1. The Black Death

2. The Black Death, 1347-1351 Preconditions Progress Impact of the plague
Short term
Intermediate
Long term

3. The Black Death, 1347-1351 Preconditions
Food Shortages (1310s) lead to death, disease, and malnutrition
Concentration of populations in cities and towns
International Trade
Three varieties spread by fleas on black rats
Bubonic: Percent Die in 3-4 Days
Pneumonic: Percent Die in 1-2 Days
Septicaemic: Percent Die in 1 Day
Progress of disease
Asian origins: Caffa on Black Sea Nov-Dec 1347
To Mediterranean by end of December
Clockwise spiral through 1348 to 1350

4. Spread of the Black Death

5. The Black Death (continued)
Results:
30-40 % of population died
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
Medical training theoretical rather than practical

8. Population Losses (in Millions)
1340
1450
Total Losses = c. 75 million (30-40% of the population)

9. 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

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

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

12. Flagellants
Flagellants were groups of Christians who subjected themselves to ritualized whipping as atonement for sin.
in Low Countries and Germany
In 1349, the Church declared the flagellants were heretics.

13. Response: Finding Scapegoats Image of Jews Poisoning Wells

14. Result: Persecution of Jews

15. Intermediate Impact: Economic Change and Rebellions
Social Dislocations on Farms and in Cities
Wages Up
High Demand for Luxury Goods
Rents not Dues
French Jacquerie, 1358
Rural terrorism
Urban Revolts: Ciompi, 1378
English Peasants’ Revolt, 1381

16. Intermediate Impact: Economic Change and Rebellions
Social Dislocations on Farms and in Cities
Wages Up
High Demand for Luxury Goods
Rents not Dues
French Jacquerie, 1358
Urban Revolts: Ciompi, 1378
English Peasants’ Revolt, 1381

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

18. Dancing with Death

19. Dancing with Death

20. 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
Emacipation of the peasantry