The Black Plague: A Paradigm for Today
of crops in 1315...from the Pyrenees to Slavic regions, from Scotland to
Italy.” The rains caused rivers to jump their banks, dams to break, and entire
towns to be washed away. The rains flooded farmland and took away critical
acreage for planting.
Sadly, this was occurring through most of Europe and brought about a
major drop in food supply. Humans weren’t the only ones impacted, as animals couldn’t be fed and therefore couldn’t be raised. Prices for poultry and
livestock went up dramatically in addition to grain prices. Governments got
involved early with precisely the wrong policy, which would make matters
worse. This is another common theme in outbreaks: Governments initially
do the wrong thing at the critical time to further accelerate the outbreak
or compound the economic problems. The English Parliament asked King
Edward II in 1314 to impose price controls to stem the rapid rise in the cost
of food. As we now know, limiting the price of a commodity usually means
that less of that commodity will be produced. The price controls of the 1970s
in the United States are a nice modern example of this concept in action.
In 1315, the famine was in full swing as peasants struggled to survive
and ate anything available, even cats, rats, reptiles, and insects. In 1316
when these ran out, they turned into cannibals. They ate the newly dead
and the not so newly dead, going so far as to dig up bodies from burial
grounds and cut down criminals from the gallows to eat. For a world that
was already unstable, the famine proved to be devastating. It is estimated
that 10 percent of the population died during this period.
Italy.” The rains caused rivers to jump their banks, dams to break, and entire
towns to be washed away. The rains flooded farmland and took away critical
acreage for planting.
Sadly, this was occurring through most of Europe and brought about a
major drop in food supply. Humans weren’t the only ones impacted, as animals couldn’t be fed and therefore couldn’t be raised. Prices for poultry and
livestock went up dramatically in addition to grain prices. Governments got
involved early with precisely the wrong policy, which would make matters
worse. This is another common theme in outbreaks: Governments initially
or compound the economic problems. The English Parliament asked King
Edward II in 1314 to impose price controls to stem the rapid rise in the cost
of food. As we now know, limiting the price of a commodity usually means
that less of that commodity will be produced. The price controls of the 1970s
in the United States are a nice modern example of this concept in action.
In 1315, the famine was in full swing as peasants struggled to survive
and ate anything available, even cats, rats, reptiles, and insects. In 1316
when these ran out, they turned into cannibals. They ate the newly dead
and the not so newly dead, going so far as to dig up bodies from burial
grounds and cut down criminals from the gallows to eat. For a world that
was already unstable, the famine proved to be devastating. It is estimated
that 10 percent of the population died during this period.
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