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The Black Death

The Black Death. 1347-1351, 1361. The Black Death, 1347-1351. Preconditions Food Shortages (1310s) lead to death, disease, and malnutrition Concentration of populations in cities and towns International Trade Progress of disease Asian origins: Caffa on Black Sea Nov-Dec 1347

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The Black Death

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  1. The Black Death 1347-1351, 1361

  2. The Black Death, 1347-1351 • Preconditions • Food Shortages (1310s) lead to death, disease, and malnutrition • Concentration of populations in cities and towns • International Trade • Progress of disease • Asian origins: Caffa on Black Sea Nov-Dec 1347 • To Mediterranean by end of December • Clockwise spiral through 1348 to 1350

  3. Spread of the Plague • Three varieties spread by fleas on black rats • Bubonic: 50-60 Percent Die in 3-4 Days • Pneumonic: 75-80 Percent Die in 1-2 Days • Septicaemic: 95-100 Percent Die in 1 Day • Caused by poor sanitation in cities • Interpersonal contact and infection

  4. Spread of the Plague

  5. The Black Death (continued) • Results: • 30-40 % of population died • Groups Affected: young, old, poor, & most cities (Venice, Florence, Genoa, Paris) • Villages and towns disappear: 40,000 in Germany by 1450 (24 % of pre-plague total) • Medical “care” via trial and (much) error • Medical training theoretical rather than practical

  6. The Black Death (continued) • Results: • 30-40 % of population decimated • Groups Affected: young, old, poor, & urban (examples: Venice, Genoa, Paris) • Villages and towns disappear: 40,000 in Germany by 1450 (24 % of pre-plague total) • Medical “care” via trial and (much) error • Recurrences • 6 more outbreaks by 1406 • Comes back again till late 17th century • European population down 75 % by 1450

  7. The Black Death: Short-term Impact • Profound psychological uncertainty • Life seen as cheap • Adoption of extreme attitudes: hedonism and asceticism • Seach for scapegoats

  8. Hedonism: Portrayal in Boccaccio’s The Decameron (1351)

  9. Flagellants • Flagellants were groups of Christians who subjected themselves to ritualized whipping as atonement for sin. • Low Countries and Germany, 1348-49 • Attack priests and Jews • In 1349, the Church declared the flagellants were heretics.

  10. Scapegoats: Image of Jews Poisoning Wells

  11. Result: Persecution of Jews

  12. Intermediate Impact: Economic Change and Rebellions • Social Dislocations on Farms and in Cities • Wages increase • High demand for luxury goods • Rent not dues • French Jacquerie, 1358 • Rural terrorism • Urban Revolts: Ciompi, 1378 • English Peasants’ Revolt, 1381

  13. Long-Term Impacts of Plague • Family structure: men marry younger • Gendering of the workplace • General obsession with death • Ars moriendi • Human/people centered • L’danse macabre or the Totentanz

  14. Dancing with Death

  15. Dancing with Death

  16. Long-Term Impacts of Plague • Family structure: men marry younger • Gendering of the workplace • Generalized obsession with death • Sermons, Wills, “Ring Around the rosy” • Ars moriendi: preoccupation with death in art • L’danse macabre or the Totentanz • Leveling of Society • Human/People Centered • Emancipation of the peasantry

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