Cultural Impact of the Second Plague Pandemic - Illustrations and Conclusions

Explore the profound cultural impact of the second plague pandemic in this 44-minute lecture from Yale University's "Epidemics in Western Society Since 1600" course. Examine how the plague disrupted traditional attitudes towards death, influencing religious beliefs, burial practices, art, architecture, and literature. Discover the emergence of symbols like "vanitas" and the danse macabre in iconography, as well as new visual representations associated with plague saints. Analyze how the successful containment of the plague shaped the philosophical project of the Enlightenment. Delve into topics such as the art of dying, the concept of sudden death, the fragility of life, and the role of plague saints in European culture. Gain insights into how the plague became a significant factor in European intellectual history, shaping attitudes and cultural expressions for centuries to come.