The Black Death (Events and Consequences)

Question 1

What were four preventative measures and cures recommended by religion? (4)

Answer 1

• Prayer and religious offering, such as processions, confessions, vigils and fasts
• The faithful were advised to wear crosses as amulets (good luck charms that would provide a blessing).
• Muslims would wear gold lions.
• Flight to the mountains, but Muslims regarded this as worthless because God’s anger could easily be extended there.

Question 2

What were four preventative measures and cures recommended by doctors? (4)

Answer 2

• Smelling sweet herbs, rose-water and some flowers
• Smelling strong substances such as vinegar and onions (often combined with other items in various witches’ brews)
• Deliberate blood-letting to release hot fluid
• Burning away or simply surgically removing the buboes was also advocated, followed by a prescribed ointment such as herbal extracts or even clay.

Question 3

What were five community measures taken against the Black Death? (5)

Answer 3

• Imposing isolation, by quarantining commercial traffic
• Closing down institutions such as Parliament, Law Courts, Colleges and Schools where large numbers of people came into contact.
• Bonfires were lit to purify the air.
• Some half-hearted attempts were made to stop the movement of Plague-stricken families.
• Bodies were left to rot in the streets and were later buried in mass graves without identification.

Question 4

What were the four human reactions to the Black Death that Italian writer from Florence, Boccacio, claimed he wtinessed? (4)

Answer 4

• Isolation and moderation
• Flight to the countryside
• Excessive debauchery and partying
• Carrying on as normal (except for fragrances to overcome the stench of death).

Question 5

What were the two main ways people reacted to the Black Death, according to contemporary writers? (2)

Answer 5

• There were those who went completely mad

- There were those who turned to religion in excess.

Question 6

How did the Black Death affect the clergy? (5)

Answer 6

• The clergy were very exposed to it.
• They ran a high risk as they needed to take funeral and support the bereaved.
• There was very high death rate among clergy.
• There were some desertions.
• Three Archbishops of Canterbury were killed.

Question 7

How did the clergy adapt to the Black Death? (3)

Answer 7

• Some communities had to appoint special acting clergy
• This clergy had powers to hear confession and pronounce absolution from sin.
• Some bishops even permitted any head of family to take on this responsibility.

Question 8

What did Pope Clement VI do to the River Rhone? (2)

Answer 8

• He consecrated it (made it holy) (1) so that people could be thrown into the water as a type of burial. (1)

Question 9

Who were the Flagellants? (6)

Answer 9

• Groups of extremely religious Christians in northern Europe.
• Travelled from place to place, whipping themselves in public
• hoped that by drawing blood that they would quench God’s anger and He would then remit the penalty of Plague.
• Enthusiastic crowds greeted them or even joined them
• The Church, which taught that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was sufficient to forgive all sins, were suspicious.
• The Flagellants were eventually condemned and outlawed.

Question 10

Did the Flagellants ever come to England? (1)

Answer 10

No.

Question 11

Why was some of European society anti-Semitic in the Middle Ages? (2)

Answer 11

• During the period of the Crusades, both Muslims and Jews were seen as enemies of Christianity.
• Under Jewish law, Jews were allowed to practise loaning money, which was banned under Christian law. This led to their success in commerce and consequent envy from people.

Question 12

What happened to some Jewish communities? (2)

Answer 12

• Jewish communities were attacked, especially in Switzerland and Germany.

Question 13

Why were some Jewish communities attacked? (6)

Answer 13

• Prevailing anti-Semitic attitudes meant they were a convenient excuse when no one knew the real cause
• It was also a convenient way of not paying back any money that might have been ‘loaned’
• Judaism had more hygienic practices than Christianity, and so less Jews were affected by the Black Death, which aroused suspicion.
• Jews were accused of poisoning the wells.
• As the killers of Christ they were believed to be, at least in part, the cause of God’s anger
• The authorities eventually stopped the persecution.

Question 14

Did the persecution of the Jews happen in England during the Black Death? (3)

Answer 14

No (1), because they had been expelled by Edward I (1) in 1290 (1)

Question 15

What were the economic effects of the Black Death in England? (5)

Answer 15

• A massive labour shortage.
• Peasants became more in demand and demanded higher wages.
• Peasants ran away to landowners offering more money.
• Wages went up
• Sudden decline in trade.

Question 16

What law did the government in England bring in to try to bring wages down & in which year? (2)

Answer 16

• The Statute of Labourers in 1351

Question 17

What event can the Statute of Labourers (and therefore, the Black Death) be seen to be linked to? (2)

Answer 17

• The Peasants’ or Peoples’ Revolt (1) in 1381 (1).

Question 18

What were the social effects of the Black Death? (3)

Answer 18

• Villages and hamlets were deserted.
• Wars were halted.
• Excessive drinking and partying.

Question 19

What were the religious effects of the Black Death? (4)

Answer 19

• People lost their faith in God and the Church, as prayer was not preventing the spread.
• The established Church was discredited to some extent by the desertion of some priests
• Priests were often being ignorant and greedy for more pay.
• Eventually this helped to lead to the attack on the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church known as the Reformation.

Question 20

What were the medical effects of the Black Death? (3)

Answer 20

• Traditional medicine was shown to be hopelessly inadequate.
• A more modern experimental and clinical approach slowly began to be accepted.
• The need for more enquiry and education became apparent.

Question 21

Why did Black Death end? (3)

Answer 21

• Eventually large numbers of rats and other carriers died out.
• In addition, the plague germ could only survive in certain temperatures.
• By 1350 many the population that remained having already contracted and survived the Plague in this or other epidemics.

Question 22

Why would an outbreak of bubonic & pneumonic plague be difficult today in Europe? (4)

Answer 22

• There are generally more pest controls.
• Rubbish disposal is now much more efficient.
• Improvement in public health, (including sanitation, hygiene and drainage) is infinitely better.
• Disappearance of famine and malnutrition in Europe means more effective resistance to the germ as well.

Question 23

How do we know so much about the Black Death? (4)

Answer 23

• Church records such as registers of deaths
• Legal records such as wills, testaments and probate
• Land-ownership records such as vacancies for land-holdings.
• They all tend to support an average death-rate of 30-40%.

Question 24

When and where did the Black Death first hit Britain? (2)

Answer 24

June 1348; Melcombe in Dorset.

Question 25

What population of Britain died during the Black Death? (1)

Answer 25

One third.

Question 26

How many people died in London during the Black Death? (2)

Answer 26

In London, with a population of about 70,000 (1), 30,000 people died. (1)