Unit three study guide collaboration

One of the major themes of the European Middle Ages is reform. Perhaps it is the Christian emphasis on repentance; or perhaps it is the Christian belief that time moves in a linear fashion, heading toward some- thing bett er. Traditionally, that “something bett er” meant, or so Christians hoped, a heavenly aft erlife with God. However, Medieval Christians also believed that the here and now could be improved, made into something bett er. Th e many reform movements of the Middle Ages were dichotomous movements, based on the simultaneous and contradictory beliefs in the fallibility and the improvability of humanity. Humans were imperfect and frequently failed, but as they were created in the image of a perfect God, there was always the possibility of progress. It was the fallibility that caused problems to appear, and re-appear, and it was the possibility that encouraged reform. Th e process of failure and redemption had one glorious side eff ect, however; it allowed for inventive approaches to human shortcomings and constant adaptation to the promise of salvation that was the core of Medieval Christian belief.

Several of the sources in this chapter are explicit att empts at reform; others are regulations that implicit at- tempts at pre-emptive reform. Th e fi rst source is an example of the latt er. St. Benedict’s Rule was a set of regulations for men (and women) who chose to devote their lives entirely to prayer and service to God. Th e Rule regulated monastic houses (hence the name “regular clergy” for monks) and thus was an att empt to institutionalize per- sonal behavior and thought for those who took up the monastic life. Benedict’s Rule would become tremendously popular, in part because although it emphasized renunciation (essential to monasticism), it was also a moderate and therefore doable.

While not all of Europe was Catholic, or even Christian, the Catholic Church certainly dominated Medieval culture from the fourth century onward, beginning with the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Con- stantine’s conversion led to the intertwining of state and church in a way that allowed for Christianity (specifi - cally, over time, the Roman Catholic version of it) to be both state supported and state dependent. One area of Medieval life that seemed to require constant reform was church and state relations. Tensions between the two hopelessly entangled institutions escalated in the Investiture Controversy of the eleventh and twelft h centuries. In that dispute, the papacy tried to separate the power of selecting clergy from lay offi cials, such as the Holy Roman Emperors. Th e persistence of the struggle to separate the church from state interference is revealed in, “Canto XIX” from Dante’s Inferno. In this fourteenth century poem, the Italian laments those overly worldly, overly materialist, interests of the church.

Further need for regulation led to the creation of rules for the students at the University of Paris, to curb intel- lectual and social abuses they had developed, and to rules for the guild of spurriers of London. Essentially univer- sity students were also a guild, an organization of craft smen of a particular skill that governed the economic, social, and religious lives of guild members. Guilds determined what was produced, by whom, and for what prices; guild

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161Innovations and Adaptation in the Western Christian World, 600 – 1400

regulations and the rules for the University of Paris also established the identities of the guild and its members. Es- tablishing identities was also a matt er of establishing boundaries of authority, much as the Investiture Controversy and Benedictine Rule also established boundaries of authority.

Finally, the last document of the chapter is not about reform, but about what the Medieval person envisioned was the potential punishment for lack of reform and regulation: apocalyptic catastrophe. In 1347 the Black Death made it’s appearance in Western Europe; as the Florentine writer Marchione di Coppo Stefani describes it to us, this “very great pestilence” required a new set of civil laws regulating behavior and reforming interactions between patient and doctor, laity and clergy, parent and child, and all aspects of Medieval town life.

11.1 The Rule of St. Benedict

Although St. Benedict (c. 480 – 542 C.E.) did not invent Christian monasticism, his Rule was synonymous with it throughout the Catholic Middle Ages. Benedict founded his monastery in Monte Cassino, Italy, and designed a set of regulations (known as a “rule”) for his monks to follow. Th e Rule governed all aspects of a monk’s life: when and how to pray, eat, work, and socialize. Monasteries such as Benedict’s were designed to allow men and women (housed separately) to devote themselves to prayer and worship, and to renounce earthly interests as much as humanly possible.

Other monastic groups criticized Benedict’s Rule as too lenient, in comparison with monastic regulations from Egypt (the birthplace of Christian monasticism) and Ireland, which emphasized physical renunciation and pun- ishment. However, Benedict’s Rule would succeed in part because it was less onerous than other monastic Rules, particularly in the moderation of punishments meted out to the monks for violating the regulations. Th e Rule gained in popularity from the seventh century onward, particularly aft er Pope Gregory the Great popularized it and associated it with the Roman papacy.

Source: From Migne, Patrologia Latina Vol. 66, col. 215ff, translated by Ernest F. Henderson, Select Historical Documents of the

Middle Ages, (London: George Bell and Sons, 1910)

1. Concerning the Kinds of Monks and Their Manner of Living.

It is manifest that there are four kinds of monks. The cenobites are the fi rst kind; that is, those living in a monas-

tery, serving under a rule or an abbot. Then the second kind is that of the anchorites; that is, the hermits-those

who, not by the new fervor of a conversion but by the long probation of life in a monastery, have learned to fi ght

against the devil, having already been taught by the solace of many. They, having been well prepared in the

army of brothers for the solitary fi ght of the hermit, being secure now without the consolation of another, are

able, God helping them, to fi ght with their own hand or arm against the vices of the fl esh or of their thoughts.

But a third very bad kind of monks are the sarabaites, approved by no rule, experience being their teacher,

as with the gold which is tried in the furnace. But, softened after the manner of lead, keeping faith with the

world by their works, they are known through their tonsure to lie to God. These being shut up by twos or threes,

or, indeed, alone, without a shepherd, not in the Lord’s but in their own sheep-folds-their law is the satisfaction

of their desires. For whatever they think good or choice, this they call holy; and what they do not wish, this they

consider unlawful. But the fourth kind of we are about to found, therefore, a school for the monks is the kind

which is called gyratory. During their whole life they are guests, for three or four days at a time, in the cells of

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the different monasteries, throughout the various provinces; always wandering and never stationary, given over

to the service of their own pleasures and the joys of the palate, and in every way worse than the sarabaites.

Concerning the most wretched way of living of all such monks it is better to be silent than to speak. These things

therefore being omitted, let us proceed, with the aid of God, to treat of the best kind, the cenobites.

2. What the Abbot Should Be Like

An abbot who is worthy to preside over a monastery ought always to remember what he is called, and carry

out with his deeds the name of a Superior. For he is believed to be Christ’s representative, since he is called by

His name, the apostle saying: “Ye have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we call Abba, Father.”

