Impact of Bubonic Plague: Historian's Perspective

Modern Historian’s perspective: The Black Death’s Social and Economic Impact Excerpt: Meiss, Milìard, Painting in Florence and Sienna After the Black Death pp 67-69, 1978 Princeton University Press. In the immediate aftermath of the Black Death, we hear of unparalleled abundance of food and goods, and of a wild, irresponsible life of pleasure in the Italian cities of Siena and Florence. This extraordinary condition of plenty did not, of course, last very long. For most people, the frenzied search for immediate gratification, characteristic of the survivors of calamities, was likewise short-lived. Throughout the subsequent decades, however, we continue to hear of an exceptional difference to accepted patterns of behavior and to institutional regulations… It seems that the plague tended to promote an unconventional, irresponsible, or self-indulgent life, on the one hand, and a more intense piety or religious excitement, on the other hand. One Florentine man wrote “Men thought that because of the death of so many people, there would be abundance of all products grown on the land; yet on the contrary, by reason of men’s ingratitude, everything was scarce;... most commodities were more costly, by twice or more, than before the plague. And the price of labor, and the products of every trade and craft, rose in disorderly fashion beyond double the amount. Lawsuits and disputes and quarrels and riots arose everywhere among citizens in every land … wars and various scandals arose throughout the world contrary to mens’ expectations. Conditions were similar in Siena. Prices rose to unprecedented levels.
The ravages roving mercenary armies in the countryside surrounding Florence and Siena accelerated a great wave of immigration from the smaller towns and farms into the cities. This immigration had been started by the Black Death. In the cities, the Plague had created a shortage of workers. Most of the newcomers were recruits for the woolen cloth industry, who were attracted by relative high wages. But the mortality also offered exceptional opportunities also for lawyers, physicians, and craftsmen. In both Florence and Siena, the laws controlling immigration were relaxed and special privileges, a rapid granting of citizenship, or exemption from taxes were offered to badly needed artisans or professional men such as physicians who were willing to come and take these jobs. . In addition to bringing into the city the great numbers of people from the surrounding town and countryside, the Black Death affected the character of Florentine society in still another way. Through irregular inheritance and other exceptional circumstances, a class of nouveaux riches (New Rich) arose in the cities. Their wealth was accentuated by the impoverishment of many of the older families who had lost their fortunes in the financial collapse that followed the Plague. In both cities, too, many tradesmen and artisans were enriched, to a degree unusual for the popolo minuto (a social class equivalent to the lower middle class today). This created a struggle between the old families and the gente nuova. Outcries against the “foreigners” from the countryside and the newly rich, increased in volume and violence. Antagonism to the “aliens and the ignorant” combined with antagonism against the city government. The government, it was said, had been captured by them.