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Bragg and historians discuss the Black Death of 1347-1351, which killed 30-60% of Europe's population. The panel examines the social, economic, and psychological consequences of the worst pandemic in recorded history.
This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.
Canon
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The panel argues the Black Death was a genuine historical cliff event: the sudden elimination of 30-60% of the labor force made surviving workers scarce and valuable, undermining the feudal system that depended on abundant, expendable peasant labor.
Highlights
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The psychological trauma of the Black Death produced an art obsessed with death — the danse macabre — that persisted for centuries
The panel discusses how the Black Death generated a new artistic genre: the danse macabre, images of skeletons dancing with the living. This cultural response to mass death reflected a society-wide trauma that took generations to process.Was this useful?