The Black Death’s Effects on Europe
Cole Younger
WH2
11-20-15
Rough Draft The disastrous plague called the Black Death had monumental, long lasting effects that would ultimately change the fate of the entire continent of Europe. The mid-1300s in Europe were part of the Dark Ages. Human populations were near over-crowding, and the land was stretched to produce food. Mother Nature created a drastic solution. The world lifted a bleak shadow of death and chaos over the people of Europe in the form of plague. It originated from fleas, but rats carried the fleas with this plague across seaward trading routes from Asia. Humans were oblivious to the deadly fleas disguised in the familiar sight of the rats aboard their trading ships. The plague was an airborne disease, and it was transmittable to humans. Once one was infected, no escape option was available. The plague was characterized by black cysts on the skin, which influenced humans to later dub the plague “The Black Death”. Europe was previously suffering during the Dark Ages, but what were the Black Death’s effects on Europe? The staggering effects of the Black Death were outlined clearly in the fragility of religion, the floundering population and education, and oddly enough, a recovered and thriving economy. The Black Death called into question what power, of lack thereof, that God had to protect people from the plague. It is not clear if the western church lost authority during the plague. A great
The Black Death was the worst epidemic in the history of the world to date. The plague killed off more than a third of the total European population during the mid-1300’s. Several people believed that the plague was punishment from God for the sins of man, while others believed it was brought about by natural causes, and there were yet others who did not care where or why the plague came but only how they could better their own lives.
The Black Plague affected the people’s relationship with the church and therefore changed the church’s effect on society. One way the plague affected the people in relation to the church was
Do you know what The Black Plague was, it was a horrible disease that people back in the middle ages didn’t know where it came from how to fight off against it and how it spread. People back then didn’t know where it came from but scientists now think they know. Scientists think that Black Rats and fleas caused the black plague that the fleas carried it and gave it to the rats then the rats passed it along then the rats died and the fleas moved to a new host they moved to humans and spread it even further.(A&E, The Black Death)The rats that infected the humans lived in a city called Kaffa and then went on ships with people and moved to other places like Italy, Constantinople and England. When the rats died the fleas went to humans and the rat’s dead bodies would give an animal and or human the virus without the flea having to bite anyone. (Stephen Person pg.4)The fleas probably feed on the rats blood and gave the rat the infection the rat then died and the fleas moved on to a new rat when there were no more living rats they probably went on to humans
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 condition that Europe was in before the Black Death struck was ultimately one of the main reasons for the disease’s quick spreading. One bad condition that helped to make the Black Death even more deadly was the population boom of Europe in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries (Kagan et al. 292). Another pre-existing condition that hurt the health of Europe was the multiple famines that would come to be known at the Great Famine (Kagan et al. 292). The last cause of the Black Death being able to spread so rapidly was the economic depression that occurred shortly before the plague began. With all of these conditions combined, many Europeans citizens were weakened so much that the Black Death easily killed many of them and in some cases,
Analyze the influence of the Black Plague on the economic activity in Europe from 1350-1400.
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:
Ring-around the Rosie, A pocket full of posies, Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down. Is a sad remembrance of a terrible event as expressed to a happy children's nursery rhyme. “Ring around the Rosie,” describes the swelling in the lymph node. This swelling is circular making up the “ring” the center turns black and is surrounded by a red rash. The “Rosie” is the center of this reddish ring. The living began rotting before dying, healthy individuals used flowers to cover the odor. The poem shows attempts to get rid of the smell in the second verse, “a pocket full of posies” The posies represent fourteenth century air fresheners. “Ashes! Ashes!” Some may believe that the ashes represent cremation, the last line in the poem expresses death “we all fall down” no one survives the plague (1). The Black Death ravaged through Europe killing millions but its effect on France was most noticeable.
The Black Plague (also known as the Black Death or Bubonic Plague) of the 1300s is considered by many historians to be one of the most influential events in the history of Europe. Originating in Asia, the Black Plague has three forms; Bubonic which affects the lymph nodes, pneumonic which affects the lungs, and septicemia which affects the blood. Through examining the effects of the Plague on Europe and its people, it is clear that politics, social life, and economics were all irreparably thrown off balance. Perhaps the part of Europe disturbed most by the Black Death was politics.
The Black Death hit the shores of Europe in October 1347. After a long a tough journey, through the Black Sea, twelve ships or Genoese docked at the Sicilian Port. Those who greeted the ships had a horrifying site of dead sailors and the sailors who were alive were greatly ill. It is said that the sailors had awful fevers, were not able to keep food down, and they were covered in black boils that oozed blood and puss. This is where the name Black Death came from. Although the ships were ordered to leave the port, the Black Death claimed the lives of over 20 million people, about one third of the continent’s population during that time, over the next five year.1
From 13th to 16th century, Western Europeans fundamentally reoriented the relationship between themselves and the natural world. Challenging the hierarchical feudal order, the advent of the Black Death coupled with two major technological revolutions, the emergence of maritime trade and the invention of the printing press, subverted longstanding modalities. As a result, Europeans began to reassess their relationship not merely with the feudal system and the Catholic church, but with their own global positionality. Embracing an expansionist mindset, the Europeans developed a worldview that was entirely unsustainable. Subjugating both the global south and the natural world, the European hegemons developed an exploitative worldview that is still omnipresent in the modern day. The domination of an infinite frontier, with its origin in the crisis of feudal Europe, has longstanding consequences in regards to the forthcoming climate calamity.
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.
In The Plague the effects of the Black Death that ravaged Europe in the fourteenth century are described. The video begins by discussing the conditions that were the norm at the beginning of the 1340’s. To the people at the time, the church and its teachings were the answer to all of life’s questions. Even medicine was closely associated with the teachings of the Bible. The plague began in Mongolia and followed the trade routes that had been opened between Europe and China. The medical establishment of the day believed the plague was caused by noxious vapors, but it was actually
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.
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.