The Early and Central Middle Ages were times of relative stability and deep faith in the church. But the Late Middle Ages were quite different, as Europe was hit with multiple crises at the time, including the Black Death, the Great Schism, and the Hundred Years' War. It was these events that caused Europe to undergo such a drastic change and transition from the medieval period to the Renaissance. Western Civilization changed a great deal during the late Middle Ages due to the seemingly unstoppable Black Death, lack of support by the church, and devastating effects of the Hundred Years War. When the Black Death came to Europe, it drastically changed many aspects of civilization. Many parts of Europe had been heavily overpopulated, but famines and the bubonic plague lowered the population rate. This led to many landlords in England getting the highest revenues of the medieval period and an overall efficient balance between labor, land, and Capitol. The Plague also resulted in many guilds recruiting new members and high inflation. With scientific cures for the plague seeming to …show more content…
Though nuns, monks, and Friars dedicated their work to helping the poor, church leaders were more concerned with bureaucratic matters than spiritual one. With people's spiritual faith already severely weakened by the plague, the great schism further lowered people's faith in the church and caused many people to challenge the church's decisions. Conciliarists believed that church authority should lie in the lay people, clergy, and theologians instead of the Pope alone. John Wycliffe spread the idea that scripture alone should be the core of Christian practice and belief, not the church. This lead to the idea that an individual could obtain salvation without the influence of the church. These new ideas led to the Renaissance and the Reformation, due to their individualistic properties and questioning of the