It is believed that the Black Death originated in central China in 1333 as the population succumbed to starvation. The plague spread to the Crimea where Kipchak Mongols or Tartars attacked Genose carrying furs and silks from Cathay, were besieging a Genoese trading centre of Calla, and catapulted their own dead into the city. The Genoese traders escaped by sea carrying the plague to Messina in Italy. In 1348 the plague spread from Cyprus to Florence which was also suffering from famine. The plague spread to Genoa from the Levant on 3 Galleys that went on to Marseilles, and then to the English south coast near Southampton, in 1348. The Black Death ravaged Bristol killing most of its inhabitants. It reached London around 1 November 1348 and by 2 February 1349, 200 people were being buried every day. The daughter of king Edward III, Joanna of died of the plague in Bordeaux on her way to marry Don Pedro, heir to the throne of Castille. The Scots who had not been affected by the black death took advantage by attacking England at this time, but this was simply that the plague had not …show more content…
On 18 June 1349 the Ordinance of Labourers was passed in an attempt to keep pay the same as pre-plague levels. In 1352 Parliament cited violations with wages at x2 and x3 pre plague levels. Stocks were ordered to be set up in every town for offenders. The black death broke out again in the Spring of 1361, but there was a low incidence of the pneumonic form so the death rate was lower, it was said to affect the young, particularly males. The population of Britain was estimated at between 3.5-5 million before 1348 and 2 million in 1377. Plague returned to England again in
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 originated in Asia and spread to Europe, possibly going through Persia to reach Asia Minor, and making its way across the Mediterranean. The Byzantine Empire, the Mongol Empire, and Turkestan were also infected. The Plague swept through parts of Arabia, Armenia, North Africa, Bavaria, England, France, Italy, and Poland. However, the Saharan Desert was spared (Document 1).
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.
The Black Death, better known as the Bubonic Plague, greatly decimated the population of Europe during the Middle Ages. The Black Death was spread through fleas on rats brought in by trade ships. Because trade was so heavy among various parts of Europe, the plague spread quickly and was almost always fatal to the victim. The Black Death spread so quickly that few places had any time to prepare or any knowledge of how to prevent the it. However, certain measures could have been taken to keep the plague from spreading to certain towns.
In Robert S. Gottfried’s book titled “The Black Death”, he analyzes the 14th century outbreak from an epidemiological perspective. The book is written as a historical account of one of the greatest epidemics on record. Gottfried is a well renowned Professor of History as well as the Director of Medieval Studies at Rutgers University. Another one of his books titled, "Epidemic Disease in Fifteenth Century England” focuses on the additional outbreaks that occurred in Europe after the Black Death plague. The Black Death also called the Great Pestilence the was the second of three pandemic plagues known and is considered one of the most damaging pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 25-50% of the Europe's population in the years 1348 to 1350. The origins of the plague began with east-west trade. In 1347 the Black Death entered Constantinople and spread throughout Byzantium and the Eastern Mediterranean, it is theorized that foreign rats migrating with the eastern trade carried the disease called Y. pestis to the west, fleas that were feeding on those rats then transmitted the infection to livestock and humans. The epidemic spread at an alarming rate and had devastating effects once contracted, at its peak the plague is said to have taken up to 1000 lives a day.
The Black Death or Black Plague between 1349 and 1351, with 1350 being the watershed year, wiped out approximately HALF the population of Europe. Well known is the effect that serfs now had some bargaining leverage until their population recovered, as they were the only labor force available in a greatly reduced labor force. Less well known is the opportunity that that created for alien populations to find entry into Europe: the Gypsies first entered about 1350 through the Great Forest of Prague, camping out there with the permission of Jelen the Forester of Prague, whose daughter was the first European woman to be given a pack of Tarot cards;and, the simultaneous entry into Europe of a significant Jewish population. The Leo Baeck Institute
During the outbreaks of the black death people did whatever they could to survive. The plague rendered people unable to gain access to information. People were too stricken with fear to go to places like school, because being in groups of people that may have been exposed to the plague could lead them to become infected. Europe had lost one third of their population due to the plague. People did not want to risk leaving the safety of their homes. Houses were being nailed up, roads were being closed, and highways were being guarded, which left people without access to schools, markets, and doctors. People relied on greed to survive. Elites would use the plague to their advantage and use it to kill their heirs to get inheritances.
