How Did The Black Death Impact The Religious Practices Of The Middle Ages

The Black Death, the world’s most devastating pandemic, lasted from 1347-1352. The Black Death was likely to have travelled to Europe via trade the silk road and ships used for travel. In those short years the Black Death significantly impacted history. The pandemic developed from a plague that was caused by an infection with the bacteria Yersinia Pestis, carried by rats that came from a ship docked in Messina, Italy. It then rapidly spread through all of Europe, affecting 30 to 50% of the European population. The Black Death impacted the medical knowledge, the Feudal System and the religious practices of the Middle Ages. Today’s society would have never been the same without the major event that was the Black Death.

One of the major impacts

Prior to the Black Death the dominant religion in the Middle Ages was Catholicism and this religion was an extremely large aspect of the peasantry, nobility and the monarchy’s lives. The only church in the Middle Ages was the Catholic church and people frequently visited churches to practice religion. Heads of religion were viewed as high members of society and were place highly within the feudal system. As the black death continued, the faith in religious practices of the time was decreased. Many heads of religious services like nuns or priests had passed, just like the common citizens, resulting in majority of religious practices such as going to church to stop all together. People of the Middle Ages started to doubt their religion as none of the practices that they were participating in would stop the effects of the Black Death. Nobody knew the cause of the Black Death because of the failing medical conditions at the time, so they blamed supernatural beings such as God, casing fear amongst religious communities. It was believed that the Black Death was a punishment for their sins. There was a movement during the Black Death named the Flagellant movement that would travel through towns to apologise to their sins and to attack other religions because of their fear of the plague. Consequently, this caused disbelief Catholicism as well as many other religions. It also caused a large focus on sins and fear within the remaining religious communities at the time. It is evident that the Black Death, causing the Flagellant movement, caused fear among religious communities and changed the way that the Medieval Europeans performed religious