Religion & Faith

Shift in Thinking: Religious to Scientific

Before the plague, and during its early years, most people had a way of thinking that focused solely around the Church and religion. God was the one who sent illness and injury to those who did not follow his word or hold belief in him. Therefore, the only way to rid yourself of disease was to repent and show God your unwavering devotion. A severe version of this was seen with the Flagellants, who violently whipped themselves, and others, in order to repent and beg mercy.

However, as the plague ravaged on and the number of deaths began to rise, people saw their prayers go unanswered. Here, shifts towards early science and the concept of evidence began to arise. People began to question why God would punish them so severely and really began to develop their mind. In combination with a progressing way of thinking, scientific approaches began to come through, focusing heavily on observation and the rough beginnings to epidemiological approaches. This new thinking led to the creation of health boards, as well as different approaches to combat epidemics, such as quarantine.

Religious cause of the Plague:

It was believed during the time of the Plague that God was the one giving people the disease for some reason such as being mad at them. They also believed that since God gave them the plague, he was the one who could take it away and heal them. They were unaware as to why God would do this to them, how they could please Him and gain forgiveness. As discussed in my group members post, the clergy isolated themselves in order to avoid contracting the disease which led to a large distrust of church officials. The flagellants imitating Christ was an attempt by the people to gain forgiveness and mercy from God. Due to the strong belief amongst the European society during this time that the casue of the Plague was religious, there was no concept of disease transmission between people or sanitation measures in order to slow the spread.

Percecution of the Jewish community

During the spread of the Black plague Europe was ravaged and decimated by the disease. The prospering areas of Europe were a wasteland and nobody was safe from the death. Humanity was begging for answers to what was the cause of this all and if it would ever end. This time period was heavily relogious and everything revolved around the concept of religion. With that being said, some religious groups began to turn the blame on others. Christians hold the jewish community accountable for the killing of Jesus Christ and believe this is God's wrath raining upon them. The Christian community begins to "crusade" across Europe burning down Jewish owned homes and even slaughtering Jews by simply killing them or even burning them alive.

The Flagellants

With little medical understanding of the Black Death, medieval Europeans looked towards religion for answers. The Flagellants represent extreme belief in the use of the Black Death by God to punish the people for their sins. They are well-known for public flagellations in their rituals. While these acts were considered heretical by the Catholic church they believed that by displaying these public acts of penance God would take mercy on them. It was also believed that the lashings would release the infected blood from their bodies.This movement shows the true influence of religion and faith over medieval Europe during the spread of the Black Death.

The Clergy

In the earlier momements of the Black Death, the clergy played a major role in Europe. Not only were they viewed as the spiritual leaders of this time, but also as the healers. As the spread of the Black Death worsened however, the clergy began to isolate itself from the general population of medieval Europe. They had begun to neglect their religios duties in an attempt to save themselves from a disease that was ravaging society. It was custom and viewed as absolutely necessary for priests in this time to offer last rites to the commoners before they pass away, but the priests feared the spread of the disease and announced that any man could preform last rites to anyone in an attempt to keep their health.