Finding a Scapegoat: Religious Persecution During the Great Mortality
By the mid-fourteenth century, much of Europe had heard of a plague which ravished central Asia decades prior. Rumors of awful pestilence and death spread though the continent, yet most would not be able to fathom the awaiting catastrophe. Between 1347 and 1351, the mysterious force of the Black Plague was estimated to have killed off one-third to one-half of Europe’s entire population. Although there is now a medical explanation for the occurrence of the plague , religious fanaticism, ignorance, and superstition pervaded the consciousness of Europe’s population. Those attributes, mixed with a great unrelenting plague of unknown origin, led to the inevitable search
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Within days, the pogrom spread to neighboring villages. In some, the jewish residents were offered conversion, but many would rather, and often did, choose death. In some instances, entire populations in jewish towns committed suicide. One chronicler of the time said “Mothers would throw their children into the flames rather them risking them being baptized and then would hurl themselves into fire... to burn with their husbands and children” During the peak years of the plague, more than 200 Jewish communities were wiped out, mostly within the countries of France, Germany, and England. In some places, the Jewish population was driven out, while in most occurrences, riots of christians brought mass destruction to communities. Frankfurt, for instance, had a population of over nineteen-thousand jews in the year 1300. By the end of the century, all of the jews had been killed or fled the city entirely.
During the summer of 1348, as the plague moved eastward through France, Germany, and Switzerland, the rumors continued to spread that the Great Mortality was indeed a Jewish plot. Rumors went from vague accusations to more complex and detailed stories. By the autumn of 1348, it was universally understood that the plague was
Test 3 Questions It was inevitable for Europe to not change after the Bubonic Plague, the disease killed many people which meant the people who were alive had to find a way to deal with the horrid aftermath of the Bubonic Plague. I think that some of the most important ramification of the Bubonic Plague is the blames some certain group of people got after the Plague and the different wars that took place. When the Bubonic Plague ended, many people took upon themselves to point figures at certain people like the Jews and the rich to tried to pinpoint the cause of the disease that had destroyed and damaged how society was functioning in Europe before the Plague. (Pages 310-311). One group in particular who was blamed the most were the Jews; they were blamed for causing the Plague because it was easier to blamed them since they were more of an outcast in the European in society in this period.
What I found to be interesting in the eleventh module on the lecture on Witch Persecutions and Trials – Part One was the Bubonic Plague. The Bubonic Plague was also referred to as the “Black Death” that occurred in the 14 century and killed 34 million Europeans, which was roughly one-third of the population. However, the Bubonic Plague did not only devastate Europe, but Asian and the Middle East as well for over 75 million people worldwide succumbed to the Black Death. Despite the fact that the Bubonic Plague originated in the 14th century it kept reoccurring every generation up to the 1700s. As the Bubonic Plague did not discriminate against its victims for both wealthy and the poor were struck with the illness. Moreover, the highest
The Black Death was the worst epidemic in the history of the world to date. The plague killed off more than a third of the total European population during the mid-1300’s. Several people believed that the plague was punishment from God for the sins of man, while others believed it was brought about by natural causes, and there were yet others who did not care where or why the plague came but only how they could better their own lives.
The black plague struck Europe from 1347 to 1351. The infected bacteria traveled through ships from China and Inner Asia to Europe then spread on land. From the devastating impact on the population, to the workings of the society, the impact of the plague was felt on all levels of the social order. The Black Death’s impact on society and the modern world is deep, and although there were many different effects, some had more importance than others. The most significant effects of the Black Death was the church’s shifting place in society, the weakening of feudalism, and the decline of manorialism due to the large effects on society.
Symptoms were a mystery, and doctors would often give into performing dangerous and unsanitary procedures on patients. Unfortunately, Paris was the hardest city hit and more than half the population died, mainly the children and poor. In other parts like east Normandy, an alleged 70 to 80 percent of the population perished. The plague also affected those who were not sick, families had to separate from their sick loved one, and in Florence people had their clothing and jewelry regulated. A lack of understanding about the plagued created distress amongst the society.
History reveals the mid-14th century as a very unfortunate time for Europe. It was during this period when the continent became afflicted by a terrible plague. The source of the pathogen is known today as bubonic but was colloquially known as “The Black Death” to Europeans of the day. The plague caused a tremendous number of deaths and was a catalyst of change, severely impacting Europe’s cultural, political and religious institutions.
