The Black Death 101

The Black Death 101

Source: history.howstuffworks.com


Where are our dear friends now? Where are the beloved faces? Where are the affectionate words, the relaxed and enjoyable conversations? What lightning bolts devoured them? What earthquake topped them? There was a crowd of us, now we are almost alone. We should make new friends, but how, when the human race is almost wiped out; and why, when it looks to me as if the end of the world is at hand?

Petrarch wrote these words in 1350, two years after the outbreak of the Black Death or the Black Plague as it is also called. This term is a relatively new one and refers to the horrible outbreak of plague that ripped through European and Islamic society in the 14th century. It also returned in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries as well, although not as bad as that initial outbreak.

It is believed that the plague began in Asia and travelled along the trade routes of Asia Minor, the Middle East and into Europe and England. The major trade route that connected India to Persia would have been the likely source of it reaching the Middle East and the Mediterranean. It moved through Egypt, North Africa and came into Europe through Messina, in Sicily. This is where we have our first primary accounts of it reaching Italy in 1347.

Source: tea.state.tx.us

As students of the history, we are fortunate to have been left behind a variety of primary sources in regards to the plague. Not only Italian writers such as Petrarch and Boccacio (famous for his plague-inspired Decameron) but also Islamic scholars such as Ibn Khalund, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalari and Ibn Battuta. From France we have the writings of Jean de Venette and Jean Froissart.

These different writers refer to the plague in a number of ways. The term Black Death, as mentioned, is a new one and the plague was often referred to as: the great pestilence, the great death, the universal plague, the plague of the kindred, the great plague and so on.

The Black Death was generally believed to have been a strain of the bubonic plague, borne by the fleas on black rats, but this notion has been disreputed in recent times. Unlike the Black Death the bubonic plague is characterised by the swelling of the lymph glands. Michael Platiensis (1347) gives us an account of what the symptoms and process of the plague was like.

In their bones they bore so virulent a disease that anyone who only spoke to them was seized by a mortal illness and in no manner could evade death. The infection spread to everyone who had any contact with the diseased. Those infected felt themselves penetrated by a pain throughout their whole bodies and, so to say, undermined. Then there developed on the thighs or upper arms a boil about the size of a lentil which the people called "burn boil." This infected the whole body and penetrated it so that the patient violently vomited blood. This vomiting of blood continued without intermission for three days, there being no means of healing it and the patient expired.
(Quoted in Johannes Nohl, "The Black Death", trans. C.H.Clarke, London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1926).


The devastating effects of the plague are realised not only in the massive decline in population through out the known world, but in other areas of society as well. Firstly, though, let's look at just how much damage the Black Death did to European and Middle Eastern populations. Estimates at exactly how many people died in the plague of 1348 varies considerably. Conservative historians place it approximately 35 million people dead in Europe alone. It is believed that up to two thirds of the populations of many of the major European cities was struck down by the plague from 1348-1350. Other sources say that between one quarter and one third of the the populations of Europe and the Islamic world were lost to the Black Death. In Egypt the Marmluk's army was severely affected, this in turn was believed to be a contributing factor to the eventual loss of Egypt to the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century.

According to Joseph P. Byrne in "The Black Death" Pope Clement VI was informed that 28,840,000 people had died or about 31 per cent of the population of 75 million. Yet Byrne goes on to assert that these numbers are merely guesses as no one can know for sure how many people actually lived in Europe at this time. (There wasn't really a door-to-door census in those days). Boccaccio claimed 100,000 dead in Florence and Robert of Avesbury said over 200 died each day in London. Jean Venette believed that 500 died each day in Paris, Agnolo di Tura said that 52,000 died in Siena; Friar John Clynn reported 14,000 dead in Dublin; and a Flemish chronicler wrote that 62,000 died in Avignon in just three months. (Joseph P. Byrne, The Black Death, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004, p58

Whatever the true number it is certain that it was significant and the effects on society even more so. The responses in Europe were two-fold. Most people looked to the Bible as to why the plague was happening and the result was that Europe was being punished for the greed, avarice, pride, lust and other equally detrimental sins in which they were living their lives. The notion that God was striking down the sinners is also evident in the art contemporary to the plague.

Many people turned to the church for help and consolidation during the tragic times of the plague. We even see the return of the self-flagellants, a group of people who would travel around meting out their own self-punishment. The church always condemned self-flagellation, however it was still a recurring phenomenon in times of tragedy.

Reactions to the plague weren't just increased piety and religious devotion.
Boccaccio's Decameron is famous for conveying a different reaction, that of the devil-may-care attitude. Boccaccio says "they practiced what they preached" drinking heavily and roaming gaily from house to house, tavern to tavern. Those who could afford to quickly fled the cities and retired to their country estates, where they could live in seclusion and isolation and still enjoy a more than comfortable life.
Elizabeth I was one such dignitary who fled to the country in an attempt to avoid the plague as did the Sultan of Egypt. This latter case is an unusual one as, unlike Christianity, Islamists saw the plague as a form of martyrdom from Allah. Those who died from the plague would be admitted instantly into paradise. Obviously, the Sultan didn't agree!

In response to the lack of action by the church and lack of assistance from general doctors and apothecaries (due to the unknown nature of the plague) there also developed a rise in supernatural ways of dealing with the plague. Spells, amulets, chants, prayers, magic squares and more became quite popular in both the Christian and the Islamic world in an attempt to ward off the plague. I think we can even safely assume that the dissatisfaction of people toward the church during the plague continued to grow and this combined with the notion that God was punishing people for their sins were both contributing factors in the Reformation two centuries later.

Economic consequences were many, the most obvious being the closing down of shops and businesses. Shops, factories, even taverns were all brought to a production stand-still. With this came the hald in food production and the decrease in provisions brought in from nearby countrysides. In turn, the poor food situation led to higher deaths and the higher demand for food led to inflated prices. Those who worked the farms were able to demand higher wages due to the scarcity of healthy workers. Likewise doctors and apothecaries were able to charge exorbitant prices for their services. New healers and doctors sprung up all over the place, most of them uneducated but with some knowledge in herbal and natural remedies. Here is a famous picture of a doctor wearing his "beaked" mask to prevent catching the plague. The mask is filled with specific herbs for warding off the pestilence.
Source: The Medieval World
Health committies were set up in many of the large cities and governments did as much as they could (in many instances) to try and prevent, and then contain, the spread of plague. Venice in particular prided itself on its ability to block off entrance into the islands, however this did not stop the spread of plague in the end.

A tremendous shift in the consciousness of the medieval people due to the Black Death also contributed to the budding movement soon to sweep through Europe's lands. The Renaissance, that magnificent re-birth of classical belief and art can be linked to the Black Death in that people no longer wanted to live their life with the afterlife in mind, but rather to enjoy their time on earth for their own sake. Other significant consequences of the Black Death include changes in law and legislation, a shift away from medieval social structure, agriculture, economics, work and land entitlements and more. For more information on this, see Joseph P. Byrne The Black Death, chapter 4 'Effects of the Black Death on European Society.'

Anyway, I could go on and on about the Black Death and will expand on this further at a later date. This is really just the tip of the plague's iceberg. Hope you enjoy your breakfast!