The Black Death

It was a long time ago- this is generally held to be a good thing for those of us in the 21st Century. I picked up a book, kind of a fictional narrative, but historically accurate, on the spread of the plague through England. It actually turned out to be really interesting! The plague began in or around Turkey, then traveled first westwards towards the Black Sea, then southwards along its western coast towards Constantinople, then from there spread both east and west along the coast of the Mediterranean sea, ultimately reaching first Italy and then inland towards France. From there, it was a short jump to England itself. The fact that this would have represented a common trade route is painfully obvious, and makes sense. The book, however, focuses more on the actual climate of a village called Walsham, and actually provides an interesting insight into the day-to-day life in this time period. People were generally peasants, though their stature as such varied greatly. In the midst of these peasants were the lords they worked for, which meant the manor courts held a good deal of sway over their daily affairs. People would go to the courts to file complaints about their neighbors, or to hear charges brought against them, sometimes by the lords they served. Dovetailing with the manors was the church- a bit more networked than the manors, but travel remained difficult during these times, and communication relied on travel. So people sometimes made pilgrimages to the sites where shrines to some saint or another were built, mainly as a form of penance. And this is what I found really interesting. People, it seems, could not earn salvation while on earth- they were, as a general rule, too hopelessly jacked up. Hence purgatory- people after death would go hang out in purgatory for a while, so they could finish up the penance they began in their earthly life. Prayers of the living, as well as the granting of indulgences by the clergy, sometimes in the form of payment, sometimes in the form of gifts to the church, also helped, lessening their time in purgatory. I found this an interesting philosophy, clearly developed from the situation people found themselves in. People were very much subject to the twists of fate they encountered. A bad harvest might very well mean you and your family found themselves on the brink of starvation, or a harsh winter meant a very real possibility of freezing to death. The church found themselves in a place of respect and prominence- remember that books were not as widespread as they are today. Mass printing had yet to be invented, and creating or reproducing a book was a long, laborious process, and on top of that was restricted to people who could read and write. Often this was considered an extravagance for the common people- however, monks were the preservers of knowledge, and would reproduce books written by hand. These books, obviously, became worth their weight in gold.

Local priests were the authority in the village, as they alone understood and could perform the rites such as Masses and holy observances. Thus, they naturally became figures of great power and authority within their community. No doubt many of them genuinely took their roles seriously, though medieval history is full of accounts of those who did not. Power, it would seem, sometimes corrupts. So why did the church, and subsequently its representatives, gain so much influence? Because medieval people saw these turns of fate- a bad harvest here, a harsh winter there- as beyond their control, and the direct result of God being pissed. So the church provides a way to make God happy- thus, when God is happy, the winters are mild, no one starves to death, and things are generally a little easier. The promise of an afterlife where none of these hardships affect you anymore no doubt sweetened the deal quite a bit. Man must be sinful, the reasoning probably went- else why would life on earth be so hard? The promise of a rest from labor appealed to people, no doubt.

At first, the plague hits 'heathen' lands, those where Christianity was either absent or scarce. Clearly, thought the people, perhaps encouraged by the church, we're in with God, because this horrible thing hasn't come over here. Now keep in mind people were not sheep then any more than they are now- they would ask questions of their priests- what the heck is going on over there? Should we be worried? The priests no doubt were kind of at a loss, and offered the best explanation they could give. Well, probably someone did something to piss off God, so now God is dropping the hammer. As the plague creeps nearer and nearer to England, ultimately reaching Walsham itself, people wonder what they went and did now. Or perhaps God's just being kind of a jerk, so regardless, we don't have a choice but to try to appease him. Pilgrimages, prayers and the like increase greatly- clearly, God wants a show of devotion from his faithful people. Questions continue to abound, and the priests are harder put for an explanation- nonetheless, they do the best they can. Life more or less goes on, panic ensues, lots of people die, then as the plague subsides, pick up the pieces and move on. This is an interesting study in history not because of the fact that there was an epidemic- that even happens in these modern times. Rather, it reveals the philosophy of people at the time. Lacking knowledge and learning themselves, they put their faith in those who had such learning. It was a unique combination of circumstances that led up to the situation the church found themselves in. Couple this with the philosophy spread by Paul, who was so certain that Christianity was the one true religion, and all others but lies spawned by some Devil, who was intent on dooming people to Hell, and you've got the makings of an authoritarian structure. Now all this was to change during the Renaissance, when literacy as well as books became more widespread, leading people to draw their own conclusions. With this, people began to share information on a much larger scale also, resulting in more industry, more exchange of ideas, and with this, a higher standard of living. The result was more time for contemplative pursuits and more time for speculation on this life and what might lie beyond it. At the time, people had only the word of their clerical authorities to go on, and had to rely on this for their understanding of the teachings of their faith. Nonetheless, I believe at least at the local level, priests were not all corrupt. No doubt many of them sincerely believed in what they were doing, as is the case today. They tried to offer the best explanations they could from the information available to them, trying to make sense out of a seemingly senseless world, and helping the people under their spiritual care to do the same thing.

At any rate, the name of the book is The Black Death- A Personal History, written by John Hatcher. It's based on historical information about the time period, though the actual characters are by and large fictionalized. The story is convincing and very well written, however, though somewhat difficult to classify as actual history or historical fiction. Worth a look, at any rate, especially for history geeks like me.