Introduction Bubonic Plague: Historical Epidemiology and the Medical Problems The New Economic and Demographic System Modes of Thought and Feeling Notes Index
The articles in this collection surprisingly are as fresh today as when they were delivered. David Herlihy utilizes new approaches and new forms of evidence to raise intriguing suggestions concerning the economic, social, and cultural history of European civilization and the borderlines between medieval and modern Europe. Supplemented by Samuel K. Cohn's invaluable introduction, they will stimulate a wealth of new historical investigation. This work can be read with profit by undergraduates, graduate students, and professional historians. -- William M. Bowsky, University of California, Davis, author of A Medieval Italian Commune Living in the age of AIDS, Ebola fever, and the prospect of new, lethal diseases, we can surely benefit from the historical perspective David Herlihy provides in this wonderful book on the plague of 1348. Herlihy raises important questions about the exact nature of the disease, and how the economy and society of medieval Europe responded to unprecedented catastrophe. How do people explain the origin and course of a new disease? How do people react when the established institutions of church, state, and science fail to offer acceptable explanations for the occurrence of extraordinary levels of mortality? Herlihy answers these questions and offers fresh insights on an old killer that have a timely meaning for the modern world. Cohn provides a wise, contextual introduction and has skillfully edited these essays, making available once more to old friends and new readers the distinctive style and thoughts of David Herlihy. -- Steven Epstein, University of Colorado at Boulder, author of Wage Labor and Guilds in Medieval Europe The work of a mature, indeed brilliant, scholar. This is a succinct, lucid, provocative, and very learned treatment of the Black Death in its causes and consequences. -- Thomas Kuehn, author of Law, Family, and Women
David Herlihy (d. 1991) was Barnaby Conrad and Mary Critchfield Keeney Professor and Professor of History at Brown University. Samuel K. Cohn, Jr., is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow. Among his books are The Cult of Remembrance and the Black Death and Women in the Streets: Essays on Sex and Power in the Italian Renaissance.
Herlihy proposed that the Black Death led to "the transformation of
the West" and shaped crucial aspects of modern thinking and
behavior. Briefly and lucidly, Herlihy argued that Europe
was...locked into Malthusian stasis, with a population unable to
improve its standard of living and possessed of a set of unchanging
and stagnating institutions. The Black Death was to shake Europe
out of its immobile lethargy and to initiate processes of
renewal...Samuel Cohn's succinct introduction provides an excellent
commentary on Herlihy's theses.
*Times Literary Supplement*
Focusing on the Black Death which reduced the population in some
European cities by 80 percent, Herlihy draws some powerful
parallels between the plague and AIDS...His argument is a
provocative one which will lead other historians to re-examine not
only the period of the Black Death but the foundations of medieval
and modern medicine.
*History Today*
The essays offer a number of fresh perspectives on the Black Death,
the series of plagues that ravaged Europe after 1347.
*History*
[These] essays redefine the historical study of the Black
Death...Herlihy's contention is that we can learn from this
'devastating natural disaster'; for example, parallels can be drawn
to today's pandemic of AIDS, especially in the resultant bigotries
that both engendered...This book, which opens a new chapter on the
history and implications of the plague, is essential for all
readers of medieval history.
*Library Journal*
Herlihy died in 1991, leaving these 1985 lectures among his
unpublished papers. In them, he raises questions about the impact
of the black death on everyday society, agrarian practices, the use
of inventions, travel, and medical theory and practice. Because of
their provocative ideas and new ways of looking at older
assumptions, they are highly worthy of publication.
*Booklist*
Bold, novel theories, sure to be controversial, about the medieval
pandemic known as the Black Death...Herlihy revisits much of the
conventional wisdom about the demographic, cultural, and even
medical impact of the plague...A stimulating discussion of some
rarely considered aspects of one of history's turning points.
*Kirkus Reviews*
[A] fine addition to thinking on the [Black Death] and an example
of how good historical thought evolves.
*Publishers Weekly*
The articles in this collection surprisingly are as fresh today as
when they were delivered. David Herlihy utilizes new approaches and
new forms of evidence to raise intriguing suggestions concerning
the economic, social, and cultural history of European civilization
and the borderlines between medieval and modern Europe.
Supplemented by Samuel K. Cohn's invaluable introduction, they will
stimulate a wealth of new historical investigation. This work can
be read with profit by undergraduates, graduate students, and
professional historians.
