Gone Medieval: What Are the Late Medieval Ages?

Host: Matt Lewis
Guest: Dr. Eleanor Janega
Date: April 3, 2026

Episode Overview

In this rich, wide-ranging conversation, Matt Lewis and Dr. Eleanor Janega explore the defining moments, events, and themes of the Late Medieval Period. Building off previous episodes covering the Early and High Middle Ages, they examine what marks the transition to the Late Middle Ages, what brings medieval society to a close, and the complexities of applying these periodization models beyond Western Europe. The episode traces famines, plagues, war, peasant revolts, religious schisms, and the seismic shifts—political, religious, and technological—that set the stage for the early modern world.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Defines the Late Medieval Period?

Timestamps: [03:18]–[05:10]

• Historians’ Periodization: Eleanor notes that period labels (Early, High, Late) are historian constructs for convenience, but the 14th century is radically different due to a series of calamities.
  • “The 14th century is just a really different time purely because of the number of things that go wrong.” — Eleanor [03:18]
• The transition from "high" to "late" is prompted by recurring catastrophe, not a single event.

2. The Great Famine: Society Rocked

Timestamps: [05:10]–[07:07]

• The Great Famine (1315–1317):
  • Worst weather in centuries causes mass crop failures, livestock blight, even hints of cannibalism.
  • Impacts all levels, including kings: “There are complaints here in England that when the king is on procession, he is unable to get bread. And so that's when, you know, things are really serious.” — Eleanor [06:19]
  • Lasting scars on population health and agriculture; exposes state and church inability to respond effectively.

3. Shattered Trust: Church & Government Responses

Timestamps: [07:07]–[10:47]

• Government: Lack of effective help leads to widespread criticism.
  • “There is no mobilization of government, state support to help those who are literally starving to death at the side of the road.” — Matt [07:07]
• Church: Fails to provide explanation or relief, eroding faith.
  • “The church's answer for most things is you were sinful, you know, question mark.” — Eleanor [08:15]
• Begins rise in heresies and challenges to church authority.

4. The Black Death: Profound Upheaval

Timestamps: [11:10]–[16:44]

• Impact & Origins:
  • Black Death originates from Central Asia, spreads through expanded Silk Road networks, devastates populations (25%–50% mortality in parts of Europe).
  • “It takes about two centuries for the population of Earth to recover.” — Eleanor [12:32]
• Blame & Explanations:
  • Absurd/superstitious explanations (conjunction of planets), victim-blaming sermons (“everyone is simply too sexy with it” — Eleanor, quoting Bishop Brinton [15:24]).
  • Reveals limits of contemporary science and church explanations.
• Social Leveling: Nobility and clergy also die, undermining their perceived special status and the “social contract.”

5. Widespread War & Changing Warfare

Timestamps: [21:41]–[26:46]

• Mongol Empire: Trade routes both facilitate deadly disease spread and shape Eurasian politics.
  • “Shout out to your friend and mine, Temujin. Genghis Khan really does a great job...” — Eleanor [21:59]
• Hundred Years War: Shifts in aristocratic warfare, rise of longbows/gunpowder.
  • “One of the things that comes to define this era is the increasing emergence of gunpowder weapons on the battlefield.” — Matt [24:46]
  • French adherence to “rich guy tag” style warfare proves deadly in new military reality.
  • “The English are a little bit more interested in killing people... on the battlefield.” — Eleanor [25:38]

6. Popular Revolt and Revolting Popularity

Timestamps: [27:44]–[32:10]

• Peasants’ Revolts: England’s 1381 Peasants’ Revolt and France’s Jacquerie are responses to broken social contracts.
  • “With the jackery rebellion in France, with the peasants uprisings here, they're questioning the entire social order of things, you know, quite definitively.” — Eleanor [27:44]
• State and Church Reaction: Ruthless suppression, no willingness to compromise; seeds of ongoing unrest.

7. Religious Crisis: The Great Schism

Timestamps: [32:10]–[34:46]

• Western Schism: Papal power splinters—multiple popes (Avignon and Rome), eroding universal church authority.
  • “How many popes would you like? I say at least three. I want the peas in.” — Eleanor [32:53]

8. Kingship under Attack: Deposed Monarchs

Timestamps: [37:54]–[40:29]

• Weakened Monarchy: Deposition of English kings (Edward II, Richard II); John II of France’s capture weakens kingly legitimacy.
  • “To have a particularly pitched war in France over this is crazy work.” — Eleanor [38:40]

9. Calls for Reform, Proto-Protestantism

Timestamps: [41:21]–[44:49]

• John Wycliffe & Lollardy: Early demand for clergy reform, lay access to scripture; spreads to Bohemia via Jan Hus.
  • “My man was making some points, you know...” — Eleanor [41:49]
• Church’s Inadequate Suppression: Heresy accusations, executions, but ideas continue to spread.

