The Black Death: The World’s Most Devastating Plague

Course Overview

Course No. 8241

Taught by celebrated medievalist Dorsey Armstrong, this course explores the Black Death’s catastrophic impact and its role in shaping modern Europe.

This 24-lecture journey examines:

• The plague’s epidemiological origins and rapid spread across 14th-century Europe
• Societal collapse and extraordinary human responses from flagellation to hedonism
• Lasting impacts on religion, art, literature, and economic systems
• How the pandemic paved the way for the Renaissance and modern world

Video Lectures

01: Europe on the Brink of the Black Death (31 min)

Analyze medieval Europe’s religious, economic and political structures pre-plague.

02: The Epidemiology of Plague (29 min)

Compare three plague varieties and scientific theories about medieval transmission.

03: Did Plague Really Cause the Black Death? (32 min)

Reassess contributing factors beyond Yersinia pestis that amplified the devastation.

04: The Black Death’s Ports of Entry (31 min)

Trace the plague’s path from Crimean ports to Constantinople and into Western Europe.

05: The First Wave Sweeps across Europe (30 min)

Study Mediterranean spread through Sicily, Mallorca and Avignon using eyewitness accounts.

06: The Black Death in Florence (30 min)

Discover how Europe’s most advanced city responded with innovative containment measures.

07: The Black Death in France (29 min)

Contrast Marseille’s solidarity with Parisian hedonism and anti-Semitic violence.

08: The Black Death in Avignon (30 min)

Examine the papal court’s lavish lifestyle and surprising resilience during outbreaks.

09: The Black Death in England (30 min)

Investigate inland waterway transmission and monastic losses sparking theological crises.

10: The Black Death in Walsham (30 min)

See how manorial systems collapsed as peasant labor gained unprecedented value.

11: The Black Death in Scandinavia (30 min)

Track shipborne spread and unique folklore emerging from northern devastation.

12: The End of the First Wave (30 min)

Follow the plague’s final European stages through Germanic lands to Russian serfdom.

13: Medieval Theories about the Black Death (29 min)

Analyze plague treatises proposing causes from astrological events to “corrupted air.”

14: Cultural Reactions from Flagellation to Hedonism (32 min)

Explore extreme psychosocial responses including ritual dancing and self-mortification.

15: Jewish Persecution during the Black Death (32 min)

Document conspiracy theories and violence against Jewish communities.

16: Plague’s Effects on the Medieval Church (31 min)

Assess how clergy losses and failed interventions weakened ecclesiastical authority.

17: Plague Saints and Popular Religion (30 min)

Track rising pilgrimages and saint veneration challenging official doctrine.

18: Artistic Responses to the Black Death (32 min)

Study memento mori artworks and transi tombs confronting mortality.

19: Literary Responses to the Black Death (30 min)

Examine plague-inspired masterpieces from Boccaccio’s Decameron to Chaucer’s works.

20: The Economics of the Black Death (30 min)

Reveal how labor shortages created new wealth opportunities for survivors.

21: The Black Death’s Political Outcomes (31 min)

Trace governmental breakdowns and futile attempts to maintain pre-plague hierarchies.

22: Communities That Survived the First Wave (30 min)

Investigate why Milan, Nuremberg and Finland avoided initial devastation.

23: Later Plague Outbreaks: 1353-1666 (31 min)

Chart subsequent epidemics culminating in London’s Great Plague and early quarantines.

24: How the Black Death Transformed the World (32 min)

Synthesize the pandemic’s role in creating conditions for modernity.