More handpicked essays just for you.
What were the social, economic, and cultural consequences of the black death
What were the social, economic, and cultural consequences of the black death
Cause & effect of the black death
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
However, people began to use cheap land and turn the original wheat fields into other lands. For example, they used cheap land to raise cattle. Cattle not only can help with farming and improve efficiency, but it also produced organic fertilizer to increase crop yields, and finally meat can be eaten. For a time, various industries are beginning to emerge. “Thorold Rogers had argued, it will be remembered, that commutation was already far advanced by 1348, and that it was above all the efforts of the landlords to reverse this process which led to social unrest.” It happened, but it happened after the Black Death. In some places in England, the Black Death had a huge impact on the manor, it forcing the landlords to try to revive the long - abused
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 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 manor was the economic side of feudalism” (Doc. 2). The manor was the basic farming community in Europe, and the farms laid the groundwork for the economy. Typically, each manor had Spring and Autumn planting fields and a little village (Doc. 2). These manors produced the crops that were sold and that is how they were included in the economy. Many of these crops were traded close distance at first but later on began trading with places such as Italy and other places that were a longer way away. This helped Europe to get better goods (OI).
History provides the opportunity to explore the origins of a topic or problem. The information from Agriculture and rural society after the Black Death provides an overview of agricultural and rural society’s agrarian issues; during the Middle-Ages these issues were centered around depopulation and social conflict (Dodds & Britnell, 2008, pp.3-50). Problems in the economics of society in the medieval fourteenth century involved the decline of social status and labor services (Dodds & Britnell, 2008, pp.73-132). Other examples are seen in change and growth describe of that in 1870, the Great Plains only had 127,000 people; six decades later in 1930, there were 6.8 million people; 74 percent of the population lived in non-metropolitan areas; from 1930 to 1940, there was a loss of 200,000 people; 75 percent of these counties lost populations from the Great Depression and severe drought, which had caused the abandonment of farms (Kandel & Brown, 2006, p.431). To understand these past experiences, the door to hindering issues must be opened to determine how agricultural sustainability forges change.
An important farming technique, field rotation, was vital to a farmer’s success. One field was planted in the autumn with winter wheat or rye, another field was planted in the spring with oats, barley, or vegetables, and finally the third field was left to fallow or remain unplanted (Gascoigne). This technique kept the fields fertile and in good shape for planting. The lord needed his “cut” of the profits in order the sustain the feudal structure, the lord obtained this through his serfs. Serfs had to take care of the manor, for example they repaired the roads and buildings within their respective villages (Cels 8). More importantly, serfs paid many fees, taxes, and fines, to fund the lord (Cels 8). Like tallage, an annual payment (Cels 22). They also had to pay “wood-penny” if they used wood from the lord’s own forest (Bennett 99). Serfs were forced to give away their best poultry and livestock and a cut of their crops (Bennett 99). Fifteen to thirty peasant families supported only one lord in medieval times (Gascoigne). A lord could accumulate wealth very easily through the food, rent, fees, and fines they collected from their peasants (Cels
So the peasants were extremely poor at that time. After the Black Death, population decreased, serfs and peasants were able to move around and they had much more freedom than before. They were no longer belong to the lord, and had choices of who they would work for. Most peasants chose to work for high paid jobs. The landowners, in order to attract people to work for them, provided the workers tools, housing and land. “The worker farmed all he could and paid only the rent.” The better treatment of serfs weakened the manorialism, as well as the decline of nobles.The plague killed so many people, and even nobles could not escape. The wealthy families were incapable of continuing growing, because their descendants died. So their position could not be passed on. Many families extinct. To fix this problem, the government setted up a new inheritance law which allowed both sons and daughter inherited property.
