Download NOTES- Middle Ages and Plague - Monmouth Regional High School

NOTES- The Middle Ages
The Feudal System
For safety and defense, people in the Middle Ages formed small communities around a central lord or master. Most people
lived on a manor, which consisted of the castle, the church, the village, and the surrounding farmland. These manors were
isolated, with occasional visits from peddlers, pilgrims on their way to the Crusades, or soldiers from other fiefdoms. In this
“feudal” system, the king awarded land grants or “fiefs” to his most important nobles, his barons, and his bishops, in return for
their contribution of soldiers for the king’s armies. At the lowest level of society were the peasants, also called “serfs.” In
exchange for living and working on his land the lord offered his peasants protection. Following the year 1,000, peace and order
grew. As a result, peasants began to expand their farms and villages further into the countryside. The earliest merchants were
peddlers who went from village to village becoming more familiar with complex issues of trade, commerce, accounting, and
contracts. They became savvy businessmen and learned to deal with Italian moneylenders and bankers. The English, Belgians,
Germans, and Dutch took their coal, timber, wood, iron, copper, and lead to the south and came back with luxury items such
as wine and olive oil. With the advent of trade and commerce, feudal life declined. As the tradesmen became wealthier, they
resented having to give their profits to their lords. Arrangements were made for the townspeople to pay a fixed annual sum to
the lord or king and gain independence for their town as a “borough” with the power to govern itself. The marketplace became
the focus of many towns.
The Role of the Church
The Catholic Church was the only church in Europe during the Middle Ages, and it had its own laws. Church leaders such as
bishops and archbishops sat on the king’s council and played leading roles in government. Bishops, who were often wealthy
and came from noble families, ruled over groups of parishes called “dioceses.” Parish priests, on the other hand, came from
humbler backgrounds and often had little education. The village priest tended to the sick and indigent and, if he was able,
taught Latin and the Bible to the youth of the village. As the population of Europe expanded in the 12 th century, the churches
that had been built in the Roman style with round-arched roofs became too small. Some of the grand cathedrals, strained to
their structural limits by their creators’ drive to build higher and larger, collapsed within a century or less of their construction.
Medieval Homes
Most medieval homes were cold, damp, and dark. Sometimes it was warmer and lighter outside the home than within its walls.
For security purposes, windows, when they were present, were very small openings with wooden shutters that were closed at
night or in bad weather. The small size of the windows allowed those inside to see out, but kept outsiders from looking in.
many peasant families ate, slept, and spent time together in very small quarters, rarely more than one or two rooms. The
houses had thatched roofs and were easily destroyed. The homes of the rich were more elaborate than the peasants’ homes.
Their floors were paved, as opposed to being strewn with brush and herbs, and sometimes decorated with tiles. Tapestries
were hung on the walls, providing not only decoration but also an extra layer of warmth. Windows with lattice frames covered
in a fabric that was soaked in resin and tallow allowed in light, kept out drafts, and could be removed in good weather. Only
the wealthy could afford panes of glass; sometimes only churches and royal residences had glass windows.
Medieval Art and Music
Art and music were critical aspects of medieval religious life and, towards the end of the Medieval Ages, secular life as well.
Singing without instrumental accompaniment was an essential part of church services. Monks and priests chanted the divine
offices and the mass daily. Some churches had instruments such as organs and bells. Medieval drama grew out of the liturgy,
beginning in about the 11th century. These dramas were performed with costumes and musical instruments and at first look
took place directly outside the church. Later they were staged in marketplaces, where they were produced by local guilds.
The Black Death
About the Disease
Bubonic plague is the medical term is a bacillus, an organism, most usually carried by rodents. Fleas infest the animal and these
fleas move freely over to human hosts. The flea then spreads the blood from the rat into the human, infecting the human.
Symptoms include high fevers and aching limbs and vomiting of blood. Most characteristics is a swelling of the lymph nodes.
