As the residents of Europe conducted their activities of daily living during the mid-fourteenth century, they had no knowledge of the fate that they were to succumb to. Twelve Genoese trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina after venturing through the Black Sea. Those that were waiting at the dock for the sailors believed that all was well. However, they were proved wrong (“Black Death”).
Not only were the ships carrying cargo; with it, they carried a silent pestilence. This pestilence had already taken the lives of many on the ships, only to leave those who remained gravely ill. Not only did they exhibit delirium and excessive vomiting, the sailors also had mysterious black boils enveloping their bodies. Those boils oozed a black, odorous pus. The Sicilian authorities ordered that the ships leave the harbor immediately; however, it was too late (“Black Death”).
That was only the beginning of a deadly chain of infection. Around the year of 1347, this affliction like no other struck Europe. It is known as the Black Death. In addition to its toll on lives, it brought with it the incentive to reform religion and structure. It also caused a psychological response that, in turn, caused the first holocaust. How exactly did a microscopic pathogen cause such reformation and other effects on medieval life?
Structurally speaking, the Black Death was a contributing factor to the weakening of the feudal system. Prior to the Black Death’s entrance into Europe, the nobility could count on loyal vassals and peasants (Bill 47). These vassals and peasants were required to work a predetermined amount of days per year on the lord’s land in exchange for working on their own. They were required to use supplies and roads owned by the lor...
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..., microscopic pathogen hit Europe with massive force and had an enormous impact that lasted. Who would have thought that such a tiny thing could do so?
Works Cited
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In her article, “‘This Is the End of the World’:The Black Death,” which was on the New York Times best-seller list in 1978, writer and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Barbara Tuchman reports about the devastating impact of the Black Death in Europe from 1347 to 1350. [Summary] Tuchman starts her article describing the arrival of the deadly plague in October 1347 brought by Genoese trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina and its effects it has on Europe’s population (257-263). [Paraphrase] Tuchman describes about the terrible epidemic that is speculated to have emerged from China and how it is continuously spreading throughout Europe killing countless number of people (258). Tuchman names out a long list of European cities and how
One final effect that the Black Death had on Medieval Europe was that the demand for labor was high. Due to the death of many laborers, the chances of being employed were high. One piece of evidence stated,” the new winners, the people at the bottom of the social ladder, saw their one valuable asset-labor- increase dramatically in value, and with it their standard of living rise (Document 8).” Another piece of evidence to go along with it states,” Due to the shortage of workers all labor became very valuable and in-demand (Document
The destruction and devastation caused by the 'Black Death' of the Middle Ages was a phenomenon left to wonder at in text books of historical Europe. An unstoppable plague swept the continent taking as much as eighty percent of the European population along with it (Forsyth).
If there is one part of life that humans have trouble overcoming it is natural disasters. They are unexpected, incurable, and often unconquerable. One specific type of natural disaster is that of sickness. Plagues are disastrous evil afflictions of an epidemic disease causing a high rate of mortality ( Merriam-Webster ). A historically famous plague in the fourteenth and fifteenth century is the Black or Bubonic Plague. The social and economic affects of the plague in Europe were detrimental to the population and economy.
No other epidemic reaches the level of the Black Death which took place from 1348 to 1350. The epidemic, better regarded as a pandemic, shook Europe, Asia, and North Africa; therefore it deems as the one of the most devastating events in world history. In The Black Death: The Great Mortality of 1348-1350, John Aberth, compiles primary sources in order to examine the origins and outcomes of this deadly disease. The author, a history professor and associate academic dean at Vermont’s Castleton State College, specializes in medieval history and the Black Death. He wrote the book in order to provide multiple perspectives of the plague’s impact. Primarily, pathogens started the whole phenomenon; however, geological, economic, and social conditions
The Web. The Web. 24 Mar. 2011. The. http://liboc.tctc.edu:2058/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CH1420001374&v=2.1&u=tricotec_main&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w> The "Plague".
