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The Black Death devastated Europe, claiming 25 million lives and up to 80% of the population in some cities. Survivors of the plague, which lasted from approximately 1347-1353, struggled with skyrocketing food prices, psychological torment, and survivor guilt. Even Renaissance scholar Petrarch wished he was never born.
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The Black Death devastated Europe, claiming 25 million lives and up to 80% of the population
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in some cities. Survivors of the plague, which lasted from approximately 1347 to 1353
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struggled with skyrocketing food prices, psychological torment, and survivor guilt. So today, we're going to take a look at what happened after the Black Death wiped out more
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than half of Europe's population. When the Black Death struck Europe in the 1340s
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it wiped out 60% of the population. But that was only the first devastating effect of the plague
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Those that survived saw food prices skyrocket. One Florentine chronicler wrote, The foodstuff suitable for the sick, cakes and sugar
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reached outrageous prices. Chicken and other poultry were unbelievably expensive. And it wasn't just the food that suddenly became expensive either
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Burial shrouds shot up to 10 times their earlier price. Farmers abandoned their crops, which withered in the fields, and craftsmen locked up their
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workshops until the plague passed. However, the economic crisis, marked by rising prices and scarcity, abruptly shifted when
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the deaths stopped occurring. After that, Europe found itself facing a labor shortage, and wages skyrocketed
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Witnessing the deaths of family, friends, and neighbors left many of the survivors feeling guilty
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The Italian poet Petrarch lamented in a letter to his brother, a monk who was the lone survivor
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out of 35 people at his monastery. I would, my brother, that I had never been born
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or at least had died before these times. Petrarch doubted that the happy people of the future
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who have not known these miseries, would be able to understand their suffering
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He questioned whether any such thing had ever before occurred. In what annals has it ever been read that houses were left vacant
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cities deserted, the country neglected, the fields too small for the dead
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and a fearful and universal solitude over the whole earth? It sounds melodramatic, but for comparison, even the recent COVID crisis has only killed
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a small fraction of the number of people the Black Plague killed. Those Europeans that did manage to survive benefited from rising wages due to the shortage
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of labor. In Florence, one chronicler recalled, once the plague had finished, anybody who could
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get a hold of whatsoever kind of cloth or found the raw materials to make it became rich
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Similarly, survivors inherited goods and wealth from their deceased family members. A person who previously had nothing
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could suddenly find themselves quite rich. According to the same chronicler both men and women began to show off with clothes and horses For peasants in particular the plague shifted their relationship with landowners Peasants began to demand higher wages and less restrictive conditions
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With wages rising, peasants could afford better food, and their life expectancy increased
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Europeans of the 14th century may not have had access to modern medicine
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but they knew the plague was contagious. Italian writer Boccaccio reported that the disease not only spread between people
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but a plague victim's clothes could also spread the pestilence. If you watch Weird History, then you're familiar with the miasma theory
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which is the ancient belief that disease can spread through bad air. Well, Europeans of the era bought into it in a big way
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and accordingly, many plague remedies relied on sweet smells. Florentines took to carrying bottles of perfume on their belts and dousing their hands in vinegar
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For centuries after, Europe continued experiencing plague outbreaks. Some Europeans swore by fragrant remedies as a way to ward off the plague, despite the fact that they weren't actually effective, historically speaking
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In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, some 250 years after the Black Death, Antonio de' Medici recommended carrying a satin bag of sulfur and arsenic or wearing a metal made of mercury to ward off disease
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The Black Death spread chaos in its wake, and European rulers eager to preserve the social pecking order took an unusual tactic to keep things on track
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They passed laws freezing wages. In 1349, English law set workers' wages at 1346 levels, before the plague struck
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In 1351, the statute of laborers made it illegal for a healthy, unemployed person to refuse work
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As a punishment, workers who demanded higher wages had to stand in the stocks or sometimes
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get branded on the face. That seems a little harsh for asking for a raise
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The law explained a great part of the people has now died. And as a result, some workers are not willing to serve unless they receive excessive wages
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Why did rulers lash out at the labor force during the worst demographic crisis in European history
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As wealthy landowners, many rulers identified with aristocrats who didn't want to pay more
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for peasants to work their land. Some rulers also suspected the newly empowered peasants
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might cause social upheaval, and they were right. Labor shortages after the plague increased
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overworked peasants' feelings of resentment, as they felt taken advantage of by the landowners
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In England, which lost half its population, peasants began to demand higher wages and better treatment
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Ignoring the tense situation, the government levied new taxes around 1380, which spurred a rebellion
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Commoners demanded reforms and what is now known as the English Peasants Revolt spread across the country in the summer of 1381 Their requests included an end to serfdom the feudal system where peasants remained
