Peasant Life and the Bubonic Plague

Paper Summary:

In this paper a medieval village has been evaluated for class stratification, health policy, and the nature of the bubonic plague in the Middle Ages. The paper explains that by representing a fictional citizen of this town, one can begin to understand the lack of medical science and policy initiatives that eventually led to a wide spread epidemic in medieval society. The paper then analyzes the various aspects of the bubonic plague within this study of life in a medieval town during the year 1349. The paper also explores how, by being unaware of the nature of the disease and its symptoms, medieval communities were annihilated by a lack of quarantine policies that would have prevented more infections.

From the Paper:

"The issue of class hierarchy in our town makes virtual servants or "vassals" to our Lord or landowner on the hill. We make sure to farm the local area to provide food for our Lord, and he--in return--makes sure that we are protected with his various knights from other landowners. Also, the Church is prominent in our town, and we have the local clergy on a neighboring hill--making sure that prayers are being said to remove the plague from our village. However, although a peasant--like myself--might view the Roman Catholic Church as an institution that would help the poor and suffering, the clergy have monastic retreats in the countryside, in which, they do nothing to help solve our medical dilemma."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cantor, Norman, F. The Civilization of the Middle Ages. London: Harper Perennial, 1994.
• Haase, Hella. In a Dark Wood Wandering. Chicago: Academy Chicago Publishers, 1991.
• Southern, R.W. The Making of the Middle Ages. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1961.
• Tuchman, Barbara. A Distant Mirror. New York: Ballantine Books, 1987
• Ziegler, Phillip. Black Death. New York: Harper Perennial, 1969.

More papers on Peasant Life and the Bubonic Plague:

• Descriptive Essay # 133351 : "Understanding and Evaluating Peasant Life During the Bubonic Plague in a Medieval Village"
• Comparison Essay # 63773 : "The Bubonic Plague and AIDS"
• Descriptive Essay # 145718 : "English Peasant Life in the Late Middle Ages"

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