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Causes and effects of the black death in europe
The causes and effects of the black death
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The Black Plague (1348-1350) was the biggest tragedy Europe has ever faced because of the social and economic downfalls, which caused a huge loss of millions of people due to the terrible disease. The Black Plague was the largest epidemic that Europe has ever seen; it killed off fifty percent of their society all around. The economy was corrupt and it caused inflation. The Black Plague destroyed the social standings within society, and also the origin of why there were so many deaths in Europe. The Black Plague had many difficulties but the social issues tore everything apart. During the Black Plague, the marriage rates rose, mostly because the men would marry rich orphans and widows. Additionally, the birth rate rose, but most children after birth only lived until about age five. Socially the Plague caused an increase amount of violence and debauchery in society. Social unrest amongst people, so much rebellion, no one trusted anything anymore. Society was never serene; they were always panicked and scared. “Towns and cities faced starvation because the villages could not provide enough food to go around” (Trueman). This proves that people that were healthy or infected had to face starvation since people were not working on harvesting food because they were nervous that they would get sick. The Black Plague was not just harming the infected ones, it was killing off the healthy ones too because no one was able to provide food and if people did, it was for themselves. “Food and items that were available were high in price because the inflation in the economy” (Trueman). The food that was available people could not afford because no one wanted to work because they feared of getting sick and dying. Villages stopped providing for ev... ... middle of paper ... ...on” (Rosen). So many people suffered from this disease and even those that were not infected, it caused pain and tragic despair. “In Naples, they lost 63,000 people in the matters of two months” (Rosen)! People back then did not know how to handle the disease so they tried to leave, but that made it spread quicker than normal. Throughout Europe at least half the population died. The Black Plague (1348-1350), generated so many issues with the economy, social problems within society and a huge loss that triggered distress for many people. It is the most tragic disease that Europe has ever faced, it killed one point five million people out of four million in their society, and it affected all age groups (especially ones with a weak immune system). People all over Europe were torn apart by this dreadful disease and it provoked heartache, pain and sadness everywhere.
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
The Bubonic Plague DBQ 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
At this time however, cold weather and rains wiped out many crops creating a shortage of food for humans. Rats also went through this shortage in food. This made them “crowd in cities, providing an optimal environment for disease”(Karin Lehnardt in 41 Catastrophic Facts about the Black Death). Before the black death spread through Europe, sanitation wasn’t very good. Living conditions were bad so when the black death came to Europe, it spread more rapidly because people were not clean and healthy. Another reason the plague spread so fast was because the dead “bodies were piled up inside and outside city walls where they lay until mass graves could be dug”(Karin Lehnardt in 41 Catastrophic Facts about the Black Death). This made the air very polluted and contributed the spread of the epidemic. In total, the black death killed about thirty million people. This was about one-third the population of Europe. Some towns were completely wiped out. Because of this, medieval people thought everyone would eventually die, although we now know that some populations did survive. Also, because people were not being saved by the church, their beliefs were questioned. Less people dedicated their lives to the church because of this. Both the poor and the rich died but more than one-half the people dead were poor. This was also a result of poor sanitation and living conditions. The Black Death initiated in China in the early 1340’s
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.
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 Plague came to Europe at a time referred to as the late middle ages. At this time, the quality of living was looking better than in the past
The Black Plague still to this day remains one of the worst epidemics in known history. When the plague first hit most people weren’t too concerned, thinking that it would be cured and it wasn’t anything to spectacular. That thought quickly changed as the epidemic spread like wildfire and killed most of the people who caught it very quickly. It wiped out over a quarter of Europe and surrounding countries and no one knew where it came from. Many people thought that because it was incurable and killed so efficiently that this was the apocalypse starting. At this point in history, many theories revolved around religious beliefs and the fact that everyone thought God had a role in almost everything, natural and unnatural. Two of the main religions
An unknown eye witness accounts details of the immediate stress the plague brought to Europe. "Realizing what a deadly disaster had come to them, the people quickly drove the Italians from their city. But the disease remained, and soon death was everywhere. Fathers abandoned their sick sons. Lawyers refused to come and make out wills for the dying.
It's hard to imagine just how frightening life was in the Middle Ages during the Black Death. By the time the disease ran its course, it had killed a minimum of about one third of the population in Europe and there’s a good possibility that it had killed even more. It is quiet an understatement to say that the plague was very brutal. There were hundreds upon thousands of people dying each day. In rankings of how bad the Black Plague actually was, it is number one and has gone down to be the worst plague to every hit anywhere in all of the world. It caused several catastrophes over the time that it went on. Many other than just the three most crucial; population loss, loss in the church overall and economic disruption.
The Black Death started with a bacterium called Yersinia Pestis. “Yersinia Pestis, or known as pasteurella pestis, causes severe illness but more commonly death upon infection unless implanted with antibiotics,” (Sutyak). This bacteria spread quickly. ‘On average, bacteria can double every 4-20 minutes,” (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory). That means that when one person was infected, during the day 72 others could be infected if the rate was one person every 20 minutes. If the rate was one person every 4 minutes, there could be 360 people infected in a day. That rate is extremely horrendous rate of infection. Imagine if one person in your town got a terrible disease. Then the disease spread during one day. Three hundred sixty people infected in one day. That is exceedingly disgusting from my point of view. Now, lets take it broader. “Pandemics can affect 20% to 40% of the entire world's population”, (U.S Department of Health & Human Services). The Black Death caused 75 to 200 million people to die. That was a huge chunk of the population at the time. When all the people died, many places had little t...
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.
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
The Black Death plague 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.
"The Black Death" is known as the worst natural disaster in European history. The plague spread throughout Europe from 1346-1352. Those who survived lived in constant fear of the plague's return and it did not disappear until the 1600s. Not only were the effects devastating at the time of infection, but during the aftermath as well. "The Black Death" of the fourteenth century dramatically altered Europe's social and economic structure.
The Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the Black Death was a raging disease. Most people thought 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.