How Did The Black Death Affect European Society

The triggered movement of the black death spread from Asia to Europe and then the Middle East not only affecting the peasants and other lower class people but the middle and higher class, soon later destroying parts of the feudal system and leading into future generations of advanced inventions, science, and medical practices.

(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

In the late Middle Ages the worst evil known to man terrorized Europe. People were dropping dead everywhere and there was no place to put them. This vicious culprit was known as the Black Plague. During the 14th century in Europe millions of people died from the plague and the plague brought about great change. Before the plague there was peace and prosperity in the High Middle Ages and after the plague things were different. Historians consider the outbreak of the Black Plague a watershed moment because of great social, religious and economical changes.

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 black death affected the Europeans in numerous ways, short and long term effects were both seen. A short term effect of the the plague was that when the black death pandemic spread through Europe commerce and trade practically stopped and there was a substantial rise in the price of goods. Because the death toll from the black death was so high, the surviving workers pushed for improved living conditions and higher wages. In order to live past the plague days many people were forced to wear masks with herbs at the end of them to help protect themselves from the airborne disease. After the plague had taken its toll Europeans lives changed dramatically, the majority of people did not have much existing family or friends left and almost all

The change in the feudal system was one of the political consequences of the Bubonic plague. When the population decreased the feudal system began to fail due to the lack of serfs and the working class. So the system was changed and made more fair for everyone. Serfs were allowed more land and better working conditions. It also had religious aspects.

Medical conditions were lacking throughout this period of time. Not to mention the doctors would not want to jeopardize their own health to help people during the time of the Black Death. With no help from the doctors this left the disease to continue to run rapidly and people continuing to die. If a doctor did help they wore outfits made of leather to protect themselves from the plague and they wore a mask (DOC. 6).Treatments of this time included a variety of options.

The Black Death sent doctors scrambling to create medications for the sickness. For surgeons, the Black Death gave them a chance to challenge the position of the doctors and to affirm their own power as medical experts capable in theory and practice. In digitalcommons.wayne.edu, it states “The Black Death helped cause a shift in medicine toward greater emphasis on practice than there had been before, and intensified the struggle for status between physicians and surgeons.” “ the Black Death represents an event that helped shape medieval medicine's course of development, and as such, helped shape the development of future medical practices.” This shows that the Black Plague had helped majorly for the future of medicine because the Black Plague was so deadly back

Plague and diseases were significant and devastating in history because they don’t have the medical system as the modern society. The Black Plague changed the European Society substantially. The disaster affected all aspects of life— depopulation, government corruption, economy decreased dramatically, etc. “The disease carved a path of death through Asia, Italy, France, North Africa, Spain, and Normandy, and continued eastward into Hungary” (The Plague in Florence). The black plague impacted the amount of labors and the Jews. It also undermined the medieval model of feudalism and the presence of the church.

These were the cures and treatment they believed to cure the plague. On the good side, the Black Death led to new explorations and trade routes for merchants to use. New explorations found spices that became on demand around Europe. The plague has a great impact on art and literature as some artists drew pictures of the plague showing a feeling of sorrow and melancholy. It also represents “evil” and “death”.

During the High Middle Ages, Feudalism and the Societal Hierarchy was the social construct of the land. In that time period only 10% of peasants were actually free men, the rest were under the social class of serfs. Europe was becoming overpopulated due to periods of peace and prosperity, making it incredibly convenient for cheap labor. Working for the lords of the land, Serfs were very much close to slaves, but this all changed during the 1350s. The population began to decline due to mass starvation caused by poor harvest, throughout parts of Europe. Increased warfare also contributed to decline in population, such as Hundred Years’ War. Perhaps the most detrimental of all this is, the black plague, which began to wreak havoc in Europe around 1348. The Black Plague, “Black Death”, was a disease that civilization had no answer to. The massive deaths of the population caused the feudal lords to face severe labor shortages,

Farm animals died, further diminishing the food supply. With all the deaths and drop in demand or food, the price of food dropped.” Everything started to decrease slowly with all of the deaths that were occurring in that time. With fewer people around to work, the wages had to rise in order for people to do their job. According to Depopulation, rebellion, and Social Progress, “ In Western Europe, common folks were more inclined to rebellion. With labor in short supply, they were aware of their added value as producers and eager to improve their situation.” More people wanted to get a higher job placement because of the few people that are left in Europe. The supply decreased and the demand increased so the economy

With an reorganized society, the economy had many innovations. The economy was very inefficient with the original huge population from before the plague. However, with the huge cut down on population, things worked much better, food was cheaper, less workers removed competition and raised wages, and workers could rebel with fear of being replaced. This difference in food price was due to the abundance of food, and as James said in The Black Plague, "with all of the deaths ..., the price of food dropped" (Mulhern, ¶ 21). This shows how the high population was unsustainable, but with a smaller society, things were much better for the majority. This moves on to other parts

The Black Death had many effects on the social and economic factors of Europe. For starters, the population declined. It is estimated that one-quarter to one-third of the population was killed, or in other words, from 17 to 28 million people. Along with the high death toll, many people fled to the countryside. However, the decrease in population wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Since there was less people, that meant there were also less workers. Wages rose tremendously during the Plague. The workers really needed that raise, though, because the Black Death brought on sudden and extreme inflation, which was caused by less trade and less people able to work.

In the Later Middle Ages, from 1300 to 1450, a plague is seen spreading and killing mass amounts of people in Europe, this plague would later be named the Black Death. Starting in China in 1331 and then spreading to Europe by cargo ships in 1347. During the Later Middle Ages the climate also changed, dropping the temperature, killing crops, and freezing water supplies. During this period there were also multiple crisis that began to pop up, and not many can be attributed to the Black Death. One must take each event and look for causation case-by-case rather they labeling all with the same brush stroke.