1. Philip IV of France and Pope Boniface VIII show that there has been conflict between church and state for a long time.

The cause for conflict is this: the monarchy believed the king/emperor had the right to subjugate the church to his power. the church had another opinion. The church wanted independence from the state. Sometimes the church would go as far as saying that the church was above the state; meaning the pope had power over the king, but that didn’t get said very often.

What started the fighting was this: Philip started taxing the clergy as any other citizen, and normally you would ask the papacy before doing this. Boniface didn’t like this and threatened to banish Philip and placing the kingdom under interdict. Philip threatened to cut funding for the church and Boniface backed down. But the fighting continued until Boniface’s death in 1303.

 

2. The Black Death accrued in Europe in the 14th century. It was caused by the Bubonic plague which traveled via flea infested rats, and the pneunomic plague which traveled via sneezing and coughing. Once someone got it they would be dead within days. The disease whipped out approximately one-third of the European population. Because people were dying left and right, serfs would leave their lords. Soon the government made them stay, but wages stayed the same and taxes increased. This lead to the Peasant Revolt. But the peasants weren’t the only one’s suffering. Clergy were also dying which lead to their positions being filled with unfit people. People went crazy and some resulted to walking down the street, beating themselves to try to pay their penance. Other would, “eat drink and be merry.”