Essay On Medieval European Culture
Design and architecture was also an important part of medieval European culture. The plague tore at the lavish artistic European lifestyle in another very evident way. It halted the production of intricate, aesthetically pleasing architecture. It is known that, “because of the Black Death and the recession the building industry was also affected. Building in the medieval Europe would never be as extravagant as in the century before the Black Death. If the Black Death did indeed have a direct impact on landowner building practices, it was chiefly in the area of self defense.” The plague pressured people to begin designing more practical, stronger buildings that would be able to protect them from the inescapable wrath of the Plague. This lead
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Many who believed that the plague was an embodiment of God’s wrath believed that “the only way to overcome the plague was to win God’s forgiveness. Some people believed that the way to do this was to purge their communities of heretics and other troublemakers–so, for example, many thousands of Jews were massacred in 1348 and 1349.” Not only were thousands of Jewish Europeans massacred during the plague, but many groups of Christians took it upon themselves to suffer for the supposed sins that they believed were bringing the plague upon Europe. These people would practice public flagellation, or flogging. They would come to be known as Flagellants. The Flagellants were frowned upon and deemed heretics. The word heretic is often used to describe a person whose beliefs are opposing to popular belief. In other words, a freethinker. This disturbing practice is just one example of Medieval Europeans straying from traditional Catholic ways. The plague also affected the beliefs of formerly devout Christians in more subtle ways. For example, it disillusioned them as to the motives and purity of their clergymen. Marchione di Coppo Stefani, a writer for The Florentine Chronicle, wrote, “Priests and friars went to see the [infected] rich in great multitudes and were paid such high prices that they all got rich.” Not only did many religious leaders use this horrific disease
Many who believed that the plague was an embodiment of God’s wrath believed that “the only way to overcome the plague was to win God’s forgiveness. Some people believed that the way to do this was to purge their communities of heretics and other troublemakers–so, for example, many thousands of Jews were massacred in 1348 and 1349.” Not only were thousands of Jewish Europeans massacred during the plague, but many groups of Christians took it upon themselves to suffer for the supposed sins that they believed were bringing the plague upon Europe. These people would practice public flagellation, or flogging. They would come to be known as Flagellants. The Flagellants were frowned upon and deemed heretics. The word heretic is often used to describe a person whose beliefs are opposing to popular belief. In other words, a freethinker. This disturbing practice is just one example of Medieval Europeans straying from traditional Catholic ways. The plague also affected the beliefs of formerly devout Christians in more subtle ways. For example, it disillusioned them as to the motives and purity of their clergymen. Marchione di Coppo Stefani, a writer for The Florentine Chronicle, wrote, “Priests and friars went to see the [infected] rich in great multitudes and were paid such high prices that they all got rich.” Not only did many religious leaders use this horrific disease