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Chapter Eight: The Black Death and its aftermath, c.1348–c.1520

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Making a Living in the Middle Ages
This chapter is in the book Making a Living in the Middle Ages
i.Plague and population, c.1348–c.1520The epidemic of plague which spread from Asia into western Europereached Britain in 1348. It was in effect a new disease, as an interval ofsix centuries had passed since the previous major epidemic. The plaguemoved through the population of black rats, colonies of which sur-rounded human settlements, even in remote places. When the rats died,their hungry fleas moved on to human beings and infected their new hostswhen they bit them. The bubonic plague was a warm-weather disease,so it was most active in the summer, but in the winter it developed a pneu-monic strain which could be spread directly from person to person bycoughing. Most of those who contracted bubonic plague died after a fewdays, but almost all of those who caught the pneumonic form succumbedvery quickly.Plague spread inexorably from its entry point in south-west Englandin the late summer of1348; it reached the midlands in 1349, and probably did not end in northern Scotland until 1350. Its movement tovillages and hamlets indicates the completeness of the commercialnetwork, as every place was visited regularly by travellers, cartloads ofgrain or hay, and packloads of goods, all of which might contain infectedrats or fleas. Once the disease had begun, its passage through the com-munity was aided by the sociable and charitable impulses of a society inwhich neighbours entered afflicted houses in order to visit the sick,mourn the dead and comfort the bereaved. The official procedures ofwill-making, and the distribution of bequests of grain and clothing,would help to maximize the number of contacts. The mortality amongthe privileged sections of society could be quite low – 27per cent in thecase of the tenants-in-chief of the English crown (earls, barons and somechapter eightThe Black Death and its aftermath,c.1348–c.1520
© Yale University Press, New Haven

i.Plague and population, c.1348–c.1520The epidemic of plague which spread from Asia into western Europereached Britain in 1348. It was in effect a new disease, as an interval ofsix centuries had passed since the previous major epidemic. The plaguemoved through the population of black rats, colonies of which sur-rounded human settlements, even in remote places. When the rats died,their hungry fleas moved on to human beings and infected their new hostswhen they bit them. The bubonic plague was a warm-weather disease,so it was most active in the summer, but in the winter it developed a pneu-monic strain which could be spread directly from person to person bycoughing. Most of those who contracted bubonic plague died after a fewdays, but almost all of those who caught the pneumonic form succumbedvery quickly.Plague spread inexorably from its entry point in south-west Englandin the late summer of1348; it reached the midlands in 1349, and probably did not end in northern Scotland until 1350. Its movement tovillages and hamlets indicates the completeness of the commercialnetwork, as every place was visited regularly by travellers, cartloads ofgrain or hay, and packloads of goods, all of which might contain infectedrats or fleas. Once the disease had begun, its passage through the com-munity was aided by the sociable and charitable impulses of a society inwhich neighbours entered afflicted houses in order to visit the sick,mourn the dead and comfort the bereaved. The official procedures ofwill-making, and the distribution of bequests of grain and clothing,would help to maximize the number of contacts. The mortality amongthe privileged sections of society could be quite low – 27per cent in thecase of the tenants-in-chief of the English crown (earls, barons and somechapter eightThe Black Death and its aftermath,c.1348–c.1520
© Yale University Press, New Haven

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Illustrations vii
  4. Preface ix
  5. Introduction: Approaching the economic history of medieval Britain 1
  6. Part One: Origins of the medieval economy, c.850–c.1100
  7. Chapter One: Living on the land, c.850–c.1050 13
  8. Chapter Two: Crisis and new directions, c.850–c.1050 43
  9. Chapter Three: Conquest c.1050–c.1100 71
  10. Part Two: Expansion and crisis, c.1100–c.1350
  11. Chapter Four: Lords, c.1100–c.1315 106
  12. Chapter Five: Peasants, c.1100–c.1315 155
  13. Chapter Six: Towns and commerce, c.1100–c.1315 187
  14. Chapter Seven: Crisis, c.1290–c.1350 228
  15. Part Three: Making a new world, c.1350–c.1520
  16. Chapter Eight: The Black Death and its aftermath, c.1348–c.1520 271
  17. Chapter Nine: Towns, trade and industry, c.1350–c.1520 298
  18. Chapter Ten: The countryside, c.1350–c.1520 330
  19. Conclusion 363
  20. Further reading 366
  21. Index 390
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https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300167078-011

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Illustrations vii
  4. Preface ix
  5. Introduction: Approaching the economic history of medieval Britain 1
  6. Part One: Origins of the medieval economy, c.850–c.1100
  7. Chapter One: Living on the land, c.850–c.1050 13
  8. Chapter Two: Crisis and new directions, c.850–c.1050 43
  9. Chapter Three: Conquest c.1050–c.1100 71
  10. Part Two: Expansion and crisis, c.1100–c.1350
  11. Chapter Four: Lords, c.1100–c.1315 106
  12. Chapter Five: Peasants, c.1100–c.1315 155
  13. Chapter Six: Towns and commerce, c.1100–c.1315 187
  14. Chapter Seven: Crisis, c.1290–c.1350 228
  15. Part Three: Making a new world, c.1350–c.1520
  16. Chapter Eight: The Black Death and its aftermath, c.1348–c.1520 271
  17. Chapter Nine: Towns, trade and industry, c.1350–c.1520 298
  18. Chapter Ten: The countryside, c.1350–c.1520 330
  19. Conclusion 363
  20. Further reading 366
  21. Index 390
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