1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910965068003321

Autore

Lagerås Per

Titolo

Environment, Society and the Black Death : An interdisciplinary approach to the late-medieval crisis in Sweden

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Havertown, : Oxbow Books, 2016

ISBN

1-78570-055-3

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (224 p.)

Disciplina

614.573209485

Soggetti

Black Death - History - Social aspects - To 1500 - Sweden

Black Death - History - Environmental aspects - Sweden

Black Death - History - Sweden

Crises - History - Sweden

History, Medieval

Plague

Ecology

Social Conditions

History

Socioeconomic Factors

Biology

Earth Sciences

Yersinia Infections

Sociology

Humanities

Population Characteristics

Biological Science Disciplines

Natural Science Disciplines

Enterobacteriaceae Infections

Social Sciences

Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections

Delivery of Health Care

Bacterial Infections

Bacterial Infections and Mycoses

Disease

Infectious Diseases

Medicine

Health & Biological Sciences



Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di contenuto

Title Page; Copyright; Contents; Preface; Part I: Introduction; Chapter 1: An interdisciplinary approach; Chapter 2: Current knowledge on the late-medieval crisis; Chapter 3: Societal crisis and environmental change; Part II: Empirical studies; Chapter 4: Abandonment, agricultural change and ecology; Chapter 5: Change, desertion and survival - an archaeology of the late-medieval crisis; Chapter 6: Living conditions in times of plague; Part III: Conclusions in a wider perspective; Chapter 7: Environment-society interactions

Chapter 8: Studying the late-medieval crisis - reflections on research perspectivesChapter 9: Epidemics in a social context; Chapter 10: Summary of conclusions; References; Author presentations; Appendix 1: Pollen sites; Appendix 2: Osteological stature data; Appendix 3: Isotope data

Sommario/riassunto

In the mid-fourteenth century the Black Death ravaged Europe, leading to dramatic population drop and social upheavals. Recurring plague outbreaks together with social factors pushed Europe into a deep crisis that lasted for more than a century. The plague and the crisis, and in particular their short-term and long-term consequences for society, have been the matter of continuous debate. Most of the research so far has been based on the study of written sources, and the dominating perspective has been the one of economic history. A different approach is presented here by using evidence and techniques from archaeology and the natural sciences. Special focus is on environmental and social changes in the wake of the Black Death. Pollen and tree-ring data are used to gain new insights into farm abandonment and agricultural change, and to point to the important environmental and ecological consequences of the crisis. The archaeological record shows that the crisis was not only characterized by abandonment and decline, but also how families and households survived by swiftly developing new strategies during these uncertain times. Finally, stature and isotope studies are applied to human skeletons from medieval churchyards to reveal changes in health and living conditions during the crisis. The conclusions are put in wider perspective that highlights the close relationship between society and the environment and the historical importance of past epidemics.