More than six hundred years after a deadly bubonic plague spread across Europe and killed sixty-percent of Europe’s population between 1346 and 1353, Christopher Smith decided to direct Black Death (2010) (Benedictow 42). This fourteenth century-based film examines the relationship between fear and faith, while sticking to the medieval atmosphere of the real-world occurrence. Throughout the film, many important aspects of the era are covered, including the role of the medieval Church, people’s reactions to the plague, as well as the impact of the plague. Although the plot and characters of Black Death are fictional, many aspects of the film accurately depict medieval England in the mid-fourteenth century.
In Black Death, monk Osmund, leads …show more content…
Some medieval Christian interpretations of the causes of the plague included it revolving around the “Book of Revelation and its notion of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse¬– pestilence, war, famine, and death” (Brown University). Others thought that God would soon return and reign over Earth, or that prideful women and Jews carried the plague with them to Europe (Benedictow 46). These were all popular ideologies, but the film’s characters take precedence in believing that God is punishing them for their sins. It was a common belief in medieval Christianity that “God sometimes used the natural world to communicate with mankind” and that one could “die a good death if [he/she] had time to confess sins and receive the last rites” (Rider 27). During 1348 when the plague reached England, it was believed that God “deserted humanity” because not only were sinful people affected, but the innocent were killed, too (Mortimer …show more content…
In the film, many different torture tactics are used; one specifically used is dismemberment. Ulric’s arm is tied to a horse and the other arm is tied to a different horse. Langiva has Ulric undergo this punishment so that he would renounce God; however, the punishment instead results in Ulric revealing himself infected with the plague. Because the village was uninfected before the reveal, the villagers whip the horses so that they gallop in opposite directions and pull Ulric’s limbs apart. This type of punishment was common during this era, but typically, the victim’s hands and legs are attached to four different horses and then pulled apart (“Medieval Torture”). Later in the film, Ulric ties an accused witch to a ladder and then pushes her into a fire. This is consistent with witch executions in Germany, where the movie was filmed; however, the movie’s plotline takes place in England, and an accused witch in England would normally be tied to a stake and burned directly (“Medieval
In Black Death, monk Osmund, leads …show more content…
Some medieval Christian interpretations of the causes of the plague included it revolving around the “Book of Revelation and its notion of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse¬– pestilence, war, famine, and death” (Brown University). Others thought that God would soon return and reign over Earth, or that prideful women and Jews carried the plague with them to Europe (Benedictow 46). These were all popular ideologies, but the film’s characters take precedence in believing that God is punishing them for their sins. It was a common belief in medieval Christianity that “God sometimes used the natural world to communicate with mankind” and that one could “die a good death if [he/she] had time to confess sins and receive the last rites” (Rider 27). During 1348 when the plague reached England, it was believed that God “deserted humanity” because not only were sinful people affected, but the innocent were killed, too (Mortimer …show more content…
In the film, many different torture tactics are used; one specifically used is dismemberment. Ulric’s arm is tied to a horse and the other arm is tied to a different horse. Langiva has Ulric undergo this punishment so that he would renounce God; however, the punishment instead results in Ulric revealing himself infected with the plague. Because the village was uninfected before the reveal, the villagers whip the horses so that they gallop in opposite directions and pull Ulric’s limbs apart. This type of punishment was common during this era, but typically, the victim’s hands and legs are attached to four different horses and then pulled apart (“Medieval Torture”). Later in the film, Ulric ties an accused witch to a ladder and then pushes her into a fire. This is consistent with witch executions in Germany, where the movie was filmed; however, the movie’s plotline takes place in England, and an accused witch in England would normally be tied to a stake and burned directly (“Medieval