Origin and development of the medieval narrative tradition of 'Black Death' des­cription

The origin and development of ancient plots associated with mass epidemics, which formed the basis of the medieval narrative tradition of describing the Black Death – the second plague pandemic was analyzed. This aspect has been poorly studied in modern historiography. Special attention was paid to...

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Main Author: T.F. Khaydarov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Kazan Federal University 2020-02-01
Series:Ученые записки Казанского университета: Серия Гуманитарные науки
Subjects:
Online Access:https://kpfu.ru/uz-eng-hum-2020-1-8.html
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author T.F. Khaydarov
author_facet T.F. Khaydarov
author_sort T.F. Khaydarov
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description The origin and development of ancient plots associated with mass epidemics, which formed the basis of the medieval narrative tradition of describing the Black Death – the second plague pandemic was analyzed. This aspect has been poorly studied in modern historiography. Special attention was paid to the critical textual analysis of the published historical sources. The latter showed that the semantic series of the theme was formed when the complex of biblical texts was created in the Middle East. Furthermore, the views of ancient authors who adhered to the Greco-Roman narrative tradition played an important role for medieval authors, thereby determining a clear trend in medieval texts created by Byzantine chroniclers during the first and second plague pandemics (the plague of Justinian and the Black Death). When describing the causes of epidemics, medieval authors based their views on natural philosophical views of ancient authors (Hippocrates, Thucydides, and Galen). At the same time, the psychological state of medieval religious society stressed by the large-scale epidemic was described by Byzantine authors with the help of the popular biblical story “Egyptian Executions”. This duality in the description of epidemics persisted in Western Europe until the early 21st century.
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spelling doaj.art-5e1e20b6b06d4b0ebccdcdb010b4ec362025-01-02T05:36:11ZengKazan Federal UniversityУченые записки Казанского университета: Серия Гуманитарные науки2541-77382500-21712020-02-0116219310510.26907/2541-7738.2020.1.93-105Origin and development of the medieval narrative tradition of 'Black Death' des­criptionT.F. Khaydarov0Kazan Federal University, Kazan, 420008 RussiaThe origin and development of ancient plots associated with mass epidemics, which formed the basis of the medieval narrative tradition of describing the Black Death – the second plague pandemic was analyzed. This aspect has been poorly studied in modern historiography. Special attention was paid to the critical textual analysis of the published historical sources. The latter showed that the semantic series of the theme was formed when the complex of biblical texts was created in the Middle East. Furthermore, the views of ancient authors who adhered to the Greco-Roman narrative tradition played an important role for medieval authors, thereby determining a clear trend in medieval texts created by Byzantine chroniclers during the first and second plague pandemics (the plague of Justinian and the Black Death). When describing the causes of epidemics, medieval authors based their views on natural philosophical views of ancient authors (Hippocrates, Thucydides, and Galen). At the same time, the psychological state of medieval religious society stressed by the large-scale epidemic was described by Byzantine authors with the help of the popular biblical story “Egyptian Executions”. This duality in the description of epidemics persisted in Western Europe until the early 21st century.https://kpfu.ru/uz-eng-hum-2020-1-8.htmlepidemics of antiquitybibleark of covenantegyptian executionsthucydideshippocratesgalenprocopius of caesareajohn vi cantacuzene
spellingShingle T.F. Khaydarov
Origin and development of the medieval narrative tradition of 'Black Death' des­cription
Ученые записки Казанского университета: Серия Гуманитарные науки
epidemics of antiquity
bible
ark of covenant
egyptian executions
thucydides
hippocrates
galen
procopius of caesarea
john vi cantacuzene
title Origin and development of the medieval narrative tradition of 'Black Death' des­cription
title_full Origin and development of the medieval narrative tradition of 'Black Death' des­cription
title_fullStr Origin and development of the medieval narrative tradition of 'Black Death' des­cription
title_full_unstemmed Origin and development of the medieval narrative tradition of 'Black Death' des­cription
title_short Origin and development of the medieval narrative tradition of 'Black Death' des­cription
title_sort origin and development of the medieval narrative tradition of black death des cription
topic epidemics of antiquity
bible
ark of covenant
egyptian executions
thucydides
hippocrates
galen
procopius of caesarea
john vi cantacuzene
url https://kpfu.ru/uz-eng-hum-2020-1-8.html
work_keys_str_mv AT tfkhaydarov originanddevelopmentofthemedievalnarrativetraditionofblackdeathdescription