How Did The Black Death Affect Western Europe

How did immediate and long-term effects of the Black Death change medieval society in Europe?

"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

During and after the period of the Black Death medical practices advanced and improved, which helped the people of Europe as well as other continents. Because of the many deaths during the period of the Black Death doctors were able to dissect and inspect more human bodies, even though these

The worst pandemic in human history took place between the 14th and the 19th century. However it would peak between the years of 1348 to 1350 It caused over 25 million deaths and reduced 1/3 of Europe’s population. It was even known to wipe out entire cities and even kill so many people that there was no one to even bury the bodies. This pandemic was known as the Black Plague. This plague was a huge part of history that would lead to the changes of religion, culture, economics, and politics. The black plague is known for causing a huge impact on Europe however that’s not where the disease originated from. (Haensch)

The black death affected Europe because it killed over a third of its population. In all, the black death killed twenty million people in Europe. People fled their homes, families, and friends because they did not want to get infected with the plague. The Plague reduced the population of the world from 450 million to 375 million. Seven thousand people died per day in Cairo. Three Fourths of Florence’s residents were buried in makeshift graveyards. The disease even spread to the isolated outposts Greenland and Iceland. However, the Black Death set the scene for modern medicine. Growing increasingly frustrated about diagnoses with the Black Plague, educators began to place a greater emphasis on medicine.

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

Amongst the devastation and despair the Black Death left in its wake, it also brought with it some much-needed change to the way medieval Europeans were living. Although it ended many innocent lives, it also began a new era of social and economic living. In the years following the first outbreak of the plague, medical knowledge and awareness of hygiene dramatically improved, as did the living and working conditions of the workers. Other benefits included the rapid growth of Europe’s middle class and thus the fall of the feudal system, the loss of the church’s supreme authority, and the increase in economic power for medieval women.

Analyze the influence of the Black Plague on the economic activity in Europe from 1350-1400.

A major impact for this period of time was the “Black Plague” or also called Black Death. This Phenomena was a bubonic plague that wiped out 1/3 of Europe’s population. The plague was considered one of the deadliest pandemics in the history of humankind. 75 million people around the world lost their lives to this plague noting the biggest number of people being located in Europe. The “Black Plague” played a major role in the economic history of the Western Civilization due to so many people dying, Europe was declining rapidly. There were shortages of labor providing a fertile ground for economic diversification and innovation in technology. There was famine and pestilence, which would eventually lead to the capital accumulation intensification in the urban areas, stimulating the growth of trade and industry.

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.

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.

If the Black Death was good for something, it was medicine. It proved that medieval medicine was a disaster, and consequently there was a complete reform. There was an increase in professionalism and licensed medicine. Doctors started to use more traditional practices (based on actual evidence, and not guesses), rather than empirical observation. This response has also more characteristics of a “Renaissance” outlook because of the new things it brought. Medicine was never the same after the Black Death hit the

The Black Death sent doctors scrambling to both create medications for the plague and take measures to secure their status at the highest point of the medicinal hierarchy by making writings on the Black Death and encouraging for more medical practices. For surgeons , the Black Death gave a chance to challenge the position of the doctors and to demonstrate their own power as medical experts capable in both theory and practice. The Black Death helped improve medicine as it put a greater emphasis on practice than there was before

The Black Death was also a way for people to start a new life, and it was also a way for Europe to start from square one. There was a huge effect on education. Many people realised that as much as they believed in God and their religion, the church was not God and that they were just taking the power. Because of this, people tried to research more about the reasons why the plague spread. Therefore, medicals schools were opened and there were many more doctors than before. Technology and machines improved and developed because of the lack of workers on the fields. The idea of feudalism was also faltering as many of the lords had died from the plague. Peasants were more free and they were also let loose from the bounds tying them to the lands. Instead, people started going towards of humanism and ideas of working for the benefits of oneself. There is evidence that can back this up. In Russia, the plague did not have as much as an effect and the feudal system continued until the 19th century.

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.