Plagues in England: Death Is in the Air Essay

"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 was one of the worst pandemics in history. The disease ravaged Europe, Western Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa between 1346 and 1353 (Horrox 1994). It is difficult to understand the reality of such a devastating event, especially given the fact that science during the middle ages was severely underdeveloped. No one knew about bacteria, viruses, or other microbial agents of disease (Benedictow 2004). They had no way of protecting themselves during that time and no one was safe from the effects of the plague. Those who wrote chronicles claimed that only a tenth of the population had survived, while others claimed that half to a third of the population was left alive (Horrox 1994). In 1351, agents for Pope Clement VI predicted the number of deaths in Europe to be 23,840,000 (Gottfried 1983). Obviously, not all regions experienced the same mortality rates, but modern estimates of the death rate in England give the first outbreak a mortality rate of about forty-eight percent (Horrox 1994). That is, England lost half of its population in about a year and a half. Clearly the chroniclers ' who claimed that ninety percent of the population had died were overstating the magnitude of the plague, but this overemphasis demonstrates how terrifying the pandemic was to those who experienced it (Horrox 1994). The Black Death had huge consequences on the lives of those who were impacted directly, as well as major religious and cultural effects that came afterward.

History reveals the mid-14th century as a very unfortunate time for Europe. It was during this period when the continent became afflicted by a terrible plague. The source of the pathogen is known today as bubonic but was colloquially known as “The Black Death” to Europeans of the day. The plague caused a tremendous number of deaths and was a catalyst of change, severely impacting Europe’s cultural, political and religious institutions.

The Black Death, also known as the bubonic plague, was a disease that devastated Medieval Europe, between 1346 and 1352 it killed 45 million people, wiping out a third of Europe's population. Today, we know that there were many causes of the Black Death. Medieval towns had no system of drains, sewers or trash collections. In such slovenly conditions, germs could grow, and diseased rats could call these medieval towns their homes and infect the people who lived there. Many historians believed the plague originated in china and spread to other countries by trade routes. Infected people and/or infected rodents such as mice or black rats. The Black Death was caused by strains of the bubonic plague. The plague lived in fleas, and fleas lived on

Pursell The Black Death Reassessed What really happened to Europe during Black Death? For years, the accepted version of the event has been that a plague from the East, carried by rodents who were infected by fleas, traveled by trade routes and subsequently infected Europeans. The name of this plague is infamously known as the Bubonic Plague; it’s said to have claimed the lives of a third of the continent’s population. Not everyone accepts the prominent version of this event though. In this essay, we will read of two scholars who dispute the official narrative of the Bubonic plague; one scholar will apply this revisionism solely to England, whereas the other will look at Europe as a whole. Moreover, death toll estimates will be scrutinized too. In addition, we will read of a third scholar who offers insight into the aftermath of the Black Death in England in terms of its social and economic development. Clearly, something devastating struck Europe in the 14th century. Whatever it was might not ever be exactly known. However, for the sake of understanding its true impact upon European society, it’s worth reassessing this long-held account. In his writing, The Black Death:

All throughout history nations all over the world have dealt with deadly diseases, but one in particular brought out the fear in the nations of Europe, the bubonic plague or as others call it, the black death. During the thirteenth century, medicine was not as developed as it is now, causing England to suffer more than others. According to Cantor (2002) the European nations encountered the bubonic plague in its most brutal state during 1348 to 1349, taking out about a third of Europe’s population (pp. 6-7). He continues on by claiming that one big question to this event was whether or not the plague was the full cause to the loss of lives or if there was another cause along with it (p. 11). Cantor (2002) also explained that the reason the black plague stopped in Europe around the eighteenth century could possibly have been from an introduction to a new species of rats, the gray rat (p. 13). Even though there is controversy based around the plague being spread by rats and how it was stopped by isolation, it may have taught countries useful strategies and ways to grow stronger.

The plague was a catastrophic time in history, and happened more than once. It took millions and millions of people’s lives. It destroyed cities and countries, and many people suffered from it.

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,

The Great Plague of London claimed seventy five thousand to one hundred thousand lives of their population of four hundred sixty thousand, from 1664 to 1666. The epidemic raged through Cologne and the Rhine from 1666 to 1670, the Netherlands from 1667 to 1669, soon following it subsided in western Europe. This this was followed with outbreaks in North Africa, Poland, Hungary, Austria, and Germany. Malta lost eleven thousand people in 1675, Vienna lost at least seventy six thousand in 1679, and Prague lost eighty three thousand in 1681. Germany also was a victim of the plague’s carnage until it disappeared in Germany in 1683.

One of the many Economic benefits the Black Plague brought, was a new power for peasants. This meant they were granted higher pay, better working conditions and sometimes more land out in the fields. Prior to the initial outbreak of the Black Death, the people of Europe followed a social hierarchy system called the ‘feudal system’. Under its reign, there were only two main social categories; the rich, wealthy nobles and the poor, powerless peasants. Most of these peasants earned very little, if any pay, for their hard work. Following the Black Death, there were two ways these peasants could become prosperous, either by gaining more vacant land, or demanding higher wages. The Black Death is thought to have wiped out around one-third of Europe’s population of the time, and therefore many blocks of land were left unattended. It didn’t take long

After Edward III died in 1377, England experience domestic issues during the reign of Richard II

In England , bubonic plague on average killed at least one-third of all inhabitants between 1348 and 1349. In London alone, one out of two people died during the visitation. The bottom line is that every English man, woman, and child at the time encountered plague in some way, and all feared it.

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.

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 great plague came in three different forms. The types of illness differed in symptoms, spread and sufferings. The bubonic plague was the diseases most common form. It was named this due to swelling called “buboes” of the victim’s lymph nodes. “These tumors could range in size from that of an egg to that of an apple” (The Black Death). The longest expectancy with this form of illness didn’t often exceed one week. The second variation of plague was known as the “pneumatic