Episode 458: The Black Death Part III - The Horny Popes

Executive Brief

• TLDR: This episode delves into medieval medical practices, astrological interpretations of disease, and the societal impact of the Black Death, highlighting the pervasive influence of superstition, religious dogma, and scapegoating, particularly against Jewish populations.
• The Big Idea: The Black Death's arrival exposed the limitations of medieval understanding, leading to a mixture of rudimentary scientific inquiry, astrological divinations, and deeply ingrained societal biases that resulted in widespread fear, persecution, and often, ineffective or harmful responses.
• Takeaways for Listeners:
  • Medieval medicine relied heavily on observation, humoral theory, and astrology, with early forms of urinalysis and bloodletting being common practices.
  • Religious and astrological beliefs intertwined, with planetary alignments and divine judgment being perceived as primary causes for widespread illness.
  • The Black Death exacerbated existing societal prejudices, leading to horrific scapegoating and mass violence against Jewish communities, fueled by conspiracy theories and financial motivations.

Semantic Navigation & Metadata

• Sentiment: Neutral (with significant exploration of disturbing historical events and practices)
• Inferred Audience: History enthusiasts, those interested in societal impacts of disease, and listeners of dark humor and historical podcasts.
• Top Topics & Categories: Black Death, Medieval Medicine, Astrology, Humoral Theory, Scapegoating, Anti-Semitism, Medieval Society, Public Health, Conspiracy Theories, Religious Doctrine.
• Identified Speakers: Ben (Host), Henry (Host), Marcus (Host)

Top 3 Distinct Quotes

"The Black Death created a massive hole in the respect for the church that people had and it created a lot of individual worship." — Marcus

"The only way I maybe could describe it is like the weird social in America, like especially in New York, the idea of like what changed during 9/11, like that type of thing where all of a sudden you're like, holy fucking shit, everything's different. Like we are, we are panicking." — Ben

"The Christians, however, took that shit very seriously. And between the first century and the 12th, the European Jewish population dropped from 8 million to 1.5 million." — Henry

Detailed Summary

This episode of "Last Podcast on the Left" explores the medieval response to the Black Death, beginning with an examination of early medical practices. The hosts discuss urinalysis, bloodletting, and the theory of humors, highlighting how these methods, though often rudimentary, laid some groundwork for later medical advancements. Astrological interpretations played a significant role, with planetary alignments believed to cause disease. The episode emphasizes that despite the passage of time, human nature in seeking patterns and explanations for catastrophic events has remained remarkably consistent, often leading to the creation of enemies and scapegoats.

A substantial portion of the discussion focuses on the societal impact of the plague, particularly the horrific persecution of Jewish communities. The hosts detail how existing anti-Semitic sentiments were amplified, leading to accusations of well-poisoning and conspiracy theories, which resulted in massacres and violence. Financial motivations, such as wiping out debts owed to Jewish moneylenders, are presented as a significant underlying factor in this scapegoating. The episode also touches upon the corruption within the Papacy and the Catholic Church during this era, noting how practices like indulgences and the pursuit of wealth and power overshadowed spiritual guidance.

The latter part of the episode contrasts the response of different cities, such as Marseille, which showed communal care, with Avignon, which descended into chaos and persecution. The hosts examine the limited scientific understanding of the time, where treatments ranged from inhaling "bad air" to covering plague sores with human waste, while also acknowledging that some advice, like maintaining good diet and avoiding stress, coincidentally supported immune health. The episode concludes by noting the persistence of conspiracy theories and the human tendency to seek simple answers in complex, chaotic situations, drawing parallels between medieval responses and modern phenomena.

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Very Unique Keywords

• Humoral Theory
• Urinalysis
• Bloodletting
• Conjunction (astrological)
• Measmas
• Adversus Judeos
• Pogroms
• Blood Libel
• Indulgences