Gilles Li Muisis Black Death

[Gauthier Zitnik]

The Black Death was present in France between 1347-1352.[1] The bubonic plague pandemic, known as the Black Death, reached France by ship from Italy to Marseille in November 1347, spread first through Southern France, and then continued outwards to Northern France.

Due to the large size and population of the Kingdom of France, the pandemic lasted for several years, as some parts weren't affected until the plague was over in others. The Kingdom of France had the largest population of Europe at the time, and the Black Death was a major catastrophe. The Black Death in France was described by eyewitnesses, such as Louis Heyligen, Jean de Venette, and Gilles Li Muisis. The Black Death migrated from Southern France to Spain, from Eastern France to the Holy Roman Empire, and to England by ship from Gascony.[1]

At the time, Pope Clement VI resided in Avignon in present-day France during the Western Schism, and issued his condemnations of the Jewish persecutions during the Black Death, as well as the flagellants.[1] During the Black Death in France, King Philip VI of France ordered the University of Paris to compose the pioneering work, Compendium de epidemia, due to the pandemic.[2]

Since the outbreak of the Black Death at the Crimea, it had reached Sicily by an Italian ship from the Crimea. After having spread across the Italian states, the plague reached France by a plague ship in November 1347.[1]

The plague in Southern France was described by Louis Heyligen in Avignon. According to Heyligen, the Black Death reached France in December 1347, when a Genovese plague ship from the East was forced to leave its home port of Genova shortly after its return, and arrived in Marseilles instead.[1] The ship spread the plague in Marseilles, was subsequently forced to leave the city, and continued on its way along the coast of Southern France. The plague ship spread the pestilence all along its course, which included areas from West Marseille towards Toulouse, and north toward Avignon.[1] In May 1348, a 2nd wave came by land from Genova.[1]

In Avignon, the Pope arranged religious processions to dampen the wrath of God, as the plague was interpreted by the church as a punishment by God for the sins of humanity.[1] The Pope was advised by his physician, Gui de Chauliac, to hide from the plague in toile-sur-Rhne, where he survived the outbreak.[1]

The Black Death in Southwest France was not as well-documented as it was in Avignon. It was noted to have been in Carcassonne in January 1348, and in Toulouse by April that same year.It was confirmed in Bordeaux in June 1348, but it was likely to have been present there already by as early as March. Documentation stated that it was a ship of pilgrims from Bordeaux who brought the plague to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. [1]

The Black Death in Paris has been described in the famous chronicle of the Carmelite Jean de Venette, who resided at the Saint-Denis Abbey in le-de-France, located outside of Paris.At the time, Paris was the biggest city in Europe, with a population between 80,000-200,000 people.[5] According to Jean de Venette, the plague first arrived to Roissy near Gonesse in June 1348. In his writings, de Venette claimed that 16,000 people died in Saint-Denis, and an additional 800 people perished each day in Paris between November-December 1348. Overwhelming amounts of death resulted in daily transports of up to 500 dead bodies to mass burial sites. The deceased were transported from the Htel-Dieu, Paris hospital, which was staffed by nuns, whose numbers dwindled as they perished alongside the sick to which they attended.[1]

The presence of the plague was documented in the Normanniae nova Cronica to have reached Rouen in Normandie during the feast of John the Baptist on 24 June 1348. In Normandie, the plague made it impossible to bury the corpses even in country villages, and each village which was reached by the plague flagged a black flag to warn anyone approaching.[1]

In the very Northern parts of France, the Black Death is described in the chronicle of the abbot Gilles li Muisis of Tournai. According to Li Muisis, the plague reached Tournai in August 1349 and lasted until November. In Tournai, the Black Death caused a religious reformation. Because the plague was seen as punishment of God for the sins of humanity, the authorities issued regulations to ban everything regarded as sinful, such as gambling, as well as forcing couples who lived together without being married to separate or marry immediately.[1]

Due to the size of France, certain parts weren't immediately reached by the plague, which travelled more slowly by land than by sea. Brittany and Auvergne weren't reached until 1349, and some remote parts weren't reached until 1351. The last part of France to be reached by the Black Death was Tonnerre, which wasn't reached until 1352.[1]

When the plague spread across Southern France, king Philip VI of France ordered the University of Paris to compose the pioneering work Compendium de epidemia due to the pandemic.[2] The Paris Concilium was written about the plague.

