Environment, Society and the Black Death

by Desconhecido

  • Pollen data show that there was widespread farm abandonment in the uplands in the wake of the Black Death and that the total land cover of arable land was approximately halved. Abandonment was a quick process that started immediately after 1350, i.e. the first strike of the plague. It was followed by reforestation, particularly in the highest parts of the uplands, where birch, oak, pine and spruce expanded. However, in other parts, the land of deserted farms was to a large degree kept open by grazing. As a consequence, the decrease of pastures was much smaller than the decrease of arable land, which indicates that animal husbandry gained in importance in relation to crop cultivation during the crisis. The first re-establishment of arable land after the crisis started in the late fifteenth century.

  • The archaeological record gives evidence of farm abandonment, also in agricultural villages in the lowlands, and shows how crop cultivation was replaced or complemented by other activities. People reacted quickly to the new circumstances. Different strategies to meet the crisis were soon developed at household level or by several households together. In Particular, non-agrarian activities exemplified by fish smoking and metal forging were expanded and reorganised, probably to meet labour shortage. As expected, building activities more or less stopped at 1350, which is evident from dendrochronological data from both upland and lowland areas. The same data also give evidence of woodland regeneration on abandoned land. Abandonment was not confined to the countryside but happened also in towns. But the development of towns during the crisis is complex and reveals examples also of new establishments and restructuring.

  • The consequences of the crisis show regional differences. According to the pollen record abandonment was more widespread in upland areas than in lowlands, but the interpretation is tentative because the lowlands are still represented by very few data. A summary of different kinds of archaeological data indicates another spatial distinction, namely between the western and eastern parts of southern Sweden. It seems like not only environmental conditions, but also different settlement patterns and social organisation affected the course of the crisis. Furthermore, the crisis appears to have accentuated the cultural differences between these regions.

  • The absence of mass graves indicates that the victims of the Black Death and of recurring outbreaks of plague during the late fourteenth century were buried in ordinary churchyards. Clusters of graves and double and triple graves identified at several churchyards in Sweden probably represent plague victims. It seems like the medieval population, as far as ever possible, held on to their religious customs and rituals and took care of their diseased, even during the worst of crisis. Special plague cemeteries were not established until the last plague of 1710–13.

  • The widespread perception that living standards improved after the Black Death gets some support from the study of stature, which was based on a large number of medieval skeletons. Average stature increased slightly after 1350, both among men and women, but the increase is small and only statistically significant for women. Several authors suggest that people after the Black Death ate more meat and dairy products, but stable-isotope analyses of teeth from a churchyard in Lund revealed no dietary changes during the crisis. However, pollen data from the uplands indicated a relative increase in animal husbandry in the wake of the population drop, but this change may not necessarily have affected the consumption patterns in lowlands and towns. The contradictory results call for further research.

  Together with the discussions presented throughout this book we hope that these conclusions show the great potential of the non-written records also when dealing with a research problem that has a long tradition of historical research. We have focused on source materials and methods that are familiar to us and tried to make the conclusions accessible for readers of different background and interests. With this approach we wanted to introduce historians to these materials, and at the same time introduce palaeoecologists and archaeologists to the intriguing and complex research problems of the late-medieval crisis. Hence, in several respects this is an introductory study. With continued research based on a diversity of source materials and perspectives, the study of the late-medieval crisis can develop into a truly interdisciplinary endeavour.

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