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The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague
Many of us know the Black Death as a catastrophic event of the medieval world. But the Black Death was arguably the most significant event in Western history, profoundly affecting every aspect of human life, from the economic and social to the political, religious, and cultural. In its wake the plague left a world that was utterly changed, forever altering the traditional structure of European societies and forcing a rethinking of every single system of Western civilization: food production and trade, the church, political institutions, law, art, and more. In large measure, by the profundity of the changes it brought, the Black Death produced the modern world we live in today.
While the story of the Black Death is one of destruction and loss, its breathtaking scope and effects make it one of the most compelling and deeply intriguing episodes in human history. Understanding the remarkable unfolding of the plague and its aftermath provides a highly revealing window not only on the medieval world but also on the forces that brought about the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, and modernity itself.
Speaking to the full magnitude of this world-changing historical moment, The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague, taught by celebrated medievalist Dorsey Armstrong of Purdue University, takes you on an unforgettable excursion into the time period of the plague, its full human repercussions, and its transformative effects on European civilization. In 24 richly absorbing lectures, you'll follow the path of the epidemic in its complete trajectory across medieval Europe. Majestic in scope and remarkable in detail, this course goes to the heart of one of Western history's most catalytic and galvanizing moments, the effects of which gave us the modern world.
Runtime: 12 hours, 10 minutes.
While the story of the Black Death is one of destruction and loss, its breathtaking scope and effects make it one of the most compelling and deeply intriguing episodes in human history. Understanding the remarkable unfolding of the plague and its aftermath provides a highly revealing window not only on the medieval world but also on the forces that brought about the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, and modernity itself.
Speaking to the full magnitude of this world-changing historical moment, The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague, taught by celebrated medievalist Dorsey Armstrong of Purdue University, takes you on an unforgettable excursion into the time period of the plague, its full human repercussions, and its transformative effects on European civilization. In 24 richly absorbing lectures, you'll follow the path of the epidemic in its complete trajectory across medieval Europe. Majestic in scope and remarkable in detail, this course goes to the heart of one of Western history's most catalytic and galvanizing moments, the effects of which gave us the modern world.
Runtime: 12 hours, 10 minutes.
13 pages, Audible Audio
First published May 27, 2016
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About the author
Dorsey Armstrong
23 books264 followersDr. Dorsey Armstrong is Associate Professor of English and Medieval Literature at Purdue University, where she has taught since 2002. The holder of an A.B. in English and Creative Writing from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Medieval Literature from Duke University, she also taught at Centenary College of Louisiana and at California State University, Long Beach. Her research interests include medieval women writers, late-medieval print culture, and the Arthurian legend, on which she has published extensively, including the 2009 book Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur: A New Modern English Translation Based on the Winchester Manuscript and Gender and the Chivalric Community in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur, published in 2003. In January 2009, she became editor-in-chief of the academic journal Arthuriana, which publishes the most cutting-edge research on the legend of King Arthur, from its medieval origins to its enactments in the present moment. Her current research project-Mapping Malory's Morte-is an exploration of the role played by geography in Malory's version of the story of King Arthur.
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April 26, 2021
Insightful series of lectures on the Plague that ravaged Europe in 1348 and changed it for ever.
The course focuses on the reasons behind the Plague, the ways in which it was tackled throughout the Continent and on the British Isles. It also depicts social and economic changes those horrific period brought about and even how it affected culture and literature.
One of the highlights for me was the lecture on the Black Death in Poland, and it was the first time I had listened to speculations on why the death toll was relatively low in comparison with Western Europe.
Ms Armstrong's enthusiasm is evident and engaged me completely.
The course focuses on the reasons behind the Plague, the ways in which it was tackled throughout the Continent and on the British Isles. It also depicts social and economic changes those horrific period brought about and even how it affected culture and literature.
One of the highlights for me was the lecture on the Black Death in Poland, and it was the first time I had listened to speculations on why the death toll was relatively low in comparison with Western Europe.
Ms Armstrong's enthusiasm is evident and engaged me completely.
July 30, 2020
امکان نداشت بتونم زمان بهتری رو برای گوش کردن به این لکچرها انتخاب کنم. دورسی آرمسترانگ از تاریخچه مرگ سیاه می گفت و من در حالی که با ماسک دم در ورودی تبم چک می شد و به دست هام ضد عفونی کننده می زدند گوش می دادم. خودم وسط یک پندمیک زندگی می کنم و از گذشته ای شنیدم که بیماری رهاش نمی کرد. خواندن تاریخ شگفت انگیزه چون به همه ی مشکلات و فلاکت هات نگاه می کنه و خیلی راحت میگه "من از این بدترش رو هم دیدم!"
این مجموعه ٢۴ لکچر در مورد تاریخچه طاعون در قرون وسطاست. از بررسی ریشه های این بیماری و نظریاتی که در موردش هست شروع میشه و بعد شهرهای مهم و عکس العمل اون ها نسب به طاعون توضیح داده میشه. در آخر پروفسور آرمسترانگ در مورد تغییرات سیاسی، اجتماعی و دینی، تاثیر طاعون بر هنر و ادبیات و اقدامات موثر برخی از شهرها و حاکمان صحبت می کنه
حجم اطلاعات این دوره خیلی بالاست و من فقط در نکاتی خلاصه اش می کنم که می دونم همیشه یادم می مونه
یک: انسان ها سرسخت اند، خیلی بیشتر از چیزی که تصور می کنیم
شش ماه زندگی با کویید ١٩ خیلی از ماها رو درمونده کرده ولی انسان ها دوره های ١۵ ساله با طاعون زندگی می کردند و این وضعیت قرن ها دست از سرشون بر نمی داشت. جنازه ها شهر رو پر می کرد و در خیابان ها رها می شد. هیچ امیدی هم به درمان وجود نداشت و گاهی همه ی افراد یک روستا می مردند و یا بیشتر از نصف افراد یک شهر می مردند. انسان ها از پس چنین روزهایی بر اومدند، پس برای ما هم ممکنه
دو: تاثیر اپیدمیک ها و پندمیک ها بسیار بیشتر از آمار مرگ و میره و در واقع تاریخ رو تغییر میده
شاید عجیب باشه ولی بدون وجود طاعون ما هرگز در شرایط تاریخی ای که الان هستیم نبودیم. این بیماری طبقه های اجتماعی رو دگرگون و بی معنی کرد و جامعه رو مجبور به تغییر کرد. با مرگ تعداد زیادی از کارگران و کشاورزان نیروی کار ارزشی پیدا کرد که در گذشته نداشت. زمین داران مجبور به رقابت بر سر نیروی کار و حاضر به پرداخت پول بیشتر شدند. کشاورزان برای اولین بار حق انتخاب پیدا کردند که زمینداران خودشون رو رها کنند و به دنبال پیشنهاد بهتر نقل مکان کنند. با تزریق پول به طبقات پایین تر و کم تر شدن جمعیت سطح رفاه برای بسیاری بالا رفت. از طرفی مرگ افراد بیشتر یعنی ارثیه بیشتر برای تعدادی محدود که در غیر این صورت هرگز سرمایه قابل توجهی نداشتند. در نتیجه خط بین طبقات جامعه کمرنگ تر از همیشه شد. الان که از پس این قرن ها به این اتفاقات نگاه می کنیم، می دونیم که برای بشریت حیاتی بودند
حالا پندمیکی که ما داریم می گذرونیم قراره با خودش چه تغییراتی بیاره؟
سه: بیماری های فراگیر روی اعتقادات مردم تاثیر عمیقی می گذارند
تاریخ نشون میده که انسان ها در این مواقع یا بیشتر به خدا و دین و باورها روی میارند تا پناهی پیدا کنند، یا به این نتیجه می رسند که اگر چنین بلاهایی ممکنه، هیچ نیروی برتری وجود نداره. در مورد قرون وسطا موارد بی دینی مطلق، بروز دین به صورت افراطی و بی اعتمادی به کلیسای کاتولیک رو می بینیم. مردم به فکر می افتند که اگر این کشیش ها از ترس جانشان بالای سر بیمار نمیان و هرچه دعا می کنند خدا اجابت نمی کنه، پس خودشون گناهکار و مفسدند. اینجاست که جنبش هایی مثل پروتستان کلید می خوره
در پندمیک قرن ٢١ هم می بینم که بحث های اعتقادی و طرفداران فرقه ها در دنیا زیاد شده، شاید الان بحث اصلی اعتقاد به خدا نیست، ولی در هر صورت "باورها" به چالش کشیده میشه
چهار: روش برخورد مردم و حاکمان با طاعون در میزان آسیب دیدن از بیماری تعیین کننده بود
شهر ها دو دسته بودند: اول مردمی که با سواد کم خودشون متوجه شدند که باید از تجمعات دوری کنند و به مرده ها نزدیک نشن. حاکمانی که لباس های ارزشمند رو سوزاندند و افراد بیمار رو از بقیه جدا کردند و از همه مهم تر به سرعت شهر رو قرنطینه کردند
دسته دوم اونهایی که بیماری رو نادیده گرفتند یا به روابط و اقتصاد بیشتر اهمیت دادند. مثل پادشاه انگلستان دیر باور کردند و با سیاست هاشون فقط باعث هرج و مرج و بدبختی بیشتر شدند
حالا ما تو قرن ٢١ باز داریم التماس می کنیم که اون ماسک لعنتی رو بزن، پس چرا قرنطینه کامل نمی کنید؟
اصلا ما انسان ها چیزی یاد میگیریم؟
پنج: با هر پندمیک حجم زیادی از اطلاعات غلط درباره ی منشأ بیماری و روش درمانش در بین مردم می چرخه
"سرتون رو بگیرید تو فاضلاب که طاعون نگیرید"
"یهودی ها با مسموم کردن چاه ها همه رو مریض کردند که کشورها رو احاطه کنند"
"این بیماری کلا وجود نداره و همش دروغه"
"چین می خواد با این مریضی جهان رو کنترل کنه"
شش: اون تموم شد، اینم تموم میشه
آمار طاعون در حال حاضر در جهان سالانه دو رقمیه و این هم بیشتر به این دلیله که تشخیص داده نمیشه. جدای این مسئله که نوع جدیدی ازش کشف شده که ژنتیک خودش رو بازنویسی کرده و به آنتی بیوتیک پاسخگو نیست (سورپرایز!)، این دشمن قدیمی بعد از قرن ها و گرفتن میلیون ها جان، حالا تقریبا شکست خورده. نمی دونیم کی و چطور، ولی تاریخ بهمون قوت قلب میده که اینم موندنی نیست
