The Black DeathDer Schwarze Tod

CAUSES• Began in the East

• Bacteria thrives in the stomach of fleas• Parasites of Black Rats

• Bites Rat----Rat dies

• Find a new Host: Human= Plague!

• Bubonic: Strictly insect borne

• Pneumonic: lung-based in winter

• Septicemic/enteric: attacks blood and digestive systems: 100% fatal

Social Effects of the Plague

• People abandoned friends and family

• Cities emptied

• Became recluse (shut out the world)

• Funeral rites stopped

• All work stopped: why bother?

• “Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you may die.”

Religious Effects of the Plague

• Some prayed to fight plague

BUT, MOSTLY

• Religious faith decreased• Many clergy died trying to help

• Prayer did not help stem the disease: LOST IT!

• Anyone could forgive your sins. Even women

• Stopped ringing bells for funerals

• Allowed mass burials, toss into river, shallow graves

Economic Effects

• Extreme and rapid inflation (Prices rose like crazy)• Difficult to get the goods through trade

• Difficult to produce products

• Prices of goods imported from East SKYROCKETED

• Ran low on workers• Wages rose

• High demand for services from competing Lords

• Standard of living rose as wages outpaced prices.

Death Toll 75-200 Million

• Paris: 800 per day 50,000 total (1/2 of the population)

• Pisa: 500 per day

• Vienna, Austria: 500-600 per day

• Florence lost 60-80% of population

• England: 1.5 million out of 4 million lost

• Monasteries• Montpellier 133 of 140 died

• Marseille and Carcassonne: all dead

• Carthusian: one survivor (Petrarch’s brother) and his dog.

Class Distinctions Became Clearer

• Fashion of the nobles became more excessive in appearance

• Peasants felt empowered• Revolted when Nobles tried to keep things the same as before the

plague.

• Peasant riots in France, 1358

• Guild members revolt: 1378

• Social structure unraveled.

Political Issues of the Day

• Financial structure collapsed

• War continued

• Famine: no one to work fields, people consumed by death

• Merchants stepped up• Figured out how to survive

• Maintained relationships with nobility and aristocracy

• New Government born: wealthy, landowners, and neighboring countryside.

Art of the Day

Compare the Two

QUESTIONS?