Changes

The result was a shortage of trained monks and priests. To deal with this the Church hastily trained new monks and priests to serve the spiritual needs of the community, still coming to terms with the trauma of the Black Death. This meant that many unsuitable individuals became clerics and this led to a drop in standards among parish priests, in particular.<ref>Hays, 1997, p. 178 </ref> The Church became corrupt and gradually over time lost the respect of many believers. In the short term the Black Death strengthened the Catholic Church in Italy but in the long run, an increasingly corrupt institution meant that many people lost their faith. This led to the increasing secularisation of Italian society as many increasingly turned away from the church in disgust as the worldliness of prelates and priests. The contempt that many felt is evident in the stories of Boccaccio of venal and depraved priests, monks and nuns.<ref>Boccaccio, 1987, p 67, 113</ref> The church had traditionally monopolised education but after the Black Death, there was more secular education, especially in the cities. This was decisive in the emergence of the Renaissance, with its emphasis on human values and experiences rather than religion.<ref> Benedictow, 2004, p. 134 </ref>

==Questioning of authority==