These glands can be found in the neck and armpits. The swelling protrudes and is easily visible; its blackish coloring gives the
disease its name: the Black Death. The swellings continue to expand until they eventually burst, with death following soon
after. The whole process, from first symptoms of fever and aches, to death lasts only three or four days. The swiftness of the
disease, the terrible pain, the grotesque appearance of the victims, all served to make the plague especially terrifying. Bubonic
plague is usually fatal. Today, we have drugs that can cure it, if administered in time. But if the victim is already at risk, through
malnutrition or other illness, it is more deadly. Historians have had a difficult time explaining why so many people died during
the 1348 outbreak. One theory suggests that there was more than one variety of plague at work in Europe. There are two other
varieties of plague, both of which are almost always fatal.
Origins of the Plague
The Black Death erupted in the Gobi Desert in the late 1320s and spread outward. No one really knows why. While it did go
west, it spread in every direction, and the Asian nations suffered as cruelly as anywhere. In China, for example, the population
dropped from around 125 million to 90 million over the course of the 14 th century. The plague moved along the caravan routes
toward the West. The disease traveled by ship as readily as by land. 1348 was the worst of the plague years. Because the disease
tended to follow trade routes, and to concentrate in cities, it followed a circular route: the Near East, the western
Mediterranean, then into northern Europe and finally back into Russia. The progress of the plague very neatly describes the
geography of medieval trade.
Official Reactions
Authorities took what steps they could to deal with the plague but their effectiveness was limited. Cities were hardest hit and
tried to take measures to control an epidemic no one understood. In Milan, to take one of the most successful examples, city
officials immediately walled up houses found to have the plague, isolating the healthy in them along with the sick. Venice took
sophisticated quarantine and health measures, including isolating all incoming ships on a separate island. Many people believed
that the disease was transmitted through the air because the smell from the dead was so awful. People burned all types of
incense. Scented handkerchiefs were used to cover the face when going out. Towns rang church bells to drive the plague away,
while other towns fired cannons. The only action that was effective was quarantine-simply staying far enough away that no
fleas could reach you.
Population Loss
The overall death rate in Europe was about 1/3 the total population. Nothing like that has happened before or since. Between
45% and 75% of Florence died in a single year. In Venice 60% died over the course of 18 months; five hundred to six hundred a
day at the height. Certain professions suffered higher death rates, especially people brought into contact with the sick-doctors
and clergy. Pope Clement VI had to consecrate the Rhone River so corpses could be sunk in it, for there was neither time nor
room to bury them.
Economic, Cultural, and Political Effects of the Plague
Cities were hit hard by the plague. Financial business was disrupted; construction projects stopped or were abandoned
altogether. Guilds lost their craftsmen and could not replace them. The labor shortage was severe which caused wages to rise.
There was an oversupply of goods that caused prices to drop. Farms and entire villages died out or were abandoned. Whole
families died, with no heirs, their houses standing empty.
The plague touched everyone, rich and poor alike. The whole community of scholars suffered as universities and schools,
usually located in regions hardest hit, were closed or even abandoned. 16 of the 40 professors at Cambridge died. The priests
died and no one could hear confession. Bishops died and so did their successors and even THEIR successors. The loss of life in
such great numbers and to so gruesome a disease, brought despair everywhere. There were those indeed who believed the
plague marked the end of the world. King Alfonso XI of Castile was the only reigning monarch to die of the plague. Parliaments
were adjourned when the plague struck; The Hundred Years’ War was suspended in 1348 because so many soldiers died. The
effect at local levels was more severe. Whole families of local nobles died. Courts closed down and wills could not be probated.
Recurrence of the Plague
One of the worst effects of the plague was that it came not once, but over and over. A couple of times it covered Europe again,
but not with such devastation. Countries never really had the chance to recover properly before another outbreak would occur.
All through the second half of the 14th century, every generation was visited by the plague. It struck again in the 15 th century,
but less frequently. Parts of Europe did not recover their preplague population until the 17 th century. The sensible thing to do
when the plague struck was to get out of town, for people expected the plague would remain local. Aristocrats could do this
because they had estates in the countryside. The poor, of course, had nowhere to go, so they remained and died. The bubonic
plague did not go away. It still exists, everywhere in the world. It is quite common among rodent populations-rats, of course,
but squirrels, rabbits, and skunks as well. The Rocky Mountains is one of the places where it is still widespread. The plague is
still very much with us.
http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/plague/