How Did The Black Death Affect Society

Significant events cause society to change in many ways and the Black Death was no exception. The Black Death raged through Europe from 1347 to 1351 killing over 25 million people, almost 50% of the population at the time . The Black Death influenced European society in numerous ways, which have changed the future we currently live in. The Black Death led to medical advancements, weakening in the power of the church and the refining of the feudal system. The Black Death was a time of death and destruction however changes happening at the time benefitted society and led to an age of happiness and prosperity.

The Black Death was a plague that caused the death of ⅓ of europe's population. And was caused by many different forms of plagues. This disease took over and caused many negative effects in Europe. Although as hard as it is to believe is that there were positive effects as well. It all started when traders coming from central and eastern Asia brought rats carrying this plague, and fleas spread it around Europe by sucking blood from the infected rats and spreading the plague to the people.

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 Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the Black Death, devastated the world between 1347 and 1351. Due to the plague being transmitted through fleas, many people were susceptible to the disease that wiped out much of the population. The plague caused much throughout Europe because of the number of lives lost, the number of people affected, and the limited amount of medical research that came from this period in time. The number of lives lost caused devastation in Europe.

The Black Death completely changed the social structure of medieval Europe by causing the downfall of feudalism and manorialism, its effect on the Catholic church, and its push towards creating a society that oppressed Jews. Europeans of the Middle Ages were no strangers to horrific disease. Chronic illnesses such as typhoid, dysentery and diphtheria were common, but the most feared disease was leprosy, which may not have been the most fatal disease, but by far the most horrific. Those infected by these illnesses were completely ostracized from society -- they were forced to live alone, ring a warning bell as they approached, and dress a certain way. In a world where social class meant everything, this was the most wretched life imaginable.

Feeling sick is not fun at all. There is over 80 different types of diseases we know about. The earth's population is 7.4 billion people. Imagine if one third to half of that population was killed by a disease. That would be between 2.4 to 3.4 billion people killed by a disease. This was the case of the bubonic plague in Europe from 1348-1349. The bubonic sometimes called the Black Death. This plague was very deadly. The way it spread was through rats and fleas. The fleas would carry the disease and they would bite the rats which infected the rats. The rats then spread the disease to the humans which then spread it even more. The Black Death changed many aspects in society at this time. The Black Plague caused many changes to society such as making the people feel like God is punishing them, the food supply diminished, and there was a high demand for labor.

The Black Death ( or Black Plague) was a very harmful disease at that time period. Not as common today although you can still catch it.. It was very common in Europe and the Middle East around that time period. There were a lot of differences based on religion and the way people looked at the disease. The Christians and the Muslims did have a few comparisons but overall the disease was looked at it different. The Black was caused by a flea that was taking blood from a rat and when the rat died the flea was trying to find another host as soon as possible. Some symptoms were a big growing of buboes, fever, headaches, etc… Two ways it was spread was the popping of buboes and fleas.

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 was an epidemic disease that was also known as the Bubonic Plague. It was one of the most tragic epidemics that has happened in the world. The Black Death hit England between the years of 1348-1350. This plague annihilated one third of its original population. Trading ships that came to England during this time were blamed for the spread of this disease. People believed that when trading ships left other countries that they would bring in infested rats that carried the disease. When the rats would come in contact with a person or bit a person is believed to be the reason on why the deadly virus spread so quickly. Also many thought that the plague was airborne; when they thought this was the cause of the spreading of the

Another aspect of life that was highly affected was society. During the plague and after the plague society’s values and faith began to change. When the Black Death began taking the lives of the clergy just as well as everyone else, society began to wonder if the clergy were as powerful and as united to God as they had once believed, because no matter their prayer the plague was still raging. The people lost faith in the clergy and by the end of the plague the Church had lost its authority, not only for the reason

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.

According to Robert S. Gottfried, author of the book The Black Plague: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe, the Black Plague had a huge impact on human behavior and psychology, “the mechanics and commonplaces of everyday life simply stopped, at least initially “(77-78). With the devastation of the plague, “peasants no longer ploughed, merchants closed their shops, and some, if not all, churchmen stopped offering last rites” (Gottfried 78). In his book The Decameron, Boccaccio described many of the responses of the people during this time:

"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

The Black Death sometimes called the black plague was devastating for the people living in Europe from 1346 to 1353 Killing around 200 million people, there were many different theories to what was happening to everyone, Most people thought that it was some kind of judgement day, killing all the people who had sinned. Until the priests and popes and important people that no one ever thought God would want dead, so eventually most people figured out that by going near the sick and being in contact with them made you sick so in fear of their lives they stopped going near all people that were sick including family members and friends which was kind of sad they would just lock them up and leave them to die and

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.