The Black Death and its Impact on the Church and Popular Religion

This book concerns the religious impact of the Black Death. This plague devastated Europe in the fourteenth century. It explores the effect of the Black Death on the Catholic Church and the religious movements that emerged in response to it. The conclusions drawn here are based on the research of both primary and secondary sources. The Church played a significant role during the Middle Ages because religion was an essential aspect of daily life for European Christians. When the Black Death struck Europe in 1347, the Church struggled to cope with the plague’s damaging consequences, and its reputation suffered as a result. This book concludes that the Black Death contributed to the decline in the confidence and faith of the Christian laity towards the institution of the Church and its leadership. The scope of this book focuses on the plague’s impact on the clergy, the rise of the flagellant movement, and the widespread Jewish persecutions that ensued in the wake of the epidemic. The Black Death was a significant event in the history of Western society with profound cultural and demographic consequences, and its impact on the Church and religion in the medieval community justifies the study of this topic.