The new crown pneumonia epidemic that began in early 2020 has been raging in many countries around the world, and people's lives have also been seriously affected. There have been many plague outbreaks in human history, and the most far-reaching one was the Black Death that broke out in Europe around the 14th century. The Black Death terrified the Europeans in the Middle Ages. It was precisely because of it that Europe lost a large number of people; but it was also because of it that the European Renaissance began to sprout, capitalism gradually developed, and Europe gradually stepped out of the dark Middle Ages and entered modern times. society.
The Black Death that swept across Europe in the 14th century first started in Italy, and then spread to European countries at an alarming speed. Soon, the entire European continent was shrouded in the shadow of the Black Death. Hundreds of people die every day, and the bodies are transported away by trucks. The usually bustling streets become deserted and deserted. Giovanni Boccaccio, one of the representatives of the Italian Renaissance, described the tragic scene of the Black Death in Florence at the beginning of his "Ten Days Talk": "In less than a few years, countless people died; And seeing this plague continue to spread everywhere.” It is said that between March and July 1348, the death toll in Florence was as high as 100,000. American scholar Kenny Brooker recorded in his book "Florence during the Renaissance": "The great plague in 1340 and 1348 reduced the population of Florence by nearly half, and this major loss was not partially recovered until the second half of the 14th century. (Probably only a third recovered).” The devastation wrought by the Black Death in other parts of Europe was equally staggering: 50,000 bodies were buried in one cemetery in London; 2,500 died from the Black Death across Europe More than 10,000 people accounted for more than one-third of the total population of Europe at that time.
While the Black Death caused a huge disaster, it also indirectly promoted the religious reform in Europe, brought the light of humanism and the liberation of thought, accelerated the establishment of a modern education system, and promoted the progress of science and technology and industrialization. develop.
First, let’s talk about the Black Death and the European Reformation. People originally believed in God and the church. However, during the epidemic, they found that the church was not well managed and would only oppress and deceive the people. Due to the poor medical conditions at that time, people did not know the real cause of the plague outbreak. In the early days of the outbreak of the Black Death, the church spread the "retribution theory", claiming that it was because people behaved improperly and sinned deeply that God was so angry that he sent down the plague and punished mankind; only when the people lived according to the teachings of the church could they wash away their sins and get rid of the plague. People hope that God can save mankind, so they pray devoutly all day long, hoping that God can disperse the terrible plague. However, people gathered in churches to pray, which once again accelerated the spread of the Black Death. Prayers and worship did not play any role. At the same time, people were shocked to find that those pastors and priests who used to claim that they were specially protected by God could not escape the clutches of the Black Death, and died in large numbers. According to records, nearly half of the priests in Yorkshire, England died of the Black Death. At the same time, the church and the godfathers also took advantage of people's fear of the plague to enrich themselves. As a result, people's dissatisfaction with the church intensified, and they began to try to achieve the goal of dialogue with God through personal practice. The Protestant Reformation seemed to be a light that illuminated the dark Middle Ages in Europe. All these laid the foundation for the later religious reformation in Europe, and also became a driving force for the development of individualism in Europe. "It connects the individual to God, and the effect is not so much to highlight God as to allow the shadow of individualism to slowly emerge from the horizon." This laid the foundation for the later Renaissance, and its influence on people's thinking also promoted the germination of capitalism in Europe.
When trying to explain the causes and ways of the Black Death and the rapid spread of the plague, people's rational consciousness began to awaken. Since it was difficult for the church to give a convincing explanation for the plague, people gave various answers. For example, the plague was caused by people’s improper clothing, children disobedient to their parents, polluted air, and even It was suggested that it was because of a Jewish conspiracy, etc. Although these kinds of explanations may be groundless or even absurd, they are of great significance, because "these explanations are no longer based on some kind of authority or some kind of classics, but self-thinking based on reality and their own cultural concepts, reflecting It is under their impact that the seemingly monolithic orthodox ideology has become fragmented.”
In the process of fighting the plague, people questioned the authority of the church and traditional thinking. With the awakening of reason, people began to take many practical and effective measures, such as isolation measures and sanitation measures. In order to prevent the spread of the Black Death, Venice at that time established multiple stations, quarantined returnees from the East for 40 days, and controlled immigration. In order to reduce the risk of infection, people no longer hold funerals strictly in accordance with the previous church regulations, but keep things simple and fast. At the same time, the government has clear regulations on the place and depth of burial of the dead. These rational anti-epidemic measures not only played an important role in the fight against the Black Death, but also rational thinking itself had a lasting impact on European culture, education, and science, preparing Europe for the modern society.