It spread throughout Europe very quickly and lasted from 1347-1353 A.D. It was thought that the disease had first originated from rats carrying fleas with the plague that came to Europe by ship. Anyone who caught the disease would first form buboes under their armpits or in the groin area, followed by fever, chills, and general muscle aches, and then internal bleeding which formed the black spots or boils under the skin. Other symptoms included a foul odor of all body fluids and the rotting of flesh at the fingers, toes, and nose. It was spread mostly by coughing and sneezing and whoever caught it would die in three to four days. There was more than one type of plagues of the Black death such as the septicemic plague and the pneumonic plague. The pneumonic caused sever chest pain, heavy sweating, coughing up blood, not many buboes formed but the person died in one or two days. On the other hand, the septicemic plague killed people too quickly in less than eight hours. All these plagues ended up killing over 25 million people in just under five
As you may figure viral deadly diseases such as malaria, HIV, and Lung Cancer have killed millions within the years of Human existence, but the one in particular to cause a major impact in the world’s history of sicknesses is The Black Death, formally known as the Bubonic Plague. The Bubonic Plague wasn’t the longest epidemic. The timeline that the disease was present, single handedly slaughtered 25 million people of the vulnerable population in Europe. The childhood nursery rhyme song “Ring around the rosies, pocket full of posies”, discreetly demonstrates the red rash symptomatic of infection and holding flowers under one's nose to combat the smell of sickness and dead bodies.(Ainsworth 64) The symptoms of the disease were airborne and highly contagious and could spread viciously to whomever that came in touching distance of an infected individual. The Black Death put SARS and AIDS in a lower caparison inquiring that they all have caused a death domino effect.(Ainsworth 64) The year of 1333 is when the plague originally geared up into severe sweeps starting in China with the international trading route occurring between constantinople and the mediterranean near the black sea. The living conditions people lived under helped the spread of the disease greatly.
Others were able to negotiate with them and agree to pay him instead of working for him. The less fortunate ones remained as villeins and continued to work for his lord for forty days without pay each year. Although the Statute of Labourers in 1351 banned peasants from being payed more than he was before the black death, it can be argued that more and more peasants were attaining freedom after the plague. However, tension and anger arose within peasants after this new law was legislated. This contributed to the Peasants’ Revolt along with the levying of the poll tax in 1381. Although the uprising failed and disturbed Britain’s economy, it succeeded in preventing further levying of the poll tax because the rich realised they could not take advantage of the peasants too much. (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017) (Bitesize,
It had reached England by the end of the year. In 1349 the plague had reached the Scandinavia. Easter Europe and Russia were affected by 1351. “It has been estimated that European population declined by 25 to 50 percent between 1347 and 1351, this means 19 to 38 million people died in four years“.
In 1347, Europe was swept with one of the most devastating human catastrophes recorded in history, the Black Death. During the late 1340s and early 1350s, the lethal pandemic affected parts of western Asia and North Africa and it is believed to have begun in Central Asia in the early 1330s. Historians estimate that “the Black Death killed anywhere from 33 to 60 percent of Europe’s total population—roughly 25 million to 45 million men, women, and children.” (7) The Black Death that swept through Europe during the 1340s was an important event in history because it showed how a plague could easily spread through an unprepared population and the consequences it created.
In 1339 the Northern Europe population was growing dramatically , and the food supply was coming little to none and a very effectful crisis began to take place. The summer was very hot and dry, and the winter was severely cold, little to no crops were produced and those that grew were dying.. In the crazy time prices were going up and more money was needed to benefit yourself and pay for things like gas and food. Families were traumatized by the shortage in food which was also known as the famine. From the years 1339 to about 1346 are known as the famine before the plague. The greatest plague has arrived , from these 7 years of bad weather and famine. In 1347 the Black death
In 1339 in Northwestern Europe, the population was beginning to outgrow the food supply and a severe economic disaster began to take place. The winters were extremely cold and the summers were dry. Due to this extreme weather, very low crops grew and those that grew were dying. Inflation became a common and as famine broke out, people began to worry. The time period between 1339 to 1346 is now known as the famine before the plague. These seven bad years of weather and famine lead to the greatest plague of all times. In 1347, endemic to Asia, The Black Death began spreading throughout Western Europe. The plague lead to one third of Europe dead. The Black Death killed more Europeans than any other endemic or war up to that time. All resulting from a tiny insect (“Black Death”).
The disease left peoples' blood black, thick, and smelly with green stuff in it (Alchin). It is said that the Black Death started in Chine or Central Asia, which later spread to Crimea through the Silk Road (Where did Black). ‘‘The Silk Road was a network of trade routes, formally established during the Han Dynasty of China, which linked the regions of the world in commerce’’ (Joshua). The disease continued to follow the trade routes to every county (Alchin). From Crimea, most likely the Black Death was transmitted when rat fleas were on merchant ships (Where did Black). This is how the plague spread to the European port city and progressed (History.com