The bird-like beak contained spices and vinegar-soaked cloth to mask the stench of death and decay.” And in the dark ages there was a lot of civil wars and invasions and to prove that (Doc 7) states “The barbarians have broken through the ramparts [defensive wall]. The Saracen [Moors] invasions have spread in successive waves over the South. The Hungarians [Magyars] swarm over the Eastern provinces….they sacked town and village, and laid waste in the fields. They burned the churches and then departed with a crowd of captives….There is no longer any trade, only unceasing terror….The peasant has abandoned his ravaged fields to avoid the violence of anarchy. The people have gone to cower [crouch down in fear] in the depths of the forests or in inaccessible regions, or have taken refuge in the high mountains….Society has no longer any government.” In the Dark ages life was hard as (Doc 2) states “The Manor was the economic side of feudalism. The manor was a mostly self-sufficient system in which the lord’s land (granted by the king) was farmed by his serfs (bound to the land). The manor included not just farmers, but also artisans who provided for the needs of the manor, a chapel, forest for hunting, and pastureland for farm
During the beginning of this century was extremely hard for farmers. Due to the fact that they weren’t making as much money due to the fact that the price of crops were dwindling. As a result, you saw an increase in tenant Farmers who were people
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
It cannot be argued that the Black Plague was detrimental to every aspect of Europe’s communities. It was a powerful epidemic that wiped out a third of the continent’s population. Out of the midst of all its terror, however, positive after effects presented themselves. Some of these effects included revolutions in the church and society, eventually leading to the separation of church and state. Feudalism was also challenged as peasants demanded wages and revolted. Along with social changes came technological innovations, new inventions, and an attention to hygiene and the beginning of modern medicine. The plague may have devastated Europe, but it also gave way to a new era.
Knowing the fact that industrialization had been really successful during this time, allowed farmers to modernize their techniques. Farmers began to use new farming machinery such as the thresher and reaper, which made the growing of wheat much faster and efficient. However since these tools were too expensive to buy, farmers went to the banks to borrow money. Banks in turn would take advantage of the naïve farmers and raise the interest rates. This would cause the farmers to fall into debt because they would still take the loan from the bank and thought that they would be able to pay them back from their crop profit. Farmers were suffering losses year after year and were forced to have their mortgages foreclosed on, as they saw it, by their Eastern Master. Eventually farmers became the slaves to the Easter Master who ended up taking away everything the farmers had owned. (Doc. D) The complaint of farmers is absolutely valid because the bankers were doing unjust to the farmers. Bankers would let them fall into debt through their high interest rates and then seize everything they owned in court.
The black Death was a plague that took out about ⅓ of Europe's population. It was a horrible time for everybody, but some people got something good out of it. The Black Death came to Europe because unknowingly trade brought rats carrying a disease. They came in through the mediterranean ports.
A hierarchical society of Kings granting land to nobles, who would then give a fief to a knight in return for service. The knight would then have peasants or serfs working on their fief. However, as the plague spread, many peasants died and their labour could not be replaced. This loss of workforce had a significant impact upon the economy as grain was not being harvested and livestock roamed free. The agrarian economy had been severely damaged, the land became uncultivated and returned back to its natural state.
After the Black Death took the cities, shortly after it spread into the villages and farms. Killing the farm workers, the Black Death left crops not gathered which led to a shortage of food supplies and people to starve. Because of the mortality and the labor shortage, prices of goods dropped while the wages rose. Landowners were so desperate that they tried everything to keep the peasants to work for them. This gave the perfect opportunity for the laborers to demand higher wages how much they were valued. During the epidemic, the societies in Europe found their own ways to live through the Black Death. Some people thought that it God that created the plague, so he can punish the people because of their sins. Other people tried to enjoy as much as possible their last moments of their lives because they knew they would eventually die. Day and night people were getting drunk and move from one tavern to another and satisfying every last-minute wish they could. A social long-term consequence of the Black Death was that people lost their faith and were against God because he could not save them from the epidemic. Another consequence covers the economic change of the lower and middle-class people. During the 14th century peasants were at the very bottom but thanks to the Black Death their lives changed dramatically. After the epidemic was over, they were very
...lted in the decline of businesses. "The labor shortage was very severe and consequently wages rose. Because of the mortality, there was an oversupply of goods and prices dropped. Between the two trends, the standard of living rose, for those still living. Farms or entire villages died out or were abandoned as the few survivors decided not to stay on" (Knox). "The once positive outlook people had on the life of the thirteenth century had perished along with the many lives the plague took along with it" (Rowling, 188).