10. The Crusading Brand Wears Out

Timestamps: [44:51]–[46:13]

• Crusade as an Overused Concept: Crusades become political, losing their earlier religious aura.
  • “It kind of really brings the franchise down, you know...” — Eleanor [45:14]
  • Humorous comparison to interminable “Police Academy” sequels.

11. Late Medieval Warfare and the Road to the Wars of the Roses

Timestamps: [46:42]–[55:29]

• Resurgence of the Hundred Years War: Henry V’s Agincourt campaign as both dynastic and domestic strategy; unintended consequences.
• Failure of Kingship: Accidental victories leave England with the problem of dual monarchy, leading to the instability fueling the Wars of the Roses.
  • “If this goes wrong, it's a major problem. If this goes right, it's a major problem.” — Matt [49:06]
• Long-term Destabilization: Nobility seen increasingly as a burden rather than benefit.

12. Seismic Shifts: Ottomans, Reconquista, and Global Change

Timestamps: [56:03]–[62:41]

• Fall of Constantinople (1453): Seen as a clear “end point” for the medieval world by some historians.
  • “If you no longer have eastern Rome either, then I'm sorry, you're not in the medieval period anymore.” — Eleanor [56:19]
• Reconquista (1492): Creation of modern Spain/Portugal, end of long-standing Muslim rule; tie-in to global exploration (Columbus).
  • “By the time you are reaching the Americas, we are not medieval any longer. That. That's done.” — Eleanor [59:36]
• Comparative Global Perspective: Changes occur at varying times elsewhere (e.g., Japan’s medieval period extends later).

13. Periodization: An Imperfect but Necessary Box

Timestamps: [62:41]–[68:38]

• The Trouble with Labels: Periodization is useful but inexact; events, changes, and "end points" differ by region, issue, and perspective.
  • “Periodization is kind of an imperfect answer to a problem, but maybe the best one that we have at the moment.” — Matt [67:57]
• Historians’ Perspective: Medieval period is both wildly diverse and continuously fascinating.
  • “The annoying historian's answer that we always give, which is, it's more complicated than that.” — Eleanor [66:56]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Eleanor (on 14th century):
  “The 14th century is so bad that we can't call this the High Middle Ages. That implies it's good...” [04:27]

• Eleanor (on famine):
  “I'll always say, oh, it's nothing. It's nothing compared to 1315.” [05:34]

• Matt (on government failure):
  “There is no mobilization of government, state support to help those who are literally starving to death at the side of the road.” [07:07]

• Eleanor (on church explanations):
  “The church's answer for most things is you were sinful...” [08:15]

• Matt (on social change):
  “If kings and princes are dying of this and monks are dying of it... what is special about either the nobility or the church?” [17:10]

• Eleanor (on too many Popes):
  “How many popes would you like? I say at least three.” [32:53]

• Eleanor (on the Crusades):
  “It kind of really brings the franchise down, you know... and it gets harder and harder to try to call people into it...” [45:14]

• Eleanor (on labeling):
  “The annoying historian's answer…it's more complicated than that.” [66:56]

• Matt (on periodization):
  “The box might be a bit battered... but it's somehow helpful to store those things on a box on a shelf.” [67:57]

Suggested Listening Order

• For background, listeners are encouraged to first hear the episodes on the Early and High Medieval Periods ("so you can have a listen to us waffling about what they were and what they meant" — Matt [02:43]).

Summary Takeaways

• The Late Medieval Period is both defined by and remembered for disruption: famine, plague, religious crisis, technological change, and war.
• Both state and church lose their unquestioned authority, opening the door to popular unrest and new ideas.
• Attempts to find a clear, single “end” to the Middle Ages are ultimately unsatisfying—transformations are regionally variable, often gradual, and interconnected.
• Historians use periodization as a toolbox, but it can simplify at the expense of nuance.
• The medieval world’s demise is not a moment but a process, and its fascination lies in its complexity and difference.

This episode offers deep historical insight with engaging rapport and humor, illuminating why debates about the end—much like the Middle Ages themselves—remain lively and contested.