پ.ن اول: اگر فایل های این دوره رو نیاز دارید بگید که آپلود کنم
پ.ن دوم: خلاصه ی تعدادی از لکچرها رو نوشتم که وقت نشد کامل کنم. می گذارم همینجا بمونه که ببینید به چه سبکی هستند
99.5.9
این مجموعه ٢۴ لکچر در مورد تاریخچه طاعون در قرون وسطاست. از بررسی ریشه های این بیماری و نظریاتی که در موردش هست شروع میشه و بعد شهرهای مهم و عکس العمل اون ها نسب به طاعون توضیح داده میشه. در آخر پروفسور آرمسترانگ در مورد تغییرات سیاسی، اجتماعی و دینی، تاثیر طاعون بر هنر و ادبیات و اقدامات موثر برخی از شهرها و حاکمان صحبت می کنه
حجم اطلاعات این دوره خیلی بالاست و من فقط در نکاتی خلاصه اش می کنم که می دونم همیشه یادم می مونه
یک: انسان ها سرسخت اند، خیلی بیشتر از چیزی که تصور می کنیم
شش ماه زندگی با کویید ١٩ خیلی از ماها رو درمونده کرده ولی انسان ها دوره های ١۵ ساله با طاعون زندگی می کردند و این وضعیت قرن ها دست از سرشون بر نمی داشت. جنازه ها شهر رو پر می کرد و در خیابان ها رها می شد. هیچ امیدی هم به درمان وجود نداشت و گاهی همه ی افراد یک روستا می مردند و یا بیشتر از نصف افراد یک شهر می مردند. انسان ها از پس چنین روزهایی بر اومدند، پس برای ما هم ممکنه
دو: تاثیر اپیدمیک ها و پندمیک ها بسیار بیشتر از آمار مرگ و میره و در واقع تاریخ رو تغییر میده
شاید عجیب باشه ولی بدون وجود طاعون ما هرگز در شرایط تاریخی ای که الان هستیم نبودیم. این بیماری طبقه های اجتماعی رو دگرگون و بی معنی کرد و جامعه رو مجبور به تغییر کرد. با مرگ تعداد زیادی از کارگران و کشاورزان نیروی کار ارزشی پیدا کرد که در گذشته نداشت. زمین داران مجبور به رقابت بر سر نیروی کار و حاضر به پرداخت پول بیشتر شدند. کشاورزان برای اولین بار حق انتخاب پیدا کردند که زمینداران خودشون رو رها کنند و به دنبال پیشنهاد بهتر نقل مکان کنند. با تزریق پول به طبقات پایین تر و کم تر شدن جمعیت سطح رفاه برای بسیاری بالا رفت. از طرفی مرگ افراد بیشتر یعنی ارثیه بیشتر برای تعدادی محدود که در غیر این صورت هرگز سرمایه قابل توجهی نداشتند. در نتیجه خط بین طبقات جامعه کمرنگ تر از همیشه شد. الان که از پس این قرن ها به این اتفاقات نگاه می کنیم، می دونیم که برای بشریت حیاتی بودند
حالا پندمیکی که ما داریم می گذرونیم قراره با خودش چه تغییراتی بیاره؟
سه: بیماری های فراگیر روی اعتقادات مردم تاثیر عمیقی می گذارند
تاریخ نشون میده که انسان ها در این مواقع یا بیشتر به خدا و دین و باورها روی میارند تا پناهی پیدا کنند، یا به این نتیجه می رسند که اگر چنین بلاهایی ممکنه، هیچ نیروی برتری وجود نداره. در مورد قرون وسطا موارد بی دینی مطلق، بروز دین به صورت افراطی و بی اعتمادی به کلیسای کاتولیک رو می بینیم. مردم به فکر می افتند که اگر این کشیش ها از ترس جانشان بالای سر بیمار نمیان و هرچه دعا می کنند خدا اجابت نمی کنه، پس خودشون گناهکار و مفسدند. اینجاست که جنبش هایی مثل پروتستان کلید می خوره
در پندمیک قرن ٢١ هم می بینم که بحث های اعتقادی و طرفداران فرقه ها در دنیا زیاد شده، شاید الان بحث اصلی اعتقاد به خدا نیست، ولی در هر صورت "باورها" به چالش کشیده میشه
چهار: روش برخورد مردم و حاکمان با طاعون در میزان آسیب دیدن از بیماری تعیین کننده بود
شهر ها دو دسته بودند: اول مردمی که با سواد کم خودشون متوجه شدند که باید از تجمعات دوری کنند و به مرده ها نزدیک نشن. حاکمانی که لباس های ارزشمند رو سوزاندند و افراد بیمار رو از بقیه جدا کردند و از همه مهم تر به سرعت شهر رو قرنطینه کردند
دسته دوم اونهایی که بیماری رو نادیده گرفتند یا به روابط و اقتصاد بیشتر اهمیت دادند. مثل پادشاه انگلستان دیر باور کردند و با سیاست هاشون فقط باعث هرج و مرج و بدبختی بیشتر شدند
حالا ما تو قرن ٢١ باز داریم التماس می کنیم که اون ماسک لعنتی رو بزن، پس چرا قرنطینه کامل نمی کنید؟
اصلا ما انسان ها چیزی یاد میگیریم؟
پنج: با هر پندمیک حجم زیادی از اطلاعات غلط درباره ی منشأ بیماری و روش درمانش در بین مردم می چرخه
"سرتون رو بگیرید تو فاضلاب که طاعون نگیرید"
"یهودی ها با مسموم کردن چاه ها همه رو مریض کردند که کشورها رو احاطه کنند"
"این بیماری کلا وجود نداره و همش دروغه"
"چین می خواد با این مریضی جهان رو کنترل کنه"
شش: اون تموم شد، اینم تموم میشه
آمار طاعون در حال حاضر در جهان سالانه دو رقمیه و این هم بیشتر به این دلیله که تشخیص داده نمیشه. جدای این مسئله که نوع جدیدی ازش کشف شده که ژنتیک خودش رو بازنویسی کرده و به آنتی بیوتیک پاسخگو نیست (سورپرایز!)، این دشمن قدیمی بعد از قرن ها و گرفتن میلیون ها جان، حالا تقریبا شکست خورده. نمی دونیم کی و چطور، ولی تاریخ بهمون قوت قلب میده که اینم موندنی نیست
پ.ن اول: اگر فایل های این دوره رو نیاز دارید بگید که آپلود کنم
پ.ن دوم: خلاصه ی تعدادی از لکچرها رو نوشتم که وقت نشد کامل کنم. می گذارم همینجا بمونه که ببینید به چه سبکی هستند
99.5.9
June 6, 2020
This is mostly very good - and as animated and involving as you'd hope from Great Courses lectures. I say this as someone who's been reading about the Black Death for a long time and who read more about it at university than on many topics I was officially studying. I'm a pretty tough audience for a popular-history overview of the Black Death, and this passed muster better than I expected, especially given that the lecturer is a medieval literature academic, not a historian.
However, there were a few weaknesses that meant I didn't give this 5 stars. Dorsey Armstrong's own research isn't on historical aspects of the Black Death. She is still a lot better than you might assume from that; it was only once I'd listened to a Great Courses series after this, where the lecturer was an academic specialist in another relatively narrow topic I'd studied myself - William Landon's Books that Matter: The Prince - that I could see the difference it makes. He brought in subjects on which he'd published papers and books himself, emphasising angles that you wouldn't necessarily find in the average introductory text, and making it more like a higher-level university module. Armstrong leans rather heavily on the work of Ole Benedictow, which isn't unusual, as he has become a major figure in Black Death studies over the last couple of decades, but there wasn't the same sense as with Landon that she was a member of the relevant academic community forging her own paths. Anyway, a listener to this who's actually writing an essay should know to look further and explore other takes.
The other main issue was a matter of presentation and taste - and something this Great Course had in common with Books that Matter: The Prince. Compared with the detached, cynical or wry delivery of the British academics I studied with in the late 90s, these American lecturers are emotional about their subjects, and ever keen to emphasise how shocking and horrible various things were. I find this irritating and overdone even though the lecturers were otherwise likeable. Are they really not accustomed to their material by now? How are they not exhausted if they actually still feel this way about subjects they work with full time, things that were over and done with hundreds of years before they were born? (And, listening in April 2020, I wanted to hear some good old fashioned historian's detachment more than ever.) It's hard to tell how much of this is a UK/US national difference, and how much is about audience: they are accustomed to teaching contemporary students who expect more emotional response to subjects, plus the Great Courses core US audience these are made for probably has a Christian and conservative leaning.
One of Armstrong's secrets to keeping listeners with existing knowledge happy is her frequent use of phrases like "as some of you will already know". However, this assumption that listeners know something about medieval history is inconsistent, and falters sometimes later in the course; sometimes she goes into great detail on one topic, but later she'll spend an overly long time explaining basic material like the theory of the four humours. (Which I, for one, would tend to assume a person already knew if they knew about the Avignon popes, for example - the latter being something which got an "as you will already know" type clause.) There is also quite a lot of repetition in the second half, especially. The repetition could be useful if you'd paused the audio for several months before going back to it (which I do sometimes with audiobooks), and that particular lecture was the first one you listened to after the break. But if you are listening to several of them in a day, or over successive days, *and* are already familiar with quite a lot about the subject, it's a bit much.
Armstrong gives a good picture of the medieval world, from the beginnings of the epidemic in Kaffa (with background on the conflict between Tartars and Genoese merchants beyond the usual "infected bodies were thrown into a besieged city"), to how water-based trade networks were reflected in the order in which regions were affected by the plague; the cultural and legal suspicion of people not tied to places, which meant mendicant friars were obliged to have a home monastic house and that was later part of the attempts to contain peasants leaving manors; and other multi-national points such as the 'land shortage' of the 12th-14th centuries in areas of Western Europe (due to the favourable food production conditions of the medieval warm period and consequent population growth) and R.I. Moore's theory that this created a persecuting society. She acknowledges some recent debates that popular historians too often miss, e.g. signalling awareness that feudalism wasn't as straightforward as school history implies, by describing it at one point as an f-word. Partly busting a few common myths, she mentions that medieval people did wash and many cities had bath-houses (of varying respectability); and she at least acknowledges that medieval Europeans did drink water (not just alcohol) although not so much that some of it was clean, rather than none of it.
As one might expect in lectures like these, she describes the Black Death as the greatest turning point in 1000 years of medieval history. She also suggests that the Justinian plague of the 540s was responsible for the foundations of modern West European states.
