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The black death: how different were christian and muslim responses
The black death: how different were christian and muslim responses
Religious beliefs on the black death in the middle ages
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Tuchman’s targeted audience was young adults and older; students or those who want to learn. The author’s purpose of writing this book was to try to find out the effects and consequences of one of the worst and deadliest catastrophes ever recorded, the Black Death “The genesis of this book was a desire to find out what were the effects on society of the most lethal disaster of recorded history” (Tuchman Foreword).
Discussing this all-destroying plague in detail shows it left many long term effects. Close to half of the population in Europe being eliminated over a short time period left considerable damage and altered families, the economy, church life and the lives of artists and patrons, which is also represented in the three works of art described. It’s difficult to conclude this essay without mentioning what has always come to mind when thinking of the bubonic plague and that is a folksong associated with the Black Death, “Ring around the Rosey.” Ring-a-ring-a-roses, A pocket full of posies; Ashes! Ashes!
The tragedy of The Black Death affected the Christian and Muslim cultures equally in the fourteenth century. However, these two groups responded to the situation in very different ways. This difference can be a window of insight into their core religious beliefs. By looking at what the Christians and Muslims thought the causes of the Black Death were, the differences in the Christian and Muslim response to the plague, and the similarities of how the two groups reacted, Muslims and Christians responded in very different ways because of their thoughts and actions to the plague that ended the lives of many.
The Black Death had a big impact on European religion. Because people could not understand the plague, they strongly believed that the plague was a punishment sent by God. The church claimed that God was punishing people because of the sins they have committed. They organized religious marches and told people to pray to get rid of the horrible disease. However, around 1348, Christians started accusing the Jews of bringing and spreading the plague to Europe.
Another similarity between Smallpox and the black death is that they both advanced important movements. Smallpox is credited with being the cause of the rise of the American abolition movement. White people living in the slave ports feared for their own health, which brought the notion of the movement itself. The Black Death is credited with being the cause of the Reformation. Due to people like William the One-day Priest, the church was thought to be corrupt.
Jonathan Edwards’s sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and Anne Bradstreet’s “Upon the Burning of Our House” seem at first glance quite similar to one another regarding context, however, after taking a closer look, it becomes apparent that there are some substantial differences. These differences cannot be understood without the knowledge of cultural context concerning the Puritan belief system and their lifestyle. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was written with the sole purpose of scaring and intimidating the people that purtinans believed to be sinners. Edwards’s work contributed to a movement called “The Great Awakening”. It’s objective was to make the so-called ‘sinners’ aware of their wrongdoings and compel them to repent.
The Black Death was an occurrence that struck the Middle East and Europe, wreaked disturbance, and caused individuals to question their religion. Spreading to many parts, it killed off nearly 25-45% of the population it encountered (Doc C). The plague peaked from 1346 to 1351 and not solely affected a lot of individuals, however the loyalty of some Christian and Islam followers (Doc B). Christians and Muslims would each communicate God for solutions, however with separate demeanor's. The manner every non secular cluster reacted to the plague differed, likewise as what they believed were the causes and what they did to stop obtaining affected.
The reactions from the Christians and the Muslims to the greatly feared disease, known as the Black Death or the Great Plague were different in several ways. The first Plague was documented from 541 to 544 CE. Known as the Plague of Justinian. The Plague came in three different ways: bubonic, pneumonic, and septicemic. With bubonic being the most common.
The epidemic affected Europe culturally, as the citizens developed an excessive reliance on religion as an answer for their tragedy. Additionally, the Black Death shifted the people’s social perspectives; they lost compassion for the sick and indulged in selfish desires. Finally, the pestilence altered the Europeans’ mental state, as their appreciation of life itself diminished, since the rapid spread of the plague caused torrential death rates across Europe. In response to the Black Death, the people of Europe became passionately pious, for they viewed their misfortune as a punishment from God and, thus, believed the only way to bring about continental happiness was through religion.
During the mid-fourteenth century, a plague hit Europe. Initially spreading through rats and subsequently fleas, it killed at least one-third of the population of Europe and continued intermittently until the 18th century. There was no known cure at the time, and the bacteria spread very quickly and would kill an infected person within two days, which led to structural public policies, religious, and medical changes in Europe. The plague had an enormous social effect, killing much of the population and encouraging new health reforms, it also had religious effects by attracting the attention of the Catholic Church, and lastly, it affected the trade around Europe, limiting the transportation of goods. As a response to the plague that took place
The survivors could not wrap their heads around the amount of innocent lives that were taken, and the devastation left behind by the plague. The pandemic changed people’s lives forever, and for many changed what they believed in. No matter what religion a person followed, he/she was searching for answers. Christians and Muslims had very different views on why God would inflict such devastation on his people, but they both agreed on the idea the God’s hand played the ultimate role in the disaster. Christians responded to the devastation by claiming God inflicted the plague to rid the world of sin, whereas Muslims believed God
When people speak of mass death and illness they hardly speak as zealously as St. Cyprian spoke when we explained his thoughts about a plague sweeping Rome. During such a hectic time to be alive he turned to religion to rationalize why this epidemic was taking place. Rather than use this situation to validate that there is no god and lose all faith St. Cyprian takes a different approach. Instead, he sees this mass illness as justified suffering that his religion requires in order to achieve some sort of reward. This epidemic is killing many people, this would normally be seen as a terrible thing but St. Cyprian does not value life in this world.
Great works of literature such as Dante’s: Inferno as well as One Thousand and One Nights contain similar themes such as religion, redemption, and love. These themes encompass the philosophical and religious ideas that can be found in both texts. Although Dante’s: Inferno is written on the base of Catholicism and One Thousand and One Nights is written on the base of Islam, the views we are presented with in both are not unique , but rather found in one form or another throughout history and in various cultures spread across the world.
My thesis statement is were the Middle Ages in Europe characterized more by hope or despair. What I think is that the Middle Ages in Europe were characterized more by despair. Frist of all, common viewed scornful eye and insatiable heart. Second, in the document “The persecution of the Jews” Canterbury had a spirit of anger.
