I have always found the origin of things fascinating, often more than the thing itself. So in reading about the origin of the black death, I of course read that it began in the Gobi desert in the late 1320s.I couldn't stop at "no one knows why" so I did a little digging. What I found is new to me, so here it is.
Some believe that the plague actually changed European society, making it more violent. It makes sense that most of the wars that were fought did not bring death into the majority of people's homes, but the plague did. An article I found at "The American Historical Review" at( http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/ahr/107.3/ah0302000703.html )states, "...others following Huizinga's lead have argued that society became more violent precisely because of the plague, that the mass mortality cheapened life and thus increased warfare, crime, popular revolt, waves of flagellants, and persecutions against the Jews." The article goes on to point out the post-plague trends of more money being spent on wars, political unrest and revolt in Italy. Oh, by the way the flagellants are the guys who whip themselves as a form of pennance. There is a Ramstein Video - Rosenrot (Rosered) that shows it. The video and story of the song is a bit disturbing...so there's my disclaimer and warning. Notice I don't link to it-I'll leave that up to you to find. Anyway, in England, it was the opposite effect, where there was a time of peace. So it seems that the theory does not seem hold up very consistently throughout , which is one of the points of the article. Instead, it looks like those who were already looking for a reason to persecute, raise prices for food, start a fanatical religious sect or add greater prestige to their occupation (doctors for instance) just used the plague as a self-serving reason to do just that.
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Oh yeah, as to the origin...it's true,no one really knows for sure. Cue the x-files music...
Woo hoo! Rammstein roools! [fiery grin]
That was good research, Tarl. I don't buy Huizinga's argument, but his "Waning of the Middle Ages" is very widely read and is a standard work for the period, if now rather dated. I have just one specific comment.
Cost of war did indeed go up. Maybe "skyrocket" is too strong a word for a development that took over a century, but costs definitely went up significantly for each generation. The main reason wasn't the plague and it wasn't "more wars". The main reason was gunpowder.
This not only resulted in new weapons technologies (expensive), it also led to major rebuilding of defense works (also expensive).
The other thing that happened was greater governmental organization. This was sort of chicken-and-egg. To prosecute the new style of war required governments to be better organized and to raise money on a regular basis (=taxes), which also required more organization. At the same time, better organization allowed governments to contemplate and undertake wars on a scale their predecessors wouldn't have dreamed of.
I could make arguments about crime, rebellions, etc. but it'd be too much. If you're around in a couple of years, take my course on the Late Middle Ages. Loads of fun stuff there.
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