“The Black Death: how did the world's deadliest pandemic change society? | OUPblog - OUPblog” plus 1 more

“The Black Death: how did the world's deadliest pandemic change society? | OUPblog - OUPblog” plus 1 more

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The Black Death: how did the world's deadliest pandemic change society? | OUPblog - OUPblog Posted: 29 Jan 2021 02:30 AM PST Conspiracy theories abound that COVID-19 originated in a laboratory, although history provides a number of examples of global pandemics caused by a pathogen crossing over from mammals to humans. The best example is the Black Death of 1346-53, which killed around one half of the population of the known world and caused global economic output to fall by perhaps 40%. The sudden change in the behaviour of this disease was linked directly to a sustained period of extreme weather and major climatic change, to heightened levels of global trade, and to over-population and impoverishment. Sound familiar? The first outbreak of the Black Death was—still is—the worst pandemic and catastrophe inflicted upon humanity in recorded history. We can only imagine the terror, suffering, pain, and incomprehension it caused. Even worse, it recurred frequently over the next three centuries before finally disappearing from Britain in the 1660s and France in the 1720s. As the COVID-19 pandemic flares in 2021, we might wonder about the long-term socio-economic effects of epidemic disease. It may be a surprise to learn, then, that the age of the Black Death proved to be a major watershed in human history, by triggering a range of institutional and social changes that opened up the route to liberal and commercial modernity. While all of the known world had to cope with a heavy pandemic burden between the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries, coping mechanisms and levels of social and economic resilience varied greatly. On the one hand, Ireland regressed to how it had been in the 1150s and the decay of the Nile irrigation system caused the wealth and economy of Mamluk Egypt to collapse. On the other hand, some regions of northwest Europe shed their "feudal" structures and became recognisably "modern." England was a feudal society and economic laggard when the Black Death first arrived, but by the 1660s it was one of the most advanced economies in the world. Thus, in the long run, similar demographic experiences resulted in dramatically different social and economic outcomes. Pandemics are catastrophes for some and opportunities for others. What explains the difference? Inevitably, the answer to that question is very complex and highly contested. Responses to the initial outbreaks of disease in England were decisive, although by c.1400 there was still little to suggest that its long-term trajectory would be exceptional. Indeed, the 1350s and 1360s had been very uncertain and volatile, due to an unprecedented combination of major plague epidemics in 1361 and 1369, repeated epizootics among animals, and extreme weather conditions. Crucially, though, these two decades also witnessed dramatic changes. The government introduced radical and novel legislation in 1351 to regulate the markets for labour and foodstuffs, the first occasion when the state had intervened at a moment of national crisis to protect the welfare of the populace. Its initial policies were neither equitable, successful, nor popular, but they established the state as a standing authority in areas of social policy and laid the foundations for the systemic relief of the poor, which by the seventeenth century helped to eradicate famine from England. The old, creaking system of serfdom rapidly decayed under the sudden shock of worker and tenant shortages, to be displaced by more contractual arrangements in the land and labour markets. This happened quicky, well before the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, indicating that commercial forces were already more powerful than the residual coercive powers of lordship under feudalism. Consequently, factor markets became more commercialised, and the result was a rapid reduction in wealth inequality and a rise in GDP per head. Chronic labour shortages also encouraged women to seek employment, which in turn may have resulted in a delay in the average age at marriage, increased fertility control, and the birth of the western nuclear family. By the 1360s greater disposable income among the lower orders of society was already fuelling a mini consumer revolution, exemplified by the increased consumption of better food and clothing. It was associated with a shift to employment in manufacturing and services. In the 1380s the percentage of the English workforce in industrial employment was far higher than in much of eastern Europe in the 1680s. Over the next two centuries these initial changes were consolidated, refined, and reinforced to varying degrees, so that England was well placed to adapt when, after 1500, the population eventually began to recover again. Its particular institutional and legal structure had mediated the impact of epidemic disease in ways that changed social relations, opened up factor markets, and discouraged the reimposition of serfdom. The Black Death did not determine the course of history, but it did shift the existing paradigm radically and create the opportunity for parts of northwest Europe to industrialise eventually. Historians are now paying much more attention to the role of nature—whether tiny pathogens or vast climate systems—in explaining the trajectory of human development. Understanding the Black Death also underlines the inter-disciplinary nature of history, and, in the face of COVID-19, the subject's continuing fascination and importance. Featured image: Dr. Schnabel of Rome, a Plague Doctor in 1656 Paul Fuerst Copper engraving, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

