Black Death 








THE
BLACK DEATH





BY
XXXXXXXXXX



A RESEARCH PAPER





        No one was exempt as it swept in off the shores and into the countryside laying its 

burden of death and pestilence.  Europe had prospered readily for about 300 years prior to 

the beginning of the 1300s, but a series of natural disasters occurred.  Poor harvests and 

famine were common and as the prosperous years came to a close, economies were in 

recession at the onset of the Black Death.  Europe, on a whole, would take a step 

backward. 


There have been plagues throughout recorded history, but  none were of the 

magnitude nor had the far reaching effects that the Black Plague had.  Its namesake came 

from symptomatic hemorrhages that turned black. Though most people associate the 

Black Death with the middle ages, forms of the Bubonic Plague have been known in China 

as early as 224 BC.   The Black Death embarked on a journey as an epidemic in the Gobi 

Desert in the 1320s.  By 1400, China's population of 125 million had been reduced to 90 

million.  Southwest Asia and Europe followed suite with strikingly similar losses in their 

population base.   In 1347, the Kipchaks who were nomads from the Euro-Asian Steppe, 

were thought to deliberately infect a European city with the disease.  The Kipchaks had 

laid siege to a Genoese trading post in Crimea.  Hoping to weaken the defenders, they 

used a catapult to lob infected corpses into the compound.  Trading vessels from Crimea 

subsequently brought cargo infested with the disease burdened rodents and crew west.  

Starting in Sicily in 1347, it began a four year reign of terror traveling as far as 

Greenland.  During this four year period it is believed Europe lost one full third of its 

population.  



      The effects the Plague had on the economy and the laws governing the state were 

severe.  England is a perfect example.  By 1349, the population had been so severely 

decreased that the commoner had the  upper-hand on the land-lords.  This was significant 

in that they were able to demand a higher wage and the markedly  increase in their 

mobility if one lord did not suit their needs.  Without the manpower to cultivate and yield 

crops,  the land-lords were in effect held without influence. The Parliament came to 

there rescue by imposing penalties and  restricting the movement of the laborers and limit 

the wages.   Although this was effective at the time and serf's services continued, it 

resulted in a revolt some 30 years later.  The end economic result of the Plague was 

somewhat surprising.  Prices dropped and wages increased. The latter not so surprising.  

Although not proven, the deflation of goods decreased because of a significant decrease in 

population.  This gave rise to a  new social relationship that would replace the status quo 

of centuries.  A higher standard of living resulted for the lower class.  Higher wages and a 

lower cost of living  usually come with an opportunity of social advancement.  By our  

standards, the advance was minimal, but considering the conditions of the time, it was 

considerable.  The laws that the English Parliament had passed to govern the lower class  

were not only a sign of changing times, but proof that a new era and social class were 

emerging. 


     Much of the Christian religion we see today was shaped from views developed by 

society at that time.  Various forms of religious behavior developed, but were far from 

what we recognize today.  One of the most gruesome replications were the resurgence of 

Flagellants.  The Flagellants were convinced that the end of the world was at hand and the 

Plague was the wrath of God. They traveled in organized bands, bound by vows to abstain 

from all physical pleasures and to endure tortures and whippings for 33 days, in memory 

of the 33 years of the life of Christ.  In truth most Christians did believe the cause of the 

Plague was God's wrath on a wicked Man.  Many said they were doomed by their own 

wickedness.  There were also others who believed themselves condemned and in today's 

wording "Partied Hard"  with the thought, since  tomorrow we die, let us eat, drink, and 

be merry. 


     The Catholic Church was injured both physically and emotionally.  In Avignon, which 

had been the home of the Papacy for nearly a century lost greater than half of its monks.  

