This is the rare history book that is so engrossing it’s competing and winning against the Terry Pratchett I’m reading (Maskerade) for bedtime escapist relaxation. The 14th century is the right shit show to compare too. Our pandemic so far has been paradise by comparison.
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Introduction is an excellent apologia for shortcomings of historical research methodology. Problems or missing/noisy data, biases of eras of historiography etc are deftly discussed. Choice of Enguerrand de Coucy as lens of the story explained.
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First chapter is a sketch of French society esp the Coucys milieu at the start of the story. It’s a feudal decentralized polity with weak monarchy, strong sumptuary laws and merchant class slowly buying its freedom from bankrupt crusading nobility. Status currency being debased.
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Second chapter is discussion of the deep corruption of the Church in the years following France king Philip IV “the fair” takedown of pope boniface and the papacy moving to Avignon and basically turning into a sort of super corrupt Davos set. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palais_des_Papes …
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Learned about Simony. The church was basically a deep state for sale. Purely commercial enterprise. Offices being sold to highest bidder, illiterates being appointed to clergy, all sins washable with money. They were practically asking heaven for a plague. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simony
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This book is not recommended if you want reassurance that we’ve been through worse and returned to normal. It’s building up like a doomsday story and we already know how bad it gets. Spoiler alert: doompic.twitter.com/ZRqNTYO4ld
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Life for commoners sounds horrible even before the Black Death. Caught between a venal church and a crappy nobility being invaded by a social climbing merchant class. No wonder they clung as fervently to the idea of an afterlife as we do to the idea of a reopening.
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Everybody hates the church in the 14th century it seems. Including reformers within who think it ought to reflect Jesus ideal of poverty. Franciscans excommunicated for such ideas. Kings resist Pope’s right to crown emperor. Merchants change at silly economics.
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Weird just how much centralized power the church laid claim to, and with corrupt staff at that, purely on the strength of a claim to gate-keeping salvation. Interesting contrast to Hinduism, where there was an equally strong claim but no central Pope making the claim.
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except for the artificial light it sounds like the medical system
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the modern medical associations are one of the few sets of organisation who've managed to survive using almost the same model as medieval times.
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