| _version_ | 1866901622350675968 |
|---|---|
| author | Revista, Zen HISTORY, 10 |
| author_facet | Revista, Zen HISTORY, 10 |
| contents | The fourteenth century stands as a period of unprecedented crisis in European history, marked by a convergence of environmental, biological, and religious calamities that profoundly reshaped its social, economic, and political landscape. This paper examines the intertwined phenomena of the Great Famine (1315-1317), the Black Death (1347-1351), and the Western Schism (1378-1417), arguing that their simultaneous occurrence created systemic shocks and "sacred fractures" that irrevocably altered the trajectory of medieval society. While each event alone presented immense challenges, their convergence amplified their individual impacts, leading to widespread demographic collapse, economic upheaval, social unrest, and a profound crisis of faith and authority within the Catholic Church. This study adopts an interdisciplinary approach, synthesizing historical, demographic, and theological perspectives to analyze the mechanisms of their interaction and their cumulative effects. We contend that the ecological stresses of the Little Ice Age, the devastating mortality of the plague, and the institutional breakdown of the Papacy not only dismantled existing structures but also paved the way for new forms of social organization, intellectual inquiry, and religious expression, ultimately laying foundations for the early modern world. |
| format | Recurso digital |
| id | zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_17758956 |
| institution | Zenodo |
| language | |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publisher | Zenodo |
| record_format | zenodo |
| spellingShingle | Systemic Shocks and Sacred Fractures: The Fourteenth-Century Convergence of Famine, Plague, and Papal Schism Revista, Zen HISTORY, 10 The fourteenth century stands as a period of unprecedented crisis in European history, marked by a convergence of environmental, biological, and religious calamities that profoundly reshaped its social, economic, and political landscape. This paper examines the intertwined phenomena of the Great Famine (1315-1317), the Black Death (1347-1351), and the Western Schism (1378-1417), arguing that their simultaneous occurrence created systemic shocks and "sacred fractures" that irrevocably altered the trajectory of medieval society. While each event alone presented immense challenges, their convergence amplified their individual impacts, leading to widespread demographic collapse, economic upheaval, social unrest, and a profound crisis of faith and authority within the Catholic Church. This study adopts an interdisciplinary approach, synthesizing historical, demographic, and theological perspectives to analyze the mechanisms of their interaction and their cumulative effects. We contend that the ecological stresses of the Little Ice Age, the devastating mortality of the plague, and the institutional breakdown of the Papacy not only dismantled existing structures but also paved the way for new forms of social organization, intellectual inquiry, and religious expression, ultimately laying foundations for the early modern world. |
| title | Systemic Shocks and Sacred Fractures: The Fourteenth-Century Convergence of Famine, Plague, and Papal Schism |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17758956 |