Black Plague Essay

Why is it so important to understand The Black Plague if one is to really understand the culture of the Middle Ages?

The Black Death was a serious disease that spread around very quickly. It came in three forms, the bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic plagues.  It’s important to know about it so you understand all the causes and the effects it had on the Middle Ages. It killed many people and had a lasting effect on things such as the church, music and art, the economy, and European Civilization. One should be aware with this disease because it’s important in the culture and sculpting of the Middle Ages.

Well before the plague struck Europe, the role of the Catholic Church in Western Europe had been changing. But it was one of the groups that suffered the most from the Black Death. It lost prestige, spiritual authority, and leadership over the people. The church was changed drastically as many people began to lose faith and believed that the plague was sent by God, and people began to question the religion. But also the church became even richer as believers brought potions that were supposed to cure this horrible disease. But the church promised cures, treatment, and an explanation for the plague. Unfortunately, the priests and bishops didn’t have any answers. The clergy abandoned their Christian duties and fled. "It was dark before I could get home, and so land at Churchyard stairs, where to my great trouble I met a dead corps of the plague in the narrow ally just bringing down a little pair of stairs (S. Pepys)." Then, the Black Death gave the church an additional blow. Along with renewed fear and the need for new religious zeal, was the opposite feeling that the church itself had failed. After the plague, ended angry and frustrated villagers started to revolt against the church. The survivors were also enraged at doctors, who disappointed their patients with their inability to cure them.

            Before the Black Death, music was cheerful in the Middle Ages. But people's attitudes towards music and art changed as they began to see the depression surrounding them. The Black Death transformed the up-beat music into very grim and rarely played. The horrors of the Black Death affected all aspects of medieval culture and especially art. The horrific nature of the Black Death was shown in the paintings of human suffering and carnage as well as a frequent use of the skeleton. The effects were lasting, bringing a somber darkness to visual art, literature, and music. “Realizing what a deadly disaster had come to them the people quickly drove the Italians from their city… Fathers abandoned their sick sons.  Lawyers refused to come and make out wills for the dying.  Friars and nuns were left to care for the sick…Bodies were left in empty houses, and there was no one to give them a Christian burial (S. Pepys).” The uncertainty of daily survival created a dark and gloomy mood. This caused artists to distance from positive themes and turn to images of Hell, Satan, and the Grim Reaper. They showed their fear and obsession of death in their art.

Last, The Black Death affected Europe's population and also its economy it a major way. The governments of Europe had no apparent response to the crisis because no one knew its cause or how it spread. No one could figure out how to stop it before it got out of control, resulting in the disease killing a massive portion of Europe's population. When government authorities were concerned, most monarchs established actions that banned exports of foodstuffs, condemned black market speculators, set price controls on grain, and outlawed large-scale fishing. Lack of peasants and laborers sent wages soaring, and the value of land plummeted. Because of the mortality, there was an oversupply of goods, and so prices also dropped. The plague was most effective attacking the weakened people and Europe at the time was already weakened by the bad condition of the soil due to poor farming, the introduction of more sheep which reduced the land available for corn, and stubborn Scottish invasions. “The victims ate lunch with their friend and dinner with their ancestors in paradise (Boccacio).” Without architects, masons and artisans, great cathedrals and castles remained unfinished for hundreds of years. Guilds also lost their craftsmen and could not replace them. If mills or other special machinery might break, the one man in town who had the skill to repair it could’ve died in the plague. The Black Death turned Europe into a chaotic, disastrous place to live.

The Black Death had more than just an effect on the lives of the people. It had lasting impressions on things such as the church, the economy, music, art, and European civilization in general. Changes in the size of civilization led to changes in trade and many other things. It is important for people to understand all the effects of the Black Death and to be familiar with the causes of and facts about this disease. If one truly knows a good amount of information regarding this topic, it would be easier to see how the Middle Ages became what they were and how something like the Black Death can majorly influence a whole society.