*William M. Bowsky, University of California, Davis, author of A
Medieval Italian Commune*
Living in the age of AIDS, Ebola fever, and the prospect of new,
lethal diseases, we can surely benefit from the historical
perspective David Herlihy provides in this wonderful book on the
plague of 1348. Herlihy raises important questions about the exact
nature of the disease, and how the economy and society of medieval
Europe responded to unprecedented catastrophe. How do people
explain the origin and course of a new disease? How do people react
when the established institutions of church, state, and science
fail to offer acceptable explanations for the occurrence of
extraordinary levels of mortality? Herlihy answers these questions
and offers fresh insights on an old killer that have a timely
meaning for the modern world. Cohn provides a wise, contextual
introduction and has skillfully edited these essays, making
available once more to old friends and new readers the distinctive
style and thoughts of David Herlihy.
*Steven Epstein, University of Colorado at Boulder, author of
Wage Labor and Guilds in Medieval Europe*
The work of a mature, indeed brilliant, scholar. This is a
succinct, lucid, provocative, and very learned treatment of the
Black Death in its causes and consequences.
*Thomas Kuehn, author of Law, Family, and Women*
Herlihy proposed that the Black Death led to "the transformation of
the West" and shaped crucial aspects of modern thinking and
behavior. Briefly and lucidly, Herlihy argued that Europe
was...locked into Malthusian stasis, with a population unable to
improve its standard of living and possessed of a set of unchanging
and stagnating institutions. The Black Death was to shake Europe
out of its immobile lethargy and to initiate processes of
renewal...Samuel Cohn's succinct introduction provides an excellent
commentary on Herlihy's theses. -- Andrew Wear * Times Literary
Supplement *
Focusing on the Black Death which reduced the population in some
European cities by 80 percent, Herlihy draws some powerful
parallels between the plague and AIDS...His argument is a
provocative one which will lead other historians to re-examine not
only the period of the Black Death but the foundations of medieval
and modern medicine. -- Lara Marks * History Today *
The essays offer a number of fresh perspectives on the Black Death,
the series of plagues that ravaged Europe after 1347. * History
*
[These] essays redefine the historical study of the Black
Death...Herlihy's contention is that we can learn from this
'devastating natural disaster'; for example, parallels can be drawn
to today's pandemic of AIDS, especially in the resultant bigotries
that both engendered...This book, which opens a new chapter on the
history and implications of the plague, is essential for all
readers of medieval history. * Library Journal *
Herlihy died in 1991, leaving these 1985 lectures among his
unpublished papers. In them, he raises questions about the impact
of the black death on everyday society, agrarian practices, the use
of inventions, travel, and medical theory and practice. Because of
their provocative ideas and new ways of looking at older
assumptions, they are highly worthy of publication. -- William
Beatty * Booklist *
Bold, novel theories, sure to be controversial, about the medieval
pandemic known as the Black Death...Herlihy revisits much of the
conventional wisdom about the demographic, cultural, and even
medical impact of the plague...A stimulating discussion of some
rarely considered aspects of one of history's turning points. *
Kirkus Reviews *
[A] fine addition to thinking on the [Black Death] and an example
of how good historical thought evolves. * Publishers Weekly *
The articles in this collection surprisingly are as fresh today as
when they were delivered. David Herlihy utilizes new approaches and
new forms of evidence to raise intriguing suggestions concerning
the economic, social, and cultural history of European civilization
and the borderlines between medieval and modern Europe.
Supplemented by Samuel K. Cohn's invaluable introduction, they will
stimulate a wealth of new historical investigation. This work can
be read with profit by undergraduates, graduate students, and
professional historians. -- William M. Bowsky, University of
California, Davis, author of A Medieval Italian Commune
Living in the age of AIDS, Ebola fever, and the prospect of new,
lethal diseases, we can surely benefit from the historical
perspective David Herlihy provides in this wonderful book on the
plague of 1348. Herlihy raises important questions about the exact
nature of the disease, and how the economy and society of medieval
Europe responded to unprecedented catastrophe. How do people
explain the origin and course of a new disease? How do people react
when the established institutions of church, state, and science
fail to offer acceptable explanations for the occurrence of
extraordinary levels of mortality? Herlihy answers these questions
and offers fresh insights on an old killer that have a timely
meaning for the modern world. Cohn provides a wise, contextual
introduction and has skillfully edited these essays, making
available once more to old friends and new readers the distinctive
style and thoughts of David Herlihy. -- Steven Epstein, University
of Colorado at Boulder, author of Wage Labor and Guilds in
Medieval Europe
The work of a mature, indeed brilliant, scholar. This is a
succinct, lucid, provocative, and very learned treatment of the
Black Death in its causes and consequences. -- Thomas Kuehn, author
of Law, Family, and Women
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