Introduction The Black Death, also known as the Bubonic plague, was a serious pandemic that killed more than one-third of Europe’s population. Between 1347-1352, the Black Death had “reportedly killed more than 20 million people.” The plague originated from Asia before traveling throughout Europe and the Mediterranean by fleas infested rats transported through ships. The infested ships had then landed in European ports such as the following: “Genoa, Venice, Messina, and other more.” Thus, the starting the pandemic by the spreading of the highly contagious bacterial infection disease around Europe along with their imports and exports. Before the Black Death, Europe was already facing difficulties with the growing population. Due to the …show more content…
Before the Black Death, the church was already declining from the hierarchy statues as each country became secular from the church.It should be noted that Europeans did not “decline in their faith in God, but rather a decline in their confidence in the ability of the institution of the Church.” The church were guilty of abusing their power and influence Catholics to become more aggressive towards others who were non-Catholic.The church would perform public flogging towards non-Catholic missionaries from passing through countries and preaching their religion.They would then encourage violence towards to Jewish citizens as they were blamed for cause of the Plague.Other Catholics, in fear of their sins would perform self- flagellation as they worried that they will be infected with the plague.This would lead the idea that the church would use the Black Death as an scapegoat since they were losing power and faith from the people.The church abuse of power were the reasons why they had lost
The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, was a rapid infectious outbreak that swept over Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s resulting in the death of millions of people. Tentatively, this disease started in the Eastern parts of Asia, and it eventually made its way over to Europe by way of trade routes. Fever and “dark despair” characterized this plague. The highly contagious sickness displayed many flu-like symptoms, and the victim’s lymph nodes would quickly become infected. The contamination resulted in a colossal and rapid spread of the disease within one person’s body. Due to the lack of medical knowledge and physicians, there was little that people could do to save those dying all around them. Now that a better understanding of
The black plague struck Europe from 1347 to 1351. The infected bacteria traveled through ships from China and Inner Asia to Europe then spread on land. From the devastating impact on the population, to the workings of the society, the impact of the plague was felt on all levels of the social order. The Black Death’s impact on society and the modern world is deep, and although there were many different effects, some had more importance than others. The most significant effects of the Black Death was the church’s shifting place in society, the weakening of feudalism, and the decline of manorialism due to the large effects on society.
The bubonic plague, also known as Black Death, is a prime example of the diseases transported throughout the Silk Roads. It is believed that this disease originally started in south China and was spread to northern China via Mongol warriors and Chinese travelers, eventually spreading westward along the Silk Roads and trade lanes to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The bubonic plague is caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium and is spread by flea bites. Usually, fleas prefer to live on rats, but the large decrease in rat population due to the Little Ice Age caused the fleas to seek new hosts. The disease was previously localized to Mongolia and central Asia because of the nomadic lifestyle, but they could survive in sacks of grain and clothing and with the increase of trade along the Silk Roads, the fleas quickly made their way across the Mediterranean. Europeans were not prepared for this type of catastrophe and consequently suspended their daily lives. Many people abandoned their houses, churches and schools closed, and the sick were quarantined inside their homes while bodies of the deceased were piled in the streets and buried in mass graves. In some cases, the infected were burned along with their belongings in an effort to destroy the disease. By the end of the initial outbreak, almost 40% of Europe's population had died and trade had been brought to a halt. The Black Death had profoundly changed the political, social, economic, religious, and cultural foundations of modern Europe (Acrobatiq,
In the late middle ages (between 1300-1485 AD),then a series of catastrophes happened. First Germany and other northern countries experienced crop failures from 1315 to 1317, and these resulted in extensive starvation and death. Then, in 1347, Europe was shot by one of the worst catastrophe in human history, an outbreak called the Black Death. Sometimes called simply "the Plague," the Black Death killed between 25% and 45% of the European population.
The Black Death in the 1300s was a widespread epidemic that caused countless deaths, fear and panic, and a decreasement of the church’s power. To begin, the black death(bubonic plague) was the first plague powerful enough to wipe out entire civilizations and leave villages as ghost towns. “It was estimated that a third of England died from the plague, as well as many other countries“(source 3 paragraph 20). With this drastic decrease in population, a need for more people to work began to rise which in turn made salaries, the price for food, and even the demand for slaves rise. Furthermore all these deaths made it nearly impossible to keep up with all the land causing many important fields to be left uncultivated, reducing the amount of much needed food.
“A pocketful of posies, A-tishoo! A-tishoo! We all fall down.” A common nursery rhyme that many probably don’t know relates to the Black Death. It’s interpretation goes like; a rosy rash was a symptom of the plague, posies of herbs which were carried as protection, sneezing or coughing another symptom, and finally "all fall down.” Like most nursery rhymes the interpretation can be interpreted differently. What’s important is not how you interpret it but, that you tried to in the first place. Specifically focusing on England, the agricultural advances, famine, and economic problems due to war makes the already growing stress in England come to a boiling point. When the Black Death finally arrives it’s greeted by crowded cities with unsanitary conditions, war (disease on the battlefield is not great) and a population still trying to recover from the Great Famine. The Black Death has long term and short term effects in England that would change: lower class, labourer service/money-rent (serfs/villeins), church view, and nobles. The momentum from these issues caused by the Black Death sparked Protestant Reformation ideas to begin which inevitably lead to the English Reformation.