And so the abbot should not-grant that he may not-teach, or decree, or order, anything apart from the precept

of the Lord; but his order or teaching should be sprinkled with the ferment of divine justice in the minds of his

disciples. Let the abbot always be mindful that, at the tremendous judgment of God, both things will be weighed

in the balance: his teaching and the obedience of his disciples. And let the abbot know that whatever the father

of the family fi nds of less utility among the sheep is laid to the fault of the shepherd. Only in a case where the

whole diligence of their pastor shall have been bestowed on an unruly and disobedient fl ock, and his whole

care given to their morbid actions, shall that pastor, absolved in the judgment of the Lord, be free to say to the

Lord with the prophet: “I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart, I have declared Thy faithfulness and

Thy salvation, but they despising have scorned me.” And then at length let the punishment for the disobedient

sheep under his care be death itself prevailing against them. Therefore, when any one receives the name of

abbot, he ought to rule over his disciples with a double teaching; that is, let him show forth all good and holy

things by deeds more than by words. So that to ready disciples he may propound the mandates of God in words;

but, to the hard-hearted and the more simpleminded, he may show forth the divine precepts by his deeds. But

as to all the things that he has taught to his disciples to be wrong, he shall show by his deeds that they are not

to be done; lest, preaching to others, he himself shall be found worthy of blame, and lest God may say at some

time to him a sinner: “What hast thou to do to declare my statutes or that thou should’st take my covenant in thy

mouth. Seeing that thou hatest instruction and casteth my words behind thee; and why beholdest thou the mote

that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” He shall make no distinction

of persons in the monastery. One shall not be more cherished than another, unless it be the one whom he fi nds

excelling in good works or in obedience. A free-born man shall not be preferred to one coming from servitude,

unless there be some other reasonable cause. But if, justice demanding that it should be thus, it seems good

to the abbot, he shall do this no matter what the rank shall be. But otherwise they shall keep their own places;

for whether we be bond or free we are all one in Christ; and, under one God, we perform an equal service of

subjection; for God is no respecter of persons. Only in this way is a distinction made by Him concerning us: if we

are found humble and surpassing others in good works. Therefore let him (the abbot) have equal charity for all:

let the same discipline be administered in all cases according to merit. In his teaching indeed the abbot ought

always to observe that form laid down by the apostle when he says: “reprove, rebuke, exhort.” That is, mixing

seasons with seasons, blandishments with terrors, let him display the feeling of a severe yet devoted master.

He should, namely, rebuke more severely the unruly and the turbulent. The obedient, moreover, and the gentle

and the patient, he should exhort, that they may progress to higher things. But the negligent and scorners, we

warn him to admonish and reprove....

163Innovations and Adaptation in the Western Christian World, 600 – 1400

4. The Instruments of Good Works

1. First of all, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength.

2. Then, to love thy neighbor as thyself.

3. Next, not to kill.

4. Not to commit adultery.

5. Not to steal.

6. Not to covet.

7. Not to bear false witness.

8. To honor all men.

9. Not to do to another what one would not have done to oneself.

10. To deny oneself in order to follow Christ.

11. To chastise the body.

12. Not to seek after luxuries.

13. To love fasting.

14. To refresh the poor.

15. To clothe the naked.

16. To visit the sick.

17. To bury the dead.

18. To help in affl iction.

19. To console the sorrowing.

20. To keep aloof from worldly actions.

21. To prefer nothing to the love of Christ.

22. Not to follow the promptings of anger.

23. Not to seek an occasion of revenge.

24. Not to foster deceit in one’s heart.

25. Not to make a feigned peace.

26. Not to forsake charity.

27. Not to swear, lest perhaps one perjure oneself.

28. To utter the truth with heart and lips.

29. Not to render evil for evil.

30. To do no wrong to anyone, but to bear patiently any wrong done to oneself.

31. To love one’s enemies.

32. Not to speak ill of those who speak ill of us, but rather to speak well of them.

33. To suffer persecution for justice’ sake.

34. Not to be proud.

35. Not to be given to wine.

36. Not to be a glutton.

37. Not to be given to sleep.

38. Not to be slothful.

39. Not to be a murmurer.

40. Not to be a detractor.

41. To put one’s trust in God.

42. To attribute any good one sees in oneself to God and not to oneself.

43. But always to acknowledge that the evil is one’s own, and to attribute it to oneself.

44. To fear the days of judgment.

45. To be in dread of hell.

46. To desire everlasting life with all spiritual longing.

47. To keep death daily before one’s eyes.

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48. To keep guard at all times over the actions of one’s life.

49. To know for certain that God sees one in every place.

50. To dash upon Christ one’s evil thoughts the instant they come to one’s heart, and to manifest them to one’s

spiritual father.

51. To keep one’s mouth from speech that is wicked or full of guile.

52. Not to love much speaking.

53. Not to speak words that are vain or such as provoke laughter.

54. Not to love much or noisy laughter.

55. To listen willingly to holy reading.

56. To apply oneself frequently to prayer.

57. Daily with tears and sighs to confess one’s sins to God in prayer, and to amend these evils for the future.

58. Not to fulfi ll the desires of the fl esh.

59. To hate one’s own will.

60. To obey in all things the commands of the Abbot, even though he himself (which God forbid) should act

otherwise, being mindful of that precept of the Lord: “What they say, do ye; but what they do, do ye not”

61. Not to wish to be called holy before one is so, but fi rst to be holy that one may be truly so called.

62. To fulfi ll the commandments of God daily by one’s deeds.

63. To love chastity.

64. To hate no man.

65. To have no jealousy or envy.

66. Not to love strife.

67. To fl y from vainglory.

68. To reverence one’s seniors.

69. To love one’s juniors.

70. To pray for one’s enemies in the love of Christ.

71. To make peace with those with whom one is at variance before the setting of the sun.

72. And never to despair of God’s mercy.

Behold, these are the instruments of the spiritual art, which, if they be constantly employed by day and by

night, and delivered up on the day of judgment, will gain for us from the Lord that reward which He Himself

has promised: “Eye has not see, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has

prepared for those who love Him.” And the workshop in which we are to labor diligently at all these things is the

enclosure of the monastery and stability in the community.

Reading and Discussion Questions

1. What powers does the abbot have in relation to the monks? What are his limits?

2. In the Rule, Benedict lists a series of “Instruments of Good Works” that lead to spiritual progress. Why

does Benedict believe that a monastery is the best place to use these instruments? Which instruments are

particularly “monastic”?

3. In general, Christian monks take three vows: poverty, chastity, and obedience. Find an example of each in

the excerpts from the Rule and discuss what that vow is meant to achieve for the monk.

11.2 Einhard, Life of Charlemagne

Einhard was part of Charlemagne’s inner circle of advisors, and was educated in part at Palace School created by Charlemagne. Th is school was a key element of the Carolingian renaissance of education and learning. As a product of that education, and as a companion of Charlemagne, Einhard was ideally suited to writing a detailed

165Innovations and Adaptation in the Western Christian World, 600 – 1400

biography of the emperor. Th e Life of Charlemagne is an important example of secular biography from the early MiddleAges.

