This chapter, “The
Impact of the Black Death,” begins by providing quotes from people who
lived through the Black Death. These
express the sadness and distress of the outbreaks, as well as the wonder of what
is to happen next. The Gies’
purpose in this chapter is to argue that, while the “Black Death has remained
the foremost historic example of human calamity” (226), the populations of
many places had already been stopped or even reversed prior to the plague, and
that “the stunning shock did not bring the world to a halt” (226-7). They
begin by providing evidence from various cities that show declines in
populations in the years before the Black Death.
This is most likely due to the overpopulation of many villages and
because of famine and smaller epidemics. Even
with such a great loss of people, “in the end [the Black Death] had a positive
effect on the economy” (228) in many places, specifically their example town
of
Frances and Joseph Gies have put together a chapter that
provides a slightly different perspective on the effects of the Black Death.
Possibly co-authoring this book has given them a tendency to focus on the
aspects of family and marriage after the plague,not usually a central idea to
most works pertaining to the Black Death, so the information proves to be even
more useful, as it is relatively rare. They
answer their thesis well, and do so while providing much evidence.
The Gies’ give many examples, clearly noting their implications to
society and showing that, while the Black Death changed several aspects of life,
some of these were already in motion prior to its onslaught.
Gottfried, Robert S. “The Immediate Consequences.” The
Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval
In the first section of his chapter, “The Immediate Consequences,” Gottfried argues that a change in human behavior and psychology was the first and most obvious outcome to the Black Death. People’s everyday lives shifted dramatically, as he says “when plague came, peasants no longer ploughed, merchants closed their shops, and some, if not all, churchmen stopped offering last rites” (78). He goes on, using Boccaccio’s Decameron to support his thesis. The selected passage explains the many ways people dealt with the Black Death, “thinking and caring for nobody but themselves” (79), and concluding that the disease sickened everyone equally and did not discriminate between the groups. Gottfried states that Boccaccio’s characters equated qualities such as “wit and cleverness” (79) to success, rather than the “piety, martial or mechanical skills, [and] scholarly intelligence” (79) of the past, and that the “rewards and triumph went to the active, to those who helped themselves” (79). As an important implication of the psychological change in medieval society, Gottfried says that “much of the old corporate cooperation and camaraderie were swept away, replaced in many cases by a strong strain of individualism” (80). He later says that this “individualism generally was directed towards self-aggrandizement and the pursuit of leisure and pleasure” (80). Other changes to the human psyche were the increasing sense of temporal urgency felt by all, and the intensified “preoccupation with death, judgment, heaven, and hell” (82), a social anxiety of salvation that churchmen failed to alleviate. Overall, society made an extremely marked change in both behavior and psychology as a direct result of the Black Death.
Gottfried writes in a manner that is quite easy to read and comprehend, as very few words were found that a half-semester of European Civilization has not already defined. The text is full of information and support, which are clearly stated and discussed. One enjoyable aspect of Gottfried’s writing is his relative brevity on any given idea; he does not spend pages examining every minute detail of his point. He instead provides the needed information, a paragraph or two in direct support, and occasionally a loosely related point, leaving the reader some time and space to think on his idea and form his or her own opinion. Gottfried also uses a large amount of literature written about the Black Death to support his ideas, which provides another perspective to the situation. A criticism one might find with this passage is that none of the consequences he explores are gender related; it seems implied that if not related to both genders, the mentioned outcomes of the Black Death were solely male-based. Specific implications for the females of this time could possibly have been overlooked because of the book’s male authorship. Despite these gender concerns, the article was well organized and informative as it presented and proved its argument clearly and with all necessary facts and support.
Platt, Colin. “Protest and Revolution.” King Death: The Black Death and its Aftermath in Late-medieval
In his chapter Protest and Resolution, Platt argues
that, following the Black Death, there are three common elements in the disputes
between the people. These elements
are: the angered reactions of the priors and landowners, the equaled anger of
their tenants who clung to their rights, and finally, the complete collapse of
law and order. Platt writes of several different instances of historical
happenings to show the reactions of the people.
