Introduction
http://www.guernicus.com/academics/pdf/brherlihy.pdf
“The Black Death and the Transformation of the West,” David Herlihy
The article by David Herlihy highlights the disaster of the black death throughout Europe and the North during the period of 1347-1351, which brought immense suffering to the people. It was a period of not only demographic collapse in Europe but also a great shock to the people who suffered economic, social collapse, and psychological collapse. The economy had gone down so badly that the survivors of the black death were struggling to cope with the economy. The black death broke the Malthusian deadlock but also brought cultural shifts on the face of Europe.
The Writer’s Arguments
The black death was the outbreak of plague in Europe caused by bacillus pests, which emerged out of Mongolia and moved into the population from the black sea. The merchants contracted the disease in the Mediterranean, while maritime growth was able to spread the disease even more during 1351. It was the ill series of epidemics which was the most destructive one. The writer Herlihy claims that the modern plague is a slow moving process, he betrays the epidemiology of plague with his theory. The author argues that population of gray rats did not exist, he confused the black rats with gray rats whichweakens his aspects of work. The writer claimed that the cause of the black death and Epidemiology was incorrect and a strain of Yersinia pestis may be involved.
The thesis is simple, which betrays the explanation of the spreading of disease. The primary emphasis of author is is that populations had already beganto decline before the black death, therefore it is a possibility that a crisis would have occurred earlier, y, Herlihy also downplays the possible consequences of famine and malnutrition on the spreading of disease. His decisions and conclusions lacked substantial power and persuasion, which rejected the Marxist theory.
By rejecting the Marxist theory, the author suggests that this argument might be true in feudal areas such as Normandy but not possible in Tuscany. Herliye also argues that the overall effects of the disease were positive for human society in Europe. The first disaster brought a lot of economic disasters, but when the plague abated, a subsequent wave of diseases struck that caused a shortage of workers. The demographic collapse was caused by the lack of labor.
The article states that advances in technology also occurred before the spreading of the plague, and impressive technological achievements were made; the thesis of the author does not support that.
The fact is that the birth rates decreased due to disease because men would not marry women; the flaws also appeared in the argument that the Industrial Revolution was brought after the plague. One cannot ignore the importance of poor classes as compared to elites. The author also ignores the prechecks on the elite population before the arrival of the plague. He also took notice of fear and a breakdown of leadership, which resulted in the persecution of Jews. The church leadership also collapsed. There is a lack of evidence in demographic claims. The debate over contagion is also contradictory to the author due to evidence presented by McNeil. The lack of religiosity also seemed peculiar. However, the plague brought many changes to society after the black death, including the demographic collapse. The overall strength of the book was the arguments of various researchers, which proved that the author was contradictory in his claims. The weakness is that the book is not very valuable for the discussion of the black death in Europe because it lacks a great deal of nuance and complexity.
References
Guernicus.com. N.p., 2018. Web. 21 Apr. 2018.
Herlihy, David. The Black Death And The Transformation Of The West. 1985. Print.
