Line #37 Main/TheLateMiddleAges


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4	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/siege_of_orleans.png]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:''UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc at the Siege of Orleans'' by Jules Eugène Lenepveu, painted 1886–1890]]
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7	Pretty much the entire Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, though in southern UsefulNotes/{{Europe}} this overlaps with the early phase of UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance. This is the period where chivalry, aristocrats, and feudal levies (basically serfs drafted to fight) are becoming less important in war (replaced with mercenaries, longbowmen, and later on, gunpowder and cannons), and [[Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli Macchiavellian]] nobles are killing off kings, queens, peasants, and each other with gusto (especially if they happen to be [[BigScrewedUpFamily relatives]]), with recurrences of the Great Famine of 1315–1317 and ThePlague generally finishing off any survivors. This is the age of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danse_macabre Dance of Death]], UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar, the UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses, UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition, the early [[BurnTheWitch witchcraft trials]], and the vivid,
8	and sometimes surreal paintings of Creator/HieronymusBosch.
9	The printing press made it easier to spread ideas and learning and Europeans developed new trading routes (UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus to the Americas and Vasco da Gama to Africa and India) which boosted European wealth and enabled new sources of resources. Even after all the famine and plague deaths, urban areas grew in importance as places for scholarship, [[MerchantCity trading]] and government. By 1500, cities like Venice, Paris and Constantinople each had 100,000+ people.
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11	It just got as dark and edgy as DarkAgeEurope again. Still, a common feature of fiction will be an idealistic character who looks forward to a day when society has left all this medieval darkness behind. [[WideEyedIdealist (This character often gets killed.)]] We can blame most of these attitudes on the Renaissance, and even more on the [[UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment Enlightenment]] when the whole "people who came before us were really stupid" thing really started up.
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13	The typical clothing will include ornate hats, often of disturbingly complicated structure, and surprisingly low necklines among the women; among the men, yards and yards of cloth in the sleeves and disturbingly high hemlines (Women's hemlines won't rise up until [[The20thCentury several]] [[TheRoaringTwenties centuries]] [[TheSixties later]]). Both generously include lots of [[PrettyInMink fur]] and [[GorgeousPeriodDress velvet]], at least among the [[BlueBlood nobility]] -- and lots of dirt, at least among the peasants. Splotches of blood are a not infrequent addition for both.
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15	Outside certain aspects of the Renaissance, this is generally not regarded as a happy time -- and even that period tends to be darkened by [[CorruptChurch poisoning Popes]], [[DecadentCourt manipulating, scheming courtesans]], and [[FeudingFamilies murderous feuds among the noble clans]].
16	----
17	!!Tropes associated with this time period include:
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19	* TheBlackDeath: The TropeNamer of ThePlague was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, with its most violent occurence happening between 1346 and 1353 (as much as ''half'' of the European population died of it). That's where TheGrimReaper and [[TheDeadCanDance Danses Macabres]] originated in European arts.
20	* {{BFS}}: The first proper two-handed swords started appearing in Europe during this era, beginning in 1250-1300 with smaller longswords and culminating in the 16th Century zweihänder (in Germany) and spadone (in Italy).
21	* CorruptChurch: UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition is often portrayed as this, even though it was controlled by the Spanish Crown.
22	* DecadentCourt: The reason ladies of dubious virtue like Agnes Sorel, Elizabeth Shore, and Vannozza Catanei became powers in the state.
23	* TheDungAges
24	* EndOfAnEra: The final years of the Late Middle Ages were about the end of the feudal system and the beginning of early modern Europe after the Black Plague and the transition to a more sophisticated model of governance.
25	* FeudingFamilies: For instance, the feuds between the Percys and the Nevilles, and York and Lancaster, which form much of the background of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's historical plays.
26	* FormFittingWardrobe: The concept of tailoring and fitting started in this era, aided by the invention of functional buttons in 13th-century Germany.
27	* GunsAndGunplayTropes: Cannons and early firearms first made their way to Europe via the trade routes from China in the 13th and 14th centuries. This spurred the development of plate armor to protect knights from guns.
