Late Middle Ages a Period of Decline and Corruption

Was the Late Middle Ages a Period of Decline and Corruption? HIST 101: Discussion-Section Questions Week Nine: March 30-April 3, 2020
1. Pope Boniface VIIIs Papal Bull Unam Sanctam might remind you of your previous reading from Pope Gregory VII, as it continues some of the same arguments. According to Boniface, is a king or a pope more powerful? Why?

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2. Using Bonifaces logic here, what could the Christian church do if the pope himself was corrupt or wicked?
3. Giovanni Boccaccios Decameron is a collection of stories with a powerful (and all-too-relatable right now) framing device: ten noble men and women sheltering in place during the Black Death in Florence tell stories in order to pass the time. (They had no Netflix.) Boccaccios famous introduction, from which your reading comes, describes what happened when the disease arrived in the city. According to Boccaccio, was this experience of mass epidemic a shining example of human love, charity, and compassion that brought out the best in people?
4. The Trial of Jeanne dArc [Joan of Arc] is one of the most famous, but also one of the most difficult, medieval sources. In what do Jeannes interrogators seem to be most interested? What were her supposed crimes?
5. Jeanne famously reported hearing voices that told her to save France in its war against England. In The Trial of Jeanne dArc, does she seem to be a saint, a witch, insane, sane, or none of the above?
6. At its very beginning, Jan Hus The Church purposely quotes Pope Boniface VIIIs Unam Sanctam (to be subject to the Roman pontiff is necessary for salvation for every human being). Did Jan Hus agree with that statement? Who did he think was the real Roman pontiff?
7. The late Middle Ages in Europe is often stereotyped as a period of decline, superstition, and corruption. From these readings, does this period seem to be any worse than our own?