Effects of the Black Death
The Black Death reared its head sporadically in Europe over the next few
centuries. But by 1352, it had essentially loosened its grip. Europe's
population had been hard hit, which had an economic impact. The workforce
had been destroyed -- farms were abandoned and buildings crumbled. The
price of labor skyrocketed in the face of worker shortage, and the cost of
goods rose. The price of food, though, didn't go up, perhaps because the
population had declined so much.
The Black Death did set the stage for more modern medicine and spurred
changes in public health and hospital management. Frustrated with Black
Death diagnoses that revolved around astrology and superstition, educators
began placing greater emphasis on clinical medicine, based on physical
science. While schools initially had to close for lack of educators, the plague
eventually drove growth in higher education. New schools were established,
sometimes specifically mentioning in their charters that they were trying to
address the decay in learning and gaps in education left by the Black Death.
Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Danse macabre art: Townspeople flee
under the watchful gaze of skeletons
People who survived the Black Death era generally suffered a communal
crisis of faith. Rather than becoming more religious in thanksgiving to God for
their survival, people harboured doubts. They had turned to the church for an
answer to the plague, and the church had been able to offer no help.
Additionally, priests, who, along with doctors, had the highest rate of contact
with the diseased, also had one of the highest rates of fatalities. Several new
heretical movements sprang up. Those who still clung to their faith were more
likely to do so in a very personal manner. Many began to build private
chapels.
Feeling, essentially, that God had turned his back on them, the people
reacted to the end of the Black Death by turning their backs on him. They
engaged in wild debauchery to celebrate being alive.
They held gluttonous banquets, drank, wore extravagant clothing and
gambled. It was clear through the art of the time, though, that people still had
death on their minds. The danse macabre, or dance of death, is an
allegorical concept that was expressed in drama, poetry, music and visual art.
The danse macabre usually shows a procession or dance between the living
and the dead. The range of figures shown is meant to show that death will
come for everyone, and the various activities depicted are a reminder that
death could always be right around the corner.
Geneticists are continuing to document the effects of the Black Death on
Europe's population today. Analysis has shown that genetic diversity in
England is much lower than it was in the eleventh century, perhaps because
so many people died in the 1300s. While the rest of Europe does not show a
lowered amount of genetic variation, that may be due to increased migration
patterns in other places. The work of nineteenth century scientists finally
provided some answers about the causes of the Black Death.