Consequently, religious purity for  the dying was hard to come by.  This was not only a 

result of the priests trying to fulfill their duties and becoming infected, but also by those 

who sought to stay away.  When recognizing what was happening around him, Pope 

Clement VI  realized that nothing would be gained from his death and sought refuge in his 

chambers spending days sitting between two roaring fires on either side of him.  One note 

of consolation to the medical field, was all this was done on the advice of the Papal 

physician. He survived as well as most of the upper class did by simply having the means 

to do so.  People recognized the loss of the cleric alongside the peasant, lady of the court, 

and child.  It did not distinguish evil from good, but took the lives of all.  Overall there 

was a negative effect on the popularity of the church.  A struggle between faith and reason 

developed giving rise to  religious, social, and political unrest.  Religious reformer John 

Wycliffe, in England and John Huss, in Bohemia were leaders of a couple of many sects 

that challenged Catholic Church's behavior and doctrine.  Although decades later,  these 

complaints eventually led to the formation of the Protestant Church. 


      The state of medical knowledge had in truth, caused more harm than repair.  The 

crucial role of rodents and fleas were never identified until centuries later.  Wild theories 

ranged from the blaming of Jews who were thought to be ritually poisoning wells to the 

belief that the sickness was carried on the warm, moist southerly breezes. Treatments 

included the practice of bleeding patients to release evil spirits.  The wound more often 

resulted in another viscous opening for the disease to enter.  One physician maintained that 

the disruptiveness of  malodorous places such as latrines would drive the sickness away, 

while others maintained it was the cause.   Bottom line,  the only  cure or better stated, the 

only defense was isolation based on medical knowledge at the time.  Monarchs, Lords, 

Kings and even the Papacy were spared only  through the revelation  that being alone was 

the key to survival.


     Surprisingly,  in all the references there was little to be found  referring to the Arts and 

the beginning of the Renaissance Period.  One volume of recommended  reading titled 

Plague and Pestilence in Literature and Art, Raymond Crawfurd, Clarendon Press, 1914 

was referenced, but was not available.  Undoubtedly, there were effects that were negative 

and positive. Negative in meaning that the depiction of death became more morbid after 

the Plague.  A fair example can be found on a wall of the cemetery close to Camposanto 

(Pisa Cathedral) in Pisa.  Like Pieter Bruegel, The Elder's painting, "Triumph of Death", 

1562 (attached),  this fresco by Francesco Traini, is also called "Triumph of Death", 1350 

(Roy T. Matthew and F. DeWitt Platt, The Western Humanities, Second Edition, Mayfield 

Publishing Company, 1994).   Death relinquished its identity as an intangible skeleton, to 

become a vision of the macabre.  A black flowing shroud with a scythe for gathering souls.  

Death no longer took on the stately representation of  regalia worn by knights and ladies 

of the court.  Post-Black Death art during the Renaissance also depicts a higher moral 

standard.  For example, Giovanni del Biondo's vision of John the Evangelist, renders him 

overwhelming Avarice, Pride, and Vain-glory.      The direct effect the Plague had was to 

clear away the blurring veils where Gothic Art had taken a foothold.  Humanity was 

brought back to earth by their own mortality.  The Renaissance was a reawakening,  

resurrection,  or renewal of reality  showing life in a more pragmatic nature. 


       The Plague still maintains its identity today.  Cases are still reported throughout the 

world.  Thankfully, rarely in North America.  Mortality has dropped from the 70 to 90%  

experienced in the 14th century to 3 to 5 % today.   The loss of life in those  

four short years of history was immense.   A plague of  the proportions that struck Europe 

would be compared to the effects of a nuclear war today.  A thought that chills my bones 

to the core.  Just imagine how a  government of  today's society would react to a disease 

with no cure that spread with the same rapidity and executed with the same effectiveness. 

The answer lies just one unknown virus away in our own evolution cycle.  Will  humanity 

survive?  

 

         BIBLIOGRAPHY

Zeigler, Philip, The Black Death, John Day Company, New York, 1969


McNeill, William H., Plagues and Peoples,  Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1976

Mee, Charles L, How a Mysterious Disease Laid Low Europe's Masses ,  
Smithsonian,. 1990

Canning, John, 100 Great Events That Changed the World, Hawthorn Books, 1966

Strayer, Joseph I., Dictionary of the Middle Ages,  Reese, 1904

Magill, Frank N., Great Events From History:  Ancient and Medieval  Series, 
Salem Press, 1972

Microsoft Encarta 95,    Microsoft Corporation, 1994

Roy T. Matthew and F. DeWitt Platt, The Western Humanities, Second  Edition, Mayfield Publishing Company, 1994

 




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