FC.71 THE BLACK DEATH AND ITS IMPACT

FC.71 THE BLACK DEATH AND ITS IMPACT

FC.71 THE BLACK DEATH AND ITS IMPACTNew agr. tech’s

(FC.63)

Climate?


(FC.63)Colder & wetter climate in 1300s


(FC.63)

Pop. growth More demand for food &

fuel

Inflation & strain on environment

Expand agr. lands

Colder & wetter climate in 1300s


(FC.63)


fuel


Expand agr. lands



(FC.63)


fuel


Expand agr. lands



(FC.63)


fuel


Expand agr. lands



(FC.63)


fuel


Expand agr. lands



(FC.63)


fuel


Expand agr. lands



(FC.63)


fuel


Expand agr. lands



(FC.63)


fuel


Expand agr. lands



(FC.63)


fuel


Expand agr. lands


Mongols conquer China & most of Eurasia (FC.57)



(FC.63)


fuel


Expand agr. lands


Black Death spreads from China along Silk Road kept open by Mongols




Black Death (c.1347-1450) reduces Western Europe’s population by 30-40%

New agr. tech’s (FC.63)


fuel


Expand agr. lands





What is the Black Death?

• Yersinia Pestis

What is the Black Death?

• Yersinia Pestis• Fleas on Rats• Bubonic vs. Pneumonic

Symptoms

• Weakness/Fatigue• Buboes• Black/Purple Spots• Cough Violently/Spit Blood• Die within 3-5 Days

Symptoms

• Weakness/Fatigue• Buboes• Black/Purple Spots• Cough Violently/Spit Blood• Die within 3-5 Days

Spread of the Black Death

• Worse in Cities

Spread of the Black Death• Worse in Cities• 1346-1350• Recurrences

Death Toll

• Why hard to tell?

Death Toll

• Why hard to tell?• Typical estimate:1/3 of population

Death Toll

• Why hard to tell?• Typical estimate:1/3 of population• Urban death toll

How did people react?

• Personal Accounts

"Realizing what a deadly disaster had come to them the people quickly drove the Italians from their city. However, the disease remained, and soon death was every where. Fathers abandoned their sick sons. Lawyers refused to come and make out wills for the dying. Friars and nuns were left to care for the sick, and monasteries and convents were soon deserted, as they were stricken, too. Bodies were left in empty houses, and there was no one to give them a Christian burial."-Unknown

Personal Accounts of the Plague

"How many valiant men, how many fair ladies, breakfast with their kinfolk and the same night supped with their ancestors in the next world! The condition of the people was pitiable to behold. They sickened by the thousands daily, and died unattended and without help. Many died in the open street, others dying in their houses, made it known by the stench of their rotting bodies. Consecrated churchyards did not suffice for the burial of the vast multitude of bodies, which were heaped by the hundreds in vast trenches, like goods in a ship’s hold and covered with a little earth." -Giovanni Boccaccio

Personal Accounts of the Plague

"Father abandoned child, wife husband, one brother another, for this plague seemed to strike through the breath & sight. And so they died. And no one could be found to bury the dead for money or friendship... And I, Agnolo di Tura, called the Fat, buried my five children with my own hands, and so did many others likewise.”—Agnola di Tura


• Personal Accounts• Explanations


• Personal Accounts• Explanations

– Strange Theories– (Flawed) notion of contagiousness– Most Popular: Punishment from God


• Personal Accounts• Popular Explanation: Punishment from God• Reactions:


• Personal Accounts• Popular Explanation: Punishment from God• Reactions:

– Strange Cures– Flee City– Quarantine– Scapegoats– Hedonism


• Personal Accounts• Popular Explanation: Punishment from God• Reactions• Religious Fervor

– “Traditional” – Flagellants

Such processions often included flagellants who whipped themselves to atone for society’s sins and avert the plague. Unfortunately, as such processions went from town to town, they also spread the plague, as seems to be happening in the picture to the left. Therefore, the Church to tried to ban them.

Psychological Impact

• Disturbing Fascination with Death– Paintings, Literature, Poetry


• Disturbing Fascination with Death– Paintings– Cadaver Tombs

“whoever you be who will pass by, I ask you to remember, You will be like me after you die, For all: horrible, dust, worms, vile flesh”


• Disturbing Fascination with Death– Paintings– Cadaver Tombs– Immediacy of Death

The obsession with death caused by the plague as seen in the Dance of Death

Dance of Death

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Totentanz_L%C3%BCbeckR.jpg



Dance of Death

Empress: I know, Death means me! I was never terrified so greatly! I thought he was not in his right mind, after all, I am young and also an empress. I thought I had a lot of power. I had not thought of him or that anybody could do something against me. Oh, let me live on, this I implore you

Death: Empress, highly presumptuous, I think, you have forgotten me. Fall in! It is now time. You thought I should let you off? No way! And were you ever so much, You must participate in this play, And you others, everybody—hold on! Follow me, Mr. Cardinal!

