OUT OF AFRICA
The great debate among paleontologists about where and when human life began appears to be over. Nearly all of these scientists now believe that human life, and subsequent threats to human life from infectious diseases, began in east Africa, near the borders of Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, around 2.5 million years ago. Among the many recent books on this subject, the most important are Virginia Morrell, Ancestral Passions: The Leakey Family and the Quest for Mankind’s Beginnings (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995), a neglected masterpiece and in a class by itself for readability; Roger Lewin, The Origin of Modern Humans (New York: Scientific America, 1993); Colin Tudge, The Time Before History (New York: Scribner, 1996), constantly thought-provoking and brilliantly written; Richard Leakey, The Origin of Mankind (New York: Basic Books, 1994); Donald Johnson and Blake Edgar, From Lucy to Language (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996).
RECENT BIOMEDICAL PERSPECTIVES
Three recent books on current and recent biomedical research throw some intriguing light back on medieval infectious disease. These are Jeanne Guillemin, Anthrax. Investigation of a Deadly Outbreak (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999); James Le Fanu, The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine (London: Little, Brown, 1999); Gina Kolotka, Flu (New York: Farrar Strauss & Giroux, 1999).
Kolotka’s book is a dramatic narrative of the still-unsuccessful effort to determine what the so-called Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918 was actually about. Guillemin’s book indicates that the Soviet Union did not stop producing biochemical weapons in 1972 as the American government claimed the United States did. Soviet production of anthrax continued secretly at least until 1990 and may still be going on. Le Fanu’s fascinating book is about the new medicine that began in the 1940s with penicillin and other antibiotics and the achievements and limitations of this new medicine. This is the best book on biomedical science and organization I have ever read. In Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health (New York: Hyperion, 2000), the prize-winning biomedical journalist Laurie Garrett excoriates many recent governments for inadequate support of medical efforts to combat the growing number of pandemics. Ronald Reagan and his government come in for special condemnation. The book’s approach is more narrative than analytical. It includes an account of a severe outbreak of pneumonic plague in India in the 1990s.
Stephen Porter, The Great Plague (Gloucestershire: Sutton, 1999), which is about the plague in London in 1665, has some relevance to the Black Death.The best part of the book is the pictures.
FILM
Aside from Ingmar Bergman’s 1957 masterpiece, The Seventh Seal, there are two films that focus on the plague. The first half of the 1988 New Zealand film The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey takes place in a mining village in Cumbria (northwest England) at the time of the Black Death. The impact of the plague and its terror is very well illustrated. The 1950 Hollywood film Panic in the Streets, starring Richard Widmark as a U.S. Public Health doctor, is about the outbreak of plague in New Orleans. The anxiety and confusion this causes has relevance to today and the future.
Acknowledgments
I wish to thank Dr. Anthony Gross for assisting me with valuable research in English and French documents. I also wish to thank my editors at The Free Press/Simon & Schuster, Bruce Nichols and Daniel Freedberg, and my literary agent, Alexander Hoyt, for encouragement and advice.
A decade ago, while I was Fulbright Professor at Tel Aviv University, I personally discussed some of the issues in this book with the masterful social historian of fourteenth-century England Professor Zvi Razi, whose studies of fourteenth-century English peasant life opened new horizons.
My secretary, Eloise Jacobs-Brunner, helped not only by preparing the disk for the publisher, but also with some valuable library research. I wish to thank the staff of the Bobst Library of New York University and the Firestone Library of Princeton University for their unfailing cooperation and courtesy. The dean of the College of Arts and Science at NYU helped me with research funding.
I am grateful to Edward I. Thompson of the University of Toronto for letting me read his unpublished paper “Another Look at Anthrax and the Black Death” and Gunnar Karlsson of the University of Iceland for allowing me to read his unpublished paper “Exterminating Rats in Medieval Plague Studies.” Both papers were presented at a medieval studies conference at the University of Leeds in July 1999.
I wish to thank Michael Clanchy and Michael Prestwich for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of this book and their encouraging assessments of the project. William Beers and Brian Patrick McGuire also provided insightful critiques.
I wish to thank Nancy Silver Shalit for her very helpful comments on an earlier draft, and Dr. Henry Krystal, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Michigan State University, for graciously allowing me to read two of his illuminating papers on memory of cataclysms.
NORMAN F. CANTOR is Emeritus Professor of History, Sociology, and Comparative Literature at New York University. His academic honors include appointments as a Rhodes Scholar, Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellow at Princeton University, and Fulbright Professor at Tel Aviv University. Previous books include Inventing the Middle Ages, nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award, and The Civilization of the Middle Ages, the most widely read narrative of the Middle Ages in the English language. He lives in South Florida.
