The Trauma from the Black Plague - Essay Example

? The trauma from the Black Plague is one which led to several in society and culture to re-examine different elements after the plague struck throughout Europe. There were several beliefs that the way in which society was constructed had led to the plague as well as changed the outcome from the plague. The result was a change in the way that most focused on the urban development, specifically with a different perspective toward construction and use of materials. In the novel, “A Journal of the Plague Year,” by Daniel Defoe, there are references to how individuals began to think after the plague. The reference wasn’t only toward the outcomes and tragedies associated with the plague, but instead led to the beliefs that those who didn’t have the lower social status and misled construction also weren’t subjected to the outcome of the plague. This line of thinking is seen throughout the book, as well as the belief that the plague was a sign to restructure into the modern urban development. The way in which most began to think about the Black Plague after it had been stopped from overtaking Europe was based on preventative measures that wouldn’t allow another disease to take over the land. The objective became the need to find ways and means to change society, specifically which would safeguard individuals from being weakened and dying from the plague. According to Huppert, there was an understanding that the society needed to change so it didn’t exceed the resources that were available. When the plague began to decrease in 1700, there was also a change in how many farmed and lived. This included smaller plots of lands, a focus on not having as large of populations in one place and living within confines that didn’t use as many natural resources. “Each of [the farms] constituted a balanced portfolio of securities, of separate lines of defense… Any diminution of these units was an invitation to catastrophe” (Huppert, 12: 1998). The objective among the peasants and others in society was to cautiously reconstruct what was left both naturally and in the cities without leading to the same offset that the plague had caused. This particular ideal is similar to the concepts which are spoken about in Defoe’s recounting of the plague. There are references to the market that is in the city, specifically which is a sign of the plentiful ness of the country. There are references to several coming to town with large amounts and supplies of different items which could be used for those that were going to the market. However, during and after the plague, this began to change with constrained resources that could be monitored and widely used for those that were in need of food or other farm items. “Without interruption [they] came up to that market known still by the name of Bear – Key, where they supplied the City plentifully with Corn, when Land Carriage began to fail, and when the people began to be sick coming from many places in the country” (Defoe, 252: 1817). This shows the transition which was made between using the extra resources and the response to the plague from what happened to those who took advantage of the excess resources. Another concept which appears in Huppert’s recounts of the Black Plague and from the book is the rebuilding of both urban and rural society. The Black Plague was known to wipe out almost one-third of the population and led cities to have to rebuild for years. This led to several years of trying to restructure the way that the cities should function while being cautious about another plague coming into the cities. The changes were based first on several experiencing life outside of the past constraints from politics and the agendas that were associated with peasants. Many of the peasants began to look for freedom, emancipation and ways to rebuild society in a way where they weren’t considered as slave labor for higher society. The main ideal was to get land without permission from land owners, buy and sell heritages and to work with the bourgeoisie and land owners for their own land. “One of the main concerns of peasants who had been left behind in the general rush toward personal freedom was to catch up with the economic rights already achieved by the mass of free peasantry” (Huppert, 69: 1998). The result was a general movement towards freedoms as well as alterations in economic rights among peasants and those in rural and lower class society. The movement toward emancipation is one which the peasants didn’t have to enforce or revolt against, specifically because of the conditions in society. The Plague automatically began to change the gaps between urban and city life and the rights of the peasants. Before this time, there were orders that were associated with the peasants and the rights which they had when going to the markets or cafes. However, when the city was hit with the plague, it began to change the amount of rights most had, specifically because the restrictions had to come from city regulations, as opposed to peasant rights. This was specific to the need of having the peasants from rural villages because of the lack of resources from the city, making more respect and rights to be automatically distributed to the peasants. “It was one of their particular Cares, to fee the Orders for the Freedom of the Markets observed;…[this was] to feel that the country people had all possible encouragement and freedom in their coming to the markets and going back again and that no nuances or frightful objects should be seen in the streets to terrify them” (Defoe, 213: 1817). The main component seen with these examples show that within the Plague was a specific way to automatically change the peasant relationships to the city and to move into natural emancipation and rights to try to rebuild the city. This viewpoint moves beyond the remaking of the city and social order and into the development of the modern city which began to grow during this time. There were two main approaches that were used in the remaking of the city. The first was the sense of security and protection that began to be associated with the city, specifically so the plague wouldn’t come in. Monitoring food, building vaccinations and taking safety measures against potential plagues were the main associations with this. The second part was toward the development of the modern urban city, which was used as a hub with commercial centers and the growth of places for transport in which individuals could transfer what was needed. While this was considered before the Plague, it was altered with the approach, specifically with safety which was combined with development as the primary focus for growth and rebuilding the urban city (Huppert, 165: 1998). The association with rebuilding the city is also approached by Defoe. There are several accounts of how the city had bakeries, shopping centers and cafes as well as food areas for the poor that were used during this time. The author then shows that each shut down because of the plague and the fear that there would be an infection coming from the plague. After the plague stopped, people began to rebuild and change everything in the city into something new and which could use both safety and the growth of the city. However, this didn’t come from within the city. It came from migrants who began to move in and rebuild those areas which were no longer affected, specifically so they could avoid it in other parts of Europe. “As the People disappeared here, they began to look abroad again there; and the next Week or two altered it still more, that is, more to the Encouragement of the other part of town” (Defoe, 218). The rebuilding into the modern urban city; however, was not dependent on having the stores and shops available. Instead, those who had been affected by the plague began to find locations that were safe and which could use resources naturally. Connecting to the rivers and centering closer to areas which wouldn’t be affected by the plague were the main places of construction. The plague then led to a rebuilding of society and a change in the center of each area, specifically with the focus on not catching the disease of the plague and suffering from what had occurred, and instead to begin to rebuild into a new and modern approach that would instantly begin to rebuild society and overcome the disease. The Black Plague is one which recounts for thousands of deaths and a tragedy which swept across Europe in a short period of time. The plague, while leaving a small population behind and the destruction of the cities, also led into the requirement to rebuild the city. The rebuilding included changing the structure and layout of the city, use of social resources with more freedom and emancipation and the building of farming and land from a way that balanced the use of resources while measuring the safety that was needed at the time. The main approaches which were taken to stop the plague not only led into the safety at the time but also created cities that are based on modern urban development that is a balance between safety and the use of resources in the correct manner. References Defoe, Daniel. (1817). A Journal of the Plague Year. Michigan: University of Michigan Libraries. Huppert, George. (1998). After the Black Death: A Social History of Early Modern Europe. Indiana: Indiana University Press. Read More