History's pandemics can teach lessons today | Holyoke Enterprise - Holyoke Enterprise Posted: 30 Dec 2020 09:02 AM PST As long as humans have lived among one another in communities, disease has been a part of the human condition. Cities became connected by roads as citizens traded with one another and made war against each other, all of which contributed to the spread of disease. With the COVID-19 pandemic currently coloring nearly all aspects of society, it can sometimes be hard to remember a time that people did not talk about the disease. Of course, COVID-19 is not the first pandemic humans have experienced and will not likely be the last. The bubonic plague that struck Europe and Asia in the 14th century and the 1918 influenza pandemic are just two of many examples of contagious illnesses shaping history and causing social changes as people tried to prevent the devastation from happening again. Black Death disrupts Europe The menacing bubonic plague pandemic that ravaged Europe and Asia in the middle of the 14th century came to be known as the Black Death. Five years after its arrival in Europe, almost one-third of the continent's population was killed by the plague, more than 20 million people in all. England and France lost so many to the Black Death that the countries called a temporary halt in their war with each other. According to a history.com article, the Black Death reached Europe in 1347, when 12 ships from the Black Sea docked in Sicily. Many of the sailors on the ship were already dead, and those who were still alive were covered in the boils that were telltale signs of the plague. The Black Death was notoriously contagious. It was spread person to person through the air as well as from bites from infected rats and fleas, both of which were plentiful in Europe at the time. Rats and fleas were also frequent uninvited passengers on ships, allowing the plague to spread more easily. Medieval doctors tried to combat the plague by employing techniques such as lancing boils and bloodletting, but these were not effective. At this time, doctors also wore plague masks, which had a large beak-like structure in the front part of it. Many people at this time believed the miasma theory, which claimed that bad-smelling air was caused by disease that polluted the air. The long beak part of the mask could be filled with herbs and other items that produced pleasant smells in an attempt to protect the doctor from the foul air. Additionally, these long beaks also created physical distance between doctor and patient. The labor shortage that the bubonic plague caused helped to lay the foundation for the removal of the serf system used in Europe at the time. Workers were able to ask for better pay and working conditions, and sanitation in the cities improved. The plague reappeared every few generations for many centuries, and there are still cases around the world each year, though these can typically be easily treated with antibiotics and standard preventative measures, according to the World Health Organization. Influenza and world war take 1918 by storm Sometimes called a forgotten pandemic since it coincided with the end of World War I, the influenza pandemic of 1918 killed 20 million to 50 million people worldwide. It is thought to have infected an estimated 500 million people, which was about one-third of the world population at the time. It is often called the "Spanish flu," which is a misnomer. While it did not originate in Spain, the country was one of the first to cover the disease in its news media. In response to the pandemic, schools and businesses were closed and people asked to wear masks to slow the spread of the disease. Some communities ordered quarantines. People were advised to stop shaking hands, and regulations were passed banning spitting. Those who were ill experienced typical flu symptoms such as fever, fatigue and chills. The first wave in the spring of 1918 resulted in generally mild symptoms and a low number of reported deaths. The second wave appeared in the fall of that same year, and people began dying within days or even hours of developing symptoms, greatly increasing the death count. The 1918 flu was unusual in that it killed many people who were young and otherwise healthy, many of whom were between 20-40 years old. This meant that children sometimes lost both parents to the disease. Troops in World War I who were traveling the world in ships and trains helped spread the disease, and about 45,000 U.S. soldiers died of the flu by the end of 1918. An estimated total of 675,000 Americans died of influenza in 1918, which would be equivalent to over two million deaths in today's population. The deadly pandemic finally came to an end by the summer of 1919, and researchers feel that this was due to the fact that those who had been infected had either died or developed immunity. After the 1918 flu pandemic, many governments and scientists across the world studied the conditions that promote illness for insight into ways to prevent it rather than just reacting to a disease's symptoms. Governments began to look into housing situations and pass laws regarding overcrowding, and many saw these laws as a direct attempt to counteract the spreading of the disease that occurs when many people are in close quarters. Humans have come through plagues and pandemics before, and their similarities to and differences from the current pandemic can be instructive on how to overcome these sad chapters and build an even stronger and better future.

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