The Black Death made it much more difficult for the kingdom to pay the war subsidy that had been agreed in late 1347. By the second half of 1349, France's spending on war had decreased as the Black Death had spread to England by this point and led to a pause in fighting.[6]

The migration of the plague caused panic across France, and people started looking for scapegoats. Rumours started to spread that the plague was caused by people who poisoned the wells to cause the plague and exterminate Christendom. Initially, these accusations weren't directed at people of any particular category, but directed at anyone who appeared suspicious simply because they were different or unidentified, particularly travellers (such as pilgrims and beggars) invalids, or people in possession of any kind of powder.[1] In April 1348, Louis Heyligen reported that people were executed for well-poisoning in Avignon; the same month, Andre Benezeit, secretary of mayor Aymar of Narbonne, reported to the mayor of Gerona in Catalonia that many beggars had been arrested, tortured and executed in Narbonne, Carcassonne and Grasse for well-poisoning.[1]

These accusations were eventually directed against the Jewish population, and on 5 July (and again on 26 September) Pope Clement VI issued his condemnations of the Jewish persecutions during the Black Death and explained that since the plague was a punishment issued by God himself, it was sinful to accuse the Jews of having caused it, and declared the Jews to be under his protection.[1] While there is not much information about the Jewish persecutions during the Black Death in France, the Jewish population was small due to the fact that Louis IX of France had banned them from France, the well-poisoning rumours from France erupted into documented persecutions and mass executions in the Duchy of Savoy, and resulted in massacres in the Holy Roman Empire, where the Jewish population was larger.[1] Several anti-Jewish riots took place while the Black Death was at its peak in April and May 1348, including the massacre of at least 40 Jews in Toulon and the Jewish community at La Baume de Sisteron.[7]

The Black Death peaked in Europe between 1348 and 1350, with an estimated third of the continent's population ultimately succumbing to the disease. Often simply referred to as "The Plague", the Black Death had both immediate and long-term effects on human population across the world as one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, including a series of biological, social, economic, political and religious upheavals that had profound effects on the course of world history, especially European history. Symptoms of the Bubonic Plague included painful and enlarged or swollen lymph nodes, headaches, chills, fatigue, vomiting, and fevers, and within 3 to 5 days, 80% of the victims would be dead.[1] Historians estimate that it reduced the total world population from 475 million to between 350 and 375 million. In most parts of Europe, it took nearly 80 years for population sizes to recover, and in some areas, it took more than 150 years.[citation needed]

From the perspective of many of the survivors, the effect of the plague may have been ultimately favourable, as the massive reduction of the workforce meant their labor was suddenly in higher demand. R. H. Hilton has argued that the English peasants who survived found their situation to be much improved. For many Europeans, the 15th century was a golden age of prosperity and new opportunities. The land was plentiful, wages were high and serfdom had all but disappeared. A century later, as population growth resumed, the lower classes once again faced deprivation and famine.[2][3][4]

Figures for the death toll vary widely by area and from source to source, and estimates are frequently revised as historical research brings new discoveries to light. Most scholars estimate that the Black Death killed up to 75 million people[5] in the 14th century, at a time when the entire world population was still less than 500 million.[6][7] Even where the historical record is considered reliable, only rough estimates of the total number of deaths from the plague are possible.

Europe suffered an especially significant death toll from the plague. Modern estimates range between roughly one third and one half of the total European population in the five-year period of 1347 to 1351 died during which the most severely-affected areas may have lost up to 80% of the population.[8] Contemporary chronicler Jean Froissart estimated the toll to be one-third, which modern scholars consider less an accurate assessment than an allusion to the Book of Revelation meant to suggest the scope of the plague.[9] Deaths were not evenly distributed across Europe, and some areas were affected very little, but others were all but entirely depopulated.[10]

All social classes were affected, but the lower classes, living together in unhealthy places, were most vulnerable. Alfonso XI of Castile and Joan of Navarre (daughter of Louis X le Hutin and Margaret of Burgundy) were the only European monarchs to die of the plague,[citation needed] but Peter IV of Aragon lost his wife, his daughter and a niece in six months. Joan of England, daughter of Edward III, died in Bordeaux on her way to Castile to marry Alfonso's son Pedro. The Byzantine emperor lost his son, while in the Kingdom of France, Bonne of Luxembourg, the wife of the future John II of France, died of the plague. Simeon of Moscow and his brother likely died of the plague, along with Theognostus, the head of the Russian Church.[16]

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