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Selected titles by Norman F. Cantor
The Civilization of the Middle Ages
Inventing the Middle Ages
Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages
Imagining the Law
Medieval Lives
The Medieval Reader
The Sacred Chain: The History of the Jews
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Index
A note about the index: The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.
acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, see AIDS
Adam Bede (Eliot), 203
Adorno, Theodor, 208
Age of Arthur, The (Morris), 183
Agimet, 147–48, 155
Agincourt, Battle of, 37, 218
agriculture, 63, 66–68, 198, 199
exclusion of Jews from, 162
AIDS, 15, 66, 186, 187
immunity to, 19–20
Albert the Great, 114, 117
Albert II (the Wise), 158
alchemy, 119, 196
Alfonso, King of Castile, 47, 49
algebra, 119, 122, 195
Alselm, St., 111
Ambrose, St., 144, 192
American Journal of Human Genetics, 20
American Medical Association, 3, 4
Anatolia, 189
Ann of Bohemia, 216
Anglican Church, 103
Anglo-Saxons, 65
anthrax, 4, 14–16, 66, 129, 171, 182
anti-Semitism, 220
of Greek Orthodox Church, 165
see also Jews, persecution of
antibiotics, 12–13, 21, 118
resistance to, 19
apocalypticism, Christian, 182–83, 197
Aquet, 155
Aquinas, Thomas, 114, 115, 117, 118, 121–22
Arabs, 6, 34, 188, 189, 193, 195
science and mathematics of, 116, 117, 119
architecture, 209
Gothic, 77,
108, 194, 209
Aristotle and Aristotelian thought, 116–17, 119, 120–22, 151, 196
Arnold of Plaise, 160
art, 195, 208–9
brass work, 136–37
death imagery in, 201, 212, 213
Italian, 208, 210
peasantry and, 94
Arthur, King, 183
Arundel, Mary, 133
Asclepius, cult of, 175–76
Ashkenazi Jews, 167
Assyrians, 187
astrology, 23, 120, 159, 196
astrophysics, 109–10, 178, 183
Athens, ancient, 188
Augustine, St., 144, 176, 192
Augustinian Order, 115, 220
Austen, Jane, 69, 145
Austria, 158
Averroes, 118
Avignon papacy, 40, 47, 101–5, 112, 153, 159
Bacon, Roger, 115, 196
Baldwin, Archbishop of Treves, 161
bankers, 61, 160
Jewish, 163
Barbara, St., 84–85
barristers, 125–26
bathing, avoidance of, 22–23
Becket, Thomas, 104, 105, 111
beer- and ale-brewing industry, 203
Belarus, Jews in, 166
Belgium, see Flanders
Bellieta, 155
Benedictine Order, 146
Benjamin, Walter, 208
Bennett, Michael, 216
Bergman, Ingmar, 7
Berthold, Archbishop of Strasbourg, 150, 161
Bible, 39, 117, 173, 187
Corinthians, 108
Revelation, 182–83, 197
Binski, Paul, 136, 137, 211–13
biochemical warfare, 4
biological nullity, 128
bioterrorism, 3–4
Bisquale, Raymond de, 45, 49, 50
bloodletting, 9
Boccaccio, Giovanni, 21, 210, 219
Bohemia, 181
Bolingbroke, Henry, 215
Bolsheviks, 190
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 23
Boniface VIII, Pope, 102
Book of the Holy Doctors (Grosmont), 55
Borroff, Marie, 98–99
Bosnia, 193
Bourchier, Baron Robert, 42–43, 45, 47, 48
bourgeoisie, 32, 44
Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis, 14, 15
Bowsky, William, 210
Bradwardine, Thomas, 101, 103–13, 115–16, 118–22, 153
brass work, 136–37
Britain, see England
Bromsgrove, William, 83
bubonic plague, 11–14, 16–19, 21, 129, 171, 188
anthrax confused with, 66
in Roman Empire, 191, 192
vertical transmission of, 180
Buridan, John, 119
Byzantine Empire, 11, 22, 116
Calais, siege of, 108
Cambridge University, 72, 122, 178, 211
Canada, 72
grain production in, 67
hoof and mouth disease in, 14
Jews in, 167
Canterbury, archbishop of, 103–4, 110–11
Canterbury Tales, The (Chaucer), 220
Carlisle, bishop of, 48
Carthusian Order, 53, 54, 205
Casimir II, Duke of Poland, 158, 163
Catastrophe (Keys), 177
Cathars, 151
cattle, 63, 65, 68, 77, 92, 163
diseases of, 14–16, 66, 130, 171, 182
CCR5, 20
cereal crops, 66–68, 74, 134
Charles IV, Emperor, 101
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 57–58, 80, 96, 218–20
chemistry, 119, 196
China, 173, 180
purported origins of plague in, 17
cholera, 171
Christianity, 115, 117, 151, 189
apocalyptic, 182–83
Catharist heresy, 151
Chaucer and, 220
conversion of Mediterranean peoples to, 190
faith healing in, 192
Jews and, 152, 155, 159, 161, 162
militarism and, 37
Peasants’ Revolt and, 24, 91, 94
privatization of, 204–6
sickness and, 55
and tradition of kingship, 30
