Zwarte dood en gouden tijden
The term Black Death illustrates the first wave of bubonic plague, striking Europe and killing up to half of the populations as it rapidly spread, was an utter nightmare, especially in cities, as people sharing (bed)rooms with the whole household including animals were rapidly contaminated and customary bloodletting didn't help at all. Ignorant the main factor were flees on rats, one turned to desperate devotion -notably self-flagellation- or put scapegoats -like Brussels Jews- on the stake as alleged poisoners. Luckily it also died down quickly, and later waves never were nearly as bad. Rendering labor force scarce allowed significant social progress. Flanders grew wealthier then ever, the wool cloth trade having been out-shun still by the status of Bruges as Europe's main trade port. The ducal dynasty of Burgundy (a junior branch of the French kings) united most of the Low Countries, mainly the work of duke Philip the Good, seeking to avenge his father John's murder at royal instigation, who used diplomacy and dynastic marriages brilliantly to rise to a status rivaling kings, especially in opulent splendor, centering on the vast -alas burned-down- Coudenberg palace in Brussels. Only decades later, his warrior son Charles the Bold's death on the battlefield was a nightmare start for his teen heiress, Mary, who still managed to keep the lands together, restore relative peace and wealth and wed archduke Maximilian of Austria, the future emperor who started the long Habsburg rule within Europe's great Holy Roman Empire powerhouse, definitely as she died young during a falcon hunt.
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