Traditionally, historians have relied on tax records to estimate economic or demographic change in regions and individual towns but such sources are beset by a number of problems – the lengthy gaps between available records and the discrepancy between how taxation was levied in urban and rural areas to name but two.
Kitap: Meteorological Disasters in Medieval Britain
Hristiyanlıkta Doğal Afetle Ölüme Bakış
death by natural disaster was a particularly problematic end to befall a medieval Christian; certain hazards singled out unlucky individuals as particularly deserving of a heavenly punishment, as in the case of death by a lightning strike or death by drowning, and were reserved, almost exclusively, for non-Christians in medieval literature. In the most severe cases, hazards, such as severe floods, earthquakes or fires, entirely removed the body from circulation preventing proper burial and the administration of last rites. Such unfortunate occurrences were believed to interfere with, if not totally prevent, the soul’s ascension to heaven.