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The influence of black death
The immediate and long term effects of the black death
The immediate effects of the black death
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Primary Source Essay 3 In 1348, people from all around the world suffered from one of the most deadliest and cruel diseases known as the Black Death. The plague killed so many people in Europe that some of the villages were abandoned and the population of some cities was decreased by half. Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian writer and poet who eye-witnessed and described the horrors caused by the Black Death in his novels Decameron. In Boccaccio’s work, the sick people were left behind to survive on their own and even children were left behind by their parents because they were sick. Unfortunately, from all the people who died during the epidemic, the peasants were those who actually benefited from it. The Black Death end up with political, …show more content…
It was a bubonic plague that came from Asia and spread by black rats infested with fleas. The plague spread like a wildfire because people who lived in high populated areas were living very close to each other and had no idea what was the cause of the disease or how to cure it. The signs of the “inevitable death” where blood from the nose, fever, aching and swellings big as an “apple” in the groin or under the armpits. From there the disease spread through the body in different directions and soon after it changed into black spots that appeared on the arms and thighs. Due to the lack of medical knowledge, no doctors manage to find a remedy. Furthermore a large number of people without any kind of medical experience tried to help the sick but most of them failed “...there was now a multitude both of men and of women who practiced without having received the slightest tincture of medical science - and, being in ignorance of its source, failed to apply the proper remedies…” (Boccaccio). The plague was so deadly that it was enough for a person to get infected by only touching the close of the …show more content…
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
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.
The Black Death (also called the "plague" or the "pestilence", the bacteria that causes it is Yersinia Pestis) was a devastating pandemic causing the death of over one-third of Europe's population in its major wave of 1348-1349. Yersinia Pestis had two major strains: the first, the Bubonic form, was carried by fleas on rodents and caused swelling of the lymph nodes, or "buboes", and lesions under the skin, with a fifty-percent mortality rate; the second, the pneumonic form, was airborne after the bacteria had mutated and caused fluids to build up in the lungs and other areas, causing suffocation and a seventy-percent mortality rate.
the biomedical crisis, later known as The Black Death, or bubonic plague, that attacked Europe during the fourteenth century. Cantor later tells about how the people came in contact with the plague and the symptoms that later occurred. The people who had been affected by the plague would first experience flu like symptoms, which usually included a high fever, in the second stage they would get buboes, which...
Some things are not as they seem. “Ring Around the Rosie” seems like a pleasant children’s nursery rhyme, but many believe it is actually a grisly song about the Black Death in Europe. The Black Death was a serial outbreak of the plague during the 1300s. During the Black Death, more than 20 million Europeans died. One-third of the population of the British Isles died from the plague. Moreover, one-third of the population of France died in the first year alone, and 50% of the people in France’s major cities died. Catastrophic death rates like these were common across all of Europe. However, just like the poem “Ring Around the Rosie”, the true effects of the Black Death differed from what many people believed. Though tragic, the Black Death caused several positive societal changes. Specifically, the Black Death helped society by contributing to the economic empowerment of peasants and disempowerment of nobility that led to the decline of manorialism, as well as by encouraging the development of new medical and scientific techniques by proving old methods and beliefs false.
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.
There was a law passed at the end of the Black Death to stop the peasants from taking advantage of the shortage of workers and demanding more money. Peasants were forced to work for the same wages as before, and landowners could demand labor services to be performed. This meant that the landowners could profit from shortages, which made life harder for the peasants.
The Black Death affected the peasants in several ways. The disease killed everyone and anyone it reached, regardless of their age, religion, or beliefs. The people began to question what God’s purpose was and wondered why he would send such disaster and harm to their towns and cities. The peasants alread...
The plague was spread by fleas, which were not effected by the disease. Fleas first infected the rats, which lived off garbage and sewage. The rats then spread the infection to the humans. Rats were a common sight in the cities, due to the poor sanitary conditions, so no one suspected them (www.tartans.com). In the winter the plague seemed to disappear, but only because fleas were dormant then. Each spring, the plague attacked again, killing new victims (www.byu.edu). The effects of the plague were devastating. After just five years, twenty-five million people were dead - one third of Europe's population. Once people were infected they infected others very rapidly. As a result, in order to avoid the disease, many fled to the countryside where the lower population density helped to decrease the speed at which the disease spread (www.tartans.com). From a person's time of infection to his or her death was less than one week (www.home.nycap.rr.com). The plague became known as "The Black Death" because of the discoloration of the skin and black enlarged lymph nodes that appeared on the second day of contracting the disease. The term "The Black Death" was not invented until after 1800. Contemporaries called it "the pestilence" (Cantor 7).
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
Sweeping through Western Europe during the fourteenth century, the Bubonic Plague wiped out nearly one third of the population and did not regard: status, age or even gender. All of this occurred as a result of a single fleabite. Bubonic Plague also known as Black Death started in Asia and traveled to Europe by ships. The Plague was thought to be spread by the dominating empire during this time, the Mongolian Empire, along the Silk Road. The Bubonic Plague was an infectious disease spread by fleas living on rats, which can be easily, be attached to traveler to be later spread to a city or region. Many factors like depopulation, decreasing trade, and huge shifts in migrations occurred during the Bubonic Plague. During Bubonic Plague there were also many different beliefs and concerns, which include fear, exploitation, religious and supernatural superstition, and a change of response from the fifteenth to eighteen century.
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
One of the most important results of the Black Death is the end of feudalism. The labor force was so low that workers could refuse to work, demand a wage, and the aristocrats had no choice but to listen. Peasant revolts in France and England also played an important role in the end of feudalism. The French government, in an attempt to pay ransom to England for the return of their king, spiked tax rates on the French residents. The peasants at the time felt that the government was weak, and the increased taxes infuriated them, resulting in a rebellion that came to be known as the Jacquerie. Similar events took place in England a generation later. In 1381, peasants rebelled against high tax rates and frozen wages by marching on London an...
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.
It could only be an act of God, it has to be to punish us for the sins of the World. This Plague sent by God, must have come out of Asia and started the spread into my hometown of Florence. This plague is far more catastrophic than an assault from barbarians. We can’t see it, we can’t fight it, and we don’t know if we’re next. It starts off inconspicuous than it turns into the worse brutal death even a barbarian cannot inflict. Most of the trading port cities have been inflicted with this plague in the worst. My city Florence, Crimea, and cities that reside next to the the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. The Pestilence where dead body lay to rot in the harbor. The plague seems like it has developed from contracting it from bites to contact with another infected person’s blood and to just breathing the same air of those who are infected. Many people have been infected. The disease kills fast and painfully. Those infected will acquire bobos, which are ugly black sores the size size of eggs that oozes out pus and blood. They will have an
The Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the Black Death, is a raging disease. Most people think of it as the physical Grim Reaper of their town or community. The disease lasted about six years, 1347 to 1352. The Bubonic Plague was a travesty that has traveled throughout Europe and has raged and decimated both large and small towns, putting Europe through a lot. The disease spreads through a bacteria called Yersinia Pestis.