历史小径·世界史英语30篇（1）
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Black Death Crossroads: Faith, Fear, and Forgotten Laborers
黑死病十字路口：信仰、恐惧与被遗忘的劳动者
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Between 1347 and 1351, the Black Death killed nearly half of Europe’s population, moving faster than any authority could respond.
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People prayed at shrines, carried relics, or joined flagellant processions believing divine wrath caused the plague.
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Jewish communities were falsely accused of poisoning wells, leading to violent pogroms in Strasbourg and Mainz.
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With so many laborers dead, surviving peasants demanded higher wages and refused feudal dues, alarming landowners.
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English lords tried to freeze wages using the 1351 Statute of Labourers, but workers ignored it or fled manors for towns.
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Monasteries lost monks who copied manuscripts, slowing scholarly work but also creating openings for vernacular writing.
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Graveyards overflowed, forcing cities like London to dig mass pits outside city walls near Smithfield.
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Doctors wore beaked masks filled with herbs, though no one understood that fleas on rats spread the disease.
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Artists began painting 'Dance of Death' scenes showing kings and peasants alike led by skeletal figures.
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The plague did not end feudalism, but it shattered assumptions about God, labor, and social order forever.