Response to Pandemic Death: The Black Death in Europe
Response to Pandemic Death: The Black Death in Europe
In his what some perceive to be his best known work, The Decameron, Boccaccio writes about his experience as a witness to the infamous 1348 pandemic known as the Black Death. The Decameron is a collection of stories about the Black Death, in one of which he wrote "The healthiest of all humans ate breakfast in the morning with their relatives, companions or friends, and had dinner that evening in another world with their ancestor"(Boccaccio)! This image suggests the rapid and serious nature of the Black Death that killed nearly 25 million people in Europe from 1347-1352(Janis, Rice, Pollard). As would be expected, a pandemic such as this had immense effects on the people of Europe who witnessed it; people reacted in a variety of ways, some rejected religion and lived a more "sensual life," others lived in seclusion, or even resorted to self-inflicted punishment. So how exactly did the Black Death effect the people of Europe? What were their responses to the pandemic? How did these responses effect the social, religious, political and economic structures of medieval Europe? Some, like Zeigler would say that the course of Europe "changed by the coming of the Black Death, which did but accelerate a movement already in being,"(258) suggesting that the Black Death was merely a catalyst for change. Perhaps this is true, but at the same time others argue that the changes that occurred in post-Plague Europe were a direct result of the way the people reacted to the Black Death.
While the focus of this paper is on the aftermath of the Black Death, it is imperative to have a basic understanding of the social and economic condition of Europe during the fourteenth century in order to fully comprehend its impact. Europe spent the majority of the fourteenth century in an economic slump; small villages were becoming overcrowded, famine weakened the lower and middle classes, and the general public was not in a state of well being (Zeigler 32). Famine was a result of poor farming due to erosion, extreme cold weather, and inability to properly take care of the land (33). Death due to starvation skyrocketed with the rapid increase in population and the inability to feed them (34). There small wars being fought from the British Isles to the eastern most parts of Europe where the Black Death was said to originate (Mullet 21, Janis, McNeill 159). Socially, class systems were distinct, the upper class having control over the land and just about everything else. Cities of the time were also very dirty; sanitation was not given highest priority and in an English bylaw of 1309, it was said that "rubbish could be dumped into the Thames River as long as it wasn't lying in the street" (Mullet 30). On a religious level, the Catholic Church was fairly powerful; the clergy was exclusive, influential, and rich. The churches were well attended and the tithes of the people maintained a certain standard of living for the men of the clergy even in a time of economic recession (34-35) Basically, the condition of Europe was waiting for disaster. Economic despair, a weakened and overcrowded population, poor sanitation, and a corrupt government in the hands of the Catholic church paved the way for the Black Death to massacre Europe.
Throughout the first part of the essay I've referred to the pandemic as the "Black Death"; an inclusive term used to describe several different infections caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, a bacillus bacterium (Stone, CDC, Davis, NEJM). At the time of the Black Death pandemic, there were three different types of infection, each with a mortality rate of around 90-95%: Bubonic plague, Septicemic plague, and Pneuomonic plague (CDC, Gross, "The Black Death"). The name "Black Death" is given to the y.pestis or "Plague" outbreak during the five year period between 1347 and 1352, and is named for the swollen lymph nodes in the arms and groin that turned a dark black or purple (CDC, Janis, Davis). Boccaccio, a medieval poet and witness to the Plague, described some of the symptoms of the Black Death in his poem "The Decameron" as "swellings in the groin and armpit, in both men and women, some of which were as big as apples and some of which were shaped like eggs...they would spread and in a short while they would cover the body with dark and livid spots...these were certain indications of coming death"(Boccaccio). The rapid spread of the disease, in addition to the highly contagious nature and staggering mortality rates understandably made the Black Death something to be feared.
Fear and hysteria spread as quickly through Europe as the disease itself. The initial outbreaks of the disease were recorded in Italy in 1347(O'Sheim, Zeigler 41) and during 1348 outbreaks were recorded in nearly every country in Europe, affecting England, France, Germany, and Italy most severely (Zeigler 42,67,84 and Mullet 17). In a 1347 journal entry, Michael Platensis wrote, "Men hated each other so much that, if a son was attacked by the disease, his father would not tend to him"(CUNV). Similarly, Boccaccio wrote that "the ordeal so withered the hearts of men and women that brother abandoned ...
