02x05 - The Black Death

The Black Death

19/07/2007 10:54:00

Origins of the plague • The first outbreak recorded in the Mediterranean o “The Plague of Justinian” 541-544 AD o Pathology  The plague takes rats and others as hosts (bacteria, airborne) o The symptoms  Swelling of the groin and lymph nodes  Sub-dermal bleeding  And final stages coughing up blood o Spreads very quickly  In areas that are heavily urbanized like western Europe  Places with over-crowding • Asia and the Islamic Kingdoms o Central steps of Asia near Mongolia o Before then it spread through the trade routes of china, carried it westward to western Europe and Islamic kingdoms o by the 14th century it was the 6th recorded outbreak in the Islamic kingdoms  they were familiar with the plague  two religious explanations  it was divine punishment for moral laxity  some see it as a form of martyrdom that also punish the Christian infidels  secular explanations  disruption of the air • the air we breathe corrupt and diseased • they begin to understand a sense of contagions • they surround their houses with herbs to freshen the airs

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drink fruit juices to stay healthy they did not however, attribute the plague to the non-Muslim minorities living in their kingdoms

Transmission to Europe o They trace it back to Crimea (in present day Russia) o Italian merchants transferred the plague through ships into the Mediterranean o They arrive in Messina, Sicily in 1347 carrying infected rats and fleas The Plague in Europe • Ports of Italy o Genoa, Venice [Jan. 1348] • Traveling Inland o France and Spain (summer 1348) o Southern England and southern Germany [winter 1348-49] o Northern German and low countries [1349] • First outbreak of successive outbreaks o Within two years (1348 and 1350) the plague kills about 1/3 of Europe’s population Responses and Impact • Explanation and Treatment o They assume the plague is the cause of a cosmic event o 1350 a report is shown to the king that the plague is caused by an alignment of the stars o they also assume that it’s the corruption of the air  if you are healthy and go to a place where the air is clean then they should be fine, however, only nobility is able to do so o they also believe that bloodletting will cure you if you are infected  the idea that the body has different fluids and they have to be balanced  the balance is restored by bleeding o they also seclude themselves in communities and not letting anybody in

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Religious Responses o Clergy Shortage o Many people believed this was gods wrath for moral perversity o Clergy are some of the hardest hit because they care for the sick and dispose of the dead o A lot of people maintain faith in the church, but some become disillusioned o They question the ability of the church to help individuals o General loss of confidence in the church. A combination of the black death and the church’s internal problems o Flagellants  Traveled across towns and whipped themselves as a symbol as Christ did. Hoping that god will help the towns since they are sacrificing themselves as Jesus did  High turnover in the flagellants  They are transmitting the plague from town to town  Their numbers start being replaced by less disciplined groups  Some of them are bandits  They get instant access to towns under the cover of the flagellants and rob the towns and are gone the next day Hedonism o Since they are dying so fast, they think, what the hell o They go into a complete moral 180 degree o They spend their money, drink and they don’t care because they are going to die anyway Persecution o Many people begin to believe that the Jews are responsible for the plague o They believe that Jews are kidnapping Christian children for bread o They also believe that Jews give off a certain odor and that odor is transmitting the plague

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o Also that Jews are specifically doing this. That they are poisoning wells o They are distributing clothes infected with the plague o Jews bathed more than Christians. Initially they got the plague in lesser numbers so that led to the believe that Jews were doing this o People in power make an effort to counter this actions  The pope condemns the anti-Semitism  He says the Jews are not the cause and threatens excommunication to those that attack Jews because of it  The duke of Bavaria protects Jews in exchange for money  Charles IV (holy roman emperor) protects the Jews but can’t really do much  Albert the Duke of Austria protects Jews as well Peasants’ Silver Lining o Massive depopulation helped in the short term o Fewer workers, so higher wages, greater bargaining power o decrease demand in manufactured and agricultural goods o prices drop, wages increase, however, this doesn’t last long Landlords in Crisis o The landlords figure out how to keep the system o They make the governments establish certain prices and wages The Monarchy o They gain more power o Nobles become more dependant on them to maintain their power o The income of nobles decline more and more turn to war and the military live as a profession o They enter under the king as paid subordinates and not as a vassal Peasant Unrest o They are not able to turn things back in their favor Growth of Urban Poverty o Cities are hit the hardest

o Taxes become to high, people are dying off in the country side as well so its hard to maintain a farm o They can’t afford to maintain the farms so they cities grow o The church is unable to absorb this growth and ask the government to supplement their efforts of charity o Increase in crime which brings stricter punishments for smaller crimes o Turns away from fines to corporal punishments, public whippings, hangings.  The enforcement of the laws is more violent because of the plague o Subsequent outbreaks  About 10 and every 20 years there are waves of the plague  1721 is the last time we see of the plague  10 years until l1520 and very 20years until 1660 (possibly wrong dates)

19/07/2007 10:54:00

19/07/2007 10:54:00