Black Death Effect

The Black Death affected the European economy in a positive way. The biggest change, good for peasants, was the end of Feudalism. Feudalism is a social triangle that decided who obeyed who and many other unfair standards for all Serfs, the base of the pyramid. Due to the huge population deficit, Serfs were scarce and “Barons were now willing to pay higher wages and offer extra benefits. All their life they had lived off the serfs’ hard work, and were willing to pay them to stay on the manor to continue slaving for them” (Vunguyen). This gave the Serfs more power to ask for higher wages and the freedom to find more work if they do not get what they want. Serfs, or peasants, “began

The Black Death was devastating and was one of the most significant events in Medieval Britain. The Black Death was also known the plague and bubonic plague it describes the spread of disease that caused mass deaths throughout Britain. The disease itself was carried by fleas and spread across Europe between 1346-1353 leaving towns and city such as Siena Italy with 85% of the population wiped out. This was seen all over Europe including Britain and it can be argued economic factors was the most significant consequences of the Black Death. However there are many factors such as political, social factors and Mortality rates that were also results of the Black Death and perhaps social factors may be more significant.

"The Black Death" alone was not the only factor that was responsible for the social and economic change although it was the most important (Ziegler 234). Even without "The Black Death" continued deterioration in Europe would have been likely. The social and economic change had already set in well before 1346. For at least twenty-five years before "The Black Death," exports, agricultural production, and the area of cultivated land had all been shrinking. "The Black Death" contributed a large part to all of this destruction and led to important changes in the social and economic structure of the country (Ziegler 234-235). The plague touched every aspect of social life (Herlihy 19). There was hardly a generation that was not affected by the plague (www.jefferson.village.virginia.edu). Families were set against each other - the well rejecting the sick (www.byu.edu). Families left each other in fear. Many people died without anyone looking after them. When the plague appeared in a house, frightened people abandoned the house and fled to another (www.jefferson.village.virginia.edu). Due to this, the plague spread more rapidly because people were not aware that being in the same house with the infected person had already exposed them to it. Physicians could not be found because they had also died. Physicians who could be found wanted large sums of money before they entered the house (www.jefferson.village.virginia.edu). When the

Even before the “death ships” pulled into port at Messina, many Europeans had heard rumors

The Black Death was one of the most devastating worldwide diseases in human history. The plague originated in central Asia and was brought to China by traders and Mongols from 1334-1347. Mongol protection of the trade may have caused the disease to spread along the “Silk Road” to Crimea. During a Mongol siege against Caffa in 1347, the Mongolian army began to die. The Mongols catapulted the dead bodies into the city where the fleas on the corpses were released into Caffa. In the year 1347, October, Genoese traders escaped from the city and sailed to Messina, an Italian port, unaware that they were infected by the disease. Eventually, everyone on the ship died and a “ghost ship” made it to port. Seeing no activity on board, the ship was

The Black Death, the most severe epidemic in human history, ravaged Europe from 1347-1351. This plague killed entire families at a time and destroyed at least 1,000 villages. Greatly contributing to the Crisis of the Fourteenth Century, the Black Death had many effects beyond its immediate symptoms. Not only did the Black Death take a devastating toll on human life, but it also played a major role in shaping European life in the years following.

The black death first appeared in the Middle East and Europe in 1348. The black death swept through Asia and continued west and northwest through North Africa, Europe and the Middle East (Document 1). The black death was transmitted via fleas living in the fur of the black rat. The black death actually refers to the bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic plagues. The most common of these three strains was bubonic. Some symptoms

One of the many Economic benefits the Black Plague brought, was a new power for peasants. This meant they were granted higher pay, better working conditions and sometimes more land out in the fields. Prior to the initial outbreak of the Black Death, the people of Europe followed a social hierarchy system called the ‘feudal system’. Under its reign, there were only two main social categories; the rich, wealthy nobles and the poor, powerless peasants. Most of these peasants earned very little, if any pay, for their hard work. Following the Black Death, there were two ways these peasants could become prosperous, either by gaining more vacant land, or demanding higher wages. The Black Death is thought to have wiped out around one-third of Europe’s population of the time, and therefore many blocks of land were left unattended. It didn’t take long

During the plague of “black death” everyone was affected, but the people whose lives were affected the most were the chemists, doctors, and herb selling women who all lived along the coasts of the trade routes (Doc 1). During the plague people came to them for cures to this mysterious sickness and due to the technology of the time only received rudimentary or sometimes even wrong instructions for treating and avoiding the plague. Some of these instructions would be to avoid bathing and exercising and also burning incense to overcome the smell of the plague (Notes). Document 2 shows that the people affected the most by the plague were the people who lived along the European and Asian trade routes. The cities that were impacted by the plague the most were the large port cities like Venice and London.

The Black Death found its way into Western Europe through the trade routes from Asia to Europe. The rats, or more specifically the fleas on said rats, would ride the ships into the heart of Europe, spreading the plague to the unaware citizens. The reason it spread so quickly was due to the intense overpopulation of Europe in the Late Middle Ages. During this time, the population actually outnumbered the food supply and available jobs; therefore, Western Europe was left poor and hungry. Faced with economic depression, overpopulation, famine, and bad health, the immunity of Western Europe suffered greatly, leaving it wide open to contagion. Naturally, cities and places with high population densities faced the most risk of infection.

The Bubonic Plague or the Black Death has been in the history books since the medieval times. This deadly disease has claimed nearly 1.5 million lives in Europe (Gottfried). The Black Death hit Europe in October of 1347 and quickly spread through most of Europe by the end of 1349 and continued on to Scandinavia and Russia in the 1350s. Not only did the plague effect the European population by killing one-third to two-thirds (Gottfried), it also hurt the social and economic structures of every European society.

The Black Death speeded up the changes in medieval society that were already under way. The most immediate effect of the Black Death was a shortage of labor. Much land could no longer be cultivated. In response, the nobles refused to continue the long common practice of gradually eliminating serfdom by allowing the serfs to buy their freedom. Over the centuries it had been realized by some that free tenants were more productive than serfs, and this had led to a gradual breakdown in the use

The plague of the black death was a panic and disaster in Western Europe because it leads the death of ⅓ of the population. It quickly spread all over the continent, destroying full towns and cities. Moreover, the plague reached its peak of destructions in 1349, which was a “wretched, terrible, destructive year, the remnants of the people alone remain.” Life before the black death arrived for the serfs it was unpleasant and short. Nevertheless, Europe before the black death arrived was successful and the trade at the time was strong. The spread of the plagues was traumatic and unexpected because it spread so quickly.

The black death affected Medieval Europe’s economy immensely as there was a decline of the barter based economy. Everyone wanted the ability to have some control. Money would give anyone the power to buy goods and services from others. For this reason, people started demanding for money. Skilled workers would sell their services for cash. Farmers would sell their crops for ready money. Therefore, over time the cashless economy disappeared and the demand for money increased.

The Black Death, according to Joseph P Byrne, was “a deadly epidemic that spread across Asia and Europe beginning in mid 1300’s.” It did not take long for the plague to make a big impact on the world. “By the spring of 1348, the Black Death, also known as Black Plague, spread to france, The Alberium Peninsula, and England, following trade routes and hitting big cities first before spreading to the countryside,” states Gail Cengage. In the 19th century, Europe was devastatingly hit with this epidemic that affected them greatly then and now. The Black Death in Europe affected 19th centuries economics, population, and literature. Its effect on Europe is an interesting topic that shaped history and our lives today. This topic is widely covered as Molly Edmonds writes her findings from other sources. These sources will be used to describe the effect the Black Death had on Europe.