Late fifteenth century and early sixteenth century Europe are classified by a time of change and the start to new beginnings. The Black Death left all of Europe in shambles and in a state of extreme disorder. The population decreased dramatically and the economic, social and political state was extremely hindered. Through the reformation and renaissance Europe finally began to somewhat recover from this catastrophe. This time of change became a cultural movement all across Europe that began to reform and mend the problems that the people were dealing with. Social changes were made regarding the hierarchy in society. Political changes were made regarding the ruling of the city-states. And economic changes were made regarding available jobs and the selling of products. These changes are individually positive steps for Europe in recovering from the Black Death. But, problems arise when all these changes are put together and because of how drastic these changes are. It’s not that people are necessarily against these changes as a whole, but they simply don’t know what to make of them. In Utopia, More speaks of a perfect society where there are rules to deal with all economic, social and political problems that may appear. For those that had problems with the way Europe was changing in the 15th and 16th centuries, More made up Utopia to show that what was occurring was not as bad as it seemed.
In regards to social standings within a community it was becoming much easier to move classes during this time. Hardworking men and women were able to work hard and earn money and than use that money to buy themselves into a higher class. The newly rich people were able to use their money to move themselves up to a higher social standing and...
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...s, but because of the strict rules no change will ever come about in the future and no advancements will be made; in turn the society would be at a standstill. While the rest of the world would be advancing Utopia would be on its own island slowly getting left behind and eventually would become a place in the distance. Europe is a place of prosperity and needs to keep shifting as the times are changing. There may be problems to overcome, but that is part of life. All of the changes in Europe are not ideal and sometimes wars break out, but it is the vocal people and the development of technology and lifestyles that keep Europe on top and moving towards better things. The Utopian society seems ideal in a distance, but up close it is far from it. The reformation in Europe may have been an unstable time, but it is what has influenced Europe to be the way it is now.
The authors therefor saw the ‘utopian’ societies to be a trap for weak minded publics, and that once in place, such systems would be able to perpetuate indefinitely due to the efficiency at which they protect and propagate themselves. Through fear, diversion and sedation the utopia can maintain a strong grip on the people it encompasses before anyone realizes the sacrifices made. The popularity of these books does rule out the possibility of such a society coming into existence in the future, however. The state of people is not about to change, and their ignorance will continue regardless of the harshness of the wake up calls issued.
The Effects of The Black Death on the Economic and Social Life of Europe 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.
The Black Death discusses the causes and results of the plague that devastated medieval Europe. It focuses on the many effects it had on the culture of medieval Europe and the possibility that it expedited cultural change. I found that Robert S. Gottfried had two main theses in the book. He argued that rodent and insect life cycles, as well as the changing of weather systems affect plague. He claimed that the devastation plague causes is partly due to its perpetual recurrences. Plague ravaged Europe in cycles, devastated the people when they were recuperating. As can be later discovered in the book, the cycles of plague consumed the European population. A second thesis, which he described in greater detail, was that the plagues expedited the process of cultural change. The plagues killed a large percentage of each generation, leaving room for change. The Black Death covers the affects that numerous plagues had on the culture. The cycle of the plagues struck each generation. After a plague ravaged Europe from 599-699, plague killed in 608, 618, 628, 640, 654, 684-686, 694-700, 718, and 740-750. In the early stages of the above series, intervals are apparent. These intervals demonstrate the cycles of the rodent and insect life. Robert S. Gottfried also argues, rightfully so, that plague may have hastened cultural change. Along with plagues came the need for a cure. Plague destroyed the existing medical systems, and was replaced by a modern heir. Previous to the plague, scientists based their knowledge on early scientists such as Hippocrates and Galen. Scientists knew little about what they were doing. The medical community was divided into five parts. These divisions were physicians, surgeons, barber-...
It is insignificant, for example, that no new social class came to power through the door of the American Revolution. Degler says, “ The men who engineered the revolt were largely members of the colonial ruling class. Peyton Randolph and Patrick Henry were well-to-do members of the Virginia Assembly; Washington, reputed to be the richest man in America, was an officer in the Virginia militia.” (Degler 125) This is showing how the social classes stayed the same and didn’t change because all the wealthy and popular people stayed wealthy and
In the 1300’s, there was an outbreak of a disease known as the Black Death that engulfed all of Europe. This sickness, also know as the Bubonic Plague, rampaged throughout Europe killing over a third of the population. A bacteria known as Yersinia pestis caused the disease. The bacteria, originating in fleas, spread to rats and then to people. Black Death was spread from trade throughout Europe. The large cities were affected first, and then it spread to the less dense and populated surrounding areas. The mortality rate in large cities was near fifty percent of the population, while in more rural areas the rate was lower. This lasting effects of this disease changed Europe both socially and economically. The bubonic plague triggered a loss of faith and generated negative feelings towards the church, but positively affected the masses by creating opportunities that they didn’t have in the past.
Pandemics, once started, are expected to spread worldwide. They cannot be stopped from spreading, once they outbreak, they continuously spread. The Black Death was a disease that spread throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. There were approximately 25 million deaths in Europe alone. The Black Death was caused by the bacterium called Yersinia Pestis during the 13th century. The Black Death, also known as the Bubonic Plague was caused by a single contamination of one person. The Black Death was caused by a single bacterium, overcrowding in areas like Europe, which effected a huge part of the population by simply killing it off.
