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How did the Black Death affect Europe?

DIRECTIONS: Read and annotate the documents. Summarize the main idea of each document in your own words in the box.

Document 1

Source: adapted from: Deaux, George. The Black Death 1347.

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1347 and 1350 with 30% to 60% of the population killed. It reduced world population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million. It took 150 and in some areas more than 250 years for Europe's population to recover.

Italy was one of the areas of Europe that was hardest hit. Some Italian cities lost almost all their inhabitants: in Venice at least three-quarters died. In Pisa seven-tenths of the inhabitants died, and many families were completely destroyed. In Siena the plague raged from April until October and, according to the Cronica Senese of Agnolo di Tura, 80,000 people died in those seven months. Di Tura reported: "And I, Agnolo di Tura, carried with my own hands my five little sons to the pit; and what I did many others did likewise." The expanding economy of the city was stalled and the deaths of many painters, among them the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, ended the development of the first Sienese school of painting. Florence was so devastated that for a long time the disease itself was known as "the plague of Florence." Throughout Italy at least half the population died.

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Document 2

Source: Boccaccio, Giovanni, The Decameron vol. I

The plight of the lower and most of the middle classes was even more pitiful to behold. Most of them remained in their houses, either through poverty or in hopes of safety, and fell sick by thousands. Since they received no care and attention, almost all of them died. Many ended their lives in the streets both at night and during the day; and many others who died in their houses were only known to be dead because the neighbors smelled their decaying bodies. Dead bodies filled every corner. Most of them were treated in the same manner by the survivors, who were more concerned to get rid of their rotting bodies than moved by charity towards the dead. With the aid of porters, if they could get them, they carried the bodies out of the houses and laid them at the door; where every morning quantities of the dead might be seen. They then were laid on biers or, as these were often lacking, on tables.

Such was the multitude of corpses brought to the churches every day and almost every hour that there was not enough consecrated ground to give them burial, especially since they wanted to bury each person in the family grave, according to the old custom. Although the cemeteries were full they were forced to dig huge trenches, where they buried the bodies by hundreds. Here they stowed them away like bales in the hold of a ship and covered them with a little earth, until the whole trench was full.

Burying the dead.

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Document 3

Source: Jacob von Königshofen (1346-1420); ChonicleKönigshofen was an archivist and lived close to the events of which he writes. In his book, he incorporated considerable material from his Strasbourg predecessor, the historian F. Closener, who was probably an eyewitness of the tragedy.

In the matter of this plague the Jews throughout the world were reviled and accused in all lands of having caused it through the poison which they are said to have put into the water and the wells -- that is what they were accused of… The result was that they were burnt in many cities, and wherever they were expelled they were caught by the peasants and stabbed to death or drowned. . . .

On Saturday - that was St. Valentine's Day-they burnt the Jews on a wooden platform in their cemetery. There were about two thousand people of them. Those who wanted to baptize themselves were spared. [Some say that about a thousand accepted baptism.] Many small children were taken out of the fire and baptized against the will of their fathers and mothers. And everything that was owed to the Jews was cancelled, and the Jews had to surrender all pledges and notes that they had taken for debts. The council, however, took the cash that the Jews possessed and divided it among the working-men proportionately. The money was indeed the thing that killed the Jews. If they had been poor and if the feudal lords had not been in debt to them, they would not have been burnt. After this wealth was divided among the artisans some gave their share to the Cathedral or to the Church on the advice of their confessors.

Burning Jews at Cologne 1349

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Document 4

Source: Stephanie Pappas, “It Got Better: Life Improved After Black Death, Study Finds”livescience.com, May 7, 2014

An analysis of bones in London cemeteries from before and after the plague reveals that people had a lower risk of dying at any age after the first plague outbreak compared with before. In the centuries before the Black Death, about 10 percent of people lived past age 70, said study researcher Sharon DeWitte, a biological anthropologist at the University of South Carolina. In the centuries after, more than 20 percent of people lived past that age.

The longevity boost seen after the plague could have come as a result of the plague weeding out the weak and frail, DeWitte said, or it could have been because of another plague side effect. With as much as half of the population dead, survivors in the post-plague era had more resources available to them. Historical documentation records an improvement in diet, especially among the poor, DeWitte said.

"They were eating more meat and fish and better-quality bread, and in greater quantities," she said.

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Document 5

Source: Professor Tom James, “Black Death: The lasting impact.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/

By reducing the population, the plague left fewer people to buy food and to work. That affected the price of food and other necessities. For a short period, food prices rose because of the shortage of farm labor. But the food supply soon exceeded the demand due to fewer consumers, causing lower food prices.

The peasants who survived benefitted because they could get higher wages for their labor due to the shortage of laborers. Nobles had to reduce the feudal dues (taxes) that they usually collected from their peasants, and even offer incentives to keep them from leaving. Unhappy peasants could leave and find work in towns or with other nobles. Ultimately, the plague contributed to the end of serfdom because nobles became so desperate for labor that they stopped capturing and returning serfs who escaped from other nobles.

With higher wages, peasants had more disposable income to spend on clothes and goods. Government and landlords tried to keep the lid on rising wages and changing social aspirations. In 1363 a Sumptuary Law was brought through parliament. This measure decreed the quality and color of cloth that people at different levels of society (below the nobility) should use in their attire and also tried to limit the common diet to basic foods.

Peasants working at a fish market.

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Document 6

Source: “Black Death and the Church”, deathblack.wordpress.com

During the Middle Ages, the Church was a unifying and stabilizing force on European society. All Christians observed the same church holidays and followed the same rituals. Most people viewed the afterlife as more important than their worldly life, and the Church offered a path to salvation.

When the plague arrived, people believed it to be a punishment of God. Therefore, they often turned to the Church for help. But since the priests and bishops could not actually offer a cure or even an explanation, the Catholic Church lost a lot of its influence and for many people, their view of the world changed drastically.

The reputation of the Church worsened as there were stories of priests who abandoned their posts and refused to perform the ritual of last rites on dying people. Many priests died from the plague, forcing the Church to lower its standards and hire whoever they could to be a priest. The new priests after the epidemic were often less educated and more inexperienced than their predecessors. This also damaged the reputation of the Church.

By shaking people’s faith in religion, the Black Death may have laid the groundwork for two important movements: The Renaissance and the Reformation. The Renaissance was a cultural movement that valued individual achievements over the institution of the Church. The Reformation was a religious movement in which Christians questioned some of the established practices of the Catholic Church and eventually formed a different branch of Christianity – Protestantism.

The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, a Renaissance painting

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Document 7

Source: The ‘Black Death’: A Catastrophe in Medieval Europe, www.crf-usa.org

As the plague progressed, European doctors were helpless to stop it. At the time, medical knowledge in Europe was very limited, partly because the Catholic church prohibited dissection of human bodies. Doctors believed that the plague was caused by “bad air” and advised people to:

Avoid exercise and bathing. Burn incense and carry flowers. Smell strong odors as from a latrine to overcome the plague vapors. Wear religious medals and papers with magic words like “Abracadabra.”

After the plague, there was a rapid advance in medical knowledge. Universities that taught medicine in cities like Padua (Italy) and Oxford (England) accepted many new students, and they were more willing to accept new ideas. Also during this time, Greek and Latin medical texts were translated into local languages, giving more people a chance to study medicine. Finally, doctors began to practice dissection and gained a better understanding of the working of the human body.

A plague doctor in protective gear. The mask was stuffed with herbs and spices to purify the air that the doctor breathed.

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