Professional Documents
Culture Documents
“Christian men and women learnt to live with plague. Another thing they learnt was how to
die of it” (Colin Platt 1996, vii).
When the Black Death and its aftermath are studied in detail, few statements seem more
fitting.
The Black Death spread from Western Asia through the Middle East, North Africa and finally,
Europe, between 1346 and 1353, “causing catastrophic losses of population everywhere”
(Benedictow 2004, 3). Benedictow describes it as the “greatest-ever demographic disaster”
which, many centuries later in Europe, became known by historians, as the Black Death -
from the Latin atra mors; such was its impact on society, religion and folklore (Aberth 2001,
2; Benedictow 2004, 3).
Although the Black Death occurred over a relatively short period in England (c.1348-50), its
influence on subsequent generations cannot be ignored (Bailey 1998; Dyer 2003; James
1998, 1). The Black Death is generally considered to have entered England through the
Dorset seaport of Melcombe Regis (now Weymouth), during May or June of 1348, spreading
rapidly throughout England and Ireland, primarily by sea trade or navigable waterways and,
at a slower rate, over land (Benedictow 2004, 126-30; Theilmann and Cate 2007, 372-3). The
contemporary accounts of the chronicler Henry Knighton (c. 1337-96) - an Augustinian
Canon who survived the plague - however, suggests the Black Death may have entered
England through Southampton and reaching London via trade routes through Winchester
(James 1999b, 9; 2007, 96; Theilmann and Cate 2007, 373). Where ever the plague entered
England, it is most likely to have been through a southern seaport with trade links to France
(Theilmann and Cate 2007, 373). It is very difficult to come up with a definite mortality rate
for Hampshire but James hints that it was over 50% (James 1998, 21-3). Benedictow’s
compendium of work suggests the average death-toll for England was nearer 62.5%, during
the pandemic, and up to 66.67% by the end of the 15th century, due to recurrent plagues
(Benedictow 2004, 383). It is also believed that the Black Death killed indiscriminately,
Following the Black Death, the population of Winchester shrank to around 7,750
inhabitants, by AD1400 (Derek Keene 1985a, 367) and 7,710 by 1417 (James 2007, 97), from
an estimated population of around 11,625, in 1300 (James 2007, 97; Derek Keene 1985a,
368); thus, making the average population density inside the city walls, around 29 people
per acre and as much as 81 per acre in the city centre. Dyer suggests that this presents a
greater density than modern British cities (Dyer 1989, 189). It seems strange to have such a
large population in a city only fifty years after the Black Death but people did migrate back
into towns and cities to work (Dyer 1986, 39; James 1998, 7; Van-Bavel 2002, 24). This
would explain the rise in Winchester’s population and the loss of some rural settlements,
such as Newtown, and manorial sites, such as Faccombe Netherton. This, according to
Keene, also focused wealth back into the city (Derek Keene 1985a, 82-4). Unfortunately, it
has not been possible to calculate the population immediately following the first visitation
of the plague in 1348-50; only in 1400, by which time the migration of rural folk had re-
populated the city, and recurrent plagues had also influenced the demography of
Hampshire (Dyer 1986, 39). Patrick Ottaway suggests towns, in general, seem to have been
less affected by population loss than rural areas, as many migrated from the countryside to
fill the gaps left by those who died; although many towns did decline, as seen in the
archaeological record (Patrick Ottaway 1996, 209).
Not all contemporary burials on this site were mass graves; some had been interred in
coffins, shrouds or buried with ashes, while others had large coin groups buried with them.
However, Duncan Hawkins suggests there is no significance in distribution, associated with
these practices, nor can he infer any relationship to status (Hawkins 1990, 640). This would
appear to be in direct opposition to the contemporary social structure, demarcated by the
tripartite house plan (Edward Roberts 2003, 126-7), (see Chapter 2.3.2). The archaeology
could not shed any light on the chronologies of those interred in individual graves,
compared to those placed in mass pits, as no time differences could be inferred by analysing
the grave cuts, or fills and there were no stratigraphic indicators to suggest a time sequence
(Hawkins 1990, 640). Hawkins cites that there is no distinguishable difference between
these examples and late medieval graves in general and, that if it were not for documents
pertaining to the sole use of this cemetery for plague victims, it would have been difficult to
prove (Ibid.). This, he suggests, is the reason why it is hard to find any archaeological
evidence of the Black Death in other cemeteries, as there are no differentiating factors
(Hawkins 1990, 640-1).
However, the age distribution of the Royal Mint cemetery burials can give some indication,
as to how indiscriminately the Black Death killed. Table 13 illustrates that the majority of
plague victims were mainly, males, between the ages of 26 and 45 (Kausmally 2007, online).
Table 28 A graph showing the age at death derived from skeletal evidence at the Black
Death cemetery at East Smithfield, London (Kausmally 2007, online)
This illustrates the difficulty faced by archaeologists when trying to investigate death rates
and practices, associated with such a catastrophe (Antoine 2008, 108). What can be seen
though is the effort medieval people seemed to have made in maintaining the social
structure, even during such trying times. If it is assumed that burial practices would have
been the same in Hampshire during the pandemic, as in London, then the significance of
respecting the social hierarchy can be analysed against the data collected during this thesis.
The data shows that house plans did not change during the Black Death; therefore, the
social hierarchy inferred by the tripartite plan (see page 94) was a constant throughout the
period of study (1250-1530). It can then be argued that the collective dynamic of human
St John’s Winchester (1280-5) (Borenius 1932, 178-9; Pevsner and Lloyd 1967, 692)
o Paintings depicting various saints
St Hubert’s, Idsworth dated to 1330 (Pevsner and Lloyd 1967, 307)
o This is thought to depict the life of John the Baptist and does not focus on
death
St Peter’s, Hurstbourne Tarrant, mid 14th century (Pevsner and Lloyd 1967, 302)
o “The three quick and the three dead” does depict death following the Black
Death
All Saint’s, Catherington, mid 14th century (Pevsner and Lloyd 1967, 158)
o This image clearly depicts St Michael weighing souls in the aftermath of the
Black Death
Attitudes toward death practices also changed. Prior to the 1350s, deathbeds were public
occasions where family and friends took their turn to watch over the dying and note any
change in symptoms. This culminated in a priest administering the last rites and the journey
being marked by the ringing of a hand bell (Horrox 1999, 97). Subsequent to the plague, fear
of infection lead to loved ones abandoning the sick, leaving them to die alone. The Bishop of
Bath and Wells decreed that, in times of emergency, if no priest was available the last rites
and confession could be heard by “a layman, and, if a man is not at hand, then to a woman”
(Hassall 1962, 297), for faith, not tradition, was the important element in avoiding purgatory
(Horrox 1994, 271-2). The implications of this are profound within a society that has its class
and gender divisions defined so eloquently in its architecture (Matthew H. Johnson 1990,
254). If evidence is sought for a “building in fear?” hypothesis, then the breaking down of
class, gender and spatial divisions during the Black Death must be visible in the architecture,
even if it only exists in the “nightmares of the living” (Ibid.). If this unnerving of the social
framework is visible within the timber-framed structures of the second half of the 14th
century, then this thesis aims to uncover them. The following Section will provide such
evidence within the arts of the period.
These change in attitudes can also be observed in the art of the period (Lindley 1996, 126).
Philip Lindley suggests that there is a profound change, in both style and taste, in Florentine
and Sienese painting, following the Black Death, characterised by a distinct paradoxical
definition of space, in both architectural and artistic organisation and lay out. He further
posits, the equilibrium of the earlier paintings was substituted with an uneasy tension