The Black Death and the decline of medieval Christendom in Europe

Black Death

An Analysis of the Impact of the Black Death on Western Society

The Western civilization into which the Black Death made itself known in the middle of the 14th century was itself about to come to the brink of a massive shakeup in terms of religion, politics, and economics. To what extent did the Black Death facilitate the change that would deconstruct Christendom, end the Medieval "age of faith," and effect the modern world? Considering that a number of circumstances, political, economical, social, and spiritual, played a part in the redefining of Europe, it is with some hesitation that one gives to the Black Death more importance that it is due. However, one must not marginalize the effects and impact of the disease: after all, it came at a time when the King of France had shown his hand against the See of Peter -- the Bishop of Rome -- the head of the Holy Roman Catholic Church -- the Church of Europe (and moved the papal court to Avignon). The unification of Europe had depended upon the assent of her Kings to Papal Authority -- and at the end of the medieval world that assent was being revoked (Laux, 1989, p. 517). As religious questions began to be raised, as new philosophies began to be pursued, as new wars were waged and new political enmities created, the Black Death crept into Christendom to lay an egg that would hatch into a newly ordered Europe -- one founded on rationalism and "science" -- humanism and relativity. The Black Death was not just a disease, it was a symbol of the death of Christendom -- a foreshadowing of the end of an Age.

The Effects

As Sanders et al. (2005) state, "the Black Death (bubonic plague) struck Europe, killing millions, further weakening economies, and creating a widespread climate of fear and xenophobia" (p. 5). This was the immediate effect of the plague -- the details of which can be expanded or contracted according to taste. Essentially, the plague rolled in from the East, spreading westward from China, as historians now concur, in fleas. The other immediate effect of the Black Death -- as became known -- was religious (not surprising considering the age in which it struck): "For many people, the plague was interpreted as a sign that their god was displeased. Many placed the sign of the cross over their doors, entered seclusion for prayer, or, in the case of the town leaders of Orvieto (Italy), added fifty religious holidays to the calendar. Some individuals became 'flagellants'" (Jones, 2002).

Socially, the plague decimated Europe -- wiping out an estimated quarter of the population. This opened the door, of course, to economic ramifications. Fewer people meant fewer consumers. Fewer consumers meant less demand. Less demand meant a change in prices -- and the change in prices meant a change in labor: "At first, agricultural prices dropped sharply, hurting the landed nobility…At the same time, the peasants who survived could get more for their labor because there was a shortage of laborers…Nobles had to reduce the feudal dues (customary payments) they demanded from their serfs…Ultimately, the plague contributed to the end of serfdom" (Jones). Here was one way in which the plague altered the established social and economic order -- and heightened religious fervor.

The most compelling descriptions of the impact of the Black Death, however, come from the contemporary chroniclers themselves: as Tom James (2011) reports, "Ralph Higden of Chester…thought 'scarcely a tenth of mankind was left alive'…The phrase 'there were hardly enough living to care for the sick and bury the dead' is repeated in various sources…[and] the Malmesbury monk…reckoned that 'over England as a whole a fifth of men, women and children were carried to the grave'." Elsewhere come reports of the stench that arose from the mass graves of churchyards or the trenches in London. Looking back on it, James gives a somber perspective:

We know, as 14th century people suspected, that the mortality caused by the bubonic plague of the Black Death was the worst demographic disaster in the history of the world. We also know that the mortality came to an end in the first outbreak soon after 1350; contemporaries could not have known this would happen -- so far as they were concerned everyone might well die. Some treated each day as if it were their last: moral and sexual codes were broken, while the marriage market was revitalized by those who had lost partners in the plague (James).

The reality was much more harrowing than any common consciousness can give it: this was a plague of Biblical proportions -- as such, religious faith was tested. Questions were raised. Men like Jean Wycliffe sought answers -- and those answers often went against the traditional teaching of the Church. As faithful abandoned notions of right and wrong, religious abandoned traditional ecclesiology, and laborers abandoned traditional models of the worker/overlord relationship. The demand for labor increased -- and so did the requested wage. Those who could still work saw well the opportunity to amass a small fortune from those who had likely come into an early inheritance themselves. Nonetheless, government -- like the one in England -- attempted to stymie the economic impact of the Black Death: "Within a year of the onset of plague, during 1349, an Ordinance of Laborers was issued and this became the Statute of Laborers in 1351. This law sought to prevent laborers from obtaining higher wages. Despite the shortage in the workforce caused by the plague, workers were ordered to take wages at the levels achieved pre-plague" (James).

The disruption in economy, however, was not balanced by such measures, and thirty years later -- shortly before Chaucer would set about chronicling the changing face of English Catholicism -- the Great Revolt of 1381 "flared through much of England [and] the Kent and Essex men invaded London, chopped off Archbishop Sudbury's head and terrified the 14-year-old Richard II into agreeing concessions on the Poll Tax…an unsuccessful attempt by government to combat the effects of plague by changing the basis of taxation" from communal to individual (James). The hero of the Revolt, of course, was Wycliffe -- whose doctrine allowed the partakers to rationalize their violence: those in authority had sinned against God, therefore their authority was extinguished. Such ideology had no problem spreading through the whole of Europe -- and it did so, just as the plague had done, igniting the flames of Protestantism and doing to the spirituality of Christendom what the Black Death had done to its corpus.