Source: Einhard, “Life of Charlemagne,” Einhard: The Life of Charlemagne, translated by Samuel Epes Turner, (New York: Harper

& Brothers, 1880)

Extent of Charlemagne’s Conquests

Such are the wars, most skillfully planned and successfully fought, which this most powerful king waged dur-

ing the forty-seven years of his reign. He so largely increased the Frank kingdom, which was already great and

strong when he received it at his father’s hands, that more than double its former territory was added to it. The

authority of the Franks was formerly confi ned to that part of Gaul included between the Rhine and the Loire,

the Ocean and the Balearic Sea; to that part of Germany which is inhabited by the so-called Eastern Franks,

and is bounded by Saxony and the Danube, the Rhine and the Saale-this stream separates the Thuringians

from the Sorabians; and to the country of the Alemanni and Bavarians. By the wars above mentioned he fi rst

made tributary Aquitania, Gascony, and the whole of the region of the Pyrenees as far as the River Ebro, which

rises in the land of the Navarrese, fl ows through the most fertile districts of Spain, and empties into the Balearic

Sea, beneath the walls of the city of Tortosa. He next reduced and made tributary all Italy from Aosta to Lower

Calabria, where the boundary line runs between the Beneventans and the Greeks, a territory more than a

thousand miles” long; then Saxony, which constitutes no small part of Germany, and is reckoned to be twice

as wide as the country inhabited by the Franks, while about equal to it in length; in addition, both Pannonias,

Dacia beyond the Danube, and Istria, Liburnia, and Dalmatia, except the cities on the coast, which he left to

the Greek Emperor for friendship’s sake, and because of the treaty that he had made with him. In fi ne, he van-

quished and made tributary all the wild and barbarous tribes dwelling in Germany between the Rhine and the

Vistula, the Ocean and the Danube, all of which speak very much the same language, but differ widely from

one another in customs and dress. The chief among them are the Welatabians, the Sorabians, the Abodriti, and

the Bohemians, and he had to make war upon these; but the rest, by far the larger number, submitted to him

of their own accord.

Foreign Relations

He added to the glory of his reign by gaining the good will of several kings and nations; so close, indeed, was

the alliance that he contracted with Alfonso [II 791-842] King of Galicia and Asturias, that the latter, when send-

ing letters or ambassadors to Charles, invariably styled himself his man. His munifi cence won the kings of the

Scots also to pay such deference to his wishes that they never gave him any other title than lord or themselves

than subjects and slaves: there are letters from them extant in which these feelings in his regard are expressed.

His relations with Aaron [ie, Harun Al-Rashid, 786-809], King of the Persians, who ruled over almost the whole

of the East, India excepted, were so friendly that this prince preferred his favor to that of all the kings and po-

tentates of the earth, and considered that to him alone marks of honor and munifi cence were due. Accordingly,

when the ambassadors sent by Charles to visit the most holy sepulcher and place of resurrection of our Lord

and Savior presented themselves before him with gifts, and made known their master’s wishes, he not only

granted what was asked, but gave possession of that holy and blessed spot. When they returned, he dispatched

his ambassadors with them, and sent magnifi cent gifts, besides stuffs, perfumes, and other rich products of the

Eastern lands. A few years before this, Charles had asked him for an elephant, and he sent the only one that

166 Chapter 11

he had. The Emperors of Constantinople, Nicephorus [I 802-811], Michael [I, 811-813], and Leo [V, 813-820],

made advances to Charles, and sought friendship and alliance with him by several embassies; and even when

the Greeks suspected him of designing to wrest the empire from them, because of his assumption of the title

Emperor, they made a close alliance with him, that he might have no cause of offense. In fact, the power of the

Franks was always viewed by the Greeks and Romans with a jealous eye, whence the Greek proverb “Have the

Frank for your friend, but not for your neighbor.”

Public Works

This King, who showed himself so great in extending his empire and subduing foreign nations, and was con-

stantly occupied with plans to that end, undertook also very many works calculated to adorn and benefi t his

kingdom, and brought several of them to completion. Among these, the most deserving of mention are the

basilica of the Holy Mother of God at Aix-la-Chapelle, built in the most admirable manner, and a bridge over

the Rhine at Mayence, half a mile long, the breadth of the river at this point. This bridge was destroyed by fi re

[May, 813] the year before Charles died, but, owing to his death so soon after, could not be repaired, although

he had intended to rebuild it in stone. He began two palaces of beautiful workmanship - one near his manor

called Ingelheim, not far from Mayence; the other at Nimeguen, on the Waal, the stream that washes the south

side of the island of the Batavians. But, above all, sacred edifi ces were the object of his care throughout his

whole kingdom; and whenever he found them falling to ruin from age, he commanded the priests and fathers

who had charge of them to repair them, and made sure by commissioners that his instructions were obeyed. He

also fi tted out a fl eet for the war with the Northmen; the vessels required for this purpose were built on the rivers

that fl ow from Gaul and Germany into the Northern Ocean. Moreover, since the Northmen continually overran

and laid waste the Gallic and German coasts, he caused watch and ward to be kept in all the harbors, and at

the mouths of rivers large enough to admit the entrance of vessels, to prevent the enemy from disembarking;

and in the South, in Narbonensis and Septimania, and along the whole coast of Italy as far as Rome, he took

the same precautions against the Moors, who had recently begun their piratical practices. Hence, Italy suffered

no great harm in his time at the hands of the Moors, nor Gaul and Germany from the

Northmen, save that the Moors got possession of the Etruscan town of CivitaVecchia by treachery, and

sacked it, and the Northmen harried some of the islands in Frisia off the German coast.

Private Life

Thus did Charles defend and increase as well, as beautify his, kingdom, as is well known; and here let me ex-

press my admiration of his great qualities and his extraordinary constancy alike in good and evil fortune. I will

now forthwith proceed to give the details of his private and family life.

After his father’s death, while sharing the kingdom with his brother, he bore his unfriendliness and jealousy most

patiently, and, to the wonder of all, could not be provoked to be angry with him. Later he married a daughter

of ofDesiderius, King of the Lombards, at the instance of his mother; but he repudiated her at the end of a

year for some reason unknown, and married Hildegard, a woman of high birth, of Suabian origin. He had three

sons by her - Charles, Pepin and Louis -and as many daughters - Hruodrud, Bertha, and and Gisela. He had

three other daughters besides these - Theoderada, Hiltrud, and Ruodhaid - two by his third wife, Fastrada, a

woman of East Frankish (that is to say, of German) origin, and the third by a concubine, whose name for the

moment escapes me. At the death of Fastrada [794], he married Liutgard, an Alemannic woman, who bore

Northmen: the Vikings

167Innovations and Adaptation in the Western Christian World, 600 – 1400

him no children. After her death [Jun 4, 800] he had three concubines - Gersuinda, a Saxon by whom he had

Adaltrud; Regina, who was the mother of Drogo and Hugh; and Ethelind, by whom he lead Theodoric. Charles’

mother, Berthrada, passed her old age with him in great honor; he entertained the greatest veneration for her;

and there was never any disagreement between them except when he divorced the daughter of King Desid-

erius, whom he had married to please her. She died soon after Hildegard, after living to three grandsons and as

many granddaughters in her son’s house, and he buried her with great pomp in the Basilica of St. Denis, where

his father lay. He had an only sister, Gisela, who had consecrated herself to a religious life from girlhood, and

he cherished as much affection for her as for his mother. She also died a few years before him in the nunnery

where she passed her life.

