Religious And Cultural Effects Of The Black Death

The Black Death (also called the plague) hit Europe, almost all things, mostly the daily elements of life, were under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church. During this time, almost every action one would make would require prayer. The church had always told the people right from wrong. The church and followers believed that the afterlife was more important than ones present life. It was a must to be given the last rights and to confess ones sins before dying to be sure of a peaceful afterlife. (Constitutional Rights Foundation) When the plague first hit, many people believed the plague was a punishment from God. (Cultural Effects of the Black Plague) Because of this, the people normally turned to the church for help and answers. None …show more content…
Some members turned away from the church, because the church had always been powerful and always had a solution to a problem. The church could not offer any help at the time of this enormous crisis. (The Church and the Black Death) The living lost all sense of justice and morality. The church, in return, received a bad name, because the holy officials could not actually cure people from this awful disease. Medieval people could find no divine reason for this nightmare and this dissatisfaction with the church increased incentive to reform movements and eventually broke apart the unity of the Roman Catholic Church. Most of the clergy members that had not left their posts in the church sooner or later contracted the deadly disease when taking care of a victim. Several accounts show that most priests, friars, and nuns gave their lives in faithful religious service. (The Black Death and Religious Impact) With fewer priests, but more deaths, Pope Clement VI was compelled to grant a remission of sins to all who have died of the plague. (The Church and the Black Death) Since most members of the clergy passed away from the plague, ill-prepared, uneducated, and unsuitable candidates for the church’s …show more content…
However, with the extreme loss of life there was an accumulation of goods, a decrease in their price, a surplus of jobs and consequently a rise in wages. The standard of living actually increased. Also the need for paid workers resulted in movement away from feudalism and the development of a working class. All of these events paved the way for the coming Renaissance. Even though the Black Plague changed the world forever and is one of the most horrifying epidemics in world history, it was not all bad for the Roman Catholic Church, which is what most people believe was hit the hardest. The Black Death was economically beneficial to the Roman Catholic Church! As well as other employers and survivors of the plague. The employers lost so many workers that they were willing to pay more and the survivors looking for work were in luck. In the years that followed the plague, the quality of the clergy intensely diminished as a result of high death rates, especially for many of the more devout churchmen. Many of the new priests being added on after the epidemic were inefficiently trained, or were more absorbed in making money than serving their community. All this made many dissatisfied with the church as an establishment and directed many to question the need for clerics. Church revolutionists began to grow and sooner or later ideas that gained power and a broadening audience in the plague