Dr Eleanor Janega speaks to Rebecca Rideal about the origins, impact and legacy of medieval Black Death, and what it means to be a plague historian during a pandemic.
Two years plus later into the contemporary pandemic and this still resonates. The grinding sameness; the ennui. I can only imagine (with only a very partial fidelity) what it must have been like during the black death years. I can only reiterate Eleanor’s wish that we be kinder to each other.
I used to live near two villages in Essex , black Notley and white Notley . You can tell by the names which had most of its inhabitants die of plague and got abandoned and which survived relatively unscathed .
History always fills me with so much empathy for our ancestors; thank you for the details and your perspectives. It's great seeing Dr. Janega for more that a few tweets and I really appreciated Ms. Rideal's fantastic interviewing.
I find it really interesting that not only has there been scapegoating, there has also been a contemporary focus on Astrological conjunctions, Mars, Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn this year, that parallels the explanations of the black death. Humans really haven't changed much.
I find that the more I learn about history, the more I get convinced that people don't really change. The things that change mostly is cicrumstances and enviremont, which can make it appear that people change who just really adapting to it, meaning that someone from 2000 years ago would change the same way we change, depending on the enviremont and circumstances.
I mean... yeah. There are of course some minor differences just like there are minor differences between people of different cultures today. But people are still all people at the end and they have the same basic motivations, dreams, fears ect. . And I personally really like to think of societies in the past really just as different cultures I don't necessarily understand. And you know, if you grow up with cliches and all that about other cultures today you may one day visit that culture and realize how some of your ideas about them were very wrong and others were kinda correct, but simplified. But we can't really do that with historical societies of the past, so there will always remain a certain amount of otherness and exotism we will never completely defeat or clear up.
We must be culturally sensitive when it comes to people's differing religious observances. Perhaps they were praying to "Our Farter, which art in heaven. . . "
What I really admire about Dr Janega is her ability to answer questions at a level appropriate to her audience. A rare skill!
Just tripped on Dr Janega and am obsessed with listening to all content she shares. So fascinating on all topics medieval!
I do enjoy listening to Elenor.
Janega is a really good speaker.
Dr Janega is awesome....! love her detail
Two years plus later into the contemporary pandemic and this still resonates. The grinding sameness; the ennui. I can only imagine (with only a very partial fidelity) what it must have been like during the black death years.
I can only reiterate Eleanor’s wish that we be kinder to each other.
Eleanor Janega! you are fantastic.
I used to live near two villages in Essex , black Notley and white Notley . You can tell by the names which had most of its inhabitants die of plague and got abandoned and which survived relatively unscathed .
Great interview, I really like how you talked about the ordinary people of Medieval society and how important they were
History always fills me with so much empathy for our ancestors; thank you for the details and your perspectives. It's great seeing Dr. Janega for more that a few tweets and I really appreciated Ms. Rideal's fantastic interviewing.
I find it really interesting that not only has there been scapegoating, there has also been a contemporary focus on Astrological conjunctions, Mars, Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn this year, that parallels the explanations of the black death. Humans really haven't changed much.
I find that the more I learn about history, the more I get convinced that people don't really change. The things that change mostly is cicrumstances and enviremont, which can make it appear that people change who just really adapting to it, meaning that someone from 2000 years ago would change the same way we change, depending on the enviremont and circumstances.
I mean... yeah. There are of course some minor differences just like there are minor differences between people of different cultures today. But people are still all people at the end and they have the same basic motivations, dreams, fears ect. . And I personally really like to think of societies in the past really just as different cultures I don't necessarily understand. And you know, if you grow up with cliches and all that about other cultures today you may one day visit that culture and realize how some of your ideas about them were very wrong and others were kinda correct, but simplified. But we can't really do that with historical societies of the past, so there will always remain a certain amount of otherness and exotism we will never completely defeat or clear up.
There was a moment I heard flagellants as "flatulents" which froze my brain for a few seconds. The images that followed, omg.
And because of you, I know that my brain is positively medieval! 😂
We must be culturally sensitive when it comes to people's differing religious observances. Perhaps they were praying to "Our Farter, which art in heaven. . . "
Truly enjoyed it.
Why do I love so much that people were even blaming Mercury for their problems during the Black Death? 😂
you are amazing. i love you. what is that map behind you?
Paris...