Charles and the Education of His Children

The plan that he adopted for his children’s education was, fi rst of all, to have both boys and girls instructed in

the liberal arts, to which he also turned his own attention. As soon as their years admitted, in accordance with

the custom of the Franks, the boys had to learn horsemanship, and to practice war and the chase, and the

girls to familiarize themselves with cloth-making, and to handle distaff and spindle, that they might not grow

indolent through idleness, and he fostered in them every virtuous sentiment. He only lost three of all his children

before his death, two sons and one daughter, Charles, who was the eldest, Pepin, whom he had made King

of Italy, and Hruodrud, his oldest daughter. whom he had betrothed to Constantine [VI, 780-802], Emperor of

the Greeks. Pepin left one son, named Bernard, and fi ve daughters, Adelaide, Atula, Guntrada, Berthaid and

Theoderada. The King gave a striking proof of his fatherly affection at the time of Pepin’s death [810]: he ap-

pointed the grandson to succeed Pepin, and had the granddaughters brought up with his own daughters. When

his sons and his daughter died, he was not so calm as might have been expected from his remarkably strong

mind, for his affections were no less strong, and moved him to tears. Again, when he was told of the death of

Hadrian [796], the Roman Pontiff, whom he had loved most of all his friends, he wept as much as if he had lost

a brother, or a very dear son. He was by nature most ready to contract friendships, and not only made friends

easily, but clung to them persistently, and cherished most fondly those with whom he had formed such ties.

He was so careful of the training of his sons and daughters that he never took his meals without them when

he was at home, and never made a journey without them; his sons would ride at his side, and his daughters

follow him, while a number of his body-guard, detailed for their protection, brought up the rear. Strange to say,

although they were very handsome women, and he loved them very dearly, he was never willing to marry any

of them to a man of their own nation or to a foreigner, but kept them all at home until his death, saying that he

could not dispense with their society. Hence, though other-wise happy, he experienced the malignity of fortune

as far as they were concerned; yet he concealed his knowledge of the rumors current in regard to them, and of

the suspicions entertained of their honor.

Conspiracies Against Charlemagne

By one of his concubines he had a son, handsome in face, but hunchbacked, named Pepin, whom I omitted to

mention in the list of his children. When Charles was at war with the Huns, and was wintering in Bavaria [792],

this Pepin shammed sickness, and plotted against his father in company with some of the leading Franks, who

seduced him with vain promises of the royal authority. When his deceit was discovered, and the conspirators

were punished, his head was shaved, and he was suffered, in accordance with his wishes, to devote himself to

a religious life in the monastery of Prüm. A formidable conspiracy against Charles had previously been set on

foot in Germany, but all the traitors were banished, some of them without mutilation, others after their eyes had

168 Chapter 11

been put out. Three of them only lost their lives; they drew their swords and resisted arrest, and, after killing

several men, were cut down, because they could not be otherwise overpowered. It is supposed that the cruelty

of Queen Fastrada was the primary cause of these plots, and they were both due to Charles’ apparent acquies-

cence in his wife’s cruel conduct, and deviation from the usual kindness and gentleness of his disposition. All

the rest of his life he was regarded by everyone with the utmost love and affection, so much so that not the least

accusation of unjust rigor was ever made against him.

Charlemagne’s Treatment of Foreigners

He liked foreigners, and was at great pains to take them under his protection. There were often so many of

them, both in the palace and the kingdom, that they might reasonably have been considered a nuisance; but

he, with his broad humanity, was very little disturbed by such annoyances, because he felt himself compen-

sated for these great inconveniences by the praises of his generosity and the reward of high renown.

Personal Appearance

Charles was large and strong, and of lofty stature, though not disproportionately tall (his height is well known

to have been seven times the length of his foot); the upper part of his head was round, his eyes very large and

animated, nose a little long, hair fair, and face laughing and merry. Thus his appearance was always stately and

dignifi ed, whether he was standing or sitting; although his neck was thick and somewhat short, and his belly

rather prominent; but the symmetry of the rest of his body concealed these defects. His gait was fi rm, his whole

carriage manly, and his voice clear, but not so strong as his size led one to expect. His health was excellent,

except during the four years preceding his death, when he was subject to frequent fevers; at the last he even

limped a little with one foot. Even in those years he consulted rather his own inclinations than the advice of

physicians, who were almost hateful to him, because they wanted him to give up roasts, to which he was ac-

customed, and to eat boiled meat instead. In accordance with the national custom, he took frequent exercise on

horseback and in the chase, accomplishments in which scarcely any people in the world can equal the Franks.

He enjoyed the exhalations from natural warm springs, and often practiced swimming, in which he was such

an adept that none could surpass him; and hence it was that he built his palace at Aix- la- Chapelle, and lived

there constantly during his latter years until his death. He used not only to invite his sons to his bath, but his

nobles and friends, and now and then a troop of his retinue or body guard, so that a hundred or more persons

sometimes bathed with him.

Dress

He used to wear the national, that is to say, the Frank, dress next his skin, a linen shirt and linen breeches,

and above these a tunic fringed with silk; while hose fastened by bands covered his lower limbs, and shoes his

feet, and he protected his shoulders and chest in winter by a close-fi tting coat of otter or marten skins. Over all

he fl ung a blue cloak, and he always had a sword girt about him, usually one with a gold or silver hilt and belt;

he sometimes carried a jewelled sword, but only on great feast-days or at the reception of ambassadors from

foreign nations. He despised foreign costumes, however handsome, and never allowed himself to be robed

in them, except twice in Rome, when he donned the Roman tunic, chlamys, and shoes; the fi rst time at the

request of Pope Hadrian, the second to gratify Leo, Hadrian’s successor. On great feast-days he made use of

embroidered clothes, and shoes bedecked with precious stones; his cloak was fastened by a golden buckle,

and he appeared crowned with a diadem of gold and gems: but on other days his dress varied little from the

common dress of the people.

169Innovations and Adaptation in the Western Christian World, 600 – 1400

Habits

Charles was temperate in eating, and particularly so in drinking, for he abominated drunkenness in anybody,

much more in himself and those of his household; but he could not easily abstain from food, and often com-

plained that fasts injured his health. He very rarely gave entertainments, only on great feast-days, and then to

large numbers of people. His meals ordinarily consisted of four courses, not counting the roast, which his hunts-

men used to bring in on the spit; he was more fond of this than of any other dish. While at table, he listened to

reading or music. The subjects of the readings were the stories and deeds of olden time: he was fond, too, of

St. Augustine’s books, and especially of the one entitled “The City of God.”

