The New Yorker: How Pandemics Wreak Havoc - And Open Minds

The New Yorker: How Pandemics Wreak Havoc - And Open Minds

By Lawrence Wright

    The plague at the end of the Middle Ages brought along destruction - but also the Renaissance. So will the COVID-19 pandemic do the same? Lawerence Wright spoke with a retired Italian professor about the similarities between the pandemics. Gianna Pomata described the Middle Ages during the Black Death. Italy was broken up into a series of city states ruled by feudalism. However, medicine wasn’t very good. People believed that heavenly bodies, such as God, had sent the plague as a punishment. It swept through much of Russia and Asia before hitting Italy, and it left severe devastation in its wake. Many conspiracy theories popped up, such as the belief that toilets prevented the plague, and doctors didn’t help much either. Some tried their best to have fun, while others sheltered in place, like in Decameron’s story. This story, which poked fun at society, was one of the opening pieces of the Renaissance. After the plague had passed, it left a revival in classical thought - the Renaissance - in its place. Roman medicine was revived, empirical evidence, rather than spiritual, brought back.

    But how did the plague spread in the first place? Tartar warriors besieged the Black Sea port city of Caffa in the fourteenth century. When some soldiers succumbed to the disease, they were chucked over city walls in one of the earliest instances of biological warfare. The panicked citizens escaped to Sicily in 1347, bringing the plague with them. When they arrived, the Sicilians found a ship full of dead, and sent the remaining crew back out to sea. But the rats and fleas on the ships had already escaped. Europe was soon engulfed, killing millions. Families were torn apart, mass graves were dug. But it led to many medical innovations. Hospitals had separate wards, and trade associations rose to help pay costs.

    Pomata also spoke about disease waves. The Spanish flu, for example, was seasonal, and it returned multiple times throughout the century. The bubonic plague was worse. There were three great pandemics, spanning multiple centuries, killing millions every time. It has never been eradicated, and still infects us from time to time. After the pandemics, labor went into high demand. Since many laborers died, artisans were in high demand, and people paid higher for the services.

    During this pandemic, Pomata is angry at the EU. It has been sapping money from countries like hers to pay other country’s debts. However, some key politicians have changed their stance, and she is grateful. It is things like these that can come after pandemics. Social progress, because it allows us to the frailties of the social body, and make progress.