Cause And Effects Of The Black Death

Black death was a bubonic plague, which took the lives of millions of people in the mid 1300s. This plague was caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis, which lived in fleas. Therefore, transmitting the bacteria to its rodent hosts every time they would feed. The bacteria then killed the rodents leaving the fleas without hosts to feed on and in result they would feed on the humans. (Bailey 7-12) Most people who were infected would last two to three days before they died, no longer than two to three weeks. The plague moved rapidly, medical researchers believe it could have moved as fast as eight to twelve miles a day. The plague was first encountered in China and it spread through Asia and into Europe in a

“The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1350” presents an entirely different kind of trial than the one provided by Einhard and Notker. Where Charlemagne’s struggle was often glorious combat with his fellow man, the battle against the plague had none of the nobility and prestige of conquest, and while Charles strove for power, humanity during the plague fought only for survival. The world was well familiarized with violent ambitions of powerful men, but a disease that ended roughly half of the lives in Europe (Aberth, 269) was a trial in unfamiliar terrain. A chronicler, Agnolo di Tura recounted that “So many have died that everyone believes it is the end of the World” (Aberth, 278). The now clichéd phrase of the “enemy of my enemy

As was we all know that The Black Death is one of the tragic events in world history and it has effected many civilizations in early 1300s. This has made many devastating trends within Europe’s borders and raged with many diseases, and other infections. Not only this pandemic event has effected many people, but it has transform Europe’ political, religious, and cultural practices. The Black Death became an outbreak and painful change to western civilization in which it marked history

The Black Death was the second major plague outbreak in history, the first being the Justinian Plague in 541. The Black Death is believed to have been started in Central Asia. It was then spread to Europe with trade and attacks from Mongol armies. Most notable of these attacks was an attack on the major trade city of Caffa. Many believe that during the Siege of Caffa in 1346 Mongols catapulted infected bodies into the city, as an early form of biological warfare, but the exact method of the outbreaks entrance into Europe is unknown, as research on the Siege of Caffa has shown:

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.

In October 1347, twelve Genoese trading ships sailed to the port of Messina having with them a certain, unexpected disease known as The Black Death. Many sailors were already dead, some alive but close to death. Beginning with what they had from the plague were huge boils that oozed blood and pus. Onto the future, The Black Death spread all through Europe and killed more than 20 million people. Rumors had been spread which everyone called "A great Perstilence .

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were a particularly dreadful time in Europe. The fourteenth century was so bad it is regularly referred to as the calamitous century. During this timeframe the Hundred Years War between France and England occurred. Additionally, there were major upheavals in the power and structure of the Catholic Church. Finally, the Black Death wiped out an estimated one-third of the population of Western Europe. This Black Death or Bubonic Plague was the primary cause of the massive economic and social changes in Europe during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The sheer number of deaths attributed to the plague led to a series of other unfortunate events such as famine and war that compounded the problems and led to the calamity. The Black Death was so well known that it shaped basically all vestiges of art and literature from this timeframe.

The black death is believed to have began in central Asia in the mid-thirteen hundreds, and killed millions. After it spread across Asia it was then carried down the Silk Road reaching Crimea by 1343. Scientists believe that the plague was carried by fleas on rodents, such as rats, being normal passengers traveling on merchant ships across the Mediterranean. The fleas were believed to have bacteria called Yersinia pestis, which is commonly present in the flea population on ground rodents in certain areas such as Central Asia, Kurdistan, Western Asia, Northern India, and Uganda. Scientists believe that all three outbreaks of the epidemic began in China. The disease was devastating to the economy of Europe and Asia, making it hard for people to find employees, and forcing them to pay higher wages. The plague was supposedly

The population losses among the previously overpopulated peasant class, who at this time were underemployed due to this overpopulation, were able to haggle for higher wages and better terms when it came to working, renting, and owning land. At the same time, the sudden loss in population meant the nobles could not demand high prices for product which weakened their power of wealth. This coupled with the higher earning wages of the peasant class meant they could move up in the social order to become farmers themselves or merchants of equal social standing. This period of social mobility didn’t last long, but it allowed for the end of feudalism as it was known during the Middle Ages. The end of feudalism meant the end of kings and nobles being able to give land in return for anything they could ever need including food and protection from knights. While it was still an important part of social class, land was no longer in the very center controlling every decision. In the years before the Black Death, it was the peasants who gave food and work to the knights. The knights then gave protection to nobles which gave money and the knights’ protection to the kings. In return, the king passed down land throughout the social classes. Although, the lower classes had the opportunity to accumulate land for the services they provided, in the end

