The Black Death was an epidemic disease that was also known as the Bubonic Plague. It was one of the most tragic epidemics that has happened in the world. The Black Death hit England between the years of 1348-1350. This plague annihilated one third of its original population. Trading ships that came to England during this time were blamed for the spread of this disease. People believed that when trading ships left other countries that they would bring in infested rats that carried the disease. When the rats would come in contact with a person or bit a person is believed to be the reason on why the deadly virus spread so quickly. Also many thought that the plague was airborne; when they thought this was the cause of the spreading of the Black Death they burnt incense and sprayed perfume in the air to prevent the plague from coming their way. By doing this it also improved the unpleasant smell of the piling dead bodies in the town. Church officials and members of the church said that the Black Death was brought on Earth because it was Gods way of punishing the people. Symptoms of the Black Death were seeing buboes; buboes were swellings the size of fists on the neck, groin or armpits. The buboes turned from red to black, therefore giving us the name Black Death. The Black Death had a tremendous impact on the visual arts, literature, and music that was created during this time because it had a shift in the focus of their subject matters. Visual art following the Black Death had a major shift in the focus of the subject being presented. Painters before the plague strove to paint paintings for people that showed how life really was. This was also known as realism. Paintings were focused more on biblical scenes and the church and also ... ... middle of paper ... ...e spread of the plague. This deadly plague affected the art that it went from its joyous and peaceful atmosphere of the lively higher class and its biblical scenes to the dark, crepuscular scenes of the dead. These paintings now showed the fear people had for being dead. Literature changed after the Black Death by displaying the events that the author or people close to them had experienced. This event changed literature because it showed a different view on how literature was written before. Music was changed by this deathly plague because it mimicked the experiences around it with the development of the Dance Macabre. It mimicked the Black Death because it showed a different way to look at the Black Death. Music was also affected because it showed peoples experiences and what they had to do to live through the plague as shown in the “Ring Around the Rosie” song.
The effects of the Black Death on Medieval Europe were that the economy fell, faith in religion decreased, and the demand for labor was high. The Black Death was a deadly disease that devastated Medieval Europe. This bubonic plague killed 1/3 of the European population, crippling the economy and faith in religion. One effect that the Black Death had on Medieval Europe was that the economy had fallen. (FELL)The economy had taken a blow because of the fact that most of the workers had either died, or ran away from their lords and manors.
The Black Death (also called the "plague" or the "pestilence", the bacteria that causes it is Yersinia Pestis) was a devastating pandemic causing the death of over one-third of Europe's population in its major wave of 1348-1349. Yersinia Pestis had two major strains: the first, the Bubonic form, was carried by fleas on rodents and caused swelling of the lymph nodes, or "buboes", and lesions under the skin, with a fifty-percent mortality rate; the second, the pneumonic form, was airborne after the bacteria had mutated and caused fluids to build up in the lungs and other areas, causing suffocation and a seventy-percent mortality rate.
Norman F. Cantor is a qualified historian who studies the Middle Ages. He has written many books regarding the Middle Ages. In his extremely detailed book, In the Wake of the Plaque, he writes about what he calls “the greatest biomedical disaster in European and possibly world history.” (Cantor, Wake p. 6) His book is divided into three parts. The first part tells about the biomedical effects and symptoms of the plague, the second part analyzes the effects it had on all the people, cultures, societies, and institutions in Europe, and in the last part of the book it covers the aftermath and the history of the plague. The Black Death also had a huge impact on art and literature. According to Cantor the rhyme Ring Around the Rosie was based on the bubonic plague and the flu like symptoms. To repress the memory of the plague the children would dance around and sing this rhyme. (Cantor, Wake p.5)
Some things are not as they seem. “Ring Around the Rosie” seems like a pleasant children’s nursery rhyme, but many believe it is actually a grisly song about the Black Death in Europe. The Black Death was a serial outbreak of the plague during the 1300s. During the Black Death, more than 20 million Europeans died. One-third of the population of the British Isles died from the plague. Moreover, one-third of the population of France died in the first year alone, and 50% of the people in France’s major cities died. Catastrophic death rates like these were common across all of Europe. However, just like the poem “Ring Around the Rosie”, the true effects of the Black Death differed from what many people believed. Though tragic, the Black Death caused several positive societal changes. Specifically, the Black Death helped society by contributing to the economic empowerment of peasants and disempowerment of nobility that led to the decline of manorialism, as well as by encouraging the development of new medical and scientific techniques by proving old methods and beliefs false.