He was so moderate in the use of wine and all sorts of drink that he rarely allowed himself more than three

cups in the course of a meal. In summer after the midday meal, he would eat some fruit, drain a single cup,

put off his clothes and shoes, just as he did for the night, and rest for two or three hours. He was in the habit of

awaking and rising from bed four or fi ve times during the night. While he was dressing and putting on his shoes,

he not only gave audience to his friends, but if the Count of the Palace told him of any suit in which his judg-

ment was necessary, he had the parties brought before him forthwith, took cognizance of the case, and gave

his decision, just as if he were sitting on the Judgment-seat. This was not the only business that he transacted

at this time, but he performed any duty of the day whatever, whether he had to attend to the matter himself, or

to give commands concerning it to his offi cers.

Studies

Charles had the gift of ready and fl uent speech, and could express whatever he had to say with the utmost

clearness. He was not satisfi ed with command of his native language merely, but gave attention to the study of

foreign ones, and in particular was such a master of Latin that he could speak it as well as his native tongue;

but he could understand Greek better than he could speak it. He was so eloquent, indeed, that he might have

passed for a teacher of eloquence. He most zealously cultivated the liberal arts, held those who taught them in

great esteem, and conferred great honors upon them. He took lessons in grammar of the deacon Peter of Pisa,

at that time an aged man. Another deacon, Albin of Britain, surnamed Alcuin, a man of Saxon extraction, who

was the greatest scholar of the day, was his teacher in other branches of learning. The King spent much time

and labour with him studying rhetoric, dialectics, and especially astronomy; he learned to reckon, and used

to investigate the motions of the heavenly bodies most curiously, with an intelligent scrutiny. He also tried to

write, and used to keep tablets and blanks in bed under his pillow, that at leisure hours he might accustom his

hand to form the letters; however, as he did not begin his efforts in due season, but late in life, they met with

ill success.

Piety

He cherished with the greatest fervor and devotion the principles of the Christian religion, which had been

instilled into him from infancy. Hence it was that he built the beautiful basilica at Aix-la-Chapelle, which he

adorned with gold and silver and lamps, and with rails and doors of solid brass. He had the columns and mar-

bles for this structure brought from Rome and Ravenna, for he could not fi nd such as were suitable elsewhere.

He was a constant worshipper at this church as long as his health permitted, going morning and evening, even

after nightfall, besides attending mass; and he took care that all the services there conducted should be ad-

ministered with the utmost possible propriety, very often warning the sextons not to let any improper or unclean

thing be brought into the building or remain in it. He provided it with a great number of sacred vessels of gold

and silver and with such a quantity of clerical robes that not even the doorkeepers who fi ll the humblest offi ce

170 Chapter 11

in the church were obliged to wear their everyday clothes when in the exercise of their duties. He was at great

pains to improve the church reading and psalmody, for he was well skilled in both although he neither read in

public nor sang, except in a low tone and with others.

Generosity

He was very forward in succoring the poor, and in that gratuitous generosity which the Greeks call alms, so

much so that he not only made a point of giving in his own country and his own kingdom, but when he dis-

covered that there were Christians living in poverty in Syria, Egypt, and Africa, at Jerusalem, Alexandria, and

Carthage, he had compassion on their wants, and used to send money over the seas to them. The reason that

he zealously strove to make friends with the kings beyond seas was that he might get help and relief to the

Christians living under their rule.

He cherished the Church of St. Peter the Apostle at Rome above all other holy and sacred places, and

heaped its treasury with a vast wealth of gold, silver, and precious stones. He sent great and countless gifts to

the popes; and throughout his whole reign the wish that he had nearest at heart was to re-establish the ancient

authority of the city of Rome under his care and by his infl uence, and to defend and protect the Church of St.

Peter, and to beautify and enrich it out of his own store above all other churches. Although he held it in such

veneration, he only repaired to Rome to pay his vows and make his supplications four times during the whole

forty-seven years that he reigned.

Charlemagne Crowned Emperor

When he made his last journey thither, he also had other ends in view. The Romans had infl icted many injuries

upon the Pontiff Leo, tearing out his eyes and cutting out his tongue, so that he had been comp lied to call upon

the King for help [Nov 24, 800]. Charles accordingly went to Rome, to set in order the affairs of the Church,

which were in great confusion, and passed the whole winter there. It was then that he received the titles of Em-

peror and Augustus [Dec 25, 800], to which he at fi rst had such an aversion that he declared that he would not

have set foot in the Church the day that they were conferred, although it was a great feast-day, if he could have

foreseen the design of the Pope. He bore very patiently with the jealousy which the Roman emperors showed

upon his assuming these titles, for they took this step very ill; and by dint of frequent embassies and letters, in

which he addressed them as brothers, he made their haughtiness yield to his magnanimity, a quality in which

he was unquestionably much their superior.

Reading and Discussion Questions

1. Much of the Life concerns Charlemagne’s military victories; why is Einhard particularly interested in de-

scribing those? What is he trying to say about Charlemagne?

2. What does the Life reveal about Carolingian family relationships, particularly the relationship between fa-

thers and children?

3. The most common form of biography in the early Middle Ages was the hagiography, or biography of a saint.

What elements of Einhard’s biography of Charlemagne are hagiographic in nature?

11.3 Dante, Canto XIX from the Inferno

Dante Alighieri (1265 – 1321) was an Florentine poet who bridges the artistic cultures of the Middle Ages and of the Renaissance. Dante’s approach to his poetry foreshadowed the Renaissance with his use of vernacular Italian rather than Latin, and his frequent allusion to classical Greek and Roman literature and history. However, his sub-

171Innovations and Adaptation in the Western Christian World, 600 – 1400

ject matt er was typically Medieval; the Divine Comedy trilogy concerns questions of salvation and of humanity’s relationship with God. It is designed as an imagined explorations of Hell (Inferno), Purgatory, and Paradise, set in the year 1300. Echoing some of the issues of the Investiture Controversy, Dante was also troubled with the church’s continued interest in secular matt ers, and the continued infl uence of secular leaders over the church. Th e following Canto from the fi rst part of the Divine Comedy is about priests (especially popes) who bribed their way into offi ce. To buy one’s offi ce is the sin of simony, named for Simon Magus who in the New Testament Book of Acts att empted to buy the power of the Holy Spirit.

Source: The Inferno of Dante Alighieri (London: JM Dent and Co., 1900)

O SIMON-MAGUS! O wretched followers of his and robbers ye, who prostitute the things of God, that should

be wedded unto righteousness, for gold and, silver! now must the trump sound for you: for ye are in the third

chasm.

Already we had mounted to the following grave, on that part of the cliff which hangs right over the middle

of the fosse.

O Wisdom Supreme, what art thou showest in heaven, on earth and in the evil world, and how justly thy

Goodness dispenses!

I saw the livid stone, on the sides and on the bottom, full of holes, all of one breadth; and each was round.

