For the period of the Middle Ages, Europe suffered great ruin during the 5th and 15th centuries. Europe has faced hard blows from both sides of the spectrum. For example, one of the greatest fatal blows was the Hundred Years' War. The war not only caused famine and starvation throughout Europe, but also caused an estimated 20 million recorded deaths. About a third of the population was exterminated. Countless cities in Europe have lost more than 40% of their population. Indeed, Paris lost half its residents, and Venice, Hamburg and Bremen are predicted to have lost at least 60% of their populations. A popular belief in that time period was that the devastation was a punishment from God. With little hope, people desperately turned to the church for help. However, because the Church could not squander the explanations needed by the dying population, the influence of the Catholic Church rapidly deteriorated. Influence and reputation quickly began to fade as in desperate times the church only added to the confusion of the time. Overall, the church was unable to deliver what it had promised over hundreds of years of teaching. The church was unable to save all the helpless dying souls with prayer and rituals, something it relied on heavily in the past. Meanwhile the church provided no explanation or cure for the plague, people began to look elsewhere for answers. The questioning of long-practiced ideas and traditions was the rooting of reform in the process. Since at that time the Church evidently did not keep the promises made, the people rebelled and moved away. The questioning of church-based foundations quickly became a growing movement. This movement...... half of the sheet......5. "The Death Star." The Black Death. Np, nd Web. April 12, 2014. “The Black Death.” About.com Medieval History. Np, nd Web. 11 April 2014. "The Italian Renaissance Period [FULL VIDEO]." YouTube. YouTube, December 16, 2013. Web. April 12, 2014. "The Humanists of the Renaissance." The humanists of the Renaissance. Np, nd Web. 7 April 2014. ."definition - Africa (Petrarch)." Africa (Petrarch): definition of Africa (Petrarch) and synonyms for Africa (Petrarch) (English). Np, nd Web. 11 April 2014. .MLA formatting by BibMe.org.