(Source 4) Matteo Villani, an Italian historian at the time, had recorded some of his observations on the impact of the Black Death. Matteo’s work shows that the Black Death had major effect on the shares of the kingdom, such as, ‘for most [luxury] commodities were more costly, by twice or more, than before the plague. And the price of labour, and the work of all trades and crafts, rose in disorderly fashion beyond the double.’ As quoted from the source, which meant that peasants were richer, the goods costed more and the king was poorer, which upset the dictatorship. This meant that peasants had more power in society. (Source 5) Henry Knighten, an Augustinian canon at the abbey of St Mary of the Meadows, Leicester, England, and an ecclesiastical historian, recorded some observation for the book he was writing about the history of England. During the aftermath of the Black Death, the peasants became aware of their true worth and started to refuse doing the tripled amount of work that was needed to survive which ended up inspiring change in medieval Europe. To finish this paragraph, The Black Death caused major impact on medieval Europe, which is evident because of the fact that few of peasant Europe had thought they were too valuable to do two times as much

The causes of the Black Death – the flea, the rat, and the bacillus Yersinia pestis– have been labeled the “unholy trinity” (Boeckl). The flea is able to live in environmental conditions of about 74° Fahrenheit and 60% humidity (Ibid). Before the Black Death reached Europe, they were experiencing those same types of weather conditions. The rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis and the human flea, Pulex irritans, are both capable of transmitting plague (Boeckl). Sometimes, an infected flea cannot ingest blood because Yersinia pestis obstructs its digestive tract. The blockage causes a flea to regurgitate into a bitten host rather than ingest the host’s blood, thereby infecting the host with plague (Boeckl). Unable to eat, the famished flea will bite with more frequency, accelerating the spread of plague. A flea can be carrying Yersinia pestis without it blocking the flea’s digestive tract, in which case the flea does not transmit plague when it bites a host. Also, Yersinia pestis can only enter a victim through a bite, as the bacilli cannot pass through intact skin (Gottfried).

The Black Death occurred in many different geographical areas, had serious political effects, and was caused by scientific findings. The Black Death was the greatest catastrophe ever in world history, known as the Bubonic Plague, resulting in the death of an estimated one-hundred-million people. This Plague occurred within Central Asia (China), Europe, and Empires in these areas.  It also had serious political effects amongst the Roman Church, causing a non-stable government, and ending feudalism. The scientific findings of the Bubonic Plague include what bacteria it was, how it was contracted, and certain symptoms.

During the mid-thirteenth century to the fourteenth century, an outbreak of a disease called the Bubonic Plague, or Black Death, occurred. It was a very deadly disease that killed approximately one-third of the population of both Europe and the Middle East based on the Student Guide Sheet. It was spread by black rats to fleas then to humans. The infected fleas from the rats would land on the humans, causing them to get the disease. It was spread across the world from China to Europe based on Document One. When the disease struck, it questioned followers of both Christianity and Islam. How would their followers deal with this deadly disease? Each religion looked at the disease differently. This paper will inform you of how differently the Christians

Before 1347, Europe was very overpopulated. Sanitation was terrible because there was no sewage system and people would just throw their waste out of their windows onto the street below. Religion was also a huge part of everyday life. However, this all changed when the Black Death spread into Europe. The Black Death arrived in Europe

The Black Death arrived in Europe by sea in October 1347. It was carried by 12 trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after they traveled through the Black Sea. When the ships docked, the people waiting at the docks were met with horror when they saw that most of the sailors were either dead or gravely ill. They were all covered with insane black boils that oozed blood and pus. This is what gave the illness the name “The Black Death.” The Sicilian Authorities ordered that the “Death Ships” were removed from the harbor, but it was too late. Little did they know, the Black Death would kill more than 20 million people in Europe. “Plague Boils” began to appear in the groin and armpit areas. They oozed with pus and blood. These people