King Death: The Black Death and its Aftermath in Late-Medieval England [Paperback]

Colin Platt (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0802079008 | ISBN-13: 978-0802079008 | Publication Date: March 25, 1996 | Edition: 1

The black death came to England in 1347 and for three centuries bubonic plague remained a continual and threatening presence in the everyday life (and death) of the country. The Black Death and subsequent population losses are central, therefore, to any understanding of the period.

From rural labourer to nobleman, from village priest to abbot, contemptuous of rank and wealth, Death was the guest of every late-medieval household in 'pestilence time.' In this masterly survey, Colin Platt examines what it was like to live with plague at all levels of society. Drawing on evidence from architecture and the arts, he examines the visible legacies of the investment that Christian men and women made in the provision of after-death soul-care. In addition he examines the social and economic consequences of a steep and unprecedented population decline. It is argued that the severe labour shortage that persisted for over a century after the Black Death ultimately broke the ties of feudal bondage.

Written with verve and rich in detail, King Death offers an important analysis of one of the most potent instruments of change in late-medieval England, and a fascinating insight into the industry of death that pestilence brought with it. It will be required reading for all students of late-medieval England.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'King Death proves to be an informative and interesting look at the effects of the plague in terms of population, architecture, religion and lineage.'

(Kari Watson FFWD (Calgary) )

'An extensively annotated, copiously referenced, informative book with valuable insights.'

(G. Eknoyan Choice )

'Colin Platt has now given us a lively and lucidly written new work that incorporates all the latest scholarship and historical debate about this extraordinary crisis ... Death indeed was king during the late Middle Ages, and Platt's book is now the best treatment of the subject for undergraduates.'

(Richard Winderli History: Review of New Books )

About the Author

Colin Platt is a professor of Art History at Southampton University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division; 1 edition (March 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802079008
• ISBN-13: 978-0802079008
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #604,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Both accessible and scholarly, March 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: King Death: The Black Death and its Aftermath in Late-Medieval England (Paperback)

More professional historians should write books like this, and more publishers should encourage them to do so. King Death is well-written (no academic baffle-gab), well-illustrated, and well-designed. It is a joy to handle and read.

The subject of this book is the long-term consequences for English society of the Black Death. (If you are looking for an account of the plague itself, you should probably go elsewhere.) Colin Platt works his way through the effects on religion, economy, marriage and family in topical chapters.

The general reader will get a lot out of it -- will come away with a much greater knowledge of later medieval England and of the effects of population trends on society. I suspect many scholars will find this a useful book, too. This is not a rehash of long-known material, but a study that's as up-to-date as it is accessible.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a history book for those serious about history, March 29, 2005

By 

PipBoy - See all my reviews

This review is from: King Death: The Black Death and its Aftermath in Late-Medieval England (Paperback)

Colin Platt gives an excellent, IN-DEPTH review of scholarship surrounding the impact of the Black Death on late-medieval England, full of original contributions to the field. His chapters are well thought-out and well documented. Some, especially the chapters on church art, are very moving; others, such as the chapter on widows made wealthy by the plague, will force the reader to reconsider their views on literature contemporary to the plague (and here I am thinking of Chaucer's "Wife of Bath's Tale" in particular). If you're looking for stories of gruesome death, well, perhaps this is not the first place to look (although there's still plenty of that here). If, on the other hand, you're looking for a more in-depth look at the plague and what it did to the societies it infected, here's the place to come when you've tired of the gruesome bits.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars More for British Historians..., March 8, 2004

By 

Student (Amherst, MA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King Death: The Black Death and its Aftermath in Late-Medieval England (Paperback)

This piece came to my attention while conducting research for a thesis on the Black Death. Unfortunately, Platt's work is really only designed for British Historians. While he does recount how resurgence of bubonic plague in late-medieval England affected the country's economic and labor systems, he does so without consistancy. The bulk of this text provides overly detailed examinations of how the plague spread between specific towns and counties, with only minimal, and rather sporadic, discussion of how society as a whole reacted to the epidemic. Again, this work will not give you a holistic viewpoint of how the plague interacted with social, cultural, medical, etc factors of the day. Its only use is to those who wish to understand, in depth, how the labor system of late-medieval England changed due to the fluctuating mortality rates.