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Fear and hysteria spread as quickly through Europe as the disease itself. The initial outbreaks of the disease were recorded in Italy in 1347(O'Sheim, Zeigler 41) and during 1348 outbreaks were recorded in nearly every country in Europe, affecting England, France, Germany, and Italy most severely (Zeigler 42,67,84 and Mullet 17). In a 1347 journal entry, Michael Platensis wrote, "Men hated each other so much that, if a son was attacked by the disease, his father would not tend to him"(CUNV). Similarly, Boccaccio wrote that "the ordeal so withered the hearts of men and women that brother abandoned brother, and the uncle abandoned his nephew, the sister her brother and many times, wives abandoned their husbands"(Boccaccio). The fear of sickness and death was enough to cause many people of the time to leave their families and friends when they were needed most.
Many people did not know how to deal with this fear, as a result people began to respond in very different ways to the grave atmosphere around them. A lot of people felt that God was punishing them for their disobedience and sinful nature (Zeigler 36-39, Mullet 14, Rice). Several people reacted to this idea by embracing religion and living in solitude, trying to live as "Christian" and sin-free as possible (Boccaccio, Zeigler 36-37). Others rejected the idea of religion and decided to take their fun while they had it. Of this Boccaccio writes "others affirmed that drinking beer, enjoying oneself, and going around singing and ruckus-raising and satisfying all one's appetites whenever possible and laughing at the whole bloody thing was the best medicine"(Boccaccio). The strangest of all responses though, has to be the "Flagellants" who believed that whipping themselves was the only way to be free from God's wrath. These men would travel in groups of 50-500, performing rituals and whipping their backs until they bled profusely and no pain was felt (Rice, Zeigler 84-109)(Fig 1-3). Many people in the villages where the Flagellants visited would collect their blood on rags and use them to "heal" the sick (Zeigler 92). People who feared the sickness and death that came with the Black Death dealt with this fear, and the idea that God was punishing them, in diverse ways, which perhaps led to the changes seen in Europe after the Plague.
The Black Death pandemic carried on until 1352, at which time the outbreaks began to settle down, and Europe began to piece itself together again (Zeigler 245). Over 1/3 of Europe was dead (Pollard, O'Sheim, Janis), there were entire villages left empty and plots of land with no "next of kin"(Zeigler 239, Mullett 26-27). Economically, this left Europe with few people looking for jobs, a lot of open land and a lot of room for new wealth. Out of this economic potential came a rise of the peasant class as there was much opportunity for them to purchase or even claim land that was not previously available to them. Even those who were not able to secure their own land had a certain amount of power over their landlords; those who were not satisfied with the way they were being treated or the with the wages they received had the ability to go somewhere else and find something better. According to Zeigler, wages of agricultural workers nearly tripled in the years following the Black Death, which had an enormous effect on the economy as a whole (Zeigler 236-238). Lords and landowners enjoyed a brief prosperity through the gaining of leftover property, but the shortage of labor, and plentiful crops had an opposite effect as they began to lose money on their great estates. Following the Black Death there was an undeniable increase in the wealth of the laborers and peasants while the formerly upper-class began to feel the losses associated with the dramatic drop in the demand of the economy.
The economic shift that followed the Black Death had many social implications as well. With the increase in the wealth of the peasant class came a bridge in the gap between the upper-class and the laborers of medieval Europe. Prior to the Black Death the division between the landowners and those that worked the land was immense, and the power over the peasants was more like that of a slave-owner than an employer (Zeigler 237, Mullet 24). One of the most important upheavals in the social system of post-Plague Europe was the surge of the peasant revolts that followed (Mullet 25). These revolts forced many of the landowners out of the countryside and into the cities along with many of the laborers who found that even with the land they had acquired, life was not very easy (Mullet 26). Regardless, the years following the Black Death left both the upper-class and lower-class of the Pre-Plague times substantially closer to the "middle" of the socio-economic ladder. With a leveling of the social structure and an influx of much of the laborers and landowners into the cities came the elements needed for the urban industrial revolution of the sixteenth and seventeenth century (Zeigler 248).
In addition to the socio-economic changes that ensued following the Black Death, there came many changes in the Christian Church as well. A huge power during Europe's medieval period, the church lost much of its livelihood following the catastrophic effects of the Plague. The people of the time felt as though the church had somehow let them down; not only did the church fail to protect the people from "God's wrath", the church also abandoned them in their time of need (Zeigler 259 Mullet 34). As a result of this disappointment in the Church came a widespread discrediting of the clergy and the organization of the Church itself as people withdrew their involvement, both fiscally and socially (Zeigler 268). The Church, feeling the movement away from them, responded by rebuilding many churches throughout Europe and trying to bring people back in by making them feel like they owe something to God because they were spared (Zeigler 272). Although the power of the Church had decreased tremendously, the efforts of the remaining clergy to bring people back in left the Church much less influential than before the Black Death, but not completely out of the scene.
