The Black Death and its Influence on the Renaissance

1439 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impacts of the black death on the economy

Everything always gets worse before it gets better. This is how it is in most situations such as a lovers quarrel, in which both lovers scream and yell at each other only to reach the perfect mutual agreement in the end of a very silly fight. Another good example; rain storms, where maybe it takes dangerous flooding to bring out the most beautiful spring flowers. Maybe it takes something so terrible and world shattering to bring out the best of a situation. No matter how treacherous or how awful it may be, it all depends on how you handle the situation. How you handle a disaster shows in what becomes of it. Much like the Black Death leading into the Renaissance. The tragic turn of events that took place during the Black Death gave survivors a chance to start over and when they did, the age of The Renaissance rose from the ashes.
In the 1300’s, in order to transport goods, the people used ships to travel from country to country trading products. The plague originated in Central Asia in 1338/9 after that it spread to China and India in 1346(Black Plague: The Least You Need to Know). In 1347 the Black Death contaminated the Black Sea port of Kaffa.
Fun fact: There was a false legend of how the disease infected Kaffa. The legend says that the Mongolians piled up dead infected bodies into catapults and flung them over the city walls. Although flying dead bodies paints a more interesting picture in your mind, it is in fact much more credible that the disease came from bacteria harboring in the bellies of fleas (Black Plague: The Least You Need to Know.).
These disease-engorged fleas that lived on rats; thus infecting the rats and bringing the disease into town. Before the ships were able to sail away from the port some rats were a...

... middle of paper ...

...was doing so well in this new found age of the Renaissance.
In the end things did indeed get much better for the people. They hit rock bottom but made the most of the situation and chose not to wallow in their sorrows but to make it mean something. To show that they could rise up from this tragedy and take control back into their own hands. So that is what they did. The Black Death did indeed give Europe a chance to start over and better themselves and this was done through the Renaissance.

Works Cited

"10 Crazy Cures for the Black Death." Listverse. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
"The Black Death & the Renaissance - Renaissance." BellaOnline - The Voice of Women. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
"Black Death — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts." History.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
"Black Plague: The Least You Need to Know." N.p., Web. 5 Dec. 2013.

Show More
Related

  • The Black Plague and Its Impact on Medicine in Medieval Society

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Ring around the Rosie: Turning Points in History

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    "The Black Death." World Eras. Ed. Norman J. Wilson. Vol. 1: European Renaissance and Reformation, 1350-1600. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. 435-438. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.

    Read More

  • The Black Death and The Song Ring Around the Rosie

    1296 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • 14th Century Outbreak of the Black Plague

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1347, Europe began to perceive what the Plague had in store. Terrible outcomes arose when the citizens caught the Plague from fleas. The transfer of fleas to humans caused the outbreak of the Black Death. Infections that rodents caught were passed on to fleas, which would find a host to bite, spreading the terrible disease (“Plague the Black Death” n.pag.). When Genoese ships arrived back to Europe from China, with dead sailors and...

    Read More

  • The Effects of The Black Death on the Economic and Social Life of Europe

    1343 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Bubonic Plague Dbq

    1820 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Black Death, also known as the Black Plague and Bubonic Plague, was a catastrophic plague that started out in Asia and began to spread into Europe. In the span of three years, the Black Death killed about one third of all the people in Europe. The plague started out in the Gobi Dessert in Mongolia during the 1320’s. From the desert the plague began to spread outwards in all directions. China was among the first to suffer from the plague in the early 1330s before the plague hit Europe.

    Read More

  • Understanding Late Medieval Europe: Society, Health and Trade

    1441 Words  | 3 Pages

    But, what about the enemy that they could not see; the enemy that would plummet Medieval Europe into an age of darkness and, ultimately, death? The Bubonic Plague was a pivotal moment for Europe, bringing forth a new era of social mobility, thought, and artistic expression, leading to the Renaissance. This is very evident, as one looks farther into the supply and demand of labour, the altering perspective of the church, and the new movement in artwork.

    Read More

  • Comparing the AIDS Epidemic and The Plague

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    The bubonic plague, too, was a spontaneous epidemic. The Black Death occurred because a bacillus was carried by fleas that fed off the blood of humans and transmitted the deadly bacillus in the process (Packer). It began in China and spread by

    Read More

  • Essay On The Black Plague

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Black Plague

    1637 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Asian island Cyprus broke out in an Earthquake leaving it a desolate. The earthquake released a poisonous odor which over powered the people of Cyprus practically exterminating the population. This odor is believed to be the beginnings of the Black Plague (Hecker, pg 13). Due to the fact that China was one of the busiest trading centers in the world it was only a matter of time before the bacteria found its way to Europe. In October 1347, Italian sea merchants were traveling from Asia back to Italy. Arriving in Sicily the crew found itself suffering from an indescribable disease.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Black Death

    1821 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Bubonic Plague Dbq Essay

    1587 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Bubonic Plague DBQ Sweeping through Western Europe during the fourteenth century, the Bubonic Plague wiped out nearly one third of the population and did not regard: status, age or even gender. All of this occurred as a result of a single fleabite. Bubonic Plague also known as Black Death started in Asia and traveled to Europe by ships. The Plague was thought to be spread by the dominating empire during this time, the Mongolian Empire, along the Silk Road. The Bubonic Plague was an infectious disease spread by fleas living on rats, which can be easily, be attached to traveler to be later spread to a city

    Read More

  • Positive and Negative Results of The Black Plague

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Black Death On Society

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Black Death

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    It was a bubonic plague that came from Asia and spread by black rats infested with fleas. The plague spread like a wildfire because people who lived in high populated areas were living very close to each other and had no idea what was the cause of the disease or how to cure it. The signs of the “inevitable death” where blood from the nose, fever, aching and swellings big as an “apple” in the groin or under the armpits. From there the disease spread through the body in different directions and soon after it changed into black spots that appeared on the arms and thighs. Due to the lack of medical knowledge, no doctors manage to find a remedy. Furthermore a large number of people without any kind of medical experience tried to help the sick but most of them failed “...there was now a multitude both of men and of women who practiced without having received the slightest tincture of medical science - and, being in ignorance of its source, failed to apply the proper remedies…” (Boccaccio). The plague was so deadly that it was enough for a person to get infected by only touching the close of the

    Read More

More about The Black Death and its Influence on the Renaissance

Open Document