28	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Of course. UsefulNotes/RichardIII of England, [[UsefulNotes/CharlesDukeOfBurgundy Charles the Bold]] and UsefulNotes/LouisXI of France are favorites in fictions set during this time.
29	* JokerJury[=/=]TrialOfTheMysticalJury: Both UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition and the Vehmgericht vacillate between these two tropes.
30	* MedievalMorons: Often this occurs in the form of a proto-Renaissance inventor or philosopher being branded as a "[[TheHeretic heretic]]" or (less often than people think) "[[BurnTheWitch witch]]" by the corrupt [[AristocratsAreEvil aristocrats]] and/or superstitious, close-minded [[TorchesAndPitchforks mobs]].
31	* PimpedOutDress: One of the most popular (both back then and as a stock costume now) was a dress with tight sleeves, a v-neckline, and trimming of an extravagant fabric (usually [[PrettyInMink fur]] or velvet) on the cuffs, hem, and neckline.
32	* PlotTriggeringDeath[=/=]WhamEpisode: One of the biggest in European history: the battlefield death of Charles the Bold of Burgundy permanently changed the geopolitics of Western Europe. At the time, Charles controlled territory in the Low Countries and France that acted as a buffer between France and the Holy Roman Empire. When he died, it was split between the two and informed much of the conflict between France and Germany for the next few centuries. England was also deprived of its only ally in France, meaning a restart of the Hundred Years War was no longer possible.
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34	!!Works set in this time period are:
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36	[[foldercontrol]]
37
38	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
39	* ''[[Manga/DivciValka Dívčí Válka]]'' takes place during the Hussite Wars.
40	* ''Manga/MariaTheVirginWitch'' takes place during the later part of UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar in France.
41	* ''Manga/VladDraculea'' takes place during the 15th century in Wallachia (modern-day southern UsefulNotes/{{Romania}}).
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Arts]]
45	* The {{paintings}} of the Flemish Primitives ([[Creator/HubertAndJanVanEyck Jan van Eyck]], Rogier Van Der Weyden, Hans Memling, Hugo Van Der Goes)
46	* The paintings of Creator/HieronymusBosch.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
50	* Any version of the story of UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc (e.g., ''Film/ThePassionOfJoanOfArc'', ''Film/TheMessengerTheStoryOfJoanOfArc'' and so on and so forth).
51	* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfQuentinDurward'', with the rivalry between [[UsefulNotes/LEtatCEstMoi King of France]] UsefulNotes/LouisXI and [[UsefulNotes/CharlesDukeOfBurgundy Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy]], as backdrop.
52	** The Louis XI/Charles the Bold rivalry is also at play in ''Film/TheMiracleOfTheWolves''.
53	* ''[[Film/AssassinsCreed2016 Assassin's Creed]]'': The Animus segments take place during the fall of the Emirate of Granada in 1491-1492, marking the end of the UsefulNotes/SpanishReconquista.
54	* ''Film/TheKing'', loose adaptation of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's Henriad.
55	* ''Film/TheLastDuel'', the story of the last legally sanctioned TrialByCombat in France under the reign of King of France Charles VI during the Hundred Years War.
56	* ''Film/TheNameOfTheRose'' which is based on the [[Literature/TheNameOfTheRose novel of the same name]], Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and his young apprentice Asdo arrive at an Italian monastery to attend a theological debate and to investigate a series of murders.
57	* Ingmar Bergman's ''Film/TheSeventhSeal''.
58	* ''Film/VladTepes'' is a 1979 Romanian EpicFilm and {{Biopic}} of Vlad the Impaler.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Literature]]
62	* Sir Creator/WalterScott's ''Anne of Geierstein'' and ''Quentin Durward''.
63	* Creator/RobertLouisStevenson's ''Literature/TheBlackArrow'' is set in England under the reign of Henry VI during the War of the Roses (1455-1487).
64	* Creator/VictorHugo's ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' and most of its adaptations are set in late 15th-century Paris under the reign of King Louis XI.
65	* Justin [=McCarthy=]'s ''If I Were King''
66	* Henryk Sienkiewicz's ''Literature/TheKnightsOfTheCross''
67	* Creator/UmbertoEco's ''Literature/TheNameOfTheRose''
68	* Connie Willis's ''Literature/DoomsdayBook''
69	* Holly Hoyt's ''Literature/ThePurpleWidow''.