He looks at the Peasants’ Revolt, describing the reasons for the revolt
as less related to the economic pressures on the poor, but more as a general
demand with a political focus. He
also looks at the rise in crime and the courts’ struggles with it, the
popularity of Robin Hood to express the peasants’ desire for freedom, and
other speakers, such as John Ball, who rallied the common people to demand
equality. Platt goes on, describing
individual situations based on the stories of royalty and the changes that took
place in specific cities. He concludes on an odd note, with a quote from the
Bible, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be . . . and there is
no new thing under the sun” (135).
Though, for the most part, he proved his thesis to be
correct, Platt’s text feels quite devoid of any real thought or speculation.
The several examples that were given provided the needed examples to
reveal his three elements of disputes, but never extended farther than the basic
historical account. It seemed as
though he expected the stories to speak for themselves, which was not entirely
out of the question for some. Given such isolated instances of change, however,
it is hard to derive any solid notion of an actual shift in society.
In a sense, Platt shows only the facts of certain matters, leaving the
difficult questions to his readers.
Wheelis, Mark. “Biological Warfare at the 1346 Siege of
Caffa.” Emerging Infectious Diseases
8.9 (2002): 971-975. October 2003 <http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org>.
In his article Biological Warfare at the 1346 Siege of
Caffa, Wheelis argues that the story of biological warfare being used at
Caffa is quite plausible, but likely unimportant in the overall spread of the
Black Death to the rest of Europe. He
begins by providing historical background information on the Black Death, the
Siege of Caffa, and Gabriele de’ Mussi. The
plague’s origins, he says, are still unknown.
Though there are many opinions, they are all in conflict with each other
and present no conclusive factual evidence.
The city of
This article is a well-written and persuasive discussion of
the initial stages of what proved to be one of the biggest disasters in history.
Wheelis takes an interesting look at the story of cadavers being
catapulted into Caffa, which has been regarded as both fact and legend, and
seeks to find historical proof of its occurrence.
He also poses the question of whether or not the fleeing inhabitants of
Caffa were responsible for bring the plague to the rest of the world.
He provides good support for both ideas, citing historical documents and
the acknowledged technology available at the time.
His care in detailing the historical background of Caffa and their battle
proved to be very helpful and necessary to fully understand the arguments he was
pursuing. Wheelis is Senior Lecturer in Microbiology at the
Ziegler, Philip. “The Effects on the Church and Man’s
Mind.” The Black Death.
Ziegler’s chapter, The Effects on the Church and
Man’s Mind, covers exactly that: the ways in which the Black Death changed
people’s perspectives on the Church and religion, as well as themselves.
He feels strongly that “any history of the Black Death which ignore[s]
its impact on the minds of its victims would be notably incomplete” (259), and
thus constructs a solid thesis, stating that “no one can live through a
catastrophe so devastating and so inexplicable without retaining for ever the
scars of his experience” (259). To begin, Ziegler shows how firmly a man’s
mental and moral heath was tied to the Church.
This then leads to the Church letting the man down during the Black
Death, “a direct blow to [a man’s] own morale” (259).
Matters worsened as the diligently working priests of the time worked to
serve last rites, only to be served the Black Death, generally leaving the worst
of the clergy and killing off those truest to their faith.
The great mortality of the clergy also reversed the perception as having
“a touch of the superhuman” (260), and this esteem would only dwindle in the
coming years. This is not to say
that society was less religious, as “chantry chapels” (267) began popping up
all over
Ziegler is quite a ‘dense’ writer, meaning he puts an abundance of ideas into a smaller space than usual. He supports his ideas well in the text, support that generally originates from other texts, and makes several interesting points. In making many of these interesting points, however, he often comes across as very opinionated and occasionally even condescending in the presentation of what he seems to consider quite superior ideas. This, in turn, creates a more lively reading experience, regardless of one’s position for or against the stated opinions. Ziegler pushes the reader through the text by way of his alternate perspectives, which he is exceedingly persuasive in delivering. Further understanding of Ziegler’s basis for writing this book can be found in the Preface, where he states that “this book contains virtually no original research” (9). In writing this piece, Ziegler was trying to amass all he knew and could find out about the Black Death into one single text that was both readable and comprehensive. He writes not with the professional historian in mind, but the academic historian, wishing only to provoke them and engage them “in a major work of scholarship, [as] then it will have served a useful purpose” (10).