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.
Throughout the 19th century the Black Death affected literature greatly, literature in Europe around the 19th century included some small or big detail about the Black Death. One famous work made to represent the Black Death is the nursery rhyme Ring Around The Rosie. In an article by David Mikkelson, he states, “Children were apparently reciting this plague-inspired nursery rhyme for over six hundred years before someone finally figured what they were talking about.” This big finding changed the way people looked at the nursery rhyme. For example, David evaluated part of the main words “Ring around the rosie” and has put multiple meanings to these four words, which he states includes, “Something carried to ward off the disease, a way of mashing the stench of death, an item the dead were buried with, or even flowers to place on the grave.” Another main word used in the song David says could have multiple meanings is “Ashes”. David states the multiple meanings are, “A representation of the sneezing sounds of plague victims, a reference to the practice of dead people burning, a reference to the practice of burning houses to prevent the spread, or a reference to the dark skin of the plague victims.” Most of the lyrics in the nursery rhyme Ring Around The Rosie refer back to the 19th century Black Death. Another famous literary work that
As was we all know that The Black Death is one of the tragic events in world history and it has effected many civilizations in early 1300s. This has made many devastating trends within Europe’s borders and raged with many diseases, and other infections. Not only this pandemic event has effected many people, but it has transform Europe’ political, religious, and cultural practices. The Black Death became an outbreak and painful change to western civilization in which it marked history
The black death arrived in Europe in October of 1347. It was brought by twelve Genoese trading ships that docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after a lengthy expedition through the Black Sea. The people that were gathered on the docks to meet the twelve ships were greeted with a terrifying surprise: the majority of the sailors that were on they ship were dead, and the ones that were still alive were somberly ill. They had fevers, were unable to hold down food, and were delirious from pain. They were covered with big black boils that oozed pus and blood. The illness was named the “Black Death” because of the black boils.
Analyze the influence of the Black Plague on the economic activity in Europe from 1350-1400.
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.
The Black Death wasn’t some minor disease, but a disease so deadly and widespread at the time, that it greatly impacted Europe’s population, economy, and political structure. Carried by fleas and infected rats, the plague entered Europe through trading. According to C. Warren Hollister, “none can have emerged from the ordeal unaffected…” This portrays the severity of the plague, and how even if your life was spared by the “hands” of the Black Death, your life was changed in some way. Many people died in their homes, in hope of surviving the plague. Although many perished, those who survived were exposed to many opportunities. According to
The Black Death was one of the largest epidemics the world had ever seen, having wiped out mass amounts of people the plague came to completely shift European medieval society into the modern era. The black death showed no regard as to who it affected, it affected rich and poor, man, women and children all the same. The plague was so widespread among Europe that death was increasingly frequent. Such an epidemic caused people to have a completely new idea of life and death. In this essay I intend to argue that the key components of medieval society’s outlook on life and death are how death affected the living, through the ways people coped the mass amounts of loss. The various interpretations of the cause were a way for society to
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 was a powerful plague that started in the 14th century that took the life of 25 - 30 million people in Europe (30% - 50% of Europe). The Black Death was spread by fleas and rats that infested carts and ships going through trading routes. Symptoms of the plague usually appear within two to seven days and can include fevers, headaches, muscle pain, dizziness and seizures. But that's not the worst part, people also started to experience painful, swollen black balls called buboes (source 1). The Black Death caused many social, political and economic changes in medieval Europe.
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.
In all of European history, one of the most tragic events was the Black Death. The Black Death was a disease that was first seen around the 1340s. Many historians have many different views as to the causes of the plague. They also have many different theories as to the outcome. But people still wonder what kind of effect the Black Death had on Europeans in the Middle Ages? The Black Death negatively affected Europeans of the Middle Ages socially, economically, and religiously because many people died, and there was an eminent downfall of the economy, and the church could not do anything to help prevent the deaths.
Focus Question : Why did the Black Death have such a devastating impact on Europe in the Middle Ages?
The Black Death The Black Death, also known as the Great Plague or simply Plague, or less commonly as the Black Plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people, peeking in Europe from 1347 to 1352. The infection may take three forms: bubonic, pneumonic, or septicemic. This essay will discuss the effects The Black Death had on Medieval society as well as evaluating the responses. The Black Death arrived in 1348 from China to kill perhaps half of the population of Europe.
Europe encountered many different devastations during the thirteenth century, the most alarming to occur was the Black Death. The Black Death was a widespread epidemic of the Bubonic Plague that passed from Asia and through Europe in the mid thirteenth century. Europe began to run low on food due to the colder winters and dry summers creating low harvest resulting in a poor economic situation. The first signs of the plague were seen in Europe around the fall of 1347 from bacteria infested rats traveling among the trade routes (Theilmann and Cate 372). In England, the population fell from approximately 4.8 to 2.6 million between 1348 and 1351 (DeWitte and Slavin 37). The Black Death had a large influence on European culture.
The Black Death was single handedly one of the worst epidemics to hit the world. Although its reign of death hit many other continents it’s seemingly most devastating effects hit Europe the hardest. While arriving to the continent around 1347; the disease would kill roughly “30-50 percent” of its population (DeWittle, 2014) in only five years. The Black Plague would last 1347-1351 and in those five short years would bring Europe to what would seem to be a halt.
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.