Black Death The most sever epidemic in human history, The Black Death ravaged Europe from 1347-1351. This plague killed entire families at a time and destroyed many villages. The Black Death had many effects beyond its immediate symptoms that contributed to the crisis of the Fourteenth Century. This plague not only took a devastating toll on human life, but it also played a major role in shaping European life in the years to follow. The Black Death divides the central and the late Middle Ages. This horrible catastrophe that occurred in 1348, swept through Europe causing numerous changes. “The Black Death erupted in the Gobi Desert in the late 1320’s.” This plague originated there and spread outward in every direction. In the autumn of 1347, twelve ships arrived in Messina, a port on the island of Sicily. Usually the people of Messina were eager to see the exotic products these merchants’ ships would bring from Caffa, on the Black Sea. This particular time the people found something astonishing. Instead of silk, perfumes, and spices, these ships carried a strange and destructive disease that would eventually change Europe forever. City officials found very few people alive on these ships when they ported Messina. Dead bodies littered the decks and the ships reeked of decaying flesh. On the deceased, they found large black swellings covering the bodies. These officials who inspected these ships feared that the disease that had slaughtered the sailors would spread to Messina. This fear led to the decree that no one, or any piece of merchandise was to leave the ships. They would not even allow the sick sailors to leave the ships or even get medical treatment. It is thought that the people of the ships, who we... ... middle of paper ... ...more money to spend on luxuries. This demand of luxuries resulted in the formulation and development of new industries to meet the demand. “English manufacturers created a new, and more profitable cloth-manufacturing industry based on the power of water mills, rather than cheap labor that was no longer available.” Higher wages eventually created high inflation. High inflation means that a person could buy less with their money or the money value decreased. This not only affected individual consumers, but small manufacturing industries as well. High inflation motivated competition. Other industries producing similar products began to compete in price. The industries that felt threatened “attempted to maintain their position by getting laws passed regulating who could enter their industries.” In 1351, there was a law passed called the Statute of Laborers.
In 1347, a Tartar army under Kipchak khan Janibeg had been besieging the Genoese cathedral city and trading ports of Caffa on the Black Sea for a year. A deadly, ruthless plague hit the besieging army and was killing off soldiers at an unstoppable rate. It was plain to Janibeg Khan that he must call off the siege. But before he decided to retreat, he wanted to give the defenders a taste of what his army was suffering. So Janibeg used giant catapults to hurl the rotting corpses of the plagued victims over the walls of the town. By this means the infection spread among the Genoese defenders. Before long the Genoese were dying from the plague as fast as the Tartars on the outside. A few who thought themselves free of plague took to their ships and headed for the Mediterranean. The deathly disease was unleashed at every port the ship and its crew set foot on. The trading routes contributed to the spread of the disease throughout the continent. In October of 1347, several Italian merchant ships returned from a trip to the Black Sea. These ships carried a cargo of flea infested rats, which had guts full of the bacillus Yersinia pestis (the bacteria which causes the plague). Inspectors attempted to quarantine the fleet, but it was too late. Realizing what a deadly disaster had come to them, the people quickly drove the Italians from their city. But the disease remained, and soon death was everywhere. (The Black Death)
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.
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
In a letter from an Italian lawyer, Gabriele de’ Mussi, he speaks about the plague, saying, “thus almost everyone who had been in the East…fell victim [to the plague] …the Chinese, Indians, Persians…,” he then continues to name thirteen other groups of people that succumbed to the plague. Later in his letter, Mussi speaks about the results of the plague when it hit Western Europe, stating, “it was found that more than 70 percent of the people had died…The rest of Italy, Sicily, and Apulia and the neighboring regions…have been virtually emptied of inhabitants.” In another account, an unnamed resident of Britain summed up the plague by stating that, “…the plague killed indiscriminately, striking at rich and poor alike.” Countless numbers of firsthand accounts show that an “epidemic disease,” such as The Black Death, “were experienced indiscriminately by all social
The Black Death arrived in Europe in 1347 by sea. After a long journey through the Black Sea, 12 trading ships docked at the Sicilian port of Messina. When the ship arrived, the majority of the sailors were either dead or deathly sick. The sailors were trying to fight the fever off. They weren’t able to keep any food down and were all in terrible pain. They were covered from head to toe in black boils that oozed both blood and pus. The Sicilian authorities demanded to get the “death ships” out of the harbor but it was too late, the disease had already begun spreading.
