Nursery Rhyme and Question of Faith- The Results of the Black Death

“Ring around the rosy

Pocket full of posies,

‘Ashes, ashes’

We all fall down!”

As a child I used to hand holds with friends, dancing in a circle until we were too dizzy to continue. We would sing along to a nursery rhyme that had no meaning, attractive because of its sing song tune. As an adult I was shocked to find that what I thought was simple rhyme, was actually a reference to one of the darkest times in history.

I’ve always had a fascination with history, especially epidemics such as the Black Death. Within three years, social structures, populations and economies had been altered. What amazed me the most is the severe disconnection that was caused between the people and the church.

In my lifetime the most severe disease spread was swine flu my freshmen year of college. Severe flu symptoms and hospitalization scared me enough to stay out of contact with any possible carriers. Once I heard that two residents in my dorm of 800+ students had been officially diagnosed, I contemplated becoming a hermit in my sterilized room. Of course, with modern technology and knowledge, with two sprays up each nostril I was off again to class, uninfected by the possible illness. Looking back, it’s difficult to imagine that within one week, your friends had succumbed to the plague. I was anxious when another resident that I had no contact with was ill yet hundreds of years ago, families had to fight to stay healthy when another member of the household began to show symptoms. But what if of all your neighbors were showing signs of the illness yet your family is still uninfected. What would you do? Some packed up and left in search of an isolated area; others shut themselves in, praying that God would rescue them. Entire villages were wiped out because the disease had spread from home to home, taking young and old.

God was the answer. When illness struck, the church was the doctor and prayer was the medicine. But what happened when prayers weren’t answered and sickness continued to spread? During an epidemic like the Black Death, I’ve always been curious of the effect it had on the church and faith itself.

In a world without technology or modern medicine, health was within the hands of God. This disease could spread through the air and across the water. Originating in an Asian desert and then spreading to the busy trade routes of China, the Black Plague even reached the shores of Iceland. No one suspected the carriers to be rats and fleas because these were all too common in the 14^th century. To an unknowing and faithful mind, the Black Death could be the second flood; pestilence the new water.  Once a victim showed signs of the plague, the expectancy of life was about a week. One week to find a cure that did not exist but was attempted through bloodletting, lancing of boils, and bland diets. God was the only hope after.

A physician during the plague.
(I've always been quite frightened of this image-
thank goodness doctors don't wear those masks anymore.)

The church had always had the answers however they could offer no reason for the disease. This caused disloyalty and tested beliefs. Even the clergy could fall victim to the rosy rashes. Many monasteries fell ill and passed from the plague. Still in need of power, authority, and money, the church put the blame on the most historical scapegoats, the Jews. Because of their lower mortality rate, the Jewish population was blamed for poisoning the water in order to destroy Christendom. However, it was only the blessing of cleanliness that kept Jewish populations alive not the hatred of God.

Today we know what caused the plague but during a time period that questioning against the church was prohibited it’s difficult to imagine another solution other than a vengeful God. The plague was devastating to population size as well as individual beliefs. Many questioned God and the church’s teachings because the presence that had been taught for so long had been absent during a time of most need.

The nursery rhyme I twirled to as a child now makes me shiver at the thought. Today children play and sing along, unaware that a child lay lifeless because the plague had consumed his body before God had a chance to save him. If I lived during the time of the Black Death and witnessed the horror that was every day, I too would question my faith.