NUMBER OF PAIRS OF SHOES PURCHASED BY THE HOLY GHOST OF ST. NIKLAAS, 1317-1397

David Nicholas, The Metamorphosis of a Medieval City: Ghent in the Age of the Arteveldes, 1302-1390, University of Nebraska Press, 1986

Graphs 3.2 and 3.3 [right] show that between 1360 and 1367 the number of pigs purchased had declined 27.8 percent from the pre-plague average, while grain had risen a bare 2.23 percent. Shoe purchases, however, declined sharply to an average of 379 annually, a drop of 42.92 percent. In the four-year period initiated by the plague in 1368, the number of pigs purchased increase by 29.55 percent, while grain dropped 5.76 percent and shoes declined 8.44 percent. In view of the heavy mortality associated with the plague, the comparative stability of these figures shows clearly that the epidemic struck the poorest groups with special ferocity. Between 1374 and 1377, the number of pigs rose, while grain declined an infinitesimal 0.53 percent and shoes declined by a substantial 30.556 percent. If we assume that the Holy Ghost only gave one pair of shoes per year to the indigent, these figures suggest a high poverty rate; but this assumption is unwarranted. Whether records were kept of the names of recipients of shoes is uncertain.