Calamity followed calamity over the course of the fourteenth century. The High Middle Ages had been a period of slow but sustained population growth. That trend began to reverse itself at the beginning of the fourteenth century, when Europe’s climate took a turn for the worse. As Europe grew colder and wetter, crop yields fell and famine followed. Thus, Europe’s population was already weakened by malnutrition when plague struck in 1347, introduced into Europe through the same trade routes that had fueled the prosperity of the previous century. In the wake of the plague, peasant uprisings were frequent, as were uprisings of the urban poor. Between 1337 and 1453, the Hundred Years’ War — in actuality a series of wars and civil wars — wreaked havoc on France. Finally, the papacy experienced a period of sharp decline in prestige and power, as the political rivalries of secular rulers led to schism within the Church. The documents included in this chapter examine these catastrophes and their consequences. As you read the documents, think about the impact of war, disease, and religious strife on medieval social, religious, and political institutions. What changes in European society were made possible by the destruction of the fourteenth century? ■