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Comparing The Black Plague-The Darkest Days Of The Dark Ages

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The Black Plague-The Darkest Days of the Dark Ages Imagine this, walking into school one day and almost half the people here today do not show up tomorrow. Not just at school, but also at home, church, stores, and everywhere, half the people are gone. Sound unbelievable, maybe, but this actually did happen in the middle of the 14th century in Europe. Even worse than half of the people disappearing, they get sick and suffer a horrible death within a few days. In a time of no newspapers, television, internet, and social media to tell people what is happening, the bodies piling up tell the whole story. Further complicating this is most people are uneducated and easily influenced by superstitions or half-truths. This event is known as the …show more content…

It was a worldwide epidemic that killed almost 50 million people or approximately 60% of Europe’s population in the 14th century. At the time of the plague, no medical knowledge exists to cope with the disease and it spreads very quickly, once someone contracts the disease death normally occurs within three days. Common belief is that the plague arrives in Europe from Asia on board ships, the increase in travel and trade by ship allows the disease to spread rapidly across the world in the 14th century. Strangest of all, they (sailors) were covered in mysterious black boils that oozed blood and pus and gave the illness its name: “Black Death” (“Black Death”). The most common story is that the disease is spread by infected rats with fleas on the ships coming into port. The thought is that the fleas would bite a victim and inject them with the disease. Recently, scientists have come to the conclusion that the disease was more likely airborne, and transferred by contact with the victim’s sneezes and coughs (Trueman). The Black Plague is the worst disaster of all times, killing almost 60% of the population of Europe in the 14th century, far worse than any war or famine that might …show more content…

During this time in history, people become panic ridden and do all they can to avoid contact with the sick. Doctors refuse to see patients, priests refuse to administer last rights, shopkeepers close stores, and people move away from the cities to try and avoid getting sick (“Black Death). This disease is a mystery to the people of the time, many of which are uneducated, a religious explanation is sought. Perhaps God is punishing them, so they seek God’s forgiveness. Many people try rituals and ceremonies to rid the disease from the community. The plague’s impact is significant on the economy during the middle ages. Whole villages and towns experience starvation and food shortages, many field workers become unable to work in the fields. The food shortages lead to inflation for the prices of food, which cause more hardship for the poor. Labor wages also increase as peasants demand higher wages to work the fields, and some even try to relocate for higher wages. To combat this wage inflation in England, the government introduces the Statute of Labourers in 1351 which said that no lord or master could pay more than the wages of 1346, and no peasant could leave the village they belonged to (Trueman). In addition to the death toll of the Black Plague, it also greatly influences European society, religion

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To understand how that happened better, we first have to learn a bit more about the Black Death. The Black Death, or bubonic plague, was a disease that came from bacterias in rats. Fleas caused the spread of it by getting the disease from rats, and infecting humans. The disease originated in China, and spread mostly through trade routes.

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