历史小径·世界史英语30篇（1）

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黑死病十字路口：信仰、恐惧与被遗忘的劳动者

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