1.Introduction Paragraph
Imagine waking up one day, and having an awful headache. You feel dizzy, and you rub your head to try to alleviate the pain. You feel behind your ears and realize that area is swollen, along with under your armpits and genital region. You feel too sick to get out of bed, and the next day you are covered in pus filled boils the size of your fist or bigger. They become infected and turn black and smell worse than death itself. Around half of your neighbors befall the same fate, and die. This sounds terrible right? It was, but in the end, the human race benefitted from it. Although many people lost their lives because of the Black Plague, it was good that it happened because of the societal and medical advances that were made. The plague brought about the Renaissance. The Black Plague was a positive event in human history.
2. Description of Event
In 1347 - 1350 (Carmichael 490), life was not good. The Black Plague was rampant, and people were scared. There were three different forms of the plague.
The most common form, bubonic plague, happens when the lymphatic system gets infected. The lymph nodes could swell to the size of eggs; the skin would turn black in spots; the infected person would have fever, chills, and headaches; muscle aches and exhaustion; and a horrible smell. Typically, it would have taken two to seven days for victims to die, and the mortality rate could have been 50%-90%.
Pneumonic plague is an infection of the respiratory system. Symptoms include coughing, coughing up blood, chest pains, shortness of breath, and high fever. It generally would have taken fewer than two days for victims to die, and the mortality rate was almost 100%.
Septicemic plague, the least common form, is an infecti...
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... traditional service requirements, and a change from growing grain to pasturing animals helped to undermine the feudal system.” ("Black Death.")
“Finally, the European religious outlook underwent a change as a result of the Black Death. Because Europeans had no idea what caused the Black Death, many sought relief through prayer. When God did not answer their petitions, they began to question the efficacy of the Catholic Church. Many Church leaders also died or left their flocks from fear. Many of the survivors either became cynical about religion or turned to a more personal piety. Like all European institutions, the Church was shaken by the Black Death, although it benefited financially. Many of those who died left a part of their wealth to the Church, establishing new benefices that could be bestowed on church officials.” ("Black Death.")
5. Analysis
6. Conclusion
One piece of evidence stated, “As the plague kept occurring in the late 1300s, the European economy sank to a new low (Document 9).” Another piece of evidence states,” In the second half of the 14th century, a man could simply up and leave a manor, secure in the knowledge that Faith in religion had fallen because the prayers of the people were not answered. The people even thought that it was god whom had unleashed this deadly disease. One piece of evidence that I used stated,” Some felt that the wrath of God was descending upon man, and so fought the plague with player (Document 6).” Another piece of evidence stated,” Faith in religion decreased after the plague, both because of the death of so many of the clergy and because of the failure of prayer to prevent sickness and death (Document 6).”
The Black Death struck Europe in a time of great despair. "Although a `Great Famine' struck northern Europe between 1315 and 1322, nothing prepared Europeans for the horrendous onslaught of the Black Death" (Aberth, 2). The famine had caused a massive hunger shortage from which Europe had yet to recove...
The years 1348 through 1350 had been an extremely gruesome and miserable time in our world’s history. During this time period, one of the most devastating pandemics in history had struck half the world with an intensifying and deadly blow. It had been responsible for over 75 million deaths and 20 million of these deaths were from Europe alone. Out of the countries that were hit hardest in Europe from mortality rates and economic downturns, England was one of them. This grave disease that marked the end of the middle ages and the start of the modern age is known as the Black Plague.
The Black Death fundamentally changed the way that medieval society operated. Outdated systems like manorialism collapsed and an ideological revolution occurred within the sciences. While these changes did come at a high cost, their benefits to society were immense, and they helped medieval Europe become a more modern society. Had the Black Death not occurred, many scientific advancements would have been stalled and obsolete economic systems would have been sustained. In conclusion, by destroying what had previously been accepted, the Black Death caused a reshuffling of the socioeconomic and scientific practices of medieval 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 disease was caused by a bacteria called Yersinia Pestis which was carried by fleas that lived on the black rats. These rodents helped spread the plague. The diseases spread one of two ways. The first was through human contact and the second was through the air, people were infected with the disease just by inhaling it. The symptoms and characteristics of the disease included fever, fatigue, muscle aches and the formation of buboes which is swollen lymph nodes. These buboes were usually found under the arm, on the neck or in the groin area. It is caused by internal bleeding which eventually forms black spots or boils under the skin (which is why it is called the black death). Death usually followed shortly after these symptoms
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).
The Black Plague came to Europe at a time referred to as the late middle ages. At this time, the quality of living was looking better than in the past
The Black Plague is an Oriental Plague marked by inflammatory boils and tumors of the glands. Such break outs were found in no other febrile disease ( Hecker, pg 2). Inflammatory boils often appeared and black spots which indicated decomposition of the body ultimately appeared on the skin. Another symptom of the plague were imposthumes opening with a discharge of offensive matter ( Hecker, pg 5).
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
Between 1339 and 1351a.d, a pandemic of plague called the Black Death, traveled from China to Europe affecting the importance of cities, creating economic and demographic crises, as well as political dislocation and realignment, and bringing about powerful new currents in culture and religion.
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.
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.
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
The bacteria itself can clog small blood vessels, causing them to burst. The waiting period for the plague is about one to three days, just to show symptoms, soon dead within forty-eight hours. The disease is a major depopulator. Just in Europe did it kill one-third of their population, meanwhile completely destroying two-thirds of China’s population, and decimating many Muslim towns. The disease flared and raged so quickly there wasn’t enough time to bury all the dead, so they mainly waited until the end and held a large memorial service.