1. Grave Merchants and Burial Profits

With death on an incomprehensible scale, the demand for burial services skyrocketed. Gravediggers, coffin-makers, and undertakers raised their prices dramatically. In many places, the cost of a simple burial could double or triple, and only the wealthy could afford proper interment. Some merchants sold cheap wooden coffins en masse, only to reuse them after removing the bodies secretly.

Monasteries and churches, overwhelmed by the number of burials, began charging exorbitant fees for burial plots in consecrated ground. Opportunistic clergy would prioritize wealthy patrons, sometimes refusing to bury the poor unless they could pay.

2. Hoarders and Speculators

As panic spread, communities began hoarding food and supplies. Some merchants, sensing profit, purchased and stockpiled goods such as grain, salt, wine, candles, and cloth, only to resell them at inflated prices. In cities under quarantine, these hoarders controlled local markets and grew rich as desperate people paid whatever was demanded.

In some towns, speculators imported luxury items—exotic spices, silks, perfumes—not because they were essential, but because the rich believed they offered protection or comfort in the face of death. Even doctors’ robes made of scented materials were sold at a premium, as it was thought they could ward off miasma.

3. Medical Quacks and Miracle Cures

The absence of effective medical treatment led to a surge in fraudulent healers and snake-oil salesmen. Traveling apothecaries sold so-called "plague waters," amulets, and charms. Some claimed to have divine remedies, holy relics, or secret knowledge passed from ancient texts. Many people—terrified and grieving—spent their life savings on these false cures.

Moreover, a shadow market emerged for hiring physicians at exorbitant fees. Wealthy households competed for the few qualified doctors, pushing prices for their services ever higher. Some physicians refused to treat anyone unless paid in advance with gold. shutdown123