The Black Death that swept across
the Mediterranean in the middle of the 14th century resulted in
different responses among various portions of the population. The responses to the Plague range greatly
throughout the Mediterranean Basin. In The Italian States we have evidence of a
limited response by certain parts of the populace which saw an increase in
moral laxity. In Germany and the Low Countries, however this was counteracted
by an increase in penitential flagellants who became known for a strong, yet
misguided, piety bordering on hysteria.
Therefore moral laxity was not a contributing factor in the development
or spread of the disease but was, along with other more religious acts, a
response to the Plague.
In order to gauge the differences in
morality before and after the Plague one must first provide a description of
morality before the plague. In medieval society in the high to late middle
ages, morality was normally something that was closely monitored in society.
Women were expected to be modest and clothed in a manner as to reveal as little
skin as possible. The family unit was the basic economic factor which led to an
expectation of family supporting each other. Fathers were the head of household
and were responsible for the care of the wife, children, and, at times,
extended family. Priest played a major part in the morality of society by
providing direction to lost souls and preaching sermons on the correct way in
which to worship and please an angry God.[1] They were
also responsible for the burying of the dead and last rites at funerals.[2] People also
respected their neighbors property and assets in accordance with the Ten
Commandments. After the coming of the Plague c. 1348 many of these moralities
would fall by the wayside as people struggled to cope with the Black Death.
Woman’s modesty according to some
sources became notably lessened in the wake of the Plague. Women after the
Death had no qualms with showing more skin in public as illustrated in the
account of Boccaccio. In addition to this lack of visual modesty it is also
noted that women in some parts of Europe, instead of being 'barren', were
instead marrying in great numbers and procreating in large numbers.[3] This might
be seen as a natural reaction to the Death that was sweeping Europe. Women
abandoned their previously 'moral' existences and instead joined together in
what De Venette called 'wanton abandon'.[4]
The family unit of Europe was a
central figure in the lives of peasants and aristocrats throughout medieval
Europe. Men were expected to provide for the family to the best of their
ability. This included providing care to the sick. However, with the coming of
the Plague this family unit began to disintegrate. Husbands left wives, brothers left sisters,
mothers left children.[5] The basic unit of life in their world would
disappear as each person sought to deal with the plague as they saw best. This
change in social normalcy was brought on by the idea that death, being so
rampant, it was only a matter of time, in the minds of people, before they each
succumbed to it. This undoubtedly led to an increase in the wanton behavior
many people displayed, moving from house to house or tavern to tavern drinking
repeatedly to excess and treating their bodies as carelessly as their livers. Further
evidence of moral laxity is present in several accounts in which there are
descriptions of people liberally taking possession of the dead or dying's
property. Even though no relation is held by those taking the 'movable items'
it still occurred quite often.
In order to atone for both original
sin and the sin incurred by a single person there arose a sect of Christians
who deemed it prudent to enact penance for their sins. This penance however,
was extreme in nature and religiously unsanctioned. The participants of this
sect, called 'Flagellants', would, as their name implied proceed to both whip
themselves and be whipped by another with long leather straps to which were
affixed thorns of wood or iron which tore at flesh as they were applied. These reactionaries
believed that they were atoning for their sin as well as atoning for the sin of
the community.[6]
The penitents would travel through towns and cities enacting a procession which
drew large crowds of spectators who all, “..felt pity for the said penitents.”[7] This form
of self sacrifice however was not condoned by the church and the pope even went
so far as to provide bishops license to excommunicate members of the sect,
partially due to the fact that husbands were simply deserting their families in
order to repent with the group.[8] The act of
self-flagellation was simply another example of people acting against
long-standing moralities.
Priests in 14th and 15th
century Europe during the Plague were seen by a wide swath of the population as
lazy or greedy. It is noted that many priests were actually ordered back to
their dioceses by their Archbishops in addition to being censured for extorting
peasants.[9] The local
populations were more apt to charge that the priests were not fulfilling their
duties in regard to burying the dead with their last rights.[10] However
being as the priests died at roughly the same ratio as the rest of the
population the fact that there were simply just not enough of them to bury the
massive amount of dead is a better explanation than that they were simply lazy.
The priesthood also speaks out against the hysteria of the flagellants possibly
even lowering their worth to the common people as the common people more than
likely viewed the flagellants as at least attempting to do something to assuage
the anger of God.
Art also played a large role in
depicting the lack of morality with regard to the Plague. Worms begin to have an increasing presence in
tombs particularly when illustrated as partaking of the flesh of the dead, yet even
when not they could also be found in poems that where placed alongside the
crypts.[11] This shows
a marked departure from earlier forms of decoration, highlighting the
perception of what life living with the Plague was like. The other common sight seen in art is a sense of impending
doom involving the figure of Death playing chess with participants in which the
participants follow death into the afterlife after losing at his 'game'.[12] This sense
of dread was used as a justification in abandoning normal ideas of morality.
In all, the effect of the plague
produced an era of relative licentiousness in which inhabitants freely
abandoned previously established moralities. This was an effect of the Plague
rather and not a cause of it. The laxity that is seen, such as lack of modesty,
drunkenness, and lack of following proper religious protocol can all be seen in
the accounts of post-Plague Europe.
[1] Aberth, John. The Black Death: the great mortality of 1348-1350 : a brief history
with documents. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. Petrarch pg72
[2] Aberth, John. The Black Death: the great mortality of 1348-1350 : a brief history
with documents. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.Boccaccio pg 79
[3] Aberth, John. The Black Death: the great mortality of 1348-1350 : a brief history
with documents. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.Jean De Venette pg
83
[4] ibid
[5] Boccaccio pg 77
[6] Aberth, John. The Black Death: the great mortality of 1348-1350 : a brief history
with documents. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.Fritsche Closener pg
133
[7] Aberth, John. The Black Death: the great mortality of 1348-1350 : a brief history
with documents. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.Gilles Li Muisis pg
132
[8] Aberth, John. The Black Death: the great mortality of 1348-1350 : a brief history
with documents. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.King Philip VI of
France. Pg 138, Muisis pg137 Heinrich of Herford pg 122
[9] Aberth, John. The Black Death: the great mortality of 1348-1350 : a brief history
with documents. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.Hamo Hethe, Bishop
of Rochester pg 106
[10] Aberth, John. The Black Death: the great mortality of 1348-1350 : a brief history
with documents. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005.Simon Islip,
Archbishop of Canterbury pg 105, Hamo Hethe, Bishop of Rochester pg 106
[11] Aberth,
John. The Black Death: the great
mortality of 1348-1350 : a brief history with documents. Boston, MA:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. A Disputacioun betwyx the Body and Wormes pg176
[12] Aberth,
John. The Black Death: the great
mortality of 1348-1350 : a brief history with documents. Boston, MA:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 2005. Death as Chess Player pg 168
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