Ch. 9 The Late Middle Ages (1300-1453)

• Key Idea: By the middle of the fifteenth century, Europe had recovered socially and economically from the effects of the Hundred Years War, the Black Death, and a divided Church.

Based on the map, how do you think the plague spread to Europe?Based on the map, how do you think the plague spread to Europe?

• First appeared in Europe in 1347 w/ numerous outbreaks across Europe

• Believed to arrive in Italy from the Middle East

• Caused by bacteria carried by fleas

• Many Europeans were weak due to recent famines across Europe– The Great Famine of 1315—1317

• 1300—75 million population• Overproduction of agriculture leads to instability of

land• Crop failures=famine and susceptibility to disease

• Wiped out 30 to 40% of Europe’s population

• Raged for four years, subsided, then reoccurred over the next several centuries

• Skilled laborers became valuable. WHY?

1347: Plague 1347: Plague Reaches Reaches

Constantinople!Constantinople!

The CulpritsThe Culprits

The The SymptomsSymptoms

Bulbous

Septicemic Form:

almost 100% mortality rate.

p.336-338

Preconditions and Causes Effects of the Plague

Response to the Plague

Prevention (4) Treatment (2)

From the From the Toggenburg Toggenburg BibleBible, 1411, 1411

Lancing a BuboeLancing a Buboe

Medieval Art & the Medieval Art & the PlaguePlague

Medieval Art & the Medieval Art & the PlaguePlague

Bring out your dead!

Medieval Art & the Medieval Art & the PlaguePlague

An obsession with death.

Boccaccio in Boccaccio in The The DecameronDecameron

Boccaccio in Boccaccio in The The DecameronDecameron

The victims ate lunch with their friends and

dinner with their ancestors.

The The Danse Danse MacabreMacabre

Response to the Plague

• No one could explain it

• Flagellants believed it was God’s wrath and whipped themselves in atonement

• Many blamed Jews for poisoning wellsled to persecution (pograms)

• Art reflected obsession with death

• Many people looked to Catholic Church, but little solacelost of faith in the Church

Attempts to Stop the Attempts to Stop the PlaguePlague

A Doctor’s Robe

“Leeching”

Attempts to Stop the Attempts to Stop the PlaguePlague

Flagellanti:Self-inflicted “penance” for our

sins!

Attempts to Stop the Attempts to Stop the PlaguePlaguePograms against the

Jews

“Jew” hat

“Golden Circle” obligatory badge

Death Triumphant !:Death Triumphant !:A Major Artistic A Major Artistic

ThemeTheme

A Little Macabre A Little Macabre DittyDitty“A sickly season,” the merchant

said,“The town I left was filled with dead,and everywhere these queer red fliescrawled upon the corpses’ eyes,eating them away.”

“Fair make you sick,” the merchant said,“They crawled upon the wine and bread.Pale priests with oil and books,bulging eyes and crazy looks,dropping like the flies.”

A Little Macabre A Little Macabre Ditty (2)Ditty (2)

“I had to laugh,” the merchant said,“The doctors purged, and dosed, and bled;“And proved through solemn disputation“The cause lay in some constellation.“Then they began to die.”

“First they sneezed,” the merchant said,“And then they turned the brightest red,Begged for water, then fell back.With bulging eyes and face turned black,they waited for the flies.”

A Little Macabre A Little Macabre Ditty (3)Ditty (3)

“I came away,” the merchant said,“You can’t do business with the dead.“So I’ve come here to ply my trade.“You’ll find this to be a fine brocade…”

And then he sneezed……….!

Boccaccio’s The Decameron

• Best known work describing the conditions of the plague in Florence, Italy

• Estimated that 3/5 of Florence’s population died

• Florence considered to be center of emerging Renaissance

• Famine occurred in 1340 and 1347Bleath Death reached Florence in 1348

The Brotherhood of the Flagellants

• Develop an hypothesis to account for the popularity of the flagellants, especially among the lower classes.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDajJoclA1A&edufilter=scO_Mq_iPeSU9rbqR5CtTQ&safe=active

The Mortality

Rate40%

25,000,000 dead !!!

EQ: The Black Death

• What were the political, social, and economic effects of the Black Death on Europe?

• Refer to p. 338-341

Political Social Economic

Effects of Black Death• Fear of contagion weakened social bonds

• Lost of respect for the Church and nobility who could not help the lower classes

• economic consequences:– dramatic labor shortage, climbing wages for laborers

& artisans– Drop in population led to decrease in demand for

agricultural products and prices– falling agricultural, climbing luxury prices—noble

landowners hardest hit– cities (artisans) benefit from demand for luxury goods

What were thepolitical,

economic,and social

effectsof the Black

Death??