Her European case studies are, inevitably, of frequently-studied locations - they are where the best written evidence survived. In Florence and the English village of Walsham, Suffolk especially, we hear what life was like before, in the run-up to the Black Death, and for years afterwards. (I wasn't previously aware of a docudrama-style popular history of the plague in Walsham which she mentions, The Black Death: A Personal History (2008) by John Hatcher, and would like to read that one day as I've always found a guilty pleasure in docudrama-like paragraphs in more academic histories.) Among the less well-known and intriguing matters covered here are Florence's state provision of dowries; and English rural problems associated with deceased peasant tenants, including the glut of cattle landowners accumulated as this routine animal-based inheritance tax arrived in unprecedented volumes, with a collapse in prices and insufficient herders to supervise them, and the reluctance of heirs to multiple smallholdings to take on any more land in disparate locations. Records in some areas grew sloppy after a year or so, as fatigue and indifference set in. The account of plague at Avignon makes a brief digression to the scandalous story of Joanna I of Naples, who was in the city for several months in 1348. (There *are* historical novels about Joanna, incidentally; now they are listed on Wikipedia, though perhaps they weren't when Armstrong was writing these lectures.)
In England particularly, Armstrong selects points which hint at an emancipatory effect on women - of some classes at least. Among the people criticised as immoral after the Black Death by chronicler Hentry Knighton were groups of ladies in male clothing. (Perhaps trying to keep themselves safe while travelling? This is not explored.) In the artisan and merchant classes some women took over the trades of their dead husbands due to shortages of skilled men. With more women in the labour force, she says, fewer married, and those that did may have had fewer children - she assumes due to enjoying the independence and income. (How much of that is presentism I'd rather leave to someone who's made a particular study of medieval women's history.) At any rate she implies that this was among the reasons that the English population did not return to pre Black Death levels for over 200 years. Comparisons between different countries, on women working and population levels, would seem like a good idea here.
I was impressed with the overview of theories of causation, expecting this to be a weak point in a lecture by an English professor. It's a debate I've read a lot about over the years, from 1960s epidemiology books that were in the house when I was growing up, to including Scott & Duncan's compelling theory of a viral haemorrhagic fever (similar to Ebola) in their 2001 Biology of Plagues: Evidence from Historical Populations, to archaeological and lab findings over the last decade or so showing Yersinia pestis in a number of Black Death graves. Whilst it really wasn't necessary to mention Fred Hoyle's theory about microbes from space, I can see why a lecturer might do that for entertainment purposes - and she doesn't seem to encourage taking it seriously. Armstrong bridged a gap in a way which now seems very obvious, and which I can see I hadn't thought of because my reading has been sporadic, and not part of a conversation with anyone else with an academic interest in it. Once the findings came out about Y. pestis in graves, I'd junked the whole haemorrhagic fever theory, figured that the plague must have behaved differently then (in a way that sounds a lot like a viral haemorrhagic fever) and that we'd probably never know for sure. But Armstrong suggests - as seems quite logical now I think about it - that (as well as the three forms of plague, which she describes in distinctive detail) there may have been more than one disease involved in the Black Death, and that this included at least one which had Ebola-like behaviour. She says England has especially strong evidence for concurrent epidemics, and her top suggestion here is a murrain/rinderpest, as there were English sources about an outbreak of this type of cattle disease in England in the late 1340s, and weather that would have helped make it virulent. (However, she overestimates the strength of earthquakes in Britain in suggesting one may have had a role in displacing pests, leading them to spread disease among humans.) Animal deaths were also mentioned in Florentine records. In the wake of Scott & Duncan, I am still inclined towards there having been a disease which has now disappeared, as the early 16th-century sweating sickness did. Armstrong reminded me of the distinctive patterns of spread and symptoms meticulously described by Scott & Duncan - importantly IMO they were from a scientific background, and had worked previously on historical epidemiology. This question needs more of that, as I think historians tended to neglect these points because they don't always see the importance of these differences as those with medical and scientific knowledge would, and it is easier for them to accept the status quo among colleagues. She also delineated several sets of 14th-century descriptions of the disease from across Europe, which cluster, as if each set is about a different disease - and mentioned the common question about why there is such a shortage of accounts of dead rats. It doesn't seem likely there will be definitive answers to any of this, though I hope there will continue to be tests done on archaeological discoveries, especially from colder regions where DNA of microbes is are more likely to have survived. On the downside, Armstrong mentioned a genetic theory which is now disproven at least according to one archaeological & genetic study - that surviving the plague increased prevalence of a gene that in more recent times confers resistance to HIV - however, this was only published after these lectures were recorded, so one can't fault her research.
I was delighted to see the geographical range in these lectures encompassing the Nordic countries, Russia and parts of Eastern Europe. Scandinavia is an obvious inclusion these days, as Benedictow is Norwegian and has written extensively about his home region, but having done most of my formal history study at a time when books on "Europe" typically only gave substantial coverage to the areas that are now Britain, France, Iberia, Italy, the Low Countries and Germany, it is always a pleasant surprise to see the old range expanded - though, due to language barriers, it has still not done so to the extent we once hoped.
Scandinavia - here meaning mostly Norway and Sweden - was interestingly distinctive (especially if you are used to the patterns of Western Europe), with different land-labour setups: more land was freely held and young unmarried men were vital to farm labour (ungkarl system). In England the family and the male head of household were central to it. The Black Death also destabilised the Scandinavian system in a distinctive way, as young people started marrying earlier and this took more young men out of the farm-labour pool.
Armstrong is fascinated by the Nordic legends associated with the plague, which seem to have been more plentiful, or to have survived more strongly, than equivalents from elsewhere. These include the Norwegian legend of a child or an old woman knocking on the door, and plague soon afterwards befalling the household - likely reflecting isolated survivors looking for refuge and bringing infection with them. (There is no exploration here of whether this led to the shunning of survivors.) There are legends suggesting a return of human sacrifice in a few localities; scholars disagree as to how much basis in fact these may have had. There is more here on Scandinavian plague legends in a 1988 paper by Timothy Tangherlini, one of the academics cited by Armstrong.
Because of the way she led up to her discussion of the Black Death in Poland and Bohemia, it had looked like she was going to take a disappointing wrong-but-mainstream turn. Her wording sounded like she was going to follow the old theory that the epidemic missed out these countries, a theory whose debunking doesn't seem to have yet thoroughly filtered through to popular history and understanding. This theory is an intriguing pre-internet example of how incorrect information could become received wisdom even among well-informed people - due to an approximate map that was taken as being more exact than it was ever meant to be by its creator Elizabeth Charpentier, and which became bizarrely influential, to frequent repetition by respected individuals, a language/travel barrier and relatively sparse evidence, and inclusion in Philip Ziegler's widely read popular history. (I hope this saga gets taught as an example in historiography modules now.)
Post continued below in comment field.
However, there were a few weaknesses that meant I didn't give this 5 stars. Dorsey Armstrong's own research isn't on historical aspects of the Black Death. She is still a lot better than you might assume from that; it was only once I'd listened to a Great Courses series after this, where the lecturer was an academic specialist in another relatively narrow topic I'd studied myself - William Landon's Books that Matter: The Prince - that I could see the difference it makes. He brought in subjects on which he'd published papers and books himself, emphasising angles that you wouldn't necessarily find in the average introductory text, and making it more like a higher-level university module. Armstrong leans rather heavily on the work of Ole Benedictow, which isn't unusual, as he has become a major figure in Black Death studies over the last couple of decades, but there wasn't the same sense as with Landon that she was a member of the relevant academic community forging her own paths. Anyway, a listener to this who's actually writing an essay should know to look further and explore other takes.
The other main issue was a matter of presentation and taste - and something this Great Course had in common with Books that Matter: The Prince. Compared with the detached, cynical or wry delivery of the British academics I studied with in the late 90s, these American lecturers are emotional about their subjects, and ever keen to emphasise how shocking and horrible various things were. I find this irritating and overdone even though the lecturers were otherwise likeable. Are they really not accustomed to their material by now? How are they not exhausted if they actually still feel this way about subjects they work with full time, things that were over and done with hundreds of years before they were born? (And, listening in April 2020, I wanted to hear some good old fashioned historian's detachment more than ever.) It's hard to tell how much of this is a UK/US national difference, and how much is about audience: they are accustomed to teaching contemporary students who expect more emotional response to subjects, plus the Great Courses core US audience these are made for probably has a Christian and conservative leaning.
One of Armstrong's secrets to keeping listeners with existing knowledge happy is her frequent use of phrases like "as some of you will already know". However, this assumption that listeners know something about medieval history is inconsistent, and falters sometimes later in the course; sometimes she goes into great detail on one topic, but later she'll spend an overly long time explaining basic material like the theory of the four humours. (Which I, for one, would tend to assume a person already knew if they knew about the Avignon popes, for example - the latter being something which got an "as you will already know" type clause.) There is also quite a lot of repetition in the second half, especially. The repetition could be useful if you'd paused the audio for several months before going back to it (which I do sometimes with audiobooks), and that particular lecture was the first one you listened to after the break. But if you are listening to several of them in a day, or over successive days, *and* are already familiar with quite a lot about the subject, it's a bit much.
Armstrong gives a good picture of the medieval world, from the beginnings of the epidemic in Kaffa (with background on the conflict between Tartars and Genoese merchants beyond the usual "infected bodies were thrown into a besieged city"), to how water-based trade networks were reflected in the order in which regions were affected by the plague; the cultural and legal suspicion of people not tied to places, which meant mendicant friars were obliged to have a home monastic house and that was later part of the attempts to contain peasants leaving manors; and other multi-national points such as the 'land shortage' of the 12th-14th centuries in areas of Western Europe (due to the favourable food production conditions of the medieval warm period and consequent population growth) and R.I. Moore's theory that this created a persecuting society. She acknowledges some recent debates that popular historians too often miss, e.g. signalling awareness that feudalism wasn't as straightforward as school history implies, by describing it at one point as an f-word. Partly busting a few common myths, she mentions that medieval people did wash and many cities had bath-houses (of varying respectability); and she at least acknowledges that medieval Europeans did drink water (not just alcohol) although not so much that some of it was clean, rather than none of it.
As one might expect in lectures like these, she describes the Black Death as the greatest turning point in 1000 years of medieval history. She also suggests that the Justinian plague of the 540s was responsible for the foundations of modern West European states.
Her European case studies are, inevitably, of frequently-studied locations - they are where the best written evidence survived. In Florence and the English village of Walsham, Suffolk especially, we hear what life was like before, in the run-up to the Black Death, and for years afterwards. (I wasn't previously aware of a docudrama-style popular history of the plague in Walsham which she mentions, The Black Death: A Personal History (2008) by John Hatcher, and would like to read that one day as I've always found a guilty pleasure in docudrama-like paragraphs in more academic histories.) Among the less well-known and intriguing matters covered here are Florence's state provision of dowries; and English rural problems associated with deceased peasant tenants, including the glut of cattle landowners accumulated as this routine animal-based inheritance tax arrived in unprecedented volumes, with a collapse in prices and insufficient herders to supervise them, and the reluctance of heirs to multiple smallholdings to take on any more land in disparate locations. Records in some areas grew sloppy after a year or so, as fatigue and indifference set in. The account of plague at Avignon makes a brief digression to the scandalous story of Joanna I of Naples, who was in the city for several months in 1348. (There *are* historical novels about Joanna, incidentally; now they are listed on Wikipedia, though perhaps they weren't when Armstrong was writing these lectures.)
