<P> According to Joseph P. Byrne, women also faced persecution during the Black Death . Muslim women in Cairo became scapegoats when the plague struck . Byrne writes that in 1438, the sultan of Cairo was informed by his religious lawyers that the arrival of the plague was Allah's punishment for the sin of fornication and that in accordance with this theory, a law was set in place stating that women were not allowed to make public appearances as they may tempt men into sin . Byrne describes that this law was only lifted when "the wealthy complained that their female servants could not shop for food ." </P> <P> The Church lands and buildings were unaffected, but there were too few priests left to maintain the old schedule of services . Over half the parish priests, who gave the final sacraments to the dying, themselves died . The Church moved to recruit replacements, but the process took time . New colleges were opened at established universities, and the training process sped up . The shortage of priests opened new opportunities for laywomen to assume more extensive and more important service roles in the local parish . </P> <P> Flagellants practiced self - flogging (whipping of oneself) to atone for sins . The movement became popular after the Black Death . It may be that the flagellants' later involvement in hedonism was an effort to accelerate or absorb God's wrath, to shorten the time with which others suffered . More likely, the focus of attention and popularity of their cause contributed to a sense that the world itself was ending and that their individual actions were of no consequence . </P> <P> The Black Death hit the monasteries very hard because of their proximity with the sick who sought refuge there . This left a severe shortage of clergy after the epidemic cycle . Eventually the losses were replaced by hastily trained and inexperienced clergy members, many of whom knew little of the rigors of their predecessors . Reformers rarely pointed to failures on the part of the Church in dealing with the catastrophe . </P>

What were the social and economic effects of the black death