Not less wide they seemed to me, nor larger, than those that are in my beauteous San Giovanni made for

stands to the baptizers;

one of which, not many years ago, I broke to save one that was drowning in it: and be this o, seal to unde-

ceive all men.

From the mouth of each emerged a sinner’s feet, and legs up to the calf; and the rest remained within.

The soles of all were both on fi re: wherefore the joints quivered so strongly, that they would have snapped in

pieces withes and grass-ropes.

As the fl aming of things oiled moves only on their outer surface: so was it there, from the heels to the

points.

“Master! who is that who writhes himself, quivering more than all his fellows,” I said, “and sucked by ruddier

fl ame?”

And he to me: “If thou wilt have me carry thee down there, by that lower bank, thou shalt learn from him

about himself and about his wrongs.”

And 1: “Whatever pleases thee, to me is grateful: thou art my lord, and knowest that I depart, not from thy

will; also thou knowest what is not spoken.

Then we came upon the fourth bulwark; we turned and descended, on the left hand, down there into the

perforated and narrow bottom.

The kind Master did not yet depose me from his side, till he brought me to the cleft of him who so lamented

with his legs.

“O whoe’er thou be that hast thy upper part beneath, unhappy spirit, planted like a stake!” I began to say;

“if thou art able, speak.”

I stood, like the friar who is confessing a treacherous assassin that, after being fi xed, recalls him and thus

delays the death;

and he cried: “Art thou thee already standing, Boniface? art thou there already standing? By several years

the writ has lied to me.

172 Chapter 11

Art thou so quickly sated with that wealth, for which thou didst not fear to seize the comely Lady- by deceit,

and then make havoc of her? “

I became like those who stand as if bemocked, not comprehending what is answered to them, and unable

to reply.

Then Virgil said: “Say to him quickly, ‘I am not he, I am not he whom thou thinkest.”’ And I replied as was

enjoined me.

Whereat the spirit quite wrenched his feet; thereafter, sighing and with voice of weeping, he said to me:

“Then what askest thou of me?

If to know who I am concerneth thee so much, that thou hast therefore passed the bank, learn that I was

clothed with the Great Mantle;

and verily I was a son of the She-bear, so eager to advance the Whelps, that I pursed wealth above, and

here myself.

Beneath my head are dragged the others who preceded me in simony, cowering within the fi ssures of the

stone.

I too shall fall down thither, when he comes for whom I took thee when I put the sudden question.

But longer is the time already, that I have baked my feet and stood inverted thus, than he shall stand planted

with glowing feet:

for after him, from westward, there shall come a lawless Shepherd, of uglier deeds, fi t to cover him and

me.

A new Jason will it be, of whom we read in Maccabees; and as to that high priest his king was pliant, so to

this shall be like he who governs France.

I know not if here I was too hardy, for I answered him in this strain: “Ahi! now tell me how much treasure

Our Lord required of St. Peter, before he put the keys into his keeping? Surely he demanded nought but

‘Follow me!”

Nor did Peter, nor the others, ask of Matthias gold or silver, when he was chosen for the offi ce which the

guilty soul had lost.

Therefore stay thou here, for thou art justly punished; and keep well the ill–ot money, which against Charles

made thee be bold.”

And were it not that reverence for the Great Keys thou wieldest in the glad life yet hinders me,

I should use still heavier words: for your avarice grieves the world, trampling on the good, and raising up the

wicked.

Shepherds such as ye the Evangelist perceived, when she, that sitteth on the waters, was seen by him com-

mitting fornication with the kings;

she that was born with seven heads, and in her ten horns had a witness so long as virtue pleased her

spouse.

Ye have made you a god of gold and silver; and wherein do ye differ from the idolater, save that he worships

one, and ye a hundred?

Ah Constantine! to how much ill gave birth, not thy conversion, but that dower which the fi rst rich Father

took from thee!

And whilst I sung these notes to him, whether it was rage or conscience gnawed him, he violently sprawled

with both his feet.

dower: a gift, specifi cally, to a wife in the event she survived her husband

173Innovations and Adaptation in the Western Christian World, 600 – 1400

And indeed I think it pleased my Guide, with so satisfi ed a look did he keep listening to the sound of the

true words uttered.

Therefore with both his arms he took me; and, when he had me quite upon his breast, remounted by the

path where he had descended.

Nor did he weary in holding me clasped to him, till he bore me away to the summit of the arch which is a

crossway from the fourth to the fi fth rampart.

Here he placidly set down the burden, pleasing to him on the rough steep cliff, which to the goats would be

a painful passage; thence another valley was discovered to me.

Reading and Discussion Questions

1. Dante blames the Donation of Constantine for causing simony in the papacy. This was believed to be a do-

nation by the fourth century Constantine the Great of land that became the Papal States. Why does Dante

object to the Donation?

2. The Master that guides Dante through hell was the Roman poet Virgil; how is the poetic device of Virgil both

Medieval and Renaissance in character?

3. The pope that Dante interviews is Nicholas III, who at fi rst assumes Dante is Pope Boniface VIII. However,

the poem is set in 1300 and Boniface will not die until 1303; how is Dante using this poem as an opportu-

nity to criticize the contemporary church?

4. The Divine Comedy is fi lled with symbols and metaphors. What is the symbolic meaning of the holes in

which the Simonaic popes are buried? What is the meaning of their burial headfi rst?

11.4 Regulations for the London Spurrier’s Guild, 1347 Craft guilds were organizations that governed individual craft s or artisanal fi elds. Guilds were created by the prac- titioners of a craft , and they set standards of product and prices for their craft . Guilds organized their craft s into monopolies, and controlled who could produce a certain good within their town or city. Membership in guilds were highly sought aft er because they were necessary for employment as craft smen or artisans. Guilds also off ered protection for its members and their families, in case of death or infi rmity; they also oft en provided religious and charitable services for their communities. Th e following excerpt is from the 1347 guild regulations for the London spurriers’ guild. Spurriers make spurs.

ARTICLES OF THE LONDON SPURRJERS, 1347

Be it remembered, that on Tuesday, the morrow of St. Peter’s Chains [1 August], in the 19th year of the reign

of King Edward the Third etc., the Articles underwritten were read before John Hamond, Mayor, Roger de

Depham, Recorder, and the other Aldermen; and seeing that the same were deemed befi tting, they were ac-

cepted and enrolled, in these words:

“In the fi rst place, that no one of the trade of Spurriers shall work longer than from the beginning of the day

until curfew rung out at the Church of St. Sepulchre, outside Newgate; by reason that no man can work so

neatly by night as by day.

And many persons of the said trade, who compass how to practice deception in their work, desire to work by

night rather than by day: and then they introduce false iron, and iron that has been cracked, for tin, and also,

they put gilt on false copper, and cracked.

