Europe. It is also credited with having caused social and political
reforms. It also arguably changed the course of European, and therefore
global, history.
During the Dark Ages, religious dogma was law, science was heresy
punishable by death, and technology was seen as the handiwork of the
devil. History and the public consciousness remembers the Dark Ages for
the above traits, as well as the Crusades, which were little more than
thinly-veiled examples of European imperialist goals. However, there is
one other major event from the Dark Ages that, in its own way, had a
major impact on modern culture. In fact, one widespread bacterial
infection has, arguably, had an even greater effect than most other
events of the time.
One little bacterial infection wiped out nearly half of Europe, leaving
it wide open for the subsequent invasion of the Genghis Khan's Mongol
hordes. That same pandemic infection also left Europe in such a weakened
state that it took most of the larger powers almost a century to
recover, with some historians believing that the continent never fully
rebuilt itself. One little bacterial infection turned into a massive
pandemic, spawned a number of heretical Christian groups, indirectly
caused the formation of the Inquisition, left the Old World crippled for
decades afterwards, and may have caused a wholesale slaughter of cats.
Amazing that one little infection could be so easily remembered in
history as the Black Death.
The Black Death was perhaps the greatest disaster to have befallen
Europe since Rome was sacked by the Huns, who were followed shortly by
the Visigoths. The most persistent impact clearly was the decimation of
Europe, with estimated death tolls ranging from a third of the
population to more than half the continent. The horrors were recounted
by numerous sources from the period, which paint an unpleasant picture
of a once-powerful continent brought low by "an act of God." However,
more than the death toll and the strategic impact, one might contend
that the Plague left Europe with a climate of fear and anxiety that
haunted Europeans for years, especially since lesser outbreaks occurred
for centuries afterwards.
Art and literature are permeated with references to the "sweeping death"
by the generation that survived it, leading some early Renaissance works
to be dominated by "Le Danse Macabre," the dance of death. The clergy of
the time, seen by the people as unable to fulfill their promises of
banishing the plague by the power of God, lost much of their hold on the
European people. In addition, the ranks of the clergymen were easily
ravaged by the Black Death, forcing the Vatican to install ill-mannered
and poorly-trained replacements. This action caused the people to lose
even more faith in the church, with power moving into the hands of
heretical groups. As the plague rescinded and the heresies' rise to
power slowed, Christian authorities established the full wrath of the
Inquisition.
In what some might see as a fine example of dark humor, the Black Death
also showed just how quickly the mob can resort to ridiculous measures
when gripped with fear and anxiety. At a time when faith in God was
still strong, despite wavering faith in His clergymen, cats were seen as
the agents of the devil. There are hundreds of reports of healthy
citizens attacking and slaughtering cats, their fear and anxiety having
made them susceptible to the suggestion that cats carried the "miasma,"
the poisonous air that carried the plague. Naturally, with a stark drop
in the cat population, the rat population increased, and with those
rats, so came the bacteria that caused the plague.
Perhaps the greatest effect of the plague was that it was critical in
the social reforms that would come in the years to follow. The Catholic
Church, having lost much power because of it, had fractured enough to
allow for groups to challenge its power. The people became less willing
to follow the edicts of clergymen, as well as political figures who had
close ties with the Church. In fact, one might argue that there is a
mild correlation between the rise of more secular authority figures and
the Black Death's onset. Many historians have even gone so far as to
argue that the basic principles of capitalism were formed when the
various aristocrats of Europe were forced to compete with one another
for the services of surviving peasants and serfs.
In the end, countless changes can be attributed to the Black Death.
Some, like Europe's overall military frailty at the charge of the Mongol
Hordes, are direct, while others, such as the Reformation and the
Renaissance, are more indirect. However, one effect cannot be disputed.
The fear and anxiety caused by the Black Death had permanently changed
the economic, social, and political landscape of Europe, such that
Europe might have evolved differently had it not been for a simple
bacterial infection.
No comments:
Post a Comment