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tied to the land. The king had promised reforms, but then quickly stamped out the rebellion
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Many rebels lost their lives. Aristocrats complained about the revolt, as captured in the words of chronicler Jean
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Foissart, who wrote, It was because of the abundance and prosperity in which the common people then lived
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that this rebellion broke out. While Fossard sided with the nobility, he noted how the rising wages
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and increased standard of living spurred peasants to demand more rights. In the immediate aftermath of the plague, Europeans tried to determine its cause
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Italian writer Boccaccio recorded two interesting theories. First up, the great writer claimed some
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people believed that the plague descended upon the human race through the influence of the
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heavenly bodies, a novel theory at the very least. But not everyone was buying it, and another popular
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opinion held that it was a punishment signifying God's righteous anger at Europeans' inequitous
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way of life. A group of Europe's most educated doctors, comprising the medical faculty at the
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University of Paris, suggested other causes. For example, solar and lunar eclipses were considered
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a possible culprit, and in reference to the miasma theory, some considered the cause was earthquakes
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that had released poisonous air. They also suggested comets might have caused the illness
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But all agreed the ultimate cause was God's wrath, and that belief was held by the most educated doctors they had
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In the wake of the Black Death, Europeans, who you have to feel a little bad for at this point
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also suffered from strange new diseases. One of these, if you've watched our video on it
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was known as the dancing plague, which drove men and women to dance uncontrollably for hours or days
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The dancers took to the streets in places like Aachen, Liège, and Utrecht
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They danced until they collapsed, groaning and complaining about how they could not stop dancing
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During 1374, after living through two major outbreaks of plague, rumors swirled about a third outbreak ravaging Venice
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At least one historian believes that the cause of the dancing plague was intense psychological distress
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and the dancing mania was a form of mass hysteria. That being said, contemporary sources
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didn't mention any deaths. So the whole thing is a bit sketchy
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During the Black Death, medical science could not help the dying. However, that's not the only reason they weren't much help
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As one Florentine chronicler wrote no doctors were to be found because they weren dying like everybody else Seems like a legitimate excuse However the devastation spurred doctors and rulers to develop
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new ways to prevent the spread of disease. In 1374, the city of Venice experimented with a
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quarantine system, which separated plague sufferers from the healthy. By 1403, the city
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instituted a 40-day isolation for visitors from the eastern Mediterranean. This procedure became
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known as the quarantena, leading to the modern word quarantine. Doctors also developed new
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uniforms, which covered them head to toe. It protected against infection, and Europeans posted
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plague panels on the doors of homes infected with plague to warn away healthy people. These methods
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helped limit the devastation caused by later outbreaks and are still used to help fight the
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spread of disease today. Though many millions of people died, the Black Death also permanently
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upended Europe's social hierarchy. It changed the balance of power between rich aristocrats
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and peasants, allowing peasants to demand better conditions and higher wages. Prior to the
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devastation, the population of Europe had been on the rise. That gave the wealthy an advantage when
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dealing with the peasants. So wages stayed low and rents and prices stayed high. It makes you wonder
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what would Europe look like if the plague had never happened? Overpopulation and poverty would
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have continued in serfdom, a system where only a few collected wealth and many starved, would
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have endured. New political theories, which put more power into the hands of the common people
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might not have emerged, and shorter lifespans would still be the norm. While the Black Death
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devastated Europe, it also shaped the continent, transforming Europe's feudal agricultural society
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The Italian Renaissance sought to recreate the ancient world, copying the Greeks and Romans in an attempt to revive their greatness
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While the movement, which began in the late 14th century, led to some of history's most famous works of art
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it was, in many ways, driven by the impact of the Black Death
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Francesco Petrarch, often considered the first humanist, described the 14th century as the worst in human history
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In Letter to Posterity, Petrarch admitted, Our own age has always repelled me
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so that, had it not been for the love of those dear to me, I should have preferred to have been born in any other period
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than our own. Petrarch lived through the Black Death, as did his fellow humanist, Boccaccio
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Like many other Italians, these writers believe they lived in a broken world, which
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motivated them to create something better. By turning to the classics, Italians
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thought they could improve their lives. And from the ashes of the Black Death
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the Renaissance successfully led to a rebirth of culture and thinking
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