The Bubonic Plague, or more commonly known as ‘The Black Death’ or ‘The Black Plague,’ was one of the most devastating and deadliest pandemics that humans have ever witnessed in the history of mankind. The disease spanned two continents in just a few years, marking every country between Western Europe all the way to China. During the reign of the plague, which is estimated to be the years between 1347-1352, it is estimated that “20 million people in Europe–almost one-third of the continent’s population” was killed off due to the plague. The Black Plague would change the course of European history since the plague knew no boundaries and inflicted its wrath upon the rich and the poor alike. As a result, not only did the plague have a devastating demographic impact which encountered a massive social disruption, but also, an economic and religious impact as well.
Gottfried, Robert S. The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe. New York:
Kira L. S. Newman, “Shutt Up: Bubonic Plague and Quarantine in Early Modern England,” Journal of Social History, 3, (2012): 809-834
The Black Death changed the medieval European society totally in a positive way. In medieval Europe before the plague, European countries had the manorialism, which the society was divided into distinctive sections. Peasants and serfs had to live in a manor and listen to their lords. They needed to work for the lord and got
During the fourteenth century, bacteria and viruses were mostly unknown to doctors, which meant they were most certainly unheard of for the majority of the population. Now, it is widely believed that it was caused by bacterial strains. Back then, however, people had to produce their own reasons for the Plague. In Europe, the causes of the Black Death were said to be miasma (impure air) carried by the warm southern winds. The event of March 20, 1345, the conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, and excessively atrocious clothing were thought to add to the ubiquitous disease. In contrast, the people near the East believed that the said disease was supposedly caused by miasma as well, but due to wind carrying the vile odor of Mongol bodies...
At the same time, an epidemic that we refer to as the Black Death struck Europe as well. The disease known as bubonic plague or even some type of Eboli disease in some circles ravaged Eastern Europe beginning in 1340’s. By spring of 1348 Southern Germany was infected. In June 1348, 2 ships entering the British Channel introduced the plague into England and the rest o...
In the 1340’s, an epidemic named the Black Death, erupted through Europe, killing nearly ⅓ of its population. The Black Death originated in China, rapidly spreading to western Asia and Europe. It killed about 30 million people in Europe plummeting its population. A lot of these people were peasants. This was because they had the least money, therefore putting them in the worst living conditions. There were so many of them that no individual could make a substantial amount of money. When the plague hit, the peasants were strongly affected. A huge population of them were killed. After the epidemic, the population of peasants was far less than before. This provided them with a chance to really improve their lives. The Black Death caused a change
One of the most important results of the Black Death is the end of feudalism. The labor force was so low that workers could refuse to work, demand a wage, and the aristocrats had no choice but to listen. Peasant revolts in France and England also played an important role in the end of feudalism. The French government, in an attempt to pay ransom to England for the return of their king, spiked tax rates on the French residents. The peasants at the time felt that the government was weak, and the increased taxes infuriated them, resulting in a rebellion that came to be known as the Jacquerie. Similar events took place in England a generation later. In 1381, peasants rebelled against high tax rates and frozen wages by marching on London an...
The Black Death plagues had disastrous consequences for Europe in the 14th century. After the initial outbreak in Europe, 1347, it continued for around five years and then mysteriously disappeared. However it broke out again in the 1360s and every few decades thereafter till around 1700. The European epidemic was an outbreak of the bubonic plague, which began in Asia and spread across trade routes. When it reached Europe, a path of destruction began to emerge. Medieval society was tossed into disarray, economies were fractured, the face of culture and religion changed forever. However the plagues devastation was not all chaotic, there were benefits too, such as modern labour movements, improvements in medicine and a new outlook on life. Therefore in order to analyse the impact the Black Death had on societies in the 14th century, this essay will consider the social, economic, cultural and religious factors in order to reach an overall conclusion.