The Great Plague killed nearly half of the European population during the fourteenth century. A plague is a widespread illness. The Illness was also known as the “Black Death”. Most of the European people believed the plague was the beginning of the end of the world. They were scarcely equipped and unready for what was to be entailed. It was by far one of the worst epidemics yet to be seen in those times.
Between 1347 and 1351, a big disease outbreak happened in Europe that ended up killing over ten million people. People became very sick and they would have a lot of suffering which resulted in a painful death. It took 500 years to discover what the disease really was: the Black Plague. This paper details about how the Black Plague started, the suffering it caused people, and the scientific knowledge that was learned from it.
There were mass murders of Jews, and one example was the cremation of jews on valentine’s day in Germany in the year 1349. Over two thousand were killed on this day(Document 7). The decline of the population happened because the plague happened so fast. The entire plague took place over three years. The technology necessary to combat the disease and the spread of it was not available.
Beginning in the mid-fourteenth century, a plague swept the world like no other. It struck in a series of waves that continued into the eighteenth century. The first wave was estimated to have killed twenty-five million people, about a third of the Western Europe population at that time. Throughout the different outbreaks, the plague, also known as the Bubonic Plague or the Black Death, caused people to react in several ways. Some people believed the plague was a medical problem that can be treated, some found themselves concerned only with their own greed, still others believed there was nothing they could do and reacted in fear, and most people believed it was a form of divine
The Plague that struck Europe and Asia in the 14th century was probably the most devastating disease or natural disaster the world ever faced. The Bubonic Plague or Black Death killed an estimated 25 million people from 1347 to 1352 in Europe which accounted for one third of Europe’s population.??-1 It is believed to have started in Asia and then spread to Europe. The Bubonic Plague was not just limited to this period in time. It would reappear through the centuries including the Great Plague of London around 1656 in which 20% of London residents died from it.??-2 Although some of the latter breakouts of the plague were also catastrophic, this paper will primarily focus on the plague from the 1300s. More specifically, this paper will
The plague was believed to a Jewish conspiracy to end Christendom. As the crop and water supply both had surpluses, the Jewish population was accused of poisoning the water supply. In reality, their persecution was due to a combination of religious chauvinism and economic resentment when feudal lords were indebted. Widespread massacres occurred with all Jewish men, women, and children being burned alive save for those who agreed to be
People could not find a conclusion or an answer to this issue and said that they always go to church and pray to G-d and therefore can not understand why G-D keeps punishing them. A belief started to spread that as people letting the Jews live in the same countries or areas as them, G-d is giving them a punishment. As a result, people were looking for ways to get rid of the Jews and started exiling and even murdering Jews. The Christians tried to prove that now the Jews were not dying from the plague and the Christians were still dying, though twenty percent of Jews died from the plague. To prove that this was wrong and Jews were still dying, Jews were stating that Jewish people had specific laws and customs they had to follow about sanitary issues.
Pursell The Black Death Reassessed What really happened to Europe during Black Death? For years, the accepted version of the event has been that a plague from the East, carried by rodents who were infected by fleas, traveled by trade routes and subsequently infected Europeans. The name of this plague is infamously known as the Bubonic Plague; it’s said to have claimed the lives of a third of the continent’s population. Not everyone accepts the prominent version of this event though. In this essay, we will read of two scholars who dispute the official narrative of the Bubonic plague; one scholar will apply this revisionism solely to England, whereas the other will look at Europe as a whole. Moreover, death toll estimates will be scrutinized too. In addition, we will read of a third scholar who offers insight into the aftermath of the Black Death in England in terms of its social and economic development. Clearly, something devastating struck Europe in the 14th century. Whatever it was might not ever be exactly known. However, for the sake of understanding its true impact upon European society, it’s worth reassessing this long-held account. In his writing, The Black Death:
The pandemic known to history as the Black Death was one of the world’s worst natural disasters in history. It was a critical time for many as the plague hit Europe and “devastated the Western world from 1347 to 1351, killing 25%-50% of Europe’s population and causing or accelerating marked political, economic, social, and cultural changes.” The plague made an unforgettable impact on the history of the West. It is believed to have originated somewhere in the steppes of central Asia in the 1330s and then spread westwards along the caravan routes. It spread over Europe like a wildfire and left a devastating mark wherever it passed. In its first few weeks in Europe, it killed between 100 and 200 people per day. Furthermore, as the weather became colder, the plague worsened, escalating the mortality rate to as high as 750 deaths per day. By the spring of 1348, the death toll may have reached 1000 a day. One of the main reasons the plague spread so quickly and had such a devastating effect on Europe was ultimately due to the lack of medical knowledge during the medieval time period.