Black Plague Essay

900 Words2 Pages

The Black Plague (1348-1350) was the biggest tragedy Europe has ever faced because of the social and economic downfalls, which caused a huge loss of millions of people due to the terrible disease. The Black Plague was the largest epidemic that Europe has ever seen; it killed off fifty percent of their society all around. The economy was corrupt and it caused inflation. The Black Plague destroyed the social standings within society, and also the origin of why there were so many deaths in Europe. The Black Plague had many difficulties but the social issues tore everything apart. During the Black Plague, the marriage rates rose, mostly because the men would marry rich orphans and widows. Additionally, the birth rate rose, but most children after birth only lived until about age five. Socially the Plague caused an increase amount of violence and debauchery in society. Social unrest amongst people, so much rebellion, no one trusted anything anymore. Society was never serene; they were always panicked and scared. “Towns and cities faced starvation because the villages could not provide enough food to go around” (Trueman). This proves that people that were healthy or infected had to face starvation since people were not working on harvesting food because they were nervous that they would get sick. The Black Plague was not just harming the infected ones, it was killing off the healthy ones too because no one was able to provide food and if people did, it was for themselves. “Food and items that were available were high in price because the inflation in the economy” (Trueman). The food that was available people could not afford because no one wanted to work because they feared of getting sick and dying. Villages stopped providing for ev... ... middle of paper ... ...on” (Rosen). So many people suffered from this disease and even those that were not infected, it caused pain and tragic despair. “In Naples, they lost 63,000 people in the matters of two months” (Rosen)! People back then did not know how to handle the disease so they tried to leave, but that made it spread quicker than normal. Throughout Europe at least half the population died. The Black Plague (1348-1350), generated so many issues with the economy, social problems within society and a huge loss that triggered distress for many people. It is the most tragic disease that Europe has ever faced, it killed one point five million people out of four million in their society, and it affected all age groups (especially ones with a weak immune system). People all over Europe were torn apart by this dreadful disease and it provoked heartache, pain and sadness everywhere.

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