Towards the end of the bubonic plague the Church had drastically lost its prestige. People’s faith had decreased due to their desperate prayers for good health. But in return they discovered that since only praying will not save yourself or your family and loved ones there must be another way to fight it. They had a number of methods of avoiding the epidemic, like the attire of which the physicians wore or people walking around with flowers over their nose. In the end there is no cure for the bubonic plague and it still exists today. The bacteria is kept under control today due to advances in antibiotics but if the condition goes untreated it is still fatal.
There were benefits of the bubonic plague surprisingly. The poor became wealthier and the wealthy became poorer. This occurred because the nobles were use to having hundreds of poorly paid serfs cultivating their land had a severe labor shortage. Even those still with labor and crops found that there was a severe decrease in the market for their produce. On the other hand the serfs had realized that they were in high demand elsewhere so they fled to other places to learn a new trade and start receiving better wages. After the plague had ended the average families food intake had doubled and for the first time working class people could be seen sporting fur coats.
The Bubonic Plague caused much devastation in the society that it affected. To despite all of this devastation there were many benefits derived from it. Medicine was advanced, the Feudal System collapsed, and there was more food to be eaten. All of these led to a better lifestyle and a higher standard of living in the long run.
The bubonic plague was one of the worst epidemics in human history ultimately claiming 137 million lives. In the 1300s over one third of Europe's population was wiped out. The plague was carried to Europe by fleas riding on rats that hid on trading vessels. In a few short years the disease spread throughout Europe and east into China causing the collapse of the Yuan dynasty. The plague changed the way people saw the church and the way people viewed disease. In the wake of the plague an able-bodied work force was in high demand. Suddenly indentured servants and serfs who once worked for a meager wage were in high demand. This undermined the power of their lords who suddenly were faced with more expensive labor. Many serfs traveled to the cities to learn trades. Wealth was redistributed and for the first time the lower classes were able to buy food and clothes of higher quality. This period marked the birth of the middle class in Europe.
This presentation will explore the changes in methods of healing and the understanding of disease. It will document the fall of the church as the predominant medical authority and the rise of true medical understanding.
As we looked into the religious aspects of the Bubonic Plague, we found that as the numerous “cures” failed, many people began to doubt the authority of the Church. This theory was reinforced as many priests and clergymen began to contract the plague. As more and more members of the Church fell victim to the plague, it became widely believed that the Church was to blame for the outbreak across Europe. Before the plague entered Europe, Jews throughout Europe had already begun to be prosecuted for their beliefs. Many couldn’t own landed estates, be seen during the holy week, or dress as their fellow gentile citizens. In 1290 the king of England expelled the Jews from England and other kingdoms tried to do the same, but never took action. Once the Bubonic Plague struck Europe, the already existing hatred and fear of the Jews was amplified as different groups of people began to believe they spread it. This was mainly because many Jews at this time were merchants, and it was the infected rats on many merchant ships coming from Asia to Europe that initially caused the outbreak. As the plague spread onward, the people of Europe chose two primary scapegoats: the Jews and the upper echelons of the Church. Different groups of people made their own theories on how the plague was spread from these two groups of scapegoats. One of these groups was the Flagellants, originating in central Italy within the late fourteenth century. The Flagellants would wear robes and travel from village to village, offering “cures” to the victims of the plague. To “cure” the participating victims, the Flagellants would congregate in the center of each village and proceed to whip them with scourges, which were wooden sticks that had three to four leather straps at one end with iron spikes at the ends. These rituals would happen numerous times a day for up to three days straight before they moved on to the next village. While their “cures” were ineffective, and in many instances exacerbated the cases of the plague throughout the villages, they were effective in spreading the theory that the Jews were poisoning wells throughout the cities of Europe in an attempt to attack Christendom. Pope Clement VI urged the gentiles of Europe to be tolerant of the Jews, but by that time, the Church had already lost most of their authority to the plague.
Early disease was widely thought to be caused by sin or was a punishment for sin. Many people who would become ill would often blame their illness on their own sin. As a result, the cure for one's own sickness of the body was combined with the cure for the sickness of one's soul. Many religious people were in charge of helping the sick and dying. However, their goal wasn't to help by necessarily offering medicine or treatment as we may think of it, but rather they would offer enlightenment to the religious aspects of health and disease and about what may lie ahead for them in the afterlife.
Often the sick were treated in “hospitals.” Hospitals were often attached to churches and staffed by various clergymen who would preach and sometimes would offer a limited amount of medicine.
“Before all things and above all things, care must be taken of the sick, so that they will be served as if they were Christ in person; for He Himself said, "I was sick, and you visited Me" (Matt 25:36), and, "What you did for one of these least ones, you did for Me" (Matt. 25:40). But let the sick on their part consider that they are being served for the honor of God, and let them not annoy their sisters who are serving them by their unnecessary demands. Yet they should be patiently borne with, because from such as these is gained a more abundant reward. Therefore the Abbess shall take the greatest care that
they suffer no neglect.” (Saint Benedict)
“The cure comes from God” They didn't believe in treating the sick but rather taking care of them. It was God’s will to either heal the sick or to let them die. This stemmed from the belief that everything happens for a reason and it is all gods will. While people did use medicine they were encouraged not to put their full faith into it but instead put their faith into God and the afterlife. This later evolved into the idea that god has put certain things in nature to be used man in order to sustain himself. "Health obtained through medicine is one of these things that has its origin and existence as a consequence of divine Providence as well as human cooperation" (Amundsen 135).
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