In England particularly, Armstrong selects points which hint at an emancipatory effect on women - of some classes at least. Among the people criticised as immoral after the Black Death by chronicler Hentry Knighton were groups of ladies in male clothing. (Perhaps trying to keep themselves safe while travelling? This is not explored.) In the artisan and merchant classes some women took over the trades of their dead husbands due to shortages of skilled men. With more women in the labour force, she says, fewer married, and those that did may have had fewer children - she assumes due to enjoying the independence and income. (How much of that is presentism I'd rather leave to someone who's made a particular study of medieval women's history.) At any rate she implies that this was among the reasons that the English population did not return to pre Black Death levels for over 200 years. Comparisons between different countries, on women working and population levels, would seem like a good idea here.
I was impressed with the overview of theories of causation, expecting this to be a weak point in a lecture by an English professor. It's a debate I've read a lot about over the years, from 1960s epidemiology books that were in the house when I was growing up, to including Scott & Duncan's compelling theory of a viral haemorrhagic fever (similar to Ebola) in their 2001 Biology of Plagues: Evidence from Historical Populations, to archaeological and lab findings over the last decade or so showing Yersinia pestis in a number of Black Death graves. Whilst it really wasn't necessary to mention Fred Hoyle's theory about microbes from space, I can see why a lecturer might do that for entertainment purposes - and she doesn't seem to encourage taking it seriously. Armstrong bridged a gap in a way which now seems very obvious, and which I can see I hadn't thought of because my reading has been sporadic, and not part of a conversation with anyone else with an academic interest in it. Once the findings came out about Y. pestis in graves, I'd junked the whole haemorrhagic fever theory, figured that the plague must have behaved differently then (in a way that sounds a lot like a viral haemorrhagic fever) and that we'd probably never know for sure. But Armstrong suggests - as seems quite logical now I think about it - that (as well as the three forms of plague, which she describes in distinctive detail) there may have been more than one disease involved in the Black Death, and that this included at least one which had Ebola-like behaviour. She says England has especially strong evidence for concurrent epidemics, and her top suggestion here is a murrain/rinderpest, as there were English sources about an outbreak of this type of cattle disease in England in the late 1340s, and weather that would have helped make it virulent. (However, she overestimates the strength of earthquakes in Britain in suggesting one may have had a role in displacing pests, leading them to spread disease among humans.) Animal deaths were also mentioned in Florentine records. In the wake of Scott & Duncan, I am still inclined towards there having been a disease which has now disappeared, as the early 16th-century sweating sickness did. Armstrong reminded me of the distinctive patterns of spread and symptoms meticulously described by Scott & Duncan - importantly IMO they were from a scientific background, and had worked previously on historical epidemiology. This question needs more of that, as I think historians tended to neglect these points because they don't always see the importance of these differences as those with medical and scientific knowledge would, and it is easier for them to accept the status quo among colleagues. She also delineated several sets of 14th-century descriptions of the disease from across Europe, which cluster, as if each set is about a different disease - and mentioned the common question about why there is such a shortage of accounts of dead rats. It doesn't seem likely there will be definitive answers to any of this, though I hope there will continue to be tests done on archaeological discoveries, especially from colder regions where DNA of microbes is are more likely to have survived. On the downside, Armstrong mentioned a genetic theory which is now disproven at least according to one archaeological & genetic study - that surviving the plague increased prevalence of a gene that in more recent times confers resistance to HIV - however, this was only published after these lectures were recorded, so one can't fault her research.
I was delighted to see the geographical range in these lectures encompassing the Nordic countries, Russia and parts of Eastern Europe. Scandinavia is an obvious inclusion these days, as Benedictow is Norwegian and has written extensively about his home region, but having done most of my formal history study at a time when books on "Europe" typically only gave substantial coverage to the areas that are now Britain, France, Iberia, Italy, the Low Countries and Germany, it is always a pleasant surprise to see the old range expanded - though, due to language barriers, it has still not done so to the extent we once hoped.
Scandinavia - here meaning mostly Norway and Sweden - was interestingly distinctive (especially if you are used to the patterns of Western Europe), with different land-labour setups: more land was freely held and young unmarried men were vital to farm labour (ungkarl system). In England the family and the male head of household were central to it. The Black Death also destabilised the Scandinavian system in a distinctive way, as young people started marrying earlier and this took more young men out of the farm-labour pool.
Armstrong is fascinated by the Nordic legends associated with the plague, which seem to have been more plentiful, or to have survived more strongly, than equivalents from elsewhere. These include the Norwegian legend of a child or an old woman knocking on the door, and plague soon afterwards befalling the household - likely reflecting isolated survivors looking for refuge and bringing infection with them. (There is no exploration here of whether this led to the shunning of survivors.) There are legends suggesting a return of human sacrifice in a few localities; scholars disagree as to how much basis in fact these may have had. There is more here on Scandinavian plague legends in a 1988 paper by Timothy Tangherlini, one of the academics cited by Armstrong.
Because of the way she led up to her discussion of the Black Death in Poland and Bohemia, it had looked like she was going to take a disappointing wrong-but-mainstream turn. Her wording sounded like she was going to follow the old theory that the epidemic missed out these countries, a theory whose debunking doesn't seem to have yet thoroughly filtered through to popular history and understanding. This theory is an intriguing pre-internet example of how incorrect information could become received wisdom even among well-informed people - due to an approximate map that was taken as being more exact than it was ever meant to be by its creator Elizabeth Charpentier, and which became bizarrely influential, to frequent repetition by respected individuals, a language/travel barrier and relatively sparse evidence, and inclusion in Philip Ziegler's widely read popular history. (I hope this saga gets taught as an example in historiography modules now.)
Post continued below in comment field.
March 6, 2020
I finished The Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague right in the midst of the earliest days of COVID-19 (a.k.a. Coronavirus) -- back when it was isolated in Wuhan. As I write this, the virus is still going strong and getting much worse, having spread almost everywhere but wreaking its most havoc in China, Japan, Italy and Korea.
One might think that the timing of my read was rather unfortunate. Not me. I discovered an odd calm reading about the Great Mortality. Nothing COVID-19 has to offer -- at least not so far -- can touch the least of the Plague's effects (although the potential collapse of our globalized economy, were such a thing to come to pass, would rival the economic destruction wrought upon the medieval world).
Certainly the spirited and passionate lecturing of Dr. Dorsey Armstrong was part of my relief and enjoyment, but the knowledge she passed on was far more important to my calm than her humour (and she is a funny woman, sometimes in the darkest ways).
While this lecture is decidedly about the Black Death, it is, tangentially, one of the more fascinating surveys of the medieval period that I've read or listened to. It ranges far and wide, presenting tantalizing case studies of responses to plague from around the world; it jumps from the negative effects of the Great Mortality (my absolute favourite name for Plague) to its positive effects seamlessly; and it reveals that even those moments that seem the most trivial have something important to tell us about one of humanity's most cataclysmic moments.
And, hey ... as a species, we got through it, and in some ways we became better for it because it wasn't all just death and suffering, and Dr. Armstrong wants us, I think, to remember that sometimes even the death and suffering can lead us to important change, both in our societies and ourselves.
+Chaucer!
One might think that the timing of my read was rather unfortunate. Not me. I discovered an odd calm reading about the Great Mortality. Nothing COVID-19 has to offer -- at least not so far -- can touch the least of the Plague's effects (although the potential collapse of our globalized economy, were such a thing to come to pass, would rival the economic destruction wrought upon the medieval world).
Certainly the spirited and passionate lecturing of Dr. Dorsey Armstrong was part of my relief and enjoyment, but the knowledge she passed on was far more important to my calm than her humour (and she is a funny woman, sometimes in the darkest ways).
While this lecture is decidedly about the Black Death, it is, tangentially, one of the more fascinating surveys of the medieval period that I've read or listened to. It ranges far and wide, presenting tantalizing case studies of responses to plague from around the world; it jumps from the negative effects of the Great Mortality (my absolute favourite name for Plague) to its positive effects seamlessly; and it reveals that even those moments that seem the most trivial have something important to tell us about one of humanity's most cataclysmic moments.
And, hey ... as a species, we got through it, and in some ways we became better for it because it wasn't all just death and suffering, and Dr. Armstrong wants us, I think, to remember that sometimes even the death and suffering can lead us to important change, both in our societies and ourselves.
+Chaucer!
June 30, 2016
If I'm ever in a time machine facing the decision of what time in history to visit, I think I'll avoid Europe in the years 1347 to 1353, the years of the black death. The death toll in different communities varied from twenty to eighty percent with an overall average of fifty percent. These twenty-four lectures provide a thorough description of what we know about history's worst pandemic.
It's agonizing for a twenty-first century reader to read about all the possible causes for the black death that the fourteenth century physicians came up with. They developed all sorts of theories but never thought to suggest rats and fleas as a possible factor. Apparently fleas and rats were so endemic that it didn't occur to anybody that they might be a vector of transmission.
Scholars today debate the actual cause of the pandemic. Current consensus regarding the cause is the bacterium Yersinia pestis. There are reasons to believe that some of the deaths were caused by other diseases such as anthrax, some form of hemorrhagic fever, or other flu like diseases. Another mystery is why, after many years of reoccurrences, that in about the year 1700 the plague stopped reoccurring in significant numbers in Europe. People in 1700 didn't understand any more about microbes than those in the 1300s. Sewers and water treatment improvements didn't occur until the late nineteenth century. So what changed?
I found it particularly interesting that a case can be made that if it weren't for the pandemic that the Renaissance would not have occurred when it did. The Medieval social structure was stable and entrenched before plague struck and would have probably continued indefinitely. But the high death toll increased the relative value of common labor and decreased the relative wealth of the nobility. Also the staffing of church positions was shuffled and replacements generally had less training and experience. All these changes combined to provide opportunities for change that simply wouldn't have occurred otherwise.
Below is a listing of the lecture titles and short descriptions of each. The descriptions are taken from The Great Courses website.
1. Europe on the Brink of the Black Death
Begin to contemplate the enormity of the Black Death's impact on the medieval world. As context for the harrowing events to come, take account of the state of medieval society on the eve of the plague. In particular, investigate the religious, economic, and political structures of mid-14th-century Europe.
