The Impact of the Black Death

The Impact of the Black Death

On this page you will learn about the Black Death of 1348-49, and what impact it had on the black friars.

What was the Black Death?

• In 1348-49, there was a devastating outbreak of plague in England, now called the Black Death, which is estimated to have killed about a third of the population.
• Severe outbreaks continued at regular intervals at a national and local level until 1665. Like many other cities, Norwich was badly affected by these epidemics. Its population fell from about 25,000 in the 1330s to fewer than 9,000 by the 1370s, and stagnated until the start of the sixteenth century. The impact of such dramatic losses was considerable, both on the economy and on the way people thought about death.
• Understandably, losses on this scale fixed people's minds on the afterlife, and heightened the sense of vulnerability felt by the rich - that is, those who would find it the hardest to enter the gates of Heaven.
• Indeed, thoughts of mors improvisa (sudden death) concentrated the mind with unusual clarity upon the need for masses and prayers to speed the soul through purgatory.
• It also prompted investment in friaries, and, as we have seen, the people of Norwich left money to the black friars so that prayers and masses would be said for their souls. By assisting the friars in their study and preaching they were also performing works of spiritual merit, which had the same effect.

What Happened to the Friars?

• If, cloistered as they were, the Benedictines at the Cathedral priory lost approximately half their community in 1349, then the friars must have experienced even more terribly the far-reaching and long-lasting effects of the plague.
• This was because their urban mission required them to minister to the people. So far as we can tell, almost all the black friars died in the first epidemic.
• Although obviously depleted in size, the Dominican community was certainly  not forgotten; local benefactors continued to donate money and resources, especially after the devastating fire in 1413. Indeed, on balance, fear of sudden death worked to the friars’ advantage, since it loosened the citizens’ purse-strings.