History Of The Bubonic Plague: The Late Middle Ages

The late Middle Ages was hit by a catastrophic natural disaster that changed the course of Europe’s future. Entire cities were ravaged by the bubonic plague, also known as The Black Death. The Black Plague had a profound impact on Europe’s religious, social, and economic society.

The rapid decline of population brought considerable social changes to the same structure that had existed. When The Black Death swept over Europe, it dismantled Feudalism and many other things. Serfs were freed and left the lands of the lords to find higher salaries with larger labour shortages. Many landlords then had to sell or rent out small units of their estates to peasants. Those wealthy lands that were left, were now valueless. The Feudalistic System was

one of the largest things affected by this plague. It fell because the Serfs made up the majority of it, since they provided for the knights, who provided for the Barons, who provided for the King. The Barons have always lived off the Serf’s hard work, and when they died, the foundation of this immense system was broken and everything was chaos. The plague also impacted the arts, which is seen in many paintings and sculptures. Some Kings even created a production for monuments and cathedrals as a response and reminder of the plague’s heartbroken destruction.

There was a general crisis and troubled belief of faith and religion in the wake of The Black Death.

Although churches played a remarkable role during the Middle Ages, their power was declined in the 1300’s. Religion was also one of the major aspects of a daily life for many European Christians. Then, when the Black Death hit Europe, churches had a hard time with the plague’s damages and its consequences, which caused their reputation as a result. When people realized there was no cure for the disease, they turned to God and put their faith in him and the church. During The Black Death, people thought that God was punishing them and especially church leaders, for their sins. Many people in power had lost their lives too. People did not know how to react, so they had fun everyday and tried to live to their fullest before they were affected by the plague. They were using religion as a shield, and it finally failed. There were people called the Flagellants, who walked from town to town whipping backs and injuring themselves to force God to feel compassion and sympathy for them. Later on, people decided to blame the Jews for causing this humongous European destruction because they were so frightened that they needed to blame it on

someone.

Europe’s economic system was greatly affected positively and negatively as a result of the plague. Between 1347 and 1352, the Black Death plague wiped out nearly one-third to one half of Europe’s population. Italy’s popular cities felt the hardest impact, where 50-60 percent of people passed. At first, people did not know what had caused the plague, but soon enough found out that it was the bacteria from the fleas on black rats. The economy was impacted tremendously because trade and land value were decreased, along with labor shortages. The shortage of worker caused a substantial increase in labor prices. Although, at the same time, the number of people had ordered for less food, which had descended the prices. There were many positive outcomes of this to, such as an improved social system, new medicine, art, and an increased life span of twenty more years! People were allowed to create a new social system without the judgement or influence of Catholic Churches. The large decrease of population also opened up several new opportunities, essentially new jobs, new inventions, and the higher or lower value of workers. Many individuals were also inspired to make works of art from The Black Death too, which did indeed lay the groundwork out for the Renaissance era.

The plight of The Black Death brought changes and shaped Europe’s future social, religious, and economic structures.