Reply #80: recovery time was needed

[kineneb]

Say your town, in 1325, had 200 people. Post 1349: subtracting 1/3 of that is about 66 people (no fractions allowed), and 2/3 is 132. Whole towns and villages simply disappeared; there were simply not enough people left alive to keep them going. It would take almost the entire 15th century for the countryside to repopulate to anywhere close to pre-Plague numbers.

The changes in the arts came slowly because of the depopulation (fewer artists and patrons). Artists in the Italies (yes, plural) influenced the direction of the visual arts in the 14th century and the Franco-Flemish composers influenced the direction of music composition until around 1500. I would say around 1425 is when what we would recognize as "early Renaissance" arts started to be recognizeable.


The Black Plague has been with us ever since, and during the 15-16th century would periodically sweep thorough local areas, claiming more victims. This is why the populations did not recover quickly. The Plague did become slightly less viralant over time.

It is still endemic in the rodent population of the Sierra Nevada range in California (don't pet the cute chipmonks).