The Effect on Clergy and the Catholic Church during the...

Little was known about the clergy during the Black Death. For a long time people believed that the Catholic Church had fled from its duty to serve the people, but that could not be further from the truth. In recent discovery it was found that greater than 50 percent of clergy were killed during the Black Death. This was not because the clergy were running away; rather, the clergy stayed and helped the people in villages, knowing the likelihood they would survive would be slim throughout this epidemic. It is my goal in this paper to describe what was occurring during the Black Death and how the Catholic Church and its clergy reacted to the epidemic. The Black Death could most likely be considered the most severe epidemic in human†¦show more content†¦The victims of the plagues were isolated and their contacts traced and incarcerated. There were restrictions on movement, bills of health, quarantine regulations for travelers and shipping. Bedding and houses were fumigated. P eople started to abandon cities and run off to the country side where it was believed to be a safer place to live, away from all other people. It is known that some family members would leave their own loved ones who had contracted the plague and venture to clean areas. Doctors would refuse treatment on the sick in hopes that they could somehow be spared for the epidemic. Yet there was one group of people who as a whole looked out for those who were sick: the clergy of the Catholic Church. Priests, nuns, and monks were typically the only glimmer of hope for the sick. With everyone else shunning the sick or abandoning them, those with the plague were happy to receive whatever help they could get. The clergy’s function was to administer the sacraments, and if those services were needed by the afflicted faithful as they invariably were, clergy violated charity by fleeing. If it was the duty of a clergy member to visit the sick, it was a scandal and a sin if that person fled the plague. But if a clergy members duty did not necessarily deal with the plague, they were allowed to flee. If a clergyShow MoreRelatedThe Black Death Ravaged Europe And Its Inhabitants1588 Words   |  7 PagesFrom 1347 to about 1352, the Black Death ravaged Europe and its inhabitants. While this devastating plague caused an exorbitant loss of life and a great deal of emotional suffering, it did lead to some major social changes in Europe that changed the course of history. The Black Death transformed the consciousness of the surviving populous of medieval Europe in a way no other event that has occurred before or since could. This transformed psyche created the catalyst that expedited the transformationRead MoreThe Reformation Of Henry VIII And The Protestant Reformation1177 Words   |  5 Pagesaimed at reorganising beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church which had fallen to unpopularity in recent years. 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