Today, Basel, Switzerland is the third largest Swiss city, and a hub for international meetings of all sorts. But in 1349, it was known for something else. Now, to be fair, the Black Plague by this time had killed thousands throughout Europe and Asia Minor, and knowledge of health and sanitation was poor, so obviously fear ruled and drastic steps needed to be taken. On January 9, 1349, all the Jews in the city were round up and incinerated in the belief that they were the cause of the sickness destroying the city. No word on how effective this was in preventing the spread of the bubonic plague, but by 1351, when the plague had mostly run its course, over a quarter of the population of Europe was dead. Of course, this is often seen as the beginning of the end of serfdom, as there were not enough peasants left in Europe to tend to crops and so workers became valuable for the first time.
No comments:
Post a Comment