2. The Epidemiology of Plague
Explore the medical understanding of plague, as seen in the 6th-century Plague of Justinian, the Black Death of the 1300s, and the 19th-century Third Pandemic. Examine the three predominant varieties of plague, the symptomatology of each, and scientific theories as to the nature and transmission of the disease that ravaged Europe in the 14th century.
3. Did Plague Really Cause the Black Death?
In recent years, scholars have reassessed the causes of the Black Death, questioning how it spread through medieval Europe with such astonishing speed and virulence. Here, investigate additional factors that may have contributed to the devastation, such as other diseases, bacteria, and other possible forms of transmission.
4. The Black Death's Ports of Entry
Now examine the plague's first sustained appearance in Europe, at the Crimean trading port of Caffa. Learn about the Mongol siege of the city that preceded the outbreak, and how the plague moved west with escaping sailors. Follow the spread of the plague to Constantinople, to Italy, and into France and England.
5. The First Wave Sweeps across Europe
Explore how the plague traveled by sea across the Mediterranean, invading port cities and then radiating inward. To get a view of the unfolding devastation, study the events in Sicily, Mallorca, and Avignon, highlighting first-person accounts. Assess ways of measuring the plague's impact and the difficulty of comprehending the scope of the disaster.
6. The Black Death in Florence
Observe how Florence, the most advanced community in medieval Europe, dealt with the crippling effects of the plague. Learn about the extraordinary and diverse responses of citizens, and see how city leaders took steps to slow the spread of the disease, to counteract the breakdown of laws and government, and to restore the city.
7. The Black Death in France
Witness the plague's horrific impact at Marseille, and uncover how citizens responded with unusual solidarity. Study the ravages and drastic measures taken at Bordeaux, and see how news of outbreaks sparked violence and the scapegoating of Jews. Grasp the monumental death toll in Paris, whose traumatized public reacted with unbridled hedonism, resignation, and numb indifference to the ubiquitous suffering.
8. The Black Death in Avignon
As the 14th-century seat of the papacy, Avignon presents an exceptional case. Learn about the lavish, hedonistic lifestyle of the papal court under Pope Clement VI, and review the range and complexity of Avignon's responses to the Black Death, encompassing both religious and science-based efforts. Investigate the populace's surprising resilience.
9. The Black Death in England
The plague ravaged England with stunning ferocity. Consider evidence of other possible disease agents that added to its effects, as well as factors in the environment that exacerbated the epidemic. Follow how the plague spread through inland waterways, with staggering losses to peasant populations and monasteries, and a resulting search for explanations of God's wrath.
10. The Black Death in Walsham
The village of Walsham provides a vivid view of how English society was upended by the plague. Learn about the manorial system, where peasants lived under a local lord and landholder. Discover how the plague's death toll dramatically altered the balance of power between labor and management, transforming the economic opportunities of peasants.
11. The Black Death in Scandinavia
The Black Death reached Scandinavian countries at different times, by different routes Follow the plague's arrival by ship in Norway, then its movement into Sweden and Denmark, and observe how Scandinavian social customs worsened its toll. Learn also about a unique form of folklore and mythos that arose in Scandinavia in response to the plague.
12. The End of the First Wave
Track the final stages of the plague's initial path through 14th-century Europe, from its incursion into Germanic lands to its devastation of Poland and Russia. Study the socioeconomic conditions within Russia, where lack of labor led to a slave-like system of serfdom, and consider psychosocial responses such as the building of one-day votive churches. ""
13. Medieval Theories about the Black Death
Observe how learned minds responded to the plague through the writing and dissemination of plague treatises. Review theories regarding the plague's appearance, from astrological conjunctions and weather to those of corrupted" air, eclipses, and earthquakes. Take account of contemporary sanitation procedures, medical remedies, and the practices of plague doctors."
14. Cultural Reactions from Flagellation to Hedonism
Delve into the range of psychosocial responses people had to the plague and to the knowledge of its inescapability. Explore the flagellant movement, whose adherents tortured themselves publicly to atone for the sins of the world. On the opposite end, learn about extreme hedonistic responses, from sexual licentiousness to choreomania"-obsessive ritual dancing."
15. Jewish Persecution during the Black Death
Examine the history of anti-Semitism in medieval Europe and the unfolding of conspiracy theories during the plague that Jews were poisoning the Christian population. Witness how anti-Semitic hysteria led to horrific violence and the execution of Jewish populations, even as both Christian and secular leaders attempted to quell such actions.
16. Plague's Effects on the Medieval Church
The Black Death dealt serious blows to the institution of the Church. Learn how the plague's death toll among the clergy upset the hierarchy and management of religious affairs.
Also investigate how the Church's failure to affect any cure or relief from the plague led to a weakening of its authority and status.
17. Plague Saints and Popular Religion
Religious devotion at the popular level proliferated during the Black Death. Follow the dramatic increase in activities such as religious pilgrimage, the building of chantry chapels, and the veneration of saints. Witness the struggle between the official Church doctrine and popular religious beliefs, as people searched desperately for comfort in their darkest hour.
18. Artistic Responses to the Black Death
Discover how artists confronted the plague through new and innovative forms of expression. Among these, study the creation of transi tombs with graphic sculptural efligies of the dead, as well as the remarkable paintings, murals, and woodcuts of the memento mori tradition, which sought to remind viewers of their mortality.
19. Literary Reponses to the Black Death
The events of the Black Death inspired some of history's greatest literary masterpieces. In this lecture, uncover the range of textual responses to the plague, highlighting William Langland's dream-vision poem Piers Plowman and Boccaccio's Decameron. Learn how the plague set Geoffrey Chaucer on the path to literary immortality.
20. The Economics of the Black Death
Investigate how the plague initially brought massive loss of labor, administrative manpower, and the tax base, as well as far-reaching disruption of farming. Grasp the process by which economic opportunities for the lower and merchant classes-including women-were transformed, and how those who survived were, in most cases, much wealthier than before.
21. The Black Death's Political Outcomes
The social and economic changes brought by the plague were inextricably linked to the sphere of politics. Witness how numerous governmental functions dramatically broke down during the plague, and study how, in the aftermath, many governments attempted to maintain the pre-plague status quo, which was untenable in the new world order.
22. Communities That Survived the First Wave
Despite the vast spread of the Black Death throughout the European continent, several communities were notably spared during the first wave of the 14th century. In the examples of Finland, Milan, and Nuremberg, investigate how factors of geography, timing, preventive action, and hygiene contributed to saving certain populations.
23. Later Plague Outbreaks: 1353-1666
Chart subsequent occurrences of plague across Europe following the Black Death of the 14th century, culminating with the Great Plague of London of 1665-66. Learn how people developed critical strategies to combat outbreaks, from administrative bodies created to deal with the plague to the phenomena of pesthouses for the sick, plague pits, and quarantines.
24. How the Black Death Transformed the World
In conclusion, reflect on how the economic, social, and political worlds of Europe reinvented themselves to accommodate the deep changes brought about by the plague.
Finally, through examples ranging from medieval smallpox to the recent occurrence of Ebola, consider how diseases and pandemics have shaped human societies and individual behavior throughout history and continue to do so today.
It's agonizing for a twenty-first century reader to read about all the possible causes for the black death that the fourteenth century physicians came up with. They developed all sorts of theories but never thought to suggest rats and fleas as a possible factor. Apparently fleas and rats were so endemic that it didn't occur to anybody that they might be a vector of transmission.
Scholars today debate the actual cause of the pandemic. Current consensus regarding the cause is the bacterium Yersinia pestis. There are reasons to believe that some of the deaths were caused by other diseases such as anthrax, some form of hemorrhagic fever, or other flu like diseases. Another mystery is why, after many years of reoccurrences, that in about the year 1700 the plague stopped reoccurring in significant numbers in Europe. People in 1700 didn't understand any more about microbes than those in the 1300s. Sewers and water treatment improvements didn't occur until the late nineteenth century. So what changed?
I found it particularly interesting that a case can be made that if it weren't for the pandemic that the Renaissance would not have occurred when it did. The Medieval social structure was stable and entrenched before plague struck and would have probably continued indefinitely. But the high death toll increased the relative value of common labor and decreased the relative wealth of the nobility. Also the staffing of church positions was shuffled and replacements generally had less training and experience. All these changes combined to provide opportunities for change that simply wouldn't have occurred otherwise.
Below is a listing of the lecture titles and short descriptions of each. The descriptions are taken from The Great Courses website.
1. Europe on the Brink of the Black Death
Begin to contemplate the enormity of the Black Death's impact on the medieval world. As context for the harrowing events to come, take account of the state of medieval society on the eve of the plague. In particular, investigate the religious, economic, and political structures of mid-14th-century Europe.
2. The Epidemiology of Plague
Explore the medical understanding of plague, as seen in the 6th-century Plague of Justinian, the Black Death of the 1300s, and the 19th-century Third Pandemic. Examine the three predominant varieties of plague, the symptomatology of each, and scientific theories as to the nature and transmission of the disease that ravaged Europe in the 14th century.
3. Did Plague Really Cause the Black Death?
In recent years, scholars have reassessed the causes of the Black Death, questioning how it spread through medieval Europe with such astonishing speed and virulence. Here, investigate additional factors that may have contributed to the devastation, such as other diseases, bacteria, and other possible forms of transmission.
4. The Black Death's Ports of Entry
Now examine the plague's first sustained appearance in Europe, at the Crimean trading port of Caffa. Learn about the Mongol siege of the city that preceded the outbreak, and how the plague moved west with escaping sailors. Follow the spread of the plague to Constantinople, to Italy, and into France and England.
5. The First Wave Sweeps across Europe
Explore how the plague traveled by sea across the Mediterranean, invading port cities and then radiating inward. To get a view of the unfolding devastation, study the events in Sicily, Mallorca, and Avignon, highlighting first-person accounts. Assess ways of measuring the plague's impact and the difficulty of comprehending the scope of the disaster.
6. The Black Death in Florence
Observe how Florence, the most advanced community in medieval Europe, dealt with the crippling effects of the plague. Learn about the extraordinary and diverse responses of citizens, and see how city leaders took steps to slow the spread of the disease, to counteract the breakdown of laws and government, and to restore the city.
7. The Black Death in France
Witness the plague's horrific impact at Marseille, and uncover how citizens responded with unusual solidarity. Study the ravages and drastic measures taken at Bordeaux, and see how news of outbreaks sparked violence and the scapegoating of Jews. Grasp the monumental death toll in Paris, whose traumatized public reacted with unbridled hedonism, resignation, and numb indifference to the ubiquitous suffering.
8. The Black Death in Avignon
As the 14th-century seat of the papacy, Avignon presents an exceptional case. Learn about the lavish, hedonistic lifestyle of the papal court under Pope Clement VI, and review the range and complexity of Avignon's responses to the Black Death, encompassing both religious and science-based efforts. Investigate the populace's surprising resilience.
