I found the Boccaccio on the Black Death Text and Commentary Article which included excerpts from Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron to be very interesting. Specifically, his in-depth description of the different religious inspired methods of consumption people employed to survive the plague were very insightful. He described this plague as “the wrath of God” and with the widespread infection and high mortality rate I am sure it merited such a response. The three different variations and route citizens took to curve the effects were a surplus or a restrain of consumption and enjoyment and a combination of the two.
What I find most provocative about these religiously motivated lifestyle choices in a widespread pandemic is their tie to consumption. In the Smithsonian article, The Plague and Climate Change, there is new research which indicates that the breakout and spread of disease is often tied to climate change. Climate change in its essence is related to our levels of consumption whether its tied to the level of carbon dioxide we emit into the atmosphere to manufacture things or how many trees we cut down to clear a site for new development. I find it very interesting that the widespread religious response for the time was ingrained with personal consumption in a religious context.