HIST 350 C - Topics: Black Death

From 1347-1350, a great plague swept across Europe, killing an estimated 1/3 of the entire human population. This had both immediate and long-term effects, changing daily life, social networks, and economic decision making. Understanding the degree to which the medieval world was altered by (and survived) this disaster offers glimpses of medieval psychology, scientific knowledge, spirituality, and aesthetics. However, this disastrous disease was but one moment in a long history of human/disease interaction. We will set the medieval epidemic in its broader context, looking at the earlier outbreak of plague in Europe at the end of the Roman Empire as well as other pandemics, epidemics, and disasters. This class will use the medieval epidemic as a way to understand how diseases affect human history, and how “natural” disasters are experienced, created, and perceived. (Group I)