The population of Europe itself was reborn during the Renaissance. I was surprised to learn that the population of Europe declined approximately 25 to 50 % during the time of the black plague in the 1300's. Apparently it wasn't until around 1500 that the population started to grow and recover to its previous size. The European economy also looks to have been reborn during the Renaissance, which was desperately needed after the economic upheaval of the fourteenth century. Trade recovered and expanded, along with old and new
A perfect society has always been the goal for many; unfortunately it has only existed in books. The Prince by Niccoló Machiavelli, written in 1513, provides necessary information to become a Prince who will obtain, keep, and please his empire. Thomas More's Utopia, written in 1516, creates an ideal civilization that will live happily, comfortably, and without any problems. Both books attempted to solve problems within a society by critiquing other institutions and creating their own solutions. With the rise in cities, trade, and the economy in the 15th century, people began to realize order and structure in a society is necessary to flourish. Machiavelli and More left a modern legacy by striving for a better well being in societies and creating an ideal civilization that would prosper even in times of social, economic, and political difficulty.
One day, a happy family is living a healthy, normal life. The next day, they are dead. The “Black Death” was the number 1 killer of Europeans during the Middle Ages. Rats and fleas were carriers of this plague. There are two version of this disease: Pneumonic and Septicemic. This disease also killed over 20 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages. This was the most horrific, deadliest event in history.
George Gilliam Marx/More Comparative Essay English 215 In both Thomas More’s Utopia and Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, we see the authors portray two different visions of an improved reality in which all citizens are on an equal plane with one another. Both works stem from the authors’ own grievances regarding the ‘status quo’, and seek to provoke serious thought and (in Marx’s case) action about the existing state of affairs in their respective times. The context of both of these works is quite important when considering the substance of Utopia and the Communist Manifesto – Thomas More lived in a time when Europe’s government was based on of Feudalism, meaning royal families and rich nobles had the overwhelming majority of power. Marx lived during the Industrial Revolution, when class antagonisms became rather aggressive due to the major gap between rich and poor (Bourgeois and Proletariat) as a result of the greater need for a large number of workers and the subsequent wealthy minority. Utopia and the Communist Manifesto are similar in the way that they propose or at least stir visions of major changes in ideology, but both have a number of key differences as well. More’s Utopia is more like a fictional story on the surface, but of course there is a great deal of depth to this piece of literature. Utopia is set mainly as a conversation between three men: More, Hythloday, and Giles. Hythloday is arguably the most significant character in this story, as he is the one relaying all of the information about the land of Utopia to More. Hythloday went on many explorations with Amerigo Vespucci, and came across the island “Utopia” in his travels – there he had the opportunity to act almost like an anthropologist, observing and studyin...
In 1516 Thomas More published Utopia, which is the a beginning of the idea of a perfect society that was possibly the prominent humanist reform of a culture rebirth called the renaissance. More observes Six hour work days that were enough to contribute to a comfortable life in a community. Enough to produce plenty of everything if everyone contributes surprisingly, yet obvious if the unemployed, beggars or the people doing unnecessary work started to be instrumental in what the human race consumes. In utopia he viewed that “ Everyone gets a fair share, so there are never any poor men or beggars. Nobody owns anything, but everyone is rich.” Obviously through history people have normally been segregated into two groups workers that produce for minimal reward, and those who gain from that production from five hundred years ago to modern culture. Noticing that “No living creature is naturally greedy” as more says, yet if the society breeds a certain culture than the people will have that, so reward and incentify greed you get more rapacity same with other so called human nature such as
My first takeaway is during this time the differences between social classes were reduced due to literacy and political participation. People now had more opportunities for social advancement, education, and to have a overall “better life”. My second takeaway is “mass production created a mass society in which prosperity spread to different classes”. People in all classes had access to cheap, factory made clothes and mass production generally lowered the cost of everything. My third takeaway is the the field of science was rapidly growing. Fields such as anthropology, psychology, and most importantly sociology were introduced. Sociology is the study of human society and over this time period it was greatly developed.
Early Modern Europe experienced several tragedies in which the citizens sensed that there must be a better way to live where happiness was more familiar. Alterations for what truly defines absolute happiness in a society during these times of catastrophe were expressed through utopian literature. Thomas More’s Utopia, Tomasso Campanella’s City of the Sun, and Caron De Beaumarchais’ The Marriage of Figaro together attempt to answer what truly creates a happy civilization during different periods of crisis within Europe. Each of these utopian literature’s suggest a different origin that happiness derives from, soundly signifying that change in Europe would be beneficial. The revolutionary ideas of change in Europe proposed by Utopia, City of the Sun, and The Marriage of Figaro through their individual utopias, demonstrated their beliefs that such change of social classes, the expression of pleasures morally, and a more unified government would lead to a happier, less corrupt society.
Sir Thomas More composed the book Utopia in the year 1516. Utopia looks into many of the problems that faced England in the sixteenth-century and what a society would look like in order to relieve those complications. The Utopian society is brought about through conversations between the characters Thomas More, his friend Peter Giles, and the traveling philosopher Raphael Hythloday. Giles and More are quickly impressed by the level of travel that Hythloday had experienced; they want to know what he has seen and heard from other regions in regards to government and civilization. In More’s Utopia, we will uncover some of the problems that England was facing at the time and see where the Utopian commonwealth would do to alleviate said problems,
Because they are described in a detailed manner, Utopia book itself seems to be enough to be a blueprint for the future. However, Thomas More clearly stated that he just wishes Europeans to follow some good qualities of the Utopian society—“there are many things in the Utopian commonwealth that in our own societies I would wish rather than expect to see” (97)—because he himself knows that it is impossible for any country to be like Utopia. This is apparent, because Utopia is possible on the premise that if every factors comes perfectly to create this ideal society. Even the geography has to contribute to this premise as Hythloday explains the geography of Utopia as the place where stranger cannot enter without one of them (39). Moreover, from diligent and compassionate Utopians’ characteristics and their ways of life, they seem to be successful in reaching the fullest of every aspects of their life including physical, intellectual, social, spiritual, and emotional, when it is hardly possible to even have one person like that in real