The most immediate effect of the plague was that it led to higher wages for the poor. Prior to the Black Death, Europe was in a state of overpopulation, and famines were a frequent occurrence (Herlihy 39). After the arrival of the first outbreak of plague, however, Europe's population dropped somewhere between twenty-five and forty-five percent (Gottfried 77). Not only that, but, repeated occurrences of plague kept Europe's population lowered, and it did not regain its pre-plague levels until the mid-sixteenth century (Gottfried 134). That overwhelming loss of so many lives turned the situation around, and suddenly Europe was facing a labor shortage. That gave laborers an advantage over their employers. With the lack of workers able to fill positions, people were able to negotiate their employment, demanding more money. If their demands were not met, they were often able to find better opportunities elsewhere (Ziegler 233). This led Matteo Villani to complain in 1363 that, “Serving girls and unskilled women with no experience in service and stable boys want at least 12 florins per year, and the most arrogant among them 18 or 24 florins per year, and also nurses and minor artisans working with their hands want three times or nearly the usual pay … ” (Herlihy 48-49). That shows, clearly, what was happening at the time. Not only did workers want more money, they expected it. What is more important, however, is that they actually received more pay. In fact, wages doubled overall in the period after the plague. Evidence has shown that during the period between the 1340's and 1390's, skilled construction worker's pay rose from 3d to 5d per day in Southern England, and those who were unskilled saw an increase from 1½d to 3d...
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...cent (Gottfried 97). That led to a new trend in Europe, one where many landlords, unable to obtain a profit from their lands, leased their lands to the serfs for a cash rent, and many became absentee landlords (Gottfried 138). For instance, on one manor in the baliwick of Clare, most of the lands were being leased out by 1380 (Ziegler 239). In another example, in Witchurch England in 1383 the landlord, Richard Talbot, switched to leasing the lands after attempts to directly farm in failed (Platt 50). And those are just a couple of the many examples of that occurring. What that meant for the serfs who received leases was that they were no longer bound by the chains of serfdom. They could farm the lands as they saw fit, keep what they needed for their families, and sell what they didn't. In return for this they only needed to pay a cash rent to the landlord.
Another piece of evidence to go along with it states,” Due to the shortage of workers all labor became very valuable and in-demand (Document 7).” The effects that the bubonic plague had on 14th Century Europe were that faith in religion had fallen, the demand for labor was high, and the economy had taken a toll. The Black Death devastated Medieval Europe, causing many uncontrollable effects, both good and bad. However, despite these effects, the European people were able to overcome this period of desolation, and move on with life.
In the midst of the chaos it created, the Black Death weakened the archaic system of manorialism by causing an increase in the incomes of peasants. Manorialism was an economic system where a large class of serfs worked in the fields of the nobles in exchange for a small share of the crops. Due to the outbreak of the plague, however, there were not enough serfs for this approach to remain viable. The death of many serfs due to the Black Death meant that the ones who remained were able to ask for larger shares of the crops since their services were rare and thus more valuable. Further adding to the increase, many peasants whose requests were denied would often s...
After 1353’s, The Black Death completely removed and a new chapter of history begins with cultural, literary, artistic, trading, economic, and religious aspect. Europe, Asia, and Empires started to rebuild their nation again. Firstly, Afro-Eurasians began to establish their political and trading networks (Tignor), while the Black Death inspires them to be standing together. Secondly, People turned to religious meaning and became enthusiastic because, they believed that God anger created this disease on human kind and only God can forgive them. Not only just religious impact, but also art and literature have contributed by Black Death. After the Black Death, Renaissances starts in the 1350’s up to the 17th century, where many poets made poetry
The Effects of The Black Death on the Economic and Social Life of Europe The Black Death is the name later given to the epidemic of plague that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. The disaster affected all aspects of life. Depopulation and shortage of labor hastened changes already inherent in the rural economy; the substitution of wages for labor services was accelerated, and social stratification became less rigid. Psychological morbidity affected the arts; in religion, the lack of educated personnel among the clergy gravely reduced the intellectual vigor of the church.
Prices had risen since the Black Death. Wages didn’t rise as fast as the prices causing the peasants to suffer from hunger and supplies shortages.
...rough Muslim ports. This in turn led only rise of prices at local marketplaces. Finally, the constant migration of unskilled laborers to urban environments during the Plague simply meant that their earnings would continue to be depressed and their standard of living lowered. Simply put, the Black Death economically devastated Islamic societies, some to the point of no return.
The Bubonic Plague, or more commonly known as ‘The Black Death’ or ‘The Black Plague,’ was one of the most devastating and deadliest pandemics that humans have ever witnessed in the history of mankind. The disease spanned two continents in just a few years, marking every country between Western Europe all the way to China. During the reign of the plague, which is estimated to be the years between 1347-1352, it is estimated that “20 million people in Europe–almost one-third of the continent’s population” was killed off due to the plague. The Black Plague would change the course of European history since the plague knew no boundaries and inflicted its wrath upon the rich and the poor alike. As a result, not only did the plague have a devastating demographic impact which encountered a massive social disruption, but also, an economic and religious impact as well.