9. The Black Death in England
The plague ravaged England with stunning ferocity. Consider evidence of other possible disease agents that added to its effects, as well as factors in the environment that exacerbated the epidemic. Follow how the plague spread through inland waterways, with staggering losses to peasant populations and monasteries, and a resulting search for explanations of God's wrath.
10. The Black Death in Walsham
The village of Walsham provides a vivid view of how English society was upended by the plague. Learn about the manorial system, where peasants lived under a local lord and landholder. Discover how the plague's death toll dramatically altered the balance of power between labor and management, transforming the economic opportunities of peasants.
11. The Black Death in Scandinavia
The Black Death reached Scandinavian countries at different times, by different routes Follow the plague's arrival by ship in Norway, then its movement into Sweden and Denmark, and observe how Scandinavian social customs worsened its toll. Learn also about a unique form of folklore and mythos that arose in Scandinavia in response to the plague.
12. The End of the First Wave
Track the final stages of the plague's initial path through 14th-century Europe, from its incursion into Germanic lands to its devastation of Poland and Russia. Study the socioeconomic conditions within Russia, where lack of labor led to a slave-like system of serfdom, and consider psychosocial responses such as the building of one-day votive churches. ""
13. Medieval Theories about the Black Death
Observe how learned minds responded to the plague through the writing and dissemination of plague treatises. Review theories regarding the plague's appearance, from astrological conjunctions and weather to those of corrupted" air, eclipses, and earthquakes. Take account of contemporary sanitation procedures, medical remedies, and the practices of plague doctors."
14. Cultural Reactions from Flagellation to Hedonism
Delve into the range of psychosocial responses people had to the plague and to the knowledge of its inescapability. Explore the flagellant movement, whose adherents tortured themselves publicly to atone for the sins of the world. On the opposite end, learn about extreme hedonistic responses, from sexual licentiousness to choreomania"-obsessive ritual dancing."
15. Jewish Persecution during the Black Death
Examine the history of anti-Semitism in medieval Europe and the unfolding of conspiracy theories during the plague that Jews were poisoning the Christian population. Witness how anti-Semitic hysteria led to horrific violence and the execution of Jewish populations, even as both Christian and secular leaders attempted to quell such actions.
16. Plague's Effects on the Medieval Church
The Black Death dealt serious blows to the institution of the Church. Learn how the plague's death toll among the clergy upset the hierarchy and management of religious affairs.
Also investigate how the Church's failure to affect any cure or relief from the plague led to a weakening of its authority and status.
17. Plague Saints and Popular Religion
Religious devotion at the popular level proliferated during the Black Death. Follow the dramatic increase in activities such as religious pilgrimage, the building of chantry chapels, and the veneration of saints. Witness the struggle between the official Church doctrine and popular religious beliefs, as people searched desperately for comfort in their darkest hour.
18. Artistic Responses to the Black Death
Discover how artists confronted the plague through new and innovative forms of expression. Among these, study the creation of transi tombs with graphic sculptural efligies of the dead, as well as the remarkable paintings, murals, and woodcuts of the memento mori tradition, which sought to remind viewers of their mortality.
19. Literary Reponses to the Black Death
The events of the Black Death inspired some of history's greatest literary masterpieces. In this lecture, uncover the range of textual responses to the plague, highlighting William Langland's dream-vision poem Piers Plowman and Boccaccio's Decameron. Learn how the plague set Geoffrey Chaucer on the path to literary immortality.
20. The Economics of the Black Death
Investigate how the plague initially brought massive loss of labor, administrative manpower, and the tax base, as well as far-reaching disruption of farming. Grasp the process by which economic opportunities for the lower and merchant classes-including women-were transformed, and how those who survived were, in most cases, much wealthier than before.
21. The Black Death's Political Outcomes
The social and economic changes brought by the plague were inextricably linked to the sphere of politics. Witness how numerous governmental functions dramatically broke down during the plague, and study how, in the aftermath, many governments attempted to maintain the pre-plague status quo, which was untenable in the new world order.
22. Communities That Survived the First Wave
Despite the vast spread of the Black Death throughout the European continent, several communities were notably spared during the first wave of the 14th century. In the examples of Finland, Milan, and Nuremberg, investigate how factors of geography, timing, preventive action, and hygiene contributed to saving certain populations.
23. Later Plague Outbreaks: 1353-1666
Chart subsequent occurrences of plague across Europe following the Black Death of the 14th century, culminating with the Great Plague of London of 1665-66. Learn how people developed critical strategies to combat outbreaks, from administrative bodies created to deal with the plague to the phenomena of pesthouses for the sick, plague pits, and quarantines.
24. How the Black Death Transformed the World
In conclusion, reflect on how the economic, social, and political worlds of Europe reinvented themselves to accommodate the deep changes brought about by the plague.
Finally, through examples ranging from medieval smallpox to the recent occurrence of Ebola, consider how diseases and pandemics have shaped human societies and individual behavior throughout history and continue to do so today.
May 22, 2020
Dorsey Armstrong is a confident and competent presenter in this course of two dozen sessions I have had the privilege to watch by way of a library loan. Thanks to Chicago Public Library for purchasing the videos from The Great Courses, or The Teaching Company. I see many of their offerings are on sale right now.
I actually was looking for a book by this title and decided to try this video course. It is very helpful in reviewing the plague and other diseases through time. It is an investment in time to watch the entire series of videos but well worth it.
Library Loan
Note: I just clicked over to see that there are several choices from The Great Courses including this series available for free on Amazon with Audible Trial. There are some good titles to select from.
I actually was looking for a book by this title and decided to try this video course. It is very helpful in reviewing the plague and other diseases through time. It is an investment in time to watch the entire series of videos but well worth it.
Library Loan
Note: I just clicked over to see that there are several choices from The Great Courses including this series available for free on Amazon with Audible Trial. There are some good titles to select from.
December 30, 2024
If I had listened to these lectures prior to 2020, I think I would have been better prepared to understand the psychology behind many of the bizarre happenings that year of the pandemic. Turns out we humans have not changed much, either in our negative or positive traits.
Our own history aside, these lectures are a helpful introduction to the devastation wrought by the Great Mortality (=Black Death or Bubonic Plague) that led to a loss of life unfathomable numerically. Up to 50% of Europe killed by this plague? How can one even begin to wrap one’s mind around this?
These lectures not only describe the plague’s source and death toll around Europe, but also track the social, economic, and religious changes that arose from it and because of it. It is safe to say that the world would never be the same after those horrific years of the plague.
Our own history aside, these lectures are a helpful introduction to the devastation wrought by the Great Mortality (=Black Death or Bubonic Plague) that led to a loss of life unfathomable numerically. Up to 50% of Europe killed by this plague? How can one even begin to wrap one’s mind around this?
These lectures not only describe the plague’s source and death toll around Europe, but also track the social, economic, and religious changes that arose from it and because of it. It is safe to say that the world would never be the same after those horrific years of the plague.
January 24, 2022
I originally decided on this course thinking it may shed light on the current omicron wave. But, as soon became obvious, the bubonic plague was so horrific that the current pandemic is not even comparable. What was most difficult, for me, was wrapping my mind around a pandemic spread by rats and fleas. The medieval world must have been filthy beyond imagining for a disease that relies on these pests to propagate so widely. Armstrong ends with the chilling thought of a new, antibiotic-resistant plague emerging. Whether that particular vision is realistic or not, the next great mortality may, indeed, be caused by bacteria that are immune to our chemical defenses. Scary.
June 15, 2025
so, i finally watched ingmar bergman’s the seventh seal, which follows a tormented knight who returns to sweden from a meaningless 10-year crusade and finds death waiting for him on the shore. wanting to have his doubts assuaged or perhaps given some divine revelation, the knight challenges death to a game of chess. and the story goes from there...anw, a classic for a reason! it’s set in the exact time period when the black plague hit europe, mid-14th-century, and so there are varying scenes of illness, sorrow, barbarism: flagellants who jeer at a village for their sins, a priest stealing from corpses. the day after i watched that, i thought i might as well watch this and learn more about the realities of the ‘great mortality,’ as prof armstrong puts it (it turns out the movie is faithful enough).
here are the facts i remember: started on the continent from 1347, but iceland wasn’t hit until 1402; mostly traveled by trading routes and caused pincers (waves of disease from one end to another that crashed into each other); the plague began in caffa and tana, genoese trading outposts set up on the black sea and sea of azov w the permission of the golden horde, who turned on them due to a burgeoning slave trade that led back to the ottoman empire (this i want to learn more about)—eventually the army laying seige on caffa became plague-stricken and they catapulted bodies into caffa as a kind of last hurrah, which it was bc every european trader fleeing those cities brought the great pestilence home; approx 50% mortality rate; three types of plague (bubonic, pneumonic, septicemic) and only the first isn’t absolutely fatal; extreme reactions to the unending death came down to either hedonism or flagellantism (pope clement vi eventually condemned them w a papal bull); scandinavia may’ve performed human sacrifice as a reaction...&c., &c.
my biggest criticism of this is that it’s much too long and repetitive. i definitely think armstrong could have made this an 8- or 10-lecture series. there were a few too many case studies and i only really liked three: florence, marseilles, and avignon (the last due to the fact that the black death happened during the babylonion captivity of the papacy). i know england needed some attention due to the total upheaval of the feudal system, but she said the same thing so many times...i get it! buyer’s market for cows no one wanted to buy, chaucer wrote an ode to the duchess blanche, we shld all be so grateful bc the arrival of the renaissance was sped up from this, blah blah blah. i do mostly find her fun though 😖 started her king arthur lecture course today 👑
here are the facts i remember: started on the continent from 1347, but iceland wasn’t hit until 1402; mostly traveled by trading routes and caused pincers (waves of disease from one end to another that crashed into each other); the plague began in caffa and tana, genoese trading outposts set up on the black sea and sea of azov w the permission of the golden horde, who turned on them due to a burgeoning slave trade that led back to the ottoman empire (this i want to learn more about)—eventually the army laying seige on caffa became plague-stricken and they catapulted bodies into caffa as a kind of last hurrah, which it was bc every european trader fleeing those cities brought the great pestilence home; approx 50% mortality rate; three types of plague (bubonic, pneumonic, septicemic) and only the first isn’t absolutely fatal; extreme reactions to the unending death came down to either hedonism or flagellantism (pope clement vi eventually condemned them w a papal bull); scandinavia may’ve performed human sacrifice as a reaction...&c., &c.
my biggest criticism of this is that it’s much too long and repetitive. i definitely think armstrong could have made this an 8- or 10-lecture series. there were a few too many case studies and i only really liked three: florence, marseilles, and avignon (the last due to the fact that the black death happened during the babylonion captivity of the papacy). i know england needed some attention due to the total upheaval of the feudal system, but she said the same thing so many times...i get it! buyer’s market for cows no one wanted to buy, chaucer wrote an ode to the duchess blanche, we shld all be so grateful bc the arrival of the renaissance was sped up from this, blah blah blah. i do mostly find her fun though 😖 started her king arthur lecture course today 👑
March 11, 2018
My friend, Martha Spotts, mentioned she was listening to these lectures and I found them at our library site. I found the whole series fascinating and a bit confusing too, lots of speculation that maybe rats/fleas did not cause plaque but then lots of assumptions that they did, for one.
