The Black Death
I. Pestilence: Coming to Europe, 1348-1350
A. Long-Standing Debate
An important event in history
A turning point in history
Larger structural crisis
One event in a longer structural crisis
Famine and warfare
People who survived
Had a better life
The Plague killed
Large numbers of people
Very aware and familiar with death
B. Black Death: Origins and Etiology
Appeared in Europe in 1348
Came from China
An outburst
Brought by merchants
Bacillus of the plague
Bubonic plague or Black Death
Symptoms
Bulbs or bubos
Flesh turns dark
Fleas
Rats
Spread throughout Europe
All of western Europe
Unprecedented medical literature
Two main variants
Bubonic and pneumonic
Contemporaries did not make the connection
C. Bewilderment
Boccaccio
People thought the Planets
A Punishment for sin
Thought that it was spread by the air
Families abandoned one another
Great deeds of sacrifice and valor
Man at his ugliest
Bodies all over the place
No time to deal with the death
Did not understand how to contain it
Relics
Governments, the Church, medicine
Useless
Break down the moral codes
Give of yourself
Go away
Mortality rates
Disproportionately higher
Among the poor
The Jews
D. Dramatic Social and Political Impact
Opened up lands
The monasteries
Many people enter the church
Some were ill suited for the job
Rents fell dramatically
Can not find people
The Desertion of villages
¼ of the villages
Some responded to the plague
Having fun
“Let us embrace our flesh”
II. Social and Cultural Responses
A. Flagellant Movement
Church would tried to suppress
Groups of men
Town to town
Bringing the plague with them
Public square
Beat one another
This was high entertainment
Followed by all sorts of people
B. Prejudices
Jews and Lepers
Preceded or following
Conspiring
Poisoning wells
Exterminate Christian society
The plague
Vehicle to eliminate
Kingdom of France and England
No Jews left
The Lepers
Sinful man or woman
Diagnosed
Ritualized ceremony
Carry a symbol
Scapegoats for society
C. New Devotions and Spirituality
Turns morbid
Art is transformed
“Dance of Death”
Skulls
D. The Most Haunting Reminder
“Ring around the Rose”