70	* In ''Literature/TheRoyalDiaries'' series, ''Isabel, Jewel of Castilla, Spain, 1466'' is about Queen Isabel (also known as Isabella), before her famous reign during the time of Christopher Columbus.
71	* ''Literature/TheAccursedKings'' begins at the end of TheHighMiddleAges and ends in the beginning of UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar, including a short time of the Late Middle Ages before the beginning of UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar
72	* ''Literature/TheBridegroom'', a Norwegian story of the dramatic effect of ThePlague in rural Norway. As dark as you can possibly get it.
73	* The frame story of ''Literature/TheDecameron'' is set during the Plague, and was written during this period, so it is very much of this era. However, the stories the ''brigata'' tells are uniformly set before the Plague, although they vary wildly in time period (most seem to be set in TheHighMiddleAges, but there are some stories set in ancient Rome or Greece, as well.)
74	* ''Literature/TheSunneInSplendour'' takes place during The War of the Roses in England, from the point of view of UsefulNotes/RichardIII.
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
78	* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'': The first series.
79	* ''Series/CovingtonCross''
80	* ''Series/JoanOfArc''
81	* ''Series/ThierryLaFronde'' is set in France in the 1350s, with the early Hundred Years War as backdrop.
82	* ''Series/TheWhiteQueen'' is about the wife of UsefulNotes/EdwardIV of England, Elizabeth Woodville and set during the Wars of the Roses.
83	[[/folder]]
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85	[[folder:Theater]]
86	* Most of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's English history plays fall in this period; only ''Theatre/KingJohn'' and ''Theatre/HenryVIII'' are outside it. The most famous are ''Theatre/HenryV'', ''Theatre/HenryVI'' (Parts I, II, and III), and ''Theatre/RichardIII''
87	* Creator/GeorgeBernardShaw's ''Theatre/SaintJoan''.
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Video Games]]
91	* Some campaigns of ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires II''; the "Imperial Age" of in-game development (featuring lots of plate armor and gunpowder weapons, plus a campaign based on Cortés' conquest of Mexico) corresponds to this era.
92	* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'':
93	** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' and ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' are set in the late 1400s, near the tail end of the Middle Ages and during the peak of the Renaissance. ''Brotherhood'' is set during the early years of the UsefulNotes/ItalianWars, also.
94	** The short DistantPrologue of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity'' takes place in 1307 during the destruction of the medieval Templar Order under Jacques de Molay by King of France Philip IV.
95	* ''VideoGame/BladeStormTheHundredYearsWar'' takes the player through most of the major battles of the Hundred Years' War as a mercenary taking contracts from both the English and the French.
96	* ''VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis'' games typically begin in this timeframe. ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'' ends in it.
97	* ''VideoGame/JeanneDArc'' is the story of Joan of Arc if she were a MagicalGirlWarrior fighting demons along with the English.
98	* ''VideoGame/MedievalTotalWar'' and its [[VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar remake]] deal with this period (as well as the rest of the Middle Ages). The late period is characterized by combat with heavily armored units, but also with gunpowder and early cannons - and prompts some factions to begin thinking of crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
99	* ''VideoGame/APlagueTaleInnocence'' is set in the early stages of the Hundred Years War in France amidst the rapid spread of the Black Plague and the Catholic Inquisition clamping down on anyone they deem to be heretics.
100	* ''VideoGame/TheYAWHG'' is not explicitly set in any specific time period or location, but the fashion and the theme of an oncoming catastrophe that will decimate the city definitely suggests a 15th century setting.
101	[[/folder]]
102
103	[[folder:Western Animation]]
104	* ''WesternAnimation/IlEtaitUneFois'' dedicates its thirteenth episode to UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar, and logically includes Joan of Arc. It shows her at first as a long-haired peasant girl who introduces herself to the nobles and the Dauphin, then as a short-haired LadyOfWar adored by the crowds, at the coronation of Charles VII... [[MoodWhiplash and at]] [[DownerEnding her execution]].
105	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TheLateMiddleAges