Western Culture Instructions
ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
What shaped Western culture in the period 1300-1550 more: the Black Death’s emphasis on the afterlife (the hereafter) or the Renaissance’s emphasis on human achievement (the here and now)? Choose one of these and explain your perspective.
Start with a statement identifying your choice; this is your thesis. Then, support your choice with specific examples from at least three of the following categories:
- significant individuals (e.g., political or religious leaders, innovators, explorers);
- characteristics of worldview (e.g., philosophy, religion);
- social institutions (e.g., social mores, practices, hierarchies);
- patronage (discuss the patrons, their motives, influence, and resulting products or artifacts);
- the economies (e.g., changes, different economic systems, impact); and
- politics (e.g., forms of governance, power distributions, contests).
This assignment provides you with an opportunity to practice prioritizing and using specific data to support your choice. Your example may touch on several of the above categories at once, but there should be at minimum three separate examples for which their connection to your choice is explained.
Your essay must be a minimum of 500 words. Be sure to include an introduction; if necessary, review the Unit III Scholarly Activity instructions, which explain how to draft an introduction.
You must use two sources written by historians in history books or journals from the CSU Online Library in addition to the textbook and the study guide. All content must follow APA guidelines, including all sources used, which must be cited and referenced according to APA standards.
Resources
The following resource(s) may help you with this assignment.
SAMPLE STUDENT ANSWER
Impact of Black Death on Western Culture
Western culture experienced tremendous change during the 1300-1550 period. Renaissance and Black Death are among the events that greatly changed Western culture. Black Death is the first plague to hit Europe in 1347. The plague killed about one-third of the population in Europe (Wiesner-Hanks et al., 2019, Pg. 309). Renaissance, also known as rebirth is a period of art, cultural, and learning innovation that occurred between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The rebirth started in Italy and spread to other parts of Europe (Wiesner-Hanks et al., 2019). The two events had a great impact on European culture. However, Black Death was more impactful on European culture, politics, and economy as discussed in this essay.
One of the ways the Black Death impacted Western culture is changing European’s worldview on religion. Many people at the time believed that the plague was God’s punishment for their sinful ways. Therefore, Christians thought that trusting in God, praying, asking for forgiveness, trying to live better lives, and making donations to churches were the best remedies for stopping the plague. Muslim leaders urged their followers to lead a virtuous life on the verge of death by reconciling with their enemies, giving to the poor, saying a proper goodbye to their family and friends, and freeing their slaves.
The event led to the development of flagellantism. Flagellantism was a movement of radical people from the Catholic Church. This movement of people “whipped and scourged themselves as penance for their own and society’s sins” (Wiesner-Hanks et al., 2019, pg. 315). The Black Death increased the decline of faith in the Church by exposing its vulnerabilities to Christian society. People realized that the Church could not explain the cause of the plague and thus turned to other world views such as science.
Social institutions were also affected by Black Death. Church buildings and lands were not affected by the plague. However, there were too few priests still maintaining the old schedule of church services. Over half of parish priests who performed sacramental ceremonies about death died while doing so. The church commenced the process of recruiting replacements; however, the process took time. The shortage of priests in parishes forced the church to open new colleges at established universities to train the new priests (Lerner, 1981). As a result, more religious educational colleges were developed. The plague also improved the role of women in the church. The shortage of male priests gave room for lay women to take up important and extensive service roles in parishes.
The European economy also changed as a result of the plague. One-third of the population in Europe died due to the plague and this brought favorable results to surviving peasants in Western Europe and England. As depopulation eroded the weakened obligations of peasants to retain other traditional holdings, social mobility increased. Feudalism was ended by the plague (Lerner, 1981). Wages were high, the land was plentiful, and serfdom disappeared. There was not need to exchange land for favors because there was plenty of lands. The decrease in population made it possible for people to move about and rise higher in life.
People shifted from farming grain to animal husbandry because grain farming needed a lot of human labor while raring animals only required a single shepherd, pastureland, and a few dogs (Cohn, 2007). The huge tracks of land made it possible for people to rare many animals. The plague also affected the European economy by causing inflation. High mortality led to shortages of goods and an increase in prices due to a fall in production. The costs of sausage, wheat, cheese, and meat increased in most of Europe (Ditrich, 2017). Inflation was experienced until the end of the 14th century. However, wages increased because of a shortage of workers.
In conclusion, the Black Death greatly impacted Europe. In terms of religion, Christians and Muslims focused on repenting and living a virtuous life to gain God’s favor. Women took more important roles in the church due to the shortage of priests. There was inflation due to a decrease in food production. The Black Death increased the decline of faith in the Church by exposing its vulnerabilities to Christian society. Feudalism was ended by the plague. More religious educational institutions were created to educate more priests to take on the vacant roles.
References
Cohn, S. (2007). After the Black Death: labour legislation and attitudes towards labour in late‐medieval western Europe. The Economic History Review, 60(3), 457-485.
Ditrich, H. (2017). The transmission of the Black Death to western Europe: A critical review of the existing evidence. Mediterranean Historical Review, 32(1), 25-39.
Lerner, R. E. (1981). The Black death and Western European eschatological mentalities. The American Historical Review, 86(3), 533-552.
Wiesner-Hanks, M. E., Crowston, C. H., Perry, J., & McKay, J. P. (2019). A History of Western Society, Concise Edition, Volume 1 (13th ed.). Macmillan Higher Education. https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781319112547
Jermaine Byrant
Nicole Johnson
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