In the wake of the plague, nobleman and religious authority figures struggled to maintain their high place in society as government leaders were unable to find an effective response to the disease, and limiting the allotment of the financial growth of the lower class, preventing them from gaining societal power, as well as increased suspicion concerning the power of the Church. Confusion and suspicion arose among followers of the church when the Church was powerless to stop this devastating diseases supposedly “sent from the heavens” (Petrach 41) . When praying and amending their sins didn’t cure themselves or their loved ones of the frightening disease, people believed that God had abandoned them, shown in these quotes taken directly from the journal of an Italian citizen who contracted the disease. “…and nowhere is there a refuge. No haven beckons in any part of the globe, nor can any hope of longed for salvation be seen. Wherever I turn my frightened eyes, their gaze is troubled by continual funerals: the churches groan encumbered with biers…”(Petrach 27-31). “… it is the wrath of God… the harsh assault of the stars in their perpetually changing conjunctions. This plague-bearing year has borne down on humankind and threatens a tearful slaughter, and the highly charged air encourages death. From his diseased heavenly pole, he looks down, and from there he rains upon the earth diseases and grievous mortality…” (Petrach 34-39). When high ranking church officials, such as
The Black Plague effected Europe religiously because they lost followers of the church so the numbers decreased which led to empty churches. “Population before the Plague was 75,000,000 and after the plague the numbers decreased rapidly by 1351 the population was 51,160,00” (Doc 2). Some of the town or community lost faith in their God because they thought that God should’ve answered their prayers when they were asking for their family members to get better and to heal or make things and people better around them. During this time period people were big believers in God, the people believed that god was powerful, but then after the plague their opinions were mistaken because the church didn’t help at all to make anyone better many people died because of this
Norman F. Cantor, In the Wake of the Plague (New York: Harper Collins First Perennial edition, 2001) examines how the bubonic plague, or Black Death, affected Europe in the fourteenth century. Cantor recounts specific events in the time leading up to the plague, during the plague, and in the aftermath of the plague. He wrote the book to relate the experiences of victims and survivors and to illustrate the impact that the plague had on the government, families, religion, the social structure, and art.
When the plague began its reign of terror, everyone turned to the church for answers and a cure. When the church couldn’t produce, people became skeptical. Then to add on top of that, “perhaps a third of the Catholic clergy died. ”(source 2; paragraph 3). And with the catholic leadership depleted and their inability to control the plague, many began to question the power and authenticity of the church.
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 word “plague” is defined as a contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium, typically with the formation of buboes, and sometimes infection of the lungs. The article entitled, “On the Progress of the Black Death”, written by Jean de Venette, a French Carmelite friar who was a leading clergyman around Paris at the time of the Black Death, is a well-known account of the spread of the plague in Northern Europe. In this account, Jean de Venette explained the history of the plague, its causes and its consequences.
