The bubonic plague arrived on Genoese merchant ships in the mid-1300s, ravaging major European cities and wreaking havoc on anyone who was unfortunate enough to be within a few feet of an infected individual. The black death, as it was later known, plunged Europe further into the dark ages, leaving knowledge and cultural pursuits to rot with the numerous plague victims. The bubonic plague was so devastating to European society because of the divisions it caused both physically and culturally between families and communities.
When the plague hit, physical separation became a means of survival. This phenomenon can be demonstrated through a map of the sickness. Areas such as Milan and Nuremberg that were not located on trade routes were able …show more content…
City leaders, in their desperation, only exacerbated this problem. Boccaccio’s account of the illness recalls the sick being “barred from the city”, showing the lengths communities would go to to prevent further spread of illness (Document 2). Of course, Boccaccio is likely taking some amount of artistic license with his work, exaggerating the behavior of others for affect. Within infected cities, the effects of physical separation led to distrust and divide of communities. The way physicians, those meant to help the sick, barred themselves from their patients speaks to this; they would drape themselves in thick layers of “cloth or leather” and wear a mask to dehumanize themselves, creating fear and disconnect with their patients (Document 6). This physical separation of doctor and patient is a good example of a degradation of trust, the kind that leads to the decline of society. The dehumanization of sick people by others led to even further divisions. Marchione di Coppo Stefani recalled that dead were buried in layers of dirt and other bodies, which he compared to “layers of cheese in a lasagna” (Document 4). This flippant simile shows how the bodies of victims were not respected as human bodies, a sort of dehumanization that was harmful to …show more content…
Jews, who received “poison in [their] wells” and were “burnt” or, in the case of many jewish children, “baptized against the will of their fathers and mothers” bore the brunt of this, as their wealth made them prime scapegoats for the plague (Document 7). Naturally the jews that survived were largely driven out of Europe, much like the Native Americans on the Trail of Tears. In both cases, the civilizations who evicted these groups lost valuable cultural diversity, something that in medieval Europe further exacerbated the loss of culture and knowledge caused by the plague. The plague also caused Christians to separate from the church. Giovanni Sarcambi’s image of angels shooting down plague victims reveals the betrayal felt by Christians living and dying from the plague, as their God was not answering their prayers and their pope was determined to lock himself up for three years while the plague ran its course instead of helping them (Document 3). Of course, Sarcambi was a pharmacist and stood to make a profit from people’s loss of faith, as they would buy his products and services rather maintain faith that God would save them. In addition to cultural separation along religious lines, cultural separation in terms of age also gripped Europe during the plague. The “ring around the rosie” nursery rhyme sung by children shows a shallow understanding of death, particularly demonstrated by the line “we all fall down”
When the plague hit, physical separation became a means of survival. This phenomenon can be demonstrated through a map of the sickness. Areas such as Milan and Nuremberg that were not located on trade routes were able …show more content…
City leaders, in their desperation, only exacerbated this problem. Boccaccio’s account of the illness recalls the sick being “barred from the city”, showing the lengths communities would go to to prevent further spread of illness (Document 2). Of course, Boccaccio is likely taking some amount of artistic license with his work, exaggerating the behavior of others for affect. Within infected cities, the effects of physical separation led to distrust and divide of communities. The way physicians, those meant to help the sick, barred themselves from their patients speaks to this; they would drape themselves in thick layers of “cloth or leather” and wear a mask to dehumanize themselves, creating fear and disconnect with their patients (Document 6). This physical separation of doctor and patient is a good example of a degradation of trust, the kind that leads to the decline of society. The dehumanization of sick people by others led to even further divisions. Marchione di Coppo Stefani recalled that dead were buried in layers of dirt and other bodies, which he compared to “layers of cheese in a lasagna” (Document 4). This flippant simile shows how the bodies of victims were not respected as human bodies, a sort of dehumanization that was harmful to …show more content…
Jews, who received “poison in [their] wells” and were “burnt” or, in the case of many jewish children, “baptized against the will of their fathers and mothers” bore the brunt of this, as their wealth made them prime scapegoats for the plague (Document 7). Naturally the jews that survived were largely driven out of Europe, much like the Native Americans on the Trail of Tears. In both cases, the civilizations who evicted these groups lost valuable cultural diversity, something that in medieval Europe further exacerbated the loss of culture and knowledge caused by the plague. The plague also caused Christians to separate from the church. Giovanni Sarcambi’s image of angels shooting down plague victims reveals the betrayal felt by Christians living and dying from the plague, as their God was not answering their prayers and their pope was determined to lock himself up for three years while the plague ran its course instead of helping them (Document 3). Of course, Sarcambi was a pharmacist and stood to make a profit from people’s loss of faith, as they would buy his products and services rather maintain faith that God would save them. In addition to cultural separation along religious lines, cultural separation in terms of age also gripped Europe during the plague. The “ring around the rosie” nursery rhyme sung by children shows a shallow understanding of death, particularly demonstrated by the line “we all fall down”