Dance of Death

Death to the Emperor: Emperor, your sword won't help you outSceptre and crown are worthless hereI've taken you by the handFor you must come to my dance

The Peasant Says: I had to work very much and very hardThe sweat was running down my skinI'd like to escape death nonethelessBut here I won't have any luck

Dance of Death

Wer war der Thor, wer der Weise[r], "Who was the fool, who the wise [man],Wer der Bettler oder Kaiser? who the beggar or the Emperor?Ob arm, ob reich, im Tode gleich. Whether rich or poor, [all are] equal in death."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Roman_Emperor

Triumph of Death

Triumph of Death

In the Face of Catastrophe

Christ-Tho it be late ere thou mercie came: yet mercie thou shalt have.

Priest- Commit thy body to the grave: pray Christ they soul to save

Death-I have sought thee many a day: for to have thee to my pray


• Disturbing Fascination with Death• Dance of Death• Triumph of Death• In the Face of Catastrophe• Long-Term Impact: Religious Despair and

Religious Excitment


Cities especially devastated, some losing

60-70% of their popul.




fuel


Expand agr. lands








Labor shortages Workers demand higher wages & less restrictive

guild membership




fuel


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guild membership

Urban rev’s (e.g., in Florence, Mailloten &

Caboche rev’s in Paris)




fuel


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guild membership



All put down after initial successes catch

authorities off guard




fuel


Expand agr. lands









guild membership





Tyrants & princes replace more

democratic communes in N. Italy & FlandersPolit. stability & $$ to

patronize arts




fuel


Expand agr. lands









guild membership





Survivors inherit prop. & buy (now cheap) land Stand. of living



patronize arts




fuel


Expand agr. lands





• Advantages for Peasants:





guild membership






Kings & nobles try to keep peasants down &

raise taxes to cover loss of tax base from plague



patronize arts




fuel


Expand agr. lands





• Advantages for Peasants

• Powerful Push Back





guild membership








Peasant revolts (e.g., Jacquerie in Fr. & Wat

Tyler revolt in England)



patronize arts




fuel


Expand agr. lands







• Revolts





guild membership














patronize arts




fuel


Expand agr. lands







• Revolts• Typical Pattern

The Jacquerie in 1358 was a spontaneous outburst of frustration by French peasants against the higher taxes that came from Plague & defeat in the Hundred Years War. Being spontaneous, as most peasant revolts were, the Jacquerie caught the nobles off guard and spread like “wildfire”” across the countryside. However such revolts were typically put down just as quickly. In this case, the turning point came when French knights returning from crusade encountered and massacred some rebels at the town of Meaux.

As with most peasant revolts, the Jacquerie ended in massacre when the untrained and now leaderless rebels quickly broke and ran at the first charge by the nobles’ cavalry. Punishment as always was swift and brutal. Often rebellious peasants were hanged, sometimes in their doorways as a warning to others who might be thinking about revolt.

The nobles treacherously murder Wat Tyler after luring him with a safe-conduct to parley

When Adam delved and Eve did span Who then was the gentleman?” -Piers Plowman

English Peasants (Wat Tyler) Rebellion





guild membership














patronize arts

Nobles regroup & crush peasant revolts

w/savage brutality, but their reputations &

military prestige are seriously hurt

Urban grain mkts wrecked Less demand Lower prices




fuel


Expand agr. lands









guild membership














patronize arts





Hurt Church & nobles dependant on land-

based econ. & selling grain for cash




fuel


Expand agr. lands









guild membership














patronize arts




Church abuses to raise cash: fees for any services, & sell

indulgences, dispensations, & Church offices







fuel


Expand agr. lands









guild membership














patronize arts






Growing public discontent over

Church corruption & failure to give comfort or relief

from plague







fuel


Expand agr. lands









guild membership














patronize arts








from plague




Church challenged by kings, clergy, & popular heresies in

1300s & 1400s (FC.72)




fuel


Expand agr. lands









guild membership














patronize arts








from plague





1300s & 1400s (FC.72)

Nobles sell serfs their freedom &

land to get some quick cash In long run they lose future

tax revenues




fuel


Expand agr. lands









guild membership














patronize arts








from plague





1300s & 1400s (FC.72)



tax revenues

Nobles decline while free peasants have incentive to work harder Agr.

& ec. revival in 1400s




fuel


Expand agr. lands









guild membership














patronize arts








from plague





1300s & 1400s (FC.72)



tax revenues



New & broader consumer mkt.

Rise of capitalism & the decline of

guilds(FC.75)




fuel


Expand agr. lands









guild membership














patronize arts








from plague





1300s & 1400s (FC.72)



tax revenues



New & broader consumer mkt.

Rise of capitalism & the decline of

guilds(FC.75)




fuel


Expand agr. lands





Wealth & more secular outlook Italian Renaissance strating in 1400s (FC.76)

Conclusion: Black Death as Emblematic of Late Middle Ages• Shortcomings of Focusing on Black Death• Why I did it…

Documents

FC.71 THE BLACK DEATH AND ITS IMPACT