The Black Death

1. The Black Death And the Persistence of Plague

2. Timeline: Famine War, Plague 1315-1322: Great Famine 1337-1453: Hundred Years War 1347-1351: The Black Death 1360: The Gray Death 1429: Joan of Arc wins victories for French 1440s, 1450s: French defeat English using culverins

4. Battle of Golden SpursCourtrai July 11, 1302

7. 1429: The Height of English Power

8. Cannon from early fifteenth century

9. Joan D’Arcc. 1430

10. Mons Meg – c. 1450

11. Culverin on Wheelsfrom 1500s

12. Hussite Wagon Fortress

14. Giovanni Boccaccio1313-75 • Why is Boccaccio a valuable source for understanding the Black Death? • How is his work applicable to our own period? • What was surprising in his account of events in Florence? • What attitudes toward women did he express?

15. Discuss Boccaccio and the Plague • Where did plague come from according to Boccaccio? • How did people contract the plague according to him? • What were the symptoms of the plague that Boccaccio described? • What responses did people have? • What were the effects upon society

16. Boccaccio description of plague centered on which city? • Kaffa • Rome • Florence • Marseilles • Paris

17. For whom did Boccaccio write this collection of stories? • Women • Men • Girls • Boys • Priests

18. What did Boccaccio have to say about the plague? • That is passed from one person’s garments to another person or animal • That some people lived moderately in order to avoid it. • Other people drank heavily in response to it. • Many people fled to the countryside • People abandoned their families • Happy Friday!

20. Thomas Malthus1766-1834Founder of Demographic Studies

21. In the year of our Lord 1315, apart from the other hardships with which England was afflicted, hunger grew in the land.... Meat and eggs began to run out, capons and fowl could hardly be found, animals died of pest, swine could not be fed because of the excessive price of fodder. A quarter of wheat or beans or peas sold for twenty shillings [In 1313 a quarter of wheat sold for five shillings.], barley for a mark, oats for ten shillings. A quarter of salt was commonly sold for thirty-five shillings, which in former times was quite unheard of. The land was so oppressed with want that whe the king came to St. Albans on the feast of St. Laurence [August 10] it was hardly possible to find bread on sale to supply his immediate household....

22. The dearth began in the month of May and lasted until the feast of the nativity of the Virgin [September 8]. The summer rains were so heavy that grain could not ripen. It could hardly be gathered and used to bake bread down to the said feast day unless it was first put in vessels to dry. Around the end of autumn the dearth was mitigated in part, but toward Christmas it became as bad as before. Bread did not have its usual nourishing power and strength because the grain was not nourished by the warmth of summer sunshine. Hence those who ate it, even in large quantities, were hungry again after a little while. There can be no doubt that the poor wasted away when even the rich were constantly hungry....

23. In our reading for today, what did Johannes Trokelow blame for the Famine of 1315 • The exhaustion of the soil from overplanting • the sins of humanity • Unusually cold, wet weather • The laziness of the peasants who had grown too comfortable

24. What was the Trokelowe’s perspective? • He was a hospital worker concerned about the malnourished • He was a member of the clergy concerned about God’s displeasure • He was relatively certain that the king would resolve the crisis • He began by stating that the Devil had caused it.

26. Murrain & Anthrax?

28. Yersinia pestis

29. Black Ratcarrier ofYersinia pestis

30. Grain storage often attracted rodents

34. Lingering Depopulation from Plague:Population levels fell and stayed low for over a hundred years

35. How did governments respond to the plague? • Make sure to review the Statute of Labourers

36. What was the purpose of the StatuteofLabourers? • To provide facilities for families destroyed by the plague • To encourage priests to take care of the dying • To ensure that workers did not charge excessive wages • To initiate widespread prayers to God for forgiveness

37. Processions

39. The Danse Macabre

40. The Dance of Death

41. Socio-economic conditions favored the rise of the middle class

42. Discuss the Great Famine • What was the cause of the famine according to the document? • What were its effects on the economy? • What were the implied effects on society? • What was the author’s perspective?

43. Overview • The Late Medieval Period: 1350-1500 • Outbreak of Plague • Its Characteristics • Reactions • Consequences

44. The Late Medieval Period • Sometimes depicted as a time of decay • The end of medieval civilization? • Knights become less important in battle • Also a period enormous creativity and change • Inventions: printing press, cannons, clocks, navigation • Art & Architecture: the Italian Renaissance • Changing balance of social forces • Merchants increasingly powerful • Hereditary aristocracy challenged • Spread of patronage beyond courts • Monarchy remains the dominant form of political organization but republican ideals emerge in Italy

45. Plague • Origins of the Black Death • Worldwide pandemic in the 14th century • Started in China during 1330s • Spread to Crimean peninsula in the late 1340s • rats & fleas spread a deadly bacterium, Yrsenia Pestis • Crimean War a likely vector for transmission of the plague to Europe • onset in Genoa in 1347 • Spreads to the rest of Europe by 1350 • recent evidence suggest that other diseases, such as cattle and sheep murrain, accompanied bubonic plague • Plague continues to visit Europe periodically until 1723 but exercises little dramatic effect after 1450

46. Plague • Virtually absent in Europe since seventh century • Transmission • Bubonic – black rats and fleas • Pnuemonic - coughing • Septicemic – bodily fluids • Symptoms • Buboes near groin and armpits • Lingering sickness for several weeks • Modern treatment includes antibiotics

47. How did Hunt describe the impact of the plague? What impact did plague have on universities?

48. Which part of Europe first contracted plague according to Hunt? • Constantinople • Milan • Pistoia • Scotland • Flanders

49. What was the purpose of the Statute of Labourers in the readings • To establish shelters and sustenance for plague victims • To create more hygienic living conditions in order to avoid plague • To protect workers from the demands of masters who required them to work in plague infested areas • To prohibit workers from raising their wages

50. Demographic Consequences • Demography is the key concept • population decline was dramatic: 40% of Europe dies within 5 years • Wustungen: entire villages left empty • Some cities, such as Florence, Italy, experienced mortality rates over 70% • Other areas were relatively unaffected • No big rebound as plague becomes endemic to Europe • The Gray Death in 1361 • Plague in late 1360s, mid 1370s, etc… • Gradually fades out over hundreds of years • Last visitation of plague was in 1723 in Marseilles, France