I loved the Professor’s voice and attitude and her book recommendations!
I loved the Professor’s voice and attitude and her book recommendations!
February 17, 2019
This is a very good history of the Black Death. There is some repetition in some of the lectures - just general introductory statement type of repetition. But Armstrong looks at all aspects of the Black Death in various different countries.
December 16, 2020
The Covid pandemic of 2020 seemed like an appropriate time to investigate the pandemic of the fourteenth century, the Black Death. Professor Dorsey Armstrong is the author and narrator of this Great Course.
In twenty four lectures, of 30 minutes each, Armstrong describes the origins of the Black Death, also known as the Plague, how it traveled from place to place and its lasting effects on the world. I found many of the details to be fascinating.
Armstrong describes how the plague affected various aspects of the medieval world, including the church, the economy and the roles people have in society. She believes that the kernel for the Reformation began now because the church often did not meet people’s needs during a pandemic that they did not understand.
While this course was a study of the Plague, it really was a study of the late medieval world. I enjoyed examining it from this perspective.
Armstrong, a professor at Purdue University, is a relaxed lecturer and easy to listen to. I hope to eventually “attend” her other Great Courses.
In twenty four lectures, of 30 minutes each, Armstrong describes the origins of the Black Death, also known as the Plague, how it traveled from place to place and its lasting effects on the world. I found many of the details to be fascinating.
Armstrong describes how the plague affected various aspects of the medieval world, including the church, the economy and the roles people have in society. She believes that the kernel for the Reformation began now because the church often did not meet people’s needs during a pandemic that they did not understand.
While this course was a study of the Plague, it really was a study of the late medieval world. I enjoyed examining it from this perspective.
Armstrong, a professor at Purdue University, is a relaxed lecturer and easy to listen to. I hope to eventually “attend” her other Great Courses.
August 24, 2020
Splendid! Professor Armstrong is charismatic and her delivery is polished. The course has more diverse content than I thought it would. I expected a through examination of the history and impact of the Black Death but I was pleased by how deeply Armstrong went into the epidemiology of the plague and the still unresolved questions that remain about its true bacteriological nature. I've already purchased another course by Professor Armstrong. She's that good.
February 17, 2022
This was a great lecture series! Very enlightening about not just the epidemiology and history, but the many social and cultural implications that the Black Death brought to the European world. It’s a cautionary tale for our day as we see many of the same patterns occurring during the Covid 19 pandemic: fear, blaming, loss of faith, loss of trust in institutions, hedonism! (Which actually was quite entertaining), religious extremism, etc.
I also liked how the professor showed that we are not so different from our medieval ancestors. We may have different tools and some different social roles, but human nature and behavior is still pretty close. The more things change the more they remain the same!
I found myself googling all the different art, places, and characters mentioned. A very educational and fascinating series. I highly recommend.
I also liked how the professor showed that we are not so different from our medieval ancestors. We may have different tools and some different social roles, but human nature and behavior is still pretty close. The more things change the more they remain the same!
I found myself googling all the different art, places, and characters mentioned. A very educational and fascinating series. I highly recommend.
April 5, 2020
Finally finished. I bought this before the world went mad over Covid 19. So, uncannily this turned out to be extra interesting as the world faces a nasty virus. The lectures were very interesting indeed and I liked that Armstrong reminded the listener of facts we had learnt before in previous lectures. My knowledge deepened and I think I will be able to retain a lot of what I learnt.
Here some facts that I found most interesting:
1. The Siege of Caffe was the first biological warfare whereby the Mongols catapulted rotting corpses over the city walls of Caffe.
2. 10-20% of the population have a natural immunity to the HIV virus which they believe dates back to the ancestors who survived during the Black Plague
3. Understanding the origins of the plague was only discovered in 1894 by Alexanove Yensin.
4. The plague, like Covid19 also began in China.
5. The plague brought about great social disruption and broke traditional social structures and empowered the poor, freed the serfs and made the traders and merchants rich.
6. The Jews were persecuted and blamed for the plague. Thousands were exiled, executed or marginalised.
7. Women entered the workforce and became richer than ever before
8. Two main polarising reactions: hedonism or increased piety.
9. It ushered in the Renaissance and great creativity was borne.
10. Fun fact: the word quarantine comes from the Italian phrase "quaranta giorni" meaning forty days, which was the length of time the ships would have to wait before docking at the Venice held city of Dubrovnik.
Now that I have laid the foundation of knowledge in a non-fiction book, I am super keen to read some historical fiction set in these times.
I have chosen:
1. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
2. Time travel book: The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis and
3. Daniel Wolf's Im Zeichen des Löwen
I have become a fan of the Great Courses. My next one is on WW1.
Thank you Dorsey Armstrong for sharing your knowledge in an accessible way.
Here some facts that I found most interesting:
1. The Siege of Caffe was the first biological warfare whereby the Mongols catapulted rotting corpses over the city walls of Caffe.
2. 10-20% of the population have a natural immunity to the HIV virus which they believe dates back to the ancestors who survived during the Black Plague
3. Understanding the origins of the plague was only discovered in 1894 by Alexanove Yensin.
4. The plague, like Covid19 also began in China.
5. The plague brought about great social disruption and broke traditional social structures and empowered the poor, freed the serfs and made the traders and merchants rich.
6. The Jews were persecuted and blamed for the plague. Thousands were exiled, executed or marginalised.
7. Women entered the workforce and became richer than ever before
8. Two main polarising reactions: hedonism or increased piety.
9. It ushered in the Renaissance and great creativity was borne.
10. Fun fact: the word quarantine comes from the Italian phrase "quaranta giorni" meaning forty days, which was the length of time the ships would have to wait before docking at the Venice held city of Dubrovnik.
Now that I have laid the foundation of knowledge in a non-fiction book, I am super keen to read some historical fiction set in these times.
I have chosen:
1. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
2. Time travel book: The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis and
3. Daniel Wolf's Im Zeichen des Löwen
I have become a fan of the Great Courses. My next one is on WW1.
Thank you Dorsey Armstrong for sharing your knowledge in an accessible way.
February 13, 2018
This was simply tremendous.
There was so much background, detail, and information about how all of the plague affected the entire world.
Professor Armstrong impressed me throughout the entire course.
For me, this was a follow-on to John Barry's The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History.
Highly recommended.
There was so much background, detail, and information about how all of the plague affected the entire world.
Professor Armstrong impressed me throughout the entire course.
For me, this was a follow-on to John Barry's The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History.
Highly recommended.
May 21, 2024
The lectures are interesting if a bit repetitive. I like the bits on the responses to and impact of the plague.
December 5, 2021
This is an audible book that is presented in 24 half hour presentations. The lecture format is different from someone simply reading a text so the sound is somewhat more informal and listenable although there is no typical Audible presentation or verbal acting. The presenter is the same throughout and relies on her evidently vast knowledge of her material. And there is a good deal of material presented on the topic.
There is some repetition of material over the 12 hours but not enough to make it a serious problem. I assume that most people are listening to this from beginning to end over a relatively short period of time.
The main disability of this presentation is that it occurs in the time period just before we entered the COVID-19 era in the world. While it is possible to read between the lines one can only be disappointed that this effort did not serve as a better educational tool given our current circumstances with the pandemic. It seems reasonable to wonder why they did not create some kind of an addendum to this worthwhile presentation to bring it up-to-date with the issue that is of immediate concern.
There is some repetition of material over the 12 hours but not enough to make it a serious problem. I assume that most people are listening to this from beginning to end over a relatively short period of time.
The main disability of this presentation is that it occurs in the time period just before we entered the COVID-19 era in the world. While it is possible to read between the lines one can only be disappointed that this effort did not serve as a better educational tool given our current circumstances with the pandemic. It seems reasonable to wonder why they did not create some kind of an addendum to this worthwhile presentation to bring it up-to-date with the issue that is of immediate concern.
March 3, 2025
First time I’ve listened to a Great Course book and I was pleasantly surprised. The book takes the form of 24 half hour lectures each developing a theme relating to the Black Death. Areas covered weren’t just restricted to the horror of living through a plague that in some places killed 4 out of 5 people but also explored its consequences. Social structures, subservience to the church, movement of labour, persecution of minorities were all massively effected following the trauma.
There was a degree of repetition in that some of the lectures recapped the previous ones in order to set the scene but this was a minor irritation. I would say though that it is important to choose the subject carefully as it was covered in depth, so for more than gaining an overview.
Good 8 out of 10
There was a degree of repetition in that some of the lectures recapped the previous ones in order to set the scene but this was a minor irritation. I would say though that it is important to choose the subject carefully as it was covered in depth, so for more than gaining an overview.
Good 8 out of 10
June 25, 2020
The more we are different the more we are the same. Covid19 ended up being more like Y2K than the plague but people’s reactions to it were similar to medieval men: crackpot remedies, despair or blind optimism.
The real plague did lead to the medieval biological protective suit, quarantines, sanitization through burning, travel bans... almost. It also brought out the heroes who cared for the eternal and earthy needs of the sick and the cowards who abandoned their posts and literally bricked up their dying relatives.
The real plague did lead to the medieval biological protective suit, quarantines, sanitization through burning, travel bans... almost. It also brought out the heroes who cared for the eternal and earthy needs of the sick and the cowards who abandoned their posts and literally bricked up their dying relatives.
December 11, 2023
Professor Dorsey Armstrong prepared a 186 page guidebook and a series of 24 lectures for this course about the Black Death: The World's Most Devastating Plague. After reading the guide book and listening to the lectures I was convinced that this was probably one, if not the most, decimating occurrence in all of human history considering that it killed at least 50 percent of the world's known population.
Generally, the scope of the course and guidebook covers the Black Death (which struck around 1346 through 1353) from various aspects in order to describe how the pandemic "originated, spread, and transformed the medieval world." The transformation was virtually all-encompassing including the economics, government, religion, warfare, art, literature and everyday living standards of the known world. As Professor Dorsey proceeds through the course, not only does she examine how the plague affected the population at an overall level, but she also examines first person accounts from such places as Florence and Avignon.
