Social Studies Comic Strip #2
Storyboard Text
- Kingdom of Bohemia, current day Czech
- Heretics! We've come to get you!
- Oh no! Its the Crusaders!
- Heretics must have suffered a lot! But, what's so wrong about having different opinions?
- Bohemian Crusade (1340)Accused of theft and violence towards the orthodox Christians, Pope Benedict XII announced a crusade against the kingdom of Bohemia, which is current day Czech.
- Oh no! The plague is spreading to Europe!
- Sicily
- Spread of the Black Death (1347~)From central Asia and China, the Black Death arrived at the port of Sicily on October 1347 on the ships full of infected sailors. The plague spread to the whole of Europe soon after, killing millions. when the rats and the fleas spread throughout the country.
- God, please bring our brother who succumbed to the plague to heaven!
- High Death Rates in MonasteriesSince monks in the monasteries across Europe had close contacts with other people around the village, they were one of the groups of people who died in huge numbers due to the plague.
- How sad that so many monks are dying from this!
- Tired from constantly watching France and England fighting each other for the crown, Hermes moves to central Europe, only to see another unfortunate fighting between the crusaders (who were trying to find the heretics) and the people of kingdom of Bohemia.
- FlagellantsThey were a group of people who firmly believed that the Black Death was the result of God's wrath on humanity. They held processions in front of town halls and villages throughout Europe in which they beat/whipped themselves while praying for forgiveness.
- Oh my... Maybe it is the God's wrath that brought upon this plague...
- Forgive us, God, of our sins!
- Why are they beating themselves?! Gosh, this plague made people to be hysteric!
- After departing from the crusade in Bohemia, Hermes hears rumors about a plague that was terrorizing Sicily. As much as he feared, the plague from Sicily soon engulfs the whole of Europe, starting the infamous "Black Death"
- Now, the laborers are getting paid better because of shortage of workers!
- Yes! I ask for better conditions and payment for my work!
- Demand for WagesThe plague brought a drastic reduction of labor force, and the workers who were available began to demand better wages, taking advantage of the situation. They demanded for better food supply, improvement in their working conditions, etc. that could not be achieved during the early Middle Ages.
- W...wages?!
- The Black Death began to take over the whole of Europe, and Hermes nervously traveled across the countries looking for any unfortunate happenings. One of the depressing events he saw was how the monks, who were always in contact with people, were dying in huge numbers because of the plague.
- There are no crops left...
- Reduction in labor forces resulted in crop failures...!
- Crop FailureWhen the Black Death faded away, there were major crop failures due to lack of workforce and workers to work in the field. This resulted in crop failures that starved and killed thousands more.
- Hermes noticed a group of people called "flagellants" while he was poking around Europe to see how the Black Death was progressing so far. He was shocked at how those groups of people whipped/beat themselves while asking for forgiveness, thinking that the plague was a representation of God's wrath!
- As Hermes was wandering around Europe, he began to see workers and laborers demanding wages from their lords and hirers. Apparently, the workforce was reducing due to the plague and available workers were short in numbers. Hermes was glad to see how their living conditions were improving due to the epidemic.
- A few years after, Hermes finally saw the Black Death fade away. However, what he later saw was more death due to crop failure! Many workers died during the plague or moved away, so no one actually worked in the field to harvest the crops!
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