After 1353’s, The Black Death completely removed and a new chapter of history begins with cultural, literary, artistic, trading, economic, and religious aspect. Europe, Asia, and Empires started to rebuild their nation again. Firstly, Afro-Eurasians began to establish their political and trading networks (Tignor), while the Black Death inspires them to be standing together. Secondly, People turned to religious meaning and became enthusiastic because, they believed that God anger created this disease on human kind and only God can forgive them. Not only just religious impact, but also art and literature have contributed by Black Death. After the Black Death, Renaissances starts in the 1350’s up to the 17th century, where many poets made poetry
The Black Death is the name later given to the epidemic of plague that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. The disaster affected all aspects of life. Depopulation and shortage of labor hastened changes already inherent in the rural economy; the substitution of wages for labor services was accelerated, and social stratification became less rigid. Psychological morbidity affected the arts; in religion, the lack of educated personnel among the clergy gravely reduced the intellectual vigor of the church.
Giovanni Boccaccio writes a series of stories that involve seven women and three men wanting to escape the city and take refuge in countryside villa, in which they do and proceed to tell each other stories. Most importantly, it takes place during the Black Death and describes some of the effects on the church and family life. This source will help with firsthand accounts of what happened during the plague.
(Frankforter, pg. 348). The fundamental theme of Boccaccio 's narrative was the struggle between life
Chaos struck all-over Europe in the 14th century; no social class or individual was immune from this bizarre mysterious death. Historians estimated that this unidentifiable disease killed a total of one-third of Europe’s population by the 1350’s. Now in today’s society scientists classify the unidentifiable disease as the bubonic plague also referred to as the Black Death. During 14th century European-society, there was no logical medical knowledge; instead, people resorted to supplementary explanations, such as God punishing the sinners, or other religious groups outside of Christianity misbehaving (Black Death 1). In this time period, oral tradition was still common among the illiterate, luckily for the upper class society several people were literate and documented the event of the Black Death by letters, poems, or even stories. The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio is a fictional medieval allegory story within its frame narrative has 100 tales that documented life in Italy occurring the same years as the bubonic plague. In the text the Decameron, author Boccaccio, depicts a story about ten wealthy Italians fleeing to the countryside after news of this mysterious deadly disease. Through interpretations of the story, Boccaccio gives insight about the Black Death’s affects, believed causations of the time, moral and religion standard, and response of the people in Florence Italy. In addition, found from examining the texts, information not related to the Black Death such as insight about the affects the Decameron had on society, Boccaccio’s reason for creating the story, and the intended audience. (Boccaccio).
The late middle ages was a time quite different the period before it. Whereas the high middle ages was filled with prosperity and advancement the late middle ages can almost be described as the exact opposite. The Black Death symbolizes this period in time perfectly capturing the sheer darkness during this period with the bubonic plague greatly impacting Europe’s population. Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy follows Dante’s travel through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. The dark tragedy fits in very well with what was happening during the Late Middle Ages. Along with the bubonic plague and Dante’s The Divine Comedy, there was Paulo Uccello’s painting The Battle of San Romano. The painting showed the darkness and bloodiness of war, which typically was not depicted before in paintings. The Black Death, The Divine Comedy, and The Battle of San Romano are all extremely significant to this time period in many different ways.
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
The work force was destroyed and because of the lack of jobs the price of labor skyrocketed. Farms were abandoned and buildings were destroyed. The costs of goods rose but the price of food stayed low. Most likely because of the population decrease and less need for food. Many survivors of the plague lost their religious faith. They had come to churches seeking help during this horrible time period and they were not helped. This weakened their beliefs but many people built private chapels. The Black Death set the stage for modern medicines. Many changes in public health and hospital management were changed. Medical education was made more serious. New schools were established and steps were taken to close the gaps in the lack of education we had on the Black Death.
The Black Plague, perhaps one of the worst epidemics in history, swept its evil across Europe in the middle of the 14th century, killing an estimated 20 million people. This major population shift, along with other disasters occurring at the time, such as famine and an already existing economic recession, plunged Europe into a dark period of complete turmoil. Anarchy, psychological breakdowns, and the dissipation of church power were some of the results. As time passed, however, society managed to find new ground and began its long path of recovery. The plague, as catastrophic as it was to medieval Europe, had just as many positive effects that came with this recovery as it did negative effects prior. An end to feudalism, increased wages and innovation, the idea of separation of church and state, and an attention to hygiene and medicine are only some of the positive things that came after the plague. It could also be argued that the plague had a significant impact on the start of the Renaissance.
“I think a rat just climbed up my leg, Dad. And I’ve got fleas, too.” “John, there’s all this Black Death and all you care about is a few fleas and a rat.
The Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the Black Death, is a raging disease. Most people think of it as the physical Grim Reaper of their town or community. The disease lasted about six years, 1347 to 1352. The Bubonic Plague was a travesty that has traveled throughout Europe and has raged and decimated both large and small towns, putting Europe through a lot. The disease spreads through a bacteria called Yersinia Pestis.