Before the outbreak of the plague the religion in The Church of England was damaged, the people were divided on their ideas of religion, and they began to gather and worship separately. Once the plague hit London, there were many different responses to religion and the value that it held. People embraced religious folk and used it as a reason to seek after “black magic” for answers. People also embraced The Church of England and viewed the plague as God punishing them for their sins and they used this as a reason to repent and increase their religious activity. The people who followed The Church of England looked towards the church leadership to interpret the cause of natural disasters because they believed that it is the church’s obligation
When twelve Genoese ships arrived in 1347 Messina, Sicily, barely any of the crew were alive. They were sickly looking and covered in black boils. Quickly, the ships were sent off but it was too late. Within a few days, the disease started affecting the town, making the Black Death’s first of many appearances in Europe (Martin 12). The Bubonic plague, known as the Black Death, was a disease that devastated the Western World in late 1347. The disease originated in eastern Asia but was spread by rat-infested ships traveling along trade routes. The people of Europe had never been exposed to the disease before therefore lacked the necessary antibodies to fight it off. The disease appeared in waves until the eighteenth century. It was
The Black Death hit the shores of Europe in October 1347. After a long a tough journey, through the Black Sea, twelve ships or Genoese docked at the Sicilian Port. Those who greeted the ships had a horrifying site of dead sailors and the sailors who were alive were greatly ill. It is said that the sailors had awful fevers, were not able to keep food down, and they were covered in black boils that oozed blood and puss. This is where the name Black Death came from. Although the ships were ordered to leave the port, the Black Death claimed the lives of over 20 million people, about one third of the continent’s population during that time, over the next five year.1
The Black Death, also known as the bubonic plague had huge effects and implications on the social, political and economic lives of people living in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. Beginning in Asia, the plague quickly spread throughout Europe, following trade routes, devastating all who came in it's path. Symptoms of the Black Death included a fever, large swollen glands called buboes and general weakness [Brittanica, 2016] . Animals such as rats and fleas spread the disease through the streets of Europe, killing an estimated 25 million people. The Black Death caused an economic breakdown, disrupting trade and manufacturing, resulting in a massive increase in wages for workers or peasants. The construct of medieval
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
Firstly, the Black Death changed the population of Europe greatly. This impacted these countries because there was a shortage of people for different jobs. Particularly, the barons were in need of serfs. Having not enough people in the continent caused great distress, because a lot of those dead has grand estates. These estates were left empty and for the taking after their owners died. There was even not enough people to bury the dead. In his book, 'Historia Angelicana', Thomas Walsingham writes, “Hardly half of mankind was left alive”. This evidence shows us that numbers of people were affected and even monks suffered. Having half of mankind alive would change a lot of factors in the social caste, such as the shortage of workers and barons. The church's priests also suffered because they were normally asked to recite the last rites to a dying person. During this
The Bubonic Plague or the Black Death came into Europe when twelve trade ships came into an Italian port, after a long trip through the black sea. When it came into port, the Italian people were shocked to find that many of the ships sailors were dead, and the remaining living were overcome with black oozing boils. To stop the spread of this plague, the Italian people sent the ship back out into the ocean, but alas it was too late. Over the next five years, this plague would become extremely contagious and would kill about a fifth of Europe’s population. Although this was the first time they had seen this plague come into their
The Black Death resulted in the death of over 25 million people and one third of Europe’s people from 1347 to 1352. This disease originated in China in the early 1330’s and started to spread to Western Asia and Europe through trade. The bubonic plague, aka Black Death, affects rodents mostly but fleas can transmit disease to people. Once a one person is infected, it was easily transmitted. The plague caused fever and swelling of the lymph glands. It also caused red spots on the skin, but then turned into black spots. During the winter the plague seemed to vanish, but came back and happened in waves. The aftermath of the Black Death had a major impact on, literature, religion, and the economy.
The pandemic known to history as the Black Death was one of the world’s worst natural disasters in history. It was a critical time for many as the plague hit Europe and “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.” The plague made an unforgettable impact on the history of the West. It is believed to have originated somewhere in the steppes of central Asia in the 1330s and then spread westwards along the caravan routes. It spread over Europe like a wildfire and left a devastating mark wherever it passed. In its first few weeks in Europe, it killed between 100 and 200 people per day. Furthermore, as the weather became colder, the plague worsened, escalating the mortality rate to as high as 750 deaths per day. By the spring of 1348, the death toll may have reached 1000 a day. One of the main reasons the plague spread so quickly and had such a devastating effect on Europe was ultimately due to the lack of medical knowledge during the medieval time period.