Being that this brutal period has never been completely explained (the whys and hows), Professor Armstrong also explores some of the more recent ideas on the source and transmission of the plague. She also discusses how the scientific minds of that time interpreted the plague and some of the approaches the medical community tried to use to deal with the disease.
Professor Armstrong finalizes the course by discussing some of the recent pandemics such as the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic and Ebola. Interestingly the course was completed in 2016, and a few years later we would be experiencing another pandemic in the way of COVID-19. In many ways, the course was prophetic in predicting the possibility of future pestilences that would and will continue to affect the general population.
For me, the course was not only interesting but, in many cases, timely. I had no concept how significant the impact of the Black Death was and how much it changed history following the plague (for example, the Black Death was the one event that, very likely, brought about such historical upheavals as the Protestant Reformation and the Renaissance) . In addition, the guidebook was very thorough and Professor Armstrong was very interesting as a lecturer. I would highly recommend this course and guidebook for anyone that is interested in the history of that period or, for that matter, is interested in how a pandemic can affect the general population of our planet.
Generally, the scope of the course and guidebook covers the Black Death (which struck around 1346 through 1353) from various aspects in order to describe how the pandemic "originated, spread, and transformed the medieval world." The transformation was virtually all-encompassing including the economics, government, religion, warfare, art, literature and everyday living standards of the known world. As Professor Dorsey proceeds through the course, not only does she examine how the plague affected the population at an overall level, but she also examines first person accounts from such places as Florence and Avignon.
Being that this brutal period has never been completely explained (the whys and hows), Professor Armstrong also explores some of the more recent ideas on the source and transmission of the plague. She also discusses how the scientific minds of that time interpreted the plague and some of the approaches the medical community tried to use to deal with the disease.
Professor Armstrong finalizes the course by discussing some of the recent pandemics such as the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic and Ebola. Interestingly the course was completed in 2016, and a few years later we would be experiencing another pandemic in the way of COVID-19. In many ways, the course was prophetic in predicting the possibility of future pestilences that would and will continue to affect the general population.
For me, the course was not only interesting but, in many cases, timely. I had no concept how significant the impact of the Black Death was and how much it changed history following the plague (for example, the Black Death was the one event that, very likely, brought about such historical upheavals as the Protestant Reformation and the Renaissance) . In addition, the guidebook was very thorough and Professor Armstrong was very interesting as a lecturer. I would highly recommend this course and guidebook for anyone that is interested in the history of that period or, for that matter, is interested in how a pandemic can affect the general population of our planet.
February 19, 2019
1347-1353 was the years that the plague first came to Western Europe. Mortality rates varied from 20-80% with the average being 50%. Entire families, and in some cases villages die in a matter of days. Armstrong traces the causes of the the Black Death, the infection route both geographically and physically and its vast impact and implications for medieval and modern life.
Why I started this book: Struggling with the books that I should read, so I picked one up just for fun.
Why I finished it: Armstrong is an engaging lecturer, bring the Medieval World to contemporary listeners. I was surprised and enlightened with the comparison to the television show, the Walking Dead. The fear, the sense that the world is ending, and the survival rate of a zombie apocalypse brought home just how terrifying and life altering this plague was. This lecture series shows the paths of the plagues, the effects on various regions by highlighting various experiences in different cities, and the cultural impact. Very fascinating.
Why I started this book: Struggling with the books that I should read, so I picked one up just for fun.
Why I finished it: Armstrong is an engaging lecturer, bring the Medieval World to contemporary listeners. I was surprised and enlightened with the comparison to the television show, the Walking Dead. The fear, the sense that the world is ending, and the survival rate of a zombie apocalypse brought home just how terrifying and life altering this plague was. This lecture series shows the paths of the plagues, the effects on various regions by highlighting various experiences in different cities, and the cultural impact. Very fascinating.
October 30, 2021
In the middle of the fourteenth century, Europe was devasted by a plague which has come to be called the Black Death. It killed at least fifty percent of the population. Dorsey Armstrong’s Great Courses book on the subject is the single best account I have ever encountered on the subject. She takes her time with the subject matter, starting with the many theories on what diseases the Black Death might have been composed on (and modern scholars think it was almost certainly more than one—bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic plagues, with a sprinkling of hemorrhagic fever and anthrax). She also traces how the plague spread in different waves across the continent, looks at communities that were devastated, and then takes the time to explore the plague’s impact on the economy, religion, literature and art, the social order, and more. This is a great way to educate yourself on the most devasting plague to ever strike the western world.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
September 24, 2016
This was so very interesting. I was hooked with the Black Plague theme but I didn't know how engaging this course would be. There were so many fascinating aspects of this time period, not the disease but the way people tried to explain it and cure it and contain it and just to figure a way to go on with their lives when they were in the middle of what felt like the apocalypse. Very much recommended.
September 11, 2022
This is one of the very best lecture series from The Great Courses, and Dorsey Armstrong is one of the best presenters. From what the Black Death really was (not just 1 type of disease), the conditions that caused it to be bad in places and not as bad in others, its effect on European society for generations, and the conditions that set the stage for both the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation are many things I learned something new. This was fascinating from start to finish!
October 4, 2018
Almost everything the average medieval history buff would want to know about the Black Death - from its probable causes to its significant impact on the world - is here in these lectures. I found this course fascinating, and Dorsey Armstrong is an excellent speaker. She has a skill with languages, too, and I loved hearing her read Middle English!
November 6, 2018
Great topic, great author. So much interesting stuff in here. Who knew that massive amounts of death could be so fun?
March 28, 2020
Rules to follow in the current pandemic:
1.) Do not flee to a different place.
2.) Hygiene is crucial.
3.) Stay in place. Isolate.
4.) Civilization will continue, just be patient.
1.) Do not flee to a different place.
2.) Hygiene is crucial.
3.) Stay in place. Isolate.
4.) Civilization will continue, just be patient.
September 26, 2022
Clear, concise, comprehensive and fascinating.
July 1, 2018
The Black Death, or The Plague, or The Great Mortality was a moment in the history of the western world which quickly and drastically altered demographics of the time. It overturned social structures and set about major changes in power dynamics among those in the western world. The plague shifted the role of women, religion, and social ties in western society enough to set in motion or accelerate trends that would shape the Renaissance and Age of Enlightenment with effects even into today. The story of the great mortality is also a warning for a modern era of the horrors that could fall upon us and the human reactions that would take place if a pandemic were to wipe out vast swaths of populations throughout the world.
At least, this is the thesis that runs through the lectures of Dorsey Armstrong's lectures. She starts from a high level, giving an overview of a bit of the epidemiology of the plague, Yersinia pestis, which came in three forms: bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic. She also goes over the theories of how other diseases that may have played a role in the great mortality. Then in broad strokes describes how the plague flew through Europe starting around 1347, jumping especially quickly from port to port at times and tying a noose around Europe at the time, later to return and kill off the children of those who survived the first wave of plague and then again every decade or so.
She then goes on to tell the story in more detail in specific places roughly chronologically, traveling from Florence, to France/Avignon, England/Walsham, and finally Scandinavia, and then burned out as it traveled through Germanic lands and Russia. Each description is punctuated by life at the time and how the response to the plague are the same and different as well as how the different communities responded in the aftermath as half of communities were wiped out. She emphasizes that much of the western world at the time was Christian, agrarian, and feudal, coming back to this point again and again. Italy was the first hit in the western world and the story of the attack on the City of Kaffa by the Mongols was a fascinating look at an early form of biological warfare. The French at the time had the pope during the Babylonian captivity of the papacy. England had an ambitious King who sent his daughter to marry a Castilian prince who was killed by plague and he was not able to recover the body because she was burned in an early version of quarantine.
She then breaks from the chronology to look at how different the medieval church and religion was effected, what artistic reactions to the great mortality were like, what some of the literary responses were, how economics and political realities shifted in the wake of the black death, and finally the communities that avoided plague for a great deal of time and what later plague outbreaks looked like. I found particularly interesting the argument that Chaucer would not have been Chaucer were it not for the plague. The economic effects on the economic status of women and how they gained much more status as professionals and a greater foothold in wealth was an interesting good consequence of the plague. The feudal systems and political institutions broke down in many ways as the strain of competition for land withered away while institutions of religion in many ways grew stronger as many left wealth to the church.
I enjoyed these lectures, not quite as much as the one on liberties, but it was interesting to be reminded of how little I know of the medieval western world. I also wondered of how large populations outside the western world were at the time and what sorts of effects and timelines they saw or how much we know of that history. All in all I think this was well done and I enjoyed it.
At least, this is the thesis that runs through the lectures of Dorsey Armstrong's lectures. She starts from a high level, giving an overview of a bit of the epidemiology of the plague, Yersinia pestis, which came in three forms: bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic. She also goes over the theories of how other diseases that may have played a role in the great mortality. Then in broad strokes describes how the plague flew through Europe starting around 1347, jumping especially quickly from port to port at times and tying a noose around Europe at the time, later to return and kill off the children of those who survived the first wave of plague and then again every decade or so.
She then goes on to tell the story in more detail in specific places roughly chronologically, traveling from Florence, to France/Avignon, England/Walsham, and finally Scandinavia, and then burned out as it traveled through Germanic lands and Russia. Each description is punctuated by life at the time and how the response to the plague are the same and different as well as how the different communities responded in the aftermath as half of communities were wiped out. She emphasizes that much of the western world at the time was Christian, agrarian, and feudal, coming back to this point again and again. Italy was the first hit in the western world and the story of the attack on the City of Kaffa by the Mongols was a fascinating look at an early form of biological warfare. The French at the time had the pope during the Babylonian captivity of the papacy. England had an ambitious King who sent his daughter to marry a Castilian prince who was killed by plague and he was not able to recover the body because she was burned in an early version of quarantine.
She then breaks from the chronology to look at how different the medieval church and religion was effected, what artistic reactions to the great mortality were like, what some of the literary responses were, how economics and political realities shifted in the wake of the black death, and finally the communities that avoided plague for a great deal of time and what later plague outbreaks looked like. I found particularly interesting the argument that Chaucer would not have been Chaucer were it not for the plague. The economic effects on the economic status of women and how they gained much more status as professionals and a greater foothold in wealth was an interesting good consequence of the plague. The feudal systems and political institutions broke down in many ways as the strain of competition for land withered away while institutions of religion in many ways grew stronger as many left wealth to the church.
I enjoyed these lectures, not quite as much as the one on liberties, but it was interesting to be reminded of how little I know of the medieval western world. I also wondered of how large populations outside the western world were at the time and what sorts of effects and timelines they saw or how much we know of that history. All in all I think this was well done and I enjoyed it.
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