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The Black Plague (also known as the Black Death or Bubonic Plague) of the 1300 s is considered by many historians to be one of the most influential events and turning point in the transition from medieval to modern-day Europe. Some analysts even compare its devastation to that of World War I, since " 25 % to 50 % of Europe's population were killed during the onslaught" of the plague (Gottfried, 77). While "no one rich, middling, or poor, was safe from the plague" (Platt, 97), those affected the most were those in the lower economic classes. England's peasant population in particular was affected greatly in both positive and negative ways; dramatic changes took place in all spheres of their lives: religiously, economically, and socially.
In order to comprehend the tremendous impact the Black plague had on the English peasants' and in turn European history as a whole, one must first examine the events which led up to the onslaught of the plague, followed by how it altered the different aspects of their lives in an interconnected manner. The term "Black Plague" applies to the form of Bubonic Plague which raged relentlessly through Europe from 1347 to 1351 AD. During the High Middle Ages (10 th- 13 th centuries) the population of Europe grew "steadily and unabated from 25 million in 950 AD to 75 million in 1250 AD" (Gottfried, 17), the disease pool had reached something of an equilibrium, and deaths due to plagues and illnesses were at a low. There had been political stability for about two hundred years and there was a surplus of food due to good growing conditions and new agricultural and technological innovations. Since less people had to live off the land, more became merchants and tradesmen, which greatly improve the culture and economy, and also encouraged trade, thus instilling a sense of security among people. By the mid 13 th century, a change for the worse overtook Europe.
The "little Ice Age" took place, causing the climate to become colder and damp; crops rotting in their fields meant that the large population growth was outstripping food production. The population of Europe became increasingly poor; 10 % died as a result of famine; related diseases (such as typhoid fever and dysentery) began to emerge as did livestock epidemics. With all these problems, combined with dirty, unhygienic living conditions, perhaps it is no surprise that the plague took place at this time. The origin of the Black Plague (which is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria) is not agreed upon by all historians. Religious and historical documents from the period are not always credible, as no one at the time wanted to claim responsibility and blamed everyone else. All can agree, however, that everyone was affected and that in a matter of a few years, all of Europe had been hit (see appendix I, page 8).
Countless theories exist as to where the plague came from, one of the widely accepted among them being that the plague originated from central Asia, the indigenous people themselves were left untouched by the plague. The plague was spread by both the Mongols as they expanded across Asia, and by central Asian rodents that moved westward when ecological changes made their environments inhospitable. The plague was first introduced to Europe in October of 1347 when Genoese merchants brought it back with them from the Black Sea to Sicily on board. The plague rapidly diffused throughout Europe in a characteristic pattern via infected rats on trade ships along commercial trade routes. The plague jumped from to infected port to one still uncontaminated, where it would fall quiescent for a period of months and then come to life again suddenly, thus renewing the death cycle. (Herlihy 24) By 1348, the plague was spreading through France and the Low Countries, including Germany.
It was by the end of that year, it had reached England and soon after, Northern Europe and Scandinavia. Eastern Europe and Russia were eventually introduced to the plague in 1351, though it wasn't as severe in the east as it was in the west and central parts of Europe. (Spielvogle 298) The onslaught of the Black Plague was a shock to everyone in Europe, as no one knew what caused it, how it was transmitted or how to treat it. Countless theories were thought up; many were convinced it was transmitted from infected person to non-infected person by simply looking at them. The plague was in fact transmitted from rat to flea, flea to person and was transmitted by contact and air among people. The standards of living were terrible at this time: streets filled with garbage and human waste, entrails from slaughtered animals and sewage. This setting was the perfect environment for infected fleas and rats to live in and spread the disease to humans.
The fact that houses in cities were often crammed against each other (to prevent crime) meant that once the plague infected one individual, it would run rampant, and an entire community would die in a matter of days. It was the English clergymen Thomas Malthus in 1798 who was one of the first to conclude that human over population is adjusted by a phenomena of checks and balances which render it under control. These reckonings come in the form of famines, epidemics, wars and the soaring mortality resulting from them, which thus reduce the population to a size its resources can support. This is a theory which was often used to explain the Black plague's occurrence in Europe. Since Europe had experienced a famine in the years just preceding the plague, it was no doubt so many people, peasants in particular, died and so quickly as their bodies were weak and vulnerable due to lack of nutrients. After a person was bitten by an infected flea, there was a 2 - 3 day incubation period, followed by a week of chills, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, blackening of the skin and growths the size of apples before death occurred.
