History of Science Online - Course Info - Time tips - Semester at a glance - Weekly assignments at a glance - Timeline - Week 8: 14th-century Science

The Black Plague

Kutna Hora, located east of Prague in the Czech Republic, was a prosperous mining town in the late middle ages and early modern period. During these centuries it produced more silver, and minted more silver coins, than any other city in Europe. When the plague struck Kutna Hora there was no room to bury the dead, so bones were placed in a "charnal house" or ossuary. The ossuary chandelier, shown at right, contains every bone found in the human body.

As we have seen, the early 14th century witnessed some very interesting developments in the history of science, particularly in the universities. However, a calamitous setback occurred with the onset of the Black Plague in 1348. By the end of the outbreak, 30 to 50% of the European population had died. Universities, city life, the arts, and the practice of science were all affected. In the face of the new epidemic, medieval medicine could offer no useful remedies; nor were novel alchemical preparations of any benefit. Two prerequisites for sustaining developments in science, the universities and a stable political environment, were severely undermined throughout Europe by the social consequences of the plague.

In the opening section of Decameron, the Italian writer Boccaccio recounted his observations of the plague. For this assignment, read all of the excerpts from Boccaccio compiled on the Eyewitness to History web page, and then read one brief account of the plague's cultural effects:

• "The Black Death, 1348," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2001).
• "Cultural Effects," E. L. Knox, History of Western Civilization, Boise State University

As you read these two web pages, ask yourself how the consequences of the plague might have affected the ability to sustain the development of medieval science. For comparison, consider how a pandemic of a new incurable disease or a continent-wide natural disaster, with a similar death rate as the 14th-century plague, would affect the practice of science in modern-day universities, institutions and corporations.

Source Quiz study questions

1. T or F? In an outbreak of the Black Plague that started in 1348, 30-50% of the European population died.
2. T or F? In the Decameron, Boccaccio described the outbreak of the plague in Paris.
3. T or F? According to Boccaccio, most people died within about three days of the appearance of tumors.
4. T or F? According to Boccaccio, despite the quantity of dead bodies, churches resolutely maintained the ancient custom of burying the dead in individual graves grouped by family.
5. T or F? Though the plague ravaged some universities on the European continent, Cambridge University in England was largely unaffected.

Dive Deeper

If you would like to know more about the Black Plague, try the following websites:

• Black Plague, E.L. Knox, History of Western Civilization, Boise State University
• "The Black Death: Bubonic Plague," The Middle Ages.Net
• "Black Death," Wikipedia

   

	HSCI 3013. History of Science to 17th century Kerry Magruder, Instructor, 2004-14 Brent Purkaple, TA Report typos or broken links	Go to this course at Janux spellcheck.net | wordcounter.net Many thanks to the pedagogical model developed in Mythology and Folklore and other online courses by Laura Gibbs, which have been an inspiration for this course.	Academic Calendar
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