The support of the new Protestant ethos was found in the new class that arose as a result of both the Black Death and the increase in trade markets through Italian ports, where East literally met West and the merchant class came to wealth rapidly. All of these events came to a head: plague, death, new order, wealth, Renaissance, and protest. Through the arts, a new kind of information was disseminated, and through the rise of technology (like the printing press the following century) that information had no trouble reaching more hands than in any previous era. The Black Death had been the impetus for change -- rather than a test of faith, it proved to be a reason for changing the way that faith was held: "Perhaps Cardinal Gasquet was right when he noted long ago that the plague led to the emergence for the first time of a middle class (who chatter and challenge authority) funded by accumulating the wealth of those who had died. Thus the old medieval tripartite division of society into those who fought (the nobility and knights), those who prayed (the churchmen) and those who labored (the peasants) was never the same again" (James).

The Black Death had ushered in the era of the modern world before anyone had even realized it. By 1415, Jan Hus was burned at the stake, and fifteen years later Joan of Arc followed. Saints and sinners alike were condemned in what could be described as none other than the unraveling of Church authority -- a process that had begun in a big way with Philip's assault on Boniface. Whether the plague that came West from the East was a sign from God -- like the Magi who traveled the same route some millennium and half before to make obeisance to the babe that would change the face of the world -- none could say. The effects of the plague are what can be seen -- and they are there for all to behold.

Conclusion

In conclusion, reactions to the plague ranged from the radical to the pious: as Peschke observes, one reason so many Jews came to dwell in Poland is that accusations of Jewish conspiracy (of poisoning the well water, so to speak) abounded, causing mass migration of Jews. Other members of Western society saw the plague as a sign to make reparation for sins: "some attempted to make up for sin and immoral behavior by living a temperate life" (Peschke, p. 112). Still others became flagellants, a group of penitents who traveled Europe whipping themselves in public. And the rest -- not believing that temperance was the answer -- "turned to the other extreme" (Peschke, p. 112). The impact of the Black Death was one in which the old world order of the medieval age was overturned: death, rapid inheritance, revolt, and new ideologies were the outcome of the plague. Christendom would cease to exist not long after -- and the modern world would take shape in its ashes.

Annotated Bibliography

James, T. (2011). Black Death: The lasting impact. BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/black_impact_01.shtml

Prof. James provides contemporary accounts of the effects of the Black Death in England. This article is useful for visualizing the plague and the way those who survived viewed it and the effects that followed -- including the revolt in 1481.

Jones, J. (2002). The Impact of the Black Death. West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved from http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his101%5Cweb%5C32death.htm

Jim Jones' article concerning the times surrounding the onset of the bubonic plague is helpful for knowing more intimately the European setting in the 15th century. Jones gives details about the influence held by the popes at the time as well as the way in which medical science developed after the plague.

Laux, J. (1989). Church History. Charlotte, NC: TAN Books. Laux gives a compact, chronological history of the Roman Church. A good source for understanding the nature of Christendom at this time. Excellent way to study the medieval ideas leading up to the Renaissance.

Peschke, Z. (2007). The Impact of the Black Death. Essai 5(32): 111-114.

Zachary Peschke's account of the Black death is a helpful and insightful introduction to some of the lesser known impacts of the Black Death -- such as the blaming of the Jewish people, for instance. Peschke also references Boccaccio for another contemporary angle.

Sanders, T. et al. (2005). Encounters in World History. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

An informative book for gaining background knowledge of the state of Europe at this time. Sanders provides a rough overview of all you need to know about the plague in general -- allowing you various lanes to explore in further research.

Shearer. C. et al. (1992). Famous Men of the Middle Ages. Lebanon, TN: Greenleaf

Press. An excellent source of information for all the major players of the time.

Especially helpful for understanding the mindset of medieval man and the way in which the Black Death would have affected his consciousness. Lots of great details makes this one of the better sources of information on all things Middle Ages.

Thompson, F. (2010). The Life of St. Ignatius. Charleston, SC: Forgotten Books.

Francis Thompson's eloquent narrative of the founder of the Jesuits, this book contains a number of primary source documents that show in great detail the relation between Church and State, politics and religion, Protestantism and Catholicism, and what went into the formation of the saintly disposition.

Woods, T.E. (2005). How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization.

Washington, DC: Regnery Press. This is essential reading for anyone attempting to understand Europe at the time the Black Death came along. Woods provides the how-it-all-happened account of why Christendom came to be what it was -- and why it all changed following the plague.

World History. (1995). UK: Brockhampton Press. This small treasure trove of dates and facts is an excellent reminder of events that might have slipped the radar. The points concerning the Church's role in restoring Europe to a kind of order are not to be missed -- neither are the details concerning the formation of the Continent.