Those who died were required by law to be buried before daylight the following morning, although as the plague began to claim thousands of lives a day, it was too hard to keep up and many were just left where they had died. As with the plague's origin, figures concerning mortality rates caused by the plague are varying due to the fact that population numbers weren't closely monitored and therefore made it hard to gauge how many had perished, though most agree that between 25 - 50 % (19 - 38 million) of Europe's population declined as a result. Italy was especially hard hit, as it was the commercial center and had numerous ports where the plague was no doubt introduced as well as the fact that many of its cities were densely populated. France and England were also particularly devastated, where many villages disappeared altogether from history. Though Germany overall suffered less than Italy, France or England, of approximately 170, 000 inhabited locations, only 130, 000 were left by the end of the 14 th century. Though the plague ended officially in 1351, there were reoccurrence's every 5 - 10 years until the end of the 15 th century which meant that it took Europe until the mid 16 th century to regain its pre-plague population levels.
Religion was one of the institutions hardest hit by the plague, as at least " 40 percent of the parish clergy died" (Platt, 97). This was due to the fact that many lived in communal living situations (such as monasteries) which increased rate of infection as well as the fact that they spent much of their time comforting the infectious sick. The result was that there remained few left to teach Christian dogma or provide religious leadership. Since there was no time for the sacrament of Extreme Unction ("last anointing"), the Pope was forced to issue mass forgiveness for sins. Christians began to seriously doubt the role of the Church, as promises of protection and safety from harm were not being fulfilled. People lost faith in Christianity as God was supposed to protect those who followed him from tragedy and misfortune.
Many priests fled to the countryside and those that did stay often addressed the plague in their sermons, reminding the parishioners that "each night's sleep could be their last" (Spielvogle 301) Most peasants believed that the plague was the wrath of god descending upon man as punishment. As a result, some attempted to fight the plague with intensive prayer and pious living. Others rejected prayer altogether and obeyed the maxim "Eat, drink and be marry, for tomorrow you may die", indulging in excessive eating, drinking and adulterous activities. And some still resorted to " extreme asceticism to cleanse themselves of sin and gain god's forgiveness", which entailed undergoing torture and horrific beatings in order to be granted penitence. It was these flagellant groups (which originated in Germany and then spread to the rest of Europe) as well as those who refused to accept God as the cause of the onslaught of the plague who began targeting minority groups as the true cause of their discontent.
Jews, witches, and heretics in particular were targeted as the causes of the plague; they were said to have poisoned Englishmen's well water as an attempt to rise as a dominant group. While papal decree in no way encouraged this theory, peasants embraced it nonetheless. The result was "trials" or massacres (the killing of Jews, Muslims and other minorities) began to take place; non-Christians were rounded up and burned / killed . Pope Clement VI condemned the flagellants and urged those who remained of the public authorities to crush them. By October 1349, most of the flagellant movements had been stopped, but not before it had caused many Jews to flee east to countries such as Russia. (Spielvogle, 302) Though Europe's population was dwindling, the church's clergy was disappearing even faster, which meant that they were unable to exercise control / influence over the peasants.
Soon, many began to think that the Church should not have so much power nor such vast land holdings, as not even those who were supposedly "God's representatives on earth" were spared from the plague and often fled cities and towns trying to escape it. Slowly but surely, the immense control which the Church had once had on Europe began to decline. ECONOMICALLY Though the plague was terrible, many historians claim that it was beneficial in that "it broke the Malthusian economic deadlock that medieval growth had created which might have impeded further growth in different forms. "The Black plague devastated society, but it did not cripple human resilience." (H 51) In the years preceding the plague, the European economy had been saturated; nearly all available resources were committed to the effort of producing the food, shelter and clothing to support the packed communities. Food costs were high and famine was frequent (Herlihy 40) The plague produced the shock necessary to break the continuities of economic life. The economic spheres of peasants were altered dramatically as a result of the assault of the plague, overall for the better. The most notable of the causes for the changes in the economy and thus peasants' improved position was the serious labor shortage.
In many areas more than half the population of laborers had perished; this meant that those who did survive experience dramatic wage increases. In many cases, English farm laborer's weekly pay more than triple, and in some cases increased by five or six times. At the same time, the sharp decline in the population depressed the demand for agricultural produce, except in England's whose prices remained stable. Landlord's suddenly found themselves in states of near poverty as their standards of living dropped sharply as a result of having to pay so much for labor. Aristocrats (landlords) attempted to rectify their situation by seeking to lower wage rates.
They succeeded in convincing English Parliament, who passed the Statute of Laborers in 1351, which attempted to reinstate labor wa...
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