The Key Causes Of The Black Death In Medieval 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.

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.

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 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.

During the 13th centuries all the way to the mid-15th century, the European nation experiences tough moments, which defined their history and the nations. The Black Death was among the many distressing pandemics in the human history, which was contributing to the death of 75 to 200 million people with the most in Europe. There are different theories, which have been developed since then to explain the deaths. The most reliable, which is based on the DNA from the victims in northern and southern Europe is the existence of the pathogen known as Yersinia Pestis, which was responsible for the plague. From there Oriental rat fleas that were popular on merchant ships and then spread in Mediterranean and Europe carried it. The death and depopulation of many places in Europe were the main changes by the Black Death. Hundred Years War was a conflict between the kings and kingdoms of France and England during these time. These were wars that took place in three stages, and the war was between the Roman Empire and the Carthage. The battle took place at around 264 BC to 146 BC. The Roman nation had wanted to expand because at that time Carthage was powerful than the Roman Empire. As the war began, in the first stage of the war, the Carthage was mighty than Roman Empire, but at the end of the third stage, the Roman Empire had defeated Carthage and expanded its Empire. There was a transformation in Rome regarding the population. Many people decided to go to the cities and abandoned the

The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague, was a rapid infectious outbreak that swept over Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s resulting in the death of millions of people. Tentatively, this disease started in the Eastern parts of Asia, and it eventually made its way over to Europe by way of trade routes. Fever and “dark despair” characterized this plague. The highly contagious sickness displayed many flu-like symptoms, and the victim’s lymph nodes would quickly become infected. The contamination resulted in a colossal and rapid spread of the disease within one person’s body. Due to the lack of medical knowledge and physicians, there was little that people could do to save those dying all around them. Now that a better understanding of

Some of the people in Europe tried to flee to escape the plague’s grasp. A schoolmaster in the Netherlands wrote a letter in 1484 that said that the plague killed many of his students and others had fled. (Doc. 1) The Black Death is thought to have originated in the dry plains of Central Asia, where it then travelled along the Silk Road, reaching Crimea by 1343.[ Even though he didn’t flee, he had a first-hand experience with the plague through his students by them leaving, and most likely dying anyway. Nicolas Versoris, a French author, wrote in his book, Book of Reason, in 1523, that the rich could afford to flee, and, therefore, the poor were doomed to meet their terrible fate. (Doc. 3) Since Nicholas was born in 1499, he likely didn’t have any experience with the plague, making this excerpt from the Book of Reason, a secondary source. Daniel Defoe, an English trader, writer and spy, among other vocations, wrote in his book, A Journal of the Plague Year, about the plague of 1665. He said that no country would open their ports for [English]

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were a particularly dreadful time in Europe. The fourteenth century was so bad it is regularly referred to as the calamitous century. During this timeframe the Hundred Years War between France and England occurred. Additionally, there were major upheavals in the power and structure of the Catholic Church. Finally, the Black Death wiped out an estimated one-third of the population of Western Europe. This Black Death or Bubonic Plague was the primary cause of the massive economic and social changes in Europe during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The sheer number of deaths attributed to the plague led to a series of other unfortunate events such as famine and war that compounded the problems and led to the calamity. The Black Death was so well known that it shaped basically all vestiges of art and literature from this timeframe.

After Edward III died in 1377, England experience domestic issues during the reign of Richard II

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 plague caused people to shun their family members, friends, and pretty much anyone who was associated with the disease and “abhor all contact with the sick and all that belonged to them, thinking thereby

In 1347 the people of Medieval Europe lived very differently from how we live today. Many houses were not as clean or big, poorer people’s clothes were dirty and not warm enough and their health was very poor. These factors lead to the outbreak of the Black Death; a disease that spread across countries and affected many different cultures. Let’s look a little further into how this all began.

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.

The Bubonic Plague, more commonly referred to as the "Black Death," ravaged Europe between the years 1347 and 1350 (Herzog, 2000). During this short period, according to Herzog (2000), 25 million people (which were about one third of Europe's population at the time) were killed. In another article, Herlihy (1997), however, claimed that two thirds of Europe’s population were killed. Nevertheless, it is ascertained that thousands of people died each week and dead bodies littered the streets. Once a family member had contracted the disease, the entire household was doomed to die. Parents abandoned their children, and parent-less children roamed the streets in search for food. Victims, delirious with

The Great Plague killed nearly half of the European population during the fourteenth century. A plague is a widespread illness. The Illness was also known as the “Black Death”. Most of the European people believed the plague was the beginning of the end of the world. They were scarcely equipped and unready for what was to be entailed. It was by far one of the worst epidemics yet to be seen in those times.