see also Roman Catholic Church
Chronicle of Strasbourg, 149
Cistercian Order, 64
Clement VI, Pope, 53, 103, 105
and Jews, 153, 154, 158–59
Clesis de Ranz, Pultus, 147
climatic cycles, 67–68, 74, 75, 84, 193, 198–99
Cloisters (New York), 22
Cloud of Unknowing, The, 205
Cluny Museum (Paris), 22
coal industry, 67
cognac, 36–37
Cologne cathedral, 108
common lawyers, 125–26, 141
Congo, Republic of, 15
convents, 146
Corey, John, 53–54
Corpus Christi festivals, 205
Cossacks, 165
craft guilds, 204
Crecy, Battle of, 34–35, 43, 47, 108
Crick, Francis, 182
crime, 200, 203
Cromwell, Oliver, 103
crossbows, 35
Czech Republic, 181
Dance of Death, 201–2, 213
Darwinian evolution, 118, 179
Davies, Paul, 182
debts
imprisonment for, 140
to Jews, 155–56, 160–62
Decameron (Boccaccio), 21, 210, 219
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, The (Gibbon), 189
Decorated style, 209
Defoe, Daniel, 8
Delemeau, Jean, 211–13
Defender of the Peace, The (Marsilio), 113
diachronic analysis, 17
Diseases From Space (Hoyle and Wickramasinghe), 178
DNA analysis, 10
Dominican Order, 114, 115, 117
dowagers, 127–33, 142, 203
Edmund of Langley, 57
Edward I, King of England, 217
Edward II, King of England, 75, 216
Edward III, King of England, 35–40, 42–44, 46, 52, 57, 214–15, 217
abdication of Edward II in favor of, 75
Bradwardine and, 103–8, 113
death of, 38, 56
death of daughter of, 47–50, 107
French campaigns of, 33, 35–38, 40, 43, 50, 137, 215
loans from Florentine banks to, 61
plague cemetery and chapel established by, 53–54
Edward, Prince (the Black Prince), 38–40, 46, 50, 56, 133, 141, 214–15
Spanish expedition of, 47, 61, 215
Egypt, ancient, 187, 188
Einstein, Albert, 122
Eleanor of Aquitaine, 32–34, 38
Eliot, George, 203
Ellis Island, 96
enemas, 9
England, 4–9, 13–14, 16, 52–57, 63–100, 181, 194, 216–20
architecture in, 209
Church hierarchy in, 103–22
Church property in, 75–87
Civil War in, 103
country retreats of royal family of, 21, 52
Elizabethan, 93
France and, 29, 32–44, 46–47, 50, 57, 58, 102, 105, 124, 137, 138, 199–200, 213–15, 217–19
higher nobility in, 59–61
labor shortage in, 24
landed gentry in, 123–46
mad cow disease in, 14, 15
mass graves in, 23
medical practice in, 174–75
point of entry for plague in, 12
population growth and decline in, 7–8
privatization of Christianity in, 204, 205
Spain and, 29, 34, 37–38, 44, 48, 58, 61, 133, 215, 218
entailment, 69
esquires, 124
ethics, Aristotelian, 117
Evans, Richard, 171
evolution, 118, 179
human, 185–87
experimental science, 114
faith healing, 192
famines, 8, 74, 75, 84, 199
Far from the Madding Crowd (Hardy), 89
Fifth Miracle, The (Davies), 182
First Cause, 117
first estate, 59–60
Flagellants, 157
Flanders, 37, 57
tapestry weaving in, 22
textile industry in, 64, 200
floods, association of infectious diseases with, 177–78, 182
flu pandemic of 1918, 7, 9–10
France, 23, 29–32, 45–52, 172, 181, 194
architecture in, 209
bankers in, 61
England and, 29, 32–44, 46–47, 50, 57, 58, 102, 105, 124, 133, 137, 138, 199–200, 213–15, 217–19
importation of wool to, 64
Jews in, 120, 149–51, 153–54, 156, 161, 162, 220
landed gentry in, 135–36
privatization of Christianity in, 204
Roman law in, 112
tapestry makers in, 22
Third Republic, 103
see also Avignon papacy
Francis of Assissi, St., 114
Franciscan Order, 95, 112–16, 118, 196
Frankfurt School, 208
Frederick II, Emperor, 42
Friars Minor, Order of (Little Brothers), 114, 115
Galen, 9, 119
Galileo, 122
genetics, 20
Gentile of Foligno, 175, 176
gentry, landed, 32, 61, 69, 74, 123–46
food consumption among, 80
marriage patterns among, 88
women of, 126–30, 135, 142–46
germ warfare, 4, 16
Germanic peoples, 30, 65, 188
Germany, 42, 101, 112, 171, 194, 200
Jews in, 155–58, 160–63, 167
privatization of Christianity in, 204
universities of, 115
in World War II, 16, 67, 166
Gibbon, Edward, 189, 190
Giotto, 208
Golden Mean, 117
gonorrhea, 38, 191, 192
Gothic architecture, 77, 108, 194, 209
Graetz, Heinrich, 152
Gramsci, Antonio, 208
graves, mass, 23
Great Custom, 64
Great Depression, 88
Great Famine, 75
Greek Orthodox Church, 165, 195
Gregory, Bishop of Tours, 177, 178
Gregory I (the Great), Pope, 177
Grey family, 137–40
In the Wake of the Plague Page 18
