer then get off the hook b/c of “big name”

D.    Robin Hood

IV.           Peasant Revolts

A.    Great unrest due to social and economic situation in mid 1300s

B.    In France: The Jacquerie

                                          i.    Peasants resented having to do what? (pay ransom for their lords) Reasons for the revolt: (a) plague, (b) famine, (c) fur-collar crime, (d) taxation, (e) misery of war

                                         ii.    Revolt: kill nobles, arson, rape, harm horses

                                        iii.    Nobles’ response: put the revolt down mercilessly

C.    Peasants’ Revolt in England 1381

                                          i.    Causes: rising expectations

1.    peasants demanded higher salaries and fewer feudal obligations

2.    English government did not protect the south in war

3.    Violent aristocracy toward peasants

4.    Head tax on adult males

5.    Generally, ancient dislike by peasants toward lords & desire of better life

                                         ii.    Richard II’s response: met with revolt leaders and faked them with false promises, then crushed the revolt mercilessly

V.            Race and Ethnicity

A.    Bottom line

                                          i.    Before 1300, people moved around Europe quite often and folks enjoyed “legal dualism” = visiting folks were under their traditional laws of their native country

                                         ii.    After 1300, racism based on blood discouraged moving (laws reflect this); this “racism” would be more of what we call “ethnicity” today.

 

Task—essay set-up

Analyze the peasant revolts of the 14th century.

1.    make an outline to show how you’d attack this question

2.    write a thesis statement