In the year 1347, the Black Plague reached the shores of Sicily on twelve Italian trading ships. (History) The humble crowds awaiting the ships’ arrival were in for a terrifying surprise. Sailors aboard the ships had all been infected with the plague. Most of the men were dead, but the few remaining were severely ill. James Giblin stated in his book that a historian recorded, “They had sickness clinging to their very bones.” (Giblin 13) As the ships arrived, the people visiting at the docks of Messina began to panic. There had been rumors of a pestilence terrorizing the E...
"The Black Death" is known as the worst natural disaster in European history. The plague spread throughout Europe from 1346-1352. Those who survived lived in constant fear of the plague's return and it did not disappear until the 1600s. Not only were the effects devastating at the time of infection, but during the aftermath as well. "The Black Death" of the fourteenth century dramatically altered Europe's social and economic structure.
In Conclusion, The Black Death is one of the worst disasters to ever sweep across Europe. Its effect were known worldwide, even though it was hitting the hardest in Europe. The plague affected Europe in many different ways whether they were bad or good. Even though there was more food and land as a result of it, the plague was absolutely devastating to Europe by knocking out about one-third of its population. The plague should be known today as the worst disease to ever hit, not only Europe, but the world and it should never be forgotten.
The Black Death was a dark period of human history, approximately 60% of European died. Black Death also known as the bubonic plague, it happened during 1346-1353. The plague spread during the crusades along the ships, and it was originated from a mice from Asia. It is a irremediable disease. The plague made so many negative influence on society, as well as positive effects on human population, such as social, medical and economical effects.
Considered one of the worst natural disasters in world history, the Black Death came through Europe in 1347 A.D. It ravaged cities and town, causing a death to the masses, and no one was considered safe. The Plague is any epidemic scourge or calamity for which remedies are difficult to find, and according to the encyclopedia, plague is a common term for a disease of rodents that occasionally cause severe human infection. Named for the black spots that appeared on the victims’ skin, the original disease originated from Oriental Rat Fleas and black rats. It first infected Mongol armies and traders in Asia, and then began moving west with them as they traveled. There was no natural immunity to the disease, and standards of public health and personal hygiene were nearly nonexistent. It is believed that if people had not fled to nearby cities in hopes of escaping the plague, it might not have ever spread like it did. In the end, it passed through Italy, France, England, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Finland, and even up to the island of Greenland. City dwellers were hit the hardest due to the fact of crowded streets and the lack of sanitation. Up until the mid-15th century, recurrent epidemics prevented the recovery of Europe’s population to pre-plague levels. The Black Death was an important turning point for the history of Europe. This time was “the beginning of the end of the medieval period and the start of a social transformation of the continent.” The social and economic impacts of the plague were so huge, economics, politics and the European society would never be the same again.
The Black Death took place in Europe during the fourteenth century. To the people of the time, facts about the disease were unknown until people started to notice problems that other people were having. The Black Death or “plague” that killed thousands in the fourteenth century may have evolved into a more modern version of itself.
In October 1347, the Black Death finally made its way to Europe. 12 Genoese merchant ships arrived at the Sicilian port of Messina, when the townspeople joined together at the docks they were greatly surprised to see most of the sailors were either dead or severely ill (Staff ). The sailors on the 12 forsaken ships had large black boils on their body that discharged blooded and pus. This gave the illness the name; the Black Death. Throughout the rest of the century, the Black Death would return a handful of times killing roughly 20 million europeans (Snell).
In the middle of the fourteenth century, disaster struck Europe. A ravaging pestilence spread at an alarming rate through city and countryside alike. Beginning as a tiny spark in Genoa, the wildfire that was the Black Death enveloped nearly all of Europe, from Italy to Britain, in a span of about three years (C. Kohn, 25). Up to 38 million lives were claimed in less than a decade, distinguishing the Black Death one of the worst pandemics in human history (C. Kohn, 25). The disease behind this catastrophe has seldom been rivaled by another. But what was this disease? Many scientists and historical scholars believe this disaster to be the work of the bubonic plague, a deadly infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis or Y. pestis (Nardo, 13). However, evidence has surfaced in the past fifty years to suggest that the Black Death was not, or at least not only, the bubonic plague. In truth, this epidemic was not the bubonic plague or any other single disease; it was two or more illnesses working in tandem.
The Black Death plague 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.
The Black Death was known as the greatest catastrophe ever. It killed 50 million people in the 14th century or 60 percent of Europe 's population. Yersinia pestis is a disease among rats that were on ships that were on a highly traveled trading routes, which is why this disease spread so quickly. Medieval Europe was extremely over populated until the biggest plague swept in and killed millions of people, which allowed for change in society and stronger economic growth.