The Crisis of the Later Middle Ages, 1300-1450

Chapter 12Climate Change and Famine

The end of the Middle Ages & the beginning of the early modern

era Horrific disasters Significant changes in econ & social structures Significant changes in people’s ideas Societal tensions

Changing attitudes toward the religious institution The Catholic Church

“fur collar” crimes Relationships and sexuality Ethnic consciousness

A time preoccupied with death – European life reshaped & reborn

The 14th C

Key Concepts

Climate change and epidemic About ½ the

population of Eur. died within a few years Significant and

long lasting impact

Climate Change & Famine

Historical geographers conclude 1300-1450 was a “little Ice Age” Colder & wetter Scarcity due to

destroyed crops Great Famine 1315-

1322 Reduced population

(Burgundy 1/3 pop. Died)

Epidemics

Reduced human & animal pop. Homesteads abandoned Vagabonds (wandering homeless) Marriages delayed Smaller pop. less demand in markets – urban

unemployment

Climate Change & Famine

Climate Change & Famine

Government response Ineffective

Tried to control speculation

Estab. price controls Encouraged long-

distance trade Particularly with Italy

Improved sailing ships

Opened new routes Discontent vented on

Wealthy Jews lepers

International Trade – Spread of disease

Rats & insects The Black Death

Origin – China Arrived – Genoese ships 1347 Spread by fleas on rats – bubonic Spread by air - Pneumonic form

Cities – poor sanitary condition Attempts to prevent

Quarantine Improving sanitation Eradicating “the poisons” in the air Treatment lancing & bloodletting

Climate Change & Famine

death by plague is horrible and rapid the disease is caused by a bacterium, Yersinia

pestis after infection, once a fever has started, the

patient may be dead within 12-15 hours the disintegration of bodily functions leads to

massive necrosis (death) of tissues the fingers and toes literally turn black and

large painful buboes (swellings) form in the lymph glands of neck, groin and armpit

The Biology of the Plague

Transmission of plague

under the unsanitary conditions of the middle ages it is not surprising that disease was rampant

plague virus became endemic in the rat population of Europe fleas that bit the rat and then a man would transmit the bacterium the rats acted as a reservoir, maintaining the bacterial population the flea was the vector that transmitted the Yersinia from rat to man the bacterium actually grows in the flea and blocks its digestive

tract the flea gets very hungry, but when it bites its next host, it can't

swallow the blood and regurgitates back into the host once in the animals blood, the bacterium moves to the lymph nodes

and survives in phagocytes an overwhelming infection ensues the victim is often dead within a week

The flea

Climate Change & Famine

The blame belongs to – Jews

1000s were murdered in mob violence

Human sinfulness Punishment from God

The clergy’s role Ministered to the ill High death rate among

clergy Loss of clergy led bishops

to permit lay administration of the sacraments.

Climate Change & Famine

Religion and the Plague –

Seeds of Change

Many questioned their faith

The bishops decision to allow lay administration of the sacraments will have consequences during the Reformation

The Economic Consequences

Aristocratic prosperity was disrupted – temporarily Florence – new members to the guild accepted General inflation Shortage of labor

Rise in real wages Laws sought to prevent rise is wages

English Statute of Laborers Standard of living in towns went up Per capita wealth increased Peasants even had greater mobility

Climate Change & Famine

Labor & the Plague – Seeds of Change

The Shortage of labor meant urban workers and peasants could negotiate better terms for themselves Rare situation in European history

Improvement in econ. conditions led to stabilization of pop.

Employers and nobles tried to revert to lower wages and higher manorial obligations…they only partially succeeded

Climate Change & Famine