Thesis: The Black Plague showed the superiority complex of the English toward serfs and Jews, and also exposed their desperate need for social classes.
The Black Plague, while tragic and deadly, created an opportunity for serfs to gain power over their lords. The English king speaks of this negatively, as he is losing control of the lower class. "... many seeing the necessity of masters, and great scarcity of servants, will not serve unless they may receive excessive wages..." Serfs were finally able to raise their social status by asking to be paid and choosing what work to do. They were also able to leave their masters and seek work elsewhere. The king tried to keep the wages for serfs at the same amount that they were before the plague, saying, "...to pay more than at any other time was wont to be paid to such person; nor upon the said pain shall presume any more to pay." However, the serfs were the ones who held the cards at this point, and continued to take their rights back from their masters.
Because much of the government was preoccupied with the Plague, there were many peasant rebellions, where the peasants rose up against the knights who had been above them throughout their whole lives. The account was written by a chronicler, who had a steady job for higher class men, which swayed his view in favor of the knights. "For certain people of the common villages, without any head or ruler, assembled together in Beauvoisin... they said how the noblemen of the realm of France, knights and squires, shamed the realm, and that it should be a great wealth to destroy them all..." They were out to get revenge, and when the knights were weakest, they attacked. They committed heinous acts, and were as violent and gruesome as possible. The common people had good reason, but they were only seen as terrible people by the bystanders.
The Jews were persecuted throughout history for things that were not their fault, and the Black Plague was no different. The first two documents were by Christians who believed that Jews had poisoned the water that Christians drank. They are not sympathetic whatsoever, and they tell the stories of Jews admitting that they poisoned the water and being killed. The last document, an epitaph, was written by a Jew about a young boy who was killed. He is also biased, because he sees his people being killed. Both the Christians and the Jews had something to lose: the Christians would lose accountability, and the Jews would lose their lives.
The Christian Englishmen needed their classes to keep order, and the peasant revolt and the loss of serfs threatened their class system. When the Church was powerless to stop the Plague, the Jews were blamed. The Plague brought out their true colors, and showed how truly weak the English were, and how reliant they were on tradition and power.
The Jews were persecuted throughout history for things that were not their fault, and the Black Plague was no different. The first two documents were by Christians who believed that Jews had poisoned the water that Christians drank. They are not sympathetic whatsoever, and they tell the stories of Jews admitting that they poisoned the water and being killed. The last document, an epitaph, was written by a Jew about a young boy who was killed. He is also biased, because he sees his people being killed. Both the Christians and the Jews had something to lose: the Christians would lose accountability, and the Jews would lose their lives.
The Christian Englishmen needed their classes to keep order, and the peasant revolt and the loss of serfs threatened their class system. When the Church was powerless to stop the Plague, the Jews were blamed. The Plague brought out their true colors, and showed how truly weak the English were, and how reliant they were on tradition and power.
What is a "superiority complex"? Beware of using a term in your thesis that you would have to define.
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