With the plague decimating the ranks of laborers, surviving workers started pining for higher wages. When the monarchy responded by enacting taxes and restrictive labor laws, the peasants rebelled.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on Bubonic plague
Displaying 41 - 60 of 96 articles
Poets and the wealthy were angered by those who saw their opportunity to rise above their station after the plague.
PODCAST: Between a third and half of Europe’s population died from the Black Death. The first episode of a new podcast series from The Anthill on how the world recovered from past shocks.
It is generally assumed that this disease-control technique goes back to the 1840s, but it’s actually much older.
A medieval historian and business studies expert discuss how pandemics past and present impact on big business.
From the Black Death to COVID-19, there have always been those who think good Christian practice will save them from death.
Fun fact: the term ‘influenza’ comes from the premodern belief stars influenced disease. Before epidemiologists, there were astrologers.
Those experiencing stress and uncertainty amid the coronavirus may find guidance in medieval responses to plagues, which relied on both medicine and prayer.
Bleach to defeat COVID-19 or fire to dispel plague, history is full of quack medicine.
The etymology of an epidemic.
Some 1,500 years ago, the Plague of Justinian spread via ships from North Africa to Europe and Asia, killing up to 50 million people.
The cities of Europe have experienced disease outbreaks for centuries, but they were able to bounce back using quarantine, economic stimulus and patience. Not all were successful.
Even in a world where 99% of the male population is dead, patriarchy is still a very comfortable pair of shoes and very easy to slip into.
Racism against fellow Indians and classism against the poor characterised India’s early response to coronavirus, that is reminiscent of British imperial public health policies.
Sure, there were no Zoom calls or ventilators. But thanks to a prolific diarist, we can see some striking similarities, from daily death counts to quack remedies.
The 14th century Black Death pandemic catalysed enormous societal, economic, artistic and cultural reforms in Medieval Europe. Infectious disease pandemics can be major turning points in history.
Then – as now – the wealthy fled to the countryside, while the urban poor were forced to work on the front lines.
COVID-19 is a plague not merely on the happiness that comes with health and wealth, but also on the meaning in our lives.
Rumours, conspiracy theories, the blame game: sound familiar?
Isolation. Despair. Facing our demons. What does the most-translated novel tell us about living with COVID-19?
Top contributors
-
Professor of Classical Studies, Brandeis University
-
Researcher in Medical Anthropology, The University of Edinburgh
-
Associate Professor in Medieval History, The University of Queensland
-
PhD Candidate in History, University of Cambridge
-
Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University - Newark
-
Associate Professor of History, University of Stirling
-
Associate Professor of Health History, Glasgow Caledonian University
-
Professor of Infectious Diseases, Monash University
-
Chair in the History of Finance and Research Dean, Prosperity and Resilience, Henley Business School, University of Reading
-
Lecturer in English, Loughborough University
-
Professor of English and National Teaching Fellow, Birmingham City University
-
Professor of History, University of Glasgow
-
Professor of Economic History, University of Oxford
-
Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Archaeology, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland
-
(Formerly) Senior Research Specialist, Johns Hopkins University
