[democracy id=”79″]
(Answer: D)
Pope Clement VI, a man who stood in the center of one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, had an unusual strategy for surviving the Black Plague. It wasn’t divine intervention, though many at the time might have thought so. No, it was fire. The Pope’s advisors, recognizing that the air itself seemed to carry the deathly plague, suggested he surround himself with flames. And that’s exactly what he did—he spent much of his time sitting inside a literal ring of fire.
Now, this wasn’t some mystical ritual. The reasoning behind it was actually rooted in the medical understanding of the time, flawed though it was. People believed that diseases like the plague were spread by “miasma”—foul, putrid air. So, to protect against these invisible death clouds, doctors recommended surrounding oneself with pleasant smells or, in Pope Clement’s case, the purifying power of heat. The heat from the fire was thought to cleanse the air around him, keeping the toxic miasma at bay.
What’s astonishing is that it worked—whether by luck or actual prevention, Clement survived while many around him perished. In fact, one-third of the Cardinals in Avignon, where Clement resided, succumbed to the disease. But there he was, encircled by his protective flames, untouched by the plague that was devastating Europe.
This is where things get fascinating. The Black Plague was wiping out millions, indiscriminately striking down rich and poor, pious and sinful alike. Yet here was a man of immense power, not only surviving but doing so with an almost superstitious method. The contrast between his survival and the deaths of ordinary citizens could not have been starker, feeding into the idea that the powerful and divine were somehow protected from the wrath that was tearing through the continent.
The fire itself wasn’t just a symbol of protection; it was also a statement. In a time when people were turning to flagellants, whipping themselves to appease a wrathful God, Clement VI was taking a calculated, almost scientific approach—whether he understood it that way or not. It’s ironic that while the flagellants spread the plague further with their constant movement between cities, the Pope remained stationary, shielded by his circle of fire.
In the end, Pope Clement VI’s survival through such a rudimentary but effective method shows how even in the face of overwhelming disaster, some clung to practical solutions—however bizarre they might seem to us today. It wasn’t divine will or blind luck alone. It was fire, and it worked.