And further, many of the said trade are wandering about all day, without working at all at their trade; and

then, when they have become drunk and frantic, they take to their work, to the annoyance of the sick and of all

their neighbourhood, as well as by reason of the broils that arise between them and the strange folks who are

174 Chapter 11

dwelling among them.

And then they blow up their fi res so vigorously, that their forges begin all at once to blaze; to the great peril

of themselves and of all the neighbourhood around. And then too, all the neighbours are much in dread of the

sparks, which so vigorously issue forth in all directions from the mouths of the chimneys in their forges.

By reason whereof, it seems unto them that working by night [should be put an end to,] in order such false

work and such perils to avoid; and therefore, the Mayor and Aldermen do will, by assent of the good folks of the

said trade, and for the common profi t, that from henceforth such time for working, and such false work made

in the trade, shall be forbidden.

And if any person shall be found in the said trade to do to the contrary hereof, let him be amerced, the fi rst

time in 40 d. [pence], one half thereof to go to the use of the Chamber of the Guildhall of London, and the other

half to the use of the said trade; the second time, in half a mark, and the third time, in 10 s. [shillings], to the

use of the same Chamber and trade; and the fourth time, let him forswear the trade for ever.

“Also, that no one of the said trade shall hang his spurs out on Sunday, or on other days that are Double

Feasts; but only a sign indicating his business: and such spurs as they shall so sell, they are to show and sell

within their shops, without exposing them without, or opening the doors or windows of their shops, on the pain

aforesaid.

“Also, that no one of the said trade shall keep a house or shop to carry on his business, unless he is free of

the City; and that no one shall cause to be sold, or exposed for sale, any manner of old spurs for new ones; or

shall garnish them, or change them for new ones.

“Also, that no one of the said trade shall take an apprentice for a less term than seven years; and such ap-

prentice shall be enrolled, according to the usages of the said city. “Also, that if anyone of the said trade, who

is not a freeman, shall take an apprentice for a term of years, he shall be amerced, as aforesaid. “Also, that no

one of the said trade shall receive the apprentice, serving-man, or journeyman, of another in the same trade,

during the term agreed upon between his master and him; on the pain aforesaid.

“Also, that no alien of another country, or foreigner of this country, shall follow or use the said trade, unless

he is enfranchised before the Mayor, Aldermen, and Chamberlain; and that, by witness and surety of the good

folks of the said trade, who will undertake for him as to his loyalty and his good behaviour.

“Also, that no one of the said trade shall work on Saturdays, after None has been rung out in the City; and

not from that hour until the Monday morning following.”

Reading and Discussion Questions

1. Are the regulations about working at night designed to protect craftsmen or their customers?

2. Why are apprentices required to train for seven years before allowed to enroll in the guild?

3. How do towns and cities profi t fi nancially from the regulations of the guild?

11.5 Marchione di Coppio Stefani on the Black Death in Florence Th e Black Death was an outbreak of the Bubonic plague in Europe, beginning in 1347. Although there had been outbreaks before, the plague had not been present in Europe in centuries. Th e populace was already weakened by a famine in the fi rst two decades of the century, and was thus especially susceptible to the reappearance of the plague. Unfortunately, fourteenth century Europeans lacked scientifi c understanding of what caused the deaths; it was usually referred to as the pestilence. Th e Black Death produced many diff erent responses by people afraid of

none: a fi xed time of prayer, around 3:00 pm

175Innovations and Adaptation in the Western Christian World, 600 – 1400

dying, and many theories as to what caused the many deaths, as evidenced by this account by Marchione di Coppio Stefani of what happened in Florence.

Source: Stefani, Marchione di Coppo. Cronacafi orentina. Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, Vol. 30. ed. Niccolo Rodolico. Citta di Cas-

tello: 1903-13.

Concerning a Mortality in the City of Florence in Which Many People Died.

In the year of the Lord 1348 there was a very great pestilence in the city and district of Florence. It was of

such a fury and so tempestuous that in houses in which it took hold previously healthy servants who took care

of the ill died of the same illness. Almost none of the ill survived past the fourth day. Neither physicians nor

medicines were effective. Whether because these illnesses were previously unknown or because physicians

had not previously studied them, there seemed to be no cure. There was such a fear that no one seemed to

know what to do. When it took hold in a house it often happened that no one remained who had not died. And

it was not just that men and women died, but even sentient animals died. Dogs, cats, chickens, oxen, donkeys

sheep showed the same symptoms and died of the same disease. And almost none, or very few, who showed

these symptoms, were cured. The symptoms were the following: a bubo in the groin, where the thigh meets the

trunk; or a small swelling under the armpit; sudden fever; spitting blood and saliva (and no one who spit blood

survived it). It was such a frightful thing that when it got into a house, as was said, no one remained. Frightened

people abandoned the house and fl ed to another. Those in town fl ed to villages. Physicians could not be found

because they had died like the others. And those who could be found wanted vast sums in hand before they

entered the house. And when they did enter, they checked the pulse with face turned away. They inspected the

urine from a distance and with something odoriferous under their nose. Child abandoned the father, husband

the wife, wife the husband, one brother the other, one sister the other. In all the city there was nothing to do but

to carry the dead to a burial. And those who died had neither confessor nor other sacraments. And many died

with no one looking after them. And many died of hunger because when someone took to bed sick, another in

the house, terrifi ed, said to him: “I’m going for the doctor.” Calmly walking out the door, the other left and did

not return again. Abandoned by people, without food, but accompanied by fever, they weakened. There were

many who pleaded with their relatives not to abandon them when night fell. But [the relatives] said to the sick

person, “So that during the night you did not have to awaken those who serve you and who work hard day

and night, take some sweetmeats, wine or water. They are here on the bedstead by your head; here are some

blankets.” And when the sick person had fallen asleep, they left and did not return. If it happened that he was

strengthened by the food during the night he might be alive and strong enough to get to the window. If the street

was not a major one, he might stand there a half hour before anyone came by. And if someone did pass by,

and if he was strong enough that he could be heard when he called out to them, sometimes there might be a

response and sometimes not, but there was no help. No one, or few, wished to enter a house where anyone was

sick, nor did they even want to deal with those healthy people who came out of a sick person’s house. And they

said to them: “He is stupefi ed, do not speak to him!” saying further: “He has it because there is a bubo in his

house.” They call the swelling a bubo. Many died unseen. So they remained in their beds until they stank. And

the neighbors, if there were any, having smelled the stench, placed them in a shroud and sent them for burial.

The house remained open and yet there was no one daring enough to touch anything because it seemed that

bubo: swelling of the lymph nodes

176 Chapter 11

things remained poisoned and that whoever used them picked up the illness.

At every church, or at most of them, they dug deep trenches, down to the waterline, wide and deep, depend-

ing on how large the parish was. And those who were responsible for the dead carried them on their backs in

the night in which they died and threw them into the ditch, or else they paid a high price to those who would do

it for them. The next morning, if there were many [bodies] in the trench, they covered them over with dirt. And

then more bodies were put on top of them, with a little more dirt over those; they put layer on layer just like one

puts layers of cheese in a lasagna.