Relations between the Christians and Jews of medieval Europe were always influenced by their unequal social and economic statuses and the religious competition that existed between them. While the Jews served a purpose in the Christian religion, this purpose meant that the more populous Christians that had come to dominate Europe only tolerated the Jews. No premise of equality existed, and the Jews came to depend on relationships with lower-level rulers to secure their relative safety. Rumors persisted that Jews had poisoned wells, and the Jews were often the targets of violence that the Christians seemed exceedingly willing to deliver. Overall, life was better for the Christians and worse for the Jews, although this would be of no
Prior to the plague the entire legal system relied on the church, the church made all of the decisions. The general population stopped backing the church because they believed that god would never do that to them so god must not be real. There was always the priests who said it was a punishment for sin but nothing added up for the people surrounded by death and loss. Since this abundance people stopped believing the church lost power, ”...the Church’s reputation never quite recovered, as the new priests who were quickly brought in to fill the void were not as scholarly or thoroughly trained as the old. It became more acceptable to malign the clergy in the years that followed…” (“Priests and the Black Plague”
Another aspect of life that was highly affected was society. During the plague and after the plague society’s values and faith began to change. When the Black Death began taking the lives of the clergy just as well as everyone else, society began to wonder if the clergy were as powerful and as united to God as they had once believed, because no matter their prayer the plague was still raging. The people lost faith in the clergy and by the end of the plague the Church had lost its authority, not only for the reason
The clergy’s function was to administer the sacraments, and if those services were needed by the afflicted faithful as they invariably were, clergy violated charity by fleeing. If it was the duty of a clergy member to visit the sick, it was a scandal and a sin if that person fled the plague. But if a clergy members duty did not necessarily deal with the plague, they were allowed to flee. If a clergy
According to an Italian lawyer at the time, Gabriele De Musis, the Almighty God has “looked down from on high upon the entire human race and saw it sinking and sliding into all kinds of wickedness” and has thus sent “the quivering spear of the Almighty, in the form of a plague” killing most of those in its path . This goes to show that the people believed that infliction and death by the plague is just a way of paying for their sins. Although holy punishment was the general reasoning of many, some still question why would God set upon such a cruel state to his people? Italian Renaissance scholar, Francesco Petrarch, had questioned God’s love for mortal men, stating that of all the years of human sins, why did the plague arrived at that specific time and place? Despite this claim, Petrarch also re-evaluated the fact that if God does not love mankind, then men would have been in worse situation than being struck by the plague. Their existence would have been all together seized and yet some still survived, which must have meant that the Almighty Father still somewhat cared . This, then, left Petrarch the question of what has the people of his time done to receive the cruelest among cruel sentences from
The Bubonic Plague took the lives of many individuals in the heart of Florence. Its reign affected “not just that of men and women…but even sentient animals” (Stefani). While the plague only lasted a mere six months, from March 1348 – September 1348, it is a piece of time that society should forever acknowledge and learn from. Much of the significant information from the Bubonic plague are unbeknownst to people today, even though it possesses such an importance aspect in our history. Therefore, in this essay, I will discuss the effects the plague had on the people of Florence, and how the appearance of this plague brought about short and long term historical change what we see today.
According to Robert S. Gottfried, author of the book The Black Plague: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe, the Black Plague had a huge impact on human behavior and psychology, “the mechanics and commonplaces of everyday life simply stopped, at least initially “(77-78). With the devastation of the plague, “peasants no longer ploughed, merchants closed their shops, and some, if not all, churchmen stopped offering last rites” (Gottfried 78). In his book The Decameron, Boccaccio described many of the responses of the people during this time:
Diseases have always been a threat to humans, all throughout history. One of the most destructive disease outbreaks in history was the plague outbreak which peaked in 1346 to 1353, in Europe, commonly known as the Black Death. This plague outbreak was extremely deadly and killed 30-60% of the European population at the time of the outbreak. The outbreak is commonly believed to have been caused by the bubonic plague, but modern evidence suggests that the Black Death was caused by pneumonic plague, a much more contagious and deadly infection.
In the events of the Bubonic Plague, religions took a different response in this therefor Christians and Muslims are the two most researchers thought about during this time. This paper will guide you through what they did, how it affected them, and what they believed. Both religions thought up of some things that could prevent or get rid of the plague. Christianity thought it was a curse and Muslims said it was a blessing. Let's move on to the first point of this paper, Christianity.
The Plague (French, La Peste) is a novel written by Albert Camus that is about an epidemic of bubonic plague. The Plague is set in a small Mediterranean town in North Africa called Oran. Dr. Bernard Rieux, one of the main characters, describes it as an ugly town. Oran’s inhabitants are boring people who appear to live, for the most part, habitual lives. The main focus of the town is money. “…everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits. Our citizens work hard, but solely with the object of getting rich. Their chief interest is in commerce, and their chief aim in life is, as they call it, 'doing business’” (Camus 4). The citizens’ unawareness of life’s riches and pleasures show their susceptibility to the oncoming plague.