Abstract
The Black Death severed, at least temporarily, many of the bonds and norms that held medieval society together. Observers movingly describe mass burial scenes (see Figure 1), and the heart-wrenching abandonment of even close family members is described by chronicler after chronicler, including Boccaccio in Florence (Document 16) and Agnolo di Tura in Siena (Document 17). There was a perceived moral laxity in the wake of the Black Death, when a cathartic release of emotions supposedly occurred that swept away a host of social and economic restraints. Any attempts to stem the tide, such as the mandates against concubinage, swearing, and dice-making tried by the city aldermen of Tournai, were short lived.1
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Timothy Kircher, “Anxiety and Freedom in Boccaccio’s History of the Plague of 1348,” Letteratura Italiana antica, 3 (2002): 325–57.
D. L. Farmer, “Crop Yields, Prices, and Wages in Medieval England,” Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History, n.s. 6 (1983): 117–55; idem, “Prices and Wages, 1350–1500,” in Agrarian History of England and Wales: Vol. 3, 1348–1500, ed. E. Miller (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), 431–525; John Hatcher, “England in the Aftermath of the Black Death,” Past and Present, 144 (1994): 3–35.
L R. Poos, “The Social Context of Statute of Labourers Enforcement,” Law and History Review, 1 (1983): 27–52; Christopher Dyer, “The Social and Economic Background to the Rural Revolt of 1381,” in The English Rising of 1381, ed. R. H. Hilton and T. H. Aston (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), 9–42.
Michael W Dols, The Black Death in the Middle East (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1977), 281–83.
John Hatcher, Plague, Population, and the English Economy, 1348–1530 (London: Macmillan, 1977), 73.
Copyright information
© 2005 Bedford/St. Martin’s
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Aberth, J. (2005). Societal and Economic Impact. In: The Black Death. The Bedford Series in History and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-10349-9_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-10349-9_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-10349-9
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)