How did the Black Death affect Europe in the Middle Ages?

1474 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The negative effects of the black death

The aim of this investigation is to answer the question how did the Black Death affect Europe in the Middle Ages. Because the Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, killing up to a third of the population, it is a significant topic to address. Some issues that must be addressed with this topic are how the black plague affected primarily Europe on a social, political, and economic level. The focus will be from 1347 to 1351, when the plague ran its course, but will also look at the aftermath up to modern times. The book The Black Death by Daniel Cohen and Robert S. Giblin’s book The Black Death; Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe both look like promising resources to successfully complete the investigation.
132 Words

Part B: Summary of Evidence
“The Black Death was a combination of bubonic, pneumonic, and septicaemic plague strains. It devastated the Western world from 1347 to 1351, killing 25%-50% of Europe’s population and causing or accelerating marked political, economic, social, and cultural changes.” Bubonic plague is spread by the bite of a flea that has bitten a rat that carries the bacteria that causes the plague, this form is rarely contagious, and death comes about a week after the initial infection. Pneumonic plague, however, is very easily spread from person to person. It also had a mortality rate of about 50% in its bubonic form and 100% in the pneumonic and septicaemic strains.
Europe was not well equipped to be met with such a pandemic. In fact, their lifestyle was a breeding ground for the vermin spreading it. They had no regular garbage collections, and trash accumulated in the streets. The city had no running water, and the people rarely washed their clothes ...

... middle of paper ...

..., they did what people always strive to do: find something positive from a bad situation.
162 Words

Works Cited

"Black Death," World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC CIio. accessed April 8, 2014. http://ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/

Boccaccio, Giovanni. “The Decameron.” Pink Monkey. Last modified 1350. http://pinkmonkey.com/dl/library1/b1.pdf

Cohen, Daniel. The Black Death, 1347-1351. New York: World Focus Book, 1941.

Giblin, James Cross. When Plague Strikes: The Black Death, Smallpox, AIDS. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.

Gottfried, Robert S. The Black Death; Natural and Human Disaster In Medieval Europe. New York: The Free Press/ A Division of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1983.

Witowski, Erika L. “The Black Death: 1347-1351.” Then Again…, last modified December 12, 1996. http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/westeurope/BlackDeath.html.

Show More
Related

  • The Black Plague and Its Impact on Medicine in Medieval Society

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Black Death struck Europe in a time of great despair. "Although a `Great Famine' struck northern Europe between 1315 and 1322, nothing prepared Europeans for the horrendous onslaught of the Black Death" (Aberth, 2). The famine had caused a massive hunger shortage from which Europe had yet to recove...

    Read More

  • Ring around the Rosie: Turning Points in History

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    The years 1348 through 1350 had been an extremely gruesome and miserable time in our world’s history. During this time period, one of the most devastating pandemics in history had struck half the world with an intensifying and deadly blow. It had been responsible for over 75 million deaths and 20 million of these deaths were from Europe alone. Out of the countries that were hit hardest in Europe from mortality rates and economic downturns, England was one of them. This grave disease that marked the end of the middle ages and the start of the modern age is known as the Black Plague.

    Read More

  • The Black Death and The Song Ring Around the Rosie

    1296 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Effects of The Black Death on the Economic and Social Life of Europe

    1343 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Bubonic Plague Dbq

    1820 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague and Bubonic Plague, was a catastrophic plague that started out in Asia and began to spread into Europe. In the span of three years, the Black Death killed about one third of all the people in Europe. The plague started out in the Gobi Dessert in Mongolia during the 1320’s. From the desert the plague began to spread outwards in all directions. China was among the first to suffer from the plague in the early 1330s before the plague hit Europe.

    Read More

  • Muslim Responses To Black Death Essay

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the thirteenth century the plague started spreading, it spread through the trade routes of many countries. Many people only heard of the plague being in China, but little did they know that the infection was already following the routes. The were three types of the Black Death Bubonic, Pneumonic, and Septicemic.The Bubonic strain of the plague was more common, an infected person would have symptoms of chills, fever, vomiting, and rapid heartbeat. The person would soon develop inflamed swelling which were called buboes. Once a person had these buboes within a week, fifty to eighty percent of these infected

    Read More

  • Comparing the AIDS Epidemic and The Plague

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    The destruction and devastation caused by the 'Black Death' of the Middle Ages was a phenomenon left to wonder at in text books of historical Europe. An unstoppable plague swept the continent taking as much as eighty percent of the European population along with it (Forsyth).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Black Death

    1821 Words  | 4 Pages

    No other epidemic reaches the level of the Black Death which took place from 1348 to 1350. The epidemic, better regarded as a pandemic, shook Europe, Asia, and North Africa; therefore it deems as the one of the most devastating events in world history. In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1350, John Aberth, compiles primary sources in order to examine the origins and outcomes of this deadly disease. The author, a history professor and associate academic dean at Vermont’s Castleton State College, specializes in medieval history and the Black Death. He wrote the book in order to provide multiple perspectives of the plague’s impact. Primarily, pathogens started the whole phenomenon; however, geological, economic, and social conditions

    Read More

  • Economic Impact Of The Black Plague

    943 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Plague - The Black Death

    1428 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gottfried, Robert S. The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe. New York:

    Read More

  • How Did The Black Death Affect Medieval European Society

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Black Death was a dark period of human history, approximately 60% of European died. Black Death also known as the bubonic plague, it happened during 1346-1353. The plague spread during the crusades along the ships, and it was originated from a mice from Asia. It is a irremediable disease. The plague made so many negative influence on society, as well as positive effects on human population, such as social, medical and economical effects.

    Read More

  • Bubonic Plague Dbq Essay

    1587 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Positive and Negative Results of The Black Plague

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Black Death On Society

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • An Essay On The Bubonic Plague

    675 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about How did the Black Death affect Europe in the Middle Ages?

Open Document