Façade

Telling tales of the Cathedral and the bizarre.

Siena and Florence had a long-standing rivalry, and in 1339, Siena finally rivaled their neighbors to the North economically and had ambitious aspirations to surpass them by building the largest cathedral in the world (HDR view from above).

But the Black Death interrupted the construction and destroyed the economy in 1348, a trauma that permanently upset the local rivalry.

75% of the entire population died. Then things got really strange (source):
• the economy collapsed in short order
• Believing the plague was the result of god’s wrath, money was set aside to rapidly build churches in a plea for mercy.
• The monasteries became extremely wealthy from donations.
• But the clergy and caretakers of the sick became victims themselves.
• Families split over fear of the disease, each member fending for their own lives.
• In an attempt to dispel the gloom, heavy fines were imposed on public mourning.
• The state resorted to various drastic fund-raising measures, such as being able to pay 600 florins to get a release from prison’s death row.

We might like to think that our modern society would have a different reaction…

It’s hard to imagine living through a scenario like this, but we may very well have to (blog discussion on the policy implications of genetically modified pathogens)