With the questioning of the church, people's lives and thoughts became more secular, and the trend of humanism gradually flourished. People originally longed to ascend to a happy paradise after death, but in the face of the terrible plague, the happiness of heaven is so out of reach. People began to realize the preciousness of life in this world, and they no longer yearned so much for the happiness of the afterlife, but instead pursued the enjoyment of this life. Many people have begun to indulge in sex and sex, seeking fleeting pleasures in the world in the only life they have. As Petrarch, the first humanist of the Renaissance, said: "I don't want to become God, or dwell in eternity... The glory that belongs to man is enough for me. This is all I pray for, myself I am a mortal, and I only ask for the happiness of a mortal." This pursuit of worldly happiness became an important theme of European Renaissance art, and it also made individualism and liberalism the main values advocated by the modern West.
Giovanni Boccaccio
Boccaccio vividly described the germination of humanism during the plague period in the Decameron. This book tells the story of 10 young people who escaped the plague by chance and hid in a country house, played and feasted all day long, each of them told a story a day, lived for a total of 10 days, and told 100 stories. These stories not only described the free love between men and women, but also severely criticized the darkness and pedantry of the Catholic Church, lashed out at the depravity and corruption of the feudal aristocrats, and embody humanism. The prologue of the Renaissance.
The rise of modern education is also associated with the Black Death. Because the plague was raging in Europe, college students who were originally in school were prohibited from returning to school across cities. In order to allow students to continue their studies, many new schools were established. The number of newly established universities is far greater than that of the original schools. The education situation that was previously monopolized by the church has been broken, and it has become more popular and popular. More people have received a higher level of education, and their ideological, cultural and cognitive levels have been continuously improved. The Bible, which was originally only understood by priests and monks, can now be understood by more ordinary people. They can directly communicate with God and realize the value of their individual lives in this world. This allowed the middle class in Europe to begin to form and gradually grow, to have its own voice, and to gradually become a force that could fight against the aristocracy. At the same time, through unified and popular education, the state makes all the people agree with one culture, and this homogeneous culture promotes the gradual rise and development of nationalism. The rise of the middle class and nationalism allowed capitalism to germinate and gradually blossom, thereby advancing the bourgeois revolution in Europe. It can be seen that the outbreak of the Black Death objectively promoted the modernization and popularization of education, influenced people's thinking, and played a certain role in promoting the emergence and development of capitalism. This also laid the ideological foundation for the Renaissance.
The Black Death also indirectly improved the status of farmers and promoted the industrial process in the West. The Black Death led to mass deaths in the same area, leaving large swathes of land unused, thereby accelerating the concentration of land and wealth. The plague caused a sharp drop in labor force, and the loss of population made the originally cheap labor force suddenly become precious. People were no longer satisfied with meager wages, and began to fight for more rights for themselves. The originally humble tenant farmers also had the right to negotiate with the manor owner, and their income increased significantly. However, some manor owners and nobles were unwilling to give up the original medieval manor economy, and still treated farmers as tenant farmers. In order to resist the oppression of the manor owners, many large and small peasant uprisings broke out in Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. The right to come forward. During this process, some farmers were gradually liberated from the land and began to transform into workers, which to a certain extent promoted the development of the middle class and the progress of industry.
Fighting the plague also promoted the progress of European science and technology. Due to the ravages of the Black Death, the original fixed agricultural population was lost, the quality of cultivated land declined, and the quality of labor force decreased. Many wealthy handicraft factory owners realized that the technological advantage was far greater than the population advantage, so they began to "actively seek new technologies to save manpower" and replace the original manual production with new technologies. So people kept trying and researching, and finally developed large machines and built factories, and capitalism sprouted from this.
Artwork Depicting the Black Death
At the same time, the Black Death made people pay more attention to medical treatment. The research and development of new medical technology and the construction of public health facilities effectively prevented the spread of the Black Death. The isolation system and sanitation system widely used during the Black Death prevented the further spread of the disease, and also laid the foundation for the urban sanitation and construction of the modern society. The city's public health environment has gradually improved, and many infectious diseases have been effectively controlled, allowing larger-scale modern cities to emerge, which is of extraordinary significance. The advancement of science and technology directly promotes the development of industry, and the perfection of the city provides a splendid stage for modern life. After the Black Death, Europe also began to enter a new historical period - modern society.
The rapid spread of the Black Death exposed many social contradictions and problems existing in Europe in the 14th century, which triggered a series of changes in religion, culture, thought, education, technology, society, etc. The gloomy life began to pursue more happiness and personal freedom in this world. All of these paved the way for the emergence of the European Renaissance and capitalism, and pushed Europe into a modern society.
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