The beccamorti who provided their service, were paid such a high price that many were enriched by it.

Many died from [carrying away the dead], some rich, some after earning just a little, but high prices continued.

Servants, or those who took care of the ill, charged from one to three fl orins per day and the cost of things

grew. The things that the sick ate, sweetmeats and sugar, seemed priceless. Sugar cost from three to eight

fl orins per pound. And other confections cost similarly. Capons and other poultry were very expensive and eggs

cost between twelve and twenty-four pence each; and he was blessed who could fi nd three per day even if he

searched the entire city. Finding wax was miraculous. A pound of wax would have gone up more than a fl orin if

there had not been a stop put [by the communal government] to the vain ostentation that the Florentines always

make [over funerals]. Thus it was ordered that no more than two large candles could be carried[in any funeral].

Churches had no more than a single bier which usually was not suffi cient. Spice dealers and beccamorti sold

biers, burial palls, and cushions at very high prices. Dressing in expensive woolen cloth as is customary in

[mourning] the dead, that is in a long cloak, with mantle and veil that used to cost women three fl orins climbed

in price to thirty fl orins and would have climbed to 100 fl orins had the custom of dressing in expensive cloth

not been changed. The rich dressed in modest woolens, those not rich sewed [clothes] in linen. Benches on

which the dead were placed cost like the heavens and still the benches were only a hundredth of those needed.

Priests were not able to ring bells as they would have liked. Concerning that [the government] issued ordinances

discouraging the sounding of bells, sale of burial benches, and limiting expenses. They could not sound bells,

sell benches, nor cry out announcements because the sick hated to hear of this and it discouraged the healthy

as well. Priests and friars went [to serve] the rich in great multitudes and they were paid such high prices that

they all got rich. And therefore [the authorities] ordered that one could not have more than a prescribed number

[of clerics] of the local parish church. And the prescribed number of friars was six. All fruits with a nut at the

center, like unripe plums and unhusked almonds, fresh broadbeans, fi gs and every useless and unhealthy fruit,

were forbidden entrance into the city. Many processions, including those with relics and the painted tablet of

Santa Maria Inpruneta, went through the city crying our “Mercy” and praying and then they came to a stop in

the piazza of the Priors. There they made peace concerning important controversies, injuries and deaths. This

[pestilence] was a matter of such great discouragement and fear that men gathered together in order to take

some comfort in dining together. And each evening one of them provided dinner to ten companions and the

next evening they planned to eat with one of the others. And sometimes if they planned to eat with a certain

one he had no meal prepared because he was sick. Or if the host had made dinner for the ten, two or three

were missing. Some fl ed to villas, others to villages in order to get a change of air. Where there had been no

[pestilence], there they carried it; if it was already there, they caused it to increase. None of the guilds in Flor-

ence was working. All the shops were shut, taverns closed; only the apothecaries and the churches remained

open. If you went outside, you found almost no one. And many good and rich men were carried from home

to church on a pall by four beccamorti and one tonsured clerk who carried the cross. Each of them wanted a

fl orin. This mortality enriched apothecaries, doctors, poultry vendors, beccamorti, and greengrocers who sold

beccamorti: grave-diggers

177Innovations and Adaptation in the Western Christian World, 600 – 1400

of poultices of mallow, nettles, mercury and other herbs necessary to draw off the infi rmity. And it was those

who made these poultices who made alot of money. Woolworkers and vendors of remnants of cloth who found

themselves in possession of cloths [after the death of the entrepreneur for whom they were working] sold it to

whoever asked for it. When the mortality ended, those who found themselves with cloth of any kind or with raw

materials for making cloth was enriched. But many found [who actually owned cloths being processed by work-

ers] found it to be moth-eaten, ruined or lost by the weavers. Large quantities of raw and processed wool were

lost throughout the city and countryside.

This pestilence began in March, as was said, and ended in September 1348. And people began to return

to look after their houses and possessions. And there were so many houses full of goods without a master that

it was stupefying. Then those who would inherit these goods began to appear. And such it was that those who

had nothing found themselves rich with what did not seem to be theirs and they were unseemly because of it.

Women and men began to dress ostentatiously.

How Many Of the Dead Died Because Of the Mortality of the Year of Christ 1348

Now it was ordered by the bishop and the Lords [of the city government]that they should formally inquire as to

how many died in Florence. When it was seen at the beginning of October that no more persons were dying of

the pestilence, they found that among males, females, children and adults, 96,000 died between March and

October.

How They Passed Ordinances Concerning Many Things in Florence

In the said year, when the mortality stopped, women and men in Florence were unmindful of [traditional mod-

esty concerning] their dress. And ordinances were passed concerning this giving authority to the Judge of the

Grascia to enforce these ordinances. The tailors made such boundless demands for payment that they could

not be satisfi ed. Authority was granted [to the judge] that he should handle all matters himself. Servants were

so unhappy about the very high prices [they paid] that it was necessary to make great efforts to restrain [the

price rises]. The workers on the land in the countryside wanted rent contracts such that you could say that all

they harvested would be theirs. And they learned to demand oxen from the landlord but at the landlord’s risk

[and liability for any harm done to the animal]. And then they helped others for pay by the job or by the day.

And they also learned to deny [liability for] loans and [rental] payments. Concerning this serious ordinances

were instituted; and [hiring] laborers became much more expensive. You could say that the farms were theirs;

and they wanted the oxen, seed, loans quickly and on good terms. It was necessary to put a brake on weddings

as well because when they gathered for the betrothal each party brought too many people in order to increase

the pomp. And thus the wedding was made up of so many trappings. How many days were necessary and

how many women took part in a woman’s wedding. And they passed many other ordinances concerning [these

issues].

Reading and Discussion Questions

1. It is clear from di Stefani’s description that some people profi ted from the Black Death. Who were they and

how did they profi t?

2. What are the economic repercussions of the Black Death for the city of Florence?

3. According to di Stefani, how did the Catholic Church deal with the plague? What are the long-term results

for the Church of how it reacted?

4. In what ways did the plague bring the people of Florence closer together? How did it cause divisions in

communities?

178 Chapter 11

11.6 The Medieval World View

Centuries before the heliocentric ideas of Copernicus were gradually accepted, the traditional geocentric, or earth- centered universe was usually depicted by concentric circles. In his Buch der Natur, a popular work on natural his- tory, science, and medicine, Konrad von Megenburg (1309-1374) of Germany depicted the medieval cosmos in an unusual but eff ective manner. Th e seven known planets are contained within straight horizontal bands which separate the Earth below from Heaven, populated by the saints above.

Reading and Discussion Questions

1. What kind of world view is expressed by this illustration? What place do humans occupy in the cosmos?

2. Compare this world view with the Jain cosmological map (document 8.5). How are the two world views

different?

Source: Library of Congress