Political systems were also greatly improved as a result of the Black Death; peasant revolts throughout Europe brought the government much closer to the working class than it ever had been and issues such as sanitation became important. In England, regulations dealing with how rubbish and waste should be managed were put into action and the streets became a much cleaner place( Mullet 31). One of the most important pieces of legislation that came out of the Black Death was England's "Statute of Laborers," an ordinance that put regulations of the way in which people could use laborers. This document outlined the legalities surrounding the number of people allowed to work in service of a Lord, how to fix the wages for craftsman and how to set prices on agricultural goods (Mullet 23). In addition to such legislation as the "Statute of Laborers," governments throughout Europe began to deal with the many legal issues surrounding the ownership of property, wages for workers, and regulation of the buy/sell market. Where in the past a more feudal system kept issues such as these at rest, the freer social system lead to a need for revision of legal systems that would eventually lead to many of the laws that are still in effect today(Mullet 25, Zeigler 248).
With all of this evidence presented, the argument comes out of the implications of these changes. While most parties agree that there were immense changes that occurred following the Black Death, there is a main division between the people that believe that these changes were a direct result of the Plague and those who believe that these changes were going to happen whether or not the Black Death had swept through Europe at all. As mentioned before, Philip Zeigler, a renowned scholar on medieval history and the Plague, believes that the Black Death "did not initiate any major social or economic trend but it accelerated and modified those which already existed"(Zeigler 250). This argument encompasses the idea that a feudal system like that of medieval Europe could not continue forever with the world around changing as it was. Zeigler argues that while the Black Death spurred the change by creating a temporary state of instability that allowed for an influx of new ideas. He also argues that the changes that came after the Black Death swept through Europe were not revolutionary in nature, they were inevitable changes that were on the verge of happening, they just needed a spark to start (Zeigler, 249-250). Although most scholars do not debate the fact that there were changes that followed the pandemic of the Black Death, there is a definite controversy as to the nature of these changes and Philip Zeigler produces the argument that the changes were going to happen at some point, the Black Death just allowed for the changes to come forward.
While Zeigler supports one argument in regards to the changes that came after the Black Death, Mullet and Campbell, other scholars who specialize in the history of the Black Death, support the idea that the changes were a direct result of the mind-frame of the people and their personal experiences with the Plague (Campbell 4, Mullet 24). Mullet writes that "the Black Death did in fact begin a new epoch in medieval life. Nothing could ever be the same again"(Mullet 26-27). Throughout the book, Mullet writes about how the experience of the people lead to a change in the way that they thought about religion, medicine, money, and each other. Mullet also argues that because of experiences such as those described earlier in this essay, people's perception of the world changed in a way that could only be a result of being witness to the Black Death (Mullet 22). Campbell makes a similar argument in his book when he acknowledges that there is a "the historical importance of such a catastrophe" and that the Black Death is "one of the most important events which have prepared the way for the present state of Europe"(4). Though Campbell's book focuses mainly on the scientific effects of the Black Death, his feelings that the changes that ensued from the Plague are rooted in the experiences of the people are clear, especially when he shares that "it is through his experience....which may cast a further helpful ray of light on the effect of the Black Death" (Campbell 77). In opposition to Zeigler's beliefs about the role of the Black Death on the changes that followed the pandemic, both Campbell and Mullet agree that the changes were not inevitable, but a result of the experiences of the people that survived.
While the argument between these two ideas continues, there is no way to tell for sure what "could have been." To best form an opinion on this discrepancy is important first recognize the effect of the Black Death on the people so that their motivations and reasons for pursuing change can be best understood. At the same time, it is important to take an independent view of the changes themselves, outside of the context of the Plague, so that they may be seen for what they are. With an understanding of the changes that took place following the devastation caused by the Black Death, in addition to the experiences of those who lived through it, both arguments can be presented. There is a significance to each argument, and it is the decision of the reader to form an opinion as to which argument they believe is more fitting to their own beliefs on the issue of human experience. If one answer was clearly correct, then the controversy would not remain as it has in the time since the Plague itself.
So, then, with no clear answer, what is the point of presenting these arguments? In a world that is constantly being affected by diseases such as AIDS, mass-casualty war, and natural disasters, it is important to have a critical standpoint on the effects that these incidents have on an individual. Understanding the effects of such experiences and how they lead to change can provide clues to the future of areas that will undergo extensive change. Being able to predict trends for the future, and not repeating mistakes made in the past can help aid the rebuilding of countries and areas who are rebuilding much in the way that Europe had to rebuild itself following the Plague. Whether it is for the betterment of the future when disaster will inevitably strike again or just for awareness, understanding the effect of the extreme devastation caused by the Black Death on the social, economic, and political aspects of Europe is key.
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