MMW 13 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Black Death, Mortality Rate, Malnutrition
Outline Lecture Fifteen—The Black Death
Key Questions:
1) How did the Christian and Islamic worlds respond differently to the
onslaught of the Black Death?
2) What lasting social, economic, and cultural repercussions did the Black
Death have on late medieval Europe?
I) The Magnitude of the Black Death
a) Ripe Preconditions
i) Demographic changes
(1) Warming Trend from 800 to 1200
- Increase in population (carrying capacity of land increases)
synonymous with warming trends
-
Eurasian population doubled around this time → means
denser, greater population density on an urban level
-
Sharp cooling period around 1200 → bad harvest
(2) The Great Famine 1315-1322 in northern Europe
- Malnutrition and population density increases possibility of
diseases
- Survivors were weakened in terms of immune system and
health
ii) From local epidemics to global pandemic
(1) Greater proximity between human settlements and wilderness
-
Effects of mongol expansion → integrated previously isolated
areas together
- Transmission of disease through caravans
- 1333 - first recorded outbreak in china
(2) Interlocking Trade Networks
- How easy it was to transmit disease westward, through middle
east
- Ships sailing to italian port cities (genoa, venice, florence) -
carried bacteria from middle east
- Wherever trade routes led to, the diseases would erupt
b) How the Plague Spread in Europe 1347-1350
i) Invariably followed the contours of the trade routes
- Moving north in europe
ii) Death toll of the Plague in Europe
- Mortality rate was about 13%, but attrition rates show that it was
45~50%
- Feudal manors and detailed accounts in britain show more
accurate statistics
II) Responses to the Plague
a) In Europe
i) Boccaccio’s Decameron
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Document Summary
Key questions: how did the christian and islamic worlds respond differently to the onslaught of the black death, what lasting social, economic, and cultural repercussions did the black. Death have on late medieval europe: the magnitude of the black death, ripe preconditions, demographic changes (1) warming trend from 800 to 1200. Increase in population (carrying capacity of land increases) synonymous with warming trends. Eurasian population doubled around this time means denser, greater population density on an urban level. Sharp cooling period around 1200 bad harvest (2) the great famine 1315-1322 in northern europe. Malnutrition and population density increases possibility of diseases. Survivors were weakened in terms of immune system and health: from local epidemics to global pandemic (1) greater proximity between human settlements and wilderness. Effects of mongol expansion integrated previously isolated areas together. 1333 - first recorded outbreak in china (2) interlocking trade networks. How easy it was to transmit disease westward, through middle east.