Europes population doubles between 1000 and 1300, due to the new three-field system of crop production. This system increased the amount of arable land and, there fore, the food supply. This population growth causing there to be more people than there was food, greatly increasing the chances of hunger and starvation and weakening the immune systems of those who couldn't get enough food.

The Avignon Papacy is also known as the Babylonian Captivity, the period from 1305 to 1377 during which seven Popes resided in Avignon (modern-day France). The period was one of great conflict and controversy during which French kings held considerable sway over the papacy, and rulers across Europe felt sidelined by the new French-centric papal court. The troubles reached their peak in 1378 when, having returned the papal court to Rome, Gregory XI died. A conclave met and elected a new Pope, who was Roman. This was against the wishes of French cardinals who held a second conclave electing one of their own to succeed Gregory XI; this alternative Pope, along with his successor, is regarded as a pretender to the chair of St. Peter by the Catholic Church. A series of ecumenical councils resolved the question of papal succession and declared null the french conclave of 1378, ending definitively the period of the Avignon Papacy.

The Hundred Years' War was the long conflict between the king of France and the king of England from 1337-1453. This conflict set the power of the french monarchy against the ambitions of his vassals, who included the kings of England. the conflict started when Princess Isabella of France married kKng Edward II of England to ensure that this powerful vassal remained loyal to the french monarchy. When Isabella's brothers failed to produce a male heir to succeed the french throne, her son, King Edward III of England laid claim to the french throne. Edward decided to fight for his rights when french courts awarded the throne to a distant french cousin and other vassals joined in a series of battles for the french throne that stretched out over a century. Although caused by arguments within the monarchies, this war was also caused by a history of quarrels over Flanders and confrontation between the two nations on the high seas and in ports. France and England were two emergent territorial powers in too close proximity to each other struggling for national identity and the control of territory. The introduction of gunpowder and heavy artillery made this war much worse.

"The Black Death"
Europes population had been weakened by urbanization and decades of overpopulation, economic depression, famine, and bad health, making it vulnerable to a virulent bubonic plague that devastated it's population.

The Great Schism was a split in the Catholic Church that lasted from 1378 to 1418, during which time there were rival Popes in Rome and in the french city of Avignon, while France's enemy England and its allies supported the Pope in Rome. As a result of neither Clement VII nor Urban VI stepping down from the papacy, the church was divided, destroying the prestige of papacy. This split was ended after the other popes resigned and Martin V took over after the failed Council of Pisa and the semi successful Council of Constance.

Mongol armies devastated Russia and compelled the obedience of Moscow for awhile.

Russian cities became dependent, tribute-paying principalities in the segments of the Mongol empire known as the Golden Horde.

The First Council of Lyon was the council of the Western Church in 1245 that excommunicated Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and planned a new crusade against the Holy Land

The Rota Romana was a law court in the papacy passed by Pope Urban IV which tightened and centralized the church's legal proceedings.

This was summoned by Pope Gregory X to establish a system for papal election and set regulations for religious orders, making special considerations for fransicans and dominicans.

Mobilizing for war, France and England used the pretext of preparing for a crusade to heavily tax the clergy.

Clericis Laicos forbade lay taxation of the clergy without papal approval and revoked all previous papal dispensations in this regard.

Edward I retaliates against the bull Clericis Laicos that forbade taxation of clergy without papal consent by denying the clergy the right to be heard in royal court, which removed them from the protection of the king.

In France, Philip the Fair retaliates against Clericis Laicos by forbidding th exportation of money from France to Rome, depriving the papacy of the revenues it needed to operate.

After France's forbidding the exportation of money from itself to Rome, Boniface quickly responded by conceding Philip the right to tax clergy in an emergency.

During jubilee year all Catholics who visited Rome and fulfilled certain conditions had the penalties for their unrepented sins remitted. Because many pilgrims flocked to Rome to get this privilege, Boniface seemed a forgiving and just man, allowing him to assert his political positions, such as his championing of Scottish resistance to England.

The bull Ausculta Fili or Listen, My Son was sent to Philip claiming that God gives the Pope more authority than kings.

Unam Sanctum, Boniface's last desperate attempt at asserting papal authority while under the attack of increasingly independent nations, was another bull claiming papal authority over kings.

French forces, under the instruction of chief minister Guillaume de Nogaret, surprise the pope at his Anagni retreat and proceed to beat him up and almost execute him before an aroused populace returns him safely to Rome.

By 1307 England had progressed from a feudal governmental hierarchy into formal parliaments, legislative law-making bodies to which members are appointed or elected.

Pope Clenent V, a former Archduke of Bordeaux, fell under French subservience, declaring that Unam Sanctam was in no way meant to undermine the French royal authority. Avignon, on the southeastern border of France, was as close as Clement could go before encroaching on French land and uniting with the French king.

Due to French pressure and a strife-ridden Rome, Clement escaped to Avignon, making it his permanent residence.

Due largely to the spread of the Plague, both France and England agreed to a truce.

Several Statues between the years 1351 and 1393 were passed by English Parliament restricting payments and appeals to Rome and the Pope's power to make high ecclesiastical appointments.

A revolt of the underprivileged classes.

The Sacrosancta elects Pope Martin V and ends the reigns of the three contending popes.

Joan is executed by the Inquisition as a relapsed heretic in English held Rouen.

The Hussites present Four Articles of Prague to the council of Basel as a basis for negotiations.

King Charles reopens Joan's trail and declares her innocent of all charges. The Roman Catholic Church declares her a saint in 1920.

Boccaccio writes of the people's reactions to the Plague.

Tudor

Valois

Tudor

Valois

Tudor

Valois

Tudor

Tudor

Valois

Valois

Valois

Bourbon

Bourbon

Bourbon

Bourbon

Bourbon

Bourbon

Bourbon

Orleans