The Black Death changed the medieval European society totally in a positive way. In medieval Europe before the plague, European countries had the manorialism, which the society was divided into distinctive sections. Peasants and serfs had to live in a manor and listen to their lords. They needed to work for the lord and got
In the 1340’s, an epidemic named the Black Death, erupted through Europe, killing nearly ⅓ of its population. The Black Death originated in China, rapidly spreading to western Asia and Europe. It killed about 30 million people in Europe plummeting its population. A lot of these people were peasants. This was because they had the least money, therefore putting them in the worst living conditions. There were so many of them that no individual could make a substantial amount of money. When the plague hit, the peasants were strongly affected. A huge population of them were killed. After the epidemic, the population of peasants was far less than before. This provided them with a chance to really improve their lives. The Black Death caused a change
Imagine living in a time filled with nothing but fear. The thing you fear cannot be touched or seen but will put you to a slow miserable death. In the 1300s people were struck with a great plague, which has now been named “The Black Death”. The Black Death killed off populations with just one sweep. Historians call this the biggest tragedy of all time. The question is what caused this plague and how does something like this happen? Overtime historians have boiled it down to 2 and some may say 3 explanations, which are religion, science, and humans. With the help of a book The Black Death by Rosemary Horrox I was able to find explanations of them all. Who may know which is the correct reason for such a thing but what your think caused it is for you to decide.
The Black Plague, perhaps one of the worst epidemics in history, swept its evil across Europe in the middle of the 14th century, killing an estimated 20 million people. This major population shift, along with other disasters occurring at the time, such as famine and an already existing economic recession, plunged Europe into a dark period of complete turmoil. Anarchy, psychological breakdowns, and the dissipation of church power were some of the results. As time passed, however, society managed to find new ground and began its long path of recovery. The plague, as catastrophic as it was to medieval Europe, had just as many positive effects that came with this recovery as it did negative effects prior. An end to feudalism, increased wages and innovation, the idea of separation of church and state, and an attention to hygiene and medicine are only some of the positive things that came after the plague. It could also be argued that the plague had a significant impact on the start of the Renaissance.
This affected more than just Europe, it really hurt countries in the Middle East and China. The Black Death was spread by the Mongols and passed into Europe through black rats and fleas. Ships were known to arrive in Europe with many dead bodies and only rats living. Symptoms of the Black Death included puss filled abscesses that ended up turning your whole body black. It is believed that after receiving symptoms of the deadly disease people would only survive a few days. It was feared that the entire population would be wiped out by this devastating plague. People of this age believed the plague had meaning and was related to God, there were different perceptions of why the Bubonic plague happened, although some believed God caused it, others strongly believed that it was not possible for God to commit an act that would cause so many issues to the world and its society. The population that survived the Black Death were traumatized by the events and also affected negatively economically. An effect of the plague was a shortage of labor which caused a shortage of supply and increase in demand of workers and laborers. The whole of Europe had changed because of this event and things such as revolts. Protests, and up rise started to occur in cities all over Europe. The Black Death changed the attitudes and thinking of the people of Europe
The Black Death plagues had disastrous consequences for Europe in the 14th century. After the initial outbreak in Europe, 1347, it continued for around five years and then mysteriously disappeared. However it broke out again in the 1360s and every few decades thereafter till around 1700. The European epidemic was an outbreak of the bubonic plague, which began in Asia and spread across trade routes. When it reached Europe, a path of destruction began to emerge. Medieval society was tossed into disarray, economies were fractured, the face of culture and religion changed forever. However the plagues devastation was not all chaotic, there were benefits too, such as modern labour movements, improvements in medicine and a new outlook on life. Therefore in order to analyse the impact the Black Death had on societies in the 14th century, this essay will consider the social, economic, cultural and religious factors in order to reach an overall conclusion.
After the Black Death took the cities, shortly after it spread into the villages and farms. Killing the farm workers, the Black Death left crops not gathered which led to a shortage of food supplies and people to starve. Because of the mortality and the labor shortage, prices of goods dropped while the wages rose. Landowners were so desperate that they tried everything to keep the peasants to work for them. This gave the perfect opportunity for the laborers to demand higher wages how much they were valued. During the epidemic, the societies in Europe found their own ways to live through the Black Death. Some people thought that it God that created the plague, so he can punish the people because of their sins. Other people tried to enjoy as much as possible their last moments of their lives because they knew they would eventually die. Day and night people were getting drunk and move from one tavern to another and satisfying every last-minute wish they could. A social long-term consequence of the Black Death was that people lost their faith and were against God because he could not save them from the epidemic. Another consequence covers the economic change of the lower and middle-class people. During the 14th century peasants were at the very bottom but thanks to the Black Death their lives changed dramatically. After the epidemic was over, they were very
...lted in the decline of businesses. "The labor shortage was very severe and consequently wages rose. Because of the mortality, there was an oversupply of goods and prices dropped. Between the two trends, the standard of living rose, for those still living. Farms or entire villages died out or were abandoned as the few survivors decided not to stay on" (Knox). "The once positive outlook people had on the life of the thirteenth century had perished along with the many lives the plague took along with it" (Rowling, 188).