Social Life and Customs in the 1400’s

During the postclassical age, empires expanded and religions were spread. Christianity is a monotheistic religion that was already present, but Islam, another monotheistic religion emerged during the 7th century. The rapid expansion of the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties resulted in the spread and rapid conversion of this religion. Some of the effects of this cross cultural interactions between 600-1450 CE included the Afro Eurasian Trade Network as it facilitated the spread of Islam and technology, the conversion to Islam by civilians as the basis of the religion was equality and the Great Schism which split the church permanently into Catholic and Orthodox churches.

It reached Europe in 1347. In a few years up to 50 percent of the population died, with higher mortality rates in urban areas. It returned every few years for centuries.

During this time the social class depended on how much land you owned. Royalty in your Kings and Queens was part of the upper class; the noble lords and vassals followed the

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.

During the middle ages the lack of protection and a stable government after the Fall of Rome created the need for a new political system. Feudalism was the political system that emerged and shaped the lives of people socially and politically. Manors were small communities that were made up of a castle, church, village, and land for farming. The structured society provided a place and responsibility for everyone. The feudal obligations showed that in exchange for one thing they would be provided with something else. Serfs and peasants would work and produce goods for the rest of the manor and in return had their land and promised protection. The vassals would need to obtain land from the Lord and in return would provide the Lord with military service, loyalty, and ransom if asked for (Doc. 4). To make clear the vassal’s specific allegiance to their lord whom they owed in for exchange for their fief they would take the Homage Oath (Doc. 2). This interdependent system required everyone to do their part and it created social classes that they were born into. Their daily lives were centered on the manor and that was how it stayed until towns began to

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 economy dropped severely from 1350-1400 and one of the many reasons was from the Black Plague. It infected so many people and got them sick, the agriculture was failing, and 25,000,000 people died.

During the middle of the 14th century the Black Plague struck Europe. The Black Plague affected Europe religiously, economically, and socially.

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in history. Many Western Europeans were living with this disease for nearly four hundred years. The disease was able to spread rapidly and affected Europe in many ways. Since this disease was rapidly spreading throughout Europe it scared many of the people during this time. Many historians considered the Black Death in the fourteenth century a turning point in Western European history. According to Streissguth, “Before the epidemic of bubonic and pneumonic plague died out three years later, it would kill more than one-third of the continent’s population.” Hundreds of thousand people died from this horrific disease which changed Europe forever. Near the end of the fourteenth century it was obvious to the people living during that time that the plague had become a regular and destructive aspect of life. The plague had left many rural areas untouched after the late 1300’s but the epidemic began almost every decade. When the Black Death began to spread across Europe it caused unimaginable fear, panic, and chaos for the people. The Black Death was an important turning point in Europe, where the economics, politics, and society would never be the same. The Black Death spread rapidly across Europe causing many people to become ill and die which resulted in social, economic, and religious upheavals.

In the book A World Lit Only by Fire, the author, William Manchester, describes the period of time between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the start of the Renaissance known as the medieval period, or Middle Ages. The church had the most power in Europe and people struggled with surviving events such as epidemics. Consequently people had very short lives that may have not served them well. Every person in Europe during this time would eventually hear, “Bring out your dead!” as the gravediggers’ carts rolled down the street each night after an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague. Life during the medieval period was brutal and harsh with everything from church domination and the constant warring over political power to diseases and

In 1347 the Black Death has started. It was October when trading ships just pulled up after a long trip there the black sea. There were people on the docs to meet when something surprising has happened half of the people on the ships were dead and the other half that were alive were really ill the people on the docs tried to get rid of it but it was too late the next couple of years 20 million people in europe were dead. The bubonic plague impacted the european society by making people greedy and selfish with each other,families were people separated, and people were questioning religion.

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate how the Black Death impacted Western Europe during the fourteenth century. How did the Black Death Impact Western Europe? To answer this question, I will look at many sources such as historical texts, biographies, and academic journals. All of the sources were found through databases that were provided online. I will be evaluating two of the sources in more depth and detail.

The fourteen hundreds were a time of turmoil in Europe and Asia for many reasons . It was a time of Panic, disease, political instability, and a decline in the power of the church . Although each of these problems are somewhat unrelated, they all stem from the same source, the Bubonic Plague. The bubonic plague started in Asia, and spread its way into parts of Northern Africa and Europe devastating everything in its path. Not only did the Black Death effect the people of Europe and Asia, it effected their economic, social, and religious lives as well .

In the 1300s, Europe was thriving with new innovations and huge cities that covered the country. Most of Europe was urban and very crowd with a population of 50,000 (“Middle Ages”). The 1300s was a period known as the Middle Ages, which represents the time where the Roman Empire and the Constantinople fell. During this time around 1350, infectious disease was spreading through the streets of Europe. Approximately, 20 million people died in Europe from the plague, which is roughly around one-third of the population (“Black Plague”). The Black Plague affected European civilization and how European society viewed the world. The renaissance is a prime example of how the Black Plague affected Europe. The Black Plague helped influence people

In the 1400s, Europe had been left in devastation from the aftermath of the black plague. This had left Europe in major religious, social and economic upheavals. Orphans, theft, intoxication, prostitution, brutality and misuse of powerful by important figures were very common. Education was unavailable to anyone without enough money to pay for it, creating an extremely large gap and social division between the classes. Church services and the bible were spoken and written in Latin, resulting in the majority of the common people being unable to understand the true meaning behind the words. As People were unable to read the bible, the only way to connect with God was through church services. Priests and Monks had several different jobs and often refused to help peasants when they asked for it, generating mistrust between the clergy and lay people.