The Black Death Plague: Negative Effects On European Society

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.

"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

In the year 1348 the world changed forever. The Black Death, which is another name for the Bubonic Plague, laid havoc on the entire world. “The plague chases the screaming without pity and does not accept a treasure for a ransom. Its engine is far-reaching. The plague enters into the house and swears it will not leave except with all of its inhabitants…” (Al-Wardi, #29, 113). The plague did not care if the people were rich, poor, white, black, Muslim or Catholic, it would kill whomever it could. The plague brought out the worst in people because people acted selfishly, people were completely inhumane, and there was no peace.

When the plague struck lots of the population of slaves and peasants died, which meant that there was a huge struggle for landowners to find workers for their fields. This meant that peasants could demand higher wages and had lots of bargaining power. This is because if landowners didn’t have workers than they wouldn’t be making any money, which would lead to their loss in wealth. Another way the feudal system was changed is that usually skilled artisans and craftsmen handed down their family business to their sons. However if these descendants were dead then craftsmen and artisans had to employ new workers, which meant peasants and slaves acquired more important skills. And finally, because of these reasons there was a growth in the middle class. The middle class are not slaves, but not nobles. This meant the population became more equal and many different jobs arose for people. Changes to the feudal system allowed Europe to grow closer to what we know it as

The Black Death, the most severe epidemic in human history, ravaged Europe from 1347-1351. This plague killed entire families at a time and destroyed at least 1,000 villages. Greatly contributing to the Crisis of the Fourteenth Century, the Black Death had many effects beyond its immediate symptoms. Not only did the Black Death take a devastating toll on human life, but it also played a major role in shaping European life in the years following.

Another reason the Black Plague affected the economy was how so many people died. The continent had enjoyed some 200 years of prosperity, and then 70 of cold. Result: too little food for too many people. By 1350 one-third of them, especially in the swollen cities, would be dead. In Europe in three or four years, 50 million people died. The population was reduced from some 80 million to

The Plague or ¨Black Death¨ was a virus that spread across Europe killing about 60% of the population. The plague's origin was at the time unknown and this brought about many questions. At this time, people did not have basic necessities such as proper hygiene and medicine. Therefore there was fear, superstitions as well as conspiracy, and there were also some who realized that they could gain from the deaths of those around them.

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.

Since there were very few people left to do any work, the wages went up a lot. Lots of people didn’t pay their rent either because they thought it was acceptable since there was so much free land left behind and because of that, tax money became on the decline. Many soldiers and merchants were dead, so the remaining ones started asking for a lot more money. The people who survived the plague and worked for someone had an advantage because most people were gone and workers were needed everywhere. The surviving workers took this to their advantage and demanded things they wanted like higher compensation and being treated better and more fairly.

The Black Death was a plague also known as the bubonic and pneumonic plague. It spread from Asia in the mid fourteenth century and affected Europe quite dramatically. The Black Death impacted Europe in lots of different ways. This significant event in history affected their way of life and changed a lot of things. This can be seen in the way that the population dramatically decreased. Additionally, the feudal system was also affected. Furthermore, food and essentials were dramatically increased in price, due to shortage of them.These are just three of the many ways that the Black Death had an effect on Europe.

The plague impacted economies all over the world. To try and keep the epidemic from spreading many governments outlawed the exporting of food and other goods, they controlled the prices of grain, and they worked on ceasing the black market. This contributed to the rapid decline of Europe’s economy. Another important economic impact was lack of the working class peasant population. Peasants had more overall power because landowners had to give competitive wages and offers.

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 one of the most devastating outbreaks in human history. The disease spread fast and covered the territory from China to England and the ultimate western part of Europe. Covering almost entire Europe within several years. The disease was a true mystery for Medieval people since the medicine was under developed to cope with such a disease as the Black Death, which was presumably a plague. The development and spread of the disease was fast and provoked the depopulation of Europe. At the same time, the Black Death had not only a devastating numerical impact but also the disease had a fatal economic impact on Europe as well as other countries of the world and, what is more, the disease contributed to the consistent change of

How Did It Effect Society The plague claim over 1/3 of Europe's population . Entire towns were depopulated due to the plague. 20 Million people were erased from Europe. The plague ripped all society apart, it separated the living from the dying, it destroyed friendship because one was infected and the other not.

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.