The Black Plague Of Europe

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.

Norman F. Cantor, In the Wake of the Plague (New York: Harper Collins First Perennial edition, 2001) examines how the bubonic plague, or Black Death, affected Europe in the fourteenth century. Cantor recounts specific events in the time leading up to the plague, during the plague, and in the aftermath of the plague. He wrote the book to relate the experiences of victims and survivors and to illustrate the impact that the plague had on the government, families, religion, the social structure, and art.

There were three major outbreaks of the Black Death pandemic in the world. In the history the Black Plague is also called as the Black Death or Bubonic Plague. This research paper will mainly cover the European outbreak of the 14th century as it is considered to be the era of the worst time of the Black Death period. Many historians would agree that the events of 1300s led to dramatic changes affecting every European country in all the aspects. Creating economic, social, religious, and medical issues, the Black Death caused renovation of the Europe. New circumstances forced Europe to reconsider its political system, improve the medicine and look at the situation from a different perspective, shifting from the medieval to modern society. Paul Slack, in his book The Impact of Plague in Tudor and Stuart England, provides a detailed description of the most affected places and the approximation of the victims, estimating that Europe had lost about one third of its population. Comparing to cholera the number of deaths caused by the Black Plague in England is doubled making The Black Plague the most devastating disease (Slack 174). In the book, The Black Death, Robert Gottfried examines the history of the Black Plague and its political consequences as well as social. He introduces the facts how the European population was affected in both positive and negative ways. From his writing it stood out that the lower class was affected the most as the conditions they lived in were worse

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 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 .

The Black Plague is a disease that spread around the world and killed many people. There are three different types of the plague; Bubonic, Septicemic, and Pneumonic (Dugdale). The Black Plague effected Europe greatly and effected there way of life. It came to Europe around the 1300s and had a great impact on society in the 1500s (History). Important parts of the black plague are the different types of the plague, how they spread, treatments for them, and effects the plague had on Europe in the 1500s.

In the 1300s’ the black plague struck parts of Asia, Europe and parts of northern Africa. Many people believed that this was an act of God, and it disrupted the growth of the people of Europe. This was big on the Church because priests left their duties, and the Church was on the decline. Although there were many ways the church was on the decline, the black plague is the main reason. The priests abandoned their duties, many people suffered, and the church became richer. Therefore, I believe the black plague played a key role on the churches decline.

“Ring around the rosy, a pocketful of posies. Ashes, ashes. We all fall down.” Many children sing this popular nursery rhyme around the globe; the origins of this seemingly innocent poem, however, derived itself in the thirteenth century. This tune originated during the time of a calamitous pandemic that struck the Eurasian continent. Commonly known as the Black Death, the plague is one of the most disastrous events in Europe’s natural history. England underwent serious modifications concerning it politically, socially, and economically as a result of the contagion. The Black Death, a plague that devastated Medieval England from 1347 to 1351, tremendously modified the Middle Ages; the pandemic contains a complex history that drastically altered England’s economy and people’s religious views.

“The Black Death plague was one of the worst things to happen to Europe in the years 1346-53. The Black Death came from central Asia in the autumn to Britain in 1346. Also known as the bubonic plague, it spreads by infected fleas, the epidemic swept through over the better part of the next year. This horrible disease destroyed many lives and killed hundreds upon hundreds of people. It was probably one of the worst plagues in Europe.

The bubonic plague of the thirteen hundreds swept through Europe, claiming the lives of one-third of its ' population in merely three years. This was the most horrific epidemic the world has seen to date. Poor sanitation practices, improper burial of corpses, and insufficient systems for waste removal were important factors in allowing the plague to manifest (Byrne 31). Infected fleas and rats, brought by trade ships and the Mongols, initially brought the disease and allowed it to spread throughout Europe with immense speed and terror (The Plague). Infection brought vomiting, multi-organ failure, black boils and even blackened limbs which inspired the term "black plague" (Eastman 10). Many sought answers as to why they were being cursed with the black death and looked for ways to channel their despair. Religious zealots looked for answers outside of Roman Catholicism which created a divide in the church (Boccaccio 8). Emotional turmoil and a search for a cure led to a revolution in art and medicine that brought the world into the Renaissance. While the far-reaching black plague vanquished much of Europe, it also brought about positive changes to society.

The Black Death was an outbreak of one of the most terrible pandemics in human history, sweeping through the world, clearing thousands of settlements and turning them into 'ghost towns'. The name "Black Death" does not refer to the entire worldwide event, but refers to the outbreaks of the plague in Europe, which started in about 1346. Throught the years after 1346, the Black Death completely ravaged Europe, and turned it into a chaotic place, until the Black Death left Europe (possibly because there were not enough human hosts). By then, it had then killed around an estimated 70 million - 200 million people, about half of Europe's population, changing the history of Europe and the entire world forever.

‘The Black Death’ or ‘The Plague’ was the highly contagious epidemic that spread through Europe between 1347 and 1350. Fleas spread the Plague. It killed at least a third of the population in Europe and in Paris it is estimated 800 people died a day. The loss of population, however, wasn’t the only impact the Black Death had on Europe. The Black Death caused society to change in brutal but also positive ways. Religion took control in fighting the disease. People blamed other religions and thought God was causing the outbreak. The Black Death opened up opportunities for medicine to develop and doctors learnt more about the human body. However, no amount of praying and medical research could stop the Black Death’s natural course. As it spread throughout Europe the structure of medieval society changed. Peasants had new power and wealth and skills in trade spread. When the Black Death had finally left, Europe it was a changed nation.

“The pandemic lasted until 1351, but smaller outbreaks (epidemics) continued off-and-on for decades” (Black Plague: Least you need to know). As time went on, sanitation and public health practices greatly mitigated the impact of what was once the worst disease in Europe. Every few generations the Black Death would reappear for a short while, claiming the lives of only a few victims instead of millions. It had ran it’s course, rampaging from town to town and port to port, stealing the lives of men, women, and even children. After these hard times, people changed the way they acted and viewed everything and the church changed for the better so God would not want to unleash his wrath, again. The Black Death was now over which left room for new ideas and new diseases, cholera, typhoid fever, and tuberculosis were now the most significant reasons for death. This was the end of the greatest impact on

The Black Death, so named by later historians, was a disastrous mortal disease and spread across Europe in the years 1347~1352(Hunt 416). The Black Death, now known as plague, is caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis. When humans are bitten by a rodent flea, humans usually get the plaque ("Plague Homepage | CDC"). Nowadays, the plague can be treated by antibiotics easily. However, in the middle of the 14th century, no one knew what caused the disease, and how the disease was transmitted to others. The Black Death probably arrived in Europe by European traders who traveled the Black Sea region because they imported Chinese goods. When the Chinese goods were on board, they may have carried the plague infested rats and some traders may have already become carriers themselves as well. Soon after that, it spread quickly throughout Europe, and killed 20million people which was one third or more of Europe’s entire population (Council for Economic Education (New York, N.Y.) 240). Also, it brought about great changes and impacts economically, socially, and religiously on Europe. Now I am going to explain how and why the Black Death changed Europe.

The Black Death was a devastating, tragic, disease that spread across Europe killing millions of people. The Black Plague/Death included many details common to diseases and/or plagues and caused damage and destruction to property and lives, but the area has recovered in its after math.